10 things you need to know today: November 30, 2015

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Jacky Naegelen, Pool))

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1. More than 200 protesters arrested as high-stakes Paris climate talks open
2. Planned Parenthood shooting suspect due in court
3. Lakers' Kobe Bryant announces retirement
4. NSA ends bulk collection of phone data
5. Baltimore on edge as Freddie Gray police trials begin
6. EU and Turkey seal deal on cutting refugee wave into Europe
7. University of Chicago cancels Monday classes due to threat
8. Pope visits besieged Muslim neighborhood at end of Africa trip
9. Amazon unveils new delivery-drone design
10. Adele's 25 breaks first-week album sales record

published 30 November 2015

1. More than 200 protesters arrested as high-stakes Paris climate talks open

French police arrested 200 people as protesters clashed with officers ahead of the Monday opening of climate change talks. Authorities had warned the public not to hold mass demonstrations under security rules imposed after the Paris terror attacks. Nearly 150 world leaders, including President Obama, are attending the opening of the two-week Conference of Parties or COP21 on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. "What is at stake is the future of the planet, the future of life," French President Hollande told participants as the talks opened.

Robert Lewis Dear, 57, is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday on charges that he fatally shot a police officer and two others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Dear reportedly told authorities "no more baby parts" after his arrest. Planned Parenthood said "hateful rhetoric and smear campaigns against abortion providers" fueled the violence. GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, a vocal Planned Parenthood critic, said it was "typical left-wing tactics" to link anti-abortion rhetoric to the attack.

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Los Angeles Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant announced Sunday that he would retire from the NBA after this season. "My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye," the 37-year-old wrote on The Players Tribune in a letter that opened, "Dear Basketball." Bryant has won five NBA titles in a career that began when he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the 13th overall pick at age 17. Hampered by injuries since 2013, he is struggling this season, as has his team, which has a 2-13 record.

The National Security Agency ended its program to collect Americans' phone records in bulk Sunday. The secret Patriot Act program was brought to light by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. Congress ordered it shut in June. The government has been testing a new system, which reportedly only allows intelligence officials to collect information on people and phones linked to foreign powers and terrorist groups.

Jury selection begins Monday in the first trial for one of the six Baltimore police officers indicted in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who sustained a fatal spinal injury while in police custody in April. The death of Gray, 25, touched off mostly peaceful protests that turned violent on the day he was buried. The case fueled the national Black Lives Matter movement protesting mistreatment of African-Americans by police. Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said "the future of the city is at stake" in the trials.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday reached a deal with European leaders to help reduce the flow of migrants to Europe. Under the agreement, the European Union will pay Turkey up to 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion). The EU says the money will be used to raise the quality of life for the 2.2 million Syrians currently in Turkey, providing them an incentive to stay. It will be paid out as Turkey meets certain benchmarks. Turkey also negotiated a new round of talks on joining the 28-member union.

The University of Chicago canceled classes on Monday after FBI counterterrorism officials notified the school of a threat of gun violence posted online. University President Robert Zimmer said in an email to the campus community that there would be an increased police and security presence on campus and in the surrounding area as the FBI investigated the threat. Zimmer said university officials decided to "exercise caution" due to the warning and "recent tragic events at other campuses across the country."

Pope Francis, under heavy security, continued his call for peace in the Central African Republican during a visit to a volatile Muslim neighborhood in Bangui, the nation's capital, on Monday. Residents of the neighborhood have been unable to leave since Christian militia fighters surrounded the area months ago. Violence between Christian and Muslim militants has killed thousands and forced nearly a million people to flee their homes since 2013. After the stop, Francis headed to a sports stadium for a final Mass before returning to Italy after a three-country Africa tour.

Amazon on Sunday released video of its new delivery-drone design. The craft takes off like a helicopter, then at an altitude of 400 feet flies forward like an airplane. The first prototype the online retail giant unveiled nearly two years ago, when it announced its intention to use drones for deliveries, carried the parcels underneath. The new one, which can fly up to 15 miles, carries packages in its fuselage. Amazon says it will launch its Prime Air service once it has "the regulatory support needed to safely realize our vision."

Adele's new album, 25, sold 3.38 million copies in its first week, smashing the record for debut sales, according to Nielsen Music. In fact, 25 was the first album to pass the three million mark since Nielsen began tracking first-week purchases in 1991. The previous record was 2.4 million, set in 2000 by NSYNC's No Strings Attached. 25 is now by far the best-selling album of the year, leaving the previous leader — Taylor Swift's 1989 — far behind at 1.8 million.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.