FORMER US president George Bush met Pope John Paul at the Vatican yesterday during a visit to Italy.
Bush also met the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, on Thursday to discuss a range of topics including Albania, European monetary union and the Middle East.
Sir Paul McCartney is to release his first single in four years, after being inspired by the Beatles Anthology to write the new song in just two hours. Young Boy will be released later this month and is the first track from his new album Flaming Pie, which features the drumming of Ringo Starr and George Martin's arrangement on some of the tracks.
Madonna is to be the subject of a course being offered this spring to third-year students at Amsterdam University.
The course, which is optional, is entitled "Madonna: the music and the phenomenon" and will be taught by two music professors.
Jose Carreras is to perform in Beirut next Saturday, in an event that had been postponed after his father died in February. He will be accompanied by the Italian Orchestra da Camera di Bologna, led by David Gimenez. Italian Soprano Isabel Rey will also perform.
Ingmar Bergman is to receive a special award at next month's Cannes Film Festival.
Bergman (78) will be given "Palme d'Or of Palme d'Ors", an honorary award to be presented for the first time to a director who has never won the coveted Golden Palm, the Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported yesterday.
Laxmishanker Pathak died this week, aged 72. Pathak burned a home-based business into a multi-million-pound industry. The company dropped the "h" from the Pathak name to make it easier for the British tongue, and in 40 years cornered a quarter of Britain's Indian food market.