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Ireland’s Eurovision entry, Bambie Thug, has called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to “gain some conscience” and “humanity,” as the contest bosses struggle to keep politics off the stage at the annual competition.

The 31-year-old, who is non-binary and uses the pronouns “they” and “them”, also said “they cried with their team” when they found out Israel had got through to the grand final of the contest.

Pic: Reuters
Eden Golan, representing Israel, performs on stage during the first rehearsal of the second semi-final of the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) at Malmo Arena, in Malmo, Sweden, May 8, 2024. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
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Eden Golan. Pic: Reuters

Bambie is currently fifth favourite to win the competition with “ouija pop” song Doomsday Blue.

Israel’s act, Eden Golan, will compete with her song Hurricane which was reworked after an initial version titled October Rain was ruled too political by the EBU, which believed some lyrics referred to the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.

In March, Bambie was one of the nine contestants – including the UK’s Olly Alexander, Finland’s Windows95Man and Switzerland’s Nemo – who called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the “safe return” of Israeli hostages in a joint statement.

Earlier in the week, Bambie said the EBU prevented them from displaying a pro-Palestinian message during their performance during the first semi-final.

They told reporters at an earlier news conference that they had been forced to change writing painted on their body which had been painted in an early Medieval alphabet which translated to “ceasefire and freedom”.

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At the time, a spokesperson for the EBU said: “The writing seen on Bambie Thug’s body during dress rehearsals contravened contest rules that are designed to protect the non-political nature of the event.

“After discussions with the Irish delegation, they agreed to change the text for the live show.”

Bambie Thug. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

Bambie said for the EBU to better handle future political issues it needed to focus on “gaining some heart and some conscience and some humanity”.

They also said demonstrations and calls for Israel to be banned over their ongoing ground offensive in Gaza was “completely overshadowing” the contest.

They said: “It’s an incredibly intense atmosphere, you know… I don’t think it’s sitting well with any of the contestants, to be honest.”

There are more pro-Palestinian protests planned in Malmo to coincide with the Eurovision grand final, amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Police estimated more than 10,000 people took part in a march on Thursday.

During an earlier rehearsal on Wednesday, Golan was met with some boos and cries of “Free Palestine”, and an audience member appeared to have a Palestinian flag removed from them in the auditorium.

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Eurovision fans boo Israeli singer

Separately, Spain’s state-owned broadcaster hit out at the EBU on Friday, calling for it to respect “press and opinion” at this year’s event.

RTVE wrote on social media: “The Spanish delegation from @eurovision_tve has conveyed to @EBU_HQ its commitment to freedom of the press and opinion and has asked that @Eurovision let them watch it.”

The post was made shortly after it was announced that Madrid would be hosting the Junior Eurovision Song Contest later this year.

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Some 26 countries, including UK entry Olly Alexander, 33, with his track Dizzy, are due to battle it out for the coveted Eurovision glass trophy tonight.

Bambie also referred to an unexplained “incident” involving Netherlands act Joost which happened on Friday and resulted in him being “investigated” by the EBU and removed from the two grand finale rehearsals.

Joost Klein. Pic: AP
Image:
Joost Klein. Pic: AP

When asked if they and other acts were supportive of him, Bambie said: “I don’t know what exactly happened with the incident, but I am with anyone who was pro-Palestine.”

There is no indication that Friday’s “incident” is linked to disagreements about the situation in the Middle East.

Joost had been part of the flag parade at the start of Friday’s rehearsal, and walked around the stage in full costume, but then failed to arrive on stage for his performance around 30 minutes later.

He later failed to perform in the grand final jury vote – which is the final rehearsal before the real show.

The EBU – which has said the investigation is “ongoing” – is yet to confirm whether Joost will be performing in the grand final tonight.

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Golan responded to a question over whether she was a ‘security risk’

Bambie also said they were worried Ireland might miss out on votes due to the ongoing boycott to stop Eurovision.

