KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Defying insurgents, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday condemned the wave of militant attacks striking his country ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops, vowing: "We will never surrender."

In a televised speech, Ghani called on all religious, political and social leaders to condemn the violence. At one point, he even shouted: "Enough! No more!"

"This is unacceptable, it is un-Islamic, it is inhuman," he said, referring the death of a university student in an attack targeting parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai and the suicide bombing of a volleyball tournament that killed about 50 people last month.

Ghani's words come just two weeks ahead of the withdrawal of most international combat troops, 13 years after the U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11 terror attacks removed the Taliban from power.

Ahead of the pullout, Taliban insurgents have launched a series of high-profile attacks across the country, including those targeting foreigners in the capital, Kabul. On Saturday alone, insurgents killed at least 19 people, including 12 clearing land mines in the country's south and a senior official of the country's Supreme Court shot dead outside his home in Kabul.

Ghani has made few public remarks about the violence that has intensified since he took office in September, though regularly visits victims of attacks in the hospital and at their homes.

In his speech Sunday, Ghani offered no specifics about his plans to combat the surging insurgents. His administration has embarked on a top-to-bottom review of the country's military and security strategy, promising to remove provincial governors and other security officials. His foreign policy aims to pressure Pakistan into halting cross-border attacks by the Taliban and the Haqqani network.

The uptick in Taliban attacks comes after Ghani signed a bilateral security agreement with Washington and a status of forces agreement with NATO that his predecessor Hamid Karzai declined to sign. U.S. President Barack Obama also has approved an expanded combat mission authorizing American troops to engage Taliban insurgents — not just al-Qaida — and to provide air support when needed.

KABC – Los Angeles
Protesters of police killings march in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Demonstrators nationwide protesting the fatal shootings of unarmed black men killed by police chanted "I can't breathe!" ''Hands up, don't shoot!" and waved signs that read "Black lives matter!" as family members of three victims packed a stage in front of the U.S. Capitol, urging thousands of supportive marchers to keep pressing for changes to the criminal justice system.

The march in Washington on Saturday — attended by family members for Michael Brown and Eric Garner, who were killed by police in recent months, and Amadou Diallo, who was fatally shot by police more than 15 years ago — coincided with nationwide demonstrations that spanned from iconic Fifth Avenue in New York to the streets of San Francisco and the steps of the Boston Statehouse. Most were peaceful protests, although about two dozen people were arrested in the Massachusetts capital for disorderly conduct.

"My husband was a quiet man, but he's making a lot of noise right now," said Washington protest marcher Esaw Garner, widow of Eric Garner, 43, who died in July after being put in a chokehold by New York City police during an arrest for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

"His voice will be heard. I have five children in this world and we are fighting not just for him but for everybody's future, for everybody's past, for everybody's present, and we need to make it strong."

Nationally, chanting demonstrators also staged "die-ins" as they lay down across intersections and in one city briefly scuffled with police blocking an onramp to a highway.

New York City police said two officers were assaulted by protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge when they tried to arrest a man who was attempting to toss a garbage can onto police officers below. Some marchers then blocked traffic on the bridge for about an hour. Police said the officers were treated for bumps and bruises, including a broken nose. Police say there have been no arrests in that incident, but a backpack full of hammers and a mask was found.

Organizers had predicted 5,000 people at the Washington march, but the crowd appeared to far outnumber that. They later said they believed as many as 25,000 had shown up. It was not possible to verify the numbers; Washington police do not release crowd estimates.

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Demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue toward Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 13, 201 …

Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, called the demonstrations a "history-making moment."

"It's just so overwhelming to see all who have come to stand with us today," she said. "I mean, look at the masses. Black, white, all races, all religions. ... We need to stand like this at all times."

Joining the Garners in Washington were speakers from the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old killed in Ohio as he played with a pellet gun in a park, and the mother of Amadou Diallo, who in 1999 was shot and killed in the Bronx by four New York City police officers.

Diallo's mother, Kadiatou Diallo, reflected on how the same issues being debated today were debated when her son was killed more than 15 years ago.

"We've been there so many times," she said. "Today we are standing still and demanding the same thing."

The Rev. Al Sharpton helped organize the marches.

