North Korea reportedly executed schoolchildren for watching the South Korean survival drama "Squid Game" and other foreign media, according to new testimony. The executions and other brutal punishments were revealed by Amnesty International after conducting 25 interviews with escapees. The news comes as France became the first European Union country to open a consulate in Greenland, and former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a website to reduce prescription drug costs.
According to Sky News, citizens in North Korea also face execution for listening to K-pop, a South Korean music genre. Interviewees described a climate of fear where South Korean culture is treated as a serious crime. The less well-off are more likely to suffer the harshest punishments, while wealthier individuals may face bribes to avoid severe penalties.
In other international news, France opened a consulate in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, on Friday, strengthening its diplomatic presence in the Arctic. Euronews reported that this move makes France the first EU country to establish a consulate general in Greenland, ahead of its partners in the 27-member bloc. President Emmanuel Macron had promised the consulate during a visit last June.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new government website, TrumpRx.gov, aimed at reducing prescription drug costs for Americans. The White House announced the website on Thursday, which features more than 40 medications from five pharmaceutical companies that reached pricing agreements with the administration: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer. "You're going to save a fortune," Trump said, according to Euronews. "This is also so good for overall healthcare."
In Senegal, a surf academy in Dakar is helping approximately 20 girls return to education. The program, run by the US group Black Girls Surf, combines surfing lessons with evening classes for girls who dropped out or never enrolled. The girls largely come from Lebou households, traditional Wolof fishing communities native to the area, Euronews reported.
Finally, in Germany, Islamist groups are increasingly using social media influencers and commercial tactics to recruit young Germans to extremism, according to an expert on radicalization. Kaan Mustafa Orhon, an Islamic studies scholar at German advisory centre Grüner Vogel, said recruiters target vulnerable young people with poor education and limited job prospects, promising status and rapid social advancement. Euronews reported that the dream of rapid social advancement can be seductive and also devastating.
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