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  • London police prepare for a busy day with two big rallies planned and a soccer final

    London police prepare for a busy day with two big rallies planned and a soccer final

    LONDON – The British capital is bracing for a high-stakes weekend of public assembly, with Metropolitan Police rolling out one of the largest recent domestic security deployments to manage two massive competing demonstrations and a major soccer championship, all occurring within hours of each other on Saturday. Tens of thousands of protesters were expected to converge on central London, while another crowd of tens of thousands of football fans would gather at Wembley Stadium for England’s FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City, creating unprecedented coordination challenges for law enforcement.

    To prevent violent clashes between opposing groups and maintain public order, authorities have deployed more than 4,000 police officers, supported by a full suite of security resources including armored vehicles, mounted police units, canine teams, surveillance drones, and air support from helicopters. A core priority for police is separating two diametrically opposed protest marches along designated, isolated routes: a rally organized by far-right figure Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, under the “Unite the Kingdom” banner, and an annual demonstration marking Nakba, the 1948 displacement of roughly 700,000 Palestinians from their historic homeland. While main marches are kept apart, law enforcement remains on high alert for unsanctioned contact between smaller splinter groups unaffiliated with either main organizing body.

    In a move to pre-empt potential hate crime, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has instructed prosecutors to evaluate whether protest materials — including placards, banners, and chants documented on social media — cross the line from protected speech into criminal offense of inciting hatred. CPS Director Stephen Parkinson emphasized that the guidance does not target legitimate free expression. “This is not about restricting free speech,” Parkinson stated. “It is about preventing hate crime and protecting the public, particularly at a time of heightened tensions.”

    The national government has also taken pre-emptive action, barring 11 foreign far-right figures from entering the country to attend the “Unite the Kingdom” rally. High-profile figures already confirmed as excluded include Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski, Belgian politician Filip Dewinter, anti-Islam commentator Valentina Gomez, and Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made clear the government’s zero-tolerance stance for incitement of violence and disorder. “We will block those coming into the UK who seek to incite hatred and violence,” Starmer said. “For anyone who sets out to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone, you can expect to face the full force of the law.”

    A day ahead of the demonstrations, Starmer visited the Metropolitan Police’s central command center to review security plans alongside Met Commissioner Mark Rowley and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. In a landmark moment for UK protest policing, Saturday’s operation marks the first time live facial recognition technology will be used to monitor a major protest gathering. Security cameras have been installed in the Camden neighborhood of north London, a popular thoroughfare for attendees traveling to the “Unite the Kingdom” rally that falls outside the official march route.

    A short distance away at Wembley Stadium, police are working to ensure the FA Cup Final, one of the biggest events on the UK domestic sports calendar, proceeds without disruption. Kickoff for the match between Chelsea and Manchester City is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, with authorities coordinating crowd management across the capital to keep protest routes, fan travel corridors, and the stadium perimeter separate and secure.

  • Maldives divers search for 4 missing Italians in an underwater cave

    Maldives divers search for 4 missing Italians in an underwater cave

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – After rough ocean conditions derailed initial recovery efforts on Friday, divers from the Maldives resumed search operations Saturday for four Italian divers who are presumed dead after being trapped deep in a remote underwater cave off the archipelago’s coast. The tragedy, which unfolded during a deep technical diving expedition on Thursday, has prompted official investigations and new regulatory action, with one victim’s body already recovered.

    Italian Foreign Ministry officials confirmed early Friday that the group was exploring an underwater cave located roughly 50 meters below sea level in the Vaavu Atoll when the accident occurred. Of the five Italian divers who entered the cave, only the body of lead diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti was recovered on Thursday, found just outside the cave’s entrance. Maldivian government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef confirmed that authorities believe the remaining four divers ventured further into the cave system before conditions turned deadly.

    The victims have been formally identified by the Maldivian government as: Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her 24-year-old daughter Giorgia Sommacal; Federico Gualtieri, a practicing marine biologist; Muriel Oddenino, a marine research fellow; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. All members of the 25-person larger expedition, 20 of whom are also Italian nationals staying aboard the expedition vessel *Duke of York*, have been confirmed unharmed. Italy’s embassy in Colombo is currently offering consular support to the uninjured group, and the Maldivian Red Crescent has mobilized volunteer counselors to provide emergency mental health support to the surviving expedition members.

    Cave diving is widely classified as an extreme high-risk activity that demands years of specialized technical training, custom deep-diving equipment, and rigid adherence to safety protocols. At depths over 40 meters, risks of disorientation, decompression sickness, and equipment failure rise exponentially; major recreational scuba certification bodies cap recreational diving at 40 meters, and the Maldives enforces a national recreational depth limit of just 30 meters, meaning the 50-meter dive far exceeded standard safety guidelines. Inside cave systems, disturbed sediment can cut visibility to near zero in seconds, leaving even experienced divers unable to locate exit routes.

    Search teams made incremental progress on Friday, exploring two of the cave system’s three large interconnected chambers before oxygen supply limits and required decompression stops forced teams to suspend operations for the day. Two specialized Italian rescue experts – a deep-sea recovery specialist and a veteran cave diving expert – are en route to the Maldives to join the search effort, according to Shareef. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has confirmed that the ministry is coordinating closely with Divers Alert Network, a global non-profit specializing in diving safety and rescue, to support recovery operations and arrange for the repatriation of all victims once recovered. Italian consular officials are also in constant contact with the victims’ next of kin to provide updates and consular assistance.

    In the wake of the accident, the Maldives Ministry of Tourism has announced an immediate suspension of the *Duke of York*’s operating license, which will remain in place throughout the official investigation into the incident. Authorities have not yet released any conclusions on the cause of the accident, which remains under active review.

