Here’s a look at the top local business stories of the year

1. The Market Basket saga made headlines nationwide as a months-long worker walkout and customer boycott, prompted by the firing of chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas, brought the grocery chain to its knees. The family feud ended after "Artie T." was reinstated and his rival cousin Arthur S. Demoulas agreed to sell.

2. The state Gaming Commission finally awarded three coveted licenses, including one to Wynn Resorts for its $1.6 billion resort casino in Everett.

3. Oil prices plunged, sending average gas prices in the Bay State to $1 lower than a year ago and putting cash back in motorists' pockets in time for a boffo holiday retail season.

4. The biotech industry boomed as 17 local companies went public and three were acquired or are in the process of being bought, including Cubist Pharmaceuticals, purchased by Merck for a cool $8.4 billion.

5. The year ended with the massive Sony Pictures hack, as hundreds of companies, including Staples, Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase, had sensitive customer data stolen.

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A look at number of people enrolled in health plans for 2015

More than 4 million people signed up for the first time or re-enrolled in health plans in the first month of the latest sign-up period under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report released Tuesday. A look at how many people in each state enrolled in a marketplace health plan for 2015:

State-Based Marketplaces using their own marketplace platforms
California	118,770
Colorado	36,238
Connecticut	77,042
District of Columbia	2,069
Hawaii	1,903
Idaho	73,262
Kentucky	82,651
Maryland	50,742
Massachusetts	32,266
Minnesota	17,446
New York	42,982
Rhode Island	12,347
Vermont	21,709
Washington	63,411
Total	632,838
State-Based Marketplaces using the Healthcare.gov platform
Nevada	40,285
New Mexico	17,556
Oregon	73,152
Total	130,993
Federally-Facilitated Marketplace states
Alabama	64,926
Alaska	9,325
Arizona	72,932
Arkansas	19,900
Delaware	8,956
Florida	673,255
Georgia	187,654
Illinois	121,243
Indiana	88,733
Iowa	18,913
Kansas	39,023
Louisiana	56,651
Maine	36,132
Michigan	123,208
Mississippi	28,452
Missouri	102,087
Montana	22,618
Nebraska	32,213
New Hampshire	23,210
New Jersey	105,306
North Carolina	249,784
North Dakota	8,528
Ohio	88,927
Oklahoma	44,129
Pennsylvania	180,046
South Carolina	75,075
South Dakota	8,817
Tennessee	87,137
Texas	379,525
Utah	49,740
Virginia	164,884
West Virginia	12,283
Wisconsin	92,398
Wyoming	9,020
Total in states using the HealthCare.gov platform	3,416,023
Marketplace Total	4,048,861

Source: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Health and Human Services Department.

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Easton man sentenced for rent-to-own scam

FALL RIVER, Mass. — An Easton man who exploited first-time home buyers or people with poor credit in a real estate rent-to-own scam has been sentenced to jail.

Joshua Leventhal was sentenced Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court to two years behind bars, with 10 months to serve and the remainder suspended for 10 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $112,000 in restitution

The 44-year-old Leventhal pleaded guilty to four counts of larceny of more than $250.

Leventhal had described his program as a way for first-time home buyers or people with poor credit to rent a property, with the goal of ultimately buying that property.

The investigation revealed none of Leventhal's customers ever purchased property under his program and he kept the money for his own use.

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Applications for US jobless aid rise, but growth looks solid

WASHINGTON — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but the number of applications continues to be at historically low levels that suggest solid economic growth will continue.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that applications for unemployment benefits climbed 17,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 298,000.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 250 to 290,750. That average has plummeted 17.5 percent in the past 12 months.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. For almost four months, applications for jobless aid have hovered at relatively low sub-300,000 levels. That suggests that employers expect strong economic growth to continue, causing them to hold onto their staff and potentially hire additional workers.

As fewer people have sought unemployment benefits, job growth has steadily accelerated and helped fuel the economy.

The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 5 percent during the July-September quarter, the strongest performance in 11 years. That follows a 4.6 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the government reported last week.

As growth has strengthened, so has hiring.

Employers added 321,000 jobs in November, bringing the total for the first 11 months of 2014 to 2.65 million new jobs. That already makes 2014 the best year for hiring since 1999.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent, down from 6.7 percent at the start of the year.

Still, wage growth has lagged hiring. Average wages increased only 2.1 percent in the past 12 months. That means that incomes are only barely outpacing inflation, with core consumer prices — which excludes volatile energy and food costs — up 1.7 percent over the past 12 months.

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Applications for US jobless aid rise, but growth looks solid

WASHINGTON — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but the number of applications continues to be at historically low levels that suggest solid economic growth will continue.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that applications for unemployment benefits climbed 17,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 298,000.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 250 to 290,750. That average has plummeted 17.5 percent in the past 12 months.

"The claims data still point to relatively upbeat conditions in the labor market," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan Chase, noting that there are routinely ups and downs in the weekly figures.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. For almost four months, applications for jobless aid have hovered at relatively low sub-300,000 levels. That suggests that employers expect strong economic growth to continue, causing them to hold onto their staff and potentially hire additional workers.

As fewer people have sought unemployment benefits, job growth has steadily accelerated and helped fuel the economy.

The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 5 percent during the July-September quarter, the strongest performance in 11 years. That follows a 4.6 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the government reported last week.

Hiring has improved as layoffs have waned.

Employers added 321,000 jobs in November, bringing the total for the first 11 months of 2014 to 2.65 million new jobs. That already makes 2014 the best year for hiring since 1999.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent, down from 6.7 percent at the start of the year.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims is consistent with monthly job gains of at least 250,000, said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at the forecasting firm MFR

Still, wage growth has lagged hiring. Average wages increased only 2.1 percent in the past 12 months. That means that incomes are only barely outpacing inflation, with core consumer prices — which excludes volatile energy and food costs — up 1.7 percent over the past 12 months.

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Effort underway to clarify casino ATM placement

BOSTON — A state lawmaker wants to clarify where banks can place ATMs in the state's newly-licensed casinos.

The Boston Globe  reports that state Sen. Stephen Brewer has proposed a measure that would ban banks from situating automated teller machines on the gambling floor, but allow them elsewhere in casinos.

The thinking is that if gamblers have to leave the floor to access an ATM, it would give them time to consider whether they want to risk more money.

The Barre Democrat also wants to even the playing field for state-charted and federally-chartered banks.

One interpretation of current law is that state-chartered bank ATMs are prohibited from casinos, while federally chartered banks are not.

The state has authorized full casinos in Everett and Springfield, and a slots parlor in Plainville.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

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Nearly 50,000 sign up and pay for health coverage

BOSTON — Nearly 50,000 Massachusetts residents have signed up for an insurance plan through the state's health connector and made their first month's payment.

Health Care connector officials said as of Sunday night, about 49,900 residents had taken the steps needed to guarantee they have coverage on Jan. 1.

The original enrollment deadline was Dec. 23, but connector officials had given thousands of people who had chosen a plan but not yet paid for until Sunday to do so.

Some people may receive their health plan's ID cards a few days after Jan. 1, but their coverage will be in effect at the start of the month.

Officials say the revamped connector website has been operating without major glitches since it was launched Nov. 15, replacing one that was hobbled by technical problems.

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Matthew McConaughey cruises L.A. in new Lincoln hybrid commercials

On New Year's Day, two new Matthew McConaughey commercials for the Lincoln MKZ hybrid will debut during the college football games as part of a multiyear deal with the "Lincoln Lawyer" star. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive"), the spots feature McConaughey in deep thought, contemplating the purpose of the gas-saving automobile. According to him, "It's not about tree hugging."

"You gotta find that balance where taking care of yourself takes care of more than just yourself," he drawls in a voice reminiscent of his "True Detective" character Rust Cohle.

In one spot, McConaughey drives the atmospherically rain-slicked streets of L.A. after exiting a restaurant (shot at Blair's in Silver Lake), while the other has him surveying the L.A. skyline from the familiar vantage point of Griffith Park.

Earlier this year, the Oscar winner starred in another Lincoln ad, describing how to move forward with life, which requires "taking a step back." This triggered an "SNL" parody by Jim Carrey, who pointed out irony in McConaughey's new ad deal.

"Sometimes you gotta go back to actually move forward," Carrey said. "I mean, take a big step back. Like go from winning an Oscar to doing a car commercial."

McConaughey said earlier that he appreciates the ability to be himself in these commercials.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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US home price growth slows for 11th consecutive month

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose in October at a slightly slower pace, as real estate sales have fallen and affordability has increasingly become a challenge for potential buyers.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 4.5 percent in October from 12 months prior. The figures reported Tuesday mark the eleventh straight month of price gains decelerating and the smallest gain since October 2012.

The slowdown in price growth comes after surging double-digit increases for much of 2013. Home values climbed as the market recovered from bottoming out in 2011 in the aftermath of the housing bust and the Great Recession. But home prices have outpaced lackluster wage growth, leaving many potential buyers unable to afford homes and causing both sales and price growth to stall this year.

The recent decline in mortgage rates has yet to bring more buyers into the market. Simultaneously, there are fewer distressed properties and bargains coming onto the market that attract investors as buyers. All of that has occurred despite an improving U.S. economy that has generated 2.65 million new jobs so far this year, as the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.8 percent from 6.7 percent at the start of 2014.

