Trainwreck: The Metro-North commuter train that derailed Sunday entered a dangerous curve at 82 mph rather than 30, NTSB investigators said. The information came from the train’s black box. Investigators also said the train’s throttle was fully engaged until six seconds before the locomotive came to a stop. Four people were killed and 70 injured.

Econ 101: Factory production around the world is at its highest level since the spring of 2011, giving economists hopes of a stronger economic recovery in the coming year. Increased construction is putting more demand on factories in the US. If that leads to more hiring, the Federal Reserve might dial back its economic stimulus within a few months.

•  The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from major online retailers that don’t want to collect sales tax for the states. Amazon and Overstock.com fought New York’s requirement that they must pay sales tax, and lost. The court’s refusal to hear their appeal means the free ride for online sales is over.

World:  The death toll in Syria’s civil war has risen to 126,000, more than a third of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The pro-opposition group says nearly 28,000 rebels and 50,000 Syrian military have been confirmed killed. The war started four years ago with peaceful protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has clung to power even as much of his country has been reduced to rubble.

• Power went out in most of Venezuela last night. President Nicolas Maduro’s government said it was sabotage and his opponents said it was incompetence. Remember, this is the same country that ran out of toilet paper.

Health Checkup: Traffic on the Healthcare.gov website surged to 750,000 yesterday, but was still suffering delays. A new feature puts customers in a waiting queue when the site is slow and sends an email when it can handle their business. Still unknown is the success of the unseen part of the website that calculates insurance rates and passes billing information to the insurance companies. The administration acknowledges errors, but won’t say how many.

Error Message: While the Obama Administration continues to take a pummeling over its balky healthcare website, the State of Oregon paid the tech giant Oracle $40 million for a website that does not work … at all. While Oracle boss Larry Ellison was spending his tech millions on San Francisco Bay winning the America’s Cup sailing trophy, Oregon was being left in his wake. Oracle promises a working website by Dec. 16. Until then Oregonians do it the old fashioned way, on paper.

Never Forget: Up to 20% of Africa’s elephants could be killed in the next 10 years if poaching continues at its current rate, according to a report released at the opening of the Elephant Summit in Botswana. Last year about 22,000 elephants were killed in 27 African countries, down from 25,000 the year before. Africa has about 500,000 elephants and could go extinct in some areas within a few years.

Small Screen: Good Morning America’s cheerful weatherman Sam Champion is leaving ABC for a job at The Weather Channel. Champion, who has been at GMA since 2006, will be the face of The Weather Channel and the network’s managing editor. He called it a great opportunity, but getting a full night’s sleep could have been a motivating factor. 

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