'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims

A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.

It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.

Firefighters responding to the blaze at first had trouble getting inside the Kiss nightclub because bodies partially blocked the club's entryway.

Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members started the blaze in Santa Maria, a university city of about 260,000 people. Officials at a news conference said the cause was still under investigation — though police inspector Sandro Meinerz told the Agencia Estado news agency the band was to blame for a pyrotechnics show and that manslaughter charges could be filed.

Television images showed black smoke billowing out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who had attended a university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at windows and hot-pink exterior walls to free those trapped inside.

Bodies of the dead and injured were strewn in the street and panicked screams filled the air as medics tried to help. There was little to be done; officials said most of those who died were suffocated by smoke within minutes.

Germano Roratto/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil Nightclub Fire: Nearly 200 People Killed Watch Video

Within hours a community gym was a horror scene, with body after body lined up on the floor, partially covered with black plastic as family members identified kin.

Outside the gym police held up personal objects — a black purse, a blue high-heeled shoe — as people seeking information on loved ones looked crowded around, hoping not to recognize anything being shown them.

Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper that firefighters had a hard time getting inside the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance."

Teenagers sprinted from the scene after the fire began, desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms. Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some minors.

"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.

The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, Silva said.

Another survivor, Michele Pereira, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit flares that started the conflagration.

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."

Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning"

"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it.

"When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working"

He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.

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Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic.

Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire to soundproofing on the ceiling, local fire officials said.

"Smoke filled the place instantly, the heat became unbearable," survivor Murilo Tiescher, a medical student, told GloboNews TV. "People could not find the only exit. They went to the toilet thinking it was the exit and many died there."

Firemen said one exit was locked and that club bouncers, who at first thought those fleeing were trying to skip out on bar tabs, initially blocked patrons from leaving. The security staff relented only when they saw flames engulfing the ceiling.

The tragedy in the university town of Santa Maria in one of Brazil's most prosperous states comes as the country scrambles to improve safety, security and logistical shortfalls before the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics, both intended to showcase the economic advances and first-world ambitions of Latin America's largest nation.

In Santa Maria, a city of more than 275,000 people, rescue workers and weary officials wept alongside family and friends of the victims at a gymnasium being used as a makeshift morgue.

"It's the saddest, saddest day of my life," said Neusa Soares, the mother of one of those killed, 22-year-old Viviane Tolio Soares. "I never thought I would have to live to see my girl go away."

President Dilma Rousseff cut short an official visit to Chile and flew to Santa Maria, where she wept as she spoke to relatives of the victims, most of whom were university students.

"All I can say at the moment is that my feelings are of deep sorrow," said Rousseff, who began her political career in Rio Grande do Sul, the state where the fire occurred.

It was the deadliest nightclub fire since 309 people died in a discotheque blaze in China in 2000 and Brazil's worst fire at an entertainment venue since a disgruntled employee set fire to a circus in 1961, killing well over 300 people.

'BARRIER OF THE DEAD'

Local authorities said 120 men and 113 women died in the fire, and 92 people are still being treated in hospitals.

News of the fire broke on Sunday morning, when local news broadcast images of shocked people outside the nightclub called Boate Kiss. Gradually, grisly details emerged.

"We ran into a barrier of the dead at the exit," Colonel Guido Pedroso de Melo, commander of the fire brigade in Rio Grande do Sul, said of the scene that firefighters found on arrival. "We had to clear a path to get to the rest of those that were inside."

Pedroso de Melo said the popular nightclub was overcrowded with 1,500 people packed inside and they could not exit fast.

"Security guards blocked their exit and did not allow them to leave quickly. That caused panic," he said.

The fire chief said the club was authorized to be open, though its permit was in the process of being renewed. But he pointed to several egregious safety violations - from the flare that went off during the show to the locked door that kept people from getting out.

"The problem was the use of pyrotechnics, which is not permitted," Pedroso de Melo said.

The club's management said in a statement that its staff was trained and prepared to deal with any emergency. It said it would help authorities with their investigation.

One of the club's owners has surrendered to police for questioning, GloboNews TV reported.

When the fire began at about 2:30 a.m., many revelers were unable to find their way out in the chaos.

