SEOUL, South Korea — Workers, activists and others in Asian capitals and European cities took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over rising prices and government labor polices and calls for greater labor rights.

May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many countries to celebrate workers’ rights. May Day events have also given many an opportunity to air general economic grievances or political demands.

Police in Istanbul detained dozens of people who tried to reach the central Taksim Square in defiance of a government ban on marking Labor Day at the landmark location.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has long declared Taksim off-limits for rallies and demonstrations on security grounds, but some political parties and trade unions have vowed to march to the square, which holds symbolic value for labor unions.

In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a May Day celebration at Taksim, causing a stampede and killing 34 people.

Wednesday, police erected barricades and sealed off all routes leading to the central Istanbul square. Public transport in the area was also restricted. Only a small group of trade union representatives was permitted to enter the square to lay a wreath at a monument in memory of victims of the 1977 incident.

Riot police apprehended some 30 members of the left-wing People’s Liberation Party who tried to break through the barriers.

In Indonesia, workers voiced anger at a new law they said violates their rights and hurts their welfare, and demanded protections for migrant workers abroad and a minimum wage raise.

About 50,000 workers from Jakarta’s satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi were expected to join May Day marches in the capital, said Said Iqbal, the president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions.

They gathered amid a tight police presence near the National Monument park, waving the colorful flags of labor groups and chanting slogans against the Job Creation Law and loosened outsourcing rules during a march to Jakarta’s main sports stadium, Gelora Bung Karno.

“With the enactment of this law, our future is uncertain because many problems arise in wages, severance pay and the contract system,” said Isbandi Anggono, a protester.

Indonesia’s parliament last year ratified a government regulation that replaces a controversial law on job creation, but critics said it still benefits businesses. The law was intended to cut bureaucracy as part of President Joko Widodo’s efforts to attract more investment to the country, which is Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

In Seoul, the South Korean capital, thousands of protesters sang, waved flags and shouted pro-labor slogans at the start of their rally on Wednesday. Organizers said their rally was primarily meant to step up their criticism of what they call anti-labor policies pursued by the conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“In the past two years under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the lives of our laborers have plunged into despair,” Yang Kyung-soo, leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which organized the rally, said in a speech. “We can’t overlook the Yoon Suk Yeol government. We’ll bring them down from power for ourselves.”

KCTU union members decried Yoon’s December veto of a bill aimed at limiting companies’ rights to seek compensation for damages caused by strikes by labor unions. They also accuse Yoon’s government of handling the 2022 strikes by truckers too aggressively and insulting construction sector workers whom authorities believed were involved in alleged irregular activities.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has pushed for labor reforms to support economic growth and job creation. His government has vowed to sternly deal with illegal strikes and demand more transparent accounting records from labor unions.

“The remarkable growth of the Republic of Korea was thanks to the sweat and efforts of our workers. I thank our 28.4 million workers,” Yoon said in a May Day message posted on Facebook. “My government and I will protect the precious value of labor.”

Seoul rally participants later marched through downtown streets. Similar May Day rallies were held in more than 10 locations across South Korea on Wednesday. Police said they had mobilized thousands of officers to maintain order, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

In Japan, more than 10,000 people gathered at Yoyogi park in downtown Tokyo for a May Day event, demanding salary increases that they said could sufficiently set off price increases. During the rally, Masako Obata, the leader of the left-leaning National Confederation of Trade Unions, said that dwindling wages have put many workers in Japan under severe living conditions and widened income disparities.

“On this May Day, we unite with our fellow workers around the world standing up for their rights,” she said, shouting “banzai!” or long life, to all workers.

In the Philippine capital, Manila, hundreds of workers and left-wing activists marched and held a rally in the scorching summer heat to demand wage increases and job security amid soaring food and oil prices.

Riot police stopped the protesting workers from getting close to the presidential palace. Waving red flags and holding up posters that read: “We work to live, not to die” and “Lower prices, increase salaries,” the protesters rallied in the street, where they chanted and delivered speeches about the difficulties faced by Filipino laborers.

