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Thousands of police, troops tighten security in Russian city hit by 2 suicide bombings
• VOLGOGRAD, Russia (AP) -- Thousands of police officers and paramilitary forces are on duty in the Russian city of Volgograd, which is reeling from two suicide bombings in two days that killed 34 people and raised fears that a terrorist campaign may have begun that could stretch into the Winter Olympics.
• In the wake of Sunday's bombing at the city's main railway station and Monday's blast on a trolleybus, police reinforcements and Interior Ministry troops have been sent into the city, regional police official Andrei Pilipchuk was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency. He said more than 5,200 security forces are deployed in the city of 1 million.
• The Health Ministry said three more victims died on Tuesday, raising the toll to 34 -- 18 from the station bombing and 16 from the bus. Officials said 65 other people were hospitalized with injuries.
• Volgograd authorities have canceled mass events for New Year's Eve, one of Russia's most popular holidays, and asked residents not to set off fireworks. In Moscow, festivities were to go ahead but authorities said security would be increased.
• There has been no claim of responsibility for either bombing, but they came only months after the leader of an Islamic insurgency in southern Russia threatened new attacks on civilian targets in the country, including on the Winter Games that are to begin Feb. 7 in Sochi.
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Officials: Weather shift could increase risk of health hazards near ND oil train derailment
• CASSELTON, N.D. (AP) -- A shift in the weather could heighten the risk of potential health hazards after a mile-long train carrying crude oil derailed in North Dakota and set off explosions, authorities said, urging residents of a nearby town evacuate.
• About 2,400 people live in Casselton, about a mile from Monday's fiery derailment. The Cass County Sheriff's Office called on residents there and those living five miles to the south and east to leave their homes because of the weather shift, which it said the National Weather Service was forecasting.
• "That's going to put the plume right over the top of Casselton," Sheriff Paul Laney (Continued on page 23)
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