They said: “I’m fearful that we will miss a lot of votes because of the boycotting, and that those then will make someone else have more of a chance to win.

“I don’t think it should, but there are 200 million viewers.”

They said people should vote for Bambie Thug “for art, for change, to shake things up and for best song, best performer in the competition”.

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The crowd chanting ‘Joost’ and booing in response to his absence

Croatia is currently predicted to win the contest, followed by Israel, with fellow non-binary contestant Nemo, who is competing for Switzerland, resting in third place.

Meanwhile, Irish premier Simon Harris has said the “whole country will be rooting” for Bambie, who is the first Irish finalist since 2018.

:: Sky News will be in Malmo with updates, a live blog, and all the biggest news from the final as it happens

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Climate-vulnerable islands storm out of COP29 negotiation room in row over funding

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Climate-vulnerable islands storm out of COP29 negotiation room in row over funding

Representatives of dozens of climate vulnerable islands and African nations have stormed out of high-stakes negotiations over a climate funding goal.

Patience is wearing thin and negotiations have boiled over at the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, which were due to finish yesterday but are now well into overtime.

After two weeks of talks, the more than 190 countries gathered in the capital Baku are still trying to agree a new financial settlement to channel money to poorer countries to both curb and adapt to climate change.

Talks have now run well into overtime at COP29, but a deal now feels much more precarious.

The least developed countries like Mozambique and low-lying island nations like Samoa say their calls for a portion of the fund to be allocated to them have been ignored.

Samoa’s minister of natural resources and environment Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster is one of the representatives who walked out.

“We are here to negotiate but we have walked out… at the moment we don’t feel we are being heard in there,” he said on behalf of more than 40 small island and developing states, whose shorelines are being lost to rising sea levels.

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Shortly after he made a veiled threat of leaving COP29 altogether, saying: “We want nothing more than to continue to engage, but the process must be INCLUSIVE.

“If this cannot be the case, it becomes very difficult for us to continue our involvement here at COP29.”

Evans Njewa, who chairs a group of more than 40 least developed countries, said the current deal is “unacceptable for us. We need to speak to other developing countries and decide what to do.”

The last official draft on Friday pledged $250bn a year annually by 2035.

This is more than double the previous goal of $100bn set 15 years ago, but nowhere near the annual $1.3trn that experts say is needed.

Sky News understands some developed countries like the UK were this morning willing to bump up the goal to $300bn.

Developing countries are angry not just about the finance negotiations, but also on how to make progress on a pledge from last year to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

A group of oil and producing countries, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, have tried to dilute that language, while the UK and island state are among those that have fought to keep it in.

Mr Schuster said all things being negotiated contain a “deplorable lack of substance”.

He added: “We need to see progress and follow up on the transition away from fossil fuels that we agreed last year. We have been asked to forget all about that at this COP, as though we are not in a critical decade and as though the 1.5C limit is not in peril.”

“We need to be shown the regard which our dire circumstances necessitate.”

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At least 11 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

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At least 11 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

At least 11 people have been killed and 63 injured in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.

Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dug through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.

State-run National News Agency (NNA) said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.

Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station also showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.

The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
Image:
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike

Map of Lebanon and Israel

The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack – the fourth targeting the centre this week.

At least four bombs were dropped in the attack, security sources told Reuters news agency.

The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time).

A seperate drone strike in the southern port cuty of Tyre this morning killed one person and injured another, according to the NNA.

The blasts came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.

Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike

US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.

Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.

It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

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Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia’s ‘unstoppable’ missile – as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks

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Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia's 'unstoppable' missile - as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.

In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

Referring to the Oreshnik, the Russian president said: “No one in the world has such weapons.

“Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”

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Putin’s warning to the West

Russia war latest: Long-awaited US air defences arrive in Ukraine

He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”

Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.

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General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.

Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”

Read more from Sky News:
What are storm shadow missiles?
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Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.

NATO and Ukraine are expected to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.

EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’

Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.

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Russia’s new missile – what does it mean?

Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.

At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.

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