Medals to be won today: Biathlon (women’s mass start), bobsleigh (two-man), figure skating (ice dance), freestyle skiing (men’s aerials), ski jump (men’s team), snowboard (men’s snowboard cross).
Highlights include:
05:00 Curling – round robin
12:30 Ice hockey – women’s semi-finals.
14:30 Bobsleigh – two-man third and fourth heats.
15:00 Figure skating – ice dance (free dance).
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While Vladimir Putin, 61, was hosting the winter Olympics in Sochi, Alina Kabayeva, 30, was at a children’s sporting event in the city of Nizhnekamsk, and flashed a sparkling ring to television cameras.
The Kremlin has previously denied that Vladimir Putin married Alina Kabayeva in the town of Valdai in September.
When Vladimir Putin was shown wearing a wedding ring in a meeting with the Egyptian defense minister last week, the Kremlin-friendly news agency pulled the photograph, and claimed that it was taken before Putin’s divorce in 2013 from his wife Lyudmila and had been posted accidentally.
Rumors that Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabayeva are involved in a longstanding affair and even they have children together have long been denied by the president’s aides.
Vladimir Putin shut down the newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent after it reported in 2008 that Putin was about to divorce his wife and marry Alina Kabayeva.
In an interview in 2013, Alina Kabayeva said she had me a man she “loved very much”, and wanted to marry and have children.
Alina Kabayeva was among the final six elite Russian athletes to carry the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony at the Sochi Winter Games.
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BAFTA Film Awards 2014: Full list of winners
Best film:
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Outstanding British film
Gravity
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr Banks
The Selfish Giant
Actor:
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks)
Supporting actor:
Barkhad Adbi (Captain Phillips)
Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Supporting actress:
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
Oprah Winfrey (The Butler)
Director:
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
David O Russell (American Hustle)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Adapted screenplay:
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
Behind the Candelabra
Captain Phillips
The Wolf of Wall Street
Original screenplay:
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
Documentary:
The Act of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
Tim’s Vermeer
We Steal Secrets
The Great Beauty
The Act of Killing
Blue is the Warmest Colour
Metro Manila
Wadjda
Cinematography:
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Great Gatsby
American Hustle
Behind the Candelabra
The Invisible Woman
Saving Mr. Banks
Editing:
Rush
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Wolf of Wall Street
Make-up and hair:
American Hustle
Behind the Candelabra
The Butler
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Music:
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
The Book Thief
Captain Phillips
Saving Mr. Banks
Production design:
The Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Behind the Candelabra
Gravity
Sound:
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Inside Llewyn Davis
Rush
Visual effects:
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek Into Darkness
Short animation:
Sleeping with the Fishes
Everything I Can See From Here
I Am Tom Moody
Short film:
Room 8
Island Queen
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Orbit Ever After
Sea View
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer:
Kieran Evans (writer-director, Kelly + Victor)
Colin Carberry, Glenn Patterson (writers, Good Vibrations)
Scott Graham (writer-director, Shell)
Kelly Marcel (writer, Saving Mr Banks)
Paul Wright. Polly Stokes (writer-director and producer, For Those in Peril)
Rising Star award:
Will Poulter
Dane DeHaan
George MacKay
Lupita Nyong’o
Lea Seydoux
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Cate Blanchett was not at the ceremony with director David O. Russell accepting the award instead.
David O. Russell was back on stage minutes later to pick up the award for best original screenplay for the 1970s crime drama, about two con artists who get entangled with the FBI.
In the supporting categories, Captain Phillips star Barkhad Abdi won as did Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle.
Gravity has been named best British film.
It was also honored for visual effects, cinematography, best sound and original music. Alfonso Cuaron also won best director.
The Great Gatsby picked up two awards for production design and costume design.
Room 8 was named best short film; the short animation award was won by Sleeping With the Fishes.
The awards are being hosted for a ninth time by actor Stephen Fry.
Best animation went to Frozen, which came out ahead of Monsters University and Despicable Me 2.
