Michelle Bachelet hopes the world is ready for a female UN chief

The Eurovision Song Contest is famous for celebrating everything from cross-dressing ballad singers to heavy metal bands in monster masks, but geopolitics is threatening its 70th anniversary edition.

More than 1,000 artists this week urged a boycott, and several countries have already said they are staying away in protest over Israel's participation.

Just eight years ago in Lisbon, the competition managed by Europe's public broadcasters featured artists from 43 countries, but only 35 will be vying for the top prize on May 16 this year in Vienna, marking the smallest edition in recent years.

While Israel's presence poses a challenge this year, the world's largest live music event has long been interwoven with politics, experts say.

Hungary quit the contest in 2020, a decision widely seen as linked to its increasingly conservative political line.

Belarus was suspended in 2021 for suppressing media freedom, while Russia got kicked out after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, other countries including North Macedonia have pulled out in past years citing financial issues. 

– 'Slow death' –

Sanctioning Russia created a precedent and sparked "a debate", said Christina Oberg, the author of several studies on how Eurovision has become a stage for geopolitical tensions against its will.

Some are asking, she said, "why they haven't done the same with Israel in terms of saying that you're not allowed into the competition" because of the massive civilian death toll from Israel's two-year bombardment of Gaza.

Five broadcasters, including Spain, are expected to boycott the 2026 edition over Israel's participation. 

This is an unprecedented move by one of the "Big Five", as the Eurovision jargon calls the five largest financial contributors enjoying automatic qualification to the Grand Final. 

Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia have also decided to snub the upcoming edition for the same reason, complaining that its political neutrality is no longer guaranteed.

More than 1,000 musicians around the world have signed a petition under the banner of "no music for genocide" to exclude Israel's public broadcaster KAN "complicit" in "crimes" committed by Israel.

The signatories include star artists and bands such as Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters and Sigur Ros.

Eurovision organiser, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has defended KAN in the past, arguing that it meets all criteria for independence.

It has also announced changes and safeguards to the public voting system following accusations of manipulation in favour of the Israeli candidate last year.

If more broadcasters quit, it would be "sort of a slow death... because you need a certain amount of countries within it for it to still feel like this is for everyone," said Oberg, a professor at Linnaeus University in Sweden.

- In the spotlight -

Hosting this year's edition, Austria has labelled any cultural boycott as "stupid and pointless".

Though in fact it was Austria that led the way by snubbing the 1969 edition in Madrid "because of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco," according to Croatian-Australian Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic.

Eurovision remains a major tool for promoting inclusion and tolerance, and analysts agree it has always been more than a singing contest.

Artists parade under their countries' flags, and the event is broadcast live across Europe, providing an outstanding platform augmented by social media.

And with 166 million viewers claimed in 2025, the financial stakes are high for Eurovision, which has become a brand to protect.

"When the EBU started to attract sponsors in the late 1990s, produce merchandise, place the contest in larger halls and sell tickets to the public, it also started taking steps to avoid any damage to the contest's image," Vuletic told AFP.

Further tensions could arise this year as the spotlight will be on Denmark "in a way that never happened before", said Lisanne Wilken from Aarhus University in Denmark.

"The situation with Greenland and (US President Donald) Trump has put Denmark even more on the map," she said.

Trump's strident claims on the vast Arctic territory that belongs to Denmark have stirred a wave of concern and resistance within the European Union.

Experts predict that Danish entry Soren Torpegaard Lund could benefit from a wave of empathy.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points Saturday to propel the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-109 victory over Phoenix and a commanding 3-0 lead in their NBA playoff series.

The Thunder, trying to become the first repeat NBA champions since Golden State in 2017 and 2018, are now one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semi-finals.

But Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit fell 2-1 down to the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic, who fended off a late Pistons rally to secure a stirring 113-105 home victory.

The New York Knicks, seeded third in the East, reasserted their authority with a 114-98 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta and will head home for game five on Tuesday with their series tied at 2-2.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and a finalist for this year's MVP, connected on 15-of-18 shots from the floor in a ruthlessly efficient shooting display.

