A rare call for a general strike in Israel to protest the failure to return hostages held in Gaza led to closures and other disruptions around Israel on Monday, including at its main international airport. But it was ignored in some areas, reflecting deep political divisions.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets late Sunday in grief and anger after six hostages were found dead in Gaza. The families and much of the public blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they could have been returned alive in a deal with Hamas to end the nearly 11-month-old war.

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar returns to the Venice Film Festival with stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, Monday. "The Room Next Door" will have its world premiere on the Lido in the evening.

Though a new Almodóvar film is always an event for cinephiles, this one has special significance: It's his English-language debut.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt returned to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday for the world premiere of "Wolfs."

Before hitting the red carpet, the Hollywood stars reflected on reuniting, the rise of streaming and Clooney's New York Times op-ed urging President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid.

If any evidence were needed to underscore that Pope Francis' upcoming trip to Asia and Oceania is the longest, farthest and most challenging of his pontificate, it's that he's bringing along his secretaries to help him navigate the four-country program while keeping up with work back home.

Francis will clock 32,814 kilometers (20,390 miles) by air during his Sept. 2-13 visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, far surpassing any of his previous 44 foreign trips and notching one of the longest papal trips ever, both in terms of days on the road and distances traveled.

This is pretty much all anyone needs to know about defending champion Coco Gauff's 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the U.S. Open's fourth round on Sunday: Gauff wound up with more double-faults, 19, than winners, 14.

It was the latest in a series of early-for-her exits in recent weeks, including bowing out in the third round at the Paris Olympics, then going 1-2 at hard-court tuneup events before arriving in New York.

Liverpool reasserted its dominance over Manchester United on Sunday by beating its great rival 3-0 on Sunday as Mohamed Salah enjoyed another dreamy visit to Old Trafford.

For United's Casemiro, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were both handed potentially tricky games against fellow Bundesliga teams in the second-round draw for the German Cup on Sunday.

Bayern heads to Mainz, while Dortmund visits Wolfsburg, in the games to be played either Oct. 29 or 30.

With two goals in less than 10 minutes, Kylian Mbappé ended his scoring drought in the Spanish league, leading Real Madrid to a 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

Madrid's biggest signing in years, Mbappé had scored once in the team's win over Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup final last month, but he had yet to find the net in his previous three Spanish league matches.

Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes.

Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul on Sunday to protest recent legislation that critics say is leading to the killing of stray dogs across Turkey.

Last month, legislators approved the new law aimed at removing millions of stray dogs from Turkish streets citing safety concerns. Animal-lovers fear it will lead to widespread culling or dogs ending up in disease-ridden and overcrowded shelters.