Wrexham's Hollywood takeover fuels economic boom

Photographer Joel Meyerowitz, famous for capturing everyday life on the streets of his native New York and elsewhere, has no qualms about now sharing the stage with hordes of phone-wielding amateurs.

"The problems of the world and the joys of the world are visible because everyone has a camera," the 88-year-old told AFP.

The pioneer of colour images and so-called street photography is happy modern technology has given nearly everyone the chance to use the medium "as a means of expression".

"Nowadays... there are billions of people every day making photographs and there's a culture of imagery that is teaching people values about photography, about humanity, about dignity," he said.

Meyerowitz spoke at London's Somerset House, where photographs from his decades-spanning career go on show for 18 days from Friday as part of this year's Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

It has also honoured him with its annual "outstanding contribution to photography" award.

"It's thrilling to be recognised," he said, standing near his iconic pictures shot during a 1966-67 tour of Europe while a video projection presents a playful self-portraits project from 2020.

"When I began, it wasn't about a future in which I might win an award. It was about just doing the work... so I'm grateful."

- 'My city was hurt' -

Meyerowitz started his career as a painter and graphic designer before discovering photography just as colour imagery was emerging.

"The world is in colour -- it didn't even occur to me that I should use black-and-white," he recalled.

That budding photographer of the early 1960s also immediately embraced the urban environment.

"When I went onto the street, I never looked back," Meyerowitz said.

"The energy of life in the street, the way people carried themselves, the interactions between people, instantaneous events happening and disappearing -- photography is about that."

Street pictures aside, Meyerowitz is equally well known for documenting Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 attacks -- the sole photographer to have continued access to the site in the year after 9/11.

He spent several years creating an archive comprising 8,500 images, some of which were exhibited and feature in a book, "Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive".

Twenty-five years on, he recalled how the "life-changing" experience began from a desire to help -- as well as an act of defiance after then-mayor Rudy Giuliani barred photographers from the site.

"I'm a native New Yorker. My city was hurt. I needed to help in some way. I didn't know how... and then I figured it out," he explained.

"I thought 'screw you, buddy. We need this. This is history here. This is happening in America, in New York City, and you're saying no photographs?'

"So I just decided I'm going to go in there and do the work that was necessary that he was trying to ban."

Meyerowitz initially forged a worker's pass, before eventually befriending detectives on-site and securing a police department access badge.

"I wanted to get in bad enough... I'm glad I did it."

- No to AI -

Meyerowitz noted a constant hallmark of his career has been embracing technological innovation, from the adoption of colour at the outset to digital cameras decades later.

But he has opted against exploring AI's growing reach.

"I'm not at a point in my life where I want to go into the artificial intelligence route," he said.

"You might say (it's) lens-less photography. We'll know in the future what this means right now. I've chosen not to use it."

Despite that, London-based Meyerowitz, who is also editing all his unseen work for two new books, is still innovating.

The celebrated octogenarian is currently working on a project "very unlike anything I've ever done" that involves "not just making a straight photograph", he said.

"I'm not going to talk about it because it's, first of all, very risky -- culturally risky, I think -- and I haven't fulfilled it yet. I'm at work on it."

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Russia is trying to produce more pro-war  influencers through content creation camps, training teenagers to spread the Kremlin's hardline, anti-West narrative to the next generation.

Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has ramped up control of the domestic information space, outlawing criticism of the offensive through strict military censorship laws, throttling foreign media outlets and pushing its agenda across society.

Schools and young people have been targeted -- curricula and textbooks changed to include Russia's justification for its invasion and soldiers despatched to whip up pro-war enthusiasm in the classroom.

At one content creation camp in early April, more than 120 teenagers, clad in green sweaters and red berets, gathered in Moscow for lectures from soldiers and state media reporters on how to produce videos, use artificial intelligence and build audiences.

