film

Oscars to leave Hollywood in 2029: Academy

  • The 2029 edition will instead be held at The Peacock Theater, part of the vast LA LIVE complex, next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers.
  • The Oscars will leave Hollywood after celebrating their centenary, organizers said Thursday, as they announced a long-term deal to hold the gala in central Los Angeles.
  • The 2029 edition will instead be held at The Peacock Theater, part of the vast LA LIVE complex, next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Oscars will leave Hollywood after celebrating their centenary, organizers said Thursday, as they announced a long-term deal to hold the gala in central Los Angeles.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the ceremony, the most important night of the year for the global film industry, would leave the Dolby Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after 2028.
The 2029 edition will instead be held at The Peacock Theater, part of the vast LA LIVE complex, next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers.
"For the 101st Oscars and beyond, the Academy looks forward to closely collaborating with (owners) AEG to make LA LIVE the perfect backdrop for our global celebration of cinema, both for our live in-theater audience and for film fans around the world," Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor said.
The 10-year deal with AEG comes as the ceremony leaves network television in the United States, to be broadcast instead worldwide by YouTube.
It also marks an end to a decades-long run for the ceremony at the Dolby, which is just a stone's throw from the Roosevelt Hotel, where the very first Oscars were handed out in 1929.
While Hollywood is synonymous with the Oscars, the ceremony has not always been held there.
Stars have previously descended on a number of venues in the Downtown area, and for much of the 1960s, the ceremony was hosted in the beachside city of Santa Monica.
At this year's awards, held on March 15, Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" -- a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers -- was crowned as best picture.
hg/sst

McCartney

Paul McCartney recalls Yesterday with first album in five years

  • McCartney named the album, which will be released on May 29, after Dungeon Lane, a place close to his childhood home in the Liverpool suburb of Speke.
  • British pop legend and former Beatle Paul McCartney on Thursday released a new single and announced his first album in over five years, examining his life in Liverpool before global stardom.
  • McCartney named the album, which will be released on May 29, after Dungeon Lane, a place close to his childhood home in the Liverpool suburb of Speke.
British pop legend and former Beatle Paul McCartney on Thursday released a new single and announced his first album in over five years, examining his life in Liverpool before global stardom.
The 83-year-old, one of the most successful artists of all time, announced the 14-track album titled "The Boys Of Dungeon Lane", taking listeners on a trip down memory lane in the northern English city.
It will include early adventures with his late bandmates George Harrison and John Lennon, prior to Beatles fame, according to the singer's website.
"The Boys of Dungeon Lane is his most introspective album to date and takes the listener back to where it all began," McCartney's website states. 
McCartney named the album, which will be released on May 29, after Dungeon Lane, a place close to his childhood home in the Liverpool suburb of Speke.
It is referenced in the newly released single "Days We Left Behind", which the songwriter described as a "memory song" that inspired the album title.
The record will also feature new love songs and memories of life before the Beatles.
"I do often wonder if I'm just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else?" McCartney said in a statement on his website. "It's just a lot of memories of Liverpool."
"We didn't have much at all but it didn't matter because all the people were great and you didn't notice you didn't have much."
The announcement comes ahead of two live performances in Los Angeles this weekend, his first since the November 2025 finale of his over three-year-long "Got Back Tour".
Formed in 1960, the Beatles -- McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Ringo Starr -- went on to become the best-selling musical act of all time.
McCartney wrote or partnered with Lennon to write many of their biggest hits, including "Yesterday", "Hey Jude", "Let it Be" and "Yellow Submarine".
Following the band's split in 1970, the Beatles bassist continued writing and performing with hits including "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Live and Let Die" and "Band on the Run".
mp/aks/st

entertainment

Singer Rosalia quits Milan concert with food poisoning

  • I've had big time food poisoning," she said in English in a video posted on X. "I've tried to push it until the end, but I'm feeling extremely sick.
  • Spanish singer Rosalia was forced to interrupt a concert in Italy half way through due to food poisoning, according to fan footage posted on social media.
  • I've had big time food poisoning," she said in English in a video posted on X. "I've tried to push it until the end, but I'm feeling extremely sick.
Spanish singer Rosalia was forced to interrupt a concert in Italy half way through due to food poisoning, according to fan footage posted on social media.
The 33-year-old Grammy-winning singer was performing at the Unipol Forum in Milan on Wednesday, when she stopped to tell the crowds she was feeling unwell.
"I've tried to do this show. Since the beginning I've been sick. I've had big time food poisoning," she said in English in a video posted on X.
"I've tried to push it until the end, but I'm feeling extremely sick. I'm puking out there. I really want to give the best show, and I'm like in (on) the floor," she said.
After saying she would try to carry on if physically possible, a sad-looking Rosalia eventually blew a kiss to the crowds and -- with a hand on her stomach -- walked off stage.
Rosalia, hailed for her genre-defying versatility, was in Milan as part of a tour which began in France earlier this month and will end in Puerto Rico in September.
The singer, who won best international artist at the Brit Awards this month, has earned widespread praise for her fourth album "Lux".
The sweeping, spiritual work, released at the end of last year, marks a departure from her previous flamenco and R&B rhythms.
The album features lyrics sung in 13 languages including German, English and Sicilian in addition to her native Spanish.
bur-ide/ar/yad

trial

US jury finds Meta, YouTube liable in social media addiction trial

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES WITH ALEX PIGMAN IN WASHINGTON