  • Spain’s Eurovision boycott over Israeli participation leaves contest fans torn

    Spain’s Eurovision boycott over Israeli participation leaves contest fans torn

    The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest grand final is unfolding in Vienna this week, but for millions of Spanish viewers and long-time fans, the beloved annual celebration of music looks drastically different this year. For the first time in seven years, Madrid resident Silvia Díaz will not gather her close group of friends for their traditional viewing party, complete with shared snacks, friendly banter and collective excitement over each competing performance. The annual gathering was canceled after Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE pulled out of the iconic contest, joining a growing boycott of the event over the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) decision to allow Israel to compete amid its ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. While Díaz plans to stream the final on YouTube if her schedule allows, she says the experience will never measure up to the group tradition. “It’s not the same watching it alone at home as it is with friends. That’s the only thing that upsets me,” she shared.

    Eurovision, a five-day international song competition that draws global audiences far larger than many major U.S. sporting events, recorded 166 million total viewers in 2024 – outpacing average viewership for the annual Super Bowl. For Spaniards, Eurovision has long been a deeply ingrained cultural tradition, even though the country has not claimed the top prize since 1969. In typical years, Spain’s competing entry gets months of heavy airplay on national radio and television, watch parties draw crowds in private homes and bars across the country, and the contestant’s performance dominates front-page news the day after the final. Fans who travel to the event famously show national pride by waving Spanish flags, dressing in the country’s iconic red colors, and even donning traditional bullfighting costumes for the crowd.

    Spain first announced its boycott in December, shortly after the EBU confirmed Israel would be permitted to participate in this year’s contest. Spain has since been joined by four other European public broadcasters: Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland. The boycott has triggered a full media blackout of the event on state-controlled airwaves in each boycotting nation, altering how fans can engage with the iconic contest.

    RTVE has repeatedly voiced its public opposition to Israel’s inclusion in this year’s lineup. During 2024’s semifinal round, RTVE commentators paired their introduction of Israel’s competing artist with a mention of Palestinian civilian casualties in the Gaza war. Ahead of last year’s grand final, the network also displayed a clear on-screen message reading “Peace and justice for Palestine” on a black background for hundreds of thousands of Spanish viewers tuning in. This year, instead of airing Eurovision’s final from Vienna, RTVE will broadcast a retrospective tribute to the network’s long musical history, headlined by the two artists it would have sent to represent Spain at the contest: Tony Grox and Lucycalys. Other boycotting nations have replaced Eurovision with alternate programming: Ireland’s public broadcaster will air a documentary following a couple’s quiet life in the Irish countryside, while Slovenian public television will broadcast an episode of a 10-part documentary series focused on Palestinian life. While frustrated fans can still access the contest via the EBU’s official YouTube channel, the absence of national broadcasters, homegrown competitors and native-language commentators has stripped much of the passionate, patriotic energy that draws casual and diehard fans alike each year.

    Israel has competed in Eurovision for 50 years, claiming four championship titles over that span. For Israeli audiences, participation in the contest is widely viewed as a marker of international acceptance and normalcy; each year’s competing artist becomes an instant national celebrity, and a strong showing – even one that stops short of a win – is a widely celebrated source of national pride.

    Across Spain, the boycott has deeply divided the country’s tight-knit community of Eurovision fans, splitting them between those who back the political stand and those who argue the beloved music event should remain separate from global geopolitics. For 42-year-old Madrid marketing executive Rebeca Carril, a lifelong fan who revisits classic contest performances from the 1960s and 1970s, the decision to support the boycott came after years of growing discomfort with Israeli sponsorship of the contest. “I have Palestinian friends and I began to understand a little better how things worked,” she explained, noting she did not want to support Israeli-linked marketing efforts by tuning in.

    On the other side of the divide is Guillermina Bastida, a 47-year-old communications professional from Asturias province who drove three and a half days with her two daughters in a van to attend last year’s contest in Basel – her third time attending the event in person. Bastida holds her own critical views of Israel’s military campaign, but argues politics have no place at a global music celebration. “It’s a song festival, period,” she said. “I also have my own stance, which is critical, but not to the point of boycotting the festival.” This year, she will watch the final on YouTube after making the difficult decision to skip the in-person event.

    Eurovision’s official motto is “United by Music,” and organizers have long framed the event as an apolitical space that brings diverse European nations together through art. But in recent years, that effort to keep politics out of the competition has repeatedly failed. Just months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EBU disqualified Russia from the contest, and the country has not been permitted to rejoin since. Official contest rules already ban overtly political lyrics or symbols, and organizers emphasize the competition is a contest between national broadcasters, not national governments.

    Jose García, co-director of a popular Spanish Eurovision news website with a combined social media following of nearly 100,000, notes that the boycott carries tangible costs for both sides. As one of Eurovision’s “Big Five” countries – the group of nations that provide the largest financial contributions to the contest – Spain’s withdrawal means the event loses not only substantial broadcasting rights revenue but also significant domestic publicity, which García argues erodes the contest’s credibility across the region. Even so, he says most diehard Spanish fans will still find a way to watch. “It has marked the television and personal history of many people, and fans will watch it via international channels or YouTube. But it’s one thing to be able to watch it and another to agree with what’s happening,” García explained.

    On the ground in Vienna, the absence of the boisterous, high-energy Spanish fan contingent is already noticeable to attendees. Vicente Rico, a 40-year-old Madrid perfumery owner who is attending his 18th consecutive Eurovision, said that Spanish fans are famously one of the most visible and lively groups at the annual event. “We’re a group that, just like at other events, makes its presence felt — we’re among the happiest, the loudest and the most fun,” he noted. Rico said he struggled deeply with his decision to make his annual pilgrimage to Vienna this year, even though he agrees the boycott is morally justified. He argues that Eurovision has become an unfair scapegoat for broader political inaction on the Gaza conflict, pointing out that no similar boycotts have been called for other major upcoming international events, including the FIFA World Cup scheduled to begin in just one month. With no Spanish competitor to root for, Rico says he and many other Spanish fans in Vienna have adopted a simple rule for this year’s contest: “This year, we’re rooting for everyone except Israel.”

  • Sister of Eurovision star bursting with pride

    Sister of Eurovision star bursting with pride

    As the 70th Eurovision Song Contest grand final prepares to kick off in Vienna this Saturday, the family of the UK’s representative is overflowing with excitement and pride for the hometown musician set to take the global stage. Performing under the stage name Look Mum No Computer, experimental electronic artist Sam Battle – originally named Sam Bartle and raised in the small Cambridgeshire village of Yaxley near Peterborough – will go head-to-head with 24 other competing acts from across the continent in one of the world’s most watched live music events.

    Battle’s older sister Jodie Bartle shared her overwhelming joy in an interview with BBC, saying she has long believed her brother was born for a massive break in the music industry. “Sam’s always been destined for something massive, and I’m so happy that he’s finally been given the opportunity for the world to see how unbelievably talented he is as an individual,” Bartle said. Even as the family celebrates his Eurovision selection, Bartle admitted that the opportunity to compete on the iconic contest stage came as a happy surprise.

    What sets Battle apart from many other contemporary pop acts is his distinctive artistic niche: he hand-builds one-of-a-kind, unconventional electronic instruments that blend vintage tech with unexpected playful elements. Some of his most famous creations merge the deep, resonant tone of traditional organ pipes with dozens of retired Furby interactive toys and retro handheld Game Boy consoles, creating a signature sound that has earned him a dedicated global fanbase.

    Battle’s journey to Eurovision began decades ago in his home county of Cambridgeshire, where he cut his teeth playing live gigs in the 2000s. Early in his career, he performed both as a solo artist and as a member of local bands Yellow Snow and Zibra, building a reputation for energetic, unpredictable sets that caught the attention of BBC Introducing, the network’s platform for emerging UK talent. That early recognition helped propel his career toward bigger opportunities, culminating in this year’s Eurovision selection.

    In a remarkable twist, Battle takes the Vienna stage just five weeks after welcoming his first child, a son named Max. Bartle says the milestone makes the moment even more special for the whole family: “He’s got a five-week-old baby at the moment that in the future is going to be able to say ‘my dad’s done Eurovision’, which is absolutely epic.”

    Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire presenter Dotty McLeod, Battle shared that his competing entry, the upbeat electro-pop anthem *Eins, Zwei, Drei*, came together in roughly 12 days of writing and refining. For the artist, the contest is as much about personal joy as it is about competition: “I am just going to try my hardest for the UK, for me and my mates and family,” he said.

    Bartle echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that the family’s support does not depend on Battle’s final score. “All I want for him is to just enjoy it,” she said. “We’re proud of him no matter what, and he should be proud of himself as well. The song I think is good enough to get points, and just hopefully the world also agrees with that.”

  • Some see ‘King of the North’ as UK government’s savior. First he needs a seat in Parliament

    Some see ‘King of the North’ as UK government’s savior. First he needs a seat in Parliament

    The United Kingdom’s ruling Labour Party is facing its deepest internal crisis in years, with embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer clinging to power amid plummeting public approval, a devastating local election rout, and growing calls from within his own party for his resignation. At the center of the growing push for change is one of the party’s most popular figures — Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester — who just secured a path to challenge Starmer, though the road to Downing Street is still lined with major obstacles.

    To mount a formal leadership challenge, Burnham must first win a seat in the House of Commons, a requirement he currently fails to meet after 16 years as a Member of Parliament ended when he stepped down to take the Greater Manchester mayoral role in 2017. That path opened earlier this week: sitting Labour MP Josh Simons announced he would resign his safe Labour seat of Makerfield, located roughly 20 miles west of Manchester, to clear the way for Burnham’s by-election run. On Friday, Labour’s national executive committee confirmed it would not block Burnham from contesting the vote, which is scheduled to take place within the next two months.

    Widely known by his popular nickname the “King of the North” — a moniker inspired by the *Game of Thrones* character that nods to his fierce advocacy for northern England’s working-class communities and his distance from the London-centric political establishment — Burnham has emerged as Starmer’s most formidable potential rival. The 56-year-old politician, who leans further left than the centrist Starmer, has notched three consecutive mayoral election victories since 2017, proving his broad appeal to voters. His tenure as mayor has reshaped both his public image and political skill: out of office in Westminster, he swapped formal suits and ties for a approachable smart-casual look often paired with sneakers, a small change that helped him build closer rapport with working-class voters. More significantly, his profile rose dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he became the de facto voice for northern England, repeatedly criticizing then-Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his government’s London-focused pandemic response that shortchanged northern communities.

    This is not Burnham’s first attempt at the Labour leadership: he ran unsuccessfully twice before, in 2010 and 2015, and was widely criticized for his stiff, unpolished campaign style. But supporters argue his time outside Westminster has turned him into the party’s most effective communicator, a skill Starmer has notably failed to master amid his current slump.

    The Makerfield by-election will be far from a guaranteed win for Burnham, however. Two years ago, Simons took the seat for Labour by a 5,400-vote margin during Labour’s 2024 national landslide that ended 14 years of Conservative rule. But the political landscape has shifted dramatically since then: Starmer’s government has suffered heavy losses in recent local elections, driven by the rise of the right-wing anti-immigration Reform UK party. All local wards in the Makerfield constituency were won by Reform in this month’s local elections, and Reform leader Nigel Farage has already pledged the party will “throw absolutely everything at” defeating Burnham.

    Burnham has acknowledged the steep challenge ahead. “I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times,” he said in his announcement.

    Political analysts note the by-election is more than a simple parliamentary race — it is a critical test of Burnham’s national viability. “Andy Burnham is a big name in the northwest. There will be a lot of people who would like to see him get back into Parliament, not least to take down Keir Starmer,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “In some ways, it’s a useful test for Burnham because if he can’t beat Reform in that constituency, then quite frankly, he’s not much use to the Labour Party as leader.”

