NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Prison riot: The warden, superintendent and a guard have been arrested on murder charges after a prison riot in northern Mexico that killed 49 people, prosecutors said Saturday. On Thursday, rival factions of the Zetas drug cartel slaughtered each other inside the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey. The guard who was charged with murder fired on an inmate and killed him, prosecutors said. State prosecutor Roberto Flores said prison director Gregoria Salazar Robles and superintendent Jesus Fernando Dominguez Jaramillo were charged for not maintaining security measures inside the prison. Nuevo Leon Gov. Jaime Rodriguez said 60 hammers, 86 knives and 120 shivs were used in the bloodbath. 2 New Zealand quake: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage, almost five years after a deadly quake destroyed much of the city center. The quake was strong enough to shake items from store shelves. Several people suffered minor injuries from falls as they ran from the quake. The temblor came close to the anniversary of the Feb. 22, 2011, 6.3-magnitude temblor that leveled much of the center of New Zealand’s second largest city and killed 185 people. The U.S. Geological Survey said Sunday’s quake was centered 11 miles east of the city. No tsunami warning was issued.
3 Egypt unrest: President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Saturday that his country has established democratic and constitutional rule after years of turmoil following the 2011 uprising, but rights groups say he has presided over an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. El-Sissi declared the completion of Egypt’s transition to democratic rule in an address to parliament, a chamber packed with his supporters. The former general led the 2013 military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected and first Islamist leader, amid mass protests against his divisive yearlong rule. Since then, the government has waged a massive crackdown on dissent.
4 Taiwan temblor: Rescue efforts ended Saturday at the site of a 17-story apartment complex in southwestern Taiwan that collapsed in an earthquake a week earlier, as search crews pulled the last of 114 bodies from the rubble. The 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck before dawn on Feb. 6, killed only two other people in Tainan, the city where the Wei-Guan Golden Dragon building collapsed. Police have arrested the building’s developer and two associates. A Tainan municipal spokeswoman said Saturday evening that everyone believed to have been inside the building when the quake struck has now been accounted for. One person — a homeless woman — was still listed as missing from the earthquake.
5 Casino heist: Police searched Saturday for four gunmen who stormed a casino in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence, causing several injuries and stealing cash before fleeing. Regional police chief Laurent Nunez said the robbery occurred overnight at the Pasino casino. The gunmen fired warning shots with automatic rifles, prompting panic among the 700 people inside, he said. Many people are still on edge after Islamic extremist attacks around Paris in November that killed 130 people, and the country remains under a state of emergency. Jean-Marc Barre of the local fire department said 15 people were evacuated with light injuries suffered in the panic.