Gazprom concern at Ukraine bill

The head of Russian gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, has expressed concern that Ukraine might not be able to pay its gas bills beyond 2010.

Mr Miller said Ukraine was currently fulfilling all its obligations, using funds from its currency reserves, the IMF and other sources.

However, he said it was unclear if the reserves would cover the next Russian gas bill, due on 7 February 2010.

He also expressed concern about Ukraine’s presidential elections.

They are due to be held in January 2010, and could introduce political risks.
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Zeta-Jones latest star to test 40 in Hollywood

(CNN) — Happy birthday, Catherine Zeta-Jones. You are turning 40 this month, joining an exclusive club of women in show business who are marking the same milestone this year.

Think big names like Renee Zellweger, Jennifer Aniston, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Cate Blanchett.

It’s a birthday many actors — but especially female stars — in Hollywood would once dread, hide and agonize over.

At an age where men could comfortably play heroes and lovers in the prime of their life — and could do so for many years to come — women often found themselves starting to be cast in different roles.

(One example: “The Graduate,” where 36-year-old Anne Bancroft played a frustrated “older woman” trying to seduce Dustin Hoffman, who was just six years younger than she at the time.)
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Segway inventor takes aim at thirst with Slingshot

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — If you listen to inventor Dean Kamen, the biggest health problem facing the world today is not AIDS, obesity or malnutrition. It’s a shortage of water.

Water is the most abundant resource on the planet, yet less than one percent of the Earth’s freshwater supply is readily available to drink, according to the World Health Organization. Lack of accessible or clean drinking water, exacerbated by drought, is crippling communities in many developing countries.

“In your lifetime, my lifetime, we will see water be a really scarce, valuable commodity,” Kamen says.

Those are scary words from the man whose creations include the Segway personal motorized scooter and the Luke (as in Skywalker) prosthetic arm. But the forward-thinking inventor and his team at DEKA Research in Manchester, New Hampshire, aren’t sitting around waiting for the world’s wells to dry up.
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Gertrude Baines, world’s oldest person, dies at 115

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Gertrude Baines, the world’s oldest person, has died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 115, according to the home where she lived and Guinness World Records said Saturday.

Gertrude Baines passed away at the Western Convalescent Hospital at 7:25 a.m. (10:25 a.m. ET) Friday, Guinness World Records said.

Born in 1894, Baines became the world’s oldest person in January after the death of another 115-year-old, Maria de Jesus, from Portugal, Guinness World Records said.

At her 115th birthday party in April, Baines shook her head in disbelief when presented with the certificate saying she was now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest person.
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U.S. says it’s ready for direct talks with North Korea

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In a dramatic policy shift, the Obama administration Friday said it is willing to engage directly with North Korea as a way to bring the reclusive regime back to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.

“There’s a consensus that we’re prepared to engage North Korea bilaterally as a means to accomplish our long-term objectives,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters.

North Korea pulled out of the six-party talks in April, protesting condemnation at the United Nations over its nuclear test and missile launches.

Crowley said the goal of direct talks would be “to encourage the North to come back to the six-party process” and take “affirmative steps towards denuclearization.”

Until now, the United States has said it would hold bilateral talks with North Korea only within the framework of the six-party negotiations, which also include South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
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Warhol art collection is stolen

Police in Los Angeles say a multi-million dollar Andy Warhol art collection has been stolen from a private home in the city.

Among the missing works are 10 pieces created by Warhol in the late 1970s depicting famous athletes, including Muhammad Ali and OJ Simpson.

They were taken from the house of businessman Richard Weisman. A portrait of Mr Weisman was also stolen.

A $1m reward has been offered for information leading to their recovery.

The silkscreen pieces, commissioned by Mr Weisman, are valued at several million dollars.

Police said that the artworks – each one 40 inches (101 cm) square – had been taken on the 2 or 3 September.
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Mugabe hails landmark EU meeting

President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe’s first high-level talks with top EU officials in seven years went well.

After the talks, in Harare, he again called for international sanctions imposed since disputed presidential election in 2002 to be lifted.

The EU team also praised the meeting but indicated it was not appropriate yet for sanctions to end and complained about the slow pace of reforms.

The EU team is also due to meet PM Morgan Tsvangirai on its visit.

‘West to blame’

Before going into the talks with the EU team, Mr Mugabe said: “We welcome you with open arms. We hope our talks will be fruitful with a positive outcome.”
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