Firefighters tackle blaze at Chinese takeaway in Scots town

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A clutch of Chinese movies released for the end of September holiday season dominated the global box office over the latest weekend. Mainland Chinese-produced films took first, third and fifth places across the planet, according to U.S.-based data service Comscore. Comscore shows “Under the Light,” which released only in mainland China, grossing an estimated $54 million between Friday and Sunday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Trinity CineAsia has picked up U.K. and Ireland rights to Chinese hit film “The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan.” The film ranked third worldwide at the box office over the latest weekend. Trinity CineAsia will give it an official release from Oct.

A town in Douglas Ross' constituency is among seven in Scotland which will receive £20 million from the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is pledging to make up to £728 million available in the next seven years to help Scots tackle fuel poverty by installing greener heating systems.

Police raided a suspected cannabis farm in a Scots town .

More than 170 homes could be built at a Stockport quarry. An application from Stewart Milne Homes sets out a plan to build 172 houses in the Offerton area of Stockport.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Equal numbers of Chinese and Japanese titles adorn the main competition section of the Toyo International Film Festival, which was announced on Wednesday – three each. Among the Chinese films is “Snow Leopard,” the last feature by the late Pema Tseden, and “Dwelling by the West Lake,” directed by Gu Xiaogang, the surprisingly inexperienced joint recipient of this year’s Kurosawa Award. The full competition with 15 titles, set to play between Oct. 23 and Nov.

Firefighters are spending a third day dealing with a blaze at a historic train station hotel.

Fire crews are still battling a huge blaze which ripped through a historic Scots hotel, around 16 hours after the incident was first reported.

Perth firefighters are "shocked" at how much fire cover has declined in the city following "savage" cuts to their service.

A man has been spared jail for a brutal baseball bat attack on a knife-wielding drunk who had made vile sexual comments to children.

A teenage boy has been charged in connection with a fire that caused thousands of pounds worth of damage at a Scots farmland.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba Pictures, the separately-listed film investment and distribution unit of China’s tech giant Alibaba behind recent box office hit “Lost in the Stars,” is to buy Damai. The target company is a major provider of live entertainment in the country that is currently controlled by the Alibaba parent company. The transaction is valued at $167 million, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, and will be paid for by the issue of new Alibaba Pictures shares. Damai is involved in concerts, musical festivals, live house performances, plays, sports events and exhibitions in China.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed Guest of Honor Wang Bing‘s top 10 Chinese films of recent decades.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese, Badlands) is co-writing and developing a comic book series with veteran Marvel, DC and Valiant artist Sean Chen, with plans to adapt the property for film and TV starring Wu.

Police have closed a road in Ayrshire after a fatal crash earlier today.

An Ayrshire town's biggest employer has launched a defibrillator to make their community safer.

The Royal Regiment of Scotland is to exercise its freedom to march through Alloa on Saturday September 30.

A frantic search has been launched in an effort to locate a Scots man who vanished two days ago.

Rob Lowe, Burt Reynolds and Ice-T starred in a low-budget movie called Crazy Six in 1997. The movie, which told the story of powerful mafia families vying for control of the arms trade, was written by Galen Yuen, who is the focus of a new original podcast series for Apple.