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SEVERAL ARRESTS IN FERGUSON PROTEST

By Scott Malone

FERGUSON Mo. (Reuters) - Police arrested about six people overnight after they tried to block a street in a protest calling for a grand jury to charge a white police officer over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen in August.

A few dozen demonstrators, some chanting "Indict that cop", gathered outside the city police station late on Wednesday in sub-freezing temperatures.

They were faced by officers in riot gear and the arrests were the first in about a week, suggesting tensions were on the rise ahead of the trial ruling.

The grand jury has been meeting for three months to determine whether police officer Darren Wilson broke the law when he shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in an incident that exposed long-simmering racial tensions in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.

Weeks of sometimes violent protests followed Brown's death, and businesses and schools around Ferguson are bracing for another wave of unrest, particularly if the grand jury does not charge Wilson. Its decision is expected by month's end.

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Police arrest a protester in the background as an officer holding a weapon clears the street of othe …

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and called up the National Guard to back up local police, a move some activists criticized as heavy-handed. The Ferguson area has seen few protests over the past week, and all have been peaceful.

Police in the St. Louis area have been through conflict de-escalation training since August and activist leaders have also been training potential protesters in non-violent civil disobedience techniques.

Activists across the United States planned to stage their own rallies at federal courthouses from New York to Los Angeles.

The National Action Network, a group founded by Al Sharpton, a longtime New York civil rights activists, said demonstrations would occur regardless of the grand jury's decision, with protesters calling for federal charges against Wilson if he does not face local charges.

There are differing accounts of what happened when Wilson shot Brown on Aug. 9. Some witnesses said Brown had his hands up in surrender, while others described a violent scuffle between the two.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Peter Cooney and Crispian Balmer)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A new blast of lake-effect snow pounded Buffalo for a third day on Thursday, piling more misery on a city already buried by an epic, deadly snowfall that could leave some areas with nearly 8 feet of snow on the ground when it's all done.

But the meteorological "kick me" sign on the city hasn't fallen off just yet. Forecasters say a rapid weekend warmup, with temperatures as high as 60 and rain, could turn all that snow into floods.

"It is an extraordinary situation," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters after touring the region Wednesday and talking to truckers who had been stranded more than 24 hours on the Thruway. "It will get worse before it gets better."

Even for Buffalo, a place that typically shrugs at snow, this was a stunning snowfall — the kind of onslaught folks will be telling their grandchildren about.

Those living in the Buffalo area were already buried under as much as 5½ feet of snow Wednesday, and they awoke Thursday to more heavy snow that could bring 1 to 3 feet more. The new snow and high winds moved through the city of Buffalo with lightning and thunder overnight Thursday, dropping several inches before blasting towns to the south, which were in line for the highest totals, National Weather Service meteorologist David Zaff said.

"This is an historic event. When all is said and done, this snowstorm will break all sorts of records, and that's saying something in Buffalo," Cuomo said.

The storm came in so fast and furious over Lake Erie early Tuesday it trapped more than 100 vehicles along a 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway that remained closed Wednesday.

Winter Comes Early Across Parts of USPlay video

Tom Wilson, of West Seneca, split a Salisbury steak frozen dinner with co-workers and tried his best to get some rest when he was stuck 36 hours at his warehouse job.

"I slept on a pallet. Then I slept on some office chairs, and then I went back to the pallet," Wilson said. "Then I found some sponges to lay on. I found one pack of sponges unopened. That looks like a pillow to me.

"We tried to make popcorn with a two-by-four, two empty pop kegs, some charcoal and a dust pan," he added. "It didn't work."

Bethany Hojnacki went into labor at the height of the storm and ended up giving birth in a Buffalo fire station after she and her husband couldn't get to the hospital. Mother and daughter were later taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Cuomo said Wednesday afternoon that all trapped travelers had been removed from their cars, though some truckers were staying with their rigs.

Asked by reporters how officials could allow people to be snowbound in cars for 24 hours, Cuomo cited a jackknifed trailer that prevented plows from removing fast-falling snow, and drivers' own wrongheaded choices.

