How Israel Hijacked Eurovision
A New York Times investigation reveals that Israel ran a coordinated, multi-year campaign to turn Eurovision into a soft-power tool; spending at least $1 million on Eurovision marketing, including funds from PM Netanyahu's "hasbara" propaganda office, with $800,000+ on ads around the 2024 Malmö contest alone.
The Israeli government bought multilingual ads urging viewers to vote up to 20 times for its contestants, with Netanyahu himself posting voting graphics on Instagram; embassies pressured European broadcasters to keep Israel in the contest.
Israel's singer won the popular vote in countries where Israel polls deeply unpopular, and Times analysis found a few hundred voters could swing outcomes.
The European Broadcasting Union downplayed concerns, kept full vote data secret, canceled an emergency vote on Israel's participation, and adopted vague rule tweaks instead, prompting Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Slovenia to boycott the 2026 contest in Vienna.
Source: NYT
BREAKING: Three Iranian sources have informed Reuters that these are Iran's demands ahead of the talks:
- Guarantees against attacks in the future
- Compensation for losses
- Formal control of the Strait of Hormuz
- No negotiations on Iran's ballistic missile program
🎬 Top 50 Films That Teach Beyond Classrooms
1. Dead Poets Society, 1989, (Inspiration)
2. Good Will Hunting, 1997, (Genius)
3. A Beautiful Mind, 2001, (Mathematics)
4. The Theory of Everything, 2014, (Physics)
5. The Imitation Game, 2014, (Cryptography)
6. Hidden Figures, 2016, (Space)
7. The Social Network, 2010, (Entrepreneurship)
8. Moneyball, 2011, (Analytics)
9. The Big Short, 2015, (Finance)
10. The Founder, 2016, (Business)
11. The Man Who Knew Infinity, 2015, (Mathematics)
12. October Sky, 1999, (Engineering)
13. Apollo 13, 1995, (Problem-solving)
14. 12 Angry Men, 1957, (Justice)
15. Schindler’s List, 1993, (Humanity)
16. Gandhi, 1982, (Leadership)
17. Lincoln, 2012, (Politics)
18. Spotlight, 2015, (Journalism)
19. Erin Brockovich, 2000, (Law)
20. The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006, (Perseverance)
21. Freedom Writers, 2007, (Education)
22. Stand and Deliver, 1988, (Teaching)
23. The Intern, 2015, (Mentorship)
24. Life of Pi, 2012, (Philosophy)
25. Hotel Rwanda, 2004, (Compassion)
26. The Great Debaters, 2007, (Debate)
27. Coach Carter, 2005, (Discipline)
28. Remember the Titans, 2000, (Teamwork)
29. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, (Hope)
30. Forrest Gump, 1994, (Life)
31. Whiplash, 2014, (Excellence)
32. The Theory of Everything, 2014, (Determination)
33. The Martian, 2015, (Science)
34. Interstellar, 2014, (Astrophysics)
35. Jurassic Park, 1993, (Ethics)
36. The Truman Show, 1998, (Reality)
37. Into the Wild, 2007, (Freedom)
38. Slumdog Millionaire, 2008, (Destiny)
39. The Pianist, 2002, (Survival)
40. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, 2019, (Innovation)
41. The Accountant, 2016, (Numeracy)
42. The Post, 2017, (Press-freedom)
43. Darkest Hour, 2017, (Decision-making)
44. The Wolf of Wall Street, 2013, (Greed)
45. Pirates of Silicon Valley, 1999, (Technology)
46. Jobs, 2013, (Vision)
47. Steve Jobs, 2015, (Focus)
48. Hackers, 1995, (Computing)
49. The Right Stuff, 1983, (Aviation)
50. Lean On Me, 1989, (Reform)
📍 These movies teach academics, real-world skills, and how to think from science and history to leadership, ethics, business, and human behavior. Practical learning, not textbooks, and not a replacement for school education.
UAE Team Emirates’ plans for 2026:
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana: Almeida
Volta ao Algarve: Almeida
UAE Tour: Del Toro
Strade Bianche: Pogačar, Del Toro
Paris-Nice: Almeida
Tirreno-Adriatico: Del Toro
Milano-Sanremo: Pogačar, Del Toro
Volta a Catalunya: Almeida
Tour of Flanders: Pogačar
Itzulia Basque Country: Del Toro
Paris Roubaix: Pogačar
Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Pogačar
Tour de Romandie: Pogačar
Giro d’Italia: Almeida
Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes: Del Toro
Tour de Suisse: Pogačar
National Championships: Almeida
Tour de France: Pogačar, Del Toro
Vuelta a Burgos: Almeida
Vuelta a España: Almeida, Pogačar (?)
📷: @PhotoFizza
BREAKING: President Trump: Marjorie “Traitor” Brown, because of PLUMMETING Poll Numbers, and not wanting to face a Primary Challenger with a strong Trump Endorsement (where she would have no chance of winning!), has decided to call it “quits.” Her relationship with the WORST Republican Congressman in decades, Tom Massie of Kentucky, also known as Rand Paul Jr. because he votes against the Republican Party (and really good legislation!), did not help her. For some reason, primarily that I refused to return her never ending barrage of phone calls, Marjorie went BAD. Nevertheless, I will always appreciate Marjorie, and thank her for her service to our Country! President DJT
🇫🇷 TOUR DE FRANCE — 1926 & 2026
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
1926 - 5,745 km
2026 - 3,333 km
(📷 L'Auto, 19/6/1926, p. 3 | letour fr)
#TDF2026
This guy won the Tour de France, became the World Champ, first rider ever to do back-to-back double, podiumed every single monument so far… still not enough for the Laureus Sportsman of the year 2025 award.
Last Olympic year it went to Duplantis, this year it should finally go to Pogačar in my opinion. What do you think?
📷: Filip Bezděk #Kigali2025
Huge protest in @turulromaniei ! A cow tried to enter in the peloton! 😱🐮 Fortunately no cyclist was injured, you can hear them laughing but that was REALLY close. La vaca Lola. 😂
#TurulRomaniei
🐼 China has several major giant panda breeding centers, created to protect and restore the species
And this is what a typical workday looks like for the staff there.
When you're forcing yourself to go to work in the morning… 😩🐾