For the second year in a row, the Venice Film Festival will only feature one film directed by a woman.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, festival chief Alberto Barbera said that women did have a fair chance, claiming that of the 1,500 film submissions he watched, one-third of them had a female at the helm.

He added that to ensure fairness, he never reads the credits ahead of a screening, though Barbera acknowledged that he can tell if a well-known director is behind a movie.

“Putting another film in the main competition just because it’s made by a woman, from my point of view, that would be really offensive for the director,” Barbera told The Hollywood Reporter. “I would prefer to change my job if I would be forced to select a film only because it’s made by a woman and not on the basis of the quality of the film itself.”

“Of course I would be happy to have more females in the festival,” he continued, “but it doesn’t depend on me.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trend of female-directed films not faring well at film festivals is not limited to Venice. At the Cannes Film Festival, just three of the 17 films shown were directed by women, and at Locarno, it was five of 15. The number of submissions by female directors to those festivals was not available.

However, the publication also noted that the upcoming Toronto Film Festival will feature many movies that are directed by women.

Barbera blamed the lack of opportunities afforded to women as a possible reason behind the lack of female representation at festivals.

“Sooner or later everybody will realize that female directors are as good and as creative as their male colleagues. But this is something that needs to be changed at the beginning of the chain, not at the end, not to guarantee for example, a quarter of film festival slots to women,” he said. “Venice can’t do anything about that. It’s not up to us to change the situation. It came too late in the process of filmmaking.”

The Venice Film Festival will kick off next month with Damien Chazelle’s “First Man.” The only film directed by a woman, Jennifer Kent’s period drama, “The Nightingale,” will also be shown.

A CNN correspondent said she was barred from attending an open press event at the White House on Wednesday because of questions she asked President Donald Trump earlier in the day.

Kaitlan Collins and her employer, CNN, say the White House denied Collins access to Trump’s Rose Garden event with the European Commission president because officials found her earlier questions “inappropriate.”

Collins had served as a representative of the television networks during an earlier pool spray in the Oval Office. She and a handful of other reporters peppered the president with questions, including many focused on his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

CNN on Tuesday obtained and aired a secret audio recording that captured Trump and Cohen discussing a potential payment to a former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with Trump.

It is standard protocol for reporters to ask the president questions at such events, and Trump, unlike some of his predecessors, often engages.

Collins says she was later reprimanded by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and communications chief Bill Shine and told she could not attend the Rose Garden event, which was open to all other members of the credentialed media.

CNN, in a statement, objected to the move, calling it “retaliatory in nature” and “not indicative of an open and free press.”

“Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of the day doesn’t mean the question isn’t relevant and shouldn’t be asked,” the network said.

The White House Correspondents’ Association also issued a harshly worded statement condemning “the White House’s misguided and inappropriate decision today to bar one of our members from an open press event after she asked questions they did not like.”

“This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand,” said the group’s president, Olivier Knox.

And Fox News President Jay Wallace said, “We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press.”

Sanders, in her own statement, defended the decision and claimed that Collins had “shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so” at the end of the Oval Office event.

Numerous reporters, including many from the European Union delegation, had been shouting questions, and, as usual, it took some time for the pack of journalists to file out the doors.

Sanders said the White House made clear that other CNN journalists were invited to the next event, just not Collins.

“To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House,” she said.

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Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- Lexington Police are investigating a shots fired call that happened on Grant Drive around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Witnesses told police that a blue Chevy Malibu pulled onto the street and four people dressed in all black got out of the car and started walking around. A silver Dodge Charger pulled up and the 4 people started shooting at it. The Charger then drove off. The 4 suspects got back into their car and drove off.

Police say there are no victims or suspects at this time. They are still investigating.

OXNARD, Calif. (AP) – Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has doubled down on insisting that his players stand for the national anthem, saying he wouldn’t support anyone who chose to stay in the locker room.

Jones was speaking Wednesday at his annual news conference to open training camp in California. He became the first owner to declare publicly that his players would not be allowed to stay off the field during the anthem.

Jones said, “Our policy is that you stand at the anthem, toe on the line.”

Last week, the NFL and the players’ union agreed to suspend the rule approved by owners this spring that gave players the option of staying in the locker room while allowing teams to discipline players who took a knee or sat during the anthem.

Jones said “everybody knows where I stand” on the anthem issue. Last season, he was the first owner to declare that he would bench a player for protesting during the anthem.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Homeland Security secretary has met with Hispanic members of Congress and they say she told them officials are on track to meet a court-imposed deadline for reuniting hundreds of migrant children with parents or guardians. That deadline is Thursday.

The lawmakers, all Democrats, say the remark by Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was met with disbelief and anger. They say she provided no figures to back up her assertion.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez says he told Nielsen she is “committing crimes against humanity” and is a “child abuser.”

The closed-door meeting involving roughly 20 lawmakers lasted about an hour.

Nielsen told reporters the meeting was “very productive, very frank.”

The lawmakers say Nielsen said her agency is financing the costs of detaining families with a 1 percent across-the-board cut to its programs.

NEW YORK (AP) – A huge lake of salty water appears to be buried deep in Mars, a new study says. Experts believe this raises the possibility of finding life on the red planet.

Researchers analyzed radar signals collected over three years by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, which probed an area close to the Martian south pole.

Their results suggest that a 12-mile-wide (20 kilometers) reservoir lies under ice that’s about a mile (1.5 kilometers) thick. They do not know whether it’s an underground pool or just a layer of sludge.

Water is essential to life as we know it. Scientists have long sought to prove that the liquid is present on Mars.

NEW YORK (AP) – A former lawyer at the movie studio behind “The Hunger Games” says a powerful boss she once viewed as a father figure demanded she be his slave and subjected her to nonconsensual sexual contact.

Lionsgate’s former executive vice president of legal affairs says she kept quiet about general counsel Wayne Levin for years because she feared losing her job.

Wendy Jaffe complained about Levin’s alleged behavior as she left Lionsgate in 2016. She’s told her story publicly in recent days.

Jaffe says her departure came with top executives making false and disparaging statements about her to prevent her from finding another job.

Levin’s lawyer said they’re not discussing Jaffe’s allegations in the press. Lionsgate says it takes these allegations seriously.

Lionsgate has agreed to pay Jaffe a $2.5 million settlement.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – As smoke from a nearby wildfire pours into Yosemite Valley, Tom Lambert has had to tell tourists who booked his vacation home months in advance that they would have to defer their dream stays so firefighters could take protective measures against the growing blaze.

The valley, the scenic heart of Yosemite National Park, was closed at noon Wednesday. Park spokesman Scott Gediman says the exodus was orderly and visitors are understanding of the decision to close.

Lambert says his disappointed guests include a father-daughter duo who planned a graduation trip a year in advance. Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome.

He says the closure is a financial blow to his rental business.

Heavy smoke from the 60-square-mile (155-square-kilometer) fire is hanging over the valley, which normally bustles with summer visitors.

Federal lawmakers demanded Wednesday that Puerto Rico quickly privatize its bankrupt power company in a bid to end its turmoil and allow others to provide stable electricity in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Frustration grew as consultants and local and federal officials testified during a hearing on the management crisis at Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority held by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in Washington.

Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska urged the Department of Energy to set a timeline on how long it would take to privatize the U.S. territory’s power company, saying that five or 10 years is “too damn long.”

“We are going to privatize this unit,” he said. “It has been a failure. Puerto Ricans deserve better.”

A few hundred Puerto Ricans remain without power more than 10 months after the hurricane destroyed up to 75 percent of transmission lines. Crews are still trying to repair and rebuild the grid in the middle of this year’s hurricane season as the company struggles with a high turnover, naming its fifth director since Maria.

Before testimony began, Rep. Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican who is chairman of the committee, said the objective of the hearing was the health and safety of Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens.

“We’re not talking about federalizing anything … or selling assets to the highest bidder,” he said.

