Danny Puff

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French film star Gerard Depardieu met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea town of Sochi and obtained his Russian passport, the Kremlin said on Sunday, after he left his homeland to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires.

Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu, who objected to French Socialist president Francois Hollande's plan to impose the 75 percent tax rate. His decision to quit France had prompted accusations of national betrayal.

The Russian president and Depardieu were shown on state-run Channel One shaking hands and hugging each other early on Sunday during what the Kremlin said was a private visit by the actor to Russia.

"A brief meeting between the president and Depardieu took place," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "On the occasion of his visit to Russia, he was handed a Russian passport."

Peskov did not say whether Putin personally gave Depardieu the passport or if he picked it up through standard procedures. He said the actor also told Putin about his career plans.

Depardieu, star of the movies "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Green Card", is a popular figure in Russia, where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, including for ketchup. He also worked there in 2011 on a film about the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin.

Putin asked Depardieu whether he was pleased with his work in the movie, TV footage of their meeting showed, with the French actor saying he had already sent Putin some excerpts from it.

Depardieu bought a house in Belgium last year to avoid the French income tax increase. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu's decision to seek Belgian residency "pathetic" and unpatriotic, prompting an angry response from the actor.

Putin said last month that Depardieu would be welcome in Russia, which has a flat income tax rate of 13 percent, compared to the 75 percent on income over 1 million euros ($1.30 million) that Hollande wants to levy in France.

He offered Depardieu a Russian passport, saying he had a close, special relationship with France and had developed warm ties with the actor, even though they had rarely met.

Some of Putin's critics said the passport move was a stunt and pointed out that the president announced last month a campaign to prevent rich Russians keeping their money offshore.

($1 = 0.7666 euros)

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Pravin Char)

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SAO PAULO (AP) Guards thought there was something suspicious about a little white cat slipping through a prison gate in northeastern Brazil. A prison official says that when they caught the animal, they found a cellphone, drills, small saws and other contraband taped to its body.

Alagoas state prisons spokeswoman Cinthya Moreno says that the cat was caught New Year's Eve at the medium-security prison in the city of Arapiraca.

The O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported Saturday that all of the prison's 263 inmates are suspects in the smuggling attempt, though it says a prison spokesman said "It will be hard to discover who is responsible since the cat does not speak."

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela has recovered from a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones that kept him in hospital for nearly three weeks, the government said on Sunday.

Mandela, 94, who has been in frail health for several years, spent most of December in a Pretoria hospital - his longest stay for medical care since his release from prison in 1990.

He has been receiving treatment at his Johannesburg home after he left hospital on December 26.

"President Mandela has made steady progress and clinically, he continues to improve," the Office of the Presidency said in a statement.

Mandela had recovered from his surgical procedure and the lung infection, it said, citing his medical team. He has made steady progress and was slowly returning to his daily routine.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.

He became South Africa's first black president after the first all-race elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid.

MORAL COMPASS

Mandela has been mostly absent from the political scene for the past several years due to poor health, while questions have been raised as to whether his ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost the moral compass he bequeathed it.

Under such leaders as Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, the ANC gained wide international respect as it battled white rule. Once the yoke of apartheid was thrown off, it began ruling South Africa in a blaze of goodwill from world leaders who viewed it as a beacon for a troubled continent and world.

Close to two decades later, this image has dimmed as critics accuse ANC leaders of indulging in the spoils of office, squandering mineral resources and engaging in power struggles.

Mandela's "Rainbow Nation" of reconciliation has come under strain under President Jacob Zuma, a Zulu traditionalist with a history of racially charged comments, including a statement in December where he reportedly said dog ownership was for whites and not part of African culture.

Mandela has spent much of the past year at another home in Qunu, his ancestral village in the poor Eastern Cape province.

His poor health has prevented him from making public appearances for about two years, although he has continued to receive high-profile visitors, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

(Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - French film star Gerard Depardieu received a hug from President Vladimir Putin and a new Russian passport on Sunday after abandoning his homeland to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires.

Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu, who has fumed over French President Francois Hollande's plan to impose a 75 percent tax rate.

The two men were shown on state television shaking hands and hugging in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday during what the Kremlin said was a private visit by the actor to Russia.

"A brief meeting between the president and Depardieu took place," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "On the occasion of his visit to Russia, he was handed a Russian passport."

Peskov did not say if Putin personally gave him the passport. Depardieu also told Putin about his career plans, he said.

Depardieu's best known international film is "Green Card", about a poor French immigrant who enters a sham marriage so he can stay in the United States.

Putin said last month that Depardieu would be welcome in Russia, which has a flat income tax rate of 13 percent, compared to the 75 percent on income over 1 million euros ($1.30 million) that Hollande wants to levy in France.

He offered Depardieu the Russian passport saying he had developed warm ties with the actor - even though they had rarely met.

BIG IN RUSSIA

Depardieu is popular in Russia, where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, including for ketchup. He also worked there in 2011 on a film about the Russian monk Grigory Rasputin, which he discussed with Putin at their meeting.

Depardieu waved his new Russian before media cameras when he arrived in Saransk, a provincial town in the Mordoviya Republic, southeast of Moscow, to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas.

He was greeted on the airport tarmac by local officials and women dressed in traditional Russian gowns who offered him bread and salt as well as "blini" pancakes.

The governor suggested he settled down in Mordoviya, Itar-Tass reported. Residents also presented him with two kittens.

Depardieu bought a house in Belgium last year to avoid the French income tax increase, a move French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called pathetic and unpatriotic.

French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac said on Sunday he regretted Depardieu's decision to move to Russia and was disappointed the actor was shirking his patriotic duty to help the country during tough economic times.

"I find it a little ridiculous that for tax reasons, this man has gone into exile so far to the East," Cahuzac told Europe 1 radio.

Some of Putin's critics said the passport move was a stunt and pointed out that the president announced last month a campaign to prevent rich Russians keeping their money offshore.

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk, additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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CARACAS/MILAN (Reuters) - Venezuelan air and sea rescue services were searching on Saturday for a plane carrying fashion executive Vittorio Missoni, his wife and four others which went missing off the coast of Venezuela.

The plane carrying Missoni, 58, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan crew members disappeared after taking off from the resort of Los Roques, an archipelago off the coast, the company said in a statement.

"It disappeared yesterday. They have been looking for it with helicopters and ships, but have not found anything yet. They are still searching for it this morning," the Italian consul in Venezuela, Giovanni Davoli, told Reuters by phone.

Missoni is the oldest son of the founders of the fashion house famous for its exuberantly colored knits, featuring bold stripes and zigzags. He is co-owner with siblings Luca and Angela, who handle the technical and design sides of the firm.

"The Missoni family has been informed by the Venezuelan consulate that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing, but we don't know any more," said Missoni spokeswoman Maddalena Aspes.

Other members of the Missoni family are travelling back to Italy from a holiday in France, Aspes said.

Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani posted a banner headline on the magazine's website saying "bring Vittorio Missoni home".

Expressions of sympathy and support for the family flooded onto social media site Twitter.

Missoni and his siblings took over managing the company from their parents Ottavio and Rosita in 1996, aiming to relaunch the brand to a larger, younger market as rivals Gucci and Burberry have done. Under Vittorio's tenure, Missoni has opened hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait and launched the Missoni Home collection.

By 2011, the brand's appeal was wide enough for U.S. mass-market retailer Target to ask it to design a collection.

The brand will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.

(Reporting by Jennifer Clark and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren finally got her wish on Thursday, receiving a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame right next to dashing fellow Briton Colin Firth.

"I couldn't be prouder and more happy that I'm actually going to finally lie next to Colin Firth, something I've been wanting to do for a very long time," Mirren said wryly.

Mirren, 67, who won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in 2006's "The Queen," was honored with the iconic terrazzo and brass star along Hollywood Boulevard in the historical heart of the U.S. film industry.

