The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an organization of countries that produce most of the world’s oil reserves, has recently announced its decision to cut oil production in most of the member countries. Two member countries — Libya and Nigeria — have not agreed to the decision; but they have agreed not to raise production, so relief will likely not come from that avenue. This decision will likely raise oil prices as consumers continue to need gas for their vehicles. Along with the recent gas tax passed in California that will raise gas prices by a further 12 cents per gallon, consumers will likely need to brace for increased gas prices through December 2018. On the bright side, there is speculation that American companies producing shale oil will fare better now that they are more competitive in their pricing. This might signal in increased demand for electric vehicles, such as the electric semi truck recently released by Tesla.

The International Olympics Committee has suspended Russa from the 2018 Winter Olympics amid controversy that the country sponsored its athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs after the Sochi Olympics in 2014. As a country, Russa will be not allowed to compete in the 2018 Olympics; however, Russian athletes will still be able to compete under the title, “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR).” 

Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, pled guilty to lying in the FBI investigation concerning his conversation with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, regarding sanctions that had previously been placed on Russia. Flynn was only charged on one felony, instead of the multitude that he was under threat of, suggesting he has further information that could be of use to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

The week-old, nearly 230,000-acre Thomas Fire is the fifth-largest fire in California history, mostly affecting those in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. At this time, only 20 percent of the wildfire has been contained with approximately 8,500 firefighters working to contain them. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate due to the fires, having damaged more than 1,000 homes. Over $10 billion has been expended to combat this fire alone.

On Dec. 11, an attempted terrorist attack in New York City occurred when Akayed Ullah set off a pipe bomb in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Fortunately, no one was killed; although, there were five injured people. While there were no casualties, the attack disrupted transportation throughout the city. At least 10 subway lines had to reroute around the Port Authority Hub and the emergency responder vehicles outside caused a huge inflation in morning traffic.