"We have created a huge team of kids, who understand how to broadcast government values and our organisation's values," Vladislav Golovin, a former soldier and chief of the general staff of Russia's Young Army cadets movement, said in a statement released by the group.

In a promotional video from the event, children were shown cheering a cadet racing against Golovin to see who could reload a sniper rifle the fastest.

Another organisation, the Movement of the First, runs competitions offering rewards for teenagers with the best blogs and biggest followings.

- 'Easy to radicalise' -

The training camps are part of what Keir Giles, director of the UK-based Conflict Studies Research Centre, calls a "concentrated campaign to restore the prestige of the Russian military."

"These 14–16-year-olds have grown up in an environment where they have never known anything other than Putinism. This is their reality, and so we should not be surprised if these new efforts to spread information reflect that reality," he told AFP.

The drive to instil young Russians with Kremlin-approved values comes from the very top.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin quoted Otto Van Bismarck to summarise his approach.

"Wars are not won by generals, but by schoolteachers and parish priests," Putin said in a televised press conference.

"Educating young people in the spirit of patriotism is crucial," he added.

The revival of Soviet-era youth organisations, like the Young Army, Yunarmiya in Russian, and Movement of the First -- which says it has 14 million online members and 1,100 regional initiatives -- has been integral to those efforts.

In their beige military uniforms with red berets, the rows of teenage cadets often resemble a bright poppy field at set-piece state events, like grand military parades dedicated to Soviet victory in World War II.

As Russia has clamped down on media and the internet since ordering troops into Ukraine, the campaign has moved online.

AI and disinformation expert at the Technological University of Berlin, Veronika Solopova, said social media algorithms are ripe for the Kremlin to spread its narrative, delivering individually tailored content to evoke an emotional response.

"Young people are famously easy to radicalise, easy to jump to conclusions on the nature of injustices, which, for Russia, is then all conveniently converted into army enrolments," she added.

- 'Behind the camera' -

More than half of Russians aged 18-24 say social media is their main source of news, polling by the independent Levada Centre found in March.

Young people's "shorter attention spans, combined with the effortless shareability of clips and reels, make digital content an exceptionally powerful tool," said Giorgi Revishvili, a former Senior Advisor to the National Security Council of Georgia.

Social media content can be "direct and radical" or "very subtle, aimed not at generating support for Russia, but at decreasing solidarity with Ukraine," said Dietmar Pichler, a disinformation and propaganda analyst at INVED.

At the training camp in Moscow, the Young Army cadets were quick to grasp the power of their new skills.

"When you are the one behind the camera filming the entire process, making audiences happy, you realise ... you are the one who has aroused these emotions in people," a girl said in a promotional clip published by the organisers.

"The truth lies in a frame, and we are operating the camera."

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Pope Leo XIV will give a giant mass on Friday in Cameroon's economic capital Douala, the biggest event of a visit marked by his calls for peace and spat with US President Donald Trump.

More than a million people are expected to attend the mass in Douala, one of central Africa's largest ports, where the Cameroonian authorities bloodily repressed protests against the disputed re-election of longtime President Paul Biya six months ago.

Thousands of faithful were already streaming into the city Thursday night to claim their spots on the esplanade outside the stadium where the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics will deliver mass.

The pope's landmark 11-day tour of Africa has seen him abandon his previous restraint to deliver impassioned pleas for world peace -- and tussle with fellow American Trump, after the US president lashed out at him for calling for an end to the war in the Middle East.

"The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants," Leo said on Thursday in a solemn speech at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in the city of Bamenda in northwestern Cameroon, the epicentre of a nearly decade-long separatist insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

Trump later said the pope could say what he liked, but needed to understand the realities of a "nasty world".

Far from the Trump spat, Leo has been greeted by adoring, singing-and-dancing crowds wherever he goes in Cameroon.

Douala's 50,000-seater Japoma Stadium is expected to be packed for his mass at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), before a visit to the Saint Paul's Catholic hospital.

