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

music

Tickets to toothbrushes: BTS's money-making machine

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • Even more than Swift, money comes not just from ticket sales but fans travelling from abroad and spending several days in the cities where BTS play -- a phenomenon dubbed "BTSnomics".
  • The return of the world's biggest boy band BTS after their almost four-year hiatus looks set to be a major money-spinner -- potentially beating Taylor Swift.
  • Even more than Swift, money comes not just from ticket sales but fans travelling from abroad and spending several days in the cities where BTS play -- a phenomenon dubbed "BTSnomics".
The return of the world's biggest boy band BTS after their almost four-year hiatus looks set to be a major money-spinner -- potentially beating Taylor Swift.
Ahead of the K-pop giants' massive comeback concert in Seoul on Saturday and the start of a world tour, AFP looks at how the mega-group earns money for itself -- and others.

'BTSnomics'

Some projections suggest that the 82-date, 23-country tour could even surpass US megastar Swift, whose 21-month Eras Tour reportedly generated around $2 billion in ticket sales alone.
Even more than Swift, money comes not just from ticket sales but fans travelling from abroad and spending several days in the cities where BTS play -- a phenomenon dubbed "BTSnomics".
Starting in Goyang, South Korea on April 9 and ending in the Philippines 11 months later, BTS's tour encompasses 82 shows in 34 cities in 23 countries, including around 30 shows in North America. 
"I expect these economic ripple effects to be distributed across all the countries and cities where the performances take place," said SooCheong Jang, a tourism professor at Purdue University.
"Given the number of scheduled performances, the massive global fandom including ARMY, and the explosive release of pent-up longing for the group, I judge that this impact will indeed surpass that of 'Taylornomics'," he told AFP.

Netflix and tourism

Analyst Kim Yu-hyuk of IBK Investment & Securities in Seoul said a "highly conservative" estimate for ticket sales and merchandise from BTS's 82-date tour is at least 2.9 trillion won ($2 billion).
Six million people could go the shows, Kim estimates. 
And BTS may announce more dates next year.
On top of the 260,000 people expected to fill central Seoul on Saturday, Netflix will livestream the concert around the world.
"This is the biggest live musical performance Netflix has ever staged globally," Netflix executive Brandon Riegg said in Seoul on Friday. 
The buzz could further increase the current global hunger for almost anything with a Korean flavour, from movies and TV series to books, food and cosmetics.
"KPop Demon Hunters" -- Netflix's most-watched original film -- recently won two Oscars and has already significantly helped boost tourism to South Korea.

Glowsticks to tuna cans

Merchandise -- -- ranging from tuna cans and beauty devices to glow sticks, blankets, clothing and dolls -- is also a major generator of cash.
Shinsegae Duty Free said its Myeongdong "K-Wave Zone," which opened in central Seoul in January and sells K-pop-themed goods of multiple artists, is running out of BTS-related products.
Sales of BTS merchandise alone rose about 430 percent in the week of March 13–19 from the previous week, it said in statement.
"Key rings sold out the fastest, while toothbrush-and-toothpaste sets -- popular with travellers -- and disposable bandages also went out of stock," Kim Ji-min, a spokesperson for Shinsegae, told AFP.
"BTS has developed a new economic model for cultural IP (intellectual property), not one particular, but several, such as copyright, trademarks, and design," said Dal Yong Jin, a culture and digital technology professor at Simon Fraser University.
"Their copyright extends to games, comics, music videos," he told AFP.
"In terms of trademarks, the sale of merchandise, including dolls, has been significant."

K-everything

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the number of foreign visitors to the country between March 1-18 this year rose by more than 30 percent compared with a year earlier.
BTS's agency HYBE cited Hotels.com data showing overseas searches for Seoul jumped 160 percent within 48 hours of the announcement for the upcoming tour, while Busan -- another tour stop -- saw a 2,400-percent surge.
Economically, the group's impact is indeed "measurable in increased tourism to South Korea, the global expansion of K-pop, and spillover effects into industries like K-drama, beauty, cuisine, and fashion," Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.
"In many ways, BTS helped catalyze the broader 'K-everything' wave, creating both cultural and economic multiplier effects."
cdl/stu/cms

electricity

Rap group Kneecap says crisis-hit Cuba being 'strangled'

BY LAURENT THOMET

  • "We see the island of Cuba being strangled," said the musician, wearing sunglasses next to bandmates Moglai Bap and DJ Provai, the latter wearing a balaclava in the colors of the Irish flag.
  • The members of the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap said Friday that they joined an international aid convoy to Cuba because they could not stay silent while the island -- gripped by crisis under a US fuel blockade -- was being "strangled."
  • "We see the island of Cuba being strangled," said the musician, wearing sunglasses next to bandmates Moglai Bap and DJ Provai, the latter wearing a balaclava in the colors of the Irish flag.
The members of the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap said Friday that they joined an international aid convoy to Cuba because they could not stay silent while the island -- gripped by crisis under a US fuel blockade -- was being "strangled."
The musicians are part of a motley crew of public figures and aid groups descending on the island by air and sea this week with medicine, water, food, solar panels and other supplies.
Sitting at a press conference in Havana next to former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Colombian Senator Clara Lopez, the Belfast-based musicians said there was a long tradition of Irish-Cuban solidarity.
Much like Cuba and Gaza, band member Mo Chara said, Ireland suffered under colonialism, forced starvation and oppression.
"As Irish people, it's just not in our nature to watch these things happen internationally or domestically and stay silent," said Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam Og O hAnnaidh.
"We see the island of Cuba being strangled," said the musician, wearing sunglasses next to bandmates Moglai Bap and DJ Provai, the latter wearing a balaclava in the colors of the Irish flag.
"It's important that people who have a platform like us, who reach maybe a certain number of audiences...that we use that platform for what's right and what's good," he said.
Kneecap made headlines last year when Mo Chara was charged under British anti-terrorism laws for allegedly displaying a flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during a 2024 concert. The case was later dismissed by a judge.

