Thousands March Against US Police Killings

US Avoids Shutdown After Spending Bill Passed

Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 Desember 2014 | 00.27

The US Senate has passed a $1.1tr spending bill - and prevented a repeat of last year's government shutdown.

The 56-40 vote on Saturday came as Congress ended a two-year legislative session that has been marred by bitter partisanship and few successes.

Now the measure will be sent to US President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law before Wednesday.

This will mean that most government agencies will be funded until September 2015, except for the Department of Homeland Security, which will have its funding reviewed at the end of February.

By this time the Republicans will control the House of Representatives and the Senate and will be able to deny the organisation funding to enforce Mr Obama's recent order easing deportations for undocumented immigrants.

Getting the 1,603-page bill through was a bitter struggle, with a revolt by House Democrats that nearly scuttled the bill earlier this week, and delaying tactics in the Senate.

Of the 40 no votes, 22 were Democrats, many of them furious that negotiators inserted policies into the package, including one pulling back on key financial regulations for Wall Street banks.

Another part of the bill gets rid of campaign finance law by dramatically increasing the amount of money wealthy donors can give to political campaigns.

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Gallery: US Landmarks Re-Open After Shutdown

A National Park worker removes a closed sign at Washington's Martin Luther King Jr Memorial after it was re-opened to the public following a partial shutdown of government services.

A woman jogs past the Lincoln Memorial on the morning after a bipartisan bill passed by the House and the Senate allowed the government to reopen and the debt limit to be raised.

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Japan's PM Shinzo Abe Re-Elected - Exit Polls

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been re-elected with a two-thirds majority in a snap ballot, exit polls suggest.

The vote had been portrayed by Mr Abe as a referendum on his plans to revive the world's third-biggest economy.

The Japanese leader may use his victory to push ahead with tough economic reforms, but with turnout on course for a record low this could weaken his claim of a mandate.

Exit polls shortly after voting finished showed Mr Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner had secured between 328 and 333 of the 475 seats in the lower house.

The result is enough to maintain its "super-majority", and smooth the way for its policies through parliament.

Speaking on the eve of the election, Mr Abe said: "I have been pushing for Abenomics, the policies designed to create jobs and raise salaries.

"Japan can be much richer."

But many voters, doubtful over Mr Abe's plans to generate growth and the opposition's ability to come up with an alternative, stayed at home.

Hopes for the PM's strategy suffered a setback after the economy slipped into recession following a sales tax rise in April.

In response, Mr Abe delayed a second tax hike to 10% until 2017, raising concerns about how Japan will curb its huge public debt.

Doubts also remain over Mr Abe's ability to tackle more politically-sensitive areas of reform, including deregulation of the labour market, and the highly protected farm sector.

Experts say Mr Abe may also use his fresh four-year term to focus on changing Japan's pacifist constitution to ease limits on the military.

This is likely to cause concern in China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan's past militarism remain raw.

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Two US Soldiers Killed In Taliban Attack

Two US soldiers were killed by Taliban forces in Afghanistan on Friday, an American military official has said.

They died during a bomb attack on a NATO convoy near America's Bagram Airfield base in the east of the country.

Meanwhile, at least six Afghan troops were killed after a suicide bomber destroyed a bus in the capital Kabul on Saturday.

A senior court official was also assassinated and 12 Afghan workers were gunned down in the south.

Taliban fighters claimed responsibility for all the attacks and vowed more bloodshed ahead of the official end of NATO's combat mission on December 31.

It has wrecked claims the insurgency is weakening and highlighted fears Afghanistan could descend into a spiral of violence as the US-led military presence declines.

NATO's force will change at the end of the month from a combat mission to a support role, with troop numbers cut to about 12,500 - down from a peak of 130,000 in 2010.

Earlier on Saturday, Taliban gunmen shot dead a senior Supreme Court official as he left his home in the capital.

Taliban fighters also killed 12 workers clearing mines in southern Helmand province.

Afghan troops fought with the attackers, killing two insurgents and capturing four others.

In his weekly presidential address, Barack Obama thanked American forces for their work in Afghanistan.

"Since our nation was attacked on 9/11, these men and women, like so many others in uniform, have met every mission we've asked of them," he said.

"In more than a decade of war, this 9/11 Generation has worked with the Afghan people to help them reclaim their communities and prevent terrorist attacks against our own country."