Mirren's star, the 2,488th since the Walk of Fame began in 1958, serves as a de facto lifetime achievement award for those in the entertainment industry.

Firth, who received his Walk of Fame star in 2011, won an Oscar as best actor for his portrayal of Britain's King George VI in 2010's "The King Speech."

"Well I'm very pleased and proud and I think it's very good for the British monarchy that here on Hollywood Boulevard, the King and the Queen are going to actually sleep together, for the rest of history," said Mirren said at the unveiling.

The actress posed for photographers lying on her side next to her star and blew kisses to the crowd.

Writer and director David Mamet introduced Mirren.

"Helen's performances reap higher praise than being praised, they're loved," Mamet said.

"And by one who's had the absolute kick of working with her, I want to say as (British poet) Rupert Brooke said, somewhere there will be a little piece of foreign ground that is always a bit of England, and that's right there," Mamet said.

Mirren is starring alongside Al Pacino in Mamet's upcoming TV film about troubled music producer Phil Spector's murder trial.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

(Reporting by Alan Devall, writing by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Adele's Grammy-winning "21" scored a rare feat in 2012 as it topped U.S. album sales for a second straight year, beating out U.S. country-pop star Taylor Swift's "Red, Nielsen Soundscan said on Thursday.

It was the first time a single album had been a top-seller for two years in a row since Nielsen began tracking album sales in 1991, the organization said.

But U.S. album sales overall fell 4 percent in 2012 to 315.96 million albums, after 2011 saw a rare 3 percent bump in sales.

Adele's "21" sold 4.41 million units in the United States in 2012 to top Swift's "Red," which sold 3.11 million copies. In 2011, "21" sold 5.82 million units.

"It's a sort of a once-in-a-lifetime album," Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard, told Reuters of "21." "Only a few of these albums come along in history."

The heartbreak record, with hits like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," earned Adele six Grammy Awards in early 2012, boosting the profile of the 24-year-old singer and songwriter, who records on indie label XL Recordings.

The album sold at a furious pace, reaching the 10 million albums-sold plateau in the span of two years, Caulfield noted. The last album to achieve that feat was boy band 'N Sync's "No Strings Attached," which was released in 2000.

"It's really the right combination of artistry and hit singles," Caulfield said of "21's" success.

"She really crossed over from pop to Latin to adult contemporary to dance," he added. "Young and old consumers bought it, and because of its mixture of fans, she was able to sell it as well as she did."

Adele's success came despite the drop in 2012 U.S. album sales.

"Last year (2011) was a fluke," Caulfield said. "A year gain in album sales is a mega achievement. ... It's the way the market works now, people buy songs and not albums."

Indeed, digital song sales rose 5 percent in 2012 to a record high 1.336 billion downloads.

The year's best-selling albums in the United States had a particularly British flavor as Swift was the lone American in the top five. Swift records for the independently owned Nashville-based Big Machine, distributed by Universal Music Group.

British boy band One Direction's "Up All Night," released in 2011 on Sony Music Entertainment's SYCO/Columbia label, placed third with 1.62 million units sold, while their 2012 follow-up, "Take Me Home," took the fifth spot with 1.34 million units sold.

Britain's folk revivalists Mumford & Sons, on indie record label Glassnote, placed fourth with their album "Babel" selling 1.46 million units.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Peter Cooney)

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PARIS (Reuters) - Former French screen goddess Brigitte Bardot on Friday threatened to follow Gerard Depardieu in asking for a Russian passport, in protest not at tax hikes, but at the treatment of two circus elephants.

The animals, named Baby and Nepal and owned by a touring circus, are thought to be carrying tuberculosis and were ordered to be put down by a court in Lyon, southern France, on Friday as a precautionary measure.

Bardot's threat comes a day after fellow actor Depardieu caused a storm in France by becoming a Russian citizen in protest at high tax rates proposed by the Socialist government, which he accuses of penalizing success.

"If those in power are cowardly and impudent enough to kill the elephants... then I have decided I will ask for Russian nationality to get out of this country which has become nothing more than an animal cemetery," Bardot said in a statement.

Owners Cirque Pinder also said on Friday they would appeal to save the elephants, which first tested positive for tuberculosis in 2010 but have since been kept in a zoo in Lyon away from the general public.

Bardot, who first rose to fame as a screen siren in the 1956 Roger Vadim film "And God Created Woman", has become an increasingly controversial figure with her outbursts on animal rights, but also on gays, immigrants and the unemployed.

Since retiring from the screen in the 1970s she has become a semi-recluse, devoting herself to her Brigitte Bardot Foundation for animal rights, and has frequently taken aim at Eid al-Adha festivities when Muslims ritually slaughter sheep.

In 2008 she was convicted for a fifth time in 11 years for incitement to religious hatred, over a 2006 tract on Eid al-Adha in which she said the Muslim community in France was "destroying our country by imposing its acts'.

(Reporting By Vicky Buffery, editing by Paul Casciato)

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CARACAS/MILAN (Reuters) - Venezuelan air and sea rescue services were searching on Saturday for a plane carrying fashion executive Vittorio Missoni, his wife and four others which went missing off the coast of Venezuela.

The plane carrying Missoni, 58, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan crew members disappeared after taking off from the resort of Los Roques, an archipelago off the coast, the company said in a statement.

"It disappeared yesterday. They have been looking for it with helicopters and ships, but have not found anything yet. They are still searching for it this morning," the Italian consul in Venezuela, Giovanni Davoli, told Reuters by phone.

Missoni is the oldest son of the founders of the fashion house famous for its exuberantly colored knits, featuring bold stripes and zigzags. He is co-owner with siblings Luca and Angela, who handle the technical and design sides of the firm.

"The Missoni family has been informed by the Venezuelan consulate that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing, but we don't know any more," said Missoni spokeswoman Maddalena Aspes.

Other members of the Missoni family are travelling back to Italy from a holiday in France, Aspes said.

Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani posted a banner headline on the magazine's website saying "bring Vittorio Missoni home".

Expressions of sympathy and support for the family flooded onto social media site Twitter.

Missoni and his siblings took over managing the company from their parents Ottavio and Rosita in 1996, aiming to relaunch the brand to a larger, younger market as rivals Gucci and Burberry have done. Under Vittorio's tenure, Missoni has opened hotels in Edinburgh and Kuwait and launched the Missoni Home collection.

By 2011, the brand's appeal was wide enough for U.S. mass-market retailer Target to ask it to design a collection.

The brand will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.

(Reporting by Jennifer Clark and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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(Reuters) - Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar will leave the streaming TV company this quarter, he wrote in a blog post on the company's website on Friday, raising more questions about its future path under multiple owners.

Kilar has long been rumored to be exiting the company as it faces stiff competition from Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc as well as Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Hulu chief technology officer Rich Tom is also leaving, according to the post.

Kilar gave no reason for his departure or indicate his future plans. Hulu did not name a replacement for the executives.

Kilar, Hulu CEO since July 2007, last year steered the company to $700 million in revenue and grew subscribers to 3 million. More than 200,000 new subscribers have signed up with the service in the last seven days, he noted.

"My decision to depart has been one of the toughest I've ever made," Kilar wrote. "The things that have clearly brought the most joy to my heart (and what I believe to be the most important inputs in our business) have been this team and the values and principles we hold dear."

Still, the popular service, which started primarily as a free site for people to catch up on television shows they might have missed, has had a rocky path over the last five years.

Part of the problem stems from its complicated ownership structure involving media conglomerates Walt Disney Co, News Corp and Comcast NBC Universal, and how much content each should make available to Hulu.

The owners face a dilemma: The success of Hulu could potentially eat away at the lucrative business of getting cable companies to pay for programming. Furthermore, it is now building out its own stable of original content exclusive to Hulu.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement that Kilar had been "an integral part of the Hulu story, transforming it from an interesting idea into an innovative business model that continues to evolve... We appreciate what he's built, and we share his confidence in his team's ability to drive Hulu forward from here."

