Category World News

Swiss Eurovision winner Nemo said they will return their 2024 victory trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the pop music competition.

The singer, who won the 2024 edition with operatic pop track, The Code, posted a video on Instagram showing them placing the trophy in a box to be sent back to the Geneva headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

“Eurovision says it stands for unity, for inclusion and dignity for all people,” Nemo said, adding that Israel’s participation amid its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza showed those ideals were at odds with organisers’ decisions.

The EBU, which organises Eurovision, cleared Israel last week to take part in next year’s event in Austria, prompting Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland to announce they would be boycotting the contest.

“When entire countries withdraw, it should be clear that something is deeply wrong,” Nemo said on Thursday.

On Friday, contest director Martin Green said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that organisers were “saddened that Nemo wishes to return their trophy which they deservedly won in 2024”.

“We respect the deeply held views Nemo has expressed and they will always remain a valued part of the Eurovision Song Contest family,” he added.

Next year’s Eurovision is scheduled to take place in Austria’s capital, Vienna, after Austrian singer JJ won the 2025 contest in Basel, Switzerland. Traditionally, the winning country hosts the following year.

“This is not about individuals or artists. It’s about the fact that the contest was repeatedly used to soften the image of a state accused of severe wrongdoing, all while the EBU insists that this contest is non-political,” said Nemo.

“Live what you claim. If the values we celebrate on stage aren’t lived off stage, then even the most beautiful songs become meaningless,” they added.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 70,369 Palestinians, according to the territory’s health authorities.

Washington, DC – The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the administration of US President Donald Trump’s construction of a sprawling ballroom connected to the east wing of the White House.

The lawsuit filed on Friday targets one of Trump’s signature initiatives: a 90,000-square-foot (27,432-square-metre) addition to the seat of the US executive branch.

Preservationists have previously criticised the transformative project for altering the character of the iconic building and for the Trump administration’s failure to follow the proper review process. However, the lawsuit on Friday is the first formal effort to halt construction.

“The White House is arguably the most evocative building in our country and a globally recognised symbol of our powerful American ideals,” Carol Quillen, the president of the organisation, said in a statement.

“As the organisation charged with protecting places where our history happened, the National Trust was compelled to file this case,” she said.

The filing charges that the Trump administration has violated several laws in beginning construction of the ballroom, including failing to file plans with the National Capital Planning Commission; failing to prepare an environmental assessment; and failing to obtain congressional approval for construction in a federal park.

It further states that the totality of the administration’s actions violates the property clause of the US Constitution, which “reserves to Congress the right to dispose of and make all rules regarding property belonging to the United States”.

The organisation had previously sent a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service, and the Commission of Fine Arts calling for a pause in construction.

The Trump administration has not immediately responded to Friday’s lawsuit but has maintained that planning and construction of the ballroom have been conducted in compliance with the law.

In October, Trump aide Steven Cheung, in a post on X, accused the organisation of being “run by a bunch of loser Democrats and liberal donors who are playing political games”.

Presidential priority

Trump, a real estate magnate known for a personal taste that tends toward the garish and gilded, has championed the construction of a new ballroom.

The president began demolishing a portion of the White House’s east wing in October. He said the ballroom will seat nearly 1,000 people, up from the 650 seats the administration had previously announced.

The price has ballooned from $200m to $300m, although the administration has maintained that the funding is coming from private donors.

While Trump has sought to transform the powers of the executive office and reshape the wider US government, the construction would be the most lasting physical change in Washington, DC, since he took office.

Critics have said the ballroom would dwarf the White House’s current 55,000-square-foot (16,764-square-metre) footprint and disrupt the balance of the smaller east and west wings.

The global fight against doping has “stalled”, with athletes evading detection systems that are failing to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated cheats, a leading anti-doping official has warned.

Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Chair David Howman had already delivered a stark assessment at last week’s World Conference on Doping in Sport, declaring that despite his organisation’s proven track record of identifying rule-breakers, they are “not catching enough of them”.

The number of international disciplinary cases brought by the AIU has increased from 62 in 2021 to 100 in 2024, according to the body’s annual reports, while national cases went up from 185 to 305.

“Let’s be honest and pragmatic … intentional dopers at elite level are evading detection. We are not effective enough nowadays in catching cheats,” said Howman, who previously spent 13 years as director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Among the elite athletes banned or suspended this year was women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was banned for three years, but her record will remain on the books as it was set before her positive test.

Others include the United States’s Olympic 100 metres silver and bronze medallist Fred Kerley, who was provisionally suspended in August for whereabouts failures, and world 100 metres silver medallist Marvin Bracy, who accepted a 45-month sanction for anti-doping rule violations last month.

Howman’s blunt admission highlighted a troubling reality for clean sport advocates. While education programmes help deter some potential cheats, he said they are powerless against the most determined rule-breakers at sport’s highest levels.

“We have great education programmes which help, but they don’t impact the intentional rule-breakers in elite sport,” Howman acknowledged.

The AIU chief warned that the system’s inability to outsmart the cheats is undermining public confidence in anti-doping efforts.

“Our ineffectiveness in dealing with those who are beating the rules is hurting the anti-doping movement’s credibility, with the resulting risk that our clean-sport message falls on deaf ears,” he said.

Howman also called for a fundamental shift from mere box-ticking compliance to supporting “ambitious anti-doping efforts” that could actually catch clever cheats.

“A renewed focus on scientific research with closer alignment between WADA and cutting-edge ADOs [anti-doping organisations] on research priorities and opportunities would be beneficial,” he added.

Democrats in the United States Congress have released a new batch of photos from the estate of the late sex offender Jeffry Epstein, featuring rich and powerful public figures, including President Donald Trump.

The minority on the House Oversight Committee made 19 photos public on Friday, calling for Trump to end what they called a “cover-up” in the case.

The pictures showed Trump, his former adviser Steve Bannon, ex-President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, billionaire businessman Bill Gates and film director Woody Allen.

“It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends,” Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel, said in a statement.

“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”

One photo showed Trump flanked by three young women on each side with his hand clutching the waist of the woman to his right.

Progressive Congresswoman Pramila Jaypal called the pictures “repulsive”.

These images are repulsive. The Trump administration needs to stop their cover-up and release ALL of the Epstein Files. https://t.co/dyFf0hPa1m

Trump has repeatedly denied any close ties to Epstein, saying that he only knew the sex offender as a neighbour in Palm Beach, Florida, and eventually kicked him out of his Mar-a-Lago resort for being a “creep”.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal published what it said was a birthday card with sexual connotations that Trump sent to Epstein with a message written inside of a drawing of a naked woman.

Trump denied writing or drawing the card and sued the newspaper over the allegation.

Last month, Congress passed a law to compel the Trump administration to release all government documents related to Epstein while protecting the victims’ identities.

Epstein ran a sex abuse ring of girls and young women.

Trump’s top aides previously opposed making the files public, saying that they would amount to “child pornography”.

But after mounting pressure, including from segments of his own base, Trump – who can authorise releasing the records without congressional intervention – lifted his opposition to the “Epstein files” bill, allowing it to pass.

The law requires the Justice Department to release the file by December 19.

Epstein first pled guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and was given a lenient sentence that critics describe as a sweetheart deal that did not match the severity of the offence.

After the Miami Herald investigated the prosecution against Epstein, federal authorities reopened the case against him, arrested him and charged him with sex trafficking of minors in 2019.

Two months later, he was found dead in his jail cell in New York City. His death was ruled a suicide.

Epstein’s associates included Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew.

The scandal and the manner in which Epstein died have fuelled speculations that he may have been working for foreign or domestic intelligence services – particularly Israel’s Mossad.

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed “to cease all shooting” effective Friday, according to United States President Donald Trump.

Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media post following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Friday.

“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this week has killed at least 20 people and displaced about half a million on both sides of the disputed border.

The original ceasefire between the two nations in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed.

It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

However, Thailand suspended the agreement in November after Thai soldiers were wounded by landmines at the border.

Both sides have continued a propaganda war, repeatedly blaming the other for reigniting a long-running conflict over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border.

The latest flare-up in violence began when a Thai engineering team was allegedly fired on by Cambodian troops.

The fighting entered its fifth day on Friday, with Thailand upping air strikes in recent days.

Neither Thailand nor Cambodia have independently confirmed the latest deal.

However, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he told Trump that the onus was on Cambodia to end the violence.

Anutin said Trump had voiced his support for a ceasefire during a call.

“I replied that he’d better tell that to our friend,” Anutin added, referring to Cambodia.

“It needs to be announced to the world that Cambodia is going to comply with the ceasefire.”

Reporting from Washington, DC, on Friday, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said Trump appeared to be using the announcement to again burnish his self-styled image as a global “peacemaker”.

“The US president has invested himself personally in all of this. And as a result, he really is keen to see this truce that was brokered in July resume,” Halkett said.

“He keeps repeatedly saying, ‘I’ve solved eight wars’. He is desperate to position himself and to position his legacy as being one of a peacemaker and a global deal maker, and the fact that this unravelled so quickly, obviously eroded that,” she added.

The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims stemming from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate.