Behind the scenes at the May 15-26 Cannes Film Festival: SPARKLING HUMOUR: Stars have been quick to quip about Friday's predawn jewellery theft at Cannes hotel. Just hours before the heist, the festival had premiered "The Bling Ring," a movie about teens who rob the homes of Hollywood celebrities. "I promise I'm innocent," British actress Emma Watson, who plays one of the girls gone wild, told The Hollywood Reporter. "I can have someone vouch for my whereabouts at the time of the robbery."

New York, May 17 (EFE).- Bill Gates has regained the title of the world's richest person, a position he lost in 2007 to Mexico's Carlos Slim due to fluctuations in the Microsoft mogul's stock market investments, according to Bloomberg's daily index. Gates's fortune is now estimated at $72.7 billion, having risen 16 percent over the past year thanks to a resurgence of financial markets in recent months.

Los Angeles, May 17 (EFE).- Under the baton of Placido Domingo, acclaimed Chilean writer Isabel Allende's short story "Una Venganza" ("An Act of Vengeance") emerges from the printed page as the opera "Dulce Rosa," a production with a Latin heart and Greek tragedy in its soul that premieres Friday in Los Angeles. "Dulce Rosa" is a further effort by the L.A. Opera, directed by Domingo, to bring lyric opera to a wider audience. "We're always looking to create new works," the Spanish tenor told Efe.

Brazil's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a landowner found guilty of the 2005 murder of US nun Dorothy Stang, ruling that his lawyer did not have enough time to prepare his defense. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura was sentenced to 30 years in prison in April 2010 after being found guilty of the crime for a second time. An earlier conviction was also overturned. "The right to a defense is a value that must prevail, because it is fundamental for the development of a fair trial," Supreme Court justice Ricardo Lewandowsky said late Tuesday in announcing the decision.