A joke by a Chinese stand-up comedian that loosely referenced a slogan used to describe the country's military has cost an entertainment firm more than $2 million after it was slapped with enormous fines by authorities.

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2023--

Radiohead drummer Philip Selway has hinted that the band are ready to reunite after being on hiatus since 2018.

Look, none of us is above pettiness, especially when it comes to family arguments. But one man’s sisters took things to a whole new level, as he revealed in a radio call-in. The brother, named Callum, told New Zealand’s ZM show that his siblings once convinced his parents he was dead. And his poor mum and dad only learned the truth when he called them for a catch-up... six months later. Hosts Carl Fletcher, Vaughan Smith and Hayley Sproull listened to the story with dropped jaws, branding it the “best” they’d ever heard. The trio were quick to probe Callum on the details of the crazy deception, and he duly obliged. "My sisters were in a bit of a tiff with my parents at the time and they weren't really getting along,” he explained. "I was living in Wellington while they were in Christchurch. And my older sister actually called my parents up and told them that I’d died." His sisters then apparently claimed that the funeral had already taken place and their parents hadn’t been invited because his ex-girlfriend’s mum and dad “didn’t want them there”. (Makes sense.) At this point, a stunned Smith interjected: ”I'm going to say this, and in the nicest possible way – your sister sounds like a crazy b**h. "No offence. Your sister sounds like a top-level, red flag, crazy b***h!" @fvhzm Callum wins the award for the greatest sentence ever said on-air in ZM history ? The hosts then posed the million-dollar question: how had Callum not spoken to his parents for half a year? He responded matter-of-factly: "I was just busy with life and work and then I was like, wait, I haven't heard from my parents in a while. I wonder what's going on?” He then revealed that he “gave them a call up” and, shocked, they responded: “You're alive?” Asked how they reacted upon hearing the voice of their presumed late son, Callum admitted they were “beside themselves”. “My mum was absolutely in tears and my dad was kind of just gobsmacked – he was just like 'what the f**k is going on?'” he recounted. But, he later said that they were “over the moon” when he went down to visit them that same weekend to “reassure them” that he was, indeed, alive. Naturally, the presenters asked how it was possible that his parents just accepted the news of his death without trying to verify it. "They were kind of like just running around, calling up all our other family – seeing if they had heard anything, from what I was told," he explained. "And then they didn't really know anything to go off so my parents kind of just presumed 'yeah he died'." The presenters then debated whether you would call someone up if you’d heard they’d died. “If somebody said that your friend is dead, you’re not going to pick up the phone and call them, are you? You’re just going to be like, oh, well, yeah, they’re dead,” Fletcher said. But Smith insisted that he would get drunk and call their voicemail just to hear their voice. After the personal reflections, the hosts asked Callum how he’d “died” according to his sisters – whether it had been a car accident or some other unfortunate event. But no, they apparently told his parents that he’d been stabbed. "Wait wait wait. So you are murdered?” Smith laughed delightedly. "You're not dead by your own hand or dead in an accident, someone murdered you?” He then asked Callum if he was “the sort of person who would have been stabbed?", to which he replied: "I was not in some gangs but I will say, at the point in time, it wouldn't have been unpeculiar for me to get stabbed." The caller went on to insist that he didn’t know why his sisters “hate” him, and he also revealed that his parents no longer speak to them. “We've nearly been doing this for 20 years,” Smith said. “This is the wildest phone call I've ever had.” ZM Radio shared the excerpt from the episode to TikTok and it racked up more than 1.5 million views and 167,000 likes in a week. However, the plot thickened when a commentator claiming to be Callum’s sister wrote: “I can confirm I never told my parents he was dead.” She said there had been a stabbing in the city of Porirua at the time, and no one had heard from Callum “for a few months” and so she contacted him to check he was ok. And when she found out he was, “she was happy”. She then suggested her family had a number of issues and that she “tried to stay away” from them. Urged to call into the radio show and “get this straightened out”, she replied: “Is it really even worth it? In order to do that I would need to air everyone's dirty laundry. It would turn from comical to sad very quickly.” Besides, she said, she didn’t really “mind” his on-air account, conceding: “The story was a good laugh.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

