Trending Issues Today

Much of what’s been said about the actual content of “The Interview” has centered on the story of characters played by James Franco and Seth Rogen attempting to assassinate Kim Jong-un. But it turns out there’s an equally, if not more, surprising plot point: Eminem is gay. Eminem treats the whole thing very seriously, telling Franco’s character that he has been "playing gay peek-a-boo" with his fans, and has "pretty much been leaving a bread crumb trail of gayness" for his fans to follow back to the truth. You can watch the scene from Sony’s comedy here on Billboard.com , but don’t be surprised if it gets pulled down, soon.

Boxing Day is the 26th December and is a national holiday in the UK and Ireland. Arguments abound on the origins of the name Boxing Day; all of the answers here are relevant, so maybe it is all of them. A ‘Christmas Box’ in Britain is a name for a Christmas present. Boxing Day was a day off for servants and when they received a ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families. A box to collect money for the poor was placed in Churches on Christmas day then opened the next day. Great sailing ships when setting sail would have a sealed box containing money on board for good luck. If the voyage were a success the box was given to a priest, opened at Christmas and the contents given to the poor.

  Thousands of people reported Christmas Day problems on the Xbox Live and Playstation gaming networks, as a band of hackers took gleeful credit. The networks, which allow users of the popular consoles to play the video games with a wider online community, first crashed on Wednesday evening and the problems persisted into Christmas Day, enraging many users — but especially those powering-up new machines from Santa Claus. Hours after Microsoft’s Xbox Live went down Wednesday , Sony’s PlayStation Network went  down , too. These are two giant networks that console gamers access to play their games online. It's especially bad timing since a lot of people are probably getting new PlayStations and Xboxes for Christmas.

Academy Award (R) winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis "Louie" Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII-only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

The International Space Station (ISS) is among the greatest international cooperative endeavors in the history of engineering, science, and technology. The permanently crewed orbital laboratory enables scientific research supporting innovation on Earth and future deep space exploration . The platform’s external space and interior microgravity environment support fundamental and applied physical, chemical and biological investigations paving the way to profound discovery and commercial applications.

Which one do you say; Happy Holiday or Merry Christmas? Every year at the beginning of December some Americans engage in a ridiculous rhetorical ritual that recycles righteous arguments about whether people should say to one another Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. This question is one skirmish in the broader cultural and political battle that come under the heavily ladened frame of the ' war on Christmas .'

  Joe Cocker OBE Joe Cocker dies at 70 of lung cancer. Joe Cocker , the gravely-voiced singer known for his version of " With a Little Help From My Friends, " died today after battling a lung cancer; according to his agent. Cocker was reportedly on his ranch in Colorado with his wife when he passed away. Cocker's cover of the Beatles 'Help From My Friends' made him an international superstar in 1968. He went on to have several other huge hits, like " You are So Beautiful " in 1975 and his duet with Jennifer Warnes " Up Where We Belong ." That song earned him a Grammy in 1983.