AJA Newsbites – September 23, 2026 - THE AsiaN

• Taylor Swift will receive the first-ever Artist Director Honors at the 2026 MTV VMAs for her work directing music videos and visual storytelling. • The awards show will air live on September 26 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Snoop Dogg.

• The UK's digital, culture, media and sport select committee is launching an investigation into why British Eurovision entries frequently perform poorly. • The author argues that low scores often reflect political disapproval, noting that 38 of 42 voting countries gave the UK zero points in 2008.

• TCCF Market 2026 will host 107 exhibitors from seven countries, including major broadcasters and studios from Japan, the Philippines, France, South Korea, and Thailand. • The event will debut Spotlight Screenings, a new initiative aimed at attracting international buyers to Taiwan's creative content, with participants including Nippon TV and GMA Network.

• The Korea Tourism Organization and Studio Dragon launched a K-drama exhibition at HiKR Ground in central Seoul to encourage fans to visit filming locations. • The exhibit features physical recreations of famous show elements, including the red door from "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" and gold bars from "Vincenzo."

• Rakuten Viki will host its fourth annual K-Drama Day from September 25 to October 1. • The streaming service is offering 10 free-to-watch K-dramas along with signed polaroids, video messages from stars, and a trip giveaway.

• India's men's hockey team defeated Sri Lanka 16-1 during the third day of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. • The victory follows a dominant opening match where the Indian side thrashed Indonesia 13-1.

• India won a silver medal in the men’s 10m air rifle team event at the Asian Games on Monday. • Shooters Rudrankksh Patil and Himanshu Dhillon also qualified for the individual final in the same event.

• A wildlife rescuer in south Mississippi established a "raccoon boot camp" to teach sick, injured, or abandoned kits essential survival skills. • The program focuses on replacing the natural education kits would have received from their mothers to prepare them for the wild.

• Tom Cruise attended the world premiere of the dark satire film "Digger" in London on September 22. • The actor appeared on the red carpet to promote the new cinematic release.

• Paramount reached a deal with several states regarding its merger with Skydance. • The agreement follows a threat from Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to move the entertainment company out of Hollywood.

• Brad Pitt will reprise his role as Cliff Booth in a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, set in 1977. • David Fincher is directing the film, which is the only sequel in Quentin Tarantino's body of work.