An Iranian film noir about an academic who returns home after two decades in the West to a family and country he no longer recognizes made a splash at the Cannes festival this week.

"A Respectable Family", the feature film debut of the 39-year-old Tehran documentary maker Massoud Bakhshi, is rooted in the director's own experiences as a teenager growing up during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

Agence France-Presse photographer Massoud Hossaini received the Pulitzer prize in New York on Monday for his wrenching shot of the aftermath of a suicide bomb in Kabul.

Hossani, 30, traveled from his native Afghanistan to attend the ceremony at Columbia University for winners of the most prestigious U.S. journalism prize, the first for Agence France Presse.

Lady Gaga will be allowed to hold a second concert in Manila on Tuesday night after state censors ruled her "provocative" act was within legal bounds, a city official said.

Officials who monitored the first show on Monday found no violations of the permit terms banning nudity, blasphemy, and lewd conduct, said Antonino Calixto, mayor of Pasay City, the district where the event was held.

Lady Gaga's Philippine concerts will go ahead as planned, organizers said Sunday, despite a series of protests from Christian groups and calls for the controversial singer to be banned.

Allan Florendo, assistant vice president of the sprawling SM Mall of Asia, whose arena will be the venue for the concerts Monday and Tuesday, said they were ready for the thousands of Gaga-fans and even any stray protesters.

British rocker Pete Doherty, whose cocaine-snorting and carousing have landed him in jail, on Sunday appeared in his first film role in Cannes as a debauched young man in 19th-century France.

"Confession of a Child of the Century" sees Doherty star in an adaptation of French writer Alfred de Musset's autobiographical novel of the same name alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg.

What a week! Mark Zuckerberg may never have another one like it.

The Facebook co-founder turned 28 years old, raised $16 billion as he took his company public and capped it all off by marrying his long-time girlfriend, Priscilla Chan.

Robin Gibb, singer with the legendary British band the Bee Gees, died on Sunday aged 62 after a lengthy battle against cancer, his family said.

"The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," said a family statement.

A Romanian nunnery tale, a killer whale of a drama and whimsical pre-teen love jostled for Cannes glory Monday as the world's top cinema showcase hit the half-way mark.

Awful weather and a lingering sexism row made only a slight dent in the French Riviera festival's glamour that saw stars like Jessica Chastain, Bill Murray and Marion Cotillard sashay up the fabled red carpet.

Mourning Algerians paid tribute Saturday to Arab singing legend Warda, whose body was returned to her homeland after she died of a heart attack in Egypt two days earlier.

Known throughout the Arab world as Warda al-Jazairia (Warda the Algerian), or simply as the "Algerian Rose", the singer won a passionate following in the north African nation and across the Arab world after she started singing Algerian independence songs as a young girl.

Actor and activist Sean Penn urged U.S. President Barack Obama to step up his support for Haiti as he hosted a Cannes fundraiser to help the country recover from the devastating 2010 quake.

Dubbed Carnival in Cannes, the star-studded party is being held on the sides of the Riviera filmfest jointly with Italian couturier Giorgio Armani. Proceeds will go to three aid groups: Sean Penn's J/P Haitian Relief Organization, Artists for Peace and Justice, and Happy Heart's Fund.