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  • 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.”

  • Moscow court orders Euroclear to pay compensation to Russia’s central bank over seized assets

    Moscow court orders Euroclear to pay compensation to Russia’s central bank over seized assets

    A Moscow arbitration court has fully upheld a massive $249.7 billion damages claim brought by the Russian Central Bank against Euroclear, the European Union-based securities clearing institution that holds the vast majority of the bloc’s frozen Russian sovereign assets, Russian media outlets confirmed Friday. The legal action stems from sweeping EU sanctions imposed on Moscow following the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which locked the Russian Central Bank out of accessing and managing its more than $200 billion in reserves held with Euroclear.

  • Bam! Pow! Krakoom! The everlasting allure of the American comic book

    Bam! Pow! Krakoom! The everlasting allure of the American comic book

    BARCELONA, Spain — From their glossy eye-catching covers to depictions of impossibly muscular heroes clad in skintight costumes, American superhero comics draw readers in instantly with the promise of high-stakes battles, triumph over villains and thrilling adventure. For decades, these slim, serialized publications have carved out a one-of-a-kind space in global pop culture, often contrasted sharply with other regional sequential art forms.

    Against Europe’s more literary, substantive graphic novels, traditional American superhero comics are often dismissed as flimsy, juvenile entertainment. When stacked against Japanese manga’s sprawling, genre-spanning narratives with complex thematic layers, American superhero stories read as earnest and uncomplicated, rooted in a bygone era of American cultural identity. Once sold for mere nickels and dimes before climbing to quarter price points, today single issues typically cost as much as a coffee shop latte — a clear marker of their place as a product of American consumer capitalism, widely labeled as junk-food literature: eye candy for casual readers, light entertainment that requires little deep engagement. But this surface reading overlooks the deeply American identity that has been baked into these 32-page monthly stories for generations.

    The turning point for modern American superhero comics came in 1961, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby launched the Fantastic Four. In the team’s origin story, a fateful unplanned space journey exposes four explorers to cosmic radiation, leaving them with extraordinary abilities they never asked for. This origin rewrote the rules of superhero storytelling: for the first time, all-powerful heroes were also reluctant, relatable figures, shaped by the unintended consequences of scientific progress and random chance — flawed, modern people first, heroes second.

    This blueprint shaped countless iconic characters that followed. Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine, and dozens more were marked by their otherness: their incredible powers turned them into outcasts, casting them as imperfect, burdened messiahs rather than perfect, unflappable paragons. Tied to a core thread of the American cultural psyche, nearly all of these characters abide by Peter Parker’s iconic moral mandate: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Like a distinctly American reimagining of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, they are bound to an endless cycle of sacrifice, repeatedly stepping forward to save the world even when victory offers them no personal reward.

    What could be more fundamentally American than this core belief: that when raw power is anchored to a commitment to justice, it will ultimately prevail? It is a worldview that is simultaneously deeply honorable and unapologetically naïve, a reflection of the national identity that has shaped the country for centuries.

    Today, even as storytelling has grown grittier and more complex, the two giants of the American comic industry — Marvel and DC — continue to reimagine what American character looks like for new eras. Long sidelined as supporting players to white male lead characters, female fan-favorites including Gwen Stacy, Jean Grey, and Susan Storm have emerged as central leaders in recent years, breathing new life into iconic sagas for Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. DC’s *Absolute Wonder Woman* has pushed creative boundaries with groundbreaking, cinematic artwork, while half-Latino, half-Black Miles Morales has become the Spider-Man for a new, more diverse generation of readers.

    Even with these evolutions, the core tensions that have long defined American superhero stories remain unchanged. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, is unable to form deep meaningful connections with anyone beyond his longtime butler Alfred — a perfect portrait of the isolated individual in modern, atomized American society. Steve Rogers, Captain America, carries the weight of representing the World War II “Greatest Generation,” forever an outsider out of time even in his own country. And Lex Luthor, Superman’s villainous megalomaniacal nemesis, stands as one of the most iconic depictions of a power-hungry tech tycoon meddling with humanity’s future for his own gain — a trope that feels just as relevant today as it was decades ago, leaving readers to joke that the modern world could use a mild-mannered Clark Kent keeping watch on powerful elites, just in case.

