Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Saturday evening to protest a controversial "foreign influence" bill backed by the government.

Protesters marched to the capital's Europe Square holding Georgian and EU flags, chanting “no to the Russian law”.

The law would target civil society organisations and independent media that receive foreign funding.

Massive rallies have gripped the Black Sea Caucasus country for nearly a month after the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced the bill.

Despite a campaign of intimidation ahead of Saturday's rally - in which dozens of NGO workers, activists and opposition politicians received threats or were physically assaulted - protesters turned up in their thousands undeterred by the pouring rain.

Opposition parties say the bill - coined "Russian law" after Russia's passing of similar legislation in 2012 - will be used by the government to clamp down on dissent.

The US has said the bill threatens free speech.

In neighbouring Russia, the law has since been used to marginalise voices challenging the Kremlin - including prominent cultural figures, media organisations and civil society groups.

Many Georgians in the rally do not want Russia's authoritarian-style leadership crossing into their country.

"We don't need to return to the Soviet Union," 38-year-old Georgian-language teacher Lela Tsiklauri, said.

"We are protecting our European future and our freedom," said another protester, Mariam Meunrgia, 39, who works for a German company.

The law, if passed, could harm Georgia's attempt to join the EU, which has given it candidate status.

On Friday, foreign ministers of Nordic and Baltic states issued a joint statement urging the government in Tbilisi to reconsider the bill

Last week, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Georgian people want a "European future".

"Georgia is at a crossroads. It should stay the course on the road to Europe," she posted on X.

But the Georgian Dream government has defended the bill, saying it will "boost transparency" over NGOs' foreign funding. It aims to sign the measure into law by mid-May.

If adopted, the law would require that any independent NGO and media organisation receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as an "organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power".

But the protesters fear it could be used to crush critical voices ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.

The bill cleared its second parliamentary stage by a margin of 83 votes to 23. After a third reading, it has to be signed by President Salome Zurabishvili, who has vowed to veto it - although Georgian Dream has sufficient numbers in parliament to overrule her.

In 2023, mass street protests forced Georgian Dream to drop plans for similar measures.

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Chinese people not only turned up in strength to welcome their President Xi Jinping who arrived for a state visit to Budapest on May 8 evening but also harassed and bullied Tibet protesters and others as well while the country’s police joined force with them, according to various media reports.

Tímea Szabó, co-chairman of the opposition party Párbeszéd, hung a Tibetan flag from his window on May 8 and within minutes received threats from the Speaker of the Hungarian House of Representatives László Kövér and the secret service, reported dailynewshungary.com May 9.

Before the arrival of Xi for a ceremonial welcome on May 9, Tibor Hendrey, president of the Tibet Aid Society (Tibeti Segítő Társaság), stretched the Tibetan flag on the cross fence in Gellért Hill. However, within minutes Chinese activists covered it with the Chinese flag.

The report cited Hendrey as saying later that he was searched by police three times that day. The report also cited witnesses as saying the police only looked for Hungarians at the scene, and no Chinese at all.

Pro-China activists waved at least 16 Chinese flags to hide from view Tibetan flags the protesters were holding, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org May 9.

Also, Tibetan protesters tried to hoist a “Free Tibet” banner along with the Tibetan flag on the Elizabeth Bridge, under which Xi’s motorcade would have had to pass on its way to the presidential palace in Budapest on May 9 morning. But the Chinese activists disrupted them again, the report said.

“These guys just came and ripped our banner, and they are still allowed to be here, pushing us further and further out,” Chime Lhamo, campaigns director of Students for Free Tibet, has told journalists on the street. “Is this a free country?”

Hungarian police standing nearby did not intervene, the report added.

After the street encounter, the protesters were followed by what appeared to be about eight undercover police officers on their way to the Budapest airport, one of them has said.

In fact, “over the last few days, we were followed, harassed and intimidated by undercover Hungarian police, as well as Chinese people and police everywhere in the city,” Tenzin Yangzom from the International Tibet Network has said. “Everywhere in the city is swarmed by them.”

