World
Jessie Mei Li, Karina Lam, Chris Pang and Toby Stephens on the Rich and Restless in Hong Kong Glamour Drama ‘The Season’: ‘They’re All Human Beings Who Are Terrified’
There are no trailers on a boat. This is the logistical reality that Toby Stephens found himself confronting somewhere in the middle of shooting “The Season,” Hulu‘s new drama about the bad behavior of Hong Kong’s sailing elite – a show that, almost by design, offered its cast nowhere to hide.
“Normally when you’re filming, you can go back there, and at lunchtime you can have a little snoozy,” Stephens says, with the weary affection of a man who has made his peace with it. Instead, he meditated on deck. His castmates photographed him doing it. There was, apparently, a sitar soundtrack.
Six episodes. Fifty days. Humid, floating, relentless. And by all accounts, a genuinely wonderful time.
“Because we had such a fun cast,” says Karina Lam, who plays Fiona Hext, “all that just became so much easier.” Jessie Mei Li, who plays the American Cola despite being resolutely English, agrees. “You just have each other to get through it. And we had so many belly laughs with the crew.”
The warmth is real, but so is the craft that went into making “The Season” – a show that arrives on Hulu on June 17 with all six episodes at once, produced by PCCW Media and SK Global, shot almost entirely on real Hong Kong locations, and built around a cast that spent most of production at sea.
For Lam, the challenge was language. She has spent 25 years acting in Cantonese and Mandarin – launched her career in Hong Kong, built a parallel life as a singer in Taiwan, was born and raised in Canada – and describes herself as a hybrid in the most literal sense. “I dream in Chinese,” she says. English fluency and English acting, it turns out, are different muscles entirely. “There are certain things you can only express in Cantonese,” she says. The ambiguity of Chinese, the way meaning pools in the spaces between words, resists translation.
Mei Li had the opposite problem. Playing an American in a production staffed by Australians, Brits, a Chilean director and a Hispanic DP, her brain kept mutinying. “Because I like to assimilate when I’m talking to someone, I can’t help but copy them,” she says. The accent kept slipping. “There were just some times where my accent was coming up. I’ll be talking to Chris, and I then suddenly say something in a scene that just sounded Australian.”
Chris Pang, for his part, was wrestling with something thornier than phonetics. His character, Andrew Fung, is written to be obnoxious – cartoonishly, gleefully, exhaustingly so. The question was whether audiences would stick with him. “Andrew is unabashedly and unapologetically an asshole,” Pang says. “He just says the most outlandish, most horrible things. And it’s going to be a mission to find that balance, where you say these things but you still like this guy.” The goal, as he frames it: “an asshole, but one that you can’t help but love.” Director Marialy Rivas, he says, encouraged him to push further than he thought wise. He pushed too far, regularly. “Marialy would give me a take and just be like, just go all out, and I’d go way too far. Like, okay, we’re not using that.”
Stephens, playing Christopher Hext – patriarch, power broker, the kind of man who wears his wealth like armor – was after something quieter. The danger with characters like this, he says, is that they flatten into archetype. “Characters can come across as sort of one-dimensional, kind of evil rich people who are just sort of sociopathic.” What interested him was the gap between the performance of power and whatever lives underneath it. “They’re all masking. They’re all throwing up these things about, I’m rich, I’m powerful, I’ve got this status, but underneath it, they’re all human beings who are all terrified. They feel all of these other things.”
It is, perhaps, also a description of Hong Kong itself – a city that presents one face and contains multitudes. All four cast members return, unprompted, to the idea of the city as something more than backdrop. “Hong Kong seems like a character on its own,” Lam says. She has shot dozens of films here and found herself, through this production’s use of real locations and an outsider’s lens, seeing it differently. “I’ve shot so many Hong Kong produced films here, and it’s never been this way, in this kind of lens.”
Mei Li goes further. The show moves between worlds – the gleaming marina set of the ultra-wealthy and the more grounded lives of characters outside that orbit – and the city absorbs both. “It’s not just we filmed it in Hong Kong. It’s like, this show is about Hong Kong in so many ways.” Stephens, characteristically, cuts to it: “This show could only take place in Hong Kong.”
