ROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi is expanding his presence on the world stage leading into next week's Group of Eight summit with a flurry of diplomacy aimed, at least in part, at diverting attention from the starlet scandal that has engulfed him at home.

Berlusconi showed up at the last minute Saturday at a meeting in Corfu, Greece, of foreign ministers of the NATO-Russia Council — the only head of government there other than the host, Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis.

The foray was a well-timed distraction as Berlusconi battles allegations he partied with prostitutes at his homes.

Lebanon: Rivals clash

BEIRUT — Sunni supporters of Lebanon's prime minister-designate and Shiite rivals from the parliament speaker's political faction traded gunfire in a Beirut neighborhood Sunday. Security officials said one civilian was killed and two others were wounded in the first outbreak of violence since this month's elections.

Automatic rifle fire and three explosions were heard in the brief gun battle that underlined the continued sectarian tensions despite recent pledges by political leaders to work together. Those pledges followed a bruising election campaign.

Pakistan: Bounty

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan ramped up its campaign against Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud on Sunday, placing a bounty on the chieftain's head and launching air strikes on his stronghold in the country's northwest.

The government has expressed its determination in recent weeks to eliminate Mehsud, who is viewed with increasing alarm in Islamabad as a major threat to security in the country. His group has been blamed for a string of suicide bombings across the nation.