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Ken Velie clears snow from his driveway on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in Lancaster, N.Y. Lake-effect …

"What happened was, even though the Thruway was officially closed, people went on. We didn't immediately block every entrance. It was a mistake," Cuomo said.

"Part of it is citizen responsibility," he added. "If the road is closed, it's closed."

The storm was blamed for up to eight deaths in western New York, at least five of them from heart attacks. Erie County officials announced the latest death on Thursday, that of a man in his 60s who was stricken Wednesday while operating a snowblower.

Residents of a mobile home park in the suburb of West Seneca were being evacuated Thursday after their roofs began to collapse under the weight of heavy snow.

The NFL's Buffalo Bills offered $10 an hour plus game tickets for people willing to help shovel out the stands in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, in the snow belt southeast of the city.

Team spokesman Scott Berchtold said the team has an estimated 220,000 tons of snow to remove from the stadium before Sunday's game against the Jets — more than ever before.

Sunny skies returned to some hard-hit areas Wednesday, but workers were still trying to cart off the acres of snow. Lake-effect snow fell heavily on some northern New York areas east of Lake Ontario.

With an additional 2 feet possible on Thursday, the one-week totals for the hardest hit areas will approach the average snowfall for an entire year: 93.6 inches, or close to 8 feet. It won't stick around, though. With temperatures expected to rise above freezing on Saturday and approach 60 by Monday, flooding is likely to produce the next challenge.

The highest snowfall total for the Buffalo area this time was 65 inches, recorded in Cheektowaga. National Weather Service meteorologist David Church said forecasters haven't determined yet how this storm ranks, but that 60 to 70 inches in 24 hours is probably in the top 5 for the region.

The heaviest 24-hour snowfall on record in the Lower 48 states is 75.8 inches, which fell at Silver Lake, Colorado, in 1921, according to the government.

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Associated Press writer Michael Hill contributed from Albany.

Iran Threatens to Flood Gaza With 'Millions' of Iranian Fighters

The head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force has claimed it is raising an army of "millions" to flood Gaza and Syria to support Tehran's allies.

Fars, Iran’s semi-official newspaper, reported that that Brigadier GeneralMohammad Reza Naqdi, Commander the Basij paramilitary force, as saying: "Millions of Basijis (volunteer forces) are ready in Iran to be dispatched to Syria and Gaza and they have come to us (for registration)."

Iran’s Basij forces are much feared inside the country and known for their brutality in quashing anti-government dissent. They were highly utilized during Iran’s violent repression of the student protests in the wake of the Iranian elections of 2009.

Thousands of Iranian volunteers - mostly tied with Iran's Revolutionary Guards force - are already reportedly fighting alongside pro-regime forces in Syria, where Iran is attempting to forge a Syrian Hezbollah composed of Shia Islamist foot-soldiers.

Brig. General Naqdi’s threat to inundate Gaza, and even Judea and Samaria if possible, with Iranian militiamen comes of the heels of Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei’s call to arm the “West Bank just like Gaza.”

In fact, Brig. General Naqdi himself elaborated on Iran's plans to arm its Hamas and Islamic Jihad allies in the "West Bank" just as it has in Gaza stating that: "The most serious job is that they need to receive the necessary training and skills; as today, Gaza has its own defensive industry and they have stood on their feet, we also try to implement the same plan in the West Bank, God willing."

In July 2014, after the recent 50-day Hamas-Israel conflict, Ayatollah Khamenei first publicly emphasized that, "We believe the West Bank, too, should be armed just like Gaza and those who are interested in the fate of the Palestinians must work in this respect so that the pains and miseries of the Palestinian people will be decreased due to their mighty hands and the weakness of the Zionist enemy."