The statement appeared to be a response to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who declined to attend the hearing. He sent a letter to Bishop saying his administration has worked hard to overhaul the company, known as PREPA, and upgrade the still fragile grid.

“The transformation is a complex process, and it would be unnecessary and inappropriate for Congress to give the Department of Energy control of PREPA, effectively robbing the island of a critical resource at a perilous time for Puerto Rico,” Rossello wrote.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has so far allocated $6 billion for Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, although not all of it has been spent, officials said.

CHICAGO (AP) – Hopes are rising again for a drug to alter the course of Alzheimer’s disease after repeated failures.

Two drug companies said that an experimental therapy they are developing slowed mental decline by 30 percent in patients who got the highest dose. It also removed much of the sticky plaque gumming up their brains.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and current drugs just ease symptoms.

The new drug is called BAN2401, from Eisai and Biogen. It failed to help in a study of 856 people with early Alzheimer’s, but those who got the highest of five doses for 18 months declined less than those given dummy treatments.

Results were revealed Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s conference in Chicago.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Prosecutors in Macedonia are investigating social media posts and comments that used racist and xenophobic language in discussing the wildfires in Greece that have killed dozens of people.

The Public Prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that it is gathering evidence, working to identify possible suspects and evaluating if the articles and comments violate Macedonian law.

Since the fires swept through communities near Athens on Monday, social networks in Macedonia have been flooded with messages of support and appeals to provide help, but also with hateful comments and insults.

Macedonia and neighboring Greece have been at odds for almost three decades over the smaller countries use of the name Macedonia, which is also the name of a Greek province where Alexander the Great was born.

Nationalists in both countries oppose a recent deal that would change Macedonia’s name to North Macedonia.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – The Trump administration is releasing hundreds of immigrant families to faith-based groups that are taking responsibility for their well-being once they are out of government custody.

The releases are happening mostly in Texas and Arizona. And they come as the administration works to meet a Thursday deadline to reunite immigrant parents and children.

The Associated Press observed newly reunited families spending their first day together this week after Catholic Charities of the San Antonio Archdiocese took them in. The immigrants received meals, clothing, hotel rooms and travel tickets.

They included families with children as young as babies and old as teenagers, as well as asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America and people who were held in various immigrant detention facilities around the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s proposed Washington meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been delayed until 2019.

National security adviser John Bolton, in a statement, cites special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the reason for the delay.

Bolton says: “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that it will be after the first of the year.”

The White House said last week that Trump had directed Bolton to invite Putin to Washington for a meeting in the fall. This came amid the backlash over Trump’s performance at a news conference with Putin following their Helsinki summit, and many members of Congress had objected to them meeting again in the fall.

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Paul Ryan is welcoming President Donald Trump’s announcement of an agreement with European Union leaders to potentially ratchet down the trade wars.

Ryan’s spokeswoman said Wednesday that the speaker is “encouraged by this progress with our European allies and hopes to see more.”

Other Republicans also welcomed the development amid months of growing unrest in Congress about the administration’s trade policies.

Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley called the announcement “probably the only positive statement we’ve had that some progress has been made.”

And fellow Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst welcomed word that the European Union would buy more U.S. soybeans.

She tweeted: “Soybeans are a big deal in #Iowa.” She also thanked Trump for “working toward a win for U.S.”

The world’s oldest living man, who attributes his longevity to soaking in hot springs and eating sweets, turned 113 Wednesday.

Masazo Nonaka celebrated the milestone with his family in his hometown of Ashoro, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Nonaka blew out the cake and ate some of it like he does every birthday, but this year the cake had a “113” candle on top, his granddaughter Yuko Nonaka said.

He enjoys eating cakes, watching sumo wrestling on television and reading newspapers, Guinness World Records reported in April when it certified him as the world’s oldest living man, at age 112 years, 259 days.

His granddaughter believes the secret to his longevity is his “free lifestyle,” she told ABC News.

