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From NPR news in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.

A suicide bombing in Iraq today has killed at least 14 people, all of them Iraq police recruits in a town northeast to Baghdad. The BBC's Jim Muir is in the Iraqi capital. He said the bombing took place in Diyala.
A female apparently struck up with explosives in explosive belt mingling among police recruits carrying up at a recruitment station there, blew herself up along with animosity. Many of the would-be recruits were told by police and now that it's a mainly Shiite town, so no wondering to see once again that. This would be a Sunni insurgent operation aimed both the police and the Shiite population. BBC reporter Jim Muir in Baghdad.


A California lawmaker wants to put a referendum on the war in Iraq on the State's February 5th primary ballot. Now he is asking other states with primaries on that day to do the same. NPR's Anna Jeffy reports.
California Senate leader Don Perata is contesting the leading democratic lawmakers and governor as all the states are holding primaries on February 5th or are considering doing so. He's also pushing the democratic presidential candidates to support his plan to let the voter's way in on the war in Iraq, on the same ballot that lists contenders for the nomination. Perata says that even if just a few of the large states do that, it could be viewed as a national referendum on the war. “And that would do two things. It would give a very clear statement by the people themselves about their position. And secondly anybody running for President who is campaigning in those states would have squared off in the issue pretty force rightly.” 10 states have already moved their primaries to February 5th, another dozen or so are considering it. Anna Jeffy NPR news.


The federal government says the average cost of gasoline in the United States jumped 10 cents a gallon last week. The Energy Information Administration says a gallon of regular averaged $2.80 cents. David Mike is with the Florida Petroleum Counsel. " Refiners are replacing gasoline supplies with a different kind of brand of gasoline for the summer that is less fatal for cleaner air, and it's more expensive type brand, and that a part to at least, a quick to at least partly of the reason why prices are where there are right now. The latest Lundberg survey, an independent analysis for the national averaged at $2.78 a gallon. It blamed the lake of refining capacity for much of the increase.


Asian oil prices recovered slightly today as Asian traders reacted to yesterday's slide that pulled prices down by nearly $3 a barrel. US light crude for May delivery rose 30 cents to $61.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Japanese Stock Prices closed lower today. The Nikkei Average fell by 79 points.

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Physicians believe religion and spirituality play a role in a person's health, but don't agree they change medical outcomes. That's according to a new survey in the archives of internal medicine. NPR's Joanne Silberner has more.
Researchers from the University of Chicago studied the responses of 11, 00 physicians to a survey about religion and spirituality. 2/3 of the doctors said in their experiences illness tended to make their patients more religious. 3/4 of the doctors said patients with strong religions or spiritual wills coped better with sickness and were better supported by family and community. Still only 6% of doctors said their religious beliefs changed how well a patient did psychically. The more religious physicians among those surveyed, the more likely to say their religion and spirituality can affect health. Joanne Silberner NPR news.


A US Treasury Department statement says authorities are prepared to make it happen, but Macao's monetary authority said it has no instructions yet to release frozen North Korean funds which is a key stumbling block in the nuclear dispute between the US and North Korea. Banco Delta Asia which holds the money had been blacklisted by Washington for allegedly helping the North launder money and its North Korean accounts were frozen. Pyongyang has refused to move forward on a February agreement to close its main nuclear reactor in return for economic aid and political sensations until the 25 billion dollars is returned. The Treasury Department statement said the US would support release of the money. In South Korea the chief US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill says he has hoped there is still time to meet a weekend deadline.

I'm Carl Kasell, NPR news in Washington.