Snoop Dogg fist bumped with Secretary of State John Kerry during a party in early December hosted by the Obama Administration at the White House to honor the 2013 Kennedy Center Honorees.
The rapper took his family for the event at the White House and said: “I’ve got my wife, my daughter and we’re going to have a good time.”
Snoop Dogg fist bumped with Secretary of State John Kerry during a party at the White House
Snoop Dogg also said during a video posted by CBS: “Eastside LBC to DC, my baby boo been with me the whole way through… We at the White House doing it big.”
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug has topped the US box office for a third week despite festive competition from The Wolf Of Wall Street.
The film took $30 million over the weekend, bringing its US total to $190 million.
Disney animation Frozen was at number two, switching places with Will Ferrell’s comedy Anchorman 2 at three.
Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street was the biggest new release, at five.
Marking the director’s fifth collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, the black comedy is based on stock broker Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name.
The film took $19 million after opening at number two on Christmas Day with $9.15 million.
Analysts said it had suffered slightly due to its three-hour length – meaning it cannot be shown as many times in a day as its competitors.
The only other new entry in the top 10 was Keanu Reeves’ samurai film 47 Ronin, which weathered bad reviews to debut at number nine with $9.9 million.
Reuters reported that film company Universal had revised its profit estimates on Christmas Eve after it became apparent the film would not break even.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug has topped the US box office for a third week despite festive competition from The Wolf Of Wall Street
With two days left to go, the North American Box Office is on track to beat last year’s record takings of $10.8 billion, said chart trackers Rentrak.
Rentrack estimated ticket sales would top $10.9 billion by the New Year, boosted by several award-friendly films in the Top 10.
Chief among them is American Hustle, which has already gained seven Golden Globe nominations.
Directed by David O. Russell, American Hustle stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, who appeared in his Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook, alongside Amy Adams and Christian Bale, from the similarly-lauded Russell drama The Fighter.
North American box office Top 5:
1.Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $30 million
2. Frozen – $28.9 million
3.Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – $20.2 million
Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy stranded in East Antarctica since Christmas Day remained stuck as the latest rescue efforts were thwarted by fierce winds and poor visibility.
An Australian icebreaker trying to reach the Russian scientific mission ship was forced to turn back.
Earlier attempts by Chinese and French icebreakers to reach the Akademik Shokalskiy were also foiled by the thick ice.
Seventy-four scientists, tourists and crew are on the ship.
The vessel is being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago.
Scientists on board thought the ice was much thicker than usual for this time of year.
Akademik Shokalskiy stranded in East Antarctica since Christmas Day remained stuck as the latest rescue efforts were thwarted by fierce winds and poor visibility
The Aurora Australis icebreaker had been forced to turn back to clear water and was repositioning to try to find another route towards the Shokalskiy.
In a statement, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said: “The area where the MV Akademik Shokalskiy is beset by ice is currently experiencing winds of up to 30 knots and snow showers.”
“These weather conditions have resulted in poor visibility and made it difficult and unsafe for the Aurora Australis to continue today’s attempt to assist the MV Akademik Shokalskiy.”
Earlier, it was thought that passengers could be winched to safety by a helicopter on board the Chinese icebreaker, which had to abort its rescue mission on Saturday.
However, AMSA spokeswoman Lisa Martin told Reuters news agency: “We can’t fly a helicopter in these conditions either. There is essentially nothing we can do at this point of time.”
The Aurora Australis would have to wait for the weather to improve before making a second rescue attempt, she added.
Despite being trapped, the scientists on board have continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice.
Akademik Shokalskiy was trapped on Christmas Day by thick sheets of ice, driven by strong winds, about 1,500 nautical miles south of Hobart – the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania.
At least 10 people are killed and more than 20 others hurt in a suspected suicide bombing in the Russian city of Volgograd, in what officials say is the second suicide attack there in less than two days.
The blast comes in less than 24 hours after 17 people died in another suicide attack at the central station in the city.
Security has been tightened at railway stations and airports across Russia.
Moscow is concerned militant groups could be ramping up violence in the run-up to the 2014 winter Olympic Games in the city of Sochi.