'Stand up' to Trump?

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that her government had also sent another ship with humanitarian aid to Cuba, as it seeks to help a Caribbean ally squeezed by the US energy blockade.
Her country was the main remaining fuel supplier to Cuba after Venezuela's shipments were halted with the ouster of Nicolas Maduro on January 3, and the oil blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump. 
Cuba's economic crisis has worsened since, with power blackouts exacerbated by the sudden suspension of oil supplies.
Trump has threatened Havana repeatedly since taking office, saying Monday that he would "take" the communist-run island.  
Organizers of the "Our America" aid convoy say over 500 people from 30 countries in Latin America, North America, Europe and Africa are bringing more than 20 tonnes of supplies to Cuba.
The first shipment arrived from Europe on Wednesday, while a flight took off from Miami on Friday and ships have been coming from Mexico.
Corbyn, who also met with Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, acknowledged that the cargo would not be enough, and challenged Britain and European countries to "stand up" to Trump and ship oil to Cuba.
"If France, Germany and Britain instructed an oil tanker to go to Cuba to deliver oil, would the US really bomb that oil tank? Would they really stop that oil tanker going through?" Corbyn told AFP.
"No. Trump would back down. It's up to those countries that have allied themselves so closely to the USA to simply say enough is enough. Let the Cuban people survive," he said.
lt/js/jgc

Hollywood

Chuck Norris, roundhouse-kicking action star, dead at 86

BY PAULA RAMON WITH RAPHAëLLE PICARD AND CHRIS WRIGHT IN PARIS

  • - Norris v Superman - In 1983, Norris slipped into the role of a taciturn Texas ranger waging war against an arms dealer in "Lone Wolf McQuade," which provided the template for the cult TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger."
  • Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood tough guy most famous for his role in the "Walker, Texas Ranger" television series, has died, his family said Friday.
  • - Norris v Superman - In 1983, Norris slipped into the role of a taciturn Texas ranger waging war against an arms dealer in "Lone Wolf McQuade," which provided the template for the cult TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger."
Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood tough guy most famous for his role in the "Walker, Texas Ranger" television series, has died, his family said Friday. He was 86.
Norris died Thursday morning, the family said on Instagram, after media reports that he had been hospitalized for an undisclosed condition while on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
"To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength," the statement read. "To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family."
The family said it wanted to keep the details of Norris's passing private, adding that "please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace."
Tributes quickly began pouring in.
"All of Texas mourns the passing of Chuck Norris. He was not only a martial arts champion, action icon, and the one and only Walker, Texas Ranger," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
"My heart and prayers are with his family. He will never be forgotten," said fellow action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Norris could be outspoken about his conservative political views, and President Donald Trump hailed him Friday as a "great supporter."
"He was a really good, tough cookie. You didn't want to fight him," Trump, who has cultivated deep connections with mixed martial arts and its fan base, told reporters at the White House.
- Big screen icon - 
Born in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris took up martial arts while serving in the US Air Force in South Korea.
He left the military in 1962 and set up a martial arts studio in Los Angeles, finding his calling in teaching and delivering roundhouse kicks.
His acting debut came with a cameo in a 1968 Dean Martin film, "The Wrecking Crew." Four years later, his epic fight with the kung-fu superstar Bruce Lee in "The Way of The Dragon" helped turn Norris into an icon on big and small screen alike.
A slew of leading roles in karate films followed, from a US commando in "Good Guys Wear Black," an all-American riposte to a slew of Hong Kong action flicks harnessing Lee's fame, to the action horror feature "Silent Rage."
As his acting career grew, he became a legendary martial arts figure, winning six world professional middleweight karate championships from 1968 to 1974 and earning black belts in multiple disciplines. 

Norris v Superman

In 1983, Norris slipped into the role of a taciturn Texas ranger waging war against an arms dealer in "Lone Wolf McQuade," which provided the template for the cult TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger."
The show ran for eight seasons and spawned countless action-man jokes and memes, one being that Norris and Superman had a fight, with the loser (Superman) forced to wear their underpants on the outside.
The success of the bearded, ass-kicking Ranger marked a stunning reversal of fortune for Norris, who grew up a shy, unathletic child who "used to daydream about being strong... to beat up the bullies."
By midday Friday fans had begun placing flowers at Norris's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
"We grew up on Chuck Norris because he was more like a father figure to us," 59-year-old Los Angeles resident Mike Ravizza told AFP on Hollywood Boulevard.
"He'll tell you what's wrong, what's right, what not to do, what to do -- and he will fight everybody."
An evangelical Christian, Norris was born into a family of three boys raised mainly by their Irish mother after her divorce from their alcoholic father.
He had two sons from his first marriage to his high school sweetheart Dianne Holechek, which lasted 30 years, and a son and a daughter with his second wife, Gena O'Kelley.
Norris also had a daughter from an affair during his first marriage. 
A dyed-in-the-wool Republican, he urged his compatriots to vote out Barack Obama in 2012. A year later, he offered his bare-chested support to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in a video.
On Friday, Netanyahu called Norris "a great friend of Israel and a close personal friend."
In 2017, Norris recovered from two cardiac arrests. He was mired in controversy two years later by becoming the public face of the arms company Glock, despite an epidemic of gun violence in the United States.
cdw/cb/sms/mlm/js

Hollywood

Action movie star Chuck Norris has died: family statement

  • "It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning," the family said in a statement on Instagram.
  • Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood action star most famous for his role in "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died, his family said Friday.
  • "It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning," the family said in a statement on Instagram.
Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood action star most famous for his role in "Walker, Texas Ranger," has died, his family said Friday. He was 86.
"It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning," the family said in a statement on Instagram.
"To the world, he was a martial artist, actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family."
"He lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved. Through his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives," the statement said.
Norris reportedly fell ill on Thursday on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Norris turned 86 last week, marking the event with a video of him boxing on social media and saying, "I don't age. I level up."
The martial arts expert turned actor has starred in a slew of action films since his acting debut with a cameo in a 1968 Dean Martin film "The Wrecking Crew."
Four years later, his epic fight with the kung-fu superstar Bruce Lee in "The Way of The Dragon" helped turn Norris into an icon on big and small screen alike.
"Nothing like some playful action on a sunny day to make you feel young," Norris said in his birthday message last week.
sms/ft

