Climate conference wraps, Mayer has twins, fire-breathing drones
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The UN climate change conference wraps up. It’s the last day of COP21, and world leaders have been working nonstop to reach an agreement on how to combat global warming. The draft is in better shape than it was earlier this week, but some suspect that negotiators may miss tonight’s deadline and deliberations will drag on into the weekend.
US, Russia, and the UN discuss Syria. The three-way talks in Geneva coincide with separate negotiations between Syrian rebel and opposition groups in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, will also oversee talks between the Syrian government and rebels in January.
Shinzo Abe travels to India. The Japanese prime minister kicks off a three-day visit where he’ll hold talks with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and is expected to sign a deal to build India’s first bullet train network.
North and South Korea meet. Officials will meet in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and hold high-level talks (paywall) on how to improve ties. The meeting was part of an agreement reached in August to de-escalate the current military stand-off on the peninsula—a cause that was not helped by North Korea declaring yesterday it now has a hydrogen bomb.
While you were sleeping
Volkswagen blamed “a mindset” for the “chain of errors” behind its emissions scandal. Hans Dieter Pötsch, the chairman of VW’s supervisory board, admitted that the automaker’s installation of defeat devices in its diesel vehicles was not a one-time mistake. He insisted, however, that a “comparatively small number of employees were involved,” and said top-level executives had no knowledge of the deception.
Marissa Mayer gave birth to identical twins. The Yahoo CEO announced the healthy arrival of her two daughters. The news comes with Yahoo in tumult, after it scrapped its plans to spin off its stake in Alibaba in favor of an even bigger restructuring. Mayer plans to take “limited” time off while working throughout her maternity leave.
Geneva went on high alert. The Swiss city raised its security alert level as authorities searched the city for four suspects who may have been involved in last month’s Paris attacks. Security was also beefed up at UN buildings.
A Muslim advocacy group in DC was evacuated. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group in Washington, DC, received an envelope containing white powder and a written threat. A CAIR spokeswoman said the group receives hate mail on a daily basis, but “our fear is at a pretty high level at this time, given the anti-Muslim rhetoric going on.”
US lawmakers bought themselves some time. The Senate passed a five-day extension after failing to reach an agreement on a $1.1 trillion spending bill that is necessary to keep the government operating. The measure still must be approved by the House and president Obama before tomorrow’s deadline.
Quartz obsession interlude
Mike Murphy on the state of robots in 2015. “This was the year we were supposed to get hoverboards and flying cars. Instead we got more robots that fall over. They may build our cars and clean some of our floors, but for the most part, robots remain tucked away in research facilities and space operas.” Read more here.
Quartz markets haiku
Kiwis sliced four ways
A little dunking in oil
Matters of debate
The future of electric cars is not about Tesla, it’s China. Sales of electric cars are soaring on the mainland.
You can’t be Steve Jobs, but you could probably be Steve Ballmer. The former Microsoft CEO was dealt a poor hand–and turned it into billions.
Slacktivism can make a difference. New research shows that tweeting activist messages helps those on the ground.
Surprising discoveries
Space agencies will start gathering moisture on Mars. A probe will capture 5 ml of water vapor a day, but could be scaled up to a Skywalker-style moisture farm.
A scientist injected with 35 million year-old bacteria is feeling better than ever. He believes it may lead to an eternal life.
Canada’s maple-syrup cartel wants to put a grandma in jail. She is one of a small group of rebellious maple syrup producers.
“Krampus demons” injured five Austrian teenagers. The creatures, part of pre-Christmas festivities, beat the youths with birch branches.
A teenager created a fire-breathing drone that can roast a turkey. Police say the state’s laws “have not caught up with technology.”
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, rebel maple syrup, and fire-extinguishing drones to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.