As the Venice Film Festival gets underway today, organisers are hitching their stars to director Steven Spielberg – just the man, they hope, to inspire Hollywood moguls and prize-hunting artists alike during 11 days of glitz and film magic.

Vanity Fair director Mira Nair is delighted that her star, Reese Witherspoon is pregnant, and she is incorporating the pregnancy into the film.

Police have charged a right-wing Hindu leader with incitement for calling on Hindus to form suicide squads to attack Muslims.