Author: staff
Kyiv has sent a diplomatic note demanding the immediate release of the employees and said it will ask the European Union to provide a legal assessment of Hungary’s actions. In an update later Friday, Sybiha said Ukrainian consuls have not been granted access to the seven detainees. “The Hungarian side has not provided any explanation,” he wrote. “We demand their immediate release and prepare next actions, including at the EU level.” Oschadbank said two armored vehicles were detained during a regular transfer between Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank and the Ukrainian state lender. The shipment included $40 million, €35 million and 9…
By Jerry Fisayo-Bambi with AP Published on 06/03/2026 – 11:20 GMT+1•Updated 11:24 The United States and Venezuela agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, the State Department said Thursday. The announcement was made at the end of a two-day visit by US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to Venezuela. The visit largely focused on the country’s mining sector and followed a February visit by Energy Secretary Chris Wright that centred on Venezuela’s oil potential. The State Department said talks between the countries were focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to…
One of the most talked about and looked at new tech on show at the Mobile World Congress was Honor’s “Robot Phone,” a concept device that the company says turns your smartphone into an AI companion. After showing the front and back of your hand, the gimbal system pulls out and cleverly unfolds. A pair of eyes then comes up on the phone screen, which will track your eyes to allow the gimbal to follow you around, which Honor calls “embodied AI”. The AI can speak to you and answer your questions, such as does my outfit look good. To…
The U.S. and Gulf countries are now fighting against Iranian missiles and drones mainly with Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles. U.S. officials have warned that could strain American stockpiles. It’s also having an immediate knock-on effect on deliveries. According to the Swiss press, deliveries of Patriot air defense systems to Switzerland will be delayed even further because of the war in the Middle East. Kubilius is on a so-called a missile tour in Europe, which started in Poland. He also said he was “very surprised” about the Polish dispute over the EU’s loans-for-weapons SAFE scheme. Polish President Karol Nawrocki…
Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Greece have teamed up to build deportation centres outside Europe, marking the first time a group of EU member states has been established to make the controversial project a reality on the ground. The extraterritorial camps, also known as return hubs, are meant to host rejected asylum seekers as they wait to be returned to their countries of origin. Interior ministers from the five countries gathered on Thursday on the margins of a meeting in Brussels. Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, took part in the discussions as a guest.…
As anyone with passing knowledge of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” will eagerly tell you, ‘Frankenstein’ is actually the name of the mad scientist, not the Monster. It’s an oft trotted out factoid that makes all the booksplaining lot feel invigorated as they bore the pants off you with familiar wisdom that doesn’t require a literature degree to acquire. Fewer remember, however, quite how little screentime the Bride of Frankenstein got in the 1935 sequel to Frankenstein. Despite getting central billing in the title of James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein, Elsa Lanchester’s shock haired bride only appeared 10 minutes before the…
The men include one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals. They were arrested in the early hours of Friday morning at addresses in Barnet and Watford “as part of a pre-planned operation,” the Met said. The Met’s head of counter-terrorism policing in London, Helen Flanagan, said the arrests were “part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it.” “We understand the public may be concerned, in particular the Jewish community, and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them,…
Published on 06/03/2026 – 9:54 GMT+1 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Hungary of detaining seven employees of Ukrainian state bank Oschadbank along with a large amount of cash and gold. According to Oschadbank, a van carrying personnel and some $75 million dollars was intercepted in central Budapest. The vehicle was transporting cash from Austria to Ukraine. Kyiv says it has lost all contact with the bank’s staff on the van. The incident signals a dramatic escalation in the troubled relation between the two countries, a day after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traded accusations…
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a 30-day waiver on Thursday allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil from ships currently stranded at sea due to their regular maritime routes being closed or deemed too risky. In a statement shared on X, Secretary Bessent described it as a short-term fix to ease supply pressures and guaranteed that the measure “will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government”. The decision was made amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz caused by the Iran war and the substantial disruptions to global energy markets it continues to cause. The waiver,…
While much attention has been paid to the AfD’s ascent in the former East Germany — where it is far ahead in polling ahead of two state elections in the region set for September — the party’s rising national popularity is due largely to the inroads it is making in the more populous western part of the country. That includes Baden-Württemberg, where the AfD is set to nearly double its support and come in a strong third behind the conservatives and the Greens, according to the polls. This could well establish the state as the far right’s most powerful base outside…