The Olympic venue is close to Russia’s volatile north Caucasus region.
Volgograd lies about 900 km south of Moscow, 650 km north of the North Caucasus and 700 km north-east of Sochi.
The latest explosion took place near a busy market in the city’s Dzerzhinsky district.
The latest explosion in Volgograd took place near a busy market in the city’s Dzerzhinsky district
Maksim Akhmetov, a Russian TV reporter who was at the scene of the blast, said the trolleybus was packed with people going to work in the morning rush hour.
He described the scene as “terrible”, adding that the bus was “ravaged” and that there were “bodies everywhere, blood on the snow”.
The explosion removed much of the bus’s exterior and broke windows in nearby buildings.
The figures given for the number of dead and injured are still fluctuating – and a one-year-old child is said to be among the victims.
A spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee said both explosions were now being treated as acts of terrorism.
Sunday’s blast rocked Volgograd-1 station at around 12:45 at a time of year when millions of Russians are travelling to celebrate the New Year.
Michael Schumacher is in a critical condition after a skiing accident in Meribel, says the French hospital treating him.
Michael Schumacher, 44, suffered serious brain trauma, was in a coma on arrival and underwent a brain operation.
He was skiing off-piste with his son in the French Alps on Sunday when the accident occurred.
Michael Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he fell and hit his head against a rock, his manager Sabine Kehm said.
Early reports had said his condition was not life-threatening and he reportedly walked away from the accident complaining only of feeling a bit shaken.
The accident took place in the French ski resort of Meribel on Sunday morning.
The resort’s director, Christophe Gernignon-Lecomte, said Schumacher was attended to by two ski patrollers who requested helicopter evacuation to the nearby valley town of Moutiers.
Michael Schumacher is in a critical condition after a skiing accident in Meribel
The seven-time Formula 1 champion was subsequently moved to the bigger facility at Grenoble, in south-east France. His wife Corinna and two children are with him.
“Mr. Schumacher was admitted to the University Hospital of Grenoble at 12:40, following a skiing accident which occurred in Meribel in the late morning,” the Grenoble hospital said in a statement.
“He suffered a severe head injury with coma on arrival, which required immediate neurosurgical intervention. He remains in a critical situation.”
The hospital statement was signed by the facility’s neurosurgeon, the professor in charge of its anaesthesia/revival unit, and the hospital’s deputy director, reports said.
A hospital official declined to give more details and said more information would be given out on Monday, said Reuters news agency.
Experts say it is likely that his brain began to swell and the urgent surgery was required to relieve the pressure.
Professor Gerard Saillant, a close ally and friend of Michael Schumacher, and his former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt are at the hospital.
Prof. Gerard Saillant is an expert in brain and spine injury. He oversaw Michael Schumacher’s medical care when the driver broke his leg in the 1999 British GP.
Michael Schumacher, who turns 45 on January 3, retired from F1 for a second time in 2012.
A Saudi royal member, who murdered a fellow Saudi, may be executed, a newspaper reported on Sunday, in a rare example of a member of the kingdom’s ruling family facing the death penalty.
The English-language Arab News did not name the prince or his victim, but said a senior member of the family and government, Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, had “cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of murdering a Saudi citizen”.
In a message about the case to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Prince Salman said: “Sharia [Islamic law] shall be applied to all without exception.”
Prince Salman’s message followed a statement from the victim’s father that he was not ready to pardon the killer and he was not happy with the amount offered as blood money.
The families of murder victims are encouraged by authorities to accept blood money instead of insisting on execution.
Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud had cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of murdering a Saudi citizen
The paper quoted Crown Prince Salman’s message as saying: “There is no difference between big and small, rich and poor … Nobody is allowed to interfere with the judiciary’s decision. This is the tradition of this state. We are committed to following the sharia.”
The Arab News is part of a media group chaired by a son of Crown Prince Salman, who is also deputy PM and minister of defense.
The kingdom, which follows a strict version of sharia has been criticized in the West for its high number of executions, inconsistencies in the application of the law, and its use of public beheading to carry out death sentences.