“Freedom is important to Masazo. He’s lived the way he wanted to live and has always done what he wanted to do,” she said.

The man used to run his family’s 105-year-old hot springs inn, which is now managed by his granddaughter, the Associated Press reported.

Nonaka said her grandfather received many sweets and gifts this year for his 113th birthday.

She also said the family is very happy for him. “We’re a close family and family is quite important to him,” she added.

Masazo succeeded Francisco Nunez Olivera of Spain, the previous oldest man in the world when he died in January.

The world’s oldest living person is a Japanese woman named Kane Tanaka, who is 115 years and 204 days old, according to the Gerontology Research Group, a group devoted to reversing age-related decline, according to its website.

Guinness World Records has not yet confirmed the oldest living person.

Federal prosecutors say eight people have been charged with playing roles in a $1.2 billion money-laundering scheme involving Venezuela‘s state-run oil and natural gas company.

Miami U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg said in a news release Wednesday the scheme began in 2014 with bribery and fraud at the state-run PDVSA enterprise and grew over time. A criminal complaint contends the scheme involved members of the Venezuelan elite, money managers, brokerage firms, banks and real estate investment firms.

Two suspects have been arrested. Authorities say 44-year-old Mathias Krull, a German national and Panama resident, was arrested at Miami International Airport. Investigators say 45-year-old Gustavo Adolfo Hernandez Frieri, a Colombian national and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in Sicily. The other suspects are at large.

Court records list no attorneys for the men.

ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ)- The state says I-75 has reopened near the Renfro Valley Exit at MM 64 in Rockcastle County.

It was closed in both directions earlier this afternoon after power lines fell across the interstate.

The lines did not come down due to an accident.

Traffic was diverted in that area, but it still resulted in backups.

No injuries were reported.

RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ)- A man was shot in the finger in Richmond Wednesday.

Police say it happened on Villa Drive.

The man’s roommate says the guy was playing with a gun when he accidentally shot himself.

UPDATE: FEDSCREEK, Ky. (WTVQ)- We now know the name of the person killed in a motorcycle crash in Pike County.

The Pike County Coroner identified John Mollett from Jones Fork dead at the scene.

State police say it was determined that Mollett was driving a motorcycle and crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck.

KSP says alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. No charges have been filed.

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FEDSCREEK, Ky. (WTVQ) – Kentucky State Police are investigating a fatal collision in Pike County.

State Police say they received a call about a two-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle on US 119 in the Fedscreek community just after 12 p.m. Wednesday.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash is under investigation.

Dozens of demonstrators wearing red cloaks and white bonnets like the characters from the novel-turned-TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale” demonstrated Wednesday in Argentina in favor of legalizing abortion.

The demonstrators marched in silence with their heads bowed through the streets of the Argentine capital until they reached the Congress building. Under a heavy rain, one of them read a letter by “Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood, who supports the effort led by Argentine feminist groups.

“Nobody likes abortion, even when safe and legal. It’s not what any woman would choose for a happy time on Saturday night. But nobody likes women bleeding to death on the bathroom floor from illegal abortions, either. What to do?” the Canadian author wrote in the letter.

Argentina’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, recently approved a bill that would legalize elective abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The measure is to be voted on by the Senate on Aug. 8. President Mauricio Macri has said that even though he remains opposed to abortion, he would not veto the bill if passed.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” portrays a future in which women’s rights have been stripped away. The Hulu series has 20 Emmy nominations in 2018.

Earlier this year, Atwood clashed publicly with Argentine Vice President Gabriela Michetti, who has said that she is anti-abortion.

“Don’t look away from the thousands of deaths every year from illegal abortions. Give Argentine women the right to choose!” Atwood told Michetti on Twitter.

Argentina now allows abortion only in cases of rape or risks to a woman’s health. But advocates say doctors and judges often block women from carrying them out.

A 2016 report by Argentina’s health ministry estimated that between 370,000 to 522,000 Argentine women undergo illegal abortions each year and thousands are hospitalized for complications. It is the main cause of maternal death.