He credited an aggressive offensive mindset from the entire team in the face of a solid Suns defense.

"I think we did a really good job tonight of playing to our identity offensively," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Everyone was aggressive, everyone was playing within themselves and everyone was moving around the ball.

"It kept their defense as a whole, which is a really good defense, in a bind (as to) what to pick and choose."

Dillon Brooks scored 33 points for the Suns, who grabbed an early nine-point lead and kept it close in the second quarter but couldn't find a way to stop Gilgeous-Alexander down the stretch.

Ajay Mitchell scored 15 points and Alex Caruso added 13 off the bench for the Thunder.

They'll try to polish off a sweep in the best-of-seven series on Monday in Phoenix, where the Suns will be painfully aware that no NBA team has rallied from 0-3 down to win a playoff series.

In Orlando, Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points each for the Magic, whose 17-point fourth-quarter lead was erased in a powerful late showing by Cade Cunningham, who led all scorers with 27 points.

But having nudged into a single-point lead with three minutes remaining, the Pistons didn't score again and Orlando closed it out with a 9-0 run.

- Magnitude of moment -

Banchero added 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Bane matched the Orlando franchise playoff record with seven three-pointers.

"We know how we stack up. We know what we got in this locker room. And so we don't fear them," Banchero said, adding that the Magic are "looking forward" to hosting game four on Monday.

Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whose team comfortably topped the East with 60 wins, said it was now a matter of taking it "one game at a time.

"If we win on Monday, we take home-court advantage back," Bickerstaff said.

That's exactly what the Knicks did with their big win in Atlanta after dropping two straight games by just one point each.

Karl-Anthony Towns had his first career playoff triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

OG Anunoby scored a game-high 22 points with 10 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 19 points, staying in after appearing to tweak an ankle in the third quarter of a bruising contest.

"We understood the magnitude of the moment," Towns said. "It's going to take an effort like this every game if we expect to come out with a win against a team that's hungry and has a lot of athleticism, youth -- and they want the moment. 

"We've got to exceed the moment."

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Shots were allegedly fired as US President Donald Trump attended a press dinner in Washington on Saturday night, witnesses and AFP reporters said as loud bangs were heard at the hotel venue.

Guests at the black-tie White House Correspondents' Dinner scrambled to hide under tables.

Tactical teams with guns drawn took position on the stage where Trump had been sitting during dinner before he was evacuated.

Police swarmed the Washington Hilton Hotel where the event was taking place, and helicopters hovered overhead.

CNN and other US media reported trump was unhurt.

The pool report said an alleged shooter was in custody, citing the Secret Service, but the report was not officially confirmed.

Unconfirmed reports suggested one person was injured, though details about the cause of the injury were not available.

The incident erupted after the welcoming speech and during dinner, before Trump was due to speak.

Trump administration officials appeared to have been evacuated first and uncertainty remained as to what exactly happened.

A cabinet official, Mehmet Oz, said "shots fired upstairs" as he was rushed out by security.

Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing a rally goer and lightly wounding the president in the ear.

A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.

The Washington Hilton where Saturday's gala was taking place was the site where Republican  President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.

Organizers told guests that the White House Correspondents' Dinner would continue despite the incident.

Trump was attending the event for the first time while in office.

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) invited Trump this year despite his repeated attacks on the media. The move had drawn backlash across newsrooms, and hundreds of journalists signed an open letter asking attendees to call out Trump's press restrictions.

Unlike all other presidents from the past 100 years, Trump has never attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner while in office -- until now.

The "Nerd Prom" as attendees dub it brings together hundreds of Washington journalists and media executives to raise funds for scholarships and awards.

In the Butler shooting, Trump was grazed on his right ear when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop while the Republican presidential candidate was holding a campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

One person in the audience was killed and the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

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Yusra Qwaider is 97 years old, bedridden and helpless: within days, bulldozers from the Jerusalem municipality will come to tear down the home she's lived in for over 50 years. 