The BAFTA for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer went to Kieran Evans for Kelly + Victor, the tale of a young couple embarking on a passionate love affair.
Ron Howard, whose film Rush – about the rivalry between F1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda – won the award for best editing, joked on the red carpet he felt like “a grateful foreign exchange student”.
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope won for their adapted screenplay for the film Philomena, based on the true story of an Irish woman trying to find the son she was forced to give up for adoption.
She may have lost out to Cate Blanchett but Judi Dench set a BAFTA record with her 15th acting nomination but when asked about it on the red carpet, she replied: “I didn’t know until you told me. Thanks for reminding me.”
She added: “It means I’ve been gong for a very, very long time.”
The BAFTAs can be an indicator of which films go on to win Academy Awards two weeks later.
Presenters and guests included Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Irons, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stanley Tucci and Uma Thurman.
The ceremony opened with a duet from Tinie Tempah and Mercury Prize nominee Laura Mvula.
Prince William, the academy’s president, presented Helen Mirren with the British Academy fellowship, its highest accolade.
Previous winners have included Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick.
Peter Greenaway also received the outstanding British contribution to cinema award, presented by Juliet Stevenson.
The winner of the public vote for this year’s Rising Star award was also announced with 21-year-old British actor Will Poulter from We’re the Miller accepting the award.
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Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes and hundreds more injured, as more than 3 ft of snow fell in some areas.
The snow forced airports to cancel flights and closed roads as it barreled past Tokyo on Saturday.
Forecasters are warning of blizzards and avalanches later, as the storm moves north towards Hokkaido.
Kyodo news agency reported deaths in several prefectures near Tokyo, and other deaths as far south as Oita on Kyushu island.
Reports said roofs of buildings had collapsed under the weight of snow in some areas, and hundreds of drivers had been left stranded in miles-long traffic jams.
Some 11in of snow was dumped on Tokyo on Friday and Saturday, and several other cities reported record snowfall.
It is the second major snowstorm to batter Japan in a week.
Last week Tokyo residents were warned of a severe snowstorm for the first time in more than a decade.
Eleven people were also killed in that storm, with more than 1,000 injured nationwide.
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Simon Cowell and his girlfriend Lauren Silverman have welcomed a baby boy on February 14.
Simon Cowell, 54, shared photos of his newborn son Eric Cowell in a New York City hospital on February 16.
“Now you can see how very handsome little Eric is,” Simon Cowell wrote.
The former Egyptian president’s trial has now been adjourned until February 23.
The lawyers withdrew in protest at Mohamed Morsi and other defendants being confined in a soundproofed glass cage.
The Islamist former leader is facing four separate trials, three of which have now opened.
Mohamed Morsi was brought to Cairo’s police academy on Sunday morning by helicopter from the Burj al-Arab prison where he is being held.
In this trial, he and 35 others are accused of working with Lebanese and Palestinian groups to carry out attacks in Egypt.
Mohamed Morsi has been put in the soundproof cage in recent appearances to prevent him shouting and disrupting proceedings.
The defendants have said they cannot follow proceedings because of the cage, but the judge insisted that headphones installed inside the dock will allow them to listen.
The cage allows the judge to control when the defendants are heard.
At one point when he was audible, Mohamed Morsi said: “What are you so afraid of? Are you afraid because you have no public support?” Reuters reports.
The court said it would appoint a new defense team.
Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military last July following mass street protests against his rule.
Since Mohamed Morsi was ousted there has been a severe crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as on other activists seen as hostile to the military-backed government.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organization and authorities have punished any public show of support for it.
Other senior Brotherhood figures, including supreme guide Mohammed Badie and his deputy and former presidential candidate Khairat al-Shater, are also facing a raft of charges,
At least 1,000 people have died in clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi protesters since he was deposed, with thousands more arrested.
In this latest trial, Mohamed Morsi is accused of collaborating with the Palestinian movement Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. If convicted he could receive the death penalty.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say he and other senior Brotherhood leaders are the victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
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The awards honor the men, women and companies whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant, outstanding and lasting ways to motion pictures.
