From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting.

Deadly bombing attacks target police in Istanbul.

Two explosions rocked a huge football stadium there late Saturday. Authorities said the attacks - a car bombing and a suicide blast - targeted security officers two hours after a football match ended.

A Turkish official said at least 15 people were killed and 69 others wounded.

A VOA reporter in Istanbul, Dorian Jones, said the nature of the attack, targeting police specifically rather than football fans, indicated that it may have been staged by outlawed Kurdish group that have been battling the Turkish government for years.

"I think that the ??? that it does appear that the target was security forces will lead suspicion toward the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, or a splinter organization conative with the group called TAK. They have carried out a series of suicide bombings, targeting, in particular, security forces, also have a fringe extreme left-wing group, the DHKP/C, too, has targeted security forces. But also the group, Islamic State, has carried out a number of suicide bombings in Istanbul, most recently on Istanbul Atatürk Airport. But they invariably target civilians and, in particular, foreign tourists.

Istanbul has been the scene of several bombings this year. More than 200 people have died this year throughout the country in attacks blamed on Islamic State militants and Kurdish factions inside Turkey.

For more on this story and the rest of the day's news, you can always log on to our website. That's voanews.com. I'm David Byrd in Washington and this is VOA news.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European and Arab diplomats met in Paris Saturday to try to find a way of protecting civilians in war-torn Syria, especially the besieged city of Aleppo.

After the meeting in which they also spoke to opposition leaders, Kerry called on Russia and the Syrian regime to show a little grace in their ongoing operations against the opposition.

"Russia and Assad have a moment here where they are obviously in a dominant position they have an ability to be able to show a little grace. And sometimes in diplomacy, a little grace goes a long way."

Meanwhile, the Syrian army was visible on the streets of Aleppo on Saturday as the Syrian regime backed by Russia continued to drive opposition forces from their strongholds.

Also, Islamic State extremists fought their way into the ancient central Syrian city of Palmyra on Saturday after two days of intense fighting with government forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State advance had reached as far as a key hospital after oil fields and strategic outposts near the city fell to IS fighters in recent days.

At least 50 Yemeni soldiers are dead after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of an army base in the city of Aden.

Local security officials said the bomber detonated his explosive belt in a crowd of hundreds of soldiers who had lined up to collect their salaries near the entrance of the Solban base along the outskirts of the city.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded 70 people.

Exxon Mobil President and CEO Rex Tillerson met with Donald Trump Saturday morning one day after news accounts said that Tillerson had emerged as the president-elect's top choice for secretary of state.

Tillerson oversees operations in more than 50 countries including Russia. His involvement with Russia including personal ties with President Vladimir Putin would likely draw [close] close scrutiny, that is, during any Senate confirmation hearings.

On Friday, President Obama ordered the U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of election season cyberattacks, including the email hacks that rattled the presidential campaign and raised new concerns about Russia's meddling in the U.S. election.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday, touting the honor as a "gift from heaven" for his efforts in ending Colombia's 50-year-old civil war.

And in the annual Army-Navy game, for the first time in 15 years, the Black Knights were victorious 21-17.

I'm David Byrd.

That's the latest world news from VOA.