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Netflix to invest $2.5 billion in South Korea as K-content continues to dominate

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

 (CNN) — Netflix is doubling down on South Korea with plans to invest $2.5 billion over the next four years to produce more K-dramas, movies and reality shows.The streaming giant announced the push Monday, following a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and its co-CEO Ted Sarandos in Washington.The investment is double the amount that Netflix has announced so far in the fast-growing market since arriving in 2016. In 2021, company executives said Netflix planned to invest about $500 million into Korean content, on top of the $700 million already spent since 2016.The latest news underscores how the entertainment behemoth is becoming more bullish on Korean content, which is being enthusiastically consumed by fans worldwide.The stories produced in South Korea are “representing the global cultural zeitgeist,” Sarandos said in a speech Monday, citing the success of shows such as “Squid Game,” “The Glory,” and “Physical:...

British MP expelled from Tories after comparing COVID-19 jab to Holocaust

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

LONDON — Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has been expelled from the party after he compared coronavirus vaccines to the Holocaust.Bridgen’s expulsion, which comes three months after he was stripped of the Conservative whip in the Commons, was first reported by the Sun newspaper Wednesday.A Conservative Party spokesperson said that Bridgen “was expelled from the Conservative Party on 12th April following the recommendation of a disciplinary panel.”“He has 28 days from this date to appeal,” the spokesperson added.In a now-deleted tweet posted in January, Bridgen shared a link to a vaccine-related article on the far-right blog ZeroHedge and said: “As one consultant cardiologist said to me this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust.” Chief Whip Simon Hart promptly removed the Tory whip. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led condemnation of the remarks, branding them “utterly unacceptable.” The MP has been increasingly critical...

A year after fading from playoff view, Heat’s Duncan Robinson again drawing postseason notice

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

A year ago, Duncan Robinson essentially was finished at the start when it came to the postseason. Even with a 27-point playoff-opening performance in a victory over the Atlanta Hawks, the writing was on the wall for the Miami Heat’s 3-point specialist.Soon enough, his job would become Max Strus’ job, largely because of concerns on the defensive end.By the second game of the 2022 postseason, Robinson was down to seven minutes of action. He would not play more than 14 for over a month. Five times during the Heat’s run within a game of the NBA Finals, he was held out by coach’s decision, including the playoff finale against the Boston Celtics.This season, it appeared it would be trending in that direction again for the fifth-year guard.Then starting shooting guard Tyler Herro broke his right hand in Game 1 of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference series against the Milwaukee Bucks. And then Robinson became something he hadn’t been for most of the past 12 m...

Workers strike could impact MTS routes

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Some busses in South Bay could be out of service Wednesday because of a workers strike.A handful of employees from TransDev/First Transit, the company hired by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to operate its mini buses and access line, are picketing.This includes drivers from the El Centro area, where there is currently a strike. They are extending that line, as they say, in hopes that local Transdev employees will not report to work Wednesday.As FOX 5 has reported, contract negotiations have been going on between TransDev and the union’s that represent these workers. Potential work stoppage could impact MTS Access, minibus service "We're here walking the picket line and we're asking those bus drivers that are members of Teamsters Local Union 683 to honor our picket line, so they don't have to cross. You know, they have the option to cross or not, but we're asking them to not cross, go back home, report to work saying they have the legal right and c...

Man climbs KTLA tower in Hollywood holding 'Free Billie Eilish' sign

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

A man scaled the KTLA news tower in Hollywood on Tuesday, drawing a large crowd and disrupting traffic for several hours before finally climbing down.Crews from the Los Angeles Fire Department received reports of the incident around 6:32 p.m. on 5800 West Sunset Boulevard.The man was seen sitting about 30 feet up the tower and straddling the KTLA marquee while holding a sign that read, "Free Billie Eilish."At one point, he was seen playing an electric guitar. Officials called the man a “protestor” but it’s unclear what exactly he was protesting. The handwritten sign had another message on the back saying, "MK ultra sex slaves Donald Marshall clones."A large inflatable airbag was positioned below the tower as crews tried to remove the man safely. He was uncooperative and, at one point, told officers he would come down in 20 minutes, but remained on the tower for over three hours.A man was seen climbing the KTLA 5 radio tower in Hollywood while holding a sign that read, “Free Billie E...

