Amitabh blasts ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ on blog

NEW DELHI - Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has slammed Danny Boyle’s Golden Globe award winning underdog drama ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ for showing India in poor light.

Air France takes 25 percent stake in Alitalia

PARIS - Air France-KLM will pay 323 million euros ($431 million) to acquire a 25 percent stake in Italian airline Alitalia, the two companies have said.

Tintin, the ageless boy reporter, turns 80

PARIS - Tintin, the ageless boy reporter, began life 80 years ago at the age of 15, and when his career ended nearly 50 years later, his creator said he was just shy of his 18th birthday.

Worldwide protests over Israeli attacks on Gaza

BERLIN - Tens of thousands of people have taken part in worldwide protests against Israel’s 15-day bombardment and infantry deployment in the Gaza Strip.

Spanish fashion designer Armand Basi dies

BARCELONA - Spanish fashion designer and entrepreneur Armand Basi died in Barcelona after a long illness, his company has said. Basi was 84.

Weaker pound forces Britons to tighten holiday budget

LONDON - Julia Foster from Essex, a county on the southeast coast of England, is still pondering whether she should spend an already booked holiday in March in the French resort of Nice.

Doherty moves to Paris, wants to make it permanent residence

LONDON - Troubled British rocker Pete Doherty has kept a low profile ever since he has moved to Paris and is thinking of making it his permanent residence.

Japanese doctor, Dutch nurse abducted in Ethiopia freed

PARIS - A female Japanese doctor and a male Dutch nurse abducted in Ethiopia while volunteering for a French medical aid charity have been freed, the organisation has announced.

Sarkozy calls for ‘moralization of capitalism’

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday opened an economic symposium in Paris by calling for the ‘moralization’ of the capitalist system.

French ship with nine crew hijacked off Nigerian coast

PARIS - Pirates have seized a French ship off the Nigerian coast and taken its nine crew members hostage, the ship owners have said.

‘Gorgeous’ Jhumpa Lahiri among ‘thinking man’s sex symbols’

NEW YORK - Indian origin author Jhumpa Lahiri, with her ‘hypnotic eyes’, has been named among the top 10 ’sex symobls of the thinking man’ for 2008, which put Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic in the number one slot.

Paris Hilton wants to name first daughter London

LONDON - Socialite heiress Paris Hilton has announced to name first daughter after a city just like her name.

French warship foils attacks by Somali pirates

PARIS - A French warship Sunday foiled attacks by Somali pirates on two commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the French president’s office said.

France condemns Israel’s Gaza offensive

PARIS - The French government late Saturday sharply criticized Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, saying it ‘complicated’ peace efforts.

Gaza operation to continue: Livni

PARIS/JERUSALEM - Israel will continue its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip until it reaches a point where ‘the operation exhausts itself’ and militants no longer fire rockets at the Jewish state, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Thursday.

EU calls crisis meeting on Gaza violence

BRUSSELS/PARIS - The French government Monday called for an emergency meeting of the European Union’s (EU) foreign ministers to discuss the crisis in the Middle East, officials confirmed.

60 journalists killed in 2008, says press watchdog

PARIS - At least 60 journalists and one media assistant were killed around the world while carrying out their work this year, the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.

European Union calls on Israel, Hamas to end violence

BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) Tuesday urged Israel and Hamas to put an end to the ongoing violence immediately as the fighting showed no sign of abating.

‘The Phantom…’ sequel to simultaneously premiere in three cities

LONDON - A sequel to acclaimed musical ‘The Phantom Of The Opera’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber is to make a theatrical history by opening in three cities at the same time next year.

France wants common EU policy on Guantanamo prisoners

PARIS - France Friday called for a common European Union (EU) policy to deal with prisoners currently held in the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after the camp is closed as planned by president-elect Barack Obama in 2009.