Female suicide bomber kills 16 at Russia train station

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• Female suicide bomber kills 16 at Russia train station
• Israel set for new prisoner release as Kerry heads back to region
• Israel hits back after rockets fired from Lebanon
• "Hobbit," "Frozen" lead box office to record year
• Lawmakers dispute Snowden's declaration of victory
• Federal health market surpasses 1 million signups
• Suspect in Colo. triple slaying arrested in Okla.
• Smith, Charles inactive for KC; starting D sits
• Schumacher suffers 'serious' head injury in ski accident
• FBI: Cellphone records linked suspect to robberies
• Suicide bomber kills at least 16 at Russian train station
• Fight to land MLB's A's is tale of 3 cities
• Saudi to give Lebanon $3B to strengthen army
• Time short to find new facility for Jahi McMath
• Quake in southern Italy rattles Naples area
• GOP can count ways to Senate majority
• Colts' Vinatieri joins NFL's 2,000-point club
• Lebanon mourns ex-minister killed in bombing
• Syria evacuates 5,000 from town near Damascus
• Bombing wounds 4 soldiers in northeast Egypt
• South Sudan forces battle "White Army"
• 16 killed in suicide bombing in Russia's south
• "Hobbit" conquers box office to remain No. 1
• Giroud sends Arsenal back to the top, Chelsea down Liverpool
• Blast at Egyptian army building wounds four soldiers
• Former F1 champion Schumacher injured while skiing
• Fear pulses through crowded S. Sudan refugee camp
• Israel names Palestinian prisoners to be released
• Feeling US snub, Saudis strengthen ties elsewhere
• Among Cuban exiles, an old toast goes silent
• Report: NSA intercepts computer deliveries
• Anxious wait for stranded Antarctic ship
• Erdogan vows Turkish graft affair will fail to topple him
• Top French court approves 75% company tax on high salaries
• Saudi Arabia to give Lebanese army $3 billion
• Rapper Doe B. among 2 killed in Ala. shooting
• Egypt leader: Presidential election can come first
• Auschwitz barracks returns to Poland from the US
• Shooting, bombings across Iraq kill 14

Female suicide bomber kills 16 at Russia train station Posted: 29 Dec 2013 01:06 PM PST A female suicide bomber killed at least 16 people Sunday in an attack on the main train station of the southern Russian city of Volgograd, heightening security fears just six weeks before the Sochi Olympic Games. Russia's Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said officials had launched an inquiry into a suspected "act of terror". It was the deadliest attack in Russia in almost three years. "A suicide bomber who was approaching a metal detector saw a law enforcement official and, after growing nervous, set off an explosive device," Markin said in televised comments.

Israel set for new prisoner release as Kerry heads back to region Posted: 29 Dec 2013 01:04 PM PST Israel prepared Sunday to free 26 Palestinian prisoners under peace talks brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is returning to the region to boost the faltering negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to the phased release of 104 Palestinian prisoners in line with commitments to the US-backed talks, which resumed in July, and previous batches were freed in August and October. The release of the third tranche of 26 prisoners "should come on Monday night after the 48-hour delay given for appeals from victims' families to the supreme court," an official in Netanyahu's office told AFP. In the past, the supreme court has turned down all appeals against the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel hits back after rockets fired from Lebanon Posted: 29 Dec 2013 01:02 PM PST Marjayoun (Lebanon) (AFP) - The Israeli military fired a barrage of shells into southern Lebanon in retaliation on Sunday after Katyusha-style rockets slammed into the Jewish state, officials said. The exchange of fire hit uninhabited areas of both Israel and Lebanon without causing casualties or damage, officials on both sides said. The Israeli government accused the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah of being responsible for the rocket fire and threatened an even tougher response to any further attacks. The UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon (UNIFIL) said two rockets fired from the El Khiam area had struck open ground near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

"Hobbit," "Frozen" lead box office to record year Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:59 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — Over the bustling post-Christmas weekend, Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" continued to lead the box office, landing in the No. 1 slot for the third weekend in a row.

