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BTS star Jin, who has been discharged from his mandatory service in the South Korean military, is celebrating his freedom by hugging 1,000 fans.

The 31-year-old K-pop star, who is the eldest member of the seven-piece band, is the first to complete his service.

K-pop boy band BTS member Jin leaves after being discharged from the military in Yeoncheon, South Korea.
Pic: Yonhap /Reuters
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Pic: Yonhap /Reuters

He left the 5th Army Infantry Division in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday and was greeted by fellow BTS members J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

They had applied for special leave to attend, according to South Korean media. BTS member Suga was absent from the occasion according to the Associated Press.

The singers hugged and embraced each other, and RM played their hit single Dynamite on the saxophone.

Jin described his year and a half of service as “fun,” adding that he’d “met so many good people,” speaking in a live stream on the fan platform Weverse, broadcast from the offices of BTS’ management agency HYBE.

Jin’s first in-person appearance after the end of his service will be at a festival celebrating South Korean culture called Seoul Festa on Thursday.

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At the festival, he’ll take part in a “hugging event,” embracing 1,000 lucky fans picked in a raffle, according to his record label.

He will also perform music for fans.

In South Korea, military service is mandatory for all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28, however, exemptions are made for some performers and athletes – including globally recognised K-pop stars – who can defer service until they are 30.

K-pop boy band BTS member Jin is greeted by a group member RM after being discharged from the military in Yeoncheon, South Korea.
Pic: Yonhap/Reuters
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BTS stars Jin and RM. Pic: Yonhap/Reuters

K-pop boy band BTS member Jin is greeted by a group member J-Hope after being discharged from the military in Yeoncheon, South Korea.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
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Jin and J-Hope. Pic: Reuters

All members of the band announced that they would serve in October 2022, entering the army across 2022 and 2023, and are expected to reunite in 2025 when they have all completed their service.

Before their military service, the band had announced they were taking a break to pursue solo projects.

BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan – or Beyond The Scene – are a boyband formed in 2010.

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Following the release of their debut single in 2013 they have become the biggest-selling music act in South Korean history, with millions of fans around the world.

In 2021 they became the first K-Pop act to receive a Grammy nomination, and in 2023 they were nominated across the four most important Grammy categories – album, record, song of the year and best new artist.

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Filmmaker Jeff Baena, husband of actress Aubrey Plaza, dies aged 47

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Filmmaker Jeff Baena, husband of actress Aubrey Plaza, dies aged 47

Filmmaker Jeff Baena, the husband of actress Aubrey Plaza, has been found dead aged 47.

The US director and writer was known for films including Life After Beth and The Little Hours, in which Plaza starred.

He died on Friday, according to Los Angeles medical examiner records, viewed by E! News.

According to Deadline, the filmmaker’s family “is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time”.

The circumstances of his death are not yet clear.

Plaza, 40, who is known for TV series including Parks And Recreation and The White Lotus, and films such as Emily The Criminal, had been in a relationship with Baena since about 2011, and the pair married in 2021.

The pair frequently collaborated on his films. While working on his last movie, Spin Me Around, released in 2022, Plaza confirmed they had wed.

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“So proud of my darling husband,” she wrote on Instagram in May 2021, “for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble”.

Baena was a graduate of New York University’s film school and became a production assistant for filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, known for films including Back To The Future and Forrest Gump, after moving to Los Angeles.

He also worked as an assistant editor for writer-director David O Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook), with whom he co-wrote the 2004 indie comedy I Heart Huckabees, starring Jason Schwartzman, Naomi Watts, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin.

In 2014, Baena made his directorial debut with Life After Beth, a horror comedy, followed by Joshy, in which Plaza also appeared, in 2016. Both films were nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize.

His other credits included Horse Girl and the TV series Cinema Toast.

Plaza’s representatives have been contacted for comment.

