FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Brown family shows Michael Brown. Brown, 18, was fatally shot in a confrontation with police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Brown Family, File)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal autopsy in the Ferguson police shooting reached similar conclusions to those performed by local officials and a private examiner hired by 18-year-old Michael Brown's family, documents show.

The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System's autopsy on Brown, conducted at the request of the Department of Justice, was among grand jury documents that St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch released Monday with little explanation. Other documents include transcripts of eight federal interviews of possible witnesses to Brown's shooting in early August; police radio traffic; and an alleged audio recording of the shots fired by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

Many of the documents contained information that was similar or identical to the materials that McCulloch released on Nov. 24 after a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson in Brown's death. A transcript of testimony from an Air Force pathologist who performed the Justice Department autopsy was included in the November documents, but the autopsy report itself was not released until Monday.

The transcripts of the witness interviews that were released Monday were already included in previously released testimony heard by the grand jury.

The Justice Department autopsy found that Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds and had severe head and chest injuries, though it noted that the chest injury might have been an exit wound from a shot that entered Brown's arm. The autopsy also found a minor gunshot wound to Brown's right hand was evidence of close range discharge of a firearm.

Wilson told the local grand jury that his gun went off during a tussle with Brown through the open window of his police car moments before Brown was fatally shot.

The Justice Department is conducting a separate civil rights investigation into Brown's death.

The Associated Press has reviewed all of the grand jury documents that have been released and none appear to include a transcript or a recording of a two-hour FBI and county police interview with Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown when he was shot.

However, the first batch of documents did include seven video clips of Johnson's media interviews, as well as a transcript of his testimony to the grand jury.

Johnson was walking with Brown when they encountered Wilson in a Ferguson street. Wilson fatally shot Brown, who was unarmed, after a struggle.

Johnson painted Wilson as provoking the violence, while Wilson said Brown was the aggressor. He also said Wilson fired at least one shot at his friend while Brown was running away.

The transcript released in November notes that jurors listened to a recording of an Aug. 13 interview of Johnson by the federal and county investigators.

Ed Magee, a spokesman for McCulloch, acknowledged earlier Monday that his office didn't release copies of FBI interviews with some witnesses at the request of the Justice Department. An FBI spokeswoman in St. Louis declined comment.

"Those reports are not ours to release," Magee said.

Hours later, Magee advised reporters that "as promised, additional information concerning the grand jury testimony on the Michael Brown/Darren Wilson investigation is now ready to be released."

Grand jury investigations are closed to the public. When McCulloch released documents last month, he said that he wanted transparency and believed "everyone will be able to examine that same evidence and come to their own conclusion."

Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department in late November.

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Associated Press reporter David A. Lieb in Kansas City contributed to this report.

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Follow Alan Scher Zagier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/azagier

Police officers with the Berkeley Police Department clash with protesters during a march against the New York City grand jury decision to not indict in the death of Eric Garner in Berkeley, California December 8, 2014. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By Emmett Berg and Noel Randewich

BERKELEY, Calif./NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 150 protesters were arrested in California overnight after shutting down a major freeway in another outbreak of nationwide demonstrations against police use of deadly force on minorities.

Across the other side of the country late on Monday, basketball stars in New York including Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James joined the protests by wearing shirts emblazoned with "I can't breathe" -- the last words of Eric Garner, a black man who died after a police chokehold.

Large crowds have demonstrated daily in several U.S. cities since a grand jury decided last week not to bring criminal charges against a white police officer over the death of Garner, an unarmed father of six, in July.

The death of Garner and the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri in August, have highlighted strained relations between police and black Americans and rekindled a national debate over race relations.

Several hundred people stormed onto Interstate 80 in the college town of Berkeley near San Francisco on Monday night snarling traffic in both directions.

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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) wears an " I Can't Breathe" t-shirt duri …

Protesters threw rocks and other objects at officers, California Highway Patrol spokesman Daniel Hill said. More than 150 people were arrested, mostly for resisting or obstructing an officer, he added.

Earlier, dozens of protesters stopped an Amtrak train in the town by lying on the tracks or sitting on a sofa placed across the line.

Outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a group of about 300 protesters blocked streets and chanted, "I can't breathe," in memory of Garner, and "Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to Brown's death.

In downtown Phoenix, about 200 protesters marched to police headquarters over the killing of another unarmed black man by a white officer in what authorities described as a struggle last week.

Protesters demanded that police release the name of the officer involved in the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, a man police suspected of selling drugs.

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Demonstrators sit on a railroad track in front of an Amtrak train during a march against the New Yor …

REVIEW OF POLICE KILLINGS

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday said he was seeking the power to investigate all police killings of unarmed civilians in the state.

It remained unclear whether New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would grant Schneiderman such powers. Like the Democratic mayor of New York, Cuomo has tried to walk a fine line -- expressing concern about the grand jury's decision not to charge an officer in Garner's death while not alienating the police.

On Monday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, whose office is investigating the Garner case, announced changes to federal law enforcement guidelines intended to set an example for local police, according to a Justice Department official.

