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Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto, one of the frontrunners in this year’s presidential election, has picked businessman Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate.

Mr Gachagua is facing trial on charges of corruption and money-laundering worth $65m (£53m), which he denies.

He is from Kenya’s largest community, the Kikuyu, whose support is vital in Kenya’s ethnically charged elections.

For the first time since independence, neither of the favorites is Kikuyu.

Mr Ruto’s main rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, was also due to announce his running mate on Sunday but has delayed it until Monday – the deadline set by the electoral commission.

The race between the two is expected to be close, with President Uhuru Kenyatta backing his former rival Mr Odinga rather than his own representative.

Speaking after the announcement, Mr Gachagua said he would work with Mr Ruto to address the country’s ailing economy.

Mr Ruto is the presidential candidate of the Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) coalition, which comprises more than 10 political parties.

Mr Gachagua has previously worked as a district officer and once served as the personal assistant of President Kenyatta during his stint as minister in charge of local government.

Since 2017, he’s served as the member of for Mathira constituency parliament in Central Kenya, which has produced three of Kenya’s four presidents – Jomo Kibaki, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.

On Saturday, residents of Mr Gachagua’s hometown protested at delays in naming Mr Ruto’s running mate.

With no prominent Kikuyu politician running for president in the coming elections for the first time in history, the choice of a running mate is seen as crucial, and has been dominating headlines and social media.

Both Mr Ruto and Mr Odinga have set their eyes on the Central region which is expected to have a big say in who becomes Kenya’s next president.

Politicians from the area have insisted that whoever gets into the State House must guarantee the interests of the community.

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Ethnic Kikuyus, and people from the wider Central region, have massive influence on both the economy and politics.

Candidates know that their support on 9 August will be crucial.

More about Kenya’s elections:

Gaza City – Israeli air raids demolished the Al-Jalaa building that hosted Al Jazeera’s bureau and The Associated Press office on May 15 last year.

Dust and debris plumed up into the air as the 11-storey building, which also housed a number of residences and other offices, was levelled, pounded flat.

The bombing sparked widespread anger. Al Jazeera condemned the attack at the time, calling on “all media and human rights institutions to join forces” in denouncing the bombing and to “hold the government of Israel accountable.”

Between May 10 and 21 last year, Israeli forces carried out a full-scale military offensive against the Gaza Strip that resulted in the deaths of 261 Palestinians, including 67 children and 41 women.

After the bombing, the Al Jazeera crew in Gaza – who lost most of their equipment – moved to several temporary headquarters over the past year in what they described as a time full of instability.

At Al Jazeera’s current office, visitors streamed in recently to offer their condolences for the loss of Al Jazeera’s veteran reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp last week.

Wael Al Dahdouh, 53, director of the Al Jazeera bureau painful in Gaza, said it is still to remember the day when the team lost their office during the Israeli attack.

‘Got out right away’

He recounted that afternoon: The team was out covering a nearby bombing when the owner of the building called to inform them that an Israeli official ordered an immediate evacuation because it was going to be bombed.

“It was a great shock, we thought the bombing of the tower in which we are located was very unlikely. It only hosted media offices, companies and the rest were residential apartments.”

“In those moments, I couldn’t think of anything. I told everyone to evacuate. We took what could take from the office and got out right away,” he said.

Wael and the residents were able to leave the building only minutes before the tower was bombed and crashed to the ground.

“The scene of the office being bombed while I was on air covering the news was one of the most difficult moments in my life. I was doing my job despite my sadness for all the memories of the office we spent 12 years in.

“This memory is linked to our efforts, our work, our equipment and the archive that documented many memories and scenes,” he added.

After the bombing, Wael said the team moved to a hotel in western Gaza and were hosted by the AFP news agency to do their live coverage of the ongoing Israeli assault on the territory.

“We gathered our strength and continued to cover despite the dangers and hardships, and despite all the sadness, anger and regret over losing the office,” Wael said.

Wael spoke intermittently as he received visitors who came to offer their assassination for the assassination of Abu Akleh.

“The anniversary of our office tower coincided with the loss of another tower of the press in Palestine, our colleague Shireen Abu Akleh,” he said.

