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Your Wednesday Briefing

Pakistan began three days of mourning after the Taliban attack on a school that killed 145 people.Credit...K.M. Chaudary/Associated Press

Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• U.S. to end decades of hostility with Cuba.

The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century, President Obama said today.

The deal, which comes after the mutual exchange of prisoners, was negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada.

• “Thank God it’s over.”

That was Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia after the 113th Congress met for the last time Tuesday night.

About 200 bills became law in the last two years, the fewest since the 900 laws of the so-called “do-nothing Congress” of 1947-48.

On Tuesday, President Obama signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will keep the government running for nine months, and Congress extended more than 50 expired tax breaks.

• Funerals in Pakistan.

The country began three days of mourning after the Taliban attack on a school that killed 145 people, almost all of them children.

The prime minister leads a meeting of all political parties to discuss the government’s response. Terrorists have killed more than 50,000 Pakistanis since 2001.

• Movie premiere canceled.

The New York premiere of “The Interview,” the Sony Pictures comedy about the assassination of the North Korean leader, was called off after threats from hackers who said they seized control of Sony’s computer system last month.

The F.B.I. is investigating the breach, which also exposed personal and damaging information.

• How America sees race.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows only 40 percent of Americans believe that race relations in the U.S. are good.

It is the most negative assessment since a jury in California acquitted O.J. Simpson in the murder of his ex-wife and another man in 1995.

• Breaking a barrier.

The Church of England appointed its first female bishop today, overturning centuries of tradition.

MARKETS

• Wall Street stocks are strongly higher. European and Asian indexes ended mixed.

• Russia sold some foreign currency to prop up the ruble, and its slide today is so far contained.

The ruble has plunged 50 percent against the dollar this year, 20 percent in the past two days alone.

• The Federal Reserve concludes its latest policy-setting meeting with a news conference this afternoon by its chairwoman.

• Baidu, a Chinese Internet giant, said today that it is buying a stake in Uber to expand the car-hailing service there.

Uber in China lags far behind two domestic apps backed by Alibaba and Tencent Holdings.

• Shares in OnDeck Capital, an alternative lender to small businesses, rose 35 percent in their trading debut.

NOTEWORTHY

• The dwarfs, elves and orcs return.

The director Peter Jackson concludes his trilogy treatment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” with a film, opening today, devoted to warfare and driven by greed.

Our critic Nicolas Rapold writes that “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” compares unfavorably with Mr. Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Here’s what else is new in theaters.

• Holiday goings-on.

President Obama hosts two Hanukkah receptions, one in the afternoon and one at night, at the White House.

And the pop singer Michael Bublé hosts a Christmas special with performances by Barbra Streisand, Ariana Grande, Miss Piggy and the Rockettes (8 p.m. Eastern, NBC).

• N.B.A.'s hottest team falls.

The Memphis Grizzlies ended the Golden State Warriors’ 16-game winning streak with a 105-98 victory in Tuesday’s game between the league’s two top teams.

• Record-breaking hockey.

The Florida Panthers outlasted the Washington Capitals, 2-1, after 20 rounds of a tiebreaker shootout Tuesday night.

• American culture in film.

“Rosemary’s Baby,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Big Lebowski” are among the movies being added this year to the National Film Registry, the Library of Congress said today.

The films will be preserved to “protect a crucial element of American creativity, culture and history.”

• The father of Clifford, the Big Red Dog.

Norman Bridwell, who created the character for a children’s book in 1963, died at age 86.

The author’s latest book in the popular collection, “Clifford Celebrates Hanukkah,” is to be published next year.

BACK STORY

Four years ago today, a 26-year-old college graduate went off to work in a small town in Tunisia.

He was eking out a living the only way he could find: as a fruit and vegetable vendor to support his mother, uncle and five brothers and sisters at home.

After the authorities confiscated his wares, beat him and refused to return his property, he doused himself with paint thinner and lit a match in front of the local governor’s office.

The despair and death of the young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, caused anti-government protests. Within a month, Tunisia’s leader fled, ending 23 years of authoritarian rule.

Mr. Bouazizi’s match also lit a fuse in the region. A wave of protests struck Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Jordan, and even spread to Turkey. Leaders have been toppled and blood has been shed in the Arab Spring.

Tunisia held its first free and democratic presidential election last month. And when Tunisians voted in 2011 to elect an assembly, Mr. Bouazizi’s mother said it was “a moment of victory for my son, who died defending dignity and liberty.”

Your Morning Briefing is posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern.

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