Wejdan Hajji, a 28-year-old employee at a firm selling medical supplies, attends a guitar class at the Yamaha Music Centre in Saudia Arabia's capital Riyadh on June 11, 2022. Saudi Arabia's rulers have recently relaxed some social restrictions after decades of adhering to a rigid interpretation of Islam, enforced by the kingdom's religious police and placing severe limits on social activities including group musical lesson.

Students embrace new rhythms at Saudi music schools

Lifestyle

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi businessman Ahmed Abdullah watches intently as his seven-year-old daughter Yasmine practises keyboard scales at a Riyadh music school, an opportunity he could only dream about when he was young.

Saudi Arabia's rulers have recently relaxed some social restrictions after decades of adhering to a rigid interpretation of Islam, enforced by the kingdom's religious police and placing severe limits on social activities including group musical lesson.

"Now we are thinking about the next generation and investing in it," Ahmed said.

Previously those who could afford it hired musical tutors to come to their homes, while the rest struggled to find any instruction at all.

At least five such schools have opened over the past few years in the capital Riyadh and Jeddah, the kingdom's second city on the Red Sea coast, serving an enthusiastic clientele of children and some adults.

Yasmine's class, at the Yamaha Music Centre, meets every Saturday for half an hour, with their Egyptian instructor running students through keyboard drills under a sign reading "Music for All".

The session is bittersweet for Abdullah, who thrills at his daughter's enthusiasm even as it reminds him of "things I had no chance of achieving in my childhood".

Notes of change

Music has been a feature of the dramatic social reforms ushered in by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler who became first in line to the throne five years ago.

For decades the country was decidedly off the beaten path of most touring artists but in recent years some of the world's biggest stars, including Justin Bieber and K-pop juggernaut BTS, have performed in the kingdom.

These marquee events have spurred allegations of complicity in a transparent bid to whitewash the kingdom's grim human rights record.

But there is little question that many young, entertainment-starved Saudis are grateful for the shows.

Last December more than 700,000 revellers flocked to the MDLBeast Soundstorm music festival in Riyadh, officials said, for four days of performances including a set by superstar French DJ David Guetta.

Daily life, too, has become more melodious, with restaurants and cafes staging live acts or blasting recordings through speakers -- some even during prayer time, when in the past they would have been forced to close.

Several Saudis who are now trying to develop their own musical chops described the transformation as a boon to their mental health.

Wejdan Hajji, a 28-year-old employee at a firm selling medical supplies, said she once struggled to teach herself guitar by watching YouTube videos, lamenting that "if I made a mistake, there was no one to correct me".

Now she pays 940 Saudi riyals (around $250) each month for classes with a Ukrainian teacher at the Yamaha Music Centre.

"I didn't know anything, but now I've learned the basics," she said.

"The one-hour session clears my mind... My personality has changed, and I'm calmer."

A growing market

Such benefits could soon extend to many more young Saudis.

In 2020 the kingdom established a "Music Authority" under its culture ministry which grants licenses to music schools and provides backing to young talents eager to pursue careers in the music industry.

Some 100 private schools nationwide have included a music component in their curricula during the current academic year, according to an official tally.

In May, the authority launched a "Music Culture Programme" to develop the skills of public school students as well.

As those initiatives get off the ground, the specialised music schools continue to do brisk business.

One recent afternoon at the "House of Music" school in northern Riyadh, an instructor supervised five toddlers as they swayed to the sound of lullabies playing on a speaker.

The school opened in 2019 and has 300 students of all ages who come for lessons in rooms adorned with posters of performers like Bob Marley and Lebanese singer Fairuz.

"There is a good acceptance of the services we provide so far," said the school's Venezuelan director, Cesar Mora, adding that the school has a second branch in the works.

"There is a growing music-loving community and market."

Walid Mahmoud, a 37-year-old Sudanese resident of Riyadh, began coming to the school so his young daughters could take lessons on the oud, a stringed instrument popular in the region.

Before long, he signed up for lessons himself.

