Country singer George Jones dead at 81

By Bill Trott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - George Jones, a classic country singer with a voice full of raw honky-tonk emotion and a life full of honky-tonk turmoil, died on Friday at age 81, his spokesman said.

Jones, whose career spanned more than six decades and included hits such as "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and "Window Up Above," died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville.

He had been hospitalized since April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure, spokesman Kirt Webster said.

In November 2012, Jones embarked on a farewell tour after a career that produced his first top 10 record in 1955 with "Why Baby Why."

The "Grand Tour" was to conclude in Nashville in November this year, where Jones was to be joined by some of the many stars who influenced him.

News of his death brought tributes from a number of country music's top stars.

"Heaven better get ready for George Jones. He will always be the greatest singer of real country music - there'll never be another," Alan Jackson said on Twitter.

Dolly Parton said, "My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world."

"George Jones has passed. Damn. Thought he'd live forever. Let's break out his catalogue and play it all day," said Toby Keith.

Like his idol, Hank Williams, Jones battled addiction. Alcohol and cocaine frequently derailed his career and at one point his reputation for canceling performances earned him the nickname No-Show Jones.

But when Jones did show up and was in good form, listeners were treated to a powerful and evocative voice. Jones was at his best with cry-in-your-beer songs made extra mournful by his masterful phrasing.

As his late contemporary Waylon Jennings put it, "If we could all sound like we wanted to, then we'd all sound like George Jones."

Born in Saratoga, Texas, on September 12, 1931, Jones began performing for spare change as a boy on the streets of nearby Beaumont. Under the influence of Williams, Ernest Tubb and Lefty Frizzell, he graduated to the rough roadhouses of East Texas.

Jones had an early marriage, a divorce and a stint in the Marines before his first hit, "Why Baby Why" in 1955. His first No. 1 song, "White Lightning," came in 1959, followed by "Tender Years" in 1961.

'THE POSSUM'

The next two decades brought a string of top 10 songs - "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)," "Window Up Above," "She Thinks I Still Care," "Good Year for the Roses," "The Race Is On" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which Jones said was his favorite. He also had a successful run of duets early in his career with Melba Montgomery.

Jones, who was known as "The Possum," divorced his second wife in 1968 and the next year married one of country music's most popular singers, Tammy Wynette. The pairing was an enormous professional success for both as they recorded and toured together and Jones began working with Billy Sherrill, Wynette's producer.

During his time with Sherrill, Jones refined his honky-tonk voice and sang more ballads, often with the lush string accompaniment that had become a trend in the country music capital of Nashville.

The marriage to Wynette went bad as Jones' addiction problem escalated and Wynette claimed he once came at her with a gun. They divorced in 1975 but later resumed recording together. Wynette died in 1998 at age 55.

Jones continued to put out hit songs in the early 1980s, even as cocaine compounded his personal tumult. Amid a string of hospitalizations and arrests, he disappeared for days at a time, missed shows and recording sessions and took police on a drunken chase through Nashville.

Jones credited fourth wife Nancy, whom he married in 1983, with helping him clean up. But in 1999 he was seriously injured after driving drunk and crashing into a bridge, leading to another stay in rehab.

At one point Jones was so incorrigible that one of his four wives cleared the liquor from their home and hid all the car keys so he could not go for more. Jones responded by cranking up his riding lawn mower and driving it to a bar - an escapade he chronicled in "Honky Tonk Song."

Although he was heard infrequently on mainstream country radio in the later years of his career, Jones was a sought-after duet partner and won a Grammy for the song "Choices" in 1999.

He also won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 1980 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today," and received a lifetime achievement Grammy last year.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville and Jill Serjeant; Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Michael Jackson's life and death back in spotlight in new trial

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Almost four years after his shocking death, the bizarre life and sorry demise of Michael Jackson will play out again in a $40 billion civil trial that pits the singer's family against the organizers of a musical comeback that never happened.

Opening statements are set for Monday in what is expected to be an emotional, three-month long jury trial that seeks to hold AEG Live, the promoters of the never-realized series of 2009 London concerts, liable for the wrongful death of the "Thriller" singer.

The lawsuit, brought by Jackson's elderly mother Katherine on behalf of the singer's three children, alleges that privately-held AEG Live was negligent in hiring the physician convicted in 2011 of his involuntary manslaughter to care for the singer while he rehearsed for the series of 50 shows.

