Hollywood actor and director Kevin Costner is to receive a lifetime achievement award at France's annual Cesars ceremony later this month, the academy said Friday.

A two-time Oscar winner for the 1990 film "Dances with Wolves", Costner, 58, will receive his honorary Cesar at the French film awards in Paris on February 22.

The massive snowstorm hanging over New England was blamed Friday for messing up the schedule of two hotly awaited Marc Jacobs shows at New York Fashion Week.

The Jacobs collection had been scheduled for Monday but will now take place on Thursday, the designer's team said, blaming "the snow storm in the U.S. and production problems."

Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew; British singer-songwriter James Blunt; and Israeli television psychic Uri Geller are among the latest to strike a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. over phone hacking.

The three were among 17 hacking victims who settled Friday with News Corp. subsidiary News Group Newspapers over its campaign of illegal espionage, which set off a massive scandal when it was revealed in July 2011.

The Austro-Hungarian empire may be long dead but Viennese high society was back with a bang Thursday for the annual waltzing, music and show-off extravaganza that is the Opera Ball.

Dressed up to the nines and paying through the nose, the high point of the social calendar sees celebrities, politicians and tycoons rub shoulders with aristocrats and nervous debutantes.

The music world gathers in Los Angeles on Sunday for the Grammys, with oddly-punctuated indie pop band fun. hoping to win big at the industry's top awards show -- as long as they keep their clothes on.

Elton John, Taylor Swift and Mumford & Sons are among a galaxy of stars to take the stage at the Staples Center -- albeit with a warning not to show too much flesh, be it breasts, nipples or the dreaded "buttock crack."

Michelangelo's David stands proud next to the Eiffel Tower in a Chinese display, flanked by the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army -- all made of chocolate.

The edible exhibit reflects not only how badly confectionery sellers want to reach the world's most populous country, but also what tremendous effort it takes.

New York Fashion Week injected a bit of color and glamor into wintry Manhattan on Thursday, with the first of 300 autumn-winter collections for men and women unveiled on the runways.

The opener was Nicholas K, with BCBG Max Azria and Kenneth Cole also in the first day's line-up, before a long weekend unfolds with stars like Alexander Wang ready to unveil their latest designs.

Selena Gomez sat front and center at the fashion show to preview the first collection in her collaboration with Adidas' streetwear Neo label.

But the runway at Wednesday evening's show was a next-gen catwalk: Teenager bloggers were charged with styling the outfits instead of industry professionals.

Toni Braxton's autistic son makes his acting debut in her new Lifetime movie, "Twist of Faith," and could have had a bigger role, but the singer didn't want to put too much pressure on him.

"He was supposed to play my son initially but by the time we worked out the shooting schedule, school had started," Braxton said of 9-year-old Diezel. (She also has an 11-year-old named Denim.)

Tim McGraw is free.

The country star has moved on from a troubling label, quit drinking and grown up a bit, and all that has given McGraw a new energy he says you can hear on his latest album, "Two Lanes of Freedom."