Lawmakers dispute Snowden's declaration of victory Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress said Sunday they weren't impressed with Edward Snowden's recent publicity blitz calling for an end to mass surveillance and declaring that he's already accomplished his mission.

Federal health market surpasses 1 million signups Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:54 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the government's rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insurance market.

Suspect in Colo. triple slaying arrested in Okla. Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:52 PM PST DENVER (AP) — A man suspected of killing three people and setting fire to a home in southern Colorado has been captured in Oklahoma after a nationwide manhunt, authorities said Sunday.

Smith, Charles inactive for KC; starting D sits Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:47 PM PST SAN DIEGO (AP) — Quarterback Alex Smith and running back Jamaal Charles are inactive for Kansas City against the San Diego Chargers, and the Chiefs are resting their entire starting defense.

Schumacher suffers 'serious' head injury in ski accident Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:29 PM PST Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula One champion, is in hospital with a "serious" head injury after hitting his head on a rock while skiing Sunday in an upmarket French Alps resort, officials said. The hospital declined to give any information but said a joint statement with Schumacher's press team would be issued later Sunday. The director, Christophe Gernigon-Lecomte, said Schumacher was skiing off-piste late morning with companions when he fell and struck his head.

FBI: Cellphone records linked suspect to robberies Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:27 PM PST PHOENIX (AP) — A suspect killed by Phoenix police in a bank robbery attempt is believed to be the same man accused in the shooting death of a Mississippi police officer and the wounding of another, the FBI said Sunday.

Suicide bomber kills at least 16 at Russian train station Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:27 PM PST By Sergei Karpov VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - A suicide bomber set off a blast in the entrance hall of a Russian train station on Sunday, investigators said, killing at least 16 people in the second deadly attack within three days as the country prepares to host the Winter Olympics. Authorities said the attacker detonated a shrapnel-filled bomb in front of a metal detector just inside the main entrance of the station in Volgograd, a busy hub north of the violence-plagued North Caucasus region on Russia's southern fringe. Islamist militants in the North Caucasus have carried out a long string of attacks since President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. They now confront him with his biggest security challenge, threatening to disrupt the Olympics that start in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 40 days.

Fight to land MLB's A's is tale of 3 cities Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:08 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Oakland A's years-long quest for a new home is really a tale of three cities.

Saudi to give Lebanon $3B to strengthen army Posted: 29 Dec 2013 12:04 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia has pledged $3 billion to Lebanon to help strengthen the country's armed forces and purchase weapons from France, Lebanon's president said Sunday, calling it the biggest grant ever for the nation's military.

Time short to find new facility for Jahi McMath Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:56 AM PST OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The family of a California girl declared brain dead after complications from tonsil surgery was running out of time Sunday to find a new facility to take her in and keep her on a ventilator.

Quake in southern Italy rattles Naples area Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:54 AM PST ROME (AP) — A 4.9-magnitude earthquake Sunday evening rocked much of southern Italy, sending frightened people into the streets of Naples and country towns.

GOP can count ways to Senate majority Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:49 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans count enough competitive races to challenge Democrats for control of the Senate in the 2014 elections, if only they can figure out what to do with the tea party.

Colts' Vinatieri joins NFL's 2,000-point club Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:43 AM PST INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Adam Vinatieri is the seventh NFL player to score 2,000 career points.

Lebanon mourns ex-minister killed in bombing Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:42 AM PST Lebanese mourners in Beirut on Sunday buried Mohammad Chatah, a prominent critic of the Syrian regime killed in a car bombing that revived painful memories of political assassinations. Angry citizens chanted slogans against the powerful Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement, an ally of the Syrian regime, which has been accused of killing Chatah and other critics in recent years. Chatah, 62, a Sunni Muslim former finance minister and close aide to ex-prime minister Saad Hariri, was killed on Friday along with seven other people in a blast in the heart of Beirut. The bombing raised fears about the fragile situation in Lebanon, which has seen the war in neighbouring Syria regularly spill over.

