French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new girlfriend Carla Bruni flew out of Egypt’s Luxor on Wednesday aboard a tycoon friend’s private jet headed for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Sarkozy, once more making controversial use of billionaire businessman Vincent Bollore’s plane, left the paparazzi to take commercial flights in their pursuit of the French leader and the ex-supermodel turned singer.

As the French leader left, former British prime minister Tony Blair arrived in the Nile resort of Luxor for his holidays, although the pair did not meet.

During his time in office in Britain, Blair — now international Middle East peace envoy — often spent his Christmas holidays in Egypt.

Before their departure, the French couple visited another of Luxor’s renowned tombs that is usually closed to the public, this time that of pharaoh Ramses II’s favourite wife, Nefertari.

Italian-born Bruni, 39, wore a figure hugging black shirt, while recently divorced Sarkozy opted for a khaki shirt as they posed for photos with Egyptians working on archaeological digs.

“Our guide told us we had to pay 150 euros (220 dollars) each to visit the tomb,” said one French tourist after the couple left. “He said he’d ask for it to be left open so that we could also go in.”

The French presidential party will be staying behind the high walls of a private villa in Sharm.

Sarkozy is to travel to Cairo on Sunday on his first official Middle Eastern visit for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, but without Bruni whose appearance in an official capacity alongside her lover could spark outrage in conservative Egyptian society.

An Egyptian source said however that Sarkozy, Bruni and Mubarak might have a private breakfast together at the Egyptian president’s villa in Sharm on Friday away from the media.

While almost all media attention is focused on Sarkozy’s relationship with Bruni, heiress to a tyre fortune whose former boyfriends include rock stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, the use of Bollore’s plane has also drawn flack.

French opposition parties have accused the president of compromising his office and asked what the plastics-to-media magnate can expect in return for his generosity.

Sarkozy triggered a similar row after his election in May when he spent several days on Bollore’s private yacht off Malta.

The businessman denies seeking to influence the president, noting that less than one percent of his holding company’s turnover comes from government contracts.

Trading karate chops for lawyers, tough guy actor Chuck Norris is taking on a new book titled “The Truth About Chuck Norris,” saying it’s a big lie and he wants to stop its distribution.

On Friday, Norris sued Penguin Group Inc. and the book’s creator, Ian Spector, saying his good image is being spoiled by a book that depicts him as callous and unlawful and which he says includes false “facts” that are sometimes racist and lewd.

In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the actor, whose real name is Carlos Ray Norris, says the preface of the book refers to meetings between Norris and Spector, a Westbury, New York, resident and an undergraduate at Brown University, and the book also thanks Norris for “playing along.”

But, the lawsuit said, Norris never authorized Penguin or its Gotham Books division to use his name, image or likeness in connection with commercial sales of the book, which was published on November 29.

The lawsuit said Norris told Penguin it was not authorized to publish the book but the publisher rejected Norris’ claims. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, a halt to publication and a recall of books already sold.

A message left with a spokesman for Penguin was not immediately returned.

Norris has been in more than 20 films. The actor was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middle Weight Karate champion who in 1997 became the first man in the Western Hemisphere to be awarded an 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Kwon Do system, the lawsuit said.

Apology accepted, Will.

The Anti-Defamation League yesterday said “I Am Legend” star Will Smith did the right thing by backtracking on his wacky comments about Adolf Hitler.

“We welcome and accept Will Smith’s statement that … he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL.Smith raised hackles when he told a reporter for a Scottish newspaper that Hitler did what he “thought was good.”

The quote was preceded by the writer’s observation: “Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good.”

Smith later issued a statement saying he had been misunderstood, declaring “Adolf Hitler was a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on his planet.”

That “unequivocal condemnation” was good enough for the ADL. “We would have expected no less from a celebrity of his standing,” Foxman said.

Lindsay Lohan may have been guilty of drinking and driving from time to time, but Oct. 4, 2005, was not one of those occasions.

In a court declaration dated Dec. 15, the actress claims she was not under the influence of alcohol, drugs or prescription medication at the time of her October 2005 collision with busboy Raymundo Ortega.

Ortega sued Lohan for negligence in June, claiming she had been enjoying a boozy lunch at the Ivy shortly before crashing her Mercedes-Benz into his van, allegedly as she attempted to flee paparazzi. He is seeking at least $200,000 in damages.

The restaurant is also named as a defendant in the suit for allegedly serving alcohol to Lohan, who was only 19 at the time of the accident.