Kpop

New BTS album drops ahead of comeback mega-gig

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
  • K-pop megastars BTS released a new album Friday, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in Seoul that will go ahead despite leader RM being advised to rest his injured ankle.
  • On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
K-pop megastars BTS released a new album Friday, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in Seoul that will go ahead despite leader RM being advised to rest his injured ankle.
The Saturday gig, expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS's first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour.
On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
But "the artist himself expressed a strong desire to deliver a performance of the highest quality", Big Hit Music said.
"Consequently, we wish to inform you that RM's participation in certain performance elements, such as choreography on stage, will be restricted," a statement added.
Earlier, BTS released their fifth studio album, billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean roots and identity.
Streaming giant Spotify said that fans pre-saved the album more than five million times, a record for a K-pop act.
The 14-track "ARIRANG" takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
"We gave deep thought to our identity -- and how best to express ourselves authentically -- across the entirety of our music and performances," said BTS member Jimin, 30.
"As an extension of that process, we also revisited the significance of our background as a group comprised entirely of Korean members," he said in a statement.
Ces-Marie Hilo, 40, a fan from the United States, said she listened to the album while waiting to purchase BTS merchandise.
"We are still listening to the album and it's amazing so far," Hilo told AFP. "I can hear titbits from their roots but the majority are new sounds from them and a mix of different genres."

'Really, really cool'

Excitement, meanwhile, grew in Seoul, with hotels long since booked out and thousands flying in from overseas, ramming home the immense popularity of a multi-award-winning act singing mostly in Korean.
BTS are the music vanguard of a Korean cultural wave, which includes Oscar-winning films like "Parasite" and "KPop Demon Hunters", hit dramas like "Squid Game", Nobel-winning author Han Kang, food and cosmetics.
Streets were festooned with purple-and-blue "Welcome BTS & ARMY" signs, referring to the group's fandom. BTS hoodies, wallets and figurines were on sale at new pop-up stores and convenience shops.
Mara Cristia Yao and Rodessa Ericka Bonon, fans from the Philippines, could not secure their tickets for the Saturday concert.
"We are just going to come to this area anyway. We are figuring out where to position ourselves tomorrow," Yao told AFP, taking pictures with each other near where the stage was being set up. 
"I am watching people from all around the world. That is like, really, really cool. Because we are gathered together for BTS. To support them, to support their comeback, to listen to their new music as well," said Araceli Cahua, 27, from Peru.

'Love letter'

After visiting the White House, releasing hugely successful English-language albums and performing at famous venues around the world, the group has chosen a historic stage at home for the landmark comeback concert.
This will be Seoul's sweeping Gwanghwamun Square, near the landmark Gyeongbokgung Palace, an area that has witnessed centuries of history, including major political protests in 2025.
As well as those present in Seoul -- amidst a gigantic security operation -- Netflix will livestream the show around the world.
"This is the biggest live musical performance Netflix has ever staged globally," Netflix executive Brandon Riegg said in Seoul on Friday. 
This new album "feels like a love letter to their home country", Jeff Benjamin, Billboard's K-pop columnist, told AFP.
"I do think they'll be remembered the way we remember the Beatles or Michael Jackson — not just as chart-topping acts but as artists whom the industry calculates time in terms of 'before' and 'after'".
cdl/stu/cms

history

Turkey in cultural diplomacy push to bring history home

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • But that changed after archaeometry expert Professor Ernst Pernicka concluded there was "no doubt whatsoever" the statue came from Bubon, where an imperial shrine housed bronze sculptures of Roman emperors. 
  • When an ancient bronze statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius landed back on Turkish soil after decades abroad, it was more than a symbolic homecoming.
  • But that changed after archaeometry expert Professor Ernst Pernicka concluded there was "no doubt whatsoever" the statue came from Bubon, where an imperial shrine housed bronze sculptures of Roman emperors. 
When an ancient bronze statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius landed back on Turkish soil after decades abroad, it was more than a symbolic homecoming.
It marked the latest victory in Turkey's increasingly assertive push to recover antiquities illegally taken abroad -- a campaign supported by a newly-developed AI tool for identifying cultural assets of Turkish origin.
The life-sized bronze, which dates back to the second- or third-century, was taken in the 1960s from the ancient city of Bubon near Turkey's southwestern Antalya resort. 
After a years-long investigation involving research, scientific testing and statements from now elderly witnesses, the headless statue arrived back in Turkey last year.
Its repatriation from an Ohio museum involved cooperation with the US Department of Homeland Security and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
For Zeynep Boz, director of Turkey's department for combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property, one moment stands out. 
"I clearly remember when the computer finally processed the data and we saw the match come together. It was an exciting moment," she told AFP at Istanbul's archaeology museum.
That the statue survived at all is exceptional: in antiquity, bronze was a valuable raw material routinely melted down for weapons, coins or everyday objects.
"For this reason, bronze statues of this scale have rarely been preserved until today," she said.
For years, Cleveland's Museum of Art had dragged its feet, claiming there was insufficient evidence to prove where it came from, Boz said. 
But that changed after archaeometry expert Professor Ernst Pernicka concluded there was "no doubt whatsoever" the statue came from Bubon, where an imperial shrine housed bronze sculptures of Roman emperors. 
Soil and lead samples provided crucial scientific evidence which convinced the museum, Boz said. 
"It was a long struggle. We were determined and patient and we won," Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said when the statue returned in July.
Turkey has stepped up efforts to combat illicit antiquities trading and in 2025 alone secured the repatriation of 180 cultural artefacts.