"We had come here to peacefully protest Xi’s genocidal policies in Tibet, East Turkistan, Hong Kong and beyond and the treatment of Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and Chinese people,” she has added.

Márton Tompos, vice-president of the opposition party Momentum, wanted to place the EU flag at the Elisabeth Bridge in Budapest but was prevented by Chinese volunteers wearing red caps working for their embassy. He was even asked which flags he wanted to put up and why, said the dailynewshungary.com report.

It appears that no flags other than those of China will be displayed in Budapest while Xi is in town, the report added.

“Budapest is full of Chinese volunteer gendarmes wearing red caps to protect Xi Jinping, known as Winnie the Pooh, from the ‘unfriendly’ Tibetan and Taiwanese flags,” Tompos was stated to have written in a video post.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary and the two countries have decided to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era during Xi’s meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Frequently at loggerheads with the EU, Orban has been advocating an “Eastern opening” foreign policy since his return to power in 2010, seeking closer economic ties with China, Russia and other Asian countries.

Beijing has invested billions in Hungary and sees the EU member as an important foothold inside the 27-member trading bloc. In December, Hungary announced that one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, China’s BYD, will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country — an inroad that could upend the competitiveness of the continent’s auto industry, noted the AP May 9.

The state visit to Hungary is the last leg of Xi’s current European tour after France and Serbia, his first since 2019.

His visit to France, marking 60th year of establishing diplomatic relations, was cordial but also highlighted tensions between Beijing and the EU over the war in Ukraine and global trade.

His visit to non-EU, non-NATO member Serbia, known for its stanch alliance with Russia, took place on the 25th anniversary of NATO’s accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy at Belgrade during the Yugoslavia conflict, which Xi said his country will never forget despite the issue being settled with payment of compensations.

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Leading members of the German Bundestag from the CDU, FDP and Greens are considering the possibility of protecting parts of the airspace over Ukraine from NATO territory with Western air defense.

The example of Israel, where air defense units from the US, Great Britain, France and other countries repelled an Iranian air attack in April, shows that participating states do not necessarily have to become "the war party", they argue.

The idea have been put forward by military experts like Nico Lange from the Munich Security Conference. In Lange's view, this could create a "safe zone of up to 70 kilometres wide" on Ukraine's borders to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Roderich Kiesewetter German from the conservative party CDU told the German paper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" that such a deployment at the eastern border of NATO could shoot down 'unmanned Russian missiles' over Ukraine", relieving the Ukrainian air defense and enable it to "protect the front", he says.

Marcus Faber of the ruling party FDP, who is supposed to be the future head of the defense committee, also noted that "the airspace over the Ukrainian border regions" could in principle be protected "by air defense systems on NATO territory".

"I think that this is possible," said Faber.

Agnieszka Brugger from the ruling Green party also supported the idea of "deploying air defense systems at the borders of the neighbouring states so that the western parts of Ukraine can also be protected". Anton Hofreiter from the Green party and chairman of the European Committee shares Brugger's view, according to the paper.

The advisory, which also includes French, Canadian and British authorities, says that pro-Russia activists are “targeting and compromising” operational technology platforms that underpin wastewater and water treatment systems, at times posing physical threats to safety.

The NSA, FBI, Department of Energy and Department of Agriculture were also included in the notice.

According to the advisory, this malicious activity "has been observed since 2022 and as recently as April 2024.”

The alert says that water operators are employing poor security standards that have allowed the hackers to breach their networks, including the use of default passwords that are included when the water system management tools are first installed.

The hackers have “manipulated [human-machine interfaces], causing water pumps and blower equipment to exceed their normal operating parameters. In each case, the hacktivists maxed out set points, altered other settings, turned off alarm mechanisms, and changed administrative passwords” to lock real users out of their wastewater treatment systems, it later adds.

Private sector research from mid-April linked a breach of a water facility near the Texas-New Mexico border and marked the first known case where Russian hackers targeted U.S. water facilities.