Syria evacuates 5,000 from town near Damascus Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:39 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government evacuated some 5,000 people Sunday from an embattled industrial town near Damascus where al-Qaida-linked rebels have been battling government troops for more than two weeks, the state news agency said.

Bombing wounds 4 soldiers in northeast Egypt Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:36 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — A bomb exploded outside a military intelligence building northeast of Egypt's capital Sunday, wounding four people and damaging the structure as protests and security scares roiled the country just weeks before a key vote.

South Sudan forces battle "White Army" Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:23 AM PST By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's army fought on Sunday with "White Army" ethnic militia, accusing rebels of mobilizing the force despite its offer of a truce to end the conflict in the new country. Two weeks of fighting have left at least 1,000 dead and split the oil-producing country barely two years after it won independence from Sudan. The feared White Army - made up largely of Nuer youths who dust their bodies with ash - clashed with government troops 18 miles from the town of Bor five days after rebels were driven out, Information Minister Michael Makuei said. A rebel spokesman denied the White Army was controlled by Riek Machar, a Nuer, the former vice president whose followers oppose President Salva Kiir, a Dinka.

16 killed in suicide bombing in Russia's south Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:20 AM PST MOSCOW (AP) — A suicide bomber struck a busy railway station in southern Russia on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding scores more, officials said, in a stark reminder of the threat Russia is facing as it prepares to host February's Olympics in Sochi.

"Hobbit" conquers box office to remain No. 1 Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:15 AM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" continued to top the box office, landing at No. 1 over the Christmas holiday for the third weekend in a row.

Giroud sends Arsenal back to the top, Chelsea down Liverpool Posted: 29 Dec 2013 11:02 AM PST Olivier Giroud ensured Arsenal will finish 2013 on top of the Premier League as his second half goal clinched a 1-0 win against Newcastle, while Chelsea kept the pressure on the leaders with a 2-1 win over title rivals Liverpool on Sunday. Arsene Wenger's side had surrendered first place after Manchester City's win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, but just 24 hours later the Gunners reclaimed pole position with a hard-fought victory at St James' Park. Giroud's first goal since November 23 was enough to give Arsenal their second successive win and move them one point ahead of second placed City heading into the new year.

Blast at Egyptian army building wounds four soldiers Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:34 AM PST By Yasmine Saleh and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO/ANSHAS (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside an Egyptian army building north of Cairo on Sunday, wounding four soldiers, the army said, in the second bomb attack on security forces in the Nile Delta in less than a week. Its statement referred to "groups of darkness" and did not name the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group it declared a terrorist organization last week. That decision was a response to a suicide bomb attack on Tuesday on a police compound in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, north of the site of Sunday's explosion. The army-backed government has used the new classification to detain hundreds of the movement's supporters and thousands more are already in jail.

Former F1 champion Schumacher injured while skiing Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:32 AM PST PARIS (AP) — Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was hospitalized with a head injury Sunday after a skiing accident in the French Alps, French authorities and his manager said.

Fear pulses through crowded S. Sudan refugee camp Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:31 AM PST JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The women and girls leave the main United Nations refugee camp here during the day. The men do not. To exit is to risk death, they say.

Israel names Palestinian prisoners to be released Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:06 AM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Sunday announced the names of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners it will release this week under a U.S.-brokered formula to resume Mideast peace talks.

Feeling US snub, Saudis strengthen ties elsewhere Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:05 AM PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Increasingly vocal in its frustration over U.S. policies in the Mideast, Saudi Arabia is strengthening ties elsewhere, seeking out an alignment that will bolster its position after it was pushed to the sidelines this year.

Among Cuban exiles, an old toast goes silent Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:05 AM PST MIAMI (AP) — In their first years of exile from Cuba in the 1960s, Gustavo Pérez Firmat's family uttered the toast as a wish they anxiously waited to fulfill.

