Syrian wins 'Idol,' refuses to wear flag

Syrian boys play in the ruins of a destroyed building in Aleppo on Tuesday, November 18.

• Syrian winner says he does not want his art used for politics


• "Arab Idol" is a hit throughout the Arab world


• It puts a smile on the faces of people living in conflict regions

(CNN) -- In a region scarred by conflict and instability, a broadcast unites Arabs from many nations in front of their television sets. "Arab Idol," an adaptation of "American Idol," is going strong in the Middle East.

In the latest finale, the winner -- Hazem Shareef of Syria -- broke with the trend and refused to carry his country's flag in his victory celebration.

The reason?

After his golden pipes captivated viewers for months, he didn't want to appear to be taking a side in the civil war. "I am 21 years old, and I don't want my art to be connected to politics," he said.

Regardless of their country's strife, winners have celebrated their moments in the spotlight showing their national flags. Last year, Palestinian Mohammad Assaf of Gaza wore his on a scarf to represent his people.

Karmen Suleiman of Egypt appeared with that country's flag a year after the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

Though Shareef ditched the national colors, he did dedicate his "victory song" to Syria.

The show's judges didn't hesitate to place their fingers in Syria's wounds.

"With your winning, you made bleeding Syria cheer," said United Arab Emirates singer Ahlam, a judge on the show.

"God willing your winning will be a remedy to the injuries of Syrians," said Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram, another judge.

Shareef pockets 250,000 Saudi riyals ($66,000) in cash and a contract with Platinum Records for three singles and a video clip. A trip to the Seychelles courtesy of Emirates airline rounds off the prize.

'Arab Idol' winner tries to make it in America

World's longest train journey ends

China and Spain are welcoming expanded trade with a new long-haul rail connection.

• Yixin'ou, a Chinese freight train, completed the world's longest train journey


• The 21-day train trip left China in November and spanned eight countries, completing its run in Spain


• The journey was a test run for regular cargo service between China and Spain

(CNN) -- China is known for chasing superlatives -- now it can add marathon train journeys to its growing list of unparalleled achievements.

On December 9, a Chinese freight train, dubbed Yixin'ou, completed a journey of epic proportions: more than 13,000 kilometers, snaking across eight countries and lasting a total of 21 days, making it the longest continuous train ride in the world.

The train set off from Yiwu in eastern China on November 18, chugging its way through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France, before ending its journey in Spain's capital, Madrid.

The train carried 30 containers full of toys, stationary and other items.

It'll bring back Spanish products, including wine, olive oil and cured hams, in an effort the Spanish hope will expand their trade footprint in China.

Spanish Minister of Public Works and Transport Ana Pastor called the journey "a major milestone for the retail industry."

The trip was a test run to gauge the possibility of establishing regular service between China and Spain to boost bilateral trade.

Madrid Mayor Ana Botella Serrano dubbed it the "Silk Road of the 21st century."

Regular train services between China and Germany already exist, connecting Chongqing with Duisburg, and Beijing with Hamburg.

Earlier this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a Silk Road Fund, part of which will be dedicated to developing trade infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region.

Ancient Peruvian site damaged

Greenpeace targeted the ancient Peruvian Nazca Lines site to unveil its "Time for Change: The Future is Renewable" message.

Greenpeace activists, who arranged the letters of their message next to a famous hummingbird geoglyph, timed their December 8 demonstration to a United Nations conference on climate change in Lima.

Claiming that activists damaged the ancient site, Peruvian authorities are threatening to press criminal charges.

The Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana World Heritage Site has geoglyphs and lines dating to 500 B.C.

• Greenpeace hosted a stunt at the ancient site to focus on climate change


• Peru says the group's activists destroyed part of the famous Nazca Lines


• Greenpeace has apologized for the action

(CNN) -- The future may be renewable, but evidence of ancient civilizations isn't always reparable.

"Time for Change; The Future is Renewable" was the message of Greenpeace activists protesting at the ancient Nazca Lines UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Peruvian desert on Monday.

The activists placed yellow letters next to a famous hummingbird design, and now Peruvian authorities are threatening to sue Greenpeace and criminally charge the activists with "attacking archaeological monuments," according to The Associated Press.

The demonstration was timed to coincide with United Nations' Lima Climate Change Conference ending Friday.

"It's a true slap in the face at everything Peruvians consider sacred," Deputy Culture Minister Luis Jaime Castillo told The Associated Press of the activists' decision to enter a "strictly prohibited" area next to a famous hummingbird design.

"You walk there, and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years," Castillo told the AP. "And the line that they have destroyed is the most visible and most recognized of all."

Don't make these stupid travel mistakes

Located about 400 kilometers south of Lima and covering about 450 square kilometers, the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana World Heritage Site has geoglyphs and lines dating from 500 B.C. through A.D. 500.