Nepal to give priority to relations with India, China

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s new government, led by a communist prime minister, will give priority to enhancing relations with both of its giant neighbors, India and China, but won’t use them against each other for its own benefit, the newly appointed foreign minister said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud told The Associated Press in an interview that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is set to make his first official trip abroad to India since taking power earlier this year. Nepal is bordered on three sides by India and shares an open border, while the highest Himalayan peaks are divided between Nepal and China. The two Asian giants compete for influence over the tiny nation, showering it with financial aid and investments.Saud, however, said the government will continue to maintain good relationships with both countries and would not do anything to hamper ties with either of the neighbors.“We will never use the two nations against each other for our ...

UN says at least 55 migrants drowned in shipwreck off Libya

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A rubber boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants sank off the coast of Libya and at least 55 people drowned, including women and children, the U.N. migration agency said on Wednesday.The International Organization for Migration said the disaster took place on Tuesday. The boat was carrying at least 60 migrants and had set off from the coastal town of Garabouli, east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.The agency said five migrants survived the shipwreck and were brought back to shore by the Libyan coast guard. It was not immediately clear what happened to the vessel.The was the latest tragedy in the central Mediterranean Sea, a key route for migrants. The IOM said at least 537 people have drowned or gone missing in migrant disasters in the Mediterranean so far this year, while over 4,300 have been intercepted and returned to Libya.Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe....

Bavaria to make it easier to shoot wolves in Alpine region

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Officials in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria said Wednesday that they want to make it easier to shoot wolves after farmers complained that their livestock on Alpine pastures are being preyed upon.Governor Markus Soeder said his state administration has passed a decree allowing hunters to carry out a general cull in an area where a wolf has killed a single farm animal. The cull no longer has to be restricted to the specific wolf responsible for the killingThe move has angered conservationists, some of whom have accused Soeder of exaggerating the problem to drum up support for his conservative Christian Social Union ahead of state elections in October.Regional lawmaker Florian von Brunn of the opposition Social Democrats accused Soeder of “stoking fear” about wolves and predicted that European Union conservation rules would result in the decree being nixed in the courts.Soeder dismissed concerns about the protection of wolves, which have returned to various par...

Medal of Honor recipient’s remains ID’d 73 years after Korea

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The remains of a U.S. Army corporal killed during the Korean War have been identified 73 years after he was declared missing and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery, U.S. and South Korean officials said Wednesday. Luther H. Story of Buena Vista, Georgia was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military award for his actions during an intense attack by the North Korean army on Sept. 1, 1950. U.S. officials said that Story “fearlessly stood in the middle of the road, throwing grenades into the truck. Out of grenades, he crawled to his squad, gathered up additional grenades, and again attacked the vehicle.”He was wounded in action and stayed behind so that his company could get to safety. “When last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault,” U.S. officials said. Story’s remains could not be identified, and Gen. Omar Bradley presented Story’s father the Medal of Honor at a Pentagon ceremony in 1951...

Rogers records $511 million profit in Q1 as it prepared to close Shaw deal

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:48:27 GMT

TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. saw its profit increase by 30 per cent to $511 million in its most recent quarter as it prepared to close a deal to buy Shaw Communications Inc.The Toronto-based telecommunications company says its first-quarter profit compared with a net income of $392 million in the same period last year.The profit amounted to diluted earnings per share of $1 for the period ended March 31, up from 77 cents during its previous first quarter.On an adjusted basis, its net income totalled $553 million, a 20 per cent increase from $462 million during the prior first quarter, while its adjusted diluted earnings per share moved from 91 cents to $1.09 per share.Revenue for the period ticked up six per cent to $3.8 million in the most recent quarter, up from $3.6 billion in the previous first quarter.The period covers the last quarter before Rogers combines with Shaw, which it purchased in March 2021 for $26 billion, but only got the final government approval to move fo...