  • Two further bellwether trials are expected to follow in the same Los Angeles courthouse, with their outcomes likely to determine whether social media companies fight on or move toward a broader settlement, potentially including redesigning how their platforms work.
  • A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman because of an addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay $6 million in damages, including $3 million in punitive damages.
  • Two further bellwether trials are expected to follow in the same Los Angeles courthouse, with their outcomes likely to determine whether social media companies fight on or move toward a broader settlement, potentially including redesigning how their platforms work.
A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman because of an addictive design of their social media platforms, ordering the companies to pay $6 million in damages, including $3 million in punitive damages.
The verdict hands plaintiffs in more than a thousand similar pending cases significant leverage -- and signals to the broader tech industry that juries are prepared to hold social media companies accountable for the mental health toll of their design choices.
The jury answered yes to all seven questions on verdict forms for both companies, finding that Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design and operation of their platforms and that their negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff.
Jurors also found that both companies knew or should have known their services posed a danger to minors, that they failed to adequately warn users of that danger, and that a reasonable platform operator would have done so.
The panel awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, assigning Meta 70 percent of the responsibility for the plaintiff's harm -- a $2.1 million share -- and YouTube the remaining 30 percent, or $900,000. 
In a second phase, jurors added a further $3 million in total punitive damages after finding both companies had acted with malice, oppression or fraud.
Both companies said they would appeal the verdict.
"This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.
A spokesperson for Meta said they "respectfully disagree with the verdict," adding that "teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app."
Nine of the 12 jurors further found that both companies had acted with malice, oppression or fraud, a finding that set the stage for the separate punitive damages.
The plaintiff, known in court documents by her initials K.G.M. and called Kaley at trial, began using YouTube when she was six, downloading the app on her iPod Touch to watch videos about lip gloss and an online kids game. 
She joined Instagram at nine, getting around a block her mother had put in place to keep her off the platform.
She told jurors that her near-constant social media use "really affected my self-worth," saying the apps led her to abandon hobbies, struggle to make friends and constantly measure herself against others.
In closing arguments, plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier cast the case as a story of corporate greed, saying that features like infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, notifications and like counts were engineered to drive compulsive use among young people.

'Existential' threat?

Meta and YouTube had maintained throughout the trial that Kaley's mental health struggles had nothing to do with their platforms.
Meta's lawyer pointed to her life at home and a turbulent relationship with her parents, while YouTube disputed how much time Kaley actually spent on its platform.
The jury rejected both defenses across all seven questions on each verdict form.
TikTok and Snap were originally named as defendants but settled on undisclosed terms before the trial got underway. 
Two further bellwether trials are expected to follow in the same Los Angeles courthouse, with their outcomes likely to determine whether social media companies fight on or move toward a broader settlement, potentially including redesigning how their platforms work.
The penalty amounts are "a slap on the wrist for companies like Meta and YouTube, which are two of the biggest ad sellers in the world," said Jasmine Enberg of Scalable, who tracks the social media industry.
"But if these companies are forced to redesign their products, that poses an existential threat to their business models." 
A separate New Mexico jury on Tuesday found Meta liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms and other dangers.
The state had sought the maximum $2.2 billion in damages, but the jury awarded a lesser amount of $375 million.
arp/js/cms

trial

Day of reckoning arrives for social media after US court loss

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • - Legislative pressure builds - The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
  • A Los Angeles jury's ruling that Meta and YouTube contributed to a teenage girl's depression marks a potential turning point in the years-long legal battle against social media giants -- one that could carry an enormous price tag.
  • - Legislative pressure builds - The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
A Los Angeles jury's ruling that Meta and YouTube contributed to a teenage girl's depression marks a potential turning point in the years-long legal battle against social media giants -- one that could carry an enormous price tag.
The civil court on Tuesday found Meta and YouTube's parent Google liable for failing to adequately warn young people about the risks of excessive use of their Instagram and YouTube apps, respectively, even though they were aware of the dangers. 
Both Meta and YouTube said Wednesday that they planned to appeal the California verdict. 
A separate jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier this week found Meta liable for endangering minor users of Facebook and Instagram.

Billions on the line

Meta was quick to note that compensatory damages in the Los Angeles case totalled just $3 million, with a further $3 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury Wednesday.
In New Mexico, the company was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties, a verdict it said it would appeal.
The rulings could ripple across hundreds of pending lawsuits against social media companies facing similar allegations, with the total liability potentially running into the billions of dollars.
"Bellwether trials like this one serve as signals about how juries respond to specific theories of harm," said Daryl Lim, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University.
He added that the verdict "should increase the pressure" on platforms to settle outstanding cases.
Snap and TikTok settled with the plaintiff in the Los Angeles case before the trial began, sidestepping a jury entirely.

Self-regulation

The cases center on users like Kaley G.M., the plaintiff in the Los Angeles case, who said she developed depression, chronic anxiety and body image issues from early and intense exposure to social media. 
Researchers have increasingly linked such sufferings to heavy social media use among adolescents.
"For years, social media companies have claimed they're hard at work making their platforms safer for kids and teenagers," said Minda Smiley, an analyst at eMarketer. "Critics have long been skeptical."
"This verdict could mark the start of a difficult new chapter for social platforms -- one where the rules they write for themselves no longer cut it," she added.
Vanitha Swaminathan, a marketing professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said the ruling exposed "an important tension between the goals of the platform companies and the issues it poses for some of its most vulnerable consumers."

New crack in Section 230

For year, US platforms have sheltered behind Section 230, a legal provision shielding them from liability for content posted by their users. 
But lawyers for Kaley G.M. chose a different battlefield: the design of the platforms themselves, which they argued were engineered to trap and addict young users.
The strategy amounts to a "narrowing" of Section 230 that offers "alternative pathways to liability," said Lim at Pennsylvania State University.

Legislative pressure builds

The Los Angeles and Santa Fe cases are part of a broader wave of legal and regulatory action that gathered pace after Australia moved last year to ban social media for people under 16. 
Several US states have since passed or are weighing their own legislation to protect minors online, though none has set a hard minimum age.
Congress has so far stayed on the sidelines. "It usually steps in only after courts and state governments have begun to reshape the policy landscape," Lim said.
Should the courts ultimately compel platforms to overhaul their products, the consequences could be severe. 
"Their ad businesses thrive off attention," said Jasmine Enberg of Scalable. "If product changes make their apps less engaging, that makes them less valuable to advertisers."
"If these companies are forced to redesign their products," she warned, "that poses an existential threat to their business models."
tu/arp/js/dw 

