Il Messaggiere - News from Rome, Modena, Reggio, Italy and the world

The 72nd Berlin film festival awarded its Golden Bear top prize on Wednesday to Spanish director Carla Simon's semi-autobiographical drama "Alcarras", about a family of peach farmers fighting for their future.

A group of 16 US state governors and the premiers of two Canadian provinces on Wednesday called on the leaders of both countries to end the cross-border vaccine requirement that sparked protests and briefly closed trade routes.

Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States, appeared Wednesday before a judge in Tegucigalpa who will decide whether to extradite him.

Queen Elizabeth II complained Wednesday about mobility issues, as she carried out her first in-person official engagements since fears emerged that she could have contracted coronavirus last week.

Backers of a unionization drive at an Amazon warehouse in New York announced Wednesday they had reached agreement with the e-commerce giant for a union election in late March.

Cristina Calderon, the last native speaker of Chile's indigenous Yaghan language, has died at the age of 93, her family said Wednesday, in a blow for a dwindling culture at South America's extreme southern tip.

President Emmanuel Macron welcomed African leaders for dinner in Paris Wednesday ahead of an expected announcement that France is withdrawing its troops from Mali after nearly 10 years fighting a jihadist insurgency.

French defender Dayot Upamecano was dropped to the bench for Bayern Munich's last-16 Champions League first leg with Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday, after criticism of his performance in last weekend's shock defeat by Bochum.

Three US Navy aircraft were intercepted by Russian planes in an "unprofessional" manner over the Mediterranean Sea last weekend, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Canadian police on Wednesday warned demonstrators opposed to Covid rules who have clogging Ottawa streets for nearly three weeks to leave or face possible arrest, fines and seizures of their trucks.

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday lauded debutant Ravi Bishnoi after the leg-spinner set up a comfortable six-wicket victory over West Indies in the first Twenty20 international on Wednesday.

Prosecutors in former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial said Wednesday that "spyware" hacked one witness's phone but no relevant material was uncovered and urged the trial to go ahead.

Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova, the top two seeds, both crashed to second-round defeats in the Dubai WTA tournament on Wednesday, with defending champion Garbine Muguruza also exiting on a day of upsets.

Kevin O'Connell, offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, was named head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma's opening blitz and a strong bowling performance from debutant Ravi Bishnoi helped India down the West Indies by six wickets in the first Twenty20 international in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Former world number one and three-time major champion Andy Murray crashed to one of the heaviest defeats of his career on Wednesday, winning just a single game in a straight-sets loss to Roberto Bautista Agut at the Qatar Open.

Germany will start rolling back most of its coronavirus restrictions as the country's falling infection rate suggests the Omicron-fuelled wave has peaked, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday after talks with regional leaders.

Spain was in mourning Wednesday after its worst fishing tragedy in decades, as rescue teams off Canada warned it was unlikely they would find any of the missing 11 crew members alive.

The NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl, said Wednesday they have signed coach Zac Taylor to a contract extension.

Google announced plans Wednesday to limit ad tracking on its Android operating system running on billions of devices, a sensitive privacy issue that rival Apple has already moved to address on its iPhones.

The EU's top court on Wednesday rejected a challenge by Poland and Hungary to a mechanism allowing Brussels to slash funding to member states that flout democratic standards.

Injured Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland is expected to remain sidelined for his side's Europa League last-16 clash with Rangers on Thursday, despite returning to team training.

Ukraine's leader vowed Wednesday that his country would stand tall against any invasion, as NATO warned it could see no sign that Russia is withdrawing its forces.

Two of English cricket's oldest fixtures, Oxford v Cambridge and Eton v Harrow, will no longer be staged annually at Lord's after this year.

At least 55 people were killed in devastating flash floods and landslides that hit the picturesque Brazilian city of Petropolis, turning streets into torrential rivers and sweeping away houses, officials said Wednesday.

European and US stock markets headed lower while oil prices shot higher on Wednesday as investors tracked developments surrounding the Ukraine crisis and awaited fresh clues about the US Federal Reserve's interest rate plans.

Holding the few possessions they are able to carry, families stream down the slopes of the hillside neighborhood of Alto da Serra, many in tears, fleeing the devastation left by deadly landslides in the Brazilian city of Petropolis.

England fly-half Marcus Smith says he learned valuable lessons from Dan Biggar during last year's British and Irish Lions tour as he prepares to go head to head with the Wales stand-off in the Six Nations.

Sotheby's announced Wednesday that it would offer the largest-ever blue diamond to go up for auction at a sale in Hong Kong in April.

US scientists have measured Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity -- which holds that gravity slows time down -- at the smallest scale ever, demonstrating that clocks tick at different rates when separated by fractions of a millimeter.

Spain was in mourning Wednesday for its worst fishing tragedy in almost 40 years, as Canadian rescuers warned it was unlikely they would find any of the missing 11 crew members alive.

At least 44 people were killed in devastating flash floods and landslides that hit the picturesque Brazilian city of Petropolis, turning streets into torrential rivers and sweeping away houses, officials said Wednesday.