‘Rings of Power’: A Spoiler-Free Guide to Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series

BTS’ Order of Cultural Merit awarded by former president Moon Jae-In in 2018 — should be allowed to serve an alternative form of military service.Korea JoongAng Daily reported on September 21 that Defence Minister Lee has since responded to the proposal, saying that it would be “difficult” to extend this alternative [military service] programme to BTS due to “aspects of fairness on fulfilling mandatory military service” during an interpellation at the National Assembly held on September 19.Kim Young-bae’s original proposal suggests that existing provisions in place for athletes, actors, directors and classical musicians who have made a significant international impact should be expanded to include decorated pop celebrities. “Korean pop celebrities active in the international field make unimaginable economic and social contributions,” said Kim, per The Korea Times.He also added that BTS’ recent appointment as ambassadors of Busan City is one way the boyband are actively serving South Korea’s national interests.

East Renfrewshire Council is launching a series of public consultations to help develop Local Actions Plans that will help to transform towns and neighbourhoods.

Holly Willoughby has brought in lawyers following the intense public backlash she and colleague Phillip Schofield have faced after 'skipping the queue'.

These are some of the most engaging, enlightening and imaginatively told community stories events taking place this September and October as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories. They perfectly exemplify the depth and range of the programme – and the diversity of voices telling the stories that matter to them.

Ange Postecoglou is back in his homeland this week as the media hype for November's Sydney Super Cup hits fever pitch Down Under.

A section of the northbound M9 approach to Junction 2 is set to benefit from a £140,000 Transport Scotland investment in resurfacing improvements, with operating company BEAR Scotland planning to renew approximately one kilometre of the trunk road.

Freddie Gibbs is continuing the run-up to his anticipated new album $oul $old $eparately with today's release of the album's tracklist. The Indiana rapper's fifth solo project will include its lead single "Too Much" featuring Moneybagg Yo plus features across the project from Pusha T, Offset, Raekwon, Anderson .Paak, Musiq Soulchild, DJ Paul, Rick Ross, and Kelly Price.

As Downing Street plans to unveil its mini-budget on Friday, new figures reveal that government borrowing rocketed to record levels.

We may only be two episodes into this year's series of The Great British Bake Off but fans are fully invested in the new batch of bakers - and the themes. Week one started off strong with 'Cake Week' but viewers had to say a sad farewell to Will who became the first baker to be eliminated from the competition.

Christmas at Dunham Massey, the after-dark illuminated festive trail, will return to the historic National Trust venue in Greater Manchester between Friday, November 18, 2022, and Monday, January 2, 2023. It may only be August but public demand for the hugely popular Christmas light trail is so high that early booking is advised to avoid disappointment.

Jack Grealish says he agrees with Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne 'a little bit' that he is unfairly targeted for his actions on and off the pitch because he is English.

A Manchester nurse has admitted having an 'inappropriate relationship' with a prison inmate - while a jail worker is also accused of having a fling with the same man.

Coronation Street fans think they have spotted a couple of issues as Kelly Neelan kickstarted her plan to have Gary Windass killed. On Sunday night viewers of the ITV soap saw the start of the explosive storyline when the teen discovered her guardian was responsible for her dad's death.

Jennifer Garner has been pictured wearing a sparking diamond ring following her ex-husband Ben Affleck's wedding to Jennifer Lopez.READ: Jennifer Garner sends emotional message to 'frenemy' after Ben Affleck weds Jennifer LopezThe 50-year-old stepped out near her LA home on Tuesday wearing an off-duty outfit consisting of a black pleated skirt and beige cardigan – but it was her jewelry that stole the show, with the sparkler reported to be an eternity band given to her by her boyfriend John Miller.WATCH: Jennifer Garner sparks engagement claims with telling new jewelryJennifer has been dating businessman John since 2018 after her divorce from Ben was finalized. They briefly split in October 2020 before rekindling their romance earlier in 2021.The 13 Going on 30 actress and father-of-two John have never commented publicly on their relationship, but her former Alias co-star Victor Garber – who married Jen and Ben back in 2005 – shared his opinion on her relationship.MORE: Jennifer Garner and boyfriend John Miller make rare outing togetherMORE: Jennifer Garner shares rare glimpse inside home life with her three children"I have [met him].