Artwork that is made from placing or moving stones, earth or other objects, geoglyphs in the area fall into two general categories, according to the site's UNESCO listing. One type is representational, featuring animals, plant life and other extraordinary figures. The other consists of the lines, mostly straight lines crossing the region's pampas in different directions. Some are long -- several kilometers -- and form shapes. The designs are believed to have had ritual astronomical functions.

Greenpeace has apologized for the action. "Without reservation Greenpeace apologises to the people of Peru for the offence caused by our recent activity laying a message of hope at the site of the historic Nazca Lines," the organization said in a statement. "We are deeply sorry for this.

"Rather than relay an urgent message of hope and possibility to the leaders gathering at the Lima UN climate talks, we came across as careless and crass."

First UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Greenspace says it has met with the government to apologize and will cooperate with any investigation and face "reasonable and fair consequences."

The group says its international executive director, Kumi Naidoo, is in Lima this week to personally apologize and to participate in discussions with the Peruvian authorities.

Peru's World Heritage Sites have had a difficult year. Tourists had also been stripping around the ancient grounds at Machu Picchu just for fun. Incidents of "naked tourism" at the 15th-century Inca citadel were on the rise this year, but tourists trying to visit sans clothing are being detained.

Machu Picchu's naked tourism problem

Life in ravaged city of Kobani

• Nick Paton Walsh spent two days covering the fighting in Kobani, Syria


• Weeks of fighting between Kurds and ISIS have devastated the Kurdish city


• Paton Walsh answered question about his experiences on Reddit

(CNN) -- CNN Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh spent two days in the Kobani, Syria, covering the heavy fighting between Kurdish forces and ISIS militants that has devastated the city. Thousands of civilians still live in the city, either unwilling or unable to flee.

Paton Walsh described his experiences -- including meeting a group of children who played in a makeshift graveyard and hid under cushions to protect themselves from ISIS shelling -- in an ask me anything chat on Reddit.

Here are the highlights from the hourlong conversation. Some of the posts have been edited for grammar and clarity.

Q: "I'm sure you saw and experienced a lot of devastating things in your time over there. What was the most heartbreaking thing you saw? Do you think outside/foreign involvement over there is having more of a positive or negative impact on the people?" asked smedynski.

Paton Walsh: "The kids in their cushion shelter is always tough. I also remember a bomb shelter some kids made -- two years ago now -- in a refugee camp in Bab al Salama. They were literally digging a cave with their hands.

Foreign help comes in many forms. ISIS have some foreigners. The Turkish are just across the border, but the Kurds claim they are impeding resupply. The Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga help a lot with heavy weapons. And the coalition airstrikes also keep ISIS back and have helped the Kurds hang on. But in the end the sheer volume of outside parties now with stakes in the fight for the town means that it will go on a long time."

Q: "Hi Nick, amazing report from Kobani - how long were you there and how did you get in?" asked SuzanneLavery.

CNN crosses into ISIS wreckage

Food aid suspended for Syrian refugees

Paton Walsh: "Thanks. We were there just under 48 hours. I can't really say much about how we got in -- it was a mix of simple and complicated -- but we are grateful to the Kurds for their hospitality and care."

Q: "What's the current situation for journalists there? Interested to know about how you get your stories out, how you manage the day to day?" asked ithinkandroid . "Thank you in advance."

Paton Walsh: "It is complicated. Anyone attempting entry should spend weeks thinking about it, and not file until out. Day to day, you need the full invitation and hospitality of the Kurds to operate in any way."

Q: "Did you feel safe under the Kurds care and hospitality?" asked monhen.

Kobani children shelter under pillows

Paton Walsh: Yes, as safe as one can there.

Q: You probably aren't allowed to answer this, but, I'll ask anyways.

"How does your personal understanding and experience being there, seeing things, and working there differ from what is ultimately reported? Perhaps it doesn't? Or, maybe it does? In either case, I am curious to hear your thoughts. And, thanks for taking the time to do this AMA!" asked rurd.

Paton Walsh: "It's the same. There isn't some process by which we see and feel a lot of things that we then ignore and follow a preordained script. You see what we do. I know that's hard to believe in this social media age of micro-digestion, but it's true."

Q: "Did you interview any ISIS members?" asked shouldbeworking23.

Paton Walsh: "The nature of ISIS means that in person you are unlikely -- or ill-advised -- to interview them. Social media interaction and Skype are possible -- and my colleagues have managed that. The Kurds did not have any ISIS prisoners at the time we were inside Kobani."

Q: "Thank you and your team for being professionals and risking your lives for the story. Did you meet any foreign nationals fighting for the Kurdish side? Is there any truth to the reports of ISIS getting resupplied from the Turkish side of the border? How effective do you think are the allied airstrikes on ISIS? And last but not least, have you ever touched Wolf Blitzer's beard? Again, thank you." asked Rihannas_forehead.

Paton Walsh: "No, no foreign nationals. We were told there may be some, but saw none.

