Elton John gave a surprise West Hollywood concert to several thousand fans ahead of the Oscars, with Lady Gaga as guest performer.

The 66-year-old Grammy-winning musician played in the parking lot of what used to be Los Angeles' Tower Records store, as a gesture of thanks to the city that hosts his Academy Awards viewing party to raise funds for his AIDS foundation.

The Philippines criticized Madonna on Sunday for disrespecting its flag during a concert in Manila, and said it would call on organizers of  future events to avoid similar incidents.

Photos from one of her two concerts last week published in local media showed the 57-year-old American mega-star draped in the Philippine flag.

At a time of simmering Mideast tensions and rising malaise, a group of French chefs recently visited the West Bank to bring a little joie de vivre to Palestinian kitchens.

The eight chefs visited restaurants in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and east Jerusalem in a weeklong event earlier this month sponsored by the French government, which prides itself on culinary diplomacy and has held similar events in Japan, Brazil, India, Morocco and elsewhere.

France's top film awards ceremony, the Cesars, celebrated diversity on Friday with honors for films about the struggles of life as an immigrant and forced marriage.

The creme de la creme of French showbiz gathered in Paris Friday for the 41st Cesars just two days ahead of its Hollywood equivalent, the Oscars, which have been panned as "too white".

Tony Burton, who drew on his career as a prizefighter to play boxing trainer Tony "Duke" Evers in all six "Rocky" films, died on Thursday aged 78.

Sylvester Stallone, who stars in the franchise, led the tributes after relatives announced Burton's death in a southern California hospital from suspected pneumonia following a long illness.

Don McLean, the singer of classic pop song "American Pie," is delaying a tour of Australia as he tries to reconcile with his wife following domestic violence allegations.

The 70-year-old folk rocker said Friday he would postpone the 11 shows, which were scheduled to begin on March 14 in Hobart, Tasmania, until the same dates in 2017.

Yoko Ono, the Japanese-born singer, artist and widow of John Lennon, was hospitalized Friday in New York with flu-like symptoms, U.S. media reported.

The 83-year-old went to the hospital on her doctor's recommendation, with what appeared to be "just an advanced case of the flu," her spokesman Elliot Mintz said, according to ABC News.

The demo vinyl record that persuaded music producer George Martin to sign up The Beatles -- a "unique" piece of British music history -- will be sold off next month, auctioneers said on Friday.

"The unique ten-inch 78 RPM acetate record featuring 'Hello Little Girl' on one side and 'Till There Was You' on the other was pressed at the HMV record store on Oxford Street in London," said Omega Auctions, based in Warrington in northwest England.

Smiling and wearing bright lipstick, with headscarves barely covering their hair, young Iranian women took selfies as they lined up to vote in crucial elections on Friday.

Their pictures, some posing in groups, flooded social networks as lines formed at polling stations after the electorate was urged by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to vote early.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will be a special guest at this year's Oscar ceremony, introducing a performance by Lady Gaga, an administration official said Thursday.

Biden will take a bit of the White House to Hollywood to push an initiative countering sexual assault on U.S. university campuses.