music

Alleged Rihanna mansion shooter pleads not guilty

  • Ortiz, who is from Florida, entered not guilty pleas to one count of attempted murder involving Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, along with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
  • The woman alleged to have shot up Rihanna's luxury Los Angeles home pleaded not guilty to attempted murder when she appeared in court on Wednesday, as details emerged of a near miss for the global megastar.
  • Ortiz, who is from Florida, entered not guilty pleas to one count of attempted murder involving Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, along with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The woman alleged to have shot up Rihanna's luxury Los Angeles home pleaded not guilty to attempted murder when she appeared in court on Wednesday, as details emerged of a near miss for the global megastar.
The "Umbrella" singer and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, were in an Airstream trailer on the sprawling property when 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is alleged to have opened fire.
Rihanna told police she heard the sound of several rounds hitting the trailer, and opened the curtains to find bullet holes in the windshield directly in front of where she was standing.
She said she got A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, out of bed and told him they were being shot at as they both ducked to the ground, before rushing inside the property to make sure their three children and staff were safe.
Police said about 20 rounds had been fired. In addition to the trailer, they hit a patio area and a nursery room wall.
Bullet holes were also found at a neighboring property, a Los Angeles Police Department crime summary said.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told Los Angeles County Superior Court the gunfire from an assault-style rifle had erupted at a time several people were at home "putting numerous lives at risk" in the March 8 incident.
He said Ortiz, who was arrested in a vehicle with a rifle, ammunition and a disguise -- a wig -- had behaved in a manner that was "extremely dangerous."
Ortiz, who is from Florida, entered not guilty pleas to one count of attempted murder involving Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, along with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
She also denied two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling and one count of shooting at an inhabited vehicle, as well as allegations that she personally and intentionally discharged a rifle.
The defendant was ordered to return to court April 8, and is being held in pre-trial detention after failing to pay a $1.875 million bail.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle also ordered that she not practice as a speech-language pathologist in California, where she has been licensed since 2016, while the criminal case is pending.
Ortiz could face life imprisonment without parole if convicted.
Entertainment news outlet TMZ reported Ortiz has previously been involuntarily committed.
A Facebook page that appears to belong to her includes a number of videos and posts that refer to celebrities including Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Cardi B.
One post tags Rihanna, whom she challenged "to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I'm not at."
In another video, she claims Rihanna wants to kill her.
hg/des

internet

Grieving families hail court victory against Instagram, YouTube

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • - 'Predator' defense - The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
  • Hearing the news that Instagram and YouTube had been found liable Wednesday for contributing to a young American woman's depression, Lori Schott jumped for joy and wept, as if it were her own daughter who had just won her case.
  • - 'Predator' defense - The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
Hearing the news that Instagram and YouTube had been found liable Wednesday for contributing to a young American woman's depression, Lori Schott jumped for joy and wept, as if it were her own daughter who had just won her case.
"We have ripped the door of this courthouse open in memory of our kids, and we're shining a light," the Colorado farmer told AFP, having traveled more than 1,800 kilometers (1,112 miles) to attend the verdict in Los Angeles.
It is "validation that what we saw, our children being harmed, was true. It's going to make the world safer."
This landmark trial involved Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old Californian who had been a compulsive user of various social media platforms since childhood and accused them of exacerbating her mental health issues and suicidal thoughts.
TikTok and Snapchat had reached a financial settlement to avoid going to court, but Google, the owner of YouTube, and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, had opted for a legal battle.
The ruling on Monday ordering them to pay $3 million in damages is not just a victory for the young woman.
It also sets a precedent for thousands of American families who accuse the social media industry of knowingly designing its platforms to make children addicted, through features such as "likes," notifications, infinite scrolling, and autoplay videos.

'Predator' defense

The platforms "had no defense" in this case, said Schott, outraged by the way Meta's lawyers attributed Kaley G.M.'s depression to her chaotic childhood -- surrounded by a neglectful father, a hot-tempered mother, and a sister who attempted suicide.
"Their defense is to attack Kaley and her family. And what does a predator do? A predator attacks the victim," she said.
Angry, the 60-year-old cannot come to terms with the loss of her daughter Annalee, a little blonde girl in a cowboy hat whose smile lights up the pin attached to the lapel of her jacket.
After her suicide at age 18, her mother discovered a note explaining that she thought she was ugly and realized that she constantly compared herself to other women on social media who regularly used filters to alter their appearance.
"It was all built into the design of these platforms to keep little girls engaged," she said, still shocked by the internal documents revealed during the trial.
These confidential records notably showed how their architecture reduced users to a series of statistics, such as "customer lifetime value," representing the total expected profit for a person over their entire time on the platform.
"Their internal operation said kids are worth $270 lifetime value," she whispered, her throat tightening. "My daughter is worth a hell of a lot more than $270."

'Shaping public opinion'

During the trial, lawyers for YouTube and Instagram sought to convince the court that these platforms no longer aim to maximize the amount of time their users spend online, unlike in their early days.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, also expressed regret on the stand that Instagram waited until 2022 to verify the ages of its users.
Outside the courtroom, his company is ramping up advertising to promote new Instagram accounts for teens, which are private by default and block messages from people not followed by users under 16.
The Silicon Valley giant is also promoting new features to alert parents if their teen repeatedly searches for content related to suicide or self-harm on Instagram.
But for Julianna Arnold, whose daughter Coco died at age 17 after receiving fentanyl from a stranger she met on Instagram, these efforts ring hollow.
"People need to wake up and start seeing through their PR. They're not doing nearly enough for kids' safety," said the Californian, co-founder of the victims' advocacy group Parents Rise.
For her, the increase in lawsuits against these platforms is essential, as the US Congress is currently considering a bill that would, for the first time, impose a "duty of care" on social media companies.
"This decision is not going to change everything, but it helps us to sway public opinion," she insisted. "That's the only way to get the ear of legislators in Washington."
rfo/arp/sms

entertainment

Internet providers not liable for music piracy by users: top US court

BY CHRIS LEFKOW

  • In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
  • The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a landmark copyright case that internet service providers (ISPs) are not liable for online pirating of music by their users.
  • In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a landmark copyright case that internet service providers (ISPs) are not liable for online pirating of music by their users.
Cox Communications, a major broadband ISP, had asked the top court to throw out a jury verdict awarding $1 billion in damages to Sony Music Entertainment and other record labels.
Cox was accused in the case of failing to take action against customers accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music.
In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox and said an ISP was liable "only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement."
"A company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights," the court said in an opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas.
"Cox repeatedly discouraged copyright infringement by sending warnings, suspending services, and terminating accounts," the court said.
"A provider induces infringement if it actively encourages infringement through specific acts," it said. "Cox neither induced its users' infringement nor provided a service tailored to infringement."
Cox Communications welcomed the court's decision, calling it a "decisive victory for the broadband industry and for the American people who depend on reliable internet service."
"This opinion affirms that internet service providers are not copyright police and should not be held liable for the actions of their customers," the company said in a statement.
The ruling was also welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which called it a "win for freedom of expression online."
"If defined too broadly, secondary copyright liability for internet service providers can pose a serious threat to free speech online," Evelyn Danforth-Scott, an ACLU attorney, said in a statement.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) meanwhile expressed disappointment.
"To be effective, copyright law must protect creators and markets from harmful infringement," RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said.
During oral arguments before the Supreme Court in December, Joshua Rosenkranz, an attorney representing Cox, had warned of "cataclysmic" consequences if the court did not limit the company's copyright liability.
The only way for an ISP to avoid liability is to "cut off the internet, not just for the accused infringer, but for anyone else who happens to use the same connection," Rosenkranz said.
"That could be entire towns, universities or hospitals, turning internet providers into internet police," he said.
cl/des