    If Burnham does win the by-election, the path to a leadership contest will open quickly. Under Labour rules, any MP can trigger a leadership challenge if they secure the support of one-fifth of the Parliamentary Labour Party — 81 out of Labour’s 403 current MPs. Right now, more than 80 MPs have already called on Starmer to step down, and one senior cabinet member, former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has already resigned. Streeting, who was widely expected to announce his own leadership bid after resigning, instead pulled back and endorsed Burnham on Friday, writing on X that Labour “needs its best players on the pitch.” Other potential candidates include former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Defense Secretary Al Carns, and former Labour leader Ed Miliband, all of whom have been reported to be considering a run if a contest opens.

    Starmer has repeatedly vowed to fight to keep his job, and would automatically be included on the ballot to defend his leadership if a challenge is called. But political observers say a Burnham win in Makerfield would likely force Starmer to step down before a contest even begins. “Were Burnham to win the by-election, it’s unlikely that Keir Starmer will actually stand in that leadership contest,” Bale noted. “If Burnham fails, then Starmer might feel he has a chance against Streeting and Rayner.” For now, the entire future of Britain’s government hinges on the outcome of one high-stakes by-election in the northwest of England.

  • These women are training to represent the US in an Olympic sport they’d never heard of

    These women are training to represent the US in an Olympic sport they’d never heard of

    When 27-year-old Los Angeles screenwriter Rylee White first stumbled across a TikTok about open tryouts for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Handball Team — a sport she had never even heard of — with no prior experience required, she knew immediately she had to show up. White was far from alone. Buoyed by the video’s viral spread across the platform, more than 150 aspiring female athletes turned out for the January tryouts, marking a five-fold jump in turnout compared to previous recruitment cycles.

    Five months after that fateful open call, White is one of a small group of recruits who have relocated to Florida to join USA Handball’s national residency program, putting everything on hold in pursuit of a spot on the 2028 Summer Olympics roster, to be held right in her home city of Los Angeles.

    Unlike in much of Europe, where handball ranks among the most watched, high-participation competitive sports, it has remained largely obscure in the United States for decades. The fast-paced full-contact sport pits two teams of six outfield players plus a goalkeeper against each other, with athletes using a resin-coated ball to pass and score. Introduced to the Olympic program for men in 1936 and women in 1976, it regularly draws tens of thousands of fans to top matches in powerhouses like Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, and the Balkan nations of Southeastern Europe, which almost always claim the top Olympic medals in the sport.

    As the 2028 host nation, the U.S. automatically qualifies for a spot in every Olympic event, meaning the women’s handball team will return to the Games for the first time since Atlanta 1996. But building a competitive roster from a tiny domestic talent pool has long been a steep challenge; for years, the U.S. team has primarily relied on dual citizens who play professional handball in Europe to fill its ranks. Unlike most Olympic sports where athletes begin training in childhood, U.S. handball recruits almost always switch to the sport later in life, often coming from other competitive athletic backgrounds.

    For White, that switch came after injuries derailed her planned college career playing basketball and lacrosse, requiring multiple knee surgeries that kept her sidelined from high-level competition. Handball offered a second chance to pursue elite sport. “I think a lot of people would describe me as the most competitive person they’d ever met,” White said. “I definitely was raised in a house where we had big, big dreams.” After her tryout, she told head coach Sarah Gascon she was ready to commit fully, telling her partner she would bring him along to Europe if she earned a professional contract overseas, the end goal for many residency athletes. The final 2028 Olympic roster won’t be finalized until a few months before the Games, and only 14 to 18 spots are available out of dozens of current training athletes — making the entire journey a high-stakes gamble.

    Gascon, a long-time veteran of the U.S. women’s national handball team who recently took over as head coach, has made rebuilding the struggling program her top priority. “We’ve had great successes in my career and some really great moments but still didn’t get an opportunity to play in the Olympic Games because we just weren’t good enough,” she explained. Gascon has found that multi-sport athletes make the strongest handball recruits, as the sport borrows core skills from other popular games: basketball builds ball handling, volleyball teaches blocking, and softball or rugby develop throwing technique. “It’s really about their athleticism,” she said. “Do they have a good foundation that we could build upon? And how are they able to adapt with learning something new at 22 or 23 years old?”

    Despite the wave of new enthusiasm sparked by the viral TikTok, the biggest barrier to the program’s success remains a crippling lack of funding. Gascon confirmed that USA Handball is the only national governing body for an Olympic sport that receives no funding from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and the women’s team is entirely cut off from core support including elite athlete health insurance. The USOPC did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press on the matter. Gascon and all her coaching staff are unpaid volunteers, and athletes must hold full-time jobs while balancing the demands of elite training. “Some of our best athletes haven’t been able to go to tournaments or go to events because they can’t afford it,” Gascon said.

    For new recruits like 30-year-old Devyn Holbrook, who had also never heard of handball before the viral tryout announcement, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is worth the risk. A self-described “queen of side quests” who trained in ballet, soccer, basketball, softball, and javelin throw growing up, Holbrook became obsessed with the sport after just a few days of play. “I just loved it and then I couldn’t stop watching videos online of past Olympic Games,” she said. “You don’t get a lot of chances to do like women’s team sports later in life. There will never be a chance again that I could go to the Olympics in this capacity. So why not give it everything that I have? And if I don’t make it, then I don’t make it.”

  • Bulgaria wins the 70th Eurovision song contest with the party anthem ‘Bangaranga’

    Bulgaria wins the 70th Eurovision song contest with the party anthem ‘Bangaranga’

    VIENNA, May 17 — The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest wrapped up Saturday at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle arena, with Bulgaria securing its first-ever victory in the contest’s seven-decade history. Singer Dara’s high-energy party anthem “Bangaranga” outperformed 24 competing acts, winning over both professional national juries and global public viewers with its infectious rhythm and tightly choreographed stage performance.