"It all happened so fast," survivor Taynne Vendrusculo told GloboNews TV. "Both the panic and the fire spread rapidly, in seconds."

Once security guards realized the building was on fire, they tried in vain to control the blaze with a fire extinguisher, according to a televised interview with one of the guards, Rodrigo Moura. He said patrons were trampled as they rushed for the doors, describing it as "a horror film."

Band member Rodrigo Martins said the fire started after the fourth or fifth song and the extinguisher did not work.

"It could have been a short circuit, there were many cables there," Martins told Porto Alegre's Radio Gaucha station. He said there was only one door and it was locked. A band member died in the fire.

CELL PHONES STILL RINGING

TV footage showed people sobbing outside the club before dawn, while shirtless firefighters used sledge hammers and axes to knock down an exterior wall to open up an exit.

Rescue officials moved the bodies to the local gym and separated them by gender. Male victims were easier to identify because most had identification on them, unlike the women, whose purses were left scattered in the devastated nightclub.

Piles of shoes remained in the burnt-out club, along with tufts of hair pulled out by people fleeing desperately. Firemen who removed bodies said victims' cell phones were still ringing.

The disaster recalls other incidents including a 2003 fire at a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, that killed 100 people, and a Buenos Aires nightclub blaze in 2004 that killed nearly 200. In both incidents, a band or members of the audience ignited fires that set the establishment ablaze.

The Rhode Island fire shocked local and federal officials because of the rarity of such incidents in the United States, where enforcement of safety codes is considered relatively strict. After the Buenos Aires blaze, Argentine officials closed many nightclubs and other venues and ultimately forced the city's mayor from office because of poor oversight of municipal codes.

The fire early on Sunday occurred in one of the wealthiest, most industrious and culturally distinct regions of Brazil. Santa Maria is about 186 miles west of Porto Alegre, the capital of a state settled by Germans and other immigrants from northern Europe.

Local clichés paint the region as stricter and more organized than the rest of Brazil, where most residents are a mix descended from native tribes, Portuguese colonists, African slaves, and later influxes of immigrants from southern Europe.

Rio Grande do Sul state's health secretary, Ciro Simoni, said emergency medical supplies from all over the state were being sent to the scene. States from all over Brazil offered support, and messages of sympathy poured in from foreign leaders.

(Additional reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal, Gustavo Bonato, Jeferson Ribeiro, Eduardo Simões, Brian Winter and Guido Nejamkis.; Writing by Paulo Prada and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Todd Benson, Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson)

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Sensitive skin problems aren't skin deep

SINGAPORE: Most might assume that sensitive skin is mainly due to in an intake of the wrong food, or the application of the wrong product.

However, the main reason for sensitive skin lies on the surface of the skin, and what that layer is subjected to from the daily environment.

In a sensitive skin survey held by Curél, the dermatological research oriented brainchild of Japanese chemical and cosmetics giant Kao, almost half of the respondents from various countries claimed to suffer from sensitive skin.

And within this number, Singaporeans make up a whopping 70 percent.

Part of the reason lies in Singapore's tropical climate –from wet and rainy, to sunny but humid – coupled with hours spent in drying air-conditioned environments whether at work, home or even shopping.

More precisely, as explained by Curél's skincare expert Koicihi Ishida, skin in the Singapore environment is subject to "enhanced blood circulation and skin dryness due to the rapid change of the temperature and humidity within a short time frame".

"At high temperatures and humidity, skin cells swell when sweat is produced, reducing the skin's barrier function" he explains.

"On the other hand, low temperatures and a humidity level of 50 percent or less will cause the skin's moisture to decrease directly and become dry. Either way, the skin becomes sensitive and easily irritated."

In other words, the root of the problem of sensitive skin isn't skin deep.

In fact, it lies with the outermost layer of the skin, known as the stratum corneum (SC).

It is the first barrier between the skin and the external environment, and offers protection to the underlying tissue from infection, dehydration, chemicals and physical stress.

The top layer stratum corneum is largely held together by ceramide.

According to Curél, about half of all sensitive skin cases is due to the SC's impaired function, making it the main cause, as well as solution, to various sensitive skin conditions.

