- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
Almodovar wins top prize at Venice film festival
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for "The Room Next Door", while France's Vincent Lindon and Australian star Nicole Kidman took the top acting prizes.
This was Almodovar's first English-language feature, and his Golden Lion comes five years after he won a career achievement award at the festival. The film stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
Kidman won her award playing a lusty, unfulfilled CEO embarking on a torrid affair with an intern in "Babygirl". But she was unable to collect her award following the sudden death of her mother.
"The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken," said the Australian actress in a statement read on her behalf by the film's Dutch director, Halina Reijn.
"I'm in shock, and I have to go to my family. But this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me, and she made me," she said.
French veteran actor Vincent Lindon won the festival's best actor award for "The Quiet Son."
Over his 40-year-career, the Cannes-winning Lindon has often gravitated towards films with social themes, playing flawed working-class men roused to fight injustices.
- Star-studded festival -
The winners were among 21 contenders vying for the top prize in a 10-day festival that swarmed with top Hollywood talent, from Angelina Jolie to George Clooney.
Venice's red carpet this season had seen the likes of Lady Gaga, starring with Joaquin Phoenix in the sequel to Todd Phillips' antihero "Joker" film, as well as George Clooney and Brad Pitt, whose action comedy "Wolfs" premiered out of competition.
Another film that was well received was "Queer" -- an adaptation directed by Italy's Luca Guadagnino of the short novel by Beat Generation writer William Burroughs -- that starred Daniel Craig.
The former James Bond actor is already being predicted as an Oscar contender for his role as William Lee, a lonely, heavy-drinking gay writer in 1940s Mexico City, whose unrequited love for a young man sends him on an anguished and drug-fuelled road trip through South America.
"The Brutalist" starring Oscar-winner Adrien Brody playing a Hungarian Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, Laszlo Tothalso, also got good reviews.
- Voices heard -
The films at this year's festival did not shy away from difficult subject matter, whether contemporary or historical.
Abortion ("April"), white supremacy ("The Order"), the Mafia ("Sicilian Letters") and enforced disappearances and killings during Brazil's military dictatorship ("I'm Still Here") were all examined in the films competing for the Golden Lion.
Several films explored war and its crushing repercussions, whether documentaries on the war in Ukraine or the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, while two Italian features centred on the two World Wars of the last century.
Among the most remarkable was "Russians at War" from Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, who went behind the lines of the Ukraine war with Russian soldiers.
"Russian soldiers are not someone whose voices are heard," Trofimova told journalists.
"This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people as people."
The festival also honoured American actress Sigourney Weaver and Australian director Peter Weir with lifetime achievement awards.
M.Fischer--AMWN