"Saudi Arabia has changed a lot," he said with a laugh as his daughters, aged five and three, looked on.

"Maybe we will form a band one day. Why not?"

In this photo taken on June 21, 2022, Korean-American K-pop star AleXa, who recently won the American Song Contest, rehearses in a dance studio of South Korea's ZB Label in Seoul. Korean-American K-pop star AleXa has wanted to be on stage since she was a kid, but her search for fame in South Korea was also fuelled by another reason -- to help her mother find her birth family.

Finding fame... and family? AleXa's Korean-American K-pop dream

Lifestyle

Korean-American K-pop star AleXa has wanted to be on stage since she was a kid, but her search for fame in South Korea was also fuelled by another reason -- to help her mother find her birth family.

Adopted from South Korea by an American family, her mother knows little about her birth culture nor does she speak the language.

The blue-haired 25-year-old who recently won the American Song Contest -- the US version of Eurovision -- told AFP that eating kimchi was one of her few cultural links to her Korean heritage growing up.

That is, until AleXa discovered K-pop in 2008.

"That kind of sparked my dream and my drive to become a K-pop artist," said the Tulsa-born rising star, who has been dancing since she was two.

Growing up in Oklahoma, AleXa said seeing entertainers on-screen she could identify with as a Korean American showed her "an interesting path to follow".

At university, she took home the top prize at a K-pop competition -- a trip to South Korea to film a reality show where she met executives from her future company and entered the gruelling star-making training so many young hopefuls embark on.

She moved to Seoul in 2018 and -- having never spoken it while growing up -- studied Korean at an academy for a few months, continuing her lessons by watching movies and TV shows while undergoing intensive dance classes.

- Search for family -

While AleXa has found success as a K-pop idol, her quest to find her mother's family is proving to be a more arduous process, foiled by South Korea's restrictive adoptive laws.

Born in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, her mother was adopted when she was five.

Like many adoptees, she would like to trace her birth family, but "the laws here in Korea are a little strict regarding if the child can find their birth parents and vice versa," AleXa said.

South Korea places the right to privacy of the birth parent above the rights of the adoptee.

The country has long been a major exporter of overseas adoptees, with hundreds of thousands sent away since the 1950s.

After the Korean War, it was a way to remove children -- especially those born to local mothers and American GI fathers -- from a country that emphasises ethnic homogeneity.

Even today, unmarried pregnant women still face stigma in a patriarchal society and are often forced to give up their babies.

"The opposite party must be in search of the other in order for the first party to gain information," the singing star said.

That has not happened in their case, so her mother is still unable to find AleXa's grandma.

However, she has had some success through the internet and DNA testing, and found some cousins in other countries.

AleXa said they haven't given up hope.

"Hopefully in the future, we can find some of my Korean family here. It would be nice," she told AFP, adding that she now considers Seoul her "second home".

- 'Representation' -

When NBC decided to put together the American version of the Eurovision song contest, AleXa -- "a Eurovision fan" -- was invited to enter to represent her home state.

It gave her and her team a chance to bring K-pop to American audiences, and they immediately began planning.

"How can we do staging, what concept would work, what would really grab the American audience while staying true to the K-pop?" she told AFP of their process.

Beyond nationality or language, for AleXa, K-pop is a commitment to concept, styling and execution -- the hair and make-up, sets, staging and cinematography must be perfect.

"I really enjoy, you know, the spectacle, the art, the wonder, the beauty that is K-pop," she said.

For her American Song Contest finale, AleXa descended from the rafters to the stage on a throne, then launched into choreography of military precision with her dancers as she sang "Wonderland".

Her win has K-pop fans applauding her for bringing the genre front-and-centre to American reality television.

She hopes the growing diversity in the industry will bring the music to more countries.

"Growing up, some of the only representation that I saw for myself was Mulan, an animated Chinese character, and I'm a Korean-American," she quipped.

But since Korean bands like BLACKPINK and BTS went global, "K-pop has become such a safe space for so many kids".