If the demolition in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood goes ahead, it will be the third time she's lost her home -- this time to make way for an archaeology and tourism park in the Silwan area just outside the Old City.

"I don't know what to do... I want to stay in my home," she told AFP from her bed in the house where she lives with 12 family members that the municipality says is illegal. 

"When it was built in 1970, there were no permits. We have tried every legal avenue," said her son Mohammed Qwaider, his face a picture of angst. 

Israeli NGO Ir Amim says demolitions in Al-Bustan have increased "dramatically" since Hamas's October 2023 attack, with the threat hanging over "the vast majority" of its 115 homes.

So far this year, 17 homes have been razed, compared with 13 in 2025 and 24 the year before, said the NGO, which works for an "equitable" sharing of the city.

It blamed the acceleration on a "sudden decision" by the municipality to halt talks with residents over "a proper housing solution for the area".

Thousands of homes in annexed east Jerusalem were built without permits, which its Palestinian residents say are almost impossible to obtain.

The municipality did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

- 'The King's Garden' - 

Standing by a mountain of rubble where five houses once stood, residents' committee head Fakhri Abu Diab told visiting diplomats the municipality "wants to demolish all 115 houses by October". 

"We ask you to prevent this, to let us stay in our homes. This is a political decision, and world leaders are doing nothing. You must do something," he pleaded. 

"It's a war crime what they're doing, demolishing homes and displacing us. We have nowhere to go," said the 64-year-old, whose own home was demolished in 2024.

At issue is the expansion of the City of David archaeology and tourism project in Silwan, believed to be the original site of ancient Jerusalem.

Razing Al-Bustan aims to make way for the adjacent "King's Garden" park for visitors to the City of David, which is run by the Elad settler organisation.  

Peace Now's Yonatan Mizrahi said Elad employed different strategies for taking over specific areas of Silwan.

"You have very few archaeological finds in Al-Bustan, so they're saying there's a biblical narrative about the king's garden and it 'probably' was where Al-Bustan is today," he said.

Ahmed Tibi, Israel's most prominent Arab lawmaker, said the main goal was "the Judaisation of Silwan" at the expense of its Palestinian residents.

"After October 7, there's been a huge difference. They felt they could get away with everything," he told AFP.

If the evictions are not stopped, over 2,000 Palestinians living close to Jerusalem's holiest sites risk being displaced in "one of the largest waves of expulsions in east Jerusalem since 1967", Ir Amim warned.

- Not allowing Palestinians to build - 

City councillor Laura Wharton, who represents the liberal Jerusalem Union alliance, said the most punitive element was the lack of building permits.

"Far worse than the demolition is the fact they're not allowing Palestinian residents to build," she said. 

"Your average Silwan resident doesn't have his house recognised, doesn't have a building permit, doesn't have a place to park -- the primary services they get are demolition services." 

Not so for the Jewish residents. 

"In the 20 or 30 years of demolitions here, not a single settler house has ever been demolished," Wharton said. 

That reality is not lost on Al-Bustan locals. 

"That Israeli is allowed to build; look, he's 50 meters away, no-one's stopping him. But for us it's forbidden," 60-year-old Omar Abu Rajab said bitterly, as he began razing his own home.

When the demolition order for his one-bedroom house was issued, he decided to self demolish to avoid the exorbitant costs of the municipality doing it.  

So far, he's racked up 64,000 shekels ($21,400) in fines, and if the municipality razed his house, it would cost tens of thousands more.

At the house, two of his grandsons have skipped school to help, swinging mallets at its plasterboard walls.

"We've lost everything, even though we own this land," he told AFP, saying he and his wife would move into his brother's house -- which is facing the same fate. 

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During the worst of the war in Sudan's capital Khartoum, each neighbourhood learned a morbid choreography -- the sound of a blast sending everyday people springing into action to save as many lives as possible.

Young men sprinted to the impact site, transporting the dead and wounded on scooters, bicycles and bulldozers. Anyone with even modest training reported to the ER, performing triage in pools of blood. The soup kitchen frantically turned out meals for the wounded. An engineer turned undertaker prepared shrouds.

