- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
Cannes opens with Johnny Depp's French comeback drama
The Cannes Film Festival was set for a stormy start on Tuesday, with Johnny Depp making his comeback in the opening film, showing off his French skills as King Louis XV.
The 59-year-old's career has nosedived in Hollywood, despite his victory in a defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last year that featured bitter domestic violence allegations.
But Depp has been gradually returning to work and will hit the red carpet for the opening night in Cannes with French period drama "Jeanne du Barry" about the 18th-century monarch who fell in love with a prostitute.
Festival director Thierry Fremaux told reporters he was "not interested" in Depp's trial, adding: "I am interested in Depp the actor."
Michael Douglas will also attend the opening ceremony to receive an honorary Palme d'Or.
The French Riviera festival, which runs until May 27, includes a slew of hot-ticket premieres, including "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" on Wednesday, the fifth and final outing for Harrison Ford as the whip-cracking archaeologist.
Saturday will see Martin Scorsese present his latest epic, "Killers of the Flower Moon", alongside stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
That day also sees Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in indie favourite Todd Haynes's "May December".
It is among 21 films competing for the top prize Palme d'Or, by a record seven women directors.
Fremaux said increasing women's representation at the festival was a "fundamental question" but "I refuse congratulations, it is an evolution. We don't look at the gender, we select movies."
Several Palme laureates are back in competition, including Britain's two-time winner Ken Loach, Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda and Germany's Wim Wenders.
The jury is led by last year's winner, Sweden's Ruben Ostlund ("Triangle of Sadness"), and also includes Hollywood stars Brie Larson and Paul Dano.
Around a thousand police and security guards are in place for the festival, amid fears of protests linked to President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reforms, with the CGT union even threatening to cut power.
- 'A lot of worries' -
Depp's "Jeanne du Barry" has reportedly yet to secure US distribution.
His dialogue in the film is kept to short phrases that help disguise his American accent.
Maiwenn, the French star who directs and plays the lead role, admitted she was worried about the impact of his legal woes.
"The film was shot last summer and he was coming out of his second trial," Maiwenn, who goes by a single name, told AFP last week.
"I had a lot of worries. I was wondering: 'what will his image become?'" she said.
But she faces her own controversies.
In March, a well-known French journalist, Edwy Plenel of Mediapart, lodged a criminal complaint against Maiwenn, accusing her of approaching him in a restaurant, grabbing him by the hair and spitting in his face.
She refused to discuss the "ongoing case" with AFP, but admitted the assault in an interview on French TV, without going into details.
Depp was axed from Harry Potter spin-off "Fantastic Beasts" following Heard's abuse allegations, but he is a long way from being "cancelled".
He has secured a record $20 million deal to remain the face of Dior fragrance, according to Variety last week.
He is also set to direct Al Pacino in a biopic of artist Amedeo Modigliani later this year.
Ferreira--PC