Members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will meet today to discuss Israel’s involvement in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The meeting at Eurovision’s organisers’ headquarters in Geneva will address the new rules intended to stop governments and third parties from disproportionately influencing voting.

Should members not be convinced about the new rules, there may be a vote on Israel‘s participation in 2026.

In November, the EBU changed the voting system for the song contest over allegations of “interference” from the Israeli government.

That came after Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public in this year’s contest, ultimately finishing as runner-up to Austria’s entry after the jury votes were counted.

After the final in May, Irish broadcaster RTE requested a breakdown in voting numbers from the EBU, while Spain’s public broadcaster, Radio Television Espanola, called for a “complete review” of the voting system to avoid “external interference”.

Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS added in September that there had been “proven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of the Song Contest, with the event being used as a political instrument”.

Their statement did not elaborate on the means of “interference”.

Israeli broadcaster still preparing entry

Israel has not commented on the accusations regarding voting for the contest, which stresses its political neutrality, but it has frequently claimed that it faces a global smear campaign.

KAN, the Israeli public broadcaster, also said it is preparing for next year’s Eurovision content.

It added it will present its position on possible disqualification at the meeting.

Boycotts threatened over war in Gaza

It comes after Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland issued statements earlier this year saying they would consider boycotting the contest next year if Israel was allowed to enter over the war in Gaza.

In September, officials from the EBU announced plans for an emergency vote on Israel’s participation, with president Delphine Ernotte-Cunci saying “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before”. The board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.

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That was then called off in October after Israel and Hamas agreed to the US-backed peace plan for Gaza.

More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

It was sparked by the 7 October 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.

But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?

Here’s a look at how your data is used.

The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.

It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)

Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.

The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.

Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.

Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.

Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.

The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.

Swift vs Bunny

Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.

But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third was The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.

Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.

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Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth, and Billie Eilish in fifth.

Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.

Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.

A doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the star’s death has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent-care clinic outside Los Angeles, is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with the death of the Friends actor. Perry was found drowned in the hot tub at his home after taking ketamine in October 2023.

“You and others helped Mr Perry on the road to such an ending by continuing to feed his ketamine addiction,” Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett told Plasencia as she handed down the sentence. “You exploited Mr Perry’s addiction for your own profit.”

During the hearing, Plasencia broke into tears as he spoke about the day he would have to tell his now two-year-old son “about the time I didn’t protect another mother’s son”. Apologising directly to Perry’s family, he said: “I should have protected him.”

The doctor’s mother cried loudly in the courtroom as he was led out in handcuffs.

Ahead of the sentencing, Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry and stepfather Keith Morrison described those involved in supplying ketamine to the star illegally as “jackals”, and said they believed Plasencia to be “among the most culpable of all“.

The actor had been taking ketamine legally as a treatment for depression, but started seeking more of the drug and taking it unsupervised in the weeks before his death, acquiring it illegally from different sources.

Plasencia, 44, did not supply the dose that killed the actor, but had been distributing the surgical anesthetic to him in the weeks beforehand.

He initially denied the charges against him but changed his plea earlier this year, admitting four counts of distribution. He could have faced up to 40 years in prison had he been convicted at trial.

Doctor ‘fed on vulnerability’

Court documents showed details of a text message Plasencia sent to another doctor, who is also due to be sentenced, saying: “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

“Rather than do what was best for Mr Perry – someone who had struggled with addiction for most of his life – [Plasencia] sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit,” the prosecution said in its sentencing memo.

Known as “Dr P”, Plasencia was introduced to Perry by one of his own patients on 30 September 2023, prosecutors said. This patient said the actor was a “high profile person” who was willing to pay “cash and lots of thousands” for ketamine treatment, and the doctor was “motivated by the promise of a payday”.

Plasencia’s lawyers admitted his behaviour was “reckless” and said it was “the biggest mistake” of his life.

“Remorse cannot begin to capture the pain, regret and shame that Mr Plasencia feels for the tragedy that unfolded and that he failed to prevent,” they said.

Star’s family share emotional statements

During the hearing, Perry’s mother Suzanne addressed the court to talk about everything he had overcome in his life.

“I used to think he couldn’t die,” she said, supported by her husband.

“You called him a ‘moron’,” she said to Plasencia. “There is nothing moronic about that man.”

In victim impact statements submitted to court, she and her husband said Plasencia’s actions were not the result of “one very bad decision” or done “in the heat of passion”, and nor was he a “bad to the bone” drug dealer.

They added: “No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles. But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son.”

“The world mourns my brother,” Perry’s half-sister Madeleine Morrison said. “He was everyone’s favourite friend.”

Perry’s father John and stepmother Debbie had called for a lengthy sentence, and said Plasencia’s actions had “devastated” their family.

“How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow?” they asked. “Did you care? Did you think?”

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As well as the prison sentence, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down two years of probation to Plasencia.

The other four people charged in connection with Perry’s death have also accepted plea deals and are due to be sentenced over the next few months.

They are: dealer Jasveen Sangha, also known as “the Ketamine Queen”, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, another doctor, Mark Chavez, and Erik Fleming, an associate of the actor.

Perry had struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation playing Chandler Bing.

He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons, from 1994 to 2004, and appeared in the reunion show in 2021.