Hit the snooze button one too many times this morning? Well, don’t worry because we’ve got you covered on all the morning news you missed. Here are the top stories everyone will be talking about:
1. Holiday weekend tragedy
Last Friday, a domestic terrorist killed three people — including a police officer — and injured nine when he opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. The alleged shooter, Robert Lewis Dear, staged a six-hour standoff and reportedly said “no more baby parts” when he was arrested. The phrase is a nod to doctored videos released earlier this year that accuse Planned Parenthood of profiting from fetal tissue donations. In condemning the attack, many have blamed pro-life extremists’ inflammatory language for inciting violence. Dear, who has not yet been charged, will face a judge this morning. — CNN
More:Controversial Planned Parenthood videos could cost American women big time
2. Call ended
Over the weekend, the NSA ended its phone surveillance program. It began after 9/11, but was under wraps until Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the organization. Earlier this year, Congress passed a bill ordering the NSA to hang up. This past Saturday at midnight was their deadline. Going forward, the NSA will target specific groups for surveillance, rather than hanging out as an undisclosed third party on your four-hour catchup phone call with Grandma. — Reuters
3. Saying goodbye to a legend
Famed NBA player Kobe Bryant is retiring. He announced the decision with a poem that appeared on The Players’ Tribune and was handed out to fans attending last night’s Lakers game. Bryant, who’s played for nearly two decades, has two Olympic gold medals, five championship rings, 17 all-star selections and has scored more than 32,000 points. He’s one of the greats, and he’ll be missed. — ESPN
More:11 Things I learned while watching my first NBA finals
4. Cyber Monday is the new sheriff in town
Black Friday sales amounted to about $10.4 billion dollars this year, which sounds great until you realize they’re down more than a billion dollars from last year. Instead, everyone stayed home, ate leftovers and shopped online. Online sales rose about 14 percent from the previous year, and that’s not even including today — Cyber Monday — which is expected to be the biggest online sales day of the year. The change could mean a transition from our insane Thanksgiving tradition of people camped outside stores. From now on, we’ll all camp out in the living room and get pissed when the Wi-Fi stops working. — TIME
5. Troubling accusations
Two former adult film actresses, Tori Lux and Stoya, have accused porn star James Deen of sexual assault. Deen is one of the adult film industry’s few mainstream stars. He’s been profiled in GQ, starred in The Canyons with Lindsay Lohan and, most recently, was authoring a feminist sex advice column for Bustle. In light of the allegations, Bustle severed its relationship with Deen. He’s since taken to Twitter to deny the claims. No formal charges have been filed, but the crossfire has started a much-needed conversation about the way the public responds to sexual assault allegations, especially when they involve people who work in the sex industry. — BuzzFeed
More:‘Notes of Love’ help sexual assault victims reclaim their bodies
6. A nod to history
Google is marking what would have been author Lucy Maude Montgomery’s 141st birthday with a series of Google Doodles from her beloved Anne of Green Gables series. Montgomery was born in 1874 and published the first book featuring Anne Shirley in 1908. The books spawned the world’s longest running seasonal music, which debuted in 1965 and has been running continuously ever since. Many still consider the book a classic, and the doodle was a welcome surprise this morning. — CBC News
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