- Ferguson: A grand jury in Ferguson, MO decided not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for any crimes related to the death of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. The jury was made up of 9 white and 3 black jurors, 7 men and 5 women. A decision would have needed to be reached by at least 9 of the 12. A count of the decision was not released. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/24/366370100/grand-jury-reaches-decision-in-michael-brown-case
- Garner: All charges were dropped after a Grand Jury in Staten Island decided there was not enough evidence to bring against NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo, 29, in the death of Eric Garner, 43. This decision prompted widespread national protests. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyregion/grand-jury-said-to-bring-no-charges-in-staten-island-chokehold-death-of-eric-garner.html?_r=0#
- Immigration: President Barack Obama used executive power to shield up to 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation if they have lived in the country for more than 5 years, have children in the United States, and can pass a background check and are willing to pay taxes. 17 states are suing him because of those actions. http://time.com/3618378/obama-immigration-lawsuit/
- Palestine: France’s lower house of Parliament voted to recognize Palestine on December 2, 2014. It is the fifth of such votes in the last two months, and the one that carries the most weight, causing more widespread support of the Palestinian cause and increasing criticism of Israeli policy. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/world/europe/france-vote-recognize-palestine.html
- Iran: The deadline for concluding the nuclear talks with Iran has been moved back to June 30. The western delegates have revised their position on the minimum number of nuclear weapons that would be acceptable as Iran begins to dig in with their demands for the next round of debates. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR_TALKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
- Hong Kong: Police regain ground on protesters after perhaps the most violent clashes since the protests began. At least 40 people were arrested and 40 taken to the hospital. Police baton charges left some protesters prostrate and bleeding, while volleys of pepper spray left others vomiting and temporarily blind. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/01/hong-kong-police-drive-out-pro-democracy-protesters
- Google: The European Parliament has voted to break Google because of what it sees as a monopoly across the region (Google controls about 90% of web searches across Europe). However, the vote has little real power to dismantle the company and instead acts as a recommendation to the European Commission, which has the final word. http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/27/news/companies/google-europe-breakup/
- Russia-Ukraine: Pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces in Ukraine are observing a ceasefire after weeks of fighting. Talks between the two are expected to take place in Belarus in the coming days. Russia has also resumed supplying gas to Ukraine. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30384665
- Congress: The House and Senate are expected to pass a government-funding bill and a terrorism insurance program before the government shutdown. The funding bill will keep the government running until September 2015 but only keep the Department of Homeland Security going until February 2015. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/congress-cromnibus-bill-113381.html
- Fossil Fuels: The Philippines are pushing all countries to cut down their fossil fuel emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Summit meeting. The Philippine government states that it is suffering too many human and economic losses from the burning of fossil fuels. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/world/americas/philippines-pushes-developing-countries-to-cut-their-emissions-.html
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