Hundreds including Man City star turn out for Ukraine vigil as darkness falls in our city centre - and Manchester Central Library is bathed in blue and yellow

Russia's attack on Ukraine is going 'according to plan' and the violence is set to 'get worse', Vladimir Putin has warned.

Zack Sharf Andy Serkis resurrected Gollum for a brief moment this week on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Although Serkis was on the late night show to promote his role as Alfred Pennyworth in “The Batman,” “Lord of the Rings” super-fan Colbert quickly pivoted the conversation to all things Middle Earth.Serkis told Colbert that he voiced 132 different characters in the “Rings” audiobooks, which led to the actor and motion capture icon demonstrating his voice work skills. When it came time to break out Gollum, Serkis did so in a way that bashed Vladimir Putin.“Gollum was on this side and Sméagol was on this side,” Serkis said. “And he would say things like, ‘We wants it.

Russia is in control of the area around the plant but has not taken control of the plant itself.“They have the physical control of the perimeter, including the village where most of the employees live,” he said. During an emergency meeting he expressed his concerns over the power plant and said: “The situation in Ukraine is unprecedented and I continue to be gravely concerned.“It is the first time a military conflict is happening amidst the facilities of a large, established nuclear power program.”After nearly a week of bloodshed, Vladimir Putin finally admitted how many of his soldiers have died during the invasion of Ukraine.Russia’s Defence Ministry said in its first report of military casualties since the start of the invasion, that some 498 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine, with 1,597 wounded.

Vladimir Putin said six words in English after he drove a Formula One car at nearly 150 miles per hour.The Russian president got behind the wheel of the vehicle after signing a deal to bring the sport to his nation in 2010, a decision which has today been reversed with the termination of their Grand Prix contract.It is the latest body blow from multiple sporting organisations for Putin after he launched the invasion of Ukraine last week.He is the focus of the world at present, but he was carefree when he tested a Renault F1 car more than a decade ago.Putin was given the chance to race around a St. Petersburg track in the French constructors' 2006 car.That was the year when they won both Championships with Fernando Alonso claiming his second successive Driver's crown.After being given guidance from Renault engineers, Putin took part in a televised test drive and got close to topping the 150 mph (240 kph) mark.When he was told his maximum speed he smiled and said: "For the first time - it's good." F1 fans - how do you feel about the Russian GP removal? Let us know in the comments section. Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news?Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star football email newsletter!From the latest transfer news to the agenda-setting stories, get it all in your email inbox - don't miss a thing.It only takes a matter of seconds.Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article and hit 'subscribe'.And that's it, job done.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent shockwaves around the world. Amid the chaos and destruction, the international distribution community, which we record, is reacting in real time with dismay and uncertainty. The human impact is stark and overwhelming. Inevitably, there are significant consequences for local businesses.

Ukraine, WWE has said it will no longer broadcast events in the country. The wrestling association said that "effective immediately" it would shut down the WWE Network in Russia and remove access to its on-demand library.

Anna Netrebko, famous Russian soprano, will be banned from the Metropolitan Opera for the next two seasons after she failed to denounce Vladimir Putin amid his war on Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin has three long-term plans to choose from if he successfully takes over Ukraine, experts say. An article written up for Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda has said the Russian invasion of Ukraine could follow one of three reported long-term plans.The article, which pitches a political scientist and journalist in debate with one another, was translated by Dmitry Grozoubinski, who called the article "absolutely horrifying" when sharing the translation on Twitter.Featured throughout are three plans Putin could take on in, the article says, the "post-war fate of Ukraine".Political scientist Peter Kulichenko and KP journalist Sergei Ponomarev debated the three plans in an article.One of the three plans was labelled the "Optimistic Plan" which was "Ukraine remains at its previous size (minus the territories of DNR and LNR within their administrative borders."Ponomarev said this was the most "attractive" plan at "first glance" but claims that "A patchwork Ukraine, assembled over just a few decades from territories stolen from the Russian federation, or gifted by it, cannot remain whole."But Ponomarev's "realistic plan" claims the Ukraine would be divided into several pieces.

A Lanarkshire dad who worked in Ukraine just weeks before Russia invaded is fundraising for the Red Cross aid effort in the war-torn country.

