Severe storms pummel central US, Southern states






JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A large storm system packing high winds, thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes is continuing its sweep across several Southern and central U.S. states.


Emergency management officials say the large storm front blacked out thousands in Arkansas and has caused scattered power outages in northern Mississippi. At least one person was reported injured by lightning in Arkansas.






Jeff Rent at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency urged residents to be on guard for severe thunderstorms, high winds and possible twisters. Tennessee and other states also were on guard Wednesday.


Rent says some houses have been damaged and trees and power lines felled as the brunt of the storm was felt in four Mississippi counties overnight. The storm is set to sweep toward the Eastern seaboard in coming hours.


Weather News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Bill Gates: We should grade teachers




Bill Gates discusses class work with students at South High School in Denver, Colorado last year.




STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • Bill Gates says his foundation is focused on setting goals, measuring progress

  • To improve education, we need measures of teacher effectiveness, he says

  • Gates: It's worth spending what it takes for strong evaluation system

  • He says better measuring will empower teachers to do their best work




Editor's note: Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Watch an interview with him Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS" at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET.


(CNN) -- Today I released my annual letter. Each year, I reflect on what I learned in the last year through our travels and work with the foundation and how that will shape my thinking over the coming months. This year, my letter focuses on how important it is to set clear goals and measure progress in order to accomplish the foundation's priorities, both here at home and around the world.


Setting a clear goal lets you know what you're driving at: Picking the right interventions that will have the most impact on that final goal, using that information to understand what's working and what's not, and adapting your strategy as necessary. One of the clearest examples of the power of measurement was the work of our partners to support great teachers.


In the past few years, the quest to understand great teaching has been at the center of the public discussion about how to improve education in America. But for the country's 3 million teachers and 50 million schoolchildren, great teaching isn't an abstract policy issue. For teachers, understanding great teaching means the opportunity to receive feedback on the skills and techniques that can help them excel in their careers. For students, it means a better chance of graduating from high school ready for success in life.


But what do we mean when we talk about great teaching? In my experience, the vast majority of teachers get zero feedback on how to improve.


That's because for decades, our schools have lacked the kinds of measurement tools that can drive meaningful change. Teachers have worked in isolation and been asked to improve with little or no feedback, while schools have struggled to create systems to provide feedback that's consistent, fair and reliable.


That's why the Gates Foundation supported the Measures of Effective Teaching, or MET, project. The project was an extraordinary, three-year collaboration between dozens of researchers and nearly 3,000 teacher volunteers from seven U.S. public school districts who opened their classrooms so we could study how to improve the way we measure and give feedback about great teaching.


Earlier this month, the MET project released its final findings. The report confirmed that it is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching.




The project also found that using multiple measures to understand a teacher's performance -- including classroom observations, student surveys and growth in student achievement -- provides a richer and more reliable picture of a teacher's strengths and areas for improvement than any one measure alone.


Some critics say a strong evaluation system costs too much. The foundation and others have estimated that it could cost between 1.5% and 2% of the overall budget for teacher compensation and benefits to implement a feedback and evaluation system based on multiple measures of teaching performance.


But such an investment in great teaching would be small compared to what is being spent now on professional development that too often shows little results. And if lessons learned from addressing equally complex challenges in other sectors are any guide, investing in a reliable system to measure and support effective teaching will pay rich dividends.


Knowing how to identify and measure great teaching is a huge step toward providing better feedback and support for teachers and building a better education system for all our children -- but it's just one step. The challenge now is to use this information to give teachers the tools, resources and support they need to do their best work.


As schools become better equipped to provide tailored, constructive support, teachers will become empowered to be students of their own teaching. Creating that kind of environment -- one that supports teachers' professional growth and better prepares students for life after high school -- is worth the investment.


Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.


Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.


The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bill Gates.






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George Ryan arrives at West Side halfway house


























































Former Gov. George Ryan arrived at a West Side halfway house this morning after being released from a federal prison in Indiana.


Wearing a gray suit, white shirt and maroon tie, Ryan was surrounded by TV cameras as he walked across the street and entered the four-story red brick building at Ashland Avenue and Monroe Street shortly before 7 a.m.