    This feature is part of the recurring series “American Objects,” created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, exploring the everyday and cultural items that have shaped the nation’s identity over its history.

  • Pentagon halts deployments to Poland and Germany to cut troop numbers in Europe, AP sources say

    Pentagon halts deployments to Poland and Germany to cut troop numbers in Europe, AP sources say

    Widespread confusion and bipartisan backlash have followed the Pentagon’s unexpected order to cancel thousands of scheduled U.S. troop deployments to Europe, a move that has amplified long-simmering tensions between the Trump administration and key NATO allies amid disputes over U.S. strategy in the Iran war. Multiple senior U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military planning, have confirmed details of the drawdown, which aligns with President Donald Trump’s early May executive order to cut roughly 5,000 active-duty troops from the U.S. European theater.

    The core of the order signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reposition a full brigade combat team out of Europe. That directive ultimately led to the cancellation of the planned deployment of 4,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, based out of Fort Hood, Texas. The unit had been scheduled to depart for Poland this week, but the deployment was scrapped at the last minute. Alongside the Poland cancellation, the order also halted an upcoming rotational deployment of a long-range rocket and missile battalion to Germany.

    The Trump administration had initially framed the European troop reduction as a cut limited exclusively to U.S. forces stationed in Germany, a positioning that followed public criticism of U.S. policy from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Merz had previously stated that the U.S. had been “humiliated” by Iranian leadership and condemned the administration’s lack of a clear strategy for the ongoing Iran war. The sudden inclusion of Poland in the cuts caught both European allies and many U.S. military personnel on the continent off guard: multiple U.S. officials based in Europe confirmed they had no advance warning the Poland deployment would be halted, with one senior officer describing an emergency briefing called with just 20 minutes’ notice on Monday to outline the change. Some troops had already arrived in Poland when the order came down, while others still stateside were told to stand down only hours before they were scheduled to depart for the airport. Most of the unit’s heavy equipment had already been shipped to European ports and remains in transit limbo, officials added.

    Polish authorities have moved quickly to downplay the impact of the cancellation, framing the move as a logistical adjustment rather than a targeted snub. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that he had received formal assurances from the Trump administration that the decision would not erode Poland’s national security or NATO deterrence capabilities on the alliance’s eastern flank. The move also contradicts public assurances Trump gave as recently as September, when Polish President Karol Nawrocki visited the White House. At that meeting, Trump explicitly stated he had no plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Poland, even offering to increase the U.S. presence if Warsaw requested it. Poland has long positioned itself as a leading U.S. ally within NATO, and currently meets the alliance’s 2% of GDP defense spending target, hitting a planned 4.7% of GDP in 2025 – the highest share among all NATO members. Defense Secretary Hegseth has previously referenced Poland as a “model ally” for its defense spending commitments. Currently, roughly 10,000 U.S. troops are present in Poland, the vast majority on rotational deployments, with only around 300 permanently stationed in the country, per data from the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

    Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez defended the drawdown in a public statement, arguing that the decision followed a “comprehensive, multilayered process” and was not an impulsive last-minute adjustment. But senior Army leaders acknowledged to Congress on Friday that formal discussions on halting the Poland deployment only began two weeks ago, with the final decision coming just days before the unit was scheduled to depart. The chaotic rollout has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers across the U.S. political spectrum, with both Democrats and Republicans arguing the move sends a dangerous message to U.S. allies and emboldens Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces launched one of the deadliest strikes on Kyiv this week in the four-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who said he spoke to Polish officials Thursday, told reporters that Warsaw had been completely “blindsided” by the cancellation, calling the decision “reprehensible” and “an embarrassment to our country.” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, added that the administration failed to fulfill its requirement to consult with Congress ahead of the drawdown, leaving lawmakers in the dark about the full scope of the changes. “So we don’t know what’s going on here,” Rogers said. “But I can just tell you we’re not happy with what’s being talked about.”

