Calif. family with "mixed" immigration status eager for Obama reforms

(CBS News) LOS ANGELES - On Tuesday, President Obama laid out what would be the most sweeping reform of immigration law in decades. it would include a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants who already live in America. Here's how he described his plan in Las Vegas:


President Barack Obama delivers remarks on immigration reform at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, January 29, 2013. Obama Tuesday hailed a "genuine desire" among warring politicians to pursue immigration reform, ahead of a speech laying out his own approach to the politically fiery issue.


/

JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images

"We've got to lay out a path -- a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English, and then going to the back of the line behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally, that's only fair. So that means it won't be a quick process, but it will be a fair process. And it will lift these individuals out of the shadows and give them a chance to earn their way to a green card and eventually to citizenship."

President Obama also called for stronger enforcement on the borders. His plan is similar to a bill that both Democrats and Republicans are introducing in the Senate. This may be the best chance for immigration reform in decades. It would mean a lot of families would not live in fear of being split up.

Jaime Colin helps his mother Lupe at one of the family's two dry cleaners in Southern California.

Obama: "Now is the time" for immigration reform
McCain: "We cannot have 11M people living in the shadows"
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"My parents have worked so hard," he said. "Everything I am, everything my sister is -- we owe to them."

The Colin family's immigration status is complicated. Jaime and his sister Diana were brought from Mexico as children. President Obama's deferred action program allows them to stay for work and school. Their younger siblings were born in the U.S. But their parents have been here illegally for 22 years.

Their father declined to appear on camera. Lupe Colin said they employ five workers and have earned a path to citizenship. "I have my own business," she said. "I am living here like an American citizen because I pay the taxes."

Added Diana Colin: "We're aspiring citizens. Obama promised us immigration reform."

What would these changes in immigration policy mean for the Colin family? "We would be more secure, we don't have to live with the fear of being deported, having our family torn apart," Jaime Colin said.

"That's the calculation that they made when they came into the country illegally," said Jack Martin of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a group that lobbies for strict immigration enforcement. "They've been in the country breaking the law all that period of time. And that should earn them no priority with regard to people who have been waiting outside the country

He said allowing the Colins to stay in the U.S. is no more effective at stopping illegal immigration than a 1986 law that allowed three million illegal immigrants to apply for legal immigrant status.

"We now have 11 or 12 million illegal aliens in the country," said Martin. "Instead of cutting down on illegal immigration, it led to an increase."

As for those say her family should get to the back of the line, Diana Colin responded: "We have been here as aspiring citizens for 22 years. Is that the back of the line? What is the back of the line?"

The Colin family believes the political muscle Hispanic showed at the polls in November will push Democrats and Republicans to actually pass immigration reform with a path to citizenship this year.

Read More..

Jodi Arias Borrowed Gas Cans Before Killing Ex













Accused murderer Jodi Arias borrowed two five-gallon gas cans from a former boyfriend the day before she drove to Arizona to kill another ex, Travis Alexander, according to testimony in Arias' murder trial today.


In cross examination, prosecutors also forced Arias' former live-in boyfriend Darryl Brewer to describe his sex life with Arias as "pretty aggressive."


Brewer, 52, dated Arias for four years and shared a home with her in California for two years. He told the court today that Arias called him in May 2008, asking to borrow gas cans, but would not explain why. She called him again at least two more times, and arrived at his house on June 2008, to borrow the cans.


On the day she picked up the gas cans she told Brewer that she was going to visit friends in California and Arizona.


Prosecutors argue that Arias then drove to Mesa, Ariz., where she allegedly had sex with Alexander, took nude photos of him, and then stabbed him 27 times, slashed his throat, and shot him twice in the head. She is charged with murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.


Arias, who claims she killed Alexander in self defense, had approached prosecutors two years ago offering to plea to a second degree murder charge, which could carry a 25 year term, but the state rejected the offer, Nancy Grace reported on Good Morning America today.


Brewer said that Arias never returned the gas cans. The pair had been broken up two years earlier and they had only spoken "sporadically," he said.








Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Reported Plea Deal Attempt Watch Video









Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Rental Car Covered in 'Kool-Aid Stains' Watch Video









Jodi Arias Trial: Explosive Recordings Played in Court Watch Video





Prosecutors also showed receipts from Arias' trip from her California home to Alexander's home in Mesa, showing that she purchased a 10 gallons of gas at one gas station the night before she drove to Arizona, and then another 10 gallons from a different gas station 10 minutes later. Prosecutors are expected to argue she brought the gas with her to fill up her car secretly on the way to Alexander's home, showing premeditation for the murder.


Arias' attorneys called Brewer as one of their first witnesses as they began mounting their case that Arias killed Alexander in self defense, arguing that Alexander was controlling and abusive toward Arias.


They asked Brewer to explain how he and Arias had been in a stable relationship for four years, from 2002 to 2006, and had bought a home together before Arias met Alexander at a business conference and began to change.


"I saw a lot of changes in Jodi. She became a different person than I had known previously," Brewer said, describing how Arias' behavior changed in May 2006 when she joined a company called Pre-Paid Legal. There, she met Alexander and began seeing him. She continued to live with Brewer.


"She had continued to pay the mortgage, but she was not paying other household bills, she began getting into debt or financial trouble," Brewer said. "For me it seemed she was not as rational or logical."


Arias also converted to Mormonism while living with Brewer, telling him that he could no longer curse and she would no longer have sex with him because she was saving herself for marriage.


The pair had previously had an "enthusiastic" and "aggressive" sex life, Brewer admitted to prosecutors. They had engaged in anal sex, Arias had taken nude photos of Brewer, and Arias had purchased breast implants in 2006, he testified.


Brewer said that after Arias began to change, he made arrangements to move closer to his son from his first marriage, and he and Arias broke up.


They kept in touch with occasional phone calls until Arias asked to borrow the gas cans in June 2008, and then called him a week after borrowing the cans to say that her friend had been killed.


Martinez, reading notes from an interview Brewer gave to authorities during the investigation into Alexander's death, asked if Arias had ever mentioned needing an "alibi." Brewer said he did not recall any conversation about alibis.


"After this date of June 4, 2008," Martinez asked, "you received a call from Jodi Arias, and she was very agitated?"


"She was sad," Brewer said.


"Did she tell you that her friend had been killed and she did not have an alibi?"


"I don't remember that," Brewer said.


Arias was arrested a month after Alexander was found dead, in July 2008.



Read More..

Iran launches monkey into space



Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

Last summer, the Iranian Space Agency announced their plan to send a monkey into space - and now they've apparently done it.

According to Iranian state-run television, a press release on the space agency's website, and photos of the event, Iran sent a live rhesus monkey into sub-orbital space aboard a small rocket called Pishgam, or Pioneer. There's even a video posted on YouTube that appears to be of the launch (though New Scientist could not confirm its authenticity).

The report has not been confirmed independently, however, and the US air force's North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has not reported seeing any missile launches from Iran.

But independent observers say the launch looks legitimate.

"Really, I see no reason not to take their word for it," says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who also keeps a log of space launches. He says he's convinced by the photos and discussions he's had with several knowledgeable source in online forums.

In photos released on the Iranian Space Agency's website, the rocket looks like the same kind the agency has launched before, but with a larger nose cone designed to fit a small chamber that can support life. Images also showed a live rhesus monkey strapped to a small seat.

The reports say the rocket went straight up 120 kilometres, which McDowell says qualifies as outer space, but not high enough to reach orbit, and came back down with a parachute.

It's unclear exactly when the launch took place. The press release says that the launch happened on the birthday of Mohammed the Prophet, which is celebrated by Shiites on 29 January, but was celebrated last week elsewhere in the world.

Some countries worry that Iranian rockets capable of carrying animals or people could also carry weapons. Iran has denied any military intention.