As skin expert Ishida points out, sensitive skins possess low levels of ceramide, a key element in the SC.

In developing a skincare range that targets sensitive skin, Curél therefore focused its attention on ceramide and replenishing the skin's supply of this intercellular lipid.

Tackling the problem from within also helps, with an intake of naturally occurring ceramide in food stuffs such as soya beans, spinach, rice, wheat flour and the high-fibre, jelly-like konjac or konnyaku, as the product is known in Japan where it's often served in oden or as noodle strips.

Ceramide works by fusing with the skin's moisture and oil to prevent moisture loss while holding skin cells together, similar to a brick and mortar structure that creates a barrier function for the SC.

With ceramide care, sensitive skin is directly treated to improve and replenish the impaired SC barrier which will in turn suppresses the sensitive symptoms and conditions, making the skin more resistant to external irritants.

But this is not a one-hit, one-week solution as the experts will point out.

The newly recovered skin can revert to its troubled state without proper maintenance, or in the case of more serious skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, where ceramide drops to its original low state.

The Curél skincare range for sensitive skin runs a gamut of applications, from face and body to scalp and hair, and everyone from adults to babies, are supposed to be able to use the products.

How could so that be so?

"Although the two skin types may differ in thickness, appendices and sensitivity, the fundamental structure and function of the skin is common for the young and old of both sexes," explains Ishida.

"For the elderly, they have dry skin due to old age and it's usually accompanied with itchiness, which can be seen especially on the lower thigh area. In many cases, their SC's barrier function is damaged."

The same concept of reinforcing the SC's protective function applies to babies and the young, as the risk of sensitive skin is in fact higher in the young, than when a person ages.

"After birth, a baby's skin tends to be influenced by the environment and thus its skin condition might worsen as it is naturally delicate and sensitive," Ishida points out, while adding that "it is proven by the mild skin care from an early stage that a baby can maintain the healthy skin after growing up."

"Therefore, it is important to have a skincare regime from an early stage to prevent skin issues during their growing up process" he advises.

So even if you don't suffer from sensitive skin, there's little reason not to protect your skin the way it has been protecting you all this while.

-CNA/fl

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TOI Social Impact Awards: An evening to honour India's changemakers

They took the path less travelled, and on Monday it will lead a group of remarkable men and women to the stage for the second Times of India Social Impact Awards in association with J P Morgan. The awards are being given to changemakers within NGOs, corporates and the government who have quietly worked to transform the lives of millions of marginalized Indians.

President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest at the awards function. Joining him, and a power-packed audience consisting of top achievers from diverse fields, will be beneficiaries of the organisations selected for the awards.

For some beneficiaries, this visit to the capital will mark the first time they have travelled beyond the boundaries of their district. Awards in 17 categories will be presented by the beneficiaries.

The awardees and beneficiaries collectively represent the very best of India in all its fascinating diversity. They range from nine-year-old Jyoti Prajapat from Ajmer district to 83-year-old Thokchom Ramani Leima from Imphal. Jyoti will join 10-year-old Ujala Kumari from Delhi to present the award for educat8ion in the NGO sector to Room to Read India, whose libraries gave both girls an abiding love for reading. Leima will take the stage with four other women members of Meira Paibi, the fearless group of women from Manipur who will share the Lifetime Achievement Award with the Naga Mothers Association. The two groups have battled social evils like alcoholism and drug abuse, and spearheaded peace efforts in the insurgency-ridden region.

Others who will present awards include Sarjubai Meena, a grandmother from Bhilwara who is known as the "woman with the turban". Sarjubai will present the award for Environment in the NGO category to the Foundation for Ecological Security, which helped her and others turn the village into a fertile, prosperous one, in which Sarjubai, a dalit woman, now feels she has earned the right to wear a turban.

Eleven-year-old twins Hiranya and Thiruvara Bhargavi who were born with cerebral palsy, will present the award for health in the Government category to the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, whose pioneering insurance scheme helped them access life-saving surgeries.

The hunt for India's real heroes began in August last year when the Times of India invited applications from NGOs, corporates and government organisations in five categories: livelihoods, advocacy and empowerment, education, health and the environment. Online applications were accepted between October 2 and 30, 2012 through a dedicated website. A National Search Panel of eight eminent persons with long experience in the development sector was also constituted in early August, which identified 126 organisations worth consideration, who were then motivated to apply.