A statement from News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said Kilar had helped build Hulu into one of the leading online video services and called the company "incredibly well positioned for the road ahead."

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield expects News Corp's Fox to buy out its partners in the venture this year.

"With full ownership of Hulu, FOX accelerates Hulu's push into original programming and explores adding cable network content to create a virtual MVPD (multichannel video programmer distributor) service," Greenfield said in a January 3 research note.

Comcast, the third partner in the venture declined to comment on Kilar's departure. Unlike Disney and News Corp, Comcast does not have any management control of Hulu, which was a regulatory condition related to its acquisition of NBC Universal in 2011.

Hulu put itself on the block in 2011 with suitors including Google, Amazon, DirecTV Group and Dish Network Corp, Reuters reported at the time. Talks collapsed over the price of the deal.

Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners said in October last year that it had sold its 10 percent stake in Hulu to the remaining owners.

Kilar's name surfaced as a potential candidate for the top job at Yahoo Inc after Scott Thompson resigned last year but Kilar removed himself from consideration.

(Reporting By Jennifer Saba and Liana Baker in New York; Editing by Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)

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SEATTLE (AP) "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey may be the real "McSteamy."

The actor, who was dubbed "McDreamy" as a star of the hospital drama while his co-star was called "McSteamy," may soon be serving hot, steaming cups of Joe.

Dempsey won a bankruptcy auction to buy Tully's Coffee, a small coffee chain based in Seattle. Among those he beat out is Tully's much bigger Seattle neighbor, Starbucks Corp., which is known for its ubiquitous white cups with a circular green mermaid logo.

Dempsey, whose company Global Baristas LLC plans to keep the Tully's name, declared victory on the social media site Twitter: "We met the green monster, looked her in the eye, and...SHE BLINKED! We got it! Thank you Seattle!

The win for Dempsey deals a rare setback for Starbucks on its home turf. Starbucks has long been both praised for bringing "coffeehouse culture" to the U.S. and criticized for crushing smaller chains. The coffee giant, which had planned to convert the Tully's cafes to its own brand, last month announced plans to expand its global footprint to 20,000 cafes over the next two years, up from the current 18,000.

Dempsey said in an interview on Friday that as the underdog in Seattle, Tully's will need to find its identity.

"It's a much smaller chain that has a lot of potential that hasn't been given the proper care," he said.

But in a statement shortly after the auction on Thursday, Starbucks insinuated that Dempsey shouldn't celebrate just yet.

Starbucks, which wanted to convert the Tully's cafes to its own brand, said that a final determination on the winning bid won't be made until a court hearing on Jan. 11. Starbucks said it's in a "backup" position" to buy 25 of the 47 Tully's cafes, with another undisclosed bidder making an offer for the remainder.

The combined bids of Starbucks and the undisclosed bidder come to $10.6 million, above the $9.2 million Dempsey's company is offering to pay through his company, which was formed in order to purchase Tully's. The other investors in Global Baristas aren't being disclosed.

Tully's Coffee, which is known for serving Joe with a milder taste than Starbucks brand, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, citing lease obligations and underperforming stores. Tully's wholesale business, which includes Tully's Coffee in bags and single serve K-cup packs that are sold in supermarkets and other stores, is owned separately by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.

TC Global Inc., the parent company of Tully's, said in a release Friday that it was "encouraged and excited" about Dempsey's commitment to the chain.

Tully's President and CEO Scott Pearson called the deal a "great match" and that the goal is to make sure creditors get paid and to keep as many people employed as possible.

A bankruptcy court document signed late Friday by Pearson and Dempsey said TC Global had determined that Global Baristas submitted the successful bid.

"With this court filing, it's official - our group has been chosen as the successful bidder," Dempsey said in a statement. "We look forward to the court's final approval on Jan. 11."

Earlier in the day, Dempsey said he planned to be very involved in the running of the company, adding that the immediate challenges were to address bookkeeping issues, staff morale and sprucing up the coffee shops. Once the business is stabilized, Dempsey said the long-term goal would be to take the chain national.

"We can pull this off. We just have to take steps that are slow and smart," he said. "I'm going to get behind the counter. I'm going to serve coffee...I'm going to give the company a boost of energy."

Although Dempsey lives in Los Angeles, he plans to spend more time in Seattle, the city where "Grey's Anatomy" is set in. Dempsey said he believed there is room in the city for Tully's and the much larger Starbucks; he noted there might be people who are rooting for the underdog.

"In a society where there are so many big corporations that swallow the little guy, we thought, let's not let this happen to this company," he said.

Dempsey made an appearance Friday morning at a Tully's near Pike Place Market, shaking hands with workers and greeting customers before visiting other stores. Several dozen people, mostly women, came into the store.

Patrease Estelle, 45, works nearby, and came in with a small group from her office.

"I will take whatever I can get. A photo, a hug, a 'hey, how you doing,' a wink," said Estelle, who got a picture and handshake with the actor.

___

Blankinship reported from Seattle and Choi from New York.

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SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - At the world's largest technology conference that kicks off on Monday, the most intriguing innovations showcased may be gadgets and technology that turn everyday items into connected, smarter machines.

This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas promises a new generation of "smart" gadgets, some controlled by voice and gestures, and technology advancements in cars, some of which already let you dictate emails or check real-time gas prices.

Pundits have long predicted that home appliances like refrigerators and stoves will be networked, creating an "Internet of things." With advancements in chips and the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, it's now happening.

"We've been talking about this convergence of consumer electronics and computers and content for 20 years. It will actually be somewhat of a reality here, in that your phone, your tablet, your PC, your TV, your car, have a capability to all be connected," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Despite the absence of tech heavyweights Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp, CES still draws thousands of exhibitors, from giants like Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to startups hungry for funding.

Wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc's CEO, Paul Jacobs, opens the festivities with a keynote speech on Monday, taking a spot traditionally reserved for Microsoft, which decided last year to sever ties with the show.

Jacobs said in a recent interview on PBS that he will show how wireless technology will be pushed way beyond smartphones into homes, cars and healthcare.

SMARTER SMARTPHONES

With venues spanning over 32 football fields across Las Vegas -- more than 1.9 million sq. ft. (176,516 sq. meters) -- CES is an annual rite for those keen to glimpse the newest gadgets before they hit store shelves. The show, which started in 1967 in New York, was the launch pad for the VCR, camcorder, DVD and HDTV.

While retailers prowl for products to fill their shelves, Wall Street investors look for products that are the next hit.

Intel and Qualcomm are expected to highlight improvements in "perceptual computing," which involves using cameras, GPS, sensors and microphones to make devices detect and respond to user activity.

"The idea is that if your devices are so smart, they should be able to know you better and anticipate and react to your requirements," said IDC analyst John Jackson.

This year, snazzier TVs will again dominate show space, with "ultra high-definition" screens that have resolutions some four times sharper than that of current displays. The best smartphones will likely be reserved for launch at Mobile World Congress in February.

There will also be a record number of auto makers showing the latest in-vehicle navigation, entertainment and safety systems, from Toyota's Audi to Ford, General Motors and Hyundai. The Consumer Electronics Association has forecast the market for factory-installed tech features in cars growing 11 percent this year to $8.7 billion.

BMW, for one, already provides speech recognition that is processed instantly through datacenters, converted into text and emailed without drivers taking their hands off the wheel. The luxury carmaker also offers data about weather, fuel prices and other items.

"Automotive has been this backwater of technology for a long time. Suddenly, we're seeing a lot of real innovation in automotive technology," Scott McGregor, CEO of chipmaker Broadcom, told Reuters ahead of the show.

(Editing by Edwin Chan and Leslie Gevirtz)

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) Four gun shows, all about an hour's drive from Newtown, Conn., all canceled.

