Portland cop injured in Occupy protests
DENVER, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Dozens of people have been arrested and one police officer injured as tensions rose between protesters and police in cities across the United States.
Things turned violent in Portland early Sunday as one man was arrested for disorderly conduct and a police officer was injured by a projectile thrown by a protester, The (Portland) Oregonian reported.
Portland police chose not to clear out encampments at Lownsdale and Chapman squares, but Lt. Robert King encouraged protesters to leave.
"We really would like for people to leave. Even though there's been a day and a time for people to leave, we have not engaged in a provocative action," he told the crowd, which at one point swelled to more than 2,000 people, The Oregonian said.
Denver police arrested 17 people Saturday evening as they forced protesters out of Civic Center park and tore down illegal encampments, The Denver Post reported Sunday.
"This isn't safe and, it's not sanitary," Sonny Jackson, spokesman for the Denver Police Department, told the newspaper, pointing to a pile of blankets with food and a stream of liquid running underneath it.
Eighteen people were arrested and one received a citation Saturday evening as Salt Lake City police cleared an Occupy campsite near Pioneer Park, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Sunday.
The sweep was a nonviolent affair, police and many protesters said.
"Once they figured out we weren't going to throw bricks and rocks and stuff, they were very nice about it," protester Allen Langdale said of the police.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said police were surprised to see the deplorable conditions of the encampment, noting some tents were being used as bathrooms and drug paraphernalia was found.
"It was actually much worse than I had anticipated," he told the Tribune.
Meanwhile, business owners near an encampment in Oakland, Calif., say the fear of potential violence has kept customers away, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.
"We are very distressed by the broad impact the encampment has had on downtown," J.C. Wallace, president of the Downtown Oakland Association told the newspaper. "This is hurting people who can't afford to be hurt, primarily small-business owners. It definitely deters people from coming downtown; there are fewer customers and business is down."
Saudi Arabia condemns Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Protesters broke in to the Saudi Arabian and Qatar embassies in Damascus after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria's membership, officials said.
Saudi Arabia condemned Syria for failing to take the necessary steps to protect its embassy, the BBC said Sunday.
"The Saudi government strongly condemns this incident and holds the Syrian authorities responsible for the security and protection of all Saudi interests," a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
Hundreds of supporters of President Bashar Assad's regime smashed windows and ransacked the embassies in Damascus Saturday, the British network Sky News reported.
In one incident, protesters entered the Qatari embassy compound and pulled down the flag replacing it with a Syrian one, Sky News said.
A crowd of some 1,000 armed with sticks and knives attacked the Turkish and French embassies in Damascus Saturday night, the Turkish daily Today's Zaman said. Protests also occurred outside the Turkish consulate building in Latakia and also in Aleppo where demonstrated entered the consulate garden and attempted to take down the Turkish flag.
The newspaper said no Turkish diplomats were injured in the incident, however, the paper quoted the private Cihan news agency saying Turkey is evacuating most of its diplomatic staff in Damascus and Aleppo, citing security reasons.
Eighteen member states of the Arab League chaired by Qatar voted Saturday to suspend Syria from its meetings and impose sanctions in response to the Syrian government's crackdown on anti-regime protesters, killing more than 3,500 people since March.
Syria, Lebanon and Yemen opposed the vote and Iraq abstained.
Cosmetics mogul Evelyn Lauder dies
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The wife and business partner of the chairman of the Estee Lauder cosmetics firm, Evelyn Lauder, died in New York of ovarian cancer. She was 75.
The former senior corporate vice president and head of fragrance development at the company founded by her mother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, eight years after being treated for breast cancer, The New York Times reported Sunday.
A company spokesman said she died at her Manhattan home Saturday.
She married Leonard Lauder in 1959. She told reporters over the years her strong-headed mother-in-law, Estee, was "like a steamroller" in the relationship, going so far as to rearrange the couple's furniture while they were out.
After her diagnosis of breast cancer, Lauder became an advocate for research and prevention. In 1993, she founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and was one of the creators of the Pink Ribbon awareness campaign. Her foundation has raised more than $350 million for breast cancer research, the Times said.
She was born Evelyn Hausner on Aug. 12, 1936, in Vienna. In the run-up to World War II, her parents, Ernest and Mimi Hausner, moved the family to Belgium, England and eventually New York in 1940.
Lauder is survived by her husband, two sons and five grandchildren.
Rio's largest slum occupied by police
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Police took control of one of the largest shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday in an effort to rid the city of drug traffickers.
About 3,000 police and military forces occupied the communities of Rocinha and Vidigal, although no shots were fired, The Rio Times reported.
This was in contrast to the occupation of shanty town Alemao in November 2010 -- after three days of clashes, 37 people were dead, Radio France Internationale reported.
The operations are part of the "Shock and Peace" campaign, an effort launched in 2008 to secure the city in advance of the 2014 World cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Rocinha, home to about 120,000 was the 19th shanty town to be pacified by police.
Last week local drug kingpin Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes was arrested after being found hiding in the trunk of a car in Rocinha, RFI reported.
