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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/8/2014 10:16:47 AM

2nd Night of Berkeley Protest Turns Violent Again

BERKELEY, Calif. — Dec 8, 2014, 4:44 AM ET


This photo provided by Gabriel Reyes shows the protest in Berkeley, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 7. 2014. Three officers and a technician were hurt and six people arrested in Northern California when a protest over police killings turned violent. Gabriel Reyes/AP Photo

Raucous demonstrations hit Berkeley's streets for a second straight night as protesters angered by police killings in Missouri and New York clashed with officers, vandalized businesses and even fought with each other, officials said.

Sunday's protest began peacefully on the University of California, Berkeley, campus but eventually grew rowdy and spilled into Oakland. Activists made their way onto a freeway and blocked traffic.

The California Highway Patrol said officers fired tear gas after protesters targeted them with rocks and bottles and tried to light a patrol vehicle on fire. Police also said explosives were thrown at officers, but there was no information immediately available on how potent they were.

Officers chased protesters off the roadway. The highway patrol said it made arrests but no figures were available.

The demonstrations were the latest of several in the Bay Area ? including in Oakland where activism is strong ? to protest recent grand jury decisions in Missouri and New York not to indict while police officers in the deaths of two black men.

As hundreds of protesters began marching through downtown Berkeley, the unrest that marked protests Saturday night was touched off again as someone smashed the window of a Radio Shack. When a protester tried to stop growing vandalism, he was hit with a hammer, Officer Jennifer Coats said.

Police said groups of protesters late Sunday began roaming through the downtown area, throwing trash cans into streets and lighting garbage on fire, smashing windows on buildings, and damaging and looting businesses. There also were reports of vandalism at City Hall.

Television footage showed protesters smashing door windows and breaking into buildings and setting rubbish piles ablaze.

Coats said police were making arrests and had made some arrests earlier in the evening, but no further details were available.

There was no immediate word of any serious injuries. During the protests a day earlier, three police officers and a technician were hurt and six people were arrested when the protest turned unruly.

Meanwhile, seven people were arrested in Seattle Saturday night after protesters threw rocks at police and attempted to block a highway. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been calling for calm while activists push for police reforms. NAACP president Cornell William Brooks, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," called for outfitting police with body-worn cameras and changing law enforcement policy.

"We have to change the model of policing," Brooks said.

Ohio's Republican governor said the unrest underscores the need for political leaders to be inclusive and to unite, not divide.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on ABC's "This Week" that a "significant percentage" of the country believes the system's not working for them and can be working against them.

"They need to be listened to and they need to be responded to," Kasich said. "In our country today, there's too much division, too much polarization ? black, white; rich, poor; Democrat, Republican. America does best when we're united."

The unrest in Berkeley follows violent disruptions of demonstrations in Oakland and San Francisco in recent days. Five San Francisco police officers sought medical treatment after sustaining injuries during a protest in downtown San Francisco on Black Friday.

But the protest Saturday was the most serious for Berkeley. Then, protesters broke away from a peaceful demonstration and began throwing rocks, bottles and pipes at officers, who brought in scores of reinforcements from area departments. Police responded with tear gas.

Coats said several businesses were vandalized and demonstrators threw wrenches, smoke grenades and other objects at officers, and some squad cars were damaged.

Local media reports said about 300 to 400 people participated in the relatively peaceful demonstration before splinter groups broke off.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/8/2014 10:26:59 AM

California police, protesters clash again after 'chokehold' death

Reuters


Demonstrators chant outside Berkeley City Hall during a march against the New York City grand jury decision to not indict a police officer in the death of Eric Garner, in Berkeley, California December 7, 2014. U.S. West Coast cities were braced for trouble on Sunday, after a night of clashes in Berkeley, California, and Seattle, as fresh protests started against police violence over the death of Garner, a black man who was put in a chokehold by a police officer. Protesters in New York and other cities have staged demonstrations every day since a grand jury's decision on Wednesday not to bring criminal charges against the white police officer whose chokehold contributed to the man's death in New York in July. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By Emmett Berg and Sebastien Malo

BERKELEY, California/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Angry crowds hurled objects at police who retaliated in a second night of clashes in northern California following the death of a black man who was put in a chokehold by a New York police officer.