SM Entertainment on brand-new artist-themed attractions.According to a report from Korea JoongAng Daily earlier today (September 21), SM Entertainment announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Everland to introduce a space dedicated to content related to the SMCU (SM Culture Universe). The SMCU is a shared universe established by the music label featuring its artists engaged in fictional adventures.The collaboration will see the introduction of new SMCU-themed attractions and rides including “the Hurricane, Bumper Car, Amazon Express and Music Garden”.

N-Dubz rapper Fazer is going to be a dad-of-three as his girlfriend is expecting twins. Fazer is already dad to nine year old daughter Ava Rose, whom he shares with now-pregnant partner Ashley Havelin. At the time of her pregnancy with Ava, the rapper’s long-term girlfriend admitted that her bump with her daughter didn’t begin to properly show until she was five months along.

Marilyn Manson has been submitted to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.Back in February 2021, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began investigating the abuse allegations that were made against Manson. It came after actor Evan Rachel Wood (Manson’s former partner) and several other women accused Manson of sexual abuse, grooming and manipulation.

Arctic Monkeys are set to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week.The band are currently in New York to play an intimate “phone-free” concert at the 3,000-capacity Kings Theatre in Brooklyn this evening (September 21). It comes after recent slots at Primavera Sound Los Angeles and Life Is Beautiful in Las Vegas.Tomorrow (September 22), Alex Turner and co.

Naman Ramachandran Prashant Nair, Sundance audience award winner for “Umrika,” and veteran producer Ronnie Screwvala (“Uri: The Surgical Strike”) are teaming up on series “The Support Group.” Nair serves as the director-showrunner on the multi-season series, which follows three characters from very different backgrounds who form an uneasy alliance to escape the consequences of an accidental killing. The series is produced by Screwvala’s RSVP in association with Sidharth Jain’s House of Talkies. While a streaming or broadcast partner has not been revealed yet, typically Screwvala prefers to develop content on his own steam and then negotiate with partners who buy into the show’s vision.

Europe’s Big Hope: Platforms Really Embracing Cinema In the U.S., the platforms already buy big when it comes to movies. Think Sundance. Europe is another land: Platforms have largely held back much more, thwarted in France, for instance, by regulated windows.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Speaking on the issue of navigating finance in 2022 and beyond at San Sebastian’s two-day Creative Investors Conference, Wild Bunch exec Cecile Gaget and 30West’s Trevor Groth took stock of the challenges ahead in a post-pandemic world. Groth observed that film production budgets have been rising as streaming platforms have been paying relatively good wages, making it harder for independents to stay competitive. Gaget agreed: “It’s getting more expensive to hire writers and crew, and the pandemic certainly didn’t help.” Groth acknowledged that selling to streamers can be a challenge. When 30West was negotiating on the sale of their phenomenal hit “Tiger King” to Netflix, they fought hard to hang on to its IP, but to no avail. “We leveraged this to get a higher sale price but we didn’t realize it was going to be such a big hit, so we lost out from not having a backend,” Groth said. However, “Tiger King” gave them the momentum to enter the documentary space.

According to The Guardian, Hardy entered the competition under his real name “Edward,” straying away from his stage name, which is also his middle name.“Everyone recognized him but he was very humble and was happy to take time out for people to take photographs with him,” the spokesperson said, according to The Guardian. “It was a real pleasure to have him compete at our event.”Hardy’s opponent, Danny Appleby, told local media that the actor’s appearance at the event left him “shell-shocked.”“I was shell-shocked,” the veteran athlete said.

Every so often, albeit very rarely, a track comes along that changes the trajectory of an artist's career forever. A song that cements their status and elevates them to entirely new levels. Their Someone Like You, New Rules or Thinking Out Loud.