Each year’s honorees are celebrated at a formal dinner held two weeks prior to the Oscar ceremony. The Sci-Tech Awards presentation has become a highlight of the Academy Awards season.
The awards, which are held separately from the Oscars ceremony on March 2, recognize more than 50 of the most creative behind-the-scenes operators.
Joshua Pines, who worked on the film Coraline, was honored for developing image-processing mathematics to standardize color.
He called the evening “this year’s annual Winter Olympics for geeks”.
The awards were handed out by Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan.
Christopher Nolan, the British director of The Dark Knight, also made a surprise visit later in the evening.
The writer-director accepted the film lab Oscar, and described film processors as alchemists who “(turn) silver and plastic into dreams”.
The Oscar will be on permanent display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles when it opens in 2017.
Twenty-one awards were handed out, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award went to Peter W. Anderson for his contributions to 3D technology.
Award winner Dan Piponi, who was part of the team which pioneered simulating smoke and fire in films such as Avatar and Puss In Boots, said: “Nobody told me if I wanted to get an Academy Award, I should study mathematics.”
On March 2, the technical achievements of films such as Gravity, Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness will be celebrated at the full Academy Awards ceremony.
Simon Cowell, 54, confirmed the baby boy will be called Eric, after his own father.
The music mogul tweeted: “Very happy to say Eric was born at 17.45pm. Healthy and handsome.
“Lauren in great shape. Thanks for all of your kind messages. Named after my dad.”
Baby Eric weighed 6lbs 7oz.
Simon Cowell had jetted over to New York to be by Lauren Silverman’s side as she gave birth on Valentine’s Day.
According to reports, Lauren Silverman had not been due to give birth for another couple of weeks.
Earlier this week, Simon Cowell had said he was keen for his first child to be raised with a British accent.
“I haven’t really thought about it a lot but it would be odd, me being a Brit, having a baby who talks with an American accent,” Simon Cowell said at the London auditions of Britain’s Got Talent.
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The 19-year-old Pennsylvania woman made the claims in an interview with a newspaper while in prison.
Miranda and Elytte Barbour are currently charged with killing Troy LaFerrara after meeting him online.
As well as admitting that murder, Miranda Barbour also claimed a six-year killing spree around the US.
Miranda Barbour claimed it was part of an involvement in a satanic cult that began in Alaska when she was 13, before moving to North Carolina.
Police say they are investigating Miranda Barbour’s claims and have contacted both the FBI and police forces in other states.
Miranda and Elytte Barbour, who married in North Carolina and moved to Pennsylvania about three weeks before the crime, are accused of murdering Troy LaFerrara after placing an ad in classifieds website Craigslist, offering companionship for money.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both defendants.
Lawyers for Miranda Barbour and her husband have sought psychiatric evaluations for their clients.
Police claim Elytte Barbour, 22, told investigators they committed the crime because they wanted to kill someone together.
The couple reportedly told police that Miranda Barbour stabbed Troy LaFerrara in the front seat of her car while her husband held a cord around his neck.
Claiming responsibility for the 22 additional deaths, Miranda Barbour told Sunbury’s The Daily Item that: “I feel it is time to get all of this out. I don’t care if people believe me. I just want to get it out.”
Miranda Barbour said she had no remorse and only killed “bad people,” although she offered little detail on the murders she claimed to have participated in Alaska, Texas, North Carolina and California.
Online records for the woman the newspaper identified as Miranda Barbour’s mother, show her as having lived in both Alaska and North Carolina.
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However, a judge expressed skepticism about viewing Robert Vineberg as just a drug user caught up in a high-profile probe.
Robert Vineberg was in court seeking bond in a case that has drawn a share of the publicity surrounding Philip Seymour Hoffman’s February 2 death in an apparent heroin overdose, though he isn’t charged with playing a role in it.
The musician has said he was a friend of Philip Seymour Hoffman but didn’t sell the heroin that authorities found in Hoffman’s apartment.