Jackson, 50, drowning in debt and seeking to rebuild a reputation damaged by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, died in Los Angeles of an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives in June 2009.

His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is serving a four-year prison sentence after being found criminally negligent by administering propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid.

Murray's six-week trial in 2011 portrayed the former child star known for his stunning dance moves and spectacular public performances as a slurring, drugged-up man off-stage who slept with a toy doll on his bed and whose planned comeback tour was plagued with problems.

The civil trial in Los Angeles is expected to be just as sensational, although a request by TV networks for live coverage was turned down.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and claims that Jackson had prescription drug problems for years before entering into any agreement for the "This is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray posed a danger to Jackson.

SEX ABUSE TRIAL MAY BE REVISITED

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled last month that AEG Live can raise Jackson's 2005 child abuse case as it may be relevant to the singer's history of prescription drug abuse and despondency.

Jackson's two oldest children, Prince, 16 and Paris, 15, are on the witness list this time, although neither testified in Murray's trial. Singers Prince and Diana Ross are also potential witnesses along with the singer's ex-wives, Lisa-Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

"Any time you start injecting family members and rather sensitive issues (into the mix), there are going to be strong feelings," former federal prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Reuters.

Murray is not being sued but is also on the witness list, although he has made clear from jail that he will refuse to answer questions for fear of jeopardizing his appeal process.

McRae, now a trial lawyer with Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunn, said that while the criminal trial focused heavily on medical and scientific evidence - including a defense theory that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of propofol - the jury in the civil case has a very different task.

"The jurors are going to be asked to decide to what extent a third party can be held liable for the actions of someone else.

"To what extent did they (AEG Live) have visibility into what Dr. Murray was doing, did they encourage what he was doing? To what extent was whatever Dr. Murray did a reasonable and foreseeable consequence," McRae said.

Katherine Jackson, 82, and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages.

AEG Live has argued in court papers that the figure is absurd because Jackson's career was in a downward spiral at the time of his death.

The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live liable for negligence.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Feminist author Mary Thom, 68, killed in NY motorcycle crash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Renowned feminist and former women's magazine editor Mary Thom was killed in a motorcycle crash over the weekend in Yonkers, New York, friends and colleagues said.

Thom, 68, a former editor of Ms. Magazine, crashed her motorcycle on the Saw Mill Parkway on Friday evening, said Eleanor Smeal, publisher of Ms. Magazine and a close friend of Thom.

An accomplished author, editor and journalist, Thom devoted her career to giving voice to women's rights issues in books, magazine columns and through her work within the women's movement, which mourned the loss over the weekend.

"We, who are Mary's friends and family haven't absorbed her loss yet: it's too sudden,'' said actress Jane Fonda and feminist authors Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, three co-founders of the Women's Media Center, in a statement.

"Ms. Magazine, the Women's Media Center, the women's movement and American journalism have suffered an enormous blow."

Thom, an Akron, Ohio, native, spent more than a quarter century at Ms. Magazine and wrote a book about working her way from an entry level research position to executive editor in "Inside Ms.: 25 Years of the Magazine and the Feminist Movement," according to Smeal.

Thom also edited a book of letters sent to the magazine during the publication's formative years between 1972-1987.

Smeal said she would sorely miss Thom's virtually constant presence at the heart of the movement over decades.

"She was always there,'' Smeal said on Sunday. "She was always there as a guiding hand to make sure that the spirit of feminism came through in everything we wrote at the Women's Media Center and at Ms. Magazine. She will truly be missed."

Thom was an avid motorcycle enthusiast who never owned a car and had been riding for four decades, her nephew Thom Loubet told the Journal News newspaper in Westchester, New York.

She was a top editor at the Women's Media Center at the time of her death, Smeal said.

(Reporting by Chris Francescani; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jackie Frank)

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Michael Jackson wrongful death trial set to get underway Monday

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The civil trial over the death of Michael Jackson is set to get formally underway next week after jury selection was completed on Tuesday in the $40 billion case that pits the pop star's mother against concert promoters AEG Live.

Six alternate jurors were chosen on Tuesday following the selection a day earlier of a jury of six men and six women for what is expected to be an emotional three-month trial.

The conclusion of the month-long search for a jury set the stage for opening statements to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.

