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Two car bombs hit a rebel-held post on the Syrian border with Turkey on Monday, killing at least 16 people and closing the frontier, opposition activists and fighters said. _0"> The Bab al-Hawa crossing is held by a rebel alliance called the Islamic Front, which has been fighting with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a small but powerful affiliate of al Qaeda with a core of foreign fighters. It was not immediately clear who had planted the bombs. The attack occurred a few days after a car bomb that killed 26 in the eastern city of Jarablus and which activists blamed on ISIL. More than 1,000 rebels have died in clashes between rival groups in the last three weeks in an upsurge of internecine violence that has weakened the nearly 3-year-old armed campaign to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least six of the dead from Monday's bombing were Islamist fighters. It

A group linked to al Qaeda, emboldened by its recent victory over rival rebels in Syria , has imposed sweeping restrictions on personal freedoms in the northern province of Raqqa as it seeks to consolidate control over the region. Reuters obtained copies of four statements issued on Sunday by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) prohibiting music from being played in public and photographs of people being posted in shop windows. The sale of cigarettes and shisha water pipes are banned, women must wear the niqab, or full face veil, in public and men are obliged to attend Friday prayers at a mosque. The directives, which cite Koranic verses and Islamic teaching, are the latest evidence of ISIL's ambition to establish a Syrian state founded on radical Islamist principles. ISIL is widely considered the most radical of the rebel groups fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and increasingly each other, in Syria's civil war. The first and only city to h

South Sudan's president said his soldiers had seized the regional capital Malakal back from rebels on Monday, a report dismissed by insurgents battling in the world's newest country. If confirmed, it would be the second major centre retaken in the past three days by government forces, who have been backed by troops from neighboring Uganda. The United Nations says thousands of people have been killed in a month of clashes pitting troops loyal to President Salva Kiir against rebels supporting Riek Machar, who was sacked as vice president in July. Initially triggered by a political row, battle lines have increasingly followed ethnic lines with Kiir's Dinka battling Machar's Nuer. "They took Malakal and other areas around in the Upper Nile region," Kiir told a news conference, referring to his forces. He did not say if the soldiers who retook Malakal, capital of oil-producing Upper Nile region, had received any help from Ugandan troops. Kampala's invol

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Israeli negotiators in Washington on Monday and Palestinian officials later next week in U.S.-brokered peace talks to end their decades-long conflict, the State Department said. _0"> Kerry and U.S. negotiator Martin Indyk will meet with Israeli justice minister Tzipi Livni and envoy Itzik Molho later on Monday "to continue the discussion on a framework for negotiations," the State Department said in a statement. Meetings between Indyk and Livni, who heads the Israeli negotiating team, will continue on Tuesday when Kerry travels to Switzerland for a Syria peace conference. "We expect the Palestinian negotiating team to travel to Washington early next week," the State Department said. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations resumed in July after a three-year halt, with Kerry leading the push for an accord within nine months. But both Israeli and Palestinians have expressed doubts about his efforts. Palestinians see

President Viktor Yanukovich, reeling from the worst violence for decades in the Ukrainian capital, appealed for compromise on Monday as police and demonstrators clashed again in the streets. Yanukovich is battling to reassert his authority after scores of people were injured in Kiev on Sunday in pitched battles between protesters and police that could seriously hurt his chances of re-election next year. With tension still high, about 1,000 protesters confronted police on Monday near Kiev's main government headquarters. Scores of mainly young people hurled projectiles at police throughout the day and ignored appeals to disperse. After weeks of mass protests over Yanukovich's decision to shun a trade pact with the European Union and turn instead towards Russia , demonstrators have been further enraged by sweeping laws rammed through parliament to curb public protest, "I ask you not to join those who seek violence, who are trying to create a division between the state a

Italian center-left leader Matteo Renzi promised on Monday to reform an electoral system blamed for creating chronic political deadlock, defying party critics who had attacked him for sealing a deal on the proposals with arch-enemy Silvio Berlusconi. The 39-year-old mayor of Florence, who won the leadership of the Democratic Party (PD) in December, said he would eliminate the fragmentation that has made it impossible for successive Italian governments to survive a full term in office. "We are saying no to giving small parties the power of holding us hostage," he told a meeting of the PD party leadership, which approved the proposals by 111 votes in favor with 34 abstentions but no votes against, despite criticism from some on the left of the PD. "I don't rule out alliances but only if they're made for governing, not just winning an election," he said, adding that settling the thorny issue of voting rules would clear the way for vital economic reforms.

