War movie depicting brutal defeat of US Army tops China’s box office

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMeta, the tech giant that controls the Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram social media platforms, said that it has restricted access to Russian state media within the European Union. The moves are intended to limit the spread of Russian propaganda during the country’s invasion of Ukraine.“We have received requests from a number of governments and the European Union to take further steps in relation to Russian state-controlled media.

EXCLUSIVE: The excitement surrounding Steven Knight’s upcoming big-budget BBC war thriller Rogue Heroes has ramped up another notch with buyers in Europe, Canada and Australia acquiring the drama.

CORONATION Street fans called out a "schoolboy error" in the soap's recent plotline which saw Chesney Brown say goodbye to his son. The busy dad bid farewell to eldest Joseph, who he shared with now-deceased Katy Armstrong, as the youngster prepared for a life in Portugal with his gran.

Dancing On Ice star Connor Ball has updated fans after suffering a fall and injury during Sunday night's live show.

Meena Jutla has been getting away with murder, quite literally, for a long time and it appears she still is - despite being behind bars.

Springholm Nursery held a coffee morning and table top sale on Sunday to raise some funds.

Dundee’s Stobswell community is set to make a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Falkirk bus builder Alexander Dennis has been award a £62 million contract to build 137 zero emission buses, as part of the first phase of the Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.

A Lanarkshire nurse is fronting a poignant stand against those who direct any form of abuse to health and social care professionals.

Beloved Rangers hero Brian Laudrup fears his former team's transfer business in January is having a sizeable impact on their stuttering title bid.

Franz Ferdinand have cancelled their upcoming shows in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine last week.The Scottish band have become the latest act to axe their planned Russian gigs in the wake of the widely condemned Vladimir Putin-ordered military assault, with Yungblud, Green Day and the Russian rapper Oxxxymiron also scrapping shows in recent days.After speaking out in support of the “open and welcoming” people of Kyiv last week, Franz Ferdinand have confirmed this morning (March 1) that their scheduled gigs in St Petersburg and Moscow on June 29 and July 1 will no longer take place.The band said in a statement that “the only reason for this is the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian state”.“We love Russia. This great country has inspired our band through its art and literature and since we first played there 17 years ago, we have built a rich and deep relationship with our Russian fans,” the band said.“Since Thursday morning [February 24], we have spoken to many of our friends in Russia via social media and have encountered unanimous opposition to this violence and solidarity with our Ukrainian friends.

Anthony Joshua has opened up the possibility of a second domestic dust-up against Dillian Whyte, with a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk currently hanging in the balance.The 32-year-old is due to face Usyk for a second time later this year after losing his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts via a unanimous points decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September. However, that appears to have been throw into doubt after it emerged Usyk, who is Ukrainian, had enlisted with the Kyiv Territorial Defence in a bid to defend his country against Russia.

Arsenal have earned a reputation for releasing top-of-the-line merchandise since the club agreed a deal with Adidas. But their latest reported collaboration has left fans unimpressed with the final product after images were leaked online.The Gunners announced their lucrative £300million kit deal with the German sportswear giant in 2018 after leaving Puma, with the agreement set to run until the end of the 2023-24 season.The north London outfit have released some eye-catching kit and clothing since linking up with Adidas, although their collaboration with Transport for London proved to be a huge flop with fans.And now, the club have reportedly teamed up with fashion guru Stella McCartney to bring out a new collection which includes t-shirts, hoodies, leggings and trainers.McCartney has worked closely with the sportswear giant since 2004 on a range of collections, including working with Paul Pogba for a special edition of Predator boots last year.This is the first time that the fashion brand has worked directly with a football team to design actual teamwear.

Chelsea supporter tagged Popworld Liverpool while trying to insult Virgil van Dijk - and got a memorable response from the baffled nightclub admin.Popworld shared an image of the Dutchman with a corner flag but with the nightclub's logo photoshopped on.A Blues fan then took to Twitter following his side's Carabao Cup final defeat to Jurgen Klopp's men on penalties, a game in which Van Dijk was named man of the match.It's fair to say the loyal Chelsea supporter did not agree with that assessment, saying that the Netherlands skipper allowed his side several golden chances to score.But Popworld's response got more than 36,000 likes on the social media platform - causing the aggrieved Chelsea fan to delete his initial message.In a now deleted tweet, the Twitter user wrote while tagging Popworld: "You conceded about 100 chances to a bang average Chelsea attack, you only got motm because you're the media's golden boy."You're not a patch on 37 year old Thiago Silva now get back in your box."Popworld Liverpool replied: "We’re a nightclub mate."Was Virgil van Dijk the star performer at Wembley? Give us your thoughts in the comments sectionHaving officially being named as the Carabao Cup Final 2022 Man of the Match, Van Dijk became the latest player to pick up the Alan Hardaker Trophy.He follows Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Jerzy Dudek and Stewart Downing in picking up the award as a Liverpool player, having helped keep Chelsea at bay for 120 minutes.The Alan Hardaker Trophy is named after a former EFL secretary who oversaw the launch of the cup in 1960 having conceived the idea.Van Dijk said after scoring his penalty in the 11-10 success from the spot: "Very special.

