- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- '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
From Cruz to Blanchett: Venice serves up film festival stars
The Venice Film Festival will welcome stars from Penelope Cruz to Cate Blanchett and host world premieres from directors Darren Aronofsky, Alejandro Inarritu and Luca Guadagnino, organisers said Tuesday.
A total of 23 movies are in competition for the Golden Lion, the top prize awarded to the best film on the final day of the "Mostra", the prestigious festival on the glitzy Venice Lido running from August 31 to September 10.
Calling the 79th annual festival an "open window on the world", Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, during his online presentation, denounced the arrest of three filmmakers in Iran earlier this month which sparked condemnation across the international film community.
One of them, award-winning dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi, 62, will be competing this year at Venice with his film "Khers Nist" ("Bears Do Not Exist"), in which he also acts.
Panahi, who was ordered last week by a court to serve a six-year sentence for "propaganda against the system" originally handed down in 2010, won the Golden Lion in 2000 for "The Circle", a critique of women's treatment in Iran.
This year's red carpet should see no shortage of stars, with Julianne Moore presiding over the jury, and top talents Hugh Jackman, Timothee Chalamet, Don Cheadle and Colin Farrell all starring in films in competition.
Spain's Penelope Cruz -- who won Venice's best actress award last year for her work in "Parallel Mothers" -- returns in "Immensity", a family drama set in 1970s Rome by Italy's Emanuele Crialese.
Australian star Cate Blanchett is also expected to attend, for her work playing an orchestra conductor in "Tar", the third feature by US director Todd Field.
- Fictionalised Marilyn Monroe -
This year also marks the return of US director Aronofsky with "The Whale", a psychological drama in which Brendan Fraser plays an obese writer seeking to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Aronofsky is 2008's Golden Lion winner for "The Wrestler", about a down-and-out fighter that won raves for lead actor Mickey Rourke.
"The collapse of the American Dream," said Barbera, is the theme of the highly anticipated "Bones and All" by Italian director Guadagnino. Starring Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance and Chloe Sevigny, the film follows a young woman and drifter confronting their cannibalism on a cross-country road trip.
A "most personal" film in the main competition, said Barbera, is "Bardo: The False Chronicle of some Truths" by Mexico's Inarritu, in which a journalist suffers an existential crisis.
British actress Tilda Swinton appears in mystery-drama "The Eternal Daughter" by Joanna Hogg, while Farrell plays one of two longtime Irish friends in "The Banshees of Inisherin" by Martin McDonagh.
In the biopic genre is "Blonde", Andrew Dominik's fictionalised look at Marilyn Monroe adapted from the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, starring Ana de Armas and Adrien Brody.
Nan Goldin, the US photographer and activist, is the focus of Laura Poitras' "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed", about the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Noah Baumbach's "White Noise", based on the 1985 Don DeLillo novel and starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, will open the competition in Venice.
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN