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President Obama on Wednesday said he did not believe Americans needed to be concerned by threats issued to movie theaters, even as Sony Pictures made the decision to pull its controversial comedy “The Interview” amid threats of terrorism. “For now, my recommendation would be: Go to the movies,” Obama said Wednesday in an interview with ABC News. The president said his administration was taking very seriously the cyber attack against the movie studio, which unleashed a trove of internal emails and documents, and pledged a thorough federal investigation into the breach. On Wednesday, multiple media outlets citing U.S. intelligence officials...

Some 400 Russian sailors training on a Mistral-class warship France controversially built for their navy will be returning home for an unspecified amount of time, the ship’s French builder has said.

WASHINGTON — At a dinner in one of Fidel Castro’s palaces in 1999, Castro and several of Major League Baseball’s senior executives discussed one of the few bonds between Cuba and the United States: baseball. The executives, including baseball’s commissioner, Bud Selig, were there for an exhibition game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban national team, as part of an effort by President Bill Clinton to thaw relations. As the dinner stretched into the early hours of the morning, Castro regaled Selig with tales from the history of Cuban baseball and fantasized about what would happen if the United...

Cubans in Miami’s Little Havana reacted with anger and dismay to President Barack Obama’s dramatic bid Wednesday to end a half-century Cold War with the communist-ruled island. “It is a betrayal. The talks are only going to benefit Cuba,” said Carlos Munoz Fontanil in Calle Ocho, the heart of an exile community that has long pined for the fall of the Castro regime in Havana. […] An equally outraged Felix Tirse, who arrived from Cuba 53 years ago, said Obama’s announcement showed “a lack of respect.” “He is more communist than others,” he said. …

Just days before he shot to death a 17-year-old German exchange student, Markus Kaarma told hair stylists he had been waiting up to shoot some kids who were burglarizing homes. He told them they would see it on the news. Kaarma hoped to bait an intruder by leaving his garage door partially open and placing a purse inside, prosecutors said. And when he did, a motion detector alerted him early April 27. Kaarma took a shotgun outside and almost immediately fired four blasts into the garage. Diren Dede, unarmed, was hit twice. He died after the final shot hit him...

TOKYO (Reuters) – McDonald’s Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd has embarked on the emergency measure of only offering small-sized french fries to customers as a protracted labor dispute at U.S. West Coast ports has contributed to long delays in imports. The fast-food chain said it was importing more than 1,000 tonnes of frozen fries by air, which began arriving last Monday and had begun routing another 1,600 tonnes through ports on the U.S. East Coast which should begin arriving in late January. Those steps alone, however, are not sufficient to prevent a shortage. “Unfortunately without this sales restriction step, we would...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on President Obama’s plans to ease U.S. restrictions on Cuba and normalize diplomatic relations: “We agree with President Obama that he is writing new chapters in American foreign policy. Unfortunately, today’s chapter, like the others before it, is one of America and the values we stand for in retreat and decline. It is about the appeasement of autocratic dictators, thugs, and adversaries, diminishing America’s influence in the world. Is it any wonder that under President Obama’s watch our enemies are emboldened and our...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement regarding the President’s announcement to change U.S. policy with Cuba and lift economic embargos. “We rejoice that Alan Gross’ wrongful imprisonment by the brutal Castro regime has finally come to an end, and that he will be able to spend the holidays with his loved ones. But make no mistake, although we are glad Alan is now free, the agreement the Obama Administration has entered into with the Castro regime has done nothing to resolve the underlying problem. Indeed, it has made it worse. “Fidel and Raul...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today issued the following statement regarding reports that President Obama is set to dramatically change U.S. policy toward Cuba following the release of Alan Gross, an American who was held hostage by the Castro regime in Cuba for five years:

(Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio said on Wednesday he would "make every effort" to block moves by President Barack Obama toward normalizing relations with the Cuban government.

THE Australian public has hailed the police as heroes following the siege in Martin Place. The 17-hour stand-off at the Lindt cafe involved NSW police officers as well as members of the state Public Order Riot Squad, Dog Unit, Negotiators, Aviation Support Branch, Police Rescue and elite Tactical Operations Unit. Now, Sydneysiders and the rest of the world are mounting a campaign to express their thanks to all those who risked their lives. A Facebook page has declared this “Say Thanks to the Cops Day”, and members of the public have been stopping police in the street to express their...

Six official clay seals found by an archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.A Mississippi State University team found this bulla, or ancient clay seal, on a dig site in southern Israel last summer. It offers evidence of government activity in the...

The key bit comes at 1:20. BuzzFeed headlines this clip, “Jeb Bush Thinks He Can Persuade The Republican Base To Get Behind Immigration Legislation.” Is that what Bush said? “A candidate gets to persuade,” Bush said to Miami’s NBC 6. “I think there’s a compelling case that if we want to be young and dynamic again, we have to make legal immigration easier than illegal immigration, that we control our borders, enforce the laws. But that we embrace our immigrant heritage and allow our country to take off. You gotta do both.” “You gotta protect the borders, enforce the law,...

ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Nigerian military court on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after refusing to fight Boko Haram terrorists, a lawyer for the soldiers said.

Defeated Democrat declines to address her political future.Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of State, is threatening to take Rand Paul to court to block him from running both for president and reelection to the Senate in 2016. In her first television interview since Sen. Mitch McConnell routed her by 15 points last month, the Democratic Senate nominee declared that she will not be “bullied” by Paul, who is a heavy favorite to win a second Senate term if he’s allowed to stay on the ballot. “The law is clear,” Grimes told WHAS-TV in Louisville. “You can’t be on the ballot...

Satanist And Christian Holiday Displays To Go Up At Michigan Capitol DECEMBER 17, 2014 BILL CHAPPELL During the Christmas season, Michigan's Capitol Building in Lansing will host two holiday displays: a traditional Christian Nativity, and an exhibit by the Satanic Temple. Two very different holiday displays will share the grounds of the Michigan State Capitol next week: a traditional Christian Nativity and an exhibit by the Satanic Temple. The situation has brought controversy — and energized Christians who realized that a planned Nativity was in danger of being canceled. The story drew intense attention after it emerged that there was...

“When they’re about 12 weeks, then the doctor takes the baby out with forceps. He takes the baby out in pieces. He checks each part and he places each one in a tray down below. When he finishes the procedure, I have to drain everything. We drain it to separate body parts from blood. We place all the parts in a jar that goes to the laboratory. It’s impressive how well-defined they are. You can’t believe what you are seeing. You see perfect little hands, tinier than those of a Barbie doll. You can see intestines, tiny ribs, their little...

Shortly before his death in 2007, Manhattan landlord and lawyer Edward Giaimo Jr. revealed to his two siblings a secret — he had hidden a stash of silver and gold worth millions. While being treated for cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital, Giaimo allegedly told his brother and sister that he had stowed away a large amount of precious metals and they would need a truck to move it. The lifelong bachelor added that the metals, believed to be silver bullion and South African gold coins known as Krugerrands, were safe, but they needed to be removed from their hiding spot...

MOSCOW — From a Western perspective, Vladimir Putin's days as president of Russia should be numbered: The ruble has lost more than half its value, the economy is in crisis and his aggression in Ukraine has turned the country into an international pariah. And yet most Russians see Putin not as the cause, but as the solution. The situation as seen from a Russian point of view is starkly different from that painted in the West, and it is driven largely by state television's carefully constructed version of reality and the Kremlin's methodical dismantling of every credible political alternative. As...

Is normalizing relations with Cuba a good idea? Yes. No. Not sure. We'll see how it plays out.