- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
King of the creepy Cronenberg delivers the gore to Cannes
The most hotly anticipated contender in the Cannes race, "Crimes of the Future" by sci-fi shockmeister David Cronenberg, divided the festival on Tuesday after drawing a lengthy standing ovation as well as dozens of disgusted walkouts.
The dystopian tale about the future of sex starring Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux and long-time collaborator Viggo Mortensen sent many queasy viewers running for the exits, even as the red-carpet premiere brought the audience to its feet for a full seven minutes.
The movie is set in a wasteland in which industry has collapsed, the state seeks total domination over human bodies and people look for erotic satisfaction that goes far more than skin-deep.
The Canadian film-maker, 79, behind body horror classics including "The Fly", "Dead Ringers" and "eXistenZ", said that while he didn't intend the film to be overtly political, its commentary on issues such as the threat to abortion rights in the United States was clear.
"It's a constant in history that there's some government that wants to control its population" with "oppressive ownership" of bodies, he told reporters.
"In Canada, we think everybody in the US is completely insane," he said bluntly about the political battle over abortion.
"We think the US has gone completely bananas, we can't believe elected officials are saying the things they're saying, not just about Roe v Wade. It is strange times."
- 'Surgery is new sex' -
Seydoux, known internationally from the James Bond franchise, plays alongside Mortensen as performance artists learning to adapt to a world in which human beings can harness control over their own biological mutation.
The high-concept plot sees Mortensen's character Saul willing new internal organs into being in his own body as part of a drive to accelerate his own evolution.
His partner Caprice (Seydoux) has developed techniques that allow her to carve into his body without hurting him to reveal to audiences his "inner beauty" -- new body parts with elaborate tattoo work.
Stewart plays Timlin, an investigator from the National Organ Registry charged with policing the limits of the new human frontier.
Stewart, who garnered her first Oscar nomination this year for her portrayal of Princess Diana in "Spencer", admitted that elements of the complex story remained a mystery to her and the cast even after shooting began.
But she told reporters the eye-wateringly graphic operation scenes captured "really visceral desire -- that's the only reason we're alive".
"It's fun to talk about people walking out of Cannes screenings," she said.
But "every single gaping, bleeding, sort of pulsing, weird image, every bit of hurt, every bruise in this movie... you want to lean towards it, it never repulses me ever".
- 'Shock value' -
Mortensen, 63, told AFP that his fourth picture with Cronenberg after hits such as "A History of Violence" and "Eastern Promises" was a wholly original kind of romance.
"We have a friendship above all and a trust and this trust makes it comfortable to try things that are unusual that I might not so easily try for other directors," the "Lord of the Rings" star said.
"I think his movies are generally ahead of their time."
"Crimes of the Future" is one of 21 films vying for Cannes' Palme d'Or top prize, to be awarded on Saturday.
Initial reviews were positive, with US movie website IndieWire saying it was "nowhere near as gross as advertised, but it's so much sweeter than anticipated... it grows on/in you like an unregistered organ".
The Hollywood Reporter said it marked "Cronenberg's return to the freakier end of his sci-fi and body-horror spectrum" -- it "won't be for everyone but definitely demands to be seen".
M.Thompson--AMWN