The research, conducted by Google-owned Mandiant, said the hackers were a possible activist unit of Sandworm, an operation tied to Russia’s military intelligence directorate.

CISA executive director of cybersecurity Eric Goldstein said the U.S. was not linking activity outlined in the advisory to Sandworm or affiliated operatives, though later said that the groups are acting in support of the Kremlin. He declined to name any specific groups.

Russia’s state-centered economy allows Moscow to easily steamroll contracts for military and intelligence operations. A leak last year revealed the intricacies of this relationship, showing a vast network of military consultants working on behalf of the Kremlin, including Sandworm.

The Environmental Protection Agency and National Security Council in March urged states to stay alert for Iranian and Chinese cyber threats targeting water sector infrastructure. “Drinking water and wastewater systems are an attractive target for cyberattacks because they are a lifeline critical infrastructure sector but often lack the resources and technical capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices,” their missive to states said.

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Security researchers at Insikt Group identified a malign influence network, CopyCop, skillfully leveraging inauthentic media outlets in the US, UK, and France. This network is suspected to be operated from Russia and is likely aligned with the Russian government. CopyCop extensively used generative AI to plagiarize and modify content from legitimate media sources to tailor political messages with specific biases. This included content critical of Western policies and supportive of Russian perspectives on international issues like the Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas tensions.

CopyCop’s operation involves a calculated use of large language models (LLMs) to plagiarize, translate, and edit content from legitimate mainstream media outlets. By employing prompt engineering techniques, the network tailors this content to resonate with specific audiences, injecting political bias that aligns with its strategic objectives. In recent weeks, alongside its AI-generated content, CopyCop has begun to gain traction by posting targeted, human-produced content that engages deeply with its audience.

The content disseminated by CopyCop spans divisive domestic issues, including perspectives on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine presented in a pro-Russian light and critical viewpoints of Israeli military operations in Gaza. It also includes narratives that influence the political landscape in the US, notably by supporting Republican candidates while disparaging House and Senate Democrats, as well as critiquing the Biden administration’s policies.

The infrastructure supporting CopyCop has strong ties to the disinformation outlet DCWeekly, managed by John Mark Dougan, a US citizen who fled to Russia in 2016. The content from CopyCop is also amplified by well-known Russian state-sponsored actors such as Doppelgänger and Portal Kombat. Also, it boosts material from other Russian influence operations like the Foundation to Battle Injustice and InfoRos, suggesting a highly coordinated effort.

This use of generative AI to create and disseminate content at scale introduces significant challenges for those tasked with safeguarding elections. The sophisticated narratives, tailored to stir specific political sentiments, make it increasingly difficult for public officials to counteract the rapid spread of these false narratives effectively.

Public-sector organizations are urged to heighten awareness around threat actors like CopyCop and the risks posed by AI-generated disinformation. Legitimate media outlets also face risks, as their content may be plagiarized and weaponized to support adversarial state narratives, potentially damaging their credibility.

The Hungarian government's invitation to Chinese police officers to patrol in Hungary poses a threat to European security and in particular the freedoms of Europe's Chinese diaspora.

The Commission must urgently assess whether the foreign police activity aligns with the EU's standards for the rule of law, security and protection of minorities, Renew Europe state ahead of today’s debate in the European Parliament, held upon the request of our group. As the Chinese Communist party has a track record of surveiling its citizens abroad, Renew Europe MEPs fear that the authorities in Beijing will use the occasion to keep tabs on their diaspora living in Europe in an attempt to silence dissidents. The Hungarian government must clarify what role they will have and which powers they will possess.

"While the EU has started to address the threat of authoritarian interference— it remains blind to interference originating from our very own authoritarian member states. The fact that Chinese police officers will soon begin patrolling in Hungary is foreign meddling in EU affairs, and a significant risk to EU security. The Commission must have a forceful answer", says Katalin Cseh, a member of the European Parliament from Hungary's Momentum, a centre-right party in Hungary.