    Hosted in the Austrian capital, this year’s anniversary competition brought together 25 finalist acts from across Europe and beyond, showcasing a wildly eclectic range of musical styles that has become the event’s signature. From Finnish fiery violin-pop and Moldovan folk-infused rap to Serbian heavy metal and Italian classic crooning, the 2026 contest delivered the over-the-top stage production and diverse talent that has made it a global cultural phenomenon, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

    While the celebration of music took center stage, the 2026 contest was overshadowed for the third consecutive year by growing political controversy over Israel’s participation, amid ongoing conflict in Gaza. Five longstanding participating nations — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — withdrew in protest of Israel’s inclusion, marking one of the largest coordinated boycotts in the contest’s modern history.

    Israel’s contestant Noam Bettan ultimately finished in second place with his multilingual rock ballad “Michelle,” though his appearance was met with mixed reactions from the audience: loud cheers from supporters were punctuated by scattered boos, and four attendees were ejected earlier in the week after attempting to disrupt his semifinal performance. Street protests unfolded in Vienna in the lead-up to Saturday’s final, with hundreds of demonstrators marching near the arena holding signs reading “Block Eurovision” and organizers hosting an alternative “No stage for genocide” outdoor concert. “Inviting Israel to this beautiful stage is an affront to everyone who believes in humanity, love and togetherness,” said Congolese-Austrian artist Patrick Bongola, one of the protest organizers. Demonstrations were smaller in scale than those seen at the 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden and the 2025 event in Basel, Switzerland.

    Despite the political tensions, the 2026 final showcased the genre-blending creativity that defines Eurovision. Finnish duo Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen entered the final as pre-show betting favorites with “Liekinheitin” (Flamethrower), a high-octane blend of pop vocals and virtuosic classical violin backed by dramatic pyrotechnics. Other standout acts included Moldova’s Satoshi, whose upbeat party rap “Viva, Moldova” framed as a love letter to Europe from the aspiring EU member; Greek artist Akylas’ playful commentary on post-crisis economic inequality with “Ferto”; and Australian star Delta Goodrem’s showstopping performance of her ballad “Eclipse,” which featured Goodrem lifted above a glittering grand piano for the song’s climax. Female solo artists dominated the 2026 lineup, with standouts including Germany’s empowering power ballad, Poland’s gospel-infused R&B, Ukraine’s ethereal folk-pop, and Sweden’s pulsing techno-pop. The contest also featured strong male solo performances, from Malta’s R&B to Norway’s rock, plus a retro-techno set from Austrian hometown favorite Cosmo.

    For long-time observers of the contest, political friction is far from a new development. “Eurovision has always had its share of political controversy,” said Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. “The first boycott came back in 1969, ironically by Austria, which refused to participate in the contest hosted by Franco’s fascist Spain. Every politicized edition in recent years has faced similar tension, but Eurovision persists.” Vuletic added that the contest has always been a platform for underdogs: “It’s never been a competition for already established global superstars. Fans love seeing rising artists, and artists from smaller, less wealthy nations, claim the spotlight.”

    As has become tradition, the winner was selected through a combined voting system that weights scores from professional national juries and public viewer votes. Viewers in participating nations can vote up to 10 times for acts outside their home country, while fans in non-participating nations including the U.S. can cast votes online through the official Eurovision website. The winning nation earns the right to host the following year’s contest.

    The boycott has created tangible headwinds for the event, which drew 166 million global viewers last year, with organizers expecting losses to both viewership and advertising revenue. Even so, the Eurovision organization is moving forward with expansion plans: a new spinoff competition, Eurovision Song Contest Asia, is scheduled to launch in Bangkok this November. Contest director Martin Green urged global audiences to set political disagreements aside ahead of the final, framing the 2026 event as a “brilliant, wonderful, heartfelt celebration of music that brings people across the continent together.”

  • The Vatican has said a lot about artificial intelligence. A primer ahead of the pope’s encyclical

    The Vatican has said a lot about artificial intelligence. A primer ahead of the pope’s encyclical

    As the global race to advance artificial intelligence accelerates amid fierce debate over regulation and human impact, the Vatican is finalizing the public release of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical — a sweeping moral document that will frame AI development through a lens of Catholic social teaching, demanding an ethics-first approach centered on human dignity, authentic social connection, and global peace.

    Vatican spokespersons confirmed the pontiff signed the landmark text on Friday, a date intentionally chosen to mark 135 years to the day that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed his transformative 1891 encyclical *Rerum Novarum* (Of New Things). That foundational text addressed the explosive inequality and upheaval of the first Industrial Revolution, outlining the inherent rights of workers, setting boundaries for unregulated capitalism, and defining the moral obligations of states and employers to laborers. It has remained the cornerstone of modern Catholic social thought for more than a century, and Pope Leo XIV has already invoked its legacy to contextualize the current AI revolution, arguing the technology poses the same fundamental existential questions about work, humanity, and justice that industrialization did in the 1800s. The new encyclical will embed discussions of AI within the church’s centuries-old tradition of social teaching, which covers interconnected issues of labor rights, global justice, and peace.

    Meghan Sullivan, director of the University of Notre Dame’s ethics institute and a professor of philosophy, notes the Catholic Church is uniquely positioned to shape the global AI conversation. “I think that the Catholic Church in many ways is going to be the adult in the room on some of these debates about how we are going to integrate AI into the rest of our society,” Sullivan said. “For sure, the pope is going to be one of the most forceful advocates for human dignity in these discussions.”

    Just days after his election in 2025, Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff from Chicago, told the College of Cardinals that the Catholic Church had a moral duty to bring its “treasury of her social teaching” to bear on the threats AI poses to human dignity, justice, and the future of work. A mathematics major with a documented familiarity with digital technology — he is known to regularly use a smartphone for browsing — Pope Leo is expected to address the issue publicly this weekend, as the Vatican marks its annual Social Communications Day with a pre-released message focused on the hidden human toll of the global AI race. In that earlier message, the pope warned of the urgent need to preserve authentic human connection in an era of chatbot “friends,” protect human creative genius against AI-generated music and video, and defend factual reality against the spread of generative AI deepfakes.

