Israel hits Iran gas complex after Trump threat

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov hailed the "special nature" of relations with Cuba on a visit Thursday, where he met President Miguel Diaz-Canel as tensions simmer between Washington and energy-starved Havana.

"Russia is not going to leave the western hemisphere, no matter what they say in Washington," Ryabkov told a press conference after the meeting, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

"Our relations with Cuba are of a special nature... We can't just betray Cuba, it's completely out of the question, we can't leave it to its fate."

The meeting, confirmed by Diaz-Canel's office on X, came 10 days after a Russian oil tanker arrived in Cuba despite a de facto US fuel blockade.

"We take this opportunity to send a hug to our dear friend, President Vladimir Putin," Diaz-Canel said in the meeting, according to his office.

Ryabkov said Cuba's economic issues, including its energy security, were among the main topics of discussion, TASS reported.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has threatened tariffs on any country that attempts to sell oil to Cuba, resulting in an energy crisis on the communist island that has worsened since January.

The US labels Cuba a threat to US national security, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, has demanded changes to the island's leadership.

Earlier on Thursday, Diaz-Canel told US-based NBC News that he would not resign under US pressure.

Rubio has denied calling for Diaz-Canel's resignation.

"At the present moment, Russia is one hundred percent in solidarity with Cuba; despite the complexity the country is going through, we are by your side, said the deputy foreign minister," the Cuban president's office wrote on X on Thursday.

bur-aks/hol

© Agence France-Presse

Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson kept the New York Knicks in the hunt for second place in the NBA's Eastern Conference as they beat the Boston Celtics 112-106 Thursday.

The tight Knicks victory in a playoff-style atmosphere at Madison Square Garden puts New York two wins behind rival Boston, with just two regular season games remaining.

Hart top-scored with 26 points, including a pair of clutch three-pointers in the game's final minute that took an evenly poised game out of the Celtics' reach.

In a twisty game that featured 16 lead changes, Knicks superstar Brunson provided another standout performance, including 25 points and 10 assists.

Asked about teammate Hart, Brunson joked: "I don't want to say anything too good about him right now, but he played really well."

"We kept coming back and finding a way," Brunson added.

The No. 2 spot means home-court advantage through to the Eastern semifinals.

The Knicks would have the tie-break advantage if the two teams finish level, due to a superior head-to-head.

Thursday's win also gives the Knicks a one-win cushion over the chasing Cleveland Cavaliers.

In a possible preview of the Eastern playoffs' second round, a back-and-forth first half featured 10 lead changes, with Payton Pritchard and Brunson scoring freely at opposite ends.

After the break, the Knicks quickly opened up a 13-point lead. Yet they found themselves trailing at the end of the third quarter, as the Celtics rallied with seven three-pointers, including six from the bench.

The Celtics' Baylor Scheierman was particularly potent from behind the arc, sinking his fifth and sixth three-pointers of the night to put Boston up 104-103 with barely two minutes left.

But a Hart layup and a Brunson free throw restored the Knicks' lead, before Hart finished the game off. 

On an emotional return to the fabled Manhattan arena where he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon nearly a year ago, Boston star Jayson Tatum top-scored for the Celtics, with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

Tatum has defied the odds to return this season, making his debut last month with the Celtics in the thick of the playoff race.

Trailing conference champions the Detroit Pistons, Boston remain the favorites to clinch second, with games Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans and Sunday against the Magic.

But they may have to secure the spot without fellow star Jaylen Brown, who missed Thursday's clash with Achilles tendinitis.

- Playoff race -

Elsewhere, the incredibly tight race for the Eastern Conference's final guaranteed playoff spots took yet more twists Thursday.

The top six automatically progress to the post-season, while teams finishing seventh to tenth must enter a knockout play-in tournament next week to join them.

The Toronto Raptors, boosted by Brandon Ingram's 38 points, gained a valuable 128-114 win over the Miami Heat, rising from sixth to fifth.

It leaves both the Raptors and the Atlanta Hawks one win clear of the in-form Orlando Magic -- who have won their past four in a row.

But the eighth-placed Philadelphia 76ers saw their own playoff hopes fade as they fell 113-102 to the red-hot Houston Rockets, who claimed an eighth consecutive victory.

