Blockbuster EU-Mercosur trade deal enters into force

Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele must recall the Pacific Island nation's parliament to face a vote of no confidence, an appeal court ruled on Friday.

The government has been in an impasse since March, when it was hit by mass cabinet resignations and the exit of two coalition partners.

The defections led the opposition to claim the government had lost its majority in parliament.

Manele has since avoided a vote of confidence, which would eject him and his government from power if he loses.

The High Court ruled last month that the prime minister should recall parliament or resign, after he continued to avoid a no confidence motion lodged by the opposition coalition. 

On Friday, the appeal court said Manele must take steps before noon on Tuesday to facilitate convening parliament so lawmakers sit by May 7.

"The continued failure to take steps to facilitate the convening of parliament is inconsistent with the constitution," said a copy of the judgement viewed by AFP.

It dismissed Manele's argument that the High Court had exceeded its powers.

"The court does not intrude on parliament by ensuring parliament can sit," the judgement said.

Outside court, Attorney General John Muria told SBM Online he was disappointed "but the court has spoken".

Manele's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force deployed officers outside the court and called for calm.

Commissioner of Police Ian Vaevaso, sworn in by Manele on Wednesday, had earlier issued a statement saying "police are independent of politics" and would not take sides.

A no-confidence motion against Manele was filed in March after 12 cabinet ministers resigned from his government and two parties quit the governing coalition. 

The new opposition coalition of six political parties says that it commanded 27 seats compared to the government's 23 seats.

Following the resignations, Manele appointed former leader and staunch Beijing ally Manasseh Sogavare as deputy prime minister, deepening the turmoil. 

The Solomon Islands are seen as one of China's closest partners and backers in the South Pacific, and they signed a secretive security pact in 2022. 

Chief Justice Albert Palmer in April ruled the country was at a "constitutional impasse".

kln/djw/jm

The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets while the New York Knicks put on one of the most dominant displays in NBA playoff history, destroying Atlanta to advance Thursday.

Sixth-seeded Minnesota will play the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semi-finals after completing a 110-98 win for a 4-2 series upset defeat of third-seeded Denver.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic top-scored for Denver with 28 but it was not enough to fend off the dogged Timberwolves, who were playing without star man Anthony Edwards due to injury.

The clash in Minneapolis was tight throughout, with no team gaining a double-digit lead until the game's dying moments. 

The Timberwolves edged the first half, leading 57-50 at the break.

Jokic roared to life. The Serbian superstar scored 14 points in the third quarter alone to ensure a nail-biting finish.

Having already been ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct from game four after a shoving match, Jokic enraged the home crowd by sparking another brawl, with Jaylen Clark. 

With his Timberwolves leading by five with 90 seconds remaining, Jaden McDaniels sank a long jump-shot for two to rouse the home fans and force a Nuggets timeout.

When play resumed Denver could only turn over the ball again. McDaniels closed out the win with two free throws, ending his night with a career-high 32 points, to top-score overall.

"It's a great night. It's a great victory for us. Hopefully... we've got 12 more to go," said Minnesota coach Chris Finch.

"We came into these playoffs not trying to beat Denver, but trying to win a championship."

A visibly crestfallen Jokic, whose side last won the NBA championship just three years ago, said they "just didn't do a good job."

"I needed to play better. I must play better," he added.

Edwards -- out with a bone bruise and hyper-extended left knee -- could return for the Timberwolves' series with the high-flying Spurs.

- 'Meet the moment' -

The Knicks routed the Atlanta Hawks 140-89.

It was the most points scored and the biggest win by the Knicks in a playoff game, setting up an Eastern Conference semi-final with either the Celtics or the 76ers, who are tied 3-3 after a Philadelphia win.

The Knicks wrapped up their 4-2 series victory in emphatic style, leading the Hawks by as many as 61 points before benching their starters for the final quarter.

New York's 47-point half-time lead, at 83-36, was the widest in NBA post-season history.