She believes the growing number of non-Korean idols within the industry is also good for her adopted home.

"Korea is a rather homogenous country. So having all of these foreign idols, I think it's a really cool eye-opening opportunity for Korea as well," she said.

ceb-cdl/dhc/cwl

'Booked, blessed and busy': Lizzo returns

Real People

Lizzo's summer turned up a notch, with the poster child of self-love dropping her long-awaited album "Special" fresh off an Emmy nomination and ahead of a forthcoming tour.

The 12-track record brings back the soulful pop-rap blends that made the effervescent performer a household name with her messages of body positivity, feminist empowerment and sexual freedom.

The hitmaker, whose 2017 song "Truth Hurts" became a viral sleeper smash and boosted her to global fame two years later, promoted the release of her fourth album with a "Today" show performance in Manhattan outside of NBC's studios.

"I'm so proud of this album," she told the show. "It was three years in the making. It's literally a classic, no-skips album. It's the best thing I've ever done."

Lizzo's week had already kicked off to a banner start after she scored an Emmy Awards nomination for her show "Watch Out for the Big Grrrls," a reality show where she searches for her tour's back-up dancers.

"We didn't do this for awards, we did this for ourselves. For the lives we touched making this… To shake up the industry.. and show the world how BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED WE AREEEEE!" she posted on Instagram after learning of the nomination.

"BIG GRRRLS ARE BOOKED, BLESSED AND BUSY."

The 34-year-old artist born Melissa Viviane Jefferson debuted in 2013 but did not achieve mainstream success until the release of her third album "Cuz I Love You," which found runaway success and earned the Detroit-born, Houston-raised performer eight Grammy nominations with three wins.

She's set to kick off a North American tour in September, with stops including New York's Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Kia Forum.

"It takes 10 years to become an overnight success," she told Today.

"I needed to discover my self-love," she continued, elated fans cheering her along. "The music that's connecting to people is about my self-love."

mdo/bgs

(FILES) This file photograph taken on July 5, 2018, shows US actor Johnny Depp performing with The Hollywood Vampires band during the 52th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux.

After sensational trial, Johnny Depp releases an album

Real People

Fresh off his highly publicized, controversial defamation suit, actor Johnny Depp sought to show his creative career was back on track, releasing an album with English rocker Jeff Beck.

The 13-track album "18" on which Depp sings and plays guitar features mainly covers, and so far it has been critically panned.

It's a record unlikely to figure prominently in the repertoire of Beck, the 78-year-old former member of The Yardbirds.

The album includes renditions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and John Lennon's "Isolation," as well as the Velvet Underground classic "Venus In Furs."

The choice to include a song focused on sado-masochism might seem bizarre to some, given the ultra-mediatized trial centered on alleged domestic abuse between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, the actor best known for her role in "Aquaman."

The album also includes two songs the 59-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star penned himself: "This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr," and "Sad Motherfuckin' Parade."

"Erased by the same world that made her a star / Spun out of beauty, trapped by its web," Depp sings of Lamarr, who secluded herself in the final years of her life.

- Bad Boys, Hollywood Vampires -

Depp and Beck met in 2016, bonding "over cars and guitars" before the latter said he began to appreciate "Depp's serious songwriting skills and ear for music."

They began working on this LP in 2019.

It's far from Depp's first foray into music: the actor for more than a decade has recorded and toured with the Hollywood Vampires, a supergroup he started with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.

Beck is currently on tour in Europe with Depp as a special guest.

This spring Depp won $15 million in the defamation suit against Heard, who was awarded $2 million.

The jury found that Heard, 36, defamed Depp in describing herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse" in a 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post, although she did not identify the actor by name. Depp held he suffered reputational damage following its publication.

Heard received $2 million in damages because the jury found that one of Depp's lawyers had defamed her.

The six-week trial gained widespread attention not least because it was televised and livestreamed, with clips making their way to social media as Heard became a target of online vitriol and mockery.

