NewsFeed Workers, activists and trade unions around the world marked May Day with rallies on Friday, calling for higher salaries, shorter working hours and better conditions, as the United States-Israeli war on Iran and rising energy costs fuel concerns over the global economy. Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link
Disney+ added another buzzy K-drama title on Thursday to its steadily expanding slate of originals from East Asia. The streamer announced the launch of principal photography on The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, a Korean-language series adaptation of Japanese author Keigo Higashino’s 2012 bestseller, which has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide. The series is set for a global Disney+ launch in 2027. A time-bending fantasy about three petty criminals who hide out in a derelict general store after a botched heist, only to begin receiving letters seeking advice from strangers writing from decades in the past, the novel has been adapted twice before for the screen — by Ryuichi Hiroki for a 2017 Japanese feature, and by Han Jie that same year for a Chinese-language version starring Jackie Chan as the kindly shop owner. Ryu Seung-ryong will headline the new Korean series as Go Min-joong, the elderly shop owner whose replies to mysterious letters set off a chain of connections across decades. The role is the actor’s third major Disney+ collaboration, following …
Barunson E&A, the Korean production banner best known for backing Bong Joon Ho’s multi-Oscar winner Parasite, has boarded Zona Merah: Dead City, a feature film adaptation of the hit Indonesian horror series Zona Merah. The Seoul outfit will handle international sales on the project, produced by Indonesia’s Screenplay Films, and launch it at the upcoming Cannes Marché alongside Inherit, the new horror feature from Thai hitmaker Banjong Pisanthanakun. The deal extends Barunson’s ongoing push into Southeast Asian cinema, as the Korean company continues to assemble a portfolio of saleable genre titles from the region. The original Zona Merah debuted as an original series on Vidio, the Emtek Group-owned platform that has emerged as Indonesia’s leading domestic streamer. Set in the fictional town of Rimbalaya, the show follows Maya as she searches for her missing younger brother Adi amid a rapidly spreading zombie outbreak, racing to find him before authorities seal off the area as a “zona merah,” or red zone. The series became one of Vidio’s biggest hits, drawing more than 34 million views and a surge of …
SEOUL: A South Korean appeals court increased the corruption sentence for former first lady Kim Keon Hee on Tuesday (Apr 28) to four years in jail, up from 20 months, after finding her guilty of stock manipulation and bribery. The much heavier penalty came as the court overturned Kim’s prior acquittal by a lower court on stock price manipulation charges. “The court sentences the defendant to four years in prison and imposes a 50 million won (US$34,000) fine,” the Seoul High Court said in a verdict televised live. It found Kim guilty of manipulating the share price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealer, which it ruled a “collusive … trading act constituting market manipulation”. “The defendant appears to have participated in such conduct,” the court said as it overturned her initial acquittal. Kim, the wife of jailed ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, was handed 20 months in jail in January for bribery after she accepted luxury gifts from a cult-like church. She appealed the verdict in the hope of clearing her name, while prosecutors …
Netflix is doubling down on Korea’s appetite for political period thrillers. The streamer revealed Monday that it has begun production on The Generals (working title), a new film from acclaimed director Yoon Jong-bin chronicling the rise of South Korean dictator-turned-president Roh Tae-woo, the longtime second-in-command to military strongman Chun Doo-hwan. The project marks Yoon’s first feature in eight years — following The Spy Gone North, which premiered at Cannes in 2018 — and his second project at Netflix after Narco-Saints, the hit limited series that launched on the streamer in 2022. The film centers on Roh Tae-woo (Son Suk-ku), a figure who publicly presents himself as an “ordinary man” while maneuvering behind the scenes beside dictator Chun Doo-hwan (Ha Jung-woo), who wields absolute authority. Surrounded by allies, rivals, and functionaries with their own agendas, Roh navigates a dense network of relationships in his bid to claim the top seat for himself. Among Korea’s most respected mid-career filmmakers, Yoon is known for taut dissections of how people survive inside rigid hierarchies, from his breakthrough The Unforgiven …
A birthday livestream for Enhypen member Jay took an unexpected turn on Monday (Apr 20) after the 24-year-old told off certain fans who had been spamming comments related to former groupmate Heeseung’s departure. Since Heeseung’s departure in March to pursue a solo career, Enhypen’s fandom has been divided into two major factions: Those who support Enhypen as a group of seven and are demanding Heeseung’s return, and those who support the remaining Enhypen members as a group of six. Speaking in English, the American-born singer-rapper said: “Some of you guys, you don’t actually care about the situation going on, right?” Pausing as if to gather his thoughts, Jay continued, “Some of you keep saying things like ‘6,’ ‘7,’ or ‘Enhypen is what?’,” referencing the flood of comments left by some fans during the livestream. Jay said that while he doesn’t care and is “okay”, he urged fans not to leave such comments towards the other members of Enhypen, “especially on their birthdays”. “I really don’t want them to feel bad on their birthday,” said Jay. …
Thailand imports solar panels from China but also Sweden and elsewhere, he said. Ultimately, Nitithanprapas said Thailand wants to create domestic production using foreign direct investment so it doesn’t have to rely on any particular country. That’s a common view in much of Southeast Asia, where the creation of local solar manufacturing and EV plants won’t happen overnight. “In the short term, most countries don’t have a viable alternative to Chinese clean-tech supply chains,” said Vicky Janita, an analyst at Rystad Energy. Even if they were to buy more supplies from countries like India, which has grown its solar panel manufacturing capacity, those producers still rely heavily on China for wafers and other parts of the supply chain, she said. That doesn’t mean they aren’t also trying different strategies to reduce that dependence and build their economies. Many countries in Southeast Asia have welcomed Chinese investment in domestic production, through both carrots, such as tax breaks, or sticks, such as Indonesia’s export ban on raw nickel. Similarly, Brazil is imposing tariffs on EVs, forcing Chinese …
North Korea test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, the latest in a recent flurry of launches by the nuclear-armed state. The Sunday launches add to a series of weapons tests Pyongyang has carried out in recent weeks, including ballistic missiles, anti-warship cruise missiles and cluster munitions. Read moreNorth Korea tests nuclear-capable rocket launchers amid US-South Korea military drills “Our military detected several short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea from the Sinpo area of North Korea at around 6:10am (GMT 21:10),” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to a body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. “The missiles flew approximately 140 kilometres (86.9 miles), and South Korean and US intelligence authorities are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact specifications,” it added. Seoul is maintaining a “firm combined defence posture” with the United States – a security ally that stations about 28,000 troops in the South to help it defend against military threats from the North – and will “respond overwhelmingly to any provocation”, …
A wolf that escaped from a zoo in the South Korean city of Daejeon was recaptured on Friday after nine days on the run, bringing to a close a saga that gripped the public as the elusive animal evaded earlier capture attempts. Keywords for this article Source link
“There is a clear preference on the U.S. side to stick to the deal as we agreed it. And it’s also their preference on our side,” Šefčovič said. In D.C. patience with the EU’s slowness in enacting the deal has worn thin. The commissioner only this week began negotiations with EU capitals and lawmakers to find a compromise on implementing the EU’s side of the bargain, under which the bloc would scrap all tariffs on U.S. industrial goods. The European Parliament has proposed several amendments to the two legal texts that would lower the U.S. tariffs: It added a so-called sunrise clause for the deal to kick in only after the U.S. reduces tariffs on products containing steel, and a sunset clause under which the deal would expire in March 2028. Asked about those conditions, Šefčovič said: “It’s very difficult to preclude the outcome of the negotiation. I just would like to have a clean result.” He added: “I very much appreciate the position of the Council,” referring to the endorsement by EU member countries …