“We were planning to mark our bombing anniversary with us getting up again and moving to a new office and celebrating. But losing Shireen made this joy incomplete.”

‘Sheikh of Photographers’

Mahmoud Obaid, 65, a senior cameraman nicknamed the “sheikh of photographers” in the Gaza Strip, started working for Al Jazeera at its founding in 1996.

Since then, Mahmoud said, he has covered many watershed moments with the Al Jazeera team, including Israeli invasions, escalations and wars in the Palestinian territory.

“During these years, Al Jazeera’s office moved from one place to another, until we finally settled in 2009 in al-Jalaa Tower,” he said.

“The al-Jalaa Tower office was like our second home. We used to spend more time in the office than we spent in our homes with our families, and our connection to the place was very strong.”

About the moment they were informed of the bombing, Mahmoud said: “We got very nervous, our thoughts were about what are the most important things that we will get out of the office before the bombing.

“The equipment we took out did not exceed 5 percent of the total equipment we lost, including cameras and broadcasting devices,” Mahmoud said.

“I wish at least two hours to we had evacuated our headquarters and take our equipment, but between the moment of informing us and the bombing, there were only 45 minutes, not enough for anything.”

Mahmoud said the towers that were bombed during the offensive May were given a full day or more than five hours to evacuate, except for the al-Jalaa Tower, which was bombed less than an hour from the moment of notification.

“We felt a lot of instability during the previous year – new place, new roads, and incomplete equipment, but we got over it and here we are. Nothing will stop us. The Israeli occupation always targets us as in all media outlets, but it will not affect our determination to report the truth.”

‘I was terrified’

Youmna El Sayed, 34, who started working as a correspondent for Al Jazeera English last year during the war on the Gaza Strip, described the moment the tower was bombed as a great shock to everyone.

“At those moments, I had just returned from reporting on the war-wounded people at Al-Shifa Medical Hospital, until the news of the evacuation of the tower came,” Youmna said.

“I was terrified, I thought this was one of the safest places in the Gaza Strip. The office of an American media outlet and the Al Jazeera office were there, and the rest were residents,” she said.

Youmna, a mother of four, said her thoughts were with the families who lived in the 60-apartment building.

“I preferred to go down the stairs from the 12th floor and not use the elevator to see if I could help any of the families on my way. There was a mother on the eighth floor very nervous and crying with three children under the age of five and a baby in her arms, and she could not manage,” she said.

“Despite my own fear, I reassured her and took the two kids from her and told her to quickly bring whatever she wanted from her apartment and to not worry about the kids, whom I took down with me.”

After Youmna was out of the building, the mother also came downstairs with other families in the tower then, moments later, the building was bombed.

“I was on the air at that moment covering the bombing, it was a very difficult moment, the tower collapsed like a biscuit,” she said.

A year later, Youmna said she may not have spent as much time in the former Gaza headquarters of Al Jazeera, but she felt keenly the impact of the bombing on her colleagues, who lost their equipment, possessions, and memories.

Despite the Israeli attack, she asserted “nothing will stop them from conveying the message”.

“Although I hold a non-Palestinian nationality that enables me to leave Gaza at the time of the war, I preferred to stay and cover what is going on,” she said.

“The bombing of the Al Jazeera office did not intimidate me at all, and a few days ago came the loss of our colleague Shireen Abu Akleh. These incidents made me more persistent to complete the message – no matter what happens.

“Nothing will stop us from the message, except death.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An array of presidents and prime ministers continued to descend on the United Arab Emirates from around the world Sunday to pay their respects to the federation’s late ruler. They also came to praise his successor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — a vivid sign of Abu Dhabi’s influence in Western and Arab capitals.

The first Western leader to jet to the oil-rich capital of Abu Dhabi was French President Emmanuel Macron. He met Sunday with Sheikh Mohammed to pay tribute to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country’s long-ailing ruler who died on Friday at the age of 73.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to arrive later Sunday to offer conciliation, along with other leaders including Israeli President Isaac Herzog after the two countries opened formal relations in 2020.

An American delegation led by Vice President Kamala Harris is due to visit the UAE on Monday, a bid to show support after relations between the countries have recently strained.

