The death toll has risen to 61 following fierce gunbattles between inmates and National Guard troops at a Venezuelan prison, a hospital director said Saturday. About 120 more people were wounded in one of the deadliest prison riots in the nation's history.

Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela said Saturday that officials had begun evacuating inmates from the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto and transferring them to other facilities, but she did not provide an official death toll.

However, Dr. Ruy Medina, director of Central Hospital in the city of Barquisimeto, told The Associated Press that the number of dead had risen to 61. He initially told Venezuelan news media after the Friday uprising that about 50 were killed.

Medina said that nearly all of the injuries were from gunshots and that 45 of the estimated 120 people who were wounded remained hospitalized. Some underwent surgeries for their wounds.

Relatives wept outside the prison during the violence, and cried at the morgue Saturday as they waited to identify bodies.

The riot was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in Venezuela's overcrowded and often anarchical prisons, where inmates typically obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards. Critics called it proof that the government is failing to get a grip on a worsening national crisis in its penitentiaries.

The gunbattles seized attention amid uncertainty about President Hugo Chavez's future, while he remained in Cuba recovering and undergoing treatment more than six weeks after his latest cancer surgery.

Government officials pledged a thorough investigation, while some critics said there should have been ways for the authorities to prevent such bloodshed.

Nayibe Mendez, the mother of a 22-year-old inmate in the prison, told the AP that she was able to talk by phone with her son and he was uninjured.

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.

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.

Earlier this week, there was a report that Taylor Swift broke up with Harry Styles because he kissed like a snail and no one wants to kiss a snail. Unless the snail is a banana slug which is just a snail without a shell. Anyhoo, the gist of the story was they had a lack of chemistry on account of Styles dragging his tongue across her mouth during every kiss.

Now the National Enquirer has a new report that says the real reason they broke up was because Taylor wouldn’t stop making fun of Harry’s uncircumcised penis. A source says Harry ended it because he was sick of Taylor “nagging him about clipping his [penis].” Apparently, Taylor didn’t like that Harry wasn’t circumcised so she kept pushing him to get it cut.

Harry told her it wasn’t ever going to happen. Whenever Taylor brought it up, Harry would roll his eyes and ignore her but eventually he couldn’t take it anymore.

What I want to know is how Taylor is going to work that into a song. She’ll have to use a euphemism like this dude had a pet aardvark she didn’t like and she asked him to get rid of it but he said no so obviously it was all his fault and now she’s living in a big old city and all he’s ever going to be is foreskinny.

Shots fired! Shots fired! UFC president Dana White has an interview in Sports Illustrated where he talks about the UFC, women in the UFC, gays in the UFC and Justin Timberlake being a dickhead to his kids.

    You told me the story, and I can’t remember the specifics. You met some celebrity or someone and they didn’t give you the time day and it stuck with you. You said, ‘When somebody shouts out to me in a crowd or someone says can I talk to you…

    That story you are talking about was when I was a kid. It was at the library here in Vegas and it was the guy from like the Channel 13 news. I was a little kid and I ran up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, could I get your autograph?’ Could not have been a bigger d—.

    Yeah, I was so blown away by that. That was like the first celebrity I had ever seen. He was such a d—. Yeah, you know, I said I would never treat people like that and never be like that.

    Recently me and my wife were at Nickelodeon Awards and we were backstage with the Black Eyed Peas in their dressing room hanging out.

    First of all, this thing is in L.A., so every guy on the planet wants to get their kids backstage with all the people that are back there. They had Bieber, Selena Gomez, all these people are back there. So my kids are back there and they’re taking pictures with all these people and stuff.

    There [are] no other kids backstage. No other kids. Just my kids, and I think I have Lorenzo’s daughter with me, too. This was a few years ago. You name it, A-list, all the A-listers that the kids would love are backstage.

    The biggest d—head back there was Justin Timberlake.

    Don’t say that.

    Just such a complete jack off, yeah.

    Blew your kids off?

    Just couldn’t have been a bigger d—.

    He’s a big UFC fan, I thought.

    I don’t know if he’s a UFC fan or not, but I’m not a big Timberlake fan. Takes two seconds to say hi to a kid. Takes two seconds. I never run by anybody. If you’re a fan of the UFC and you like it or your kids like it, why would I not want to talk to you? Why would I not?

White doesn’t go into anymore details other than Timberlake blew him and his kids off. Granted, this could just sound like a fan venting because he was shunned but you have to remember, Dana isn’t the first person to call Justin a dickhead. Tales of his dickheadishness are known far and wide and told across many great lands. You could even say Justin is like a Moby Dickhead.

