HELSINKI, July 18, 2008 (AFP) - Finnish film director Arto Halonen, who made an award-winning documentary about a Tibetan spiritual leader, said Friday he has been refused a visa to visit China during the Olympics.

MOSCOW, July 6, 2008 (AFP) - Actress Nonna Mordyukova, a star of the Soviet cinema, died in a Moscow hospital late Sunday aged 82 after a long illness, ITAR-TASS news agency reported quoting her sister.

MOSCOW, July 6, 2008 (AFP) - Actress Nonna Mordyukova, a star of the Soviet cinema, died in a Moscow hospital late Sunday aged 82 after a long illness, ITAR-TASS news agency reported quoting her sister.

UNITED NATIONS, June 6, 2008 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon is to open a symposium on 'Children without childhoods' in the US state of Wyoming Friday, his press spokeswoman said.

JERUSALEM , May 31, 2008 (AFP) - Celebrated French-Swiss moviemaker Jean-Luc Godard has dropped out of an annual student film festival in Tel Aviv, an event official said on Saturday.

The cult film director had been due to arrive on Sunday but said he would not be attending for 'reasons beyond his control,' Morane Tal said.

A fourth installment of the 1980s hit 'Beverly Hills Cop' movie series is in the works, with comedian Eddie Murphy reprising the role of Detroit detective Axel Foley which sealed his stardom, industry media reported Thursday.

Variety reported that Paramount Pictures will begin filming in 2009, and is eyeing a summer 2010 release.

Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze of 'Dirty Dancing' fame has said in a statement that he is responding well to treatment for pancreatic cancer, People magazine reported Wednesday.

'I am continuing treatment at Stanford (University) and the great news is I continue to respond well,' the actor told the magazine.

LONDON, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - A new James Bond novel is published on Wednesday, the 100th anniversary of the birth of his creator, Ian Fleming, but as befits the British fictional superspy, the plot is being kept top secret.

'Devil May Care' was penned by the award-winning British novelist Sebastian Faulks at the request of the late author's family.

CAIRO, April 29, 2008 (AFP) - Egypt's announcement of a cap on non-Egyptian actors has sparked outrage in a country which considers itself the Arab world's Hollywood and where regional hopefuls come to make it big.

LOS ANGELES, April 15, 2008 (AFP) - Irish actor Colin Farrell has signed up to star as a photojournalist in a movie to be directed by Bosnian director Danis Tanovic, the trade magazine Variety reported.

The movie, to be called 'Triage,' is a re-make of 'No Man's Land,' a movie that won the Oscar for best foreign film in 2002.