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• Fuji Television, MakerVille, and SimStory are co-producing a pan-Asian thriller series titled *Kidnap Game*, which is scheduled to premiere in October. • The plot follows a wave of simultaneous abductions across seven Asian cities, forcing families to compete in missions to save their loved ones. • The ensemble cast features regional stars including Kentaro Sakaguchi (Japan) and Lee Joon-gi (South Korea), alongside actors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand.

• Tokyo made history as the first Asian city to host the Billboard Global Power Players 2026 Awards Ceremony, held as part of the MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2026 WEEK. • The event gathered elite music industry leaders, including Naoshi Fujikura (Universal Music Japan), Lo Ting-Fai (Warner Music APAC), and Dickon Stainer (UMG UK and Ireland). • This landmark gathering signifies the growing global influence of the Asian music market and fosters strategic networking between international executives and regional power players.

Prime minister says British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the early hours of Sunday morningIn an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Dan Jarvis said he had a “big responsibility” towards soldiers who risk their lives for the country.Jarvis, himself a former soldier, said he was still working through the detail of the defence investment plan, which will lay out how much military equipment and infrastructure will be paid for over the next decade. The new defence secretary told the Sunday Telegraph:The defence of our nation is a shared endeavour… I have a big responsibility in that regard now, but so do all of those people who expose themselves to risk tonight, tomorrow, next week, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.I have a responsibility now to them to make sure that they get what they need, and people should be very clear about my determination to fulfil those duties, to make sure that they do (get) precisely what they need. Continue reading...

Charlie Verco managed to grab hold of the woman and bring her back to shore after the Sydney shark attack on Saturday Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has only seen one shark bigger than the one he saw on Saturday at Sydney’s Coogee beach.The North Bondi athlete was training for the world championships in Hawaii in July on Saturday morning when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark”. Continue reading...

Board seeks to stay judge’s ruling that found Trump’s name was illegally added to Washington performing arts venueDonald Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the performing arts facility before a court-ordered deadline to remove it by Friday.The board voted on Thursday to seek a stay of US district judge Christopher Cooper’s 29 May ruling that said Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center, according to a person familiar with the move who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting. Continue reading...

• Five astronauts aboard the International Space Station were ordered to take shelter and prepare for evacuation for approximately two hours on Friday due to a worsening air leak. • The emergency was triggered by a crack located on the Russian segment of the orbital laboratory, which Russian crews attempted to repair. • NASA has since reversed the evacuation alert, allowing the crew to resume normal operations after the situation was stabilized.

Athlete Hannah Babalola says she was told to use the toilet without an aisle chair or leave Cape Town to Amsterdam flightThe Dutch airline KLM has offered “sincere apologies” to a Paralympic athlete who was denied access to an onboard wheelchair during a long-haul flight so she could go to the toilet.The cabin crew on the flight later called the police after the request from Hannah Babalola, 37, who is paraplegic and competes in track events, for the wheelchair, known as an aisle chair as it is narrow enough to be used inside a plane. They first handed her a written notice, headed: “Unacceptable conduct and final warning on behalf of the captain of this plane.” Continue reading...