LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“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.”

Luana Santos Silva, a survivor of a Brazilian nightclub fire that killed more than 230 people Article, 1A

Japan satellites keep eye on N. Korea

TOKYO - Japan launched two intelligence satellites into orbit Sunday amid growing concerns that North Korea is planning to test more rockets of its own and possibly conduct a nuclear test.

Officials say the launch Sunday of the domestically produced HII-A rocket went smoothly and the satellites - an operational radar satellite and an experimental optical probe - appear to have reached orbit.

Japan began its intelligence-satellite program after North Korea fired a long-range missile over Japan’s main island in 1998. North Korea conducted a launch last month that it says carried a satellite into orbit but has been condemned by the U.S. and others as a cover for its development of missile technology.

North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission declared last week that the country would carry out a nuclear test and launch more rockets in defiance of the U.N. Security Council’s announcement that it would punish Pyongyang for its long-range rocket test in December.

94 face charges in Emirates coup plot

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates says 94 people face charges for purportedly trying to overthrow the state as part of widening crackdowns on Islamist groups with suspected links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sunday’s statement by the official news agency WAM did not name the suspects, but authorities in the United Arab Emirates have been waging systematic arrests against perceived dissidents for months.

The crackdowns have brought complaints from rights groups and raised tensions with Egypt, which is led by Muslim Brotherhood member President Mohammed Morsi.

The statement quotes United Arab Emirates Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish as alleging that the suspects built a secret network to plot the coup and raised money through real estate and other deals.

6 shot in Dominican political scuffle

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - A melee broke out Sunday at the headquarters of the Dominican Republic’s main opposition party and at least six people were wounded by gunfire, according to police and party officials.

Dominican Revolutionary Party president Miguel Vargas said the violence broke out when partisans of former President Hipolito Mejia attempted to take over the party’s offices in Santo Domingo during a Sunday meeting of party organizers.

Vargas alleged that the mob was “hired and directed” by Mejia, who was expelled from his own party earlier this month after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of insubordination, divisiveness and promoting actions for personal benefit.

Police spokesman Maximo Baez said detectives are investigating and authorities have taken control of the party’s headquarters. One of the injured people was a cameraman for a local TV news station that was covering the meeting, he said.

The former president, who calls himself “Papa,” told reporters after the melee that police must carry out an investigation to determine who was responsible for the violence.

Iran, Argentina set up bombing inquiry

SANTIAGO, Chile - Argentina and Iran agreed to set up an international commission to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, according to a joint declaration by their foreign ministries Sunday.

The commission will have five members, two of them designated by each country, while the president will be agreed upon jointly.

The blast in July 1994, which left 85 people dead, was the second terror attack in the city in a two-year span. It followed a 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy. Argentina has accused current and former Iranian officials, including Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, of involvement. Iran has rejected the accusations.

The commission will review documents supplied by both countries and be able to interrogate suspects in Iran, according to the statement.

Israel has warned the Argentine government “not to let itself be manipulated” in discussions to set up the panel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/28/2013