ISIS are not, as far as we can see, getting any resupply -- the Turkish are in a bind as they are both presumably trying to not end up in an open fight with ISIS, whilst securing their own borders.

The coalition airstrikes are being effective in terms of denying ISIS the chance to take all of Kobani. The strikes have also meant ISIS have had to pour in and lose fighters and equipment. They can't finish the fight off, though. That will take better equipping for the Kurds.

Wolf's beard is off limits. Period."

Q: "Hey Nick. What do you see as the best solution for the situation in Syria right now? Any ideas how to remove Assad from power (if that is even the best way to go about reaching some level of peace)?" asked ceclimber22.

Paton Walsh: "You can't tackle ISIS without also addressing the reason why such extremism has a constituency -- the three years of massacres of Sunnis that Assad forces perpetrated. but an overall solution for Syria is outside of the resources the U.S. wants to commit at this point. there are also too many other players who want an opposite outcome -- Iran/Russia. the U.S. should be, and perhaps has been, mindful that their increased presence -- like ground troops -- has often become the lightning rod for all anger -- adding a new problem rather than fixing the original one. In end, Syria is going to be a conflict that tires of itself. One key problem is that this war has become a proxy conflict for many sides and keeps expanding -- dragging in Iraq, and more different militias. So the point in which the combatants get exhausted keeps staying out of reach. It will take a singular seismic event that prompts serious international action, or more likely eventual exhaustion, to stop this war."

Q: "What are your thoughts on the CIA ISIS torture videos released yesterday? Do you think the videos will provoke ISIS to expedite their attacks on U.S. soil? Also, from your perspective, how concerned should we be in regards to ISIS growth? The news reports they're growing rapidly was this evident during your time in Syria?" asked Britney_Lewin.

Paton Walsh: "ISIS grew most rapidly when they were not on the global radar, and then when they ran into Iraq, taking Mosul. Since then, their victories have been incremental. They haven't had the huge storming win they need for recruitment -- the constant forward motion that many analysts say makes them attractive to future recruits. They are growing in terms of infrastructure and organization perhaps, but not geographical reach -- if you exclude a handful of pledges of allegiance in other countries that are symbolically worrying, but not game-changers."

Q: "Does ISIS/ISIL actually consider the term 'Daesh' as offensive? I have only seen the one report by "residents" in Mosul saying that the fighters and leadership see it as offensive. Will renaming them, across all fronts, actually do anything? Thanks!" asked zib_al-jihad.

Paton Walsh: "I don't think renaming them Daesh makes any difference. It might mildly annoy those who watch French politicians on TV. But in the end, a slightly more forcible strategy is required than intellectualized name-calling."

Q: "If you could tell the American public just one thing about ISIS, what would it be?" asked oHolo.

Paton Walsh: "A decade of policies in the Middle East helped create them. You need to help find and fund the solution, or it will become a problem on your soil, not just the Middle East."

READ: Inside Kobani, scenes of devastation on every side

MORE: Explore panoramic view of aftermath of car bomb attack near border

Turkish police arrest execs, journalists

• Journalists, media executives are arrested in Turkey


• Those arrested are associated with the Gulen religious movement


• The Gulen supporters do not support the government

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkish police on Sunday arrested senior journalists, media executives and even the scriptwriter for a popular television series on charges of "forming, leading and being a member of an armed terrorist organization."

The more than two dozen arrests followed another series of police raids on December 17 of last year, in which prominent supporters of the government, including the sons of ministers and the head of a state-owned bank, were interrogated on charges of corruption.

In almost all cases, those year-old charges have been dropped.

The current crop of detentions are people associated with the influential Gulen religious movement and whose followers have an active network of schools and businesses. The government accuses the movement of infiltrating the police and judiciary.

Among those now detained are Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of Zaman, the country's widest circulating newspaper.

Police arriving at 7.30 a.m. were greeted by scores of protesters shouting "a free media cannot be silenced."

Journalists and Gulen supporters had mounted a vigil after tweets from "Fuatavni" -- a reliable but anonymous source -- had warned of the raid. Police retreated only to reappear in the afternoon when Dumanli gave himself up voluntarily.

Also in custody are Hidayet Karaca, the head of the Gulen-affiliated Samanyolu television, as well as the director, producers and writer of long-running political soap operas that cast aspersions on the government's attempt to broker a deal with Kurdish militants by depicting it as a conspiracy hatched in the corridors of Tehran.

For the past year, the government has been waging a campaign against the Islamic spiritual leader Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In the pro-government press, even the word Pennsylvania has become synonymous with a conspiracy to create what is called a "parallel" state by overthrowing the elected government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former Prime Minister and now President.

The Gulen-affiliated movement counters that these accusations are simply a smokescreen to cover up corruption in high places, including the president's own family. For the past 12 months, suspected Gulenists in the bureaucracy have been let go from key positions and laws enacted that will shut down a chain of university tutorial colleges affiliated to the movement.

Until recently, the Gulen movement had been among Erdogan's most enthusiastic supporters. The Zaman media group was a cheerleader of a series of trials that involved scores of military officers convicted of trying to stage a coup d'état. Journalists critical of the Gulenists' political ambitions also stood trial, including the freelance writer Ahmet Sik, who spent 2011-2012 in prison awaiting trial.

Sik has refused to have his revenge eaten cold. While the Gulen community may have "served fascism a few years ago, what happened to them is also fascism," he tweeted at the news of Sunday's raid.

Indeed many observers see the crackdown as a growing example of Erdogan's increasing authoritarian rule.

"These arrests appear to be government retribution against journalists reporting on corruption and criticizing the government. The crackdown on speech in Turkey must end, said Daniel Calingaert, executive vice president of Freedom House, the Washington-based democracy watchdog that this year downgraded the Turkish press from being "partly free" to "not free."

"The situation changes when people ... try to take control of the bureaucracy and thus declare war against the country's elected government," said Ahmet Davutoglu, Erdogan's successor as Prime Minister.

A statement by the U.S. State Department last week cautioned Turkey, a key NATO ally, not to violate its "own democratic foundations" while drawing attention to raids against media outlets "openly critical of the current Turkish government."

Cheney on torture: I'd do it again

• Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he supports the CIA's Bush-era interrogation tactics


• "I would do it again in a minute," he said on Sunday


• Cheney called the recently released Senate report on the practices "seriously flawed"

Washington (CNN) -- A defiant former Vice President Dick Cheney doubled-down on his defense of the extreme interrogation techniques used by the CIA on detainees in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Sunday, saying, "I would do it again in a minute."

Critics of the interrogation tactics -- detailed in a recently released controversial Senate report -- contend they should be considered torture and regretted. But Cheney said there is no "moral equivalence" between the terrorists' actions and the CIA's interrogation techniques.

Bush officials respond to the torture report

UN lawyer detail possible torture charges

How Brennan defends the CIA on torture

"With respect to trying to define that as torture, I come back to the proposition torture was what the al Qaeda terrorists did to 3,000 Americans on 9/11," Cheney said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "There's no comparison between that and what we did with the respect to enhanced interrogation."

READ: Cheney: 'The report's full of crap'

The former vice president also dispelled the report's findings that then-President George W. Bush was unaware of the techniques taking place, saying that Bush authorized the tactics, and the report detailing otherwise is a "lie."

"We got the authorization from the President and authorization from the Justice Department to go forward with the program," Cheney said. "It worked."

Cheney also said he believed the involuntary rectal feeding and hydration tactic revealed in the report was not, in his mind, considered torture, but rather a medical procedure, despite medical experts denouncing the tactic as ineffective and not medically justified.

"That does not meet the definition of what was used in the program," Cheney said.

RELATED: Senate torture report restarts debate

Cheney called the report "seriously flawed," contending that the analysis was conducted in a partisan fashion and was released without speaking to anyone who knew anything about the program.

"It was based on, done only by, Democratic staff," Cheney told CNN on Sunday. "It's very, very poor piece of work. It should not be used to judge the agency or the program."

Jeb Bush to release 250,000 emails

• Jeb Bush said Sunday he will release 250,000 emails from his time as Florida governor


• He will also publish an eBook along with the emails outlining his governing philosophy


• The announcements have fueled speculation he will run for president in 2016

Washington (CNN) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said on Sunday he will release 250,000 emails from his two terms in office and write an eBook outlining his governing philosophy. The moves have set the political sphere atwitter with speculation he's closer than ever to deciding to run for president in 2016.

In what appears to be a move of classic political procedure -- getting ahead of the opposition -- Bush told WPLG-TV that his intention is to promote transparency.

"Part of serving or running both of them is about transparency," he said. "I'll let people make up their minds."

READ: Jeb Bush 'I'm thinking about running for president'

Further evidence a presidential run might be looming is a report in the Miami Herald that Bush recently lost 15 pounds, per an unnamed source.

Bush also admitted it's been "kind of fun" to go back and look back at previous campaigns to remind himself that it's possible to "move the needle" if you run with big ideas.

"That's what you need right now in America," said the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush.

By controlling the release of the emails and writing a book to accompany them, Bush has the opportunity to frame potential controversial subjects, like his support of the Common Core education policy and immigration reform.

Well aware he holds some positions out of step with the conservative wing of his party, Bush admits, "I am who I've been."

An eBook, too, is noteworthy for Bush, who hasn't run for office since 2002 -- before the invention of the iPhone. The release of a digital product might serve as a flag that the former governor is prepared to build a modernized, digital campaign.

"I was digital before digital was cool I guess," Bushed joked about emailing. "Now it's commonplace."

The book comes as Bush's finances -- including overseas investment and his work for venture capital firms -- have come under scrutiny. The released emails could cast light on an already controversial narrative beginning to form or, more likely, serve as a timely distraction.