Arab heads of state, including close allies Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II traveled to the UAE on Saturday.

“He was respected by all for the values ​​of peace, openness and dialogue that he embodied,” Macron wrote on Twitter of Sheikh Khalifa, expressing “full support” for the ascension of his half-brother Sheikh Mohammed after rulers in the unanimously appointed federation him as president.

As crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed has served as the nation’s de facto leader since Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014. He has turned the small UAE into a most influential state, wielding outsized power militarily and commercially across the Middle East and Africa .

Even while the country became entangled in the bloody, yearslong conflict in Yemen and a chaotic proxy war in Libya, it positioned itself as a savvy and reliable partner in Western capitals.

Paris and Abu Dhabi have become aligned in recent years, sharing a deep mistrust of movements like the Muslim Brotherhood across the wider region, including in Turkey and Libya.

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France opened a major overseas naval base in Abu Dhabi. French warplanes and personnel are also stationed at a major facility outside the Emirati capital. The two governments jointly built a gleaming branch of the Louvre museum in the emirate.

During Macron’s visit to Dubai last December, France clinched its largest overseas order for its Rafale combat jet with the UAE — an $18 billion deal that came as a planned US sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the UAE stalled in part over American concerns about the Emirates’ relationship with China.

The assertive foreign policy of Sheikh Mohammed was on stark display as allied Arab leaders rushed to the capital to express their sorrow over Sheikh Khalifa’s death and offer congratulations on his formal ascension to power. Among the first was el-Sissi, the Egyptian general who, with Gulf Arab support, overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist government in 2013.

Emirati-backed Tunisian President Kais Saied, who has amassed nearly absolute power in the country since dismissing the prime minister last year, also flew in to pay tribute, along with Iraq’s president and prime minister.

Sudan’s Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the general who led the coup in the strategic east African nation last year, has made frequent visits to key backer Sheikh Mohammed. He posted footage on social media Saturday sprinting up stairs to board his plane to Abu Dhabi to give tribute to the late president.

Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world mark the Nakba or catastrophe, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.

Having secured the support of the British government for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, on May 14, 1948, as soon as the British Mandate expired, Zionist forces declared the establishment of the State of Israel, triggering the first Arab-Israeli war .

Zionist military forces expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands and captured 78 percent of historic Palestine. The remaining 22 percent was divided into what are now the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.

The fighting continued until January 1949 when an armistice agreement between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria was forged. The 1949 Armistice Line is also known as the Green Line and is the generally recognised boundary between Israel and the West Bank. The Green Line is also referred to as the (pre-) 1967 borders, before Israel occupied the rest of Palestine during the June 1967 war.

Israel’s military occupation of Palestine remains at the core of this decades-long conflict that continues to shape every part of Palestinians’ lives.

Mapping the Palestinian villages Israel destroyed

Between 1947 and 1949, military forces attacked major Palestinian cities and destroyed some 530 villages. About 15,000 Palestinians were killed in a series of mass atrocities, including dozens of massacres.

On April 9, 1948, forces committed one of the most infamous massacres of the war in the village of Deir Yassin on the western outskirts of Jerusalem. More than 110 men, women and children were killed by members of the pre-Israeli-state Irgun and Stern Gang Zionist militias.

Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta documented detailed records of what happened to these 530 villages in his book – The Atlas of Palestine. Al Jazeera has digitised these records in the interactive visualisation below:

Where are Palestinian refugees today?

There are some six million registered Palestinian refugees living in at least 58 camps located throughout Palestine and neighboring countries.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides assistance and operates hundreds of schools and health facilities for at least 2.3 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, 1.5 million refugees in Gaza, 870,000 refugees in the occupied West Bank, 570,00 refugees in Syria and 480,000 refugees in Lebanon.

The largest camps in each are Baqa’a in Jordan, Jabalia in Gaza, Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Yarmouk in Syria, Eand in El Hilweh in Lebanon.

More than 70 percent of Gaza’s residents are refugees. About 1.5 million refugees live in eight refugee camps around the Gaza Strip.