In its aftermath Depp is embarking on a return to acting, set to star in the forthcoming French movie "La Favorite."

He will play King Louis XV, with filming locations including Versailles.

bur-mdo/dw

(FILES) This file photograph taken on August 7, 2021, in Tokyo, shows Jessica Springsteen of the US riding Don Juan van de Donkoeve during the equestrian's jumping team jump off between Sweden and the US during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Equestrian Park.

Patience a virtue for Springsteen's run to glory days

Sports

Paris (AFP) – Jessica Springsteen has made a success out of a career that could not be further removed from that of her rock legend father Bruce and yet the Olympic silver medallist show jumper told AFP that at times she feared she would never make it.

Last weekend highlighted the difference in their respective worlds.

At about the same time on Saturday, Jessica, 31, competed in the Grand Prix at the Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping event, to the stunning backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, while 'The Boss' was making a surprise appearance at the Glastonbury Festival supporting fellow legend Paul McCartney.

She had a busy weekend competing in at least six competitions on her two horses RMF Zecilie and Hungry Heart, the latter a name that will resonate with her father's fans.

Springsteen, though, has been very much the author of her successful career in showjumping -- a rare sport where men and women compete on an equal basis -- reaching the zenith thusfar with the silver in the team competition at the Olympics last year in Tokyo.

That came at the third time of asking as in 2012 in London she was an alternate rider for the team and then missed out on the 2016 Games.

However, having battled her way to the top she knows that it is a sport which has many pitfalls.

"The sport is always challenging, there are always ups and downs and you really have to stick with it," she told AFP.

"There have been many moments where I felt like my aspirations of making a championship team were so far away and that I would never get there.

"It's so important to trust the process and stay determined and be patient.

"It is definitely not easy, but there's no better feeling than when it all comes together."

She certainly had a rude introduction to riding aged six as her first pony tried to gain the upper hand.

"Yes, my first pony Shamrock would always spin and buck and was quite cheeky," she said.

"I think I learned a lot from every horse I have ridden. My first pony definitely taught me resilience!"

'Strong mindset'

Springsteen admits it took a while for her to gain the confidence required for the stiff challenge of guiding a powerful horse round an arena packed with obstacles to jump.

"I was quite nervous when I was younger, and it took me a lot of time to become comfortable even jumping," she said.

"Since I started so young, I really took my time at every level and waited to start jumping bigger fences until I felt really confident, which I think was important for me.

"Every time I moved up to new divisions, I was really excited and eager."

At 31 Springsteen would be in many sports entering the final stages of her career but as Nick Skelton showed when winning Olympic individual gold aged 58 showjumping is ageless.

Springsteen, though, says a big reason for the longevity of so many riders in the sport is down to their love of horses and adapting to their different demands.

"It's all about the relationship you have with your horse -- every horse has a different style and certain type of ride they prefer," she said.

"It's not about how physically strong you are, it’s about being sensitive to your horse and figuring out what makes them jump their best.

"Being able to work with them every day is truly a dream for me.

"And I feel really grateful that I compete in a sport that you can do for many many years, that's really rare."

This battle between horse and rider in establishing relationships has been helped in Springsteen's case by her having studied psychology.

"I've continued to read sports psychology books as well which I find really helpful," she said.

"I think having a strong mindset is so important.

"If I wasn’t riding, yes perhaps I would have continued studying psychology and doing something in that field!"

Serena Williams: Five Wimbledon moments

Sports

London (AFP) – Serena Williams will return to the scene of some of her greatest triumphs and also some bitter disappointments when she steps out on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

The 40-year-old has not played singles tennis since she suffered an injury during her first-round match at the All England Club 12 months ago.

The American has slumped to 1,204th in the world rankings but remains Wimbledon royalty, with seven singles titles under her belt.

AFP Sport looks at five of her most memorable moments at the All England Club.

First Grand Slam title

For all her success on the singles court, Williams won her first Grand Slam title alongside Max Mirnyi in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1998.

Williams and the Belarusian player beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Mirjana Lucic in straight sets in the final, going on to win the US Open later that year.

