Out of the China Closet: The US and China reached a deal to set new goals for cutting carbon emissions, including a landmark agreement by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030. China and the US are the number one and two carbon polluters in the world. President Obama and China’s Xi Jinping appeared together to make the surprise announcement, hoping to set an example for the globe to follow. The White House says the agreement was quietly worked out over nine months.

Interestingly, China shut down factories and limited auto traffic this week so the notoriously polluted air of Beijing would part to reveal blue sky over the summit meetings.

Outer Limits: The European Space Agency is attempting to drop its robotic lander Philae today onto the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 310 million miles from earth. If successful, it will be an historic moment in space exploration in which man catches up with a comet. The lander separated from the Rosetta space probe over night for the seven-hour journey to the comet. Philae cannot be steered, so the ESA has its fingers crossed that their aim is good. Rosetta and Philae have been up there for 10 years.

Heavy Weather: The temperatures continue to drop as a mass of arctic air descends upon two thirds of the country. This morning it’s 7 below zero in Great Falls, 14 in Bismarck, ND, 28 in Champaign, Ill. and 27 in Midland, Tex. The weather map is blue from Seattle to Buffalo and the Canadian border almost to the Gulf.

Nation: Christian and Jewish holidays will be stricken from the calendar for the Montgomery County, Md. schools after a request by Muslim community leaders to give equal billing to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. The Montgomery school board decided that, rather than recognize a Muslim holiday, they will stop honoring any religious holidays. Days off will still coincide with Christian and Jewish Holidays, but the names Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah will not be mentioned.

> With ocean populations of the iconic fish seriously depleted, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is shutting down cod fishing on the east coast for the next six months. While fishermen scream that there are still plenty of fish in the sea, NOAA says that cod stocks are only 3 to 4 percent of what’s necessary to maintain the species.

The Obit Page: Big Bank Hank, who with the Sugar Hill Gang released what is believed to be the first rap record, has died of cancer and kidney failure at age 57. The group’s big hit in 1979 was “Rapper’s Delight,” a song that ran for 16 minutes. Big Bank, whose real name was Henry Jackson, described himself in the lyrics as “six foot one and tons of fun.”

Graceless: A Denver man once branded the “selfie stalker” is suing television harpy Nancy Grace for defamation after she refused to stop airing his photo even after police said he’d done nothing wrong. Grace had said Ben Seibert broke into a woman’s home and took a picture of himself on her phone, a “textbook serial killer’s calling card,” according to Grace. The cops told Grace it was a copy of Seibert’s Facebook photo taken under other circumstances but Grace continued to accuse Seibert. On her show, Nancy Grace wagged her finger and said Nancy Grace must be guilty or otherwise she never would have been accused.

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