Police fired gas after being targeted by what they called "explosives". They moved in to clear roadways as protesters swarmed freeway overpasses at two locations in Berkeley, a Reuters reporter saw.

Police made several arrests among the demonstrators who numbered well over 500, and a number of stores in Berkeley were looted. One demonstrator who tried to prevent the looting was assaulted, police said.

Reuters could not immediately obtain further information from police, who some demonstrators said on Twitter had fired rubber bullets. Protesters have demonstrated daily in several U.S. cities since a grand jury's decision on Wednesday not to bring criminal charges against the white police officer whose chokehold contributed to Eric Garner's death in New York City in July.

The killings of Garner and of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, in Ferguson, Missouri, have highlighted the strained relations between police and the black community and rekindled a national debate over U.S. race relations.

New York was quieter over the weekend, but West Coast cities had braced for trouble after clashes in Berkeley and Seattle, Washington on Saturday.

MOSTLY PEACEFUL ELSEWHERE

On Sunday, police in Berkeley fired gas after some demonstrators began hurling objects, the California Highway Patrol's Golden Gate division said.

Arrests were made, but exact numbers were not available. Patrol vehicles were vandalized, the division said on Twitter. It also displayed photos of rocks it said were hurled.

Authorities closed the local Bay Area Rapid Transit station for a second night due to the unrest. The two nights of looting and rock-throwing on the West Coast contrasted with mostly peaceful demonstrations elsewhere.

The decision by a grand jury not to return an indictment in Brown's killing ignited two nights of arson and rioting in the St. Louis suburbs.

Earlier on Sunday evening hundreds of protesters began marching down a main thoroughfare in Berkeley after massing on the campus of the University of California.

Officer Jenn Coats of the Berkeley Police Department said the crowd, estimated at 500 to 600, was peaceful.

On Saturday evening, what had begun as a peaceful march ended in an extended confrontation between demonstrators and police, resulting in six arrests, damage to local businesses and a minor injury to a police officer.

In Seattle about 200 people gathered on Sunday evening, a day after a demonstration drew more than 1,000 protesters, with some throwing rocks and attacking police in clashes that resulted in seven arrests. There was one arrest on Sunday.

New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said on Sunday the department's internal investigation into Garner's death could last four months. He said he would review the results to decide if officers involved in Garner's arrest had violated department policy. The Justice Department is doing its own investigation.

In Chicago, church-affiliated protesters marched through the city, carrying signs and chanting, "I can’t breathe" and "Hands up, don’t shoot," television news footage showed.

Protesters in Miami blocked a portion of Interstate 195 on Sunday afternoon, clogging traffic to the Art Basel show in Miami Beach, CBS-TV Miami reported.

The outcry over the recent killings spread to NFL stadiums as well. Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush was among several players donning pre-game practice jerseys reading "I can't breathe," Garner's dying words.

(Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York, Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans, Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Victoria Cavaliere in Seattle; Writing by Frank McGurty and Chris Michaud; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and John Stonestreet)

Churches Lead Protests Of Grand Jury Rulings In Garner, Brown Deaths (video)



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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/8/2014 10:36:50 AM

Philippine typhoon weakens but leaves 21 dead

Associated Press


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Raw: Typhoon Hits Philippines


LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Hagupit weakened into a tropical storm Monday, leaving at least 21 people dead and forcing more than a million people into shelters but sparing most of a central Philippine region still haunted by last year's monster storm.

While the worst was over in central island provinces, where the sun peeked Monday after days of stormy weather, Manila and outlying provinces braced as Hagupit, or "smash" in Filipino, blew nearer with maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour and gusts of 135 kph (84 mph).

Forecasters said the storm was expected to slam into a Batangas provincial town about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Manila by nightfall. Although considerably weaker from its peak power, the storm remains potentially dangerous and could still whip storm surges that could overwhelm coastal villages, they said.

While officials expressed relief that the typhoon had not caused major damage, they warned that Hagupit was still on course to barrel into the southern tip of the main northern island of Luzon where Manila is located, before starting to blow away Tuesday into the South China Sea.

Hagupit (pronounced HA'-goo-pit), which made landfall in Eastern Samar late Saturday, was moving slowly at 10 kph (6 mph) and could dump heavy rain that could possibly trigger landslides and flash floods, according to forecasters.