Prices barely budged over the past 12 months in Cleveland (up 0.9 percent), Chicago (1.9 percent), New York (2 percent), Phoenix (2.1 percent) and Washington, DC (2.2 percent).

Still, there are signs that broader improvements in the U.S. economy may be causing prices to rise faster in some cities. Compared to September, eight cities reported stronger year-over year prices growth in October. This includes San Francisco (up 9.1 percent), Denver (7.2 percent) and Tampa (6.1 percent).

"We are seeing hints that prices could end 2014 on a strong note and accelerate into 2015," said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Case-Shiller index covers roughly half of U.S. homes. The index measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The October figures are the latest available.

Other housing reports confirm a broader slowdown.

The National Association of Realtors estimate that 2014 sales will end up below 2013 levels. The trade group forecasts that 4.94 million existing homes will be sold this year, down 3 percent from 5.09 million in 2013. Analysts say sales of roughly 5.5 million existing homes are common in a healthy real estate market.

The Commerce Department said last week that new home sales slid 1.6 in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000. That remains significantly below the annual rate of 700,000 seen during the 1990s.

The real estate brokerage Redfin reported Monday that its market tracker found that home sales plummeted 5 percent in November compared to 12 months earlier. Nearly a third of the buyers surveyed by Redfin said that their biggest obstacle to purchasing a home was affordability.

Stan Humphries, chief economist at the real estate data firm Zillow, noted that slower price growth should ultimately be helpful for the economy. When prices rise at levels closer to wages, more people are usually able to buy a home.

"A slower-moving housing market is inherently more stable, more balanced between buyers and sellers and more sustainable over the long-term," Humphries said.

Buying could be helped by average 30-year mortgage rates staying closed to a 19-month low. Rates nationwide averaged 3.83 percent last week, according to the mortgage company Freddie Mac.

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US consumer confidence rises in December

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence rose in December, a private survey shows.

The Conference Board says its consumer confidence index climbed to 92.6 from a revised 91 in November.

Consumers registered a more favorable view of current economic conditions. But their expectations for the near future fell slightly. Still, those expectations are rosier now than they were when 2014 began.

The U.S. economy is showing considerable strength. Economic output grew from July through September at the fastest pace in 11 years. And employers are hiring 241,000 workers a month, the strongest hiring since 1999.

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Chinese investor buying Korea's Megabox cinema chain, say reports

HONG KONG -- A Chinese investment firm has acquired a major stake in South Korea's third ranked cinema chain Megabox.

According to local reports, Oriental Star Capital is to pay $515 million (KRW570 billion) for the 50% stake in Megabox held by Korea Multiplex Investment, a group of investors headed by Australian banking and funds group Macquarie.

JContentree Corp., a Korean media group, holds a 46% stake and now has 30 days to either beat Oriental's offer or sell its shares.

Megabox has a roughly 20% share of the Korean exhibition market and was previously part of a vertically integrated group with the Showbox production and distribution company. Showbox still owns a small circuit of Megabox-branded cinemas in China.

The deal comes only days after Korea's Free Trade Commission fined the two market leaders CJ-CGV and Lotte Entertainment for unfair competition, in particular to how the exhibition firms favoured movies from their affiliated distribution companies.

Oriental Star is understood to have been an investor in the telecoms, media and entertainment sector, including games. It is not clear whether the firm is seeking to buy the Korean company as a long term investment or whether it is acting as a stalking horse for the ultimate owner.

Other recent Chinese moves in the Korean entertainment space have included Zhejiang Huace's stake buy in the recently floated distributor and producer Next Entertainment World. Another Chinese investor was this month announced as buying Hoyts, Australia's number two cinema chain.

Neither Macquarie or Megabox responded to calls from Variety.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Box office: 'Interview' heads for $3 million weekend, 'Hobbit,' 'Unbroken,' 'Woods' surging

Following a $1 million-plus Christmas Day launch for "The Interview," Sony's political comedy is heading for a $3 million finish over the four-day holiday period at 331 U.S. locations.

"The Interview" figure will be dwarfed by the three top wide releases: New Line-MGM's Hobbit finale, Universal's "Unbroken" and Disney's Into the Woods" are each projected to gross at least $45 million during the four days -- setting the stage for the final weekend of 2014 to finish up as much as 10% from the last frame of 2013.

But "The Interview" has managed to generate respectable results, given its array of handicaps -- a Dec. 16 threat by hackers to launch a 9/11-style attack on theaters showing the movie; Sony's decision to withdraw the movie on Dec. 17 after major exhibition chains refused to play it, its about-face allowing it to play in independent theaters; and the pre-theatrical VOD release of the film Wednesday.

Forecasts from mid-December projected a four-day launch of as much as $30 million at as many as 3,000 locations but the "The Interview" is now playing in about 12% of that total at lower capacity venues. Estimates of Friday's gross projected a 35% decline to $650,000.

The wall-to-wall coverage of "The Interview" may have encouraged people to get out and see movies in theaters at the end of a year that's seen a 5% plunge in U.S. box office. Overall moviegoing surged on Thursday and Friday thanks to stronger than expected launches from "Unbroken" and "Into the Woods" and an impressive hold by "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," which led Friday with $14.5 million.

"Armies" was heading for as much as $44 million for the three days, $57 million for the four days and a 12-day total hitting $170 million.

"Unbroken" and "Into the Woods" generated solid second-day totals in the $12 million to $14 million range. Angelina Jolie's war drama could finish the four days with as much as $52 million while four-day estimates for "Into the Woods" ranged from $46 million to $49 million.

A pair of holdover titles aimed at the family demo took the next two slots Friday with Fox's "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" taking $8.2 million and Sony's "Annie" with $6.5 million. The third "Museum" could wind up on Sunday with $58 million in its first 10 days while "Annie" will top $45 million at that point.

Paramount's "The Gambler" added $3 million in its second day on Friday and will wind up with around $13 million by the end of the weekend.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Mazda 3 performance shifts gears

It's difficult to factor out the choice of an automatic or manual transmission when evaluating any automobile.

"You drive the car with a manual transmission. With an automatic, the car drives you," is what my mechanic tells me, and this is hard to ignore when discussing the 2015 Mazda 3. A six-speed manual transmission gives the sedan character and enhances its driving performance.

I drove a 2014 model for two weeks last winter with the 6-speed automatic transmission and that sedan lacked personality compared to my 2015 tester.

In addition to the transmission option, Mazda also offers two engine options — a 2.0-liter, 155 horsepower engine or a 2.5-liter, 184-hp engine. I had the larger motor under the hood of my top-shelf Grand Touring edition tester which did 25 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway. My test version goes for $25,045 and the Mazda 3 base price is just under $17,000.

The front-wheel-drive Mazda 3 handles more like a rear-wheel-drive coupe and was sharp through the corners. The clutch was effortless to operate and I could wind out the gears without the sedan diving or lurching between shifts. Hill start assist that prevents roll back when the clutch was tapped made city driving a breeze.

My Mazda 3 was packed with oodles of features usually reserved for the luxury car category such as a push-button starter, rain-sensing wipers, and an active driving display that provides a heads-up readout on a screen on the dashboard. This novel approach to the display, which is designed to keep the driver's eyes on the road, was adjustable so the data could be seen from any seating position. The sedan also had blind -spot monitoring and a rear cross traffic alert, which further enhanced the advantage of the rearview camera when backing up.

Perforated black leather- trimmed seats with bold red stitching were a huge upgrade over the base model's cloth upholstery. A dual-zone automatic climate control allowed for driver and passenger to dial in their own preferred temperatures. Front seats were heated as well. Rear seats provided enough space for my three children, but three adults might be a tight squeeze on a long ride with the limited foot- and headroom.

The Mazda 3's infotainment center was primarily controlled via a large dial and touch pads mounted in an array between the seats. An analog type volume control was easy to locate without looking. Audio controls were also mounted to the steering wheel. I found navigation and stereo modes that were accessible through a 7-inch touchscreen easy to use and quick to master.

My tester was the four-door sedan version with a decent amount of trunk space. The Mazda 3 is also offered in a five-door hatchback version.

While it was a thrill to drive a Mazda 3 with a six-speed manual, I get that a clutch and stick shift are not for everyone, especially in stop-and-go city traffic. On the plus side, driving with a manual transmission not only improves fuel economy, but also cuts down on distracted driving as it's next to impossible to use a smartphone while in transit.

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Japan's Abe unleashes stimulus plan to spur growth

TOKYO — Japan's Cabinet approved 3.5 trillion yen ($29 billion) in fresh stimulus Saturday for the ailing economy, pledging to get growth back on track and restore the country's precarious public finances.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wrapping up his second year in office hard-pressed to salvage a recovery that fizzled into recession after a sales tax hike in April.

The stimulus plan endorsed by the Cabinet includes 600 billion yen ($5 billion) earmarked for stagnant regional economies. It also lays out Abe's vision for countering longer term trends such as Japan's surging public debt and a declining and aging population.

"A strong economy is the wellspring of Japan's national strength," said a summary of the plan released by the government.

It pledged to restore vitality to local regions to enable young Japanese "to have dreams and hopes for the future."

But the document also acknowledged the narrow policy options open to Japan's leaders given the country's massive public debt, which is twice the size of the economy.

The government is sticking to its pledge to balance its budget by 2020, despite a recent decision by Abe to defer a tax hike due for next year until April 2017.