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider wants to remind Republicans that gun-loving Ted Nugent reportedly once dodged the Vietnam draft in quite possibly the grossest way imaginable.

During an interview with Noisecreep, Snider broached the subject of Nugent's recent comments on President Barack Obama's gun control proposal and Second Amendment rights. Snider, an Obama supporter, wanted to remind Republicans that the Detroit native did not always put his country first. In fact, Snider said, Nugent dodged the Vietnam draft by reportedly vomiting and defecating on himself and failing the physical exam.

Ted's always been a gun-toting conservative. But what gets me is that he was actually a draft dodger! I mean, to the point where he didn't bathe for a week, and vomited on himself to deliberately avoid the draft. I totally understand why he did that, but all of these Republicans who love Ted don't seem to know or remember that too well. It's crazy that he's become one of the voices of Conservative America even though he was a draft dodger. If you don't believe me, Google it.

However, Snider's comments about Nugent dodging the draft didn't come out of thin air; Nugent himself reportedly attested to the act during a 1977 interview with High Times.

RawStory points to an excerpt from the interview on DangerousMinds.net. Snopes.com, a myth-busting site, also highlighted Nugent's quotes in an April 2012 post:

    I got my physical notice 30 days prior to. Well, on that day I ceased cleansing my body. No more brushing my teeth, no more washing my hair, no baths, no soap, no water. Thirty days of debris build. I stopped shavin’ and I was 18, had a little scraggly beard, really looked like a hippie. I had long hair, and it started gettin’ kinky, matted up. Then two weeks before, I stopped eating any food with nutritional value. I just had chips, Pepsi, beer - stuff I never touched - ... little jars of Polish sausages, and I’d drink the syrup, I was this side of death, Then a week before, I stopped going to the bathroom. I did it in my pants. poop, piss the whole shot. My pants got crusted up.

However, during a 2006 interview with the U.K.'s Independent, Nugent denied the whole story, saying, "You've got to realize that these interviewers would arrive with glazed eyes and I would make stories up. I never did crystal meth. And I never pooped my pants."


Snopes did some digging and discovered that the firearm advocate did have a student deferment, but he was ultimately rejected from military service in 1969 as a result of a physical examination.

According to its official statements, North Korea is ready to go to the brink. But how serious are Pyongyang's threats?

This week, new U.N. sanctions punishing the North's successful December rocket launch have elicited a furious response from Pyongyang: strong hints that a third nuclear test is coming, along with bigger and better long-range missiles; "all-out action" against its "sworn enemy," the United States; and on Friday, a threat of "strong physical countermeasures" against South Korea if Seoul participates in the sanctions.

"Sanctions mean war," said a statement carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

In the face of international condemnation, North Korea can usually be counted on for such flights of rhetorical pique. In recent years it threatened to turn South Korea into a "sea of fire," and to wage a "sacred war" against its enemies.

If the past is any indication, its threats of war are overblown. But the chances it will conduct another nuclear test are high. And it is gaining ground in its missile program, experts say, though still a long way from seriously threatening the U.S. mainland.

"It's not the first time they've made a similar threat of war," said Ryoo Kihl-jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "What's more serious than the probability of an attack on South Korea is that of a nuclear test. I see very slim chances of North Korea following through with its threat of war."

Although North Korea's leadership is undeniably concerned that it might be attacked or bullied by outside powers, the tough talk is mainly an attempt to bolster its bargaining position in diplomatic negotiations.

The impoverished North is in need of international aid and is eager to sign a treaty bringing a formal end to the Korean War, which ended nearly 60 years ago in a truce. It uses its weapons program as a wedge in the ever-repeating diplomatic dance with the U.S.-led international community, and there is no reason to believe this time is different.

 The smallest of gains gave the Standard & Poor's 500 its seventh straight winning day on Thursday, but the index failed to hold above the 1,500 line, restrained by Apple's worst day in more than four years.

Apple Inc slid 12.4 percent to $450.50 a day after it posted revenue that missed Wall Street's forecast as iPhone sales were poorer than expected.

The sharp drop wiped out nearly $60 billion in Apple's market capitalization to less than $423 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable U.S. company to second-place ExxonMobil, at $416.5 billion.

The S&P 500, however, managed to hit its longest winning streak since October 2006.

"The market has sent the message it is no longer driven by the whims of Apple," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O'Neil Securities in New York.

The S&P 500 briefly traded above 1,500 for the first time since Dec. 12, 2007, but failed to hold above it, indicating that momentum is waning and a pullback is in the charts.

"If the market had a little bit more excitement to it, momentum players would have jumped after it broke through 1,500. Investors know the market is a little bit ahead of itself," Polcari said.

