Washington, Jan 10 : American actor Aaron Eckhart has revealed that he is positive that his late Dark Knight co-star Heath Ledger will be given the Oscar nod on January 22.

Ledger played The Joker in the movie, and was posthumously nominated for the role.

"I do. I don''t know why I do," US magazine quoted him as saying at the Critics'' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California.

"I totally have no say whatsoever, but I do believe Heath is deserving of a nomination. I think he took a well-known character in movie history and made it his own and really resonated with the people.

Hamburg - Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called in an open letter published Saturday for closer ties with the United States under its next president, Barack Obama.

He offered German aid to Iraq, and German homes for some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the letter, published in the news magazine Der Spiegel. Steinmeier was in Cairo on Saturday and bound for Jerusalem on Sunday on a Mideast peace mission.

In the open letter to Obama, Steinmeier wrote, "Let's write a new trans-Atlantic agenda and infuse life into it."

Kiev - Ukraine will send Bulgaria and Moldova gas from its own reserves, according to a statement Saturday from the office of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

The two Balkan nations will receive two million cubic metres of gas per day beginning Saturday, according to the statement.

The decision once effective will re-open supplies to Bulgaria and Moldova after a partial Russian cut-off beginning in early January, becoming a total shut-off on Thursday.

New York, January 10 : A hefty lobster, around 80 years old, is set to taste the ocean water again after animal rights activist lobbied a local Manhattan restaurant for its release.

George, the Giant Lobster, had been displayed by executive chef Joseph Vaina and manager Keith Valenti on a massive platter by the lobster tank and at the raw bar since he arrived at the Park Avenue.

According to Vaina, the lobster, weighing 20 pounds, had been taken care of as a pet and was never to be sold or consumed, reports the New York Daily News.

London, January 10 : 50 Cent may have taken a dig at fellow rapper Kanye West for dumping rap for soft love songs - and even suggesting that the latter was gay. The singer, who rose to fame with the release of his albums `Get Rich or Die Tryin'' (2003) and `The Massacre' (2005), had allegedly launched the accusation after Kanye released his latest album, `808s and Heartbreak'.

50 Cent was said to be so enraged "that a hardman rapper is singing ballads, he was moved to parody his rival in song," from his new album `Before I Self-destruct' set to be released in February, reports the Mirror.

London, January 10 : Considering digital heroine Lara Croft's waning popularity in the United States, video games publisher Eidos has decided to give the fictional character a makeover.

The company is planning to revise the look and play of her Tomb Raider adventures, which may see efforts to make her more female-friendly.

The decision has been taken with an eye on reviving the sales of games starring the pneumatic archaeologist.