Ferguson-related protest temporarily closes large mall

FERGUSON, Missouri — Demonstrators temporarily shut down a large shopping mall in suburban St. Louis on one of the busiest days of the year during Friday during one of several organized rallies to protest a grand jury’s recent decision not to indict the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.

Several stores lowered their security doors or locked entrances as at least 200 protesters sprawled onto the floor while chanting, “Stop shopping and join the movement” at the Galleria mall in Richmond Heights, about 10 miles south of Ferguson.

The protest prompted authorities to close the mall for about an hour Friday afternoon for a security sweep. It didn’t appear that any arrests were made.

The protest was among the largest on Black Friday, which also saw a large rally in Chicago and smaller ones northern California and other cities. Demonstrations also are ongoing in Ferguson, where officer Darren Wilson fatally shot the 18-year-old Brown, who was unarmed, in August.

“We want to really let the world know that it is no longer business as usual,” Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, said at a rally at a Wal-Mart in Ferguson.

Bomb blasts at mosque in Nigerian city kill 35

KANO, Nigeria — Multiple explosions tore through the central mosque in Nigeria’s second-largest city on Friday, killing 35 people, police said.

An additional 150 people also sustained various degrees of injuries in the blasts in the city Kano, State Deputy Police Commissioner Sanusi Lemu said.

Hundreds had gathered to listen to a sermon in a region terrorized by attacks from the militant group Boko Haram.

Witnesses said heavy smoke could be seen billowing in the sky from a long distance away. Immediately after the blasts, hundreds of angry youth took to the streets in riots, throwing stones, brandishing sticks and shouting at security officials.

Pope calls for Muslim opposition to Islamic State group

ANKARA, Turkey — Pope Francis urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed in Islam’s name against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria as he arrived in neighboring Turkey Friday for a delicate visit aimed at improving interfaith ties.

Francis sought to offer a balanced message as he met with Turkish political and religious officials at the start of his second trip to the Middle East this year. He reaffirmed that military force was justified to halt the Islamic State group’s advance, and called for greater dialogue between Christians, Muslims and people of all faiths to end fundamentalism.

“As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations against human dignity and human rights,” Francis told Mehmet Gormez, Turkey’s top cleric and other religious officials gathered at the government-run Religious Affairs Directorate. “As such, any violence which seeks religious justification warrants the strongest condemnation because the omnipotent is the God of life and peace.”

Francis condemned the “barbaric violence” by IS against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities and the destruction of their places of worship.

The Vatican has voiced particular concern about the expulsion of Christians from communities that have had a Christian presence for 2,000 years and has demanded that they be allowed to return home in safety once the conflict settles.

By wire sources