Joan Rivers, the acerbic U.S. stand-up comic and television presenter, died on Thursday, a week after being rushed to a New York hospital, her family announced. She was 81.

"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 pm surrounded by family and close friends," daughter Melissa Rivers said in a statement.

France's former first lady Valerie Trierweiler was roundly attacked Thursday for her kiss-and-tell book about her acrimonious split with President Francois Hollande after his affair with an actress.

The surprise memoir, which hit bookstands on Thursday and in which she recounts her stormy relationship with Hollande, was described as "outrageous" by Prime Minister Manuel Valls and a "dishonor for France" by right-wing leader Marine Le Pen, usually a trenchant critic of Hollande.

The "Frozen" princess stars of Disney's Oscar-winning animated film are set to return in a short sequel to be released next spring, the studio said Wednesday.

"Frozen Fever" will reunite Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf from the blockbuster movie, which took best animated feature and best music at this year's Academy Awards show.

George Clooney is to direct a film about the British phone hacking scandal, the studio behind the project announced Wednesday.

"Hack Attack" will be based on the book of the same name by Guardian journalist Nick Davies about the hacking scandal surrounding Rupert Murdoch's news empire, which triggered the demise of its weekly News of the World.

The first 2015 spring/summer fashion week of the season opens in New York Thursday with designers pushing the boat out like never before and Ralph Lauren unveiling his collection in Central Park.

The week-long fest of glamor, style and celebrity endorsement will see frenzied fashionistas high-tail it across the city, squeezing in more than 270 back-to-back shows from morning until night.

Authorities in Bangladesh have banned local film-makers from giving their movies English titles after a spate of recent Bangla blockbusters with titles such as "Honeymoon" and "I Don't Care".

Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, general secretary of the Bangladesh Film Directors' Association, said the government had instructed the industry to ensure that all future homegrown releases have Bangla names.

It's enough to make you choke on your Chablis. In France, the land of good food and world-famous wine, seven of out 10 people admit they are far from connoisseurs when it comes to the grape.

Responding to the question: "Do you have the feeling you have a good knowledge of wine?" a surprising 71 percent of French people replied in the negative, with only three percent saying they had "a lot" of knowledge.

Pop star Justin Bieber has been charged with dangerous driving and assault after his All-Terrain Vehicle collided with a minivan in the Canadian countryside, police said Tuesday.

The crash occurred Friday afternoon near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario where he was visiting family with his on-and-off-again girlfriend Selena Gomez.

Written by Anthony Sargon

I enjoyed the original Sin City. It was different, it was fresh, and it was fun. Nine years later, it’s certainly not going to feel different or fresh, but is still any fun? It is…to some degree, but after such a long wait and a slew of comic book/graphic novel adaptations in between, it feels like too little too late, and judging by the meager box office, audiences seem to agree.

Written by Anthony Sargon

I genuinely laughed out loud a number of times while watching the Let’s Be Cops trailer. The movie seemed to be taking full advantage of a clever premise, and the chemistry between its two leading stars looked like something I could latch on to. Unfortunately, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve also seen the film’s funniest bits. I have no doubt that some audience members will find plenty to like about Let’s Be Cops, but it’s way too lazy and conventional to be the breakout comedy many of us were hoping for.