"Abandoned" by the world, according to the UN's top official in the country, Sudanese people have mobilised in vast volunteer networks to face the horrors of the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In Khartoum, recaptured by the army a year ago, AFP met some of those volunteers. There are thousands like them across Sudan, much of which is inaccessible to journalists.

In accordance with government regulations, AFP journalists were accompanied by an army escort, who stepped out of earshot during most interviews.

- Nasser, the nurse -

Nasser Nasr al-Din is 24 and tall with a sharp haircut and pensive eyes. An economics student turned pharmacist turned nurse, he has been based at Al-Nao Hospital in Omdurman for two years.

"Here, everyone does everything," he told AFP in front of the free pharmacy he runs with his comrades -- which they would shut down at the first sign of bombing to report as paramedics and trauma nurses.

He needs barely a nudge to recall his hardest moments, which seem to constantly run through his mind: the mother he spent two hours resuscitating who died in his arms; the 10-year-old who said she had a stomachache while her intestines spilled out; the hospital bombing that killed his friend.

And the February 2025 bombing at the busy Sabreen market, when the RSF killed at least 60 people and injured more than 150, according to the UN.

"The wounded came to us piled onto bulldozers. We couldn't tend to everyone. Anyone that could hold on for a few minutes was kept to the side, until we had a pool of blood so bad you couldn't walk."

He could never bring himself to leave, even to take his delayed exams. 

"Every second makes a difference. What if I leave and there's someone I could have saved?"

- Osama, the delivery hero -

Osama Ismail has spent most of the war on the street, braving gunfire and mortar shells to get medicine and food to those in need.

A slight 25-year-old quick on his feet, he eventually stopped fearing the front line.

"We got used to the bullets. Yes there's bombing, a rocket can fall behind you, gunfire ahead, but we have to deliver our stuff. That's the only thing that mattered."

Since December 2023, he has been in charge of distribution for Hoda Makki's community kitchen, one of the last still operating.

On the day of the Sabreen bombing, which he recalls with a thousand-yard stare, Ismail ran back and forth between the hospital and kitchen.

"We had to make emergency meals for the wounded and their families, and get blankets and anything else."

- Hoda, the cook -

Hoda Makki, 60, has had the same routine for three years: wake up at 2:00 am and cook a massive pot of food -- fava beans, lentils or rice and meat if donations were generous.

During the worst of the war when entire neighbourhoods were besieged, community kitchens like Makki's, called "takkaya", were the only thing preventing mass starvation.

"There were stray bullets and rockets everywhere; one hit my house right there," she told AFP, pointing to a missing chunk in the wall.

Asked how she kept going, she shrugged, adjusted her bright floral thobe and said: "People were hungry. They didn't have water. They didn't have anything. What else were we supposed to do?"

Now Khartoum is safer, but donations have dried up, and Makki has had to roll back to two days a week, feeding families unable to find work in a shattered economy.

- Ali, the undertaker -

Ali Gebbai, 38, is a mechanical engineer. But in the past three years, he estimates that he and his team shrouded and buried around 7,000 people.

As the fighting went street by street, they retrieved the dead. They would post a photo to social media in case loved ones saw it, wash the body according to Muslim custom, and bury the fallen.

"Even as rockets fell," he said in the narrow, chilled room that functions as a morgue.

On the day of the Sabreen bombing, they buried 54 bodies. Some "came in parts, just piles of flesh".

Also based at Al-Nao Hospital, Gebbai has a stiff upper lip, yet he raced to show AFP journalists photos on his phone -- the charred body of a newborn girl he buried -- as if desperate for someone else to react.

"We're from this neighbourhood. On the first day of the war, we came to the hospital and got to work," he told AFP.

"We started volunteering with the revolution," he said, proud of his roots in the resistance committees.

The neighbourhood groups organised pro-democracy protests against ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir, and then against both the army and RSF -- allies before they fell out in 2023.

"We're the revolutionaries against all this nonsense. We could leave tomorrow, but our country needs us. There's too much to do."

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump was rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night after shots were fired at the event.

