Egyptian telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris and French-Tunisian financier Tarak Ben Ammar unveiled a 100-million euro ($129-million) partnership to produce and distribute films and television programs in the Arab world and internationally.

Under the deal, Sawiris will buy a 30-percent stake in Ben Ammar's Italy's based Quinta Communications Italia, which made the announcement in a press release timed to coincide with the start of the Cannes film festival in France.

French actor Gerard Depardieu, who was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin, is set to film a thriller in Moscow and Grozny with British actress Elizabeth Hurley.

Hurley revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that she was shopping for costumes in Moscow after arriving to make the film with the veteran French actor.

A pair of pearl earrings belonging to actress Gina Lollobrigida sold for an auction record of $2.39 million at Sotheby's Geneva as the veteran Italian star auctioned off some dazzling jewellery.

The lot, the highlight of Tuesday's auction, went under the hammer for more than twice the pre-sale estimate, and in doing so broke the previous record for pearl earrings set by a pair from the jewel box of fellow screen siren Elizabeth Taylor in 2011.

Hollywood actor Jon Hamm, best known as the dapper Don Draper in hit U.S. TV series "Mad Men", has begun shooting his new film in the home of Bollywood, according to those working on the movie.

Hamm is in Mumbai for the making of Disney's "Million Dollar Arm", based on a true story, in which he stars as sports agent J. B. Bernstein who discovers two Indian teenagers and signs them up to play baseball.

Health activists, doctors and movie fans hailed glamorous Hollywood megastar Angelina Jolie on Tuesday for her decision to reveal that she had had her breasts removed to reduce her cancer risk.

The 37-year-old actress underwent a double mastectomy to minimize the risk that she might develop breast cancer as a result of inheriting a "faulty gene," and chose to publicize her surgery as an example to other women and mothers.

The small Australian town of Wee Waa is readying for its global launch of the new album by French group Daft Punk, despite being pipped at the post with the music already available online.

Wee Waa, a farming town known as the "Cotton Capital of Australia", lies about 500 kilometres (310 miles) north-west of Sydney and Daft Punk are not attending Friday's event.

Is it a boy? A girl? Prince William and the former Kate Middleton aren't telling, and palace officials are not revealing where the royal baby will spend its first few months, since renovation of their future home at Kensington Palace is taking longer than expected.

William's tour of duty as a search-and-rescue pilot in Wales is scheduled to wrap up around September, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as the pair is formally known, are preparing to move from an isolated cottage on a Welsh island to new digs at Kensington Palace in central London.

Hollywood star Toni Collette is being sued for loss and damage after allegedly failing to complete the purchase of a Sydney house for Aus$6.35 million (U.S.$6.35 million), reports said Tuesday.

Industrie clothing brand founders Nick and Susan Kelly launched the action in the Supreme Court in Sydney against the Oscar-nominated Australian actress, known for her roles in "The Sixth Sense" and TV show "United States of Tara".

Leonardo DiCaprio urged wealthy art collectors Monday to bid at an environmental charity auction in New York as if the planet's fate "depends on us" -- and they responded by splashing out $38.8 million.

The "11th Hour" auction at Christie's featured 33 works of mostly contemporary art, much of it created for the event and addressing environmental themes.

Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her high risk of breast cancer, encouraging other women to address threats to their health.

The ultra-glamorous Jolie -- whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56 -- said she had managed to keep the issue quiet for months and continue working.