OG Anunoby top-scored with 29 points, including 26 in the first half, before he was rested. None of New York's starters played more than 29 minutes.

"We can't just meet the moment, we've got to exceed it, and I thought we did a great job of doing that tonight," said Karl-Anthony Towns, who recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Having finished third in the Eastern Conference, the heavily favored Knicks had been down 2-1 early in the playoff series, before roaring back. 

They are the first team to advance to the East's semi-finals -- their fourth straight year of reaching that stage. 

The Hawks briefly led at the start of the game, going up 11-9 before the wheels dramatically came off. They trailed 40-15 at the end of the first quarter.

The final 51-point margin of defeat was not quite the largest in playoff history, which stands at 58 points.

"Obviously you hate to lose anything. And to lose the way we did, I think, particularly given the enthusiasm and support that we've had from the people in this building... disappointed on a lot of levels," said Hawks coach Quin Snyder. 

- Historic rivals -

The Celtics-76ers playoff series is headed for a decisive game seven in Massachusetts after Philadelphia beat Boston 106-93.

The Celtics had held a 3-1 series lead, but the 76ers proved dominant on their home court to make it 3-3.

Tyrese Maxey top-scored with 30 points. Paul George added 23, and 2023 Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid poured in another 19, plus 10 rebounds and eight assists.

It is the 23rd playoff series between the two historic rivals -- an NBA record.

amz/pst

The Minnesota Timberwolves knocked Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets out of the NBA playoffs with a 110-98 win Thursday to claim their first-round series 4-2.

Sixth-seeded Minnesota will play the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semi-finals after completing an upset defeat of third-seeded Denver, who won the 2023 NBA championship.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic top-scored for Denver with 28 but it was not enough to fend off the dogged Timberwolves, who were playing without star man Anthony Edwards due to injury.

The clash in Minneapolis was tight throughout, with no team gaining a double-digit lead until the game's dying moments. The Timberwolves edged the first half, leading 57-50 at the break.

Jokic roared to life. The Serbian superstar scored 14 points in the third quarter alone to ensure a nail-biting finish.

Having already been ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct from game four after a shoving match, Jokic enraged the home crowd by sparking another brawl with Jaylen Clark. 

With his Timberwolves leading by five with 90 seconds remaining, Jaden McDaniels sank a long jump-shot for two to rouse the home fans and force a Nuggets timeout.

But when play resumed Denver could only turn over the ball again.

McDaniels closed out the win with two free throws, ending his night with a career-high 32 points, to top-score overall.

Edwards -- out with a bone bruise and hyper-extended left knee -- could return for the Timberwolves' series with the high-flying Spurs.

Fellow Minnesota star Donte DiVincenzo will miss the remainder of the playoffs with a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

amz/pst

Britain's King Charles III and wife Queen Camilla wrapped up their diplomatically sensitive state visit to the United States on Thursday.

Here are five takeaways from their four days in America.

- Opposites attract -

Despite being polar opposites in character, Charles and President Donald Trump appeared to share a genuine bonhomie.

Charles laughed, albeit slightly embarrassingly, when Trump said in a speech at the White House that his Scottish-born mother had had a crush on the then-prince.

The monarch was also photographed laughing in the Oval Office when Trump reached out and patted his knee. Protocol dictates that it is unconventional to touch a member of the royal family.

"There's a personal rapport, because I think Charles is a very skilled diplomat," royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told AFP.

- The joker -

Charles showed off his cheeky side when he cracked a number of jokes during the state dinner, which landed well with a receptive audience.

He likened Trump's demolition of the East Wing to British troops setting fire to the White House in 1814 and ahead of this summer's FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, quipped that he and Trump were "joint hosts".

The British monarch is also Canada's head of state, and the remark could be seen as a subtle reminder to Trump, who has soured relations with his neighbour to the north after last year threatening to make it the "51st state".  

Charles also referenced how Trump has said if it was not for the United States, then European countries would be speaking German, adding: "Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French."