Ryan smiled tightly as he refused to answer questions from reporters. Former Gov. Jim Thompson accompanied Ryan into the house.








Ryan completed more than 5 years of a a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in Terre Haute, Ind. for a corruption conviction. 


Ryan entered prison on Nov. 7, 2007. His wife of more than 50 years, Lura Lynn, died of cancer in June 2011.

Ryan's conviction for fraud, racketeering and other charges was the culmination of the federal Operation Safe Road investigation that exposed rampant bribery in state driver's license facilities while he was secretary of state as well as misdeeds as governor.


After a six-month trial, a federal jury convicted Ryan in 2006 of steering millions of dollars in state business to lobbyists and friends in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits to Ryan and his family.

The conviction overshadowed Ryan's long career in government.


The Kankakee native rose from speaker of the Illinois House to win statewide election as lieutenant governor, secretary of state and then one term as governor. His actions as governor included placing a moratorium on the death penalty and emptying death row, moves that won him international acclaim.


chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Twitter: @chicagobreaking






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Mursi heads to Germany on trip cut back by Egypt crisis


CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany on Wednesday to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, leaving behind a country in crisis after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 people.


Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on the seventh day of what has become the deadliest wave of unrest since Mursi took power in June.


The Egyptian army chief warned on Tuesday that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi's opponents and supporters did not end street battles that have marked the two-year anniversary of the revolt that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.


Because of the crisis, Mursi has curtailed his European visit, cancelling plans to go to Paris after Berlin. He is due to return to Cairo later in the day.


Near Tahrir Square on Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters threw stones at police who fired back teargas, although the scuffles were brief.


"Our demand is simply that Mursi goes, and leaves the country alone. He is just like Mubarak and his crowd who are now in prison," said Ahmed Mustafa, 28, a youth who had goggles on his head to protect his eyes from teargas.


Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei called for a meeting between the president, government ministers, the ruling party and the opposition to halt the violence. But he also restated the opposition's precondition that Mursi first commit to seeking a national unity government, which the president has so far rejected.


Mursi's critics accuse him of betraying the spirit of the revolution by keeping too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement banned under Mubarak which won repeated elections since the 2011 uprising.


Mursi's supporters say the protesters want to overthrow Egypt's first democratically elected leader. The unrest has prevented a return to stability ahead of parliamentary elections due within months, and worsened an economic crisis that has seen the pound currency tumble in recent weeks.


The worst violence has been in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, where rage was fuelled by death sentences passed against soccer fans for deadly riots last year. Mursi responded by announcing on Sunday a month-long state of emergency and curfew in Port Said and two other Suez Canal cities.


Protesters have ignored the curfew and returned to the streets. Human Rights Watch called for Mursi to lift the decree.


Mursi will be keen to allay the West's fears over the future of the most populous Arab country when he meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel and powerful industry groups in Berlin.


"DISTURBING IMAGES"


"We have seen worrying images in recent days, images of violence and destruction, and I appeal to both sides to engage in dialogue," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a radio interview on Wednesday ahead of Mursi's arrival.


Germany's "offer to help with Egypt's transformation clearly depends on it sticking to democratic reforms", he added.


Germany has praised Mursi's efforts in mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza after a conflict last year, but became concerned at Mursi's efforts to expand his powers and fast-track a constitution last year.


Berlin was also alarmed by video that emerged in recent weeks showing Mursi making vitriolic remarks against Jews and Zionists in 2010 when he was a senior Brotherhood official. Germany's Nazi past and strong support of Israel make it highly sensitive to anti-Semitism.


Mursi's past anti-Jewish remarks were "unacceptable", Westerwelle said. "But at the same time President Mursi has played a very constructive role mediating in the Gaza conflict."


Egypt's main liberal and secularist bloc, the National Salvation Front, has so far refused talks with Mursi unless he promises a unity government including opposition figures.


"Stopping the violence is the priority, and starting a serious dialogue requires committing to guarantees demanded by the National Salvation Front, at the forefront of which are a national salvation government and a committee to amend the constitution," ElBaradei said on Twitter.


