Complaints over overcrowding and 'shambolic' crowd management at 'badly organised' Chinese New Year parade

Air rifles, luxury jewellery, designer clothes and £10k in cash was seized by police in a major organised crime crackdown across Greater Manchester on Thursday (February 29).

Marcus Rashford has hit back at his Manchester United critics and those who have questioned his commitment to the club.

GIRLBAND! have debuted a playful new single, ‘Not Like The Rest’.The alternative newcomers hail from Nottingham and are signed to EMI North, where they are labelmates with the likes of Nadine Shah.Per a press release, members Georgie, Jada and Kay came together after making music in other projects and, during the pandemic, they “plugged into the wider community in Nottingham, one that inspired them with 80s culture, vintage fashion and massive dose of 90s nostalgia, Gwen Stefani and R&B groups.” The sound they carved out has been described as “a punk band making pop songs”.Now, their spirited new single sees them take a trip down memory lane, thinking back to growing up in a small town and not fitting in – “My school was so white/My town was so grey/I was a rainbow, had to hide away/On the 54 bus, she was my first crush/That’s when I knew I had to run away.”Check out ‘Not Like The Rest’ below:The band are set to head out on tour later this year and also have festival appearances booked at the likes of Stockton Calling, Sound City, Teddy Rocks and Block Party in France.You can see the full list of their headline tour dates below and buy your tickets here.MAY3 – Manchester, Deaf Institute 9 – London, The Grace10 – Newport, Le Pub11 – Bristol, Louisiana16 – Southampton, The Joiners18 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms GIRLBAND! have also been announced to be supporting Taking Back Sunday on tour in the UK next month – you can find those dates below and buy your tickets here.MARCH26 – Manchester, O2 Ritz27 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town28 – Cardiff, University Great HallThey will also be supporting Feeder at York’s Barbican and Manchester’s Albert Hall on March 19 and 20 – you can find tickets here.

Seven people were arrested in dawn raids in Greater Manchester today by police investigating a huge suspected drugs line to Scotland.

As U.S. policymakers try to bolster defense for Taiwan vis a vis mainland China, S. Leo Chiang, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary short Island in Between, talks of the “crazy gymnastics” that the country finds itself in between the two world superpowers.

Gary Neville has suggested that Sir Jim Ratcliffe may have already decided upon the future of Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.

Parents say their young children had to be prised from their arms at the school gates after a rule change following the half term break.

BBC Breakfast was pulled off air on Monday morning after it was hit with technical issues. Presenters Jon Kay and Sally Nugent were presenting the show and appeared completely unaware of the blunder.

An empty washing basket for any family is a pretty rare occurrence.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and EventsFebruary kicked off with a slew of Grammy pre-parties before the big awards night, which included a Miley Cyrus performance, a surprise appearance by Celine Dion and Variety cover star Victoria Monét going home with multiple statuettes.At about the same time, “Rustin” star Colman Domingo was in New York City being honored by the Human Rights Campaign and Selena Gomez joined her friend, first-time director, Nicola Peltz-Beckham at the premiere of “Lola” in Los Angeles.Despite the torrential downpour clobbering Los Angeles, Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton premiered their new Zelda Williams-directed horror comedy, “Lisa Frankenstein,” at the Hollywood Athletic Club after a location change from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery due to the bad weather.Keep checking back here all month long for the best February celebrity pics from Hollywood, New York and beyond.Olivia Rodrigo kicks off her Guts World Tour at Acrisure Arena on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs, California.“Kung Fu Panda 4” star James Hong at his Hand and Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on Feb.

Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has been flooded with supportive messages after admitting feeling 'exhausted' as she got to work on her new job away from the cobbles.

Wayne Rooney has shared his views on working with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, explaining how the trio differed in their management styles.

A holiday flight carried out an emergency landing at Manchester Airport today (Tuesday) after developing a technical problem half way to Cape Verde.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Four Chinese films dominated the mainland China and global box office charts over the latest weekend. “YOLO,” a comedy drama about weight loss and self-discovery, was crowned as the top earning film worldwide for a second weekend running. “YOLO” took $86.5 million (RMB614 million) between Friday and Sunday, giving it a 9-day cumulative total of $402 million (RMB2.85 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. The second film by Jia Ling, who previously directed 2021 Lunar New Year smash hit “Hi, Mom”, “YOLO” released on Saturday, Feb.

Keith Gillespie was once dubbed the ‘new George Best’ but ended up leaving Manchester United with just 14 senior appearances under his belt.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cinema box office in Hong Kong failed to live up to expectations over the Lunar New Year holidays, even as local films led the chart. Movie theatre takings between Feb. 9-13 in Hong Kong weighed in at just HK$48.6 million ($6.23 million), according to data provided by Hong Kong Box Office Limited, a joint venture between Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) and the Hong Kong Theatres Association.

Hundreds of onlookers were treated to a dazzling spectacle in Perth city centre on Sunday as the region celebrated Chinese New Year.

Manchester United are finding form at the right time under Erik ten Hag following a difficult Christmas period. The Reds are now back in the hunt for Champions League football with three months of action remaining.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Four Chinese films dominated the global box office charts over the weekend, with combined takings of $350 million earned over just two days. And, as North America watched the Super Bowl instead, the weekend’s top Hollywood title, “Argylle” earned just $15.9 million worldwide. Chinese titles eschewed their usual Friday release pattern and opened on Saturday, the first official day of the Lunar New Year holiday period in China and much of Asia. Female-directed comedy drama “YOLO,” earned $113 million (RMB802 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was narrowly ahead of car-racing comedy “Pegasus 2,” which earned RMB758 million or $107 million and was the bigger title on Saturday.

The international box office was generally muted this weekend, save for in China which ushered in the Year of the Dragon on Saturday, and with it the lucrative Chinese New Year moviegoing period. According to early figures from Maoyan, the first two days of Spring Festival 2024 amassed RMB 2.44B ($339M), just a touch below the comparable days in 2023.