But even as it stuck with the status quo, OPEC may face serious tests in the near future, as rising production in the United States and elsewhere threatens the cartel's market share and influence in the world.
The broader diplomatic situation has become tense as well, over concerns about how to deal with North Korea and whether China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea and elsewhere threaten United States allies in the region.
Trouble elsewhere threatened to overshadow the first full day's action with a stray bullet fired into a media tent at the equestrian venue and a controlled explosion conducted near the finish line of the road cycling.
The failure and sale of Bear Stearns, the failure of Lehman, and the hint of similar risks elsewhere threatened that system of institutional confidence which the global markets required to function.
So what should be a bright spot in an otherwise dismal economy — throngs of homeowners locking in low, fixed-rate mortgages that will free them up to spend elsewhere — threatens to become another example of how even the best government intentions do not always pan out.
Veterans often go on to do great things, and to continue to allow this ambitious and talented applicant pool to go elsewhere threatens the lofty reputation such elite schools value so dearly.
Before it was abandoned, the plan was roundly criticized by economists in Europe and elsewhere as threatening the integrity of the deposit insurance system throughout the 17-country euro zone.
It is a legal issue and it is clear as a matter of what is now settled law in the fourth circuit that North Carolina laws prohibiting same sex marriage, refusing to recognize same-sex marriages originating elsewhere, and/or threatening to penalize those who would solemnize such marriages, are unconstitutional".
And, as we have pointed out elsewhere, it threatens to create division between generations.
Sea otters are native to the North Pacific, where in all seriousness their habitats in Alaska and elsewhere are threatened by climate change.