Jackson's 82-year-old mother, Katherine, is suing AEG Live, the promoters of his never-realized series of 2009 London comeback concerts, for the wrongful death of her son.

The lawsuit alleges AEG Live was negligent in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray to care for the singer while he rehearsed for a series of 50 shows.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and that Jackson was addicted to prescription drugs for years before he agreed to do the "This Is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, posed a danger to the singer.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, from a lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol that Murray was administering for sleep problems. Murray, who is not being sued, formally appealed against his criminal conviction on Monday.

Potential witnesses in the civil trial include Jackson's mother, his two oldest children, Prince, 16, and Paris, 15, as well as Murray, singers Prince and Diana Ross, and Jackson's ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

Katherine Jackson and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from privately held AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages. The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live negligent.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Gwyneth Paltrow named People's most beautiful woman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow on Wednesday was named the world's most beautiful woman for 2013 by People magazine, knocking pop singer Beyonce out of the top spot.

The 40-year-old mother of two credits a five-day-a-week exercise regimen for keeping her in shape as she grows older.

"It makes me look younger and feel strong," Paltrow told the magazine. "When I first started, I thought, 'I'll never be good at this. This is a nightmare!' But now it's like brushing my teeth, I just do it."

It is the fourth time Paltrow, who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin, has been named to the magazine's annual beautiful people issue, but the first time landing the coveted cover as most beautiful woman.

She joins the likes of fellow actresses Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston to top the list.

Paltrow reprises her starring role as Pepper Potts in the action film "Iron Man 3," which opens next month.

The actress has cut back her film work after giving birth to children Apple, 8, and Moses, 7, and released her second cookbook, "It's All Good," this month.

She is also the founder of lifestyle and clothing website Goop.com.

Paltrow won an Oscar for her role as William Shakespeare's muse in the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love."

The full list of People's "World's Most Beautiful People" can be found on www.people.com/mostbeautiful

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Country singer George Jones dead at 81

By Bill Trott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - George Jones, a classic country singer with a voice full of raw honky-tonk emotion and a life full of honky-tonk turmoil, died on Friday at age 81, his spokesman said.

Jones, whose career spanned more than six decades and included hits such as "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and "Window Up Above," died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville.

He had been hospitalized since April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure, spokesman Kirt Webster said.

In November 2012, Jones embarked on a farewell tour after a career that produced his first top 10 record in 1955 with "Why Baby Why."

The "Grand Tour" was to conclude in Nashville in November this year, where Jones was to be joined by some of the many stars who influenced him.

News of his death brought tributes from a number of country music's top stars.

"Heaven better get ready for George Jones. He will always be the greatest singer of real country music - there'll never be another," Alan Jackson said on Twitter.

Dolly Parton said, "My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world."

"George Jones has passed. Damn. Thought he'd live forever. Let's break out his catalogue and play it all day," said Toby Keith.

Like his idol, Hank Williams, Jones battled addiction. Alcohol and cocaine frequently derailed his career and at one point his reputation for canceling performances earned him the nickname No-Show Jones.

But when Jones did show up and was in good form, listeners were treated to a powerful and evocative voice. Jones was at his best with cry-in-your-beer songs made extra mournful by his masterful phrasing.

As his late contemporary Waylon Jennings put it, "If we could all sound like we wanted to, then we'd all sound like George Jones."

Born in Saratoga, Texas, on September 12, 1931, Jones began performing for spare change as a boy on the streets of nearby Beaumont. Under the influence of Williams, Ernest Tubb and Lefty Frizzell, he graduated to the rough roadhouses of East Texas.

Jones had an early marriage, a divorce and a stint in the Marines before his first hit, "Why Baby Why" in 1955. His first No. 1 song, "White Lightning," came in 1959, followed by "Tender Years" in 1961.

'THE POSSUM'

The next two decades brought a string of top 10 songs - "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)," "Window Up Above," "She Thinks I Still Care," "Good Year for the Roses," "The Race Is On" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which Jones said was his favorite. He also had a successful run of duets early in his career with Melba Montgomery.

Jones, who was known as "The Possum," divorced his second wife in 1968 and the next year married one of country music's most popular singers, Tammy Wynette. The pairing was an enormous professional success for both as they recorded and toured together and Jones began working with Billy Sherrill, Wynette's producer.

During his time with Sherrill, Jones refined his honky-tonk voice and sang more ballads, often with the lush string accompaniment that had become a trend in the country music capital of Nashville.

