World leaders gather to try to save Earth from overheating
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — With dramatic vows to save future generations from an overheated planet, the largest gathering ever of world leaders began two weeks of talks Monday aimed at producing the most far-reaching pact yet to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and avert environmental havoc.
“We should ask what will we say to our grandchildren if we fail,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said as the U.N. climate summit opened under heavy security on the outskirts of Paris, two weeks after the extremist attacks that left 130 people dead. “Instead of making excuses tomorrow, let’s take action today.”
Even before the gathering, more than 180 countries pledged to cut or curb their emissions, but scientific analyses show that much bigger reductions would be needed to limit man-made warming of the Earth to 2 degrees Centigrade (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, the internationally agreed-upon goal.
The biggest issue facing the 151 heads of state and government at the summit is who should bear most of the burden of closing that gap: wealthy Western nations that have polluted the most historically, or developing countries like China and India that are now the biggest and third-biggest emitters of greenhouse gases?
“Addressing climate change should not deny the legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve living standards,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping told the conference.
Suspect in Planned Parenthood attack makes 1st appearance
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The man accused in the shooting rampage at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic made his first court appearance Monday and learned that he will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of three people killed in the standoff with police.
Speaking in a raspy voice, Robert Lewis Dear appeared via a video hookup from the El Paso County Jail, where he has been held since surrendering after Friday’s five-hour siege.
The white-bearded suspect wore a padded vest with black straps and gazed downward during most of the hearing. Victims’ relatives watched from a courtroom.
When asked by Chief District Judge Gilbert Martinez if he understood his rights, Dear replied, “no questions.”
Public defender Daniel King, who represented Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, stood beside Dear and will act as his attorney. The suspect is expected to be formally charged on Dec. 9.
Turkey won’t apologize to Russia for warplane downing
(AP) Turkey won’t apologize to Russia for shooting down a warplane operating over Syria, the Turkish prime minister said Monday, stressing that the military was doing its job defending the country’s airspace.
Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey hopes Moscow will reconsider economic sanctions announced against Turkish interests following last week’s incident. The Turkish resort town of Antalya is “like a second home” to many Russian holidaymakers, he said, but refused to yield on Turkish security.
“No Turkish prime minister or president will apologize … because of doing our duty,” Davutoglu told reporters after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.
“Protection of Turkish airspace, Turkish borders is a national duty, and our army did their job to protect this airspace. But if the Russian side wants to talk, and wants to prevent any future unintentional events like this, we are ready to talk.”
Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian warplane on Nov. 24, sparking Cold War-style tensions between Russia and NATO, of which Turkey is a member. One of the Russian pilots was killed, while a second was rescued.
Cyber Monday sales still on top, but losing some luster
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers traded bricks for clicks Monday, flocking online to snap up “Cyber Monday” deals on everything from cashmere sweaters to Star Wars toys.
Now that shoppers are online all the time anyway, the 10-year-old shopping holiday has lost some of its luster as online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday pick up. But enough shoppers have been trained to look for “Cyber Monday” specific sales to ensure the holiday will still mean big bucks for retailers.
It’s too early for sales figures, but Monday is still expected to be the biggest online shopping day ever, likely racing up more than $3 billion in sales, according to comScore. Adobe, which tracks 200 million visitors to 4,500 retail websites, said $490 million had been spent online as of 10 a.m. E.T. on Monday, the latest data available. That’s 14 percent higher than a year ago.
“A lot of people wait to see if deals are better on Cyber Monday,” said Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.
New Yorker Anna Osgoodby was one of the many online shoppers who spread her purchases throughout the holiday shopping weekend. On Black Friday, she took advantage of a 35 percent sale at online accessories retailer ashandwillow.com, buying earrings, a necklace and bracelet. Then she bought earrings and clutches on Monday during its 40 percent off sale.
High court’s election-year lineup rich in high-profile cases
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s lineup of new cases is fit for an election year.
