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Labels: LifestyleiPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Thick smog cloaks Beijing again
Labels: HealthBEIJING Dangerously high pollution levels shrouded Beijing in smog Tuesday for the second time in about two weeks, forcing airlines to cancel flights because of poor visibility and prompting the city government to warn residents to stay indoors.
The outlines of buildings in the capital receded into a white mist as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the thick, caustic air.
The U.S. Embassy reported a level of PM2.5 -- one of the worst pollutants -- at 526 micrograms per cubic meter, or "beyond index," and more than 20 times higher than World Health Organization safety levels over a 24-hour period.
The Beijing city government advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible because the pollution was "severe." It said that, because there was no wind, the smog probably would not dissipate quickly.
Visibility was less than 109 yards in some areas of eastern China, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Air China cancelled 14 domestic flights in or out of the Beijing airport, and an airport in the eastern city of Qingdao was closed, cancelling 20 flights.
The disruptions come in the first week of the country's peak, six-week period for travel, linked to the Feb. 10 Lunar New Year. Every year, China's transport system bursts at the seams as tens of millions of people travel for the holiday, in the world's largest seasonal migration of people.
Celebrity real estate developer Pan Shiyi, who has previously pushed for cities to publish more detailed air quality data, called Tuesday for a "Clean Air Act" and said he would use his status as a delegate to the National People's Congress to propose such legislation.
In less than three hours, his post was forwarded more than 2,300 times and received 14,184 votes, with 99.1 percent in favor.
Beijing also had exceptionally high pollution two weeks ago, with the U.S. Embassy readings of PM2.5 reaching as high as 886 micrograms per cubic meter.
Why haven't we learned from fires?
Labels: WorldSTORY 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.
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.
Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history
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.
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.
Tony Leung tells all about "weird" relationship with Wong Kar Wai
Labels: Technology
SINGAPORE: They have worked on seven films together now, and spent countless hours in each other's company on the set.
Their latest collaboration, "The Grandmaster", took over four years to shoot.
But Hong Kong actor Tony Leung still doesn't quite understand his relationship with Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, who has worked with him on hits like "'In the Mood for Love" and "Chungking Express".
"It's very strange. Our relationship is weird," said Leung, when he met the Singapore media at a publicity event held at the ArtScience Museum recently.
"Actually, we don't speak much … we just have the chemistry and energy on the set. I can't say I understand him, I am trying to understand him," mused the actor, who plays martial arts legend Ip Man in the film.
"But we have fun every time and I enjoy [it] a lot, that's why we still make movies together!"
Leung explained that there has always been a little trial and error when he worked with Wong.
"You don't know how he wants you to act, and he doesn't tell you what he wants, so I just act it out and see if he likes it.
"If he doesn't say anything, then it means this works," said Leung, flashing a boyish grin.
Cuts and bruised egos?
He may not understand Wong, but Leung expressed that he "trusts" him completely, and did not fall out with Wong over the fact that Wong had cut a number of his scenes from the final version of "The Grandmaster", as some tabloids have claimed.
"I've been working with Kar Wai for 20 years. We are very good friends … this trust is built up over time," said Leung.
"How many of my scenes were cut, I haven't counted. But I don't feel it's a pity or anything special that my scenes were not used," Leung added.
"Because as an actor, it's enough that I have acted in the scene. Whether the director uses it or not, it is his production. He decides what will be the final product and how to tell the story.
"If he used everything, it would be a four to five hour film," he continued.
"You have to have a lot of trust in him. No matter what he does."
"So I don't feel it's a pity, though the audience may feel that way because they won't have a chance to see the stuff that has been cut."
Standing out
Although audiences will probably have to wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray release of "The Grandmaster" to catch a glimpse of some of the deleted scenes, the cinema version of the film has quite a bit to keep their attention, from philosophical soliloquys, to carefully orchestrated fight scenes.
But will it be enough to make "The Grandmaster", which opens in Singapore on Thursday, stand out from the rash of Ip Man films that have surfaced in recent years?
When asked how "The Grandmaster" stacks up against the popular "Ip Man" trilogy, which starred Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen, Leung said it is "unfair" to compare them.
"They are like works from two different painters. You can't compare them because their techniques are different and their focus is different," said Leung diplomatically.