A show in White Plains, N.Y., brought back a few years ago after being called off for a decade because of the Columbine shooting is off because officials decided it didn't seem appropriate now, either. In Danbury, Conn. about 10 miles west of Newtown the venue backed out. Same with three other shows in New York's Hudson Valley, according to the organizer.

Gun advocates aren't backing down from their insistence on the right to keep and bear arms. But heightened sensitivities and raw nerves since the Newtown shooting have led to toned-down displays at gun shows and prompted some officials and sponsors to cancel the well-attended exhibitions altogether.

Some of the most popular guns will be missing from next weekend's gun show in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after show organizers agreed to bar the display and sale of AR-15 military-style semiautomatic weapons and their large-clip magazines.

"The majority of people wanted these guns out of the city," said Chris Mathiesen, Saratoga Springs' public safety commissioner. "They don't want them sold in our city, and I agree. Newtown, Conn., is not that far away."

The mayor of Barre, Vt., wants a ban on military-style assault weapons being sold at an annual gun show in February. Mayor Thom Lauzon says he supports responsible gun ownership but is making the request "as a father." The police chief in Waterbury, Conn., just a few miles from Newtown, has halted permits for gun shows, saying he was concerned about firearms changing hands that might one day be used in a mass shooting.

In New York's suburban Westchester County, Executive Rob Astorino had brought back the show in 2010 after a ban of more than a decade following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, but he said the show would be inappropriate now. The shows in the Hudson Valley and Danbury were listed as canceled on the website for Big Al's Gun Shows. A man who answered the site's contact number said it was the venues that canceled the shows, not the promoter.

In Houston, transportation officials temporarily stopped using electronic freeway signs to give directions to gun shows amid complaints following such a show the day after the Dec. 14 school shooting. State-level transportation officials overruled the decision. The signs are routinely used to direct traffic or tell visitors where to exit freeways for rodeos, sporting events and gun shows.

On Wednesday, the City Council here in Saratoga Springs urged organizers of a downtown gun show Jan. 12-13 not to display military-style weapons and the high-capacity magazines "of the type used in the Newtown tragedy." About a dozen people gave impassioned pleas at the meeting.

Show organizer David Petronis, of New Eastcoast Arms Collectors Associates, agreed to the limit.

"I don't think it's fair that we're taking the brunt of the problem," Petronis said, "but I can understand the reaction of people in doing so."

Petronis said his group is a "nice, clean family-oriented ... arms fair" that brings in thousands of visitors and a lot of money for the city. He stressed that buyers at his show undergo background checks, as per New York state law.

The gunman in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December used an AR-15 to kill 20 first-graders and six educators in the school. The gun belonged to the shooter's mother, but it's not clear where it was bought. The shooting has led to calls for stricter regulation of assault weapons, though the National Rifle Association has steadfastly opposed such measures.

Gun dealers around the country are reporting a spike in sales of semiautomatic rifles amid renewed talk of a federal ban on assault weapons. The possibility of tighter gun control has also pumped up attendance at gun shows in several states.

Marv Kraus, who helped organize a weekend gun show in Evansville, Wis., said business has been especially strong lately.

Kraus said there was never any reason to consider postponing or canceling the Wisconsin event, which runs from Friday through Sunday. One of the few vendors there with semiautomatic weapons, Scott Kuhl of Janesville, Wis., bristled at any suggestion that he temporarily stop selling semiautomatic weapons because of the Connecticut shooting.

"When a plane crashes, should they shut down the airline for six months?" Kuhl said. "This is my business; this is my livelihood."

Jared Hook, 40, who came to the show looking for a .223-caliber gun for coyote hunting, said he was glad vendors did not back away after Newtown.

"If anything, there's a lot more interest in guns now because of the shooting," Hook said. "People want them for protection, and it's good that they still have access to them."

Joel Koehler, a Pennsylvania gun dealer, said a few dealers have dropped out of a show this weekend in the Pocono Mountains, but only "because they have nothing to sell. They are out of inventory."

"The gun sales have been crazy. They are going through the roof," he said.

Koehler said he has felt no pressure to cancel his shows in Pennsylvania.

"The shows are going on," he said. "Nobody's said to us that we can't have them."

President Barack Obama has urged Congress to vote rapidly on measures that he says a majority of Americans support: a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons; a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines; and required criminal background checks for all gun buyers by removing loopholes that cover some sales, such as at gun shows in states that don't currently require checks.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Friday said he would consider a radio-show caller's suggestion that gun shows be banned on publicly owned property, such as the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. But he also noted that the complex is open to all businesses.

While government officials take a harder look at gun shows, organizers remain adamant that they run safe, legal businesses. There is no central government database on how guns used in crimes are obtained.

The Brady Campaign, which advocates for stricter state and federal gun laws, has long pushed to close the so-called "gun show loophole" by forcing every state to require background checks of buyers at the shows. They note that three of the weapons used in the Columbine attack were bought by someone who went to a gun show that didn't require a background check. Seventeen states require an extensive background check, according to the campaign.

And in the wake of Newtown is an emboldened group of advocates, like Susan Steer of Saratoga Springs, a 46-year-old married mother of three who started a petition seeking to cancel the local gun show. Steer said she'll continue to push for banning gun shows at the taxpayer-supported venue.

"For many of us," she said, "the shooting in Sandy Hook was the tipping point for taking some action."

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Hill reported from Albany, N.Y. Contributing to this report were Dinesh Ramde in Evansville, Wis.; Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa.; Peter Jackson in Harrisburg, Pa.; and Lisa Rathke in Montpelier, Vt.

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A cat carrying a saw and a mobile phone was "detained" as it entered a prison gate in northeast Brazil, Brazilian media reported on Saturday.

Prison guards were surprised when they saw a white cat crossing the main gate of the prison, its body wrapped with tape. A closer look showed the feline also carried drills, an earphone, a memory card, batteries and a phone charger.

All 263 detainees in the prison of Arapiraca, a city of 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas, are considered suspect in the plot, which is being investigated by local police.

"It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak," a prison spokesperson told local paper Estado de S.Paulo.

The cat was taken to an animal disease centre to receive medical care.

The incident took place on New Year's day but was first reported by national media on Saturday.

(Reporting by Walter Brandimarte; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - French film star Gerard Depardieu has arrived in Russia to receive a new Russian passport after a public spat in his homeland over his efforts to avoid a new 75 percent income tax, local media said on Saturday.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to Depardieu, a popular figure in Russia who objected to the new tax on millionaires planned by France's socialist government.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president would hold a private meeting with Depardieu in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Saturday evening.

"It is not ruled out that during this meeting Depardieu will be granted a passport," RIA news agency quoted Peskov as saying.

Putin, a former KGB spy who recently hailed a friendly personal relationship with Depardieu, has been in Sochi for Russia's long New Year's holidays ending on January 9.

Depardieu has appeared in many advertising campaigns in Russia, including for ketchup, and worked there in 2011 on a film about the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin.

Depardieu, star of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Green Card", was also among the Western celebrities invited in 2012 to celebrate the birthday of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader.

Putin granted Russian citizenship to Depardieu shortly after announcing in December his own efforts to prevent Russians from keeping their money offshore.

But since the Cold War, Moscow has often expressed support for Westerners at odds with their governments - a way to counter what Putin says is hypocritical Western criticism of the Kremlin's treatment of its own citizens.

Putin, accused by the opposition at home of cracking down on his critics, has in the past spoken of good ties with France.

DISPUTES

But Moscow suffered a blow in November when it was forced to suspend its bid to build an Orthodox church with five domes in the heart of Paris, whose mayor called the plan "ostentatious".

Russia has a flat-rate income tax of 13 percent compared to 75 percent on income over 1 million euros ($1.32 million) that French President Francois Hollande wants to introduce. Depardieu has bought a house in Belgium to establish Belgian residency in protest at Hollande's tax plans.