And fans in the West were denied a match-up between the two biggest NBA stars of the past decade, as the Golden State Warriors rested Stephen Curry for medical reasons against LeBron James's Los Angeles Lakers.

Facing the play-ins next week, the Warriors opted to give an extra recovery day to superstar Curry, who had only recently returned from a 27-game knee injury absence.

amz/sla

In a handwritten note on a sketch of an evening dress for her official visit to India and Pakistan in 1961, Queen Elizabeth II specified it should be sewn in "yellow satin", a colour symbolising health and prosperity in the region.

The sketch is one of about 300 items on display, some for the first time, at the exhibition "Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style", which opens Friday at Buckingham Palace.

This unprecedented survey of the late UK monarch's wardrobe throughout her life (1926-2022) reveals the important diplomatic role she attached to her outfits. 

The display in the King's Gallery at the London palace features sheath dresses sparkling with sequins and swirling outfits in vibrant colours from the 1960s.

There are also spectacular draped evening dresses straight from the atelier of Cristobal Balenciaga, maternity outfits and the military uniforms the princess wore during World War II. 

In a section called "the finishing touch", the queen's signature colourful hats are pinned up on a wall opposite the coordinating outfits.

Tickets for the spectacular exhibition, which runs to October, have already sold out for April.

Highlights include Elizabeth's wedding dress dating from 1947 and the ornate embroidered gown she wore for her coronation, both created by British designer Norman Hartnell.

- Political aims -

"We wanted to pay tribute not only to her style but also to British fashion and designers," stressed Caroline de Guitaut, the curator, who chose the outfits on display from an archive of some 4,000 items.

A key attribute of the royal's wardrobe was its political aims, the exhibition reveals, with fashion choices also playing a diplomatic role. 

The coronation gown illustrates this, perfectly decorated with the national emblems of the nations of the United Kingdom: the English rose, the Welsh leek and the Scottish thistle, as well as flowers symbolising the Commonwealth countries. 

This diplomatic dimension was a recurring theme of Elizabeth's wardrobe through her record-breaking 70-year reign. 

In 1954, while travelling in Australia, she wore a yellow stole delicately embroidered with the golden wattle, the national floral emblem. 

And in 1961, on a visit to Pakistan, she dined with President Mohammad Ayub Khan wearing a satin dress in the colours of the national flag of the country, a former British colony. 

"She was the undisputed queen of sartorial diplomacy," said de Guitaut.

The monarch's aim was always the same: "to show respect for the country she was visiting", the curator said, since her visits were made on government advice largely to countries with whom Britain hoped to build stronger ties.

- 'Eye for everything' -

This broke with the ancient tradition of royal clothing as a way to display wealth and power, historian Lisa Hackett told AFP. 

Now confined to ceremonial roles, monarchs "no longer use their clothing to display their power" but instead want to convey respect and courtesy, said the academic from the University of New England in Australia.

These were dress codes that Elizabeth mastered to perfection.

"She was educated from an early age about her role and her wardrobe," Hackett said.

Elizabeth was also very involved in the design of her outfits. 

"She decided what she wanted to wear, chose her designers, and even selected her suppliers," said de Guitaut.

Her handwritten note on the dress sketch for the trip to India and Pakistan was not exceptional: the exhibition shows that she added comments on several occasions. 

"She had an eye for everything. I think it's fair to say she had almost complete mastery of her style," said the curator.

adm-am/jkb/tw/cms

Shortly after news of a US-Iran ceasefire, an Iranian group released a new Lego-style video lampooning President Donald Trump and declaring "Iran won," the latest in a wave of war-themed AI-generated propaganda flooding the internet.

Explosive Media, a group of pro-Iran creators that describes itself as independent but is widely suspected of government ties, has produced a series of such videos that have racked up millions of views during the conflict.

"The way to crush imperialism has been shown to the world. Trump surrendered. IRAN WON," read the caption of its video on X after the two-week ceasefire agreement was announced on Tuesday.

"TACO will always remain TACO," it added, referring to the acronym "Trump always chickens out."

The ceasefire -- already showing signs of strain -- followed a series of apocalyptic threats from Trump, including his warning that he would take Iran back into the "Stone Age."

