10 things you need to know today: December 3, 2015
1.
At least 14 people were killed on Wednesday in a mass shooting at a holiday party for workers at a center for people with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino, California. Another 17 people were wounded. Two suspects — county employee Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 — were killed in a shootout with police several miles away. Investigators could not immediately determine the motive for the attack, which was the 355th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, and the deadliest since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre three years ago.
2.
Four British Tornado warplanes bombed the Islamic-State-controlled Omar oil fields in Syria Wednesday night, hours after the U.K.'s Parliament approved a proposal to join the U.S.-led air campaign against ISIS in the war-torn country. During a 10-hour debate, Prime Minister David Cameron called ISIS militants "medieval monsters," and argued that bombing them in their main strongholds would make the U.K. safer. British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the aim of the first strike was to deal "a very real blow" to ISIS's oil revenue.
3.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley once again called for action to end gun violence Wednesday as police in San Bernardino responded to an active shooter situation that has left as many as 20 people wounded. "I refuse to accept this as normal. We must take action to stop gun violence now," Clinton tweeted. O'Malley tweeted, "It's time to stand up to @NRA and enact meaningful gun safety laws," while Sanders bemoaned the "sickening and senseless gun violence" that "must stop."
4.
The Islamic State released a video Wednesday showing the beheading of a man it says was a Russian spy who tried to infiltrate the Islamist terrorist group. In the video, the man, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, kneels, while his killer chastises Russian President Vladimir Putin and says the airstrikes Putin ordered against ISIS legitimized its fight. "You will not find peace in your homes. We will kill your sons ... for each son you killed here," the killer says in Russian. "And we will destroy your homes for each home you destroyed here."
5.
Ben Carson, who briefly surged into the lead in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, has fallen into third place in a national Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. The retired neurosurgeon had the support of 16 percent of respondents, down six points from the previous month, when he was in a virtual tie with frontrunner Donald Trump. This month, Trump is out front alone, rising three points to 27 percent support. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) gained three points to move into second with 17 percent.
6.
Sandy Berger, who served as Bill Clinton's national security adviser in his second term, died Wednesday in Washington. He was 70. Berger was diagnosed with cancer last year. President Obama said he had "benefited personally" from Berger's advice. "Today, his legacy can be seen in a peaceful Balkans, our strong alliance with Japan, our deeper relationships with India and China," Obama said. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who ran a consulting firm with Berger, said, "Our country is stronger because of Sandy’s deep and abiding commitment to public service."
7.
Cameroon's military freed 900 Boko Haram hostages near the country's border with Nigeria, the government said Wednesday. Soldiers also captured a regional leader of the Islamist extremist group, Aladji Gana, during the three-day operation, which left about 100 militants dead. Boko Haram is based in Nigeria, where it launched an insurgency in 2009 aiming to impose Islamic law, but Cameroon has faced incursions by the group's fighters, and its soldiers are part of a regional force that is fighting the group.
8.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the economy was "on the road to recovery," reinforcing expectations that the U.S. central bank would start raising its benchmark interest rate this month for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. Yellen said the decision would not be final until Fed policy makers meet on Dec. 15 and 16, but barring unexpected backsliding it would be safe to start slowly raising rates from near zero. She said future hikes would depend on evidence inflation was rising toward the Fed's 2-percent target, suggesting rates will increase slowly.
9.
Swiss police arrested two FIFA officials early Thursday in the latest raids connected to the corruption scandal consuming soccer's global governing body. The suspects — two men who were not immediately identified — are "suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars," Switzerland's justice ministry said in a statement. The bribes involved marketing rights for the Copa America and World Cup qualifying matches. The arrests were made at a luxury hotel in Zurich, where the scandal began with a May raid.
10.
South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal overturned Oscar Pistorius' manslaughter conviction on Thursday, and found him guilty of murder. Pistorius said he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, four times through a bathroom on Valentine's Day 2013 because he thought she was an intruder. Judge Eric Leach said the Paralympic sprinting gold medalist should have known his shots would kill whoever was behind the door. Pistorius was paroled to house arrest recently after serving a year of a five-year sentence, but now could be returned to prison for at least 15 years.