According to international law, refugees have the right to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced. Many Palestinians still have hope of returning to Palestine.

The plight of Palestinian refugees is the longest unresolved refugee problem in the world.

Palestinians’ life under occupation

Israel’s military control over the Palestinian people affects every aspect of their lives, from what services they can access and where they can travel to whom they can marry and where they can live.

Leading international NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Israel is “committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.”

In a damning investigation, HRW documented a range of abuses, including extensives of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, administrative and the denial of citizenship detention to Palestinians.

Every year, Israel demolishes hundreds of Palestinian homes. According to data compiled by OCHA, between 2009 and 2022, at least 8,413 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished by Israeli forces, displacing at least 12,491 people.

Forced displacement is a violation of international law. Most of these structures (79 percent) are in Area C of the occupied West Bank which is under Israeli control. Twenty percent of these structures are in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel also holds some 4,450 Palestinians – including 160 children, 32 women, and 530 administrative detainees – in prisons.

On April 17 every year, Palestinian Prisoner’s Day is commemorated to highlight the plight of those held in Israeli jails and their struggle for freedom against the Israeli occupation.

Israeli settlements grow

Israeli settlements are heavily fortified Jewish communities built illegally on Palestinian land.

Some 750,000 Israeli settlers live in at least 250 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Settler attacks against Palestinians and their property are a regular occurrence in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, home to some three million Palestinians.

The Israeli government has openly funded and built settlements for Israeli Jews to live in, offering incentives and subsidized housing. This has meant the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem is growing faster than the Israeli population of Israel.

Four deadly assaults on Gaza

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli sea and air blockade since 2007. Since 2008, Israel has waged four wars on the Palestinian territory, killing more than 4,000 people.

Bordered by Israel and Egypt on the Mediterranean coast, the Gaza Strip is about 365sq km (141 sq miles), similar in size to Cape Town, Detroit, or Lucknow. It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and because of Israel’s occupation has been described as “the world’s largest open-air prison”.

In its most recent bombardment of Gaza, which lasted from May 10 to May 21, 2021, Israeli forces killed 261 people, including 67 children, and wounded more than 2,200, according to the United Nations.

For Palestinians, Nakba is not a historical event, it is a stopped process of displacement that has never been.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian gunman who is the brother of a prominent Palestinian militant died Sunday after being critically wounded in injury with Israeli forces, according to the Israeli hospital where he was being treated.

Daoud Zubeidi was wounded in clashes with the Israeli military in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday. Zubeidi is the brother of Zakaria Zubeidi, a jailed Palestinian militant who briefly became one of Israel’s most wanted fugitives after tunneling out of a high-security prison last year. He was eventually caught and returned to prison.

Police said a 47-year-old member of a special Israeli commando unit was killed in those clashes.

Daoud Zubeidi was taken to Israel’s Rambam hospital where he was sedated and on a respirator and where his death was pronounced Sunday.

Israel has been carrying out raids in Jenin and other parts of the West Bank for weeks following a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis that have nearly 20 people. More than 30 Palestinians have been killed, most of them involved in attacks or clashes with the military. An unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.

It was during the raids in Jenin on Wednesday that well-known Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed after being shot in the head.

The Palestinians, including fellow colleagues who were with her, say she was killed by Israeli gunfire. The Israeli military says there was an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen at the time, and it’s unclear who fired the fatal bullet.

Abu Akleh was laid to rest Friday in Jerusalem in a mass funeral in which Israeli police pushed and beat mourners and pallbearers. Israeli police said they would conduct an investigation into the incident.

Abu Akleh’s death and the shocking scenes from her funeral drew condemnations from around the globe and calls for an investigation into her killing.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has said there was a “considerable chance” that Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian gunmen, said Sunday he stood behind the soldiers operating in Jenin.

“The state of Israel does not place any limits on the struggle against terrorism,” he told a meeting of his Cabinet. “We will continue in all the necessary actions to grant security to Israeli citizens.”

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 81st day, we take a look at the main developments.

Here are the key events so far on Sunday, May 15.

Get the latest updates here.

