Author: staff

Published on 13/04/2026 – 13:37 GMT+2•Updated 14:15 The Budapest Stock Exchange jumped over 3% to a record high of more than 136,000 points on Monday as markets priced in the end of 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s time in power and the potential return of Hungary to a more mainstream European path. Increased investor appetite pushed the country’s largest listed companies, including OTP Bank, MOL, Richter, and Magyar Telekom to gain between 2%-5% by 1 p.m. CET. The move contrasts with broader European markets, which are trading lower, digesting the failure of US-Iran negotiations over the weekend with no indication…

More than 500 delegates from 32 countries gathered at a space technology conference in Uzbekistan this week, highlighting how satellite technologies are being applied to agriculture, water management and environmental monitoring across Central Eurasia. As the global space economy approaches a projected $1tn (€880bn) by 2030, countries across the region are increasingly using space not as a domain of competition but as a practical tool for cooperation. Satellite technologies are already being applied to shared regional challenges, including food security, water management, environmental monitoring and digital connectivity, according to participants and companies involved in regional space programmes. The findings reflect…

Unless you’re visiting a major city for your holidays, the last leg can be the worst of the whole journey. When you emerge from a busy airport, tired from your flight, the last thing you need is to try and figure out how to use local public transport. As a result, many holidaymakers rely on hotel shuttles, taxis or rideshares for the final miles of their trip. While this is often convenient, it’s typically expensive and comes at a high carbon cost. Taking the train can be a more pleasant, affordable, and environmentally sound option. In some cases it is…

Published on 13/04/2026 – 13:11 GMT+2 “What House Are You From?” This is the question posed by the Portuguese-Spanish artist and director Ana Pérez-Quiroga, who gives her name to the documentary that centres on her mother, Angelita. Taken from Spain to the then Soviet Union as a child, as a refugee from the Spanish Civil War, she ended up leaving one conflict and encountering another: the Second World War. Estranged from her family and her home country, she only returned to Spain as an adult, trained in medicine, after Stalin’s death. Between the ages of four and 24, she lived…

Any change would be highly controversial, with even some typically pro-EU countries likely to balk at the prospect of losing control of foreign policy and facing the possibility of having to wave through decisions they oppose. The Commission would move quickly to engage with the incoming Hungarian government once it takes office, noting that incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar had signaled a clear pro-European direction during the campaign. “We can already see that [he] is very clear on the European path … committing the new government to continue working with us,” she said, adding that progress on EU funds and reforms…

Long COVID could cost between €58.54 billion ($68 billion) and €115.3 billion ($135 billion) annually across OECD countries, including 21 EU member states, in the next decade, according to recent findings. Beyond its profound effects on individual health and daily living, long COVID also weighs heavily on a country’s health system and national economy. Projections to 2035 show that, under optimistic assumptions, GDP losses may fall to negligible levels, whereas more realistic scenarios predict persistent annual losses of 0.1% and 0.2% of GDP. These latter figures are comparable to the entire annual health budget of the Netherlands or Spain. According…

Published on 13/04/2026 – 11:24 GMT+2•Updated 11:45 Poland and South Korea agreed on Monday to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, with defence cooperation at the centre of the upgraded ties. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk held a summit with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Seoul, marking the first visit by a Polish prime minister to the country in 27 years. The two leaders discussed a range of issues, with the main focus on expanding defence industry cooperation under a $44.2 billion (€39.6 billion) framework agreement signed in July 2022. Lee said the partnership extended beyond…

City life got you down? Can’t stand the hour-long commute on a crowded metro? One unannounced Teams call away from quitting? Dreaming of a peaceful village over the loud, chaotic mess offered by modern metropolises? We have good news, as this entire village in Ireland could be yours. Listed at a cool €20 million, the Village at Lyons is a 20-acre estate found a 30-minute drive outside of Dublin in County Kildare. Accessed via a gated tree-lined avenue, the village is currently being operated as a five-star hotel, Cliff at Lyons. The property offers 32 individual rooms across several historic…

The pontiff added, “To put my message on the same plane as what the president is attempting to do here is not understanding what the message of the gospel is, and I’m sorry to hear that, but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church.” Trump blasted Leo on Monday, accusing him of being “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy” in a Truth Social post that underscores a widening rift between the White House and the Vatican. In his remarks Monday, the pontiff dismissed Trump’s criticism and said, “I have no intention of having a…

Published on 13/04/2026 – 8:00 GMT+2 Europe changed the way it’s thinking about modern military technology after the war in Ukraine and in Iran. Today’s conflicts ask for affordable, AI-driven, mass-produced equipment rather than expensive, sophisticated tools. The Commission’s 2025 Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 makes unmanned aircraft systems, also called drones, the flagship of its defence ramp-up. The Commission’s 2026 Action Plan on Drone and Counter-Drone Security focuses on a new approach to drone production through industrial scaling and the rapid production of counter-drone technology. The aim is to create a competitive European drone market, strengthen the EU’s preparedness and…