- Points scored -

During a separate speech to Congress, the king politely delivered several pointed messages from the UK government amid tensions with Trump over the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Charles urged the United States to stand firm with its Western allies, adding that "unyielding resolve" was needed to secure a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine.

Trump has berated European leaders in recent weeks for their failure to back his and Israel's war against Iran and has threatened to pull the United States out of NATO.

Charles -- the commander-in-chief of the UK armed forces -- also spoke of his pride at Britain's Royal Navy in which he served, which was recently mocked by Trump, and stressed the importance of protecting the environment.

- Awkward moments -

Trump set a cat among the pigeons when he claimed that Charles "would have probably helped" the United States in its military offensive against Iran.

The president has repeatedly lambasted the UK for failing to join the initial strikes and has branded Prime Minister Keir Starmer as weak and indecisive.

Trump also claimed that Charles had agreed with him on the need to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear bomb. Conversations with the monarch are usually kept private.

Before meeting in New York, the city's leftist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, called on Charles to "return" the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s.

- Rift repaired? -

While the Times newspaper hailed Charles's performance as a "masterclass in effective diplomacy", it remains to be seen whether the trip will help repair relations between Trump and Starmer, as UK officials hope.

"This may buy the UK some temporary reprieve from Trump but will not fundamentally change what remains a very fractured so-called special relationship," Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think-tank, told AFP. 

While the trip has highlighted that "Trump feels warmly towards the royals, he remains deeply frustrated at the UK government", she added.

Fitzwilliams agreed. "It would have put a positive spin on matters... (but) there's so many different points of disagreement," he said.

pdh/jj/phz

Arsenal have a chance to crank up the pressure on Manchester City this weekend as they seek to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners can go six points clear of their in-form rivals if they beat Fulham on Saturday, two days before City face a tricky trip to Everton.

At the other end of the table, West Ham face Brentford while relegation rivals Tottenham take on Aston Villa.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the action:

Tight margins

Arsenal can pull well clear of Manchester City, at least for 48 hours, but they must re-discover their scoring touch in a season that could be decided by the tightest of margins.

Before the Gunners' win against Newcastle last weekend, the top two were level on points and goal difference.

Arsenal know even if they win their four remaining games it may not be enough -- they have failed to score more than one goal in any game since mid-March.

City, with a game in hand, have clicked into gear and are scoring much more freely than their rivals.

Former England defender Gary Neville believes Arsenal will have to be "wheelbarrowed" over the line if they are to win their first Premier League title since 2004.

"They're not going to sail over the line -- it's going to be a real struggle. They're not going to all of a sudden hit form in this next couple of weeks," he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.

Spurs count cost of injuries

Just when Tottenham showed encouraging signs of life under new manager Roberto De Zerbi, their injury curse has struck again.

Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons suffered a serious knee injury in last week's 1-0 win at relegated Wolves, while Dominic Solanke could miss the rest of the campaign with a hamstring issue.

The club's injury list this season makes sobering reading, with long-term absentees including Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus, James Maddison and Wilson Odobert. Captain Cristian Romero is another recent victim.

"We can win the games with the players, not with the coaches," said De Zerbi. "The coaches are important but the players are more important. But I want to be positive."

Tottenham, who face a tricky match at Aston Villa this weekend, remain in the drop zone, trailing two points behind 17th-placed West Ham despite the first win of De Zerbi's tenure.

Can Chelsea stop the rot?

Chelsea can still end the season on a high despite a horrific run of five successive Premier League defeats that led to Liam Rosenior's recent sacking.

Marginally improved under interim boss Calum McFarlane, the Blues beat Leeds 1-0 last weekend to set up an FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Although they are languishing in eighth in the Premier League, Chelsea still have a slender chance of grabbing a Champions League spot as well.

If Villa finish fifth -- their current position -- and win the Europa League, the Champions League place they would earn by ending in that position would be passed down to the Premier League's sixth-placed team.

However, if Villa finish fourth or above and win the Europa League, there would be no extra Champions League place for an English club.