Those calls have also been backed by the hardline Islamist Nour party - rivals of Mursi's Brotherhood. Nour and the Front were due to meet on Wednesday, signaling an unlikely alliance of Mursi's critics from opposite ends of the political spectrum.


Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy dismissed the unity government proposal as a ploy for the Front to take power despite having lost elections. On his Facebook page he ridiculed "the leaders of the Salvation Front, who seem to know more about the people's interests than the people themselves".


German industry leaders see potential in Egypt but are concerned about political instability: "At the moment many firms are waiting on political developments and are cautious on any big investments," said Hans Heinrich Driftmann, head of Germany's Chamber of Industry and Commerce.


Mursi's supporters blame the opposition for preventing an economic recovery by halting efforts to restore stability. The opposition says an inclusive government is needed to bring calm.


"The economy depends on political stability and political stability depends on national consensus. But the Muslim Brotherhood does not talk about consensus, and so it will not lead to any improvement in the political situation, and that will lead the economy to collapse," said teacher Kamal Ghanim, 38, a protester in Tahrir Square.


(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad in Cairo, Stephen Brown and Gernot Heller in Berlin and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood and Paul Taylor)



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Stock futures lower; Ford volatile in premarket


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures edged lower on Tuesday as investors took profits following an extended rally and waited for earnings and data on consumer confidence and housing.


Equities have been on a tear lately, with the S&P 500 ending an eight-day streak of gains in Monday's session. The index remained above 1,500, suggesting there was still support for a market that has been hovering around five-year highs.


"We need to slow down and digest the huge move we've had, so it makes sense futures are weak this morning, though it is also encouraging that we're still strong enough to stay above 1,500," said Christian Wagner, chief executive officer at Longview Capital Management in Wilmington, Delaware.


The gains have largely come on a strong start to earnings season and that trend continued on Tuesday, with positive results from both Ford Motor Co and Pfizer Inc .


Pfizer, a Dow component, posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped expectations, sending shares up 0.6 percent to $26.95. Eli Lilly and Co , a peer pharmaceutical company, rose 1.6 percent to $53.50 after it also reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations.


Ford also posted earnings that topped consensus views, but the stock was volatile in premarket trading fluctuating from rise to loss. The second-largest car company forecast a wider loss in its European segment because of weakness in that region. After climbing more than 4 percent before the bell, it turned lower to fall 2 percent to $13.50.


"We've had some cross-currents on earnings, with both strength and weakness, and that's another reason we need some affirmation the upside will continue from here," said Wagner.


Yahoo Inc rose 1.9 percent to $20.70 in premarket trading a day after reporting adjusted earnings that beat expectations and forecasting a rise in annual revenue.


Thomson Reuters data showed that of the 150 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 67.3 percent have beaten analysts' expectations, which is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.


S&P 500 futures fell 5.2 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 30 points and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 9.5 points.


The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee begins two days of meetings on interest rates. Traders speculated more solid U.S. growth indicators might see the Fed pull back on its aggressive easing stimulus, which has played a key role in fuelling an equity market rally since the second half of last year.


In a sign of the improved view towards equities, investors poured $55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, the biggest monthly inflow on record, research provider TrimTabs Investment Research said.


Still, market participants will look to the latest economic data for evidence the recent rally was justified.


January consumer confidence, due at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) is seen dipping to 64 from 65.1 in the previous month. The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for November is seen showing an increase of 0.6 percent in home prices. Case/Shiller is due at 9 a.m.


While the housing market has recently shown signs of improvement, data released on Monday showed pending home sales unexpectedly slumped in December.


U.S. stocks edged modestly lower on Monday. However, Caterpillar Inc rallied after results, limiting losses in the Dow, while a rebound in shares of Apple Inc kept the Nasdaq in positive territory.


(Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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Woods makes short work at Torrey Pines


SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tiger Woods never looked so irritated winning a golf tournament so comfortably.


His record eighth victory at Torrey Pines was all but over when Woods ripped a 5-iron from 244 yards over the corner of a bunker and onto the green at the par-5 13th hole, setting up a two-putt birdie that gave him an eight shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open.