With dramatic background music, the video depicts a Trump-like toy figure huddling with Arab leaders, hurling a chair at US military figures, while Iranian generals press a red button with the label "Back to the Stone Age," unleashing a torrent of destruction across the Middle East.

Another clip on X depicted Trump -- caricatured with an oversized yellow head and a flaming backside -- holding a sign that read: "VICTORY! I am a loser."

- 'Age of AI slop' -

Explosive Media, whose videos often tap into American popular culture, has portrayed Trump as old, isolated, and prone to childish tantrums, seemingly disconnected from reality.

Iranian state media and diplomatic accounts have leaned into their strategy, regularly posting similar so-called AI slop -- mass-produced content created by cheap artificial intelligence tools.

"Iran has crafted a wartime propaganda strategy tailored for the age of AI slop and algorithmic amplification," Joseph Bodnar, a senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told AFP.

"They are playing to the AI aesthetics and hyperbolic anti-imperialist narratives that draw attention, spark controversy and get rewarded by platforms."

In recent weeks, viral meme videos have depicted fictional Iranian military victories, world leaders in subservient scenarios -- dependent on Iranian leaders for oil -- and even the strategic Strait of Hormuz reimagined as a cartoonish toll booth.

"It is clear that Iran is putting out content that resonates," Bodnar said.

The English-language content of Explosive Media, which describes itself as an "Iranian Lego-style animation team," appears aimed at audiences outside Iran, where platforms like X have been blocked for years and are only accessible via VPN.

With Iranians facing what monitor Netblocks calls an "internet blackout," the ability of Explosive Media to produce and upload slick content has fueled suspicion of government ties.

The group rejected the claim on X as a "media distortion."

- Meme battlefield -

The White House's X account has meanwhile posted its own war-themed content --  combining battlefield footage with clips from films such as "Iron Man," "Gladiator" and "Top Gun."

The content highlights an internet meme battlefield that has blurred the line between propaganda and entertainment.

And while the Trump administration used AI-generated content in its social media strategy well before the war, the virality of Explosive Media's clips suggests it may be contending on the digital front, experts say.

The group is "beating the Trump administration at its own game," said Nina Jankowicz, chief executive of the American Sunlight Project.

"The immature humor, the polarizing rhetoric, the idea of 'owning' opponents, and the clicks-at-whatever-cost strategy that Trump and allies have employed is now being mobilized against it."

ac/pnb/des

Stocks rose Friday with investors still optimistic about the shaky ceasefire in the US-Iran war ahead of planned weekend talks, though oil prices extended gains over worries Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon could shatter the peace process.

Washington and Tehran's announcement Tuesday of a two-week truce that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened, having been closed since the start of the war, sparked a wave of euphoria across markets.

But hopes for an end to the crisis have been hit by squabbles between the two sides over the agreement and the future of the key waterway, through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes.

US and Iranian delegations are due in Pakistan for peace talks, but they come as Tehran says Israel has already broken terms of the ceasefire by continuing to hit Lebanese targets, where Israel says Iran-backed Hezbollah is located.

The United States and Israel deny an end to attacks on Lebanon was in the deal.

Meanwhile, Trump warned on Thursday against Iran's plan to charge a toll for ships passing through Hormuz, saying on social media : "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!"

In a second message just a few minutes later, he added that "very quickly, you'll see Oil start flowing, with or without the help of Iran."

He also said Tehran was "doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz".

Just 10 vessels have passed through the waterway since the Middle East war ceasefire took effect, according to maritime tracking data.

Only one of those tankers is not Iranian.

Equity markets, which have been hammered since the war broke out on February 28, extended the week's gains.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei all rose at least one percent, while Singapore and Manila were also well up, though Sydney slipped.

The gains followed a second healthy run-up on Wall Street.

Oil prices climbed around one percent but sat just below $100 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate briefly jumped above the key level on Thursday.

Analysts said the equity gains were helped by news that Israel and Lebanon will hold talks next week in Washington. 

That comes after NBC reported that Trump had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a scale-back in strikes on its northern neighbour to ensure the success of negotiations with Iran.

With stocks rising, IG market analyst Fabien Yip said those "that suffered the deepest drawdowns during the conflict are likely candidates for the sharpest near-term recovery".

But she warned: "The ceasefire is temporary and the details remain sparse. Iran's 10-point proposal and Washington's stated positions retain substantial differences, and the Islamabad talks carry no guarantee of success.