Bush says he is going to make up his mind about running in "short order," and he plans to release the emails "sometime early next year."

Sweden: Russian plane in near-collision

• A Swedish air force official says a flight from Denmark to Sweden had to change course


• Russia says its plane was more than 70 kilometers from the path of a passenger jet


• Sweden says Russian plane had its transponders turned off to avoid commercial radar

(CNN) -- A Russian military intelligence plane nearly collided with a commercial passenger jet south of Sweden on Friday, the Swedish air force chief said Sunday.

The incident in international airspace forced the passenger flight en route from Denmark to Sweden to change course, Maj. Gen. Micael Byden said.

Swedish fighter jets were immediately deployed to identify the aircraft and later determined it was a Russian intelligence plane, Byden said. He said the Russian military aircraft's transponders were turned off to avoid commercial radar.

But the Russian Defense Ministry refuted the notion that one of its warplanes nearly collided with a passenger jet.

"No prerequisites existed for an air accident related with a flight of a Russian warplane in the international air space over the Baltic Sea on Friday," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

"The flight was being made strictly in compliance with international air space rules, not violating borders of other countries and at a safe distance from traffic routes of civilian aircraft," he said. Konashenkov said the Russian plane was more than 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the flight route of a passenger jet.

NATO jets scrambled more than 400 times this year for Russian intercepts

CNN's Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report.

Top Democrats: No party rift

• Top Democrats argue the party remains unified in wake of legislative skirmish


• Sen. Chuck Schumer calls economic issues "the soul of the Democratic Party"

Washington (CNN) -- One might think Democrats are in disarray, given the recent legislative battle that pitted the Obama administration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid against top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Not so, argue New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

"The differences among Democrats are small compared to the huge chasm of Republicans," Schumer said to Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "You look on issues like minimum wage and equal pay and infrastructure construction, helping people pay for college -- the Democratic Party is unified."

READ: Democrats have a hypocrisy problem

Mass Gov.: Dems didn't stand for anything

Clinton, Warren, Biden top poll of Dems

Obama tries to move on after big GOP win

Schumer called economic issues "the soul of the Democratic Party" and reiterated his belief that party members are on the same page -- name-checking Warren, a newly minted member of the Senate Democrats' leadership team.

"Elizabeth Warren is, even if people don't agree with her, she's constructive," he said of the senator who advocated for Democratic opposition to a spending measure because she felt it rolled by banking regulations. "She's not like Ted Cruz saying, 'Shut down the government or don't fund things if I don't get my way.'"

Patrick, in a separate interview with Crowley, said Democrats suffered heavy losses in the 2014 midterm elections because they lacked a resonating economic message, not because of an emerging rift.

"It's a broad-based party. We are very specific about the things that we need to do economically and socially to enable people to get a toehold in the middle class and to hang on once they get there," he said. "And I think that that's a very powerful story. It is about convictions. And when we tell it, we win."

Patrick, a self-described "pro-growth progressive" offered support for Warren generally, but advocated for a balance between government help and private market principles.

"I just don't believe that markets solve every problem in everybody's life and I don't think government solves every problem in everybody's life," Patrick said.

But with groups on the left envigorated by Warren's anti-Wall Street rhetoric and Pelosi willing to buck Obama's White House, there's evidence Democrats may splinter yet.

Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET. For the latest from State of the Union click here.

L.A. tornado: 'It was crazy'

• NEW: Tornadoes are rare in Los Angeles but not as scarce as you think, meteorologist says


• NEW: When twisters do strike L.A., they are typically the weakest grade


• NEW: It's unclear whether El Nino event will bring storms strong enough for more tornadoes


• NEW: More rain will fall upon California next week, but major damage isn't expected

Affected by the storm? Send your photos to CNN iReport, but please stay safe.

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Just when you thought the nation's entertainment capital couldn't deliver a new surprise ending, a camera-wielding resident reveals how this week's Pacific storm sent Los Angeles a tornado.

The rare twister was captured on tape: roofs obliterated, shingles hurled like leaves, and the amateur videographer gasping in profane disbelief. Friday's melee even damaged the steel of a billboard.

"It was crazy. It was crazy," Jamie Mena told CNN affiliate KABC after shooting a video of bent-over palm trees and his rooftop flying off. "I am shaken up."

Before Friday, the last time a twister made big news in Los Angeles was 1983, slamming into the downtown Los Angeles Convention Center, though there have been a few tornadoes since then around the area.

"They are pretty rare, but not as rare as you might think, though," said National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Sukup of the Los Angeles-Oxnard office.

Los Angeles hasn't seen a tornado for the past few years, but a study in the 1990s showed that "the amount of tornadoes we get in the L.A. basin is comparable to what they get in the Midwest but it's much weaker," Sukup said.

"Most of the ones we get out here are EF0's, whereas out in the Midwest, they get the EF3's and larger," Sukup said.