    The public release of the encyclical, expected within the coming weeks, is already projected to create new tension between Pope Leo and the U.S. Trump administration, which has prioritized unimpeded rapid AI development as a core national economic and security priority. The U.S. has repeatedly rejected international regulatory efforts to rein in unchecked AI growth, and domestically the administration has rolled back numerous bureaucratic barriers that slowed technology development. The encyclical’s signing coincided with the conclusion of U.S. President Donald Trump’s official visit to China, a trip focused heavily on AI trade and development. Trump was joined on Air Force One by high-profile tech leaders including Elon Musk, owner of X (which hosts Musk’s AI chatbot Grok), and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who recently secured U.S. federal approval to sell advanced H200 AI chips to Chinese buyers.

    Since the generative AI boom began with ChatGPT’s public debut, the technology has drawn both widespread awe for its transformative capabilities and growing alarm from experts over its risks. These hazards range from hypothetical but catastrophic long-term threats such as unaligned rogue AI systems to immediate, everyday harms including algorithmic bias in hiring, misinformation, and erasure of human connection. Multilateral discussions have so far yielded limited progress: the United Nations adopted a nonbinding AI governance framework last year after summits hosted by Britain, South Korea, and France also produced only voluntary pledges, while the European Union implemented its binding AI Act in 2024, which uses a risk-based classification system to regulate the technology.

    The Vatican has long sought to insert its moral voice into this global debate, publishing targeted ethical guidelines for AI use across sectors from military combat to education and healthcare. Its core argument has remained consistent: AI should serve as a tool that complements human intelligence, not one that replaces it. The church has also drawn attention to the underdiscussed environmental cost of the AI race, highlighting the massive amounts of energy and water required to power AI data centers and large-scale computational processes.

    Thomas Harmon, a theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, says the church’s influence on the conversation extends far beyond its 1.5 billion global followers. “There are almost a billion and a half Catholics in the world, so that alone is reason to pay attention,” Harmon said. “But beyond the numbers, the Catholic Church has a deep and sophisticated tradition of thinking through what it means to be human.”

    As early as 2020, the Vatican brought major tech companies together to sign the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a pledge that laid out core principles for responsible AI development including inclusiveness, accountability, impartiality, and user privacy. Major global tech firms including Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco were among the initial signatories. Pope Francis, Pope Leo’s predecessor, spent his final years advocating for a binding international treaty to regulate AI, arguing that the risks of developing AI without embedding core human values of compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness were too great to leave self-governance to researchers and developers alone. In 2024, Francis addressed a special G7 session on AI’s perils and promise, urging world leaders to ensure all AI development remains human-centric, insisting that all decisions involving the use of force — even for less-lethal tools — must remain in human hands. He also called for a full global ban on lethal autonomous weapons, often referred to as “killer robots.”

    Within the church, Pope Leo has warned clergy against relying on AI to write their homilies, but his concerns extend far beyond internal practice to the broader global implications of AI for peace, labor, and the very nature of reality. As a member of the Augustinian order, which centers the search for truth as a core spiritual value, he has repeatedly highlighted the unique threat generative AI poses through deepfakes and widespread misinformation. In a June 2025 address to an international AI conference, he acknowledged the technology’s meaningful contributions to medical advancement and scientific discovery, but questioned “its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp reality.”

    A consistent advocate for global peace, Pope Leo has also called for increased scrutiny of AI development and use in ongoing conflicts including Ukraine and the Middle East, where automated weapons systems are already deployed across aerial drones, maritime vessels, and ground combat platforms. “What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” he stated earlier this week during an address at Rome’s La Sapienza University, Europe’s largest institution of higher education.

  • Eurovision final: Sex, violins and seven other things to look out for

    Eurovision final: Sex, violins and seven other things to look out for

    The world’s most iconic live music competition, the Eurovision Song Contest, will crown its 2026 champion in a star-studded grand final this Saturday night, held this year in Vienna. With acts ranging from rags-to-riches underdogs to A-list pop stars, this year’s contest delivers everything Eurovision fans love: unexpected twists, dramatic stagecraft, viral controversies, and genre-defying music from 25 competing nations. For UK viewers, the full event will broadcast live starting at 20:00 BST across BBC One, BBC iPlayer, Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, with continuous live coverage hosted on the BBC News website. Below is an exclusive preview of the most anticipated acts and storylines to watch for on competition night.

    Few underdog stories hit harder this year than that of Greece’s entry Akylas. Just eight months ago, the 27-year-old singer was working as a waiter in Athens before quitting to busk on city streets to make ends meet. Speaking to the BBC, he recalled the constant doubt he faced while chasing his dream: “I had so many people telling me that I was wasting my time. People would bully me in the street [while] I was busking, trying to pay my rent and my bills. I was struggling – so it’s crazy that now I’m representing my country at Eurovision.” His competitive entry *Ferto* is a high-energy dance anthem that blends rave synths, retro video game sound effects, and traditional Greek string instrumentation like the lyra. Lyrically, the track reflects on his childhood growing up amid Greece’s prolonged financial crisis, honoring the sacrifices working parents make to give their children better opportunities. Bookmakers currently predict he will land a top three finish in Saturday’s voting.