Klein was at the location, and even took part in the opening portion of the dress rehearsal. Israeli-born Luxembourg contestant Tali Golergant performed fourth during Friday's rehearsal in Malmo, Sweden. Klein was supposed to take part after, but the EBU moved on to the next contestant, Israeli Eden Golan. As time went on, rumors began to circulate that Klein was blocked from taking part in the rehersal on Friday afternoon either because of a brief incident with Golan during the press conference after the Thursday semi-final, another momentary confrontation with her entourage on Friday, or an unrelated problem back stage.

The EBU has been criticized over Golan's participation, with protestors saying that it was an attempt to use culture to distract people from Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in extensive civilian casualties and vast destruction. A Polish journalist raised the issue during the press conference that immediately followed the semi-final, asking Golan, "Have you ever thought that by being here, you bring risk and danger for other participants and [the] public?"

The host of the media event, Swedish journalist Jovan Radomir, told Golan she did not have to answer the question. "Why not?" exclaimed Klein? He had a Dutch flag wrapped around his head at the moment, as Golan defended her participation in the competition and safety and security at the event.

But sources told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that Klein's Friday afternoon suspension was due to a different incident. Another video surfaced from Israeli television personality Dov Gil-Har, where he was accused of trying to pester Klein to provoke a response. He posted a video he shot of himself backstage, shouting, "Mr. Klein, where were you? We missed you on stage?"

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Russia’s jamming of GPS signals marks a shift in its non-conventional attacks against the Baltic states, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Friday.

“They [Russia] are moving from the cyber domain, disinformation domain, towards a more physical one which affects airplanes, daily lives of people in our region,” he said in a joint news conference with his new Latvian counterpart Baiba Braže in Vilnius.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania warned last month that Russia’s jamming of GPS signal was increasing the threat of aviation incidents.

Estonia on Wednesday summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires to protest the jamming of GPS signals which led to disruptions in Tartu Airport.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry said in a press release that it “has caused serious damage to air traffic in our region, the clearest example of which is the suspension of flights between Helsinki and Tartu”.

Braže told the news conference in Vilnius that “it’s not a new phenomenon but it leaves a certain sort of consequence that is worrying”.

Landsbergis called for sanctions on those responsible for these actions, adding that “it is also very important to send a message to Moscow that they are not operating in a grey zone”.

“If they expect us to be silent, if they expect us to be quiet about the things that are happening, they are definitely not going to get that. We see, we know, and we act against it,” Lithuania’s foreign minister said.

This week, several European countries summoned Russia’s diplomats over hybrid and cyber-attacks orchestrated by Moscow or groups linked to it.

Jenny Mathers, a specialist in Russian intelligence services at Aberystwyth University in Wales, said there has been a notable increase in the number and intensity of Russia-linked incidents for the past year, adding that “we are likely to see an acceleration of this trend".

Larger infrastructure networks have been targeted too. Last month, Czech authorities accused Russia of having made “thousands” of hacking attempts to sabotage European railway systems and their ability to transport Western arms and material to Ukraine. According to the country’s transport minister, the campaign began shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has included attacks on signalling and ticketing systems.

Kevin Riehle, an intelligence and security expert at Brunel University in London, said that one of the reasons for the presumed Russian sabotage is that Moscow already sees itself as being at war with the West.

Daniel Lomas, an expert in intelligence services at the University of Nottingham, said the timing for Russia to put pressure on the West in this manner is opportune too, especially as a certain war fatigue – evident in the US's long-delayed aid package for Ukraine earlier this year – has begun to set in. On top of that, Russian attacks on European soil are “an opportunity to sow more divisions” in the West, he said.

The attacks also serve a strategic purpose in Ukraine, in the sense that Russia is trying to coordinate the wider sabotage campaign with its push on the ground in a bid to create a greater military advantage, Mathers said.

“There is a psychological impact [on the West], but also a material one [for Ukraine],” she said, referring to the fact that most of the targets are either ammunition depots intended for the Ukrainian army or infrastructures in the supply and delivery chain, such as rail networks or airports.

Lomas agreed. "One of their key priorities is to stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine."

