--- description: U.S. Links North Korea to Hack American officials have determined the government of North Korea is connected to the hack that left Sony Entertainment Pictures... title: Morning Must Reads: December 18 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Morning Must Reads](/tag/morning-must-reads/) ## Morning Must Reads Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Morning Must Reads: December 18 by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2014 12:07 PM CUT  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2014 12:07 PM CUT [U.S. Links North Korea to Hack](http://time.com/3639237/sony-hack-north-korea-the-interview/ "undefined") American officials have determined the government of North Korea is connected to the hack that left Sony Entertainment Pictures reeling and eventually prompted it to pull _The Interview_, a movie critical of the country’s leader [Understanding the Sony Hack](http://time.com/3639275/the-interview-sony-hack-north-korea/ "undefined") Everything to know about the massive hack against Sony that prompted it to nix _The Interview_ [U.S., Cuba Make Nice](http://time.com/3637483/alan-gross-cuba-barack-obama/ "undefined") The U.S. and Cuba will work to normalize diplomatic relations for the first time in half-century, after the release of an American prisoner [Everything We Know as _Serial’s_ Season One Ends](http://time.com/3638564/serial-season-finale-2/ "undefined") As the 12th installment of _Serial_ downloads on countless phones Thursday morning, a common question will reverberate through curious minds: Did he do it? Did Adnan Syed kill Hae Min Lee on that January day back in 1999? [Elton John to Wed Longtime Partner David Furnish](http://time.com/3639325/elton-john-david-furnish-wedding/ "undefined") The pair entered a civil partnership in 2005, but in recent weeks, rumors have run rampant about impending nuptials. Various outlets have reported that a private, intimate ceremony will take place at their Windsor estate on Dec. 21 [NOAA Arctic Report Card Short on Good News](http://time.com/3639361/noaa-arctic-report-climate-change-polar-bears/ "undefined") This year’s Arctic Report Card, a NOAA-led work by 63 authors, reports a continuation of Arctic warming: Alaska is seeing temperature anomalies more than 18 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the January average and temperatures are rising in region’s seas [Most of the World Is Living Longer](http://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/ "undefined") Life expectancy across the globe has increased by more than six years since 1990 to 71.5 years, according to a new study published Wednesday. Medical funding for fighting infectious diseases has grown since 1990 and helped drive the improvement [Scientists Spot Drugs That Could Treat Ebola](http://time.com/3638494/ebola-drugs/ "undefined") Scientists have identified 53 existing drugs that could be effective in fighting Ebola, according to newly published research that came from screening drug compounds already available to see if they can treat the deadly disease [Peshawar Death Toll at 148 as Full Horror Emerges](http://time.com/3639481/peshawar-school-massacre-pakistan-taliban/ "undefined") With the death toll from Peshawar school massacre rising to 148 — at least 132 of them children — residents of this strife-torn Pakistani city, and survivors, are struggling to come to terms with Tuesday’s horror, in which Taliban gunman attacked an army-run school [NYC Rapper Bobby Shmurda Arrested](http://time.com/3639355/bobby-shmurda-arrested-nyc-brooklyn-drugs/ "undefined") Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda was arrested in New York City on Wednesday, in connection with an investigation into street violence and drug trafficking in the city’s outer borough. Shmurda, whose real name is Ackquille Pollard, was taken into custody by investigators [Chicago Judge Rejects $75 Million NCAA Settlement](http://time.com/3639373/ncaa-lawsuit-concussion-settlement-rejected/ "undefined") A Chicago judge on Wednesday rejected a $75 million settlement with the NCAA on player concussions, saying the funds allocated as part of the deal would potentially fall short and urging both parties to resume negotiations [Executions in the United States at 20 Year Low](http://time.com/3639458/executions-death-penalty-capital-punishment/ "undefined") Amidst a nationwide mediation on the future of the death penalty in the U.S., the nation reached a 20-year low in carried-out executions in 2014, the Death Penalty Information Center said in its annual report We will hold an #AskTIME subscriber Q&A this Friday, December 19, at 1 p.m., with TIME managing editor, [Nancy Gibbs](http://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/ "undefined"), who recently selected [The Ebola Fighters ](//time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters/ "undefined")as TIME’s choice for [Person of the Year 2014.](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-editors-letter/ "undefined") You can submit your questions beforehand on Twitter using the #AskTIME hashtag or in the comments of this post. We depend on smart, interesting questions from readers. You will need to be a TIME subscriber to read the Q & A. ([$30 a year or 8 cents a day](http://time.com/2981366/morning-must-reads-july-14/ "undefined") for the magazine and all digital content.) Once you’re signed up, you can log in to the site with a username and password. [_Get_ TIME_’s The Brief e-mail every morning in your inbox_](http://time.com/politicsemail "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3639584/morning-must-reads-december-18/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3639584/morning-must-reads-december-18/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: December 18","datePublished":"2014-12-18T12:07:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:58:15.141Z","description":"U.S. Links North Korea to Hack American officials have determined the government of North Korea is connected to the hack that left Sony Entertainment Pictures...","url":"https://time.com/3639584/morning-must-reads-december-18/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads","North Korea","climate change","Life Expectancy","Obama","NOAA","Taliban","Cuba topic","NCAA","elton john","Peshawar","Sony hack"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/morning-must-reads/","name":"Morning Must Reads"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3639584/morning-must-reads-december-18/","name":"Morning Must Reads: December 18"}}]}] ```