    U.S. officials have sought to soften concerns about a full U.S. withdrawal from the continent. Speaking at a security conference in Tallinn, Estonia, on Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas G. DiNanno said the drawdown plans were public and transparent, noting that “the U.S. isn’t going anywhere.” “We’ll continue to work with the Pentagon and work with our partners to make sure we get the right fit and right mix of what’s happening here on the ground,” DiNanno said.

    A NATO spokesperson also sought to downplay security risks, saying the canceled deployment would not disrupt the alliance’s existing deterrence and defense plans on the eastern flank, pointing to increased force contributions from Canada and Germany that offset the change. But retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, warned the uncoordinated drawdown causes long-term damage to alliance cohesion. “This move reinforces the perception that the United States just does things without consultation with allies,” Hodges said, adding that eroding partner trust will ultimately harm U.S. defense industry interests in the region long-term.

    One senior U.S. official confirmed that after the drawdown is complete, the overall U.S. military presence in Europe will return to pre-2022 levels, before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The drawdown comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly pressed European allies to take greater responsibility for their own security, including support for Ukraine, a shift that has deepened rifts between Washington and longstanding transatlantic partners amid ongoing disputes over the Iran war.

  • US charges Iraqi national accused of plotting at least 18 terror attacks in Europe

    US charges Iraqi national accused of plotting at least 18 terror attacks in Europe

    MANHATTAN, N.Y. — Federal law enforcement authorities have secured terrorism-related charges against an Iraqi man accused of orchestrating a sprawling, Iran-linked plot to carry out violent attacks targeting Jewish communities and Western interests across three continents, court documents unsealed Friday confirm.

    Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, the 48-year-old suspect, stands accused of planning no fewer than 18 separate terrorist attacks across Europe, all framed as retaliation for U.S. military engagement in the Middle East. The alleged plots included plans to firebomb a major bank in Amsterdam and carry out stabbings targeting Jewish civilians in London, according to the unsealed complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

    Beyond European targets, prosecutors allege Al-Saadi was actively developing plans to strike a synagogue in New York City as recently as last month. He is also accused of sharing visual intelligence — including photographs and detailed location maps — of Jewish community centers in Los Angeles, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona, to an undercover law enforcement agent, marking the sites as planned targets.

    The complaint also ties Al-Saadi to two high-profile violent attacks in Canada earlier this year: a targeted assault on a Canadian synagogue and a March shooting at the U.S. consulate general in Toronto.

    Al-Saadi faces four separate federal charges: conspiracy to provide material support to two U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iraqi Shia militant group backed by Tehran, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran; conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transnationally; providing material support to these terrorist acts; and conspiracy to bomb a facility of public use.

    Court records confirm Al-Saadi was arrested by Turkish law enforcement before being extradited to U.S. custody. He was transferred to a federal detention facility in Brooklyn Thursday evening, and has been held in solitary confinement since his arrival, according to his defense counsel.

    During his initial court appearance this week, Al-Saadi did not make any on-the-record statements. Through his attorney, Andrew Dalack, he has claimed he is being wrongfully detained as a political prisoner and prisoner of war, asserting persecution by U.S. authorities over his past personal ties to Qasem Soleimani, the former top commander of the IRGC Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

    Under standard federal procedures, Al-Saadi was not required to enter a formal plea at his initial hearing. He remains in federal custody as of Friday, though his legal team has signaled he may file a motion for bail at a later date.

  • Dozens of European nations sign off on new interpretation of rights convention in migration cases

    Dozens of European nations sign off on new interpretation of rights convention in migration cases

    BRUSSELS, May 20 (Rewritten) — In a landmark meeting held Friday in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, all 46 member states of the Council of Europe have formally adopted a non-binding political declaration that reinterprets the landmark European Convention on Human Rights for migration-related cases, including a controversial provision that explicitly allows member states to establish deportation processing centers, officially called return hubs, in non-member third countries. The agreement comes as growing political pressure from right-wing and conservative national governments across the continent has pushed for stricter, more enforceable measures to curb irregular migration and streamline cross-border deportation processes.

  • UK media regulator says X promises to crack down on terrorist and hate content

    UK media regulator says X promises to crack down on terrorist and hate content

    LONDON – Britain’s national media and telecommunications regulator Ofcom announced Friday that Elon Musk-owned social platform X has formally committed to sweeping new measures to crack down on the proliferation of illegal terrorist and hate speech content across its service within the United Kingdom.