"So it's unfair to everyone to compare them. Each has its own unique points."
-CNA/ha
In charred club, cell phones ring with calls for the dead
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Cell phones left in the club ring, go unanswered amid the ruins
- The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed
- At least 80 of those killed were students at the Federal University of Santa Maria
Are you there? Share your story.
Santa Maria, Brazil (CNN) -- Workers combing through the charred wreckage of Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday encountered the eerie sound of ringing cell phones.
Glauber Fernandes, a reporter from CNN affiliate Band News, explains.
"It was a really complicated scene. A lot of smoke, a lot of shoes that was left, cell phones, because everybody tried to get out of there running," he said. "While we were there, we saw the cell phones were ringing. It was parents, friends, trying to know about what was happening and nobody was answering."
A fire swept through the packed, popular nightclub in Santa Maria early Sunday, killing at least 233 people -- enough to fill a large plane -- Brazilian Health Minister Alexandro Padilha told reporters. Of those, 185 have been identified so far.
Many apparently died from smoke inhalation. Others were trampled in the rush for the exits, one security guard told Band News.
More than 90 people were hospitalized, Padilha said, including 14 patients with severe burns.
Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history
About 2,000 people were inside the club when the fire broke out -- double the maximum capacity of 1,000, said Guido de Melo, a state fire official.
Investigators have received preliminary information that security guards stopped people from exiting the club, he told Globo TV.
"People who were inside the facility informed us ... that security guards blocked the exit to prevent people there from leaving, and that's when the crowd starting panicking, and the tragedy grew worse," he said.
The fire started "from out of nowhere" on a stage at the club and quickly spread to the ceiling, witness Jairo Vieira told Band News.
"People started running," survivor Luana Santos Silva told Globo TV. "I fell on the floor."
There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation.
The Kiss nightclub is popular with young people in Santa Maria, which is home to a number of universities and colleges, including the Federal University of Santa Maria. At least 80 of those killed Sunday were students at that school, it said.
The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Many universities are set to resume classes on Monday.
Video from the scene showed firefighters shooting streams of water at the club and shirtless men trying to break down a wall with axes.
Smoke billowed outside the front of the building as the stench of fire filled the air, said Max Muller, who was riding by on his motorbike when he saw the blaze.
Muller recorded video of a chaotic scene outside the club, which showed emergency crews tending to victims and dazed clubgoers standing in the street. Bodies lay on the ground beside ambulances.
Friends who were inside the club told him that many struggled to find the exits in the dark. Muller, who was not inside the club Sunday morning but has been there twice before, said there were no exit signs over the doors. It is rare to see such signs in Brazilian clubs.
Valderci Oliveira, a state lawmaker, told Band News that he saw piles of bodies in the club's bathroom when he arrived at the scene hours after the blaze. It looked "like a war zone," he said.
Read more: How to protect yourself in a crowd
Police told Band News that 90% of the victims were found in that part of the club.
The roof collapsed in several parts of the building, trapping many inside, said Fernandes, the reporter from Band News.
For others, escaping was complicated by the fact that guards initially stopped people from leaving, he said, echoing comments from the state fire official.
"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club," Fernandes said.
The deadly fire is sure to shine a spotlight on safety in Brazil, which is set to host the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016.
Many wept as they searched for information outside a local gymnasium where bodies were taken for identification later Sunday. Inside, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff met with family members and friends as they waited on bleachers for word of their loved ones.
Rousseff became teary-eyed as she spoke of the fire to reporters in Chile earlier Sunday. She had been attending a regional summit there, but cut short the trip and returned to Brazil early to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.
"The Brazilian people are the ones who need me today," she said. "I want to tell the people of Santa Maria in this time of sadness that we are all together."
The fire started around 2 a.m. after the acoustic insulation in the Kiss nightclub caught fire, said Civil Defense Col. Adilomar Silva.
An accordionist who had been performing onstage with a band when the blaze broke out was among the dead, drummer Eliel de Lima told Globo TV.
Police were questioning the club's owner and interviewing witnesses as part of an investigation into what caused the blaze, state-run Agencia Brasil reported.
The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed, local fire official Moises da Silva Fuchs told Globo TV.
The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed 100 people.
Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 nightclub fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a nightclub in Russia that left more than 100 dead.
Shasta Darlington reported from Santa Maria, Brazil. Marilia Brocchetto and Dana Ford reported from Atlanta. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Helena DeMoura and Samira Jafari contributed to this report.
Massive loss of life in Brazil nightclub fire
Labels: HealthLast Updated 10:16 p.m. ET
BRASILIA, Brazil Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. 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.
More than 200 die in Brazil nightclub fire
Television images showed smoke pouring 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 walls to free those trapped inside.
There was only one way out of the nightclub, and no emergency doors, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan. Some panicked patrons mistook the bathrooms for an escape and died there.
The chaos led to confusion -- security guards briefly blocked the exit fearing that customers were fleeing their bar tabs. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.
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 desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms.
"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.
A man carries an injured man, victim of a fire at the Kiss club in Santa Maria, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013.
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AP Photo/Agencia RBS
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.
Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim. Officials counted 232 bodies that had been brought for identification to a gymnasium in Santa Maria, a major university city with about 250,000 residents at the southern tip of Brazil, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay.
An earlier count put the number of dead at 245.
Federal Health Minister Alexandre Padhilha told a news conference that most of the 117 people treated in hospitals had been poisoned by gases they breathed during the fire. Only a few suffered serious burns, he said.
Brazil President Dilma Roussef arrived to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile.
"It is a tragedy for all of us," Roussef said.
Most of the dead apparently suffocated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who went to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.
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'Barrier of Bodies' Trapped Nightclub Fire Victims
Labels: Business
A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded, windowless nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, filling the air in seconds with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers, many of whom were caught in a stampede to escape.
Inspectors believe the blaze began when a band's small pyrotechnics show ignited foam sound insulating material on the ceiling, releasing a putrid haze that caused scores of university students to choke to death. Most victims died from smoke inhalation rather than burns in what appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.
Survivors and the police inspector Marcelo Arigony said security guards briefly tried to block people from exiting the club. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.
But Arigony said the guards didn't appear to block fleeing patrons for long. "It was chaotic and it doesn't seem to have been done in bad faith because several security guards also died," he told The Associated Press.
Later, firefighters responding to the blaze initially had trouble getting inside the Kiss nightclub because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance," Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper.
Germano Roratto/AFP/Getty Images
Brazil Nightclub Fire: Nearly 200 People Killed Watch Video
Authorities said band members who were on the stage when the fire broke out later talked with police and confirmed they used pyrotechnics during their show.
Police inspector Sandro Meinerz, who coordinated the investigation at the nightclub, said one band member died after escaping because he returned inside the burning building to save his accordion. The other band members escaped alive because they were the first to notice the fire.
"It was terrible inside — it was like one of those films of the Holocaust, bodies piled atop one another," said Meinerz. "We had to use trucks to remove them. It took about six hours to take the bodies away."
Television images from Santa Maria, a university city of about 260,000 people, showed black smoke billowing out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who attended the university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at the hot-pink exterior walls, trying to reach 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 crowded around, hoping not to recognize anything being shown them.
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. About half of those killed were men, about half women.
The party was organized by students from several academic departments from the Federal University of Santa Maria. Such organized university parties are common throughout Brazil.
Can sanctions deter North Korea?
Labels: WorldSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- N. Korea said Thursday it plans to carry out new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches
- It said they are part of new phase of confrontation with United States
- George A. Lopez says North Korea's aim is to be recognized as a 'new nuclear nation by fait accompli'
- The Security Council sanctions aim to deteriorate and disrupt N. Korea's programs, says Lopez
Editor's note: George A. Lopez holds the Hesburgh Chair in Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame. He is a former member, UN Panel of Experts on DPRK.
Indiana, U.S. (CNN) -- North Korea has responded to new Security Council sanctions condemning its December 12 rocket launch with a declaration that it plans a third nuclear test and more missile launches. Politically, it has made unambiguous that its "aim" is its enemy, the United States.
In this rapid reaction to U.N. sanctions, the young government of Kim Jong Un underscores what Security Council members have long known anticipated from the DPRK. Their end-game is to create a vibrant, integrated missile and nuclear weapons program that will result - as in the cases of Pakistan and India - in their being recognized as a new nuclear nation by fait accompli.
