Berlin  - Many parents get upset when their kids spend hours in front of the gaming console. This might soon be changing as learning-centred games or so-called serious games are becoming more popular, experts at the Lerntec trade fair in Karlsruhe reported.

These games aim to entertain and teach in a playful manner as well. Truly entertaining serious games are rare, though - and not every game dubbed "serious" really deserves the honour.

Berlin  - Latin American cinema emerged as the winner from this year's Berlin Film Festival with filmmakers from the region awarded the Berlinale's top honours Saturday, including the prestigious Golden Bear for best picture.

Lima-born director Claudia Llosa's drama about a mysterious illness transmitted to children from the milk of mothers who were raped or abused during Peru's terrorist struggle between 1980 and 2000 took the Berlinale's top prize.

Berlin - Peruvian director Claudia Llosa's film La Teda Asustada (The Milk Of Sorrow) was the surprise winner on Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival's prestigious Golden Bear prize.

The movie, about an illness transmitted to children via milk they are fed by mothers who have been raped or mistreated during their pregnancy, was one of 18 films competing for the Berlinale's Golden Bear.

Argentina-born director Adrian Biniez received three prizes, including a special jury prize, for his film Gigante, about a lonely security guard who works at a supermarket and develops an obsession for a woman he spots on one of the cameras.

Berlin  - Germany is considering appointing a special envoy on Afghanistan to liase with the new US envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed Saturday in Berlin.

The news magazine Der Spiegel said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already chosen the envoy. He would be Bernd Muetzelburg, 65, the German ambassador to India, who would take leave from his embassy duties for the special role, Spiegel said.

But the spokeswoman declined to confirm this, saying no formal appointment had been made.

Berlin - A computer virus which has already hit defence computers in Britain and France has spread to German military systems, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said Saturday.

The Conficker computer worm has exasperated computer users right around the globe in recent weeks, but security-conscious military users had been thought to be better prepared to repel it.

The spokesman said several German armed forces sites had to be disconnected from the military network after hundreds of computers were taken over by Conficker. However, no other disruptions were reported.

Berlin  - The Berlin Film Festivals's competitive phase ends Saturday on a rather subdued note.

While 18 films are competing for the Berlinale's coveted Golden Bear, less than a handful have emerged as favourites for the festival's top honours after a ten-day movie marathon which fell short of the expectations of both critics and the industry.

The result has been that the 59th Berlinale competition for top movie comes to a close with the field wide open in the race for the festival's main prizes, which are to be handed out a Hollywood-style gala Saturday.