What is Japanese knotweed - how gardeners can banish an invasive and illegal plant

Several people have died and a further 100 are seriously hurt after three trains collided in India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix is to launch a new Japanese reality show “Is She the Wolf?” which was developed with broadcaster Abema and adapted from the original show “Who Is the Wolf” which previously ran for 13 seasons. The show follows five men and five women on a quest for love through dates and a group project. However, some female participants are “lying wolves” who cannot fall in love. They must navigate the entire season without being discovered or accepting any declarations of love. It includes a diverse group of participants aged 22 to 32, including actors, artists, models, and athletes. “Is She the Wolf?” streams exclusively on Netflix in Japan beginning June 11, with new episodes streaming each Sunday. Outside Japan, all episodes will be released on Netflix in September 2023.

Netflix is headed to Japan for its next spin on the dating reality genre.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Kore-eda Hirokazu’s film “Monster” which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and and won best screenplay (for Yuji Sakamoto). A critically acclaimed Japanese master, Kore-eda previously won Cannes’ Palme d’Or with “Shoplifters” in 2018 and returned to the competition last year with “Broker” which won best actor for Song Kang-ho. Well Go USA Entertainment plans to release “Monster” in North American theaters in late 2023 or early 2024. Scored by late Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (“The Last Emperor”) and lensed by Ryoto Kondo (“Shoplifters”), “Monster” tells the story of a widowed mother (Ando Sakura, “Shoplifters) who notices that her young son (Kurokawa Soya) has begun exhibiting strange behaviors. When she brings her concerns to the staff at his school, she discovers that a teacher (Nagayama Eita, “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”) is responsible and demands an explanation. Told through the multilayered perspectives of mother, teacher and child, the film gradually unveils the truth which proves much more complex than anyone expects.

Hailee Steinfeld couldn’t be prouder of her dad.

A man who murdered a mum and daughter before burying their bodies under his kitchen floor has lost a bid to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

There's nothing quite like a gleaming toilet, but over time its once pristine porcelain can often become tarnished and discoloured.

A Scot has been jailed after being convicted as part of an international drugs gang which imported £1 million worth of cocaine and cannabis into the country. Glaswegian William Brown, 31, Lee Moore, 48, Charles Dodkins, 29, Daniel Snowdon, 42, appeared at Teesside Crown Court near Stoke, charged with drugs and weapons offences.

Scots have been basking in scorching weather this week as today saw the west of Scotland boast the highest temperature in the whole of the UK.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Jonathan Glazer’s Nazi drama “The Zone of Interest” has sold into major international territories following its buzzy Cannes world premiere. The film centers on the family of a high-ranking SS official that lives next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. The pic has sold into: Austria and Germany (Leonine), Benelux (Cineart), France (BAC), Greece (Spentzos), Italy (I Wonder), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Scandinavia (SF Studios), Spain (Elastica) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi). In Poland — a significant sales market for the film given it is set there — Gutek has come on board as distributor. (A24 was selling worldwide rights for the film, but did not handle the Polish sale.)

Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick told of how he saved a cat by chance after meeting their owner at a Harry Styles concert.

The chief constable of Scotland's police force has accepted his public admission that the service is "institutionally racist and discriminatory" could have come sooner.

Tom Sandoval is back in the hot seat.

The arthouse box office hasn’t recovered quickly post-Covid, but one of the oases for the sector, even by pre-pandemic benchmarks, has always been a Wes Anderson movie.

The Warehouse Project will be back in September, with the likes of Bicep, Honey Dijon, The Blessed Madonna and Jamie Jones on the bill for its 2023 season. It’s also revealed that it will be opening up two new areas of its Depot Mayfield home, including the roof.

Lise Pedersen The highest award for docs-in-progress at the Cannes Film Market’s sidebar dedicated to documentary, Cannes Docs, has gone to Ya-Ting Hsu’s debut feature doc “Islands of the Winds.” Twenty years in the making, the film follows the anti-eviction struggle of the patients of Losheng Sanatorium for lepers, which became a symbol of the fight for democracy in Hsu’s native Taiwan. The prize comes with a €10,000 ($10,800) cash prize and project follow-up by IEFTA (the International Emerging Film Talent Assn.). It is produced by Hsu’s Taiwan-based Argosy Films and Media Productions, Huang Yin-Yu (Moolin Films, Ltd. & Moolin Production, Co., Ltd, Taiwan and Japan) and Baptiste Brunner (Wide Productions – La Cuisine aux Images, France).

Two heavy hearts. Ariana Madix and ex Tom Sandoval paid tribute to their late friend Ali Rafiq after his sudden death.

Sunday night at the 76th Cannes Film Festival was all about the world premiere of the Jude Law and Alicia Vikander Henry VIII period pic Firebrand, which received a royal response from the crowd in the Grand Theatre Lumiere with an eight and a half minute standing ovation.

Ariana Madix is mourning a major loss.

While Southeast Asian films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival many times before, and even won the Palme d’Or, there’s an energy around the region this year that we haven’t felt on the Croisette at previous editions.