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Obama Announces U.S. and Cuba Will Resume Relations — WASHINGTON — The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century after the release of an American contractor held in prison for five years, President Obama announced on Wednesday.
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Republicans livid over Cuba talks, call it appeasement — Republican reacted with outrage Wednesday over the Obama administration's move to normalize relations with Cuba, with some lawmakers casting it as appeasement and the product of extortion by the communist Castro government.
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Cuba releases American Alan Gross, paves way for historic easing of American sanctions — Washington (CNN) — U.S. contractor Alan Gross, held by the Cuban government since 2009, was freed Wednesday as part of a landmark deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in U.S. policy toward the island …
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AP sources: US, Cuba seek to normalize relations — 1 photo — WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Cuba will start talks on normalizing full diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island in decades, American officials said Wednesday.
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Marco Rubio Challenges The Pope On Obama's New Cuba Policy — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) torched President Barack Obama's new policy aimed at normalizing U.S. diplomatic relations with Cuba on Wednesday, and addressed Pope Francis' support for the president's move.
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Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

AP Interview: McConnell wants to stop coal rules
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The World's Greatest … and Politico


Rubio Lays into Obama's Cuba Moves: ‘Worst Negotiator in Modern U.S. History’
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BREITBART.COM, The Gateway Pundit and TheBlaze.com

Jeb Bush: No talks with ‘repressive regime’
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Politico, USA Today, OnPolitics, Associated Press, The Nation, Real Clear Politics and Religion News Service

Florida's Cuban Americans rejoice at U.S. policy overhaul
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Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba
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Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Politics, Slate, Bloomberg View, NPR and The Federalist

White House Credits Pope Francis For Facilitating Cuba Deal
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BREITBART.COM, Daily Kos and Slantpoint

Alan Gross: Cuba Releases American After Five Years in Prison
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Senate Dem: Cuba trade rewards ‘brutal behavior’
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The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and Viking Pundit

US wins release of spy held for years in Cuba jail
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The Seattle Times

Obama moves to normalize relations with Cuba as American is released by Havana
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rubio.senate.gov, Robert Menendez-US Senator …, Daily Signal and Vox Popoli

Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio Torch Obama Administration Over Cuba Announcement
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In historic shift, Obama moves to normalize relations with Cuba
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Politico, ABC News, Yahoo! News, Hot Air and Riptide 2.0


The Obamas: How We Deal with Our Own Racist Experiences — The Obamas open up about raising their daughters, the impact of stereotypes, and what's on the POTUS dance party playlist. Subscribe now for instant access to the exclusive PEOPLE interview! — The protective bubble that comes …
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Obamas on Race: We've Been Treated Like the Help
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The Huffington Post, Eater and Riehl World View


Top Five Theater Circuits Drop ‘The Interview’ After Sony Hack — The country's largest chains won't be showing the movie — The country's top five theater circuits have decided not to play Sony's The Interview, a knowledgeable source tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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Exclusive: Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in ‘The Interview’ — CEO Michael Lynton showed a rough cut of the movie to U.S. officials before moving ahead. Now hackers are threatening to bomb any theater that shows it. — The Daily Beast has unearthed …
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Sony Hack: New Leaked Docs Reveal Michael Lynton's Email Inbox
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New York Times, Hit & Run, Gawker, Pastebin, Outside the Beltway, JustOneMinute, Boing Boing, New York Magazine and Deadline


Stephen Collins Confesses Sexual Abuse of Underage Girls to PEOPLE: ‘I Did Something Terribly Wrong’ — Embattled actor Stephen Collins has released a lengthy statement to PEOPLE in which he admits to inappropriate sexual contact with three female minors. — The 67-year-old …
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CNN, Gawker, Mashable, Mediaite, UPROXX, TMZ.com, Hinterland Gazette, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, abc11.com and The Huffington Post

Words Exchanged Before KCEN Employee Shot in Station Parking Lot — (KCEN) - Law enforcement officials have taken a man who was hold up inside of a house into custody. They are calling him a person of interest in the shooting of Patrick Crawford. But they are not saying whether or not he is the shooter.


America's wealth gap between middle-income and upper-income families is widest on record — The wealth gap between America's high income group and everyone else has reached record high levels since the economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-09, with a clear trajectory …
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The Huffington Post, Slantpoint, Bloomberg Politics, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, American Prospect and Salon


U Michigan Department Chair: We Should ‘Hate Republicans’ — A University of Michigan department chairwoman has published an article titled, “It's Okay To Hate Republicans,” which will probably make all of her conservative students feel really comfortable and totally certain that they're being graded fairly.
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The Daily Caller, ProfessorBainbridge.com, The College Fix and In These Times


Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration announced on Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State because of concerns over health risks, ending years of uncertainty over the disputed method of natural gas extraction. — State officials concluded that fracking …
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Washington Monthly, Washington Post, BillMoyers.com, The Daily Caller and Gothamist


Kevin Yoder MIA After Tucking Wall Street Bailout Into Government Spending Bill — WASHINGTON — For all the anger among progressives about a Wall Street bailout provision that made its way into the just-passed $1.1 trillion government spending bill, there's been little attention on the person who put it in there.
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BillMoyers.com, Slantpoint, Daily Kos and Salon
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No author, no law — Something very odd has occurred in connection …
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Instapundit


Terri Schiavo's Husband Speaks Out On Jeb Bush's Presidential Bid — Then-Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) discussing the Terri Schiavo case in March 2005 — In his announcement Tuesday that he would explore a 2016 presidential bid, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) promised to focus on …
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Washington Post, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, Yahoo! News, The Daily Banter and Political Wire


A Dad's Hell: NBC Reporter's Kids Were Inside Attack — Award-winning NBC News Producer Mushtaq Yusufzai has reported from Peshawar, Pakistan, for years on militants, U.S. and Pakistani military activities, the scourge of polio and the plight of refugees. On Tuesday, the school his sons Jibran …
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TVNewser, The Huffington Post and Mediaite


Why do people vote against their interests? — During my time as a political strategist, one of the most vexing problems was figuring out why so many people vote against their perceived interests. Commentators like myself have spent countless hours speculating on why so many people vote …
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Liberal Values