AI to identify trafficked objects

Although its newly-developed AI-powered "TraceART" system was not involved in recovering the Marcus Aurelius statue, the tool helped identify two 16th-century Iznik tiles that were recovered from Britain this month.
Developed by the culture ministry, it scans images on sales platforms, auctions and social media to identify any cultural assets of Turkish origin that may have been trafficked, with flagged items sent for expert assessment.
TraceART went operational in 2025 and has since identified hundreds of objects for review, Boz said.
In January, Turkey recovered an Anatolian-style marble head from Denver Art Museum in Colorado, said Burcu Ozdemir of the antiquities trafficking unit.
The museum contacted Ankara because the piece "had been donated by the wife of a US consul general who served in Istanbul in the 1940s", she said. 
Turkey's campaign also involves returning items to countries like Iran, China and Egypt.
"We returned two of the artefacts stolen from temples in China," Boz told AFP. 
Turkey also returned "a key of the Kaaba to Egypt" after realising it had ended up in Turkey illegally, she said of the cube-shaped stone structure at Mecca's Grand Mosque.

Ottoman tiles at the Louvre

Turkey is now seeking the repatriation of other antiquities taken during the Ottoman era: an ancient marble torso called the "Old Fisherman" from Berlin, and dozens of Iznik tiles held at France's Louvre museum. 
"There's an assumption that artefacts taken in the 18th-19th centuries were acquired legally. We don't share that view," Boz said. 
The illegal tile swap came to light in 2003 when one fell from the wall of an Ottoman-era library and on the back was the French manufacturer's mark.
The original and others were taken in the late 1800s by a Frenchman who claimed to be restoring them, then replaced them with fakes. 
"We have repeatedly shared evidence with France and talked with the Louvre but no resolution has been reached," she said. 
The tiles were on a panel by the tomb of Ottoman Sultan Selim II in the garden of the Hagia Sophia. 
Today it bears a plaque in English, French and Turkish reading: "The tiles before us are replicas."
The originals are currently on display at a branch of the Louvre in Lens, 200 kilometres north of Paris, which says they were "bought in 1895". 
The museum did not respond to several requests for comment from AFP. 
fo/hmw/yad/ceg/lga

television

'The Bachelorette' canned after star's violent video emerges

BY PAULA RAMON

  • The video, obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ, shows Paul lashing out at Dakota Mortensen, her partner at the time.
  • "The Bachelorette," one of America's highest profile reality TV shows, was cancelled Thursday just days before the new season was due to air, after video emerged of the show's star hurling furniture at her ex-partner, in an incident that apparently injured her daughter.
  • The video, obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ, shows Paul lashing out at Dakota Mortensen, her partner at the time.
"The Bachelorette," one of America's highest profile reality TV shows, was cancelled Thursday just days before the new season was due to air, after video emerged of the show's star hurling furniture at her ex-partner, in an incident that apparently injured her daughter.
Disney-owned ABC had widely promoted the 22nd season of the show, in which 22 men compete for a relationship with a single woman, including trailing it during Sunday night's Oscars gala.
But on Thursday, the network yanked the glossy series -- whose $2 million episodes began filming last year -- over shocking footage of a domestic altercation involving "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Taylor Frankie Paul.
"In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.
"Our focus is on supporting the family."
The video, obtained by entertainment outlet TMZ, shows Paul lashing out at Dakota Mortensen, her partner at the time.
In the footage, apparently filmed by Mortensen on a mobile phone, Paul rains abuse on him, kicks him and gets him in a headlock.
She then begins to throw metal stools across the room at him, one of which appears to be deflected towards her young daughter.
Mortensen can be heard asking her to stop and urging her to see to her crying child, as she continues to scream abuse at him.
The incident took place in Utah in February 2023, according to police, who arrested Paul on multiple charges, including domestic violence in the presence of a minor.
While the footage is new, Paul's arrest and subsequent conviction were featured on earlier seasons of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."
Questions will now likely be asked as to how much due diligence producers of "The Bachelorette" did before casting the lead to the Sunday night prime-time show, which had pricey sponsorship deals with brands including Cinnabon.
Paul, a social media influencer, went viral in 2022 after revealing that she and her then-husband had been "soft-swinging" with other Mormon couples.
The Hulu show "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" followed the catty fallout from the revelation among a group of Utah-based TikTok influencers, and has so far run for multiple seasons.
Paul, 31, has not commented on the matter via her social media channels but local media outlets carried a statement from one of her representatives in which the reality star says she is "very grateful for ABC's support." 
"After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm." 
"She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story."
pr-hg/js

music

Behind the BTS comeback, the dark side of K-pop

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • But industry bosses argue that the competitive structure is what keeps K-pop so successful. 
  • K-pop oozes with talent, flair and hard work, but the spectacularly successful South Korean music industry also has a dark side -- sometimes with tragic results.
  • But industry bosses argue that the competitive structure is what keeps K-pop so successful. 
K-pop oozes with talent, flair and hard work, but the spectacularly successful South Korean music industry also has a dark side -- sometimes with tragic results.
Ahead of BTS's comeback concert on Saturday, AFP looks at the intense competition, the gruelling training, the tight control over stars' lives and the sometimes obsessive fan behaviour in the industry.

300 groups

South Korean record labels launch dozens of new groups every year in the hope they will become the next BTS or Blackpink, but with some 300 outfits already out there, the big time is elusive.
The tiny minority of the thousands of young hopefuls who make it past the audition phase can then face 15-hour days of gym sessions, singing lessons, promotional shoots and dance practice.
They sometimes sleep not at home but in bunk beds in shared houses, with tight control over the lives, including what they eat, their weight and their looks.
In a 2020 interview with AFP, former Nine Muses member Ryu Sera likened it to a "factory-like mass-production system", with people treated like "replaceable products".
But industry bosses argue that the competitive structure is what keeps K-pop so successful. 
"We can't help those who were given an opportunity for self-improvement but couldn't keep up with the others," Blitzers manager Oh Chang-seok told AFP in 2021.
The balance of power between labels and K-pop stars was once heavily skewed, with "slave contracts" mandating unequal profit-sharing and binding artists for well over a decade. 
After a legal battle involving idol group TVXQ, the fair trade commission revised standard contracts, with changes introduced in 2009 that cap initial deals at seven years.