But some Cameroonian Catholics had feared that Leo's visit could help Biya, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1982, burnish his image.

Douala was among the cities to see a violent crackdown on demonstrations against the re-election in October of a man who at 93 years of age is already the world's oldest head of state.

Witnesses have reported that the security forces fired live rounds into the crowds. The authorities have acknowledged dozens of deaths, without giving a precise toll.

- No to 'plunder' -

Without mentioning Trump or Biya by name, Leo has delivered unusually pointed speeches across his African tour -- ignoring Catholic US Vice President JD Vance's call to "stick to matters of morality".

"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," Leo said in Bamenda.

In a mass on Thursday, he also criticised "those who, in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it".

Cameroon is rich in natural resources such as oil, timber, cocoa, coffee and minerals, which have attracted both foreign firms and local elites for decades.

After arriving in the country on Wednesday, the pope urged Cameroon's leaders to root out corruption and abuses carried out in the name of order -- within Biya's earshot.

"Security is a priority, but it must always be exercised with respect for human rights," the pope told officials in the capital Yaounde.

Ahead of the visit, the Archbishop of Douala, Samuel Kleda -- one of the foremost critics of Biya within the Cameroonian clergy -- voiced hope that the pontiff's visit would help resolve the country's issues.

"Our country has gone through many crises; some crises are still ongoing. The fruit we must draw from this visit is to commit ourselves as architects of peace," Kleda said.

The Catholic Church plays an important social role in Cameroon, where more than a third of the population of 30 million people are Catholic.

Before Cameroon, Leo headed to Muslim-majority Algeria for a visit marred by two suicide bombings.

He leaves Cameroon for Angola on Saturday, before wrapping up his whirlwind 18,000-kilometre (11,200-mile) tour in Equatorial Guinea.

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Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited Australia's Bondi Beach on Friday to meet survivors of last year's mass shooting at the famed surf spot.

A father-and-son duo are accused of murdering 15 people last December in an antisemitic shooting spree targeting a beachside Hanukkah festival. 

Harry and Meghan toured Bondi on the last day of their whistle-stop trip down under, walking the sand barefoot flanked by first responders from the Bondi Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.

They later spoke with Jewish community leaders and survivors of Australia's worst mass shooting in three decades.

Photos showed the couple listening intently as they spoke to survivor Elon Zizerb, who was shot multiple times while shielding his children. 

Harry and Meghan have largely received a warm welcome in Australia, although some critics have questioned the use of taxpayer money to provide protection for the pair.

The couple stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to North America after a bitter royal family rift.

They are raising their two young children in California, as Harry now seeks to repair relations with his father -- who remains the head of state in Australia.

Naveed Akram and his father Sajid are accused of opening fire on a Hanukkah celebration at the Sydney beach in December.

Naveed has been charged with terrorism, 15 counts of murder, dozens of counts of causing wounds to a person with intent to kill, and planting explosives. 

Sajid was shot and killed by police during the attack.

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Myanmar's leader commuted all death sentences in a blanket order on Friday, one of his first official acts since the 2021 coup leader was installed as the country's civilian president.

The military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing snatched power in Myanmar in a February 2021 putsch and resumed executions after decades of not carrying them out, targeting dissidents opposed to his coup, rights group said.

By the following year, more than 130 people had been sentenced to death, according to the United Nations, however, definitive figures are hard to track in the country's opaque, closed-door court system.

After five years ruling as armed forces chief, Min Aung Hlaing was installed last Friday as president in a transition democracy watchdogs have described as a civilian rebranding of military rule.

The shift has been accompanied by rollbacks of some of the junta's post-coup crackdown measures -- steps the leadership tout as reconciliation, but which critics describe as cosmetic measures to aid the rebranding effort.

A communique on behalf of Min Aung Hlaing said "those serving death sentences shall have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment", without naming specific prisoners.