"This is not a scary thing because this is not a big new rocket that could hit America or anything like that," McDowell says. "There's nothing military to this. It's purely for propaganda. Nevertheless, it advances their science and their technology by being able to do it."

Iran says the launch is a first step towards sending humans into space, which they intend to do in the next 5 to 8 years. To do that, McDowell says, they'll need to build a larger rocket. The country currently has a vehicle called Safir that has successfully put satellites in orbit, and is developing a more powerful launcher called Simorgh.

The next step will probably be to either launch Safir to carry a human to sub-orbital space, or an unmanned Simorgh flight into orbit to make sure mission controllers can return it to the ground safely.

"They don't want to repeat what the Soviets did" in 1957, McDowell says, "which is put a living being in orbit before you figure out how to get it back."

Read More..

Golf: Tiger wins Torrey Pines title for 75th career crown






LA JOLLA: World No. 2 Tiger Woods captured his 75th career title on Monday, winning the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes for his record-setting eighth career triumph at Torrey Pines.

Despite struggling in windy conditions Monday over the final 11 holes, Woods showed flashes of the form that has brought him 14 major titles as he chases the all-time record of 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods won his most recent major title at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines and has also won the PGA event staged at Torrey Pines seven times. No other PGA player has won so many times on a single course.

A fog delay Saturday led to the Monday finish, with darkness halting Woods on Sunday after seven holes.

Woods completed a final-round par 72 Monday despite going three-over in the closing stretch, finishing 72 holes on 14-under par 274. Brandt Snedeker, the 2012 winner, and Josh Teater shared second on 278.

Woods had two bogeys and a double bogey between the 14th and 17th holes, but managed a par at the par-5 18th to close out the victory.

"It got a little ugly toward the end," Woods said. "I started losing my patience with slow play and lost my concentration there a little bit. But I was able to get my par there at 18 and got the win."

After missing the cut in his season opener at Abu Dhabi, Woods collected his first victory since last July at the US PGA National at Congressional.

- AFP/jc



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Netherlands queen to abdicate throne









updated 6:34 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013









STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • Queen Beatrix will end 33 years on the Dutch throne on April 30

  • She will be succeeded by Prince Willem-Alexander.

  • He has earned a history degree and served in the Dutch Royal Navy

  • His daughter Catharina-Amalia will be first in line when he becomes king




Editor's note: An earlier version of this story wrongly referred to Prince Claus as Queen Beatrix's son, not her husband. We apologize for this mistake.


(CNN) -- Queen Beatrix spent 33 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her son, the Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander.


She ascended to the throne when Queen Juliana abdicated on her 71st birthday, on April 30, 1980. Beatrix announced Monday that she will step aside on April 30.


Beatrix was born January 31, 1938, and when World War II reached Holland the family fled to London. Juliana, Beatrix and her sister Irene then moved to Ottawa, Canada.









Dutch Queen Beatrix to abdicate








HIDE CAPTION









Beatrix married German diplomat Claus von Amsberg on March 10, 1966, in Amsterdam. They have three sons, Willem-Alexander, born in 1967, Friso, born in 1968, and Constantijn, born in 1969.


Friso was injured in an avalanche at an Austrian ski resort last year.


She has eight grandchildren. Her husband died in 2002 aged 76.


He overcame early Dutch wariness -- in a country where the German occupation in WWII was still fresh in the national memory -- to become one of the most popular members of the Dutch royal family .


Under the Dutch Constitution the king or queen is head of state but politically neutral.


Beatrix, held weekly meetings with the prime minister and spoke regularly with high-ranking ministers and secretaries of state.


The head of state also signs all new acts of Parliament, and plays a role in the formation of new governments.


Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, was educated in Wales and Holland where he earned a history degree at Leiden University. He served in the Dutch Royal Navy from August 1985 to January 1987.


As Prince of Orange -- the title given to the person first in line to the Dutch throne ---- he has been interested in sustainability and innovation.


He has also been a member of the Dutch central bank supervisory board and regularly has represented the queen at international events.


Willem-Alexander has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1998.