In Cleveland, Samaria Rice, the mother of a 12-year-old African-American boy shot dead by police in November, told reporters she was seeking a conviction.

Her son, Tamir Rice, was shot near a recreation center while carrying a pellet gun that was a replica of a real gun. The boy's family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the two officers involved, one who shot Rice on Nov. 22 and one who was driving the police car.

"Tamir was a bright child, he had a promising future and he was very talented in all sports: soccer, basketball, football," Rice said. "He was my baby."

(Additional reporting by Kim Palmer in Cleveland, Sebastien Malo in Brooklyn, Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Curtis Skinner in Oakland, and David Schwartz in Phoenix; Writing by Sharon Bernstein and Curtis Skinner; Editing by Gareth Jones and Andrew Heavens)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday that his army is taking the offensive against the Islamic State group but needs more air power and heavy weaponry to prevail.

Hagel, who flew to Baghdad to get a first-hand report on progress against the Islamic State militants, held a series of meetings with top Iraqi government officials and conferred with American military commanders.

He met with al-Abadi at the prime minister's office after addressing a group of U.S. and Australian soldiers at Baghdad International Airport.

Al-Abadi told Hagel as their meeting began that "Daesh (Islamic State) is on the descent at the moment." He said their capabilities had been reduced.

"We are very thankful for the support that's been given to us," al-Abadi said. "Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more ... heavy weaponry. We need that."

Asked later about al-Abadi's request, Hagel told reporters, "I appreciated his directness," but he was not more specific about how he responded.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel greets U.S. troops upon his arrival at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, …

U.S. officials assert that the Iraqis' biggest need is competent military leadership, not additional military hardware.

The prime minister said the Islamic State had acquired extensive weaponry and remained able to move back and forth between Iraq and Syria. That contrasts with statements by U.S. commanders who say the militants' ability to resupply their fighters in Iraq has been severely constrained by airstrikes.

In remarks to reporters later, Hagel said Iraqi forces are preparing for broader counteroffensives.

Hagel said he was leaving Iraq encouraged by progress on the battlefield against the militants and by the Iraqi government's renewed efforts to unify the country.

"As Iraqi leaders and the people of Iraq know, only they can bring lasting peace to their country if they are resolved to do that," he said.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a press conference after visiting U.S. troops in …

He also said months of attacks on the Islamic State militants have been effective.

"These efforts are thwarting ISIL's ability to maneuver, communicate, coordinate and control their forces, as well as their ability to sustain and resupply themselves," Hagel said, using an alternative acronym for the extremist group. "Iraqi forces will be able to intensify offensive operations as the coalition's training effort expands into northern, western and central Iraq."

On what is expected to be his last overseas trip as Pentagon chief, Hagel landed at the airport under tight security. He is the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Iraq since Leon Panetta was here in December 2011 to mark the end of the U.S. military mission.

Hagel said Monday during a visit to Kuwait that he believes Iraq's security forces have gained a new momentum, thanks in part to sustained U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State militants.

The U.S. is committed to helping Iraq roll back the territorial gains the militants made earlier this year, but President Barack Obama has ruled out sending American ground combat forces. He maintains that any lasting solution in Iraq can only be carried out by a newly unified Iraqi government.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks to U.S. troops during a visit at Camp Buehring, Kuwait Dec …

At the peak of the war in Iraq the U.S. had about 170,000 troops in the country. When it pulled out, in December 2011, U.S. officials said they believed Iraq was on track to long-term stability. There are about 1,650 U.S. troops in Iraq now.

During his stop in Kuwait, Hagel said the Islamic State group remains a formidable threat, not only to Iraq but also to neighboring Iran and other countries in the region. He repeated the U.S. government's policy of not coordinating military action in Iraq with Iran, but he also suggested that Iran has reason to be concerned about the long-term ambitions of the Islamic State.

"They are threatened by ISIL, just like every government in the Middle East is clearly threatened by ISIL," Hagel said.

U.S. officials said last week that Iran had recently conducted airstrikes in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.

The top U.S. commander for the military campaign against Islamic State said in Kuwait on Monday that Islamic State fighters have lost the initiative in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. James Terry told a small group of reporters that the Islamic State is "on defense, trying to hold what they have gained." He added that the group, which is armed with tanks and other U.S.-made war equipment captured from the Iraqi army, is "still able to conduct some limited attacks."

The Anglo Saxon military industrial complex is going to ally itself with the Russians, Turks and Iranians to help create a moderate Sufi based Muslim confederation in order to put a permanent end to the Saudi financed Salafist extremists. The new Israeli government due to take power in March of next year will have to come to terms with this in order to attain true peace in the Middle East.

Finally, take note of the fact that somebody has given new marching orders to UN head (and cabal stooge) Ban Ki Moon. He is now saying the UN’s new agenda involves “ending poverty, achieving shared prosperity and protecting our planet.”

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2014-12/05/c_133833622_2.htm

This is exactly what the awakening citizens of the planet have been asking for. It is finally happening.