An amnesty in May 2023 lifted the death sentences of 38 individual prisoners, but was not a blanket measure.

Friday's act was announced as part of a broader amnesty to mark Myanmar's Thingyan new year, one of the country's many public holidays when forgiveness orders are regularly announced.

More than 4,300 prisoners were slated for release, according to a statement, alongside 179 foreign nationals, while all sentences under 40 years were slashed by one-sixth.

- Waiting relatives -

Outside the barbed-wire boundary of Yangon's Insein prison, gaggles of families waited in the sweltering heat to learn whether their imprisoned relatives would be among the pardoned.

"My brother has been imprisoned for a political case," said 38-year-old Aung Htet Naing. "I am hoping that he might be included in today's release."

"We cannot expect much because he wasn't included in previous pardons."

Less than 14 percent of those released in successive rounds of amnesties since the coup were political prisoners, think tank the Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar said late last year.

More than 30,000 people have been detained for political reasons since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Myanmar's most famous political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi remains detained incommunicado, serving a 27-year sentence which rights groups have denounced as politically motivated.

Min Aung Hlaing swept aside the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's massively popular government in 2021, making allegations it had taken power by means of massive voter fraud in polls the previous year.

Election monitors said there was no evidence of that and the military -- which has ruled Myanmar for most of its history -- wrestled back power as it grew anxious about its waning influence after her landslide victory.

The coup triggered an ongoing civil war, pitching pro-democracy guerrillas and long-active ethnic minority armies against the military.

A junta-organised election concluded in January, reversing the result of the 2020 poll by delivering a walkover win for pro-military parties.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party was dissolved and barred from running, while protest or criticism of the poll was made a prisonable offence and voting did not take place in rebel-held areas.

Lawmakers installed in the election voted overwhelmingly for Min Aung Hlaing to serve as their president, and he was sworn into office to start his five-year term last week.

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Wrexham's fairytale rise since a takeover by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney has not been limited to on-pitch success as a wave of new fans from around the globe has fuelled an economic boom in north Wales.

Just over five years ago, the Red Dragons languished in the fifth tier of English football before Reynolds and McElhenney's arrival in a city of under 150,000 people had a transformative effect for both the club and local businesses.

Wrexham are now battling for promotion to the Premier League after an unprecedented three consecutive promotions and also gave Chelsea a scare before losing in the FA Cup earlier this season.

A documentary series titled 'Welcome to Wrexham' has charted that rise and resulted in an influx of North American visitors that has doubled tourism income to £200 million ($271 million) a year.

"We are pretty much double and I think that's conservative, it could be even three times the size," said Sam Regan, owner of the Lemon Tree hotel and restaurant and chair of tourist body 'This is Wrecsam'.

"Year round now about 20 percent of my accommodation is filled with American and Canadian guests, but when the home games are on, pretty much 80 percent is international visitors."

Sitting next to the club's Racecourse Ground, the beer garden of The Turf pub was teeming with accents from Virginia to Vancouver on a glorious spring evening before the visit of Southampton.

Yet, there is little sign of resentment from those who long suffered watching Wrexham before "the Rob and Ryan effect" took hold.

"Every business around here now feels the buzz of Wrexham," says James Townshend, a 30-year-old sales trainer and lifelong local fan of the club. 

"Wrexham wouldn't be where they are now (without them), so we have to embrace and appreciate what these fans are bringing to the area."

Becki Hendricks is on her seventh trip to the area from Virgina. 

Having initially mistaken 'Welcome to Wrexham' as a "spoof", she and her husband are even considering moving across the Atlantic to settle in Wales.

"We started with the documentary, yes. My life-long friends are here now," said the 51-year-old programme analyst. "Wrexham is a part of our hearts and part of our souls now."

- 'We are known worldwide' -

A fourth promotion in as many years may prove a bridge too far this season. 

Phil Parkinson's men sit seventh in the Championship, one place outside the play-off spots with four games to go.

