Other developments

• North Korean websites suffered intermittent outages Tuesday after a nearly 10-hour shutdown that followed a U.S. vow to respond to a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures that Washington blames on Pyongyang. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the Internet stoppage. The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible. Even if a cyberattack had caused the shutdown, analysts said, it would largely be symbolic since only a tiny number of North Koreans are allowed on the Internet – a fraction of Pyongyang’s staunchly loyal elite, as well as foreigners.

• A few small movie theaters in Western Washington will be among those showing “The Interview” as part of Sony’s limited Christmas Day release of the film. David McRae, owner of independent Ark Lodge Cinemas in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood, said Tuesday he had received permission to show the comedy. “Before the notoriety, I was never interested in playing it,” said McRae.

Associated Press