World/Nation Briefs

Capacity crowds turn up for 'The Interview'

NEW YORK - Critics and early viewers agree that "The Interview" is less than a masterpiece. But thanks to threats from hackers that nearly derailed its release, it has become an event.

Hundreds of theaters Thursday, from The Edge 8 in Greenville, Ala., to Michael Moore's Bijou by the Bay in Traverse City, Mich., made special holiday arrangements for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures had initially called off the release after major theater chains dropped the movie that was to have opened on as many as 3,000 screens.

But with President Obama among others criticizing the decision, Sony officials changed their minds. "The Interview" became available on a variety of digital platforms Wednesday afternoon, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website. Meanwhile, Sony and independent theaters agreed to release it in over 300 venues on Christmas.

"We are taking a stand for freedom," said theater manager Lee Peterson of the Cinema Village East in Manhattan, where most of Thursday's seven screenings had sold out by early afternoon. "We want to show the world that Americans will not be told what we can or cannot watch. Personally, I am not afraid."

At Atlanta's Plaza Theater, a sell-out crowd Thursday hailed the film's release, washing down popcorn with beer and cocktails and uniting for a boisterous sing-along of "God Bless America" before the opening credits.

Cubans worry about downside of U.S. detente

HAVANA - Like tens of thousands of Cubans, Gerardo Luis wants to get to the United States and he's suddenly worried that time may be running out.

Across an island where migrating north is an obsession, the widespread jubilation over last week's historic U.S-Cuba detente is soured by fear that warming relations will eventually end Cubans' unique fast track to legal American residency.

For nearly a half-century, the Cuban Adjustment Act has given Cubans who arrive in the U.S. a virtually guaranteed path to legal residency and eventual citizenship. The knowledge that they will be shielded from deportation has drawn hundreds of thousands of Cubans on perilous raft trips to Florida and land journeys through Central America and Mexico.

"If they take away the adjustment law, it would mean Cubans would end up just like all the other Hispanics who want to enter the United States," said Luis, a 36-year-old construction worker who said he may try to reach Mexico and walk across the border if he doesn't get a visa soon.

U.S. officials say there are no immediate plans to change immigration laws or policy. But with the U.S. and Cuba negotiating a return to full diplomatic relations, many Cubans are wondering how long their extraordinary privilege can survive under restored diplomacy, and are thinking about speeding up plans to get to the U.S.

Obama's chef hangs up apron after six years

WASHINGTON - Political advisers, chiefs of staff, press secretaries and national security advisers have come and gone in the nearly six years Barack Obama has been president. Now, Obama's personal chef is waving goodbye.

Sam Kass has been a fixture at the executive mansion, serving up nutrition policy alongside meals for Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha. He was not only their personal chef but senior adviser for nutrition policy, giving him a seat at the table where administration officials hashed out everything from updated food labels to new requirements for healthier school lunches.

Kass, a newlywed, is leaving the White House at the end of the month, but don't ask him what the Obamas like or don't like to eat. "Top secret," he said.

"I love this family and believe in everything the president and first lady are doing and this has been the greatest job of my life and I assume will be the greatest job of my life," the 34-year-old Chicago native said in an interview. "But I'm going to be with my wife. Once you're married you kind of need to be together."

Kass' wife, MSNBC host Alex Wagner, is based in New York City.

Power returns to Mississippi town after storm

COLUMBIA, Miss. - Workers restored power Thursday to tornado-scarred Columbia, while volunteers helped clear rubble, cover roofs and do whatever else they could to help the Mississippi town recover.

"We figured, what better time to show the love of Jesus than on his birthday?" Ed Brashier, minister of a church in Gardendale Alabama, told WDAM-TV on Christmas.

Tornadoes killed four people in southwest Mississippi on Tuesday as a storm system kicked off twisters across the region.

Marion County coroner Norma Williamson identified one of those killed as Amber Sumrall, 33, of Sandy Hook. Sumrall died after being trapped in the Head-to-Toe beauty salon where she worked, Williamson told The Hattiesburg American.

She also confirmed the identity of MaryJean Sartin. Elizabeth Bordelon told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Sartin, her 73-year-old grandmother, and an aunt who was hospitalized with injuries, were trapped when a neighbor's trailer home flipped onto theirs.

- The Associated Press