Midday Roundup: Family, friends mourn American student killed in France

An American in Paris. Family members held a memorial service Sunday for Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old American student killed in the Paris terror attacks. Gonzalez, who was studying for a semester at the Strate School of Design, was eating at a restaurant in Paris when she was killed. A native of El Monte, Calif., Gonzalez studied industrial design at California State University at Long Beach. Hundreds gathered there Sunday to remember her imagination, leadership, and work ethic. She was the “the first in, last out, every day,” at the school’s design lab, where she shepherded younger students in their projects, said her boyfriend, Tim Mraz.

Respectfully rescheduling. The CBS Network rescheduled episodes of some of its dramas after the Paris terror attacks, and movie studios changed plans for releases of some films. The plots for episodes of Supergirl and NCIS: LA included references to terror groups and bombings that too closely mirrored last week’s tragedy in Paris, network executives said. Lionsgate simplified plans for its premiere of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 this weekend, and Twentieth Century Fox canceled its Paris premiere of Bridge of Spies. Meanwhile, rock groups, including U2, Coldplay, and Foo Fighters, postponed concerts in Paris and European tours.

Headed home. The United States has released five men held for more than 13 years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said Sunday. The five Yemeni men were accepted for resettlement in the United Arab Emirates after U.S. authorities determined they no longer posed a threat, the Defense Department said in a statement. All of the men were arrested fleeing the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 terror attacks. Most of them were described as low-level fighters with al-Qaeda, but one was suspected of being a possible bodyguard to Osama bin Laden. President Barack Obama has reduced the number of prisoners at Guantanamo by more than half since he took office.

Bah hum-bucks. The latest complaints about businesses ruining the spirit of Christmas come from parents in Cherry Hill, N.J., where families must pay a minimum of $35 for their kids to visit the mall Santa. At Cherry Hill Mall and 11 other malls around the country, Santa waits inside a holiday chateau outfitted with games, a virtual sleigh ride, and iPads for designing gingerbread houses. But those without money for the entrance fee can’t even hope for a glimpse of the jolly old man in the red suit; Santa’s new mall headquarters doesn’t have windows. Despite the cost, families lined up for the “Adventure to Santa” last weekend; one mom even complained to the Philadelphia Inquirer that there weren’t enough iPads and the chateau was stuffy inside.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.