10 things you need to know today: December 11, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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1. Connecticut to ban gun purchases by people on watch lists
2. Trump rises to new high as terror fears increase
3. Ex-Oklahoma City officer convicted of sexually assaulting 13 black women
4. Dow Chemical, DuPont detail merger plan
5. Paris climate talks extended
6. Obama signs bipartisan education reform bill
7. Citadel starts suspension process for students photographed wearing white hoods
8. Swiss police hunt for five people in connection with Paris attacks
9. Muslim advocacy group's headquarters evacuated over threatening letter
10. Carol leads Golden Globe nominations

last updated 11 December 2015

1. Connecticut to ban gun purchases by people on watch lists

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) said Thursday that he plans to make his state the first to ban gun purchases by people on federal terrorism watch lists. President Obama called for such a move after a series of recent terror attacks, but the proposal failed to clear Congress last week. The ban would require approval by the Justice Department. "Since Congress has failed to act, I will," Malloy said. Connecticut already has banned semi-automatic assault rifles.

Rising fear of terrorism after the San Bernardino and Paris attacks has helped propel GOP frontrunner Donald Trump to a new high, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Thursday. Trump, who has called for barring Muslims from entering the U.S., now has 35 percent support, compared to 16 percent for nearest rival Sen. Ted Cruz. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton leads her closest rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, by a similar margin, 20 percentage points. Still, nearly two-thirds of voters said they were concerned or frightened by the prospect of a Trump presidency, and they were only marginally more comfortable at the thought of a Clinton one.

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A former Oklahoma City police officer, Daniel Holtzclaw, was found guilty Thursday of 18 counts of rape and other sexual assault charges. Prosecutors said Holtzclaw, who worked the night shift, targeted black women with arrest records. Twelve of the 13 victims who testified said they had been afraid to report the sexual assault. "He chose women he could count on not telling what he was doing," said District Attorney Lori McConnell during closing arguments. Holtzclaw, 29, will be sentenced in January.

Early Friday, Dow Chemical Co. and DuPoint Co. — two of the oldest companies in the U.S. — announced plans to merge, creating a company valued at about $130 billion. The company, to be called DowDuPont, would then be split into three companies, respectively focused on agricultural products (pesticides and seed), material science (plastics), and specialty products. The merger is being sold as a partnership of equals, with shareholders of each chemical giant holding 50 percent of the shares of the combined company.

The Paris climate talks, scheduled to end Friday, will be extended by at least a day to give delegates more time to hammer out a deal to reduce man-made carbon emissions, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday morning. "There is still work to do," he said. "Things are going in the right direction." A bloc of developing nations — China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia — rejected a draft presented Thursday night, saying it shifted the burden of combating climate change from rich Western nations to less-wealthy nations.

President Obama on Thursday signed an education reform bill a day after it was overwhelmingly approved, 85-12, by the Senate. The House approved its version in a bipartisan vote last week. "This is an early Christmas present. After more than 10 years, members of Congress from both parties have come together to revise our national education law," Obama said. The sweeping law replaces the controversial No Child Left Behind legislation, and returns greater control over education to local and state governments.

The Citadel is investigating eight cadets after photos emerged online Thursday showing them wearing white hoods resembling Ku Klux Klan garb. The school's president, retired Lt. Gen. John W. Rosa, called the images "offensive and disturbing," and said the South Carolina military school had started suspension proceedings. "Preliminary reports are cadets were singing Christmas carols as part of a 'Ghosts of Christmas Past' skit," Rosa said. "These images are not consistent with our core values of honor, duty, and respect."

Police in Geneva on Thursday conducted a search for five suspects linked to last month's deadly Paris terror attacks. The suspected Islamist extremists were believed to be members of the Mourad Fares network, a source close to the investigation said. Fares is a French national and known jihad recruiter who reportedly brought in Foued Mohamed-Aggad, the man just identified as the third attacker at the Bataclan theater. Geneva was placed on a high terror alert due to the search.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a major Muslim advocacy group, evacuated its Capitol Hill headquarters on Thursday after receiving a letter containing white powder, reminiscent of the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. The letter said, "Die a painful death, Muslims," according to CAIR staff attorney Maha Sayed. "Our fear is at a pretty high level at this time, given the anti-Muslim rhetoric going on," said Sayed. A CAIR branch office in Santa Clara, California, also was evacuated Thursday after an envelope with white powder arrived there.

Todd Haynes' Carol led the nominees for this year's Golden Globe Awards, announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Thursday. The film got four nods in the top categories: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for both of its stars (Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara). Mad Max: Fury Road was nominated for both Best Picture (Drama) and Best Director, becoming the rare blockbuster to compete alongside more conventional awards-season fare. The ceremony airs Jan. 10.

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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.