Cleveland's mayor is discussing the next steps regarding two police officers involved in the fatal shooting death of Tamir Rice. A grand jury decided yesterday not to indict them but as Elizabeth Miller of member station WCPN reports they could still face consequences. Mayor Frank Jackson said on the media to discuss the administrative review process for officer Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback. Loehmann fatally shot twelve-year-old Rice as the officers arrived at the park responding to a 911 call of a guy waving what was discovered to be an airgun. Garmback was driving the cruiser. The community will review the case to determine whether the officers violated any department procedures. With protests going on in Cleveland and other cities, Jackson emphasized that they need to continue investigation. 'Whether they agree with the grand jury's decision or not, we are moving here with our process.' Disciplinary actions, if any, for the officers could range from suspension to termination. For NPR news, I'm Elizabeth Miller in Cleveland.

 

 

Iraqi prime minster Haider al-Abadi made a triumphant lap through the center of the strategically key city of Ramadi today. Yesterday, Iraqi troops backed by the US-led coalition pushed IS militants out of the provincial government complex but NPR's Tom Boldman tells us Iraqi forces have not yet retaken all of Ramadi. Colonel Steve Warren, the American military spokesman in Baghdad, said there are still pockets of resistance, there are still IS fighters they have to deal with before Ramadi can be cleared. And colonel Warren wound't give an estimated when that would happen. An old Iraqi general told US officials just last week the day expected Ramadi to be cleared by about mid January. NPR's Tom Boldman.

 

 

The State Department says there's been a marked and troubling increase in civilian casualties in Syria since Russia's air campaign started September 30th. Non-governmental groups say emergency response workers were among those killed and medical facilities, schools, and markets have been struck. US officials say secretary of state John Kerry has called his Russian counterpart to voice his concerns. 

 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow gained 192 points to close at 17720. The NASDAQ rose 66 points to close at 5107. The S&P was up 21. This is NPR. 

 

 

The WHO says the west African country of Guinea is now Ebola-free. Still NPR's Joanne Silberner reports it will be some time before the epidemic can be declared over. The two-year Ebola outbreak showed up first in Guinea and then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Guinea is the last of the three nations to be designated transmission-free. But Ebola has re-emerged before. The virus can persist for months in fluids in semen and breast milk. Epidemiologists in Guinea will be watching closely over the next three months so that they can identify new cases in time to stop the disease to stop the disease to spread again.  The WHO official says the key to ending the epidemic once and for all is building up the nation's healthcare system. Joanne Silberner, NPR news in Washington.

 

 

DuPont says it will cut 1700 jobs, about 28 percent of its workforce in its home state of Delaware in the beginning of the New Year as it undertakes merging with Dow Chemical. Thousands of positions around the world will also be eliminated. DuPont says the restructuring will affect about 10 percent of its workforce. 

 

 

Twitter is updating its terms of service to tackle abuse on the social networking service. The new rules offer more details of about what kinds of tweets and actions can result in suspended accounts. Twitter says it will not tolerate behavior intended to harass, intimidate or use fear to silence another user's voice. Twitter is faced criticism of the way it's handled complaints of abuse. I'm Barbara Klein. NPR news in Washington.