• Memorial for victims of blast in West, Texas

    Brandon Wade / EPA

    Firefighters stand at attention as mourners applaud a West, Texas fire engine during a processional before the start of a memorial service honoring those killed in the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion at the Ferrell Center on the Baylor University campus in Waco, Texas on Thursday.

    Eric Gay / AP

    Members of the Patriot Guard line the road for a procession in Waco prior to a memorial service for first responders who died in last week's fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

    Eric Gay / AP

    An honor guard stand in front of caskets prior to a memorial service in Waco, Texas for first responders who died in last week's fertilizer plant explosion in the small town of West.

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama bow their heads behind a photo of volunteer firefighter Capt. Cyrus Adam Reed, who was killed, as they attend the memorial for victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas at Baylor University in Waco.

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    The damage from the fertilizer plant explosion is seen from helicopters in accompanying President Barack Obama in West, Texas, en route to Baylor University, where the president was to speak at a memorial service.

    NBC News reports:

    President Obama flew to the somber event after attending the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library in Dallas on Thursday morning. Texas Sen. John Cornyn and first lady Michelle Obama were also attending Thursday's memorial service. 

    Before the memorial, 1,000 firefighters from across the U.S. held a half-mile-long procession in Waco to honor the fallen firefighters.

    Meanwhile, on Monday, the first individual lawsuit was filed as a result of the explosion. A single mom who lived next door to the West Fertilizer plant is seeking up to a million dollars after she and her 14-year-old son "lost all their worldly possessions," the suit says.

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  • Ahmad Masood / Reuters

    Wounded Afghan men rest in a hospital after a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, January 12. A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed two people and wounded more than 35 near the Afghan parliament on Wednesday, officials said, the third bomb attack in the capital Kabul in less than a month.

    Suicide bomb attack in Kabul kills two

    The AP reports:

    KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up next to a minibus carrying intelligence service employees in the Afghan capital Wednesday, killing at least two people, authorities said.

    The Taliban claimed responsibility for the powerful rush-hour blast, which shattered the windows of dozens of houses and buildings on the busy street in the western part of Kabul.

    

  • Blast at Coptic church in Egypt kills 21, sparks clashes between Christians, Muslims after New Year's Mass

    Read the full story here.

    Tarek Fawzy / AP

    An Egyptian Christian grieves outside the Coptic Christian Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. A car exploded in front of the church early Saturday as worshippers emerged from a New Year's Mass, killing at least 21 people according to officials, and sparking clashes between Christians and Muslims, a sign of the sectarian anger that has been arising with greater frequency in Egypt.

    Ahmed Youssef / EPA

    Egyptian firemen try to put out a vehicle fire following a car bomb blast outside a church in the north Egyptian city of Alexandria, Egypt, Jan. 1, 2011, killing at least 21 people and injuring 43. Witnesses said that a car that was parked outside the church exploded around 20 minutes after midnight, targeting Coptic Christians who were attending the New Year‘s Eve mass. Christians account for roughly 10 per cent of Egypt's population, according to official figures.

    Reuters

    Egyptian riot police clash with Christians in front of the Coptic Orthodox church in Alexandria, 230 km (140 miles) north of Cairo, Jan. 1, 2011. A car bombing outside the church killed 21 people as worshippers gathered to mark the New Year, security and medical sources said on Saturday.

    Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

    Egyptian Christians shout as the bodies of several victims of a car bomb attack are carried into ambulances in front of the the Coptic Orthodox church in Alexandria, Egypt, Jan. 1, 2011. The car bombing outside the church killed 21 people as worshippers gathered to mark the New Year, security and medical sources said on Saturday.