Denzel Washington may have spoken out of turn.

For pub owner Jun Jung-sook, Seoul’s once-vibrant Nokdu Street is not what it used to be when people queued for a table to end their day with Korean mung bean pancakes and shots of the fiery local rice wine makgeolli.

This year brought us new albums from some of the biggest artists in the world: Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift all put out music that thrilled fans.

French fashion house Chanel selected former Bottega Veneta design chief Matthieu Blazy as its next creative director, the company said, after months of fevered speculation about the industry’s most coveted job.

Adoring crowds are flocking to a zoo in Shanghai to watch Junjun, a bear cub just 11 months old, as he frolics in his enclosure playing with toys, such as a favourite tyre, or splashing in a water trough.

ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

A lawyer for rapper Jay-Z has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him, along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000, after inconsistencies emerged in her allegation.

Comedian Chris McCausland, Strictly Come Dancing’s first blind contestant, has been crowned this year’s winner.

Raj Kapoor, fondly called the “greatest showman of Indian cinema”, was a leading filmmaker, producer and actor whose work continues to shape and inspire Indian films.

“My Driver and I” was supposed to be made in 2016, but was scuttled amid Saudi Arabia’s decades-long cinema ban. Eight years later, the landscape for film in the kingdom looks much different — and the star of “My Driver and I” now has an award.

YouTuber Yung Filly is facing new charges of reckless driving, according to reports in Australia, where he is accused of raping a woman.

As Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy) becomes one of the country’s most celebrated tracks in 2024, what made this tribute to good-time drinking resonate so much this year?