Danish director Nicolo Donato (right) poses next to producer Per Holst during the photocall after winning The Golden Marc'Aurelio Jury Award for Best Film for his film Brotherhood at Rome's Auditorium Parco della Musica during the Rome Film Festival.
The Danish film tells the story of a homosexual love affair within a neo-Nazi gang that targets gays and Arabs. Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren won best actress for her role in Michael Hoffman's The Last Station. Best actor went to Italy's Sergio Castellito for his role in Alza la Testa by Alessandro Angelini.
Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep received a Golden Marc'Aurelio Acting Award for her life work.
Another earthquake hits Indonesia
A powerful earthquake struck deep under the sea in eastern Indonesia yesterday, causing panic and sending residents running out of their homes, officials and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The quake had a magnitude of 7.0, but at a depth of 86 miles was too far below the earth's surface to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.
Yesterday's quake came as Indonesia is still recovering from a devastating earthquake last month that killed more than 1,000 people on western Sumatra.
The US Geological Survey says the latest quake - the second strong tremor in two days - was located 225 miles south east of Ambon in the Maluku islands in the Banda Sea. (PA)
Journalist gets 60 lashes for TV show
A female journalist has been sentenced to 60 lashes for her involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex, a Saudi lawyer said yesterday.
Rozanna al-Yami is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment.
The charges against her included involvement in the preparation of the programme and advertising the segment on the internet.
In the programme, aired on a Lebanese satellite channel, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, scandalised Saudis by describing an active sex life.
His lawyer, Sulaiman al-Jumeii, said yesterday that not trying al-Yami before a court specialising in media matters at the information ministry was a violation of Saudi law.
Abdul-Jawad received five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. (PA)
Balloon boy mother 'admits hoax'
The mother of the six-year-old boy once feared missing inside a runaway helium balloon admitted the whole saga was a hoax, according to court documents. Mayumi Heene told sheriff's deputies that she and her husband Richard "knew all along that Falcon was hiding in the residence" in Fort Collins, according to an affidavit used to get a search warrant for the home.
She allegedly told investigators the incident was a hoax meant to make the family more marketable to the media.
The affidavit said: "Mayumi described that she and Richard Heene devised this hoax approximately two weeks earlier. ... She and Richard had instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax." (PA)
Pilot denies being asleep in cockpit
The first officer of the Northwest Airlines jet that missed its destination by 150 miles said there was no fight in the cockpit, neither he nor the captain had fallen asleep, and passengers were never in any danger.
But in an interview two days after he and a colleague flew past their destination as air traffic controllers tried frantically to reach them, pilot Richard Cole would not say just what it was that led to them to forget to land Flight 188.
Cheney and Cole have been suspended and are to be interviewed by National Transportation Safety Board investigators next week. (PA)
US national Swine Flu emergency
US President Barack Obama has declared the swine flu outbreak a US national emergency.
The White House yesterday said Obama signed a proclamation that would allow medical officials to bypass certain federal requirements.
Officials described the move as similar to a declaration ahead of a hurricane making landfall.
Swine flu is more widespread now than it's ever been and has resulted in more than 1,000 US deaths so far.
Health authorities say almost 100 children have died from the flu, known as H1N1, and 46 states now have widespread flu activity.
The White House said Mr Obama signed the declaration last Friday evening. (PA)