Lohan’s declaration and other documents were filed Friday in connection with a motion by lawyers for the Ivy to have the trendy eatery dismissed as a defendant.

According to her sworn statement, contained in court documents obtained Wednesday, Lohan did not consume any alcohol either at the lunch or before arriving at the restaurant.

“I did not consume an alcoholic beverage or any type of medication or drug in the hours prior to my arrival at the Ivy,” Lohan states in the declaration. “Additionally, at no time between my arrival at the Ivy and the subject automobile accident did I consume an alcoholic beverage, medication or other drug.”

A copy of Lohan’s receipt for the $308 lunch was also filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern, showing she and her four dining companions consumed black-pepper shrimp, swordfish, entrée and appetizer salads, artichoke, onion rings, a crab-cakes appetizer and hot asparagus.

Their bar tab included four Ivy gimlets (the restaurant’s signature cocktail), diet sodas, cranberry juice, ginger ale, espresso and cappuccino.

To back up Lohan’s statement, lawyers for the Ivy also submitted part of a deposition of her server from that day, Adam Novicki, who maintained the actress was served no alcohol, nor did she try to order any.

“I know for a fact Miss Lohan did not order an Ivy gimlet,” Novicki said.

He said he carded all the women in the party and was aware that Lohan was underage. Novicki also said that at no time during the 90-minute period he waited on the actress’ table did she show any signs of intoxication.

While Lohan may not have consumed any alcohol over lunch, Novicki did recall serving the actress the crab cakes and black-pepper shrimp.

Alonzo Howell, a Los Angeles police officer who was working security at the Ivy that day, also gave a declaration stating he believed Lohan was sober during her visit to the restaurant.

“She appeared coherent, spoke without slurring words, was steady on her feet, walked without staggering, maintained her complete balance, and her eyes were not bloodshot,” Howell stated.

A hearing on the Ivy’s motion to be dismissed from Ortega’s lawsuit is set for Mar. 21.

Lohan countersued Ortega in October, seeking more than $75,000 in damages for the repair of her Mercedes-Benz and the cost of renting other vehicles.

In her court documents, her lawyers cite the California Highway Patrol’s report on the incident, which found that Ortega was at fault in the crash for making an illegal U-turn in front of the actress’ car.

Police also found no sign that Lohan had been drinking before the collision.

Paris Hilton may have cashed in on her famous last name, but she won’t be cashing in on the family fortune.

Yesterday, her grandfather Barron Hilton said he was giving his multibillion dollar fortune to a family foundation that supports drought-stricken villages in Africa.

“This means that the work of the foundation will continue and expand for many years to come,” said Conrad H. Hilton Foundation’s chief executive officer Steven M. Hilton yesterday in a written statement.

But it also means that Barron Hilton’s party-loving granddaughter, whose role in a homemade sex video propelled her to international celebrity, won’t profit from the sale of the hotel chain that bears her name.

To some Paris followers, that’s not a surprise.

Jerry Oppenheimer, author of “House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power and Privilege,” predicted the move last year, when he said, “(Barron Hilton) was, and is, extremely embarrassed by how the Hilton name has been sullied by Paris.”

Paris Hilton, however, declined to comment for this article.

Conrad Hilton - Paris’ great-grandfather - created the hotel empire in 1919. Although his private life was marked by scandal, in public he was a devout Catholic. He created the foundation in 1944. So far, it has spent $560 million to support the works of Catholic religious sisters and others.

Conrad’s son is Barron. Now 80, he just sold the Hilton hotel chain’s 2,800 hotels, in which he owns about a 5 percent stake, to Blackstone Group LP for $20 billion. Also, he stands to profit from his share of Harrah’s Entertainment, which is being purchased by Apollo Management LP and Texas Pacific Group Inc. for $17.12 billion.

The $1.2 billion that Barron Hilton will earn from both sales will be given to the family foundation. Also, upon his death, Barron Hilton’s $1.1 billion personal fortune will be given to the foundation.

Paris Hilton is one of Conrad Hilton’s many great-grandchildren.

She became a household name in 2003, when her raunchy video, “One Night in Paris,” circulated on the Internet. She’s since made her own money, with a television show, movie appearances, a book and an album.

Earlier this year, she spent three weeks in jail for violating probation in a drunken-driving case. Upon her release, she vowed to change her ways, and announced plans to tour poverty-stricken parts of Africa.

But those plans were canceled and, these days, she’s preparing for her nude scene in the upcoming film, “The Hottie and the Nottie.”