Explosion: A gas truck blew up today outside a women and children’s hospital in Mexico City, destroying much of the building and killing at least three people. Fifty-four are reported injured. There’s no immediate explanation for the explosion.

Deadline: The deadline has passed for the exchange of a Jordanian fighter pilot and a Japanese journalist for a captured female suicide bomber. Jordan wants proof that its pilot is still alive. Islamic State terrorists have been threatening to kill the pilot and the journalist but so far today there’s no word on their fate.

Nation: Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch in her confirmation hearing yesterday defended President Obama’s policy of easing deportation of illegal immigrants. Lynch said she had read the Justice Department’s opinion approving the action and “I don’t see any reason to doubt the reasonableness of those views.” The Senate Judiciary Committee is loaded with Republicans angry about the president’s actions on immigration

>Investigators say a dry Christmas tree caused the fire that killed two adults and their four grandchildren in an Annapolis, Md. Mansion. They say an electrical malfunction sparked the tree overnight on Jan. 19^th.

Delta, Delta, Delta: Sorority girls at the University of Virginia are upset that their national chapters have ordered them to skip the fraternity house parties during the upcoming “bid” weekend for new frat boys. The young women are offended that they’ve been told to isolate themselves rather than the university ending the culture of rape on campus.

Way up north, the president of Dartmouth college has banned hard liquor at fraternity parties and threatened to disband frats and other organizations that fail “to elevate and not denigrate the Dartmouth experience.”

Winter: More nasty weather is moving south out of Canada across the Great Lakes into the Northeast, expected to hit sometime today. The storm is predicted to be a combination of snow and freezing rain.

Flight Report: AirAsia 8501 was being flown by its co-pilot when it crashed Dec. 28, investigators say. It’s not unusual for the co-pilot to be at the controls. Recovery teams have given up efforts to retrieve the plane’s fuselage. They first believed most of the passengers were still inside the wreckage, but now they say it appears to be empty.

The Sports Page: Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch, who earlier in the week answered every reporter’s question with “I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” yesterday appeared again before the press and repeatedly said, “You know why I’m here.”

Digits: Blogger Andrew Sullivan, the Internet journalism pioneer who founded “The Dish”, said that after daily blogging for 15 years he’s giving it up. Sullivan said in a note to his readers, “I am saturated in digital life and I want to return to the actual world again.” Sullivan said he wanted spend more time with his parents and husband, and that he’s been suffering some stress-related illnesses.

The British-born Sullivan is a sharp and fascinating character. He’s a gay HIV-positive conservative who supported the Iraq war and later regretted it. He said he “endured” the re-election of President George W. Bush and has been a big supporter of Barack Obama. We’ll still hear from him, just not every day.

Big Mac: In the wake of falling sales, McDonald’s appears to have forced out its chief executive. McDonalds is getting battered by fresher-food chains like Chipotle. Twenty-five year veteran Don Thompson said, “It’s tough to say goodbye to the McFamily,” which tells you he’s been there far too long. The chain promises “future food innovations” and that just sounds so delicious.

-30-