Analysts predicting slow start for 'ultra-HD' TVs


LAS VEGAS (AP) "Ultra-HD" TVs are set to be the talk of International CES, the gadget show kicking off this week in Las Vegas. But the televisions aren't likely to account for much of the market even four years down the road.

That is the conclusion of analysts of the show's host, a day before TV makers such as Samsung, LG and Sony attempt to wow conference attendees with their latest models.

Ultra high-definition TVs, with four times as many pixels as HD TVs, are expected to account for only 1.4 million units sold in the U.S. in 2016, or about 5 percent of the entire market. Sales in the rest of the world are expected to be smaller.

The analysts blamed high prices and low availability for the slow start.

"It's a very, very limited opportunity," said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis at the Consumer Electronics Association, which officially kicks off the show Tuesday. "The price points here are in the five digits (in U.S. dollars) and very few manufacturers, at least at this stage, have products ready."

The consumer electronics industry is struggling to come back from a weak year in 2012, when an estimated $1.06 trillion worth of goods was sold around the world, down 1 percent from 2011, hurt by a weak European economy and flat TV sales in China.

The market is seen recovering this year, with global sales rising 4 percent to $1.11 trillion, pumped up due to renewed growth in the so-called BRIC countries, led by China, Brazil, Russia and India.

All the more reason for gadget makers to energetically tout their latest innovations. TV makers were somewhat chastened last year as enthusiasm for super-thin and vibrant organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs was hampered by production problems and delays. Now they have turned their focus to ultra-HD to drive consumer demand.

Steve Bambridge, business director for boutique research and consumer choices at GfK, said troubles making OLED sets are "not any secret." He added that while some makers planned to sell models this year after introducing them a year ago, he said he "won't be surprised if those go backwards."

Although the show has often unveiled the biggest and best of TV sets, the biggest electronics show in the Americas has increasingly been dominated by computers, tablets and mobile devices.

For good reason: In 2013, CEA and GfK predicted that for the first time, three categories of devices mobile personal computers, tablets and smartphones will account for over half of all consumer electronics spending worldwide.

Shawn DuBravac, the CEA's chief economist, said one trend at the show was the increasing number of exhibitors who display technology that uses a smartphone or tablet as their hub. He noted a 25 percent increase in exhibitors from health and fitness companies, including those that sell heart monitors and blood pressure applications.

He also said the clamshell design of laptop computers, which hasn't changed much in two decades, will face a significant challenge. He expects 30 to 40 different hardware designs for the laptop to be presented on the show floor. Some intriguing computers on display will be giant touch-screen tablets meant for lying flat, and laptops whose screens can swivel around or detach from the keyboard easily.

"The clamshell design is still intact 20 years later. That's starting to change," he said.

More companies are also expected to do more with devices that respond better to a wider range of gestures and more natural speech.

White House, GOP draw red lines in debt debate


WASHINGTON (AP) Struggling for the upper hand in the next round of debt talks, Republicans and Democrats this weekend drew lines in the sand they said they'd never cross when it comes to the U.S. debt limit.

The tough talk on the Sunday morning talk shows doesn't bode well for voters who are frustrated by the political gridlock.

"I believe we need to raise the debt ceiling, but if we don't raise it without a plan to get out of debt, all of us should be fired," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Last week's deal to avert the combination of end-of-year tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff" held income tax rates steady for 99 percent of Americans but left some other major pieces of business unresolved.

By late February or early March, the Treasury Department will run out of options to cover the nation's debts and could begin defaulting on government loans unless Congress raises the legal borrowing limit, or debt ceiling. Economists warn that a default could trigger a global recession.

Also looming are deep automatic spending cuts expected to take effect at the beginning of March that could further erase fragile gains in the U.S. economy. Then on March 27, the temporary measure that funds government activities expires, and congressional approval will be needed to keep the government running. That's one more chance to fight over spending.