At least he had plenty of time to savor this victory. The final five holes felt like they took forever.


Woods twirled his club on the tee and leaned on it in the fairway as the final round dragged on. He lost rhythm and appeared to lose interest, and it showed. A bogey from the bunker on the 14th. A tee shot that caromed off a eucalyptus tree on the 15th hole that led to double bogey. A tee shot he popped up on the 17th hole that left him 50 yards behind the other players and led to another bogey.


"It got a little ugly at the end," Woods said. "I started losing patience a little bit with the slow play."


No matter. It only affected the margin, not the outcome. Woods had to settle for an even-par 72 that gave him a four-shot win over defending champion Brandt Snedeker and Josh Teater, who each had a 69.


For a tour that has been criticized for slow play, this wasn't an ideal start to the network portion of its schedule. With Woods virtually a lock to win, CBS Sports wanted the final round to resume Monday later than normal so that it could be televised in late afternoon on the East Coast. Play was so slow that CBS went over its allotted time.


Woods, meanwhile, had the ideal start to his tour season.


Only a week earlier, he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, in part because of a two-shot penalty assessed after his second round for taking an illegal drop. Woods had never missed the cut on the European Tour, and he had never started his season with the weekend off.


He might have been the only one who didn't panic.


Woods seized control with a 65 on the North Course at Torrey Pines, the spent the rest of the week pulling away from the field until no one could catch him.


"I don't know if anybody would have beaten him this week," said Nick Watney, who got within five shots of Woods when the tournament was still undecided until making three bogeys on his next five holes. "He's definitely on his game."


It's still too early to figure out the state of his game, especially in relation to Rory McIlroy, who also missed the cut in Abu Dhabi.


Torrey Pines is a public course that Woods treats like his private domain. He won the tournament for the seventh time, one short of the PGA Tour record for most wins in a single event. Sam Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times. Woods won for the eighth time at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open, and that's a PGA Tour record that Woods previously shared with ... himself. He also has won seven times at Firestone and Bay Hill.


"I think he wanted to send a message," said Hunter Mahan, who shares a swing coach with Woods. "I think deep down he did. You play some games to try to motivate yourself. There's been so much talk about Rory. Rory is now with Nike. That would be my guess."


And it was his 75th win on the PGA Tour, seven short of the record held by Snead. Woods has won 23 of those tournaments by at least four shots.


"I'm excited the way I played all week," Woods said. "I hit the ball well — pretty much did everything well and built myself a nice little cushion. I had some mistakes at the end, but all my good play before that allowed me to afford those mistakes."


Woods mostly had reason to be excited about his short game.


In the third round Sunday, he was furious with himself for going long on the par-3 eighth green, without much green between his ball and the hole. Woods hit a chip solidly, with just enough loft, to leave himself a tap-in par. In the conclusion of the final round Monday, he pulled his tee shot into a bad spot in the bunker on the par-3 11th. The lie was good, but he had to aim well left, meaning his legs were spread wide on the slope of the sand.


He blasted it out with his 60-degree wedge to a top shelf, and then watched it feed down a slope to the right. It lost pace at the end or it might have gone in.


It looked good for television. It was a difficult shot, but not impossible.


But Woods believes those are the shots he wasn't converting a year ago. And that's one reason his outlook was so bright on the rest of the year, even after having to cope with so much fog along the Pacific bluffs.


He played the par 5s in 12 under for the lead — that alone would have been enough to win — and attributed that to his short game.


"My short game was back to how I know it can be," Woods said. "My shots that I hit, especially out of these nasty little lies, I hit some really good ones this week. And that allowed me to save some pars, make some birdies, and move my way up the board. And basically, that's what I did."


Woods figures his swing change under Sean Foley took root at some point last year, but that he had devoted so much time to the swing that he neglected his wedges. Now that he is practicing more on his short game, he expects better results — turning a 74 into a 70, and not losing leads at the majors, like he did twice last year.


Still, the season is young.