Poor drivers joined the protest and called to end a government modernization program they fear would eventually lead to the removal of their dilapidated jeepneys, a main mode of public transport, from Manila’s streets.
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The number of Russian soldiers killed in combat since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine remains a secret that the Kremlin goes to great lengths to hide. However, open-source research has recently yielded figures that show Moscow’s losses have been heavy. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report by Ricardo Marquina.
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tbilsi, georgia — Georgian security forces used water cannon and tear gas against protesters outside parliament late on Tuesday, sharply escalating a crackdown after lawmakers debated a “foreign agents” bill, which is viewed by the opposition and Western nations as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.

Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who threw eggs and bottles at them, before using tear gas and water cannon to force demonstrators from the area outside the Soviet-built parliament building.

Earlier, riot police used pepper spray and batons to clear some protesters who were trying to prevent lawmakers from leaving the back entrance of parliament. Some protesters shouted “Slaves” and “Russians” at police.

The bill has deepened divisions in the deeply polarized southern Caucasus country, setting the ruling Georgian Dream Party against a protest movement backed by opposition groups, civil society, celebrities and Georgia’s figurehead president.

Parliament, which is controlled by the Georgian Dream and its allies, is likely to approve the bill, which must pass two more readings before becoming law. Lawmakers ended Tuesday’s session without a vote, and the debate will resume on Wednesday.

The bill would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”

Georgian critics have labeled the bill “the Russian law,” comparing it to Moscow’s “foreign agent” legislation, which has been used to crack down on dissent there.

Russia is disliked by many Georgians for its support of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia lost a brief war with Russia in 2008.

The United States, Britain and the European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, have criticized the bill. EU officials have said it could halt Georgia’s progress toward integration with the bloc.

‘Prolonging the inevitable’

Tina Khidasheli, who served as Georgian defense minister in a Georgian Dream-led government in 2015-2016, attended Tuesday’s protest against her former government colleagues and said she expected the demonstrators to win eventually.

“The government is just prolonging the inevitable. We might have serious problems, but at the end of the day, the people will go home with victory,” she told Reuters.

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators have shut down Tbilisi’s central streets on a nightly basis since parliament approved the bill’s first reading on April 17.

On Monday, a government-organized rally in support of the bill was attended by tens of thousands of people, many of whom had been bussed in from provincial towns by the ruling party.

At that rally, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who founded Georgian Dream, harshly criticized the West and hinted at a post-election crackdown on the opposition.

Ivanishvili told attendees that a “global party of war” had hijacked the EU and NATO and that it was bent on using those institutions to undermine Georgian sovereignty.

Ivanishvili, who says he wants Georgia to join the EU, said the foreign agent law would bolster national sovereignty, and he suggested that the country’s pro-Western opposition was controlled by foreign intelligence services via grants to NGOs.

He added that after elections due by October, Georgia’s opposition, which is dominated by the United National Movement Party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, would face “the harsh political and legal judgment it deserves.”
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is stepping up his efforts to play a more prominent role in the Gaza conflict. The Turkish leader recently hosted Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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China’s share of the European electric vehicle market has doubled in less than two years, with Chinese automakers accounting for 20 percent of EVs sold in Europe last year. The trend is raising alarm among European carmakers, and they are considering pushing for new tariffs. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona. VOA’s Ricardo Marquina contributed.
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LONDON — A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a east London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four others, British authorities said.

A 36-year-old man was arrested in a residential area near Hainault subway station, police said. The incident is not being treated as terror-related or a “targeted attack.”

Police said the 14-year-old died in the hospital from his injuries. Two police officers were in hospital being treated for stab wounds. Two other people were also injured.

Chief Supt. Stuart Bell described the incident as “truly horrific.”

“I cannot even begin to imagine how those affected must be feeling,” he said outside the homes in east London where the crime happened.

The Metropolitan Police said they were called early Tuesday to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in a residential street and people being stabbed.

Video on British media showed a man in a yellow hoodie holding a long sword or knife walking near houses in the area.

Witnesses say they heard police shouting to the suspect urging him to put down the weapon as they chased after him.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said police do not believe there is a threat to the wider community.

“We are not looking for more suspects,” he said. “This incident does not appear to be terror-related.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the incident was “shocking,” adding: “Such violence has no place on our streets.”

King Charles III said his thoughts and prayers were with the family of the young victim, and he saluted the courage of emergency workers, Buckingham Palace said.

Transport for London said Hainault station was closed due to a police investigation in the area.
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LONDON — The Scottish government will face a no-confidence vote Wednesday, one it is expected to win after First Minister Humza Yousaf said he would resign.

Yousaf’s resignation Monday came just 13 months after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s leader and sparks another leadership contest in the Scottish National Party.

The crisis in the SNP gives an opportunity for the U.K. opposition Labour Party to regain ground ahead of a national election expected this year.

The motion of no confidence in the government was submitted by Scottish Labour last week, after Yousaf said he was ending a coalition with the Scottish Green Party. Scottish parliament listings showed the vote was scheduled for Wednesday.

Facing a separate vote of no confidence in his own position as first minister, Yousaf said he would step down as Scotland’s leader, as opposition parties, including the Greens, lined up to vote against him. That vote now won’t take place.

However, Labour’s wider motion of no confidence in the whole government is set to be opposed by the Greens, meaning that it will likely fail and that the SNP will have chance to form a new minority government under another leader.

Former leader John Swinney has said he is considering standing, while Yousaf’s former leadership rival Kate Forbes is seen as a possible candidate.

If the Labour no confidence motion passes, it will result in the resignation of the government and likely Scottish elections thereafter.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it would be a democratic outrage for the SNP to choose another leader — and thus First Minister — without a parliamentary election.
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Taipei, Taiwan — China’s leader Xi Jinping kicks off a six-day trip to Europe this Sunday, his first visit to the continent since 2019. The trip will include stops in France, Serbia and Hungary and comes amid rising tensions over trade with the European Union and concerns over Beijing’s support of Russia. 

Some analysts say that while Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict are likely to come up during the trip, Xi will be looking first to address trade tensions during the trip and to double down on Beijing’s close relationship with Budapest and Belgrade. 

“In light of Europe’s growing appetite to investigate what they view as China’s unfair trade practices, [Xi’s European tour] is a trip to disrupt the EU’s efforts to adopt tougher trade measures against China,” said Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an expert on EU-China relations at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan.

And by making stops in Serbia and Hungary, Ferenczy said Xi hopes to show that China remains influential in Central and Eastern Europe despite the growing number of countries withdrawing from the Beijing-led initiative known as “Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe.” 

“For Beijing, the symbolism of the trip to Serbia and Hungary is important as the stop in Budapest serves as an opportunity to amplify divisions within the EU,” she told VOA by phone. 

Investigations piling up

Since last month, the EU has launched investigations against several Chinese products, including green energy products and security devices, and initiated a probe into China’s public procurement of medical devices. 

The EU also increased scrutiny over several Chinese companies over the last week, toughening safety rules against Chinese fashion retailer Shein and opening formal proceedings against Tiktok under its Digital Services Act.

Beijing has repeatedly characterized Western countries concerns about Chinese excess capacity in some sectors as “baseless hype” and urged the EU to “stop wantonly going after and restraining Chinese companies under various pretexts.” 

Rebalancing trade

Despite Beijing’s objection to concerns expressed by Brussels, France has reiterated the need for European countries to rebalance trade relations with China during recent bilateral meetings between Chinese and French officials. 

“The European Union is a very open market, the most open in the world. But the current deficits with a certain number of countries, including China, are not sustainable for us,” said French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne during his trip to China last month.

During a phone call with French President’s Diplomatic Counselor Emmanuel Bonne on April 27, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing hopes “the French side will push the EU to continue to pursue a positive and pragmatic policy toward China,” Wang said.

While France supports the EU’s efforts to rebalance trade relations with China, some experts say French President Emmanuel Macron will try to maintain a cooperative relationship with China. 

“France wants to demonstrate that it is one of the major countries that can maintain channels of communication at all levels with China,” Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in Brussels, told VOA by phone.

On April 25, Chinese and French armed forces agreed to establish a mechanism for maritime and aerial cooperation and dialogue, which Beijing characterized as “a vital step” to implement the consensus reached by Xi and Macron. 

While trade issues will likely dominate Xi’s meeting with Macron, some analysts say the French president will try to address the issue of China’s ongoing support for Russia. 

“Macron will try to convince Xi to agree [to reduce] China’s support to Russia, but in Europe, hopes that Sino-Russian collaboration will diminish are fading away,” Philippe Le Corre, a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, told VOA in a written response. 

Friend-shoring in Serbia and Hungary 

In Hungary and Serbia, Ferenczy said Xi will focus on deepening bilateral cooperation in different sectors, especially infrastructure projects, and Beijing’s role as “a strategic investor” in both countries. 