But work is well underway to ensure the club continues to grow in the pursuit of Premier League riches.

A state-of-the-art new 7,500 capacity stand is set for completion next year, taking the Racecourse up to 18,000 and providing the facilities to allow the return of Wales international games to Wrexham.

"This has had an impact that goes beyond just football. It has had an impact on the entire community," CEO Michael Williamson told AFP. 

"It has helped create jobs and opportunities within the community, but it's also more importantly just inspired people and reestablished hope."

That civic pride is felt most by those that lived through 15 years mired in the fifth-tier National League.

Journalist Richard Williams has covered the club for two decades.

"Just the fact that you go around the town and it used to be little kids in Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal shirts. Now it's Wrexham, Wrexham, Wrexham everywhere," said Williams.

"So, the vibe, the feel-good factor around the town, it's just absolutely phenomenal."

Reynolds and McElhenney have also sparked a trend for Stateside stars to invest in the unglamourous lower reaches of English football.

Rapper Snoop Dogg is a minority owner of Swansea, while NFL legend Tom Brady's Birmingham got the better of Wrexham last weekend.

The marrying of sporting and economic success achieved by Reynolds and McElhenney has "set the bar" for celebrity overseas investors, according to local councillor Nigel Williams.

"Before people knew Wrexham for problems like anti-social behaviour," added Regan. 

"Now we are known worldwide and people are proud to be from here."

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Just weeks after her husband won Belgium's national elections in 2024, Veerle Hegge found herself in hospital for an eating disorder that almost claimed her life.

Nearly two years later -- including six months of full-time treatment -- Prime Minister Bart De Wever's wife shared with AFP why she chose to take her anorexia struggle public in a book that delves deep into her personal life.

"Mental illness is still surrounded by taboo," the 53-year-old schoolteacher said in an interview at her home in the port city of Antwerp. "It's something people feel uneasy, awkward even, to talk about."

"It's so important to get care early on when you are sick," she says, to avoid "falling in deeper."

"But you can only do that with help from the people around you."

Hegge has been De Wever's partner for three decades, through his longtime tenure as mayor of Antwerp and since he became prime minister last year, raising four children now aged 18 to 24.

Entitled "The weight of silence", her book focuses largely on the months she spent in hospital treatment in 2024 -- the time she needed to get back on her feet from a near-fatal battle with anorexia.

A striking scene recounts her hour-long car journey to a clinic in eastern Belgium -- with De Wever in stony silence at the wheel -- after it became clear getting full-time specialist help had become a matter of "survival."

De Wever's Flemish conservatives had just won the national election, and he was tipped for prime minister.

His wife remembers thinking he must be "disappointed" in her -- but not daring to ask. At home, she says, everyone used to "tiptoe around" the matter of her illness.

She describes a "rushed" arrival at the clinic -- and the shock of finding herself alone, with a psychiatric patient tag around her wrist.

"Bart couldn't stay long -- he had to get back to work as always," she writes in the book's opening pages. "We hugged briefly, and agreed to call one another. That was all. And Bart left."

Hegge speaks candidly of her loneliness and guilt at being away from home -- after so many years keeping family life ticking over while De Wever pursued his career -- although soon enough she was able to leave the hospital at weekends.

Later in the book, she writes that her husband had seemed "helpless" faced with her ordeal, and thanks him for sticking by her side.

- Buried trauma -

Much of Hegge's story is devoted to her childhood -- where her earliest memories are dominated by a mother prey to bouts of deep depression, whose fits of anger she grew to fear and second-guess.

Home life was often marred by silence and simmering conflict -- but that was not the hardest part of growing up.

From the age of five or six, she reveals she was sexually abused by an older boy over a period of several years -- a trauma she now realises she repressed until just a few years ago.

"Accepting that truth opened the floodgates," she writes. "It had a huge impact on my body, my sense of internal balance."