Affirmative action, abortion and another look at the Obama health care law all are before the court, and they could well be joined by immigration, giving the justices a run of cases that reads like a campaign platform.
Also coming; disputes involving public-sector labor unions, the death penalty and the way electoral districts are drawn.
Decisions in these high-profile cases almost certainly will split the court along ideological lines, mirroring the country’s stark partisan split. What’s more, the most contentious issues won’t be resolved until late June, barely four months before the 2016 presidential election.
What started as a somewhat sleepy term — especially following major decisions last June on health care and same-sex marriage — has become much more interesting, says University of Pennsylvania law dean Theodore Ruger.
Police shooting of black teen cited in U of Chicago threat
CHICAGO (AP) — Federal authorities said an online threat that led the University of Chicago to cancel classes Monday targeted whites and was motivated by the police shooting of a black teenager, video of which was released last week and led to protests.
Jabari R. Dean, 21, of Chicago, threatened to kill 16 white male students or staff at the school on Chicago’s South Side, according to the criminal complaint.
Dean, who is black, was arrested Monday morning. He did not enter a plea later in the day on a charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in court.
The threat was posted Saturday, just days after the city released a video of Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was black, 16 times. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder. His bond was set for $1.5 million earlier Monday, and hours later, he paid the $150,000 needed and was released.
Authorities said Dean posted online from a phone that he would “execute approximately … 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time (sic) McDonald was killed” and “will die killing any number of white policemen that I can in the process.”
McCarthy predicts no gov’t shutdown because of Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top House leader predicted Monday that Washington will avoid stumbling into a government shutdown next week over a tea party-backed drive to take away Planned Parenthood’s funding.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy added, however, that Congress may need additional time to work through a massive, $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill that tops the agenda as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for a two- or three-week sprint to finish this year’s session.
McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters that “I do not hear people shutting the government down over it right now,” referring to demands by some conservatives to attach language to “defund” Planned Parenthood to the must-do spending bill. Such a move would guarantee gridlock.
Other business includes highway spending, taxes and a rewrite of the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law.
The Senate’s top Democrat, exiting a meeting with the chamber’s GOP leader, offered a downcast assessment on prospects for a successful wrap-up of such a long roster of unfinished business.
Calendars show Clinton made time at State for supporters
WASHINGTON (AP) — As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton opened her office to dozens of influential Democratic party fundraisers, former Clinton administration and campaign loyalists and corporate donors to her family’s global charity, according to State Department calendars obtained by the Associated Press.
The woman who would become a 2016 presidential candidate met or spoke by phone with nearly 100 corporate executives, Clinton charity donors and political supporters during her four years at the State Department between 2009 and 2013, records show. Many of those meetings and calls, formally scheduled by her aides, involved heads of companies and organizations that were pursuing business or private interests with the Obama administration at the time, including with the State Department while Clinton was in charge.
In addition, at least 60 of those who met with Clinton have donated or pledged program commitments to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. A dozen have been among Hillary Clinton’s most reliable political fundraisers, bundling more than $100,000 in donations during her failed 2008 presidential campaign or providing larger amounts to Clinton-allied super political action committees this time. And at least six entities represented in the meetings paid former President Bill Clinton lucrative fees for speeches.
The AP found no evidence of legal or ethical conflicts in Clinton’s meetings, in its examination of 1,294 pages from the calendars. Her sit-downs with business leaders were not unique among recent secretaries of state, who sometimes called on corporate executives to aid in international affairs, according to archived documents.
But the difference with Clinton’s meetings was that she was a 2008 presidential contender who was widely expected to try again in 2016. Her availability to luminaries from politics, business and charity shows the extent to which her office became a sounding board for their interests. And her ties with so many familiar faces from those intersecting worlds were complicated by their lucrative financial largess and political support over the years — even during her State Department tenure — for her campaigns and her husband’s, and for her family’s foundation.