Abe has sought to spur growth and end a long spell of deflation through aggressive monetary easing and increased public spending. He also promised to undertake bold steps to break through the "bedrock" of Japan's vested interests and bureaucracy, but has made little headway in areas such as labor and farm sector reforms.

After taking office for a third term following a snap election earlier this month, the prime minister faces growing pressure to show that his "Abenomics" strategy for nurturing growth through inflation can succeed.

The Democratic Party of Japan, the leading opposition party, issued a statement Saturday expressing its disappointment with the stimulus plan, which it said relied on old pork barrel tactics that have failed in the past.

It said DPJ lawmakers would push for policies "investing in people," to help improve incomes and boost growth.

Japan's central bank is buying up to 80 trillion yen ($660 billion) in assets each month, mostly government bonds, to help spur inflation, but so far has not attained its target of 2 percent price increases overall.

Data released Friday showed inflation eased slightly in November as incomes and household spending dropped.

Since wage increases have not kept pace with inflation, rising share prices and corporate profits have done little to stimulate consumer demand, apart from a rush of purchasing ahead of the April tax hike.

The stimulus endorsed Saturday is to be paid for out of previously unused budget allocations. Instead of the "trickle down" approach of many earlier policies, some support planned for local governments will be handouts to be used as shopping vouchers to entice people to spend more.

Overall, 1.2 trillion yen ($10 billion) will go to consumers and businesses and 1.7 trillion yen ($14.1 billion) is allocated for disaster prevention and reconstruction of stricken areas, such as the northeastern coast, which is still recovering from the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

The plan is packed full of goodies, such as help for rice farmers due to price declines and relief for truckers and fishermen from high fuel costs. But it also includes items addressing social ills, such as measures against suicide and child abuse.

The government will also provide funds to back loans to small and medium size businesses that have struggled with rising costs thanks to a weakening of the yen, which has boosted the prices Japanese pay for energy, food and other imported goods.

Another key aim is to ensure improved job prospects for younger Japanese in regions that are suffering from severe population decline as jobseekers crowd into the cities.

The government set targets for creating new jobs and for encouraging city dwellers to move to the countryside. One proposal calls for moving some government research institutes to the provinces, and away from Tokyo.

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Clinton economic approach under scrutiny

WASHINGTON — If Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the White House again, her message on the economy could be an important barometer as she courts fellow Democrats.

Members of her party are watching closely how the former secretary of state outlines steps to address income inequality and economic anxieties for middle-class families. Some members of the party's liberal wing remain wary of Clinton's ties to Wall Street, six-figure speaking fees and protective bubble.

Clinton is widely expected to announce a presidential campaign next year and remains the prohibitive favorite to succeed President Barack Obama as the party's nominee in 2016. But how she navigates a party animated by economic populism, an approach personified by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, could represent one of her biggest hurdles. Democrats bruised from GOP gains in the 2014 elections are pushing for big policy changes — raising the minimum wage and pay equity, for example — that favor the declining middle class.

"We don't win when we play small-ball and calibrate. Why not try to be bold?" said Anna Galland of MoveOn.org, which launched a draft campaign to lure Warren into the race.

Warren says she's not running for president, but her confrontational approach on Wall Street and reducing the gap between the rich and poor has generated a loyal following. She showcased this posture during December's "lame duck" session of Congress, when she led the charge against a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill — ultimately signed by Obama — that repealed part of the Dodd-Frank financial law and loosened contribution caps for some political donors. Clinton has yet to comment on the spending plan.

During the fall elections, Clinton often pointed to the broad prosperity during her husband's administration and advocated for policies to raise the minimum wage, address pay equity for women and provide paid leave for new mothers.

In a nod to liberals, Clinton has voiced concerns about the concentration of wealth, pointing to the rise in income and wealth to the top 0.01 percent of the population. "Some are calling it a throwback to the 'Gilded Age' of the robber barons," Clinton said in May.

Clinton also has stumbled on the economy. At a fall event, she drew criticism from Republicans when she said "don't let anybody tell you that it's corporations and businesses that create jobs." She quickly cleaned up those comments, arguing that trickle-down economics had failed.

Her supporters point to her 2008 primary campaign, when she scored wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as an indicator of how she could connect with working-class families. They also downplay the differences between her and Warren on the economy.

"I think the debate is not going to be about big major fundamental directions for the economy. The disagreement will be how to get there," said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has backed Clinton.

Clinton could have more opportunities to connect with — or alienate — liberals in 2015.

One moment could come on the nomination of Lazard investment banker Antonio Weiss to lead a Treasury Department office overseeing domestic finance. Weiss, Warren contends, would represent a long line of Wall Street executives who are part of the revolving door between Washington and the financial markets.

Clinton has not yet spoken publicly about Weiss' nomination.

She remains a favorite of Wall Street from her time representing New York in the Senate. At a recent conference sponsored by the New York Times' DealBook, Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein said he had "always been a fan of Hillary Clinton" and argued it was important for political leaders to have relationships with key institutions. "I certainly don't think it's a virtue to declare a big segment of the economy off limits," he said.

Promoting economic growth and wages will also be on the calendar. The AFL-CIO has invited Warren to deliver the keynote address at its national summit on wages in early January, giving her a plum appearance before labor leaders.

About a week later, the Center for American Progress, which was founded by ex-Clinton administration officials, will release a report offering ways to spur middle-class growth, ideas that might guide Clinton's agenda. The panel is co-chaired by Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton.

Tad Devine, an adviser to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is considering a 2016 presidential campaign, noted that Bill Clinton campaigned in 1992 as a different kind of Democrat willing to reform welfare and appeal to centrists. This time, he said, Hillary Clinton will need to make a decision of how she will position herself on the economy.

"There is a huge audience right now for people who want to have a completely different economic theory of what's wrong with the country and how to fix it," Devine said.

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Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KThomasDC

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Movie co. hack is the great cyber whodunit

LOS ANGELES — Everyone has a theory about who really hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Despite President Obama's conclusion that North Korea was the culprit, the Internet's newest game of whodunit continues. Top theories include disgruntled Sony insiders, hired hackers, other foreign governments or Internet hooligans. Even some experts are undecided, with questions about why the communist state would steal and leak gigabytes of data, email threats to some Sony employees and their families and then threaten moviegoers who planned to watch "The Interview" on Christmas.

"Somebody's done it. And right now this knowledge is known to God and whoever did it," said Martin Libicki, a cyber security expert at RAND in Arlington, Va., who thinks it probably was North Korea. "So we gather up a lot of evidence, and the evidence that the FBI has shown so far doesn't allow one to distinguish between somebody who is North Korea and somebody who wants to look like North Korea."

Perhaps the only point of agreement among those guessing is that even the most dramatic cybercrimes can be really, really hard to solve convincingly. When corporations are breached, investigators seldom focus on attributing the crime because their priority is preventing it from happening again.

"Attribution is a very hard game to play," said Mike Fey, president of security company Blue Coat Systems Inc. and former chief technology officer at McAfee Inc. "Like any criminal activity, how they get away with it is a very early step in the planning process, and framing another organization or individual is a great way to get away with something.

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High-end digs dominate Boston in ’14

Real estate in Greater Boston this year has been somewhat of a paradox.

The market saw a huge influx of luxury apartment complexes, with high rents and lots of amenities, and construction is under way on some of the city's most expensive condos.

Yet there's been a shortage of inventory, especially mid-priced properties, and sales have slowed. And Boston has yet to solve a major problem — there are not enough condos or apartments that average city dwellers can afford.

Several thousand new luxury apartments — more than any in the city's history — opened this year in areas ranging from the Seaport District to the Greenway to Back Bay. Some of the first wave of high-rent digs, such as the Kensington and 315 on A, leased up well, but others have struggled, offering anywhere from one to three months of free rent, with fears that there may be a glut of upscale apartments on the market.

Looking for rental relief, some have opted to lease in places like Chelsea, where One North over the Mystic Bridge and new apartments in the Box District have done well. In an industrial area of Everett, apartments were carved out of a former Charleston Chew candy factory.

Two new apartment buildings at Assembly Row developed by AvalonBay Communities have leased up well, part of a successful urban village in East Somerville with 40 outlet stores and a dozen restaurants next to a newly completed Orange Line Station.

On the condo side, Boston has seen higher prices but lower condo sales this year because of low inventory, with midpriced units snapped up quickly. Meanwhile, the upper end of the condo market is going gangbusters driven by foreign buyers and local empty nesters. Preconstruction sales at condo projects now going up, such as the Ink Block's Sepia in the South End, Twenty-Two Liberty on Fan Pier and downtown's Millennium Tower have been brisk.

The highest price condo and single family sold in Boston this year were on the same Beacon Street block across from the Public Garden — at 96 Beacon St., a 6,337-square-foot, four-bedroom penthouse condo went for $13 million in March, and 74 Beacon St., a redone 6-bedroom, five-story, single-family townhouse with its own rooftop lap pool, sold for $12.5 million in October.

This year saw the highest price condo ever listed in Boston, a 12,000-square foot penthouse at the Millennium Tower that's asking $37.5 million.

The market in Somerville and Cambridge remains hot, with prices increasing and not enough inventory to meet demand. But the Alewife area of Cambridge saw several new apartment developments this year.

Along the banks of the Charles River in Watertown, several luxury apartment complexes have opened this year, and new rental properties have also sprung up near Orange Line stops in Malden Center and over the Melrose line near Oak Grove.

In the city, East Boston saw the first phase of Portside At East Pier, a luxury waterfront apartment complex.