Read more: North Korea says new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.
In light of DPRK defiance - and a soon to occur nuclear test - the Security Council's first set of sanctions on North Korea since 2009 may seem absurd and irrelevant. These sanctions will certainly not prevent a new DPRK nuclear test. Rather, the new sanctions resolution mobilizes regional neighbors and global actors to enforce sanctions that can weaken future DPRK programs and actions.
Read more: U.N. Security Council slams North Korea, expands sanctions
The utility, if not the necessity, of these Security Council sanctions are to deteriorate and disrupt the networks that sustain North Korea's programs. Chances of this degradation of DPRK capabilities have increased as the new sanctions both embolden and empower the member states who regularly observe - but do nothing about - suspicious vessels in their adjacent waterways.
The resolution provides new guidance to states regarding ship interdiction, cargo inspections, and the seizure and disposal of prohibited materials. Regarding nuclear and missile development the sanctions expand the list of material banned for trade to DPRK, including high tech, dual-use goods which might aid missile industries.
Read more: South Korean officials: North Korean rocket could hit U.S. mainland
These new measures provide a better structure for more effective sanctions, by naming new entities, such as a bank and trading companies, as well as individuals involved in the illicit financing of prohibited materials, to the sanctions list. To the surprise of many in the diplomatic community - the Council authorizes states to expose and confiscate North Korea's rather mobile "bulk cash." Such currency stocks have been used in many regions to facilitate purchases of luxury goods and other banned items that sustain the DPRK elites.
Finally, the Security Council frees the Sanctions Committee to act more independently and in a timely manner to add entities to the list of sanctioned actors when evidence shows them to be sanctions violators. This is an extensive hunting license for states in the region that can multiply the costs of sanctions to the DPRK over time.
Read more: North Korea's rocket launches cost $1.3 billion
Whatever their initial limitations, the new round of U.N. sanctions serve as a springboard to more robust measures by various regional and global powers which may lead back to serious negotiations with DPRK.
Despite its bluster and short-term action plan, Pyongyang recognizes that the wide space of operation for its policies it assumed it had a week ago, is now closed considerably. To get this kind of slap-down via this Security Council resolution - when the launch was a month ago - predicts that any nuke test or missile launch from Pyongyang will bring a new round of stronger and more targeted sanctions.
Read more: North Korea silences doubters, raises fears with rocket launch
Although dangerous - a new game is on regarding DPRK. Tougher U.N. measures imposed on the North generated a predictable response and likely new, prohibited action. While DPRK may be enraged, these sanctions have the P5 nations, most notably China, newly engaged. A forthcoming test or launch will no doubt increase tensions on both sides.
But this may be precisely the shock needed to restart the Six Party Talks. Without this institutional framework there is little chance of influencing DPRK actions. And in the meantime, the chances of greater degrading of DPRK capabilities via sanctions, are a sensible next best action.
Read more: Huge crowds gather in North Korean capital to celebrate rocket launch
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of George A. Lopez.
Thousands march in Washington for gun control
Labels: Technology
WASHINGTON: Thousands of people marched in Washington to demand stronger gun control legislation, in a solemn rally six weeks after the shock massacre of young children at a Connecticut school.
Protesters, backed by senior officials, marched in silence for around 30 minutes along the National Mall near the US Capitol and Washington Monument, carrying white placards marked with the names and pictures of gun crime victims.
The demonstration came after the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that saw a gunman mow down 20 young children and six adults, sparking a furious national debate over gun ownership. The shooter used a military-style assault weapon and handguns.
"No more talk. We must act, we must act, we must act," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, telling the crowd that when he headed up a network of Chicago schools from 1990 to 2000, a child was buried every two weeks due to gun violence.
"This has to change. Our children, our families, our communities, our country deserve better," he said to thunderous applause.
Around 270 million guns are in circulation in the United States -- almost one weapon for every man, woman and child -- where more than 32,000 people were fatally gunned down in 2011 alone.
Among the protesters were several friends, neighbors and relatives of the Newtown shooting victims.
Under chilly temperatures, the demonstrators held banners reading "Ban Assault Weapons Now" and "My children are more important than your guns."
Colin Goddard, survivor of the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech university that left 33 people dead including the gunman, said the latest spate of gun violence should trigger change.
