Madonna Defends Altered Pictures ... Of MLK and Mandela

Madonna is defending photoshopped images of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela she posted on Instagram ... claiming the pics were never intended to insult anyone.If you missed it ... Madonna posted a series of pics on her page Friday -- showing the faces of Mandela, MLK and various icons bound with black string -- like the cover of her new album "Rebel Heart."Following an online backlash -- where some longtime fans swore they were done with -- Madonna took to her Facebook to defend the pics ... saying, "This is neither a crime or an insult or racist."She adds, "I'm saying they are Rebel Hearts too."Express explain yourself.

More Americans disapprove of Sony film cancellation.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nearly half of Americans believe Sony Pictures made the wrong decision by canceling the theatrical release of the comedy "The Interview," the film that provoked a cyberattack on the studio, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

Forty-seven percent of respondents said they disagreed with Sony scrapping the film last Wednesday, after several movie theater chains chose not to screen the raunchy satire that depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Another 29 percent of those polled said they agreed with the decision to pull the film, which had been slated for a Christmas Day release, while 24 percent said they did not have an opinion.

The FBI has determined that the North Korean government is responsible for the devastating cyberattack that disabled the computer network on Sony Pictures Entertainment and exposed a trove of sensitive data and personal email. [

North Korea has denied it was to blame and has even called for a joint investigation, a suggestion Washington's U.N. envoy Samantha Powers has called "absurd."

The online poll, conducted from Dec. 18-22, suggests that Americans mostly agree with President Barack Obama when he said last Friday Sony "made a mistake" by canceling the release and bowing to the intimidation of the hackers. He expressed concerns over self-censorship in Hollywood.

Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton responded by saying the Hollywood studio had no choice after the movie theaters pulled out of the release due to unspecified threats the hackers made against the theaters and audiences. He wants to release the film on an alternative platform, but no partners have come forward.

A majority of respondents, 63 percent, said they agree that North Korea is threat to the United States, while only 20 percent disagree.

In the wake of the Sony cyberattack, the most destructive on a private company on U.S. soil, the poll showed that Americans are not overwhelmingly becoming more cautious about their email or passwords.

Thirty-eight percent said they are now more cautious about what they share on private email, compared to 47 percent who are not. When it comes to changing passwords, 31 percent have done so since the Sony cyberattack became public four weeks ago, while 55 percent have not.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,246 Americans online and has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Mohammed Ali hospitalised for pneumonia

Muhammad Ali is in a hospital battling pneumonia -- but doctors expect him to make a full recovery.72-year-old Ali was admitted to an undisclosed hospital early Saturday morning ... according to a rep for the boxing legend. The rep says it's a mild case of pneumonia which doctors caught early -- so he's not expected to have a very long hospital stay.Earlier this month ... TMZ Sports got pics of "The Greatest" hanging with Snoop Dogg at Nevada's high school championship game. Snoop's son and Ali's grandson were teammates at Bishop Gorman high.

Canadian man picks stranger with ex girlfreinds name for world trip.

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian man will travel the world with Elizabeth Gallagher. Just not the same Elizabeth Gallagher he used to date.

Jordan Axani, 28, and his former girlfriend booked the three-week trip in May, including stops in Italy, France, India and Thailand. But the pair broke up, leaving Axani with plane tickets booked in her name.

Wary of the hassle of changing names on tickets booked with several airlines, Axani put out a call on social media website Reddit in November for someone with the same name as his ex-girlfriend and a valid Canadian passport.

After worldwide media attention, Axani received thousands of responses, including from Nova Scotia student Elizabeth "Quinn" Gallagher, 23. Axani picked Gallagher, a homeless shelter volunteer, after talking with her on the phone and becoming impressed with her social conscience.

"It's totally platonic," Axani said from New York where the trip starts on Sunday. "Do I think we'll become friends? Sure."

Other responses were more odd. Axani said he heard from hundreds of people, male and female, who offered to legally change their names.

Axani has turned the attention into a charity called A Ticket Forward that aims to fund trips for underprivileged people.

What does the original Elizabeth Gallagher think of all this? Axani said she has been in touch but he declined further comment.

Carl Bernstein Sony Hacking Scandal I'm on the Case!

Carl Bernstein has some serious questions about Sony's decision to pull "The Interview" from theaters ... and he's planning on digging for answers.The legendary journalist talked to our photog just after the news broke Wednesday afternoon ... saying he hopes Sony made the move because of a credible threat and not out of cowardice.Bernstein said he'll call his sources to find out if Sony was justified based on real threats ... and the guy clearly has sources.We spotted Bernstein again later that night (random, right?) where he wondered out loud whether or not it was a good idea to make a film about assassinating a foreign leader in the first place.

DID GOOGLE EARTH SPOT A MONSTER?

Did Google Earth Spot A Sea Monster In New Zealand?

It's too big to be a shark, and too quick to be a whale. So what is it?

Probably a glitch. But some people are convinced that this mysterious shadow that appears in the waters of Oke Bay, off the coast of New Zealand's North Island, is a sea monster:

Engineer Pita Witehira, who first spotted the dark mass using Google Earth, told the Daily Mail that he doesn't think it's a boat because there's no white wake. Other people think it's a floating tree trunk.

It isn't the first cryptozoological sighting in the region. In 2013, witnesses snapped a picture of a strange shape off the coast of Australia's Magnetic Island.

Amateur photographer David “Crusty” Herron claimed it was the Loch Ness monster. Granted that Magnetic Island is more than 1,000 miles away from Oke Bay, but that's a lot closer than Scotland.