On a tornado damage scale, an EF0 is the weakest, with three-second gusts between 65 and 85 mph, according to the service. The worst of tornadoes is ranked EF5, with the winds exceeding 200 mph. An EF3 has such gusts between 136 and 165 mph.

That means Friday morning's twister in south Los Angeles struck with winds between 65 mph and 85 mph, ripping two residential roofs and knocking over trees, the service said.

The tornado was born out of a Pacific storm that pummeled much of the coast from Wednesday to Friday.

What to know about tornadoes

More tornadoes ahead?

One of the more memorable tornado seasons in Los Angeles was the 1997-1998 winter when a strong El Niño weather phenomenon brought several storms and weak twisters, Sukup said.

An El Niño event involves the warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean and influences the jet stream where storms track.

"We might be going into a weak El Niño this year, but it doesn't tell us how wet of a year we're going to have or how many storms we're going to have," Sukup said.

More rain will fall on Southern California beginning late Sunday, and Los Angeles may received a quarter- to a half-inch of rain on Monday, with a chance of showers through the week, Sukup said.

Rain resumes next week

But next week's rainfall shouldn't cause the kind of disasters seen this past week, Sukup said.

At a minimum, those rains will help slake a historic drought that's been drying up California the past three years.

"It doesn't look like it's going to be a major deal, more of a beneficial rain," Sukup said of next week's forecast.

The recent storms flooded and ravaged the West Coast: homes fell into the sea in Washaway Beach, Washington; schools closed pre-emptively in San Francisco and Oakland; a landslide buried houses in Camarillo; and a long balcony of second-floor apartments collapsed upon ground-level storefronts in Long Beach.

No one in California was killed, but falling trees killed two people in Oregon and left a third seriously injured, authorities said.

Now comes the cleanup

On Saturday, California experienced lingering damage and sporadic power outages, but for the most part, the state had recovered, said Kelly Huston, deputy director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

"Widespread outages are pretty much gone," Huston said Saturday. "What we're seeing is the cleanup part of the process for us.

"It was a bad storm for us," Huston said. "Luckily, we didn't suffer as many of the impacts as we thought we might have."

California rescuers saved people trapped in a mobile home park, in the Los Angeles River and a few other spots.

Northern California got the worst of the storm Thursday, as evidenced by swaying Bay Area bridges, halted ferry and cable car services around San Francisco and blizzard-like conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

On Friday, it was more Southern California's turn. Several spots in the region had record rainfall for the day, including 2.36 inches in Oxnard and 1.54 inches at Long Beach's airport.

A storm like this -- the biggest to hit the area in years -- leaves a big mess behind, from flooded roadways to damaged houses to lives disrupted or turned entirely upside down.

A homeless woman wrapped in protective plastic is trapped on a tree branch in the flooded Los Angeles River. She was later rescued.

Thankfully, in California at least, the vast majority of the once 300,000 customers left in the dark now have their power back on. And Huston said that, as bad as this storm was, "it was not quite as bad as we expected."

Even then, there's still a lot to do Saturday to get things back to normal. But this time, at least, Mother Nature should cooperate.

"We're looking pretty good," Huston told CNN. "We're hoping for some sunshine today here in California, and that will (help in) the cleanup process going on in several parts of the state."

Japanese voters go to polls

• NEW: Exit polls suggest the prime minister's Liberal Democratic Party will win in a landslide


• A dismal quarter pushed Japan into recession, prompting snap elections


• Japan's PM Shinzo Abe said the election are a referendum on his 'Abenomics' policies


• Abe's economic adviser has called for $25 billion in cash stimulus to kickstart the economy

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese voters went to the polls Sunday to choose a new parliament after the country unexpectedly slipped into a recession.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the snap parliamentary elections as a referendum on his flagship economic policies.

News of the recession dealt a blow to his much-vaunted "Abenomics" -- the stimulus and economic reform package he introduced since taking power in 2012.

"The election will be held to ask the public whether we will (move) forward with Abenomics or end it," Abe said in November, when he announced the closure of parliament.

Exit polls Sunday projected Abe's ruling coalition will score a landslide victory, taking about 300 of the 475 seats in Japan's Lower House.

Japan's state broadcaster NHK projected Abe's Liberal Democratic Party will win between 306-341 seats, and CNN affiliate TV Asahi projected the LDP will win 298 seats.

What's at stake in Japan's elections?

Japanese PM on offensive before election

READ: Why Abe wants an election

Strange timing

An election wasn't actually required until late 2016. And many have wondered why Abe, with a sizable majority in the lower house -- 295 out of the 475 seats -- would risk ceding power so early.

E. Keith Henry, analyst and founder of Asia Strategy, a Tokyo-based government policy consulting group, said he found the timing "puzzling."

"Why call an election when you have such a dominant position?" he asked.

Can Japan solve its economic problems?