“We need to see his trip to Hungary and Serbia in the context of the Belt and Road initiative since Beijing is trying to revitalize the infrastructure project in Europe,” she told VOA, adding that the Belgrade-Budapest Railway will be an important part of China’s attempt to expand its flagship infrastructure project in Central and Eastern Europe. 

In recent months, the Hungarian government under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has tried to attract large amounts of Chinese investment – especially in the electric vehicle sector – while deepening security cooperation with Beijing.   

During an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CGTN last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto expressed his opposition to the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese EVs and said he “looks forward to the potential impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Hungary’s electric vehicle and battery manufacturing industry.” 

Havren in Brussels said since Hungary is a member of the EU, the relationship with Budapest is particularly important to China. “Hungary could impact possible sanctions or anything that is of importance to Beijing in the EU,” she told VOA. 

While the trip is unlikely to change the current dynamics between the EU and China, Havren said Xi will try to use China’s relationship with middle powers like France and its “iron-clad friendship” with countries like Hungary to make itself “more visible and relevant” in Europe.  
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BERLIN — Two Ukrainian men were stabbed to death in southern Germany, police said Sunday, and a Russian man was arrested by authorities as a possible suspect in the killings.

The two Ukrainians, who were 23 and 36 years old and lived in the southern German county of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were killed on the premises of a shopping center in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria. Shortly after the slayings on Saturday evening, the police arrested a 57-year-old Russian on suspicion of murder, German news agency dpa reported.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement that the two men were members of the Ukrainian military; “According to preliminary information, the deceased citizens were military personnel undergoing medical rehabilitation in Germany.” 

The names of the victims and the suspect weren’t released in line with German privacy rules. The possible motive for the killings wasn’t yet known, authorities said. It also wasn’t clear if the three men knew each other.

More than 1 million Ukrainian refugees came to Germany since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Germany is also home to a significant Russian immigrant community and 2.5 million Russians of German ancestry who mostly moved to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
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SYDNEY — Australia, one of Ukraine’s largest non-NATO donors, has announced a military aid package worth around $65 million to support Kyiv’s war effort following Russia’s invasion.

The package includes funding for drones, short-range air defense systems, inflatable boats and generators, as well as equipment like helmets, masks and boots.

The additional funding was announced by Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, during a brief visit over the weekend to Ukraine.

Marles told local media that the Canberra government is committed to “supporting Ukraine to resolve the conflict on its terms,” adding that “their spirit remains strong.”

Australia is also part of a multinational program to train Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom through Operation Kudu.

Canberra has also joined the U.K.-led so-called “drone coalition” to boost Ukraine’s aerial defenses.

Vasyl Myroshnychenko,Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australia’s help will make a difference in his country’s fight against Russia. 

“We are extremely grateful for the package that was announced and that Australia has joined the drone coalition, especially now that we see how the nature of war is changing,” Myroshnychenko said. “The role of drones is becoming more important, and we have to have a steady supply of those drones and that was a very important contribution from Australia to help us get that advantage on the battlefield.”

The new package brings Australia’s overall financial support to Ukraine to more than $650 million.

Previous aid included supplying armored vehicles, infantry carriers, lightweight towed howitzers, and munitions.

Australia’s announcement follows a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine signed last week by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The Canberra government also has imposed restrictions on hundreds of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, military commanders and businesspeople. They are the most sweeping sanctions Australia has ever put on another country.

Additionally, Canberra has banned imports of Russian oil, petroleum, coal and gas.

More than 11,000 Ukrainians on various types of Australian visas, including visitors’ permits, have come to Australia since Russia invaded in February 2022.
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Tbilisi, Georgia — Thousands of Georgians marched through the capital, Tbilisi, on Sunday, as protests built against a bill on “foreign agents” that the country’s opposition and Western countries have said is authoritarian and Russian-inspired.

Georgia’s parliament said it would hold the bill’s second reading on Tuesday, with opposition parties and civil society groups calling for mass protests against its expected passage.

If passed, the draft law would require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines.

Protester Nika Shurgaia said he feared many non-government organizations would be shuttered because of what he called “the Russian law.” This label has been adopted by the opposition to compare the bill to a law used to crush dissent in Russia.

“There are hundreds of such NGOs who have done so much good for Georgia and now they face being stigmatized and possibly shut down,” Shurgaia said.