He is married to Princess Máxima, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a degree in economics and has worked for HSBC and Deutsche Bank.


The couple, who met at a party, were engaged in March 2001 and they were married in February 2002.


The relationship -- like his mother's marriage -- sparked initial controversy when it emerged that Maxima's father had been a minister during the 1976-1983 Argentinean military dictatorship. He agreed to stay away from the wedding.


They have three daughters, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane.


When Willem-Alexander becomes king, 9-year-old Catharina-Amalia will be next in line.












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Read More..

Chicago mom loses all four children to gun violence

(CBS News) CHICAGO - President Barack Obama is keeping up the pressure on Congress to pass new gun control legislation.

He met at the White House today with police officials from around the country, including: Aurora, Colo.; Oak Creek, Wisc.; and Newtown, Conn. - all the scenes of recent mass shootings.

The president called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban.

In Chicago, gun violence is taking more and more lives: 50 since Newtown.

Among the seven people murdered in Chicago this past weekend was 33-year-old Ronnie Chambers, shot dead in a parked van.

He was the last surviving child of Shirley Chambers, who now has lost all four of her children to gun violence. CBS News spoke to her Monday at a local funeral home.


Shirley Chamber's four children were all killed by guns in Chicago

Shirley Chamber's four children were all killed by guns in Chicago


/

CBS News

"It's not Chicago. It's these people. It's these people with these guns. They shouldn't have guns, you know?" Chambers said.

Chicago's deadly day: Shootings kill 7, wound 6
Feinstein: Assault weapons ban "an uphill climb"
Watch: Chicago mother takes stand against gun violence

Her son was a former gang member who stole cars, sold drugs and spent time in prison.

"He had changed a lot. He was trying to help other people. So whatever he did in the past, that's in the past. He changed," Chambers said of her son.

Just last month he appeared on the Ricki Lake show as an example of transformation.

"I told myself that you know, I need to protect my mother and be out here for her," Ronnie said on the show.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel told CBS News the problem here is more than guns.

"I think we have to deal with this -- not just with our gun controls -- but with a values-based education," he said.

He made his frustration clear at the height of the violence last summer.

"It's not about crime. It's about values," Emanuel had said at a press conference. "Where were you raised and who raised you?"

Watch: Emanuel: Curbing Chicago violence is "about values"

In the interview with CBS News, Emanuel explained why that question resonated with a lot of people.

"There is a values piece where people are so, I don't know, careless, dismissive -- totally are devoid of any sense of right from wrong," he said.

Shirley Chambers insists her son was different.

"Ronnie knew right from wrong," she said. "He wanted to change his life for his mother. He loved me and I loved him."

Read More..

US Mom Missing in Turkey Took Side Trips













Sarai Sierra, the New York mother who disappeared in Turkey while on a solo trip, took several side excursions out of the country, but stayed in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.


Turkish media reported today that police were trying to establish why Sierra visited Amsterdam and Munich. Police were also trying to establish the identity of a man Sierra, 33, was chatting with on the Internet, according to local media.


Rachel Norman, a family friend, said the man was a group tour guide from the Netherlands and said Sierra stayed in regular touch with her family in New York.


Steven Sierra, Sarai's husband, and David Jimenez, her brother, arrived in Istanbul today to aid in the search.


The men have been in contact with officials from the U.S. consulate in the country and plan to meet with them as soon as they open on Tuesday, Norman said.


After that, she said Sierra and Jimenez would meet with Turkish officials to discuss plans and search efforts.






Family of Sarai Sierra|AP Photo











NYC Woman Goes Missing While Traveling In Turkey Watch Video









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Giordano Interview Fallout: What Happens Next? Watch Video





Sarai Sierra was supposed to fly back to the United States on Jan. 22, but she never showed up for her flight home.


Her two boys, ages 11 and 9, have not been told their mother is missing.


Sierra, an avid photographer, left New York on Jan. 7. It was her first overseas trip, and she decided to go ahead after a friend had to cancel, her family said.