"Eighteen months later I was admitted to intensive care for an advanced eating disorder," she says -- the first of two episodes that would culminate with her hospitalisation the year of the election.

Hosting AFP's team in her family living room, in a comfy pullover and sneakers, Hegge says she is doing better.

Since her book hit the shelves -- in French last month, after an initial release in Dutch last year -- she says she has received countless messages of support.

Among those reaching out are people battling eating disorders themselves, or supporting loved ones as they struggle, who thank her for tackling the painful topic head-on.

"Some of the people I see cling on to me, or start to cry," she told AFP. "There is so much pain and suffering."

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An Australian court granted bail on Friday to former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, charged with murdering unarmed prisoners captured in Afghanistan following a sweeping war crimes probe.

The towering soldier became a household name across Australia when he was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2011, a medal reserved for only the most courageous wartime exploits.

But a landmark military report in 2020 revealed grave allegations against Australian troops sent to fight Taliban forces, accusing elite units of torture, summary executions and "body count" competitions.

This month Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of "war crime -- murder", with police alleging he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.

After ten days behind bars he was granted bail, with Judge Greg Grogin telling a Sydney court that the former soldier faced the prospect of "years and years" in jail before his case went to trial.

In court via video link, Roberts-Smith appeared impassive as he was shown on screen in a green prison track suit.

His lawyer Slade Howell argued it was unacceptable to keep the soldier behind bars as the case slowly wound through the courts.

"It will take many, many years and will have many twists and turns," he said.

The prosecution in turn argued the grave nature of the alleged crimes warranted strict bail conditions.

"The applicant is accused of either killing or directing his subordinates to kill unarmed detainees in the custody of Australian armed forces," prosecution lawyer Simon Buchen said.

Should Roberts-Smith be found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

- From War hero to defendant -

The decorated soldier met Queen Elizabeth II, had his portrait hung at the Australian War Museum, and was even honoured as the nation's "father of the year".

But the war hero's reputation was called into question in 2018, when a series of news reports linked him to the alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.

The soldier had allegedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic limb which he later used as a drinking vessel with other soldiers.

Roberts-Smith has staunchly maintained his innocence throughout, launching legal action against the newspapers who aired the allegations.

But his efforts to sue The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for slander would backfire, with a judge finding in 2023 many of the journalists' claims were "substantially true".

Such civil trials carry a lower burden of proof than the criminal proceedings Roberts-Smith now faces.

Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.

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Disney showcased the first theatrical trailer of the new Marvel franchise film "Avengers: Doomsday" on Thursday during the closing day of CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

The clip -- played twice for the enthusiastic audience at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace -- offered the first look at Robert Downey Jr. as the villainous Doctor Doom.

It marks the actor's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the death of Iron Man in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame."

The footage also teased several dramatic moments from the movie, including a fight between Gambit and Shang-Chi -- played by Channing Tatum and Simu Liu, respectively -- and Patrick Stewart reprising his role as X-Men's Professor Xavier, warning: "Something's coming, something we may not be able to deter."

At the very end of the trailer, Chris Evans returns as his character Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, appearing before a surprised-looking Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as the Norse god's Mjolnir hammer flies into Rogers' hands.

Both Evans and Downey Jr. were on the stage at CinemaCon to present the trailer alongside the film's directors, brothers Joe and Anthony Russo.

"I said I would only come back if there was a real reason," Evans told the crowd.

"And in Doomsday, there is a very real reason that these heroes need Steve Rogers."

"Avengers: Doomsday" follows the events of "Avengers: Endgame," bringing together a host of Marvel characters new and old, including the X-Men, previously excluded from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The movie will have its US premiere on December 18, the same day as Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three."

Theater owners hope the double-whammy will be a box office bonanza, ending the year on a high note amid declining revenues.

- Sequels on the way -

Marvel's presentation was the grande finale of Disney's CinemaCon showcase.