    Australia has become a surprising staple of Eurovision ever since the nation fell in love with the contest following ABBA’s iconic 1974 win. Invited for a one-off wildcard entry for the contest’s 60th anniversary in 2015, the country’s overwhelming enthusiasm earned it a permanent invitation back every year. This year, after an unexpected semi-final elimination in 2025, Australia is pulling out all the stops to claim its first ever Eurovision win, sending platinum-selling global pop star Delta Goodrem to compete with her power ballad *Eclipse*. The track features a powerhouse chorus that rivals the iconic vocal delivery of Celine Dion, pairing a baroque piano interlude with a dramatic final key change that has wowed audiences and bookies alike. Following Goodrem’s smooth advance through the semi-finals, bookmakers drastically cut her odds of winning, elevating her to the ranks of top frontrunners. One lingering question hangs over an Australian victory, however: where would the 2027 contest be hosted, given the country’s location outside Europe? Speaking on the *Wanging On* podcast this week, long-time BBC Eurovision commentator Graham Norton shared insider gossip: Australian broadcasters have a prearranged deal to host the contest in a partner European country if Australia claims the win. When approached by the BBC for comment, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) organizers declined to confirm details, saying only that they are focused on the 2026 grand final, and discussions about 2027 hosting will begin after a winner is crowned on May 16.

    Heading into the final, Finland holds the position of overall favorite to win, with its dramatic love song *Liekenheiten*, performed by chart-topping Finnish pop star Pete Parkonnen and world-renowned classical violinist Linda Lampenius. Lampenius describes the unexpected collaboration as the Finnish equivalent of Harry Styles pairing up with elite classical violinist Nicola Benedetti. All pre-event buzz has centered around one death-defying stunt in the performance: Lampenius must sprint the full length of the stage catwalk in high heels while holding a priceless 1781 Gagliano violin, valued at roughly £500,000, before jumping onto a chair set next to a stage fire effect. “I run and jump up and down on a chair, and I’m standing next to a fire. So I’m quite nervous during those three minutes. I’m thinking about the violin all the time,” Lampenius admitted ahead of the final.

    Moldova is celebrating its return to the Eurovision grand final this year, after missing out on qualification for two consecutive years. The country’s entry, *Viva, Moldova!* performed by 27-year-old singer and amateur boxer Satoshi, is a boisterous patriotic party anthem written to mark the 35th anniversary of Moldova’s independence. Satoshi has an unusual pre-performance routine to prepare: 30 seconds before stepping on stage, he simulates jumping rope to boost his energy. The routine has become such a running gag backstage that a venue microphone handler gifted him his own jump rope to practice with. The track name-checks some of Moldova’s most beloved cultural icons, including poet Grigore Vieru, whose alphabet poetry collection taught generations of Moldovan children – including Satoshi – to read.

    This year’s contest has not been without controversy. Five countries have announced a full boycott of the 2026 event over Israel’s participation, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza and rising civilian death toll. During Israel’s semi-final performance earlier this week, contestant Noam Bettan was met with a mix of cheers and booing from the live arena audience, and four protesters were removed from the venue by security. Bettan told the BBC he was surprised by the intensity of the reaction, though he added he had already practiced performing through boos during rehearsals, after Israeli contestants faced similar demonstrations in 2024 and 2025. Further protests are expected during Saturday’s grand final, but Bettan’s sincere, soulful ballad *Michelle* – which blends electronic production with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation – is still predicted to earn a high placing in the final rankings.

    One of the most dramatic pre-final moments involved Sweden’s entry Felicia, who wears a custom protective face mask during performances to address body image insecurities, not public health concerns. During her semi-final performance, Felicia suffered a wardrobe malfunction that caused the mask to slip off unexpectedly. Within 24 hours, she lost her voice entirely and was ordered to undergo strict vocal rest to recover. “It’s a catastrophe for me because I hate being silent!” she shared on social media, adding that she was following doctor’s orders to rest and stay hydrated. Fortunately, Felicia’s voice had fully recovered in time for Friday’s final dress rehearsal. Her entry *My System* uses the metaphor of an infection to describe overwhelming emotion, and could make history if it wins: a Swedish victory would break the country’s current seven-way tie with Ireland, making Sweden the most successful nation in Eurovision history. When asked about the historic milestone, Felicia laughed and said simply, “No pressure. That would be crazy.”

    The UK is hoping to break its years-long dry spell at Eurovision this year, after a string of bottom-of-the-leaderboard finishes that have come despite sending major pop stars and accomplished vocal groups in recent competitions. This year’s hopeful is Sam Battle, better known by his stage name Look Mum No Computer – an inventor, popular YouTuber, and museum curator from Ramsgate with a famously quirky persona. His entry *Eins, Zwei, Drei* was composed on a custom synthesizer he built from scratch in his garage, and blends the raucous energy of British football chants with the minimal electronic sound of Kraftwerk. Battle acknowledges the track is divisive: “What we’re doing is Marmite – you either love it or hate it – but I think there’s a slot open for our sort of thing.” If the act fails to climb the leaderboard, Battle says he’s already prepared to lean into the joke with a custom “Look mum, no points” t-shirt.

    Norway’s entry Jonas Lovv was ordered to revise his raucous rock performance of *Ya Ya Ya* by contest organizers, after the singer did too many hip thrusting movements during early rehearsals. Lovv told reporters bluntly: “Without joking: too sexy.” Mads Tørklep, head of the Norwegian Eurovision delegation, confirmed that the team was ordered to tone down the act’s sex appeal to meet the contest’s family-friendly content guidelines, specifically calling for a reduction in overtly sexualized rhythmic movements. The performance has since been adjusted to meet PG content standards, though Lovv still adds a playful wink and small playful waggle to the camera for long-time fans.

    Beyond the frontrunners, this year’s grand final features a host of standout performances. Bulgarian singer Dara’s entry *Bangaranga* – a high-energy tropical pop track named for a Jamaican patois term meaning “joyful chaos” – features the most creative stage design of the competition, with dancers twitching and shaking on plastic chairs to the song’s shifting tempo, in a sequence that evokes a surreal mix of a twelve-step meeting and a psychological horror film. Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu has faced criticism from campaigners over her track *Choke Me*, which they argue glamorizes sexual violence; Căpitănescu counters that the song is actually a metaphor for feeling suffocated by unrealistic societal expectations, with a performance that finds her tethered to her guitarists by giant neon ropes. Ukraine’s gentle ballad *Ridnym* features the longest sustained high note in Eurovision history, clocking in at 30 seconds, while Serbia’s metalcore group Lavina closes their entry *Kraj Mene* with a chilling, audience-shaking scream. Closing out the standout acts is 17-year-old French singer Monroe, this year’s youngest competitor, whose pop-R&B track *Regarde!* features a showstopping operatic vocal. The song carries a message of universal calm, she says: “It’s about taking the busy moments in your life and just saying, ‘Shhhh, everything is going to be fine’.” After a week of covering the contest in Vienna, that quiet, hopeful message feels just as relevant to fans around the world as it does to the teams backstage.