The EU and Western countries have warned that the bill could halt Georgia’s integration with the EU, which granted Georgia candidate status in December

The bill must pass three readings in parliament to become law, as well as overcome a veto by Georgia’s figurehead president, who opposes it.

Groups opposed to the bill have protested nightly outside parliament for over a week, since the legislature, which is controlled by the Georgian Dream ruling party, approved its first reading.

Thousands of student demonstrators have blocked Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, facing off against riot police.

Opponents of the bill who called the mass protests on Sunday have also called for protests against its second reading on Tuesday. The government has called a demonstration in support of the bill for Monday.
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Rome — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Sunday she will be a candidate at June’s European elections in a bid to boost support for her Brothers of Italy party, though she will not take up a seat if elected. 

The June 6-9 European Parliament vote is a key test of strength for her 18-month-old rightist coalition. 

“We want to do in Europe what we did in Italy… create a majority that brings together the center-right forces and send the left into opposition,” Meloni told cheering party faithful at a party conference in the coastal city of Pescara to set out EU policies and launch the campaign. 

Meloni, whose party traces its roots to Benito Mussolini’s Fascist group, called for Italy to leave the euro zone when in opposition and her 2022 election raised concerns in some European capitals. 

However, she has followed a broadly pro-European, orthodox line in office, particularly on foreign policy matters such as Ukraine and the Middle East. 

Her party is Italy’s most popular with 27% of support, according to recent polls, ahead of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) on around 20% and the left-leaning 5-Star Movement on 16%. 

Meloni will be the first name on the ballot for Brothers of Italy in all five of Italy’s constituencies for the EU election, but pledged she would not use “a single minute” of her time as prime minister to campaign. 

PD leader Elly Schlein announced last week she would also run, as did Antonio Tajani, head of the centrist Forza Italia party which is in the ruling coalition. 

All three leaders hope to win votes of people who take little interest in politics but are attracted by names of party chiefs on the ballot. 

Assuming they are elected, Meloni, Schlein and Tajani are expected to give up their seats, making way for runner-up candidates. 
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BEIRUT — French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné arrived in Lebanon Sunday as part of diplomatic attempts to broker a de-escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border. 

Séjourné was set to meet with United Nations peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon and with Lebanon’s parliament speaker, army chief, foreign minister and caretaker prime minister. 

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged strikes near-daily with Israeli forces in the border region — and sometimes beyond — for almost seven months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza. 

Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. Strikes by Hezbollah have killed 10 civilians and 12 soldiers in Israel. 

A French diplomatic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, said the purpose of Séjourné’s visit was to convey France’s “fears of a war on Lebanon” and to submit an amendment to a proposal Paris had previously presented to Lebanon for a diplomatic resolution to the border conflict. 

Western diplomats have brought forward a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Most of those would hinge on Hezbollah moving its forces several kilometers from the border, a beefed-up Lebanese army presence and negotiations for Israeli forces to withdraw from disputed points along the border where Lebanon says Israel has been occupying small patches of Lebanese territory since it withdrew from the rest of south Lebanon in 2000. 

The previous French proposal would have involved Hezbollah withdrawing its forces 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border. 

Hezbollah has signaled a willingness to entertain the proposals but has said there will be no deal in Lebanon before there is a cease-fire in Gaza. 
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ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION — Oleksandr Taran’s mobile artillery unit isn’t officially part of Ukraine’s military, but that hasn’t stopped his men from destroying Russian targets on their own dime.

“We … get by thanks to the pension fund,” the 68-year-old commander – whose call sign is “Grandpa” – said with a chuckle.

Taran’s all-volunteer unit, the Steppe Wolves, is comprised of dozens of Ukrainian men mostly over 60 years old who are considered too old to be drafted but still want to fight.

Roving behind the front line with truck-mounted rocket launchers, they take orders from field commanders and work with other troops, contributing to the war effort despite lacking official support from the military.

The unit is funded by donations and stocked with faulty rounds they repair themselves as well as weapons captured from the enemy. Both are delivered to them by front-line troops.

When Reuters recently visited their base in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, they were preparing 122 mm Grad rocket rounds that were later fired by troops from another unit.

“The commanders that provide us with targets are happy,” said a 63-year-old fighter with the call sign “Zorro.”

“They give us more targets [and] help us with ammunition however they can.”