As it stands, Brighton would be the team to benefit as they are in sixth place on 50 points.

But Bournemouth, Chelsea, Brentford and Fulham are all within one or two points of the Seagulls, while Everton and Sunderland are also within striking distance.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Friday (1900)

Leeds v Burnley

Saturday (1400 unless stated)

Brentford v West Ham, Newcastle v Brighton, Wolves v Sunderland, Arsenal v Fulham (1630)

Sunday 

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (1300), Manchester United v Liverpool (1430), Aston Villa v Tottenham (1800)

Monday

Chelsea v Nottingham Forest (1400), Everton v Manchester City (1900)

jw/smg/pb

An angry crowd clashed with Australian police outside a hospital treating the suspected killer of a five-year-old Indigenous girl in the outback town of Alice Springs.

Images on local media Friday showed teargas in the air, a police van in flames and crowds yelling at armed officers keeping people at bay during the overnight confrontation.

The violence followed the discovery Thursday of a body south of Alice Springs believed to be that of the little girl, referred to at her family's request as Kumanjayi Little Baby.

She had disappeared from an Indigenous community camp called Old Timers late on Saturday night, sparking a vast, days-long search on foot, horseback, and by helicopter that gripped much of the country.

Police said a formal autopsy would be held on the child's body, which was found about five kilometres (three miles) from the camp.

Hours after her body was found, police announced they had arrested the suspect, Jefferson Lewis.

- 'He was unconscious' -

Lewis was beaten until he was unconscious after turning himself in to Indigenous community members on Thursday evening at a camp by Alice Springs, in central Australia.

When police and emergency services intervened, they too came under attack, said Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole.

"At the time of his apprehension by us, he was unconscious and he was in the process of being treated by St John's Ambulance when they were set upon, as were the police," he told a news conference.

Lewis was then taken to hospital.

"A large crowd gathered and tried to gain access to that hospital," the police commissioner said.

"We called out all the resources we had available to quell that violent disturbance. And just let me say that the behaviour that we saw last night cannot be explained away, excused or accepted."

Dole said "a number" of police were injured at the hospital, and one officer was treated for a head wound inflicted during the suspect's arrest.

Ambulance and fire crew members were also attacked, he said, with one fire and rescue officer receiving a "significant facial injury".

- 'Sorry business' -

One woman was being investigated for allegedly trying to set a police car alight.

Many people outside the hospital shouted that Lewis must face "payback", public broadcaster ABC reported, referring to a traditional punishment in central Australian Indigenous communities.

"I just call for calm across the community," Dole said.

Police said they removed Lewis for his safety from hospital to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, where he was being held in custody.

He is expected to face charges in the coming days.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the girl's death was the realisation of "our worst nightmares".

But it was no excuse for violence, she said, recalling how the community had united to search for the missing child.

"This week, we've seen this town come together like never before -- hundreds of people walking shoulder to shoulder through the long buffel grass, through the bush, to make sure we left no stone unturned," Finocchiaro said.

"I don't want last night to take away from that extraordinary effort."

Robin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, called for calm in the community.

"It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering," he said in a statement.

"We need to be strong for each other, we must respect family and cultural practice."

djw/kln/fox

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz as well as tensions in the Red Sea are reshaping trade routes, with Africa becoming a hub of global container ship traffic, according to logistics and maritime sources.

Over the past two months, the blockade has also pushed shipowners to find alternative land corridors to deliver foodstuffs and manufactured goods by truck, as they can no longer reach the Gulf's coastal countries by sea.

- What are the alternative routes for delivering to Gulf countries? -

The Saudi port of Jeddah on the Red Sea is becoming a new regional "hub", where ships from maritime giants MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk and Cosco arrive via the Suez Canal.

Cargo then leaves by truck along a desert highway to deliver to places such as Sharjah, Bahrain and Kuwait, which have not been served by sea for the past two months.

"The port of Jeddah is not at all sized to handle such import volumes and a port congestion situation is emerging," Arthur Barillas de The, cofounder of freight forwarder Ovrsea, told AFP.