It was the first of 39 Grand Slam titles to date for the American in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Sister act

Serena Williams has won 14 women's Grand Slam doubles titles with her older sister Venus, but they have faced each other across the net in nine major finals.

Serena's first Wimbledon singles title came in 2002 when she beat Venus 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, in a much-anticipated clash.

Serena did not drop a set during the entire tournament and became world number one for the first time following her victory.

She beat Venus again in the final the following year but her older sister got her revenge in 2008, triumphing 7-5, 6-4 in the title match.

The following year Serena again came out on top in their sisterly rivalry, winning 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

Two-year drought

Serena Williams suffered a foot injury after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title in 2010 and it was to be two years before she added to her collection of major titles.

But she beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6–1, 5–7, 6–2 in the Wimbledon final in 2012.

That triumph led to a new period of dominance for the American, who won three of the following five Grand Slams.

Steffi Graf record

Williams won her seventh and most recent Wimbledon singles title in 2016, beating Angelique Kerber in the final.

It was payback for her defeat to the German in the Australian Open final earlier that year and took her level with Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slam titles in the Open era.

Williams overtook Graf by winning the 2017 Australian Open but remains one behind all-time leader Margaret Court, who won 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

Wimbledon pain

Williams, who missed Wimbledon in 2017 when pregnant, was a defeated finalist at the All England Club in 2018 and 2019 while the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.

Last year ended in bitter disappointment as she had to retire in the first set of her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to a leg injury.

Wimbledon is widely considered Williams's chance of equalling Court's all-time record as she chases the elusive number 24.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 11: Forward Gareth Bale holds the Los Angeles Football Club jersey during a news conference after he was introduced at Banc of California Stadium on July 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP

Bale aims for 2024 euros and beyond with long-term LAFC plan

Sports

Wales captain Gareth Bale says his jump to Major League Soccer gives him the best chance to play in the 2024 European Championship and maybe even the 2026 World Cup.

The long-time Real Madrid and Tottenham star winger was introduced after his first workout as a member of Los Angeles FC, where he is signed through 2023 but hoping for a much longer stay.

"I have many years to come. I haven't come here just to be here for six months, 12 months," Bale said. "I've come here to try and be here as long as possible."

Five-time UEFA Champions League winner Bale made it clear his MLS journey is not planned as a stopover on the way to retirement.

"I want to do as well as I can and I want to try and make my mark on this league, on this team," Bale said. "I'm looking forward to the future. It's not just a short thing."

Bale, who turns 33 on Saturday, sees MLS as his best path to playing for Wales beyond this year's Qatar World Cup, the nation's first in 64 years.

His goal is playing in Euro 2024 and he has an eye on the 2026 World Cup that will be co-hosted by the United States with Mexico and Canada.

"It also gives me the best opportunity to keep going into the next Euros, maybe further, so my plan is to really work hard," Bale said. "We've got a great plan going forward to get me up to speed and hopefully last as long as possible.

"Being here gives me the best possible chance to get to the Euros -- and maybe even one more. That's my goal. I feel like I'm here to play a big part."

Bale praised MLS, saying the league is better than Europeans believe.

"The standard here is really increasing. It's a lot better than the people in Europe really think," Bale said. "It's a league that's really on the rise."

Bale will face such challenges as time zones and a season that starts in February and runs to October plus playoffs.

"The transition is not, I guess, an easy one but I'm looking forward to the challenge," Bale said. "Being in the middle of a season is a bit different but I feel like I've been keeping myself fit in Europe's off-season and hopefully I can hit the ground running."

- 'Nice to get started' -

Bale, who won 19 trophies in nine seasons with Real Madrid, hopes to haul in some hardware for LAFC after his first workouts with new teammates.

"My first training session today was amazing, the first step in hopefully a long journey," Bale said.

"I had been eager to get going. I need to get some training under my belt to be ready. The players were really welcoming and hopefully I can help them all."

