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[h=4]5 things you need to know Monday[/h]The biggest and most buzzworthy news to start your morning.
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Washington and Havana plan to officially restore diplomatic relations on Monday.(Photo: Ramon Espinosa, AP)
1. Cuban embassy opens in Washington, D.C.
The Cuban flag will rise in Washington, D.C., for the first time in five decades on Monday in the latest step toward normalized relations between the two countries. The flag-raising will be part of a daylong series of events commemorating the opening of a full Cuban embassy in Washington, about two miles north of the White House. Since 1977, the building has served as a Cuban "interests section," where officials process visas and conduct basic consular services. The U.S. State Department has not announced when it will conduct a similar ceremony in Havana to convert the U.S. Interests Section there into a full embassy.
Members of "The Cuban Five," from left, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Ramon Labanino, wave to the public, in front of a Cuban flag after a concert in Havana on Dec. 20. Guerrero, Labanino, and Hernandez flew back to their homeland from the United States on Dec. 17, in a quiet exchange of imprisoned spies.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> Ramon Espinosa, AP
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2. Jordan Spieth could make history at the British Open
With four birdies on his inward nine, the reigning Masters and U.S. Open champion shot 6-under-par 66 on Sunday and is in serious contention to win the Claret Jug and continue his chase toward history. He'll start the final round one shot out of the lead held by Jason Day, amateur Paul Dunne and Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Open in 2010. With victory on Monday, the 21-year-old Spieth would join fellow Texan Ben Hogan as the only players to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.
3. Banks in Greece re-open
Greece's banks were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>closed since June 29 after the country flirted with bankruptcy, defaulting on debts to the International Monetary Fund as its second bailout deal expired. The banks reopened Monday but still have a daily cash withdrawal limit of 60 euros<span style="color: Red;">*</span>($65)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and a weekly cash limit of 420 euros ($455). No one knows when those restrictions on cash withdrawals will be lifted.
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Perhaps some Greeks could use a refresher on Aristotle's 2,000-year-old philosophical teachings.
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4. Boko Haram tops agenda when Nigerian president meets with Obama
Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari will meet with President Obama on Monday to mend relations battered by his predecessor's failures to fight an Islamic uprising and corruption in Africa's biggest oil producer. Buhari's March election was hailed as the first democratic change of power in the West African nation that has suffered decades of military rule. Suicide bombings and village attacks blamed on Nigeria's homegrown Boko Haram extremists have killed hundreds of people at home and in neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon just in the past two weeks.
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mujahid Safodien, AFP/Getty Images)
5. It's been three years since the shooting in Aurora, Colo.
Three years ago Monday, James Holmes shot dozens of people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Holmes last week was found guilty of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others, and jurors will return the courtroom this week to begin the sentencing phase. In the years since Holmes'<span style="color: Red;">*</span>crime, 78 additional mass killings have occurred, the most recent being the shooting and resulting deaths of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>four Marines and one Navy sailor<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Chattanooga, Tenn. USA TODAY has kept a tally of mass killings<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with data going back to 2006. Analysis shows there is a mass killing every two weeks; so far this year, there have been 15 mass killings, claiming 75<span style="color: Red;">*</span>lives.
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After just 13 hours of deliberations, the jury in the Aurora theater shooting trial determined James Holmes is guilty of murder. Take a look back at some of the biggest moments. VPC
And, the essentials:
Weather: The national weather forecast for Monday calls for more rain for parts of California and severe weather from Missouri to West Virginia.
Stocks: U.S. stock futures were higher Monday.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at a Syfy shark attack and Bachelorette.
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Contributing: Associated Press
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