Hollande's original proposal was struck down by France's Constitutional Court in December, but the socialist president pledged to press ahead with a redrafted tax on the wealthy.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu's decision to seek Belgian residency "pathetic" and unpatriotic, prompting an angry reply from the actor.

The theme continued to dominate French media on Saturday with the left-leaning Liberation newspaper running a front-page picture of Depardieu dressed as Rasputin with a caption saying: "Depardieu between Putin and Rasputin".

The conservative Le Figaro has also described a telephone conversation between Depardieu and Hollande on New Year's Day as covering the celebrity's tax exile, politics and poetry. Hollande's office confirmed the two men had spoken.

A spokesman for Depardieu in Paris could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Additional reporting by Alexei Anishchuk and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Rosalind Russell/Mark Heinrich)

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WASHINGTON (AP) The Food and Drug Administration says its new guidelines would make the food Americans eat safer and help prevent the kinds of foodborne disease outbreaks that sicken or kill thousands of consumers each year.

The rules, the most sweeping food safety guidelines in decades, would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.

The long-overdue regulations could cost businesses close to half a billion dollars a year to implement, but are expected to reduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. The new guidelines were announced Friday.

Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.

Many responsible food companies and farmers are already following the steps that the FDA would now require them to take. But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.

In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33 lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water on the floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms in Colorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butter outbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectors found samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut processing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety problems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts and employees not washing their hands.

Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plans for preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progress and explain to the FDA how they would correct them.

"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of outbreaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.

The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 million illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rules are actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take the agency another year to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at least two years to comply meaning the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.

The new rules, which come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, were already delayed. The 2011 law required the agency to propose a first installment of the rules a year ago, but the Obama administration held them until after the election. Food safety advocates sued the administration to win their release.

The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.

Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress and FDA has worked to make food safer.

In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role model for what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to achieve a common goal."

The new rules could cost large farms $30,000 a year, according to the FDA. The agency did not break down the costs for individual processing plants, but said the rules could cost manufacturers up to $475 million annually.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the success of the rules will also depend on how much money Congress gives the chronically underfunded agency to put them in place. "Resources remain an ongoing concern," she said.

The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.

Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rules stalled praised the proposed action.

"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency that tracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

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SYDNEY (Reuters) - As Mark Twain might have said, rumors of the death of Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath which spread like wildfire across social media late on Friday proved to be greatly exaggerated.

Far from lying in a Sydney morgue alongside former test bowler Chaminda Vaas after perishing in a car crash as the reports had suggested, Herath was very much alive when he pitched up for work at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

The most prolific wicket-taker in test cricket last year, the 34-year-old leg spinner claimed two Australian wickets to seal a haul of four for 95 and then contributed nine runs with the bat.

Team mate Dimuth Karunaratne told reporters at the conclusion of the day's play that the team had been dumbfounded by the rumors.

"I heard about it when we having breakfast but I had no idea where that came from," he said with a laugh.

"Guys from Sri Lanka were calling us asking when is the funeral?' and stuff like that.

"Rangana is alive," he added, somewhat unnecessarily.

Herath's efforts were not enough to prevent Australia taking an iron grip on the third test match on Saturday and move to the brink of a 3-0 series sweep.

That could all change, however, if he and Dinesh Chandimal, who finished the third day unbeaten on 22, are able to dig in on Sunday, inflate their lead beyond the current 87 and give Sri Lanka a decent target to bowl at.

The Sydney track has traditionally offered a lot of turn for spinners in the last couple of days of a test and, as Herath's 60 wickets last year showed, there are few better spinners operating in test cricket at the moment.

"The wicket is turning a lot now and the Aussie guys are playing the fourth innings, so I think Rangana... can do something," said Karunaratne.

Vaas has no position with the test team and remains, also unharmed, in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan reporters said.

(Editing by John O'Brien)

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BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) There's a new mystery on Dennis Lehane's mind, and the best-selling author is offering a special reward solving the case: Find his lost dog and get a spot in his next book.

The plot kicked off Christmas Eve, when the crime novelist's rescue beagle Tessa escaped from his yard after an outdoor gate latch didn't lock all the way.

Since then, Lehane's family has launched an all-out search. They've posted fliers, organized foot searches and used social media to try to bring Tessa back to their home in Brookline, Mass., near Boston.

The 47-year-old author of books including "Mystic River" and "Gone, Baby, Gone" is offering a monetary reward and has said he'll name a character in his next book after whoever finds Tessa.

Lehane said Thursday outside his home that he's surprised by the media attention the story has attracted, and thinks it has something to do with the character offer.

But he said as word of the missing dog spread, his family has heard from people across the country on a "Finding Tessa" Facebook page. They even got an offer of help from a dog psychic in San Francisco.

"No dog since Lassie ever got this attention ... the flip side of the comedy is, who wouldn't do this for their dog?" he said.

The doggie dilemma comes as Lehane faces a Friday deadline for finishing a movie script based on his short story "Animal Rescue," timing he said may be "sadistic irony." The movie is scheduled to begin shooting in March in New York City.

The author said he's been spending about four hours a day searching for the tri-colored female beagle after he finishes writing, and his wife has dedicated about 10 hours a day to the effort.

They adopted the 4-year-old beagle not long ago from a Florida rescue agency. Before that, Tessa was a stray in Georgia.

With the help of Twitter and Facebook accounts, Lehane and his wife organized two search efforts Thursday in sections of Brookline and Boston, where they suspect Tessa could be. In the beginning, there were three sightings within about two miles of their home not long after a house sitter reported that the dog was loose.

But the trail went cold for days after a sighting near a McDonald's restaurant. Tessa wasn't wearing tags, but does have a microchip.

"Every dog expert we talk to is strongly suggesting that she's in somebody's house," Lehane said. "That's why we keep saturating the area with pictures. Because somebody could have her and just not know."

Missing dog posters dotted the family's Coolidge Corner neighborhood Thursday, including in the front windows at Durty Harry's dog grooming shop where Tessa is a client. Shop owner Michelle Fournier said interest in the search took off even before people knew Tessa had a famous owner.

"This is about a dog and her family. This is about a community who loves dogs," she said.

Lehane said Thursday that Tessa is so sweet that she'd taken to spooning the family's puppy before her disappearance. He said if someone knows where Tessa is, he only cares about a happy ending, not about solving the mystery of where she's been.

"It's a no-questions-asked issue," the author said. "... Bring the dog to a shelter or call me and I will pick up the dog."

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards will star on a new cable TV show with the woman he married after his release from federal prison on a corruption conviction.

In a Facebook exchange Friday, Trina Scott Edwards told The Associated Press she's currently filming for "The Governor's Wife," which will showcase the 34-year-old wife of the octogenarian former governor.

According to A&E, the series will follow Trina Edwards as she tries to fit into the former governor's upscale world while trying to get along with step-daughters almost twice her age and corral her teenage sons.

The series will include Edwin Edwards' daughters: Anna, a 62-year-old four-time divorcee, and Victoria, described in a news release as "a hardened 60-year-old ex-showgirl."

Trina has sons from a previous marriage: Logan, 15 and Trevor, 13.

Episodes will include school projects and Trina making a run for president of the local homeowner's association. She also discusses the possible addition of a baby to the Edwards clan and skeptics who think she's a gold digger, according to the news release.

Edwards biographer Leo Honeycutt said the show has been shooting footage for more than a year. Honeycutt, who acknowledges his distaste for reality TV, said he worried the series could damage the former governor's legacy and his achievements in office.

"I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid what it's going to do to them. Nobody wants to be a laughingstock, and Louisiana has had enough of that kind of treatment," Honeycutt said.

Edwin Edwards served four terms as a Democratic governor in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. He married Trina in July 2011, shortly after his release from federal prison for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme to rig riverboat casino licenses during his fourth term, which ended in 1996.