Following in the footsteps of such stars as David Beckham and Pele, Bale wants to boost football with US sports fans.

"I want to try and help grow football in the US as well," Bale said. "For players who have experienced a lot in their career, I think we have a responsibility to grow the game all around the world as well."

He was also excited about Tuesday's expected announcement that former England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney will become the coach at DC United.

"It's great for MLS and the sport in the US to get big names and people watching across the world is going to do great things for MLS," Bale said. "Great to be a part of it."

js/bfm

(FILES) In this file photo illustration, a phone screen displays the Twitter account of Elon Musk with a photo of him shown in the background, on April 14, 2022, in Washington, DC. Twitter shares slid late on July 7, 2022 after a Washington Post report that Elon Musk's $44 billion deal to buy the social media giant is in danger.

Twitter's future uncertain as it faces messy breakup with Musk

Business

Courted and then jilted by the world's richest person, Twitter looks well positioned to win a court battle with Elon Musk over a $1 billion breakup fee and more -- but the company will not emerge unscathed.

The entire saga has left observers baffled by what Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described as "one of the craziest business stories ever."

"I think it starts off as a circus show and it's ending as a circus show," Ives told AFP.

Musk, the founder of electric car company Tesla, sent a letter to Twitter on Friday saying he was pulling out of the controversial deal he made in April to buy the platform for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion in total.

But such merger agreements are "designed to prevent buyers from getting cold feet and deciding they want to walk away," explains Ann Lipton, a professor of law at Tulane University who specializes in corporate litigation.

Musk, who also heads SpaceX, has accused the social media giant of "false and misleading representations" about the number of fake accounts on its platform.

His lawyers also point to recent Twitter employee layoffs and hiring freezes, which they say are contrary to the company's obligation to continue operating normally.

Those arguments may be valid, but they do not merit pulling out of the deal, says Lipton, dismissing them as "nitpicky."

"It's not enough, unless he can show that the representations (about fake accounts) are not just false, but also that they dramatically call the fundamentals of the deal into question," she explains.

"Looks very much like Musk is legally wrong."

- 'Twitter would die off' -

That leaves the possibility that the multi-billionaire is actually trying to renegotiate the price down.

This tactic has been used successfully elsewhere, such as by LVMH: two years ago, the global luxury giant broke off a deal to acquire Tiffany before getting a discount.

But experts don't see how Musk and Twitter could agree on a different price at this point, given that the platform's stock has lost more than a quarter of its value since late April.

"Both have a lot to lose," Lipton points out.

If Twitter wins in court, the mercurial entrepreneur will, at a minimum, have to pay a few billion dollars in damages.

At worst, he could be forced to honor his commitment and buy Twitter at a price that has become exorbitant, while his fortune has melted down by tens of billions of dollars in recent months.

But though this would be a victory for shareholders, it would still leave Twitter in Musk's hands -- and his libertarian vision of absolute free speech is not aligned with that of many of the employees, users and advertisers on whom the platform's business model depends.

"Twitter is worse off than six months ago, but in the long run, it's better off without him," says Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.

"It feels like a toy that a spoiled kid wants, but doesn't really know what to do with, so he would get bored of it, and not give it the attention it deserves, and forget it in a corner ... Twitter would die off slowly and painfully," she predicts.

- 'Battle on all fronts' -

Any court proceedings are expected to last for months, especially since Musk "will drag it out," according to Lipton.

"Twitter is in a strong position," she says.

But Musk, followed by more than 100 million people on the platform, "will try to embarrass them -- it will be distracting and demoralizing for employees," she argues.

He has already harassed the platform with highly critical tweets, mockery and outlandish suggestions, encouraged by his many fans.

For Twitter, "it's going be a battle on all fronts -- keeping employees, competitors going after their business, brand issues, investors believing the numbers," says Ives, the Wedbush analyst.

Unlike its Silicon Valley neighbors, Twitter has never been a money-making machine, able to turn users' attention into astronomical advertising revenues.