The White House said Trump is unharmed and the person who fired the shots is in custody, but no further details were released.

The Center Square's White House Bureau Chief Sarah Roderick-Fitch was in attendance at the event and said she heard a loud noise before attendees started screaming. Secret Service agents then stormed the room and began escorting people out, Roderick-Fitch said.

Roderick-Fitch said she saw Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being escorted out as well. She also said members of Trump's Cabinet were taken to a safe area, but they are returning to the event.

Senior Congressional Correspondent for Scripps News Nathaniel Reed, posted on social media the White House pool report from Jeff Mordock that said “there was several loud bangs and the Secret Service with guns drawn rushed the pool out of the room.”

The event took place in the Washington, D.C. Hilton, less than 2 miles from the White House.

This is a developing story.

Mizzou track and field wrapped up the Drake Relays on Saturday with a handful of podium finishes.

Marlena Tresnjo set a new personal record in the high jump championship, taking home third with a height of six feet, zero inches. Trensjo’s mark tied the fifth best in Mizzou program history.

Petra Gombas placed third in the hammer throw with a new personal best of 194-0. Reagan Kimrey placed eighth in the same event at 181-1.

In the women’s javelin throw, Adrienne Russell ended the meet in third with a distance of 148-2. Fellow Tiger Marysa Flieg placed right behind her in fourth after a throw of 146-10. Val Gilligan earned fifth in the women’s javelin throw with a mark of 150-6. Morgan Cannon placed right behind her in sixth with a distance of 150-4.

Robert Hines finished third in the men’s 100-meter finals with a time of 10.55 seconds. The team of Lasse Funck, Dillon Leacock, Finn Russell and Carter Spradling took home bronze in the men’s distance medley relay at 9 minutes, 43.28 seconds.

In the men’s hammer throw championship, Sam Innes ended the event in fourth after throwing a distance of 225-4.

Mizzou will close out the regular season at the Rock Chalk Classic on Friday and Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Boston Red Sox on Saturday fired their World Series-winning head coach Alex Cora following a disappointing start to the Major League Baseball season.

Cora, who led Boston to glory in his debut season in 2018, departs with the Red Sox in last place in the American League East division with a 10-17 record.

Since Cora's victorious first season, the Red Sox -- one of Major League Baseball's most decorated sides -- have only reached the post-season on two occasions.

"Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude," said Red Sox principal owner John Henry.

"He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways."

"These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived."

Cora, 50, is the first Puerto Rican coach to win a World Series.

His tenure as Red Sox manager consisted of two stints.

He parted ways with Boston in January 2020 following his implication in a sign-sealing scandal during his previous role as Houston Astros bench coach.

Houston had used illicit technology including a video camera to pick up opposing catchers' signs to pitchers about what sort of ball would be thrown next to Astros batters.

Cora was re-hired by Boston when his MLB suspension ended in November 2020. The Red Sox then reached the American League Championship Series in 2021.

Despite the Red Sox's dire start to the season, Cora's sacking came just hours after a thumping 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Five other members of Cora's coaching team were also fired.

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Feet planted in the batter's box, Missouri outfielder Pierre Seals swung his bat. He slowly took a few steps towards first base, doing more watching than walking. He observed as the ball carried 435 feet and over the wall in deep left center.

“I knew I got it,” Seals said. “I was just trying to see how far it was going to go to be honest.”

With power in the bats and a dominant performance on the mound from Keyler Gonzalez, Mizzou baseball defeated No. 24 Arkansas 6-1 for the first time in over four years on Saturday. The win helped the Tigers avoid another series sweep and break a nine-game losing skid.

Mizzou also earned its first home Southeastern Conference win since May 10, 2024, against Auburn.

“We played good baseball,” Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson said.

The night before Mizzou showcased the capability of its offense, Jackson said that his team was “allergic to hits.” Game 2 of the series made it seem so, as Mizzou recorded just two hits and was shut out by the Razorbacks.

The series finale told a different story.