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Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march …

"Members of Congress, beware we're serious ...," Sharpton said in Washington. "When you get a ring-ding on Christmas, it might not be Santa; it may be Rev. Al coming to your house."

Several speakers asked the crowd to chant, "I can't breathe." Garner, 43, had gasped those words before his death. Some protesters also wore those words on shirts.

Protests — some violent — have occurred around the nation since grand juries last month declined to indict the officers involved in the deaths of Garner and Michael Brown, 18, shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Before the crowd started marching, Sharpton directed, "Don't let no provocateurs get you out of line. ... We are not here to play big shot. We are here to win."

Washington, D.C., and U.S. Park Police said they had made no arrests in the capital protests, though a small group of protesters split off after the march and briefly occupied various intersections in downtown Washington. In Boston, about two dozen people were arrested for disorderly conduct after scuffling with officers blocking an Interstate 93 onramp near the Nashua Street Jail.

The noisy march through the heart of Manhattan swelled to at least 25,000 people, police said. It snarled traffic but remained peaceful, with no arrests reported by late afternoon. On Saturday night, some protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, blocking traffic in both directions.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of San Francisco and Oakland on Saturday. Oakland police said at least 45 people were arrested for crimes such as vandalism, failure to disperse and resisting arrest following a largely peaceful protest. Meanwhile, at the University of California, Berkeley, police removed life-sized photographs of lynching victims that had been hung at the campus. Investigators believe they were connected to a smaller protest in Berkeley at noon. Berkeley protest organizers said they didn't know where they came from.

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Demonstrators march in New York, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, during the Justice for All rally and march …

"We hope that it's someone who wanted to bring attention to the issue," said one of the organizers, Spencer Pritchard.

In New York, the thousands of demonstrators included family members of people killed by New York City police going back decades.

Donna Carter, 54, marched with her boyfriend, whose teenage son was shot and killed by police in the 1990s while carrying a toy gun.

"It's good to see people of all colors here to say enough is enough," said Carter, who's black. "I'm a parent and every child that's killed feels like my child."

Others were there to show their outrage, including Rich Alexandro, 47, who carried a handmade sign with dozens of names of victims of police killings in which officers were never charged.

"It just seems like the cops are Teflon," Alexandro said. "There's no justice."

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A demonstrator chants during a rally in downtown Manhattan in New York, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, dur …

On the eve of Saturday's nationwide protests, demonstrators in Nashville, Tennessee, staged "die-ins" in the country music capital's honky-tonk district Friday night while tourists took their pictures.

Politicians and others have talked about the need for better police training, body cameras and changes in the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system.

Terry Baisden, 52, of Baltimore said she is "hopeful change is coming" and that the movement is not part of a fleeting flash of anger.

She said she hasn't protested before but felt compelled to because "changes in action, changes in belief, happen in numbers."

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the Washington march was peaceful. She mingled with the crowd and said she wanted to show solidarity with the marchers.

"This is one of the most well-organized events I've seen," Lanier said.

Other groups including Ferguson Action conducted "Day of Resistance" movements all around the country.

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Online:

Justice for All March http://nationalactionnetwork.net/march-police/

National Day of Resistance: http://fergusonaction.com/day-of-resistance/

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Nations agree climate plan

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Climate negotiators salvaged a compromise deal in Lima early Sunday that sets the stage for a global pact in Paris next year, but rejected a rigorous review of the greenhouse gas emissions limits they plan.

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More than 30 hours behind schedule, delegates from more than 190 countries agreed on what information should go into the pledges that countries submit for the expected Paris pact.

They argued all day Saturday over the wording of the decision, with developing nations worried that the text blurred the distinction between what rich and poor countries can be expected to do.

The final draft alleviated those concerns with language saying countries have "common but differentiated responsibilities" to deal with global warming.

"As a text it's not perfect, but it includes the positions of the parties," said Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who was the conference chairman and had spent most of the day meeting separately with delegations.

The momentum from last month's joint U.S.-China deal on emissions targets faded quickly in Lima as rifts reopened over who should do what to fight global warming. The goal of the talks is to shape a global agreement in Paris that puts the world on a path to reduce the heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet.