Saudi Arabia had executed at least 47 people as of May 2013, according to Amnesty International’s website, compared to 82 in all of 2011 and a similar number in 2012.
Members of the ruling family are only rarely known to be executed. One of the most prominent cases was Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in 1975.
The Saudi royal family is estimated to number several thousand. While members receive monthly stipends, and the most senior princes command great wealth and political power, only a few in the family hold nationally important government posts.
Three journalists working for the Al-Jazeera broadcaster in Cairo have been arrested by Egyptian police.
The Interior Ministry said the journalists had held illegal meetings with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organization last week.
The military-backed interim government launched a crackdown on the movement following President Mohamed Morsi’s removal from power.
Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members, including its leadership, have been arrested and many put on trial.
The journalists, who work for Al-Jazeera English, are understood to have been detained late on Sunday night.
Three journalists working for the Al-Jazeera broadcaster in Cairo have been arrested by Egyptian police
They are Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who holds Canadian nationality, Peter Greste, an Australian, and an unnamed cameraman who is said to have been arrested at home.
The Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement that cameras, recordings and other material had been seized from rooms at a hotel in Cairo.
It accused the journalists of broadcasting news that were “damaging to national security”.
Observers say Egypt’s media environment has been highly charged since Mohamed Morsi’s overthrow.
Several Islamist channels were closed down immediately after the military intervention in the summer. Journalists working for them were temporarily detained.
The latest arrests come after fresh deadly clashes between police and Muslim Brotherhood supporters across Egypt.
Three people were killed – in Cairo, southern Minya province and the Nile Delta – during the violence.
Security forces detained some 265 Muslim Brotherhood supporters, officials said.
Wojciech Kilar, who was BAFTA-nominated for his score to Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film The Pianist, has died aged 81.
The Polish pianist and composer died in his hometown Katowice following a long illness.
“The power and the message of his music… will stay in my memory forever,” said Jerzy Kornowicz, head of the Association of Polish Composers.
Wojciech Kilar’s work as a film composer included Dracula and Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate.
Wojciech Kilar was BAFTA-nominated for his score to Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film The Pianist
Although he cited his first love as writing symphonies and concertos, he won worldwide attention as a film composer, writing scores for more than 130 films and working with celebrity directors such as Jane Campion (Portrait of a Lady) and Francis Ford Coppola.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula won Wojciech Kilar the best score composer award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1992.
Francis Ford Coppola is understood to have given Wojciech Kilar a free rein to compose the score for Dracula, and it was reported that when the American director later asked Kilar what it took to write music like his, Kilar cryptically replied: “You need to live in Katowice.”
Born in 1932, Wojciech Kilar studied piano and composition in Poland, graduating from the State Higher School of Music, in Katowice, with top honors in 1955.
Inspired by the works of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and fellow countryman Karol Szymanowski – Wojciech Kilar co-founded the Karol Szymanowski Society in 1977 – his work incorporated Polish folk songs and Catholic church music.
France’s highest court has approved a 75% tax on high income.
The new tax is one of President Francois Hollande’s signature policies.
The initial proposal to tax individual incomes was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council almost exactly one year ago.
But the government modified it to make employers liable for the 75% tax on salaries exceeding 1 million euros ($1.3 million).
France’s highest court has approved a 75 percent tax on high earners that is one of President Francois Hollande’s signature policies
The levy will last two years, affecting income earned this year and in 2014.
Football clubs in France went on strike earlier this year over the issue, saying many of France’s clubs are financially fragile and say the plans could spark an exodus of top players who are paid huge salaries.
The Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain has more than 10 players whose pay exceeds 1 million euros, including the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
There has also been a chorus of protest from businesses and wealthy individuals who have condemned the tax – including actor Gerard Depardieu, who left the country in protest.
Polls suggest a large majority in France back the temporary tax.
Lebanon’s army is to receive a $3 billion grant from Saudi Arabia.
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman made the announcement in a televised address after the funeral of a senior Lebanese politician killed in a car bomb attack. He said it would help fight terrorism.
Mohamad Chatah, a Sunni Muslim, was a staunch critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement that backs him.
Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah have taken opposite sides in the Syrian conflict.