As police followed a tip after Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death, they said they found about 300 small bags of heroin, worth about $10 apiece on the street, and $1,300 in cash in Vineberg’s apartment and music studio.
Both are in the same building in Manhattan’s East Village.
Robert Vineberg, 57, faces a felony charge of possessing heroin with an intent to sell it.
His lawyer, Edward Kratt, said Robert Vineberg has a 10-bag-a-day heroin addiction, and much of the alleged stash “clearly was for his own use.” Edward Kratt noted that police didn’t report finding scales, rubber stamps used as a drug-world branding tool, or various other packaging materials to suggest major drug dealing.
“Mr. Vineberg is committed to confronting his problem and is committed to treatment,” said Edward Kratt, adding that Robert Vineberg’s addiction had sapped his ability to work.
But state Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin said that in some other cases, experts have testified that considerably smaller amounts of heroin were big enough to imply a plan to sell.
“If he has no job that produces income and has $1,300 in cash, you draw your own conclusions,” Edward McLaughlin said. He set a $200,000 bond or $40,000 cash bail for Robert Vineberg, who had been held without bail since his arrest last week. Friends were working to raise the money.
Under the name Robert Aaron, Vineberg has a musical resume that dates to the early 1980s. He played saxophone, flute and keyboards on albums by artists including David Bowie and Mick Jagger, and more recently, Wyclef Jean and the late Amy Winehouse.
Robert Vineberg told the New York Post in a jail interview Saturday that he and Philip Seymour Hoffman had been friends for about a year and last communicated by text message in December, trading messages about their mutual efforts at sobriety. Robert Vineberg wouldn’t say whether he had ever sold Philip Seymour Hoffman drugs but denied providing the at least 50 packets authorities found in the actor’s apartment, the newspaper said.
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“City hall is almost completely evacuated,” opposition spokesman Ruslan Andriyko told AFP.
The government had promised to drop all charges against demonstrators if they vacate government buildings and lift roadblocks by Monday.
City hall has been occupied by protesters for more than two months.
The protests started in November when President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned plans to sign a far-ranging association agreement with the EU.
Instead, Viktor Yanukovych advocated closer trade relations with Russia, which dominated Ukraine for centuries until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
People began walking out of the building on Sunday morning.
The Swiss ambassador in Kiev entered the building soon afterwards in order to help transfer the building to the control of the authorities.
Switzerland currently holds the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
On Friday authorities released the last of 243 prisoners who were arrested during the unrest.
Viktor Yanukovich passed an amnesty law earlier this month and agreed to negotiate with the opposition after at least four people were killed in protests.
This weekend, some opposition members continued to call for his departure, and another demonstration is due to place in Kiev’s central Independence Square.
“The only subject of negotiation with Yanukovych is the conditions of his departure,” jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said on Saturday.
Yulia Tymoshenko went to accuse President Viktor Yanukovich of being under the control of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, his major international backer.
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Gravity leads the way with 11 nominations, including best film, but 12 Years a Slave is tipped to be the big winner.
The BAFTAs are the last major movie awards before the Oscars on March 2.
Prince William will attend Sunday’s event at London’s Royal Opera House.
The awards are hosted for a ninth time by Stephen Fry.
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, about a free black man who is kidnapped and enslaved, has 10 nominations – including best film, best director and best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Bookies think the harrowing historical drama will scoop five of the major categories.
American Hustle also has 10 nominations, and its stars Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence appear in all the acting categories.
The 1970s drama, about two con artists who get entangled with the FBI, is also up for best film, with David O. Russell nominated for best director and original screenplay.
Other movies competing for best film include Somali piracy thriller Captain Phillips, and Philomena, based on the true story of an Irish woman trying to find the son she was forced to give up for adoption.
Captain Phillips has nine nominations while Behind the Candelabra, with Michael Douglas as Liberace, and Disney story Saving Mr. Banks have five nominations each.