Since Khamenei’s call to arm terrorists in Judea and Samaria, numerous other Iranian military leaders have publicly repeated the Iranian Supreme Leader’s directive to “arm the West Bank just like Gaza.” For instance, in August 2014, Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, stated that “The continued war in Gaza will accelerate arming the West Bank and annihilation of the occupiers. And, the holy Quds [Jerusalem’s] occupiers' fear from arming the people and the resistance movement in the West Bank shows how deeply Tel Aviv is vulnerable to the start of a new phase of (Palestinians') fight and resistance."

Although threats to send "millions" of volunteers to Gaza to fight Israel are little more than bluster, it - along with threats to accelerate efforts to arm terrorists in Judea and Samaria - highlight a serious flaw in the conventional ‘wisdom’ that a "two-state solution" will lessen the Palestinian demographic problem presented to Israel by maintaining the status quo.

While Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria, as well as its blockade on Gaza, render Naqdi's plans pure fantasy, an Israeli withdrawal from those areas makes the possibility of such Shia militiamen being dispatched to both regions - as they already have been in Syria and Iraq - far more real.

Homosexuals File Complaint Against NC Minister for Not ‘Marrying’ Them

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Two homosexual men in North Carolina have filed a complaint against their United Methodist minister for refusing to “marry” them, stating that he has failed “to perform the work of the ministry.”

Scott Chappell and Kenneth Barner, who attend Green Street United Methodist Church in Winson-Salem, filed the complaint with the Western North Carolina Office of the United Methodist Church late last month, charging their leader, Kelly Carpenter (male), with discrimination.

“On October 26, 2014, we asked Carpenter to officiate at our wedding and he has refused to do so, citing church rules from the United Methodist Book of Discipline that forbids pastors from celebrating homosexual unions or performing same-sex wedding ceremonies,” the complaint reads. “Carpenter’s refusal to perform our wedding violates our rights as members of his church and my fiance and I wish to charge him for this offense.”

“My fiance and I are members of this church, having pledged to uphold the work of the church through our prayers, presence, gifts and service,” the complaint continues. “Carpenter has accepted the call to be our pastor, accepted the call to be in ministry to all people, and accepted our membership in the church but is refusing to ‘perform the work of the ministry.'”

Chappell and Barner also state that because the United Methodist Book of Discipline prohibits “racial or gender discrimination,” Carpenter is violating the rules as they allege that the is discriminating against the men because they are both males. They contend that the denomination’s stance is therefore contradictory as it decries discrimination but prohibits ministers from marrying those of the same sex.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline outlines that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” and that “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” may not be ordained as ministers in the denomination. It also forbids ministers from hosting or participating in “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions.”

“The discriminatory and offensive language in the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline and Carpenter’s refusal to marry my fiance and me has caused great spiritual harm to us both,” the men claim. “[My] fiance and I have been victimized by Carpenter’s adherence to United Methodist Church rules, which is a chargeable offense per our Book of Discipline.”

But some are wondering whether the complaint is actually an orchestrated effort by both Chappell and Barner, along with Carpenter, to seek to change the denomination’s stance on same-sex “marriage.” Carpenter told the United Methodist News Service that he declined to officiate the ceremony because he feared the consequences, but stated that “If there was a way for me to be a co-signer with the complaint, [I would].”

Additionally, according to reports, Green Street United Methodist Church announced last year out of protest that would not host any wedding ceremonies in its sanctuary until the denomination changed its policies on same-sex “marriage.”

Those within the United Methodist denomination remain split on the issue of homosexuality. In an article entitled “Why Many Methodists Still Oppose Same-Sex Marriage,” John Lemperis, the Director of the UM Action program of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said that the Bible is crystal clear on the matter.

“Even liberal Biblical scholars now agree that the Old and New Testaments are very clear in their moral disapproval of homosexual practice,” he wrote. “More fundamentally, Scripture paints a beautiful picture of marriage as a holy covenant of intensely intimate, self-giving community between man and woman, uniting the two most basic, equal categories of humanity.”

“We submit to Jesus as Lord,” Lemperis stated. “If He is truly Lord, then no area of our lives can be off-limits to Him. Jesus spoke strongly about the centrality of self-denial in following Him, which often means dramatic personal sacrifices, including not acting on powerful desires for things outside of God’s best for us. … Jesus and new life in Him are more than worth it.”

