Leonard Cohen's ex-manager was found guilty Thursday of harassing the veteran singer, after a week-long trial in which hundreds of expletive-laced messages were read out in court.

Kelley Lynch, who had a 17-year professional relationship with the singer and was briefly his lover, was also convicted of breaching restraining orders against contacting him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

French luxury billionaire Francois Pinault Friday expressed his passion for art at the inauguration of a new exhibition by New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer at his Venice palace.

"It's an important part of my activities," Pinault told Agence France Presse on the sidelines of the exhibition in Palazzo Grassi on the picturesque banks of the Grand Canal.

Hollywood's hottest couple has made it official, with Brad Pitt proposing to Angelina Jolie after six children and years of unwedded bliss, a spokeswoman said Friday.

"Yes, it's confirmed," Pitt's manager Cynthia Pett-Dante told People magazine. "It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy."

The exiled brother-in-law of ousted Tunisian strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali regrets his role in the dictatorship and is prepared to face justice at home, news reports said Friday, quoting an open letter.

"I have written this letter to apologize, even if I know that in the eyes of many Tunisians, if not all of them, I am unfairly considered a criminal who looted the country before fleeing abroad," wrote Belhassen Trabelsi, thought to have headed a clan that embezzled government funds.

Cult U.S. comedy director Woody Allen on Friday premieres his latest film "To Rome With Love" starring himself and Penelope Cruz and reviving the "Dolce Vita" movie star heyday of the Eternal City.

"I've always wanted to make a film in Rome," Allen said in a statement ahead of the hotly-awaited world premiere at a concert hall in the city with co-stars Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Oscar-winning comedian Roberto Benigni.

Madonna says she's happy that Malawi's former vice president is now leading the country.

Joy Banda became president Saturday and is the country's first women leader. Former president Bingu Wa Mutharika died of a heart attack on April 5.

Pop superstar Shakira helped launch a $36 million education project for Colombian children Thursday as part of a series of events linked to the weekend Summit of the Americas.

The Colombian singer, who is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, will also sing her country's national anthem at the opening ceremony for the gathering of 33 democratically elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere Saturday in Cartagena.

From a tiny studio in a rundown district of southern Tel Aviv, a group of Iranian-Israelis beam non-stop music and news in a bid to reach out to their former fellow countrymen.

As the war of words between the leaders of the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic heats up over Iran's contested nuclear program, Farsi-language web broadcaster, Radio RadisIN, is trying to set a different agenda.

Jennifer Lopez's salsa star husband Marc Anthony has filed for divorce from the actress-singer-presenter, citing "irreconcilable differences" for the split, a court spokesman said Wednesday.

Anthony, 43, a Grammy-winning singer now also working as an actor, filed legal papers in Los Angeles, nine months after the pair announced last July that they were ending their seven-year marriage, said the spokesman.

Jimmy Buffett will replace Pearl Jam singer and guitarist Eddie Vedder in the May 3 lineup at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Vedder canceled when he postponed his 15-city U.S. solo tour because of nerve damage in his right arm stemming from a back injury earlier this year.