One of the two biggest proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects in the Midwest is being put on hold so the company can reevaluate the route

Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah insists he has achieved nothing yet because he is not classed as one of the world’s greats. The defender has made his Anfield breakthrough this season and earned the faith of boss Jurgen Klopp. The manager said this month he was surprised about his rapid rise, with Liverpool having considered sending Quansah out on loan again after he spent the second half of last season with Bristol Rovers in League One. But the England Under-21 international, who made his Young Lions debut last month, has now made nine appearances for the Reds this season. However, it is not enough for the ambitious 20-year-old, who wants to make a lasting mark on the game. He said: “No (his season has not exceeded expectations), because no-one has said ‘Jarell Quansah is one of the best players in the world’ yet. “No-one’s said ‘he’s a top centre-back’. No-one’s said ‘he’s all this’, so until I’m regarded as at least one of the best players in the Premier League, then there is no reason for me to sit on what I’ve got and go ‘Oh yeah, I’ve played nine games for Liverpool’. That’s never been the end goal. “I’ve always just wanted to be a winner. I’ve hated losing since I was young. I used to cry when I lost. When I lose, it still ruins my weekend and stuff like that. “There is no point in setting goals that you think you could reach. You might as well just set a goal that maybe looks out of reach but you never know what you can get to. “Surprised could be deemed an interesting word but I think he (Klopp) means I wasn’t expected to be there yet. “I don’t think it was ‘It’s a surprise, I’ve trained with him before and he’s not a good player’. It was about how soon it’s come and how I’ve dealt with the adversity I have been thrown into. “It’s not expected from being on loan at Bristol Rovers to going straight into the first team, and to do as well as I did. That’s where the surprise came from.” Quansah made his debut in Liverpool’s late 2-1 win at Newcastle in August, coming on as a substitute for the injured Joel Matip after Virgil Van Dijk was sent off. He also had a goal disallowed in the Reds’ 3-2 Europa League defeat in Toulouse last week, while Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all offered words of wisdom. He said: “They just say enjoy it. It sounds so simple and cliche but it is easy for young centre-halves to not play their game, play safe and not do what they do at other levels just because it is a step up. “Them saying that relaxes you a bit, so when I get told to enjoy it I can be free and just play. I don’t have to worry about making mistakes because they’re going to happen. “I can’t remember the last player who had a perfect career and never made a mistake, that is going to happen and that is the way you learn best so just enjoy myself and do the best I can.” Now, Quansah is preparing to travel to Serbia on Friday for Saturday’s Euro 2025 qualifier in Backa Topola, before returning to face Northern Ireland at Goodison Park on Tuesday in Group F. Lee Carsley’s side are second in the group following last month’s late 3-2 defeat to Ukraine, having smashed Serbia 9-1 at the City Ground. The loss to Ukraine in Poland, after levelling at 2-2 having been 2-0 down, was just England’s third in qualifying since 2011 but Quansah is happy to learn the lessons. He said: “We didn’t lock the game down as the way we should have and their goal was a sucker punch. “Things are definitely going to be different (in Serbia), it’s always tough going away from home as we found out against Ukraine.” Read More Liam Dawson sees promise in fellow spinner Rehan Ahmed but calls for patience Expanded Vitality Blast Off will return to kick off new domestic T20 schedule Damien Comolli says Toulouse’s entire football operation ‘driven by data’ No end to pursuit of the world’s best players, Saudi Pro League official says Basketball coach says sport can play big role in developing skills of youngsters Newcastle, Man Utd and West Ham target Leverkusen defender

Bond documents signed by Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case were filed with the Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday. Last month, the former president agreed to a $200,000 bond, which he covered the cost of by putting 10% toward it and working with a local Atlanta bond company.

European natural gas eased on Tuesday with the market so brimming with supplies that even the potential shutdown

A capsule look at the morning foursomes and afternoon fourballs matches Saturday in the Ryder Cup, which ended with a split

By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Friday, saying it

Lida Ren, Morgan Stanley’s real estate investment banker focused on China, has left the US firm amid a

Talks starting Saudi Arabia this weekend to find a peaceful settlement to end Russia's war in Ukraine will