Trina, who went by Trina Grimes Scott at the time, began writing him letters while he was in prison and visited him regularly. She is Edwards' third wife.

Edwards also served in Congress and was known for his charisma in politics. Despite his link to a Korean rice scandal early in his congressional career, he was known for being able to broker deals between rural and urban interests.

He was last elected governor in 1991, when he defeated former Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke in a landslide.

"The Governor's Wife" is the latest in a string of Louisiana-set reality shows that include A&E's "Duck Dynasty," History's "Swamp People" and CMT's "Bayou Billionaires."

It premieres Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. CST.

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AP reporter Melinda Deslatte contributed to this report from Baton Rouge.

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Violent crime in Detroit shadows the landscape like its rows of abandoned buildings, but now the city faces a new precedent, even as gun-related killings decline nationwide: More people were killed here last year than at any time in the past 20 years."America has a problem with guns, but the epicenter seems to be here in Detroit," Interim Detroit Police Chief Chester Logan said at a news conference Thursday, as city officials reported 386 criminal homicides in 2012, the highest since 1992."As the chief of police in the city of Detroit, I take a certain amount of blame for the spiraling gunplay in the city," he said, "but one of the things you should realize, and everybody here in this room should realize, is that gunplay is a national problem. Logan is correct: The United States is in the throes of another cultural self-examination about guns after the horrific deaths of 20 children and six adults at the hands of a 20-year-old gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.Other city officials and urban crime experts say the problem is not just guns."At least two-thirds of the homicides in Detroit are related to drug sales, disputes between people selling drugs or disputes between people owing people money about drugs," said David Martin, director of the Urban Safety Program at Wayne State University in Detroit.Martin has researched police reports in all parts of the city to examine crime patterns. He says Detroit's police have to develop more effective methods of dealing with the city's drug economy and its consequences. "And that's very difficult," Martin told Yahoo News.Detroit reported 411 homicides in 2012, 25 of them deemed "justifiable" by FBI crime reporting standards. Still, the remaining 386 represent 54.6 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to the Detroit Free Press. In 1993 the rate was 57.6 homicides per 100,000 residents.Detroit Mayor Dave Bing also pointed toward community-based causes and, potentially, solutions, but he stopped short of singling out drugs or guns. "The release of annual crime statistics reminds us of the senselessness of crime and violence in our community; the challenges facing our police force; and the need to improve conflict resolution and other anti-crime initiatives," he said in a statement.Statistically, said Martin, Detroit harbors a range of factors that would contribute to a high homicide rate. The city has a high proportion of young men aged 20-29, he said. That age group accounted for 131 homicide victims and has demographic connections to the drug trade. The number of young men in the city who struggle with dysfunctional families and the high number of vacant homes in Detroit make matters worse."Groups of thugs have taken over the neighborhoods, and they can do what they please," Martin said. "It's like the Wild West out there."

Possible solutions addressing the homicide problem could be found in working with that age group, Bing said. "We've got to wrap our arms as best we can around these young folks and let them know that when they get into these kinds of situation it doesn't necessitate a gun; it doesn't have to necessitate a fight."

The mayor said he would meet with Detroit public school officials to try to engage young people in the city. He also promised more communication with local media in 2013 to address the problem.Martin said the dramatic increase appears to have motivated city, county, state and federal officials to address Detroit's violent crime problem."There is a full-court press going on," he said. "There's probably going to be a revamping of each of their crime-fighting strategies. The magical number of 400 homicides seems to spur action."The city reported a 2.6 percent overall decrease in major crimes such as aggravated assault, burglary and rape, officials said. But it also experienced year-over-year increases in car thefts and robberies.

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PASADENA, Calif. (AP) TBS and the makers of "Cougar Town" say they only briefly considered changing the show's title with its move to cable TV, but they didn't want to throw away years of marketing that has given the comedy starring Courteney Cox an identity.

After three seasons on ABC, "Cougar Town" begins its fourth season Tuesday on TBS.

Creator Bill Lawrence doesn't like the title because it conveys the image of older women chasing young men. Instead, it's a comedy about friends in their 40s. Cox's character is now married.

TBS has even run an advertising campaign calling it a funny show with a terrible title.

"We wear it as a badge of honor," Lawrence said. "I still enjoy mocking it."

Lawrence was unhappy with ABC for holding the show in limbo before TBS bought it. But since ABC parent Walt Disney Co. still produces the show, he said at a news conference Friday that he wasn't going to bash his old network.

Before the season premiere, Lawrence and the cast of "Cougar Town" went to bars in different cities to buy people drinks and show them new episodes. To his chagrin, Lawrence said none of the people he bought drinks for was part of the Nielsen Co.'s ratings system.

Lawrence said he hopes the switch to TBS will be seamless and fans of the show won't notice a difference this season. Actress Busy Philipps became pregnant in real life during filming of the new season, but her character did not become pregnant.

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NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Nearly two years after being critically wounded in a mass shooting, former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Friday met with families of victims in last month's shooting that left 26 people dead inside a Connecticut elementary school.

Giffords was accompanied by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, at the private meeting in Newtown that was also attended by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

"As always, I was deeply impressed by the strength and courage and resolve of the families and the extraordinary caring and generosity of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly in visiting with them," Blumenthal said.

Giffords, a Democrat, met earlier in the day with officials including Connecticut's lieutenant governor and Newtown's first selectman.

Giffords was left partially blind, with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury, when a gunman opened fire at a constituent meet-and-greet outside a Tucson grocery store on Jan. 8, 2011. Arizona's chief federal judge and five others were killed and 13 people, including Giffords, were injured.

The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.

Kelly has become a vocal advocate for gun control in recent months, most notably at Loughner's sentencing in November. He lashed out at politicians for avoiding a "meaningful debate" about gun laws and called out Arizona Republicans, including the governor, for taking a pro-gun stance in the months after the shooting.

"As a nation we have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address the issue. After Columbine, after Virginia Tech, after Tucson and after Aurora, we have done nothing," he told the court.

He has issued strongly worded statements many times since the massacre in Connecticut, including a harsh response to the National Rifle Association's reaction to the shooting. He often begins statements with "Gabby and I" as he makes pointed comments about the direction of the gun debate in America.

Kelly said on the day of the Newtown shooting that it should lead to better gun control.

"This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence," Kelly said on his Facebook page, calling for "a meaningful discussion about our gun laws and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America."

Blumenthal said he is eager to find allies as he pursues tougher gun control laws.

"I'm hopeful that everyone who cares about this issue or has a stake in it will be active in supporting our effort in gun violence prevention legislatively," he said.

Giffords' visit came one day after Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced the creation of an advisory commission that will review and recommend changes to state laws and policies on issues including gun control in the wake of the Dec. 14 rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother, then drove to the school and slaughtered 20 first-graders and six educators before committing suicide as police arrived.

Giffords has appeared in public a few times since the shooting. She came face-to-face with Loughner when he was sentenced and attended ceremonies for the anniversary of the shooting.

She received tributes and ovations when she returned to the House in January 2012 to say goodbye as she resigned her seat and she delivered the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention in September.

On Wednesday, two days before she visited the Newtown families, she and Kelly met for an hour with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime and vociferous gun control advocate. Bloomberg's office tweeted a photo of the meeting but wouldn't elaborate Friday on the discussion.

President Barack Obama invoked the Tucson and Newtown elementary school shootings when he spoke at Newtown shortly after the attack. He said four shootings, including those two plus the attacks at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., marked his first term in office.

A recent Pew Research Center report says gun policy accounted for almost 30 percent of discussions examined on blogs and Twitter in the three days after the school massacre. It compares the response to the Newtown rampage with the Arizona shooting, saying that in the three days after that, just 3 percent of social media conversation was about gun laws.

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Associated Press writer Susan Haigh contributed to this report from Hartford, Conn.