South Boston real estate stayed hot this year, with dozens of high-end apartment and condo projects opening, a number around West 1st on D Street such as the Flats on D, West Square and Seaport Crossing that helped to knit together the gap between the Seaport District and the West Side.

To spur construction of more housing for moderate-income residents, the city has just designated corridors along Dorchester Avenue between the Broadway and Andrews Red Line T stations in Southie, and around the Forest Hills T station area in Jamaica Plain for higher density, transit-oriented development. But high labor, land and materials costs remain a challenge.

Next week we'll take a look at the real estate prospects for 2015.

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Booting Up: Sony runs with chance to test new marketing model

Sony Pictures has pioneered a new model for marketing films, bypassing big theaters and instead looking to a startup and streaming services to distribute the movie that sparked an unprecedented North Korean cyber attack.

Reversing its decision to pull the plug on distribution of the satirical comedy "The Interview," which depicts a group of young guys trying to assassinate the North Korean dictator, Sony this week turned to a streaming startup called Kernel, as well as Google and Microsoft, to show the film. (It's nice to know that Google and Microsoft aren't afraid of the North Koreans. Not Apple, which reportedly passed on distributing the movie through iTunes.)

The film costs $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to own an HD copy. The monetary success or failure of this effort will be watched closely by everyone with a stake in live-streaming video.

Kernel runs seethe
interview.com, which is just what it sounds like: a portal for buying and viewing the movie. Kernel was a virtual unknown until a few days ago, but Sony tapped the company to distribute "The Interview" because they were already working on a pilot project with the startup to promote and distribute films differently. Both companies have taken the opportunity to lift the curtain on their project for "The 5th Wave," a screenplay due out in 2016, the first in a series of books about a teenage girl fighting against the end of humanity.

Kernel's role is to pre-sell exclusive, behind-the-scenes content such as bonus downloads, VIP experiences and tickets to "The 5th Wave." Packages go all the way up to $1,000, which includes two tickets to a yet-to-be-scheduled movie premiere.

With an entire subculture of movie buffs, it's a wonder we haven't found a better way than overpriced tickets and popcorn to monetize the industry. Kernel and Sony may be onto something.

YouTube, Google Play and Xbox have all begun distributing "The Interview," along with some small independent theaters such as Apple Cinemas near Fresh Pond in Cambridge.

I got to have my Christmas viewing of "The Interview" after all, and if enough people do the same, Google and Microsoft will become a much more viable option for movie distribution in the future.

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Sony says online PlayStation disrupted

TOKYO — Sony's online PlayStation store and Microsoft's Xbox site suffered disruptions to users on Christmas Day in the latest possible cyber-attacks on the companies.

The PlayStation Store Twitter feed said Friday that some users were having trouble logging into its network. It said engineers were investigating.

A notice on Microsoft's Xbox website said it knew some users were having trouble signing in. it said, "We're aware of this issue, and we're working to find a fix ASAP!"

The problems were affecting Xbox Live Core Services, though most other applications were up and running, it said.

Earlier this month the PlayStation store also experienced spells of inaccessibility. That followed a cyberattack on computer systems of Sony Pictures Entertainment that led to the release of confidential information on the Internet.

A hacker group calling itself Lizard Squad appeared to take responsibility for the disruptions on its Twitter account.

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Coakley investigates Santander Bank

BOSTON — The Massachusetts attorney general's office is investigating Santander bank's auto lending business over concerns that the company may be engaged in the type of predatory practices that, on a larger scale, led to the mortgage and financial crises.

The office is looking at whether Santander lent to borrowers who were unlikely to repay the money and sold those loans to Wall Street, where they were packaged into securities and resold to investors.

A spokesman for Attorney General Martha Coakley tells the Boston Globe the office has subpoenaed Santander's U.S. auto finance company to produce related documents.

Santander in a statement said it is cooperating with investigators and its policy is "to comply with all lending and loan servicing laws as well as the rules and guidance of our supervisors and regulators."

___

Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

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Russia's Putin scraps New Year's holidays for ministers

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday scrapped New Year's holidays for government ministers because of the unfolding economic crisis.

Russian company employees throughout the country are entitled to holiday from Jan. 1 to Jan. 12 when Russians celebrate the New Year, the main holiday in Russia, as well as Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

Putin told a televised government session on Thursday that Cabinet ministers should not take this time off.

"For the government, for your agencies we cannot afford this long holiday, at least this year - you know what I mean," he said.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Cabinet ministers on Thursday he expects them to keep the situation in check even during the holiday lull "from the first days of the year."

Russia's economy, battered by low oil prices and Western sanctions, is set to enter recession next year for the first time in six years, while the ruble is now worth less than half of its value.

The ruble staged a modest rally last week and was trading 2 percent higher at 52 rubles per dollar Thursday, up from 80 rubles earlier this month.

The Russian Central Bank announced on Thursday that the country's currency reserve has dropped below $400 billion for the first time since August 2009, as the government has been selling the currency on the market to support the ruble.

Stabilizing the ruble, which is one of the world's worst-performing currencies this year following the slide in oil prices and the sanctions imposed on Russia, is a priority for the country's monetary authorities. The Central Bank in past weeks raised its key interest rate to 17 percent and said it will offer dollar and euro loans to banks so they can help major exporters that need foreign currencies to finance operations.

Many Russian companies have been locked out of Western capital markets following the sanctions imposed on the country for its involvement in Ukraine.

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Honda recalls 1,252 Crosstours over side air bags

NEW YORK — Honda is recalling 1,252 Crosstour vehicles due to a faulty side air bag made by troubled air bag supplier Takata.

The Honda recall is for 2015 model year Crosstours. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the side air bag may not inflate properly because of a problem with its inflator tube. Crosstour owners will receive a letter in the mail asking them to take their car to a Honda dealer and have the side air bags replaced free of charge.

Honda said no injuries were reported. Takata Corp. declined to comment.

Takata, a Japanese air bag maker, is at the center of massive recalls around the world. Several automakers have recalled vehicles with air bags made by the company because they can explode and send shards flying at drivers and passengers. In response to the recalls, Takata on Wednesday apologized to those killed or hurt by its faulty air bags and announced it was reshuffling its executives.

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Quincy residents to be left with emergency facility only

The long-struggling Quincy Medical Center will permanently close its doors tomorrow, leaving Quincy residents without an official health facility sooner than originally planned, which could spur legal action from the Attorney General's office.

"Because of significant declines in patient volume, the department has determined that this closure timeline is necessary and appropriate to protect the health and safety of patients served by QMC and the department waives the remainder of the 90-day closure notice period," Department of Public Health official Sherman Lohnes wrote Tuesday in a letter to QMC owner Steward Health Care System.

Hospitals are obligated to give 90 days' notice before closing, which would have required the medical center to stay open until February if DPH had not waived the requirement.

The for-profit company previously agreed in a contract with Attorney General Martha Coakley to keep the 196-bed center open until at least 2017, and Coakley's office has raised the possibility of taking legal action if the hospital's emergency services did not stay open past Dec. 31.

Although AG spokesmen declined to specifically comment on whether that still may be in the cards, talks with Steward were said to be ongoing.

"We have made clear that any efforts to close Quincy Medical Center must maintain emergency services beyond Dec. 31," said Brad Puffer, spokesman for Coakley. "This is an important step in that process and we are continuing our discussions with Steward."

According to a press release, Steward QMC will close at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, and the Steward Satellite Emergency Facility will officially open at midnight.

Steward said it will keep the emergency facility open until Dec. 31, 2015, through Carney Hospital's license.

The center has been fraught with financial woes and a dwindling patient base for several years.

But the closing of the center leaves Quincy residents without a hospital and the center's health care workers in employment limbo.

Brooke Thurston, a spokeswoman for Steward, said many of the center's employees will be paid and receive benefits through Jan. 6, and that a majority will be transferred into new positions within the Steward network.

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Mayor Marty Walsh makes Dorchester tour

It was a merry Christmas Eve day in Dorchester yesterday as the mayor and police commissioner went on a goodwill tour of businesses.

The event began with a gathering at the Teen Center at St. Peter's where neighborhood kids received presents from police and seasons greetings from community leaders including Mayor Martin J. Walsh, police Commissioner William B. Evans and state Rep. Evandro C. Carvalho.

Walsh and police officers then took to Bowdoin Street towards Geneva Avenue to shake hands and wish happy holidays to shoppers along the boulevard.

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Snowstorm in Moscow delays over 150 flights

MOSCOW — A massive snowstorm in Moscow on Thursday caused delays to more than 150 flights and brought traffic to a standstill.

None of Moscow's three airports have been closed, but all three were hit with severe delays, including more than a hundred flights being delayed from Domodedovo south of the city.

The snowstorm began early Thursday morning and the Russian Meteorological Office said it expects up to 4 inches of snow to fall in Moscow in a single day.

The Yandex traffic monitoring service said the congestion in Moscow reached the record-high 10 points in the early afternoon, which normally happens only occasionally every year during rush hour.

The congestion was so bad on Thursday that several Cabinet ministers got stuck in traffic and came late for the last session of the government this year, according to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Unlike in some Western European capitals, snowstorms in Moscow hardly ever disrupt public transport or shut down air traffic.

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The Ticker

Pier 4 owner cashes out

Pier 4 master developer New England Development has cashed out of the 1-million-square-foot South Boston waterfront project, selling 130 and 140 Northern Ave. to the deeper-pocketed Tishman Speyer, the New York owner of properties including Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Center and Yankee Stadium.