Iran has halted its most sensitive nuclear operations under a preliminary deal with world powers, winning some relief from economic sanctions on Monday in a ground-breaking exchange that could ease a threat of war. The United States and European Union both suspended some trade and other restrictions against the OPEC oil producer after the United Nations' nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran had fulfilled its side of an agreement made on November 24. The announcements, which coincided with a diplomatic row over Iran's role at peace talks on Syria [ID:nL5N0KU1X2], will allow six months of negotiation on a definitive accord that the West hopes can end fears of Tehran developing nuclear weapons and Iran wants to end sanctions that are crippling its economy. Iranian officials hailed a warming of ties that will also see their new president make a pitch to international business leaders at Davos later this week: "The iceberg of sanctions against Iran is melting," the

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Monday urged financiers to use their knowledge to improve international rules aimed at preventing future financial crises. _0"> Schaeuble told a group of some 1,000 commercial and central bankers, brokers and politicians at exchange operator Deutsche Boerse's New Year's reception there could be no end to regulation because financial markets continue to innovate. Regulators are aware of the need for strong capital markets, Schaeuble said, pledging to take the arguments of the financial sector seriously and try to proceed with moderation. "So don't invest your energy and competence only in warding off new regulation, but rather help to find better solutions and to put them in place internationally," Schaeuble said. "I am asking you simply to pitch in," he added. Schaeuble's appeal struck a more conciliatory tone following a spat last year with Deutsche Bank Co-Chief Executive Juergen Fitschen

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday withdrew an offer for Iran to attend Syria peace negotiations after Tehran declared it does not support the June 2012 political transition deal that is the basis for the talks. _0"> "He (Ban) continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva communiqué," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said. "Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, (Ban) has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran's participation." Ban said earlier that Iran's public statement that it did not support the 2012 Geneva deal calling for a transitional government for Syria was "not consistent" with assurances he had been given by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau)

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon withdrew a last-minute invitation to Iran to attend peace talks on Syria on Monday after the Syrian opposition threatened to boycott this week's conference if President Bashar al-Assad's main sponsor took part. Ending nearly 24 hours of confusion that dismayed diplomats who have spent months cajoling Assad's opponents to negotiate, Ban's spokesman said Iran was no longer welcome at the initial day of talks at Montreux, Switzerland on Wednesday. The opposition immediately withdrew its threat to stay away from the conference known as Geneva-2. But the uproar over Iran, which has provided Assad with money, arms and men, underlined the difficulties of negotiating an end to a bloody, three-year civil war that has divided the Middle East and world powers. Ban, his spokesman said, made the invitation to Iran after Iranian officials assured him they supported the conclusion of a U.N. conference in 2012, known as Geneva-1, which called for a transiti

When New Jersey steps into the spotlight next month to host its first Super Bowl, it hopes to alter its international reputation beyond stereotypes from TV shows such as mob drama "The Sopranos" and the vapid 20-somethings of "Jersey Shore." One problem for the state, which has long lived in the shadow of its superstar neighbor New York, is that the new MetLife Stadium, site of the February 2 National Football League championship game, is in an industrial area that belies New Jersey's designation as "The Garden State." Officials in East Rutherford, some 10 miles west of New York City, will roll out the red carpet for an expected 400,000 visitors, with economic activity forecast at $500 million. "New Jersey has been fighting a negative stereotype for a long, long time," said Michael Rockland, a professor of New Jersey history at Rutgers University. It "was kind of the national joke there for a while, with a reputation for corruption,

Attorneys in South Carolina say they have fresh evidence that warrants a new trial in the case of a 14-year-old black teenager put to death nearly 70 years ago for the murders of two white girls. George Stinney Jr. was the youngest person to be executed in the United States in the last century, and attorneys say the request for another trial so long after a defendant's death is the first of its kind in the state. No official record of the original court proceedings exists; no trial participants are alive, and no evidence was preserved. The law is unclear on whether any statute of limitations would prevent the case from being reopened. Despite those obstacles, attorneys for Stinney's family will argue at a hearing on Tuesday that the crime that rocked the small mill town of Alcolu in 1944 deserves another look. "This is a horrific case," defense lawyer Steven McKenzie said. "Whether justice is 70 years old or one year old or one month old, we think justice n

