Celebrated musicians including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, and many more have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel’s participation.

Campaign groups No Music For Genocide and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel are calling for a boycott of this year’s highly divisive Eurovision Song Contest.

More than 1,000 artists, including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, Mogwai and Hot Chip, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Eurovision 2026 in protest of Israel’s participation.

The letter calls upon the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban KAN – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – from the upcoming contest.

“For the third consecutive year,” the letter states, Israel will be “celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

“We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives,” the letter reads. “When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for No Music For Genocide said: “People of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world. While many of us in the industry make light of Eurovision or doubt our own power as cultural producers, genocidal Israel’s leaders speak openly about the contest’s geopolitical value.”

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Authors from across the political spectrum have left French publishing house Grasset in protest over far-right owner likened to Murdoch

A French media report alleging that pro-Palestine member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan was subjected to months of police surveillance has sparked controversy in the country, Anadolu reports.

Hassan had been under surveillance since January 2026, with authorities reportedly geolocating her phone and closely tracking her movements and daily schedule, reported Mediapart, a French investigative online newspaper.

Opposition lawmakers have condemned the alleged surveillance as a “state scandal.”

Antoine Leaument, a lawmaker from the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), called on Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin to provide an immediate explanation regarding the claims.

Mass drone warfare is a rising security threat for Europe, prompting significant investments in drone and missile stocks by countries like France, Germany, and Poland. The EU faces challenges in scaling up drone production to meet battlefield demands and counter external threats, leading to strategic dependencies on suppliers like the US and China. To address this, the EU is investing in counter-drone systems, leveraging partnerships like the Drone Alliance with Ukraine, and implementing initiatives to boost domestic drone production and innovation.

A study by the Future of Technology Institute found that most European countries rely on US cloud services for national defence, putting them at risk of a “kill switch” that could shut down services. The study identified 16 high-risk countries and seven medium-risk countries, with Austria being the only one to shift away from US providers. While US companies offer “sovereign” cloud options within Europe, the study argues these are insufficient to mitigate the risk of sanctions.

Europeans take note (and Germans, in particular).

Keir Starmer’s claim he was “staggered” not to have been told of Peter Mandelson’s vetting failure has provoked incredulity across Westminster and accusations that he sacked a senior civil servant to save his premiership.

Senior government figures said the prime minister faced “judgment day” next week when Olly Robbins, who is understood to be furious at being forced to quit the Foreign Office, is expected to appear before a powerful committee of MPs.

Ciaran Martin, a former senior civil servant with past involvement in vetting work, who is a close friend of Robbins, told the BBC that the sacked official appeared to have been made a scapegoat.

A European petition calling for the complete suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement has surpassed one million signatures within three months of its launch.

According to the European Commission’s Citizens’ Initiatives platform, the number of signatures reached 1,007,331, exceeding the threshold required for official consideration, with the legal criteria met in at least seven EU member states.

The campaign reflects growing public discontent across Europe over Israeli policies, particularly in the context of the war on the Gaza Strip and reports of serious human rights violations.