Fighting

• “Russia has now likely suffered losses of one third of the ground combat force it committed in February,” the UK’s defense ministry said.
• British Military Intelligence said Russia’s offensive in the Donbas “has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule” with a dramatic acceleration unlikely over the next 30 days.
• Four missile attacks hit military infrastructure in Yavoriv in western Ukraine near the Polish border, Lviv region’s Governor Maxim Kozitsky said.
• Russia, rejecting Ukraine’s claim to have set alight a modern navy logistics ship in the Black Sea, showed photos of what it said was the Vsevolod Bobrov with no signs of damage.
• Refugees from bombed-out Mariupol spoke of devastation as they reached Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia in a large convoy of vehicles after waiting days for Russian troops to let them leave.
• Russia’s defense ministry said its forces hit Ukrainian command posts, ammunition depots, and other military equipment in several regions, including the Donbas, killing at least 100 Ukrainian “nationalists”.

Diplomacy

• Top NATO diplomats meet in Berlin to discuss providing further support to Ukraine.
• G7 foreign ministers vowed to reinforce Russia’s economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, and work to ease global food shortages stemming from the war.
• Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said the country’s diplomats in Washington are being threatened with violence.
• Germany has taken all preparations for a quick ratification process should Finland and Sweden decide to apply for NATO membership, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
• US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and expressed their solidarity for Ukraine.

NATO

• NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana expressed confidence that Turkey’s concerns over Finland and Sweden joining NATO could be addressed, after Ankara said it had not shut the door to their entry.
• Croatia’s foreign minister said talks between Turkey, Finland and Sweden were on the right track.
• Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats were poised to come out in favor of joining NATO, paving the way for an application soon after and abandoning decades of military non-alignment.
• Geoana said Russia’s military advance in Ukraine appears to be faltering and he expressed hope that Kyiv can win the war.
• Ukraine winning the Eurovision Song Contest showed the immense public support for the country in its battle against Russia, Geoana said.

By the end of Sunday, Somalis should know who their next president is, but this long-delayed vote only involves the country’s 329 MPs and takes place in a heavily fortified area.

The unusual circumstances highlight Somalia’s security issues, as well as the lack of democratic accountability.

The winner among the record 39 candidates will also have to deal with the impact of the ongoing drought.

But the big task is to wrest control of much of Somalia from al-Shabab.

The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group continues to dominate large parts of the country and carries out frequent attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere.

The federal government is backed in its fight against al-Shabab by the African Union, in the shape of some 18,000 troops, and the United Nations.

Somalia has not had a one-person-one-vote democratic election since 1969.

That vote was followed by a coup, dictatorship and conflict involving clan militias and Islamist extremists.

The instability is one of the reasons Somalia why has been unable to hold direct elections.

This is only the third time that the indirect election for president has been able to take place in Somalia itself. Previous ones were held in neighbor Kenya and Djibouti.

Who is running for president?

Among the 39 candidates are the current President, Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo”, two former presidents, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and a former prime minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre.

These four, along with the President of Somalia’s Puntland region, Sa’id Abdullahi Deni, are considered to be the frontrunners.

Their manifestos focused on political stability, improving security and economic reforms.

Fawzia Yusuf Adam, a former foreign minister, is the only woman among those who want the top job.

How will the vote take place?

This vote was supposed to have happened last year when Mr Farmajo’s four-year term ended. But political differences and instability delayed the poll and the president in power.

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The MPs who will choose the next president on Sunday were themselves elected by delegates nominated by the country’s powerful clans.

They will gather in a large airport hangar in the well-guarded Halane Camp. This is the main military base of the AU’s mission in Somalia (Atmis), as well as the home of diplomatic missions and aid agencies.

Voting will be by secret ballot and it is expected that there will be several rounds before one candidate emerges as the winner.

Those who drop out in each round may be able to act as king-makers, urging their backers to support another candidate.

Past elections were marred by claims of vote buying with candidates reportedly offering money in exchange for support.

What has al-Shabab said?

In previous elections, al-Shabab threatened and even kidnapped clan elders after condemning them for participating in what it saw as an un-Islamic poll.

This time around, its to the elections has been muted, with fears that its members or sympathis may have secretly sought more seats in a bid to the system from within.