An initiative to help protect people—especially women—in the United Kingdom who want to leave Islam but fear the consequences of doing so has been launched by Christian Concern.

Entitled "Safe Haven," the project is a response to the brutal treatment experienced by some in the U.K. who have left Islam to become Christians. It offers confidential advice and support to those considering leaving Islam and may even help individuals to relocate.

An advertising campaign has been launched to highlight the availability of help.

The launch on Wednesday took place at Church House in Westminster and was attended by members of the Church of England's General Synod and representatives of other organizations.

'My own family would rather see me dead'

One of those who spoke at the event, Fiaz, explains: "My own household, my brothers, my parents, they don't want anything to do with me. They'd rather see me dead."

His own experience has moved him to highlight the problems that others in the U.K.—especially women—face if they want to leave Islam.

"When an Asian girl turns away from the culture or the religion itself then it's all about honor. They are at greater risk than the men are," he warns. "There are hundreds and hundreds of women across the country who have turned away from Islam. And there are those who are still at home, but they are too afraid to turn away because they don't feel that they have anywhere to go.

"Right now ... there are girls who are beaten, who are abused, and they are afraid to go out and tell others because they feel that if they did and they got caught, that's the end of the road. I came across a girl a year ago whose own brother raped her. She is still at home. If she had an escape route, she would take it."

Watch a short video interview with Fiaz here (3 mins).

'Why do we have to live in fear of our lives?'

Another supporter of the project explains how, as a 10-year-old she thought about leaving home but "felt that I couldn't dishonor the family and leave, so I ended up being quite suicidal and didn't talk to anybody and spent all my time on my own."

Now she asks, "It's OK for people when they convert from another religion to Islam. Nobody says: 'I'm going to kill you.' They don't live in fear of their lives. Why is it that when a person leaves an Islamic background, becomes a Christian, why do we have to live in fear of our lives?"

Watch a short video interview with Selena here (3 1/2 mins).

'I only just escaped with my life and my sanity intact'

Another woman tells of how, at age 12, she was sent to Bangladesh to enter a forced marriage. When that failed, another attempt was made when she was 16. She recalls: "The memory still makes me feel physically sick. If I shut my eyes I can almost smell him and see him sitting opposite me, licking his lips with delight. Incredibly, in the eyes of the Muslim community, this appalling union was going to bring honor to my family. I only just escaped with my life and my sanity intact."

'Stop being a crusader and move'

Another speaker at the launch event, Nissar, left Islam whilst living in the U.K. but has received death threats, experienced recurring verbal abuse, and had his car burned and house vandalized. When he first went to the police, he was told to "stop being a crusader and move."

Watch a short video interview with Nissar here (3 mins).

'Need a safe place to stay?'

An advertising campaign has been launched to coincide with the launch.

Under the headlines, "At Risk," "Threatened," "Afraid" and "Fearful," the ads read:

"If you've converted to Christianity and feel like you need to watch your back, Safe Haven can give you a safe place to stay."

'People need to wake up'

Fiaz welcomed the launch of Safe Haven saying, "if outsiders think that this is not happening in Britain, then they need to wake up, because it is."

"An individual who has turned away from Islam will get killed. It hasn't happened yet, but it will happen. The Safe Haven project is long overdue. It's time to act now," he warns.

'Love drives us'

Co-founder of Christian Concern and member of the Safe Haven team, Pastor Ade Omooba, also spoke at the launch event.

Ade welcomed the project, saying: "The compassion of Jesus Christ drives us. Love demands that we do not turn a blind eye but stand with those who want to leave Islam. We want to see people set free from fear.

"At Christian Concern, we have heard of these appalling experiences too often. Something needs to be done."

Andrea Williams, chief executive, adds: "We are very grateful to all those who have given money and offered practical help to enable us to get this far. Please continue to pray for and support this vital initiative."