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MARION, Mass. (AP) A stray cat that spent at least a week stuck in a Massachusetts tree before plunging 80 feet to the ground and fleeing has been found, and all things considered, appears to be in good health.

A Marion Animal Hospital veterinarian said Wednesday it's "unbelievable" that the cat dubbed Fortunate has just a couple of pulled muscles and a possible parasitic infection.

The cat was spotted in a Rochester, Mass., tree on Christmas Eve. Several rescue attempts failed before firefighters cut the branch it was perched on Sunday. Cat shelter founder Pam Robinson finally trapped the skittish feline on Tuesday.

Robinson tells The Standard Times (http://bit.ly/Wngz47 ) she will keep the cat for a few weeks so it can regain weight before putting it up for adoption.

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Information from: The (New Bedford, Mass.) Standard-Times, http://www.southcoasttoday.com

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LONDON (AP) In a sea of flapping black and white flippers, Ricky is hard to miss: He's got spiky yellow feathers, a flamboyant character, and he's the only rockhopper among the dozens of penguins living in the London Zoo.

That's a big help for keepers embarking on their annual stock-taking of all the zoo's residents. It's no easy task, when there are more than 17,500 creatures to count. All animals have to be accounted for, including the tarantulas, locusts and snails.

Zoo managers started the painstaking process on Thursday, and the final tally could take weeks.

Officials hope this year will bring new partners and families to a range of animals. An all-female family of nine otters has been waiting for a new male to arrive, and Ricky, who has been the lone rockhopper in the zoo since 2011, would also appreciate a mate.

"Ricky's quite a unique character he was rejected by his parents and was hand-reared. He's more interested in zoo keepers than in other penguins," said zoological director David Field. "It's time to get him some rockhopper partners."

The census is required as part of the zoo's license terms, and the data is used for zoo management and international breeding programs for endangered animals.

Most animals in the zoo have microchips in their bodies, making counting a little less daunting. Fish and animals with camouflage properties like leaf insects are trickier, and the tiniest ones such as ants are counted in colonies, not as individuals.

New additions to the zoo being counted for the first time included baby Ziggy, an endangered white-naped mangabey monkey, and Maxilla, a black-and-white colobus monkey.

The zoo also welcomed a pair of new Sumatran tigers male Jae Jae from a zoo in Ohio in the U.S. and female Melati, from Perth, Australia.

The tigers were matched by an international breeding program to ensure a genetically diverse population of animals. They will soon be properly introduced to each other and meet visitors in a newly expanded enclosure in spring.

"We breed them in the zoo because they are running out of time in the wild," said Field, who's hopeful the tigers will soon produce cubs.

The World Wildlife Fund says there are now fewer than 400 of the big cats, which are native to Indonesia.

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NEW DELHI (AP) The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.

The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers. The nation's top law enforcement official said the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand."

The 23-year-old woman died over the weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday.

The woman and her male friend had just finished watching the movie "Life of Pi" at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told the Indian TV network Zee TV.

Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. The TV station also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview. The man has a broken leg and was sitting in a wheelchair during the interview.

After a while, the men on the bus starting harassing and attacking the pair, he said.

"I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod," he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and raped her.

"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," he said.

Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said.

The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. He waved to passers-by on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.

"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.

The man said he was given no medical care. Instead, he spent four days at the police station helping them investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her.

"She has awakened us all by her courage," he said. "People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her."

On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.

"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.

He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.

"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.

In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.

On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.

However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.

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HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's No.2 telecom equipment maker, expects a 2012 profit gain after reporting a sharp drop a year ago, thanks to new projects and increased sales in high-end mobile phone markets such as Japan.

Net profit is expected to be around $2.4 billion, rotating and acting Chief Executive Officer Guo Ping said in a New Year message to employees on Friday. That would be a rise of 29 percent from 11.6 billion yuan ($1.86 billion) in 2011, based on his forecast.

Revenue is expected to exceed $35 billion, Guo said. In 2011, sales rose 11.7 percent to 203.9 billion yuan, or about $32 billion.

Privately held Huawei and its crosstown rival ZTE Corp have been expanding their footprint in the global telecom equipment and mobile phone sectors over the past few years.

While Huawei has boosted sales and gained market share in Europe, Africa and Asia, it ran into a few obstacles last year in other markets such as the United States and Australia due to national security and cyber espionage concerns.

Slower telecom spending stemming from a weak global economy and stiff competition in the increasingly crowded mobile phone sector have also weighed on the outlook of equipment providers and handset manufacturers.

"We should devote our limited energy to specific business objectives, and avoid the impulse to expand business blindly," Guo said. "Managers who expand business blindly must be held accountable."

Last October, ZTE, the world's fourth-biggest maker of mobile phones and No.5 telecom equipment maker, reported its biggest quarterly loss since it was listed due to narrowing margins, project delays and accounting changes in China.

Guo did not provide a breakdown of the revenue figures by business segment. Huawei is expected to announce audited figures in the next few months, although no date has been set yet.

Rival Ericsson has yet to report its full-year figures, so it is unclear whether the Chinese company had surpassed the Swedish giant as the top telecom equipment maker in the world.

Huawei was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army officer. Huawei has denied repeatedly any links with the Chinese military and says it is a purely commercial enterprise.

In a message to employees a year earlier, Ren said Huawei had initiated a system that allows top executives to take turns acting as chief executive, paving the way for a smooth management handover when Ren eventually retires. ($1 = 6.2303 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee; Editing by Ryan Woo)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Oscar won't be the only chiseled man in the spotlight at the 85th Academy Awards.

Telecast producers say the show will also feature a celebration of Bond, James Bond.

Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced Friday that the show will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise, which they describe as "the longest-running motion picture franchise in history and a beloved global phenomenon."

The most recent Bond film, "Skyfall," was released in November and has made more than $1 billion worldwide a franchise record.

Nominations for this year's Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 10. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 24 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

___

Online:

www.oscars.org

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PARIS (Reuters) - Former French screen goddess Brigitte Bardot on Friday threatened to follow Gerard Depardieu in asking for a Russian passport, in protest not at tax hikes, but at the treatment of two circus elephants.

The animals, named Baby and Nepal and owned by a touring circus, are thought to be carrying tuberculosis and were ordered to be put down by a court in Lyon, southern France, on Friday as a precautionary measure.

Bardot's threat comes a day after fellow actor Depardieu caused a storm in France by becoming a Russian citizen in protest at high tax rates proposed by the Socialist government, which he accuses of penalising success.

"If those in power are cowardly and impudent enough to kill the elephants... then I have decided I will ask for Russian nationality to get out of this country which has become nothing more than an animal cemetery," Bardot said in a statement.

Owners Cirque Pinder also said on Friday they would appeal to save the elephants, which first tested positive for tuberculosis in 2010 but have since been kept in a zoo in Lyon away from the general public.

Bardot, who first rose to fame as a screen siren in the 1956 Roger Vadim film "And God Created Woman", has become an increasingly controversial figure with her outbursts on animal rights, but also on gays, immigrants and the unemployed.

Since retiring from the screen in the 1970s she has become a semi-recluse, devoting herself to her Brigitte Bardot Foundation for animal rights, and has frequently taken aim at Eid al-Adha festivities when Muslims ritually slaughter sheep.

In 2008 she was convicted for a fifth time in 11 years for for incitement to religious hatred, over a 2006 tract on Eid al-Adha in which she said the Muslim community in France was "destroying our country by imposing its acts'.

(Reporting By Vicky Buffery, editing by Paul Casciato)

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LONDON (AP) In a sea of flapping black and white flippers, Ricky is hard to miss: He's got spiky yellow feathers, a flamboyant character, and he's the only rockhopper among the dozens of penguins living in the London Zoo.

That's a big help for keepers who embarked Thursday on their annual stock-taking of all the zoo's residents. It's no easy task, when there are more than 17,500 creatures to count. All animals have to be accounted for, including the tarantulas, locusts and snails.