Traumatized by the death and destruction from Typhoon Haiyan last year, more than 1 million people fled to emergency shelters and safer ground. Many have started to troop back home after the typhoon had blown past their provinces, Philippine Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said.

"The worst is over for them. It's a big relief because they really got scared of this typhoon with Haiyan in their minds," Pang said. "And there are still areas bracing for the storm like Manila."

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said more than 5,000 residents of a shantytown on the edge of Manila Bay have been evacuated due to possible storm surges.

"We've prepared and trained for this," Estrada told The Associated Press, adding his greatest fear was widespread flooding. Metropolitan Manila has a population of more than 12 million people.

Like villagers in the central Philippines, Estrada said Manila residents were readily moving to safety because of haunting memories of Haiyan.

The strongest typhoon on record to hit land, Haiyan's tsunami-like storm surges, leveled entire villages and left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in November last year.

Hagupit left at least 21 people dead, including 16 villagers who drowned in Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon made its first landfall, according to the Philippine Red Cross. The government disaster-response agency has reported only five deaths, including three people who died of hypothermia, saying it was still verifying other reported casualties.

Displaced villagers have been asked to return home from emergency shelters in provinces where the danger posed by the typhoon had waned, including Albay province, where more than half a million people were advised to leave evacuation sites.

Nearly 12,000 villagers, however, will remain in government shelters in Albay because their homes lie near a restive volcano.

___

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.





"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/8/2014 10:46:33 AM

U.S. sanctions aimed at changing power in Russia: deputy minister

Reuters


Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov looks on at the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks at the United Nations offices in Geneva October 15, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrice Coffrini/Pool


Related Stories

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian deputy foreign minister accused the United States on Monday of trying to bring down President Vladimir Putin by imposing sanctions on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, TASS news agency reported.

"It is hardly a secret that the goal of the sanctions is to create social and economic conditions to carry out a change of power in Russia," TASS quoted Sergei Ryabkov told a hearing in the lower house of parliament.

He said it would take years to overcome the impact of the crisis in Ukraine, during which the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on the finance, defense and energy sectors in Russia as well as on some individuals.

Ryabkov also accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the other former Soviet republics and said these efforts were being made particularly aggressively in Ukraine this year.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Timothy Heritage)



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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/8/2014 10:52:18 AM

US, NATO ceremonially end Afghan combat mission

Associated Press


US military forces listen to U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaking at Tactical Base Gamberi in eastern Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014. Hagel was winding up a two day visit, his last to Afghanistan as secretary of defense. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson, Pool)


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan on Monday, 13 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks sparked their invasion of the country to topple the Taliban-led government.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, which was in charge of combat operations, lowered its flag, formally ending its deployment.

U.S. Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of NATO and U.S. forces, said that the mission now would transition to a training and support role for Afghanistan's own security forces, which have led the fight against the Taliban insurgents since mid-2013.

"The Afghan security forces are capable," Campbell said. "They have to make some changes in the leadership which they're doing, and they have to hold people accountable."

From Jan. 1, the coalition will maintain a force of 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, down from a peak around 140,000 in 2011. There are around 15,000 troops now in the country.

The mission ends as the Taliban is increasing its attacks. U.S. President Barack Obama recently allowed U.S. forces to launch operations against both Taliban and al-Qaida militants, broadening the mission of the U.S. forces that will remain in the country after the end of the year.

Violence continued Monday in the country, as suicide bombers launched an assault on a police station in southern Kandahar province. Police killed three suicide bombers, said Samim Akhplwak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. He said casualty figures were unclear.

Campbell said that Afghan security forces, including the army, police and local militias, were capable of securing the country despite record-high casualty figures that have risen 6.5 percent this year, to 4,634 killed in action, compared to 4,350 in 2013. By comparison, some 3,500 foreign forces, including at least 2,210 American soldiers, have been killed since the war began in 2001.

Up to 10,800 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan for the first three months of next year, 1,000 more than previously planned as the new mission, called Resolute Support, waits for NATO partners to deploy, said a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop deployments.

As a result, there will be little, if any, net drop in U.S. troop numbers between now and Dec. 31. By the end of 2015, however, the U.S. troop total is to shrink to 5,500, and to near zero by the end of 2016.

Monday's ceremony was the first of two that will draw a formal close to NATO's combat mission by Dec. 28.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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