No dating

Fans can become obsessive, and anger over rumours that their beloved stars may be romantically involved has become a hallmark of the industry.
When Jung Kook of BTS was rumoured to be dating Aespa member Winter, fans sent a truck carrying a billboard to the headquarters of BTS label HYBE accusing him of "deceit".
Karina of Aespa faced similar trouble when she acknowledged her relationship with an actor in 2024, drawing the ire of fans who also dispatched a truck.
"Do you not receive enough love from your fans?" it read.
Karina delivered her "sincere apologies" in a handwritten letter, vowing she would "not disappoint" her fans again. Shortly afterwards, the couple broke up.
Others have taken things to dangerous extremes.
In 2024, Sunwoo from The Boyz was assaulted when a fan hid in an emergency stairwell to confront him. The group's label said it had also detected a tracking device on their vehicle.
This month, a Brazilian woman was indicted on charges of stalking BTS's Jung Kook. She allegedly rang his doorbell and left a letter 23 times in one month -- "out of love".
Kim Seong-sheen, a professor of creative convergence education at Hanyang University in Seoul, blames the way the industry has structured the relationship between groups and fans.
"Fans have come to occupy the role not of simple consumers but of participants who invest their emotions and time," Kim told AFP. 
"The industry has long operated on the premise of controlling idols' private lives and sustaining an illusion of intimacy to maintain that engagement."

Cyberbullying

The industry has seen a number of suspected suicides, most recently in 2023 when Moonbin, 25, from boy band ASTRO, was found dead at his home.
While mental health professionals caution it is rare that there is only one trigger factor, some performers have been subjected to intense cyberbullying and harsh scrutiny of their personal lives, both by fans and their management.
Bang Si-hyuk, creator of BTS and chairman of HYBE, questioned in a 2023 CNN interview whether such criticism was "justifiable", suggesting conditions were no better in Western pop.
Cultural commentator Kim Do-hoon said a deeper problem lies in the industry's hierarchical structure between management and singers.
Unlike many groups elsewhere, K-pop bands are assembled by agencies that invest time and capital to train them in a top-down system. 
BTS was created in the same manner.
"This is a very hierarchical system that, at its core, has not changed over the years," he said.
kjk/stu/lga

film

Labubu creators hope for monster film hit in Sony co-production

  • "The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".
  • China's snaggle-toothed Labubu dolls will soon come alive on the big screen after flying off the toy shelves, with maker Pop Mart announcing a collaboration with Sony Pictures.
  • "The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".
China's snaggle-toothed Labubu dolls will soon come alive on the big screen after flying off the toy shelves, with maker Pop Mart announcing a collaboration with Sony Pictures.
The movie, which is still in early development, will feature the fanged plushie monsters in a "live-action and CGI hybrid", Beijing-based Pop Mart said on Thursday.
Created in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, Labubus sparked a craze nine years later, with the "ugly-cute" charms adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa and sparking massive queues at Pop Mart stores around the world.
Vivian Jia, a Canadian tourist visiting Pop Mart's flagship Shanghai flagship store, said she was looking forward to watching the Labubu movie with her children.
"I think they're so cute, especially the ones with the eyes that move... my friends' kids all like (Labubus) too," she told AFP.
Jia said she spent more than 400 yuan ($58) on a Labubu figure, which she said she planned to display in her living room in Vancouver.
The new film project, unveiled by Lung and director Paul King ("Wonka" and "Paddington") in Paris on Thursday, will seek to capitalise on the dolls' viral fame by bringing "Labubu's whimsical world to the big screen", Pop Mart said.

'Cool' China

The collectable dolls, which typically sell for around $40, are released in limited quantities and sold in "blind boxes", meaning buyers do not know the exact model they will receive.
Some of the less common Labubu figures can fetch thousands of dollars.
Pop Mart sold more than 100 million Labubu dolls worldwide last year, with Chinese officials hailing the toothy characters' popularity as evidence of China's growing cultural and soft power.
They have become furry ambassadors for a "cool" China, even in places such as Europe and North America, where public opinion towards Beijing has not always been positive.
Camilla Pinheiro, a Brazilian Pop Mart fan who bought several dolls at the Shanghai store, said she would prefer a movie franchise about some of Pop Mart's less well-known toy lines, such as the punk-inspired Peach Riot figures.
"The whole (Labubu) fever, it was kind of intense... by the time they finish the movie, it will be so saturated," Pinheiro said.
King will share scriptwriting duties with Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson.
"The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".
The company now has more than 600 stores in over 30 countries and regions.
A release date for the film has not yet been announced.
sam-tjx/pbt/cms