    Under the terms of the public commitments laid out by Ofcom, X will implement strict geoblocking restrictions that bar UK-based users from accessing accounts operated directly or indirectly by terrorist organizations officially proscribed by the British government. The platform has also agreed to strict timelines for content review: it will average a 24-hour turnaround time for assessing user-flagged posts suspected of violating UK laws against terrorist and hate content, with a target of completing reviews of 85 percent of all flagged material within 48 hours of a user report being submitted.

    The new commitments come in direct response to longstanding criticism from British civil society organizations, which have repeatedly accused X of failing to take meaningful action on illegal content after it is reported by users. To address these gaps, X has agreed to collaborate with independent online safety experts to refine its user reporting and content moderation systems. Over the next 12 months, the platform will also submit quarterly performance data to Ofcom, allowing the regulator to publicly verify whether X is meeting its stated targets.

    Ofcom officials emphasized that clear evidence confirms illegal terrorist content and hate speech remains a persistent problem across major social media platforms, and that the regulator expects all digital service providers operating in the UK to take decisive, accountable action to protect users. For the UK, this issue carries particular urgency in the wake of a recent surge in hate-motivated violence targeting the country’s Jewish community, noted Oliver Griffiths, director of Ofcom’s online safety division.

    The UK is home to roughly 300,000 Jewish people, and community members have faced a sharp rise in both offline and online antisemitic attacks in recent months. High-profile violent incidents include multiple targeted arson attacks and a fatal double stabbing, events that have stoked widespread fear and outrage across British Jewish communities.

    This is not the only regulatory pressure X is currently facing over content moderation failures. Earlier this year, the platform drew intense global backlash after Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot integrated directly into X’s service, was found to generate non-consensual deepfake pornography. Ofcom launched a formal investigation into whether Grok violated UK requirements to protect users from illegal content, and Griffiths confirmed Friday that the probe remains ongoing.

    The Grok controversy also prompted European Union regulators to open their own inquiry into whether X is doing enough to curb the spread of illegal content across its platform. Separately, French prosecutors confirmed last week they are pursuing criminal charges against both Musk and X, including charges related to the denial of crimes against humanity. As of Friday afternoon, X’s UK communications team had not responded to requests for comment on the new commitments.

  • Hungary’s new PM symbolically removes fences erected around Orbán’s former offices

    Hungary’s new PM symbolically removes fences erected around Orbán’s former offices

    BUDAPEST, Hungary – In a highly symbolic act marking Hungary’s post-Orbán political transition, new Prime Minister Péter Magyar personally took down security fencing surrounding the former prime ministerial office on Budapest’s historic Castle Hill Friday, opening the landmark Karmelita building to public access after years of restricted entry. The former Catholic monastery, which commands sweeping views of the Danube River, became an indelible symbol of Viktor Orbán’s 16-year authoritarian-leaning rule after the former prime minister cordoned the site off from the public in 2021.

    Standing before reporters as he pushed open the newly removed barriers, Magyar framed the move as a tangible break from the previous regime. “There is no place for cordons in Hungary after the change of regime,” he stated. Magyar emphasized that the site was constructed and renovated with public money from Hungarian taxpayers, making it rightfully belong to the people of the country rather than being locked away for exclusive government use.

    Magyar and his center-right Tisza party swept to power in a landmark April election, ousting Orbán after 16 years in office and securing a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority that grants the new government a clear mandate to deliver on its promise of sweeping institutional reform. Since taking office, the new administration has already moved forward on key campaign pledges: rolling back the concentrated executive power Orbán built, restoring eroded democratic checks and balances, cracking down on widespread public corruption, and recovering misappropriated state funds from the previous era.

    In a recent disclosure, the new government has already exposed details of luxury private renovations carried out on former government officials’ offices at public expense. Unlike his predecessor, Magyar plans to relocate the prime minister’s official office to the administrative district on the opposite bank of the Danube, leaving the Karmelita building open for public use while national authorities finalize a long-term plan for the site’s future.