Mohamad Chatah was killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut
“The king of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is offering this generous and appreciated aid of $3 billion to the Lebanese army to strengthen its capabilities,” Michel Sleiman said in his address.
He said it was the largest assistance provided in Lebanon’s history and would be used to buy weapons from France.
French President Francois Hollande said his country would “meet” any demands for weapons from Lebanon during a visit on Sunday to Saudi Arabia aimed at boosting commercial ties with the kingdom.
“I am in touch with President Sleiman… If demands are made to us, we will meet them,” Francois Hollande said.
President Michel Sleiman said the Saudi aid would finally allow the Lebanese army to “confront terrorism” and put an end to the proliferation of arms.
Kris Humphries came pretty close to scoring two points for the other team during the Boston Celtics’ matinee matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
In the first quarter with the Celtics trailing 20-18, Kris Humphries got possession of a jump ball in front of his team’s net.
Kris Humphries came pretty close to scoring two points for the other team during the Boston Celtics’ matinee matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Celtics forward then turned toward to hoop, offering a solid pump fake before doing a 180 and passing the ball to Jordan Crawford and heading toward the other end of the floor to play offense.
Pope Francis has been named the best dressed man of 2013 by Esquire magazine.
According to CNN, the magazine admits this is an unconventional decision, but they look to Pope Francis’ simple style decisions as signaling new hope for the Catholic Church.
In the past, Pope Benedict XVI wore elaborate robes and a large golden cross.
Pope Francis has been named the best dressed man of 2013 by Esquire magazine
Now, Pope Francis is making a statement with his simple garments and small iron cross.
Instead of fashion, Pope Francis has been trying to focus on the Catholic Church helping the marginalized, the disenfranchised and the poor.
Fresh anti-government protests gathered tens of thousands of Ukrainians in Kiev.
Many demonstrators also marched on President Viktor Yanukovych’s official residence outside the capital.
They have been re-energized by a brutal attack on a prominent journalist, Tetyana Chornovol, on Christmas Day.
Tetyana Chornovol had accused Viktor Yanukovych of corruption over his financing of the Mezhygirya residence in an expose.
Viktor Yanukovych denies any allegation of corruption and has called for an investigation into the attack on Tetyana Chornovol.
Protesters made their way to the Mezhygirya residence, some 9 miles away on the banks of the Dnipro river, by bike, car and minibus, where they carried a coffin to symbolize what they hope is the end of his political life, AFP reported.
Ukrainian protesters have been re-energized by a brutal attack on journalist Tetyana Chornovol on Christmas Day
Demonstrators first took to the streets in late November, angered by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to abandon an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Protesters continue to occupy the central Independence Square and have refortified barricades to ward off attempts by police to clear the camp – though such attempts now appear to have been abandoned.
But on Sunday, more protesters returned to the streets of Kiev, many angered by the attack on Tetyana Chornovol, who says her car was run off the road before she was taken out and beaten by men.
Pictures have been circulated of her bloodied and swollen face following the beating.
Local news agencies say five men have been placed under arrest but no motive has been put forward.
Tetyana Chornovol, 34, says her assailants followed her in a “black luxury” SUV after she had been taking pictures of the residences of senior administration figures.
A female suicide bomb attack on Volgograd’s train station has killed 15 people, Russian officials say.
Another suspected female suicide bomber killed at least six people when she attacked a bus in the city in October.
Moscow is concerned militant groups could be ramping up violence in the run up to the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi in February.
An Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus region has led to many attacks there in recent years. Insurgents have also attacked big Russian towns.
Volgograd lies about 900 km south of Moscow, 650 km north of the North Caucasus and 700 km north-east of Sochi.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered law enforcement agencies to take “all necessary security measures” in the bomb’s aftermath, said a Kremlin spokesman.
Vladimir Putin has ordered the most gravely injured victims to be flown to Moscow for treatment.
Security would be stepped up at train stations and airports, said a federal police spokesman.
Sunday’s explosion rocked Volgograd-1 station at around 12:45 at a time when millions of Russians are travelling to celebrate the New Year.
