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TIL BUERGY/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Executive head of production Tobias Aberg is preparing St. Jakobshalle in Basel for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest The Swiss city of Basel is going into party mode this weekend, as it prepares to welcome the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s been 36 years since Switzerland last hosted the contest, after Celine Dion won … Read more
A single vote in a Quebec riding has brought Canada’s Liberal Party one seat closer to holding a majority in parliament. A judicial recount in the Terrebone riding declared Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste the victor with 23,352 votes, ahead of Bloc Québécois incumbent Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, who received 23,351. The result gives the Liberal Party 170 … Read more
Lucy Manning Special correspondent PA Media Former British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari has told BBC News she is “so happy” to be in the UK and is thankful to those here who campaigned for her release from Gaza. The 28-year-old was released from Hamas captivity after being held for more than 15 months after she was … Read more
Wedaeli Chibelushi & Paul Njie BBC News, London & Yaoundé PMC/Getty Images Koyo Kouoh has been described as “magnificently intelligent, endlessly energetic and formidably elegant” Koyo Kouoh, one of the art world’s leading figures and a fierce advocate of African creatives, has died aged 57. A Cameroon-born curator, Kouoh had been at the height of … Read more
Steve Rosenberg Russia Editor Sputnik / Getty Images We’ve seen it before: Vladimir Putin doesn’t react well to ultimatums. We saw it again, last night, in the Kremlin. President Putin slammed European powers for talking to Russia “in a boorish manner and with the help of ultimatums”. He didn’t go into detail. He didn’t need … Read more
Three men have been arrested in Japan for attempting to smuggle hermit crabs out of the country. The suspects, aged 24, 26 and 27, and widely identified in Japanese media as being Chinese nationals, were detained on Amami, a southerly island where the spiral-shelled crustaceans are a protected species. Authorities were alerted to the men’s … Read more
Pope Leo XIV appealed for “no more war” in a message to world powers during his first Sunday address at the Vatican. The Pope also recited the Regina Caeli prayer, in honour of the Virgin Mary, to the crowd in St Peter’s Square. Thousands of worshippers turned out to see the new pontiff, greeting his … Read more
Volodymyr Zelensky has given a cautious and diplomatic response to Vladimir Putin’s late-night offer of direct talks in Istanbul next Thursday. The Ukrainian leader might have been expected to slam his opposite number in Moscow for not committing to a 30-day ceasefire, as demanded by Kyiv and its Western allies on Saturday. Instead, writing on … Read more
A second teenager has died after getting into difficulty in the water near Buncrana in County Donegal. The teenager was rescued after a search operation but subsequently died after being taken to Letterkenny University Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, gardaí (Irish police) have confirmed. On Saturday evening the body of an 18-year-old … Read more
Pope Leo XIV will give his first Sunday blessing and address to a crowd in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican today. He will recite the Regina Caeli prayer, in honour of the Virgin Mary, in his first public address since his election was announced with white smoke on Thursday. After delivering Sunday mass, Pope … Read more