Taran, the commander, said his unit has been attempting to officially join Ukraine’s armed forces to directly receive ammunition – and salaries – but has been unsuccessful.

The unit also includes younger men who have been ruled unfit to fight. 

Willing and able

More than two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s mobilization effort is struggling amid flagging enthusiasm.

Russian troops have been advancing in the east, and analysts say Ukraine’s shortage of manpower needs to be addressed.

Some prominent Ukrainian and foreign supporters of the war effort have urged Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy to significantly reduce the mobilization age.

Earlier this month, Zelenskyy approved new measures allowing the military to call up more troops and tighten punishment for evasion. He also reduced the mobilization age from 27 to 25.

Taran, who has been fighting since Moscow launched its war in 2014, said coercion would be unlikely to replace genuine enthusiasm from a potential recruit.

“Beat him with a stick if you want, but he won’t fight,” he said. “If a person wants to, he can go on for 100 years to fulfill his tasks and destroy the enemy.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, pop-filled Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps now even more than ever.

Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition — the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil — set off from Kyiv for the competition Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden.

“We need to be visible for the world,” Heil told The Associated Press at Kyiv train station before her departure. “We need to show that even now, during the war, our culture is developing, and that Ukrainian music is something waiting for the world” to discover.

“We have to spread it and share it and show people how strong (Ukrainian) women and men are in our country,” added alyona, who spells her name with all lowercase letters.

Ukraine has long used Eurovision as a form of cultural diplomacy, a way of showing the world the country’s unique sound and style. That mission became more urgent after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Ukraine existed as a distinct country and people before Soviet times.

Ukrainian singer Jamala won the contest in 2016 — two years after Russia illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula — with a song about the expulsion of Crimea’s Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra took the Eurovision title in 2022 with Stefania, a song about the frontman’s mother that became an anthem to the war-ravaged motherland, with a haunting refrain on a traditional Ukrainian wind instrument.

Alyona and Heil will perform Maria & Teresa, an anthemic ode to inspiring women. The title refers to Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary, and the lyrics include the refrain, in English: “All the divas were born as the human beings” — people we regard as saints were once flawed and human like the rest of us.

Heil said the message is that “we all make mistakes, but your actions are what define you.”

And, alyona added: “with enough energy you can win the war, you can change the world.”

The song blends alyona’s punchy rap style with Heil’s soaring melody and distinctly Ukrainian vocal style.

“Alyona is a great rapper, she has this powerful energy,” Heil said. “And I’m more soft.”

“But great melodies,” alyona added. “So she creates all the melodies and I just jump in.”

Ukraine has been at the forefront of turning Eurovision from a contest dominated by English-language pop songs to a more diverse and multilingual event. Jamala sang part of her song in the Crimean Tatar language, while Kalush Orchestra sang and rapped in Ukrainian.

Ukraine’s Eurovision win in 2022 brought the country the right to host the following year, but because of the war the 2023 contest was held in the English city of Liverpool, which was bedecked in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags for the occasion — a celebration of Ukraine’s spirit and culture.

Thirty-seven countries from across Europe and beyond — including Israel and Australia — will compete in Malmö in two Eurovision semifinals May 7 and 9, followed by a May 11 final. Ukraine currently ranks among bookmakers’ top five favorites alongside the likes of singer Nemo from Switzerland and Croatian singer-songwriter Baby Lasagna.

Russia, a long-time Eurovision competitor, was kicked out of the contest over the invasion.

The Ukrainian duo caught a train after holding a news conference where they announced a fundraising drive for a school destroyed by a Russian strike.

The duo is joining with charity fundraising platform United 24 to raise 10 million hryvnia (about $250,000) to rebuild a school in the village of Velyka Kostromka in southern Ukraine that was destroyed by a Russian rocket in October 2022. The school’s 250 pupils have been unable to attend class since then, relying on online learning.

Teacher Liudmyla Taranovych, whose children and grandchildren went to the school, said its destruction brought feelings of “pain, despair, hopelessness.”

“My grandchildren hugged me and asked, ‘Grandma, will they rebuild our school? Will it be as beautiful, flourishing, and bright as it was?'” she said.

From the rubble, another teacher managed to rescue one of the school’s treasured possessions — a large wooden key traditionally presented to first grade students to symbolize that education is the key to their future. It has become a sign of hope for the school.