    The Karmelita building will remain open to visitors for an extended period, with an official booking website already launched to accommodate public tours. Magyar noted that several structures within the Castle Hill district have already completed long-delayed renovations, while other restoration projects are still ongoing. He added that opening the landmark to the public will likely spark new public discussions and ideas about how the site can best serve the Hungarian people going forward, though he declined to share specific proposals for its permanent use.

    Beyond domestic institutional reform, Magyar has made mending frayed relations with the European Union a top foreign policy priority, with the explicit goal of restoring Hungary’s full standing within the community of Western democracies. To advance anti-corruption efforts, the new government plans to establish a specialized National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, which will be tasked with investigating allegations of misused public funds from Orbán’s tenure and working to recover stolen assets for the Hungarian state.

  • AI vigilante trap snares alleged paedophile ex-teacher in France

    AI vigilante trap snares alleged paedophile ex-teacher in France

    A high-stakes citizen sting operation leveraging artificial intelligence has landed a 66-year-old retired French sports teacher behind bars and ignited fierce public debate over the ethics of vigilante anti-pedophile action online.

    Dominique B, a former official with France’s National Union of School Sports (UNSS), turned himself in to local police in eastern France on Tuesday, just 24 hours after a recording of his sexually explicit conversation with who he believed was a 14-year-old girl was streamed to thousands of viewers across major social platforms. What Dominique B did not know was that the young girl he was messaging was not a minor at all: the feminine face and voice he interacted with were entirely AI-generated, overlaid on the live feed of a male influencer who goes by the handle FINNYZYY, a content creator who specializes in public entrapment operations targeting alleged child predators.

    Footage of the 40-minute exchange, which has now amassed more than one million views, shows Dominique B lounging in a chair on one side of the split screen, while FINNYZYY appears on the other with his AI-altered identity. Though the AI deepfake was not perfectly polished – the influencer had to cover the lower portion of his chin to conceal his beard – the deception was more than convincing enough to fool the retired educator. During the conversation, Dominique B propositioned the “minor” to meet him at Paris’ Parc des Princes football stadium, made explicit sexual requests including asking if she would kiss him and if she would view his nude body, and asked inappropriate questions about whether she had ever shared nude selfies with peers. When reminded that his conversation partner was only 14 years old, Dominique B brushed off the concern, claiming many girls younger than that had already had sexual intercourse.

    The interaction was streamed live to an audience of more than 40,000 concurrent viewers, and multiple audience members quickly recognized the retired teacher and reported the content to Pharos, France’s official government platform for reporting harmful illegal online content. Before law enforcement could launch an official manhunt, Dominique B turned himself in at a local precinct.

    Vesoul’s state prosecutor has confirmed that Dominique B faces two formal criminal charges: sexual solicitation of a person under 15 years of age, and soliciting pornographic images of a minor. Legal experts have noted that it remains unclear whether the fact that the target of his advances was an AI-powered decoy rather than an actual minor will impact the criminal proceedings or potential sentencing.

    While the influencer says his operations are rooted in a mission to raise public awareness of the pervasive threat of child sexual exploitation, the case has sparked sharp division over the ethics of independent vigilante entrapment, particularly when AI is used to create fake identities. Legal commentator and lawyer Mourad Battikh has publicly criticized FINNYZYY’s methods as deeply concerning, arguing that the creator may be prioritized viral publicity over public safety. “If he truly wanted to act as a responsible citizen, he could have shared the recording directly with police rather than broadcasting it to millions online,” Battikh told French news channel BFMTV.

    Aurélien Martini, a representative of the USM French magistrates’ union, echoed these concerns, noting that unregulated civilian vigilante operations risk compromising ongoing official law enforcement investigations into targeted suspects.

    Despite pushback from legal professionals, the influencer has gained high-profile political support from France’s far-right National Rally party. Party deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy praised the mobilization of civil society against child sexual abuse, arguing that established political institutions have failed to adequately address the crisis.

    The case has also drawn new attention to the rapidly expanding capabilities of consumer-facing artificial intelligence tools, which have made it easier than ever for everyday users to create convincing deepfakes for everything from entertainment to activist vigilante operations.