World/Nation

Obama: No excuse for violent protest in Ferguson

CHICAGO - President Barack Obama sharply rebuked protesters Tuesday night for racially charged violence in Missouri, saying there was no excuse for burning buildings, torching cars and destroying other property after a grand jury declined to indict the white police officer who shot a black teenager.

As darkness fell in Ferguson, Mo., where authorities hoped to avoid a second night of chaos in the streets, Obama said destructive actions are criminal acts and those who responsible should be prosecuted. "To those who think that what happened in Ferguson is an excuse for violence, I do not have any sympathy for that. I have no sympathy at all for destroying your own communities," he said.

The president spoke from Chicago, a trip planned to focus on immigration but overshadowed by the news the night before of the decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in 18-year-old Michael Brown's death.

Russian envoy: Protests reflect U.S. discrimination

MOSCOW - The violent protests in Ferguson, Mo., reflect simmering U.S. tensions over racial discrimination that could undermine the country's stability, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday.

The comments by the Russian Foreign Ministry's human rights envoy, Konstantin Dolgov, were among the sharpest from a foreign official as images of violent protests in Ferguson topped newscasts around the world. The protests came after a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the killing of an unarmed black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown.

"The developments in Ferguson and other cities highlight serious challenges to the American society and its stability," Dolgov said in remarks broadcast by Russian state television.

Moscow appeared to relish turning the tables on the U.S. after repeated U.S. criticism of Russia's rights record and its policies toward Ukraine. Relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Cold War due to the crisis in Ukraine.

Snow, slush and rain could slow travelers

MINEOLA, N.Y. - Thanksgiving travelers scrambled to change their plans and beat a storm expected to bring snow, slush and rain to the crowded Washington-to-Boston corridor Wednesday on one of the busiest, most stressful days of the year.

Forecasters said major Northeast cities will probably see moderate to heavy rain most of the day, though New York and other places were also gearing up for several inches of snow.

Higher elevations west of the Interstate 95 corridor could see as much as 6 to 12 inches before the nor'easter exits Wednesday night, meteorologist Andrew Orrison said.

"I always go on Tuesday to try to avoid the Wednesday rush, but it seems like more people are leaving on Tuesday now," said Bill Fraser, a landscaper from Henniker, N.H., who was taking a train from Boston to New Rochelle, N.Y., to visit his mother for Thanksgiving.

Official: Afghan president orders operations review

KABUL, Afghanistan - President Ashraf Ghani has ordered a top-to-bottom review of the operations of Afghanistan's defense forces, including discussing the resumption of controversial night raids banned by his predecessor.

The move appears aimed at revamping the military for the fight against the Taliban amid new indications that U.S. and international forces will play a greater role than initially envisaged after the 13-year U.S.-led combat mission formally ends next month.

The wholesale review is already underway, presidential spokesman Nafizullah Salarzai told The Associated Press, saying Ghani had instructed the National Security Council to "work on a manual of guidelines and standards for military operations."

Under new guidelines quietly approved by President Barack Obama, U.S. troops may once again engage Taliban fighters, not just al-Qaida terrorists, U.S. administration officials confirmed last week. Until Obama broadened the guidelines, U.S. forces were to have limited Afghanistan operations to counterterrorism missions against al-Qaida after this year, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama's decisions by name.

More than 40 killed by 2 female suicide bombers

BAUCHI, Nigeria - The teenage girls entered the busy marketplace separately Tuesday, their vests of explosives hidden beneath their full hijabs.

The first detonated her bomb, killing three women. As rescuers rushed in, the second girl screamed and set off her explosives, killing dozens more, according to witnesses and authorities.

More than 40 people died in the double suicide bombing in Maiduguri, a provincial capital in northeastern Nigeria, according to Haruna Issa, a hospital volunteer in the city.

Suspicion immediately fell on the insurgents from the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, which controls a large part of northeastern Nigeria and is blamed for the deaths this year of at least 1,500 people in Africa's most populous country.

In its campaign of violence, Boko Haram has used car bombs and men wearing vests of explosives. It also has begun using women who can cover the explosives with their hijabs, and the recruits appear to have gotten younger, with several instances of teenage attackers earlier this year.