Montenegro and North Macedonia will not compete in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest because of how much it will cost them to enter. Broadcasters pay a fee to take part in the competition but the amount differs depending on the size of the country. BBC News understands some countries have been asked to pay more after Russia was banned from the contest. Russia, a large financial contributor, was expelled from this year’s competition after it invaded Ukraine. “In addition to the significant costs of registration fees, as well as the cost of staying in Great Britain – we also faced a lack of interest from sponsors, so we decided to direct existing resources to the financing of current and planned national projects,” Montenegro’s public service broadcaster RTCG said.(BBC)…[+]

More than seven million Venezuelans have left their homeland since 2015 amid an ongoing economic and political crisis, according to new UN data. More than half of them face challenges accessing food, housing, and stable employment, the UN says. But despite the difficulties facing them abroad, the flow of Venezuelans escaping turmoil in their homeland has not let up. Aid agencies warn that these migrants risk being forgotten amid other crises. “There’s no question both that it is a major protracted crisis that is shaking the region [of Latin America],” David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, told the BBC. “But it is also clear that the competing priorities for global attention – Ukraine, famine in East Africa, trauma in Afghanistan – are draining attention in a way that is quite dangerous.”(BBC)…[+]

Russia has hit Ukraine with a wave of attacks, dive-bombing the capital, Kyiv, with what appear to be Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones. Critical infrastructure was hit in the Kyiv, Dnipro and Sumy regions, with electricity cut in hundreds of towns and villages, the government says. At least eight people were killed, four in Kyiv and four in Sumy. Calls have mounted for sanctions on Iran, which continues to deny supplying drones to the Russian military. A week ago, the Ukrainian capital was hit by Russian missiles at rush hour, part of nationwide attacks which left 19 dead. In the latest attack, starting at around 06:30 (03:30 GMT), 28 drones targeted the capital but only five hit targets, according to the Mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko. The city reverberated to the rattle of gunfire as anti-aircraft batteries frantically tried to shoot them down. Video on social media appeared to show one interception.(BBC)…[+]