The marriage to Wynette went bad as Jones' addiction problem escalated and Wynette claimed he once came at her with a gun. They divorced in 1975 but later resumed recording together. Wynette died in 1998 at age 55.

Jones continued to put out hit songs in the early 1980s, even as cocaine compounded his personal tumult. Amid a string of hospitalizations and arrests, he disappeared for days at a time, missed shows and recording sessions and took police on a drunken chase through Nashville.

Jones credited fourth wife Nancy, whom he married in 1983, with helping him clean up. But in 1999 he was seriously injured after driving drunk and crashing into a bridge, leading to another stay in rehab.

At one point Jones was so incorrigible that one of his four wives cleared the liquor from their home and hid all the car keys so he could not go for more. Jones responded by cranking up his riding lawn mower and driving it to a bar - an escapade he chronicled in "Honky Tonk Song."

Although he was heard infrequently on mainstream country radio in the later years of his career, Jones was a sought-after duet partner and won a Grammy for the song "Choices" in 1999.

He also won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 1980 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today," and received a lifetime achievement Grammy last year.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville and Jill Serjeant; Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Kuwait author wins Arabic book prize for tale of foreign workers

LONDON (Reuters) - Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi has won the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his portrayal of the lives of foreign workers in Gulf countries in "The Bamboo Stalk".

The 31-year-old Alsanousi became the youngest winner in the $50,000-prize's six-year history for the story seen through the eyes of Issa, the son of a Kuwaiti father and a Filipina mother.

"All the judges agreed on the superior quality of this novel, both artistically and also in terms of its social and humanitarian content," the panel's chair Egyptian writer Galal Amin said in a statement on Tuesday.

On returning to his father's homeland as an adult, Issa finds himself in a difficult position.

Rather than the mythical country his mother has described to him, he discovers he is caught between the natural, biological ties he shares with his father's family and the prejudices of a traditional society, which views a child of Kuwaiti-Filipina heritage as socially unacceptable.

Alsanousi's work has appeared in a number of Kuwaiti publications, including Al-Watan newspaper and Al-Arabi, Al-Kuwait and Al-Abwab magazines and he currently writes for Al-Qabas newspaper. He wins $50,000.

His first novel "The Prisoner of Mirrors" was published in 2010 and in the same year won the fourth Laila al-Othman Prize, awarded for novels and short stories by young writers.

Alsanousi beat five other finalists for the prize. Each finalist, including the winner, will receive $10,000.

The other finalists were Iraqi Sinan Antoon for "Hail Mary", Tunisian Houcine El Oued for "His Excellency the Minister", Lebanese author Jana Elhassan for "Me, She and the Other Women", Saudi Mohammed Hasan Alwan for "The Beaver" and Egyptian Ibrahim Issa for "Our Master".

The prize is supported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which marks its first year as the new sponsor in 2013.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Malaria turns comedy's Richard Curtis from laughter to tears

By Barbara Lewis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Brussels and Washington are the two great lobbying capitals of the world, where campaigners talk themselves hoarse trying to shift the political dial.

Some of them have had the fortune to recruit British director and screenwriter Richard Curtis, whose powers of persuasion move hearts as well as minds.

Known for his romantic comedies, such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill", Curtis has turned his hand to a didactic tragedy - "Mary and Martha" - being screened across the globe to coincide with world malaria day on April 25.

"You could take a simple story and take it straight into the heart of politics," he told a Brussels audience of lobbyists, politicians and representatives of the European Commission.

"Mary and Martha" tells the story of two mothers, one American (played by Hilary Swank), one British (played by Brenda Blethyn), who lose their sons to malaria then lobby Washington politicians to try to prevent other mothers losing their children too.

For the developed world, theirs is an exceptional tragedy. In Africa, death from malaria is a daily occurrence. The continent accounts for the vast majority of the well over half a million annual deaths from a preventable and treatable disease.

Curtis, who wrote the screenplay, is appalled that a quirk of geography can be so unjust.

"If 650,000 children in Europe were going to die this year of one disease - if it were only 6,000 - everything would be stopped to do something," he said. "I can't understand why this tiny bit of geography should make it not matter."

Brussels says it is listening.

