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.

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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."

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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.

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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 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."

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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."

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

Junk like used satellites, parts of rockets and wreckage from collisions has been piling up since the space age began, with the problem accelerating in recent decades.

"We're entering an era when many satellites will be launched one after another. Space will become more and more crowded," said Miki Ito, general manager at Astroscale, a company dedicated to "space sustainability".

"There are simulations suggesting space won't be usable if we go on like this," she told AFP. "So we must improve the celestial environment before it's too late."

The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that around one million pieces of debris larger than a centimetre -- big enough to "disable a spacecraft" -- are in Earth's orbit.

They are already causing problems, from a near-miss in January involving a Chinese satellite, to a five-millimetre hole knocked into a robotic arm on the International Space Station last year.

"It's hard to predict exactly how fast the amount of space debris will increase," said Toru Yamamoto, a senior researcher at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

But "it's an issue that raises real concerns about the sustainable use of space."

With satellites now crucial for GPS, broadband and banking data, collisions pose significant risks on Earth.

Tadanori Fukushima has seen the scale of the problem in his job as an engineer with Tokyo-based satellite operator and broadcaster SKY Perfect JSAT.

"A stationary satellite would get roughly 100 'debris-approaching' alerts a year," he told AFP.

International "satellite disposal guidelines" include rules like moving used satellites to "graveyard orbit" -- but the increase in debris means more is needed, specialists say.

- 'No panacea' -

Fukushima launched an in-house start-up in 2018 and envisions using a laser beam to vaporise the surface of space debris, creating a pulse of energy that pushes the object into a new orbit.

The irradiating laser means there's no need to touch any debris, which is generally said to move about 7.5 kilometres per second -- much faster than a bullet.

For now, the project is experimental, but Fukushima hopes to test the idea in space by spring 2025, working with several research institutions.

Japanese firms, along with some in Europe and the United States, are leading the way on developing solutions, according to Fukushima.

Some projects are further along, including Astroscale's space "tow-truck", which uses a magnet to collect out-of-service satellites.

"If a car breaks down, you call a tow-truck service. If a satellite breaks down and stays there, it faces the risk of collision with debris and needs to be collected quickly," Ito explained.

The firm carried out a successful trial last year and imagines one day equipping customer satellites with a "docking plate" equivalent to a tow-truck's hook, allowing collection later on.

Astroscale, which has a contract with the ESA, plans a second test by the end of 2024 and hopes to launch its service soon after.

Other efforts approach the problem at the source, by creating satellites that don't produce debris.

Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry envisage a wooden satellite that goes into orbit in a rocket and burns up safely when it plunges to Earth.

That project is also in its infancy -- in March, pieces of wood were sent to the International Space Station to test how they respond to cosmic rays.

Space agencies have their own programmes, with JAXA focusing on large debris over three tonnes.

And internationally, firms including US-based Orbit Fab and Australia's Neumann Space have proposed ideas such as in-orbit refuelling to extend the life of satellites.

The problem is complex enough that a range of solutions will be needed, said JAXA's Yamamoto.

"There is no panacea."

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