"Enough is enough," he said. "Today is not the finish line, today is the starting block. This is not an individual race, but this is a team relay."
Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, who has come out in support of gun control, called for action to keep "each other safe from arms those irresponsible and irrational people who still go across our cities and our states and have access to guns in ways that they should not."
Duncan pledged that President Barack Obama's administration "will do everything in our power to make sure that we pass legislation that makes our children, our families, our communities safer."
In the wake of the Connecticut deaths, Obama signed 23 executive orders and also called on Congress to pass new laws in a series of sweeping measures aimed at addressing gun violence.
The proposed measures include a ban on military-style assault rifles and the closing of loopholes that allow many gun buyers to avoid background checks.
But securing congressional action will be difficult as many Republicans are vehemently opposed to the White House's plans, contending that the measures will infringe upon the constitutional right to bear arms.
Opposition to new laws is not purely along party lines. Some Democrats from states where hunting and shooting sports are popular support gun rights.
An ABC News poll this week found 53 percent of Americans back Obama's gun control plans, while 41 percent view it unfavorably.
"We know the fight will be difficult but that we will prevail," said march organizer Molly Smith.
- AFP/fa
Bloomberg's giving to his alma mater tops $1B
Labels: LifestyleNew York Mayor Michael Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1964.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NYC mayor's latest gift to John Hopkins is $350 million
- That makes for a total of $1.1 billion over 45 years
- Donation will go toward a "transformational" academic initiative
- Bloomberg took out loans to attend Hopkins in the 1960s
(CNN) -- A kid raised in a middle-class Boston suburb, Michael Bloomberg took out loans to pay for his tuition at Johns Hopkins University and worked as a parking lot attendant.
He learned early to pay it forward.
Bloomberg's first gift to his alma mater was a whopping $5 in 1965, a year after he graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering.
Fast forward to Saturday, when the Baltimore university announced Bloomberg has now given a total of $1.1 billion. The latest commitment came in the form of a cool $350 million toward a "transformational" initiative aimed at cross-discipline solutions to societal problems.
In a statement, Johns Hopkins said Bloomberg, a former trustee, is believed to be the first person to ever reach the $1 billion level of giving to a single U.S. institution of higher education.
The university's Twitter feed was aglow with information on the gift. One tweet heralded the announcement with the words, "Big News," which might have been an understatement.
Among other things, the donation will fund 2,600 Bloomberg Scholarships over 10 years and 50 distinguished scholars.
Of the $350 million, $100 million will go toward "need-based financial aid" for undergraduate students.
"Johns Hopkins University has been an important part of my life since I first set foot on campus more than five decades ago," Bloomberg said in the press release. "Each dollar I have given has been well-spent improving the institution and, just as importantly, making its education available to students who might otherwise not be able to afford it."
The remarkable tally speaks to the generosity and success of New York City's mayor, who grew a business empire after leaving Baltimore. He will turn 71 on Valentine's Day.
Bloomberg earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was hired by the Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers in 1966, according to his biography on NYC's website.
After he was let go from Salomon when it was acquired in 1981, the budding entrepreneur used his information systems expertise to launch Bloomberg LP, which provided advanced computer systems for traders and financial firms. Bloomberg's media interests followed and the company now has more than 15,000 employees worldwide, according to his biography.
Bloomberg eventually devoted his energies to philanthropy and politics. He was elected mayor of the Big Apple in 2001 and has held the office since.
His first $1 million commitment to Johns Hopkins was made in 1984, 20 years after graduation, in honor of his mother, Charlotte.
The university's president, Ronald J. Daniels, said Saturday's announced gift "illustrates Mike's passion for fixing big problems quickly and efficiently. It will ensure not only that Johns Hopkins helps to solve humanity's problems, but also that it leads the world's universities in showing how it should be done."
The mayor's overall giving includes $240 million for capital and infrastructure improvements, $219 million for student financial aid and $336 million for research.
"Giving is only meaningful if the money will make a difference in people's lives," said Bloomberg. "And I know of no other institution that can make a bigger difference in lives around the world through its groundbreaking research -- especially in the field of public health."
CNN's Erinn Cawthon and Phil Gast contributed to this report.
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