media

Ex-Google chief Matt Brittin made new BBC director-general

BY ANNA MALPAS

  • Brittin's name has been circulating in the UK media for weeks, after the current director-general, Tim Davie resigned in November over the editing of a documentary about Trump.
  • The BBC named a former Google executive with no television or journalism experience as its next director-general Wednesday.
  • Brittin's name has been circulating in the UK media for weeks, after the current director-general, Tim Davie resigned in November over the editing of a documentary about Trump.
The BBC named a former Google executive with no television or journalism experience as its next director-general Wednesday.
The long-expected appointment of Matt Brittin to the high-profile role comes as the under-fire British broadcaster faces drastic shifts in the media landscape and a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump.
Brittin, 57, said he was honoured to be appointed at a "moment of real risk, yet also real opportunity".
"Now, more than ever, we need a thriving  BBC that works for everyone in a complex, uncertain and fast-changing world," he added.
The British-born executive was president for over a decade of Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa division, which earns around a third of its revenue. He had previously worked as a consultant for McKinsey. 
Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC board, said Brittin "brings to the BBC deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly-complex organisation through transformation."
He "is an outstanding leader and has the skills needed to navigate the organisation through the many changes taking place in the media market," Shah added.
Brittin's name has been circulating in the UK media for weeks, after the current director-general, Tim Davie resigned in November over the editing of a documentary about Trump.
The Times wrote that appointing a tech executive with no broadcasting experience "has raised some eyebrows".
"While his experience in the world of big tech could be an advantage, Mr Brittin will have to quickly demonstrate a commitment to public service broadcasting," opposition lawmaker Caroline Dinenage told the daily.
A columnist at the right-wing Daily Telegraph wrote that Brittin was "just what the BBC doesn't need: a new Lefty boss".
Davie, who has held the BBC post since 2020, will step down on April 2, and Brittin will take on the challenging role on May 18.
The BBC had described it as one of "the most important, high-profile public posts in the UK".
Brittin stepped down from Google last year after 18 years saying he wanted a break.

'Dr Who' fan

Last year he became a fellow of the Royal Television Society, which hands out prestigious awards.
In his acceptance speech he admitted to "imposter syndrome".
He voiced admiration for the British television industry he had "been trying to get into for a very long time", saying his favourite shows included cult BBC sci-fi series "Doctor Who".
Brittin updated his Linkedin profile on Wednesday after the appointment was announced, saying "Got a job" and "Gap year: completed".
He grew up in southern England and was educated at the University of Cambridge, but he has said his late father grew up in a small shop in London with "BBC wireless (radio) for news and entertainment".
He represented Great Britain at the Olympics as a rower after competing in the university Boat Race against Oxford as a student.
Early in his career he worked at Trinity Mirror newspaper group, now called Reach, in non-journalistic roles.
Last year he was made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to technology and digital skills.

'Under pressure'

The BBC said earlier this month it had formally asked a US federal court in Florida to dismiss Trump's lawsuit over the editing of a speech he gave to supporters ahead of the US Capitol riot in 2021 in a BBC documentary.a
The film was "never aired in Florida -- or the US" or available to stream there on any platform, a BBC spokesperson said.
Brittin takes up the job at a politically sensitive time for the BBC, which is due to renegotiate the Royal Charter that outlines the corporation's governance. Its current charter will end next year.
A sizeable proportion of the BBC's income comes from the licence fee, which is payable by all UK households with a television, or whose occupants watch live screening online.
But the BBC lost more than £1.1 billion in revenues last year as fewer homes felt the need to apply for one, a parliamentary committee report said in November.
It also found that while the BBC remained "a trusted institution", it was "under pressure" struggling to retain its foothold in an evolving media landscape and among younger people.
am/jkb/fg

crime

US TV star details 'agony' over mother's disappearance

  • Savannah Guthrie previously offered $1 million for a tip leading to the recovery of her mother, acknowledging that "she may already be gone."
  • US television host Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday described her family's "agony" in her first television interview since her mother was apparently kidnapped nearly two months ago in a case that has gripped the nation.
  • Savannah Guthrie previously offered $1 million for a tip leading to the recovery of her mother, acknowledging that "she may already be gone."
US television host Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday described her family's "agony" in her first television interview since her mother was apparently kidnapped nearly two months ago in a case that has gripped the nation.
"Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. We are in agony. It is unbearable," popular morning show presenter Savannah Guthrie said in an interview with fellow NBC News anchor Hoda Kotb.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early hours of February 1. Security camera footage released by authorities showed a masked, apparently armed man at her house, but since then the trail has gone cold.
No suspect has been identified and announcements of potential clues -- including discarded gloves -- have not led to further progress.
"To think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night," Savannah Guthrie said, tears streaming down her face.
"In the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now."
Savannah Guthrie's comments came in a clip shared on her television show, Today, with the network saying other parts of the interview would be released on Thursday and Friday.
Savannah Guthrie previously offered $1 million for a tip leading to the recovery of her mother, acknowledging that "she may already be gone."
The FBI has offered $100,000 for information.
The Today show is something of a US institution, airing nationally since 1952 and drawing millions of viewers to NBC on weekday mornings.
pnb/sms