The head of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee objected on Sunday to President Barack Obama's proposal for the government to give up control of the storage of the telephone records of millions of Americans it holds as part of its counterterrorism efforts. _0"> Obama on Friday announced an overhaul of U.S. surveillance activities following criticism sparked by the disclosure of leaked documents exposing the wide reach of National Security Agency spy efforts. He proposed an overhaul of the government's handling of bulk telephone "metadata" - lists of million of phone calls made by Americans that show which numbers were called and when. Obama said the government will not hold the bulk telephone records. A presidential advisory panel had recommended that the data be controlled by a third party such as telephone companies, but Obama did not propose who should store the phone information in the future. Signaling congressional opposition to the change, Demo

Most New Yorkers support Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to allow the use of medical marijuana in a pilot program in up to 20 hospitals, according to a poll released on Monday. _0"> Nearly half (49 percent) of the New York voters polled thought he should skip the pilot step entirely and legalize its medical use statewide, as has already happened in about 20 other states, the Siena College Poll said. A total of 28 percent of New Yorkers said the pilot program was the way to go. A slim majority of 54 percent, however, oppose following the lead of the states of Colorado and Washington and legalizing marijuana for recreational use; 41 percent supported such a move. "Voters under 35 say yes, as do a bare majority of men. Democrats and independents are closely divided but Republicans are a strong no," Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. "New Yorkers are not yet ready to duplicate what they see in the Mile High City." Cuomo announce

Attorneys in South Carolina say they have fresh evidence that warrants a new trial in the case of a 14-year-old black teenager put to death nearly 70 years ago for the murders of two white girls. George Stinney Jr. was the youngest person to be executed in the United States in the last century, and attorneys say the request for another trial so long after a defendant's death is the first of its kind in the state. No official record of the original court proceedings exists; no trial participants are alive, and no evidence was preserved. The law is unclear on whether any statute of limitations would prevent the case from being reopened. Despite those obstacles, attorneys for Stinney's family will argue at a hearing on Tuesday that the crime that rocked the small mill town of Alcolu in 1944 deserves another look. "This is a horrific case," defense lawyer Steven McKenzie said. "Whether justice is 70 years old or one year old or one month old, we think justice n

For Detroit, the road in and out of U.S. bankruptcy court is paved with casino money. An economic lifeline, wagering tax revenue from the city's three casinos is at the heart of the bankruptcy plan submitted by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, and it is behind the surprise rejection of a deal with banks last week that has thrown a wrench into Detroit's route and timing to recovery. Moreover, some $330 million in assistance pledged by a coalition of philanthropic groups, including the Ford Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, will not begin flowing to Detroit until it exits bankruptcy, the head of one group told Reuters. Michigan voters in 1996 approved casino gambling in Detroit, hoping to revitalize the ghost town. Three glitzy resorts eventually opened, helping to spark a burst of energy and bringing as much as $180 million in annual taxes. But the funds have been tied up since 2009 by a separate, disastrous deal that Detroit is trying to reverse. In an effort to reduce i

New Jersey's lieutenant governor on Monday denied a claim by the mayor of Hoboken that Governor Chris Christie's administration linked release of Superstorm Sandy relief funds to approval of a Hoboken development project. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno warned her that Christie would withhold disaster recovery funding if Zimmer did not support a bid by the New York-based Rockefeller Group to build on several blocks in he New Jersey city. The Democratic mayor's claim has added to political woes for Christie, who is widely seen as a Republican contender for the White House in 2016. Christie already is grappling with a scandal tied to his top aides who seemingly punished the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, by orchestrating chaotic traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge. Christie has been on a fundraising trip in Florida over the weekend. His spokesman has dismissed the Hoboken mayor's claims as false, as did Guadagno on Monday at a

Tickets to the National Football League's first cold-weather Super Bowl are a hot item, with some climate-controlled suites in New Jersey's MetLife Stadium priced at $1 million. _0"> Following Sunday's conference championships that set up a Denver-Seattle Super Bowl on February 2, the average resale price of tickets on secondary markets was $3,721, the highest figure in five years of tracking, according to SeatGeek (seatgeek.com). No single ticket on the secondary market had sold for under $2,000, a price that was 33 percent more than what the cheapest ticket sold for on conference championship Sunday during each of the past three NFL playoffs, the website said. Face value of individual Super Bowl tickets ranges from $1,000-$2,600. For high-rollers, one suite on the Commissioner's Level of MetLife Stadium, the shared home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, is listed for $1.019 million. The same luxury suite for an entire Giants or Jets regular seaso