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Creatives having to be even more creative as National Theatre overhauls how it stages productions

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Creatives having to be even more creative as National Theatre overhauls how it stages productions

The National Theatre is overhauling how it stages productions – as its ambitious climate targets mean creatives are having to be even more creative.

After setting itself the goal of achieving net zero as an organisation by 2030, off-stage quietly radical changes are under way.

Pic: Reed Watts
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Pic: Reed Watts

Sky News was invited to see how the theatre, based in Southbank, central London, has gone about overhauling its approach to staging productions, meeting with some of those who’ve worked on its adaptation of the much-loved children’s classic Ballet Shoes.

While critics have been full of praise for the visual spectacle on-stage, how the whole look was created required a fundamental shift in approach.

“All of the team have had to be on board with reinventing, recutting and reimagining items rather than just making them from scratch,” costume designer Samuel Wyer said.

A new resource they had to work with was the National Theatre Green Store in Bermondsey, southeast London.

The warehouse has more than 131,000 items of costume and almost 22,000 props now housed under one roof so that designers can repurpose items from previous productions to try to cut their carbon footprint.

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It’s a surprisingly satisfying challenge.

Mr Wyer said they were able to “dip and cut clothes… which meant I was finding things even outside my imagination that were more perfect than I could have drawn on a piece of paper”.

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Trying to lead by example, the theatre hopes to demonstrate how the industry needn’t take a fast fashion approach to making sets, props and costumes from scratch.

“I think if it’s demonstrated that we can do things in this way that helps all of us imagine a world where we can use what we’ve got rather than new, new, new, because we need that balance,” Mr Wyer said.

“Theatre is where we come to imagine who we could be.”

Pic: Reed Watts
Image:
Pic: Reed Watts

‘Every piece has its own little quirks’

Last year, the National set itself targets of 50% of the materials used in its productions having had a previous life, and 65% being repurposed at the end of each production.

For set designer Frankie Bradshaw, hitting those targets has meant working with a lot more repurposed furniture.

“Lots of second-hand cabinets, bookshelves,” she said. “Ordinarily [carpenters] would have been used to building from scratch following a drawing and this has been quite different.

“Every piece has its own little quirks, and they’ve had to adapt their processes to fit that way of working.”

While it’s by no means straightforward, the process is proving rewarding.

“It requires everyone to be a little bit more flexible, a little more patient, but it does mean you can end up with a product you’re a lot more proud of,” Ms Bradshaw added.

Ballet Shoes runs at the National Theatre until Saturday 22 February.

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Neil Young confirmed as Glastonbury headliner – days after saying he was pulling out

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Neil Young confirmed as Glastonbury headliner - days after saying he was pulling out

Neil Young has been confirmed as a headliner at this year’s Glastonbury – despite saying he was dropping out due to the BBC’s involvement in the festival.

The 79-year-old Canadian musician wrote on his website earlier this week that both he and his band, The Chrome Hearts, were pulling out because the BBC’s involvement was a “corporate turn-off”.

He has now said in a statement that this decision was down to “an error in the information I received”.

Emily Eavis, the organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, posted on Instagram on Friday: “Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury.

“He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.

“We can’t wait to welcome him back here to headline the Pyramid in June.”

Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in the summer, has worked closely with the BBC – its exclusive broadcast partner – since 1997.

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Posting on Neil Young Archives, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wrote in his initial statement: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs.

“We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.

“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”

Young performing at Glastonbury in 2009. Pic: AP
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Young performing at Glastonbury in 2009. Pic: AP

Young, who headlined the festival’s Pyramid stage in 2009, added: “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.

“Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”

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In an updated statement, he wrote: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved.

“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”

Young, who is married to US actress Daryl Hannah, was booked to play Glastonbury in 1997 but pulled out after cutting his left index finger while making a ham sandwich.

Glastonbury, one of the UK’s largest music festivals, is set to take place between 25 and 29 June, with Sir Rod Stewart booked for the Sunday teatime legend slot.

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