Plus: The North Korean defectors who became K-pop stars ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. US Vice-President JD Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference took aim at European democracies. Frank Gardner reports on the reactions from the room. In Hollywood, residents who lost their homes in last month's wildfires tell Regan Morris how the entertainment industry can help in rebuilding efforts. Also, BBC Korean's Yuna Ku profiles the first K-pop boy band to feature North Korean defectors. And finally, the man who survived being swallowed by a whale opens up about the ordeal. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | European leaders react to Vance's speech |
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| | Vance said he feared there'd been a retreat of "fundamental values" - such as free speech - in Europe and the UK. Credit: Reuters | US Vice-President JD Vance was expected to speak about the Trump administration's plans for Ukraine. Most of his speech at the Munich Security Conference was instead dedicated to scolding European allies over democratic values. His words were poorly received in the room. A joke comparing Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk was met with absolute dead silence, writes security correspondent Frank Gardner. Afterwards, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said: "Comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regions... that is not acceptable." |
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| Hamas releases names of hostages due for release | Three hostages are due to be freed on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. | Here's what we know > |
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| Jihadist motivation in Munich attack | Prosecutors say an Afghan man has admitted to carrying out a car attack in the German city in which 36 people were hurt. | Read more > |
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| US man held in Moscow, Russian state media say | The man was reportedly detained last week after airport security discovered cannabis-laced sweets in his luggage. | Find out more > |
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| Colombia considers ban on Pablo Escobar merch | A proposed law seeks to ban the sale of memorabilia celebrating the former drug lord and other convicted criminals. | Get the details > |
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| Restoring Hollywood to former glory | | Matthew Ferraro says that after the fires, restoring Hollywood to its heyday is "wishful thinking". Credit: BBC | Hollywood's studios and streaming services have donated more than $70m (£56m) to relief efforts following the wildfires in Los Angeles last month. Many say this is not enough. Nearly 20,000 people have signed a "Stay in LA" petition urging the temporary removal of caps on tax incentives for LA County to boost local productions. |
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| | | Film editor Mindy Smith, the co-founder of Stay in LA, likens the decline of Hollywood productions to the fall of Detroit, whose once formidable automotive industry collapsed, leaving much of the city desolate and impoverished. "Once you ruin that infrastructure and that legacy, it's not so easy to build it back again," she says. "If we let Hollywood die, it could be for good."
Others think it's naïve to suggest that any incentives will usher in a new Golden Age of Hollywood. Pointing out the melted remains of what used to be his piano and his drum set in the music studio of his incinerated Topanga Canyon home, composer Matthew Ferraro wipes away tears for what he and his wife have lost. |
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PICK OF THE WEEK | North Korean defector turned K-pop star |
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| | Hyuk escaped from North Korea in 2013 to join his mother in the South. Credit: Jungmin Choi/BBC Korean | Yu Hyuk was just nine years old when he started begging on the streets of North Hamgyong, one of the poorest provinces in North Korea. His life was so consumed with survival that it left little room for dreams. But dream he did. Later on this year, the 25-year-old will debut in the US as a member of the first K-pop boy band to feature North Korean defectors. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | The Bridget Jones debate | For some, she is a "misogynist role model" - for others, the "voice of a generation". | |
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And finally... in Chile | Earlier on Friday we shared a video capturing the moment a kayaker was briefly swallowed by a whale. Adrián Simancas has now talked about his ordeal to my BBC Mundo colleagues. "I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I realised I was inside the whale's mouth," he said. Read the interview here. | |
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