10 things you need to know today: December 30, 2013

(Image credit: (REUTERS/Sergei Karpov))

last updated 8 January 2015

1. Bombing in Russia kills at least 15 people

A bomb planted in a trolley killed at least 15 people on Monday in the central Russian city of Volgograd. The attack comes a day after a female suicide bomber set off an explosion at the Volgograd train station, killing at least 17 people. The attacks have raised concerns about terrorism in Russia ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. [New York Times]

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While Healthcare.gov had a very rocky rollout, more than one million people signed up for health insurance through the federal website in December. That brings the total number of enrollments to about 1.1 million. However, the Obama administration had originally estimated that 3.3 million people would have signed up by the end of 2013 through both the federal and state exchanges. [Associated Press]

U.S. intelligence agencies have issued a report that predicts Afghanistan's tenuous security situation will likely worsen by 2017. The National Intelligence Estimate says that the situation will devolve even if the U.S. continues to send large amounts of aid and leaves a few thousand troops in Afghanistan to keep the Taliban from gaining power. The assessment comes as the United States negotiates a treaty to keep an international military force in Afghanistan over the next several years. [Washington Post]

International officials warn that it is likely that the Syrian government will miss its Dec. 31 deadline for transferring a portion of its chemical weapons stockpile. The regime of Bashar al-Assad, which came under intense international scrutiny earlier this year after allegedly using chemical weapons against its own people, has not begun to move the weapons despite international pressure to disarm, citing difficulties stemming from the ongoing civil war and the weather. Weapons inspectors say it shouldn't take long to dispose of the weapons once they are moved out of Syria. [New York Times]

An estimated 2.5 million minimum wage workers will see a bump in their paychecks come Jan. 1. Thirteen states (including Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Colorado) and four cities are increasing their minimum wage. Most of these workers will see modest increases (less than 15 cents an hour) but a few states will be offering more. New Jersey, for example, will raise the state minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 an hour. [CNN]

A handful of California's northern counties are hoping to secede and form the 51st state. Two have already voted to break away and create Jefferson State, while a few others have decided to hold referendums on the issue. Residents in these mostly rural counties say they don't feel represented in the state capital of Sacramento and are alienated from Californian politics overall. [Los Angeles Times]

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Laura Colarusso is a freelance journalist based in Boston. She has previously written for Newsweek, The Boston Globe, the Washington Monthly and The Daily Beast.

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