Economic data helped buoy equities as U.S. factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy's pulse.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturing grew this month at the fastest pace in about two years, while data suggesting German growth picked up boosted hopes for a euro-zone recovery.

"PMI in Asia, Europe, and obviously, here in the United States, is moving in the right direction, and that's stuff people should be excited about," Polcari said.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points or 0.33 percent, to 13,825.33 at the close. The S&P 500 inched up just 0.01 of a point, or 0 percent, to finish at 1,494.82. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 23.29 points or 0.74 percent, to end at 3,130.38, with most of that loss on Apple's slide.

The broader Russell 2000 index also hit a milestone as it closed above 900 points for the first time.

Video streaming service Netflix Inc surprised Wall Street with a quarterly profit after it added nearly 4 million customers in the United States and abroad. Netflix shares surged 42.2 percent to $146.86, its biggest percentage jump ever.

Earnings have helped drive the stock market's recent rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 66.9 percent have exceeded expectations - above the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

You guys, it's another scandalous Rihanna pic! Stoking the imaginations of exactly nobody, the 24-year-old pop star posted yet another photograph of herself smoking what appears to be marijuana on the social network.


Check out more 420-friendly celebrities below, and sound off: should Rihanna quit Instagram for a while, or what?

A few months ago, "American Idol" made national headlines when leaked video footage showed what appeared to be a massive fight between new judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. Well, that moment arrived during this Wednesday night's Charlotte auditions. And while the specific footage leaked -- which included Nicki cursing out Mariah -- was not seen, much of what must have led up to that moment was.

It all centered around contestant Summer Robins. While the rest of the judges seemed to be trying to convince her that country music was where she belonged -- she wanted to be a more soulful country vocalist -- Nicki was looking more and more irritated. When she got a chance to chime in, she chastised the other judges for trying to pigeonhole Summer into a specific style of music. Why not let her be what she wants to be?

When Randy Jackson came back saying that he was just trying to help her out, citing his 30 years of professional experience, Nicki snapped. "Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry. I can’t help her," she fumed. "Maybe I should just get off the f*cking panel!"

The episode made it look like the tantrum shut down production for the rest of the day. The first contestant of the next day asked the judges to stop fighting, and it looked like they were getting along much better. Either that, or the edit was much more kind.

The "American Idol" road show heads to Baton Rouge next as the show continues on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.

SBI Online – 61 Security Officer Posts 2013


SBI PO Recruitment 2013 – Apply Online for 1500 Posts: State Bank of India – SBI has issued notification for the recruitment of 1500 Posts of Probationary Officers in SBI. Eligible candidates may apply online from 30-01-2013 to 23-02-2013. Other details like age limit, educational qualifications, selection procedure and how to apply are given below…

SBI Vacancy Details:
Total no of vacancies: 1500
Name of the Posts: Probationary Officers (PO)

Age limit: Candidate’s age should not be below 21 years and not above 30 years as on 01-01-2013. Age relaxation is applicable as per rules.

Educational Qualification: Candidates must possess Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university.

Application fee: Candidates need to pay the fee of Rs 200/- for Gen/OBC candidates and Rs 50/- for SC/ST/PWD candidates in the form of cash voucher at any branch of State Bank of India in offline mode. The payment can be made by using debit card/ credit card/ Internet Banking in online mode.

Selection Process: Candidates will be selected on the basis of written examination, Group Discussion and Interview.

How to Apply: Candidates can apply through online from www.sbi.co.in website between 30-01-2013 to 23-02-2013. Before filling the online application form candidates should read the guidelines and instructions how to apply.

Instructions for Online Application:

1. Candidates can log on to the website www.sbi.co.in.
2. Before apply online, candidates should download the cash voucher from SBI website and pay the fee in online or in offline mode as mentioned above.
3. Candidates should first scan their photograph and signature before applying online.
4. Candidates should have a valid e-mail ID.
5. Candidates can click on the link ‘Apply Online’.
6. Fill all the details in the application form and the fee payment details at the appropriate places.
7. After filling all the details in online application form, click on ‘Submit’ button..
8. A registration number and password will be generated by the system, please note the registration number and password for future reference and use.
9. After successfully submission of online application, take a print out of the online application form for further assistance.
10. The original fee receipt should be submitted along with call letter at the time of written examination.

Important Dates:
Opening Date for Online Application: 30-01-2013.
Closing Date for Online Application: 23-02-2013
Payment of fee in Online: 30-01-2013 TO 23-02-2013
Payment of fee in Offline: 01-02-2013 TO 28-02-2013
Date of written examination: 28-04-2013

For more details regarding age limit, educational qualification, pay scale, how to apply, application fee, selection process, no. of posts, other details are available at given below link…