Valentine love and controversy

Valentine's Day is controversial in some Muslim countries

Hundreds of US gay couples celebrated Valentine's Day weddings after San Francisco lifted a ban on marriage licences for same-sex partners.

In the Philippines, more than 5,000 couples took part in a world record-breaking simultaneous kiss attempt.

But the romantic day - named after a Christian patron saint for lovers - is not universally approved.

Two Saudi newspapers urged people not to celebrate what they called a "pagan Christian holiday".

Religious police in the kingdom also warned shops, hotels, restaurants and public parks to avoid staging any special Valentine's Day activities.

A fatwa - Muslim religious edict - published in al-Jazeera newspaper warned that any "song, dance or games" and the "mingling of men and women" associated with Valentine's Day are "preludes to sin".

Fist fight

In Pakistan - where some religious groups have protested against the day - two students were injured after a classroom fist fight at a university in Karachi.

A police official said some students had been angered when a young man wished a girl "Happy Valentine's Day".

In Bangladesh, some newspapers gave tips for lovers on where they can secretly meet but warned against rickshaw rides because they might be spotted by disapproving relatives.

Some Hindu groups in India also disapprove, saying the day is a bad influence on traditional Indian culture. They stopped some shops from selling Valentine's cards.

But they did not stop one of India's richest businessmen, Sahara India group boss Subroto Roy, from staging a lavish Valentine's Day wedding for his younger son.

Weddings

The cream of Indian society - including Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani - were due to descend on the company-owned 300-acre estate in Uttar Pradesh for the nuptials of Seemanto Roy and his television actress fiancé Chandni Singh.

A 100-piece orchestra was reportedly flown in from Britain; thousands of chefs were said to be on hand to serve nearly 20 types of food as some 45,000 candles lit up the evening. Local newspapers put the cost at $60m.

Inmates at a Bangkok prison were allowed to marry

"It's a mind-blowing scene, a once-in-a-lifetime celebration," Alok Sinha, a guest and senior state bureaucrat, told AFP news agency.

But it was not such happy news for Chile's former football captain Ivan Zamorano and his model fiancé Kenita Larrain who called off their Valentine's Day wedding two days before the event.

More than 700 guests - including the country's president Ricardo Lagos - were due to attend "Chile's wedding of the year".

Mr Zamorano - who also played for Real Madrid - has disappeared from public view. It was left to his tearful former girlfriend to speak to a TV chat show in a bid to end countless speculation about the demise of their relationship.

Valentine's Day made five inmates of Nonthaburi Provincial prison in Bangkok very happy.

The petty criminals - all held on drug charges - married their sweethearts after the prison became the first in Thailand to allow weddings within its confines.