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Eurovision Contestants 2015: Russia

Despite having a Facebook page against its participation in Eurovision, and also having been copiously expand=1] booed during last year’s event, Russia still went on and decided to participate in this year’s edition. Our guess is the audience really didn’t like the song, we don’t see any other reason. But still, how impolite and mean, even if you didn’t enjoy the performance.

This must also make this year’s Russian contestant, Polina Gagarina, feel extremely nervous. Knowing that millions of people, in Vienna and through their television screens, are likely to jeer at you, must be terrible. Poor Russia.

But maybe Gagarina's song “A Million Voices,” which is about “believing in a dream,” “praying for peace and healing,” and generally singing along all together, hand in hand in the sunshine, will make Europe’s spoilsports think twice before criticizing Russia’s performance.

Our vote:

Does it make you want to visit that country? 1.5/10

Was there enough glitter? 7/10

Ok to quit your day job? 1.25/10

OVERALL AVERAGE: 3.25/10

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Geopolitics

Why The World Still Needs U.S. Leadership — With An Assist From China

Twenty years of costly interventions and China's economic ascent have robbed the United States of its global supremacy. It is time for the two biggest powers to work together, to help the world.

Photograph of Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden walking side by side in the Filoli Estate in the U.S. state of California​

Nov. 15, 2023: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden take a walk after their talks in the Filoli Estate in the U.S. state of California

Xinhua/ZUMA
María Ángela Holguín*

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — The United States is facing a complex moment in its history, as it loses its privileged place in the world. Since the Second World War, it has been the world's preeminent power in economic and political terms, helping rebuild Europe after the war and through its growing economy, aiding the development of a significant part of the world.

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Its model of democracy, long considered exemplary around the world, has gone through a rough patch, thanks to excessive polarization and discord. This has cost it a good deal of its leadership, unity and authority.

How much authority does it have to chide certain countries on democracy, as it does, after such outlandish incidents as the assault on Congress in January 2021? The fights we have seen over electing a new speaker of the House of Representatives or backing the administration's foreign policy are simply incredible.

In Ukraine's case, President Biden failed to win support for the aid package for which he was hoping, even if there is a general understanding that if Russia wins this war, Europe's stability would be at risk. It would mean the victory of a longstanding enemy.

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