The same scene was being repeated at zoos throughout Britain Thursday the census is nationwide. No stone is left unturned, lest there be a beetle below.

At the London Zoo, keepers hope the new year will bring some company to Ricky, who has been the zoo's lone rockhopper since 2011.

"Ricky's quite a unique character he was rejected by his parents and was hand-reared. He's more interested in zoo keepers than in other penguins," said zoological director David Field. "It's time to get him some rockhopper partners."

In the meerkat enclosure, 11 of the small mammals were only too happy to be counted, climbing onto a keeper's clipboard seeking attention and food.

An all-female family of nine otters likewise rushed forward at the sight of their favored delicacies: Mice and crayfish. In the invertebrates section, a palm-sized red-kneed tarantula called Jill caused a stir among visitors when she was lifted out of her box for inspection.

"This is quite a docile one," said keeper Amy Callaghan, who held the spider out in her hand for photographers. "I was a little bit wary of them at first, but now I think they're brilliant."

The census is required as part of the license terms of British zoos, and the data is used for zoo management and international breeding programs for endangered animals. The final tally could take weeks.

Most animals in the zoo have microchips in their bodies, making counting a little less daunting. Fish and animals with camouflage properties such as leaf insects are trickier, and the tiniest ones such as ants are counted in colonies, not as individuals.

New additions to the zoo being counted for the first time included baby Ziggy, an endangered white-naped mangabey monkey, and Maxilla, a black-and-white colobus monkey.

The zoo also welcomed a pair of new Sumatran tigers male Jae Jae from a zoo in Ohio and female Melati, from Perth, Australia. The endangered tigers were matched by an international breeding program to ensure a genetically diverse population of animals.

"We breed them in the zoo because they are running out of time in the wild," said Field, who's hopeful the tigers will soon produce cubs.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - After nine days in theaters, "Django Unchained" is on pace to be Quentin Tarantino's highest grossing movie ever.

That's right, if the trend holds, the blood-soaked slave-revenge fable will rack up more at the box office than "Pulp Fiction" ($213.9 million worldwide), "Kill Bill Vol. 1" ($180.9 million worldwide), "Kill Bill Vol. 2" ($152.1 million worldwide) and previous record holder, "Inglourious Basterds" ($321.4 million worldwide).

Even though "Django Unchained" has only debuted stateside, with $82.4 million through January 2, it is outstripping all of the previous Tarantino movie mash-ups. At a similar point in its rollout, "Inglourious Basterds" had netted $67.6 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo.

"It's the Quentin Tarantino brand," Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst with Boxoffice.com, told TheWrap. "People appreciate what he's doing. He makes these purely cinematic movies that allow even casual moviegoers to feel like they get to be a film snob and the great cast helps."

With a Cinemascore rating of A- (something of an imperfect arbiter of quality given that "Parental Guidance" has the same score) and a RottenTomatoes ranking of 89 percent "fresh," the film has been embraced by both audiences and critics, which bodes well for the proverbial "word of mouth" business.

"The exit polls are fantastic, the results have been outstanding and we're looking forward to a long run," Erik Lomis, head of theatrical distribution at The Weinstein Company, told TheWrap.

Not that "Django Unchained" has been immune to criticism. A fierce debate has erupted over Tarantino's proclivity for using a certain racial epithet that begins with "N," with directors like Spike Lee boycotting the film and decrying it for making light of slavery.

However, the red-hot controversy does not appear to have singed ticket sales.

And Fandango Chief Correspondent Dave Karger argues that the controversy may be helping the film. He notes that the plethora of opinion pieces on the subject as well as a viral video of star Samuel L. Jackson trying and failing to get an interviewer to use the racist term have kept "Django Unchained" in the public eye.

"This is the kind of movie that, as the best movies do, really inspires conversation and debate afterward and that only helps it," Karger said. "There are going to be people turned off by the use of the word, but they're going to just avoid the movie, and clearly it hasn't been a huge deterrent."

Indeed, as of 7 a.m. PT, "Django" was the number-one ticket seller on Fandango, ahead of other holiday hits like "Les Mis rables" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." It currently accounts for 21 percent of the ticketer's sales and, based on studio tracking, it should add another $18.5 million to its haul over the weekend.

That will likely push it over the $100 million mark after two weeks in theaters.

In contrast, it took "Inglourious Basterds" 23 days to hit a similar figure domestically. Moreover, by that point in its release schedule, "Inglourious Basterds" was never showing in less than 3,165 theaters whereas "Django Unchained" has never unspooled across more than 3,010 since it debuted, giving the Nazi drama a major per-screen advantage.

Starting on January 16, "Django Unchained" will find out if its film grindhouse humor translates abroad when it opens in France and Belgium and then rolls out across Russia, most of Europe and much of Latin America later that week. Sony will handle the international launch, while The Weinstein Company is overseeing the movie's domestic release.

Of course, highest grossing doesn't mean most successful. Adjusted for inflation, "Pulp Fiction," which amassed its $200 million-plus nearly 20 years ago, would be the top earner among the Tarantino oeuvre. Moreover, it still ranks as the director's most successful film having been produced for a meager $8 million.

Operating under the principle you have to spend money to make it, the Weinstein Company shelled out $87 million to produce "Django Unchained." Still if foreign audiences embrace the picture and the film picks up Oscar nominations, the studio will ride out of the holiday season with an awful lot of green-backs in its saddlebags.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - With its low cost of living, balmy climate and cheap property prices, Ecuador has been ranked the top foreign retirement destination for North Americans for the fifth consecutive year.

The South American nation bordered by Colombia and Peru scored the highest marks in InternationalLiving.com's annual ranking of the best places to retire.

With monthly estimated living expenses ranging from $900 to $1,400, Ecuador surpassed Panama, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica, which rounded out the top five countries.

"I think the combination of a welcoming culture, the great weather, the affordability and its proximity to the United States all go together to make it a good package," Dan Prescher, the special projects editor for the website, said on Thursday.

"Panama has a lot of the same things going for it, but it isn't quite as affordable as Ecuador," he added in an interview.

Editors at InternationalLiving.com analyzed data and information from correspondents in the countries most popular with American and Canadian retirees to compile the results, which were based on a host of categories: cost of living, climate, property prices, healthcare, ease of integration, retirement infrastructure, entertainment and amenities and special benefits for retirees.

A large part of Ecuador's appeal is how inexpensive it is for retirees. A beer costs just 85 cents. A doctor's visit is $25, roughly the same price as a one-hour massage.

"Seniors resident in Ecuador qualify for half-price entertainment and local transport, discounted airfares and refunds of sales tax," Prescher added.

Panama, which came in a close second, won praise for its pensioner visa, which speeds up residency, retiree discounts on medicines, entertainment and restaurants, and its friendly people.

Malaysia, the only Asian country to make the top five, drew retirees to its shores with its tropical climate, low cost of living and cheap rents, similar factors that boosted Mexico and Costa Rica's appeal to retirees.

Most of the better countries for retirees were Spanish speaking, including Uruguay, Colombia and Spain. Thailand, which placed ninth, was the only other Asian nation to make the top ten, thanks to its affordability, exotic locales and outdoor lifestyle.

Although the language may differ, Prescher said retirees adapt easily because they usually choose a country with a culture familiar to them.

"Most people know or can learn enough Spanish to get along," he added.

Malta squeezed in at No. 10, winning points for its very low crime rate, Mediterranean climate and abundance of English speakers. English is the second language of Malta, which is a European Union member.

Ireland, France, Portugal and Italy were other EU nations that made the ranking of 22 countries, along with the Philippines and New Zealand, which scored the worst for the cost of living, along with France, but ranked high for integration.

"The places that have been popular with expats for the last five to 10 years tend to stay in the rankings unless something drastic happens, a big political or economic change," Prescher explained.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Tim Dobbyn)

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