"Even the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz -- subject to Iran's 'technical limitations' -- will take weeks, if not months, before shipping backlogs are cleared and supply chains normalise.

"Crude oil prices are therefore unlikely to revert to pre-war levels in the near term."

Investors are also keeping tabs on the release later Friday of US inflation data, which observers say could provide an idea about the impact of the surge in crude on consumers.

Prices are expected to have spiked 3.4 percent last month, from 2.4 percent in February, according to a Bloomberg survey.

In company news, shares in Japanese retail titan Fast Retailing soared 10 percent to a record high after it hiked its full-year operating profit outlook, helped by healthy demand for its Uniqlo brand in the United States and Europe.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $98.67 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $96.51 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 56,728.95 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 26,029.69

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 4,006.68

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1692 from $1.1707 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3428 from $1.3441

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.08 yen from 159.06 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.07 pence from 87.09 pence

New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.6 percent at 48,185.80 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,603.48 (close)

dan/tc

In a community centre in eastern China, Shu Fangqiang shrugged off his jacket and stepped onto a scale, one of hundreds of locals signing up for an unusual weight loss programme -- "Trade Fat for Beef".

The rules are straightforward: for every half kilogram he loses, Shu will receive the same weight in boneless beef, or 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of beef on the bone.

The programme is one of many springing up across China, backed by local authorities anxious to tackle rising obesity rates, which are fast becoming a pressing public health issue.

Participants who are already keen to lose weight say the initiative is an added bonus.

"Even without the beef, I wanted to lose weight for my health," said Shu, whose body mass index (BMI) of 30 is classified as obese.

More than a third of Chinese adults were overweight in 2022, and around 8.3 percent were obese, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), compared with the United States, where 72.4 percent of adults are overweight and 42 percent are obese.

However, the number of obese people in China has tripled between 2004 and 2018, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

If current trends continue, the share of overweight and obese Chinese adults could reach 70.5 percent by 2030, the National Health Commission (NHC) says, whose obesity criteria is stricter than the WHO's.

"This opportunity just came at the right time, so I signed up," Shu said.

Participants of the campaign in the city of Wuxi were weighed once in March, and will return in January 2027 for a second and final weigh-in .

They will then be rewarded with expensive cuts like oxtail if they lose more weight -- though the total amount of free meat available is capped at 10 kilograms (22 pounds).

Organisers say more than 1,000 people have registered since the Wuxi campaign started in March -- with thousands more turned away for not meeting local community residence requirements.

Queues for weigh-ins reached up to a dozen people at a time in both the men and women's sections, an AFP journalist saw.

At the front of the queues, participants stepped on weighing scales which displayed their height, weight and BMI.

Staff members then measured their waists, logged their data on a form and used an encouraging stamp to mark it and to cheer participants on.

An on-site doctor offered personalised medical advice.

- 'Flab for potatoes' -

Similar grassroots initiatives have also surfaced in other localities across the country, with many shared widely on social media.

In the southwestern province of Yunnan, slimmers can take part in the "Flab for Potatoes" programme and if they shrink their waistlines considerably, can upgrade to chicken.

Countrywide, popular supermarket chain Yonghui has invited customers to register their losses over 10 days by weighing themselves in-store.

They can then trade every 1.5 kilograms lost for half a kilogram of beef, crayfish or kiwi.

When AFP visited the Wuxi community centre, banners at the weigh-in urged participants to slim down steadily rather than quickly, and to aim for health over thinness.

Organisers also posted warnings against weight-loss drugs, self-induced vomiting and extreme fasting, with doctors on hand to offer guidance.

Participant Shu told AFP he wanted to lose 20 kilograms.

"Being obese affects your mental state, your work performance and your overall well-being," he said.

"Sometimes when I'm heavier, I don't sleep well at night."

As of 2021, there were 402 million overweight or obese adults over 25 in China -- the world's largest population, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Another study, published in The Lancet in 2021, attributed the problem to rapid urbanisation and a shift toward processed, high-sugar and high-fat foods, as well as increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

- 'Hard to resist' -

In Wuxi, 44-year-old Zheng Haihua said she was signing up to encourage her to "move more and eat less", and to commit to exercising. 