Report: NSA intercepts computer deliveries Posted: 29 Dec 2013 10:02 AM PST LONDON (AP) — A German magazine lifted the lid on the operations of the National Security Agency's hacking unit Sunday, reporting that American spies intercept computer deliveries, exploit hardware vulnerabilities, and even hijack Microsoft's internal reporting system to spy on their targets.

Anxious wait for stranded Antarctic ship Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:47 AM PST Passengers on a Russian research ship trapped in thick Antarctic ice faced an uncertain wait Sunday for one last icebreaking attempt with no guarantees of success. The MV Akademik Shokalskiy has been marooned by heavy ice since Tuesday about 100 nautical miles east of the French Antarctic base Dumont d'Urville, with two icebreaking ships so far failing in attempts to reach it. The Australian government's resupply ship Aurora Australis is now en route to make one final bid to free the icebound boat and is expected to reach the Akademik at 11pm Australian time (1200 GMT). "It will then assess if it can make it through the ice to the Akademik Shokalskiy," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority told AFP.

Erdogan vows Turkish graft affair will fail to topple him Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:47 AM PST By Seda Sezer and Dan Williams ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan swore on Sunday he would survive a corruption crisis circling his cabinet, saying those seeking his overthrow would fail just like mass anti-government protests last summer. Erdogan accused his opponents of trying to sap the power of Turkey, which has seen rapid economic growth and assertive foreign policies under his 11-year leadership, in the service of an international plot cloaked as criminal proceedings. Yet striking a somewhat milder tone, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appeared to seek common ground with a U.S.-based Turkish cleric whose rivalry with Erdogan is widely seen as having stoked the controversy. Erdogan, who is touring Turkey to drum up support before local elections in March, defied his accusers over the detention for suspected graft of three ministers' sons and the head of state-run Halkbank on December 17.

Top French court approves 75% company tax on high salaries Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:43 AM PST France's top court Sunday approved a proposal for companies to pay 75 percent tax on annual salaries exceeding one million euros in line with President Francois Hollande's drive to limit executive pay at a time of economic hardship. The Constitutional Council had earlier in the year thrown out one of Hollande's key campaign pledges to impose a 75 percent tax on individuals earning more than one million euros ($1.35 million). After that setback, Hollande in March mooted a proposal to make companies pay the tax on salaries exceeding this limit. It will be imposed on salaries paid in 2013 and 2014.

Saudi Arabia to give Lebanese army $3 billion Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:36 AM PST Saudi Arabia is giving the Lebanese army $3 billion in aid, Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman said on Sunday, calling it the largest grant ever to the country's armed forces. Some of the money was likely to be spent on weapons from France, Suleiman indicated in a televised address. One of the few institutions not overtaken by the sectarian divisions that plague the country, Lebanon's army is ill-equipped to deal with internal militant groups, particularly the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla and political movement Hezbollah. The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia may be seeking to bolster the army as a counterbalance to Hezbollah, seen as the most effective and powerful armed group in Lebanon and funded by the regional Shi'ite power Iran.

Rapper Doe B. among 2 killed in Ala. shooting Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:30 AM PST MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama are investigating the killings of rapper Doe B. and another person in a shooting Saturday that also wounded six others inside a bar and grill.

Egypt leader: Presidential election can come first Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:26 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim president says a presidential election can come before a planned parliamentary poll in the country without violating a military-backed road map following the July 3 coup.

Auschwitz barracks returns to Poland from the US Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:15 AM PST WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Half of a historic Auschwitz-Birkenau barracks that was on loan to the U.S. has been returned to Poland after two decades and long negotiations, officials said Sunday.

Shooting, bombings across Iraq kill 14 Posted: 29 Dec 2013 09:12 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Attacks across Iraq, including a suicide bombing targeting soldiers on patrol and a drive-by shooting, killed at least 14 people Sunday, officials said.

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