10 things you need to know today: December 16, 2014

1. Over 100 children die in Taliban attack on Pakistani military school

Taliban militants killed at least 126 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were students and teachers, in an attack at an elite public high school run by Pakistan's army on Tuesday. Eight to ten terrorists wearing military uniforms entered the school, which is on a Pakistan military installation, and began "indiscriminate firing," said Pervaiz Khattak, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Two or three terrorists were killed, another blew himself up, but up to five were still in the school, holding scores hostage hours after the siege started.

The Washington Post

2. Police end gunman's siege in Sydney

Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early Tuesday to end a siege by a gunman who had taken 17 employees and customers hostage 16 hours earlier. The alleged captor — Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, 50 — and two hostages died. One, cafe manager Tori Johnson, reportedly died trying to wrestle a shotgun from the gunman. The other, customer Katrina Dawson, died shielding a pregnant colleague. Monis, a self-styled Muslim cleric, was on bail after being charged with accessory to murder and sexual assault, but he was not on a terrorism watch list.

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Sydney Morning Herald The Telegraph

3. Sandy Hook families sue maker of semi-automatic rifle used in school shooting

Families of nine first-graders and adults who died in the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Monday filed a lawsuit against the maker of the military-style, semi-automatic assault rifle used by the killer. Josh Koskoff, a lawyer for the families and a teacher who survived the attack, said the Bushmaster Firearms International rifle used by 20-year-old Adam Lanza was designed for killing in combat, and should not be sold for home defense or hunting.

Hartford Courant CNN

4. U.S. opens its biggest detention center for immigrants

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Monday inaugurated the nation's largest immigration detention facility on Monday. The 50-acre facility in South Texas is equipped to hold up to 2,400 people caught crossing the border from Mexico. President Obama has offered protection from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants, angering Republicans who say he overstepped his authority. Johnson presided over the detention center's opening to call attention to other executive orders by Obama aiming to tighten border security.

The New York Times

5. Manhunt continues after Pennsylvania killing spree

Pennsylvania authorities continued a manhunt overnight for a former Marine reservist, Bradley William Stone, suspected of killing six members of his family and seriously wounding another in towns near Philadelphia. The victims, who died in shootings at three separate locations, included Stone's ex-wife, his former sister-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and 14-year-old niece. Schools in the area were closed Tuesday as the search continued.

Philly.com ABC News

6. Senate confirms Vivek Murthy as surgeon general

The Senate on Monday confirmed Dr. Vivek Murthy as the nation's 19th surgeon general despite objections by gun-rights advocates. At 37, Murthy became the third-youngest doctor to head the U.S. public health service. The British-born Murthy graduated from Harvard University and Yale University Medical School, and founded Doctors for America, which pushed for the Affordable Care Act and promotes HIV/AIDS education. He faced opposition from some conservatives over his support for an assault weapons ban, and his belief that "guns are a healthcare issue."

Los Angeles Times

7. Tens of thousands have died in a year of war in South Sudan, U.N. says

A year of war has killed tens of thousands of people in South Sudan, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, a year after the fighting started in the capital city of Juba. As battles spread across the country, more than 1.9 people were driven from their homes. Ban called on South Sudan's leaders to reach an inclusive power-sharing agreement and stop putting their "personal ambitions" ahead of the newly established nation's survival.

The Associated Press

8. Russia hikes interest rates to halt ruble's dive

Russia's central bank raised a key interest rate to 17 percent in an emergency meeting early Tuesday aiming to prevent the collapse of the nation's currency, the ruble. The currency took its biggest one-day plunge since 1998 on Monday as falling oil prices and economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis push the Russian economy into recession. The ruble regained as much as 10.8 percent — its biggest surge in 16 years — after the rate hike, only to weaken again hours later.

Bloomberg Reuters

9. Rare northern white rhino dies at San Diego zoo

The San Diego Zoo's northern white rhino, Angalifu, has died, leaving only five of the animals left in the world. Zoo officials said Angalifu, estimated to be about 44 years old, had been under veterinary care for lack of appetite. Northern white rhinos are one of two subspecies of white rhinoceros. They once roamed the grasslands of East and Central Africa, but were hunted to the brink of extinction by poachers seeking rhino horns. There are about 20,000 southern white rhinos left.

10. Navajos buy back sacred artifacts at French auction

Members of the Navajo Nation outbid a French art collector to buy back seven sacred ceremonial masks for $9,000 at a Paris auction on Monday. The objects offered by the Drouot auction house also included dozens of Hopi kachina dolls. Hopi tribal leaders declined to bid, calling the sale appalling. Navajo leaders said they had to face reality and bid to recover their artifacts, which a medicine man named Jim said were "living and breathing beings."

The Associated Press