THE Vatican yesterday established full diplomatic relations with Libya, a move that put it at odds with the US and other countries that have tried to isolate Col Muammar Gadafy.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls said the Vatican had decided to forge ties with Tripoli in part to recognise recent "positive results" in Libya in the area of religious freedom.
The Spice Girls yesterday became the first group to top the British charts with their first four singles. The band shot straight to number one with their new double A side Mama/Who Do You Think You Are?
The girls - Geri, Victoria, Mel B. Mel C and Emma - have surpassed the achievements of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Jive Bunny and Robson And Jerome, who all hit number one with just their first three singles. Paul McCartney (54) is to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth today - but his wife, Linda (53), is planning to stay at home.
"Paul is just a very private bloke where his family is concerned," a spokesman said.
Linda had an operation to remove a breast lump just over a year ago.
Filming of segments of a new James Bond movie in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam has been blocked, the Ministry of Culture and Information said.
The culture ministry approved the project, but filming was barred when Ho Chi Minh City's People's Committee said past James Bond movies had depicted communism in a negative light.
Howard Stern, US radio's most vulgar disc jockey, a satirist without taboos, is trying to make his form of humour work on the silver screen.
He is now on the mainstream media daily, not just the MTV rock music station that sponsored the premiere of his new movie Private Parts.
His film debut has forced the major media to take a hard look at his form of comedy and satire, including giving him an interview by CNN's Larry King, whom he regularly derides on the air.