Top News Stories –

US and Cuba talking again –
After 53 years of diplomatic estrangement, diplomatic relationships between the US and Cuba have been re-established. The deal was aided by a personal appeal from Pope Francis, who persuaded Cuba’s president, Raúl Castro, to agree to the freeing of the American aid worker Alan P. Gross. The pope, officials said, acted as a “guarantor” that both sides would live up to the terms of a deal reached in secret.
Alan P. Gross

Smelling the money –
Fragrances from stars such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Jay Z are outselling established fragrance brands such as Hugo Boss and Gucci in some UK stores. Britney’s perfumes outsell DKNY by three to one at UK store Superdrug, and Hugo Boss by two to one. Jay Z’s Gold is the best selling celebrity fragrance.
Britney Spears

Interview cancelled –
“The Interview” the film that is possibly the catalyst in the Sony Pictures hacking scandal has had its Christmas Day release cancelled after major cinema chains decided not to screen it in the US.

Michael Garcia resigns from FIFA –
Fifa’s independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia has quit in protest over the handling of his report into bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Garcia said he lost confidence in the independence of judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, an ethics committee colleague after his report was summarised.

Video of the Day –

Seat 22 — Trans-Siberian Odyssey from Stanislas Giroux on Vimeo.

List of the day –

The 5 Most Popular Perfumes Of All Time [therichest.com]
1. Chanel No. 5 by Chanel
2. Joy by Jean Patou
3. Shalimar by Guerlain
4. Opium by Yves Saint Laurent
5. L’Air Du Temps by Nina Ricci

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in North-West Pakistan
  • 2014 Peshawar school attack
    • Pakistan lifts the moratorium on the death penalty for terror-related cases following the Taliban’s assault on a school in Peshawar on Tuesday that killed 141, including 132 children. (The Guardian)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
  • Sony cancels the New York City sneak preview of the upcoming 2014 film The Interview, originally scheduled for December 18, due to threatening messages by hackers. (USA Today)
  • Sony cancels the release of The Interview, originally scheduled for Christmas 2014. (CNN)

Business and economy

• Spanish energy company Repsol acquires Canadian energy producer Talisman Energy for $13 billion including debt.(Reuters)

International relations

• The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them 55 years ago. An American embassywill open in Havana and talks to lift the embargo will begin. (The Daily Beast)
• The European Union removes Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• The Chinese Communist Party, through the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, indicts former Nanjing mayor Ji Jianye on bribery and corruption. (AP via Denver Post)
• The U.S. attorney’s office indicts Gregory Conigliaro and Barry Cadden, co-founders of the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., along with 12 former employees, on federal racketeering for a fungal meningitis outbreakthat killed 64 people in seven states in the fall of 2012. (AP)

Politics and elections

• The Parliament of Greece fails to elect a new president in the first round of voting. (ABC News)

Sport

• FIFA‘s independent ethics investigator Michael J. Garcia resigns from that position in protest over the organization’s handling of his compiled report on corruption allegations in connection with the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022FIFA World Cups. (BBC)

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