Philomena‘s Judi Dench competes in the best actress category against American Hustle‘s Amy Adams, Gravity‘s Sandra Bullock, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks and the runaway favorite Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine.
The nominations saw Judi Dench set a BAFTA record, with her 15th acting nomination.
In the best actor field, Chiwetel Ejiofor is the bookies’ favorite against Christian Bale, Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips, Bruce Dern for Nebraska and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street.
The outstanding British film category sees blockbuster Gravity up against the tiny-budgeted drama The Selfish Giant, Clio Barnard’s contemporary English fable about two Bradford schoolboys who collect scrap metal on a horse and cart.
Also nominated in the outstanding British film category are Philomena, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Saving Mr. Banks and Rush.
Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks and Rush all qualified for the British film category because they were either filmed in the UK, utilized British effects companies or employed other British talent.
The BAFTAs can be an indicator of which films go on to win Academy Awards two weeks later.
Presenters and guests include Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Irons, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stanley Tucci and Uma Thurman.
The ceremony will open with a duet from Tinie Tempah and Mercury Prize nominee Laura Mvula.
Prince William, the academy’s president, will present Helen Mirren with the British Academy fellowship, its highest accolade.
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COMPETITION
Golden Bear:
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai Ri Yan Huo)
by Diao Yinan
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prix:
The Grand Budapest Hotel
by Wes Anderson
Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize:
Aimer, Boire Et Chanter
by Alain Resnais
Silver Bear for Best Director:
Richard Linklater
Boyhood
Silver Bear for Best Actress:
Haru Kuroki
The Little House
Silver Bear for Best Actor:
Liao Fan
Black Coal, Thin Ice
Silver Bear for Best Script:
Dietrich & Anna Brüggemann
Stations Of The Cross
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution:
Cinematography: Zeng Jian
Blind Massage
Golden Bear Best Short Film:
As Long As Shotguns Remain
by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
Silver Bear Jury Prize Short Film:
Laborat
by Guillaume Cailleau
PANORAMA
Best First Feature:
Güeros
by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Audience Award – Fiction:
Difret
Ethiopia
by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
2nd Place:
Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (The Way He Looks)
Brazil
by Daniel Ribeiro
3rd Place:
Patardzlebi (Brides)
Georgia / France
by Tinatin Kajrishvili
Audience Award – Documentary:
Der Kreis (The Circle)
Switzerland
by Stefan Haupt
2nd Place:
Finding Vivian Maier
USA
by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel
3rd Place:
My Mother, A War And Me
Germany
by Tamara Trampe & Johann Feindt
GENERATION KPLUS (Children’s Jury)
Crystal Bear for the Best Film:
Killa
by Avinash Arun, India
Special Mention:
Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo
by Masakazu Sugita, Japan
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film:
Sprout
by Ga-eun Yoon, Republic of Korea
Special Mention:
Sepatu Baru
by Aditya Ahmad, Indonesia
GENERATION KPLUS (International Jury)
Grand Prize:
Ciencias Naturales
by Matías Lucchesi, Argentina/France
Special Mention:
Killa
by Avinash Arun, India
Best Short Film:
Moy Lichniy Los’
by Leonid Shmelkov, Russian Federation
Special Mention:
el
by Roland Ferge, Hungary
GENERATION 14PLUS (Youth Jury)
Crystal Bear for the Best Film:
52 Tuesdays
by Sophie Hyde, Australia
Special Mention:
ärtico
by Gabri Velázquez, Spain
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film:
Mike
by Petros Silvestros, Great Britain
Special Mention:
Emo (The Musical)
by Neil Triffett, Australia
GENERATION 14PLUS (International Jury)
Violet
by Bas Devos, Belgium / Netherlands
Special Mention:
Einstein And Einstein
by Cao Baoping, People’s Republic of China
Special Prize for the best short film:
Vetrarmorgun
by Sakaris Stórá, Faroe Islands
Special Mention:
Søn
by Kristoffer Kiørboe, Denmark
PRIZES OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Competition:
Stations Of The Cross
by Dietrich Brüggemann
Special Mention
’71
by Yann Demange
Panorama:
Calvary
by John Michael McDonagh
Special Mention
Triptych
by Robert Lepage, Pedro Pires
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Liao Fan won the prize for best actor in the same film, while Haru Kuroki won best actress for her role in the Japanese movie Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House).
