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Get Dirty at Home: COVID-19 Moves South Korea's Mud Festival Online

Children play in a mud pool during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at their home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020. (Reuters)
Children play in a mud pool during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at their home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020. (Reuters)
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Get Dirty at Home: COVID-19 Moves South Korea's Mud Festival Online

Children play in a mud pool during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at their home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020. (Reuters)
Children play in a mud pool during the Online Boryeong Mud Festival at their home during a live streaming event, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, July 18, 2020. (Reuters)

When a pandemic threatens a good romp in the mud, some South Koreans bring the mud home with them instead.

The popular Boryeong Mud Festival, halted this year because of COVID-19, instead became an online celebration of soil, with people from around the country enjoying mud pools and mud packs in their homes - and streaming the dirty results.

The annual mud extravaganza, in Boryeong on the coast 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Seoul, is South Korea’s most popular festival for international visitors. They typically flock to the beach in their hundreds for mud slides, mud wrestling and other revelry.

This year the city set up a large screen in a studio streaming images of hundreds of people, some with mud kits consisting of a mini-pool, mud packs, mud soaps and colorful mud powders.

Daubed with blue, red and yellow mud powders, many watched singers perform online.

“I was sad that I wasn’t able to go to the Boryeong Mud Festival, but it is great that my Mom made a mud pool,” said 10-year-old Han Chae-yoon, sitting in a mini-pool in her living room, her face and body covered with mud.

Her mother Kim young-ah told Reuters, “My home gets dirty, but the children enjoy it and I am happy for that.”

Some 3,000 people, including K-pop fans from overseas, watched the live event on YouTube.

Boryeong launched the festival on Daecheon Beach in 1998 to rejuvenate a local economy hit by the Asian financial crisis. The event promoted mud-based cosmetics said to be good for the skin - turning what is known as a dirty beach into one of South Korea’s biggest tourist attractions.

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Hundreds of Firefighters Battle Japan Forest Blazes

Japanese Self-Defense Forces helicopter drops water during firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Japanese Self-Defense Forces helicopter drops water during firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
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Hundreds of Firefighters Battle Japan Forest Blazes

Japanese Self-Defense Forces helicopter drops water during firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)
Japanese Self-Defense Forces helicopter drops water during firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 25, 2026. (Reuters)

Hundreds of firefighters were battling wildfires in the forests of northern Japan on Saturday, as authorities urged more than 3,200 people to evacuate from their homes, government officials said.

As of Saturday morning, blazes in the mountainous areas of Iwate region had burned about 700 hectares (1,730 acres) since breaking out three days ago, local government officials said in a statement.

A large column of smoke, which could be smelled 30 kilometers (20 miles) away, was seen rising up the valley near the town of Otsuchi as two helicopters dropped water on the burning forest.

In Otsuchi, fire engines were spraying the forest near homes close to the fire.

About a dozen helicopters and more than 1,300 firefighters as well as Japan Self-Defense Forces troops would be mobilized on Saturday to battle the fires, the statement said.

At least eight buildings had been burnt but all the residents had evacuated, it said.

"We're making efforts to extinguish (the fires) ... and will update the information" later in the day, an Iwate official told AFP.

"Ultimately, I do hope it'll rain," a man in Otsuchi told public broadcaster NHK.

Increasingly dry winters have raised the risk of wildfires. A blaze that broke out in the Iwate city of Ofunato early last year was Japan's worst in more than half a century.

Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by mankind's burning of fossil fuels will make periods of drought more intense and longer-lasting, creating the ideal conditions for wildfires.

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Australia and New Zealand Gather in Türkiye to Commemorate WWI Battle

New Zealand soldiers march during the international service in recognition of the Gallipoli campaign at Mehmetcik monument, a day before ANZAC Day, in the Gallipoli peninsula near Canakkale, Türkiye, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
New Zealand soldiers march during the international service in recognition of the Gallipoli campaign at Mehmetcik monument, a day before ANZAC Day, in the Gallipoli peninsula near Canakkale, Türkiye, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
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Australia and New Zealand Gather in Türkiye to Commemorate WWI Battle

New Zealand soldiers march during the international service in recognition of the Gallipoli campaign at Mehmetcik monument, a day before ANZAC Day, in the Gallipoli peninsula near Canakkale, Türkiye, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
New Zealand soldiers march during the international service in recognition of the Gallipoli campaign at Mehmetcik monument, a day before ANZAC Day, in the Gallipoli peninsula near Canakkale, Türkiye, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)

Officials and visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey gathered in northwest Türkiye on Saturday to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

The solemn ceremony began at 5:30 a.m. local time near a beach where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzacs, first landed at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.

The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.

The Gallipoli campaign, part of a British-led effort to defeat the Ottoman Empire, ultimately failed, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides during the eight-month conflict. It aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the Ottomans out of the war.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealand’s national identities, as well as friendship with their former adversary, Türkiye.

“From great suffering, understanding can grow. From former enemies, friendships can blossom. The relationship between Türkiye, Australia and New Zealand is built on remembrance, respect and recognition of our shared humanity,” said Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Cindy Kiro during the opening address.

Turkish Col. Fatih Cansiz read from the tribute Türkiye’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk made in 1934 for the fallen: “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours.”

Ataturk first rose to prominence as commander of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli, then went on to lead Türkiye’s War of Independence and ultimately found the Turkish Republic.

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Chinese Panda Pair Headed to US Zoo

One of four panda bears at Zoo Atlanta rests in their habitat on Dec. 30, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP)
One of four panda bears at Zoo Atlanta rests in their habitat on Dec. 30, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP)
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Chinese Panda Pair Headed to US Zoo

One of four panda bears at Zoo Atlanta rests in their habitat on Dec. 30, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP)
One of four panda bears at Zoo Atlanta rests in their habitat on Dec. 30, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP)

Two giant pandas from China are headed to Atlanta on a new 10-year conservation deal.

Pandas Ping Ping, a male, and Fu Shuang, a female, will live at Zoo Atlanta, China Wildlife Conservation Association said in a statement Friday.

The organization signed the research agreement with the United States zoo last year, it said, noting the deal continues "the 'panda bond' shared by the people of both nations for more than 20 years".

The panda pair come from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwestern Sichuan province, according to the statement.

"Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species," the zoo's president Raymond B. King said in a statement.

"We can't wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang."

The zoo welcomed its first giant pandas Yang Yang and Lun Lun when they arrived in 1999.

That pair produced seven cubs over a 25-year agreement before returning to China with their two youngest in 2024, when that deal expired.

The US side has prepared for Ping Ping and Fu Shuang's arrival by renovating their habitat to make it "more comfortable and more safe", the Chinese association said.

The panda news comes as US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing next month.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday the new deal "will contribute to the well-being of giant pandas... and the friendship between the people of China and the US".