Berlusconi blasts press for breaching divorce implicated teen’s privacy

LONDON - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has blasted the country’s press, accusing it of “disgraceful behaviour” for revealing that Noemi Letizia, the 18-year-old accused of being at the heart of his divorce, owns four properties in Naples.

Duke’s Greg Paulus settles on Syracuse, hoping to resume football career

RALEIGH, N.C. — Greg Paulus is returning home to Syracuse to play football.

Ageing Oz men splashing $15k a year on ‘youth’ fix

SYDNEY - An increasing number of middle-aged men are injecting human growth hormone in a bid to fight old age, spending up to 15,000 dollars a year on a drug they believe is the fountain of youth.

Matt Kenseth posts record lap of 179.514 to win pole for Southern 500 at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Jeff Gordon left his car with hands shaking and heart pounding after another harrowing experience at Darlington Raceway. Gordon’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, three-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, wasn’t as lucky qualifying Friday, crashing before he could finish his lap.

President Hamid Karzai registers for re-election, chooses new vice president candidate

KABUL — President Hamid Karzai registered as a candidate for Afghanistan’s August presidential election Monday, a vote he would appear in a strong position to win given the lack of high-profile candidates he will likely face.

Man dies in fire at home of America’s Cup sailor Russell Coutts

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A 48-year-old man had a heart attack and died while fighting a fire which destroyed a 4 million New Zealand dollar ($2.3 million) mansion belonging to America’s Cup sailor Russell Coutts on New Zealand’s South Island.

Feroz, Bollywood’s original Khan, is dead

BANGALORE - Actor-filmmaker Feroz Khan, known as Bollwyood’s all time style icon, died at his farmhouse here after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 69.

Top prospect Xavier Henry won’t follow Calipari to Kentucky, chooses Kansas instead

OKLAHOMA CITY — John Calipari’s move to Kentucky has cost him one of his prized recruits.

White House communications director leaving to become Commerce chief of staff

WASHINGTON — White House communications director Ellen Moran is stepping down to be chief of staff to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, becoming the first senior adviser to President Barack Obama to leave the West Wing.

NRI businessman tries ballot luck in Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH - An NRI businessman who returned to the country in 2008 after spending nearly 20 years abroad is trying his luck at the ballot in the Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh.

100 hours to celebrate astronomy year in Jantar Mantar

NEW DELHI - Jantar Mantar, the 18th century observatory in the heart of the capital, was crowded with young students Saturday as they got together to learn the use of astronomical instruments and celebrate 2009 as the international year of astronomy.

G20 summit: Will it find a cure for the global recession?

WASHINGTON/BERLIN - The world’s big economic powers will hold an emergency summit in London next week amid a deepening sense of despair about the outlook for the world economy and with few signs that major nations have laid aside differences on how to combat the global recession.

Bollywood actors felicitate ‘Acting Guru’ Roshan Taneja

MUMBAI - Bollywood actors here on Saturday felicitated the ‘Acting Guru’ Roshan Taneja on his completion of 45 years in the industry.

Miley Cyrus not moving in with beau Justin Gaston

NEW YORK - Teen starlet Miley Cyrus has laughed off reports stating that she is planning to move in with beau Justin Gaston.

Online Chinese premier answers questions from people

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao faced a barrage of questions from nearly 300,000 netizens and mobile phone users during his first ever online chat Saturday.

India’s Oscar wins just the beginning, says elated Bollywood

MUMBAI - Bollywood hailed Oscar winners A.R. Rahman, Resul Pookutty and Gulzar saying they were the flagbearers of Indian cinema and that this is just the beginning of the country’s march to global glory. From Amitabh Bachchan to Preity Zinta everyone was euphoric about the wins.

Recording slum sounds live for ‘Slumdog’ was tough: Resul Pookutty

MUMBAI - Recording sounds live in the slums of Mumbai for Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was chaotic and far from easy, says Resul Pookutty, who has been nominated for an Oscar for sound mixing in the rags-to-riches story. He adds that none of the crew ever imagined the film would go on to become so big.

Divisive forces cannot fight terrorism: Sonia

NEW DELHI - Accusing the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party of not supporting the government in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Sunday said those who want to divide society cannot fight terrorism.

Gandhian economics can help overcome crisis: Mukherjee

NEW DELHI - With the outlook for next fiscal appearing ‘more downbeat’, the government will initiate more measures to support labour intensive sectors with focus on Gandhian economics even as the Indian economy will grow 7 percent this fiscal, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Friday.

Nepal president puts off India visit due to Manmohan’s surgery

KATHMANDU - Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav’s visit to India has been put off indefinitely following the recent heart surgery of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Tharoor denies disrespect to national anthem

KOCHI/NEW DELHI - Former UN under secretary general Shashi Tharoor Saturday strongly refuted the charge that he had shown disrespect to the national anthem during an event in Kochi last month, saying he was pained at the reports and ‘no one has ever doubted my patriotism’.