Putin puts an end to rumors

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed days of frenzied rumors over his health and whereabouts on Monday when he appeared in public after an unusually long 10-day absence.

"We would be bored if there were no rumors," Putin said at a meeting with Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev at the Konstantinov Palace just outside St. Petersburg.

Atambayev said his Russian host had driven him around the palace before the meeting.