Award

This award-winning beach in Scotland is backed by impressive sand dunes and has become a beloved destination for kitesurfing – it also happens to be a stone’s throw away from a celebrated chip shop

Scotland might not be the first destination on your radar when temperatures rise, but it happens to be the home of the best beach you’ve never heard of. This dune-backed bay also happens to be a short jaunt from an award-winning fish and chip shop. St Andrews West Sands can be found on the eastern coastline of Fife.

The beach is surrounded by breath-taking sand dunes and a world-renowned golf course. Even first-time visitors may find the stunning view surprisingly familiar. West Sands is famous for featuring in the opening sequence of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which a group of runners jog across the sand to a now-iconic soundtrack.

READ MORE: EU seaside town with award-winning beach could be anywhere in the Caribbean

Still today, West Sands is popular for walking and running – stretching for nearly two miles. The beach is also a great swimming spot – and particularly safe thanks to RNLI lifeguard patrol. But keep in mind that lifeguards are only on duty during the busier summer season.

According to the RNLI website, the official lifeguard patrol dates for West Sands in 2025 are: June 21 – August 24 between 10am and 6pm local time. The organisation also warns beach-goers that no flags on the beach means that there are no lifeguards on duty.

St Andrews West Sands is also particularly popular with kite surfers. As noted on online forums, there is a large and well-established “Kite Zone” at the far north-end of the beach – outside of which kitesurfing is not permitted.

In fact, there are quite a few great kitesurfing destinations in Fife. Pettycur Bay, Shell Bay, and Monifieth are also great destinations to check out during your travels. Once you’ve hit the water at West Sands though, you’re only a 15-minute walk to the town centre where there is plenty of parking and you can explore the area’s famous golf courses or grab a bite to eat.

The town centre is famous for its golf heritage, and again, the beach is backed by some of the world’s top courses. West Sands also puts you in close proximity to the award-winning Cromars fish and chip shop.

Here, customers can enjoy a range of classics, including battered haddock, king prawns, fish cakes and smoked sausage. The establishment has been recognised by numerous awards bodies including the Scottish Fish and Chip Awards and the National Fish and Chip Awards.

West Sands also overlooks the Eden Estuary Nature Reserve and is home to a range of seabirds and seals. A dune stabilisation programme is in place and visitors are asked to use the designated access points to access the beach.

St Andrews West Sands are winners of a Keep Scotland Beautiful 2025 Scotland’s Beach Award and are celebrating 33 years of awards. The flat sand beach is also particularly accessible, with beach wheelchairs available for hire from the Hamish Foundation.

July 18 (UPI) — The Edward M. Kennedy Institute will give President Joe Biden a Lifetime Achievement Award at its 10th Anniversary Celebration this fall.

Biden plans to attend the event on Oct. 26 at the Institute’s Columbia Point, Mass., building. The award is to recognize Biden’s “more than four decades in public life, beginning with his election to the United States Senate from Delaware in 1972, to his ascent to leadership positions in the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees, to the vice presidency and ultimately to the White House,” a press release said.

The Institute, named for Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy, will also give out its Award for Inspired Leadership to former secretary of labor and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We believe that we can inspire new generations of leaders by highlighting the example of those who came before them like Senator Ted Kennedy,” said Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Kennedy’s widow and the co-founder of the Kennedy Institute. Biden, Walsh and Franchetti “are all such exemplary and inspiring leaders, dedicated to improving the lives of others in our community and throughout our country.”

The Institute’s fall dinner is its annual fundraiser, supporting its mission to foster bipartisan political leadership, provide a forum for civil discourse about critical issues, and educate the public about the Senate’s role in the American system of democratic government.

“President Biden’s life has been one of honorable service to his country, and like the man for whom the Kennedy Institute is named, fought for the interests, and to better the lives, of all Americans from all socio-economic, cultural, and personal backgrounds,” Kennedy Institute Chair Bruce A. Percelay said. “His tenacity and persistence — again, traits that echo those of Senator Ted Kennedy — are constant reminders to our current political leaders of the dedication and hard work required to do the people’s business in Washington.”

In January, as wildfires tore through greater Los Angeles, more than 7,500 emergency personnel mobilized — confronting searing heat and extreme winds, trying to contain the devastation.

Among them stood an Olympic gold medalist and a professional soccer champion.

L.A. County firefighters David Walters and Erin Regan, former athletes who were among the 7,500 emergency personnel who responded to the January wildfires in Southern California, earned them this year’s Pat Tillman Award for Service that will be presented at the ESPY Awards.

The award — named after Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals safety who left the NFL to enlist in the Army following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was killed in action — celebrates those with deep ties to sports who have served others, embodying Tillman’s legacy.

Years before joining the fire department, Walters helped the U.S. win the 4×200-meter freestyle relay gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. He swam the lead leg in the preliminaries, helping the team set an Olympic record that paved the way for a world-record win in the final.

During the fires, Walters recounted the exhausting conditions as crews fought blazes that scorched nearly 38,000 acres — claiming the lives of 30 people and destroying homes, businesses and landmarks in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.

“We’re pretty much trying to keep what is left here standing,” Walters told NewsNation. “So we’re not laying down. We’re staying in our position — that’s correct, I did sleep on top of the hose bed last night, just staying ready to do what we can still do.”

Walters told ESPN he is honored to serve Los Angeles.

“This has been a challenging year, but also a rewarding one as we watched the Los Angeles community come together to support their neighbors,” he said in ESPN’s award announcement.

Regan, who joined the department in 2008, once anchored the Washington Freedom to a Women’s United Soccer Assn. title following a stellar goalkeeping career at Wake Forest, where she earned first-team All-ACC honors and broke multiple school records.

Outside of firehouse duties, Regan champions female representation in the fire service. She co-founded Girls’ Fire Camp, a one-day program introducing young girls to firefighting, and launched the Women’s Fire Prep Academy, offering mentorship and hands-on training for aspiring female firefighters.

“My career choice was inspired by my family’s history of public service, so receiving this award is a tribute to the many great influences that shaped my upbringing,” Regan said in ESPN’s award announcement. “As first responders, we take pride in hard work and serving others, and I’m truly humbled to be recognized alongside incredible heroes like Pat Tillman.”

The ESPYs, hosted by comedian Shane Gillis, will air on ABC and stream on ESPN+ on July 16 at 8 p.m. PDT.

The revocation follows the former president’s conviction for corruption and influence peddling.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of his Legion of Honour, the country’s highest distinction, after being convicted of corruption and influence peddling last year.

The announcement in a decree published in Sunday’s Official Bulletin deals another blow to the 70-year-old politician who has been mired in legal turmoil since leaving office in 2012.

Sarkozy is now the second former French head of state to be stripped of the award, joining Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain, who was convicted in August 1945 for high treason and conspiring with the enemy.

Last year, France’s highest court upheld Sarkozy’s conviction for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former French president.

Also last year, an appeals court confirmed a separate conviction for illegal campaign financing in his failed re-election bid in 2012.

Sarkozy is currently on trial in a third case, accused of raking in tens of millions of euros in campaign funds as part of a “corruption pact” with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – charges the French politician denies.

Sarkozy has blamed members of Gaddafi’s inner circle who disclosed details of the alleged financing, claiming they are motivated by revenge for his support of the antigovernment uprising in Libya.

If convicted, Sarkozy faces up to seven years behind bars and a five-year ban from running for office. A verdict is expected in September.

While the Legion of Honour’s rules generally disqualify anyone convicted of a criminal offence, France’s President Emmanuel Macron – who, as head of state, has the final authority over the order – had previously refrained from revoking Sarkozy’s honour.

The Legion of Honour code states: “Any person sentenced for a crime or to a definitive prison term of at least one year is excluded.”

Sarkozy, a member of the centre-right Republicans party (LR), retired from active politics in 2017 but retains a following and “is known to regularly meet with Macron”, according to France’s Le Monde newspaper.

Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer prevailed in court Monday, when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the woman who accused him of sexual assault to pay more than $300,000 for violating the terms of a settlement agreement.

Bauer and Lindsey Hill, the woman whose 2021 allegations triggered a Major League Baseball investigation that resulted in Bauer’s suspension, settled dueling lawsuits two years ago. He had sued her for defamation, she had sued him for assault and sexual battery, and the parties agreed that neither had paid any money to the other.

In an email to Bauer’s attorneys, Hill’s attorneys said she would receive $300,000 from her insurance policy. On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Crowley ordered Hill to pay $309,832.02.

After the settlement, Hill claimed on social media that Bauer “handed back an insurance sum to me that was meant for him in order for me to drop my countersuit.”

Bauer sued her in October, citing 21 similar claims on a podcast or on social media — all of them alleged violations of a settlement provision forbidding her from saying Bauer or any representative “paid her any money as consideration for the settlement.” Each alleged violation cost $10,000, according to the terms of the settlement agreement.

Hill did not contest or respond to the suit. After telling Bauer’s attorneys in February they had not made a strong enough case and then telling them in April they had not justified their fees, Crowley granted Bauer a victory by default and ruled his attorneys had produced “sufficient evidence to justify the award.”

The award included $220,000 for the 22 violations of the agreement. The remaining money requested by Bauer’s attorneys and approved by Crowley covered attorney fees and costs, plus interest on the award.

On Tuesday, after her X account had been deactivated, Hill resumed posting there and acknowledged she had “refused to participate in this suit in any way shape or form.” She nonetheless said she would appeal and “further delay any shot he ever had at getting his career back.”

Wrote Hill: “He will never see a cent from me.”

The 2025 Tony Awards winners are being announced in a telecast hosted by Cynthia Erivo, and it’s a night in which so many major categories remain tossups. Three musicals — “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Death Becomes Her” — are tied with the most nominations, with 10 each. The best play frontrunners are an eclectic bunch too: Cole Escola’s crowd-pleasing romp “Oh, Mary!” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Pulitzer Prize-winner “Purpose” and Kimberly Belflower’s “John Proctor Is the Villain,” a reexamination of “The Crucible.”

Hollywood’ invasion of Broadway is reflected in a starry list of acting nominees that includes George Clooney, Sadie Sink, Sarah Snook, Mia Farrow, Daniel Dae Kim, Darren Criss, Bob Odenkirk, Conrad Ricamora and Jonathan Groff. The performance that cut the deepest for Times theater critic Charles McNulty was six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald as Rose in George C. Wolfe’s revival of “Gypsy,” which he called “a harrowing reexamination of the musical through the historical prism of race.”

Here’s how to watch the Tony Awards, but if you can’t, check back here often. This list of winners will be updated in real time Sunday.

Lead actress in a play

WINNER: Sarah Snook, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Laura Donnelly, “The Hills of California”
Mia Farrow, “The Roommate”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, “Purpose”
Sadie Sink, “John Proctor Is the Villain”

Original score

WINNER: “Maybe Happy Ending” (music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park)
“Dead Outlaw” (music and lyrics. by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna)
“Death Becomes Her” (music and lyrics. by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey)
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” (music and lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts)
“Real Women Have Curves: The Musical” (music and lyrics by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez)

Costume design of a musical

WINNER: Paul Tazewell, “Death Becomes Her”
Dede Ayite, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Gregg Barnes, “Boop! The Musical”
Clint Ramos, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Catherine Zuber, “Just in Time”

Costume design of a play

WINNER: Marg Horwell, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Brenda Abbandandolo, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Holly Pierson, “Oh, Mary!”
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”

Scenic design of a musical

WINNER: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Rachel Hauck, “Swept Away”
Arnulfo Maldonado, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Derek McLane, “Death Becomes Her”
Derek McLane, “Just in Time”