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Thousands March Against US Police Killings

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By Sky News US Team

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of cities across the US to protest at the killings of unarmed black men by police and call on politicians to act.

Organisers expected the rallies to be among the largest seen over the lethal actions of officers in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri.

Protesters in Washington carried placards reading "Black Lives Matter" and "Who do you protect? Who do you serve".

Marchers shouted "No justice, no peace, no racist police" and "Hands up, don't shoot".

Among those who took part in the march on the Capitol Building were the families of Eric Garner, killed by an officer using a chokehold position in New York, Michael Brown, who was fatally shot in Ferguson, Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in Florida, and Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Gallery: Protests Over US Police Killings

Thousands of people have marched in several US cities including Washington and New York to demand justice for black men who have died at the hands of white police

It is part of a growing protest movement sparked by the fatal August shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a white policeman

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Protests continued after 43-year-old Eric Garner died in New York when he was put in a chokehold by a police officer

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Several thousand people have massed on the streets, shouting "No justice, no peace!" - a signature chant of the nationwide demonstrations

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The families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner were among the protests

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Esaw Garner, the widow of the 43-year-old, who died in July after officers arrested him in Staten Island on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, told marchers: "Let's keep it strong, long and meaningful."

"Wow, what a sea of people," said Mr Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden.

"If they don't see this and make a change, I don't know what we're going to do."

The lack of criminal charges brought by grand juries in the New York and Ferguson cases has fuelled protests across the US.

Civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton, whose National Action Alliance headed the Washington protest, said in a statement: "We need more than just talk - we need legislative action that will shift things both on the books and in the streets."

He called for legislation that would allow federal prosecutors to take over cases involving police.

Local prosecutors who work with police regularly and then must investigate officers faced a conflict of interest, he argued.

Protesters in Washington were expected to arrive by bus from as far away as Florida, Connecticut and Pittsburgh.

Organisers estimated the crowd at 40,000 to 50,000.

The rally blocked Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the US Capitol.

The march in New York, a city which has seen a series of protests after a grand jury failed to indict the officer who killed Mr Garner, was estimated by observers to have drawn a crowd of more than 10,000.

The crowd headed north up Manhattan's Fifth Avenue from Washington Square Park and was due to end at the city's police headquarters.

Some chanted "How do you spell racist? NYPD" and some taunted police guarding the route.

New York march co-organiser Umaara Elliott said in a statement: "It's open season on black people now.

"So we demand that action be taken at every level of government to ensure that these racist killings by the police cease."

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Gallery: Unarmed Michael Brown Was Shot By A White Officer

Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead on 9 August by officer Darren Wilson. Family described Mr Brown, known as Big Mike, as a gentle giant. He was unarmed

CCTV footage appeared to show Mr Brown conducting a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store minutes before his encounter with Officer Wilson

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Hundreds of protesters also gathered in Boston, Massachusetts.

The state police said "several demonstrators who failed to comply with the law despite orders to do so have been taken into custody".

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Top MP's Demand Over CIA Torture Report

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

The head of the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) is demanding to see material documenting any British links to the CIA's use of torture.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chair of the Commons committee, is seeking any intelligence relating to the UK that was redacted from the explosive Senate report into the CIA.

It concluded that the CIA lied over its torture and interrogation programme developed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Sir Malcolm told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "This is a major United States' report and so we are requesting, both our colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee ... but also it will ultimately be the United States government, that will decide whether some of the material that has been redacted in the American report can be shown to us.

"We don't need to see everything that's been redacted, what we need to see are the bits that might refer to the UK government."

Asked whether that information would be made public, he said the ISC would only agree for it to be withheld "if the Prime Minister was able to convince us that there were legitimate national security reasons why it shouldn't be published".

He said there had been "justified" criticism of the ISC in the past, but it had new powers to order intelligence agencies to hand over requested files and for its staff to go to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to "personally inspect files to make sure nothing's been left out".

He said once the ISC had looked through the written material, "we will come to a judgement as to which people, first of all who in the intelligence agencies we wish to take evidence from, secondly either current ministers or former ministers who have intelligence on these matters".

Sir Malcolm said he does not think a judge-led inquiry into any British involvement in the CIA's rendition and torture programme is necessary.

He agreed the ISC does not have the power to compel ministers to give evidence, "but, of course, it would be huge scandal if they did refuse to".