"The biggest challenge for me is... controlling my appetite, because when you see delicious food, it's hard to resist," Zheng laughed. 

Local physician Wu Changyan sympathised, adding "there's life pressure, and the convenience of modern life makes it easy to eat more and eat too much."

The NHC and other authorities have launched national initiatives in an effort to counter the trend, concerned about links with chronic disease and increased healthcare costs.  

Local efforts like the Wuxi one are "a fun way to get people motivated", Wu told AFP. 

But Li Sheyu, a clinical professor at Sichuan University's West China Hospital, said the campaigns might have limited impact. 

"I would not consider it a gamechanger in the big picture," he said, noting they were essentially just a traditional incentive method for weight loss. 

"But (they are) a good example of disseminating weight-loss ideas to the public."

em/reb/dhw/ane/cms

The Artemis II astronauts conducted a historic lunar flyby, gathered invaluable data and took in unprecedented Moon views, but one of the most crucial moments of their 10-day mission is still to come: Friday's splashdown.

Earlier this week, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen voyaged further from Earth than any human before, in a mission considered a key stepping stone towards eventual crewed lunar landings, and more.

They are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 5:07 pm local time (0007 GMT), after which NASA and the military will help them get out of the capsule and fly them to a recovery ship.

Their journey has been rich in milestones and already resulted in stunning photographs that have captivated the imaginations of people on Earth.

But until the astronauts are home safe, it's too early to talk about success, NASA's Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya told a briefing Thursday.

"When we can start celebrating is when we have a crew safely in the medbay of the ship," the high-ranking official said. "That's really when we can allow the emotions to take over, and, you know, start talking about success."

"We need to have the crew home before we do that."

- Vital heat shield -

The stakes are particularly high given concerns that arose during Artemis I, a 2022 uncrewed test flight to the Moon and back that saw the Orion heat shield erode in unexpected ways.

The heat shield is vital: During their reentry, the Orion spacecraft will face temperatures peaking around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius), or half as hot as the surface of the Sun.

The astronauts will come hurtling back at a maximum velocity of 34,965 feet (10,657 meters) per second -- more than 30 times the speed of sound.

The heat shield is meant to slowly erode -- "ablate," as NASA puts it -- to protect the capsule, a process that during Artemis I was disrupted.

To minimize any risk to the crew, NASA has changed the reentry path they had used in that test mission, after determining it had played a role in the complications.

"We have high confidence in the system and the heat shield and the parachutes and the recovery systems we put together," Kshatriya said. "The engineering supports it, the Artemis I flight data supports it. All of our ground test supports it. Our analysis supports it."

"And tomorrow, the crew is going to put their lives behind that confidence."

Asked later about stress levels on the ground, NASA's associate administrator said "it's impossible to say you don't have any irrational fears left."

"But I would tell you, I don't have any rational fears about what's going to happen."

- Joy and anxiety -

NASA said loved ones of the astronauts will be watching the return from Houston's mission control.

Catherine Hansen, the wife of astronaut Jeremy, told AFP that "it has been a very emotional week."

"There's been a lot of happiness and excitement, a lot of joy," she said, but also "some anxiety and some wanting to get him home safely."

The second phase of the Artemis program has been described by NASA as a "test mission," including to verify the reliability of the Orion capsule, which before now had not carried humans.

It was also a voyage marked by historic achievements: Glover was the first person of color to fly around the Moon, Koch was the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American.

The crew have reported in vivid detail features of the lunar surface and later witnessed a solar eclipse as well as meteorite impacts.

NASA senior official Lakiesha Hawkins told a briefing this week that "when the mission goes well, it can look like flying to the Moon is easy."

"It certainly is not," she continued. "We can't forget that this is a test flight, and we are taking everything that we're learning forward to support the next mission."

Late Wednesday, astronaut Koch said that "every single thing we do" is with the next crew in mind.

And mission commander Wiseman reflected that "what we really hoped in our soul is that we could, for just a moment, have the world pause -- and remember that this is a beautiful planet in a very special place in our universe."

"We should all cherish what we have been gifted."

mdo/mjf/sla

In a battle for the bottom of the Southeastern Conference, sloppy play was present throughout as Mizzou baseball fell to South Carolina 5-1. The two teams combined for three errors in the game.