The United States overtook China as Germany's most important trading partner in the first quarter of this year, according to Reuters' calculations based on official data from the German statistics office.

Germany's trade with the United States - exports and imports combined - totalled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) from January to March, while the figure for China was just under 60 billion euros, the data showed.

In 2023, China was Germany's top trading partner for the eighth year in a row, with volumes reaching 253 billion euros, although that was only a few hundred million ahead of the U.S.

"German exports to the U.S. have now risen further due to the robust economy there, while both exports to and imports from China have fallen," said Commerzbank economist Vincent Stamer, explaining the first quarter shift.

Structural reasons are also a factor, he said.

"China has moved up the value chain ladder and is increasingly producing more complex goods itself, which it used to import from Germany," said Stamer. "In addition, German companies are increasingly producing locally instead of exporting goods from Germany to China."

Germany has said it wants to reduce its exposure to China, citing political differences and accusing Beijing in its first China strategy announcement last year of "unfair practises". But Berlin has been vague on policy steps to reduce dependencies.

German imports of goods from China fell almost 12% year-on-year in the first quarter, while exports of goods to China fell just over 1%, said Juergen Matthes, from German economic institute IW.

"The fact that the Chinese economy is performing worse than many had hoped, while the U.S. economy is exceeding expectations, is presumably contributing to this," said Matthes.

The U.S. now accounts for around 10% of German goods exports. China's share has fallen to less than 6%, Matthes said.

"With a clear global economic headwind for the German economic model, a reorientation - also geopolitically motivated - seems to be taking place: away from system rival China and towards transatlantic partner U.S.," he added. It is unclear, however, whether this will continue.

"If the White House administration changes after the U.S. elections in November and moves more in the direction of closing off markets, this process could come to a standstill," said Dirk Jandura, president of the BGA trade association.

The European Central Bank will “most likely” lower borrowing costs when it meets in June — should the outlook for consumer prices be confirmed by fresh quarterly forecasts, Executive Board member Frank Elderson said.

“This is a projection meeting so we will look at projections,” he told Bloomberg in Rome on Friday. “If these projections were to solidify the confidence levels that we see today, I think that we will most likely take a step.”

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A Belgian broadcaster interrupted its coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final on Thursday night to display a protest message condemning Israel's war on Gaza. In an act organised by a trade union, the screen briefly went black ahead of the semi-final coverage on VRT, Belgium's public-service broadcaster in Flemish.

It then aired the message: "This is a union action. We condemn the human rights violations by the state of Israel. Moreover, the state of Israel destroys press freedom. Therefore, we are interrupting the broadcast momentarily."

The message concluded with the hashtags "CeasefireNow" and "StopGenocide".

A spokesperson for VRT told Belgian media that the broadcaster was aware the action would take place. "We were informed that it would happen. Trade unions have the right to take action and do not need permission for it. I can only confirm that we have taken note of the action," said spokesperson Yasmine Van der Borght.

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The European Chamber of Commerce in China said in the latest edition of its Business Confidence Survey that the outlook for doing business in China was also at its lowest in the report’s 20-year history, with over a quarter of respondents pessimistic about their current growth potential and 44% downbeat over future prospects.

With China’s economy facing headwinds and President Xi Jinping urging self-reliance and for officials to push on with a production-focused, debt driven development model despite pushback from the West, foreign firms are feeling less welcome than before.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Xi on Monday to ensure more balanced trade with Europe, but the Chinese leader showed little sign of being ready to offer major concessions while in Paris.

BASF, Maersk, Siemens and Volkswagen are among the members of the chamber.

Just 13% of firms said they currently see China as a top investment destination, the chamber said, down from 16% in 2023 and far lower than during the pandemic, when Beijing’s strict zero-COVID regime saw that figure fall from one-fifth to 17% in 2019, 19% in 2020, 27% in 2021 and 21% during 2022, the year the curbs were finally lifted.

"The lifting of pandemic-related control measures initially provided companies with a sense of optimism,” the chamber said. “However, it soon become evident there would be no rapid recovery.”

