Hollywood star George Clooney's "The Ides of March", a thriller about a U.S. presidential campaign, will open this year's Venice Film Festival and will compete for the coveted Golden Lion award, organizers said Wednesday.

The film, about a Democratic governor campaigning in presidential primaries, will make its world premiere on August 31 immediately after the opening ceremony.

Lady Gaga says that if you want to help Japan recover from its tsunami disaster, come visit.

The flamboyant pop star, in Tokyo this week for a benefit concert for tsunami victims, said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press that she's making a point to get out and enjoy the city and its food, and that her fans should do the same thing.

Harry Potter's adventures are going digital.

Author J.K. Rowling announced Thursday that her seven Potter novels will be sold as e-books starting in October — ending the boy wizard's status as one of the highest-profile holdouts against digital publishing.

Kate Winslet and Jennifer Lopez are among nominees announced Tuesday to get their star on Hollywood's storied Walk of Fame next year.

Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson can also get their names on the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk in 2012, while actors Richard Burton and Malcolm McDowell, along with soul legend Barry White, will get posthumous stars.

Former Miss World turned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is pregnant, her father-in-law and veteran Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has revealed.

"NEWS NEWS NEWS !! I AM GOING TO BECOME A GRANDFATHER .. AISHWARYA EXPECTING .. SO HAPPY AND THRILLED !!!," Bachchan wrote on his Twitter page late Tuesday.

It was an unlikely — and coveted — find: a thick United States government file discovered on the backseat of a New York City taxi, its pages containing mug shots, criminal associates and favorite hangouts of over 800 Mafia members during the 1950s and early 1960s. Such notorious figures as Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino, Meyer Lansky and Salvatore "Lucky Luciano" Lucania each had their own entries.

Nearly 20 years after it was found inside the yellow cab by a passenger, the 3-inch thick, three-ring binder stamped "Mafia" and "United States Treasury Department Bureau of Narcotics" is being offered for sale at Bonhams New York on Wednesday. Its pre-sale estimate is $10,000 to $15,000.

Colombian pop singer of Lebanese origin Shakira promoted her global education campaign with a stop at a joint Israeli-Arab school in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Kicking off Israel's third annual Presidential Conference with a plea for children's education worldwide, Shakira, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, said the Holy Land was the "perfect place to talk about how urgent it is to invest in education."

Swedish cheap'n'chic fashion giant H&M announced on Tuesday that Italian fashion house Versace would be its next guest designer.

"H&M is proud to announce that its autumn 2011 designer collaboration will be with one of the world's most legendary fashion brands, Versace," the Swedish company said in a statement.

A rare Stradivarius violin smashed the world record on Monday after selling for over £9 million at a London auction with all proceeds going to help victims of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

An anonymous bidder at the Tarisio auction house paid £9,808,000 ($15,894,000, 11,076,000 Euros) for the 1721 "Lady Blunt" Stradivarius, over four times the previous auction record for a Stradivari violin.

The tattoo artist who sued over Ed Helms' tattoo in "The Hangover Part II" has settled his lawsuit over the design, which resembles the facial ink the artist created for Mike Tyson.

Warner Bros. spokesman Paul McGuire said Monday that the movie studio and S. Victor Whitmill amicably resolved their dispute. McGuire declined to discuss the case further.