The British Government has admitted requesting the deletion of references to Britain's intelligence agencies for national security reasons.

UK Government representatives had 24 meetings with members of the US committee responsible for the findings.

Some of the deletions are believed to relate to the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia.

There is escalating pressure on the British government not to extend an agreement allowing the US to use the territory in the Indian Ocean as a military base.

Andrew Tyrie, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on rendition, said any negotiations should address allegations that it was used by the CIA to render terror suspects around the world.

"The negotiations on the lease can focus minds on establishing the scope and limits of Britain's involvement, direct or indirect, in extraordinary rendition," Mr Tyrie said.

"We are talking about kidnap and taking people to places where they may be maltreated or tortured."

The former Home Office minister, Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has taken a close interest in the atoll, said: "As it comes up for renewal, we need a full explanation of what happened in our name on that island."

It comes amid reports former foreign secretary Jack Straw was questioned by police investigating the abductions of two Libyans who say they were handed to Colonel Gaddafi and tortured by his regime.

Mr Straw was interviewed as a "witness" by Scotland Yard following claims the Government was complicit in the rendition of the two men and their families, the Sunday Times said.

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Russia Denies Near-Miss With Passenger Jet

Moscow has denied one of its military planes nearly collided with a passenger plane over Sweden.

Swedish defence forces said the incident happened on Friday when a Russian aircraft turned off its transponders to avoid commercial radar south of the Swedish city of Malmo.

It nearly hit an airliner that had just taken off from Copenhagen International Airport in Denmark, they said.

Both Swedish and Danish fighters were scrambled amid growing concerns about Russian planes skirting or violating the national air space of neighbouring countries.

Russia did not deny its plane was in the area at the time, but said it was a safe distance of more than 70km (43 miles) from the passenger jet.

"There were no conditions for an aviation incident connected to the flight on Friday December 12 of a Russian military plane in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea," said Moscow defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

"The distance from the flight path of the passenger jet that took off from Copenhagen was more than 70km."

He confirmed the Russian plane was flying without a transponder that would have made it visible on the radar of a commercial plane.

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Gallery: Russian Military Planes Alarm NATO

Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) bomber refuelling from an Ilyushin Il-78 during an exercise

Russian Tupolev TU-22M during a military exercise

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Indonesia Landslide: 32 Dead And Scores Missing

A remote village in Indonesia has been destroyed in a landslide which has left at least 32 people dead and scores more missing.

Rescuers searched through mud with their bare hands to try and find the lost villagers until light faded.

Around 105 houses in Jemblung village were swept away late on Friday when a flood of orange colour mud and water cascaded down a wooded mountainside, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from around the village in the Banjarnegara regency of central Java, about 280 miles (450 km) from the capital, Jakarta.

Large swathes of forest land, power lines and houses were buried in the disaster which struck on Friday night.

"There was a roaring sound like thunder," Imam, who lives in a neighbouring village, told television crews.

"Then I saw trees were flying and then the landslides. People here also panicked and fled."

Wahono, a resident who survived along with his four family members, said: "It was like a nightmare ... We suddenly heard a terrible roar and we were immediately fleeing from the rain of red soil.

"Many failed and they were buried in the ground," added Wahono, who uses one name like many Indonesians.

A second resident said there had been no warnings of the likelihood of a landslide.

Mr Nugroho said 32 people had been killed, 15 rescued, more than 76 were missing and 577 people from the surrounding areas had been taken to temporary shelters.

Eleven of the 15 rescued were receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries, he said.

"Jemblung village was the most affected," Mr Nugroho said.

"The challenge is that the evacuation route is also damaged by the landslide."

A government agency official added the rescue effort had been suspended as light faded and would resume on Sunday.

Local reports said five of the dead were found in one car.

Rescuers were pictured using bamboo stretchers to carry bodies away.

A rescue team of about 1,250 people, which included police, military and local volunteers, used their bare hands and makeshift tools to search for people and clear the area.

Tractors and bulldozers were later brought in to help.

A lack of a telephone signal and heavy-lifting equipment has hampered the rescue effort along with crowds of onlookers, Mr Nugroho added.

Jemblung had a history of similar disasters, he added.

Mudslides are common in Indonesia during the monsoon season, which usually runs from October until April.

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UN Climate Talks Reach 'Watered-Down' Deal

Negotiators at United Nations talks in Peru have reached a compromise deal which sets the stage for a global climate pact to be made next year in Paris.

After late-night wrangling, delegates from more than 190 nations meeting in Lima adopted a format for national pledges to cut greenhouse gases and approved a blueprint to guide negotiations for the Paris pact in December 2015.

"As a text it's not perfect, but it includes the positions of the parties," said Peru's environment minister, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who was the conference chairman.

The hard-fought agreement - dubbed the Lima Call for Climate Action - was reached hours after a previous draft was rejected by developing countries who accused rich nations of shirking their responsibilities to fight global warming.

The two-week talks overran by 32 hours after the delegates failed to reach a consensus by the end of the session.

While hailing the Lima agreement as one that "unites all nations", UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey warned there was a lot of work to be done before the Paris summit.

Mr Davey said: "The talks were tough but the Lima Call for Climate Action shows a will and commitment to respond to the public demand to tackle climate change.

"The next 12 months will be critical and the UK's leadership will be needed more than ever in the difficult negotiations ahead - but we have to succeed because the threat to our children's future is so serious."

Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "What is really positive is that for the first time we have got the developed countries and the developing countries on the same page and they have all agreed that they all need to reduce their carbon emissions."

The European Union welcomed the outcome of talks as a "as a step forward on the road to a global climate deal in Paris next year."

But environmental campaigners said it was a step backwards in protecting poor countries from catastrophe.

Friends of the Earth's international climate campaigner Asad Rehman said: "The only thing these talks have achieved is to reduce the chances of a fair and effective agreement to tackle climate change in Paris next year.

"Once again poorer nations have been bullied by the industrialised world into accepting an outcome which leaves many of their citizens facing the grim prospect of catastrophic climate change."

Samantha Smith of the WWF conservation group said of the successive drafts: "We went from weak to weaker to weakest."

And Alden Meyer of the US-based monitoring group Union of Concerned Scientists said the deal was "definitely watered down from what we expected".

Due to take effect in 2020, the Paris pact aims to limit global warming to 2C (3.6F) over pre-industrial levels. At its heart is a roster where all nations enter voluntary commitments to reduce their carbon emissions.

But the Lima deal came after a rebellion by developing nations like India and China, who warned tougher measures would put an unfair burden on them.

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

"We've got what we wanted," said Indian environment minister Prakash Javedekar, who said the text preserved the notion enshrined in a 1992 climate convention that the rich have to lead the way in making cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Historically Western nations have been the biggest greenhouse gas emitters but now developing nations are pulling ahead, as they grow their economies and lift millions out of poverty, meaning China is now the biggest greenhouse gas emitter ahead of the US, the EU and India.

The main goal for the session in Lima was to agree on what information should go into the pledges that countries submit for the summit in Paris.

But the deal weakened language on the content of the pledges, saying they "may" instead of "shall".

And after opposition led by China it was agreed that there will not be a full-blown review comparing each nation's pledge.

And it 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.

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Teen US Football Player Shot And Killed

By Sky News US Team

A freshman US football player has been shot and killed at an apartment complex near his campus in Alabama.

Police responded to reports that shots had been fired at the Tiger Lodge apartment complex early on Sunday, where they found Auburn Tigers player Jakell Lenard Mitchell.

The 18-year-old was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Auburn Police Captain Will Matthews said an investigation was under way and no suspects were in custody.

The coach of his high school team, Brian Blackmon, was told of the news a few hours later and visited Mr Mitchell's mother, Arlicia, USA Today reports.

"It's a really sad place and a lot of hurt," Mr Blackmon was quoted as saying.

"A lot of unanswered questions. I think any time you lose a kid that's got such a bright future, it's just unimaginable, the grief that you go through."

Auburn University wrote on its Twitter page: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jakell's family and friends. Auburn encourages those in need to contact the Division of Student Affairs."

Jay Jacobs, athletics director at the university, also wrote: "The Auburn Family is grieving the loss of a teammate & friend Jakell Mitchell. We are praying for his family."

Mitchell joined the Auburn Tigers this season after graduating from nearby Opelika High School.

It was expected he would be in contention for a starting place next season at H-Back and tight end.

Mitchell missed his senior year at Opelika because he was recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

As a junior in 2013, his record was 392 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.

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