Key test for Abenomics

Indeed, polls suggest most of the public doesn't understand why Abe has called for an election now, and many are critical of the decision to incur the cost during a period of recession.

Polls show the ruling LDP has about 30% support, and the main opposition party -- the Democratic Party of Japan -- has between 10% and 13% support.

The LDP has been in power almost consistently since 1955. During that period, the DPJ has only governed twice -- briefly in the 1990s and again from 2009 to 2012.

READ MORE: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's election gamble puts policies on the line

Gamble

Ultimately, Abe's election gamble will pay off if he convinced everyday people that his economic policies will benefit ordinary citizens.

While a key component of Abenomics has been extra government spending, a sales tax hike this year and rising costs have taken their toll on small businesses and their customers.

In a bit to boost his election fortunes, Abe delayed a sales tax hike planned for October 2015. His special adviser on economic affairs, Etsuro Honda, has called for a further $25 billion in cash handout stimulus and tax cuts to kickstart the economy.

But that hasn't satisfied all voters.

"Abenomics is no good at all," said Shuichi Kobayashi, the fourth-generation owner of a 100 year-old tofu shop in Tokyo.

He said the recent economic conditions are a threat to his livelihood.

"Our life is getting tough."

READ MORE: Japan elections: Is Abenomics working? It depends who you ask

CNN's Euan McKirdy, Yoko Wakatsuki, Holly Yan, Andrew Stevens and Naomi Ng contributed to this report.

We have a new Heisman winner

• University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy


• The trophy is given annually to the most outstanding football player in the U.S.


• He's the first native of Hawaii and first player from Oregon to win the Heisman


• He beat Alabama receiver Amari Cooper and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon

(CNN) -- University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy, given annually to the best college football player in the United States, on Saturday night during a ceremony in New York.

Mariota beat two other finalists, Alabama receiver Amari Cooper and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon.

Mariota, a junior, is the first player from the University of Oregon and the first native of Hawaii to win the Heisman, according to http://ift.tt/1qARGHe, a website operated by the Heisman Trophy Trust.

"I am humbled to be here today, and honored by this award," Mariota said as he accepted the trophy.

Marcus Mariota kisses the Heisman Trophy after he was named college football's best player.

"This award belongs to my teammates. The amount of hard work and sacrifice that each of them have made has not gone unnoticed," he added, singling out the various units on his football team for their successes this year.

Now, an unusual battle of the Heisman winners is in the offing. Oregon, a No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff, will face No. 3 seed Florida State, led by last year's Heisman winner, Jameis Winston, on January 1.

No. 1 seed Alabama faces No. 4 seed Ohio State in the other playoff game.

Mariota, who led Oregon to a 12-1 record this season, was favored to win the Heisman, having earlier won the Maxwell Award, also for being the nation's most outstanding player, and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award and Walter Camp player of the year award.

He threw for 3,783 yards and rushed for 669 this season and led the Ducks to the Pac-12 title, according to Bleacher Report. He accounted for 53 total touchdowns -- 38 through the air, 14 on the ground and one receiving -- and only threw two interceptions.

The Heisman runner-ups didn't go unrecognized.

Cooper won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver and Gordon won the Doak Walker Award for the nation's top running back.

Climate change agreement reached

Peru's Minister of Environment Manuel Pulgar closes debate on the document.

• The draft agreement will serve as the basis for a treaty to be signed in Paris next year


• Richer countries agree to foot more of the bill in the battle against climate change


• Developed and developing countries will have different responsibilities

(CNN) -- Nations working on a global treaty to combat climate change and handle its ill effects have come to a basic draft agreement at conference in Lima, Peru.

The elements hammered out in two weeks by about 190 countries at the 20th Conference of Parties (COP20) will serve as the basis for an international climate treaty to be signed in Paris next year, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change said Sunday.

That treaty, which is supposed to detail nations' responsibilities in the fight against climate change, will come into effect in 2020.

The Lima draft announced Sunday determines that developed countries and developing nations will take on differing responsibilities in the fight against global warming "in light of different national circumstances."

The details of those responsibilities are to be determined later.

It also calls on richer countries to help poorer ones finance their goals -- especially countries hurt most by the "adverse effects of climate change" that are working to mitigate that damage.

Initial disagreement between nations over the distribution of responsibilities and costs had brought negotiations to a deadlock, causing the conference to be extended by two days.

A handful of developed and developing countries pledged contributions to the Green Climate Fund -- designed to finance sustainable development -- boosting it to nearly $10.2 billion.

CNN's Christine Theodorou contributed to his report.

'Very proud ... she saved my life'

Fatu Kekula has cared for four of her family members with Ebola, keeping three alive without infecting herself.

Her trash bag protection method is being taught to others in West Africa who can't get personal protective equipment.

Kekula saved, from left, her sister, Vivian, 28, her mother, Victoria, 57, and her father, Moses, 52.