The Newton company sold the two Seaport District parcels, which had been slated for an office building, a separate condominium building and waterfront public park, for $70 million, according to Registry of Deeds documents filed yesterday.

New England Development executives could not be reached for comment. Tishman Speyer, which also owns 125 High St. and One Federal St. in Boston, declined comment, but is expected to move faster with the development of the two parcels.

New Balance seeks sneaker design ruling

Boston's New Balance has filed pre-emptive court action against Massachusetts rival Converse to protect its ability to continue selling its 77-year-old PF Flyers brand of sneakers.

The federal lawsuit follows the North Andover-based Converse's October trademark infringement lawsuits against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., H&M, Skechers, Ralph Lauren and 27 other retailers and companies for allegedly knocking off the design of its iconic Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers that date to 1917.

New Balance, which wasn't included in that round of lawsuits, is asking for a U.S. District court ruling that its PF Flyers don't infringe on Converse's trademark and that Converse doesn't have exclusive rights to use the design.

"Converse brought its case to the International Trade Commission to prevent consumer confusion, to protect its legitimate intellectual property rights, and to stop the sale of knockoff Chucks, all of which remain unchanged," Converse said in a statement.

Quincy hospital to close midnight Friday

The Department of Public Health yesterday signed off on the proposed closure of Quincy Medical Center, set for midnight Friday.

Steward Health Care, the owner of the hospital, said Quincy Medical will halt operations Dec. 26, at 11:59 p.m., with a satellite emergency facility set to open in the same location at 12 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27.

Steward said that Quincy Medical, as of yesterday, no longer has any inpatients.

Local elected officials have criticized Steward for the speed with which the for-profit company has moved to close the hospital after it claimed in November that it suffered financial losses and a decreasing number of patients at the Quincy hospital.

Cornerstone Pub to be redeveloped

The Cornerstone Pub and Restaurant in South Boston will soon be history as a developer has filed a project notification form with the city to build a mixed-use development on the 14 West Broadway site. The Southie landmark, which sits across from the Broadway T station, will be razed and replaced with a complex that would include 47 residential units, commercial and retail space, a ground-floor restaurant and garage parking.

THE SHUFFLE

Emmanuelle Debouverie has joined Boston-based criminal defense firm Rankin & Sultan as an associate. Debouverie was previously an associate at Clifford Chance.

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Single-family home sales fall in Nov.

Single-family home sales fell last month while the median price rose, particularly in Greater Boston, driven by a continuing shortage of inventory, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

Statewide, the number of closed sales dropped by 6.7 percent, from 3,817 in November 2013 to 3,560 last month, while the median price increased 4.4 percent, from $316,000 to $330,000 over the same period, MAR statistics show.

Condominium sales fell even more precipitously — by 10.2 percent — from 1,494 to 1,342, but the median price increased only 1 percent, from $299,000 to $302,000.

"Both the falling numbers of sales and the increasing median prices are a reflection of low inventory," said MAR President Peter Ruffini. "There's a lack of affordable housing for first-time buyers. It's very rare to see new construction priced at under $400,000. That's simply not a viable price point for most people looking to enter the housing market."

In the Metro Boston area, the median selling price for a single-family home rose even more dramatically — by 9.4 percent, the largest percentage increase since April — from $480,000 in November 2013 to $525,000 last month, the highest median home price ever recorded for November in the area, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.

"Even at these prices, what is available is being jumped on pretty quickly," said Michael DiMella, the association's president and managing partner of Charlesgate Realty Group in Boston. "We're still seeing some multiple offers and bidding wars, although not as much."

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Bitcoin now available at local stores

You can now pick up some bitcoin with that bottle of soda and bag of chips at the store down the street.

LibertyX, a company that originally made and operated bitcoin vending kiosks, has expanded to let any store sell bitcoin for cash at the register, just like anything else they have in stock.

"You hand over cash, you get a code," said Kyle Powers, co-founder of LibertyX, formerly known as Liberty Teller. A cashier gives the customer a pin number, which can be redeemed for bitcoin. LibertyX is working with 2,500 stores, mostly local businesses including convenience and computer stores, across the country in the obvious places — Cambridge and San Francisco — and some less obvious, such as Lowell and Missoula, Mont.

The move away from dedicated ATMs that sell bitcoin came from overwhelming demand, Powers said.

"We had people driving for hours," Powers said. "The whole thing was to reach areas that we couldn't otherwise."

The ATMs are still operational, including the one at South Station.

"We're doing the same thing (as the ATMs), just cheaper, faster, more convenient," Powers said.

To help LibertyX expand, the company has raised a little more than $400,000 in private investment. Project 11, the venture capital firm headed by Katie Rae, Reed Sturtevant and Bob Mason, formerly of TechStars Boston, led the investment.

Powers said much has been made of bitcoin's ups and downs, but he continues to have faith in the online currency.

"Bitcoin is like gold, except the market is a thousand times younger" he said. "What we're doing is a fundamental, foundational piece of the bitcoin ecosystem."

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Sony tries to save face with 'Interview' flip-flop

ATLANTA — Sony's flip-flop on releasing "The Interview" shows the studio is working furiously to try to chart the right course through political and public-opinion minefields.

Although analysts don't believe the decision will have any effect on Sony's image, it will at least give the movie-going public a chance to vote with their wallets and send North Korea a protest message.

Last week, Sony canceled the Christmas Day release of "The Interview" in the wake of an extensive hacking attack and release of confidential emails by a group linked with North Korea. The movie stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists tasked by the CIA with killing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The hackers threatened violence if Sony didn't pull the movie. Sony did so after major theater chains decided not to screen it.

But the company then wavered in the face of public outcry and criticism from President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton said Seth Rogen's North Korea farce "will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day."

The film is set to open in over 200 theaters, down from an original release planned in 3,000. Atlanta's Plaza Theater and 16 theaters that are part of the Alamo Drafthouse chain in Texas are among those that plan to show it.

Lynton said Sony also is continuing its efforts to release the movie in more theaters and through more platforms — namely digital channels, such as Internet streaming or video on demand on cable systems. But Sony isn't offering specifics. Starz, which has first pay TV and streaming rights to Sony releases, didn't respond to requests for comment. Streaming service Netflix declined comment, while YouTube didn't respond to requests.

Plaza Theater owner Michael Furlinger said he was thrilled to be showing the movie. He canceled plans to fly to Long Island, New York, to see his parents for the holidays.

"We play a lot of controversial pictures, things I don't necessarily agree with, but I will never censor them," he said. "It's not for me to decide. It's for the customer to decide. If they want to come, they'll spend their money. If they don't, that's their choice. It should not be the choice of somebody from North Korea or China or anywhere else."

Atlanta Police spokesman Sgt. Greg Lyon said police will monitor the location for potential threats, but he wouldn't discuss specifics. Furlinger said the theater will take some precautions, though he said he wasn't worried about the threats.

If anything, the controversy has raised awareness about the movie. Although fewer theaters are showing it, those theaters might be more packed than they would have been otherwise.

Anthony LoRusso, 54, of Atlanta, thought the premise of the movie was "silly" and initially planned to wait for the DVD. Now, he plans to see it at The Plaza.

Colby Cohen, 29, of Atlanta said he probably would have seen it anyway, but the brief cancellation made him want to see it more.

"I'm going to get to fight terrorism on Christmas Day now," he said.

Because Sony has been wavering on its release of "The Interview" since last week, deciding to release it after all should not have a major effect on its image. Laura Ries, president of Atlanta-based branding consulting company Ries & Ries, said most moviegoers don't tie movies with the studio that makes them in the first place.

If Sony ends up expanding the theatrical release and sells the movie through digital channels, it could end up recouping some of its box offices losses. Doug Stone, president of film industry newsletter Box Office Analyst, had estimated domestic box office for the movie would be $75 million to $100 million, of which Sony keeps about 55 percent. But the release is too limited so far to give Sony much of a financial bump.

Furthermore, costly damage from the email leaks to relationships and future projects cannot be recouped, and there is a threat of more leaks as Sony plans on releasing the film now.

"Panic-based decisions are not sound crisis management," said Jonathan Bernstein, president of Los Angeles-based crisis management company Bernstein Crisis Management. The studio is making decisions too quickly and could face more embarrassment if hackers leak additional documents and emails in retaliation for showing the movie, he said. He said Sony should have waited until it is sure it can protect itself.

Still, moviegoers seemed enthusiastic Tuesday. Isaac Sokol, a 21-year-old university student in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, bought two tickets for a Christmas night show at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Richardson.

"The only way to tackle world conflicts and human rights violations and all of the dreaded things around the world is to take them with a grain of salt," he said. "If you don't, it's going to just be sadness."

The Alamo Drafthouse said many showtimes across the chain were selling out for Christmas Day, but the company did not provide specifics.

Once James Wallace, the Richardson theater's creative manager, received word Tuesday morning that the movie was back on, the theater got to work preparing for several shows. Among other touches, the theater will offer a patriotic menu featuring burgers, "freedom fries" and apple pie.

"You better believe it's going to be all-American," Wallace said.

___

AP Film Writer Jake Coyle in New York and AP writers Kathleen Foody in Atlanta, Nomaan Merchant in Dallas, Joseph Pisani in New York and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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Honda recalls 1,252 Crosstours over side air bags

NEW YORK — Honda is recalling 1,252 Crosstour vehicles due to a faulty side air bag made by troubled air bag supplier Takata.

