El Salvador declares state of emergency amid killings

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s congress has granted President Nayib Bukele’s request to declare a state of emergency, amid a wave of gang-related killings over the weekend. Fourteen people were killed Friday and 62 people died Saturday, a scale of violence that has not been seen for years. By comparison, there were 79 homicides in the entire month of February. Bukele announced the request Saturday in his social media accounts, and congress approved it early Sunday. The decree would suspend constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and loosen arrest rules for as much as thirty days, but could be extended.