Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
"Squid Game" — a fictional drama from South Korea — is Netflix's "biggest-ever series at launch," the streaming company exclusively told CNN on Tuesday.
The dystopian series, in which contestants who are deeply in need of money play deadly children's games to win cash prizes, has been viewed by 111 million accounts since debuting on Netflix September 17.
To give that number some context, Netflix announced earlier this year that 82 million households watched "Bridgerton" in the first 28 days following its Christmas debut. "Squid Game" surpassed that number in a shorter amount of time.
The series is No. 1 on Netflix's Top 10 lists in 94 countries around the world. It's the platform's first-ever Korean series to reach No. 1 in the United States.
The numbers speak to the sheer size of "Squid Games'" popularity and the speed at which it took off. But Netflix's — and all streaming services' — ratings data comes with some important caveats.
For starters, these numbers are from Netflix itself and have not be vetted by any outside sources. Also, that 111 million figure doesn't mean everyone watched the series from start to finish. It is based on Netflix's metric of accounts watching at least two minutes of the series.
Regardless of Netflix's often opaque accounting of its shows' popularity, the important context is that the streaming giant's competition is growing fiercer by the day, and "Squid Game" shows Netflix remains on top for a reason.
For investors, as long as Netflix keeps adding subscribers, Wall Street will likely continue to be happy. "Squid Game" has hit the zeitgeist in a significant way, and buzz is the best means to attract new subscribers and keep current ones happy. The series has also earned great reviews, garnering a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Like many top streaming series, "Squid Game" has become a pop culture phenomenon. The series has generated memes and even Halloween costume ideas.
The success of "Squid Game" speaks to Netflix's ability to craft a worldwide hit. Netflix has 209 million subscribers and the company has worked to reach audiences on a global scale.
"When we first started investing in Korean series and films in 2015, we knew we wanted to make world-class stories for the core K-content fans across Asia and the world," said Minyoung Kim, Netflix's vice president of content for Asia Pacific, excluding India. "Today, Squid Game has broken through beyond our wildest dreams."
"'Squid Game' gave [Netflix] more confidence that our global strategy is going towards the right direction," Kim told CNN.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.