AFP Asia Business

Eurovision promises glitz — and controversy over Israel

Signature flamboyance is on the menu when the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest opens next month in Basel — but looming large over the festivities is Israel’s participation in the event.Switzerland’s third-biggest city of Basel hosts this year’s extravaganza, which is one of world’s biggest annual live television events.The contest, nearly 70 years old, will bring together 37 countries, and conclude with the final on May 17.Israel has taken part since 1973, because its public broadcaster was in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).But with the widespread anger over Israel’s devastating military actions in Gaza — and taking into account Russia being booted out of the EBU in 2022 because of its invasion of Ukraine — there is controversy over Israel being allowed to perform in this year’s competition.Spain’s public broadcaster last week asked the European Broadcasting Union to open a “debate” on the appropriateness of Israel taking part.More than 10,000 people have also signed a petition in Finland urging the country’s public broadcaster to push for Israel to be barred.The EBU, which oversees Eurovision, counts public broadcasters from across Europe, as well as Israel and Australia, as members.The Geneva-based organisation on Friday noted “concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” but stated that all its members were eligible to compete.The war in Gaza already clouded last year’s contest, when thousands of demonstrators protested Israeli competitor Eden Golan in the Swedish city of Malmo. Yuval Raphael, a singer who survived Hamas’s deadly attack inside Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza, will represent Israel in Basel, with the song “New Day Will Rise”.- ‘Offensive’ -Other controversies are roiling this year’s glamfest.In Italy, there have been protests over the Estonian submission, “Espresso macchiato”, which some argue shows cultural insensitivities.Italian consumer association Codacons has slammed Tommy Cash’s catchy song, which draws on a number of Italian stereotypes, as “offensive” and demanded it be excluded.But the song, which features lyrics like “Mi money numeroso, I work around the clocko. That’s why I’m sweating like a mafioso”, remains in the running.Finland’s contribution, by 32-year-old Erika Vikman and entitled “Ich komme” in German, or “I come”, has meanwhile drawn allegations of bordering on the pornographic.Vikman puts on an energetic show celebrating undisciplined female sexual liberation and pleasure, mixing Finnish disco tunes and electronic music.She is seen in videos wearing a tight black latex corset with bare buttocks showing as she sings: “I am Erika, you have stamina, hit me again, grab my butt, and when you want love again, scream ‘encore’, yes baby, ich komme.” At the EBU’s resuest, Vikman says she has toned down some of the sexual attributes of the performance and will be wearing an outfit less revealing than originally planned.”There is a bit of butt coverage,” she told Finnish public broadcaster Yle. – ‘Rough edges’ -Online betting sites suggest the most likely winner will be Sweden’s act — in fact performed by a Swedish-speaking comedy trio from Sweden’s neighbour Finland.The Finnish group KAJ is due to perform “Bara bada bastu” (Just have a sauna) in Swedish.On stage, the three men wear suits in a mock sauna surrounded by dancers in towels and wool hats, and armed with bouquets of birch branches, used by sauna enthusiasts to whip up their blood circulation.The unusual track, with its comic chorus, is quite different from the polished, glossy tunes typically heard from Sweden, which fielded ABBA in 1974 . “Today, it seems the public is more open to rough edges, originality and singularity,” Fabien Randanne, a journalist at 20 Minutes and Eurovision specialist, told AFP.Sweden, which has seven prior Eurovision triumphs to its name, currently ties with Ireland as the country holding the most wins.Its last victory dates back to 2023, with the more conventional pop song “Tattoo” by Loreen, who also won the competition in 2012.Online betting sites currently give the Austrian submission the second-best odds.”Wasted Love”, sung by 23-year-old Austrian-Filipino countertenor Johannes Pietsch, fuses pop and lyrical elements in a crescendo that flows into techno sounds.The song’s opera-infused genre-blending style has drawn comparisons to “The Code” — Swiss non-binary vocalist Nemo’s 2024 Eurovision victory song in Malmo, Sweden, which gave Switzerland the right to host this year’s edition.

F1 on Jeddah’s streets – talking points ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP

This weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the final leg of the first ‘triple header’ of the season.From Suzuka in Japan, to the desert of Bahrain, Formula One now pitches up on the shores of the Red Sea in Jeddah.AFP Sport looks at five talking points ahead of the fifth round of the 24-race season:Advantage McLarenOscar Piastri put in a faultless display from pole last Sunday in Sakhir to make it three wins out of four for the British marque.That moved the cool as ice Australian to within three points of championship leader and teammate Lando Norris, who took third in Bahrain.With Max Verstappen, only sixth, and Red Bull struggling to keep tabs on the world constructors’ champions, the 2025 title could well develop into a battle between the two McLaren men.The team has always been insistent on ‘papaya rules’, theoretically meaning no favouritism between the pair, but that even-handed policy will be put under intense pressure if the season develops into a battle between the two gifted drivers.Looking ahead to Sunday’s race Norris commented: “It’s a really fast track and we have a quick car, so we’ll be aiming to finish this triple-header strongly.”Red Bull to bounce back? Red Bull’s problems in Bahrain were well documented, and they will be desperate to bounce back on one of their favourite hunting grounds, with Max Verstappen winning in Jeddah in 2022 and 2024.”Bahrain was quite a difficult weekend for us and didn’t really go our way at all. We had some issues that set us back and we still have a lot of work to do on the car to get us where we need to be,” said the four-time champion.He slipped to third in the standings, eight points behind Norris, after trailing in over half a minute behind Piastri in Sakhir.”We have a final push with this being the third race and final weekend of the triple header so hopefully we can find more pace and bring out a performance similar to Japan (his only win of the season),” he added.The circuitSunday’s race presents a radically different test for car and driver than last week in Bahrain. The fastest street circuit on the calendar offers multiple chances for overtaking, in stark contrast to the most famous street circuit of them all, Monaco.With a record 27 corners and three DRS (drag reduction system) zones it can be counted on to serve up plenty of drama, with the walled sides leaving little room for error.All the ingredients then for a thrilling race under floodlights on Jeddah’s Corniche.Golf in the Gulf for Gasly Alpine finally got off the ground in Bahrain, with Pierre Gasly picking up their first points of the season in seventh.”It’s great to leave Bahrain with points on the board after three challenging races at the start of the season,” reflected the French driver.He celebrated his bold show by following Rory McIlroy’s emotional Masters triumph at Augusta.”I really enjoyed staying up late to watch the end of the Masters and I’m delighted for Rory McIlroy, one of our investors, to finally secure the green jacket. Congratulations to him!”Toto praise for RussellGeorge Russell will be hoping to concentrate on the job he’s paid to do — driving — rather than as a part-time electrician. The Briton, enjoying his best ever start to a season, took second last Sunday despite a myriad of issues he had to contend with in the cockpit in the closing stages.”It was a superb drive from him under extreme pressure,” marvelled Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli did not enjoy the rub of the green and finished out of the points for the first time in his debut season.”It has been easy to forget that Kimi is in the very earliest stages of his F1 career given his performances so far. Bahrain will prove an important milestone in his continued development,” Wolff remarked.

UN watchdog chief says Iran ‘not far’ from nuclear bomb

The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi warned that Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.”It’s like a puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they could eventually put them together,” Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview published on Wednesday.”There’s still a way to go before they get there. But they’re not far off, that has to be acknowledged,” he said.The International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog was tasked with overseeing Iran’s nuclear programme and its compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal which collapsed three years later when the United States withdrew from it during President Donald Trump’s first term.”It’s not enough to tell the international community ‘we don’t have nuclear weapons’ for them to believe you. We need to be able to verify,” said IAEA chief Grossi.He arrived in Tehran on Wednesday and met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who posted on X that the pair had had a “useful discussion”.Araghchi called on the IAEA boss to “keep the agency away from politics” in the face of “spoilers” vying to “derail current negotiations”.Grossi posted ahead of the meeting that Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA was “indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed”.Grossi was also expected to meet Mohammad Eslami, who heads Iran’s nuclear energy agency.- ‘Maximum pressure’ -Grossi’s visit comes ahead of a second round of talks between Iran and the United States on Saturday, a week after the two countries held their highest-level talks since Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018.Both Tehran and Washington called the first meeting “constructive”.Earlier, Araghchi said Iran’s enrichment of uranium was not up for discussion, after US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called for it to end.”We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable,” he told reporters.His remarks came after Witkoff said Tuesday that Iran must “stop and eliminate” enriching uranium as part of any nuclear deal.The day before, Witkoff had urged only that Iran return to the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by its 2015 accord with major powers.In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilogrammes (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent.That level far exceeds the ceiling set by the 2015 deal, but still falls short of the 90 percent threshold required for a nuclear warhead.After returning to office in January, Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions against Iran under his “maximum pressure” policy.In March, he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urging talks but also warning of possible military action if these fail to produce a deal.- ‘Conflicting positions’ -Ahead of Saturday’s new round of talks, Araghchi condemned what he called the Trump administration’s “contradictory and conflicting positions”. “We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,” he said.Araghchi said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement, but that this required “constructive positions” from the United States.”If we continue to (hear) contradictory and conflicting positions, we are going to have problems,” he warned.On Wednesday, Iranian state media said Saturday’s talks would be held in Rome with Omani mediation, as an Italian spokesman also confirmed the location.Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, affirmed to state television late Wednesday that the talks would be held in Rome.He also noted that Iran’s request is that “if the other party is serious about the negotiations, they should come with logical requests, not unrealistic ones,” referring to Witkoff’s enrichment remarks.Araghchi is set to head to Iran’s ally Russia on Thursday, said Kazem Jalili, Tehran’s ambassador in Moscow.Iran has said the visit was “pre-planned”, but will include discussions on the Iran-US talks.Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he hoped a deal could be reached with the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Chinese investment sparks rise of Mandarin in Cambodia

Watching Chinese money flow into his home city of Sihanoukville, Cambodian linguist Um Keangseng opened a language school to meet the growing demand for Mandarin lessons.Sihanoukville has been the biggest recipient of Chinese investment into Cambodia, where President Xi Jinping will arrive Thursday.”Every province has Chinese investors,” said Um Keangseng, who founded his school a …

Chinese investment sparks rise of Mandarin in Cambodia Read More »