Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

BTS score a first for Korean band on Billboard chart with ‘Dynamite’

K-Pop band BTS roared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in the United States on Monday, becoming the first Korean pop act to debut at No. 1. “Dynamite,” the first all-English language single from the seven-member boy band, notched 33.9 million U.S. streams and 300,000 sales in its first week, according to Nielsen Music data. The band also scored the biggest digital sales week in nearly three years since Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” in September 2017.

Porn star Ron Jeremy faces 20 more sex charges, one involving 15-year-old

Porn star Ron Jeremy was charged on Monday with 20 additional counts of rape and sexual assault, including one involving a 15- year-old girl, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said. Jeremy, 67, one of the biggest names in the adult film industry, was charged in June with raping three women and sexually assaulting a fourth in incidents dating back to 2014.

Scaled-down Venice film festival hopes to shake off virus gloom

Fewer Hollywood stars will grace the red carpet and there will be no fans clamouring for autographs. But for all the COVID-19 restrictions, director Alberto Barbera says the very fact that the Venice film festival is going ahead in front of live audiences this week sends a positive message.

Japan’s Toshimaen amusement park closes after 94 years, to make way for Harry Potter

A popular Tokyo amusement park on Monday closed its doors for the last time after being in business for more than nine decades, with part of the site set to make way for a “Harry Potter” theme park. Toshimaen amusement park, which opened in 1926 in northern Tokyo, caught the imagination of locals such as Junko and Hikari Abe, a mother and daughter who work at the park and met their partners there.

‘Game of Thrones’ creators to adapt Chinese sci-fi trilogy for Netflix

The creators of television’s “Game of Thrones” are to adapt a best selling Chinese science-fiction book trilogy for a Netflix series. Netflix said on Tuesday that the English-language adaptation will cover all three of the award-winning Chinese novels – “The Three-Body Problem,” “The Dark Forest,” and “Death’s End,” written by Liu Cixin.

Heads of Hungary’s top arts university quit amid fears of state control

The management of Hungary’s prestigious University of Theatre and Film Arts resigned on Monday in protest over the imposition of a government-appointed board which they say will undermine the school’s autonomy. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s supporters and pro-government journalists have long argued that after he won a third strong mandate in 2018, it was time for a shift in culture towards conservative values to end what they call the domination of the arts in Hungary by liberals and left-wingers.

‘Rave on’: Irish president helps celebrate Van Morrison’s 75th birthday

Irish President Michael D. Higgins joined a virtual celebration of Van Morrison’s 75th birthday on Monday, namechecking U.S. civil rights champion John Lewis and author James Baldwin in a spoken-word rendition of one of the Northern Irishman’s songs. Higgins, a part-time poet and onetime culture minister, is one of 75 Irish artists and musicians to record cover versions of the “Brown Eyed Girl” singer’s extensive back catalogue to mark the milestone in a weeks-long online series.

Ed Sheeran announces birth of daughter Lyra Antarctica

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran said on Tuesday his wife had given birth to the couple’s first child, a girl who they had named “Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran”. “Last week, with the help of an amazing delivery team, Cherry gave birth to our beautiful and healthy daughter,” the record-breaking musician said on Instagram alongside a photo of a pair of tiny socks.

Lone revellers brighten Notting Hill’s empty streets on carnival day

Notting Hill Carnival, a highlight of the British summer, may have been cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a couple of colourful individuals on Monday were determined to bring some festival spirit to west London’s quiet streets. The carnival, seen as a symbol of interracial tolerance, dates back to the 1960s and celebrates Britain’s Afro-Caribbean community. It usually attracts more than a million visitors over the August Bank Holiday weekend, but its parade has been replaced this year by a virtual festival.

Couples design their own ‘virtual babies’ at Dutch art exhibit

Couples who want children of their own got a brief taste of parenthood by creating their own “digital babies” during a virtual reality art exhibit in the Netherlands. Visitors selected the baby’s character traits, physical appearance and other features by answering questions on a computer tablet.