“China’s deeper structural issues – including sluggish demand, high levels of government debt and the continued challenges in the real estate sector – were going to continue affecting the prospects of both domestic and foreign companies,” the chamber added.

The pandemic and a property crisis have laid bare the limits of China’s development model, analysts say. And as China’s investment-consumption imbalance is deeper than that of Japan in the 1980s – before its infamous “lost decades” – the economy risks slowing to such an extent that it feels like it is in recession.

European firms are feeling the pinch, the chamber said, with the number of companies reporting revenue increases also at its lowest on record. In tandem, close to 40% of respondents said China’s ailing economy was their biggest business challenge, with a slowing global economy coming in a distant second at 15%.

“Companies are continuing to shift investments that were originally planned for China to alternative markets that are perceived to be more predictable, reliable and transparent,” the chamber said.

“As investment decisions are made in cycles and are not taken lightly, reversing them will not be possible overnight.”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Eurovision 2024 host city Malmo on Thursday to protest Israel's participation in the song contest ahead of this year's second semi-final.

The Eurovision Song Contest was mired in further controversy on Wednesday when the Israeli contestant's dress rehearsal performance was met with boos and shouts of "Free Palestine" from the audience.

"Easily the most booing I've ever heard at #Eurovision but no major disruptions of Israel at the first show with a crowd," journalist Ben Rothenberg posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"Eurovision ignored public backlash and outrage from other musicians over Israel being allowed to perform at Eurovision while it continues its genocidal slaughter in Gaza," posted another user alongside a clip from the show.

The defence attache, named as Colonel Maxim Elovik, appears to have been in the UK since at least 2014.

The Russian embassy in London said restrictions had been imposed under a "groundless and ridiculous pretext".

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Cleverly told MPs: "Today, in conjunction with the foreign secretary, I am announcing a package of measures to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.

"I can tell the House that we will expel the Russian defence attache, who is an undeclared military intelligence officer."

The Commons was told new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas would be introduced, including a cap on the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK.

The tougher measures were the latest step in response to a "pattern of alleged Russian malign activity across the UK and Europe" in a bid to "target and dismantle Russian intelligence-gathering operations", the Home Office said.

It comes after five people were charged over conspiring to commit espionage activities in the UK on behalf of Russia under the National Security Act, the first prosecutions of this kind under the new laws.

Prior to his posting in London, Colonel Elovik served as an assistant military attache at Russia's embassy in Washington DC.

Mr Cleverly said that in the coming days, Moscow would make accusations of "Russophobia" while spreading "conspiracy theories and hysteria".

"This is not new and the British people and the British Government will not fall for it, and will not be taken for fools by Putin's bots, trolls and lackeys," he added.

He said diplomatic premises status from "several Russian-owned properties in the UK", including Seacox Heath house, a Russian-owned property in Sussex, and the trade and defence section in Highgate, will be removed.

"We believe [they] have been used for intelligence purposes," he said.

Russian state news agency TASS reported that the Russian embassy in London was promising "an appropriate response" to the accusations.

"We always make sure that we protect our ability to have lines of communication with Russia, even during these most challenging of times, routes for de-escalation, of error avoidance and the avoidance of miscalculations are really important," Mr Cleverly said.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour "wholeheartedly" supported the move, telling MPs: "We echo the home secretary's strong condemnation of Russian interference and hostile activity here in the UK and throughout Europe.

"Repeatedly, we have seen a brazen disregard by Russia for the rule of law, for the UK, for our allies, for our domestic security."

Conservative former minister Rehman Chishti questioned if the UK would bring in legislation to seize Russian assets, adding: "It's absolutely crucial we do everything we can to cut off Putin's finances and make sure that he pays for the reconstruction of Ukraine."

Mr Cleverly replied: "We have absolutely made it clear, we will be incredibly imaginative, we will work hard to ensure that the regime and the people that have funded the brutal attack on Ukraine are also those that fund the rebuilding of Ukraine, and we work with our international partners to make that a reality."