The series is created and showrun by Yalun Tu, with Marialy Rivas serving as lead director and executive producer. It is produced by PCCW Media in partnership with SK Global, the company behind “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Thai Cave Rescue” and “Delhi Crime.” International sales are handled by Fremantle with support from De Maio Entertainment. Beyond Hulu, the series will stream on Viu across Asia, the Middle East and South Africa, and on Now TV in Hong Kong.
As for what comes next: Stephens is returning to the U.K. for a period film about two nuns on the run during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII – “Thelma and Louise in Tudor times,” he calls it – titled “The Reformation of Mother Agnes.” Pang has written a crime thriller, currently titled “Brother Gangster” (“I think it needs to change,” he says), with director Jane Woo attached to helm. Mei Li heads to the Soho Theatre in London this summer for “Tender,” a four-person comedy by Dave Harris – only her second time on stage. “It’s something a bit different,” she says. Lam is due to begin filming in September on a project with a Malaysian director, details undisclosed.
All four have moved on to other projects, other cities, other worlds. But Hong Kong has a way of pulling people back.
MADRID (AP) — A large wildfire in the south of France prompted Tour de France organizers to ban fans on Monday from attending the finale of the third stage of the cycling showpiece race.
After a couple of days in Spain, the race entered France with a stage to the Pyrenees town of Les Angles, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from a fire that has burned almost 1,821 hectares (4,500 acres) of land.
Tour de France organizers said the large wildfire currently in the Pyrénées-Orientales required a large mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and other government agencies.
“The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control,” authorities said.
As a result, organizers decided that once the peloton reaches France for the last 40 kilometers (25 miles), the publicity caravan — a 10-kilometer (6-mile) procession of sponsor vehicles that precedes the race — would not be able to operate.
Only riders and vehicles essential to the race would be allowed on the route, and spectators were asked not to gather on the roadside or at the finish area.
Stage 3 started from the Spanish town of Granollers, where temperatures reached around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), race organizers said, quoting the Spanish Meteorological Agency.
Nearly 700 firefighters were battling the blaze, which led authorities on Sunday night to order the evacuation of more than two dozen villages.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heatwaves across Europe.
Scores of wildfires break out in Greece
In Greece, 96 wildfires had broken out over the past 48 hours, the country’s government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Monday. The vast majority were quickly brought under control before they could spread, he said.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, especially in southeastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.
The most significant fire broke out Sunday afternoon in the Mandra area west of the capital, Athens. Authorities deployed 29 aircraft and more than 200 firefighters in a race to tame the blaze before nightfall, when firefighting planes can no longer operate. By Monday, the fire had abated, although it had not been fully extinguished.
Several parts of the country were listed as being at a high or very high risk of wildfires on Monday due to strong winds. One wildfire that broke out in the southern island of Crete triggered evacuation orders for a village near the town of Ierapetra. The blaze, which was burning through mainly agricultural land, was being fanned by strong winds, the fire department said.
Another heatwave in Spain and Portugal
In the Iberian Peninsula, another surge in heat spread across Spain and Portugal, where hundreds of firefighters were also working to contain wildfires.
Spain’s weather agency AEMET warned that a heatwave that began Sunday would endure at least until Thursday, bringing elevated daytime and nighttime temperatures. Across much of Spain, including the capital Madrid, daytime highs were expected to range between 37 C and 42 C (99 F and 108 F) on Monday and Tuesday.
Overnight conditions were also forecast to be uncomfortably hot, with temperatures easily exceeding 20 C (68 F) — which scientists refer to as ‘tropical nights’. This means people might not be recovering properly from daytime heat in the overnight hours.
In Portugal, inland locations saw temperatures soar Monday, while coastal Lisbon also baked under temperatures reaching 33 C (91 F). Temperatures were expected to drop later in the week.