Kekula's 14-year-old cousin who was living with them, Alfred Winnie, passed away.

Kekula's father is working to find a scholarship for Fatu so she can finish her final year of nursing school. He has no doubt his daughter will go on to save more lives.

• Fatu Kekula, 22, nursed four family members infected with Ebola


• She protected herself using trash bags, rubber boots, gloves and a mask


• Her protection method is being taught to others in West Africa

(CNN) -- A young Liberian woman who saved three of her relatives by nursing them back to health after they contracted the Ebola virus is coming to the United States to finish her nursing degree.

The news comes as Time magazine announced Wednesday that its "Person of the Year" honors go to the Ebola fighters, the "unprecedented numbers" of doctors and nurses who responded when Ebola overtook an already-weak public health infrastructure this year in West Africa.

Time's 2014 Person of the Year

Fatu Kekula is not named in the article, but she definitely holds a place among those being honored.

Time editor: Ebola epidemic far from over

Woman cares for her family with Ebola

This team picks up Ebola's dead

The 22-year-old, who was in her final year of nursing school earlier this year, single-handedly took care of her father, mother, sister and cousin when they became ill with Ebola beginning in July.

And she did so with remarkable success. Three out of her four patients survived. That's a 25% death rate -- considerably better than the estimated Ebola death rate of 70%.

Kekula stayed healthy, which is noteworthy considering that hundreds of health care workers have become infected with Ebola, and she didn't even have personal protection equipment -- those white space suits and goggles used in Ebola treatment units.

Instead, Kekula invented her own equipment. International aid workers heard about her "trash bag method" and taught it to other West Africans who can't get into hospitals and don't have protective gear of their own.

Every day, several times a day for about two weeks, Kekula put trash bags over her socks and tied them in a knot over her calves. Then she put on a pair of rubber boots and then another set of trash bags over the boots.

She wrapped her hair in a pair of stockings and over that a trash bag. Next she donned a raincoat and four pairs of gloves on each hand, followed by a mask.

It was an arduous and time-consuming process, but she was religious about it, never cutting corners.

UNICEF Spokeswoman Sarah Crowe said Kekula is amazing.

"Essentially this is a tale of how communities are doing things for themselves," Crowe said. "Our approach is to listen and work with communities and help them do the best they can with what they have."

Two doctors for 85,000 people

She emphasized, of course, that it would be better for patients to be in real hospitals with doctors and nurses in protective gear -- it's just that those things aren't available to many West Africans.

No one knows that better than Kekula.

Her Ebola nightmare started July 27, when her father, Moses, had a spike in blood pressure. She took him to a hospital in their home city of Kakata.

A bed was free because a patient had just passed away. What no one realized at the time was that the patient had died of Ebola.

One woman walked in, and the Ebola nightmare began

Moses, 52, developed a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Then the hospital closed down because nurses started dying of Ebola.

Kekula took her father to Monrovia, the capital city, about a 90-minute drive via difficult roads. Three hospitals turned him away because they were full.

She took him back to another hospital in Kakata. They said he had typhoid fever and did little for him, so Kekula took him home, where he infected three other family members: Kekula's mother, Victoria, 57; Kekula's sister, Vivian, 28, and their 14-year-old cousin who was living with them, Alfred Winnie.

Guilty of Ebola until proven otherwise

Ebola overwhelms new hospital in Liberia

Desperation grows in heart of Ebola zone

While operating her one-woman Ebola hospital for two weeks, Kekula consulted with their family doctor, who would talk to her on the phone, but wouldn't come to the house. She gave them medicines she obtained from the local clinic and fluids through intravenous lines that she started.

At times, her patients' blood pressure plummeted so low she feared they would die.

"I cried many times," she said. "I said 'God, you want to tell me I'm going to lose my entire family?' "

But her father, mother, and sister rallied and were well on their way to recovery when space became available at JFK Medical Center on August 17. Alfred never recovered, though, and passed away at the hospital the next day.

"I'm very, very proud," Kekula's father said. "She saved my life through the almighty God."

Her father immediately began working to find a scholarship for Kekula, so she could finish her final year of nursing school. But the Ebola epidemic shut down many of Liberia's schools, including hers.

After a story about Kekula ran on CNN in September, many people wanted to help her.

A non-profit group called iamprojects.org also got involved.

With some help, Kekula applied to Emory University in Atlanta, the campus with the hospital that has successfully cared for American Ebola patients. Emory accepted the young woman so that she could complete her nursing degree starting this winter semester.

In order to attend, iamprojects will have to raise $40,000 to pay for her reduced tuition rate, living expenses, books and her travel and visa so that she can travel between Africa and the United States.

Kekula's father has no doubt that his daughter will go on to save many more people during her lifetime.

"I'm sure she'll be a great giant of Liberia," he said.

Ebola patients left to lay on the ground

CNN's John Bonifield, Orlando Ruiz, and Orlind Cooper contributed to this report.