WASHINGTON

FAA head orders security review after Chicago fire

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday he has ordered a 30-day review of the agency’s security practices and how it deals with unexpected incidents such as last week’s fire at a Chicago-area air traffic facility that disrupted air travel.

The fire brought flights at the city’s two busy airports to a halt and affected air service across the country. Authorities say it was set by a contract employee who also tried to commit suicide.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said he has asked the team of FAA employees and labor union representatives conducting the 30-day review to “think as creatively as possible.”

He said service at O’Hare airport is back to 60 percent of normal and Midway airport is operating at 75 percent of normal.

LAS VEGAS

Tenants of home where 45 dogs died could face charges

A weekend fire that tore through a North Las Vegas home with 93 small dogs – more than 15 times the maximum number of canines allowed in a house by the city – killed 45 of them and injured one man. Now the two tenants who rented the home from a North Las Vegas city councilman could face animal-cruelty charges, authorities said Monday.

Councilman Isaac Barron issued a statement Monday through a city spokesman saying that he’s heartbroken about the dogs that perished at the Stanley Avenue home he owns, and he expects people will be held accountable if crimes were committed.

Police Sgt. Chrissie Coon said the men could face charges that include animal abuse or mistreatment.

MEXICO CITY

Police agents arrested in slaying of students, others

Authorities said Monday that they had arrested 22 police agents in the weekend killings of six students and others in the troubled state of Guerrero, one of several incidents that also left 25 people injured and more than 50 presumed missing.

It is the second arrest in less than a week of members of government security forces suspected of illegal killings. An army officer and seven soldiers were detained Thursday in connection with the June 30 shooting deaths of 22 people, among them a 15-year-old girl.

It also came during a particularly violent weekend that left 13 other people dead, including a state political leader gunned down in an Acapulco restaurant.

The Guerrero state government said in a statement that 280 municipal police from the town of Iguala were questioned about the killings of the six students late Friday and early Saturday. All but 22 of the police were released without charges.

‘Harry Potter’ collection named the world’s largest

A Mexico City man is in Hogwarts heaven after his collection of “Harry Potter” memorabilia was named the world’s largest.

Menahem Asher Silva Vargas has spent nearly 15 years hoarding all things related to British author J.K. Rowling’s young-adult wizard-fantasy series, which spawned eight blockbuster films.

His collection fills two rooms and counts everything from magic wands and toy figurines to Gryffindor scarves and replica Quidditch brooms.

Guinness World Records officially recognized it Monday as the world No. 1, at 3,097 pieces. The old mark was 807.

Silva Vargas said he began with no intent to amass a huge collection. But soon it was like being under a spell.

He laughingly called his obsession both a blessing and a curse: “My salary, my bonuses … it all ended up here.”

TOKYO

Near Japan volcano summit, five more bodies found

Five more bodies were discovered near the peak of Mount Ontake in central Japan on Monday, bringing the number of those confirmed or feared dead after Saturday’s volcanic eruption to 36, authorities said.

But the effort to recover bodies from the volcano’s ash-coated slopes has been hampered as the 10,000-foot-high mountain, about 125 miles west of Tokyo, continues to erupt.

Plumes of gray smoke were seen billowing from the volcano Monday, with ash and toxic gas forcing rescuers to suspend their efforts to bring down bodies from the peak.

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