Liverpool and West Ham defender Rigobert Song is set to be named as the new Cameroon national team manager, under the orders of the country’s president Paul Biya.Sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi confirmed on Monday that Biya wanted manager Toni Conceicao replaced by Song.Kombi released a statement saying: “On very high instructions from the President of the Republic, the coach of the men's national football team, Mr Antonio Conceicao, has been replaced by Rigobert Song.“The Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) is invited to take the necessary measures for a rapid and harmonious implementation of these very high directives."Fecafoot have also confirmed that Conceicao had seen his contract terminated.Their statement read: “This is an opportunity to thank all his staff for the work done without our national selection. The upcoming deadline for our national team requires new orientations and a new breath.

Donald Trump after he claimed he strengthened NATO during his time in charge.Taking to Twitter, the Monty Python comedian called these statements “delusional” in view of his 5.7 million followers.Cleese, who has been a vocal critic of Trump in the past, reacted to his statement overnight.He wrote: “Trump's delusional statements about how he strengthened NATO are competely demolished by Steve Benen's piece on MSNBC.” (sic)This follows a speech from Trump on Monday where he claimed he was behind improving NATO.In a statement he had said he had made “delinquent NATO members” start paying.1570998 1572029 1572918He also claimed he sent Ukraine “Javelins” while other states sent “blankets”.The full statement reads: "I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars."Also, it was me that got Ukraine the very effective anti-tank busters (Javelins) when the previous Administration was sending blankets."Let History so note!"However, many have taken issue with Trump’s claims.During his time as president, he wavered on his commitment to Article 5 of the NATO charter.This states that one member state attack symbolises an attack on all member states.His decisions on this caused ties with Europe to become strained.Steve Benen, an MSNBC writer, shared his thoughts on this in an article yesterday.He penned: “Even by Trump standards, the claim-to-lie ratio on this one is amazing.

Twitter an article that showed new photos of her smiling and “putting a brave face”.Fans appeared delighted to see the singer doing well as they commented on the pictures.Linda was hailed as “an inspiration” to other people facing adversities.LoveforLindax said: “She looks so good though it’s so nice to see her smiling and enjoying herself.”HelenRe38536426 added: “@LindaNolan_ is an inspiration to everyone but i do not doubt for one minute how vulnerable she feels in the face of her diagnosis BUT how she feels with it and how she battles and presents herself with it is amazing and helps everyone with cancer. Go Linda! X”PaulaDefriez typed: “Linda is an inspiration in my battle against incurable cancer.”PAK1 wrote: “Linda you look beautiful!“You are an inspiration to everyone.“Even people not suffering from cancer but anyone who is ill or is feeling down or depressed! God bless you all!”Redfernjess1 chimed in: “You're so brave Lin my beautiful.“Smiling through it all you've done marvellously well xxxxxxxxxxx”Linda has recently supported a fellow celebrity who was also diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.She reached out to comedian Janey Godley, 61, after she was told in November last year about her diagnosis.Janey had uploaded a picture to Twitter showing her getting her hair cut by her husband.Linda replied to the post, saying: “He did an amazing job and so are you…“Took me a few G&T’s before I could go through with the cut!”Linda said in August last year that the hair loss she suffered after receiving cancer treatment had left her “traumatised”.She explained during an appearance on BBC Breakfast: “I’ve got certain side effects from the chemo.

Rebecca Davis editor“Dune” was unable to surpass Chinese propaganda war movie “The Battle at Lake Changjin” to take the top spot on its China opening day Friday, coming in second with just $6.45 million (RMB41.2 million) according to Maoyan data, despite a protracted charm offensive to raise awareness about the film in the increasingly sci-fi hungry country.As of the early hours of Saturday local time, the Maoyan platform now estimates that it will mine a total of just $30.9 million (RMB197 million) out of the world’s largest film market — down more than $4 million from its prediction midday Friday.The result is lackluster at a time when the Chinese market is capable of delivering opening days of hundreds of millions for popular titles,

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi film of epic proportions, opened solidly in China on Friday and is forecast to attain a gross box office of $35 million (RMB224 million) in the country.The forecast was made by Maoyan, one of China’s leading online ticketing agencies, which also reported that the film had grossed RMB23.8 million ($3.7 million) by 2pm Friday local time.The $3.7 million haul was only good enough for second place, behind “The Battle at Lake Changjin” a war film that is poised to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time in China. In 23 days of release, “Changjin” has earned $798 million (RMB5.11 billion).The early scores, however, are closely matched.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin” is on course to become one of the top three films of all time in China after dominating proceedings at the mainland Chinese box office for a third successive weekend.A patriotic war film, “Changjin” earned $73 million between Friday and Sunday to extend its cumulative total to $769 million since being released on Sept. 30, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.In second place, “My Country, My Parents” earned $14.6 million, to extend its running total past $200 million to $210 million.The film is already the fourth biggest film in Chinese history.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin” became the fourth most successful film in the world this year as it maintained its grip on the China box office for a second weekend.Even as the National Day holiday season wound to an end, “Changjin” scored $109 million over the weekend according to data from Artisan Gateway. That gave it a cumulative total of $633 million, earned since Sept.