The fear was publicly expressed by neighbor Djibouti’s President Omar Guelleh in 2020, when he was quoted as saying: “I fear we will end up with a parliament indirectly controlled by al-Shabab because they’ll have bought the support of some of the MPs .”

Some analysts felt Mr Guelleh was exaggerating the possibility of al-Shabab gaining a foothold in parliament, but there is no doubt that it is a major political force in Somalia.

What are the challenges facing the next president?

On top of the continued threat from al-Shabab and the need to somehow dislodge the militants, Somalia is suffering from a drought that has hit countries across the region.

It has sparked a humanitarian crisis in which 3.5 million Somalis are at risk of severe famine, according to the UN. Pastoralists who have lost their herds are coming into the towns and cities looking for a way to survive.

The country is also being affected by food and fuel inflation sparked by the war in Ukraine.

There is pressure to complete the constitutional process and ensure that the country has democratic elections in the next four years.

However, Somalia’s power-brokers agreed a long time ago that one-person-vote elections would be held by this year, and they failed to fulfill the promise.

Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra wins the Eurovision Song Contest in a clear show of popular support for the war-ravaged nation that went beyond music

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in Italy on Sunday, riding a wave of popular support for the war-ravaged nation amid Russia’s invasion.

The winning song, Stefania, sung in Ukrainian, fused rap with traditional folk music and was a tribute to band frontman Oleh Psiuk’s mother.

Bookmakers had made Kalush Orchestra the clear favorite for the annual contest, which normally draws a television audience of close to 200 million, based in part on a popular sympathy for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion on February 24.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quick to welcome Sunday’s victory, saying: “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe!”

The winners traditionally get to host the event the following year and Zelenskyy said “we will do our best” to host next year’s contest in the hotly contested port city of Mariupol.

He underlined “Ukrainian Mariupol,” adding: “free, peaceful, rebuilt!”

“I am sure that the sound of victory in the battle with the enemy is not far off,” the president added.

Ukraine was in the fourth place based on jury voting but claimed victory with a record tally in viewer voting in an event that features 40 nations.

The 439 fan votes is the highest number of tele-vote points ever received in a Eurovision contest, now in its 66th year.

Britain’s Sam Ryder finished second, while Chanel of Spain came third.

Sunday’s victory is the third time Ukraine wins the annual competition and Kalush Orchestra said the song, featuring traditional flutes and breakdancing in a classic Eurovision mix of styles, was a contender even before the conflict began.

The band’s frontman made a plea for the city of Mariupol and its Azovstal plant at the end of their live performance.

“Please help Ukraine, Mariupol. Help Azovstal right now,” Psiuk shouted in English from the front of the stage.

Speaking after the event, Psiuk thanked the Ukrainian diaspora and “everyone around the world who voted for Ukraine. … The victory is very important to Ukraine. Especially this year.”

He said he and the band would head back to Ukraine in two days and were not sure what the future held.

“It’s hard to say what exactly I am going to do because this is the first time I win the Eurovision Song Contest but anyway like every Ukrainian we are ready to fight as much as we can and go until the end,” he said.

The European Broadcasting Union, which organises the contest, said no action would be taken against the band for using the stage to make a statement.

“We understand the deep feelings around Ukraine at this moment and believe the comments of the Kalush Orchestra and other artists expressing support for the Ukrainian people to be humanitarian rather than political in nature,” the EBU said.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese headed to polling stations early Sunday to elect a new parliament against the backdrop of an economic meltdown that is transforming the country and low expectations that the voting could bring meaningful change.

A new crop of candidates from the 2019 protest movement are running against the country’s entrenched ruling class that is blamed for the collapse, hoping to unseat them. But they are divided and lack the money, experience and other advantages held by traditional political rulers.

People began casting their ballots shortly after the polls opened, under the watchful eye of security forces that have fanned out across the country. Sunday’s vote is the first since Lebanon’s implosion started in October 2019, triggering widespread anti-government protesters.

It is also the first election since the August 2020 massive explosion at Beirut’s port that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of Lebanon’s capital. The blast, widely blamed on negligence, was set off by hundreds of tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that ignited in a port warehouse after a fire broke out at the facility.

