W O R L D

Ferguson smoulders a day after jury declines to indict white cop
Ferguson, November 25
The St. Louis area braced for another day of protests on Tuesday after a grand jury cleared a white police officer in the fatal August shooting of an unarmed black teenager, sparking a night of violent and racially charged rioting. About a dozen buildings in suburban Ferguson, Missouri, burned overnight and the police fired tear gas and flash-bang canisters at protesters, said St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar. Sixty-one people were arrested, the police said.

A demonstrator sits in front of a street fire during a demonstration following the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown, in Oakland on Tuesday. Reuters

Twin blasts claim 45 lives in Nigeria
Maiduguri, November 25
More than 45 persons died today in twin bomb blasts, including one by a female suicide bomber, at a packed market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri. The explosions in the Borno state capital targeted the same Monday Market area where at least 15 people died July 1 in blast blamed on the Boko Haram militant group.

Ferguson smoulders a day after jury declines to indict white cop
US authorities need to build trust on race issues, says UN rights chief

Ferguson, November 25
The St. Louis area braced for another day of protests on Tuesday after a grand jury cleared a white police officer in the fatal August shooting of an unarmed black teenager, sparking a night of violent and racially charged rioting.

All have to improve rights record: China

• Taking a dig at the US over its grand jury's decision not to indict a white policemen who killed a black teenager in Ferguson, China on Tuesday said there was no perfect system when it comes to protection of human rights and all countries have to improve their records.
• The US every year issues reports on poor human rights record in China and is deeply critical of treatment meted out by the Chinese government to the dissidents opposing the one-party system.
• To counter this China has began issuing its own rights record of the US, highlighting the poor race relations and constant criticism of miscarriage of justice by African Americans.

Separate probe continues

• The grand jury of nine whites and three blacks began meeting in late August and heard testimony from 60 witnesses called by the prosecution, including medical examiners who performed three autopsies, one by a private pathologist hired by Brown's family.
• St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch declined to say if the jury's decision was unanimous. At least nine jurors would have needed to agree to indict in order for Wilson to be charged.
• A separate federal investigation into the shooting is continuing and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder emphasized that the Justice Department investigators had not reached any conclusions.

Two sides of tragedy

• Darren Wilson could have faced charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to first-degree murder and Michael Brown's family said through their lawyers that they were "profoundly disappointed" by the grand jury's finding
• Attorneys for Wilson, who was placed on administrative leave and has avoided the spotlight since the shooting, said he was following his training and the law when he shot

Twin blasts claim 45 lives in Nigeria

Maiduguri, November 25
More than 45 persons died today in twin bomb blasts, including one by a female suicide bomber, at a packed market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri. The explosions in the Borno state capital targeted the same Monday Market area where at least 15 people died July 1 in blast blamed on the Boko Haram militant group.

The attack came after the militants seized control of another town in Nigeria's restive northeast.

Health worker Dogara Shehu said he counted more than "45 people killed, some of them completely decapitated" in the Maiduguri blasts in an account supported by another witness.

An official with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that "many people have been killed" but did not have an official death toll.

Market trader Usman Babaji told AFP the explosives were hidden in a motorised, three-wheeled rickshaw, which are popular throughout the country.

A second explosion followed moments later as people rushed to the scene of the first bombing to help the injured, witnesses said.

Abubakar Bello, who sells chickens near the scene, said the woman was carrying explosives in a wrapper on her back, in the same way that babies are carried. — AFP

Hong Kong clears part of protest site

Hong Kong, November 25
Scuffles erupted after Hong Kong authorities cleared part of a pro-democracy protest camp in the bustling district of Mong Kok on Tuesday following a court order to reopen a road, with several demonstrators taken away in police vans.

The gritty, working-class area across the harbour from the main protest site at Admiralty has been the scene of some of the most violent clashes during two months of pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city.

Hundreds of police stood guard as authorities enforced the court order to reopen Argyle Street to free up traffic. There was little resistance until the afternoon when police, some in rows with arms linked, faced off with protesters, several of whom were forcibly removed.

The Riot police moved into the area in the evening, with a lot of pushing and shoving as protesters blocked a portion of nearby Portland Street, where some shops closed early. More than 20 people were arrested during the day, media said.

Workers in white helmets and vests earlier moved wooden blockades from the road after demonstrators had dismantled tents and packed up their belongings. The injunction was granted to a bus company which said the blockade had hurt business. Some protesters heckled and held up yellow banners demanding Beijing allow full democracy in the global financial hub.

"Even if they clear this place, our will to fight for genuine universal suffrage hasn't changed ... it will only inspire people to think of other ways to continue this movement," said protester Ken Chu, 27, wearing a bright yellow safety helmet and a gas mask.

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who has called the protests illegal, urged activists to go home. Hundreds of protesters remain camped out along nearby Nathan Road, part of which local media said would be cleared later in the week. — Reuters

Protesters barred from entering China

Washington: A large number of pro-democracy student leaders from Hong Kong, protesting against Beijing's decision to vet candidates in the 2017 elections, have been denied entry into China. According to the Washington Post, the action has alarmed various people and has sparked belief that the Chinese authorities are arranging a blacklist with hundreds or thousands of names. — ANI

Italy’s first Ebola patient arrives in Rome, stable

Rome, November 25
Italy's first Ebola patient is in stable condition in Rome after arriving on Tuesday from Sierra Leone where he contracted the disease while treating the sick there, his doctor said. The man, a 50-year-old Sicilian doctor whose name was not given, was working for the Italian humanitarian organisation Emergency in one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

He will be treated with an experimental drug administered to other Ebola patients in Europe and the United States, but which has never been used in Italy before, said Dr Emanuele Nicastri, who did not name the drug.

The patient was running a fever but "is alert, collaborative and can walk," Nicastri told reporters at the Lazzaro Spallanzani infectious diseases institute in Rome.

Ebola has killed around a third of more than 15,000 confirmed sufferers in its worst epidemic to date.

Italy's air force, which brought the infected doctor back from West Africa, said earlier on Tuesday the trip had gone according to plan and he had been "calm the whole way". — Reuters