"The past few months have been a huge distraction for Twitter, keeping it from focusing on its business fundamentals," notes Debra Williamson of eMarketer.

"If Musk is able to terminate the deal, Twitter will still be left with the same problems it had before he came on the scene," she says.

"Its user growth is slowing. And while ad revenue is still growing marginally, Twitter is now dealing with a slowing economy that could squeeze ad spending on all social platforms."

juj/st/sst

TOPSHOT - In this NASA handout image US President Joe Biden previews the first full-color image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the highest-resolution image of the infrared universe in history, on July 11, 2022, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. Humanity's view of the distant cosmos will never be the same. The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful to be placed in orbit, has revealed the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years, NASA said Monday.

James Webb Space Telescope opens its eyes on the Universe

Innovations

Washington (AFP) – Space enthusiasts are holding their breath.

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful ever sent into orbit, is set Tuesday to unveil breathtaking new views of the Universe with a clarity that's never been seen before.

Distant galaxies, bright nebulae and a faraway giant gas planet are among the observatory's first targets, US space agency NASA said Friday.

But the images themselves have been jealously guarded to build suspense ahead of the big reveal.

"I'm looking very much forward to not having to keep these secrets anymore, that will be a great relief," Klaus Pontoppidan, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) that oversees Webb, told AFP.

NASA chief Bill Nelson has promised the "deepest image of our Universe that has ever been taken."

Webb's infrared capabilities are what make it uniquely powerful -- allowing it to both pierce through cosmic dust clouds and detect light from the earliest stars, which has been stretched into infrared wavelengths as the Universe expanded.

This lets it peer further back in time than any previous telescope, to the period shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago.

"When I first saw the images... I suddenly learned three things about the Universe that I didn't know before," Dan Coe, an STSI astronomer and expert on the early Universe, told AFP. "It's totally blown my mind."

First targets

An international committee decided the first wave of images would include the Carina Nebula, an enormous cloud of dust and gas 7,600 light years away.

Carina Nebula is famous for its towering pillars that include "Mystic Mountain," a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle captured in an iconic image by the Hubble Space Telescope, until now humanity's premier space observatory.

Webb has also carried out a spectroscopy -- an analysis of light that reveals detailed information -- on a faraway gas giant called WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014.

Nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, WASP-96 b is about half the mass of Jupiter and zips around its star in just 3.4 days.

Nestor Espinoza, an STSI astronomer, told AFP that previous exoplanet spectroscopies carried out using existing instruments were very limited compared to what Webb could do.

"It's like being in a room that is very dark and you only have a little pinhole you can look through," he said of the prior technology. Now, with Webb, "You've opened a huge window, you can see all the little details."

Perhaps most enticing of all, Webb has gathered an image using foreground galaxy clusters called SMACS 0723 as a kind of cosmic magnifying glass for the extremely distant and faint objects behind it.

Million miles from Earth

Launched in December 2021 from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket, Webb is orbiting the Sun at a distance of a million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth, in a region of space called the second Lagrange point.

Here, it remains in a fixed position relative to the Earth and Sun, with minimal fuel required for course corrections.

A wonder of engineering, the total project cost is estimated at $10 billion, making it one of the most expensive scientific platforms ever built, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Webb's primary mirror is over 21 feet (6.5 meters) wide and is made up of 18 gold-coated mirror segments. Like a camera held in one's hand, the structure must remain as stable as possible to achieve the best shots.

Charlie Atkinson, chief engineer on the James Webb Space Telescope program at lead contractor Northrop Grumman, told AFP that it wobbles no more than 17 millionths of a millimeter.

Atkinson, who has been working on the program since 1998, said: "We knew it was going to require some of the best talents across the world, but it was doable."

After the first images, astronomers around the globe will get shares of time on the telescope, with projects selected competitively through a process in which applicants and selectors don't know each others' identity, to minimize bias.

Thanks to an efficient launch, NASA estimates Webb has enough propellant for a 20-year life, as it works in concert with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to answer fundamental questions about the cosmos.

French mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin, who was awarded on July 5, 2022 the world's most prestigious mathematics prize the Fields medal with three other mathematicians, poses in Geneva, on June 28, 2022. Duminil-Copin whose visual approach helped him win the Fields medal said he "doesn't really fit into the cliches of a genius". The 36-year-old, who has a messy head of hair and bright eyes beaming from behind glasses, told AFP that he is a "very, very normal person" who loves sport, his family and quiet moments of reflection.

Duminil-Copin, Fields-winning mathematician with 'aesthetic vision'

Innovations

Paris (AFP) – Hugo Duminil-Copin, a French mathematician whose visual approach helped him win the world's most prestigious mathematics prize the Fields Medal on Tuesday, said he "doesn't really fit into the cliches of a genius".

The 36-year-old, who has a messy head of hair and bright eyes beaming from behind glasses, told AFP that he is a "very, very normal person" who loves sport, his family and quiet moments of reflection.

But for Duminil-Copin, who specialises in probability theory, those quiet moments can lead to discoveries that won him the Fields Medal, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics.

He accepted the prize, which is awarded every four years to mathematicians under 40, at a ceremony in Finland's capital Helsinki.

The other winners were Britain's James Maynard of Oxford University, June Huh of Princeton in the United States and Ukraine's Maryna Viazovska, who is only the second ever woman laureate.

Duminil-Copin described with unabashed enthusiasm the happiness he finds in working with others in the search for answers -- whether or not they find one.

"It's the best, especially since it's a collective process, where all the beauty is in interacting with others," he said in an interview a few days before the prize was announced.

A visual mind

Born on August 26, 1985, Duminil-Copin has collected a raft of mathematics awards over the last decade.

At the age of 31, he was appointed professor at France's Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies in 2016.

"It's a place that seems made for me, for my creative part," he said of the green campus outside Paris.

It gives the mathematician that most precious resource for deep thinkers: time.

"This slowness in everyday life is very fruitful because I need time for ideas to come, for them to settle quietly, for them to take shape," he said.

At the campus, which is not far from where he grew up, Duminil-Copin uses his "very visual intuition" to take on the most complicated mathematical problems.

"There are very few formulas and many drawings" in his mind when he thinks about such problems, he said.

That "aesthetic vision" allows him to view mathematics with a "certain elegance", he added.

The Paris institute allows researchers to free themselves of all other obligations, including teaching.

But Duminil-Copin teaches anyway, retaining a professorship at the University of Geneva, saying that "in the end it is perhaps the most important aspect of this profession".

He may have inherited this passion from his father, a sports teacher, and mother, a dancer who became a teacher later in life.

When he was younger, Duminil-Copin envisioned becoming a teacher himself -- of maths, of course -- but his talent propelled him towards research.

Collaboration is at the heart of his outlook. If he provides mathematical tools to physicists, their work in turn may allow someone else in the future to find new applications for them.

"It's the whole community that really produces scientific progress," he said.

Mental balance

Duminil-Copin hailed the importance of two university professors to his career, Jean-Francois Le Gall, who also worked on probability theory, and fellow Fields Medal winner Wendelin Werner.

He said he fell in "love at first sight" with percolation theory during a class Werner taught on the subject, which falls under the branch of statistical physics.

It was in that class that Duminil-Copin first encountered Nienhuis's conjecture -- a "beautiful, elegant and completely mysterious" problem, he said.

"I solved it a few years later, almost without doing it on purpose."

As a child, Duminil-Copin preferred astronomy to mathematics.

He said he was "not pushed at all" by his parents to focus solely on his studies -- instead they were keen to "confront him with a variety of things" such as sport, music and friends.

The lesson seems to have stuck.

"When we talk about preparing to become a researcher we think of intelligence, academic training, but there is also a mental balance which is very important," he said.

New ideas can strike him "anytime, in the middle of the night or in the shower", he said.

But they will have to wait until he's back at work.

"My priority is on the personal side, to spend time with my daughter and my wife."