Scenic design of a play

WINNER: Miriam Buether and 59, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Marsha Ginsberg, “English”
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Marg Horwell and David Bergman, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Scott Pask, “Good Night, and Good Luck”

Lighting design of a musical

WINNER: Jack Knowles, “Sunset Blvd.”
Tyler Micoleau, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, “Floyd Collins”
Ben Stanton, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Justin Townsend, “Death Becomes Her”

Lighting design of a play

WINNER: Jon Clark, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Natasha Chivers, “The Hills of California”
Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Nick Schlieper, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Choreography

WINNER: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Joshua Bergasse, “Smash”
Camille A. Brown, “Gypsy”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jerry Mitchell, “Boop! The Musical”

Orchestrations

WINNER: Marco Paguia, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, “Just in Time”
Will Aronson, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Bruce Coughlin, “Floyd Collins”
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Sunset Blvd.”

Sound design of a musical

WINNER: Jonathan Deans, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Adam Fisher, “Sunset Blvd.”
Peter Hylenski, “ Just in Time”
Peter Hylenski, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Dan Moses Schreier, “Floyd Collins”

Sound design of a play

WINNER: Paul Arditti, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Palmer Hefferan, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Daniel Kluger, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Nick Powell, “The Hills of California”
Clemence Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Book of a musical

WINNER: “Maybe Happy Ending,” Will Aronson and Hue Park
“Buena Vista Social Club,” Marco Ramirez
“Dead Outlaw,” Itamar Moses
“Death Becomes Her,” Marco Pennette
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical,” David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts

Musical

“Buena Vista Social Club”
“Dead Outlaw”
“Death Becomes Her”
“Maybe Happy Ending”
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”

Play

“English” by Sanaz Toossi
“The Hills of California” by Jez Butterworth
“John Proctor Is the Villain” by Kimberly Belflower
“Oh, Mary!” by Cole Escola
“Purpose” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Revival of a play

“Eureka Day”
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”
“Yellow Face”

Revival of a musical

“Floyd Collins”
“Gypsy”
“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
“Sunset Blvd.”

Lead actor in a play

George Clooney, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”
Jon Michael Hill, “Purpose”
Daniel Dae Kim, “Yellow Face”
Harry Lennix, “Purpose”
Louis McCartney, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”

Lead actor in a musical

Darren Criss, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Andrew Durand, “Dead Outlaw”
Tom Francis, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jonathan Groff, “Just in Time”
James Monroe Iglehart, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical”
Jeremy Jordan, “Floyd Collins”

Lead actress in a musical

Megan Hilty, “Death Becomes Her”
Audra McDonald, “Gypsy”
Jasmine Amy Rogers, “Boop! The Musical”
Nicole Scherzinger, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jennifer Simard, “Death Becomes Her”

Featured actress in a musical

Natalie Venetia Belcon, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Julia Knitel, “Dead Outlaw”
Gracie Lawrence, “Just in Time”
Justina Machado, “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”
Joy Woods, “Gypsy”

Featured actor in a musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, “Smash”
Jeb Brown, “Dead Outlaw”
Danny Burstein, “Gypsy”
Jak Malone, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Taylor Trensch, “Floyd Collins”

Featured actress in a play

Tala Ashe, “English”
Jessica Hecht, “Eureka Day”
Marjan Neshat, “English”
Fina Strazza, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Kara Young, “Purpose”

Featured actor in a play

Glenn Davis, “Purpose”
Gabriel Ebert, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Francis Jue, “Yellow Face”
Bob Odenkirk, “Glengarry Glen Ross”
Conrad Ricamora, “Oh, Mary!”

Direction of a play

Knud Adams, “English”
Sam Mendes, “The Hills of California”
Sam Pinkleton, “Oh, Mary!”
Danya Taymor, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Kip Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Direction of a musical

Saheem Ali, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Michael Arden, “Maybe Happy Ending”
David Cromer, “Dead Outlaw”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jamie Lloyd, “Sunset Blvd.”