  • Switzerland to open secret files on Auschwitz ‘Angel of Death’ Mengele

    Switzerland to open secret files on Auschwitz ‘Angel of Death’ Mengele

    For decades, sealed federal files holding clues about the post-war movements of notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele – infamously known as the “Angel of Death” of Auschwitz – have sparked fierce debate among historians and fueled widespread conspiracy theories about Switzerland’s role in hiding one of the Holocaust’s most brutal perpetrators. Now, following a high-profile legal challenge by a determined historian, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service has announced it will finally open the long-closed records – though it has yet to announce a firm timeline for public access.

    Mengele, a Waffen-SS doctor stationed at the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II, bore responsibility for one of the worst chapters of Nazi atrocities. He personally selected more than 400,000 prisoners to be sent to the camp’s gas chambers, where an estimated 1.1 million people – 1 million of them Jewish – were murdered. Beyond his role in mass extermination, Mengele carried out grotesque, unscientific medical experiments on live prisoners, most often targeting children and twins, before killing the subjects of his research. When the war ended in 1945, Mengele escaped justice: he adopted a false identity, obtained fraudulent Red Cross travel documents from the organization’s Genoa, Italy consulate – a loophole the Red Cross later publicly apologized for allowing – and fled to South America, where he lived under an assumed name until his death in Brazil in 1979.

    It has long been confirmed that Mengele visited Switzerland once for a private alpine skiing trip with his son Rolf in 1956, seven years after he fled Europe. But lingering questions have persisted about whether he returned to the country after an international arrest warrant was issued for him in 1959. Swiss historian Regula Bochsler, who has researched Switzerland’s role as a transit country for fleeing Nazi war criminals, uncovered key clues pointing to a possible unreported return: in June 1961, Austrian intelligence warned Swiss authorities that Mengele was traveling under a fake name and may have entered Swiss territory. Around the same time, Mengele’s wife rented an apartment in a modest Zurich suburb, a location conveniently close to Zurich’s international airport, and applied for permanent Swiss residency. Local Zurich police records confirm the apartment was placed under surveillance in 1961, and officers once documented Mrs. Mengele driving through the area with an unidentified man – whose identity has never been confirmed.

    For decades, historians repeatedly requested access to federal intelligence files related to the case, but all requests were denied. The files were originally sealed until 2071, with authorities citing national security concerns and privacy protections for Mengele’s extended family. When Bochsler applied for access in 2019, she was turned away. In 2025, historian Gérard Wettstein made another attempt, and when his request was also rejected, he launched a legal challenge against the Swiss government, crowdfunding 18,000 Swiss francs ($23,000) to cover his legal costs. Just days after the public fundraising drive successfully hit its target, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service reversed its longstanding position, announcing in an official statement that the appellant would be granted access to the file – though it added that access would be subject to unspecified terms and conditions that have not yet been finalized.

    Historians are divided over what the files will actually reveal. Sacha Zala, president of the Swiss Society for History, says he is convinced the files will not contain new evidence confirming Mengele’s presence in Switzerland after 1956. Instead, he suspects the records likely contain sensitive references to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which actively hunted Nazi fugitives across the globe in the 1950s and 1960s and may have coordinated with Swiss authorities. Zala argues that keeping 70-year-old references to a widely known Nazi manhunt sealed is unnecessary, and that the arbitrary secrecy has only fueled unnecessary conspiracy theories. “It shows the stupidity of the declassification process without historical knowledge,” Zala said. “In this way, the administration fueled conspiracy theories.”

    Other historians argue that the decades-long secrecy surrounding the files reveals more about Switzerland’s complicated relationship with its World War II history than it does about Mengele. Jakob Tanner, a historian who served on the 1990s Bergier Commission that investigated neutral Switzerland’s wartime relations with Nazi Germany, noted that the country has long grappled with public shame over its wartime actions: Swiss authorities turned away thousands of Jewish refugees at the border during the war, and Swiss banks held onto unclaimed assets from Jewish families murdered in the Holocaust for decades. “It’s a conflict between national security and historical transparency, and the former often prevails in Switzerland,” Tanner explained, adding that it is entirely plausible Mengele did visit Switzerland in 1961 – after Mossad captured another top Nazi fugitive, Adolf Eichmann, in Argentina in 1960, many Nazis hiding in South America feared they would be next, and may have fled to Europe to lay low.

    Even with the announcement that the files will be opened, historians remain cautious about how much new information will actually come to light. Wettstein says he fears the released files will be heavily redacted, leaving key details blacked out. Bochsler shares that skepticism, noting that the decades-long sealing of the records has already created deep distrust among researchers. “Why have these Mengele files been closed for so long?” she asked.

    Mengele never faced trial for his crimes, and his escape from justice has kept rumors and conspiracy theories about his post-war life alive for more than 75 years. While DNA testing confirmed in 1992 that the body buried under a false name in Brazil was indeed Mengele, the question of whether he secretly returned to Switzerland after 1956 remains unanswered. Even if the files are heavily redacted, historians say opening the records will at least bring much-needed transparency to a long-secret chapter of post-war history, and may help clear up decades of speculation.

    “Maybe we will never get to the real truth,” Wettstein said. “We will never know if he was here or not… but maybe we can have at least a clearer idea.”