According to data from Kpler Marine Traffic, 11 container ships were docked in Jeddah on Thursday, with nine waiting, and an average wait of 36 hours before unloading compared to 17 hours the previous week.

Shipowners have said they will use three ports outside the Strait of Hormuz -- Oman's Sohar, and the UAE ports of Khorfakkan and Fujairah, which are connected by land from the United Arab Emirates.

The port of Aqaba in Jordan serves as a base for sending goods to Baghdad and Basra in Iraq, while a Turkish corridor is also allowing goods into northern Iraq.

- On international routes, why are Asia-Europe container ships avoiding the Suez Canal? -

The situation started well before the war in Iran but is very much connected to the conflict.

Avoiding the Red Sea from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the Suez Canal dates back to November 19, 2023 and the first attack on a container ship by Iran-backed Houthi militias from the coast of Yemen, said CyclOpe, a specialist commodities publication.

The rerouting of ships has now become systematic, said Ronan Boudet, head of container intelligence at Kpler.

They skirt around Africa by following its eastern coast as far as the Cape of Good Hope in southern South Africa before heading back north towards Europe and the Mediterranean.

"With the current situation in the Gulf, we have put several more coins in the machine, it's not going to get better anytime soon," Edouard Louis-Dreyfus, chairman of French shipping giant Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, told AFP.

"Today, 70 percent of the freight traffic that went through the Red Sea in 2023 is being rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope," added Yves Guillo, a supply chain expert at Efeso, a management consultancy in Paris.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund's PortWatch platform based on ships' GPS signals, commercial vessel traffic via the Cape of Good Hope has more than tripled in three years, while traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait has fallen by more than half.

Between March 1 and April 24 this year, an average of 20 commercial vessels went round the Cape of Good Hope every day compared with six in the same period in 2023.

By comparison, traffic in the Red Sea has plummeted: from 18 transits per day through Bab al-Mandeb between March and April 2023, the average fell to five three years later.

- What are the consequences? -

Transport times have lengthened between Asia and Europe by an average of two weeks and costs have risen because 30 to 50 percent more fuel is needed and 10 to 20 percent more ships to ensure the same frequency of service, said Guillo.

The average price to transport a standard 40-foot container on the main shipping routes increased by 14 percent in April compared to the same period last year, he added, citing changes in the Drewry freight index.

Large differences exist between routes: some African ports are seeing their activity increase. The Tanger Med Port Authority said it handled 11 million standard containers in 2025 -- up 8.4 percent.

But Egypt lost toll revenues from the Suez Canal, which make up a large part of its income. According to CyclOpe, in 2024 it lost $7 billion -- a drop of more than 60 percent compared with 2023.

im/phz/rh

Across much of India, an energy crunch caused by the Iran war has prompted long queues for cooking gas cyclinders. That's not a problem for Gauri Devi.

On a stove with blue flames, she flips a chapati flatbread, burning biogas produced from cow dung -- an alternative fuel helping ease pressure on supplies.

"It cooks everything," the 25-year-old said in her courtyard kitchen in Nekpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) from New Delhi. "If the pressure goes down, we let it rest for half an hour and it works again."

India consumes more than 30 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) annually, importing over half its needs.

The government insists there is no shortage of cooking gas, but supply delays, panic buying and black marketeers have created long queues for cylinders.

However, since the 1980s India has also promoted biogas as a low-cost rural energy source, subsidising more than five million "digester" units that convert farm waste into methane for cooking, and nitrogen-rich slurry for fertiliser.

For Gauri, it requires mixing a couple of buckets of dung with water, then pouring the mixture into a car-sized underground tank topped with a storage balloon.

It provides a piped methane supply so regular that she only uses an LPG cylinder for emergencies or large gatherings.

The biogas works for everything -- "vegetables, tea, lentils", she said.

- 'Black gold' -

The residual slurry is later spread on fields as fertiliser. It has better nitrogen availability for plants compared with raw dung, farmers say.