Mizzou had a slight edge over South Carolina coming into the series with one more conference win. This evened both teams at 3-10 in conference play.

Three plays led to the downfall of the Tigers.

After multiple innings of strong defense, it broke down in the sixth inning. A routine popup found turf after four Tigers gathered, but bounced off the glove of third baseman Keegan Knutson. Starting pitcher Josh McDevitt had settled under the popup, but Knutson decided to take over and rushed in front of the starter.

The misplay allowed for Gamecocks runners to reach second and third, before a run came home via an RBI groundout on the next play. Left fielder Donovan Jordan dropped a simple flyout, allowing another run to score and giving South Carolin a 4-1 lead.

“They cost us runs,” Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson said. “At the end of the day, the name of the game is to score more runs and get to 27 outs before they score more runs and get to 27 outs.”

The first two Gamecock runs of the game crossed after Patrick Evans’ two-run homer in the third inning. The ball was well-hit, as there was little doubt of it staying in the confines of Taylor Stadium.

McDevitt had a strong outing during his time on the mound. He was credited with the loss after giving up three earned runs in seven innings on 100 pitches, striking out eight batters and walking just one. His steadfast pitching kept the Tigers close heading towards the final stretch. McDevitt was finally pulled after allowing his one walk plus a hit-by-pitch to start the eighth inning.

Eli Skidmore entered in relief of McDevitt, forcing the first out of the eighth on a sacrifice bunt which advanced the runners to scoring position. He then spiked a pitch to allow another run to cross. The Gamecocks managed just five hits to score the five runs.

The Tigers scratched back one run in the fourth, cutting the deficit to one. Pierre Seals ripped a triple down the right field line for his second hit of the game. He was brought in on an RBI groundout from Jase Woita, a graduate transfer from South Carolina.

Taylor Stadium brought in over 1,500 fans for the matchup with the help of $2 beers. The crowd was louder than the offense for Mizzou against the Gamecocks. Seals recorded the only two Tigers hits in the loss. Woita recorded his 36th RBI as the only other offense of note. South Carolina starter Brandon Stone had the Tigers’ number for six innings, allowing one run while striking out seven.

“We just didn’t play good baseball,” Jackson said.

Game 2 of the series will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at Taylor Stadium. Lefty Brady Kehlenbrink will have the first pitch for Mizzou.

The release of a new Michael Jackson biopic -- 16 years after his death -- highlights a robust franchise seemingly immune to the child sex abuse claims that still haunt the "King of Pop."

Film studio Lionsgate is banking on making $700 million in global box office receipts for the feature-length "Michael," which has its world premiere in Berlin on Friday. 

That figure would far surpass other productions in the same genre except for the Freddie Mercury-inspired "Bohemian Rhapsody," which took in $910 million. 

"Michael" is just the latest installment of a flourishing economic empire in Jackson's name. 

"MJ: The Musical" opened on Broadway in 2022 and has been staged in other countries, while the Cirque du Soleil production "Michael Jackson ONE" has been running in Las Vegas since 2013. 

Mychael Darklighter, a fan who lives in Australia, said he has twice seen the musical and recalled a consistently enthusiastic audience. 

"A crowd of all ages was going nuts for it each time I attended," he said. 

Last year, for the thirteenth time since his death in 2009, Jackson topped the Forbes list of deceased celebrities generating the most revenue.

And on Spotify, the artist has more monthly listeners than Beyonce, Post Malone, or Olivia Dean -- major figures in contemporary pop.

Vincent Amen, a former advisor to Jackson, said he believes the new film will boost that clout even further. 

"With the fan base, I think that they're putting themselves on the right path to commercial success," he said. 

- Baby over balcony -

Kimberly Krautter, of the public relations firm K-Factor Strategies, said that Jackson's business is more profitable after his death as it is "less fraught with controversy."

She pointed to several PR missteps Jackson made, including the moment in 2002 when he famously dangled his baby over a hotel balcony ledge in Berlin while waving to fans gathered below.

Amen agreed that the positive attention during the singer's career was regularly offset by contentious moments.

"Whatever publicity he had that was positive sometimes was countered with Michael's mistakes as negative publicity, and that made it very difficult to do business with him," he said.