American Richard Linklater was named best director for his film Boyhood.
An eight-person jury decides the awards.
This year it was headed by American director and producer James Schamus, probably most well-known for producing Brokeback Mountain.
Bai Ri Yan Huo features an overweight detective, played by Liao Fan, on the trail of a serial killer.
Richard Linklater’s ambitious coming-of-age film Boyhood used the same child actors over a 12-year span.
Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel, the festival opener, took the Silver Bear grand jury prize, while the Ethiopian film Difret, based on a real case of bride abduction in Ethiopia, took the audience award.
Berlin Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious film showcases in the world, but this year some critics complained of a dearth of strong entries, and a lack of films with strong political or social agendas.
Some 400 films have been screened during the 11-day festival, 23 of them in the competition category.
In 2013, the main prize was awarded to the Romanian film Child’s Pose.
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Croatia and Switzerland had agreed the deal last summer after Croatia joined the EU.
Switzerland said the accord could not be signed “in its current form”, after a recent referendum invalidated the Swiss-EU pact on freedom of movement.
Swiss voters narrowly backed a proposal to bring back strict quotas for immigration from EU countries.
The fiercely independent nation is not a member of the EU, but has adopted large sections of EU policy.
Although the Swiss economy is booming and unemployment is low, many Swiss worry about the effects of immigration.
Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga called Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic to tell her Switzerland would not be able to sign the deal extending the right of free access to Switzerland to the EU’s newest member state.
Simonetta Sommaruga also informed Brussels that the agreement needed to be re-examined, her spokesman, Philippe Schwander said.
The last week referendum had created a “new constitutional disposition”, Philippe Schwander noted.
He stressed that the justice minister was seeking a “solution” to ensure Croatians were not being discriminated against.
Following the referendum, the EU warned it would reassess its relations with Switzerland “as a whole”.
The economic impact could be great since half of Switzerland’s exports are to the EU, with Germany its biggest trading partner.
A quarter of the eight million-strong population is foreign, and last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived.
Since 2007, most of the EU’s 500 million residents have been on an equal footing with locals in the Swiss job market – the result of a policy voted into law in a 2000 referendum.
The network would avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the US.
Angela Merkel said she would raise the issue on Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande.
Revelations of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) have prompted huge concern in Europe.
Disclosures by Edward Snowden suggested even the mobile phones of US allies, such as Angela Merkel, had been monitored by American spies.
Classified NSA documents revealed that large amounts of personal data are collected from the internet by US and British surveillance.
Angela Merkel criticized the fact that Facebook and Google can be based in countries with low levels of data protection while carrying out business in nations that offer more rigorous safeguards.
“Above all, we’ll talk about European providers that offer security for our citizens, so that one shouldn’t have to send emails and other information across the Atlantic,” she said.
“Rather, one could build up a communication network inside Europe.”
There was no doubt that Europe had to do more in the realm of data protection, Angela Merkel said.
A French official was quoted by Reuters as saying that the government in Paris planned to take up the German initiative.
Germany has been trying to persuade Washington to agree to a “no-spy” agreement but without success.
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The demonstrations come at a time of growing political tension in Venezuela.
Three people were killed during anti-government protests on Wednesday, and some 100 students were arrested.
President Nicolas Maduro accused the opposition of stirring up trouble as part of a coup plot and urged his supporters to march for peace on Saturday.
Government supporters began arriving at Venezuela Square, in central Caracas, in the morning.
They were dressed predominantly in red or in Venezuela’s national colors – blue, yellow and red.
Hours later Nicolas Maduro addressed thousands of his supporters in Bolivar Avenue. The march was broadcast live on national television.
