Monday Briefing | December 7
President Barack Obama bows his head in prayer during the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at the Ellipse in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. Picture by Carolyn Kaster | AP
Stories to Follow
COP21 in Paris
This week, leaders from around the world convened in Paris for the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference. Over 150 countries reportedly submitted plans to fight climate change, with initiatives from cutting emissions to preserving forest cover and increasing clean energy use. Experts say that if these plans are implemented, warming across the planet could be reduced by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius. The conference will last until December 11th, with heads of state, including President Obama, looking to come to an agreement on standard practices to fight global warming. “I think we’re going to solve it,” he said, during a press conference. “I think the issue is just going to be the pace and how much damage is done before we are able to fully apply the brakes.” Read more: NPR and NYT.
San Bernardino shootings
The world was rocked again on Wednesday when a couple shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California. Following the assault, which left another 21 people injured, police killed Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, as they fled the scene. Although the attack showed evidence of extreme planning, the assailant’s motives are still not entirely clear. Meanwhile, President Obama addressed the growing prevalence of mass shootings in the United States, stressing that, “We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn’t happen with the same frequency in other countries.” Read more: CNN and NYT.
Falling oil prices
On Friday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as OPEC, met in Vienna to discuss falling oil prices. Despite the harrowing oversupply of oil in the market, OPEC rejected the notion of limiting production to control prices. As Iraq’s Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi put it, “Americans don’t have any ceiling, Russians don’t have any ceiling, why should OPEC have a ceiling?” As a result, OPEC will continue pumping over 30 million barrels a day, even as oil hovers around $40 a barrel. Read more: Bloomberg and CNBC.
Upcoming Events
Violence All Around
Thursday, December | 6pm to 7:30pm | Merrill House, 170 East 64th Street
What Hopes for the Fight Against Impunity?
Tuesday, 8 December | 6:00 pm | Ford Foundation
JPI End of the Year Party
Friday, December 11 | 7:00 pm | TBD
In Your Spare Time
Participate in the 2015 Annual Toy Drive hosted by the Administrative Management Council, The Student’s Class Activities Board, the 9th Police Precinct (Manhattan), and the 84th Police Precinct (Brooklyn). Drop off a new, unwrapped, nonviolent toy for children ages infant to 16 from December 3 through December 17. Click here for more info.
This week’s Monday Briefing was brought to you by Kate Drew
