Nation and World briefs for December 7

Pipeline opponents ride out storm in shelters, casino

MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — Some protesters who have been fighting the Dakota Access pipeline retreated to a nearby casino and area shelters overnight as a blizzard blew through, but many remained at a camp in southern North Dakota, according to protest organizers who say they’re committed to maintaining the camp through the winter.

The storm Monday and Tuesday brought more than half a foot of snow, wind gusts exceeding 50 mph and temperatures that felt as cold as 15 degrees below zero. For some not accustomed to often-harsh North Dakota winters, the weather was eye-opening.

“Scary,” said Melissa Thorpe, 30, of St. Petersburg, Florida, who had been staying in a teepee with a dozen other people at the large encampment but headed to a shelter overnight.

Protesters are maintaining a presense even after scoring a victory when the Army on Sunday said it would not issue an easement for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault reiterated his call Tuesday for protesters to leave, saying the Army’s decision has delayed the pipeline for months and there’s no reason for people to put their lives at risk.

Morton County set up emergency shelters at storm-closed school facilities in Mandan and Flasher after sheriff’s deputies responded to numerous stranded vehicles in the protest camp area, according to spokeswoman Maxine Herr. Only one protester went to the Flasher school; about 30, including Thorpe, spent the night in a Mandan school gymnasium.

Syria says it seized nearly 75 percent of eastern Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government forces and allied militias captured Aleppo’s centrally located al-Shaar neighborhood from rebels on Tuesday, securing nearly three quarters of the besieged enclave less than two weeks after launching a ground offensive, according to the Syrian military.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia meanwhile rejected a cease-fire for the war-torn city, keeping up the military offensive amid rebel retreats and massive displacement.

Rebels withdrew from al-Shaar under heavy bombardment by pro-government forces to the Marjeh and Maadi neighborhoods, local media activist Mahmoud Raslan told The Associated Press. Several gunmen were killed.

“Morale has hit rock bottom,” he said from inside the city’s remaining rebel-held enclave.

The SANA state news agency said the government captured the entire neighborhood as well as the neighborhoods of al-Qatarji and Karm al-Dada.

Death toll stands at 36 in Oakland warehouse fire

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — As crews searched the Oakland warehouse for more bodies, the founder of the arts collective stood near the gutted building Tuesday morning and said he was “incredibly sorry” and that everything he did was to bring people together.

The death toll remains at 36, with officials saying early Tuesday that no additional bodies have been recovered.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy Tya Modeste said of the 36 victims found, 26 of their families have been notified. Another nine bodies have been “tentatively identified,” she said. Officials are still lacking any type of identity for one individual.

The fire erupted Friday night during a dance party at the warehouse that had been converted to artists’ studios and illegal living spaces.

Founder Derick Ion Almena told the “Today Show” on Tuesday that he was at the site to put his face and his body in front of the scene. However, he deflected blame for the blaze. Almena said he signed a lease for the building that “was to city standards supposedly.”

Mistrial in S. Carolina police shooting mystifies observers

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The video was unambiguous: A white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man in the back as the man ran away.

But a South Carolina jury was unable to agree on a verdict in one of the nation’s ghastliest police shootings, with a lone holdout forcing a mistrial. The outcome stung many African-Americans and others. If that kind of evidence can’t produce a conviction, they asked, what can?

“There’s a jury full of people and they cannot decide if it’s illegal to shoot someone who is running away from you?” said activist Johnetta Elzie, who is black. “What do you say about a country that feels this way about black people? If you can’t see the humanity in that, I don’t know what we’re talking about anymore.”

Prosecutors plan to retry officer Michael Slager, who is scheduled to be tried separately next year on federal charges that he violated Walter Scott’s civil rights.

North Charleston city officials approved a $6.5 million civil settlement for Scott’s family earlier this year. Slager remains free on bail.

Obama defends counterterrorism plan before handover to Trump

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Closing out two terms as a president at war, Barack Obama staunchly defended his counterterrorism strategy as one that rejected torture, held to American values and avoided large-scale troop deployments, in an implicit effort to shape the strategy his successor might employ.

Obama came to MacDill Air Force Base, home to U.S. Special Operations Command and Central Command, to give his final speech on national security. He delivered a strident argument for his reliance on drone strikes and U.S. commandos rather than ground wars like those launched in Iraq and Afghanistan by his predecessor. Obama emphasized the need for the U.S. to uphold its values by respecting the rights of Muslims and trying terror suspects in civilian courts.

“We can get these terrorists and stay true to who we are,” Obama said.

“Rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs, or deploying more and more troops, or by fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat,” Obama told troops gathered in an airplane hangar. “We have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained.”

In describing the nature of the threat after eight years of his leadership, Obama sought to strike a careful balance, arguing at once that “violent extremism will be with us for years to come” and that terrorists “don’t pose an existential threat” to the U.S. He said unlike previous wars against other nations, it was unlikely this conflict would end with a “clearly defined victory.”