The bomb contained 10 kg (22 lbs) of TNT, was rigged with shrapnel and was detonated near the metal detectors at the station entrance, said a spokesman for the Investigative Committee.
“According to our information the explosion was carried out by a female suicide bomber who approached a metal detector, saw a policeman there, got nervous and detonated the bomb stuffed with pieces of shrapnel,” said the spokesman, Vladimir Markin.
A nearby security camera facing Volgograd’s train station caught the moment of the blast
He said the security presence had prevented a much higher death toll at the station, which was packed at the time of the blast as several trains were delayed.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, which Vladimir Markin said injured 34 people – eight critically – including a nine-year-old girl whose mother was killed in the attack.
RIA Novosti news agency said security sources were naming the attacker as Oksana Aslanova. She has reportedly been married twice to militants and is also suspected of being a friend of Naida Asiyalova, the suicide bomber who targeted the Volgograd bus in October.
However, the Interfax news agency said the suspect’s head had been found at the site – and, according to an unidentified security source, “it has been established that the suicide terrorist was a man who had brought explosives to the station in a rucksack”.
A nearby security camera facing the station caught the moment of the blast, showing a bright orange flash behind the station’s main doors.
The explosion shattered windows and sent debris and plumes of smoke from the station entrance.
Ambulances rushed the injured to hospital, while motionless bodies were laid out in the station forecourt.
The incident was being treated as an act of terrorism, Vladimir Markin said.
Michael Schumacher has suffered a head injury while skiing in Meribel, France.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, who retired from F1 for a second time in 2012, was taken by helicopter to hospital in Moutiers before being moved to Grenoble.
Michael Schumacher, 44, is still undergoing tests in hospital where he is being comforted by his wife and three of his children.
Christophe Gernignon-Lecomte, director of the Meribel resort where Michael Schumacher suffered his injury, said: “He was a little shaken but conscious” after crashing.
Speaking to Radio Monte Carlo Sport, Gernignon-Lecomte added: “He was wearing a helmet and banged [his head] against a rock.”
Michael Schumacher was skiing with his 14-year-old son and others in an off-piste area between two marked runs above Meribel when he fell on Sunday morning.
Michael Schumacher has suffered a head injury while skiing in Meribel,
He was attended to by two ski patrollers who requested helicopter evacuation to the nearby valley town of Moutiers, before he was subsequently moved to a bigger facility at Grenoble.
The German is receiving the attention of Professor Gerard Saillant, a close ally and friend of Schumacher and his former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt.
Prof. Gerard Saillant is an expert in brain and spine injury. He oversaw Michael Schumacher’s medical care when the German broke his leg in the 1999 British GP.
Michael Schumacher’s spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said in a statement: “We ask for understanding that we cannot give out continuous information about his health.
“He was wearing a helmet and was not alone. No one else was involved in the fall.”
Duck Dynasty and Phil Robertson’s supporters have found a new way to duck the halls this holiday season.
The Mail The Duck campaign is sending A&E thousands of tiny yellow rubber ducks to show their support for Phil Robertson.
Conservative Christians are showing solidarity with embattled ‘Duck Dynasty’ patriarch Phil Robertson by sending thousands of tiny rubber ducks to A&E’s New York offices.
The first cardboard box jammed with 1,500 ducks will be sent to the channel’s CEO Nancy Dubuc, according to Janet Porter, the founder of the conservative group Faith2Action.
Janet Porter said she was looking for a “tangible” way to show A&E that thousands of people support Phil Robertson’s views on homos**uality.
Phil Robertson’s fans planned to mail A&E CEO Nancy Dubuc thousands of yellow rubber ducks
Rick Scarborough, president of the partner organization Vision America, came up with idea to organize a “Mail The Duck” campaign. The goal is to fight back against a “homos**ual agenda” that conservatives believe is “steamrolling” over their rights to freedom of religion and free speech.
Janet Porter, president of Faith2Action, said she plans to send the ducks in several batches. She’s already gotten at least 1,500 requests.
The campaign was launched on December 23 and Janet Porter says she’s already gotten thousands of requests to sponsor ducks and send free postcards.
