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K-Pop Heartthrobs BTS to Kick Off World Tour in April

Pedestrians walk along the stairs displayed with the BTS logo and release date of BTS' 2026 album at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk along the stairs displayed with the BTS logo and release date of BTS' 2026 album at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
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K-Pop Heartthrobs BTS to Kick Off World Tour in April

Pedestrians walk along the stairs displayed with the BTS logo and release date of BTS' 2026 album at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk along the stairs displayed with the BTS logo and release date of BTS' 2026 album at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on January 14, 2026. (AFP)

K-pop megastars BTS will kick off their first world tour in four years in April, their label said on Wednesday, part of a hotly-anticipated comeback following a hiatus for the South Koreans whose music has become a global phenomenon.

BTS -- known for funky and fun hits like "Dynamite" and "Butter" -- hold the record as the most-streamed group on Spotify and are the first K-pop act to have topped both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Artist 100 charts in the United States.

But the Bulletproof Boy Scouts -- as their name means in Korean -- haven't toured or released music since 2022 as they underwent the national military service required of all South Korean men under the age of 30.

Now that all seven members have completed their military service the band's label announced on New Year's Day they would release a new album in March before heading on tour the following month.

Spanning 34 cities with 79 performances, it will be the largest-ever single tour by a K-pop group in terms of total shows and the "widest regional reach for a South Korean artist," according to the band's agency, HYBE.

The world tour will kick off in South Korea's Goyang on April 9, with two additional concerts in the city before moving on to neighboring Japan.

They will then head to the United States and Europe, with the tour ending in March 2027 in Manila.

The band's label said that more cities will be announced, including additional stops in Japan and the Middle East.

Their new album -- as yet unnamed -- will be their first since the anthology "Proof", which became South Korea's bestselling record of 2022.

- 'Right kidney is waving' -

BTS's famously loyal fanbase -- known as ARMY -- reacted with elation at news of the world tour.

One fan wrote in response to the news on Facebook that to buy a ticket their "Right kidney is waving".

"Army hunger games are about to start," another wrote, drawing a comparison between fans trying to get tickets and a series of popular young adult novels in which contestants fight to the death.

BTS is big business in South Korea -- before their military service, they generated more than 5.5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) for the country per year, according to Seoul's Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.

The figure is equivalent to roughly 0.2 percent of South Korea's total GDP.

HYBE's shares traded higher at Wednesday's market open on news of their world tour, rising around three percent.

And investment bank IBK Securities on Wednesday projected the firm's operating profits this year would soar tenfold compared to 2025.

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Entertainment

Indian Writer Arundhati Roy Pulls Out of Berlin Film Festival Over Gaza Row

Jury President and German director Wim Wenders takes the stage during the opening ceremony of the 76th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 12, 2026. (AFP)
Jury President and German director Wim Wenders takes the stage during the opening ceremony of the 76th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 12, 2026. (AFP)
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Indian Writer Arundhati Roy Pulls Out of Berlin Film Festival Over Gaza Row

Jury President and German director Wim Wenders takes the stage during the opening ceremony of the 76th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 12, 2026. (AFP)
Jury President and German director Wim Wenders takes the stage during the opening ceremony of the 76th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, in Berlin on February 12, 2026. (AFP)

Indian writer Arundhati Roy said Friday she was cancelling her planned participation in the Berlin Film Festival over comments from jury president Wim Wenders that the festival had to "stay out of politics".

The Booker Prize-winning author said in a statement sent to AFP that she was "shocked and disgusted" by the celebrated German director's response to a question on Gaza at a press conference on Thursday, adding: "With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale."

Entertainment

EU Clears Universal's $775-mn Downtown Bid

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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EU Clears Universal's $775-mn Downtown Bid

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

The EU on Friday approved Universal Music Group's $775-million acquisition of global music services company Downtown, subject to conditions.

The European Commission said the deal could go through if there is a "full divestment of Downtown's royalty accounting platform Curve".

This would "prevent UMG from obtaining access to the commercially sensitive data of its rivals stored on Curve", said the commission, the EU's antitrust regulator.

It had warned in November the deal could restrict competition because Universal could gain access to such data via Curve that belongs to other music labels.

On Friday the commission said the divestment "would fully address the competition concerns" raised last year.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, UMG is the world's biggest music company and is home to the likes of Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar.

US-based Downtown Music provides services to independent record labels and musicians, including managing copyright issues and helping artists collect royalties.

"By requiring the divestment of Curve, we are taking a decisive step to protect sensitive data and prevent it from being controlled by a large competitor," AFP quoted EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis as saying in a statement.

"Today's decision reflects the commission's dedication to promoting fair competition and supporting a thriving and diverse music landscape in Europe."

The European association of independent music companies Impala had previously warned that the merger posed risks because Universal's dominance would grow.

Entertainment

Oscars Museum Dives into World of Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ 

A father and his kid play with an animated character at the Academy Museum Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo" media preview in Los Angeles on February 12, 2026. (Valerie Macon/AFP)
A father and his kid play with an animated character at the Academy Museum Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo" media preview in Los Angeles on February 12, 2026. (Valerie Macon/AFP)
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Oscars Museum Dives into World of Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ 

A father and his kid play with an animated character at the Academy Museum Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo" media preview in Los Angeles on February 12, 2026. (Valerie Macon/AFP)
A father and his kid play with an animated character at the Academy Museum Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo" media preview in Los Angeles on February 12, 2026. (Valerie Macon/AFP)

With simulated waves, animation tables, and dozens of original sketches on display, a new exhibition in the Oscars museum offers immersion into the aquatic world of "Ponyo," Hayao Miyazaki's cinematic classic.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened in 2021 with a retrospective dedicated to the grand master of Japanese animation.

Nearly five years later, dozens of drawings, storyboards and other elements created for the film and gifted to the Los Angeles institution by Miyazaki's world-famous Studio Ghibli are going on display.

"It's such a treasure to have, we should share it with our visitors," the exhibit's curator, Jessica Niebel, told AFP.

The museum has dedicated over 350 square meters (nearly 3,800 square feet) to the magical 2008 movie.

Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," Miyazaki's story centers around a goldfish with a girl's face who is rescued by a five-year-old boy, Sosuke.

Despite the reluctance of her father, the underwater wizard Fujimoto, little Ponyo falls in love with her new friend and gives up her magical powers to become human.

Entirely hand drawn, the film was hailed as a visual masterpiece marking Miyazaki's return to the traditional animation of his early career, after incorporating computer generated images in "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle."

"What's really special about 'Ponyo' is he instructed his team right from the beginning that everything in this movie needs to move," said Niebel, recalling how the artists created a lush aquatic world, with swirling colors underwater and waves that shifted with the weather.

Animation enthusiasts will find sketches of some of the film's key sequences, drawn in pencil, and projections of its most majestic moments.

But the immersive exhibition is above all "geared towards children," the film's primary audience, Niebel said.

Younger kids can romp around on rolling blue installations that mimic waves, slide a "Ponyo" figure across an ocean wall, or hide in a replica of Sosuke's green bucket which he used to collect goldfish.

Children and their parents are urged to sit at animation tables to position sharks, jellyfish and crabs, taking photos frame by frame to create their own animated sequence -- all under the benevolent eyes of the film's elders at a retirement home threatened by rising waters.

Niebel said she hopes the exhibit might "invite the younger generation to maybe think about becoming a filmmaker" or a creative artist.

The exhibit opens Saturday and runs until January 2027. Admission is free for children under 17.