The Tigers had equaled their hit totals within the first two batters of the game and pounced for a three-run first. After leading off with hits from Jase Woita and Kam Durnin, Arkansas starter Colin Fisher walked Blaize Ward and hit Mateo Serna to plate the first run. The next two batters, Kaden Peer and Donovan Jordan, brought in two more runs on a fielder’s choice and an RBI groundout.

Following Seals’ home run in the second, Eric Maisonet nailed a solo shot of his own straight right in front of the scoreboard in left. Unlike Seals' homer, Maisonet’s barely eclipsed the wall for the third baseman’s third home run of the season.

“Eric’s got sneaky power,” Jackson said. “Right before he went to the plate, I told him ‘Hey man, catch a ball out front, hit it into the bullpen.’”

As Maisonet was rounding the basepaths, third base coach Jose Carballo pointed to Jackson and laughed. He hit it a bit to the right of the bullpen, but he did just that.

The Tigers performed better at the plate on Saturday, stringing together hits and making adjustments mid at-bat to bring runs home. Mizzou swatted eight hits and walked three times in the game.

Missouri also commanded the Razorbacks with strong pitching. Lefty Javyn Pimental was originally slated to start and make his second appearance since returning from injury, but he was shut down and ruled out for the finale. Mizzou pivoted to freshman righty JD Dohrmann, who was also recently injured and making his return after nearly a month of absence.

Dohrmann put Arkansas down in order in the first, but he was halted after a lead-off walk in the second. Pitching coach Drew Dickinson and Mizzou’s trainer made their way to the mound and opted to remove Dohrmann.

The Tigers then turned to righty Gonzalez for the long haul of the game. Inning after inning, Gonzalez came to the mound and kept Arkansas from scoring. He did it for five innings, only giving up two hits and striking out five to earn the win for the game.

“The little things mean a big deal to him and some of those things we take for granted,” Jackson said. “He takes nothing for granted.”

This was the Cuban-born pitcher’s second win of the week, as he officially became a citizen of the United States on Friday.

“It was a long process,” Gonzalez said. “But being able to become a U.S. citizen, it’s great. This country has given me everything, so I’m super happy and proud to be an American now.”

The momentum from Gonzalez’s shutout carried over to Juan Villarreal, who entered in the seventh and kept the shutout going until the ninth. He pitched three innings on the mound, striking out the side in the eighth.

He ran into trouble in the ninth, loading the bases and allowing one run to cross on a fielder’s choice to end the shutout. Sam Rosand came into the game and struck out the final batter to secure the win.

Mizzou (21-23, 4-17 SEC) will travel across the state to face Southeast Missouri State at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.

A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia killed 10 people and injured at least a dozen on Saturday, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month's presidential election.

Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department -- a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region -- on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country.

"Those who carried out this attack... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers," President Gustavo Petro said on X. 

"I want our very best soldiers to confront them," he added.

The leftist leader blamed the bombing on Ivan Mordisco, the South American country's most-wanted criminal, whom he has compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

The explosion Saturday left "10 dead and 12 seriously injured. However, the toll is expected to rise significantly," a local fire department official told AFP.

A police source said rescuers were searching for several missing people.

Cauca Governor Octavio Guzman shared a video on social media that showed victims on the ground and destroyed vehicles in the aftermath of the bombing.

Other social media posts detailed extensive damage and craters in the roadway, with witnesses claiming the blast was so strong that they were knocked back several meters.

- Political violence -

The violence came after a bomb attack Friday on a military base in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, injured two people and set off a string of attacks in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments.

According to military chief Hugo Lopez, 26 attacks have been recorded in the two departments over the past two days.

Authorities have boosted the military and police presence in the areas, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday.

Colombia has a history of armed groups -- which finance their operations through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion -- attempting to influence elections through violence.

FARC remnants who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government have been actively trying to disrupt stalled peace talks with Petro.

Security is one of the central issues of the May 31 presidential election. Political violence was brought into sharp focus last June, when young conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogota.

Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, an architect of Petro's controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is ahead in polls, trailed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.

All three have reported receiving death threats and are campaigning under heavy security.

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