Hamilton and Messi share Laureus award

Sachin Tendulkar long carried a nation's cricketing hopes on his shoulders. But in 2011, at his last World Cup on home soil, his teammates returned the favor. Fans voted it the sporting moment of the century so far.

Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi have won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.

It's a 'cri de coeur' written by French writer Virginie Despentes and published in the daily paper 'Libération'. In it, Despentes launches a blistering attack on the world of French cinema but also goes on to criticise a broader culture of impunity in France when it comes to the powerful and how they treat the weak.

Journalists from Uganda and Zimbabwe are among the recipients of the DW Freedom of Speech Award in recognition of the sacrifices they made while reporting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bushra al-Maqtari has faced heady challenges on the front line of Yemen's war and as a woman in a patriarchal society. In an interview with DW, the writer and activist says the media and the UN have failed her country.

The Ballon d'Or will not be awarded this year for the first time in its 64-year history after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the soccer calendar.

A five-year-old giant African pouched rat called Magawa has won the animal equivalent of Britain's highest civilian honour for bravery because of his uncanny knack of sniffing out landmines and unexploded devices.

Will Smith and his family have been honoured with the Robin Williams Legacy of Laughter Award.

TOPModel uses a cast of 14 dolls to market its stationery and makeup products to girls. A German initiative to challenge harmful messages in ads has just awarded the brand a prize for "absurd gender marketing."

Rio de Janeiro’s ballet dancers had been performing for months without receiving their salaries when Vincent Rimbaux put them in the frame of his Emmy award-winning documentary “Ressaca”. The director tells us why the city’s municipal opera house is a microcosm of wider problems in Brazil’s public sector, pushing artists to leave the country in search of opportunities abroad. The lockdown has provided an unexpected musical high for a cellist here in Paris, as the empty streets and silent monuments of the French capital provide the perfect stage for a series of special events.

Social media is buzzing, all thanks to photos of celebrities arriving at Eko Hotel, Lagos for the 14th edition of The Headies Awards. Bovi, Chike, Iyabo Ojo, Nancy Isime, Niniola, Sound Sultan, Deyemi Okanlawon, Laycon, Tobi Bakre and other music lovers, are part of the exclusive group of people joining the showcase physically due to COVID-19 restrictions. Themed ‘XPLORE’, this year's edition aims to beam the spotlight on the new tribe of musicians who are pushing the Nigerian and African culture through their music. Viewers and music lovers from all over the world can catch the live show on all Headies’ social media platforms and HipTV.

Xenophobic attacks on Asian Americans have soared in recent months. Activists say it's a result of deep-rooted anti-Asian racism that's been exacerbated by rhetoric blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic. With Asian Americans still coming to terms with the murder of six Asian women in Atlanta last week by a white gunman, we speak to Viet Thanh Nguyen, the celebrated Vietnamese American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. "More and more of us are being quite vocal about demanding recognition and change," he told FRANCE 24.