Source: Hackers send new message to Sony  —  The hackers behind a devastating cyberattack at Sony Pictures have sent a new message to executives at the company, crediting them for a “very wise” decision to cancel the Christmas day release of “The Interview,” a source close to the company told CNN.

Some witnesses lied to Michael Brown grand jury, McCulloch says.  So why have them testify?  —  Certain witnesses who spoke before the grand jury investigating the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown told obvious lies under oath, St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Friday.

Rand Paul and Marco Rubio wage Twitter battle on Cuba  —  The first battle of the GOP primary began on radio and cable news, spilled over to Twitter and splashed across Facebook and the wider Internet, a preview of the Republican Party's coming cage match over foreign policy.

In Case You Missed It, Obama Made History Today: Calls Only on Female Reporters … Mark this down as a historic day in White House history.  —  President Obama has just become the first president to field questions from only female reporters at a White House press conference.

SEE IT: NYPD plainclothes officer delivers body blows to youth as he's being cuffed, Internal Affairs investigating  —  'I can't believe he just did that after everything that's happened' a witness says as the boy is punched repeatedly while three NYPD officers try to subdue and cuff him in an incident caught on video.

Obama's Cuba switch forces exile groups to adapt  —  MIAMI (AP) — Hours before President Barack Obama announced an end to a half-century of U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba's communist government, the Cuban American National Foundation opened the doors to its inviting new headquarters …

Putin's Bubble Bursts  —  If you're the type who finds macho posturing impressive, Vladimir Putin is your kind of guy.  Sure enough, many American conservatives seem to have an embarrassing crush on the swaggering strongman.  “That is what you call a leader,” enthused Rudy Giuliani …

MIT Computer Scientists Demonstrate the Hard Way That Gender Still Matters  —  An aerial view of the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  David L Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images  —  “We're 3 female computer scientists at MIT, here to answer questions about programming and academia.

Obama renews tax breaks, creates ABLE accounts  —  Associated Press 1 hr ago  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed legislation renewing dozens of costly tax breaks for millions of businesses and individuals.  —  The bill signed Friday extends the breaks through Dec. 31.

Dog shoots man: Accidental shooting injures man  —  SHERIDAN — The Johnson County Sheriff's Office has released its findings on the shooting of a man Monday on Murphy Gulch Road.  —  Sheriff Steve Kozisek said Richard L. Fipps, 46, of Sheridan had driven to Murphy Gulch Road with two employees to move a vehicle that had become stuck.

How One Man Is Terrorizing Neighbors With a Hostile Holiday Decoration Display  —  Homeowners on Fairley Road in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, say their neighbor Bill Ansell is terrorizing them year round with his hostile anti-Christmas spirit.  —  “Any opportunity he has to make our life a hardship …

Woman Seeks Trademark For “I Can't Breathe,” Dying New York Man's Final Words  —  Buster  —  An Illinois woman is seeking to trademark the dying last words of the New York City man who gasped “I can't breathe” while being arrested by NYPD cops for selling loose cigarettes.

Your Waitress, Your Professor  —  LAS VEGAS — ON the first day of the fall semester, I left campus from an afternoon of teaching anxious college freshmen and headed to my second job, serving at a chain restaurant off Las Vegas Boulevard.  The switch from my professional attire to a white dress shirt …

A Socialist in 2016?  For Bernie Sanders, at Least, It's a Question Worth Asking  —  AMES, Iowa — Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who calls himself a socialist, was riding in the back seat of a rented blue minivan this week when his aide abruptly announced they were being pulled …