A U.S. missionary imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year appeared in front of journalists on Monday, in prison clothes and under guard, asking Washington to help him get home, foreign media there reported. Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old ethnic Korean, was arrested as he led a tour group in North Korea in 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on charges of state subversion. Bae met "a limited number of media outlets" in the North Korean capital Pyongyang and expressed hope of the United States securing his release, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. Bae's son Jonathan urged Washington to respond to the statement. His father's words "obviously mean that Washington has not done enough. We need to send someone over and bring him home. That's what it's going to take. He needs to come home," Bae told Reuters by phone. Awakened to learn of his father's televised statement, the younger Bae described his emotions as "mixed,&qu

Visions of what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would do to promote civil rights in 2014, had he not been slain decades ago, marked speeches and commemorations held across the country to honor his memory on Monday. _0"> Recalling King's famous "I Have a Dream," speech, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the late civil rights leader would want school children to hear it as a call to stay in school and become educated to better the world. "We need to swap the lesson plan for a dream plan," Reed told a crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church gathered for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday. He said King would want children to hear: "You are not going to school just to study math, you're going to school to be somebody." In New York City, newly elected Mayor Bill de Blasio, who swept into office promising broader opportunities for poorer residents, said at a tribute: "Dr. King would tell us we can't wait" to bring income equal

An explosion and fire at a feed plant in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday injured at least 10 people and caused several deaths, authorities said, but did not provide an exact number of fatalities. _0"> About 38 employees were working at the International Nutrition plant at midmorning when there was an explosion and the building collapsed, authorities said. A specialized search-and-rescue team is searching the site. Interim Fire Chief Bernard Kanger told a news conference there had been fatalities but did not give a number. At least 10 people were taken to hospitals in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, and four were in critical condition, Kanger said. The cause of the blast has not been disclosed. Kanger said the incident was an industrial accident. Kari Cook told the World-Herald newspaper she was waiting for news of her boyfriend, John Broderick, a shift supervisor at the plant, according to the paper's website. She told the newspaper he sent her a text at 10:09 a.m. reading:

Protesters clashed with riot police in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday after tough anti-protest legislation, which the political opposition says paves the way for a police state, was rushed through parliament last week. A group of young masked demonstrators attacked a cordon of police with sticks and tried to overturn a bus blocking their way to the parliament building after opposition politicians called on people to disregard the new legislation. Despite appeals from opposition leaders not to resort to violence, and a personal intervention from boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, protesters continued to throw smoke bombs and hurl fireworks and other objects at police. The police appeared to show restraint during that fracas. The Interior Ministry said 30 police were hurt, including more than 10 admitted to hospital and four in serious condition. A spokeswoman for Klitschko tweeted that President Viktor Yanukovich had agreed to meet Klitschko immediately at the presidential

The Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks won their National Football League conference championships in brilliant style on Sunday to set up a historic Super Bowl between the top two ranked teams in the United States. The Broncos, led by their unflappable quarterback Peyton Manning, beat the New England Patriots 26-16 in Colorado to make it to their first Super Bowl in 15 years. The Seahawks overturned a 10-0 deficit to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 in Washington state and advance to the NFL's title game for just the second time in the franchise's history. "This feels even sweeter," said Seattle owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. "What an amazing job in a super tough game." The two teams will meet in the 48th Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on February 2 in a game that has all the makings of a classic with the Broncos boasting the best offense in the league and the Seahawks the best defense. The Broncos will be appearing i

China's central bank has provided emergency funding support to commercial banks and will add more cash on Tuesday, as authorities respond to a spike in cash rates ahead of a major holiday, the bank announced on Monday. The move by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) comes after the interest rate that banks charge each other for short-term loans spiked in recent days. Bankers and analysts say the PBOC is attempting to strike a balance by guiding interbank interest rates steadily higher to reduce excess credit growth, while avoiding an acute credit crunch that could spark panic and choke off financing to the real economy. The central bank also appears to be responding to criticism that it failed to communicate effectively with the market during a severe cash crunch that roiled markets in June. Bankers and analysts criticized the PBOC for remaining largely silent as panic gripped the market and rumors swirled about interbank defaults. "The central bank's operations a

Intellectual Ventures is set to square off this week against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit in the first trial that the multibillion-dollar patent-buying firm has undertaken since it was founded. Privately-held Intellectual Ventures sued Motorola in 2011, claiming the mobile phone maker infringed patents covering a variety of smartphone-related technologies, including Google Play. Motorola has denied the allegations and will now go to trial over three of those patents. Barring any last-minute settlements, jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday at a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. The trial takes place amid an unfolding debate in Congress over patent reform, in which Intellectual Ventures and Google are on opposite sides. Google is backing attempts to curb software patents and make it easier to fight lawsuits, while IV has warned that Congress should not act too rashly to weaken patent owners' rights. IV and other patent aggregators have faced criticis