The European Union Is Banning Russian Media Outlets & Closing Airspace to Russian Airlines

Amazon has won unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition of storied U.S. movie studio MGM, the European Commission said Tuesday.

Several major supermarkets are removing a number of items from their shelves this week in protest of the invasion of Ukraine.

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.

Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska took to her Instagram to show some of the horrific attacks that Russian forces have made against Ukraine, including a maternity hospital and medical center that was destroyed by an airstrike on Wednesday March 9. The videos she shared showed the debris from the attack, as well as some people trying to help, and a few people could be seen leaving the scene. In the background, men and women could be heard yelling in Ukrainian.

Reflection, a film set during the war in Donbass in eastern Ukraine in 2014 [via Variety].Switzerland’s Visions du Réel docs festival has announced that its selections for its April event will comprise four works directed and/or produced in Ukraine. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters, which won a directing prize at Sundance in January, is one of the included films.In November, the Stockholm Film Festival will host film screenings, director visits and masterclasses in order to promote the country’s cinema.The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary Intl.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentOn Friday the Russian parliament passed a bill to crack down on the country’s last remaining independent media outlets in the wake of last week’s invasion of Ukraine and the blowback that the government has received for its actions. In order to stifle critical cover, the government is introducing sentences of up to 15 years in prison for intentionally spreading “fake” information about military action.Ahead of the vote, Variety spoke to Boston-based Russian media analyst Vasily Gatov, who is a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication, about how President Vladimir V. Putin has been dismantling Russia’s free press.

Romeo Beckham and his girlfriend Mia Regan are stepping out during Paris Fashion Week.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorABC News anchor David Muir will anchor a live primetime “20/20” special from the border between Ukraine and Poland on Friday night, as the nation’s news networks continue to scramble to cover Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, one of the biggest global stories to take place in recent memory.Muir will report on the refugee emergency taking place along that border as Ukrainians seek safety amid turmoil in their country. The program will air on Friday, March 4, at 8 p.m.

Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, began her career as a screenwriter before becoming the First Lady of Ukraine. Olena, 44, was thrust into the spotlight three years ago, when her husband was voted in as the new president of Ukraine, in an election that saw him win over 70 per cent of the national vote.

Cannes Film Festival has released a statement in response to the war in Ukraine saying it will not accept “Russian delegations” this year. Scroll down to read it in full.

The European Film Academy (EFA) has joined growing calls in the international cinema community for a boycott of Russian films.

Naman Ramachandran The European Union will ban Russian media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.Saying that the EU will ban “Kremlin’s media machine,” von der Leyen added that “state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union.”“We are developing tools to ban the toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe,” von der Leyen said.The 27 nations in the EU will also close their airspace to Russian airlines. “We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians,” von der Leyen said.

YouTube has officially cut off all ad revenue for RT and several other Russian state-owned media channels following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military.