Madonna returns to Malawi

Lilongwe, Malawi – Madonna flew to Malawi on Monday to continue her charity work in the impoverished southern African country, bringing along the Malawian boy she is in the process of adopting.

The 48-year-old pop star visited Malawi last fall to pick up 1-year-old David Banda, who was in an orphanage after the death of his mother.

Her 9-year-old daughter, Lourdes, accompanied Madonna on her trip.

Madonna’s New York-based publicist Liz Rosenberg said the singer was visiting to continue her work with her Raising Malawi organization and denied speculation of another adoption.

Regis sets return date

New York – Regis Philbin says he’ll return to his syndicated daytime talk show April 26, about six weeks after having triple heart bypass surgery.

Philbin called “Live With Regis and Kelly” on Monday to say he’d been “through the wars” in his recovery but was building up strength by walking and lifting light weights.

He joked with co-host Kelly Ripa that when he returns to the show, he won’t be the “fun-loving Reege” that he was before because his whole personality had changed because of the operation.

Gere vilified in India

New Delhi – Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event.

Photographs of the 57-year-old actor embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek were splashed across Monday’s front pages in India – a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.

In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty.

Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted “Down with Shilpa Shetty!”

The two appeared at a news conference Sunday in New Delhi to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India’s truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again.

“This is a bit too much,” Shetty said after the embrace.