Saturday,  Jan. 04, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 172 • 26 of 29

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• "Between all my family here in Cuba and over in Miami, we couldn't come up with that kind of money," said Gilbert Losada, a 28-year-old musical director. "We're going to wait and see if they lower the prices, which are really crazy. We're really disappointed."
• Cuba's Communist-run government traditionally has placed huge markups on retail goods and services paid for with hard currency, a policy that amounts to a tax on people who can afford such goods. The practice applies to everything from dried pasta, to household appliances, to Internet access.
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Rescued Antarctic passengers resume journey home despite Chinese ship remaining stuck in ice

• CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic resumed its journey home on Saturday after it was halted for a second potential rescue operation.
• The Aurora Australis had been slowly cracking through thick ice toward open water after a Chinese ship's helicopter on Thursday plucked the passengers from their stranded Russian research ship and carried them to an ice floe near the Australian ship. But on Friday afternoon, the crew of the Chinese icebreaker that had provided the helicopter said they were worried about their own ship's ability to move through the ice.
• The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre, which oversaw the rescue, told the Aurora on Friday afternoon to stay in the area in case help was needed.
• Under international conventions observed by most countries, ships' crews are obliged to take part in such rescues and the owners carry the costs.
• AMSA said the Aurora was allowed on Saturday to continue its journey despite the Chinese ship Snow Dragon, or Xue Long in Chinese, remaining stuck in ice.
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'Tik Tok' singer Ke$ha checks into rehab for eating disorder

• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Ke$ha has checked into rehab to treat an eating disorder.
• The "Tik Tok" singer said in a statement provided by her spokesman Friday that she'll be unavailable for the next 30 days while she seeks treatment for an undis

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