While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 23 edition

Iran nuclear talks may be extended as US sees 'big gaps'

World powers and Iran struggled on Saturday to overcome the differences preventing them from ending a 12-year standoff over Teheran's atomic ambitions, raising the prospect of another extension to the high-stakes talks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said "big gaps" remained with two days to go before a self-imposed Nov 24 deadline for an accord, despite signs of some headway.

A European source said the chance of a final deal by Monday was "very small".

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Russian tourist fined $32,000 for defacing Rome's Colosseum

A Russian tourist caught red-handed trying to carve his initials on a wall of Rome's Colosseum was ordered Saturday to pay a fine of €20,000 (S$32,200), Ansa reported.

The 42-year-old was using a sharp-edged stone to engrave a large K, some 25cm tall, onto the brick surface, the Italian news agency said.

He was the fifth visitor to the Colosseum to be penalised for defacing the famous monument this year.

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Director Lou Ye's Blind Massage wins six gongs at Golden Horse film awards

Chinese director Lou Ye's drama starring blind amateur actors as massage therapists scooped top honours at the Golden Horse Film Awards in Taiwan on Saturday, touted as the Chinese-language "Oscars".

Blind Massage, a portrayal of the romance and dreams of visually impaired massage therapists, was the biggest winner, with six gongs out of seven nominations.

It scooped awards including the coveted best feature film, best adapted screenplay and best new performer for Zhang Lei, herself a visually impaired masseuse.

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Hitler watercolour fetches $200,000 at Nuremberg auction

A 1914 watercolour by Adolf Hitler fetched €130,000 (S$209,000) at an auction in the German city of Nuremberg on Saturday, the auctioneers said.

The buyer was a private person from the Middle East who attended the sale in person, said Kathrin Weidler, head of the auction house.

She said there had also been inquiries from Asia and America.

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Football: Lionel Messi breaks 59-year-old La Liga goalscoring record

Lionel Messi broke Telmo Zarra's 59-year-old record as the leading goalscorer in the history of La Liga with a stunning hat-trick against Sevilla on Saturday.

The Argentine opened the scoring with a trademark free-kick to match Zarra's mark of 251 goals in his 289th La Liga appearance. He then slid in to convert Neymar's pass to set the new record mark for his side's fourth of the evening and rounded off a special night with a low left-footed effort to seal his hat-trick.

Messi was thrown into the air by this teammates as they celebrated the record in front of over 78,000 fans at the Camp Nou.

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