Each duck sets supporters back $7. The squeaky creatures will be labeled with a sponsor’s name, city, and state, along with the message: “We cry fowl-Reinstate Phil!”
Phil Robertson, 67, was suspended from Duck Dynasty show after making anti-gay remarks during an interview with GQ magazine.
A&E Networks decided to reinstate Phil Robertson after a week of controversy.
The Robertson family is ready to move on from the controversy surrounding Duck Dynasty’s patriarch Phil Robertson’s racist and homophobic rants, according to a new report.
A source close to Phil Robertson and his family told People magazine A&E’s announcement that the hit show will return for another season came as a relief.
“The family is happy that they can put this behind them,” the source said.
The Robertson family is ready to move on from the controversy surrounding Duck Dynasty’s patriarch Phil Robertson’s racist and homophobic rants
Phil Robertson caused a firestorm of outrage last week after making anti-gay remarks during an interview with GQ magazine.
He also said black men in Louisiana during the Jim Crow era weren’t “singing the blues” and were “godly” and “happy”.
“It got a little out of hand,” the source told the magazine.
“Phil has never been disrespectful to anyone and treats everyone with kindness. He made some comments off the cuff that he shouldn’t have made, and he knows that.”
An Australian vessel is en route to East Antarctica in a renewed bid to free Akademik Shokalskiy scientific mission ship trapped in dense pack ice since Christmas.
Earlier rescue attempts by Chinese and French icebreakers were foiled by the thick ice.
Seventy-four scientists, tourists and crew are on the Akademik Shokalskiy.
The vessel is being used by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition to follow the route explorer Douglas Mawson travelled a century ago.
The Shokalskiy remains well stocked with food and is in no danger, according to the team.
An Australian vessel is en route to East Antarctica in a renewed bid to free Akademik Shokalskiy
Despite being trapped, the scientists have continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue, said the Aurora Australis was expected to reach the trapped research ship on Sunday around 12:00 GMT.
The powerful icebreaker can cut ice up to 5.2 ft thick – potentially still enough to plough through the estimated three-metre wall surrounding the Shokalskiy.
If this latest relief operation fails, passengers could be winched to safety by a helicopter on board the Chinese icebreaker, which had to abort its rescue mission on Saturday.
The Snow Dragon came within seven nautical miles of the Russian ship before stalling and being forced to return to the open sea.
Cuba has decided to ease restrictions on loans to private borrowers in the latest measure aimed at boosting the island’s troubled economy.
Individuals and small businesses can now borrow smaller amounts and have more time to pay back the government.
President Raul Castro had launched the program two years ago as part of measures to reform Cuban socialism.
The minimum lending has been reduced from 3,000 to 1,000 pesos ($67).
The measure was published in the official gazette.
People will also be allowed to use their houses or jewellery to guarantee their loans.
The maximum period of the loans has been extended from five to 10 years.
Earlier this month, the Cuban government lifted restrictions on private individuals buying new and second-hand cars.
Cuban government also lifted restrictions on private individuals buying new and second-hand cars
Any Cuban citizen or foreigner with enough money will now be allowed to import the vehicles through an official agency.
Previously, official permits were required and they were often issued to government officials, doctors and other people with access to the authorities, such as sports stars.
Although Cubans have been able to request bank credits since 2011, barely 500 are reported to have borrowed money.
The government wants to boost that figure as part of its efforts to encourage 1.5 million people to switch from the state payroll to the new private sector.
Some 440,000 people, or about 9% of the Cuban workforce, are now self-employed.
But analysts point out that the new businesses face a big problem – they all chase a very limited number of Cubans with cash to spend.
Croatian authorities have charged pharmaceutical company Farmal and 364 people – most of them reportedly doctors – for allegedly rigging the drugs market.
Senior managers at Farmal bribed a network of doctors and pharmacists to prescribe the company’s products, officials said.
They have been charged with bribery, abuse of power and corruption.
Local media said the indictment was the biggest of its kind in Croatia’s judicial history.
Correspondents say the health system could have collapsed if all the doctors implicated were sacked. There are around 5,000 doctors in Croatia.
Many of those charged were given probation fines as a result, local media reported.
