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Oakland police say the arrests followed a largely peaceful protest against police killings.

Demonstrators in New York and D.C. chant "I can't breathe" and "Hands up, don't shoot."

Congress cleared a spending bill for President Obama's signature late Saturday.

By David Lawder and Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that lifts the threat of a government shutdown as Congress attempts to wrap up a two-year legislative session marked by bitter partisanship and few major accomplishments. The Senate's 56-40 vote sends the measure to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law before an extension of federal spending authority expires at midnight on Wednesday. ...

Thousands of protesters paralyzed parts of New York and Washington on Saturday, stepping up demonstrations across the United States demanding justice for black men killed by white police. The rallies in the US capital, New York, Boston and in several Californian cities were among the largest in a growing protest movement sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9. Grand jury decisions not to prosecute the white officers responsible for 18-year-old Brown's death and a fatal chokehold on New York father of six Eric Garner in July, have triggered weeks of protests. "I can't breathe" were the last words uttered repeatedly by Garner, as police wrestled him to the ground for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in New York's Staten Island.

By Ian Simpson, Lacey Johnson and Jonathan Spicer WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands marched in Washington, New York and Boston on Saturday to protest killings of unarmed black men by police officers. Organizers said the marches were among the largest in the recent wave of protests against the killings of black males by officers in Ferguson, Missouri; New York; Cleveland; and elsewhere. The protests were peaceful, although police in Boston said they arrested 23 people who tried to block a highway. ...

By Richard Cowan and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate passed a five-day extension of federal funding on Saturday, staving off a government shutdown and buying lawmakers more time to resolve a fight over a longer, $1.1 trillion spending bill led by Tea Party firebrand Ted Cruz. It was the second time in a little over a year that Cruz, the Texas Republican freshman with presidential aspirations, has attempted to stop a key Obama administration initiative by denying government funds. ...

As the second anniversary of the Newtown school shooting arrives on Sunday, local officials and others touched by the tragedy have been busy on many fronts as the town continues its recovery from the massacre of 20 children and six educators.

Rev. Al Sharpton, of the National Action Network, asked the families of African-American men who were killed by police officers to speak at the Justice for All March, outside the U.S. Capitol.

(Reuters) - A Missouri prosecutor on Saturday made public two dozen documents related to the investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager killed by a white police officer, saying his office had inadvertently held them back. St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch released 23 documents, including a transcript of an interview authorities had with Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown in August when the unarmed 18-year-old was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, in Ferguson. The incident set off days of sometimes violent protests in the St. Louis suburb. A grand jury on Nov. ...

More than 10,000 protesters converged on the nation's capital Saturday to help bring attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and call for legislative action.

Civil rights activists told the gathering crowd for the Justice for All March in our nation’s capital that they are ‘sick and tired of being sick and tired.’

Taliban insurgents killed at least 20 people in a series of gun and suicide attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, underlining worsening security as US-led NATO forces end their combat mission in the country. A suicide blast wrecked an Afghan military bus in Kabul, killing seven soldiers, while a senior court official was assassinated in the city and 12 Afghan mine clearance workers were gunned down in the south. Two NATO soldiers were also killed on Friday in an attack in the east of Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement, without identifying their nationality. The Taliban claimed responsibility for all the attacks.

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - End-of-year holidays mean a lot of things - Santa, carols, parties, cards and gifts. They also mean more bank robberies. The number of holdups at U.S. banks tends to rise in December as crooks, some of them spurred by holiday consumerism, turn to robbery in the weeks leading up to Christmas, according to the FBI and security experts. The trend is so pronounced that the FBI's regional office in Washington, D.C., told banks last month to be on their guard. It also warned would-be robbers that police were focused on thwarting bank stickups. ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police in Portland have arrested a suspect in the shooting that injured three people outside an alternative high school.

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators were expected in Washington and New York on Saturday to protest the killings of unarmed black men by U.S. police and to urge Congress to protect citizens. Organizers said the protests would be among the largest over police tactics and the killings of black males by officers in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri. The lack of criminal charges from grand juries in the New York and Ferguson cases have galvanized protests around the United States. ...

VIENNA (AP) — A Russian loan to France's National Front. Invitations to Moscow for leaders of Austria's Freedom Party. Praise for Vladimir Putin from the head of Britain's anti-European Union party.

BANJARNEGARA, Indonesia (AP) — A mudslide set off by torrential rains rushed down hills into a village in central Indonesia and swept away scores of homes, killing at least 18 people and leaving 90 others missing, officials said Saturday.

Separate insurgent attacks are part of a surging wave of militant assaults ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops.

A landslide triggered by torrential downpours has killed at least 12 people and left nearly 100 others missing on Indonesia's main island of Java, an official said Saturday. Hundreds of rescuers were digging through mud and rubble after the landslide buried scores of houses in Jemblung village in central Java late Friday, the national disaster agency said. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said it was unclear whether those missing were buried under the landslide or had taken refuge. Landslides triggered by heavy rains and floods are common in tropical Indonesia during the rainy season.