- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
Berlinale film fest to award top prizes under Covid shadow
The 72nd Berlinale film festival awards its top prizes on Wednesday including its Golden Bear for best picture and a gender-neutral acting gong after a reduced in-person run under the pandemic.
The 11-day festival, which ranks along with Cannes and Venice among Europe's top cinema showcases, conducted a shorter competition this year with strict regulations for audiences just as coronavirus infections peaked in Germany.
The Hollywood reporter said that the competition's "small casts, contained sets and limited location shoots provide a glimpse of a new Covid-era cinema".
There are 18 films from 15 countries vying for this year's Golden Bear, which will be awarded at a gala ceremony from a jury led by Indian-born American director M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense").
The contenders span a range of moods from "Both Sides of the Blade", a tense French love story directed by Claire Denis and starring Juliette Binoche, to "Robe of Gems", a gritty Mexican crime mystery.
Critics lavished praise on Binoche for her performance in the French film, where she is caught between two men -- her longtime husband Jean and her elusive ex Francois.
- 'Dazzlingly accomplished' -
The Hollywood Reporter called it a "smart, moody, superbly acted melodrama", while Britain's Screen Daily said Binoche and co-star Vincent Lindon, who plays Jean, were "at the top of their game".
In "Robe of Gems", writer and director Natalia Lopez Gallardo explores the trauma inflicted on families in Mexico when relatives go missing.
The Guardian called it "dazzlingly accomplished and confident... The film that everyone is talking about this year in Berlin".
Critics also praised "Before, Now and Then", a family drama set in 1960s rural Indonesia from Kamila Andini, the first woman from her country to direct a film in competition at the Berlinale.
The Hollywood Reporter said it was a "precisely calibrated" and "emotionally nuanced" film that "both looks and sounds stunning".
Chinese film "Return to Dust" also impressed with its understated love story between two social outcasts who make the best of an arranged marriage as they build a simple life together in the countryside.
Screen Daily called it 39-year-old director Li Ruijun's "most affecting and accessible work to date", saying it "packs a quiet emotional punch", while US movie news site Deadline noted the "wonderfully atmospheric" rendering of life in bleak rural China.
- 'Challenging but riveting' -
On a rather less understated note, Austrian director Ulrich Seidl served up a dark, sexually explicit drama "Rimini", which tells the story of a washed-up pop singer who makes his living performing for pensioners and bedding lonely women for money.
Variety called it "challenging but riveting", while the Guardian said protagonist Richie Bravo was "so horrible he may be brilliant".
Also exploring questionable sexual escapades, "That Kind of Summer" from Canadian director Denis Cote follows three women on a summer retreat for sex addicts as they attempt to make peace with their demons.
Deadline said it was "entertaining" but "it remains unclear what (Cote) wants to discover or tell us about these unreformed Lolitas".
Another contender for the top prize is Andreas Dresen's "Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush", the true story of a mother's battle to bring her son back from Guantanamo Bay.
Spanish film "One Year, One Night" also reconstructs real-life events as it focuses on a young couple who survived the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.
Elsewhere, Charlotte Gainsbourg was feted for her performance as a single mother in 1980s Paris in the Mikhael Hers drama "The Passengers of the Night".
And Michael Koch's meditation on death and loss set in the Alps, "A Piece of Sky", was hailed by Deadline as "both beautifully made and a thing of beauty in itself".
T.Ward--AMWN