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[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]

[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 03:24 GMT, Saturday, 12 September 2009 04:24 UK
US ready for N Korea direct talks
The US says it would hold direct talks with North Korea to persuade it to return to stalled multilateral talks on ending its nuclear programme.

{North Korea insists it has a right to nuclear weapons }

A spokesman for the US state department said that there had been no decision on when such talks might take place.

Philip Crowley insisted the move was not a policy shift and talks would take place within "the six-party process".

North Korea pulled out of multilateral talks in April after international criticism following a rocket launch.

"It's a bi-lateral discussion that (is) hopefully...within the six-party context, and it's designed to convince North Korea to come back to the six-party process and to take affirmative steps towards de-nuclearisation," Mr Crowley said from Washington.

He denied that accepting North Korea's offer of bi-lateral talks was a policy shift but called it a "short-term" measure to try and bring the reclusive state back to talks.

The BBC's John Sudworth, in South Korean capital, Seoul, says the decision does appear to be a tactical shift - suggesting that the US is now prepared to meet directly with the North before getting the commitment it had sought to the broader multilateral process.

Earlier this week, the US special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, met in Asia with officials from Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo to discuss the talks.

Military threat

A senior state department official, speaking anonymously, told reporters that it would probably be Mr Bosworth who would meet with the North Koreans, according to Agence France Presse.

{ NUCLEAR CRISIS
Oct 2006 - North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test
Feb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aid
June 2007 - North Korea shuts its main Yongbyon reactor
June 2008 - North Korea makes its long-awaited declaration of nuclear assets
Oct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorism
Dec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme after a US decision to suspend energy aid
Jan 2009 - The North says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of "hostile intent"
April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite
25 May 2009 - North Korea conducts a second nuclear test}

He said it was unlikely the meeting would take place before the United Nations General Assembly meeting due to be held towards the end of the month in New York.

According to Reuters, the US has drafted a UN Security Council resolution calling on all countries with atomic weapons to get rid of them.

Diplomats suggest that the text could also refer to North Korea, which withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, subsequently testing two nuclear devices.

The text, Washington hopes, could be carried during a special council session led by US President Barack Obama. In September, the US is holding the rotating presidency of the Security Council.

In September 2005, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid in a deal decided between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US, beginning a process known as the six-party talks.

But since then, the talks have stalled over the failure of Pyongyang to verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear plant.

In May this year, the North said it had staged a second "successful" underground nuclear test, saying it was more powerful than a test carried out in October 2006.

The North says that it remains under military threat from its historic rival, South Korea, and South Korea's allies, primarily the US.


[Americas]
Page last updated at 03:48 GMT, Saturday, 12 September 2009 04:48 UK
Venezuela to get Russian missiles
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has announced that the country will soon take delivery of Russian missiles with a range of 300km (185 miles).

{Chavez included Russia on his recent tour and met Vladimir Putin }

Returning from a 10-day tour of Africa, Asia and Europe, including Russia, Mr Chavez is also planning to buy Russian T-72 and T-90.

"Soon some little rockets are going to be arriving... and they don't fail," he announced at the presidential palace.

But he denied they would be used for offensive purposes.

"We are not going to attack anybody, these are just defence tools, because we are going to defend our country from any threat, wherever it may come from," the president said.

{Russian warships took part in exercises last November}

Venezuela is involved in a long-running diplomatic stand-off with neighbouring Colombia, over the latter's plans to allow US troops greater access to its military bases.

Colombia says the US forces will help in the war against drugs and left-wing guerrillas and will not destabilise the region.

Mr Chavez, a fierce opponent of US foreign policy, did not say how many missiles he had ordered.

Russia has been strengthening its ties with several Latin American countries, including Venezuela.

The two countries held joint naval exercises in Venezuelan waters last November.


[Entertainment]
Page last updated at 03:51 GMT, Saturday, 12 September 2009 04:51 UK
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.

{The paintings depict a series of famous athletes}

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 paintings, commissioned by Mr Weisman, are valued at several million dollars.

Police said that the paintings - each one 40 inches (101 cm) square - had been taken on the 2 or 3 September.

{STOLEN WARHOLS
Muhammad Ali
OJ Simpson
Chris Evert
Tom Seaver
Jack Nicklaus
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Pele
Willie Shoemaker
Dorothy Hamill
Rod Gilbert}

Their disappearance was discovered by a domestic employee, who found the dining room walls bare and alerted the police.

Among the sports stars depicted in the series of paintings were tennis champion Chris Evert, Los Angeles Lakers basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill.

Though the house was locked up at the time of the theft, Los Angeles police said the rest of the property had remained untouched and there was no sign of forced entry.

"This was a very clean crime," Detective Mark Sommer said. "[The home] wasn't ransacked."

He added that the Warhol collection of sports personalities seemed to have been specifically targeted for the theft as other artwork, including pieces by Warhol, had not been taken.

"For some reason they had an interest in this collection," he said.

Mr Weisman described the theft of the works as "a profoundly personal loss to me and my family".

Andy Warhol, who died in 1987, became internationally famous in the 1960s for his iconic image of a Campbell's soup can and the social gatherings at his New York studio, "The Factory".