"It was her first time outside of the United States, and every day while she was there she pretty much kept in contact with us, letting us know what she was up to, where she was going, whether it be through texting or whether it be through video chat, she was touching base with us," Steven Sierra told ABC News before he departed for Istanbul.


But when it came time to pick her up from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Sierra wasn't on board her scheduled flight.


Steven Sierra called United Airlines and was told his wife had never boarded the flight home.


Further investigation revealed she had left her passport, clothes, phone chargers and medical cards in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey, he said.


The family is suspicious and said it is completely out of character for the happily married mother, who met her husband in church youth group, to disappear.


The U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the Turkish National Police are involved in the investigation, WABC-TV reported.


"They've been keeping us posted, from my understanding they've been looking into hospitals and sending out word to police stations over there," Steven Sierra said. "Maybe she's, you know, locked up, so they are doing what they can."



Read More..

DNA privacy: don't flatter yourself






















The secrets contained in our individual genomes are less valuable than we like to believe
















IMAGINE donating your DNA to a project aimed at discovering links between genes and diseases. You consent to your genome sequence being released anonymously into the public domain, though you are warned there is a remote possibility that it might one day be possible to link it back to you.











A few years later, that remote possibility comes to pass. How should you feel? This is no longer a hypothetical scenario. About 50 people who participated in a project called 1000 Genomes have been traced (see "Matching names to genes: the end of genetic privacy?").













The researchers' intentions were honourable. They have not revealed these identities, and the original data has been adjusted to make a repeat using the same technique impossible. All they wanted to do was expose privacy issues.












Consider them exposed. It is clear that genomics has entered a new phase, similar to that which social media went through a few years ago, when concerns were raised about people giving away too much personal information.












What happens when the same applies to our DNA? Having your genome open to public scrutiny obviously raises privacy issues. Employers and insurers may be interested. Embarrassing family secrets may be exposed.












But overall, personal genetic information is probably no more revealing than other sorts. In fact there are reasons to believe that it is less so: would an insurance company really go to the trouble of decoding a genome to discover a slightly elevated risk of cancer or Alzheimer's disease?












The available evidence suggests not. In 2006, Harvard University set out to sequence the genomes of 100,000 volunteers and make them publicly available, along with personal information such as names and medical records. One of the goals was to see what happens when such data is open to all. The answer seems to be "not a lot". So far this Personal Genome Project has published 148 people's full genomes. Not one volunteer has reported a privacy issue.












This is not a reason for complacency, but it suggests that our genomic secrets are less interesting to other people than we might like to believe.


















































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Tokyo stocks open up 0.7%






TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened 0.70 percent higher on Monday after the yen continued to fall against other major currencies.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 76.21 points at 11,002.86 at the start.

"The weaker yen continues to fuel the ongoing rally," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.

"And with earnings reporting season kicking into high gear this week, companies' outlooks for the (January-March) fourth quarter will be closely watched," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

The dollar was at 91.09 yen in early Asian trade, up from 90.87 yen in New York Friday afternoon.

The euro rose to $1.3466 and 122.54 yen from $1.3457 and 122.28 yen in US trade.

Bullish Wall Street activity was also encouraging, with the much-watched S&P 500 closing above the 1,500 mark for the first time in five years on Friday.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.54 percent to 1,502.96 as strong earnings reports from Procter and Gamble, Halliburton and other equities propelled US markets higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.51 percent to 13,895.98, its best level since October 2007.

- AFP/de



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Overcrowded nightclub turns into death trap for hundreds




















Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire


Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire





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STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • NEW: At least 80 of those killed were students at the Federal University of Santa Maria

  • Cell phones left in the club ring, go unanswered amid the ruins

  • The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed




Are you there? Share your story.


Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN) -- Workers combing through the charred wreckage of Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday encountered the eerie sound of ringing cell phones.


Glauber Fernandes, a reporter from CNN affiliate Band News, explains.


