Trump becomes a grandfather

New York – Donald Trump became a grandfather over the weekend, 14 months after he became a dad all over again.

The baby girl, Kai Madison, was born to Donald Trump Jr. and his wife, Vanessa, both 29, on Saturday in New York, according to published reports. She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, the reports said.

Donald Trump Jr. told People magazine from the hospital that he is getting used to the idea of being a father. “Everyone’s great,” he said.

He said the girl’s name comes from her maternal grandfather, a Danish musician.

Kai will get to grow up alongside her uncle Barron, born to her grandfather and his third wife, Melania, in 2006.

The elder Trump told the New York Post that being a granddad was “terrific.”

“Well, it’s not something I had necessarily in mind, but it feels very nice,” he said.

Actress appeals to Supreme Court to have case moved

New Delhi – Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty asked the Supreme Court on Monday to shift an obscenity case against her and Hollywood star Richard Gere to a nearby court so she can fight the allegations, her lawyer said.

Shetty asked the court to transfer jurisdiction over the case to Mumbai, where she lives, lawyer Anand Grover said.

A judge in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur issued an arrest warrant last month for Gere and summoned Shetty to his court, saying that Gere’s kissing of the actress at a public AIDS awareness event in New Delhi contravened India’s strict public obscenity laws.

The judge has since been transferred from his post, and official charges have not yet been lodged.

The Supreme Court will rule on the issue today, Grover said.

Both defendants would be affected by any shift of venue.

“In the meantime, the court should stay proceedings against Shetty,” he said, adding that he was not representing Gere in the case.

It was not immediately clear if Gere would be represented by an Indian attorney.

Public displays of affection are largely taboo in India, and the kiss drew an outcry among Hindu hard-liners, with rallies against the actors held in several cities. But the judge’s arrest order also drew harsh criticism in India, with some lawyers saying it had no legal merit and made the country look ridiculous.

Gere, 57, apologized for any offense he may have caused. But he also said the whole controversy was manufactured by a small hard-line political party.

U2’s Bono urges G-8 hosts to push for help for Africa

Berlin – Bono urged Germany on Monday to use next month’s Group of Eight meeting as a platform to push for more aid for Africa.

Speaking after talks with Kurt Beck, the leader of Germany’s Social Democrats, which make up half of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, Bono said he was thankful the G-8 talks were being held here.

“We know that we have your support and that Germany will keep its promises,” the U2 frontman and activist said.

Bono, 47, said important breakthroughs for Africa had come at previous G-8 talks, including pledges to forgive much African debt from last year’s summit and funding for important programs from the 1999 meeting in Cologne.

“As a result of the (Cologne) resolutions, today 20 million more African children are going to school,” he said.

Merkel has pledged a strong focus on Africa at the summit, which will be in the northern town of Heiligendamm.

“We know that we can really help with our resources … and we want to show to this continent our understanding of freedom, justice and solidarity is not limited to us, but goes for the whole world,” she said over the weekend in her weekly podcast.

She identified as key points continuing efforts to forgive debt and increase development aid funds, and helping the fight against HIV/AIDS.