Author: staff
Thousands of revellers descended on the Spanish town of Buñol on Wednesday for the 79th La Tomatina, where 165 tonnes of overripe tomatoes were hurled around for just over an hour. Held on the last Wednesday of August, La Tomatina dates back to 1945 after a brawl broke out between two groups of teenage boys during a parade in the small town. From there it became an annual tradition before being banned by dictator Francisco Franco in the 1950s. In defiance of the ban, Buñol locals staged a mock funeral in the streets, dressing in black and placing a giant…
“Ukraine needs more financial support in both the short and long term,” said the letter, which copied in the Commission’s economy and enlargement bosses, Valdis Dombrovskis and Marta Kos. “We believe now is the time to revert to the issue of how we can make further use of Russia’s immobilised assets for the benefit of Ukraine.” EU leaders in December failed to agree on a plan that would leverage €210 billion of frozen Russian state assets, most of which reside in the Brussels-based depository Euroclear, to underpin a massive loan to Kyiv. Belgium resisted the plan and demanded unlimited guarantees…
Hungary’s Fidesz party is facing an existential crisis following its dramatic defeat in the country’s April elections, in which Péter Magyar’s Tisza party unseated Viktor Orbán after 16 years of governing with a supermajority. Having been a key driver of Hungary’s democratic transition at the end of the 1980s and then a vehicle for Orbán’s nationalist, eurosceptic transformation of the country since 2010, Fidesz has since struggled to adapt to Hungary’s new political reality. Tisza commands nearly 70% support in opinion polls, while Fidesz’s own rating has fallen below 20%. Several leading figures have left politics altogether since the defeat,…
By Euronews Persian Published on 27/08/2026 – 11:23 GMT+2 US President Donald Trump said he believes Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but was seriously wounded in the strikes that killed his father, following fresh reports speculating that the younger Khamenei had died. “I don’t think he’s dead. He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing. He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead,” Trump told conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Trump added he based his assessment on Iranian negotiators’ own behaviour. “If he is (dead), they’re putting on…
Published on 27/08/2026 – 11:13 GMT+2•Updated 11:23 A cup of coffee in the Old City of Damascus became Syria’s chosen symbol of global economic reintegration. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, accompanied by central bank governor Mohammed Safwat Raslan, tapped a Visa card at a café in a video posted by an official government account to mark Washington’s decision to strike the country from its terrorism blacklist. “For more than 15 years, this simple transaction was impossible,” the accompanying post read. Raslan called the delisting “a historic step that restores the country to its natural place in the global economic system.” What…
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist who became a global superstar later on in life, has died aged 97. From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced instantly recognisable giant polka dot artworks, vast psychedelic installations and mirrored infinity rooms which delighted art fans from around the world. “Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry,” a statement announcing her death read. “She continued to paint until her final days, never setting aside her brush, and continued exploration…
“Any country complicit in providing an economic lifeline to Iran’s terrorist regime, including China, must be held accountable,” said Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), a member of the House Select Committee on China. Sanctions on Chinese banks that do business with Iran would send “a clear message to China and every other nation that enabling Tehran’s malign actions will come at a cost,” he said. As part of the push to widen sanctions on countries with economic ties to Iran, the Treasury Department expanded its ability Monday to penalize foreign companies that operate in or support five sectors of Iran’s economy: digital assets,…
By Kirsten Ripper & Euronews with AP Published on 27/08/2026 – 10:35 GMT+2 Packed exhibition halls in Cologne are a given at Gamescom these days. People’s leisure habits in Germany have changed markedly over the past ten years and become increasingly digital. Today, 33 percent of respondents in the latest so-called “Leisure Monitor” say they play video games at least once a week. Only smartphone activities and listening to music have seen even stronger growth. €9.4 billion in sales, EU commissioner and German president drop in This year’s Gamescom, which was expected to attract more than 350,000 visitors, is being held under the slogan “Games…
Published on 27/08/2026 – 9:39 GMT+2 A US military judge has set a 5 June 2028 trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks. Mohammed was considered one of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants before he was captured in March 2003 in Pakistan. The date is 18 months later than prosecutors requested, allowing more time to resolve pretrial disputes, including over what evidence can be presented. US authorities have spent more than two decades trying to bring the case to trial. The 2028 date could still be delayed if…
Earlier this year, Sitges was named among the top trending destinations to visit this summer. And if you’re planning a visit but haven’t booked your hotel yet, you might just want to take a look at the newly opened CASA METT Sitges. The boutique property, which has just 38 rooms, is located within the former Hotel Capri, which was in turn once five historic Noucentista villas. For those looking for the best of both worlds on their holiday, the property is just 100 metres from the beach, and within walking distance of the historic centre with its numerous cultural sites.…