Pakistan and the United States set aside an escalating row over proxy warfare for a night of musical fusion by the moonlit shores of a lake, hoping to cement public friendships, and all that jazz.

In Washington, the White House exacerbated tensions with more demands that Islamabad clamp down on the Al-Qaeda-linked network blamed for attacks on U.S. targets in Kabul, but in the Pakistani capital, diplomats trod a softer path.

Paris Fashion Week got off to a black-and-white start on Tuesday as a duo of Asian designers sent out Spring-Summer looks for 2012 that played on monochrome in both setting and style.

The global fashion pack descended on a Paris basking in gorgeous Indian Summer sunshine for the finale of the four-week ready-to-wear marathon, after a stop in Milan where the tone was firmly upbeat despite the economic gloom.

Spectacular entertainment company Cirque du Soleil has begun a 10-year residency in Hollywood, with a new show paying tribute to the history of film in the home of cinema.

The Canada-based acrobatic group has signed a deal with the Kodak Theatre to put on shows 10 months a year -- the other two months it's used for the Oscars, Hollywood's top annual awards -- for the next decade.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut hosted Native Deen for the Lebanese leg of their 2011 middle East/North Africa tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State from Wednesday until Saturday.

Native Deen is an American Islamic hip-hop group composed of three Muslim-Americans who use their music to promote religious tolerance and to talk about Islam, and being a Muslim in America. While in Lebanon, the group conducted workshops with local hip-hop artists, held discussion groups with Lebanese youth, and performed in both Beirut and Tripoli.

Twenty years ago, a naked baby diving after a dollar bill turned the rock world upside down, and Nirvana's "Nevermind", the record immortalized by that image, became the soundtrack for a generation.

"Nevermind"'s release in late September 1991 also sucked Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain into a whirlwind that he would not get out of alive.

To the cries of "Freedom!" from a sold-out crowd of 18,000, the last bull to be killed in Catalonia in a bullfight before a ban on the sport comes into force hit the sand of Barcelona's Monumental arena.

"This will continue," read a large banner carried by hundreds of bullfighting fans who invaded the arena after the 570-kilo (1,250-pound) beast was slain by 28-year-old Catalan matador Serafin Marin.

Five armed men stormed into a youth hostel early Sunday and robbed some 20 tourists, mainly Brazilians, near the site of Rock in Rio, the music mega-festival under way here, police said.

"I still haven't had time to count how many people were robbed because I'm still so shaken up, but they (the assailants) didn't touch the foreigners. They only robbed the Brazilians," the proprietor of the hostel in the popular tourist area of Copacabana said on Globo's website G1.

While the eyes of the style world were on London's autumn fashion week, another couture event was taking place on the other side of the world -- in the Himalayas.

At Nepal Fashion Week the models sashayed down the catwalk in a mix of Western and ethnic apparel, contrasting classic with kitsch in a cornucopia of sassy cocktail dresses, flowing silk gowns, kaftans, kurti blouses, shalwars, sequins and ruffles.

A fashion line launched to raise money for Nelson Mandela's AIDS charity made its runway debut Sunday, with high-fashion incarnations of the vivid shirts that he often wore as president.

The clothing created for 46664, the anti-apartheid hero's prison number which is now the name of his charity, appeared on the catwalk for South Africa Fashion Week, with everything from salmon-colored suits for men to full-length flowing gowns for women.

American pop sensation Lady Gaga has been signed up to play at India's inaugural Formula One race next month, which will be held a newly-built circuit outside the capital New Delhi.

The colorful diva will perform at a concert after the Indian Grand Prix on October 30, organizers said in a press release on Saturday.