Vigils have been held across the US in honor of Michael Brown, the black teenager killed by police in Missouri.
Moments of silence and protests were held in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere, five days after Michael Brown, 18, was fatally shot.
After four nights of violence in Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown died, state police took charge of security.
In contrast on Thursday evening, state troopers and local police walked with protestors, shaking their hands.
Captain Ronald Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, an African-American who grew up nearby, was named as the new head of the operation.
As he walked at the front of a march through the streets, he was seen hugging people he met.
“We all want justice. We all want answers,” Ronald Johnson said.
For the first time, the reverberations from this Midwest town were felt nationwide with dozens of vigils organized by a social media campaign.
Vigils have been held across the US in honor of Michael Brown, the black teenager killed by police in Missouri
The event in Washington DC was attended by hundreds of people in Malcolm X Park, many holding placards saying: “Hands up. Don’t shoot”.
Similar vigils were held in New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and many other cities.
They came at the end of a day when Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had likened the scenes of violence in Ferguson to a “war zone” and the police conduct was questioned.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the use of military equipment and vehicles in Ferguson had sent a “conflicting message”, while President Barack Obama said there was no excuse for police using “excessive force”.
Governor Jay Nixon then announced that the state highway patrol would direct the security operation.
Hours later, reporter Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post summed up the change in atmosphere on the streets of Ferguson.
“At this time at night on Monday, residents were in real fear for their lives,” he said.
“Tonight they’re taking selfies with cops.”
The tension in Ferguson had been sparked by the death of Michael Brown on Saturday afternoon.
Details about the incident have been disputed but eyewitnesses said the unarmed teenager had his arms raised when he was shot multiple times by a police officer.
Police say there was a struggle and the officer suffered facial injuries.
The authorities are under pressure to release the officer’s name, but they say they are worried that his life and that of his family could be in danger.
Four nights of violence have seen heavily armed riot police firing tear gas at demonstrators and looting, arson and the throwing of bottles and Molotov cocktails.
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Speaking at an inter-faith vigil in Newtown, President Barack Obama has said the US must do more to protect its children in the wake of Friday’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut.
Barack Obama said he would use the powers of his office to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
He told residents that the nation shared their grief.
Twenty children and six women died in the assault on Sandy Hook school by a lone man who then took his own life.
The first funerals for victims will be held on Monday.
The gunman has been identified by police as Adam Lanza, 20.
He shot dead his mother before driving to the school in her car.
Officials say he was armed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and used a semi-automatic rifle as his main weapon. He was also carrying two handguns, and a shotgun was recovered from a car.
“I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation,” Barack Obama said, speaking after religious leaders and the state governor.
“You are not alone in your grief. All across this land of ours we have wept with you.”
Barack Obama repeated a call for action against gun crime, saying that in coming weeks he would use “whatever powers” his office held “in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this”.
“We can’t tolerate this anymore,” he said.
“These tragedies must end and to end them we must change.”
The complex causes of gun crime “can’t be an excuse for inaction”, he said.
Speaking at an inter-faith vigil in Newtown, President Barack Obama has said the US must do more to protect its children in the wake of Friday’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School
Barack Obama was also meeting victims’ families and emergency service workers.
All 20 children who died in the shootings – eight boys and 12 girls – were aged between six and seven, according to an official list of the dead. The school’s head teacher, Dawn Hochsprung, was among those killed.
All victims were shot several times, some of them at close range.
Police say the process of releasing the victims’ bodies to their families is under way.
Barack Obama made an appeal for “meaningful action” against gun crime in the US shortly after the attack on Friday.
Sunday saw two senior US Democrats call for stricter gun control.
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy said his state had an existing ban on assault weapons, but the lack of a similar law at federal level made it difficult to keep them out of the state.
“These are assault weapons. You don’t hunt deer with these things,” he told CNN.
“One can only hope that we’ll find a way to limit these weapons that really only have one purpose.”
Governor Dannel Malloy had to break the news to most of the victim’s families on Friday.
“You can never be prepared for that – to tell 18 to 20 families that their loved one would not be returning to them that day or in the future,” he said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, who represents California in the upper house of Congress and is a long-term supporter of stricter gun control, told US TV network NBC: “I’m going to introduce in the Senate, and the same bill will be introduced in the House [of Representatives], a bill to ban assault weapons.”
Asked if President Barack Obama would support her measure, she said: “I believe he will.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another strong gun control advocate, has urged President Barack Obama to act.
“We have heard all the rhetoric before,” he said.
“What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today.”
A nationwide ban on certain semi-automatic rifles in the US expired in 2004.
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Robin Gibb apparently showed signs that he might pull through his coma Thursday night.
Robin Gibb, 62, who fell into unconsciousness last week reportedly responded to his elder brother Barry’s voice.
Barry Gibb, 65, sang to Robin by his bedside and a source close to the family said this prompted “flickers of life”.
Speaking to The Sun, the source said: “There were flickers of life from Robin. His eyes moved and there was an attempt at speech.
“It was a good sign he is fighting hard for his life but he is certainly not out of the woods yet.”
“The family have to remain very cautious,” the source added.
Barry Gibb sang to Robin by his bedside and a source close to the family said this prompted “flickers of life”
Barry Gibb jetted into the UK from Tennessee to join other members of the family, following Robin’s re-admission to hospital.
Robin Gibb is now battling pneumonia, following months of health troubles, after being diagnosed with colon cancer after surgery for a blocked bowel in 2010.
In a recent interview, Robin Gibb’s wife Dwina said: “Barry was singing to him. Thousands of people are saying prayers every day.”
Last week, Dwina Gibb was spotted leaving the private hospital in Chelsea where her husband is fighting for his life.
Dwin Gibb’s been saying prayers at his bedside since he was admitted to hospital but she was pictured showing the strain of the past few days.
As she took a break from her vigil, the pained expression on her face spoke volumes.