Coronation Street fans spotted one star’s fuming face as the ITV soap lost out in the Best Episode category at the British Soap Awards this evening

Coronation Street star Luca Toolan appeared ‘fuming’ as the ITV soap lost out in the Best Single Episode award category at the British Soap Awards tonight. Luca played Mason Radcliffe on the soap before his character was killed off.

Mason died in tragic scenes, where he was stabbed by his brother as the soap tried to raise awareness of knife crime. In the harrowing scenes, which aired earlier this year, Mason lost his life in a fight with his siblings.

Speaking at the time of his exit storyline, he said: “Of course when I first heard there was a mixture of emotions because I was sad that Mason was going to die and that means I would be leaving, but equally I was really excited and honoured to be part of this storyline because it’s an incredibly important issue that needs to be tackled. I feel so privileged to have had this opportunity to start my professional career at Coronation Street and what a great time I’ve had.”

He added: “It was exhausting to film but amazing. I was so focused and a storyline like this is what you crave as an actor. I love the long days and working my butt off and even filming outside in the cold.

“Every single day I would wake up and be absolutely buzzing to go to work. The full crew were so supportive and created an environment that you could put yourself in that emotional headspace and get on with it. It was an amazing experience.”

The Best Single Episode award went to EastEnders for the episode about Phil’s Psychosis: The Mitchells In 1985. Other episodes nominated in that award included Mason’s Death, April’s Life on the Streets and Hollyoaks‘ Time Jump.

Fans on Twitter noticed Luca’s face, with one writing: “All of the other nominees when they don’t get the award…#britishsoapawards,” as another added: “they always look so p***ed off when they don’t win.” The fan then replied: “Mason from Corrie looked p***** off.”

Mason star Luca also took to social media to comment on the disrupted opening, where he wrote a sarcastic message which read: “Oh no what a shame now nobody can see me and all of Corrie win all the awards.”

Mason’s final storyline was also nominated in the Scene of the Year award alongside EastEnders at 40: Angie Watts’ Shock Return, Amy’s Deathly Plunge Reveals a Grisly Secret in Emmerdale and Mercedes Confronts Her Mortality in Hollyoaks. The award eventually went to EastEnders for the surprise return of Angie Watts.

Speaking about his future, Luca said he has big plans for what lies ahead. I love acting so much and I really hope I’ll continue doing it. I’ve seriously learned so much from Corrie and I’m so grateful to everyone involved there. As for my future, I’m not sure what it holds but the saying I like to say is: ‘I’m aiming for the stars and if I miss, I’ll hit the moon.'”

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With 31 league goals and 62 points, Mbappe is European football’s top scorer this season.

Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe has ended his first season in Spain by collecting the European Golden Shoe award.

Mbappe, who also won the Pichichi Trophy for being the top goal scorer in La Liga, scored twice in Real’s final league game on Saturday to overtake Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres at the top of the weighted table, which counts only league goals.

Mbappe, 26, ended with 31 league goals and became the third Real Madrid player to win the award after Hugo Sanchez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The last Frenchman to collect the Golden Shoe was Thierry Henry, who won it in 2004 and 2005 with Arsenal.

Mbappe could have been caught on Sunday while he was in Monaco watching the Formula One Grand Prix.

Mohamed Salah, who needed a hat-trick in English champions Liverpool’s last league game, scored once to finish third with 29 goals.

Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona, already certain to finish ahead of Real Madrid in the race for the Spanish league title, scored twice on Sunday at Bilbao. He achieved a total of 27 goals for fourth place in Europe and second in the Pichichi.

The Pole won the Golden Shoe twice with Bayern Munich and claimed the Pichichi in 2023.

Last year’s Golden Shoe winner, Harry Kane, finished fifth with 26 Bundesliga goals to go with his league champions medal at Bayern. Mateo Retegui with 25 for Atalanta was the top Serie A player in sixth place.

Gyokeres outscored Mbappe with 39 goals, but the table is weighted. Each goal in the “big five” European competitions – La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A – is doubled. For the next 16 ranked leagues, goals are multiplied by 1.5.