Facebook and Twitter pages helped answer questions about application procedures and kick-start a discussion. Finally, over 1500 entries were received, spanning the length and breadth of the country. The majority of applications were from NGOs.

The eight key parameters to evaluate the entries were significance of the issue addressed, scale, replicability, sustainability, finances, people's participation, innovativeness and promotion of equity. Every claim had to be backed up with documents and financial details had to be transparent. A specialist group consisting of philanthropy specialists from Dasra, GiveIndia and GuideStar India screened the entries and 20 sector-experts then evaluated these entries to prepare a final shortlist of 41 entries. TOI reporters conducted field visits of each entry.

An eminent jury comprising Unique Identification Authority of India chairperson Nandan Nilekani; Magsaysay awardee and National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy; former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra; Magsaysay awardee and former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh; Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed; former chairperson of Thermax Limited and Rajya Sabha MP Anu Aga; Centre for Science and Education director-general Sunita Narain and HDFC Bank chairperson Deepak Parekh spent an afternoon debating and discussing, before selecting the winners. The jury also nominated a Global Contribution to India award winner and a Lifetime Achievement award winner.

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.

Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.

There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.

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CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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Newtown Families March for Gun Control in DC

Jan 26, 2013 4:59pm

(YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Near-freezing temperatures didn’t stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with “Ban Assault Weapons Now” and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.

Walking in silence, the demonstrators trudged between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument over a thin layer of melting snow. They were joined by politicians and some families of the Newtown victims.

March organizer Shannon Watts said the event was for the “families who lost the lights of their lives in Newtown, daughters and sons, wives and mothers, grandchildren, sisters and brothers gone in an unfathomable instant.”

“Let’s stand together and use our voices, use our votes to let legislators know that we won’t stand down until they enact common sense gun control laws that will keep our children out of the line of fire,” she told demonstrators.

Watts founded One Million Moms for Gun Control after the killing of 20 first graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December. In a profile with the New York Times, Watts said her 12-year-old son had suffered panic attacks after learning of last summer’s Aurora, Colo., theater shooting, leaving her at an impasse over how to talk to him about the latest tragedy.

Also among the speakers was a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Collin Goddard.

“We need to challenge any politician who thinks it’s easier to ask an elementary school teacher to stand up to a gunman with an AR-15 than it is to ask them to stand up to a gun lobbyist with a checkbook,” he said.

The demonstration comes amid a push by progressive lawmakers to enact stricter gun control measures as a response to the trend of recent mass killings, although any hypothetical bill would likely face strong opposition in Congress.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was among the demonstrators today.

“The idea that people need high-capacity magazines that can fire 30, 50, 100 rounds has no place in a civilized society,” he said. “Between the time we’re gathered here right now and this time of day tomorrow, across America, 282 Americans will have been shot.”

The congressman was quoting statistics compiled by the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.

INFOGRAPHIC: Guns by the Numbers

Last week President Obama proposed a sweeping overhaul of federal measures regulating gun ownership, including a universal background check system for sales, banning assault weapons,  and curbing the amount of ammunition available in weapon clips.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday found 53 percent of Americans viewed Obama’s gun control plan favorably, 41 percent unfavorably. The division was visible today, as a handful of gun-rights advocates also turned out on the National Mall to protest what they believe would be infringements on their Second Amendment liberties.

ABC’s Joanne Fuchs contributed to this report.

SHOWS: Good Morning America World News

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French-led forces retake key north Mali town

BAMAKO: French-led troops recaptured the Islamist stronghold of Gao on Saturday, in a major boost to their 16-day-old offensive against Al Qaeda-linked rebels holding Mali's vast desert north.

France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the nation's troops were also advancing on Timbuktu, another key northern town held by the insurgents.

The seizure of Gao, the most populated town in Mali's northern region, which is roughly the size of Texas, was announced by the French defence ministry and confirmed by Malian security sources.

France said troops from Niger and Chad "will pick up the baton" and that the mayor of Gao, Sadou Diallo, was due to return from the capital Bamako, 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) to the southwest.