Republicans say they are willing to raise the debt ceiling but insist any increase must be paired with significant savings from Medicare, Medicaid and other government benefit programs. President Barack Obama has said he's willing to consider spending cuts separately but won't bargain over the government's borrowing authority.

"One thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made a similar remark Sunday in insisting the two issues raising the debt ceiling and reducing spending shouldn't be coupled.

"Right now we have to pay the bills that have been incurred," Pelosi said. "And if you want to say cut spending for what we do next, fine, but don't tie it to the debt ceiling."

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said spending cuts would have to be part of the equation if the proposal was to get any kind of GOP support.

McConnell on Sunday suggested Republicans were prepared to see the nation default on its spending obligations.

"It's a shame we have to use whatever leverage we have in Congress to get the president to deal with the biggest problem confronting our future, and that's our excessive spending,"

Meanwhile, Democrats said further tax increases for the wealthiest Americans were still possible as Congress looks to close the gap between revenues and expenditures. They say Obama has already agreed to significant spending cuts, and that the latest deal only gets the nation to about half of the revenue it needs to resolve the red ink.

"Trust me, there are plenty of things within that tax code these loopholes where people can park their money in some island offshore and not pay taxes. These are things that need to be closed. We can do that and use the money to reduce the deficit," said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat.

But McConnell bluntly declared that the "tax issue is over" after last week's agreement.

"We don't have this problem because we tax too little; we have it because we spend too much," McConnell said.

McConnell spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press," ABC's "This Week" and CBS' "Face the Nation." Pelosi was on CBS' "Face the Nation." Durbin and Graham appeared on CNN's "State of the Union."

'Chainsaw 3-D' carves out No. 1 debut with $23M


LOS ANGELES (AP) It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

Lionsgate's horror sequel "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" debuted at No. 1 with $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga "Django Unchained" held on at No. 2 for a second-straight weekend with $20.1 million. The Weinstein Co. release raised its domestic total to $106.4 million.

After three weekends at No. 1, part one of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy slipped to third with $17.5 million. That lifts the domestic haul to $263.8 million for "The Hobbit." The Warner Bros. blockbuster added $57.1 million overseas to bring its international earnings to $561 million and its worldwide total to about $825 million.

Also passing the $100 million mark over the weekend was Universal's musical "Les Miserables," which finished at No. 4 with $16.1 million, pushing its domestic total to $103.6 million.

Like other horror franchises, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has had several other remakes or sequels, but the idea always seems ripe for a new wave of fright-flick fans. Nearly two-thirds of the audience was under 25, too young or not even born when earlier "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies came out.

"It's one of those that survives each generation. It's something that continues to come back and entertain its audience," said Richie Fay, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

"Texas Chainsaw" drew a hefty 84 percent of its business from 3-D screenings. Many movies now draw 50 percent or less of their revenue from 3-D screenings, but horror fans tend to prefer paying extra to see blood and guts fly with an added dimension.

In narrower release, Matt Damon's natural-gas fracking drama "Promised Land" had a slow start in its nationwide debut, coming in at No. 10 with $4.3 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.

Released by Focus Features, "Promised Land" stars Damon as a salesman pitching rural residents on fracking technology to drill for natural gas. The film widened to 1,676 theaters, averaging a slim $2,573 a cinema, compared with $8,666 in 2,654 theaters for "Texas Chainsaw."

Hollywood began the year where it left in 2012, when business surged during the holidays to carry the industry to a record $10.8 billion at the domestic box office.

Overall business this weekend came in at $149 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year, when "The Devil Inside" led with $33.7 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. But with strong business on New Year's Day last week, Hollywood already has raked in $254.2 million, 33 percent ahead of last year.

Box-office results ebb and flow quickly, so that lead could vanish almost overnight. But with a steady lineup of potential hits right through December, studios have a chance at another revenue record this year.

"The month that we had at the end of last year that led us to a record year continued right through New Year's and on now to the first official weekend of 2013," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We're looking for an even stronger year this year. That's in the realm of possibility. But we have 51 weekends to go."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $23 million.