music

BTS concert drew 18.4 million viewers, says Netflix

  • Netflix said its livestream of the show on Saturday "drew 18.4 million global viewers... proving the group's influence has only intensified during their time apart".
  • The comeback concert by K-pop megastars BTS drew an estimated 18.4 million viewers worldwide, streaming giant Netflix said Wednesday.
  • Netflix said its livestream of the show on Saturday "drew 18.4 million global viewers... proving the group's influence has only intensified during their time apart".
The comeback concert by K-pop megastars BTS drew an estimated 18.4 million viewers worldwide, streaming giant Netflix said Wednesday.
The seven-member group took to the stage together for the first time at the weekend following a years-long hiatus prompted by mandatory military service, and a day after releasing their latest studio album, "ARIRANG".
The comeback concert was held against the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop".
Netflix said its livestream of the show on Saturday "drew 18.4 million global viewers... proving the group's influence has only intensified during their time apart".
The live broadcast from Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square reached Netflix's weekly Top 10 in 80 countries and secured the number one spot in 24 countries, it said.
The event marked Netflix's first live event in South Korea, as well as its first instance of live-streaming a music performance on a global scale.
Netflix added that its estimates were derived from so-called first-party data.
During the performance, they sang "Body to Body," a track from the new album that incorporates a choral sample of the traditional Korean folk song Arirang, after which the album is named.
The folk song, about longing and separation, is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
Fans waved a sea of glowsticks and sang along to the group's hits, holding their phones aloft to film the performance as giant screens set up across the venue allowed the crowd to watch.
It drew more than 100,000 fans to central Seoul, according to the group's label.
The figure includes ticket holders and factors in data from the three major telecom carriers, budget mobile users and foreign visitors. 
According to the Seoul metropolitan government's crowd-tracking system, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people were in the area that night, a city official said.
Local reports said the figures vary as Seoul's crowd-tracking system relies largely on mobile base station connections and does not capture signals from foreign visitors.
The group's label, citing streaming platform Spotify, said "SWIM," the title track of its latest album, topped the Daily Top Songs Global chart for three straight days from March 20 to 22, while "Body to Body" held at No. 2 over the same period.
Around 15,000 police officers and security personnel were mobilised for the concert, with barricades lining the roads and nearby venues shut.
The latest album, "ARIRANG", released Friday, is billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean identity. 
It sold nearly four million copies on its first day, according to the label.
Following Saturday's concert, the superstars will embark on their "ARIRANG" world tour, beginning April 9 in Goyang, South Korea.
The 2026–27 tour spans 82 concerts across 34 cities in Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America. 
Tickets for shows in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours.
cdl/fox

France

600-year-old pinot noir grape found in medieval French toilet

BY BéNéDICTE SALVETAT REY

  • "She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP. The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France.
  • A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.
  • "She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP. The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France.
A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.
The seed reveals that people in France have been cultivating this immensely popular variety of grape since at least the 1400s, the scientists said in a new study.
It is not possible to say whether the fruit was "eaten like table grapes or whether people made wine from it at the time", study co-author Laurent Bouby told AFP.
But the research provides a link between modern France -- one of the world's largest wine-producing and -consuming countries -- and its distant wine-loving past.
Another study co-author, Ludovic Orlando, pointed out that the Hundred Years' War between England and France finally wrapped up in the mid-1400s.
And the brief life of France's patron saint, Joan of Arc, was also in the 15th century.
"She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP.
The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France. At the time, toilets were sometimes used as rubbish bins, the researchers explained.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, involved sequencing the genome of 54 grape seeds dating from the Bronze Age -- from around 2,300 BC -- to the Middle Ages.
It confirms that generations of winegrowers had been using what are today called "clonal propagation" techniques, such as preserving cuttings of particular grape varieties for 600 years, the researchers said.
Ancient texts had offered indications this was happening, "but outside of paleogenomics, it is very difficult to characterise this technique", said Bouby of the Institute of Evolutionary Science of Montpellier.
But the new research found evidence this technique was being used in many areas as far back as the Iron Age, around 625–500 BC.

Aged like fine wine

The oldest grapes analysed in the study were from wild vines in the French region of Nimes dated to around 2,000 BC.
Domesticated vines then started to appear between 625 and 500 BC in France's southern Var region.
This lines up with when colonising Greeks were believed to have introduced viticulture -- cultivating grapevines -- to France, after founding the city of Marseille.
Orlando said it was already known that wine was traded at the time by the Greeks and the Etruscans, because of wine jugs called amphora that lasted through the centuries.
But the DNA of the grape seeds, particularly those from the ancient Roman period, revealed long-distance exchanges of domesticated grape varieties from places including Spain, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
It also showed there was plenty of genetic mixing of domesticated grape varieties and local wild vines during the Roman period, particularly in northern France.
In the future, "it would be very interesting to work closely with historians who have access to texts describing certain winegrowing techniques" to find out more, Orlando said.
Pinot noir, which is often associated with France's Burgundy region, is the fourth most widely grown grape in the world, according to the study.
ber-dl/rmb

conflict

Czech 'arks' help preserve Ukraine's cultural heritage

  • "Archa III is a unique mobile digitisation device enabling us to create high-quality 3D images of endangered artifacts and collection items out in the field," National Museum director Michal Lukes told reporters.
  • The National Museum in Prague on Tuesday unveiled a van containing a 3D scanning device that will soon travel to war-ravaged Ukraine to help preserve its cultural artifacts.
  • "Archa III is a unique mobile digitisation device enabling us to create high-quality 3D images of endangered artifacts and collection items out in the field," National Museum director Michal Lukes told reporters.
The National Museum in Prague on Tuesday unveiled a van containing a 3D scanning device that will soon travel to war-ravaged Ukraine to help preserve its cultural artifacts.
The Archa (Ark) III is a Volkswagen van comprising a studio equipped with a robot and three cameras to create precise models of endangered historic items in Ukraine, which has been battling a full-scale Russian invasion since 2022.
"Archa III is a unique mobile digitisation device enabling us to create high-quality 3D images of endangered artifacts and collection items out in the field," National Museum director Michal Lukes told reporters.
He added the scanners could handle both tiny objects and more sizeable items even inside museums.
"In this way, we can create precise digital copies of items that can then serve for documentation and research purposes, but also for restoration, potential reconstruction, or the production of copies," he added.
Museum staff will drive the van to Kyiv in early April and hand it over to Ukrainian partners under the project carried out in cooperation with the foundation of Czech billionaire Karel Komarek.
It follows an Archa I container equipped to conserve and restore books and an Archa II van digitising two-dimensional items, which Prague sent to Ukraine earlier.
The foundation, which worked on the first two "Arks" with other institutions, said they have so far handled almost 40,000 pages of documents, such as historic newspapers retrieved from the Regional Scientific Library in Kherson.
"The van comprises an autonomous robotic system designed for photogrammetry and 3D output," said the museum's IT director Martin Soucek.
Speed is crucial, and the robot moving along three axes can generate thousands of high-quality photographs within minutes.
"It then uses the photographs to create a hyper-realistic model with high detail, a so-called digital twin," Soucek added.
The project also involves expert training and a website on which the scanned artifacts will be exhibited.
Vitalii Usatyi, the charge d'affaires at the Ukrainian embassy in Prague, hailed the van for being able to work across Ukraine, "including regions exposed to risks related to the Russian aggression".
"This is crucial for preserving cultural heritage," he added.
A recent UNESCO report said that 523 cultural sites had been verified as damaged as of March 11, including 153 religious sites, 273 buildings of historical or artistic interest, 39 museums, 33 monuments, 20 libraries, four archaeological sites and one archive.
frj/jza/pdw