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Activists perform as heads of state, from left, President Barack Obama, Australia's Prime Minist …

Many developing countries, the most vulnerable to climate change's impacts, accuse rich nations of shirking their responsibilities to curb climate change and pay for the damage it inflicts.

In presenting a new, fourth draft just before midnight, Peru's environment minister gave a sharply reduced body of delegates an hour to review it. Many delegates had already quit the makeshift conference center on the grounds of Peru's army headquarters.

It also restored language demanded by small island states at risk of being flooded by rising seas, mentioning a "loss and damage" mechanism agreed upon in last year's talks in Poland that recognizes that nations hardest hit by climate change will require financial and technical help.

"We need a permanent arrangement to help the poorest of the world," Ian Fry, negotiator for the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, said at a midday session.

However, the approved draft weakened language on the content of the pledges, saying they "may" instead of "shall" include quantifiable information showing how countries intend to meet their emissions targets.

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Former Vice President of the Unites States Al Gore, left, Former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon …

Also, top carbon polluter China and other major developing countries opposed plans for a review process that would allow the pledges to be compared against one another before Paris.

The new draft mentioned only that all pledges would be reviewed a month ahead Paris to assess their combined effect on climate change.

"I think it's definitely watered down from what we expected," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Sam Smith, chief of climate policy for the environmental group WWF, said: "The text went from weak to weaker to weakest and it's very weak indeed."

Chief U.S. negotiator Todd Stern acknowledged that negotiations had been contentious but said the outcome was "quite good in the end." He had warned Saturday that failing to leave Lima with an accord would be "seen as a serious breakdown" that could put the Paris agreement and the entire U.N. process at risk.

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AP10ThingsToSee - Members of the glaciology unit of Peru's national water authority walk on the …

Though negotiating tactics always play a role, virtually all disputes in the U.N. talks reflect a wider issue of how to divide the burden of fixing the planetary warming that scientists say results from human activity, primarily the burning of oil, coal and natural gas.

Historically, Western nations are the biggest emitters. Currently, most CO2 emissions are coming from developing countries led by China and India as they grow their economies and lift millions of people out of poverty.

During a brief stop in Lima on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said fixing the problem is "everyone's responsibility, because it's the net amount of carbon that matters, not each country's share."

According to the U.N.'s scientific panel on climate change, the world can pump out no more than about 1 trillion tons of carbon to have a likely chance of avoiding dangerous levels of warming —defined in the U.N. talks as exceeding 2 degrees centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above 19th-century averages.

It already has spent more than half of that carbon budget as emissions continue to rise, driven by growth in China and other emerging economies.

Scientific reports say climate impacts are already happening and include rising sea levels, intensifying heat waves and shifts in weather patterns causing floods in some areas and droughts in others.

The U.N. weather agency said last week that 2014 could become the hottest year on record.

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Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Nestor Ikeda contributed to this report.

Jerusalem (AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected talk of Israel withdrawing from east Jerusalem and the West Bank within two years, on the eve of a meeting with the top US diplomat.

"We... stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, that is an attempt to compel us by means of UN decisions to withdraw to the 1967 lines within two years," said Netanyahu.

The Jewish state seized east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War. It pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

Netanyahu said such a withdrawal now would bring "Islamic extremists to the suburbs of Tel Aviv and to the heart of Jerusalem."

Speaking ahead of the weekly meeting of his cabinet, he said he would raise the issue in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday.

"I will tell them that Israel, to a large degree, stands as a solitary island against the waves of Islamic extremism that are washing over the entire Middle East," the Israeli premier said.

"Until now we have successfully withstood and repelled these attacks."

The Palestinian leadership plans to submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council demanding the end of Israel's occupation by November 2016.

The Arab League has backed the text, but it ran into opposition from the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions seen as undermining Israel.

France stepped in last month to try to cobble together along with Britain and Germany a resolution that would win consensus at the 15-member council.

And the Palestinians have said they would like a draft resolution to go to a vote before the end of the year.

The text would call for a return to negotiations with a view to achieving a two-state solution by which Israel and a Palestinian state would co-exist.

Negotiations have hit hurdles over whether to include a two-year deadline for talks on a final settlement to be completed.