Weather forecasters are not predicting a jolly time this Christmas. A Christmas Eve storm is expected to bring plenty of rain and winds. Santa Claus may find the roads slippery and will need waterproof boots in the NYC area on Christmas Eve. A storm with heavy rain and gusty winds is expected to whip through the area Wednesday, making holiday travel soggy and stressful.

Starting Saturday, there will be a slight chance of rain and snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Northeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen returned from Cuba with Alan Gross and a new US strategy of engagement with Cuba:

For over 50 years, US officials have tried to bring about positive change and reform in Cuba by attempting to isolate the island nation. It is clear that policy has been a miserable failure. Over the last five decades, the Castro brothers have outlasted over eight American presidents and very little has changed. The oft-cited definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

The New York City premiere of Sony's spoof comedy film The Interview has now officially been cancelled.

The Interview is a comedy about the assassination of North Korea's president, but it has has been cancelled amid threats from hackers.

Major US movie theater chains are delaying plans to show Sony Pictures' North Korea parody "The Interview" after threats made on cinemas showing the major motion picture by a hacking group that waged a cyberattack on the Hollywood studio.

The governments of US and Cuba are paving the way for a massive overhaul in their political policies.

For more than five decades, US has kept an economic embargo on Cuba, but all of this is now changing under the Obama administration. Today President Obama begins a broad range of diplomatic and regulatory measures that are considered the most sweeping change in U.S. policy toward Cuba since the 1961 embargo was imposed.

US Congress on tonight extended tax breaks for 2014. It took senators until now to pass the bill, which the House had already approved. The bill will now be sent to President Obama, who's expected to sign.

Deduction for teachers' expenses: This allows school teachers deduct up to $250 for the costs of classroom supplies they buy with their own money. It's available to all teachers, whether they itemize or not.