LOS ANGELES, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Actor Nick Nolte, 66, became a father for the second time last week, after his companion gave birth to a baby, a spokesman said Tuesday, without releasing the baby's name.

The baby was born to Nolte's girlfriend, Briton Clytie Lane, 38, on October 3. He is also the father of actor Brawley Nolte, 21, from one of his three marriages.

The grizzled screen star has a string of lead roles to his credit, including in the hit movies '48 Hours,' 'Cape Fear' and the 'Prince of Tides,' for which he received one of his two Oscar nominations.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The life and death of colorful Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is to be the subject of two major Hollywood films, industry press here reported Tuesday.

'Escobar' is to be the latest biographical drama by famed director Oliver Stone, director of such classic films as 'Nixon,' 'JFK,' 'Natural Born Killers' and 'Platoon.'

Escobar, leader of the notorious 'Medellin cartel' drug syndicate, was one of the most feared drugs mafiosos ever.

NEW DELHI, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - The director of India's entry for next year's Oscars, a widely panned royal epic set against the sumptuous backdrop of a desert palace, has decried the controversy surrounding its submission.

'Eklavya - The Royal Guard,' starring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and film industry scion Saif Ali Khan, tells the story of an aging sentry and the secrets of the royal family he protects.

DEAUVILLE, France, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - American actor George Clooney thanked France for its efforts in the Darfur crisis Sunday as he accepted a prestigious government award marking his achievements in cinema.

Clooney was presented with the 'Chevalier des Arts et Lettres' medal by French Culture Minister Christine Albanel on the fringes of the American Film Festival in Deauville, France.

Albanel hailed Clooney as the 'quintessence of an American actor,' noting his 'limitless talent' and 'irresistible charm.'

ROME, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Giuseppe Tornatore, the Italian director who won an Oscar for his 1989 film 'Cinema Paradiso', is in hospital after two men robbed him and beat him up in a Rome street, Italian media reported Thursday.

Tornatore, 51, has been in a Rome hospital since late Tuesday suffering from head injuries.

He told the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera how two young men approached him asking for directions before attacking.

When he fell to the pavement they struck him on the head before stealing his wallet, watch and mobile phone.

MADRID, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Canadian director David Cronenberg's crime thriller 'Eastern Promises' will open the 55th annual San Sebastian Film Festival next month, organisers said Tuesday.

The film stars US actor Viggo Mortensen, who also starred in Cronenberg's Oscar-nominated 'A History of Violence' two years ago, Australia's Naomi Watts and France's Vincent Cassel and is set in London's crime underworld.

It is Cronenberg's first film since 'A History of Violence' and also the first which he shot entirely away from his native Canada.