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Belinda Carlisle was unsure whether she wanted to return to music before

The tragic reality of Russia’s bloody war on Ukraine took centre stage in a rather unusual setting recently – the Eurovision song contest. The embattled nation was supposed to host the event but due to the ongoing and deadly conflict, it was relocated to Liverpool. Ukrainian performers not only attended the ever-popular show but made sure to use the opportunity to spread their message to the huge TV audience. Among them was Kyiv rapper Otoy, who lost his own brother on the frontline. The 24-year-old, whose real name is Vyacheslav Drofa, performed at Eurovision alongside other Ukrainian musicians, bringing awareness of the atrocities of the invasion to millions. He described the “adrenaline and emotion” coursing through his body as he took to the stage earlier this month, telling The Independent: “I have never felt such a level of solidarity and support for the Ukrainian people as I did in Liverpool. “That level of understanding and emotion at Eurovision – it was crazy. Everybody was with you and your country. It felt like, ‘We support you because you are going through hell’.” Otoy is no stranger to that hell, having received tragic news in March that a body discovered in Ukraine was his brother, who had gone missing the previous April while defending besieged Mariupol. “I don’t even know what I felt,” said Otoy. “When you’re hoping for a year that he’s alive and can’t find anything, then realise his body is in Kyiv and you should identify it. “In fact, this isn’t even a body – it’s a head, a bit of a leg, part of a hand, little bits of bones. We could only identify him through his teeth. It feels really bad, the worst emotions I had in my life actually.” The rapper’s music reflects his fury and he accuses Russia of trying to “destroy” Ukraine and its culture. “I feel a lot of anger inside of me because of the things the Russians are doing,” he said. “They already crossed all the red lines, there’s no way back, we should fight till the end. “If we stop now then give it 10 years and they’ll come back with a bigger army and then they’ll invade Poland, which is a member of Nato. We’re fighting a worldwide evil. “The reason we’re doing it is we are really tired of that Russian b******t – trying to destroy Ukraine, our culture, our musicians.” Not only has the 24-year-old tackled the war through his music, he volunteered on the frontline last summer by salvaging the bodies of dead soldiers and bringing them back to their families. He is also fundraising to provide military supplies to Ukrainian soldiers for the country’s planned counteroffensive. His day job is in IT, working as a UX director at a company that created RSFY, a mobile tracker of Russian army losses. The company also developed the app TacticMedAid, which provides medical instructions for people if they input their symptoms after getting injured. Otoy juggles all of these roles during Moscow’s frequent attacks on the Ukrainian capital. “It feels like a surreal dream I live in,” he said. “Every time when there’s some air or rocket attacks, or shelling, it feels like this type of nightmare. I think, give me a couple of minutes, then everything will be OK – but I never wake up because that has continued for more than a year.” He is hopeful the war will come to an end his year but says the road to recovery after that will not be easy. “It will be a hard time – receiving bodies back, lots of funerals, lots of rebuilding cities, people returning to their houses and realising there’s no home because it will have been destroyed,” he said. “After the war, I don’t know what people will do with their emotions, I’m really scared of this.” Otoy said he will continue to make music and apps when the conflict is over, and had nothing but praise for his countrymen and women as they continue to fight against Putin’s forces. “The only thing that helps me feel alive and some kind of emotions is the process of making music and to know that millions of Ukrainians will use the IT applications I work on,” he said. “Those are two things I’ll be doing until the end of my days. “I’m feeling proud about Ukrainians. People are staying in their country, for their homeland, until the end, until their last breath.” Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Don’t turn a blind eye to Putin’s invasion, Zelensky warns Arab leaders Britain says Russia will ‘pay the price’ for Ukraine invasion as fresh wave of sanctions unveiled Ukraine's president begins visit to Saudi Arabia, aims to enhance ties with Arab world The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The majority of Thais are concerned the nation’s next prime minister won’t hail from the Move Forward Party,

The F-16 jets that the Ukrainian military is touting as a potential gamechanger in its conflict with Russia