___
Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report
World
Zelenskyy pressures US and Europe for more ‘air defense’ assistance amid ongoing war with Russia
Former NATO ambassador credits Trump for historic NATO defense spending
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker discusses the upcoming NATO Summit in Turkey, which President Donald Trump will attend. Volker highlights Trump’s focus on increased defense spending from allies and the challenges of promoting unity within the alliance, especially following the Iran operation. He emphasizes NATO’s historical role in deterring aggression and its support for the U.S. after 9/11.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressuring the U.S. and Europe to provide more missiles to help Ukraine defend against Russian attacks.
“Last night, Kyiv came under a massive Russian attack. Russia launched 68 missiles and 351 attack drones,” Zelenskyy noted in part of a Monday post on X.
President Donald Trump is slated to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.
Zelenskyy is calling for the U.S. and European allies to emerge from the meeting “with strong decisions in support of” Ukraine’s “air defense.”
TRUMP CALLS OUT NATO AHEAD OF SUMMIT, CALLING IT ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR US TO PERSIST ON ‘ONE SIDED PATH’
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference after meetings with the heads of the EU and Ireland, in Dublin on July 1, 2026. (Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images)
“Our warriors performed well today in intercepting drones and cruise missiles, but unfortunately not Russian ballistic missiles. And the reason lies in the insufficient supply of interceptor missiles. It is critically important that the world – first and foremost the United States and our European partners – come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense, and thus the protection of ordinary people’s lives,” he noted in the post.
WORLD LEADERS, DIGNITARIES PAY TRIBUTE TO AMERICA ON HISTORIC 250TH BIRTHDAY
President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One as he departs Bismarck Municipal Airport on July 1, 2026, in North Dakota. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep ‘vanquishing’ residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he asserted.
Zelenskyy’s comments come amid the years-long war between Russia and Ukraine.
RUSSIAN GENERALS’ ASSASSINATIONS EXPOSE GROWING RIFT INSIDE PUTIN’S SECURITY APPARATUS
Large banners on an office complex near the Presidential Palace, the venue for the NATO summit, in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday, July 6, 2026. (Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Reuters reported that Zelenskyy, new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to have dinner with NATO leaders on Tuesday.
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Hungary’s opposition Fidesz party has called for a demonstration on Thursday after Prime Minister Péter Magyar submitted a constitutional amendment to remove the country’s president, Tamás Sulyok.
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Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April’s election, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, has repeatedly called for the removal of the official appointed by his predecessor, whom he calls “Orbán’s puppet”.
Magyar’s amendment, filed on Saturday, states that “the mandate of the incumbent President of the Republic shall terminate on the day following the entry into force of the amendment to the Fundamental Law”.
The governing Tisza Party holds a supermajority in parliament, meaning the amendment is expected to pass. According to sources in the Hungarian parliament, the vote could take place as early as next week, but this has not been officially confirmed.
The constitutional changes would also remove four constitutional judges by setting their retirement age at 70, and limit parliamentary deputies to a 12-year mandate.
President Sulyok has said he has no intention of resigning, describing Magyar’s move as a threat to democracy.
“The question is whether this force will sweep away internationally recognised and required principles of the rule of law, as well as genuine representative democracy,” Sulyok said in a statement on Sunday.
Magyar pledged repeatedly during his election campaign to remove the president from office. He argues that Sulyok failed to fulfil his constitutional duties and did not stand up for opposition supporters during Orbán’s time in power.
“Viktor Orbán failed the Hungarian people, and Tamás Sulyok, whom he appointed, failed the Hungarian Republic,” Magyar said in June.
Fidesz has said the president’s removal would pave the way for tyranny, and has called for a demonstration on Thursday in support of Sulyok.
“The Tisza Party crosses all boundaries – human, moral and legal,” said Orbán. “Hungarian voters did not authorise this.”
The opposition argues that Sulyok was elected in accordance with the constitution, and that his removal would amount to personalised legislation.
A delegation from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, an advisory body specialising in constitutional affairs, visited Hungary last week and met both the president and government officials. Its findings have not yet been made public.
The European Commission has said it is monitoring the constitutional amendment process in Hungary.
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