Bono, Franklin Graham airlift gifts to Africa

NEW YORK -- Irish rock star Bono and Sen. Bill Frist joined the Rev. Franklin Graham in airlifting Christmas gifts to HIV-positive children in Africa.

The group, which also included Richard Holbrooke, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and chairman of the Global Business Coalition on HIV-AIDS, held a news conference Tuesday at Kennedy Airport, where an Antonov 225 cargo plane was loaded with 83,000 individual gifts packed in shoe boxes.

The airlift is part of Operation Christmas Child, a relief effort headed by Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham.

The plane will take off Wednesday for Uganda and will also deliver gifts in Sudan, said Kristen Lee, a spokeswoman for Operation Christmas Child.

Indian film star says she wants Hollywood debut

BANGALORE, India -- One of India's most glamorous film stars says she plans to go from Bollywood to Hollywood.

"Expect an announcement soon," Aishwarya Rai, one of the stars of "Devdas," recently told reporters in Bangalore, the capital of southern Karnataka state.

Bollywood is the nickname for India's Bombay-based film industry.

"Devdas," a movie about doomed love told through song and dance, will be India's entry for the Oscar in the foreign film category this year.

"I am currently going through several scripts and holding talks with various studios in the United States," she said.

Rai, who is known as "Ash," won the 1994 Miss World title.

"I was encouraged by a lot of people," she said. "They said I should give it a go. Acting in Hollywood means representing India at an international level."

L.A. physician accused of overprescribing drugs

LOS ANGELES -- A doctor who had his medical license revoked last week frequently catered to the prescription drug demands of celebrities, including actress Winona Ryder, a newspaper reported.

Jules Mark Lusman, 49, examined some patients only briefly before prescribing drugs, according to a report by the Medical Board of California.

Singer-actress Courtney Love was among the patients named in the Tuesday story by the Los Angeles Times. Pat Kingsley, a spokeswoman for Love, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

Lusman called the decision to revoke his license "grossly unfair."

--From wire reports