"It was really complicated scene. A lot of smoke, a lot of shoes that was left, cell phones, because everybody tried to get out of there running," he said. "While we were there, we saw the cell phones were ringing. It was parents, friends, trying to know about what was happening and nobody was answering."


A fire swept through the packed, popular nightclub in Santa Maria early Sunday, killing at least 233 people -- enough to fill a large plane -- Brazilian Health Minister Alexandro Padilha told reporters. Of those, 185 have been identified so far.


Many apparently died from smoke inhalation, state-run Agencia Brasil reported. Others were trampled in the rush for the exits, one security guard told Band News.


More than 90 people were hospitalized, Padilha said, including 14 patients with severe burns.





Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history


About 2,000 people were inside the club when the fire broke out -- double the maximum capacity of 1,000, said Guido de Melo, a state fire official.


Investigators have received preliminary information that security guards stopped people from exiting the club, he told Globo TV.


"People who were inside the facility informed us ... that security guards blocked the exit to prevent people there from leaving, and that's when the crowd starting panicking, and the tragedy grew worse," he said.


The fire started "from out of nowhere" on a stage at the club and quickly spread to the ceiling, witness Jairo Vieira told Band News.


"People started running," survivor Luana Santos Silva told Globo TV. "I fell on the floor."


There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation.


Video from the scene showed firefighters shooting streams of water at the club and shirtless men trying to break down a wall with axes.


Smoke billowed outside the front of the building as the stench of fire filled the air, said Max Muller, who was riding by on his motorbike when he saw the blaze.










Muller recorded video of a chaotic scene outside the club, which showed emergency crews tending to victims and dazed clubgoers standing in the street. Bodies lay on the ground beside ambulances.


Friends who were inside the club told him that many struggled to find the exits in the dark. Muller, who was not inside the club Sunday morning but has been there twice before, said there were no exit signs over the doors. It is rare to see such signs in Brazilian clubs.


Valderci Oliveira, a state lawmaker, told Band News that he saw piles of bodies in the club's bathroom when he arrived at the scene hours after the blaze. It looked "like a war zone," he said.


Read more: How to protect yourself in a crowd


Police told Band News that 90% of the victims were found in that part of the club.


The roof collapsed in several parts of the building, trapping many inside, said Fernandes, the reporter from Band News.


For others, escaping was complicated by the fact that guards initially stopped people from leaving, he said, echoing comments from the state fire official.


"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club," said Fernandes.


Many wept as they searched for information outside a local gymnasium where bodies were taken for identification later Sunday. Inside, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff met with family members and friends as they waited on bleachers for word of their loved ones.


Rousseff became teary-eyed as she spoke of the fire to reporters in Chile earlier Sunday. She had been attending a regional summit there, but cut short the trip and returned to Brazil early to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.


"The Brazilian people are the ones who need me today," she said. "I want to tell the people of Santa Maria in this time of sadness that we are all together."


An accordionist who had been performing onstage with a band when the fire broke out was among the dead, drummer Eliel de Lima told Globo TV.


The fire started around 2 a.m. after the acoustic insulation in the Kiss nightclub caught fire, said Civil Defense Col. Adilomar Silva.


Police were questioning the club's owner and interviewing witnesses as part of an investigation into what caused the blaze, Agencia Brasil reported.


"There just weren't enough emergency exits," Mateus Vargas, a witness who was inside the club when the fire broke out, told Band News.


The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed, local fire official Moises da Silva Fuchs told Globo TV.


The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed 100 people.


Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 nightclub fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a nightclub in Russia that left more than 100 dead.


The Kiss nightclub is popular with young people in Santa Maria, which is home to universities and colleges.


The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Many of universities are set to resume classes on Monday.


Santa Maria is home to the Federal University of Santa Maria as well as a number of other private universities and colleges. At least 80 of those killed Sunday were students at that school, it said.


Shasta Darlington reported from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Marilia Brocchetto, Catherine E. Shoichet and Dana Ford reported from Atlanta. CNN's Helena DeMoura and Samira Jafari contributed to this report.






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