- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' in Christmas appeal
- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Japan FM raises 'serious concerns' over China military buildup
- Pope's sombre message in Christmas under shadow of war
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
Nicole Kidman: A-lister, cinematic chameleon, wins in Venice
One of Hollywood's biggest stars who is never afraid to push herself, Nicole Kidman ventured even further from her comfort zone with erotic thriller "Babygirl", which saw her named best actress in Venice on Saturday.
A queen of the silver screen since the 1990s, the Oscar-winning Australian admitted to nerves when the no-holds-barred film from Dutch director Halina Reijn premiered in the Italian watery city last week.
Kidman, 57, played Romy, a married, high-powered New York CEO who embarks on a torrid, sado-masochistic affair with a new company intern.
Kidman had delved into the genre in 1999 with her then-husband Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's final film, "Eyes Wide Shut," a similarly in-depth look at sexuality and the human psyche.
But she admitted her latest film left her "exposed and vulnerable and frightened... when it's given to the world".
Unfortunately she was not in Venice to accept her award, after arriving in the Italian city to hear that her "beautiful, brave mother" Janelle had died.
"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," Kidman said in a statement read out by Reijn.
- Master of reinvention -
Kidman won her Academy Award in 2003, for her transformation into writer Virginia Woolf in "The Hours".
Reinvention has been a theme in Kidman's storied career, her chameleonic skill taking the high school dropout from Australian teen movies including "BMX Bandits" to Hollywood's A-list.
She has never lacked daring either, throwing herself in riskier indie roles throughout her four decades in film -- from Gus Van Sant's "To Die For" (1995), for which she won a Golden Globe, to Karyn Kusama's "Destroyer" (2018).
She was first nominated for the best actress Oscar in 2002, after her turn in fellow Australian Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!", and scored another nomination in 2011 for "Rabbit Hole".
Another nomination followed, in 2017 for "Lion" -- the story of a young man from India adopted by an Australian family who searches for his long-lost relatives on Google Earth.
She was also nominated for an Oscar two years ago, for her role as queen of comedy Lucille Ball in "Being the Ricardos".
- Big and small screen queen -
Kidman took to drama from a young age after her family moved from Honolulu, where she was born, to Sydney when she was four.
She made her feature debut in the Australian television film "Bush Christmas" in 1983, the same year she left school at 16 to pursue acting full-time, and won international praise for the thriller "Dead Calm" in 1989.
The following year, she met Cruise on the set of the racetrack romance "Days of Thunder".
The two married in 1991 and adopted two children -- Isabella and Connor -- only to split a decade later in one of Hollywood's most famous divorces.
Once one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood, Kidman took a step back from acting after falling for New Zealand-born country musician Keith Urban, whom she married in 2006.
Like many top actors and directors, Kidman has been lured in recent years to the small screen, winning plaudits for a string of television roles, including in "Big Little Lies", which earned her an Emmy, and Jane Campion's "Top of the Lake".
Kidman and Urban have two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret.
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P.Martin--AMWN