The annual convention allows movie studios to preview their upcoming slates to theater owners and the press.

Tom Hanks, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Queen Latifah were among the superstars to showcase footage from their upcoming Disney films.

Director Jon Favreau introduced the opening scene of his new movie, the latest Star Wars flick "The Mandalorian and Grogu," out next month.

Disney also played clips from the upcoming sequel films "The Devil Wears Prada 2" with Meryl Streep reprising her role as icy fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, and "Toy Story 5," the latest Pixar animated film with lifelike toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear coming together more than 30 years since the original released.

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Stock markets fell Friday as investors awaited news of an extension to the Iran-US ceasefire, while crude prices edged back down following the previous day's rally.

The losses follow a healthy, record-breaking week for equities fuelled by hopes the Middle East war, which is heading into a seventh week, could be close to an end after Donald Trump said negotiators were close to a deal.

But worries abound that a shaky truce agreed earlier this month -- and which ends next week -- could fall apart and spark a fresh market rout.

The US president on Thursday struck an optimistic tone, telling reporters that "it's looking very good that we're going to make a deal with Iran, and it's going to be a good deal", adding that talks between Washington and Tehran could resume this weekend.

He also claimed Iran had "agreed to give us back the nuclear dust", using his name for the country's enriched uranium stockpile, and the deal would include "free oil" as well as the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. 

"We had to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon," Trump said at the White House. "They've totally agreed to that. They've agreed to almost everything, so maybe if they can get to the table, there's a difference."

Iran has given no public indication it would surrender its stockpile.

However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took a tough line on the situation earlier in the day, telling a Pentagon news conference: "If Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy."

Meanwhile, some Gulf Arab and European leaders fear a long-term agreement could take six months to achieve and called for the truce to cover such a time period, Bloomberg reported.

They wanted the Strait of Hormuz -- through which about a fifth of global oil and LNG passes -- opened immediately and have warned in private of a global food crisis if that is not achieved by next month, the report said. 

Stocks fell across the region, with Tokyo, which hit a record high Thursday, among the biggest losers, with Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore also well down. 

Taiwan's TAIEX fell. On Thursday it hit a market capitalisation of US$4.14 trillion to top the UK's market capitalisation and become the world's seventh biggest, according to Bloomberg data.

That came even after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq enjoyed record closes on Wall Street.

Analysts said traders were heading into the weekend to positioning for any surprise developments.

Oil prices dropped more than one percent, a day after sharp gains, though both main contracts remain just below $100 a barrel.

There was some support from a 10-day ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon that took effect at 2100 GMT Thursday.

Tel Aviv has sent troops into its northern neighbour since militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks in support of Iran last month. 

Hezbollah has not officially said if it will recognise the ceasefire but one of its lawmakers told AFP on Thursday that the group would respect it if Israeli attacks on its militants stopped.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon offered an opportunity for a "historic peace agreement", but insisted that the disarmament of militant group Hezbollah remained a precondition.

Trump said he will invite the countries' leaders to the White House.

"While investors remain buoyed by talks of an extension in the US-Iran ceasefire and an announced Israel-Lebanon 10 day ceasefire, risk sentiment remains fragile as an immediate deal remains unlikely given that the countries remain far apart on key issues," wrote National Australia Bank's Skye Masters.

Fiona Cincotta of City Index, said: "While risks remain -- particularly around disruptions to key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz -- markets are increasingly pricing in a scenario where oil prices have peaked unless tensions re-escalate."

But she warned "the outlook remains fragile. A breakdown in diplomacy or renewed escalation could quickly reverse recent gains".

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 58,930.87 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 26,163.88

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,042.62

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6 percent at $93.21 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $98.31 a barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1776 from $1.1784 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3517 from $1.3529

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.36 yen from 159.14 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.12 pence from 87.09 pence

New York - Dow Jones: UP 0.2 percent at 48,578.72 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 10,589.99 (close)

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