2. "Django Unchained," $20.1 million.

3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $17.5 million ($57.1 million international).

4. "Les Miserables," $16.1 million ($14.5 million international).

5. "Parental Guidance," $10.1 million.

6. "Jack Reacher," $9.3 million ($22.3 million international).

7. "This Is 40," $8.6 million.

8. "Lincoln," $5.3 million.

9. "The Guilt Trip," $4.5 million.

10. "Promised Land," $4.3 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Life of Pi," $60.1 million.

2. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $57.1 million.

3. "Jack Reacher," $22.3 million.

4. "Wreck-It Ralph," $19.5 million.

5. "Les Miserables," $14.5 million.

6. "Rise of the Guardians," $9.6 million.

7. "Three Warriors on Distant Shores," $9 million.

8. "Skyfall," $7.4 million.

9. "The Impossible," $7 million.

10. "The Tower," $6.5 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Newsmaker: Republican maverick Hagel forged bond with Obama over Iraq


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - From his lonely position as an early Republican critic of the Iraq war, former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel sometimes lectured his more timid Senate colleagues. "If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes," he told them.

Now Democratic President Barack Obama, putting together his team for his second term, is poised to choose the intensely independent thinker to run the Pentagon. If Hagel is confirmed by the Senate, he will have to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. troops from another war zone - Afghanistan - and grapple with spending cuts.

The formal announcement of Hagel's nomination could come as early as Monday, Democratic Party sources said.

A social conservative and strong internationalist who co-chaired John McCain's failed Republican presidential campaign back in 2000, Hagel might seem an unlikely pick for Obama's Secretary of Defense, were it not for his opposition to the Iraq war launched by former President George W. Bush. That war was the issue on which Obama also rose to national prominence.

Four years ago, Obama said Iraq was not the only matter where he held similar views with Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran who was also once touted as presidential material.

"He's a staunch Republican, but Chuck and I agree almost on every item of foreign policy," Obama said in August 2008, a month after taking Hagel with him on a tour of Iraq.

Since his name emerged last year as a candidate for the Pentagon, some Republicans contend that Hagel has at times opposed Israel's interests. His critics note he voted against U.S. sanctions on Iran and made disparaging remarks about the influence of what he called a "Jewish lobby" in Washington.

Hagel has also been critical of the size of the American military, telling the Financial Times in 2011 that the Defense Department was "bloated" and needed "to be pared down."

Hagel served two terms in the Senate, representing the state of Nebraska, and left in 2008. He is now a professor at Georgetown University, but also serves as co-chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and a member of the Secretary of Defense's Policy Board.

Since he left the Senate, Hagel has been a big critic of his own party. He told the Financial Times in 2011 that he was "disgusted" by the "irresponsible actions" of Republicans during the debt-ceiling debate.

In 2012 he endorsed a Democrat candidate for Senate from Nebraska - former Senator Bob Kerrey - instead of Republican Deb Fischer, who won.

Hagel would not be the first Republican to serve Obama as Pentagon chief. Bob Gates, Obama's first defense secretary, was a holdover from the years of Republican President Bush.

AS A SENATOR, CLASHED WITH OTHER REPUBLICANS

While he was in the Senate as a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Banking, and Intelligence Committees, Hagel often clashed with his party's leaders on foreign and defense policy.

He co-sponsored legislation to ease U.S. trade restrictions with Cuba, and voted against trade sanctions on Iran and Libya.

In 2002 Hagel said the U.S. should try to improve relations with the countries Bush had branded an "axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.

The same year, when Hagel expressed doubts about the Bush administration's buildup to war in Iraq, the conservative Weekly Standard magazine branded him part of an "axis of appeasement." But Hagel did vote to give the president the authority to carry out the March 2003 invasion.

Later Hagel said he regretted that vote and became a persistent critic of the conflict. In January 2007, he was the only Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support a non binding measure that criticized Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq.

