Europe

MILAN, May 15 (Reuters) - Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups during the May 10 semi-final and Saturday final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, authorities said on Sunday.

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the contest with their entry "Stefania", riding a wave of public support to claim an emotional victory that was welcomed by the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. 

BUDAPEST, May 14 (Reuters) - Hungary's President Katalin Novak at her inauguration ceremony on Saturday condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said her first trip would take her to Poland, in an apparent gesture to mend relations with Warsaw.

Hungary's rejection of sending weapons shipments to neighbouring Ukraine and its opposition to a planned European Union embargo on Russian oil imports has weighed on relations between Budapest and Warsaw, whose two nationalist governments have been long-time allies in the EU.

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Russia has probably lost around a third of the ground forces it deployed to Ukraine and its offensive in the Donbas region "has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule", British military intelligence said on Sunday.

"Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition," the British defence ministry said on Twitter.

RUSKA LOZOVA, Ukraine, May 15 (Reuters) - The front lines in Ukraine had shifted on Sunday as Russia made advances in the fiercely contested eastern Donbas region and Ukraine's military waged a counteroffensive near the strategic Russian-held city of Izium.

Near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have been on the attack since early this month, commanders said they believed Russia had been withdrawing troops to reinforce positions around Izium to the south.

BUDAPEST, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's first female President Katalin Novak gave a message of hope and unity in her inauguration ceremony here on Saturday.

"In addition to the responses given to pandemics, security threats and economic challenges, I am hopeful that we shall still have strength for further constructions in the future," she said in front of the Parliament building.

Novak vowed to stand above party lines during her upcoming years in office.

BERLIN (AP) — Finland declared Sunday that it wants to join NATO, as a senior official with the western military alliance expressed hope that — with Russia’s military advance appearing to falter — Ukraine can win the war.

President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made the announcement that Finland would seek membership of NATO during a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The previously neutral Nordic country shares a long border with Russia.

“This is a historic day. A new era begins,” Niinisto said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faced a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and a defending country buoyed by its win in a hugely popular pan-European music competition Sunday.

Finland announced it would apply to join NATO, as top diplomats from the Western alliance, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, gathered Sunday in Berlin to discuss the war. Sweden’s governing party plans to announce its position on seeking NATO membership later Sunday.

Kyiv, May 15 (AP) Russian troops were withdrawing from around Ukraine's second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow's forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country's eastern industrial heartland.

Ukraine's military said the Russian forces were pulling back from the northeastern city of Kharkiv and focusing on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern province of Donetsk in order to deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.

Helsinki, May 14 (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his Finnish counterpart Saturday that relations between the two neighbours could be negatively affected" if Finland follows through with plans to apply for NATO membership.

The Kremlin's press service said in a statement that Putin told Sauli Niinisto Finland's abandonment of its traditional policy of military neutrality would be an error since there are no threats to Finland's security.

15 May 2022; MEMO: In response to Shireen Abu Aqleh's murder by Israeli sniper, protesters today held 55 paper press jackets outside the BBC headquarters in London to represent the 55 journalists killed by Israel since 2000.

This was just one of several powerful visual representations of the ongoing Nakba in today's march for Palestine in London, attended by 15,000 people.