Any measure of Woods likely will have to wait until the road to the Masters gets going during the Florida Swing. Woods headed home to Florida on Monday night and is not expected to return until the Match Play Championship in Arizona a month from now. McIlroy also isn't expected to play until then, and match play being such a fickle format, the better gauge could come in the Honda Classic and at Doral.


Woods, however, likes where he is headed.


Torrey Pines is a good omen for the rest of his year. Whenever he starts a PGA Tour season with a win at Torrey, he tends to have big years — eight wins and two majors in 2006, seven wins and a major in 2007, four wins in only six starts in 2008.


Where will this lead?


"Does it feel good? Yes. Does it give me confidence? Absolutely," Woods said. "But as far as the other stuff, as I said, I'm excited about this year. I'm excited about what I'm doing with Sean and some of the things that I've built. This is a nice way to start the year."


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U.S. F-16 fighter based in Italy may have crashed in Adriatic






ROME (Reuters) – A U.S. F-16 fighter jet was feared to have crashed on Monday during a training exercise over the Adriatic Sea, and the U.S. Air Force said the status of its Italy-based pilot was unknown.


Search efforts by the U.S. Air Force and the Italian Coast Guard are under way in poor weather conditions with limited visibility. A fuel slick had been sighted at sea, ANSA news agency reported.






The U.S. Air Force said only that it “lost contact” with the F-16 at about 8 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) – language often used to describe a possible crash, although Air Force officials declined to speculate about the incident.


“The aircraft was performing a training mission over the Adriatic Sea with one person on board. The pilot’s condition is unknown at this time,” the U.S. Air Force said in a statement.


An Italian Coast Guard spokesman told Reuters that the search-and-rescue effort was being hampered by a mixture of rain and snow in the area.


“The search continues despite the darkness and the bad weather,” he said.


He could not confirm the ANSA report that a fuel slick on the water had been spotted.


A helicopter, four Italian Coast Guard cutters and four commercial vessels were combing the waters 10 miles from Cervia, on the northern Adriatic coast. Coast Guard divers have also been readied for the morning, he said.


A spokeswoman at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy said more information would released when it became available.


(Reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Eric Beech)


Weather News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Why haven't we learned from fires?






STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • Pyrotechnics, overcrowding, poor exits have contributed to tragic fires in recent years

  • You would think the world would have learned from past incidents, John Barylick says

  • Concertgoers have to be their own fire marshals, he says




Editor's note: John Barylick, author of "Killer Show," a book on the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island, is an attorney who represented victims in wrongful death and personal injury cases arising from the fire.


(CNN) -- Sunday morning we awoke to breaking news of another tragic nightclub fire, this time in Brazil. At last report the death toll exceeded 230.


This tragedy is not without precedent. Next month will mark the 10th anniversary of a similar nightclub fire in Rhode Island. At this sad time, it's appropriate to reflect on what we've learned from club fires -- and what we haven't.


Rhode Island's Station nightclub fire of 2003, in which 100 concertgoers lost their lives, began when fireworks set off by Great White, an 80s heavy metal band, ignited flammable packing foam on the club's walls.


Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history



John Barylick

John Barylick





Panicked patrons stampeded toward the club's main exit, and a fatal pileup ensued. Contributing to the tragedy were illegal use of pyrotechnics, overcrowding and a wall covering that would have failed even the most rudimentary flammability tests.


Video images of the Station fire were broadcast worldwide: A concert begins; the crowd's mood changes from merry, to curious, to concerned, to horrified -- in less than a minute. You'd think the world would have learned from it. You would be wrong.



The following year, the Republica Cromanon nightclub in Argentina went up in flames, killing 194 people. The club was made to hold about 1,000 people, but it was estimated that more than 3,000 fans were packed inside the night of the fire, which began when fans began lighting flares that caught the roof on fire.


Echoes of the past: Rhode Island victims 'can't help but watch'


Then, in January 2009, at least 64 New Year's revelers lost their lives in a nightclub in Bangkok, Thailand, after fire ignited its ceiling. Many were crushed in a rush to get out of the club. In December of that same year, a fire in a Russian nightclub, ignited by pyrotechnics, killed 156 people. Overcrowding, poor exits, and indoor fireworks all played roles in these tragedies; yet no one bothered to learn from mistakes of the past.