"A first contingent of Malian, Chadian and Niger troops are presently in Gao to help secure it," a Malian security source told AFP by telephone from the town. They had been flown in from Niamey, capital of neighbouring Niger.

"The French and African forces are in 100-percent control of the town of Gao," another Malian security source said. "There is popular rejoicing and everyone is very happy."

Other soldiers from Chad and Niger meanwhile were moving toward the Malian border from the Niger town of Ouallam, which lies about 100 kilometres southeast of Gao.

French-led forces had overnight Friday seized Gao's airport and a key bridge on the southern entrance of the town, held by the Al Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

There had not been substantive fighting around Gao, said a spokesman for the French military command, but there was some sporadic gunfire from "terrorist elements".

Defence ministry sources in Paris described as "plausible" a report in the Le Monde, citing military sources, that hundreds of Islamists had died since the French military intervention in Mali.

In April last year after a coup in Bamako, an alliance of Tuareg rebels who wanted to declare an independent homeland in the north and several hardline Islamist groups seized Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

The Islamists quickly sidelined the Tuaregs and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic sharia law. Transgressors were flogged, stoned and executed, they banned music and television and forced women to wear veils.

The Islamist groups include Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM); the MUJAO, which is an offshoot of AQIM; and homegrown Islamist group, Ansar Dine.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the troops were currently "around Gao and (will be) soon near Timbuktu," further to the west. A fabled caravan town on the edge of the Sahara desert, for centuries it was a centre of Islamic learning.

"The objective is that the African multinational force being put together be able to take over, and that Mali be able to begin a process of political stabilisation," he said.

The MUJAO meanwhile said it was ready for negotiations to release Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, a French national of Portuguese origin kidnapped in western Mali in November.

But Ayrault snubbed the offer. "We will not give in to blackmail," he said.

"We cannot cede to terrorism because if this is the case they will win every time."

West African defence chiefs meanwhile reviewed the slow deployment of regional forces to bolster the French-led offensive at an emergency meeting in Ivory Coast boosting their troops pledges to 5,700 from the previous 4,500.

Chad, which neighbours Mali but is not a member of the Economic Community of West African States raising that force, has separately promised 2,000 soldiers.

A fraction of the African forces has arrived in Bamako, the Malian capital in the south of the country, and is slowly deploying elsewhere. So far however, the French and Malian forces have done all the fighting.

France has already deployed 2,500 troops to Mali and its defence ministry says 1,900 African soldiers are already on the ground there and in Niger.

Aid agencies have expressed concern about the growing food crisis for civilians in the vast semi-arid north of Mali and the drought-stricken Sahel as a whole.

- AFP/fa

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Freedom of expression finds voices at literature festival

JAIPUR: To the Kashmiri, the British, the Scot and the Indian, freedom of speech and expression mean different things. Yet, on Saturday, their contexts coalesced at the Jaipur Literature Festival, where the debate circled around the ways in which governments and private interests reacted to free expression, especially on the World Wide Web. In a well-debated session panelists and the audience also agreed there was a need to rewrite many existing laws.

Author Basharat Peer spoke about the insidious ways in which censorship works in Kashmir; from the sound of tapped phones and policemen in civilian clothes keeping tabs on press conferences to government, systematically, cutting off the economic lifeline of an information dissemination agency by stopping government advertisements. "Last year, for instance, the government jailed an author for downloading a Pakistani paper. It was a conscious attempt to create a threat perception; a censor of sorts," he said.

Journalist Shoma Chaudhary agreed, adding that freedom of expression was in "serious jeopardy" in India. Calling herself an "Absolutist" Chaudhary defended the right to offend sensibilities, adding there was an urgent need to ensure absolute freedom of expression in art. "If you disagree with the songs Yo Yo Honey Singh sings, the answer is not to ban him. Instead, don't allow him the commercial success he has today. Don't endorse the product, but allow every artist to express themselves the way they want to."

Having examined the history and culture of censorship in Russia, Orlando Figes, the British historian of Russia, said free expression was also in danger, especially under authoritarian governments. Referring to Russia, Figes quoted a government research in 2010 that suggested that the Russians were happy with the quasi-government bodies controlling the process of information dissemination. "In my opinion, free expression is only relevant when it is combined with the right to protest and indulge in activism."

