GENEVA (AP) — Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, said Thursday they will return the winner's trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the politically troubled pop music competition.
In an Instagram video, Nemo held the microphone-shaped glass ornament and said “today I no longer feel like this trophy belongs on my shelf.”
“Eurovision says it stands for unity, for inclusion and dignity for all people,” Nemo said, adding that Israel’s participation, given its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, shows those ideals are at odds with organizers’ decisions.
The nonbinary singer won the contest in May 2024 with pop-operatic ode “The Code.”
Five countries have announced they will boycott the 2026 contest after organizers declined to expel Israel: Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland.
“When entire countries withdraw it should be clear that something is deeply wrong,” Nemo said before placing the trophy in a box they said would be sent to the Geneva headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision.
Next year’s Eurovision is scheduled to take place in Vienna in May, after Austrian singer JJ won the 2025 contest in Basel, Switzerland. By Eurovision tradition, the winning country hosts the following year.
The walkouts cast a cloud over the future of what’s meant to be a feel-good cultural party marked by friendly rivalry and disco beats.
The contest, which turns 70 in 2026, strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.
A number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim Israel has vigorously denied.
FILE - Nemo of Switzerland, celebrates after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, on May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
The Senate on Thursday rejected two partisan health bills on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.
The failed Democratic bill would have extended the COVID-era subsidies for three years, while the GOP alternative would have replaced the subsidies with new health savings accounts.
The subsidies run dry in three weeks, at which point some Affordable Care Act enrollees see their premium costs more than double.
Meanwhile, at a Senate committee hearing on President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in American cities, Republicans defended the deployments as necessary to fight lawlessness and Democrats called it an extraordinary abuse of military power that violates states’ rights.
The Latest:
Leavitt says the U.S. government “does intend to seize the oil” from a tanker that U.S. forces took Wednesday off the coast of Venezuela.
Leavitt said the Justice Department had received a warrant to take the tanker because it’s a sanctioned vessel used to carry “black market” oil.
She said the U.S. has an investigative team on the tanker. The team is interviewing the people aboard the ship and collecting any relevant evidence.
Leavitt said the U.S. government will follow the legal process required to seize the available oil.
Karoline Leavitt was asked about the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies after the Senate’s rejection of legislation that would have extended the tax credits.
The briefing came just after the chamber rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts.
Also blaming Democrats for the Obama-era health care bill, which she noted was passed “without a single Republican vote,” Leavitt argued that Democrats had “ballooned” the program “with these expensive COVID subsidies that completely distorted the health insurance market.”
The rejection essentially guarantees that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.
Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts Thursday.
It’s an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.
Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, “there won’t be another chance to act,” before premiums rise for many people.
Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled.
A presidentially appointed council’s long-awaited public meeting to announce recommended reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been canceled at the last minute, according to a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the change publicly.
The FEMA Review Council was scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon. Noem, the council’s co-chair, abruptly left a congressional hearing early because she said she needed to go the meeting.
Trump created the FEMA Review Council by executive order in late January, the same day he proposed eliminating FEMA. He has repeatedly said he wants to push more responsibility for disaster recovery to states.
The White House, Department of Homeland Security and FEMA did not respond to questions about the meeting’s cancelation.
— Gabriela Aoun
Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, accused Noem’s department of waging an “unaccountable, unlawful, unconstitutional” war against communities across the country.
Ramirez showed a number of videos of Noem talking and then repeatedly accused her of lying.
“Secretary Noem, you lie and you lie to the American people,” Ramirez said.
In one video, Noem said the agency focused on people in the country illegally, not American citizens while in another Noem said they were focusing on the “worst of the worst.”
Ramirez disputed those characterizations and said Noem lied with “impunity.”
The Senate has rejected a Republican bill to replace expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies with new health savings accounts. The legislation was a Republican alternative to Democratic legislation to extend the subsidies for three years.
Senators are now voting on the Democratic bill and are expected to reject it — meaning that the subsidies are likely to expire.
Noem defended the cancelation of billions of dollars in mitigation grants administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying the grants had been “weaponized to fund the Green New Deal and for climate change.”
The Trump administration in April canceled $3.6 billion in grants under the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, created under the first Trump administration to help communities harden infrastructure to mitigate damage from climate disasters.