BTS

Kings of K-pop: What to know about BTS's comeback

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • Hotels are booked out in Seoul with thousands of fans flying in from abroad for the concert.
  • BTS, the world's biggest boy band, reunites on stage on Saturday in a K-pop extravaganza watched by hundreds of thousands of fans in downtown Seoul and by millions around the planet online.
  • Hotels are booked out in Seoul with thousands of fans flying in from abroad for the concert.
BTS, the world's biggest boy band, reunites on stage on Saturday in a K-pop extravaganza watched by hundreds of thousands of fans in downtown Seoul and by millions around the planet online.
AFP gives the lowdown on what to know ahead of the concert -- BTS's first since 2022 -- by the seven young men who more than anyone have turned South Korea into a global cultural powerhouse.
- Full comeback - 
BTS broke hearts after, one by one -- beginning in 2022 and ending last June -- they swapped pop stardom for around 18 months of unglamorous compulsory military service.
Their agency has framed the concert -- a day after their fifth studio album "ARIRANG" drops -- as a declaration that normal service has at long last resumed.
"We promised our fans we'd be back," BTS's leader RM, 31, says in a trailer.
- The palace - 
Roughly 15,000 tickets for the concert sold in an instant, but around 260,000 more fans are expected to throng Seoul for the open-air show.
The gig's overall director is Britain's Hamish Hamilton, who has worked with a string of global acts and has helmed Olympics ceremonies and Super Bowl shows.
Details of the concert have been strictly kept under wraps.
But local media reported that the event will begin inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul's grandest royal palace dating back to 1395.
Then BTS will move through the main gate to a main stage near Gwanghwamun Square in a route dubbed the "Path of a King" in reference to the Joseon emperors who reigned for five centuries.
"BTS is unarguably the most symbolic K-pop group there is. And it goes without saying Gyeongbokgung Palace is the most symbolic place in the country," Kim Do-hoon, a pop culture columnist, told AFP.
- Crowd control - 
 
After more than 150 people died in a Halloween crowd crush in Seoul in 2022, authorities are taking no chances, closing Gyeongbokgung Palace and the nearby National Palace Museum for the day.
About 6,700 police officers, along with 8,200 security staff from the Seoul city government and the group's agency HYBE, will be deployed, authorities said, as well as counterterrorism officers.
"Given the recent volatile international situation... the possibility of a terrorist threat at large-scale events such as BTS concerts cannot be ruled out," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Money-spinner

   
Both BTS and their fans are known for their progressive activism, including support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
They are also a colossal money-spinner, with the BTS "fandom economy" from sales of music and merchandise -- as well as tourism - worth billions of dollars annually.
Hotels are booked out in Seoul with thousands of fans flying in from abroad for the concert.
"BTS's comeback will contribute to an economic boom in the areas where they hold concerts, thanks to their strong fandom base," said Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University.
"Convenience stores and lodging businesses will be the direct beneficiaries, while the national image could also be elevated with their return to the stage."
For BTS though, the success of the new "ARIRANG" album will be key.
"It will show not only the future of BTS but also that of the K-pop industry," columnist Kim said.
- World tour - 
After the show, BTS will embark on their ARIRANG World Tour, which begins April 9 in Goyang, South Korea. 
Stretching across 82 concerts in 34 cities worldwide, the 2026-27 tour will sweep through Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America.
Tickets for shows in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours.
For fans unable to secure entry for the March 21 show, the centrepiece of the comeback is a Netflix livestream broadcasting the entire event to around 190 countries.
kjk/cdl/stu/jm/cms

music

In Seoul square of protest and history, BTS fans welcome grand comeback

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • - Social pain -  It's been arguably a tough time for BTS members in their roughly 18 months of military service.
  • Through months of winter protests in support of South Korean democracy, professor Lee Ji-young clutched her K-pop glowstick -- a small but telling sign of her love for K-pop megastars BTS. Now the world's biggest boy band is set for a comeback concert on Saturday after a nearly four-year hiatus for the septet to complete military service -- and while the nation went through traumatic times.
  • - Social pain -  It's been arguably a tough time for BTS members in their roughly 18 months of military service.
Through months of winter protests in support of South Korean democracy, professor Lee Ji-young clutched her K-pop glowstick -- a small but telling sign of her love for K-pop megastars BTS.
Now the world's biggest boy band is set for a comeback concert on Saturday after a nearly four-year hiatus for the septet to complete military service -- and while the nation went through traumatic times.
"It feels like they've come back to reclaim their rightful place," said Sung Young-rok, 45, a BTS fan and traditional Korean artist, ahead of the open-air concert expected to draw 260,000 people to Seoul.
In late 2024, in a wealthy nation where democracy was thought to be well-anchored, then-president Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the world by trying to declare martial law, sending troops and helicopters to parliament.
His bid failed -- Yoon is now in jail -- but for a few tense hours it was touch-and-go.
And day after day, night after night, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans braved the biting cold to protest against his move.
Like her fellow protestors, Lee -- who has researched BTS's social impact -- rarely let go of her glowstick signifying she is part of BTS's loyal fanbase known as ARMY.
The 55-year-old recalled how their lights shimmered as people marched at night, singing songs to keep up their spirits and warm up in the bitter cold.
"Holding it gave me a sense of protection. I remember feeling that if something dangerous happened, (other ARMY members) would see the glowstick and come help me," she said.
"And when you turn it on at night, it's simply so beautiful. In many ways, it felt like a light that represented us -- something beautiful and strong, a light that reminds you that you are not alone."

Symbolic location

The protests were held in the streets around the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace in downtown Seoul, and it's no coincidence that this will be the backdrop for BTS's concert.
South Korea's best-known landmark, built in 1395, has weathered centuries of destruction and restoration.
It has borne witness to hundreds of years of history, from the fall of the Joseon dynasty to the brutal decades of Japanese colonial rule. 
In recent years, it has seen mass protests.
The area is a "place that very much served as a national public square, where massive protests have taken place, and to stage a performance there is to try and directly engage with the national consciousness", Keung Yoon Bae, Korean studies professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told AFP.
The title of BTS's new album, due to be released on Friday, is in the same vein.
It takes its name from "Arirang", a beloved Korean folk song about longing and separation often described as an unofficial national anthem through war, division and displacement.
Loukia Kyratzoglou, 48, a BTS fan from Greece said the concept resonates for her.
"Years of conflict and socioeconomic change have led to the migration of thousands of Greeks who left their country seeking a better future for their families," she told AFP.
"Much like a migrant who longs to reunite with loved ones and walk again on the sacred ground of their homeland, BTS are returning to their roots after years of separation," she said. 
"And ARMY are here to welcome them back."
- Social pain - 
It's been arguably a tough time for BTS members in their roughly 18 months of military service.
Four served near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, which has separated thousands of families since the 1953 Korean War armistice and is known for barbed wire, harsh winters and gruelling training. 
Member Jimin slept inside a self-propelled artillery vehicle.
BTS have generally steered clear of politics -- including during the anti-Yoon protests -- but they have not shied away from social issues.
They have spoken openly about mental health and racism, which they have experienced themselves, and donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter in 2019, inspiring fans to match the amount.
Their lyrics have tackled fame, loneliness and depression alongside themes of self-doubt.
Fans have responded with activism of their own, including projects supporting Korean adoptees seeking to reconnect with their birth families, often an emotionally painful and legally complex process.
"In this very complicated political climate, I am proud that they from day one gave full credit to Black hip hop artists who inspired them," Malene Vestergaard, a Korean adoptee and a BTS fan in Denmark, told AFP.
"That they didn't erase their Korean heritage, that they spoke on Asian hate during Covid."
cdl/stu/lga

