Protesters rally for a not-so silent night in Missouri
BERKELEY, Mo. – Demonstrators took to the streets for a second night after a white police officer in Berkeley, Missouri, killed a black 18-year-old who police said pointed a gun at him.
Dozens of protesters held a vigil late Wednesday at the gas station in the St. Louis suburb where Antonio Martin was shot, and they briefly blocked traffic on Interstate 170 during a march before returning to the station. Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall told KMOV-TV that six to eight people were arrested.
Later, about 75 people staged a peaceful protest early Christmas morning outside of a nearby church, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police in riot gear were present.
The actions were calmer than a night before, when a crowd of about 300 people gathered at the gas station, throwing bricks and rocks in a scene reminiscent of the sometimes-violent protests that followed the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.
Power returns to Miss.town after storm kills 4
COLUMBIA, Miss. – Workers restored power Thursday to tornado-scarred Columbia, while volunteers helped clear rubble, cover roofs and do whatever else they could to help the Mississippi town recover.
“We figured, what better time to show the love of Jesus than on his birthday?” Ed Brashier, minister of a church in Gardendale Alabama, told WDAM-TV on Christmas.
Tornadoes killed four people in southwest Mississippi on Tuesday as a storm system kicked off twisters across the region.
Marion County coroner Norma Williamson identified one of those killed as Amber Sumrall, 33, of Sandy Hook. Sumrall died after being trapped in the Head-to-Toe beauty salon where she worked, Williamson told The Hattiesburg American.
Somali extremists attack African Christmas party
NAIROBI, Kenya – Gunmen attacked the African Union’s main base in the capital, Mogadishu, on Thursday, leading to an exchange of gunfire between militants and soldiers that left at least five militants dead, an official with the mission in Somalia said.
Somali extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack and said they were targeting a Christmas party at the base, which also houses U.N. offices and Western embassies.
At least eight men entered the AU base near the Mogadishu airport, AU Mission in Somalia spokesman Col. Ali Aden Houmed told The Associated Press. He said the base now was calm. Some African Union soldiers may have died in the fighting, Houmed said.
Associated Press
