Author: staff
The ex-wife of Hungary’s opposition leader Péter Magyar has repeated accusations of domestic violence and blackmail against her former husband after a court hearing in Budapest.Judit Varga was the justice minister of Hungary for years and a close ally of Viktor Orbán. After their divorce, her ex-husband founded the opposition party Tisza, which is now leading Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in polls ahead of crucial parliamentary elections next year.Judit Varga was summoned to a court hearing as a witness in Budapest on Thursday related to a bribery case in her ministry, in which her former deputy is an accused. After the hearing,…
The fracas over these patrols has strong political implications, and could pile pressure on Tusk’s increasingly fragile centrist coalition. While the government is telling the vigilantes to go home, conservative nationalist President-elect Karol Nawrocki is praising them. “Only the Border Guard has the right to control our borders,” government spokesperson Adam Szłapka said after a hastily convened security meeting in Warsaw. “Anyone impersonating officers or hindering their work will face consequences.” Videos circulating online show masked men stopping cars, asking for identification and attempting so-called “citizen arrests” of those they suspect of illegal entry. Regional officials have warned the actions…
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 04/07/2025 – 17:58 GMT+2Russia is increasing its use of prohibited chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the World War I-era poison gas chloropicrin, Dutch and German intelligence agencies said on Friday.Dutch military intelligence and security service, together with the German intelligence service, found that the use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian military had become “standardised and commonplace” in Ukraine.According to the findings, the Russian military uses chloropicrin and riot control agent CS against sheltering Ukrainian soldiers, who are then forced out into the open and shot.Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for more sanctions against Moscow…
In a move sparking significant backlash, Russia became the first country in the world to recognise the Taliban as the ruling government of Afghanistan.”We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.The Taliban, an Islamist militant group, seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, toppling the Western-backed government. Neither the US nor the EU have formally recognised the group, and…
Reports of wolf attacks on livestock in France have risen over the past decade and a half, with more than 10,000 reported annual deaths in recent years. European lawmakers in May greenlit a proposal amending the European Union Habitats Directive, moving the wolf from the list of “strictly protected” to “protected” species. That makes it easier for farmers in the EU to shoot wolves that threaten their herds. The directive will enter into force on July 14, giving countries until January 2027 to implement the change in national law. The highly-political push was led by the conservative European People’s Party as part of a…
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 04/07/2025 – 16:21 GMT+2•Updated 16:28Family and friends of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva gathered on Friday at a church where their bodies had been brought for a wake and funeral, after the Portuguese football players were killed in a car crash in Spain.Some hugged and wept before entering the Capela da Ressurreição São Cosme, where the funeral for the siblings is planned to take place on Saturday.Jota, 28, and his 25-year-old brother were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain after the Lamborghini they were in crashed on an isolated stretch of highway…
Starmer’s team has been courting closer relations with Berlin since they were in opposition, particularly on defense and security, which was the focus of a separate agreement signed last October. An ally of the German chancellor said that he was keen to put a “personal face” on the U.K.- German relationship. However, the date of Merz’s excursion was subject to intense negotiations as officials were keen not to detract from Emmanuel Macron’s state visit, two people with knowledge of the process said. British Defense Secretary John Healey has already established a good relationship with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, as…
Europe has experienced over €790 billion in economic losses due to extreme weather and climate-related events from 1980 to 2023, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report. Germany suffered the highest total economic losses during this period, with costs amounting to €180 billion. It is followed by Italy, with costs mounting to €135 billion, France at €130 billion, and Spain, which suffered a loss of €97 billion due to such events. However, the picture changes slightly for the 21st century.Taking only losses occurring this century, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain are followed by a group of six EU…
While the last few years have been characterised by movie lovers rightfully moaning about superhero fatigue, there is another cinematic ailment that has also taken hold: dino-fatigue. Symptoms include dejected sighs triggered by recalling the lucrative but utterly pants 2015 – 2022 Jurassic World trilogy; the sudden urge to curse Colin Trevorrow’s name; and wanting to punch Chris Pratt in his perfect face every time you remember scenes of him holding up the palm of his hand to somehow communicate with raptors.It was high time for someone to step in and give the series the much-needed renaissance it deserved.Enter: Gareth…
National governments and lawmakers in the European Parliament are uniting in pushing against an intended withdrawal of a long-stalled proposal that seeks to crack down on discrimination in the workplace. Fourteen EU countries have sent a letter, dated July 1 and obtained by POLITICO, to Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s equality commissioner, urging the European Commission to reconsider its decision to axe the equal treatment directive. The EU executive in February proposed to withdraw the 2008 bill aimed at extending protection against discrimination in the workplace on grounds such as race, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation after 17 years of…