Below that, a goal is just a goal.

In the final calculations, the top five in the rankings were as follows: Mbappe (62 points), Gyokeres (58.5), Salah (58), Robert Lewandowski (54) and Harry Kane (52).

Mbappe, the top scorer in the 2022 World Cup, hit 43 goals in all competitions for Real this season.

Marking an extraordinary reversal of fortune, including stints in prison and house arrest during years of clandestine work when he was forbidden by authorities from directing, Iran’s Jafar Panahi triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, winning the event’s top award, the Palme d’Or, for “It Was Just an Accident.”

Appearing to bask in the vindication, Panahi clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back seated in sunglasses, savoring the moment while those around him stood in an ovation.

“It Was Just an Accident,” a tense drama of retribution about a torturer’s abduction by his victims, will be released in 2025 on an as-yet-unannounced date by Neon, the distributor that can now claim an unprecedented six-Palme winning streak, after 2019’s “Parasite,” 2021’s “Titane,” 2022’s “Triangle of Sadness,” 2023’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and 2024’s “Anora” all prevailed. (There was no festival held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Through a translator, Panahi accepted his award humbly and spoke to the universal impulse to make art. “We don’t know why we do it,” he said. “It’s something I watch my small children do. They sing and dance before they can speak. But it’s another language. It could be a language of unification.”

This year’s Cannes jury was chaired by the veteran French star Juliette Binoche, who deliberated with a group sourced from several countries and disciplines. Jury members included the American actors Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong, India’s Payal Kapadia (director of “All We Imagine as Light”) and Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo.

Cannes’ runner-up award, the Grand Prix, went to “Sentimental Value,” a domestic drama about a family of artists directed by Norway’s Joachim Trier, who broke through in 2021 with “The Worst Person in the World,” which earned two Oscar nominations.

The festival’s Jury Prize — essentially third place — was shared by two movies: Oliver Laxe’s “Sirât” and Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling.” Ties are not unusual in this category; they’ve occurred as recently as 2022 and as far back as 1957, when Cannes honored both Ingmar Berman’s “The Seventh Seal” and Andrzej Wajda’s “Kanał.”

Taking both the directing prize and the award for best actor was Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” a Brazilian crime thriller set in 1977 starring Wagner Maura (“Civil War”). In the hotly contested category of best actress, where on-the-ground predictions varied between Jennifer Lawrence (“Die, My Love), Elle Fanning (“Sentimental Value”) and Zoey Deutch (“Nouvelle Vague”), Nadia Melliti pulled off an upset for her turn in “The Little Sister,” about a French Algerian teen living in Paris and coming out to her Muslim family.

Manchester United have decided not to hold an end of year players’ awards night for the second season running.

United cancelled their plans 12 months ago as the senior men’s team finishing eighth in the Premier League, even though they won the FA Cup.

This year, the club have opted not to arrange anything.

The awards night usually involved prizes for players from across the men’s, women’s and youth teams.

Although the men’s side are heading for their worst league finish since the 1973-74 relegation campaign, they could still qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League.

As was the case 12 months ago, United’s women’s team could win the FA Cup. They play Chelsea in the final at Wembley on Sunday. United have already qualified for next season’s Women’s Champions League thanks to their third-place league finish.

United have ruled out a parade if the men’s side beat Tottenham in Bilbao on 21 May and instead will host a barbecue at their Carrington training ground the day after the game.

Many of the previous awards nights, which have been covered by MUTV, have been memorable, particularly in 2015 when then boss Louis van Gaal delivered an amusing eight-minute speech when he demanded those present: “I want to say something – pay attention to the manager.”

Bruno Fernandes and Ella Toone won their respective player of the year awards last season.

United called on fans to vote for the men’s and women’s player of the season, and both teams’ goals of the season, in the match programme for Sunday’s home defeat by West Ham.

The awards will be presented on the pitch at Old Trafford before the men’s final home game of the season against Aston Villa on 25 May.