Noem said FEMA is “deploying resources two times faster on average, than in history,” though a policy that she personally approve DHS expenditures of $100,000 or more has been widely criticized for slowing deployment of FEMA services and dollars.
Secretary Noem has left the hearing early.
Noem said she had to go to another meeting of a council that is offering suggestions on how to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As she walked out, Julie Johnson, a Democrat from Texas who was slated to question the secretary next, joked: “I’m just going to take the position that she was scared of my questions.”
As Noem walked out of the room, protesters trailed her down the hallway yelling “Shame on you!”
But Trump administration officials declined to make commitments on what authorities the president may use in the future to send National Guard troops from one state to another.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, used the closing moments of the hearing to press the officials on whether National Guard troops will be deployed from other states beyond their current authority to protect federal facilities and officials, such as to conduct law enforcement activity.
Federal judges have blocked or limited troop deployments in Oregon, Illinois and California as the Trump administration has attempted to use troops to assist in its mass deportation goals.
Mark Ditlevson, a Trump administration official who oversees homeland defense, only said that any orders would be evaluated to make sure they are “100% legal.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed solidarity with Maduro and told him “direct communication channels” between the countries “remain permanently open,” a Venezuelan government statement said.
Talking a day after the U.S. military seized an oil tanker off the Venezuela’s coast, Putin told Maduro that “Russia will continue to support Venezuela in its struggle to assert its sovereignty, international law, and peace throughout Latin America, making its diplomatic capabilities available to strengthen cooperation in these essential areas,” the Venezuelan government said.
The Kremlin said both leaders also discussed developing friendly bilateral ties and their commitment to joint projects in trade, economic, energy, financial, cultural, humanitarian, and other areas.
The Senate is voting on Republican legislation that would create new health savings accounts as health care subsidies for millions of Americans are set to expire Jan. 1.
The Senate is expected to reject the legislation, along with a second Democratic bill that would extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Republicans say the savings accounts would replace the subsidies by giving money directly to consumers, instead of to insurance companies. Democrats say the GOP plan would lead to higher costs for consumers.
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned that premiums will skyrocket unless Congress passes an extension of the subsidies. “If Republicans don’t climb aboard, there won’t be another chance to act,” Schumer said ahead of the votes.
Noem linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast to the Trump administration’s efforts to push back on “a regime that is systematically ... flooding our country with deadly drugs.” She said Trump administration officials had seized “enough lethal doses of cocaine to kill 177 million Americans.”
On Wednesday, Trump said the United States had seized the tanker as tensions mount with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has broadly justified a regional military buildup and a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean as necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S.
House Democratic identified members of the audience they said had family members who had been improperly treated by the immigration system.
Noem said she would review the cases of several called out by Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. One, a combat veteran, appeared on a screen via a video call. Magaziner said the Purple Heart recipient had been deported earlier this year.
“You don’t seem to know how to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys,” Magaziner said to Noem.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Thursday that “decisive” actions by the United States, including the seizure of an oil tanker, have left the repressive government of President Nicolás Maduro at its weakest point, and she vowed to return to the country to keep fighting for democracy.
Machado’s statements to reporters came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in Norway’s capital, Oslo, where her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf on Wednesday.
Trump’s actions “have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she said. “Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”
Machado sidestepped questions on whether a U.S. military intervention is necessary to remove Maduro from power
▶ Read more about what the Nobel winner said in Oslo
The hearing quickly became heated over the tragic shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
Thompson had begun questioning Noem over what he called the “unfortunate accident” when the secretary interrupted the ranking Democrat.
“Unfortunate accident?” Noem retorted. She called it a “terrorist attack.”
The interaction devolved from there as Thompson questioned her department’s approval of asylum claim that allowed the suspect to stay in the U.S.
Noem insisted it was the Biden administration’s vetting process that failed to properly screen the man who had worked alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee zeroed in Thursday on Trump’s statements that an “invasion within” or an “enemy within” justifies his guard deployments.
Gen. Gregory Guillot, who leads the military’s Northern Command, said “I do not have any indications of an enemy within.”