The voting is seen as a last chance to reverse course and punish the current crop of politicians, most of whom der their power from Lebanon’s political sectarian system and spoils taken the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990. change were low amid skepticism and widespread resignation that the vote was sure to bring back the same political parties.

Mainstream political parties and politicians strong going into the, while opposition figures and civil society vote are still hoping to unseat them. Lebanese parties have long relied on a system that encourages voters to cast ballots in return for favors and individual benefits.

Since the meltdown began, tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs, the Lebanese pound has shed more than 90% of its value and many have left the country seeking opportunities abroad. Three quarters of the country’s six million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty.

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Some 718 candidates on 103 lists are running for seats in the 128-member parliament. The vote is held once every four years. In 2018, gave voters the powerful Hezbollah and its seats allies the majority with 71.

Lebanon has more than 3.5 million eligible voters, many of whom will cast their ballots in its 15 electoral districts. Earlier this month, Lebanese living abroad cast their ballots in countries where they live.

Western-backed mainstream parties are hoping to strip the majority from Hezbollah, while many independents are hoping to break through traditional party lists and candidates.

The vote this year comes as a powerful Sunni leader, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, suspended his work in politics. Some have warned this may help Hezbollah’s Sunni allies to win more seats.

After the election results are out, the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will become a caretaker Cabinet until the president calls for consultations with the new parliament members, who choose the next premier.

The new parliament will also elect a new head of state after President Michel Aoun’s six-year term expires at the end of October.

Lebanon’s parliament seats are equally divided between Muslims and Christians under the constitution that was drafted shortly before the civil war ended.

As of Saturday afternoon, the Lebanese army began deploying in areas where tensions could be expected, mainly in areas around Beirut and the nearby Mount Lebanon.

North Korea on Sunday reported 15 additional deaths from “fever”, days after officially confirming its first-ever Covid-19 cases and ordering nationwide lockdowns.

The outbreak, which leader Kim Jong Un has said is causing “great upheaval”, leaves a country with one of the world’s worst healthcare systems on the edge of potential disaster.

North Korea has no Covid vaccines, antiviral treatment drugs or mass-testing capacity.

While it has maintained a rigid coronavirus blockade since the pandemic’s start, experts have said that massive Omicron outbreaks in neighboring countries meant it was only a matter of time before Covid snuck in.

Despite activating a “maximum emergency quarantine system” to slow the disease’s spread through its unvaccinated population, Pyongyang is now reporting large numbers of new cases daily.

Official state media KCNA on Sunday said 42 people had died since the outbreak’s beginning, with 820,620 cases and at least 324,550 receiving medical treatment.

The news agency reported that “all provinces, cities and counties of the country have been totally locked down and working units, production units and residential units closed from each other.”

North Korea first revealed the highly contagious Omicron variant had been detected in the capital on Thursday, with Kim ordering nationwide lockdowns after an emergency meeting of the country’s Politburo.

“The spread of malignant disease comes to be a great upheaval in our country,” Kim said Saturday.

— Learning from China —

Sunday’s KCNA report did not specify whether the new cases and deaths tested positive for Covid-19, but experts say the country will struggle to screen and diagnose on this scale.

North Korea’s healthcare system ranked 193 out of 195 countries in a 2021 Johns Hopkins University survey.

Kim has said the country will “actively learn” from China’s pandemic management strategy, according to KCNA.

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China, the world’s only major economy still maintaining a zero-Covid policy, is battling multiple Omicron outbreaks — with lockdowns in some major cities, including hub Shanghai, sparking increasing financial public frustration.

North Korea has previously turned down offers of Covid vaccines from China and the World Health Organization’s Covax scheme, but both Beijing and Seoul have issued fresh offers of aid and vaccines since the outbreak was announced.

Despite the public health crisis, new satellite imagery indicates North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.

The United States and South Korea have warned that Kim is preparing to conduct another nuclear test — the regime’s seventh — and that it could come any day.

Analysts have warned Kim could speed up nuclear testing plans to distract North Korea’s population from the disastrous coronavirus outbreak.

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