assault

Bill Cosby ordered to pay $19m over sex abuse claim

  • "She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby," the suit said.
  • A woman who said she was drugged and sexually assaulted by veteran US entertainer Bill Cosby was awarded more than $19 million on Monday after a civil hearing in California.
  • "She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby," the suit said.
A woman who said she was drugged and sexually assaulted by veteran US entertainer Bill Cosby was awarded more than $19 million on Monday after a civil hearing in California.
Donna Motsinger said she was working as a waitress more than 50 years ago when the performer began to target her.
The hearing in Santa Monica was told how the comedian had initially come into the restaurant where the now-84-year-old Motsinger worked.
One day when he picked her up in his limousine, Cosby gave her a glass of wine and what she thought was an aspirin.
She began slipping in and out of consciousness and the next thing she knew she was waking up at home, wearing only her underwear.
"She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby," the suit said.
Attorneys said Cosby, 88, did not remember any sexual contact with Motsinger, but that any that had occurred had been consensual.
The jury took three days to deliver its verdict, ordering Cosby to pay $19.3 million, a figure that could increase if they add punitive damages.
The case was heard in the same courthouse where a 2022 jury ordered Cosby to pay $500,000 in damages to Judy Huth after finding that he had molested her in 1975 when she was just 16 years old.
The man formerly known as "America's Dad" was jailed in Pennsylvania for drugging and molesting a woman in a separate criminal case in 2018, but was freed in 2021 when his conviction was overturned on a technicality.
Cosby was a towering figure in late 20th century American popular culture, including for his starring role in "The Cosby Show," which ran from 1984 to 1992.
Dozens of women have accused Cosby of being a calculating, serial predator who plied victims with sedatives and alcohol before assaulting them over four decades.
hg/mlm

music

Shakira to wrap up world tour with Madrid residency

  • The shows will be held at a temporary venue to be built in southern Madrid dubbed the "Shakira Stadium" with a capacity for roughly 50,000 people, the president of Live Nation Spain, Pino Sagliocco, told a news conference.
  • Pop superstar Shakira will wrap up her record-breaking world tour with a concert residency in Madrid at a custom-built venue, promoter Live Nation said Monday.
  • The shows will be held at a temporary venue to be built in southern Madrid dubbed the "Shakira Stadium" with a capacity for roughly 50,000 people, the president of Live Nation Spain, Pino Sagliocco, told a news conference.
Pop superstar Shakira will wrap up her record-breaking world tour with a concert residency in Madrid at a custom-built venue, promoter Live Nation said Monday.
The six-night residency runs September 18-20 and September 25-27, with more dates possibly added depending on ticket demand.
The shows will be held at a temporary venue to be built in southern Madrid dubbed the "Shakira Stadium" with a capacity for roughly 50,000 people, the president of Live Nation Spain, Pino Sagliocco, told a news conference.
Shakira's Madrid concerts will be a "celebration of life" and Latin culture, he added.
"Spain is where we're really going all out. The show's going to be something people have never seen before. I'm really excited," Shakira said in an interview published Sunday in daily Spanish newspaper El Pais.
The concerts will mark her first performances in Spain in eight years, and her first since reaching a 2023 settlement with Spanish prosecutors to settle a tax fraud case.
As part of the deal, Shakira, 49, paid a fine of over 7.3 million euros ($8.6 million), after previously settling 17.45 million euros with the Spanish tax agency.
The case centred on the period when the Colombian singer lived in Barcelona with Spanish football player Gerard Pique. The couple, who have two sons, broke up in 2022.
The residency will mark the final dates of Shakira's "Women Don't Cry Anymore" world tour, which has become the highest-grossing tour ever by a Latin artist.
Shakira kicked off the tour last year in Brazil, where she is set to perform a free concert on Rio de Janeiro's iconic Copacabana beach in May, following in the footsteps of Madonna and Lady Gaga
rbj-ds/giv

games

No 'silver bullet' for video game age restrictions: PEGI chief

BY KILIAN FICHOU

  • In future, "we will have to work out a plan of attack, an approach to live service games," Bosmans said, "especially games that will continually provide new updates".
  • The head of Europe's video game rating system, PEGI, has warned against supposed "silver bullet" child protection solutions such as age verification, in an interview with AFP. A new set of PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) age ratings, coming into force from June, will take into account factors including in-game purchases, incentives to constantly revisit games or the ability to limit in-game messages from strangers.
  • In future, "we will have to work out a plan of attack, an approach to live service games," Bosmans said, "especially games that will continually provide new updates".
The head of Europe's video game rating system, PEGI, has warned against supposed "silver bullet" child protection solutions such as age verification, in an interview with AFP.
A new set of PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) age ratings, coming into force from June, will take into account factors including in-game purchases, incentives to constantly revisit games or the ability to limit in-game messages from strangers.
It had taken "a couple of years" for PEGI to work out the new classification, its director general Dirk Bosmans told AFP.
The games sector has in recent years been the subject of debate, including over allegedly addictive mechanics such as "loot boxes" -- virtual items purchasable for real money that contain a random in-game reward.
PEGI's new ratings will not apply to games released before June this year -- even the most widely played titles, such as "Fortnite" or "League of Legends".
In future, "we will have to work out a plan of attack, an approach to live service games," Bosmans said, "especially games that will continually provide new updates".
Introduced in 2003, PEGI is the only media age classification system harmonised across European countries, its chief noted -- although Germany has its own ratings.
As a self-regulatory mechanism by the games industry, its rules are applied by major console makers Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, as well as by Google on its app store.
Apple has its own age rating system, while the dominant PC gaming platform Steam -- based in the US -- has not implemented one.

'Regulatory pressure'

PEGI has updated its approach in part in response to growing "regulatory pressure" within the European Union, Bosmans said.
Even as the EU has tightened digital regulation in recent years, member states are taking their own steps -- including a draft law in France barring under-15s from social media, which the government has warned would cover some online games with social aspects, such as "Roblox".
If passed, the law will require all users to prove their age from 2027.
While automated online verification "sounds like it's going to fix everything... data protection organisations are very concerned", Bosmans said.
"We first need to have a really good conversation before we start deciding on where to apply it."
He added that companies in the sector have welcomed the updated PEGI classifications.
"They understand that by making PEGI better and stronger, they are better protected against lack of nuance, quick fixes," Bosmans said.

