1. Climate talks underway in Paris

Representatives from nearly 150 countries met in Paris on Monday to begin the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The talks will last until Dec. 11 with the end goal of creating a treaty to curb global emissions and avoid a 2 degree Celsius increase from preindustrial temperatures that the globe is on pace to reach by the middle of the century.

More: COP21

2. China’s hazardous smog closes schools and highways

Hazardous of smog in China on Monday forced the government to close schools and highways and urge residents to stay indoors. Beijing was on orange pollution alert, the second-highest level. China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said the severe smog over the past five days is due to “unfavorable” weather conditions.

More: China’s smog

3.  Putin: Turkey shot down plane to protect ISIS oil

Turkey is buying stolen oil from ISIS and reselling it — something that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family personally benefit from it — Russia claims. . That is why Turkish-F16s shot down a Russian warplane on Nov. 24 over the Syrian-Turkish border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday. Turkey claims the plane was in Turkish airspace and received repeated warnings.

More: Putin’s claims

4. Shooter kills 3, wounds 9 at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs

A gunman opened fire inside a Planned Parenthood clinic Friday — killing three and wounding nine — and engaged in a hours long standoff with police before he was arrested. The shooter, Robert Lewis Dear of North Carolina, said “no more baby parts” to investigators during an interview following his arrest, a police official said.

More: Planned Parenthood attack

5. 4 charged in shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters in Minneapolis

Four men were charged in the Nov. 23 shooting of five people who had been protesting the police killing of an black man in Minneapolis.  The five victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. None of the four are charged under state hate crime statutes because the charges they face, such as assault and rioting, carry harsher potential penalties, a county attorney said.

More: Minneapolis Black Lives Matter protest shooting

6. White House fence jumper released

A man who wrapped himself in an American flag and jumped over the north side fence of the White House on Nov. 26 while the first family was celebrating Thanksgiving inside was released from custody on Monday. Joseph Caputo, a 22-year-old college student, pleaded innocent to charge of illegal entry onto restricted grounds. He had binder containing a revised version of the constitution in his mouth during the jump. Court records show he left a suicide note.

More: White House fence jumper

7. Chicago mayor fires police superintendent

A week after releasing a video of a white police officer shooting Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, 16 times last year and killing him, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy on Tuesday. Since the release of the video there have been many protests and increasing calls for changes in the police department. The city resisted releasing the video to the public, but a judge ordered it to.

More: Chicago police

Published on December 2, 2015 at 11:21 am

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus