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GENEVA (AP) — Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, the feel-good pop music gala that draws more than 100 million viewers every year, are meeting Thursday to tackle a bitter and divisive issue: Whether Israel should be allowed to participate in the 2026 competition. The European Broadcasting Union, a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the competition, is holding a general assembly, with some countries calling for Israel to be excluded over alleged interference in contest voting and its conduct of the war against the militant Hamas group in Gaza.Experts predict delegates won’t reach a united position…

A majority of Europeans want to maintain an equal distance from the United States and China rather than aligning with one of the two superpowers over the other, a survey published on Thursday shows.While just 4 per cent of Europeans polled would prioritise alignment with China over the US, 55 per cent preferred to keep “the same distance between the two”, according to the result of the Eurobazooka, a survey published by Le Grand Continent, a French magazine.One-fifth of those polled across nine EU member countries would prefer to align with the US over China, with the highest number (25…

The fragile rapprochement between China and India faces a fresh test as New Delhi looks to promote its links with the sixth Dalai Lama, observers have warned.India is hosting the first international conference of the 17th century Tibetan spiritual leader at his birthplace in today’s Tawang, a mountain town in an area that India governs as the border state of Arunachal Pradesh and China claims as Zangnan or southern Tibet.Pema Khandu, the state chief minister, opened the four-day event at Tawang Monastery on Wednesday, watched by local officials and Tibetan literature and Buddhist studies researchers from around the world.“The world…

Hong Kong stocks traded in a narrow range as investors refrained from bets amid a lack of fresh catalysts that would further power a bull run.The Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 per cent to 25,704.89 as of 10.09am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.3 per cent.On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slid 0.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.3 per cent.Electric vehicle maker Li Auto slumped 3.7 per cent to HK$67.20 on news the stock would be removed from the FTSE China indexes. Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning lost 2.1 per cent to…

ISLAMABAD: After serious injury to Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar Member (Strategic Transformation), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Zubair Bilal (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21) Chief Commissioner, Large Taxpayers Office, Karachi has been given charge of Member (IR-Operations), Federal Board of Revenue (Hqs), Islamabad. In an unfortunate incident, Member Operations, while on an official tour to Paris, had a bad fall and got a vertebral fracture. He is currently in a Paris hospital. The FBR officials and officers in field formations are praying for speedy recovery of Member Operations FBR. According to another notification issued by the FBR Wednesday, it has been observed…

A recent rediscovery of the extremely rare Rafflesia hasseltii, a giant parasitic red flower, in a forest in Indonesia’s West Sumatra has sparked backlash following an initial social media post by Oxford University that left out local researchers involved in the search and credited only its scientist.The uproar has exposed the perceived lack of equal recognition for Western researchers and their Global South counterparts when they collaborate, and the lingering legacy of colonialism in academia, observers say.The encounter on November 17 with the white-speckled blossom with its giant petals was made possible through a partnership between Indonesian flower hunter Septian…

Singapore’s highest court has upheld a S$14,000 (US$10,820) fine handed to opposition leader Pritam Singh for lying to a parliamentary committee.In February, the Workers’ Party (WP) chief was found guilty of two counts of giving false testimony to a committee scrutinising a lie told by Raeesah Khan, a former member of parliament for the party.Singh, who pleaded not guilty, received the maximum fine of S$7,000 for each charge following a 13-day trial.The 49-year-old appealed against the conviction before Justice Steven Chong last month.On Thursday morning, Singh arrived at the Supreme Court for the verdict before a packed courtroom that included…

Binance Holdings named co-founder He Yi as co-CEO in the biggest change to its top leadership since Zhao Changpeng stepped down from running the cryptocurrency exchange two years ago.She will share the title with Richard Teng, who succeeded Zhao as CEO of the world’s largest crypto trading venue in November 2023. Zhao, who resigned after pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations, and He have children together.Zhao was pardoned by US President Donald Trump in October, removing some of the regulatory overhang that had dogged the billionaire and the exchange he started for years. Analysts have said the pardon could…

BEIJING (AP) — China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues like the war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of the Group of Seven next year. French President Emmanuel Macron met with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday morning as part of a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomacy. France seeks help to end Ukraine warThe French leader is seeking to involve Beijing in pressuring Russia toward a ceasefire with Ukraine after a recent burst of diplomacy around a U.S.-led peace plan.“We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the…

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s energy minister issued a call for the supply of oil and gas in the Black Sea to be protected after three Russian tankers were targeted off the Turkish coast.Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey was concerned not just by the threat to shipping but also to two undersea pipelines, Blue Stream and Turk Stream, that carry natural gas from Russia to Turkey.Referring to the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline between Russia and Germany, Bayraktar pointed out Turkey’s reliance on imported gas.“We call on all parties to keep the energy infrastructure out of this war because it’s…