Sakaki Hideo, Japanese Actor and Director, Arrested After Sexual Assault Allegations

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lily Franky, the Japanese acting sensation who starred in “Shoplifters” and “Like Father Like Son,” heads the cast of “Diamonds in the Sand,” a multinational co-production that appears at the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) as a work in progress. Developed and directed by Janus Victoria, the film started as an exploration of the Japanese phenomenon of kodokushi, or lonely death, where elderly people who live alone are discovered dead only months after their passing due to the isolated lives that they lead.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Film projects to be produced by Andrew Lau (“Infernal Affairs,” “Initial D”) and Han Sanping, the former head of China Film Corp., are among the new in-development titles that grace the FilMart slate of Hong Kong studio Media Asia. The Peter Lam-controlled studio is also poised, at an event within FilMart on Monday, to detail its new alliance with China’s Alibaba Pictures Group. Lau is producing “Behind the Scene,” a book-to-film adaptation to be directed by Lee Kwong-yiu (“Insanity”) in which four friends uncover a meticulously planned murder that is carefully disguised as a kidnapping. Suspicions fall on a bank president who is involved in counterfeiting. Han is aiming to produce “Fading Tracks,” another crime title that is also adapted from a novel.

A man has been arrested after crashing his car into the gates of Buckingham Palace - the official Royal residence. In dramatic footage obtained by The Sun, armed police can be seen surrounding the suspect, who is on his knees after getting out of the vehicle, as cops shout "keep your hands on your head!" The man crashed into the gates of Buckingham Palace in Westminster, London, at around 2.30am on March 10.The Met Police said a man had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

Emily Longeretta Ariana Grande wasn’t just the musical guest during the March 9 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” While she took the stage to perform “We Can’t Be Friends” and “Imperfect For You” — and was introduced by her mom, Joan Grande, for the second number — she also took on two different sketches. After appearing as a patient in a group therapy session during the first half of the show, she was invited back to the stage later on in the night for a “Moulin Rouge” spoof, giving her the opportunity to sing covers of multiple hit songs.

He was the flirty barman in hit ITV sitcom Benidorm for 11 years from 2007 to 2018. But now actor Jake Canuso, who's 54, is unrecognisable from his time playing hottie Mateo Castellanos. Jake starred alongside celebs including Crissy Rock – who's since opened up about her childhood abuse ordeal – as well as Johnny Vegas, Steve Pemberton and Sherrie Hewson, ending up as the show's longest-serving character and appearing in all 74 episodes.

Michael Jackson biopic will reportedly address the allegations of child sexual abuse against the singer.Given that the film has the approval of the Jackson estate, it had been unclear whether the film would explore the most controversial aspects of his life, but a new report suggests it will.Puck News’ Matthew Belloni has obtained an early draft of the script, and says that the film “wants very much to convince you Michael is innocent”, adding that it goes to “great lengths to minimise and downplay the actual claims and eviscerate the Chandlers”.In 1993, Evan Chandler, a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son Jordan. The case was concluded when the two parties reached a financial settlement in 1994.In 2013, four years after Jackson’s death, the choreographer Wade Robson filed a lawsuit against his estate, saying Jackson had sexually abused him between the ages of seven and 14.

Angelique Jackson The documentary “Sue Bird: In the Clutch,” about the basketball legend’s final WNBA season and her impact on sports, has been acquired following its buzzy Sundance debut. Wolfe Releasing, the largest exclusive distributor of LGBTQ+ films, has picked up the North American distribution rights the feature documentary, which will become available for digital purchase and rental on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU and Wolfe On Demand beginning March 29.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief This month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will showcase over 190 films from 62 countries and regions, including five world premieres, and 64 Asian premieres. Running 12 days (March 28 – April 8), the festival will open with the Asian premiere of local director Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which won the Teddy Award at the recent Berlin festival.

Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has withdrawn her complaint to the BBC, stating that her experience on the show led to post-traumatic stress disorder.The Mail Online reports that the Sherlock actress, 52, who demanded CCTV footage of rehearsals with her professional partner Giovanni Pernice following her departure from the programme, has not contacted the Corporation on the matter further. Sources told the publication that the ‘matter is now closed’ and they have ‘moved on’ after she asked to review the recordings of their off-screen dancing after she left the series, citing ‘personal reasons.’ Amanda left the competition last October due to "personal reasons", after whispers of a 'feud' between her and her professional partner Giovanni, 33, and three months later it was reported that the BBC had received a request from Amanda for footage from her dance rehearsals.

A heartfelt tribute has been paid to BBC Scotland news journalist Nick Sheridan who has died suddenly aged just 32.

A drug mule was caught with 30 kilos of cannabis at Manchester Airport following a row over a boxing match. Mohammad Arif, 27, became involved in the smuggling plot after a 'dispute' related to a charity boxing bout, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Police investigating a serious assault on a busy Glasgow road have released CCTV images of two men.

A record producer who used to work with Sean “Diddy” Combs is the latest individual to sue the music mogul.

Love Island's Marcel Somerville is reportedly "absolutely devastated" and has moved out of his family home after discovering that his wife, Rebecca Vieira, has allegedly cheated on him.The reality TV star, 38, "feels like he's living a nightmare" after finding out that the mother of his three year old child, Roman, has allegedly been sending secret messages to US artist, Slim Jxmmi. Friends close to Marcel say the Blazing Squad singer is "completely broken" by the betrayal.

Hozier and Wembley Arena have responded after a fan was told to remove their ‘Free Palestine’ scarf upon entry at the venue last year.In December 2023, a concert attendee named Hiba Ahmad recounted their experience on X/Twitter of being “pulled aside and escorted to wardrobe” for wearing a scarf in solidarity with Palestine at the concert.The Irish artist performed at the OVO Arena Wembley on December 15 as part of his 2023 UK and Ireland tour.The fan wrote that they wear the ‘Free Palestine’ scarf “everywhere as a show of solidarity” and “because it is fucking cold”.“They then proceeded to tell me they are taking my scarf for my own protection as I might get ‘hate crimed’ for wearing it,” the social media thread stated.The attendee added that staff said they would not confiscate their pride key chain, because they are “not political”.“On the way in I saw people being let in with all sorts of political slogans – especially one memorable tote bag about animal cruelty and testing,” the posts added.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean entertainment group behind BTS, saw revenues and profits both grow by more than a fifth in 2023 as album sales doubled and post-COVID conditions allowed more concerts. The company Monday reported annual revenues of KRW2.17 trillion ($1.63 billion), up 23% compared with 2022. Net profits reached KRW187 million, more that three times 2022’s depressed result and exceeding 2021’s figure.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Occult drama-thriller “Exhuma,” dominated the South Korea box office in its opening weekend with a scarily good debut approaching $17 million. The film, about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to undo the mysterious events happening to a U.S.-based Korean family, grabbed $14.5 million between Friday and Sunday, representing a 77% share of the overall box office market. Including the earnings since its Wednesday debut, the film earned $16.8 million in its full opening session, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com The Oscar heavyweight, Grammy-winning great and all-around icon, Barbra Streisand was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. “This is such a wonderful award to get because you know in advance you’re going to get it. You don’t have to sit there in squirm… And if you don’t have to put on such a happy face, ‘I’m so happy to lose!’ Anyway, you all know what I mean,” the legend joked.

Could Andy Cohen get fired from Bravo? That is what Brandi Glanville and her legal team hope will happen soon!

Sorry Bravo, but to paraphrase that classic song of 39 years ago from The Smiths: That joke isn’t funny now.