Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
Afghan insurgents storm bank in south, killing 5
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say four suicide bombers stormed a bank in southern Helmand province and took hostages.
They say the attackers killed at least five people while firing on security forces who surrounded the building as the gunbattle unfolded today.
A governor's spokesman says the attack took place in the provincial capital, Lashkah Gar, where a branch of the New Kabul Bank was attacked.
One bomber detonated his explosives at the door of the bank, making way for the other three insurgents to enter.
The chief physician at the city's main hospital says they admitted more than 20 wounded people. He says five bodies were also brought in.
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Helmand has long been a hotbed for the insurgency, which has escalated in recent months.
Funerals begin as death toll rises in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Funerals have begun in Pakistan for the dozens of children and teachers killed during a Taliban attack on a military-run school in the country's northwest.
The death toll had been 141, with 132 children dead, but overnight, the body of the school's principal was found, raising the death toll to 142.
The massacre happened Tuesday, when seven Taliban gunmen stormed the army public school in the city of Peshawar with explosives strapped to their bodies.
Students were gunned down and some of the female teachers were burned alive. Army commandos fought the Taliban in a day-long battle until the school was cleared and all the attackers dead.
A three-day official mourning period started today.
Aussie leader: Siege gunman dropped off watch list
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's prime minister says the gunman responsible for the deadly siege in a Sydney cafe had been on the national security agency's watch list, but was dropped off it years ago for reasons that remain unclear.
Man Haron Monis took 17 people hostage Monday. Sixteen hours later, the siege ended in a barrage of gunfire when police rushed in to free the captives.
Two hostages were killed along with Monis.
Congress renews tax breaks
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is expected to sign a massive tax package the will allow banks, retailers, commuters and teachers to keep their temporary tax breaks for another year.
Taxpayers will be able to claim the breaks in their 2014 tax returns, but beyond this year, their fate will once again be uncertain.
Congressional estimates say the package would add nearly $42 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade.
Obama signs $1.1 trillion spending bill into law
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that keeps most of the government operating over the next nine months.
The Department of Homeland Security will only receive its money through Feb. 27.
That limit was demanded by Republican leaders to appease critics of Obama's immigration measures.
Homeland Security oversees the nation's immigration enforcement.
Fed wraps up discussions
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is doing better, and the Federal Reserve may be ready to acknowledge that fact.
Fed policymakers wrap up their latest meeting with a statement on interest rates this afternoon. Analysts are expecting they will drop a promise to keep rates low for a "considerable time."
Dropping that language would be viewed as a signal that the Fed is moving closer to an interest rate hike, though no immediate change in monetary policy is expected.
The Fed has said monetary policy will return to normal sometime next year following its history-making stimulus in the aftermath of the 2008 global crisis. Most economists expect it will wait at least until June to raise short-term rates.
The Fed will also update its economic forecast today, and Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to hold a news conference this afternoon.
Judge to hear OK lethal injection case
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal judge will begin hearing evidence Wednesday morning in a case in which 21 Oklahoma death row inmates are challenging the state's lethal injection procedures after a bungled execution in April.
The judge scheduled three days to hear from witnesses.
The death row inmates say Oklahoma's new lethal drug combinations amount to human experiments that violate the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Ohio House to consider lethal injection drug bill
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio lawmakers are expected to vote today on legislation that would keep private the names of companies that provide the state with lethal injection drugs.
The Senate passed the bill last week and it'll now be voted on in the House.
Some lawmakers have said the bill is needed to restart executions in Ohio. But prosecutors say the legislation will undoubtedly lead to court challenges.
Another week of wet weather covers California
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A steady string of wet weather is expected to continue today in California.
Tuesday's rains created a chaotic evening commute in the San Francisco Bay Area that is likely to repeat itself this morning.
Parts of Los Angeles County felt brief flash-flood conditions, with heavy downpours in Carson and Torrance that flooded streets and left about a half-dozen cars stranded.
The National Weather Service is warning of possible floods in most of the Bay Area.
Russian ruble on the way down
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's embattled ruble has extended a week of catastrophic losses by dropping 4 percent at the opening of trading in Moscow today.
The ruble has lost more than 50 percent of its value this year and more than 19 percent of its value this week alone, despite Tuesday's massive interest rate hike by the Russian central bank.
The ruble has plummeted because of sinking oil prices as well as the impact of Western sanctions imposed over Russia's involvement in Ukraine's crisis.
Indian airline SpiceJet grounded after fuel supplies stop
NEW DELHI (AP) — Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet has grounded all flights today after oil companies stopped supplies of jet fuel to the financially beleaguered carrier.
On Tuesday, India's civil aviation ministry asked state-owned oil companies and airport operators to extend credit to SpiceJet for 15 days to prevent the airline from shutting down.
But oil marketing companies are refusing to supply jet fuel to the cash-strapped airline.
Honolulu police chief mailbox theft case dismissed
HONOLULU (AP) — The criminal case of a man accused of stealing the mailbox of Honolulu's police chief has been tossed out.
The case against Gerard Puana was dismissed two weeks after a mistrial was abruptly declared when Police Chief Louis Kealoha testified that he could identify Puana in blurry surveillance footage because the man seen in the video hauling away the mail box looked the way Puana looked when he was charged with breaking into a neighbor's home.
Puana is the uncle of the police chief's wife.
That's what's happening. Read more stories to jump start your day in our special Breakfast Buzz section.