While responsibility for concert disasters unquestionably lies with venue operators, performers and promoters, ultimately, we, as patrons of clubs and concerts, can enhance our own safety by taking a few simple steps. The National Fire Protection Association urges concertgoers to:


• Be observant. Is the concert venue rundown or well-maintained? Does the staff look well-trained?


• As you proceed to your seat, observe how long the process takes. Could you reverse it in a hurry? Do you pass through pinch points? Is furniture in the way?


• Once seated, take note of the nearest exit. (In an emergency, most people try to exit by the door they entered, which is usually not the closest, and is always overcrowded.) Then, share the location of that nearest exit with your entire party. Agree that at the first sign of trouble, you will all proceed to it without delay.


• Once the show begins, remain vigilant. If you think there's a problem, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. Do not stay to "get your money's worth" despite concerns about safety. Do not remain to locate that jacket or bag you placed somewhere. No concert is worth your life. Better to read about an incident the next day than be counted as one of its statistics.


Read more: How to protect yourself in a crowd


To be sure, all fire codes must be vigorously enforced, and club and concert hall operators must be held to the highest standards. A first step is banning indoor pyrotechnics in all but the largest, stadium-type venues.


But, ultimately, we are our own best "fire marshals" when it comes to avoiding, and escaping, dangerous situations. We can still enjoy shows. But it is up to us to look out for our own safety.


In coming days, Rhode Islanders will follow the unfolding news from Brazil with a sense of queasy deja vu -- the rising body counts, the victim identification process, the grieving families, and the assigning (and dodging) of blame. If only they had learned from our tragedy.


The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Barylick.







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Woman badly hurt after jumping from window to escape fire













West Side fire


Fire crews at the scene of a West Side fire early this morning where four people were injured.
(WGN-TV / January 29, 2013)



























































A woman jumped from a window and three other people were injured in a fire that broke out in the South Austin neighborhood Tuesday morning, authorities said.

"When they got here, there was one woman who jumped from second floor," said District Deputy Chief Don Hroma on the scene.

The 30-year-old woman was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious to critical condition, according to the Fire Department. Three other people, two teen-aged girls and a man, were taken to hospitals in fair to serious condition.

The fire started around 4 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Leamington Avenue, officials said. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke in the front and heavy fire on the back porches, Hroma said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Hroma said the building did not have gas service. Seven children and two adults were displaced, Hroma said.

The fire also spread to a neighboring building, but no one there was expected to be displaced.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @chicagobreaking


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Army says political tussle taking Egypt to brink


CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief said political strife was pushing the state to the brink of collapse - a stark warning from the institution that ran the country until last year as Cairo's first freely elected leader struggles to contain bloody street violence.


General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, appointed by President Mohamed Mursi last year to head the military, added in a statement on Tuesday that one of the primary goals of deploying troops in cities on the Suez Canal was to protect the waterway that is vital for Egypt's economy and world trade.


Sisi's comments, published on an official army Facebook page, followed 52 deaths in the past week of disorder and highlighted the mounting sense of crisis facing Egypt and its Islamist head of state who is struggling to fix a teetering economy and needs to prepare Egypt for a parliamentary election in a few months that is meant to cement the new democracy.


Violence largely subsided on Tuesday, although some youths again hurled rocks at police lines in Cairo near Tahrir Square.


It seemed unlikely that Sisi was signaling the army wants to take back the power it held for six decades since the end of the colonial era and through an interim period after the overthrow of former air force chief Hosni Mubarak two years ago.


But his message sent a powerful message that Egypt's biggest institution, with a huge economic as well as security role and a recipient of massive direct U.S. subsidies, is worried about the fate of the nation, after five days of turmoil in major cities.


"The continuation of the struggle of the different political forces ... over the management of state affairs could lead to the collapse of the state," said General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is also defense minister in the government Mursi appointed.


He said the economic, political and social challenges facing the country represented "a real threat to the security of Egypt and the cohesiveness of the Egyptian state" and the army would remain "the solid and cohesive block" on which the state rests.


