Hypocrisy in action: Israel is allowed to participate in Eurovision while Russia is banned

Israel will be allowed to compete in this year’s Eurovision, organizers say. The decision contradicts the song contest’s decision to bar Russia following the launch of its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The country ended up missing the contest in 2022 and 2023.

“The Eurovision song contest is a non-political music event and a competition between public service broadcasters who are members of the EBU. It is not a contest between governments,” Noel Curran, the EBU director general, said in a statement.

“Our governing bodies… did review the participants list for the 2024 contest and agreed that the Israeli public broadcaster Kan met all the competition rules for this year and can participate, as it has for the past 50 years,” Curran claimed.

In response to the ban, Russian national broadcasters suspended their memberships from the EBU.

At the time, the contest’s executive supervisor, Martin Österdahl, said the contest’s values stood for “basic and ultimate values of democracy” as well as “solidarity, reaching out, and uniting through music”.

In December, 2023, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that Moscow would stage its own singing contest with its “partner countries” as a replacement for Eurovision.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🍔🍟 Journalist Tucker Carlson expressed his approval after a visit to the fast-food restaurant “Vkusno - i Tochka” (lit. Tasty, period) during his stay in Moscow, calling the Russian cheeseburger and fries “excellent”.

“Vkusno - i Tochka” is a Russian fast-food restaurant chain created on the model of "McDonald's" after its closure in Russia due to Western anti-Russia sanctions.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Bombshell: Obama CIA colluded with foreign powers in a massive spy op against Trump

“The US was not able to spy on Trump legally [through] the intelligence community. So, they asked their allies, 'Hey, spy on someone and tell us what's going on,'” analyst Daniel McAdams told Sputnik’s Fault Lines program, commenting on the recent report that suggests CIA officials worked through foreign intelligence partners to spy on Trump’s presidential campaign.

Since 2016, Democratic Party officials have accused former President Trump of collusion with Russia as part of the discredited “Russiagate” narrative, but now it appears such claims may be a case of projection.

“It is deplorable that we have a federal government that is spying on our citizens, not because of a legitimate national security interest, but because the deep state is trying to protect their interests rather than the interests of fair and free elections,” attorney Steve Gill said in response to the report.

👉 Follow the link for more details

‘More disgusting, more vile’: a Palestinian hostage was shot dead after delivering a message by the IDF, media reports.

A recent report shows that Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian hostage whom they sent into al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to warn others to evacuate. Footage that was shared online shows the man wearing protective clothing with his hands zip tied together.

According to the video testimony by Palestinian journalist Mohammaed Akram al-Helo, the man was detained and arrested in the hospital before he was sent back with his message from Israeli forces. After delivering his message and following Israeli orders he was shot three times in cold blood, says the journalist.

“Gaza is a pen, this is what it was made for and I think that the fact is that the Israeli military seems pretty cowardly. They seem pretty inept, and I think that this is pretty standard order for them. They just want to line up targets,” James Carey, the host of the Left is Dead podcast, said. “I think that people can't see how these crimes sort of repeat genocides of the past is really baffling to me, because it's so obvious that there's just no regard for civilian life, in this case,” he added.

👉 Follow the link for more details

As establishment figures in Washington stoke Russophobia with hysterical claims of Russian space nukes, security analyst David Oualaalou noted the timing of the “revelations” is likely intended to damage Donald Trump after the former president made statements questioning the relevance of NATO.

“The timing of the release of this story seems interesting and I would say is – no pun intended – targeted like a laser to damaging Donald Trump,” Oualaalou told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program.

Trump has angered establishment figures by challenging Ukraine funding and other Washington foreign policy shibboleths. However, host Garland Nixon said establishment outrage against Trump likely helps instead of harms him.

“They don't understand that in a way, they're helping Donald Trump because the American people, the average working-class people, don’t see NATO as something that we got to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on,” Nixon emphasized.

👉 Follow the link for more details

Throughout the post-Soviet era, Russia made a great deal of concessions to the Ukrainian government, whose insatiable appetite turned out to be worth tens of billions of dollars, according to the data.

In his address to the nation in 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin elaborated on the various privileges and multi-million dollar favors Russia had granted to its neighbor in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The many concessions made by the Russian government included trade agreements, energy supplies, purchasing Eurobonds, and paying off old debt.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️ John Kirby admits Russia has almost liberated Avdeyevka, blames Republicans for it

▪️ Scott Ritter explains reason behind US fanning the ‘Russian nuclear threat’ scare

▪️ British ship under the flag of Barbados attacked by Houthis in the Gulf of Aden

▪️ What was that massive spy op against Trump all about?

More stories:

▪️ UN Palestinian refugee agency’s center for the visually impaired in Gaza City completely destroyed by Israeli forces

▪️ Exposed: US intel's false claim on the Trump-Russia collusion

▪️ Journalist Tucker Carlson enjoyed “excellent” cheeseburger and fries at a Russian fast-food restaurant

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukraine is withdrawing units from parts of Avdeyevka, spokesman for the country's military, Dmytro Lykhovoy, said, as quoted by Reuters.

"In Avdeevka a manoeuvre is underway in some places to withdraw our units to more advantageous positions," Lykhovoy said in televised comments.

"Therefore the key announcement with regards to all this is that supplies to Avdeevka and evacuations from there are difficult," he said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Russian Investigative Committee opened a case of terrorist attack following yesterday's Ukrainian shelling of Belgorod

❗️ WATCH NOW: Lavrov Speaks at Conference Marking 10th Anniversary of 'Euromaidan' Unrest

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ "Back in 2004, there was essentially the first coup in Ukraine, because the West forced Ukraine's constitutional court to rule on a third round of elections, which was not foreseen. Because they did not need Yanukovych, who was elected with the votes of the south and southeast," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Sergey Lavrov said that the UK's position on the conflict in Ukraine is even more aggressive than the US’ one

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ "The original agreement was to solve the problems in Ukraine by federalizing it. But Kiev decided to abandon this, trying to solve the ‘Donbass problem’ by force - almost like the ‘final solution to the Jewish question’ in Nazi Germany," Lavrov said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ "Putin personally persuaded Donbass not to give up the possibility of negotiations. That is why the negotiations in Minsk became possible. But as we know, the West took advantage of it to arm Kiev. This is in fact a admission of guilt," Lavrov said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ EU made recommendations to Ukraine to use more long-range missiles to attack Russian territories - Lavrov

❗️ "Do you know what the main interest was at the discussion of Zelensky's peace formula in Davos? The group picture. Just to make it look nice," Lavrov said

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ "Europe humiliatingly and uncomplainingly accepts the rules of the US’ game, despite recession. Remember how after Biden actually announced the Nord Stream explosion, Scholz flew over there to bow down? He was told not to make a fuss. So he quietly flew home, without any conferences," Lavrov said

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Zelensky's formula is nothing, or at the very least an unintelligent initiative that the West is trying to lure other countries into, demanding their support, Sergey Lavrov said

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ There are many mercenaries in Ukraine, even from terrorist organizations, including IS*, Lavrov said.

It is known that IS* is patronized by the US and they are trained at the illegal At-Tanf base in Syria, he added.

* Terrorist group outlawed in Russia and other countries.