"The manure is so good," said farmer Pramod Singh, who installed a larger unit in 2025, enough for six people, fuelled by 30–45 kilogrammes of dung daily from four cows.

And he said the slurry fertiliser is particularly valuable at a time when global supplies of artificial fertilisers have been hit by trade disruptions due to the war.

"The real benefit is not just the gas -- that is like a bonus," local farmer leader Pritam Singh said. "The slurry is 'black gold'."

More than 45 percent of India's 1.4 billion people rely on farming, and the country has one of the largest cattle populations.

India -- the world's most populous nation and third-largest fossil fuel polluter -- has pushed large-scale biogas production to achieve a goal of carbon neutrality by 2070.

The government last year required that biogas account for at least one percent of liquid gas fuelling both vehicles and for domestic use  -- rising to five percent by 2028.

Dozens of multi-million dollar production plants are now in the pipeline.

But small-scale rural producers are also being rolled out -- units cost around 25,000–30,000 rupees ($265-$318), often heavily subsidised by the government.

In a Hindu-majority nation where cows are revered and dung and urine are used in everything from floor plastering and fuel to ritual practices, it is easy to win supporters, said Pritam Singh.

He installed his first plant in 2007, and has helped put in 15 more in his village in the past year alone.

He said interest had shot up after the LPG shortages.

"People who earlier were not interested now ask how to get it," he said.

"Once they see food being cooked and crops benefiting, they are convinced."

- 'Mini factories' -

But biogas is still a small fraction of household cooking fuel -- with LPG considered more convenient because companies manage the supply chain.

"Biogas plants are not just equipment; they are mini factories," said A.R. Shukla, president of the Indian Biogas Association.

"They need organised installation, regular operation and maintenance," he added. 

"So, unless installation and upkeep are handled through community-based or cooperative enterprises, households will continue to treat biogas as secondary fuel."

And even with government support, there are barriers to uptake, including cost and space.

"We work on other people's farms the whole day. We don't have land for it," said labourer Ramesh Kumar Singh, standing in a line of around 100 queueing for LPG cylinders in the nearby village of Madalpur.

"I am standing in scorching heat, hungry and thirsty," said Mahendri, 77, who had failed to secure a cylinder for three days in a row.

uzm/pjm/sah/lga

In the middle of a field filled with bright red poppies, Afghans frolic among the spring flowers in a tradition deeply rooted in the country's north.

Families flocked to the valleys of Shirin Tagab district, near the border with Turkmenistan, to be among thousands of flowers that appeared after abundant rain. 

"There has been a drought for almost 10 years. No flowers or greenery grew," said Ghawsudin, who only uses one name.

"This year has been very good, and God is merciful," said the 79-year-old, who drove for three hours just to see the flowers.

Mohammad Ashraf, a 35-year-old visitor, said he hadn't seen so many poppies for more than a decade.

"Now there are so many red flowers, and you see people come here for picnics," he told AFP.

The landscape in Shirin Tagab is brightened by the common poppy, not the opium poppy that authorities have banned.

- 'Vitality and freshness' - 

Many Afghans living in the north used to travel to see the poppies after celebrating Persian New Year, Nowruz, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The Taliban government, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has stopped such celebrations each spring.

But the tradition of visiting the poppies, which are widely revered in poems and songs, has endured.

Oriane Zerah, a photographer who published a book about Afghans and flowers, said they are an integral part of daily life.

"As soon as an Afghan has a little space in their garden, they plant a flower. Even in displacement camps, there'll be a flower somewhere. They put them on their pakol, one of their traditional hats, and there are desserts made with flowers," she told AFP.

The poppy has also been associated with wartime in the country, with the flower often placed on the coffins of fighters, according to Afghan writer Taqi Wahidi.

"Dying in the path of the homeland, or in the path of religion and faith, was considered a kind of new resurrection and entry into a new life," he told AFP.

The same flower is widely used in countries, such as Britain, Australia and New Zealand, where people wear artificial poppies to remember those killed in past conflicts.

Nowadays in Afghanistan, however, the poppy "symbolises vitality and freshness", according to Wahidi.

"At the same time that nature is renewed, human beings also want to bring new colours into their lives," he said.

strs-qb-iw/rsc/lga

It's been the crucible of music icons from ABBA to Celine Dion, a flashy symbol of European integration, the charged focal point for geopolitics and a stage for social change. 

For seven decades, the Eurovision Song Contest -- which gathers performers from across Europe and further afield, selected by each country's public broadcasting service -- has delighted and, at times, baffled spectators. 

Now the annual competition is gearing up for its 70th anniversary in Vienna later this month amid fears boycotts over Israel's participation might derail the expected outpourings of national pride and abundance of glitter.

So what makes Eurovision so unique?

- Geopolitical hotspot -

The contest has been rocked this year by the withdrawal of several European countries in protest over Israel's participation following its war in Gaza, with the global backlash hitting last year's competition also.

But it was far from the first time the competition had been hit by geopolitical tensions.

During the Cold War, the absence of Eastern Bloc countries reflected Europe's division. Protests also erupted in the 1960s over the participation of Spain under dictator General Francisco Franco, and Portugal under the dictatorship of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.

The 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus prompted Greece to pull out, while tensions between Georgia and Moscow and the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan have also left their mark. 

In 2022, Russia was excluded over its invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian contestant went on to win.

- Reuniting Europe -

On the other hand, since the contest expanded to the eastern part of the continent in the 2000s, Eurovision has served as a catalyst for European integration, said University of Glasgow expert Paul Jordan.

Participating in Eurovision has helped former Soviet republics such as Estonia and Ukraine cultivate their images as part of Europe, he added.

"Certainly for Ukraine, it was all about showing themselves as an independent Western, European country" while asserting opposition to Moscow, Jordan told AFP.

Galina Miazhevich from Cardiff University said that as much as countries have used "some ethnic elements and language elements to kind of declare: this is who we are", there has also been a melding of influences, with plenty of bilingual songs and homogenisation.

- Social platform -

In 1961, Jean‑Claude Pascal won with "Nous les amoureux" ("We the Lovers"), a song about a forbidden love that was later interpreted as an allusion to homosexuality.

The contest then became an ever more progressive stage, notably with the victory of transgender singer Dana International for Israel in 1998.

In 2015, Finland nominated Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat, a punk band of musicians with disabilities.

In 2021, Suriname-born artist Jeangu Macrooy addressed slavery, racism, and the colonial legacy in his performance.

That same year, Russia's Manizha performed a song about the pressures faced by women and women's emancipation, which stirred controversy in her home country.

- Hit factory -

Ever since the Swedish band ABBA rose to global fame after their victory in 1974, Eurovision has helped numerous stars, including Celine Dion and Italy's Maneskin, achieve stardom.

Following the rise of social media, singers and bands do not even have to win to make an international splash.

Armenia's Rosa Linn, who finished 20th in 2022, saw her song "Snap" go viral on Instagram and TikTok before scoring on international charts.

- Cultural touchstone -

Eurovision's vast archives rack up millions of views on YouTube, with performances that have become entrenched in popular culture.

Its fame has also expanded well beyond the world of music -- even breaching the United States, with the Will Ferrell-led 2020 comedy "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga".

It was not always so.

The show was "not cool" in the 1980s and 1990s and was dismissed as unappreciated kitsch in the West when eastern European countries joined, Jordan said.

The turn came in 2014, with the highly publicised victory of Austrian bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, Jordan added.

Even though some performances still leave audiences baffled as too vulgar, or with humour that is too niche, the show caters to a wide variety of tastes -- from pop to opera, rock to rap, folk to chanson.

And even those who do not like Eurovision have an opinion on it, said Jordan.

"It's a kind of cultural reference point that everyone has," he said.

"We're growing up with this television show. And I think there's maybe this nostalgia in a way that there isn't for other things."

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