APNewsBreak: Russell Brand, Katy Perry to divorce

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Russell Brand is divorcing Katy Perry after 14 months of what appeared to be a storybook marriage.

"Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage," Brand said in a statement released to The Associated Press on Friday. "I'll always adore her and I know we'll remain friends."

Brand, 36, offered no other details, but in papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the British comedian cited irreconcilable differences.

He and the 27-year-old pop singer were married in October 2010 at a resort inside a tiger reserve in India, and their mutual affection had become a rather sweet feature of the Hollywood celebrity circuit.

The couple announced their engagement in January 2010 after meeting at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand hosted and she performed.

The comedian, who once struggled with substance abuse and sex addiction, was effusive about his bride while promoting projects earlier this year, saying marrying Perry has "given me much more strength in what I do."

"For a long while, what I do professionally was all that mattered to me really," he said in March. "Now I think, well, whatever I do, I'll just go back to her, and that's incredibly comforting."

Perry praised her husband backstage at the 2011 VMAs in August, where she won three awards and he offered a tribute to Amy Winehouse.

"I'm proud of him, whatever comes out of his mouth, and sometimes it's very colorful, right?" Perry said of Brand. "That's why I married him, because he's smart and I learn a lot."

Attorneys for Perry, whose name is listed as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in the divorce papers, did not respond Friday to calls seeking comment.

The Internet had been abuzz recently with rumors about possible trouble for the couple after they were seen during the holidays without their wedding rings.

Perry's run of No. 1 singles earned her the distinction of becoming MTV's first artist of the year earlier this month. She hosted "Saturday Night Live" on Dec. 10 and gave no indication the couple was in trouble.

Brand's recent film credits include "Arthur," ''Hop" and "Get Him to the Greek." He is among the ensemble starring alongside Tom Cruise in "Rock of Ages," set for release next year.

Both Brand and Perry were conspicuously absent Friday from Twitter, where they often shared kind words to each other.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen can be reached at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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APNewsBreak: Russian tanker to carry fuel to Nome

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The iced-in city of Nome on Alaska's western coast may be in luck: A Russian tanker that can plow through thick ice will try to deliver 1.5 million gallons of home heating fuel, gasoline and diesel fuel after a massive storm kept a barge from getting in before winter.

The vessel — which is certified to travel through ice 4 feet thick for long distances — delivers fuel to communities in the Russian Far East. The plan is for it to leave Russia this week and go to South Korea, where it will be loaded with fuel, and then travel to Nome, where it should arrive by late December.

If it can't make it into port, the tanker is equipped with a hose more than a mile for off-loading fuel.

It could save the 3,500 residents of the coastal city from a very costly winter, including predictions of $9-a-gallon gasoline if fuel had to be flown in.

Sitnasuak Native Corporation said Monday that it signed a contract with Alaska-based Vitus Marine LLC to have the double-hulled Ice Classed Russian tanker, owned by Russian company Rimsco, deliver the petroleum products.

Sitnasuak board chairman Jason Evans said if the marine tanker succeeds, it will be the first time petroleum products have been delivered by sea in winter to a western Alaska community.

"It really came down to that one vessel that could possibly do the job. It just so happens it was available at the moment we needed it," Evans said.

Sitnasuak has between 800 and 1,000 customers in Nome and was looking at a $3 to $4 per gallon increase if fuel had to be flown in. He said Monday the tanker option more than halved the increase. Fuel prices are also lower than they were a couple of months ago, he said.

"The net result will be incrementally more, not substantially more," he said.

Sitnasuak looked at its options after a Delta Western Inc. barge was not able to make a delivery to Nome, leaving the city short of its winter fuel supplies.

If nothing was done, supplies of gasoline and diesel, needed to run ambulances and state equipment to maintain and plow roads, were expected to reach low levels within three months. Home heating fuel was in better supply in the city, which has one other major fuel supplier.

Sitnasuak, which has been in the fuel businesses for more than 20 years, said that flying fuel to Nome would be costly. It settled on the Russian, ice-class tanker delivery plan after determining it would be much less expensive and more practical than flying fuel.

The tanker recently traveled through about 5 feet of ice to reach communities in the Russian Far East, Evans said.

Evans said it worked closely with the Coast Guard to come up with a solution to the Nome fuel problem. He said Coast Guard personnel in Tokyo will go to Vladivostok, Russia, to clear the tanker for entrance into U.S. waters. The plan is to have the tanker go to Inchon, South Korea, and then to Nome in what could be a 20-day journey.

He said the Native corporation was asking the Coast Guard on Monday if the Healy, the nation's only functioning ice breaker, could remain in Alaska waters to make sure the tanker gets to Nome. The Healy is scheduled to return to Seattle just before Christmas.

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