The Venice film festival kicks off on Wednesday with the arrival of stars on water taxis for an art house dominated line-up dealing with issues from religious extremism to economic crisis.

First up at the world's oldest film festival will be a showing of Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" -- a political thriller about a young Pakistani man torn between Wall Street ambitions and the call of his homeland.

Prosecutors declined Tuesday to press charges against Lindsay Lohan for an alleged theft from a Hollywood Hills home, averting a new court case for the perennially-challenged actress.

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Deborah L. Kranze said there was not enough evidence to file charges against the 26-year-old star and two other people over the alleged theft of $6,400 in cash and property.

An actor on the television show "The Walking Dead" has been charged with driving drunk in Georgia, where the show is filmed.

Peachtree City police arrested 70-year-old Scott Wilson at 2 a.m. Aug. 18 after someone called 911 to report a Chrysler PT Cruiser driving erratically.

Renowned classical pianist Van Cliburn has been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer and is resting comfortably at his Texas home, his publicist said Monday.

The 78-year-old Cliburn is under excellent care and his spirits are high, said longtime friend and publicist Mary Lou Falcone.

Argentine dancers Facundo de la Cruz and Paola Sanz have won the ballroom competition at the tenth World Tango Championship, beating out 42 pairs of finalists from around the globe.

"This is a magical moment," Sanz, 29, said late Monday.

French rocker Johnny Hallyday, a legend in his homeland, was treated in a Caribbean hospital Monday after being rushed there by helicopter but was quickly released.

Hallyday, 69 and born Jean-Philippe Smet, was released from a hospital in Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe and was to undergo further tests.

Diana Krall knows how to pay tribute to Neil Armstrong.

The jazz singer-pianist tenderly played the standard "Fly Me to the Moon" during a Saturday concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

"Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi early Sunday gave birth to her first child, a boy.

The reality TV star and her fiance, Jionni LaValle, welcomed 6-pound, 5-ounce Lorenzo Dominic LaValle into the world at just before 3 a.m. Sunday at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., MTV said.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch came to the defense of Britain's Prince Harry on Sunday, urging critics to "give him a break" over photographs of him frolicking naked in a Las Vegas hotel suite.

Australian-born Murdoch posted a message of support on his Twitter page after The Sun, his top-selling British tabloid, printed the images of 27-year-old Harry in defiance of orders from the royal family.

A-list action romp "The Expendables 2" held onto the top rung of the North American box office for a second weekend, keeping "The Bourne Legacy" at bay, industry estimates showed Sunday.

"The Expendables 2", which stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li as mercenaries, raked in $13.5 million a week after its debut, according to movie tracker Exhibitor Relations.