Alyona and Heil have also embraced the key as a symbol, wearing T-shirts covered in small metal housekeys.

“It’s a symbol of something which maybe some people in Ukraine won’t have, because so many people lost their homes,” Heil said. “But they’re holding these keys in their pockets, and they’re holding the hope.”
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london — Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he is ready to renew a right-wing alliance with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban if he wins the presidential election in November.    

The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee made the comments in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Europe, which was held in Budapest on Thursday and Friday. 

The conference has long been a powerful force in right-wing American politics. The first European edition of the conference was held in Budapest in 2022 and has been an annual fixture since.    

Orban, the host and keynote speaker, received a standing ovation as he told the audience that conservatives had a chance to seize power in a major election year.  

“These elections coincide with major shifts in world political and geopolitical trends. The order of the world is changing, and we must take our cause to triumph in the midst of these changes. … Make America great again, make Europe great again! Go Donald Trump, go European sovereigntists!” Orban told a delighted crowd. 

He claimed that liberal forces were trying to silence the political right.  

“This is what they are doing with the conservatives in the progressive liberal European capitals. The same thing is happening in the United States when they want to remove [former] President Donald Trump from the ballot with court rulings,” he said. 

‘Battling to preserve our culture’

In a recorded address to the conference, Trump said he was ready to renew a conservative alliance with Orban.  

“Together we’re engaged in an epic struggle to liberate our nations from all of the sinister forces who want to destroy them,” Trump said. “Every day we’re battling to preserve our culture, protect our sovereignty, defend our way of life and uphold the timeless values of freedom, family and faith in Almighty God.”  

“As president I was proud to work with Prime Minister Orban — by the way, a great man — to advance the values and interests of our two nations,” Trump said.     

Orban’s critics, including most of his European Union allies, accuse him of overseeing a backsliding of democracy. The Hungarian prime minister sees an opportunity to hit back, said Zsolt Enyedi, a political analyst at Central European University in Budapest.   

“Orban has an ambition to change the discourse, so he’s not simply someone who is, who cares about staying in office, but he also wants to have an impact on the ideological climate, and he thinks that by sponsoring particular friendly parties, governments and intellectual clubs and initiatives, he will emerge as the leader of this conservative movement and that can counterbalance the fact that the mainstream in Europe and in liberal democracies hates him,” Enyedi told VOA. 

Another of the keynote speakers at the CPAC conference was the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who is facing anti-government protests at home over a controversial proposed foreign agent law, which has been widely compared to similar Russian legislation. The EU has said the law would be incompatible with Georgia’s membership in the bloc. 

“(Kobakhidze) at the moment is turning his country more and more toward Russia, trying to in a way turn his back on the European Union, and interestingly, he is welcome at a club that is supposed to stand for the interest of the West. So, these kinds of strategic alliances are possible, because all speak the language of culture wars,” Enyedi said. 

Orban faces challenges at home

While right-wing parties are expected to do well in June’s European parliamentary elections, Orban’s Fidesz party is battling an economic crisis alongside a series of political scandals.  

The U.S. presidential election is set for November 5. Polls suggest a tight race between Trump and incumbent Joe Biden. 
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Moscow — A Russian journalist has been detained on “extremism” accusations for helping to create YouTube videos for the team of late opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny, Moscow courts said Saturday.

Konstantin Gabov, who according to media reports worked for Russian television channels Moskva 24 and MIR as well as Belarusian news agency Belsat and occasionally for the Reuters news agency, will remain in pre-trial detention until at least June 27, the courts’ press service said on Telegram.

He is accused of “taking part in the preparation of photos and videos to be published on the YouTube channel NavalnyLIVE,” one of the platforms used by Navalny’s team, the courts said.

Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, died in murky circumstances in his Arctic prison in February.

His movement is designated as “extremist,” exposing its staff and supporters to prosecution.

Most of Navalny’s allies are in exile or serving lengthy prison sentences.

In March, photographer Antonina Kravtsova was also held on “extremism” accusations after frequently covering Navalny’s trials for SOTAvision, one of few media organizations documenting political crackdowns in Russia and considered a “foreign agent” by the authorities.

Other jailed journalists include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who faces spying claims that he and U.S. authorities reject.

Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is behind bars since October for not registering as a “foreign agent” as required by the authorities.
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