Charles Young, principal deputy general counsel for the Defense Department, said the Supreme Court has ruled that the president has the exclusive authority to decide whether an emergency exists.
Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL officer, argued during a Senate hearing that transnational crimes present enough of a risk to national security to justify military action, including on U.S. soil.
Sheehy claimed that there are foreign powers “actively attacking this country, using illegal immigration, using transnational crime, using drugs to do so.”
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot agreed with Sheehy’s assessment.
An attorney for the Pentagon declined to offer a clear answer when asked if a president could lawfully order the military to shoot protesters.
During a hearing Thursday on National Guard deployments in U.S. cities, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, noted that former Defense Secretary Mark Esper alleged that Trump inquired about shooting protesters during the George Floyd demonstrations.
Hirono asked Charles L. Young III, principal deputy general counsel at the defense department, whether a presidential order to shoot protesters would be lawful.
Young said he was unaware of Trump’s comments and responded that the answer “would depend on the circumstances.”
“We have a president who doesn’t think the rule of law applies to him,” Hirono said in response.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately.
“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” the judge wrote. “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”
The Salvadoran national has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge in 2019 ruled Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The secretary also levied broad criticism of the program that brought the man to the United States years before he allegedly shot two National Guard members.
Operation Allies Welcome was created by the Biden administration to save Afghan supporters from Taliban retribution after the U.S. military pullout from Afghanistan following 20 years of American intervention and billions of dollars of aid.
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, was killed in the Washington shooting. Noem said Thursday that U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, has been showing improvement.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, questioned Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of U.S. troops in North America, on how he evaluates the lawfulness of orders.
Guillot said that he consults with military attorneys, raises any questions with the defense secretary and commanding military officers, and executes the order once he’s confident in its lawfulness.
This has become a pressing question under the Trump administration amid National Guard deployments to U.S. cities and a campaign to strike boats allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela. The president has targeted Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military and intelligence officers to refuse illegal orders.
“End deportations!” shouts one. “Stop ICE raids!” yells another.
The two people were escorted by Capitol Police out of the Homeland Security Committee hearing room.
Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., gaveled the panel back to order as Noem resumed her opening remarks.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, told the secretary she has diverted vast resources to carry out Trump’s “extreme” immigration agenda, and failed to provide basic responses to oversight questions from Congress.
“I call on you to resign,” the Mississippi congressman said. “Do a real service to the country.”
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of U.S. troops in North America, told senators that National Guard troops are instructed not to perform many law enforcement activities like making arrests or searching for evidence of a crime. However, the troops are allowed to detain people if they deem the person to be putting others at risk.
Guillot said that one person was detained as part of Trump’s campaign to deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The person was detained in June outside a federal facility in Los Angeles.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to face fierce questioning from Democrats Thursday as the public face of the Republican administration’s hard-line approach to immigration.
Since Noem last appeared in Congress in May, immigration enforcement operations in U.S. cities have become increasingly contentious, with federal agents and activists frequently clashing over her department’s tactics.
Noem is testifying in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security to discuss “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” which in years past have focused on issues such as cybersecurity, terrorism, China and border security. Thursday’s appearance is likely to focus heavily on immigration.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said Trump’s deployment of the National Guard into American cities is “deeply unpopular.”
“Most Americans don’t want this,” she said at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, adding that most of the Guard members don’t want these assignments, either.
“Our heroes did not sign up for this,” said Duckworth, a combat veteran who served in the Illinois National Guard.
She noted that she had threatened to hold up the annual defense bill if Republican leadership continued to block the hearing, which she said is long overdue. She said she has questions for the military about how Trump’s deployments are affecting readiness, training and costs.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is opening a hearing on Trump’s National Guard troop deployment to U.S. cities by asserting that crime is on the rise.
“In recent years, violent crime, rioting, drug trafficking and heinous gang activity have steadily escalated,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican.
He added that the troop deployments are “not only appropriate, but essential.”
Democrats are expected to use the hearing to criticize the deployments as an inappropriate use of military troops.
This image from video posted on Attorney General Pam Bondi's X account, and partially redacted by the source, shows an oil tanker being seized by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (U.S. Attorney General's Office/X via AP)
Sitting next to founder and CEO of Dell, Michael Dell, left, President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Members of the National Guard patrol in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