“I call all the people to the streets in order to defend peace,” he said.
Nicolas Maduro warned that his government would not give in to those he described as “fascists,” including former president of neighboring Colombia, Alvaro Uribe.
“Alvaro Uribe is behind this, financing and directing these fascist movements.”
“He intended to use a Venezuelan television channel [NTN24] to do the same they did on 11 April 2002,” Nicolas Maduro said, referring to a failed military coup against the late President, Hugo Chavez.
Alvaro Uribe, a centre-right politician, was a fierce enemy of Hugo Chavez and accused the late president of supporting Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Farc.
Nicolas Maduro said police had been looking for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, accused of ordering “all these violent kids, which he trained, to destroy half of Caracas to then go into hiding”.
Leopoldo Lopez has not been seen in public since an arrest warrant was issued for him on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement expressing concern by the rising tensions in Venezuela.
Opposition demonstrators, including a movement known as Mothers in White, gathered at Las Mercedes neighborhood in eastern Caracas.
Thousands of people, mostly wearing white, marched towards the Courts of Justice building and stopped for a memorial ceremony to the three demonstrators killed on Wednesday: Bassil da Costa, Juan Montoya and Robert Redman.
Student leader Enrique Altimari said the main aim of their “peaceful protest” was to “pay tribute to the victims”.
He said the march would end before night fell, to avoid a repeat of the incidents of Wednesday.
The three victims were shot dead by unknown gunmen as the opposition marches came to an end.
The opposition march ended before dusk with clashes between police, who fired tear gas in attempts to disperse the crowd, and demonstrators who hurled stones.
Reports say three people were injured.
The main opposition grievances are high inflation, crime and the shortage of some staples.
Venezuela’s government has blamed the shortages on “saboteurs” and “profit-hungry corrupt businessmen”.
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Medals to be won today: Alpine skiing (men’s super-G), biathlon (men’s mass start), cross country skiing (men’s relay), snowboard (women’s snowboard cross), speed skating (women’s 1,500m).
Highlights include:
05:00 Curling – men’s group game.
07:00 Snowboard – women’s snowboard cross.
15:00 Figure skating – ice dance (short dance).
16:15 Bobsleigh – two-man, first and second heats.
Also: Ice hockey group games.
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“We ask that you bring shirtless Terry, The Bear Man, Kayla, Dirty Andy, Danny Bob, Elvis Larry, Rusty, Barry and the Dog Killer Ridge crew back. Not only have earned their place on the Discovery Channel lineup, they have built a strong fan base.
“While we’d hate to see Porter Ridge lose its home on Discovery Channel, the fan base encourages Scott and Deirdre Gurney to keep the show alive even… “ said the petition on change.org.
Porter Ridge’s premier last year drew in 1.42 million viewers which quickly grew to a global following. The reality show ranks in class with other favorites such as Storage Wars: Texas, Real Husbands of Hollywood, Chopped, Modern Family, Law & Order: SUV, Tosh.0, Family Guy, etc.
“Our request is for Discovery to continue to provide Porter Ridge a home on the network, one that has been rightfully earned. However, while we would be disappointed to see the show leave Discovery, the fan base would be satisfied to find Porter Ridge airing on any network.
“Further, we petition for Scott and Deirdre Gurney to keep their dream alive.
“Have your voice heard by signing this petition, and by visiting the Porter Ridge Facebook page or The Viewer Relations section of the Discovery Channel website,” the petition added.
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“A thousand roses,” Kim Kardashian captioned the picture.
Kim Kardashian, 33, looks thinner than ever while striking the seductive pose in a skin-tight black dress and sky-high stilettos.
It appears the person likely responsible for this over-the-top display of affection is Kardashian’s fiancé, Kanye West.
“Nothing better than being with my love on Valentine’s day! Happy Vday dolls!” Kim Kardashian tweeted on February 14.
Jenni Rivera’s husband Esteban Loaiza is suing the owners of the plane that crashed in northern Mexico in December 2012, killing the singer and six others.
