- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
Two Hollywood legends made their comeback at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, as Kevin Costner launched his sprawling self-funded Western and Demi Moore returned in a gore-filled body horror flick.
The star-studded premieres arrived midway through the world's most famous movie festival, where "Emilia Perez" -- a musical about a transgender drug lord, starring Selena Gomez -- is currently the talk of the town.
Epic Western "Horizon, an American Saga" is a passion project for Costner, who told AFP he had started working on the screenplay in 1988.
Despite having enormous success with Westerns, including the Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves", "Open Range" and television's "Yellowstone", he could not find a studio willing to fund his script.
"But I loved it and so I decided I would write four, which is very American of me -- insane," said Costner, who bankrolled the project himself.
The first film premiered at Cannes on Sunday in a special screening outside the main Palme d'Or competition. A second film has also been shot, and both will launch globally in theatres this summer.
"Horizon" follows multiple characters and storylines on the violent frontier, as Europeans establish settlements on Native American land.
Costner stars along with Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington.
Critics were underwhelmed, with the Hollywood Reporter dubbing it a "clumsy slog."
- Moore wows -
Another veteran US star, Demi Moore, took centre stage in "The Substance", a horror film that tackles the immense pressures society places on women to maintain bodily perfection as they age.
Moore starred in several hit movies in the 1990s, including "Ghost", "A Few Good Men", "Indecent Proposal" and "G.I. Jane".
This year's Cannes is a remarkable return to the red carpet, after years in which Moore has made headlines more for her marriages to Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher than her acting.
The ultra-graphic film drew gasps and raucous ovations throughout its screening, and also fared much better in reviews.
Deadline called the movie "the year's smartest, goriest horror breakout", while Variety singled out Moore as "nothing short of fearless".
"The Substance", directed by Coralie Fargeat, is among 22 films competing for the Cannes festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.
Also on Sunday, Ben Whishaw drew rave reviews for his portrayal of a radical Soviet poet in "Limonov: The Ballad."
The Guardian said the British actor was "glorious" as a dissident writer who lived homeless in New York before returning to Russia and fronting a fascist group.
Indiewire hailed a "career-crowning" performance, which puts Whishaw among the favourites for the festival's acting prize.
Other high-profile entries that have played so far include Francis Ford Coppola's divisive epic "Megalopolis," Andrea Arnold's much-praised childhood saga "Bird" and Paul Schrader's widely panned "Oh, Canada".
- Audiard's audience -
The early frontrunner appears to be "Emilia Perez" from French auteur Jacques Audiard, who received a hero's welcome from the world's media as he hosted a press conference Sunday, a day after its world premiere.
Karla Sofia Gascon, a Spanish trans woman, stars as a Mexican drug baron who longs to change gender and escape the narco life.
"We're normal people who can have the careers they want," said Gascon.
Zoe Saldana plays a lawyer who must arrange the operation, which is kept secret from everyone including the narco boss's wife, portrayed by pop star-turned-actor Gomez.
The characters regularly break out into song, with lyrics tackling everything from plastic surgery to Mexico's struggles with corruption and warring drug gangs.
Audiard said he had originally envisioned the film as an opera.
The "crumbling of democracy" in Mexico, a country he finds to be "schizophrenic", provided the perfect setting for "a tragedy", said the director.
"I think if you try to make sense of this movie, you'll feel like you're losing your mind," joked Blanchett.
The Palme d'Or winner will be unveiled on Saturday, the festival's closing day.
P.Costa--AMWN