AFP - A suicide bomber rammed a Russian military base Sunday, killing three people and wounding some thirty more in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan, law enforcement sources said.

Reuters - At least three people were killed and 33 wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a military camp in Russia's southern region of Dagestan, the Defense Ministry said.

Reuters - Moscow on Monday gave another mixed signal about the duration of a grain export ban set initially from August 15 to December 31, but European Union grain markets continued to rise, apparently ignoring the latest twist.

AFP - The defence ministers of Russia and Israel on Monday signed an agreement on military cooperation, hailing the unity between Moscow and the Jewish state.

AP - A suicide car-bomber killed three soldiers and wounded 32 others in an attack on a military base in Russia's violence-plagued republic of Dagestan on Sunday, officials said.

AP - Russia would have suffered less severe damage from wildfires this summer if authorities had engaged firefighting aircraft more quickly, a Cabinet member said Tuesday.

AFP - Expectations intensified Tuesday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may run again for the Russian presidency after he drew a surprise comparison with four-term US president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Reuters - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave a strong hint on Monday that he would run for president in 2012, a step that would almost certainly give him a second spell as Kremlin chief.

AFP - The Macondo well, which spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has been secured and no longer constitutes "a threat," a senior US official said.

AFP - Eager to move past the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill and celebrate a local tradition, thousands of people flocked this weekend to Louisiana's annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

AFP - With a key piece of evidence raised from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico and BP's Macondo well ruled a threat no longer, the focus shifts to what went wrong and who is to blame.

AP - A third man survived last month's massacre of 72 migrants by suspected drug traffickers in Mexico and is now in the United States, Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes said Sunday.

AP - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Hermine (hur-MEEN') has crossed into Texas.

AFP - Six women condemned to up to 29 years in prison for abortion will see their sentences reduced to eight years thanks to a reform in central Mexico, defense groups said Monday.

Reuters - Tropical Storm Hermine barely maintained such status on Tuesday as 40 mile per hour winds continued to lash south Texas and the storm moved further inland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

AFP - Powerful Tropical Storm Hermine slammed into far northeastern Mexico and then barreled into US territory early Tuesday, threatening storm surges, flash floods and tornadoes on both sides of the border.

Reuters - The U.S. National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday it would use $10 million from BP to start a multiyear study to look at the potential health effects from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.