10 things you need to know today: December 29, 2014

1. Indonesian officials say missing airliner probably "at the bottom of the sea"

Crews on Monday spotted suspicious objects in the water after resuming the search for AirAsia Flight 8501, which vanished on Sunday with 162 people on board. The head of Indonesia's search and rescue operations said Monday that the airliner is believed to be "at the bottom of the sea." The Airbus A320-200 went missing over the Java Sea after running into intense thunderstorms. It disappeared without a distress call shortly after air-traffic controllers reportedly denied the crew's request for permission to climb to a higher altitude.

USA Today The Washington Post

2. Jeb Bush leads potential GOP presidential rivals

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush holds a big lead over other possible Republican presidential candidates, according to a CNN/ORC Poll. Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, was favored by nearly 23 percent of Republicans polled. His closest competitor, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, trailed him by 10 points. Bush, 61, said two weeks ago that he would start raising money and formally exploring the possibility of launching a bid for the White House in 2016.

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New York Daily News

3. Palestinians prepare to submit statehood resolution to U.N.

Palestinian leaders plan to give the United Nations a final draft of a statehood resolution on Monday. The document calls for reaching a peace deal with Israel within a year that would include an end to Israeli control of Palestinian territories by late 2017. The proposal would establish a state called Palestine — its capital in East Jerusalem — alongside Israel. The Israeli government supports negotiations but opposes U.N. action, saying that imposing a third-party timeline would deepen the conflict.

Reuters

4. Death toll rises to five in Greek ferry fire

The death toll from a fire on a Greek ferry boat has risen to five, Greek officials said Monday. At least 391 of the 478 passengers have been rescued since the fire broke out on a car that was on the vessel, the Norman Atlantic, as it sailed across the Adriatic Sea from Greece to Italy. Crews on ships and helicopters from both countries worked through the night plucking people from the ship.

The Associated Press

5. ISIS executed nearly 2,000 over six months

Islamic State militants executed 1,878 people in Syria over the last six months, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday. An estimated 120 of the Islamist terrorist group's own members were among the dead, nearly all of them fighters who were trying to leave battle and return to their home countries. The majority of those murdered were civilians; 930 were members of a Sunni Muslim tribe from eastern Syria.

Reuters

6. Ferguson police spokesman admits calling Brown memorial "trash"

A Ferguson, Missouri, police spokesman was placed on unpaid leave on Sunday for calling a makeshift memorial to Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen shot dead by a police officer, "a pile of trash in the middle of the street." The spokesman, Tim Zoll, at first said he had been misquoted by The Washington Post, but later admitted to making the statement. The memorial had been built up in the middle of the street near the site where Brown was shot in August, but it was destroyed over the weekend when a car plowed through it.

The New York Times

7. Cameroon carries out airstrikes against Boko Haram rebels from Nigeria

Cameroon launched its first airstrikes against Islamist fighters belonging to the group Boko Haram on Sunday. The strikes were part of an offensive started after the Nigerian-based Boko Haram stepped up cross-border raids, threatening Cameroon's security, officials said. Militants overran a military camp and briefly occupied it before the airstrikes drove them back into Nigeria. At least 41 Boko Haram fighters and one soldier were killed in the clashes, Cameroonian officials said.

BBC News

8. California surfer survives shark attack

A California surfer identified in local papers as Kevin Swanson survived being bitten and pulled underwater by a juvenile great white shark on Sunday. Witnesses said the man was on his surfboard when the eight- to 10-foot shark came up from below and struck. Swanson managed to paddle to shore, where fellow surfers and two doctors came to his aid. He was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The shark bit into his right hip, but Swanson's surfboard took the brunt of the attack.

Los Angeles Times Fox News

9. Greek election turmoil drags down its market

Greek stocks plunged by 10 percent on Monday after the country's parliament failed to pick a president in a crucial vote. Stavros Dimas, the government's preferred candidate, fell 12 votes short of the 180 votes needed to avoid a general election, paving the way to snap elections in January. The political crisis could threaten Greece's European financial bailout if the elections prevent the country from approving a revised bailout plan by the end of February.

CNBC Bloomberg

10. Online viewers salvage The Interview's first weekend

Sony Pictures' controversial comedy The Interview earned $15 million online through Saturday, nearly as much as it was expected to make on 3,000 screens before its nationwide rollout was scrapped. The film — about a TV host recruited to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — also brought in $3 million in ticket sales at 331 art house and independent theaters that agreed to screen it after national chains balked at showing the film due to threats by a group of hackers.

Variety