Smashing Pumpkins played a gig in Chicago last night (September 20) and debuted a brand new song – listen to ‘Empires’ below.‘Empires’ will appear on the band’s new three-part “rock opera” album, ‘ATUM’, which was announced yesterday and previewed by first single ‘Beguiled’.Following on from 2020’s ‘CYR’, the forthcoming 33-song album serves as a sequel to the band’s classic double records ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ (1995) and ‘Machina/The Machines Of God’ (2000).Listen to the live debut of ‘Empires’ below.Speaking to NME about the new record, Billy Corgan said: “When you decide to do a three-act, 33-song rock musical in 2022… [Laughs] you’re definitely stepping in it! Because there’s a lot of people who believe less is more these days. I’m on the opposite side – I actually think more is more!”While ‘Beguiled’ feels like a bold statement of intent, Corgan admitted that there were “probably about seven other songs” that could’ve been used to introduce fans to the ambitious ‘ATUM’ era.“With 33 songs, I was sort of Switzerland on the whole thing,” he told NME.

BIBI will be dropping a pre-release single titled ‘Animal Farm’ ahead of her debut studio album.On September 21, South Korean news outlet MBC News reported that the South Korean musician will be releasing a single titled ‘Animal Farm’ as a precursor for her upcoming full-length album on September 27 at 1pm KST.The outlet also noted that BIBI herself has contributed to the song’s production and lyrics. Working alongside her on the track was The Need as a composer, as well as Grammy award-winning Mastering Engineer Mike Bozzi serving as a co-producer on ‘Animal Farm’.The announcement comes hot on the heels of an interview with BIBI hosted by Twitch streamer Joo Ho-min, where she shared new details about her forthcoming record, revealed to be titled ‘Noir: The Lowlife Princess’.

Stray Kids, NCT’s Taeyong and Mark and more have unveiled new tracks as contributions to the official Street Man Fighter soundtrack.South Korean cable network Mnet took to social media on September 20 to announce seven new tracks for the upcoming ‘Mega Crew’ project mission, due to take place during the following week’s episode of the dance reality competition. The participating dance crews on the series are to choreograph dance routines to the songs as assigned for the next round of the match.Stray Kids and NCT members Taeyong and Mark were the only K-pop idols to have contributed to the Street Man Fighter tracklist, with the songs ‘HEYDAY’ and ‘LIT’ respectively.

King Charles III wants a "slimmed down coronation" next year on his mother's coronation anniversary.The eldest child of the Queen is set to be coronated next year and could choose the date of Friday 2 June. According to MailOnline, sources have said that the service will most likely be "shorter, smaller and less expensive" than the late Queen's in 1953. However, the service will also celebrate her life.

Janette Manrara caused a stir with some exciting news on Tuesday.SEE: Strictly Come Dancing's pros reveal their dream dance partners - exclusiveTaking to Instagram, the Miami-born professional dancer shared a carousel of joyous snaps alongside her co-star Rylan Clark-Neal. In the photos, the duo pulled a series of dance-inspired poses as they beamed for the camera.WATCH: Behind the scenes with the new stars of StrictlyDressed up to the nines, Janette and Rylan donned spectacular navy outfits.

The Princess of Wales might have to ditch her current style for her role as the next Queen Consort, a fashion expert has claimed. Miranda Holder, a fashion coach who is known for her viral TikTok style videos, explained that as Kate draws closer to her role as the future monarch, “it is likely that we will see her wardrobe become more formal and appropriate for her position".

Coronation Street fans were left baffled over a camera blunder amid Kelly Neelan's explosive exit on the ITV soap. During Sunday's episode, an emotional Kelly received some of her late mother Laura Neelan's belongings as she decided to go through them all.

Michael Nordine author SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched the first two episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. That sound you just heard is neither drums, drums in the deep nor the roar of a Balrog. It was actually a collective sigh of relief emanating from countless “Lord of the Rings” fans who just watched the first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” and realized that it is, in fact, a compelling expansion of the Middle-earth mythos. The episodes, titled “Shadows of the Past” and “Adrift,” both premiered tonight, while the remaining six will air weekly. The Second Age of Middle-earth is fairly technologically advanced, all things considered, but it would seem they haven’t yet developed the means to drop an entire season of prestige television at once.