The historic impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plunged Republicans on Sunday into a fight over whether to banish one of their own in America's biggest red state after years of scandal and criminal accusations that will now be at the center of a trial in the state Senate. Paxton said he has “full confidence” as he awaits judgement from the Senate, where his conservative allies include his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who has not said whether she will recuse herself from the proceedings to determine whether her husband will be permanently removed from office. For now, Texas' three-term attorney general is immediately suspended after the state House of Representatives on Saturday impeached Paxton on 20 articles that included bribery and abuse of public trust. The decisive 121-23 vote amounted to a clear rebuke from the GOP-controlled chamber after nearly a decade of Republican lawmakers taking a mostly muted stance on Paxton's alleged misdeeds, which include felony securities fraud charges from 2015 and an ongoing FBI investigation into corruption accusations. He is just the third sitting official in Texas' nearly 200-year history to have been impeached. "No one person should be above the law, least not the top law officer of the state of Texas,” said Republican state Rep. David Spiller, who was part of a House investigative committee that this week revealed it had quietly been looking into Paxton for months. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has remained silent about Paxton all week , including after Saturday's impeachment. Abbott, who was the state's attorney general prior to Paxton's taking the job in 2015, has the power to appoint a temporary replacement pending the outcome in the Senate trial. It is not year clear when the Senate trial will take place. Final removal of Paxton would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republican members are generally aligned with the party's hard right. The Senate is led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has served as state chairman for former President Donald Trump's campaigns in Texas. Before the vote Saturday, Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to Paxton’s defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process “a travesty” and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts. “Free Ken Paxton,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, warning that if House Republicans proceeded with the impeachment, “I will fight you.” Paxton, 60, decried the outcome in the House moments after scores of his fellow partisans voted for impeachment. His office pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing. “The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just,” Paxton said. "It was a politically motivated sham from the beginning.” Lawmakers allied with Paxton tried to discredit the investigation by noting that hired investigators, not panel members, interviewed witnesses. They also said several of the investigators had voted in Democratic primaries, tainting the impeachment, and that Republican legislators had too little time to review evidence. “I perceive it could be political weaponization,” Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the House’s most conservative members, said before the vote. Republican Rep. John Smithee compared the proceeding to "a Saturday mob out for an afternoon lynching.” Rice University political science professor Mark P. Jones said the swift move to impeach kept Paxton from rallying significant support and allowed quietly frustrated Republicans to come together. “If you ask most Republicans privately, they feel Paxton is an embarrassment. But most were too afraid of the base to oppose him,” Jones said. By voting as a large bloc, he added, the lawmakers gained political cover. To Paxton’s longstanding detractors, however, the rebuke was years overdue. In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law, and a year later was indicted on securities fraud charges in his hometown near Dallas, accused of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He pleaded not guilty to two felony counts carrying a potential sentence of five to 99 years. He opened a legal defense fund and accepted $100,000 from an executive whose company was under investigation by Paxton’s office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but soon was fired after displaying child pornography in a meeting. In 2020, Paxton intervened in a Colorado mountain community where a Texas donor and college classmate faced removal from his lakeside home under coronavirus orders. But what ultimately unleased the impeachment push was Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. In 2020, eight top aides told the FBI they were concerned Paxton was misusing his office to help Paul over the developer's unproven claims about an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties. The FBI searched Paul’s home in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Paxton also told staff members he had an affair with a woman who, it later emerged, worked for Paul. The impeachment accuses Paxton of attempting to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions to benefit Paul. The bribery charges included in the impeachment allege Paul employed the woman with whom Paxton had an affair in exchange for legal help and that he paid for expensive renovations to the attorney general's home. A senior lawyer for Paxton’s office, Chris Hilton, said Friday that the attorney general paid for all repairs and renovations. Other charges, including lying to investigators, date back to Paxton’s still-pending securities fraud indictment. Four aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said the probe was sparked by Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout. “But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said. ___ Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse AP News Digest 3 a.m. Texas' GOP-held House set for impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton

When Johnny Depp made his return to the red carpet last week, premiering a costume drama at the

Misinformation about measures taken to tackle cholera outbreaks has led to violent protests.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy compromised on bitterly contested disputes over federal spending and assistance

Atlanta United and Orlando City battled for a 1-1 draw Saturday night.

Getting a US debt-limit deal is one thing. Overcoming entrenched political divisions and time-consuming procedural hurdles to pass

White House and Republican negotiators reached a tentative deal to raise the US debt ceiling and avert a

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative agreement to avert a catastrophic and unprecedented default on America’s sovereign debt, ending a monthlong standoff that threatened the US and global economies. The White House said Mr Biden and Mr McCarthy spoke by phone for roughly 90 minutes late Saturday. The president also spoke with Democratic congressional leaders as the talks between the White House and the Republicans who control the House of Representatives entered final stages after days of back-and-forth over GOP demands to add work requirements for food assistance and other programs meant to help lower-income Americans. One source familiar with the matter described the president and the House Speaker as having come to an “agreement in principle” that would limit federal spending while raising the nation’s statutory debt limit by an amount large enough to keep the issue off the table through the November 2024 general election. More follows...