Google Maps users were shocked to find a huge 'bomb target' that can be seen from space in the US.Reddit user u/patchesandbrownie shared the find to the subreddit r/GoogleMaps claiming to have found the bullseye in South Dakota using the satellite view feature. The original poster wrote: "Found what seems to be an old bomb target in South Dakota - 1450 ft wide."They later corrected their measurements to over 2,000ft after posting the coordinates of the astonishing find as 43°39'17"N 102°19'55"W.The post fascinated Reddit users as they give it 89 upvotes and speculated whether it was used for nuclear weapons testing or by NASA.One user said: "I guess it was for nuclear testing."Another added: "I think this is for calibrating targeting systems on satellite weapons to eradicate the giant roach people.

“South Park” remains timely.

Dancing With The Stars professional dancer Maksim Chemerkovskiy has been reunited with his wife Peta Murgatroyd after a horrendous ordeal in his native Ukraine. Maksim, 42, was seen embracing his wife after making it through passport control at Los Angeles Airport. Before he made it through the airport, Peta, 35, was seen nervously awaiting her husband’s return.

Boris Johnson and his team for “taking the piss” over ‘partygate‘, as well as paying tribute to the wealth of musical talent coming out of the capital. Watch our full video interview with Khan above.Khan was speaking to NME backstage at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, after he and Ghetts presented Little Simz with Best Solo Act From The UK. Earlier in the night, Ghetts also called Khan out for London’s congestion charge.“It’s just so nice to be mixing and mingling,” he told NME about the night at the O2 Academy Brixton.

Russia of committing war crimes as Russian troops continue to rage war on Ukraine's cities.The PM slammed Vladimir Putin as Downing Street claimed "horrific acts" were being carried out on an almost hourly basis as population centres were targeted.Yesterday (Wednesday, March 2) Russian officials finally announced that 498 of their soldiers have died since they invaded Ukraine last week with the number of people wounded standing at 1,597.Leaders said, unlike brutal Russia, they’re not at war with “captive children” as images emerged of young soldiers crying.Prisoners of war were captured on camera sobbing, saying “we don’t want this war” and claiming they were used like "cannon fodder" by commanders, The Mirror reports.While it remains unlikely that a nuclear war will commence, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov sent a chilling threat that a "Third World War will be nuclear, and devastating".Due to the military doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction, a full-scale nuclear war would mean the complete collapse of both sides.Which would make the nuclear war pointless. But there is always a fear that it could start from a reckless miscalculation or a leader who makes bad decisions.

A family doctor who was honoured by Boris Johnson over his work during the Covid pandemic has been suspended after he was caught illicitly sharing confidential patient details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has got himself a bit of a reputation for terrible time keeping.

Russia.The two former heavyweight world champions are currently defending Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Vitali is currently the city's mayor.

Both Manchester United and Man City are among the highest valued clubs in world football according to Forbes.

A Russian oligarch was found dead in the garage of his luxury UK mansion just days after the invasion of Ukraine commenced.

Piers Morgan, 56, has launched a scathing attack appearing to reference all of Europe and the United States over Russia’s nuclear threat during the Ukraine crisis.Taking to Twitter, where he boasts a following of 7.9 million, the broadcaster claimed Putin was “laughing at us”.He tweeted: “Putin’s laughing at us.“He now knows that all he has to do to is threaten to use his nukes (which he won’t) and we’ll all run away in terror.“When did we get so pathetically spineless in the face of nasty little bullies?”The former Good Morning Britain presenter accompanied the tweet with a picture of Putin laughing.Piers has been outspoken on his criticism of the West’s handling of the ongoing crisis.He recently called out the international community over its response to Putin’s advances into Ukraine.The TV star questioned what’s to stop the Russian leader “taking other countries” amid his “nuke threats”.The tweet came on Tuesday after Putin ordered his military to move nuclear weapons to a "special mode of combat duty”.Piers wrote: “If Putin succeeds in taking Ukraine by scaring us all off with his bulls**t nuke threats, what’s to stop him taking other countries including those in NATO?“Once you cave to a bully, they keep bullying. #StopPutinNow.”He also called attention to a 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles that satellite images showed en route to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.Piers questioned the lack of military intervention from NATO.He typed: “There’s a 40-MILE convoy of Russian military vehicles heading towards Kyiv to surround the city, trap the people there, and bomb them into submission.“Are we really just going to sit back and watch Putin do this?“There’s a war crime unfurling in front of us.

Vladimir Putin has so far resisted pressing the nuclear button because of treaties signed as a result of fears of “mutually assured destruction”, BBC presenter Ros Atkins has suggested. Putin ordered Russian troops to invade neighbouring country Ukraine on February 24, and while the capital Kyiv has so far resisted advances, there have been reports that the country’s first city has fallen after heavy bombing.