Salford mayor urges government to sanction its Russian state-owned gas supplier

Boris Johnson was accused of being a “threat to national security” following reports he was at a Tory party fundraising event on the night Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.

Kelis‘ husband Mike Mora has died after a battle with stomach cancer.The 37-year-old photographer’s death was confirmed by Steve Satterhwaite of Red Light Management, in a statement to Entertainment Tonight.“Sadly, it’s true that Mike Mora has passed away,” he said. “We would ask all to respect Kelis and her family’s privacy as of right now.

Boris Johnson should sack Priti Patel over her department's handling of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.

Sacha Baron Cohen has called out social media platforms for not blocking Russia’s state TV network amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine.In a post on Twitter, the actor criticised the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube – Mark Zuckerbeg, Parag Agrawal, Sundar Pichai and Susan Wojcick respectively – and urged them to remove the network RT from their platforms.“Putin just bombed a children’s hospital, but @Facebook, @Instagram, @Twitter & @YouTube are still showing Russia’s state-run RT,” Cohen wrote.“Why are you profiting off Putin’s propaganda?! Remove Russia RT from your platforms NOW!”Hey Mark, @paraga,@sundarpichai, @SusanWojcicki Putin just bombed a children’s hospital, but @Facebook, @instagram @Twitter & @YouTube are still showing Russia's state-run RTWhy are you profiting off Putin's propaganda?!Remove Russia RT from your platforms NOW! pic.twitter.com/W0wkWKAZpX— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) March 9, 2022NME has reached out to representatives for all the respective companies.As posted on the updates blog for Meta – the rebrand of Facebook who also own Instagram – the company states they have restricted access to RT and Sputnik in Ukraine, the UK and across the EU.In an update on March 1, the blog reads: “In addition to restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU, we are now globally demoting content from Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts from Russian state-controlled media outlets and making them harder to find across our platforms. “We have also begun to demote posts that contain links to Russian state-controlled media websites on Facebook.

A major conference is being held today to debate the political future of the North of England under the Government’s levelling up plans.

The Government will ask the British public to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the fighting in their country amid continuing criticism of its response to the refugee crisis.

Jon Burlingame editorSome of Hollywood’s most high-profile filmmakers, including director James Cameron, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Lili Fini Zanuck and composer John Williams have joined the growing chorus of voices asking the Academy to reverse course and present all 23 Oscars on the live March 27 telecast.In a letter obtained by Variety and sent today to Academy President David Rubin, more than six dozen film professionals including multiple Academy Award winners, contend that the plan to present eight awards during the pre-telecast hour will “demean” these crafts and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens.”The eight are original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short. The Academy continues to insist that the nominees in those categories will be announced, and the winner’s acceptance speech aired, in edited form and aired as part of the three-hour ABC show.

Stanford University responded to the allegations that soccer star Katie Meyer was potentially facing disciplinary action shortly before she died by suicide – a factor her parents believe may have contributed to her tragic death.

EXCLUSIVE: 7 Days, the romantic comedy from The Resident co-creator Roshan Sethi that stars Geraldine Viswanathan and Karan Soni, now has a release date and a trailer. Cinedigm, which acquired the pic in November after its premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, will release it wide in theaters March 25.

Ann Curry will receive the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication on April 5.

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has added to the film community voices addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ethan Shanfeld The American branch of Russian state-funded media network Russia Today (RT) is shutting down and laying off most of its staff, CNN reports.According to a memo, RT America will be “ceasing production” due to “unforeseen business interruption events.”“Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations,” the memo said (via CNN).Per CNN, Misha Solodovnikov, the general manager of T&R Productions, the production company behind RT, delivered the news in person to hosts, correspondents, producers and others in the Washington, D.C. bureau.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorReddit has banned users from posting links to Kremlin-affiliated outlets such as RT and Sputnik, joining a growing number of internet companies in blocking Russian state media amid that country’s attack on Ukraine.“While many communities on Reddit already prohibited links to Russian state media outlets like RT, Sputnik, and their foreign-language affiliates, we have made such restrictions universal across the site in all geographies,” Reddit said in a statement.In addition, the popular discussion-community site said, it will “continue not to accept advertisements that target Russia or originate from any Russia-based entity, government or private.” Reddit said it’s assisting affected employees in Ukraine, including providing advanced income payments and housing allowances and supporting their relocation. Reddit joins other internet media platforms that have restricted or blocked Russian state-controlled media in recent days, including YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and Spotify.“The conflict in Ukraine has been shocking and upsetting,” Reddit said in a March 2 blog post.

Stanford University and the soccer community are mourning the loss of a dear athlete.

Katie Meyer, 22, the goaltender for the Stanford women’s soccer team, has tragically passed away in a campus residence, reported the New York Post. “Katie was extraordinarily committed to everything and everyone in her world,” Stanford vice provost for student affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and athletic director Bernard Muir said in a message on the university’s communications site, not revealing the cause of death.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentReed Expositions (RX), the organization behind the international TV showcases MipTV and Mipcom, has issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Although Reed Expositions is a private business, it said that it will follow “government sanctions and policies in each territory where (it) operates.” In practical terms, it means there won’t be any Russian film and TV outfits attending MipTV which is set to take place in April in Cannes, a source close to Reed Expositions told Variety. “RX stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, particularly with our employees around the world who have family and friends in the Ukraine,” said Reed Expositions.