Parents needed

Bosmans also spoke out against full-on bans of games for children below a certain age -- as mooted by French President Emmanuel Macron last month ahead of an expert inquiry.
"A ban is not very nuanced. It's not very proportionate, no matter for what you apply it," he said, recalling that PEGI was created to avoid just such a scenario in the early 2000s.
What's more, in Australia -- where social media has already been banned for under-16s -- "there is now concern that kids are primarily busy with trying to circumvent the rules, sometimes with the help of their parents," Bosmans said.
"You can try all kinds of technical or legal methods to enforce PEGI ratings. If in the end parents decide, no, my 13-year-old is going to play this 16 (rated) game, it doesn't change anything," he added.
"Thinking that you can do it without the parents is the biggest mistake you can make."
kf/tgb/jhb

Canada

'Project Hail Mary' rockets to top of N. America box office

  • Falling to second place after two weeks on top was animated hit "Hoppers," with $18 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
  • Amazon MGM's sci-fi adventure flick "Project Hail Mary" debuted at the top of the North American box office this week with an astronomical $80.5 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.
  • Falling to second place after two weeks on top was animated hit "Hoppers," with $18 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Amazon MGM's sci-fi adventure flick "Project Hail Mary" debuted at the top of the North American box office this week with an astronomical $80.5 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.
Ryan Gosling stars in the film as a teacher-turned-astronaut who awakes on a spaceship with a mission to save Earth from a sun-dimming phenomenon.
It is adapted from a novel by Andy Weir, the author behind 2015 hit "The Martian" starring Matt Damon.
"Weir wrote the story as a standalone, but the weekend figure is more than double the average for a series launch -- that's how strong this is," analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said.
Directed by filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie marks "Amazon MGM's first big hit" since the retail giant acquired the storied studio in 2021, Gross noted.
Falling to second place after two weeks on top was animated hit "Hoppers," with $18 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
The latest original film from Disney's Pixar tells the story of a young animal lover who uses technology to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver so she can better communicate and protect wildlife.
It has now taken in $242 million globally, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Third place went to Hindi-language spy thriller "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" with $9.6 million.
"Depending on where the final figure comes in on Monday, this is a record-breaking opening for a Bollywood film in the US," said Gross, potentially besting 2022 hit "RRR."
Released just three months after the original aired in North America, "Dhurandhar" continues the story of an Indian spy infiltrating Pakistani crime syndicates and politics, seeking to dismantle a terror network.
Considered political propaganda by some of India's neighbors, it has been notably banned in Pakistan.
With $9.1 million, fourth place went to Searchlight's "Ready or Not 2," a follow-up to the 2019 original comedy horror in which a bride must survive a deadly game of hide-and-seek with her new in-laws.
Australia's Samara Weaving reprises her starring role in the sequel, which sees her forced once again to run a gauntlet, this time against multiple families.
"This is a solid opening for the 2nd episode of a low-budget horror comedy series," Gross said. "This opening is up over the first picture, and that's rare."
Fifth place went to Universal's romance film "Reminders of Him," with $8 million.
It is the latest adaptation of a novel by Colleen Hoover and stars Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers.
Rounding out the top ten:
"Scream 7" ($4.3 million)
"GOAT" ($3.5 million)
"Undertone" ($3.0 million)
"The Pout-Pout Fish" ($1.3 million)
"Wuthering Heights" ($475,000)
des/md

kpop

BTS draws over 100,000 fans to Seoul comeback concert: label

  • The comeback concert was held on Saturday against the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop" -- with thousands of fans from South Korea and abroad singing along.
  • More than 100,000 fans turned out to see K-pop superstars BTS's first concert in nearly four years, their label said Sunday, a smaller number than originally expected for the highly anticipated event in central Seoul.
  • The comeback concert was held on Saturday against the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop" -- with thousands of fans from South Korea and abroad singing along.
More than 100,000 fans turned out to see K-pop superstars BTS's first concert in nearly four years, their label said Sunday, a smaller number than originally expected for the highly anticipated event in central Seoul.
The seven-member group took to the stage together for the first time following a years-long hiatus prompted by mandatory military service, with some stationed near the heavily fortified border with North Korea.
The comeback concert was held on Saturday against the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop" -- with thousands of fans from South Korea and abroad singing along.
"An estimated 104,000 fans attended the Gwanghwamun Square concert, based on ticket sales and data from the country's three major mobile carriers," HYBE said in a statement to AFP.
The figure was lower than an initial projection of 260,000, while police estimates of the crowd size were far lower at about 42,000, according to Yonhap news agency. 
Netflix livestreamed the concert to about 190 countries.
Fans waved a sea of glowsticks and sang along to the group's hits, holding their phones aloft to film the performance as giant screens set up across the venue allowed the crowd to watch.
Some 15,000 police officers and security personnel were mobilised for the concert, with barricades lining the roads and nearby venues shut.
The latest album, "ARIRANG", released Friday, is billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean identity. It sold nearly four million copies on its first day, according to the label.
Following Saturday's concert, the superstars will embark on their "ARIRANG" world tour, beginning April 9 in Goyang, South Korea.
Spanning 82 concerts across 34 cities, the 2026–27 tour will take in Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America. 
Tickets for shows in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours.
kjk/lga

