Bill nixes beer, slims down

New York — No more junk food for Bill Clinton — at least not for now.

The former president, whose White House tenure was accompanied by the staples of America’s fast-food industry, showed up at his Harlem office Wednesday looking lean, but not mean.

With a wide grin on his face after a news conference to announce a new AIDS initiative, he deadpanned: “No beer.” His dark business suit jacket swung open to reveal a flatter stomach, replacing the one-time presidential paunch.

Clinton said he’d been following “The South Beach Diet,” and “working out with a German man.” But he didn’t divulge how many pounds he has lost.

Carey too ‘vulgar’ for Malaysia?

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Malaysia’s Muslim opposition party has urged the government to cancel an upcoming concert by Mariah Carey, saying her performance is immoral and promotes un-Islamic values.

“Everyone knows Mariah Carey presents herself in a sexy, unacceptable and almost vulgar manner,” Ahmad Sabki Yusof, a leader of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party’s youth wing, said Thursday. “She is not an appropriate role model for young Malaysians.”

Party officials gave a letter of protest to Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism officials Thursday urging that permission for the Feb. 22 concert at a 50,000-seat Kuala Lumpur stadium be withdrawn.

Concert organizers had reportedly assured the ministry that the 33-year-old Carey, who’s known for her clingy, revealing outfits, would comply with any dress regulations.

Grammy performers announced

New York — Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and The White Stripes are among the first performers to be announced for the 46th annual Grammy Awards telecast.

The Grammy Awards ceremony will air live Feb. 8 on CBS from the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles.

The show also will include a tribute to soul and funk featuring OutKast, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Actress Uta Hagen dies at 84

New York — Uta Hagen, the legendary actress who dazzled Broadway audiences for more than 50 years, particularly as a brutal, braying Martha in the original production of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” has died. She was 84.

Hagen, who had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2001, died Wednesday at her Manhattan home, said Barnetta Carter, managing director of the HB Studio, a school the actress helped found.

Hagen’s versatility extended from such modern playwrights as Albee, Clifford Odets and Tennessee Williams to the classics, where she was at home with the works of Shakespeare, Shaw, Chekhov and more.