French actress Marion Cotillard will join Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the cast of "The Dark Knight Rises," the finale to the recent Batman film series, Warner Brothers said Tuesday.

The film reunites the actors with Christopher Nolan, who recently directed them in the the popular film "Inception."

There's a distinct Hong Kong flavor to the nine-member jury that will decide the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival that opens May 11.

Hong Kong director Johnny To and film producer Shi Nansun, wife of director Tsui Hark, are both on the panel that is being led this year by Oscar winner Robert De Niro, said organizers in a statement late Tuesday.

A Lithuanian company said Wednesday it had frozen publication of the local version of "The Simpsons" comic after a fine for advertising Duff beer, the fictional favorite of anti-hero Homer Simpson.

"The fine led the company to take the decision to temporarily suspend publication," Indre Pavilonyte of Media Incognito told Agence France Presse.

South Korea's LG Electronics Tuesday unveiled a refrigerator which suggests recipes as it forecast a bright future in the potentially lucrative market for "smart" household appliances.

LG will roll out smart fridges, washers and other appliances in South Korea and North America by the end of this year to compete against rivals including Samsung Electronics and Whirlpool, Lee Young-Ha, president of the home appliance unit, told reporters.

Film noir meets musical comedy -- Maurice Bejart's "Le Concours" represented another change in genre for the Vienna State Ballet as it premiered here Sunday.

A murder mystery set at an international dance competition, the performance -- the latest premiere in Manuel Legris's first season as ballet director -- showed a new side of the company, after it already presented contemporary medleys and full-length modern and classical ballets this year.

Three operas opening at the Salzburg Easter Festival in the coming years -- Richard Strauss' "Salome", Georges Bizet's "Carmen" and Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" -- will move to Madrid under the direction of Briton Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

This was announced by the director of the Easter Festival, Peter Alward and the director of Madrid's Teatro Real, the Belgian Gerard Mortier, at a press conference on Sunday.

Kate Middleton's parents will pay nearly £100,000 ($163,000, 113,000 euros) for their daughter's wedding to Prince William later this month, a report said Sunday.

Hotel suites, bridal gowns, bridesmaids' dresses, the maid of honor's outfit and the honeymoon will all be paid for by Carole and Michael Middleton, The Sunday Times newspaper said, without citing its sources.

Hollywood actress and pop singer Jennifer Lopez tops People's magazine's annual list of the most beautiful people of 2011, set to hit newsstands Friday, the magazine announced.

"Rarely am I left speechless, but I feel honored," said J-Lo, 41, who is the mother of twin toddlers with husband Latin music crooner Marc Anthony.

Australian thieves have made off with a life-size cutout of Prince William and his bride in a midnight heist from a luxury hotel offering special wedding stays, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The cardboard couple had become something of a draw-card since being erected in the lobby of Melbourne's Hotel Windsor earlier this year, bringing a steady crowd of guests and locals keen for a happy snap.

Designers laughed off the economic crisis at Milan's annual furniture fair this year, ditching staid luxury for jocular hammock sofas, tilting chairs, bar stools with pedals and robot bookcases.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile -- the biggest event in the design calender -- celebrated its 50th year with over 2,700 companies on exhibit and expected over 100,000 people to flock through its doors.