film

Director plans to put Val Kilmer back on screen thanks to AI

  • Kilmer, who played in big-budget successes and indie films throughout his career, was one of the late actors praised during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday. pr/js/md
  • The late American film star Val Kilmer could soon be "acting" on the big screen again after allowing a director to use AI tools to produce his likeness for an upcoming film, media reports said Wednesday.
  • Kilmer, who played in big-budget successes and indie films throughout his career, was one of the late actors praised during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday. pr/js/md
The late American film star Val Kilmer could soon be "acting" on the big screen again after allowing a director to use AI tools to produce his likeness for an upcoming film, media reports said Wednesday.
Coerte Voorhees had tapped Kilmer, who died of pneumonia last year after years of battling throat cancer, for "As Deep as the Grave," about the pioneering archaeologist Ann Morris, a co-discoverer of the Anasazi civilization.
Kilmer was to play a Catholic priest named Fintan.
"He was the actor I wanted to play this role," Voorhees told industry magazine Variety. "It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest."
He said Kilmer signed on to the project but later became too ill to begin filming. 
"I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot," Voorhees said. "He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn't do it."
He said Kilmer's family had provided video images of Kilmer, who was known for keeping a vast archive of footage from various moments of his life, that would be used to build the AI actor.
The project will likely get a wary welcome from many in Hollywood, where actors, writers and others are worried that AI could replace an array of jobs.
AI was already used with Kilmer so he could again play one of his most iconic roles, the cocky pilot Iceman, in the 2022 sequel to the era-defining 1980s hit "Top Gun."
Kilmer, who played in big-budget successes and indie films throughout his career, was one of the late actors praised during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday.
pr/js/md

museum

NY's New Museum returns contemporary to heart of Manhattan

  • The reopening follows three years of intensive construction in one of the busiest spots in the city to future-proof Manhattan's only contemporary art museum.
  • After an $82 million expansion, New York's New Museum will bring contemporary art back to the heart of Manhattan, showcasing modern works alongside classics by Dali and Marcel Duchamp after two years closed.
  • The reopening follows three years of intensive construction in one of the busiest spots in the city to future-proof Manhattan's only contemporary art museum.
After an $82 million expansion, New York's New Museum will bring contemporary art back to the heart of Manhattan, showcasing modern works alongside classics by Dali and Marcel Duchamp after two years closed.
Re-opening its doors to the public Saturday, the 60,000-square-foot building expansion will be launched with an exhibition titled "New Humans: Memories of the Future", that probes "what it means to be 'human'," alongside several new commissions.
It will contrast contemporary and historical pieces to profile the impact of technology on mankind.
The reopening follows three years of intensive construction in one of the busiest spots in the city to future-proof Manhattan's only contemporary art museum.
The renovation was beset by several delays, pushing back the original deadline from last fall.
The new wing was designed by Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas with Cooper Robertson, and has the geometric look of angular mesh enveloping an open stair case, elevator shafts and display spaces.  
It is flanked by low-rise apartment buildings and retail spaces typical of the Bowery neighborhood.
"It's more impressive on the inside than it is outside. A lot of time and money in this," said a guard at a preview event.
The expansion provides twice the footprint of the existing building and will now feature a dedicated studio for artists-in-residence.
"Since our founding nearly 50 years ago, the New Museum has been a home for the most groundbreaking art of today and a haven for the artists who make it," said Lisa Phillips, director of the New Museum.
"Our new 120,000-square-foot building on the Bowery signals our redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas, and to the museum as an ever-evolving site for risk-taking, collaboration and experimentation," she said.
In one gallery, Pamela Rosenkranz's "Healer (Anamazon)", a mechanical snake, slithered around the display space, inadvertently shedding part of its construction as it moved.
"It's all of ours first day," said a curator, re-assembling the artwork as it writhed.
gw/js

conflict

Oscar-winner Sean Penn meets troops in frontline Ukraine

  • "Sean Penn, having skipped the Oscars ceremony and arrived in Ukraine, personally visited a combat unit of the 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which is carrying out combat missions in the Donetsk sector," the brigade said on Facebook. 
  • US actor Sean Penn met frontline troops in Ukraine, pictures showed Wednesday, the latest appearance in a surprise tour of the war-torn country after skipping the Oscar awards ceremony on Sunday.
  • "Sean Penn, having skipped the Oscars ceremony and arrived in Ukraine, personally visited a combat unit of the 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which is carrying out combat missions in the Donetsk sector," the brigade said on Facebook. 
US actor Sean Penn met frontline troops in Ukraine, pictures showed Wednesday, the latest appearance in a surprise tour of the war-torn country after skipping the Oscar awards ceremony on Sunday.
Images published by Ukraine's 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade showed the Oscar-winner standing in front of a sign for Sloviansk, a Ukrainian town about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the front line with Russia, as well as meeting soldiers and signing an autograph in an undisclosed location.
The 65-year-old "Mystic River" star scooped the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the dystopian comedy "One Battle After Another" but was notably absent at last Sunday's glitzy Hollywood ceremony.
"Sean Penn, having skipped the Oscars ceremony and arrived in Ukraine, personally visited a combat unit of the 157th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which is carrying out combat missions in the Donetsk sector," the brigade said on Facebook. 
"Such meetings are inspiring and remind us that even in the most difficult times we are not alone, and our bravery will not go unnoticed," it added.
The brigade also published a photo showing Penn sitting with Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's former chief of staff who was ousted last year amid a corruption probe.
Penn is a vocal advocate for Ukraine and has visited the country several times since Russia invaded, including to co-direct a documentary about Zelensky, whom he calls a friend.
bur-cad/tw