Hagel told senators they must take a stand on "the most divisive issue in the country since Vietnam," a war in which he fought, but later decided was wrong. His stance put him at odds with his fellow Republican maverick, McCain, and Hagel was pilloried by other Republicans.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told Newsweek: "I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But it's very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved."

In 2008, Hagel did not make a public endorsement in the presidential race, but his wife Lilibet endorsed Obama and sat with Obama's wife Michelle during the last presidential debate.

Hagel skipped the 2008 Republican convention to travel to Central and South America. Then he further irked Republicans by telling the Omaha World-Herald newspaper that it was a "stretch" to say McCain's running mate Sarah Palin would be qualified to be president.

He was once considered a contender for the 2008 presidency himself, and there was speculation he would join New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on an independent ticket. Instead he said in September 2007 that he was dropping out of politics and retiring from the Senate when his term ended in 2008.

Born in 1946, Hagel grew up in Nebraska as the oldest of four boys, and made a fortune by launching a cellphone company in the 1980s. His father was also a military man, a World War II veteran who died of a heart attack when Chuck was 16.

Hagel and his younger brother Tom volunteered for Vietnam, and Hagel saved Tom's life there by pulling him out of a burning vehicle. (Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

SAP CEO says China to become as important as U.S.: paper


FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP sees potential for one million new customers in China, five times the number it currently has world-wide, German weekly paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said.

"China will be as important for us as the United States," SAP's co-Chief Executive Jim Hagemann Snabe told the paper, according to an advance extract.

Snabe said SAP wants to open the Chinese market by securing a deal with authorities to allow cloud computing services.

"We want to find a solution with Chinese authorities this year if possible," Snabe told the paper.

As part of SAP's growth strategy, it plans to invest around $2 billion in China by 2015.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner marries his "runaway bride"


(Reuters) - Octogenarian Playboy founder Hugh Hefner briefly swapped his iconic silk pajamas for a tuxedo to marry Crystal Harris, the one-time "runaway bride" who followed through this time at a New Year's Eve wedding.

"Happy New Year from Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hefner!" the Playboy magazine publisher tweeted early on Tuesday.

The message accompanied a photograph of Hefner, 86, wearing what appeared to be purple silk pajamas under a black bathrobe and snuggling his bride, 26, still wearing her pale pink wedding dress. He also wore his trademark captain's hat.

An hour earlier, Hefner posted a picture of himself in a tuxedo with his bride under an arch of pink and white flowers at the wedding ceremony in the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

"Crystal & I married on New Year's Eve in the Mansion with Keith as my Best Man. Love that girl!" Hefner wrote on Twitter with the picture, referring to his brother Keith Hefner, a songwriter.

The couple tied the knot more than a year after their planned 2011 wedding was scuttled when Harris got cold feet.

The blonde Playboy Playmate of the Month for December 2009 jettisoned the adult entertainment mogul in what was called a "change of heart" five days before a lavish June 2011 wedding before 300 guests.

Harris, who appeared on the July 2011 cover of the adult magazine with a "runaway bride" sticker covering her bottom half, tweeted on Monday that she was ready to commit and changed her name to "Crystal Hefner" on the micro-blogging site.

"Today is the day I become Mrs. Hugh Hefner," Harris, who has a psychology degree, wrote on Twitter after writing "Feeling very happy, lucky, and blessed."

The San Diego native, whose parents are British, said she asked for Christmas ornaments rather than lingerie at her pre-Christmas bridal shower to help decorate Hefner's famed mansion.

Hefner, founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire, has been married twice before. He and his second wife Kimberley Conrad, also a former Playmate, divorced in 2010 after a lengthy separation. His first marriage to Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. He has two children from each marriage.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Paul Simao)

French actor Depardieu meets Putin, picks up Russian passport


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)

Cat used in Brazil prison smuggling try


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."

Mandela recovers from surgery, lung infection: official


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)

French actor Depardieu meets Putin, picks up Russian passport


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)