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In the first 10 months of this year, South Korea imported $159m worth of kimchi, almost entirely from China, while exporting $137m
The pungent scent of red chilli powder hangs in the air at Kim Chieun’s kimchi factory in Incheon, about 30km west of Seoul. Inside, salted cabbage soaks in large metal vats in the first stage of a process that Kim has followed for more than 30 years.
But watching over the production line has become increasingly fraught. South Korea imports more kimchi than it exports, and the gap has widened as cheaper Chinese-made products take hold in the domestic market.
Continue reading...Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:39:41 GMT
Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany’s new TV drama is flat, airless and banal. It’s a crass affair with a thin, half-hearted performance from Sharpe
Here’s my position. If you are going to create a miniseries about the life, death and music of one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western civilisation, and if you are going to use as your source material a script for a great play that was made into a near-perfect film beloved by almost everyone for its wit and immense, profound themes rendered accessible and moving, and for the fact that it had two of the most extraordinary performances ever committed to what may still then have been celluloid – well, you had better be pretty damn sure that you are bringing something new, exciting, different, richer, cleverer, even more illuminating to the table. Otherwise you are going to look like a bit of a berk.
And so, my friends, to the new six-part drama Amadeus, about the life, death and music of Wolfgang A Mozart, one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western history. Co-creators Joe Barton and Julian Farino have retained parts of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play and the 1984 film starring Tom Hulce as Mozart and F Murray Abraham as his rival composer Antonio Salieri, reworked them into lesser forms, and surrounded them with lesser – flat, airless, banal – scenes. Shaffer’s driving interests in the corrupting power of envy, the survival of religious faith under duress, the mystery of talent and what we expect to come from genius are mostly reduced to pale, petty versions of themselves. The performances – well, we’ll come to those.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 22:00:09 GMT
Emulating the bike-friendly highways enjoyed by our continental neighbours will take a lot more money and political will
Ever since Team GB’s velodrome successes at the 2008 Olympics, campaigners and government ministers have confidently predicted that Britain is about to become a nation of cyclists. There is just one problem: for the most part, it has not happened.
Apart from a very concentrated spike in bike use during Covid, the level of cycle trips in England has stayed broadly static for years, and things do not appear to be changing.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:00:04 GMT
While many use our phones predominantly to doomscroll, smartphones have a range of little-known functions that could make life better and easier – from heart monitoring to even developing camera film
Our smartphones are magical things – far more than dopamine drip providers and a way to keep in touch with friends and family. Using the built-in features and easily available additional apps, there are plenty of clever things you can do with your smartphone.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:00:05 GMT
The health and fitness coach on his difficult childhood, why he’s never been single – and doing his first YouTube workout with a broken hand
Born in Epsom in 1985, Joe Wicks is a health and fitness coach and author. He studied sports science at St Mary’s University and started posting recipes and workouts on social media in 2014, while working as a personal trainer. His Lean in 15 videos went viral, leading to a bestselling publishing career. During the pandemic, Wicks hosted daily livestreamed PE lessons, raised more than £1m for charity and earned an MBE. His 13th book, Protein In 15, is out now.
I was always covered in food as a kid – a real messy eater. This was probably readymade spaghetti from a tin. Our family didn’t have the greatest diet – we were on benefits, a lot of our money went on Dad’s heroin addiction, and Mum was young and didn’t know much about nutrition.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 14:00:06 GMT
A protest barring MPs from pubs is exposing deeper tensions between politicians and the communities they represent
Labour MPs heading back to their constituencies this weekend will do so with a sense of relief that another turbulent term in British politics is over. But those hoping to pitch up at their local pub for a restorative pint with colleagues and constituents may find festive cheer is in short supply. In fact, some may not be allowed through the door.
For the past few weeks, pubs across the country have been putting up signs declaring “No Labour MPs” in protest at changes to business rates announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her latest budget.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 11:48:09 GMT
Exclusive: Warning from Social Mobility Commission chair comes after UK report found ‘entrenched disadvantages’
Keir Starmer has no coherent strategy to tackle entrenched inequalities harming the life chances of millions of people, the government’s social mobility commissioner has said.
A report warned last week that young adults in Britain’s former industrial heartlands were being left behind as a result of failed or abandoned promises by successive governments.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 16:21:24 GMT
Department says image was flagged by prosecutors before determining it posed no risk to survivors of late sex offender
The US justice department said on Sunday it had restored an image it had removed a day earlier from the public release of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein after concluding that the photograph, which included within it a photo of Donald Trump, posed no risk of public exposure to victims of the late convicted sex offender.
The justice department said the image had been flagged by federal prosecutors in New York for potentially exposing victims of Epstein. Its unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a chorus of accusations from Democrats about evident political interference in favor of the president, a former friend of Epstein.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 21:56:53 GMT
Documents released Monday outline allegations against Naveed Akram and his father Sajid over the 14 December attack
New details about the police case against the alleged Bondi terrorists have been released, including details of an alleged video manifesto linked to the Islamic State and the undetonated explosives – including a “tennis ball bomb” – found at the scene.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces charges of murdering 15 people and injuring dozens more in the shooting at a Hanukah celebration on 14 December. His 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram, 50, is the second alleged shooter and died at the scene.
Continue reading...Mon, 22 Dec 2025 03:30:37 GMT
MPs and next of kin of prisoners Amu Gib, 30, and Kamran Ahmed, 28, call for immediate government intervention
Two Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners taking part in a hunger strike have been taken to hospital, as their next of kin and MPs expressed concern over prison conditions and called for immediate government intervention.
Amu Gib, 30, who was being held at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey while awaiting trial, is on day 50 of their hunger strike and 28-year-old Kamran Ahmed was being held at Pentonville prison in London and on day 42 of his hunger strike. The two are the latest of eight prisoners who have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strike action began on Balfour day, 2 November, according to Prisoners for Palestine.
Continue reading...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 20:01:00 GMT