music

K-pop kings BTS stun Seoul in '2.0' comeback concert

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
  • South Korean megastars BTS performed their first show in nearly four years on Saturday in front of enormous crowds in Seoul for a K-pop extravaganza livestreamed to millions more worldwide.
  • Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
South Korean megastars BTS performed their first show in nearly four years on Saturday in front of enormous crowds in Seoul for a K-pop extravaganza livestreamed to millions more worldwide.
Widely lauded as the biggest boy band in the world, BTS went on hiatus in 2022 so the seven members could serve compulsory military service, some near the heavily fortified border with North Korea.
The comeback concert had as its backdrop the historic Gyeongbokgung royal palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop" -- with thousands of fans from South Korea and abroad singing along.
"It's been a long journey but now we are finally here!" said BTS's leader RM -- whose injured ankle meant he had to perch on a stool at times -- as the group performed songs from their new album, as well as old hits "Dynamite" and "Mikrokosmos".
"We are finally here and seeing you again... all seven of us standing on the stage together makes me so happy," said fellow member Jimin to cheers.
"BTS 2.0 is just getting started," said J-Hope.
Fans -- 260,000 were predicted earlier -- descended on Seoul from morning onwards in colourful costumes, taking selfies with their tickets and clutching BTS "ARMY" glowsticks.
Before they came on stage the crowd chanted "BTS! BTS!" with the main boulevard leading up to Gwanghwamun Square ram-packed with people as far as the eye could see.
Gwanghwamun Gate was lit in rainbow colours before the show started, as a massive stage installation featuring three circular features -- symbolising BTS's new album "Arirang" -- glowed beneath towering lighting rigs.
The megastars admitted to some nerves, with member J-Hope telling fans "there were moments when we wondered whether we might be somewhat forgotten, or whether you would remember us".
Jimin said: "We are not such special people. We are afraid every time, but we believed that if we showed you our sincerity, it would reach you."
Fans responded with a sea of glowsticks, singing along the songs while holding their phones high up to film their stars.
"It's great that the show was held in Gwanghwamun, but it would have been just as good anywhere -- even in a much smaller venue," Park Young-mi, 34, a South Korean fan, told AFP.
"Fans have been waiting unwaveringly, and I hope they felt that today."
"Seeing them on stage just felt as if I was being welcomed into a family... it felt very expressive and beautiful and you could just see it from the people who were here too," gushed Gabriel Miranda, 34, from the United States.
"It's a bit different from BTS's usual flavour, but seeing this new side of them at this historic place is deeply moving," said Jo Jung-hee, 60, her phone featuring a photo of BTS member V.
Millions more people across the world were able to watch the show broadcast live on Netflix.
The latest album, "ARIRANG", which was released on Friday, is billed as a reflection of the maturing boy band's Korean identity.
It sold almost four million copies in the first day, BTS's record label said.
Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
"ARIRANG" takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
Featuring collaborations with multiple Western artists and producers, the 14 tracks on the album mix rap, heavy beats and experimentation.
"Compared to their earlier work, there's a wider range of genres, which gives it a more mature and expansive feel," Lee Ji-young, a university professor, told AFP.

Taylor who?

Saturday's show preceded a world tour set to be a major money-spinner for BTS, potentially outdoing Taylor Swift's recent Eras Tour.
South Korea too -- whose music, films, books, food and cosmetics are all the rage -- will benefit thanks to tourism and sales of merchandise from BTS dolls to toothbrushes and cans of tuna.
Starting in Goyang, South Korea on April 9 and ending in Manila 11 months later, BTS's tour encompasses 82 shows in 34 cities in 23 countries.
Security was heavy for Saturday's concert, with some 15,000 police and security guards, barricades lining the roads and local venues shut.
Wedding guests had to be transported by police.
BTS -- short for Bulletproof Boy Scouts in Korean -- have championed UNICEF campaigns, the Black Lives Matter movement and efforts to combat anti-Asian racism.
Members have also spoken candidly about the pressures of the music industry.
"Honestly, I became a fan simply because I love their music," Seo Ra-jung, 40, told AFP after the concert.
"I first became a fan during a really difficult period in my life, and their lyrics gave me a lot of strength."
str-cdl/stu/abs

exhibition

Matisse's last years cut out -- but not pasted -- at Paris expo

BY LAURE BRUMONT

  • Titled "Matisse 1941-1954", it chronicles a time when the Nazis considered Matisse a "degenerate" artist, during which he confessed to a friend that he came within a "whisker of death" after going under the surgeon's knife in 1941.
  • The final years of Henri Matisse's artistic life, marked by the Nazi occupation of France and a brush with death and surgery, will light up a twilight retrospective opening next week.
  • Titled "Matisse 1941-1954", it chronicles a time when the Nazis considered Matisse a "degenerate" artist, during which he confessed to a friend that he came within a "whisker of death" after going under the surgeon's knife in 1941.
The final years of Henri Matisse's artistic life, marked by the Nazi occupation of France and a brush with death and surgery, will light up a twilight retrospective opening next week.
From Tuesday, the Grand Palais in Paris will see a reunion of seminal series by the late French master, such as "Blue Nudes", "Jazz" or the monumental "La Gerbe" (The Sheaf), revealing the ageing painter's prolific work ethic despite his health woes.
The exhibition brings together 320 works, from media as varied as paintings, sketches, gouache cut-outs, textiles and stained glass, all drafted by the artist in the run-up to his death in 1954 at the age of 84.
Titled "Matisse 1941-1954", it chronicles a time when the Nazis considered Matisse a "degenerate" artist, during which he confessed to a friend that he came within a "whisker of death" after going under the surgeon's knife in 1941.
"At that time, he was therefore an elderly man, partially disabled and struggling to stand upright," said Claudine Grammont, the curator of the exhibition and a former director of the Matisse Museum in Nice.
Yet despite those woes, Matisse was about to embark on "the most prolific moment of his career", Grammont added.
"It's truly his apotheosis, meaning that the artist reaches a state of nonchalance, of detachment... in short, a moment of grace."
Grammont, who also heads the graphic art department at the French capital's famed Pompidou museum, bristles at the long-standing accusation that Matisse abandoned the art of painting for cut-outs in his old age.
"It has often been said, wrongly, that during this period Matisse stopped painting and did nothing but cut-out gouaches.
"Well, no: Matisse painted 75 paintings between 1941 and 1954."
Nonetheless, Matisse's supposed dotage was marked by an outbreak of inspiration.
"In 1950 alone, 40 works were produced. That's a lot for an 80-year-old man," Grammont said.

'Intimacy'

Visitors will have until July 26 to catch the late Matisse's essential works, including the best part of his ornamentation for the Vence Chapel in southeastern France and its dozen paintings.
It also brings together four of his now-ubiquitous "Blue Nudes", which have become a modern cultural touchstone, visible on tourist-shop T-shirts and the walls of student bedsits alike, even despite criticism of the artist's supposed colonialism from his time in Tahiti.
Matisse would often work on pieces such as 1953's "La Gerbe", with its splash of vividly coloured spiky cut-outs, at night, "because he was an insomniac", Grammont said.
For the curator, Matisse significantly altered his method in his final years, developing "a new iconographic vocabulary" through the cut-out to give his art a monumental scope.
Hence an exhibition on two floors, with spacious rooms capable of housing these large gouache cut-outs once pinned to the walls of his studio.
"What we wanted to recreate in the exhibition is this intimacy within the atelier," Grammont said.
"It's about being able to enter Matisse's studio and find yourself face to face with the artworks."
ema-lrb/sbk/jhb