World: An indoor pyrotechnic display ran out of control, setting off a fire in a Brazilian nightclub that has killed at least 245 people, many of them university students. A similar fire in Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100.

• As many as 60 people are reported dead in a prison riot in Venezuela. The dead include prisoners, guards and employees, many from gunshot wounds. The riot was sparked when soldiers entered the prison to search for weapons and discovered them the hard way.
• France’s richest man has already transferred his corporate holdings out of the country and is applying for a Belgian passport to avoid his own country’s new 75% income tax on the wealthy. Bernard Arnault made his fortune in lines of luxury goods  including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. He follows actor Gerard Depardieu who bailed for the same reason.

National: The hacker collective known as “Anonymous” took over the website of a Federal commission in protest over the prosecution and subsequent suicide of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz. The group said they targeted the Federal Sentencing Commission as a symbolic gesture. Swartz, a crusader for Internet freedom, was charged with breaking into files at MIT with the plan of posting free access to thousands of academic papers. He died broke and feeling persecuted.

• Thousands of demonstrators marched in Washington calling for tighter gun control. About 100 of them were from Newtown, Ct., site of the massacre that took the lives of 20 first graders in December.
• Casey Anthony, who was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old Caylee in 2011, has filed bankruptcy listing $792,000 in liabilities and $1,100 in assets. Most of her debts are legal bills and she says she has no job or income.

Medium Chill: NYC, high 33 today, low tonight 26 with sleet and freezing rain. Chicago, high 36, freezing rain likely. Los Angeles, high 60, chance of showers.

Apple Picking Time: The theft of Apple iPhones and iPads has become so frequent in NYC that the crime has become known as “Apple picking”.

Watch Your Step: The NY Times also reports that the latest hazard of urban life in Rio de Janeiro is exploding manhole covers. The combination of aging underground gas and electrical lines has caused covers to pop and fireballs to erupt, occasionally causing seriously injury.

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