The perils of censorship, Scottish environmental activist John Burnside said, are not limited to some parts of the world alone. Speaking of Britain and Scotland, Burnside talked of private vested interests that ran governments in less visible ways. "Typically, when you begin investigating certain companies, they send out specious legal threats in an attempt to threaten you into silence. In a more overt manner, all the data on my laptop was melted after it was hacked." In less obvious and more insidious way, Burnside also spoke about how libraries were controlled. He said: "What books are available and the ones that are left out also make a significant study in censorship."

With the audience entering the debate demanding self-regulation and an end to anonymity on the Internet, Chaudhary said there was a need to throw open to debate Article 19 (2) of the Indian Constitution, which imposes "reasonable restrictions" on the freedom of speech and expression.

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.

Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.

There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.

___

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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'Hot' Guns Fueling Crime, US Study Says

Christmas is the one day of the year that Wal-Mart is closed, but for a group of four New Mexico burglars, it was the perfect time to stop in for some firearms.

Video surveillance cameras caught the masked burglars red-handed, stealing rifle after rifle. Police arrested the four men, and were able to recover the guns. But all too often, stolen weapons end up in the hands of criminals.

The New Mexico caper is part of a flood of gun thefts nationwide. And it's not only commercial gun dealers vulnerable to theft.

Guns are a top target for home burglars looking for something they can easily sell on the street.

An estimated 230,000 guns per year are stolen in home burglaries and property crimes, according to a study by the Department of Justice.

"Any burglar that goes in a house and finds guns, their eyes are going to light up," says former ATF Assistant Director Mike Bouchard. "That's the first thing they're going to take."

The statistics for commercial thefts show that nearly 25,000 guns per year are lost or stolen from gun dealers.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), more than 4,000 gun stores and retailers have been targeted in the last three years, with 74,000 guns reported stolen or lost. And criminals will use any method possible to get their hands on some weapons, either for their own use, or to sell on the black market.

Minnesota Public Radio, Jeffrey Thompson/AP Photo

Washington Teen Allegedly Helped Steal Father's Guns Watch Video

Obama on Gun Violence Measures: 'This Is Common Sense' Watch Video

Recently, thieves have taken to using a stolen vehicle to ram down the front doors of a gun store. In North Charleston, S.C., for example, burglars smashed a stolen truck right through Guns and Gold Trading Post, stealing $4,500 worth of guns before making a quick getaway.

"Gun stores are like candy stores for criminals," says Mike Bouchard.

2012 was a record year for gun sales, with more than 19.5 million background checks run for gun purchases, up almost 20% from the previous year. But while legitimate sales skyrocket, huge numbers of illegal guns are hitting the streets.

According to the Justice Department, more than 1.4 million guns were stolen or lost between 2005 and 2010.

Former ATF Assistant Director Bouchard says crooks have easy access to cheap stolen guns on the street.

"If you talk to any criminal, they can find a gun within an hour or two. Cheaper guns that were stolen can be sold for $50. On the street, a typical good handgun will run you $200 to $300," Bouchard said.

Some thieves have even targeted gun shipments, stealing the weapons before they get to market.

Last November, for example, a rogue truck driver allegedly stole a shipment of 111 guns he was supposed to deliver from the Smith and Wesson factory in Springfield, Mass.

When police caught him, they recovered 28 of the stolen guns, but some had already been used in crimes.

When police arrested the alleged stick-up robber known as the Black Jacket Bandit, they found one of the stolen guns was allegedly used by him in a convenience store robbery within weeks of the delivery heist.

In November, more than 100 powerful AK-47s were stolen from a rail yard in Atlanta. The guns were in a box car containing more than 1,000 guns being shipped from an overseas manufacturer to a major U.S. distributor, authorities say.

A few of the weapons have been recovered, but police are deeply concerned about having scores of new assault rifles falling into the wrong hands.

Given all the gun thefts, police say it is critical for gun owners to secure their weapons in gun safes or locked cases. And authorities are urging gun retailers to fortify their buildings, to try to prevent "smash and grab" type robberies.

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