The Honda recall is for 2015 model year Crosstours. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the side air bag may not inflate properly because of a problem with its inflator tube. Crosstour owners will receive a letter in the mail asking them to take their car to a Honda dealer and have the side air bags replaced free of charge.

Honda said no injuries were reported. Takata Corp. declined to comment.

Takata, a Japanese air bag maker, is at the center of massive recalls around the world. Several automakers have recalled vehicles with air bags made by the company because they can explode and send shards flying at drivers and passengers. In response to the recalls, Takata on Wednesday apologized to those killed or hurt by its faulty air bags and announced it was reshuffling its executives.

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Dow tops 18,000 as market reaches new highs

U.S. stocks pushed further into record territory on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average crossed past the 18,000-point mark for the first time. Investors cheered new data showing the U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in more than a decade.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,027 as of 9:58 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained five points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,083. The Nasdaq composite slipped less than one point to 4,780.

GROWTH SPURT: The Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at a 5 percent annual rate in the July-September period, powered by stronger consumer spending and business investment. That's the fastest quarterly growth since the summer of 2003.

ECONOMIC BAROMETERS: Investors were monitoring a mixed bag of economic reports early Tuesday including factory orders, which declined in November amid falling demand in the military and defense sectors.

SECTOR VIEW: Nine of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 moved higher, with financials posting the biggest gain. Health care stocks fell. Chesapeake Energy led the gainers in the S&P 500, rising 99 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $19.41. Celgene paced the decliners, falling $6.67, or 5.9 percent, to $106.83.

HOLIDAY RALLY: Major stock indexes have ended higher the past four trading days, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Monday. Investors have been encouraged by signs of strength in the U.S. economy and reassurances that the Federal Reserve won't interest rates soon. Trading volume is expected to thin out the next couple of days as the market shifts into Christmas holiday mode. On Wednesday, U.S. and European markets close early.

OVERSEAS ACTION: In Europe, France's CAC-40 added 1.3 percent and Germany's DAX rose 0.5 percent. Britain's FTSE rose 0.5 percent. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.3 percent and Seoul's Kospi lost 0.2 percent. India's Sensex declined 0.6 percent.

ENERGY: Oil prices stabilized after a recent rout. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 48 cents to $55.74 per barrel.

BONDS: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.20 percent.

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Myanmar villagers remain in standoff over mine

YANGON, Myanmar — Villagers refusing to leave their homes for the expansion of a Chinese-backed copper mine in northwestern Myanmar remained in a tense standoff with security forces for a second day Tuesday, with two reported hurt.

The confrontation, which left one woman dead Monday when guards and police fired at the protesting villagers, is the latest in a string of land disputes since a nominally civilian government was elected in 2011 and accelerated opening up the economy to foreign investors.

Han Win Aung, an activist, said about 1,000 police and security guards and more than 200 Chinese workers at the Letpadaung mining project have surrounded several villages where residents refused to leave.

He said two villagers suffered gunshot wounds Tuesday morning, though his account could not be independently confirmed. Neither police nor mining company officials were immediately available for comment.

The massive project, a joint venture between a Myanmar military-controlled holding company and China's Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., drew international attention two years ago when police forcefully dispersed protesters, injuring more than 100 Buddhist monks. Many suffered severe burns from smoke bombs that contained white phosphorus, a substance not generally used to contain civil unrest.

The state-run Myanma Ahlin daily reported Tuesday that one villager was killed and 20 other people, including 11 policemen, had been injured in Monday's melee when police fired shotguns several times to disperse a crowd of villagers trying to stop an attempt to fence off land for the mining project. It said some villagers had fired slingshots.

A public relations officer from China's Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., a partner in the mine, expressed sorrow for the death of the villager. Cao Desheng said that most villagers in the area had agreed to move out to make room for the mining project.

"We have made amazing progress in building trust with the community but we are so sorry that this incident has happened," Cao said.

Villagers say thousands of acres (hectares) of farmland have been seized to allow for the mine's expansion. Critics claim the mine causes environmental problems.

Work at the mine was temporarily halted and the mining contract renegotiated so that millions of dollars went toward community development projects and to pay compensation to villagers. Although production was resumed after the company paid compensation to some villagers, others refused to take the money and insisted that they would hold on to their land.

Khin San Hlaing, a lawmaker from the opposition National League for Democracy party, scolded the mining company for continuing to try to fence off the area Tuesday, and said it should stop all work and meet with villagers to resolve the problem.

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Interpol: man wanted for ivory smuggling caught in Tanzania

NAIROBI, Kenya — An official with the international police agency says police have arrested an alleged ivory trafficker, who had been on the run for months.

The head of Interpol in Kenya, Vitalis Okumu, said Tuesday that Kenyan police arrested Feisal Ali at a rental house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday evening.

Ali was listed by Interpol as a most-wanted trafficker of ivory. The police group said the Kenyan was once found in possession of 314 pieces of ivory weighing more than 2 tons. Interpol alleged that Ali is the leader of an ivory smuggling ring.

Poachers have killed 142 elephants in Kenya so far this year down from 302 last year.

Interpol recently began a most-wanted campaign to track suspects wanted for environmental crimes.

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Report: At least 60 journalists killed in 2014

NEW YORK — At least 60 journalists around the world were killed in 2014 while on the job or because of their work, and 44 percent of them were targeted for murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

An "unusually high proportion," or about one-fourth, of those killed were international journalists, though the overwhelming number of journalists threatened continue to be local, the New York-based organization's new report said.

Those killed in 2014 include Anja Niedringhaus, a photographer for The Associated Press who was shot to death while covering elections in Afghanistan.

Italian Associated Press video journalist Simone Camilli and his freelance translator Ali Shehda Abu Afash were killed in an explosion at an ordnance dump in the Gaza strip in August.

The CPJ report released early Tuesday said the number of journalists killed in 2014 was down from 70 the year before, but the past three years have been the deadliest since the organization started compiling such records in 1992.

The crushing conflict in Syria, now well into its fourth year, has been a major factor. The report said at least 17 journalists were killed there this year, with at least 79 killed since the fighting began in 2011.

Syria was connected to two of the more horrifying killings of journalists this year, the beheadings by the Islamic State group of American freelancers James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Both had disappeared while reporting on the conflict.

The conflict in Ukraine between the new government and Russian-backed separatists saw five journalists and two media workers killed as relations between neighboring Russia and the West sank to their lowest level since the Cold War. The killings were the first that the CPJ had recorded in Ukraine since 2001.

Fifty days of fighting in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians over the summer saw at least four journalists and three media workers killed, including AP video journalist Simone Camilli and translator Ali Shehda Abu Afash who were killed by an explosion of leftover ordnance.

In Iraq, at least five journalists were killed, three of them while covering the fight against the Islamic State group as it swept through the country's northwest.

The report also points out the first journalist killings in several years in some countries, including Paraguay, where three deaths were the first since 2007, and Myanmar, where the killing in custody of a freelance journalist was the first death since 2007.

CPJ also reported the first killing of a journalist in the Central African Republic, which has been torn apart by unprecedented violence between Christians and Muslims.

And even covering the deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak has been fatal, with the bodies of a journalist and two media workers found in a village in Guinea where they had gone to cover a public awareness campaign.

The CPJ says it is still investigating the deaths of at least 18 other journalists this year. The organization does not count deaths from illness or car or plane crashes unless they were the result of "hostile action."

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US consumer spending up solid 0.6 pct. in November

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending rose at the fastest pace in three months in November, while income posted the best gain in five months — both encouraging signs for economic growth.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that consumer spending increased 0.6 percent in November, double the 0.3 percent October gain and the best showing since August.

Income, helped by a surge of hiring in November, rose 0.4 percent after a 0.3 percent October rise. It was the best showing since a similar rise in June.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity. The government revised higher spending in each month beginning in July. Those revisions contributed to a boost in overall growth to a sizzling 5 percent rate in the third quarter.

Economists think growth will slow to around a 2.5 percent annual rate in the current October-December period, but they believe the economy will remain solid in 2015.

Analysts had forecast a pickup in consumer spending in November based on an earlier report that retail sales jumped 0.7 percent during the month, the best showing in eight months.

The retail sales report showed that cheaper gas and an improving job market put consumers in a buying mood in November.

The National Retail Federation has forecast that holiday sales will rise 4.1 percent this year compared with 2013. That would be the biggest gain in three years.

For November, the 0.6 percent rise in spending reflected a 1.6 percent in spending on durable goods such as autos and a flat reading for spending on nondurable goods such as clothing. Spending on services showed a 0.6 percent rise, the fourth straight month of solid gains, reflecting in part increased spending on health services.

The slightly faster increase in spending compared with income in November meant that the personal saving rate slipped to 4.4 percent, down from 4.6 percent in October.

Prices, as measured by a gauge tied to spending patterns, increased just 1.2 percent in November compared with a year ago, down from a 1.4 percent 12-month rise in October. It was the smallest yearly gain since last March, and it left prices rising well below the 2 percent target set by the Federal Reserve.

Inflation is expected to remain muted when measured by a gauge tied to consumer spending that is closely watched by the Fed. After ending a policy meeting last year, the Fed said it would remain "patient" in deciding when to start raising interest rates.

With inflation remaining below the Fed's target of 2 percent, many economists think it will be in no hurry to start raising interest rates even though unemployment, now at 5.8 percent, is nearing the Fed's goal of 5.2 to 5.5 percent.