Croatian authorities have charged Farmal and 364 people for allegedly rigging the drugs market
In a statement, Croatia’s anti-corruption agency Uskok said the top management of Farmal, based in the northern town of Ludbreg, was charged with bribing “medical workers”, mostly primary care doctors and pharmacists, to “order and prescribe drugs produced” by the company.
“The charges are brought up against 364 Croatian citizens and Farmal pharmaceutical company for bribery, abuse of power and corruption,” it said.
The agency did not specify how many doctors have been charged, but local media reported that some 300 doctors have been indicted, according to AFP.
The suspects face up to five years’ imprisonment if convicted, the news agency said.
Doctors and pharmacists were offered bribes, including money and travel, worth between 5-10% of the medicines they prescribed, according to Sofia News Agency.
The crimes allegedly took place between 2009 and 2012.
The date for the trial has yet to be set.
Croatia has previously struggled with a widespread corruption problem but became a member of the EU in July after introducing a series of reforms.
An estimated 1.3 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits after an emergency federal program expired on Saturday.
Lawmakers failed to agree on an extension of the scheme before the Congress began its winter recess.
Former President George W. Bush introduced the assistance plan in 2008 at the start of the recession.
Under the program, jobless people received an average monthly stipend of $1,166 for up to 73 weeks.
The White House says the benefits have kept millions of families out of poverty, but many Republicans argue that the scheme’s annual $25 billion price tag is too expensive.
The stalemate comes two months after a budget fight in the US Congress led to the partial shutdown of the government.
President Barack Obama has vowed to push for the renewal of the expired program when Congress reconvenes in early January.
An estimated 1.3 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits after an emergency federal program expired
“The president said his administration would, as it has for several weeks now, push Congress to act promptly and in bipartisan fashion to address this urgent economic priority,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
An estimated 1.3 million people will initially be cut off with the end of the “emergency unemployment compensation”, US officials say.
Millions more could be affected next year after they lose state benefits, which in many states expires after six months.
The financial aid was designed to help US citizens who lost their jobs during the recession and were unable to find new work while receiving the state benefits.
The US unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 7% in November, according to the US Labor Department.
But the long-term jobless rate remains a problem for the economy, with some 4.1 million Americans currently out of work for six months or longer.
There has been repeated political wrangling between the Republicans, who control the lower house – the House of Representatives – and the Democrats, who have a majority in the upper house, the Senate.
Because of disagreements between the two houses over federal government spending, the Congress failed to pass a budget before the fiscal year ended on September 30.
Both sides eventually struck a last-gasp deal in October to end the federal shutdown and raise the federal debt limit.
A New York Times in-depth report found no proof that al-Qaeda or any international terrorist groups played any role in the Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
A senior Obama administration official said the White House does not dispute the article published Saturday about the 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The six-part report goes on to say that an American-made video mocking Islam largely triggered the attack, which was not well-planned.
“The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi,” the Times report reads, referring to the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
A New York Times in-depth report found no proof that al-Qaeda or any international terrorist groups played any role in the Benghazi attack
“And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.”
The Times said its investigation took months and was “centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context.”
It is not surprising the White House would welcome this report. Since the attack, Republicans have accused the Obama administration of downplaying the perpetrators’ links to al-Qaeda for political gain. The attack took place during the last leg of the 2012 presidential campaign.
Then UN Ambassador Susan Rice (now the national security advisor) became a lightning rod of criticism after appearing on all the Sunday talk shows shortly after the Benghazi attack and arguing it was the result of the American-made video.
Republicans have also held several hearings into the administration’s handling of the attack and its aftermath.
Laurel Coppock, who plays the character “Jan” in a series of Toyota commercials, grew up on the East Coast and went to Colby College in Maine followed by the Circle in the Square Acting Conservatory in New York City.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Laurel Coppock studied and performed comedy in Chicago at Second City and ImprovOlympic.
Laurel Coppock plays the character “Jan” in a series of Toyota commercials
She also spent a year performing with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam.
Laurel Coppock can be seen in the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love and on TV shows including the new season of Arrested Development, Modern Family, The Office, 2 Broke Girls and Workaholics.
