Cheat Sheet - Why Obama Needs Kanye West

Today: 27 Dead from Freezing Weather , The GOP's History of Sexist Hillary-Bashing , Japan PM Visits Contentious Shrine December 26, 2013 PRAISE YEEZUS 1. Why Obama Needs Kanye West Obama loves Kanye's music, but he'd rather spend an evening with the cast of Duck Dynasty than the egomaniacal rapper. Eli Lake on why he should reconsider. Read it at The Daily Beast ICE COLD 2. 27 Dead from Freezing Weather Twenty-seven people have died in the freezing temperatures left behind by an ice storm that knocked down power lines from Michigan across the Northeast—with 17 fatalities in the U.S. and 10 in Canada. Of those deaths in Canada, seven were caused by carbon-monoxide poisoning from generators or barbecue grills used to keep warm. Tens of thousands of Americans who lost power in an ice storm over the weekend will remain in the dark and cold until Friday, as frigid temperatures have not allowed the ice to melt. The American Red Cross set up a warming shelter and is providing meals for people out of a mobile food truck in Flint, Mich., the state hit the hardest by the storm. Read it at USA Today REPUBLICAN SEXISM 3. The History of Hillary-Bashing Desperate to stop a second Clinton presidency in 2016, it's a sure bet many in the GOP will reprise the ugly attacks they used on her 22 years ago. Sam Kleiner reports. Read it at The Daily Beast TOUCHY 4. Japan PM Visits Contentious Shrine Japan's prime minister managed to irritate Chinese and South Korean leaders and worry the United States in one move. On Thursday, Shinzo Abe visited a controversial shrine that honors those killed in battle alongside Japanese leaders who were convicted of war crimes following World War II. The shrine is seen as a symbol of hostility by China and South Korea, but Abe insisted he went to the shrine in peace. "There is criticism based on the misconception that this is an act to worship war criminals, but I have visited Yasukuni Shrine to report to the souls of the war dead on the progress made this year and to convey my resolve that people never again suffer the horrors of war," he told reporters. Read it at Reuters DESPERATE PLEA 5. Al Qaeda's U.S. Captive Begs Al Qaeda released a video on Christmas of a U.S. government contractor pleading for President Obama to negotiate for his freedom. Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped from his home in Pakistan in August 2011, said in the video that he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten" by the U.S. The 72 year old, who looks significantly older and more worn down than in previous videos the terrorist group has released, noted that his health is waning, and that his captors have agreed to let his family visit him if Obama permits members of al Qaeda held in the U.S. to receive visits from their relatives. The White House has not yet responded to the video, which was released by The Washington Post, but officials have said in the past that the U.S. will not negotiate with al Qaeda. Read it at CNN FREE TO GO Russia Releases Activists Arrested Greenpeace crew allowed to leave. UNSETTLING Snowden: Spying Worse Than '1984' Compared NSA to Orwell novel in Xmas message. REVOLUTIONARY BIRTHDAY China Wishes Mao a Happy 120th As it debates how to remember him. EXTREMISTS U.S. Sending Arms to Iraq To help fight al Qaeda. WALL STREET WIN Stocks Set to Break Records Slated for best year since 1997. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Why Do You Hate Justin Bieber? by Rawiya Kameir Surviving Life in a '70s Sex Commune by Nico Hines Rob Ford's Facebook Friends by Gideon Resnick

ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE Copyright 2013 The Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street , New York NY 10011 Privacy Policy

If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, click here to view this email in your Web browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add thedailybeast@e2.thedailybeast.com to your address book. If you have changed your mind and no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can safely unsubscribe here.