Most economists think consumer spending will keep advancing in 2015 and support economic growth of 3 percent or more, making 2015 the best year for growth in a decade.

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New radiator for Frontier a precaution worth taking

I have a 2008 Nissan Frontier with the 4-liter engine, automatic transmission and 88,000 miles. In checking the Internet, apparently 2005-2010 Frontiers, Pathfinders and Xterras have had an issue with the radiator/transmission cooler failing, which results in coolant getting into the transmission and ruining it. Nissan states that the problem will only occur with a small percentage of vehicles. Nissan has extended the warranty on the radiator to 100,000 miles albeit with a $2,500-$3,000 deductible. I am considering proactively replacing the radiator just for the peace of mind. Do you have any recommendations on whether I should replace the radiator proactively or take my chances?

I confirmed the information you provided and understand the dilemma you face. You have three choices. Recognizing that this problem apparently affects a relatively small number of vehicles, you could ignore the issue, continue to drive your truck and keep your fingers crossed. Or, you could check the coolant and transmission fluids for correct levels or contamination on virtually a daily basis, hoping to catch the problem before it damages the transmission.

Or, as you are considering, pre-empt the issue and replace the radiator now. Since a new radiator from Nissan lists for over $650 plus three hours of labor to install it, check with cooling system specialists for a quote on installing an aftermarket radiator. I found exact-fit aftermarket radiators for your vehicle priced in the $100-$250 range at local auto parts stores.

If it were my vehicle and I could have a new radiator installed for under $500 — or install it myself for about half that — I'd be seriously inclined to do so.

I have a 2009 VW Jetta TDI. VW recommends oil changes at 10,000 miles using a synthetic that is only available at the dealer. My dealer says that VW hasn't seen any long-term detriment to using such a long interval. I understand the oils today are really superior in their protection. What do you think?

I really tried on this one. I researched, compared, pondered and cogitated — the whole nine yards. And yes, VW does recommend 10,000-mile oil change intervals on the TDI diesel engine. And yes, I don't think there would be any significant issues in following VW's recommendation.

But I just can't. I change oil and filter on our 2010 Passat Wagon equipped with the 2-liter turbo gasoline engine every 4,000-5,000 miles. I would do the same if it were the TDI. In this case, I see no downside in being pro-active on oil changes. Besides, it's your vehicle. You're responsible for it and you're going to pay for any repairs or excess depreciation. On top of that, the added cost for the extra oil changes is such a very, very small percentage of the total cost of ownership, depreciation, maintenance, repairs, licensing and insurance over the life of the vehicle, I don't think it should be a factor in your decision.

I am 5 feet 3 and I really like my new 2014 Honda Civic LX five-speed manual, but my left knee is only one tiny speck away from the dash and I am not 10 inches from the steering wheel, which would be dangerous if the air bag deployed. I called my dealership, my regular mechanic and a well-known body shop but I cannot find anyone who will install pedal extenders for me — apparently it's a liability issue. Could a non-mechanic like me buy pedal extenders and put them on myself?

Yes, you could. Pedal extenders are not difficult to install and I'm sure you could successfully install a set in your Civic. But before you do, check with local handicap/mobility stores in your area, specifically a store that specializes in building or outfitting handicap-equipped vehicles.

Go online to the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association — NMEDA — at www.nmeda.com for a list of authorized handicap equipment installers in your area.

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Inspections show high pricing accuracy in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Last-minute holiday shoppers can shop with confidence that prices will be accurate.

A check on prices in 124 stores throughout Massachusetts showed the highest level of pricing accuracy in a decade.

The survey by the Massachusetts Division of Standards showed that of 3,150 items checked by inspectors, 99.94 percent were found to be accurately priced when compared with the lowest advertised price on the item or the shelf.

Division of Standards Director Charles Carroll said retailers who have installed in-aisle consumer price scanners are not required to individually price mark each item. That has eliminated some pricing errors.

The inspections were done in November in 27 communities, including Concord, Mansfield, Newburyport, Pittsfield, Plymouth and Springfield.

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Foreign-trained med workers need help

Massachusetts needs more centralized information on relicensing pathways, improved career supports at workforce-development and educational institutions, and a review of licensure regulations to help the state's more than 12,000 foreign-born health care professionals, according to a new report.

More than one in five foreign-trained health care professionals in Massachusetts are unemployed or working in low-wage, low-skill jobs because they have limited English proficiency, lack help navigating complex and costly relicensing requirements, or have trouble completing the relicensing process while holding down low-paying "survival jobs," according to the Governor's Advisory Council on Refugees and Immigrants' Task Force on Immigrant Healthcare Professionals.

And with an aging native-born workforce, a projected increase from 12 percent to 30 percent in statewide demand for clinicians in all fields by 2020, and an increasingly diverse state population in need of linguistically and culturally competent health care services, the state cannot afford to ignore these barriers to the skills foreign-trained health care professionals have to offer, the report says.

"This is an opportunity to help the commonwealth capitalize on these skills for our economy and our health care system," said Eva Millona, co-chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council and executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. "It's a win-win for everybody."

The report's recommendations include the creation of a user-friendly, centralized online portal featuring detailed relicensing information and career-development resources for foreign-trained immigrants in licensed professions, with an initial focus on health care; the promotion of pilot programs at one-stop career centers and community colleges that could offer these professionals expert career supports; collaborations with professional associations and philanthropies to pilot funding tools such as a microloan fund to help low-income, foreign-trained professionals cover the educational, testing and licensing costs of re-entering their fields; and the establishment of a staff position in the Office for Refugees and Immigrants to oversee immigrant integration policy, including career pathways for foreign-trained professionals.

Tim Buckley, a spokesman for Gov.-elect Charlie Baker, said Baker "will continue to pursue reforms that grow Massachusetts' economy and strengthen our health care system, and looks forward to reviewing the recommendations of MIRA and all stakeholders involved in the process."

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Research shows owners coming up short on home values

WASHINGTON — Do American homeowners think their properties are worth less than the actual market value, as measured by professional appraisers?

Highly unlikely, you'd probably say. Everybody knows that owners tend to have optimistic impressions of what their homes are worth. They know how much money they've sunk into improving the place and they know — or think they know — the prices for houses in the neighborhood.

But provocative new research from the country's second-largest mortgage lender suggests the opposite may be true. According to new statistical analyses by Quicken Loans, owners on average now underestimate the value of their homes by 1.6 percent compared with appraisers' valuations.

Using massive databases of 50,000 to 60,000 new applications for mortgage refinancings per month, Quicken has created what it calls the Home Price Perception Index to measure the differences between owners' upfront estimates — routinely provided to loan officers as part of the application process — and the appraisals that are subsequently performed.

During November, owners seeking to refinance in roughly three-quarters of the major metropolitan areas covered by the index had lower estimates of their homes' worth than what turned out to be the appraised value, according to researchers. The dollar differences were not huge in most cases — between $2,000 and $4,000 on a $200,000 home. But in a few markets they were considerably larger. Owners in San Jose, Calif., estimated their houses to be worth 
6 percent less than the value subsequently determined by appraisers. With a median sale price of $860,000 for existing homes during the third quarter, a 6 percent perception gap translates into big bucks — $51,600.

In Los Angeles, applicants for refinancings underestimated values on average by 3.8 percent ($482,000 estimate versus $499,641 appraisal); in Seattle, the gap was 2.8 percent ($360,000 versus $370,080); Miami 2.3 percent ($270,000 versus $276,210); Boston 2.2 percent ($400,000 versus $408,880). In the Washington, D.C., area, the gap was 1.8 percent ($389,000 versus $395,885).

Owners overestimated values in a handful of major markets. In Philadelphia, the gap was 1.6 percent, Charlotte, N.C., 
1.3 percent and Chicago 0.3 percent. Quicken researchers found the widespread pattern of undervaluation is in distinct contrast with owners' estimates a few years ago, which often were far out of sync with appraisers' reports.

At the peak of the housing bubble in 2005-06, appraisals often came in below owners' estimates, in part because prices were spiraling upward at double-digit rates in overheated markets. In the recession years following the bust, the gap between what owners believed their homes to be worth and appraisers' valuations gradually narrowed, and by 2013, with the market rebounding solidly in many areas, it virtually disappeared. More recently, the trend has shifted to slight underestimations by owners.

Why are owners a little behind on pricing? Quicken chief economist Bob Walters attributes it in part to the fact that owners are more likely than professional appraisers to lag market trends. "Appraisers are looking at the market all the time," he said in an interview. Owners, especially those who are seeking to refinance but not sell, aren't as likely to stay on top of month-to-month changes.

Appraisers I contacted for reactions generally were skeptical of the Quicken index findings. Kenneth J. Mullinix of Laguna Beach, Calif., said "never" in 20 years in the business "have I done an appraisal where the owner has said to me, 'Wow, the appraised value is higher than I thought."

But one nationally known appraisal expert, Gary Crabtree of Bakersfield, Calif., thinks that Quicken may be on to something. "Today's homeowners have access to numerous (online) valuation tools and multiple listing service systems that they didn't have" until recently, he said in an email. As a result, they "tend to more closely track the market conditions in their neighborhood."

Does it matter much if you underestimate your home's worth by a percentage point or two? It definitely does if you plan to sell — you could end up leaving money on the table.