media

Global music market grows, calls for AI compensation: industry body

  • But the IFPI warned against the increasing threat of AI-generated streams of fake content. 
  • The global music industry generated $31.7 billion last year, driven by online streaming, industry body IFPI said Wednesday, as it called on the sector to ensure AI-generated content compensates musicians.
  • But the IFPI warned against the increasing threat of AI-generated streams of fake content. 
The global music industry generated $31.7 billion last year, driven by online streaming, industry body IFPI said Wednesday, as it called on the sector to ensure AI-generated content compensates musicians.
Music revenues rose 6.4 percent, marking the eleventh consecutive year of expansion, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents more than 8,000 global record labels.
Streaming accounted for nearly 70 percent of annual revenue, with paid streaming subscriptions reaching 837 million subscribers worldwide.
But the IFPI warned against the increasing threat of AI-generated streams of fake content. 
"Streaming fraud is theft, plain and simple," the group said in its annual report, calling instead for technology to "support and enhance creativity, not replace it."
AI-generated tracks regularly go viral, such as the runaway success of an AI cover of Belgian musician Stromae's "Papaoutai" at the end of January.
According to the report, Deezer revealed that it receives more than 60,000 AI-generated tracks every day.
AI music generation platforms -- such as US based Suno and Udio -- argue their work is covered by the American copyright loophole of "fair use," which does not require rights holders' consent.
The IFPI urged policymakers to uphold copyright protections.
"Music is embracing the future, demonstrated by record company partnerships with generative AI developers who respect the rights of creators," the group said.
Suno reached an agreement with record label Warner Music Group in November to compensate artists whose work is used to create AI-generated tracks.
Revenues from physical formats were up, including from vinyl which grew 13.7 percent. 
Asia drove the rise in vinyls and CDs, while these formats were almost non-existent in the North Africa and Middle East market, where streaming accounts for 97.5 percent of revenue.
Taylor Swift was the biggest-selling global artist of 2025, followed by Korean group Stray kids and Canadian rapper Drake.
zap-ajb/rl

conflict

Russia slams Oscar-winning anti-Putin documentary

  • The documentary has proved polarising even among anti‑Kremlin Russians, and some argued that children were filmed without parental consent.
  • Russia on Wednesday condemned the Oscar-winning documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin", saying it had featured children filmed without their parents' consent, in Moscow's first official reaction to the film scooping the prestigious award.
  • The documentary has proved polarising even among anti‑Kremlin Russians, and some argued that children were filmed without parental consent.
Russia on Wednesday condemned the Oscar-winning documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin", saying it had featured children filmed without their parents' consent, in Moscow's first official reaction to the film scooping the prestigious award.
Small-town Russian school videographer Pavel Talankin, 35, won the Academy Award together with US filmmaker David Borenstein for the documentary, which chronicles pro-war patriotic lessons introduced in Russia's schools under President Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's Ukraine offensive.
Talankin, who fled Russia with the smuggled footage and now openly opposes the war, was instructed to film the propaganda lessons by the school administration, eventually deciding to secretly team up with the US director.
Russia's human rights council, a government body, said that "images of minors were used without obtaining the consent of their parents" in the documentary.
It added that the footage was intended as an "internal record of school activities for educational use", but then was used for commercial purposes.
The council said it requested the Academy that awards the Oscars and UN cultural agency UNESCO to launch an investigation.
Moscow has not commented on the substance of the film. State-controlled media largely ignored the award.
The documentary has proved polarising even among anti‑Kremlin Russians, and some argued that children were filmed without parental consent.
Talankin fled Russia in 2024, leaving behind his mother and siblings.
Since sending troops against neighbouring Ukraine four years ago, the Kremlin has suppressed opposition to the war.
Authorities have introduced numerous patriotic activities across the country, especially in schools and universities, in what critics say is a mobilisation and militarisation of society to support the offensive.
bur/jhb

music

BTS light stick prices surge ahead of comeback concert

  • K-pop fans are known for their concert light sticks, which have become symbols of devotion to their artists. 
  • Second-hand BTS light sticks were selling for up to six times the original price ahead of the K-pop megagroup's huge comeback concert this weekend, an online reseller showed Wednesday.
  • K-pop fans are known for their concert light sticks, which have become symbols of devotion to their artists. 
Second-hand BTS light sticks were selling for up to six times the original price ahead of the K-pop megagroup's huge comeback concert this weekend, an online reseller showed Wednesday.
The world's biggest boy band reunites on Saturday for their first show in nearly four years, taking over central Seoul for a K-pop extravaganza beamed live around the globe. 
K-pop fans are known for their concert light sticks, which have become symbols of devotion to their artists. 
BTS's global fans, known as the ARMY, calls theirs the Army Bomb.
The original price of the latest official version is around 50,000 won ($33.67), but they are sold out.
Listings on Bunjang, a major platform for used goods, are priced at between 100,000 and 330,000 won per unit. 
The concert on Saturday will see BTS take the stage on the doorstep of the famed Gyeongbokgung royal palace.
The area has also long been a site of political protests, including after former president Yoon Suk Yeol's failed 2024 martial law declaration, when K-pop fans took part with glowsticks -- a striking image that drew global attention.
cdl/stu/jm