Sisi was picked by Mursi after the army handed over power to the new president in June once Mursi had sacked Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, in charge of Egypt during the transition and who had also been Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.


RALLY AT FUNERALS


After almost seven months since Mursi took office, Egypt politics have become even more deeply polarized.


Opponents spurned a call by Mursi for talks on Monday to try to end the violence. Instead, protesters have rallied in Cairo and Alexandria, and in the three Suez Canal cities - Port Said, Ismailia and Suez - where Mursi imposed emergency rule.


On Tuesday, thousands were again on the streets of Port Said to mourn the deaths of two people in the latest clashes there, taking the total toll in Mediterranean port alone to 42 people. Most were killed by gunshots in a city where weapons are rife.


Mohamed Ezz, a Port Said resident speaking by telephone, heard heavy gunfire through the night. "Gunshots damaged the balcony of my flat, so I went to stay with my brother," he said.


Residents in the three canal cities had taken to the streets in protest at a nightly curfew now in place there.


In Cairo on Tuesday afternoon, police again fired teargas as stone-throwing youths in a street near Tahrir Square, the centre of the 2011 uprising. But the clashes were less intense than previous days and traffic was able to cross the area. Street cleaners swept up the remains of burnt tires and other debris.


Street flare-ups are a common occurrence in divided Egypt, frustrating many people desperate for order and economic growth.


Although the general's comments were notably blunt, Egypt's military has voiced similar concerns in the past, pledging to protect the nation. But it has refused to be drawn back into a direct political role after its reputation as a neutral party took a pounding during the 17 months after Mubarak fell.


"Egyptians are really alarmed by what is going on," said Cairo-based analyst Elijah Zarwan, adding that the army was reflecting that broader concern among the wider public.


"But I don't think it should be taken as a sign that the military is on the verge of stepping in and taking back the reins of government," he added.


In December, Sisi offered to host a national dialogue when Mursi and the rivals were again at loggerheads and the streets were aflame. But the invitation was swiftly withdrawn before the meeting went ahead, apparently because the army was wary of becoming embroiled again in Egypt's polarized politics.


LEGITIMACY CHALLENGED


Protests initially flared during the second anniversary of the uprising that erupted on January 25, 2011 and toppled Mubarak 18 days later. They have been exacerbated by riots in Port Said where residents were angered when a court sentenced to death several people from the city over deadly soccer violence.


Since the 2011 revolt, Islamists who Mubarak spent his 30-year rule suppressing have won two referendums, two parliamentary elections and a presidential vote.


But that legitimacy has been challenged by an opposition that accuses Mursi of imposing a new form of authoritarianism. Mursi's supporters says protesters want to overthrow Egypt's first ever democratically elected leader by undemocratic means.


The army has already been deployed in Port Said and Suez and the government agreed a measure to let soldiers arrest civilians as part of the state of emergency. Sisi reiterated that the army's role would be support the police in restoring order.


The instability has provoked unease in Western capitals, where officials worry about the direction of a powerful regional player that has a peace deal with Israel. The United States condemned the bloodshed and called on Egyptian leaders to make clear violence was not acceptable.


Mursi's invitation to rivals to a national dialogue with Islamists on Monday was spurned by the main opposition National Salvation Front coalition, which described it as "cosmetic".


The only liberal politician who attended, Ayman Nour, told Egypt's al-Hayat channel after the meeting ended late on Monday that attendees agreed to meet again in a week.


He said Mursi had promised to look at changes to the constitution requested by the opposition but did not consider the opposition's request for a government of national unity. Mursi's pushing through last month of a new constitution which critics see as too Islamic remains a bone of contention.


When Mursi announced he was imposing a state of emergency on the Suez Canal cities he pledged to confront threats to security "with force and firmness." But Some activists said Mursi's measures to try to impose control could backfire.


"Martial law, state of emergency and army arrests of civilians are not a solution to the crisis," said Ahmed Maher of the April 6 movement that helped galvanize the 2011 uprising. "All this will do is further provoke the youth. The solution has to be a political one that addresses the roots of the problem."


(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Omar Filmy in Cairo, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia and Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



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