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US mulls putting NKorea on terrorism sponsor list

HONOLULU — The United States is reviewing whether to put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Barack Obama said as the U.S. decides how to respond to the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that law enforcement has blamed on the communist nation.

Obama described the hacking case as a "very costly, very expensive" example of cybervandalism, but did not call it an act of war. In trying to fashion a proportionate response, the president said the U.S. would examine the facts to determine whether North Korea should find itself back on the terrorism sponsors list.

"We're going to review those through a process that's already in place," Obama told CNN's "State of the Union" in an interview broadcast Sunday. "I'll wait to review what the findings are."

North Korea spent two decades on the list until the Bush administration removed it in 2008 during nuclear negotiations. Some lawmakers have called for the designation to be restored following the hack that led Sony to cancel the release of a big-budget film that North Korea found offensive.

Only Iran, Sudan, Syria and Cuba remain on the list, which triggers sanctions that limit U.S. aid, defense exports and certain financial transactions.

But adding North Korea back could be difficult. To meet the criteria, the State Department must determine that a country has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, a definition that traditionally has referred to violent, physical attacks rather than hacking.

North Korea threatened to strike back at the United States if Obama retaliated, the National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. The statement offered no details of a possible response.

Obama also leveled fresh criticism against Sony over its decision to shelve "The Interview," despite the company's insistence that its hand was forced after movie theaters refused to show it.

While professing sympathy for Sony's situation, Obama suggested he might have been able to help address the problem if given the chance.

"You know, had they talked to me directly about this decision, I might have called the movie theater chains and distributors and asked them what that story was," Obama said.

Sony's CEO has disputed that the company never reached out, saying he spoke to a senior White House adviser about the situation before Sony announced the decision. White House officials said Sony did discuss cybersecurity with the federal government, but that the White House was never consulted on the decision not to distribute the film.

"Sometimes this is a matter of setting a tone and being very clear that we're not going to be intimidated by some, you know, cyberhackers," Obama said. "And I expect all of us to remember that and operate on that basis going forward."

David Boies, lawyer representing Sony Pictures Entertainment, said the movie will come out. "How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Boies also said theaters "quite understandably" decided not to show the film as scheduled because of threats against them and moviegoers. "You can't release a movie unless you have a distribution channel," he said.

North Korea has denied hacking the studio, and on Saturday proposed a joint investigation with the U.S. to determine the true culprit. The White House rejected the idea and said it was confident North Korea was responsible.

But the next decision — how to respond — is hanging over the president as he vacations with his family in Hawaii.

Obama's options are limited. The U.S. already has trade penalties in place and there is no appetite for military action.

"I think we've got to recognize that this is not a Sony security problem. This is a national security problem," Boies said.

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Reach Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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Hopes, fears, doubts surround Cuba's oil future

MIAMI — One of the most prolific oil and gas basins on the planet sits just off Cuba's northwest coast, and the thaw in relations with the United States is giving rise to hopes that Cuba can now get in on the action.

It's a prospect welcomed by Cubans desperate for economic growth yet deeply concerning for environmentalists and the tourism industry in the region.

But a Cuban oil boom is unlikely anytime soon even if restrictions on U.S. businesses are relaxed because of low oil prices and far better drilling opportunities elsewhere.

"(Cuba) is not going to be the place where operators come rolling in," says Bob Fryklund, chief strategist for oil and gas exploration and production at the analysis firm IHS.

Although Cuba's oil and gas industry has long been open to foreign investment, the U.S. embargo has denied it some of the world's best deep-water drilling technology and expertise. As a result, Cuba produces just 55,000 barrels of oil per day. About one-third of that is produced by a Canadian firm called Sherritt International.

Cuba needs 155,000 barrels per day, and it fills the gap with oil from Venezuela, part of a trade agreement established under former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. By comparison, a single large oil platform in the deep water U.S. Gulf of Mexico can produce 200,000 barrels per day.

The few major exploration projects in Cuba in recent years have had little success. Most recently, the Spanish company Repsol abandoned a yearslong exploration project in 2012 when an offshore exploratory well failed to find much oil.

Fryklund says that U.S. oil services firms, which have been prevented from working in Cuba, could provide technology to operators in Cuba to help increase production somewhat. Also, U.S. refiners could find a new market in Cuba for gasoline and diesel or refining technology. Cuba has been struggling to find a partner to finance an upgrade an expansion of its largest refinery, in Cienfuegos.

But a factor that helped push Cuba to seek closer ties with the United States also could impede major oil exploration there: low oil prices.

A plunge of nearly 50 percent in the global price of oil has crushed the oil-dependent economies of Venezuela and Russia, threatening aid from Cuba's biggest benefactors.

"None of Cuba's friends have the financial capability to throw a safety net or a safety line to Cuba," says Jorge Pinon, former Amoco Oil Latin America president now at the University of Texas. Cuba suffered enormously when foreign aid dried up after the fall of the Soviet Union, and it wants to avoid similar economic pain now that Venezuelan aid is uncertain.

Low oil prices also force drillers to shy away from risky projects because the potential for a big financial return is so much smaller.

Even though Cuba sits relatively close to some of the biggest deep-water oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico, the geology under Cuba's waters is drastically different from that of the rest of the Gulf.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are 4.6 billion barrels of undiscovered oil in Cuba — a substantial but not enormous amount because not all of that oil could possibly be produced. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico contains an estimated 10 times that much.

Also, there are also bigger and better-known fields in Mexico, which recently amended its constitution to allow foreign investment in its oil industry.

Cuba could offer very favorable terms to entice drillers to come, however, and smaller firms willing to take bigger risks may give Cuba a shot.

A major concern for environmentalists and the tourism industry in the region is Cuba's ability to drill at international safety standards, including its response to any spill, according to Bob Graham, who co-chaired the national commission on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They fear a spill could quickly spread to ecologically rich and economically important reefs and beaches in nearby Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

Under the U.S. embargo of Cuba, which remains in place, anything comprised of more than 10 percent U.S. parts cannot be sold to Cuba or a Cuban contractor. That covers almost all modern drilling systems, Graham says. "It's going to require some modification of the embargo to allow state-of-the-art equipment to be used for Cuban drilling."

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has been working with the U.S. Coast Guard and other state and federal agencies to study the possible threats posed by offshore oil drilling near the Florida Straits and the Bahamas, says NOAA spokesman Ben Sherman. The agency also shares technical expertise on oil spill planning and response with Caribbean nations, including Cuba, Sherman says.

When William Reilly, Graham's co-chair on Deepwater Horizon spill commission and head of the EPA under President George H. W. Bush, presented the commission's final report to Cuban regulators in Havana, he found they had already made plans to follow the commission's recommendations with the resources they had. That included sending staff to Canada to learn English to improve communications in the event of an oil spill.

Reilly says Cuban officials had high hopes for their oil industry. A delegation had a telescope trained on an offshore rig that was exploring for oil and gas, though it could be seen without a telescope. "It was like a beacon of economic hope to Cubans in Havana," he says.

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Fahey reported from New York. He can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey . Jennifer Kay can be reached at http://twitter.com/jnkay .

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Why the Sony hack isn't big news in Japan

Japan's biggest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, featured a story about Sony Corp. on its website Friday. It wasn't about hacking. It was about the company's struggling tablet business.

Over at newswire Kyodo News, just after the FBI formally blamed North Korea for the cyberattack, mega pop group AKB48 topped headlines online instead.

While American journalists have extensively covered the fallout from the unprecedented Sony hacking attack, it hasn't exactly been massive news in Japan. Stories certainly surfaced after President Barack Obama weighed in on the issue at his year-end press conference Friday. But overall it has received relatively modest attention, mostly in short stories on the inside pages of Japan's major newspapers.

This might all be perplexing to the rest of the world since Sony is one of Japan's most iconic global brands. Here are a few reasons why the story hasn't gotten major play in Japan's mainstream media:

SONY vs SONY PICTURES

While Sony Pictures is technically part of the Sony empire, it has long been run as an entirely separate U.S. company. So far, the Japanese media seems to view the hack as an American problem rather than a domestic one. Indeed, at Sony headquarters itself, officials have refused all comment and referred questions about Sony Pictures to the movie division's headquarters in Culver City, California.

"This is seen mainly as an attack on Hollywood," Damian Thong, a senior analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities in Tokyo, said earlier this week. "I feel they want to clean it up as fast they can and just get on with life."

The studio shelved the Christmas Day release of the North Korea spoof movie "The Interview" after the hackers threatened to attack theaters that showed the film. But for Japan, the movie's demise hardly matters. Sony Pictures never planned to show the film there.

NEWSPAPER DEMOGRAPHICS

Japan's newspapers, which have the highest daily circulations in the world, are inclined to avoid news that is technologically complex. Like hacking. Nobuyuki Hayashi, a veteran freelance tech journalist and consultant based in Tokyo, said the tendency stems from reporters and editors who often don't have a deep understanding of technology. And neither do their aging readers.

"If you are technically savvy and need information (about the Sony hack), you will get it from the Web news media," Hayashi said. "Some technically-savvy people subscribe to a printed newspaper as well, but that's only to read other kinds of news."

OTHER NEWS

It's been a newsy December in Japan, especially with national elections last weekend. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party locked up a solid majority in the lower house and reaffirmed his hold on power for up to four more years. In addition to politics, the national chatter was focused on a big blizzard that hit the northern island of Hokkaido this week, dumping heavy snow, derailing trains and killing several people.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

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