According to City News Service, the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher filed the wrongful death case Friday in Los Angeles.
Among other things, the lawsuit claims that the pilots weren’t licensed to fly paying passengers.
Jenni Rivera, who died at the age of 43, filed for divorce from Esteban Loaiza two months before the crash, but the lawsuit says he continued to receive financial benefits from her.
Jenni Rivera sold more than 15 million records.
Porter Ridge’s Kayla Wood and Terry Porter invite fans to meet them next weekend at 2014 Carl Casper Car Show in Louisville, Kentucky.
„If you are in the Louisville, Ky area next weekend stop in and see Terry and myself at the Carl Casper Car Show. We will be there Friday thru Sunday! There will be other cast members with us as well!” Kayla Wood wrote on her Facebook account.
Carl Casper Car Show 2014 wil take place at the Kentucky Fair & Expo Center from Frebruay 21 to 23.
The vote derails efforts by the United Auto Workers (UAW) to organize foreign-owned factories in the southern US.
Experts had expected the ballot to pass in favor of unionizing, after Volkswagen tacitly supported the move.
The vote had faced resistance from Republican politicians, who argued it would slow economic growth.
It was the UAW’s first attempt in 13 years to unionize a plant not run by one of the three big US carmakers – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
Analysts say the result could significantly curtail future organization efforts and further dent the union’s reputation.
Membership is reported to have plummeted 75% since the late 1970s, leaving it with barely 400,000 supporters.
Some 1,550 workers began voting at the plant in Chattanooga on Wednesday and rejected the union plan by 712 to 626 with an 89% turnout.
UAW spokesman Gary Casteel said “some outside influence” had been exerted on the poll.
Some believe the loss will make it harder for the UAW to recruit members at other southern plants.
The push for organization started after Volkswagen opened its only US facility in Chattanooga in 2010.
The manufacturer’s 61 other plants around the world have so-called “work councils”, which represent employees’ interests in daily dealings with management.
Mandated by law in Germany and popular in other European countries, works councils have never been tried in a US factory.
Prior to the ballot, VW’s Chattanooga chief executive Frank Fischer said in a statement: “Our plant in Chattanooga has the opportunity to create a uniquely American Works Council, in which the company would be able to work co-operatively with our employees and ultimately their union representatives, if the employees decide they wish to be represented by a union.”
Conservative groups had leaded a fierce anti-union campaign in the lead-up to the ballot.
Opponents warned it would jeopardize Volkswagen’s tax incentives and hurt the local economy by scaring away business.
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Earlier this week, MediaTakeOut first reported that Kim Kardashian is pregnant again, citing two sources close to the reality star and her fiancé Kanye West.
The report cited two bits of information as “proof” that Kim Kardashian is pregnant. The first was Kanye West’s temper.
“Kanye does not respond to the pressure of Kim K’s pregnancy very well,” the report noted.
“You’ll recall that in Nov 2012 (when Kim was just 2 months preggers) Kanye West spazzed out and started fighting a paparazzi guy. Well yesterday Yeezy did the same thing – when he started fighting a teenage boy.”
The incident happened on Monday, when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were swarmed by paparazzi during a walk. A teenager tried to help Kim Kardashian get into a building and yelled at photographers, but when Kim asked him to stop using the “N-word” the young man followed her and yelled at her.
Kim Kardashian then called Kanye West, who reportedly went to where the young man was working and punched him in the face.
The second bit of evidence of Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy was a picture snapped of Kim leaving her OBGYN’s office. Back in 2012, MediaTakeOut was one of the first to report on Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy after she was spotted leaving the same office.
Reports that Kim Kardashian is pregnant have started to trickle out from other outlets as well, but there is some conflict whether the rumors are true.
A source contacted by HollywoodLife said simply: “No way, she’s not pregnant.”
The reports that Kim Kardashian is pregnant come just days after another rumor that said she and Kanye West were headed for a split. Pictures on Instagram showed Kim Kardashian without her engagement ring, leading to speculation that the couple is splitting up.