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs met Curtis and said the European Commission would honor a pledge of 330 million euros ($430 million) for the Global Fund, set up by world leaders to tackle malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

But after the current funding period, 2011-2013, there might be "a lower budget than expected", Piebalgs said in a speech.

Over the coming weeks, EU member states and parliament are likely to freeze development spending - meaning a real-term cut - when they sign off on a seven-year financing plan for 2014-20 agreed after lengthy and difficult talks.

Curtis has a long track record in combining worthy causes with making people laugh. He helped to found British charity Comic Relief, set up in response to famine in Ethiopia in 1985.

Comic Relief, uses humor to raise funds to tackle poverty and social injustice and Curtis told his Brussels audience his foray into tragic script-writing did not mean he had given up on comedy.

"I have been getting more reflective as I get older, but I hope I have a couple of jokes in me too," he said.

($1 = 0.7674 euros)

(Additional reporting by Charlie Dunmore, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Michael Jackson wrongful death trial set to get underway Monday

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The civil trial over the death of Michael Jackson is set to get formally underway next week after jury selection was completed on Tuesday in the $40 billion case that pits the pop star's mother against concert promoters AEG Live.

Six alternate jurors were chosen on Tuesday following the selection a day earlier of a jury of six men and six women for what is expected to be an emotional three-month trial.

The conclusion of the month-long search for a jury set the stage for opening statements to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.

Jackson's 82-year-old mother, Katherine, is suing AEG Live, the promoters of his never-realized series of 2009 London comeback concerts, for the wrongful death of her son.

The lawsuit alleges AEG Live was negligent in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray to care for the singer while he rehearsed for a series of 50 shows.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and that Jackson was addicted to prescription drugs for years before he agreed to do the "This Is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, posed a danger to the singer.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, from a lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol that Murray was administering for sleep problems. Murray, who is not being sued, formally appealed against his criminal conviction on Monday.

Potential witnesses in the civil trial include Jackson's mother, his two oldest children, Prince, 16, and Paris, 15, as well as Murray, singers Prince and Diana Ross, and Jackson's ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

Katherine Jackson and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from privately held AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages. The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live negligent.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Malaria turns comedy's Richard Curtis from laughter to tears

By Barbara Lewis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Brussels and Washington are the two great lobbying capitals of the world, where campaigners talk themselves hoarse trying to shift the political dial.

Some of them have had the fortune to recruit British director and screenwriter Richard Curtis, whose powers of persuasion move hearts as well as minds.

Known for his romantic comedies, such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill", Curtis has turned his hand to a didactic tragedy - "Mary and Martha" - being screened across the globe to coincide with world malaria day on April 25.

"You could take a simple story and take it straight into the heart of politics," he told a Brussels audience of lobbyists, politicians and representatives of the European Commission.

"Mary and Martha" tells the story of two mothers, one American (played by Hilary Swank), one British (played by Brenda Blethyn), who lose their sons to malaria then lobby Washington politicians to try to prevent other mothers losing their children too.

For the developed world, theirs is an exceptional tragedy. In Africa, death from malaria is a daily occurrence. The continent accounts for the vast majority of the well over half a million annual deaths from a preventable and treatable disease.

Curtis, who wrote the screenplay, is appalled that a quirk of geography can be so unjust.

"If 650,000 children in Europe were going to die this year of one disease - if it were only 6,000 - everything would be stopped to do something," he said. "I can't understand why this tiny bit of geography should make it not matter."

Brussels says it is listening.

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs met Curtis and said the European Commission would honor a pledge of 330 million euros ($430 million) for the Global Fund, set up by world leaders to tackle malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

But after the current funding period, 2011-2013, there might be "a lower budget than expected", Piebalgs said in a speech.

Over the coming weeks, EU member states and parliament are likely to freeze development spending - meaning a real-term cut - when they sign off on a seven-year financing plan for 2014-20 agreed after lengthy and difficult talks.

Curtis has a long track record in combining worthy causes with making people laugh. He helped to found British charity Comic Relief, set up in response to famine in Ethiopia in 1985.

Comic Relief, uses humor to raise funds to tackle poverty and social injustice and Curtis told his Brussels audience his foray into tragic script-writing did not mean he had given up on comedy.

"I have been getting more reflective as I get older, but I hope I have a couple of jokes in me too," he said.

($1 = 0.7674 euros)

(Additional reporting by Charlie Dunmore, editing by Paul Casciato)

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