From Washington,this is VOA News.

Authorities in southern Russia say a female suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several dozen others in an explosion at a train station in the southern city of Volgograd, near the volatile North Caucasus region.

News reports say the blast was inside the station in the early hours of Sunday.

The attack comes just weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea city of Sochi and that toll could still arise.

This is the second such attack in the last three months after a female suicide bomber killed five and wounded around 30 in October.

South Sudan's military says thousands of armed youth loyal to ousted Vice President Riek Machar are marching toward the government-held town of Bor, even as the international community presses for a cease-fire.

Military spokesman Philip Aguer told VOA Saturday the so called "White Army" plans to attack the town, which was retaken by government forces this past week. The youth, like Machar, are ethnic Nuers while President Salva Kiir and his loyalists are ethnic Dinka.

The tribal violence which displaced more than thousands erupted earlier this month after the vice president was accused of attempting a coup.

An investigation by The New York Times newspaper raises new questions about the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans on September 11, 2012.

VOA's Kent Klein reports.

The Times says it spent months talking to Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the assault on the U.S. consulate there and the circumstances surrounding it.

None of the sources produced any evidence that al-Qaida was behind the rampage.

The paper's findings add fuel to the largely partisan debate in Washington about the Obama administration's response to the killings.

The report says the attack was led by local fighters who had benefited from NATO support during the uprising against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

According to the paper, the assault was intensified in part by anger over the amateur video made in the United States that was seen as insulting Islam.

According to The Times investigation, threats from local militants have multiplied throughout the Middle East

Kent Klein VOA News Washington.

Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh says his country will send more troops to violence-ridden Somalia within the next three weeks.

Mr Guelleh told VOA's Somali service his country will deploy one more battalion to boost its troop presence in central Somalia. He said operations will begin soon to liberate the town of Bulobarde in central Somalia, where the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab has carried out many attacks.

Djibouti is one of the countries that contributes troops to the African Union-led peacekeeping force in Somalia, which has endured more than two decades of chaos and conflict. Djibouti is heavily involved in the efforts.

Israeli officials say two rockets fired from southern Lebanon have exploded in northern Israel, but there have been no injuries or damage.

The Israel military said it responded to the strike with artillery, targeting the source of the fire.

The Israel-Lebanon border has remained mostly quiet since a month-long war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

There have been sporadic outbursts of violence, including an incident earlier this month when a Lebanese army sniper killed an Israeli soldier.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will begin the new year by traveling to the Middle East in an effort to advance the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced the trip in a statement on Saturday.

Kerry will travel to Jerusalem on January 1 meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will proceed to Ramallah in the West Bank for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Psaki says that in these meetings, Kerry will discuss the ongoing final status negotiations between the two sides, among other issues.

The top U.S. diplomat is pushing the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach an interim peace deal ahead of a deadline set to expire in late April.

Passengers on board a Russian research ship are still anxiously awaiting rescue, nearly a week after being trapped in Antarctic ice.

The Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon was stuck by big ice.

Rescue now depends on an Australian icebreaker that should arrive at the site later Sunday.

The Australian Maritime's spokeswoman says they hope to make head way.

If the Australian vessel fails to break through the 3-meter-thick ice, a helicopter on the Chinese ship could be used to evacuate the passengers.

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