Another example was in the 2003 documentary "Living with Michael Jackson," where the star explained that he still invited children to sleep in his bed, even though he was already the subject of child sexual abuse allegations.

- 'Destroy his character' -

Despite his 2005 acquittal in a criminal trial for child molestation, Jackson never managed to restore his image while alive. 

Other alleged victims filed civil lawsuits after his death and several proceedings are ongoing. The artist has never been convicted in criminal or civil court.

According to several media outlets, none of these episodes appear in the biopic which was produced under the supervision of the Jackson family.

"I would love that the film would tell the most human story about Michael Jackson possible," said Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University.

"But I also realize that we're in a period of time where Hollywood does not deal with celebrities in that way," he added.

For Krautter, Jackson's image has been relatively spared because he died before the MeToo movement, which notably brought down singer R. Kelly over child sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, the fan Darklighter remains convinced that Jackson did nothing wrong. 

"I think his legacy is pretty secure, all things considered. No matter how much they try to destroy his character," he said. 

tu/vla/bjt/sla

Residents of a New Jersey city mobilized within days to kill a planned data center -- and now activists nationwide want to know how they did it.

Grassroots resistance to these computing fortresses is spreading across the United States, even as Big Tech pours hundreds of billions of dollars a year into AI infrastructure, pushing new projects into communities from coast to coast.

Forty miles (65 kilometers) from the New York skyline, rubble still litters a vacant lot in New Brunswick -- bordered by a railway line on one side and homes on the other.

This former automotive plant was where Amzak Capital Management had planned to build its complex. For now, it remains empty -- a trophy, activists say, for a community that fought back.

Residents learned of the project just nine days before a scheduled city council vote in mid-February.

They moved fast. A video went viral; flyers spread across the city, notably on the nearby campus of Rutgers University. More than 300 people showed up to proceedings held in a room with a seating capacity of barely 80.

Before the matter was even opened for public comment, the city council announced the data center component was being stripped from the redevelopment plan, recalled Ben Dziobek, founder of environmental advocacy group Climate Revolution Action Network.

"We've got tons of people reaching out to us from around the country asking us how we did it," said Charlie Kratovil, a Democratic mayoral candidate and member of environmental group Food & Water Action.

"It is definitely tapping into something that is bigger than any one of us."

New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill told AFP that while data centers have become critical to modern economies, "communities across the country are grappling with how to integrate them locally."

Key considerations, he said, include energy consumption, environmental impact, real estate footprint and benefit to local residents.

Those concerns resonated deeply in New Brunswick.

A 23-year-old resident who asked to be identified by the initials CJ noted that the data center would have been built in the middle of a working-class neighborhood, far from the businesses, hospitals, and university buildings of the more affluent city center.

For Brandon Guillebeaux, a longtime resident of this heavily Hispanic community, the trade-offs simply didn't add up.

"If it had brought thousands of jobs, it would have been worth it," he said. "But this was only going to be a few." Once operational, data centers typically employ very few workers on site.

- A precedent? -

A boom in generative AI has sent data center demand skyrocketing, with dozens of projects springing up across the United States.

The buildout comes at a cost: power-hungry facilities are straining local grids and driving up electricity bills, contributing to a nearly 17 percent jump in the average New Jersey household's energy costs last year.

Public sentiment is hardening. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 65 percent of Americans oppose having a data center built in their community.

In early March, seven major AI sector players pledged to offset their electricity consumption by investing in new power generation -- though critics say voluntary commitments fall short of what is needed.

Other communities have pushed back, too. Last year, cities including Chandler, Arizona, and College Station, Texas, rejected proposed data centers -- though neither case drew the national attention that New Brunswick has.

"I really hope this sets a precedent," said CJ. "To show people that if they take action and publicly voice their opposition, they actually stand a chance" of winning.

That momentum is now reaching state capitals. In the coming weeks, Maine could become the first state to enact a moratorium on construction of these massive facilities -- which house millions of processors that form the backbone of the internet and AI.

In New Jersey -- the most densely populated state in the country -- numerous bills to regulate data centers are under consideration. Kratovil, the New Brunswick mayor, alongside prominent left-wing politicians including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is pushing for a more comprehensive statewide moratorium.

"We want feasibility studies and a pause, so we know the actual local impacts -- not just rushing ahead at full speed," said Dziobek.

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