Author: staff

“The only difference from before is that from now on, Péter Szijjártó will not be paid by the Hungarian people for the same ‘work,’ but by his actual employer,” wrote Magyar. A Fidesz loyalist since the late 1990s, Szijjártó served as Orbán’s spokesperson before he became foreign minister in 2014 — a position he held until earlier this year. As Hungary’s top diplomat, he became one of the strongest advocates for closer ties with Beijing and Moscow. In March, he acknowledged liaising with senior Russian officials while EU governments debated fresh sanctions against the Kremlin. BYD has grown central to…

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Published on 15/07/2026 – 8:37 GMT+2•Updated 14:22 Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and deepen defence cooperation between the European Union and Ukraine, with a special focus on drone production. Wednesday’s visit marks the second time this year that the president of the European Commission has travelled to the Ukrainian capital. Back then, in late February, von der Leyen encountered a bleak landscape. Ukraine was going through a gruelling winter of widespread blackouts caused by Russia’s relentless attacks. Hungary had suddenly blocked the €90 billion support loan, and Kyiv’s accession process was…

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US military has resumed its air strikes against Iran in broad daylight on Wednesday, as Washington said it was intensifying its campaign aimed at limiting Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), a new 90-minute wave of precision strikes against Iranian targets on Wednesday morning targeted coastal defence systems as well as cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island. CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to further reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels passing through the strategic waterway. The operation marks a further escalation in the…

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Spain’s inflation holds steady in June, but remains at high levels. The National Statistics Institute (INE) confirmed on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) stood at 3.2% year on year, well above the European Central Bank’s 2% target, despite the VAT increase. The rise in electricity and gas prices offset the fall in fuel prices, linked to a truce in the Middle East that has already collapsed. Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food because of their volatility, stood at 2.9%, one-tenth of a point lower than the previous month, in line with the INE’s flash estimate. Electricity…

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Published on 15/07/2026 – 14:00 GMT+2 The European Commission has given the US a list of EU products which it wants to see exempted from the 15 percent tariffs imposed under the trade deal signed by Brussels and Washington in 2025. The list, seen by Euronews, includes hundreds of products, such as Roquefort cheese, olive oil, wines, spirits and beer, pasta, medical devices, electrical equipment and machinery. EU trade official Matthias Jørgensen told MEPs on Tuesday that the list covered around €150 billion worth of EU exports. He also said that the products were either “economically meaningful” for the EU…

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Crowds on both sides of the Gibraltar frontier celebrated overnight into Wednesday 15 July as the newly opened border brought an end to decades of routine checks, in what many described as a historic moment. Footage shows Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo embracing La Línea mayor Juan José Franco as they crossed the frontier together, while British customs officers left their posts to applause. Residents waved flags, danced in the streets and held banners reading “At last, no more queues”, celebrating the end of long delays that had disrupted the lives of travellers and cross-border workers. The reopening was widely…

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Published on 15/07/2026 – 12:49 GMT+2 Legendary American actress Ellen Burstyn, best known for her roles in The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Requiem For A Dream, will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera described Burstyn as “an actress of rare intensity and truth,” adding that she had brought “depth and complexity to unforgettable female characters embodying the contradictions and transformations in the contemporary woman.” Barbera continued: “Revealed in Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘The Last Picture Show,’ which portrayed the twilight of…

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Social media posts circulating in recent weeks allege that a US military programme is being used to manipulate the weather, suggesting it is responsible for the heatwaves affecting Europe. To support the claim, several accounts have shared clips of journalists, scientists, and public figures discussing geoengineering (deliberate, large-scale interventions in Earth’s climate system), presenting them as evidence that weather events are being deliberately manipulated. One of the shared videos features French TV presenter Anne-Claire Coudray discussing geoengineering. “In response to climate change, more and more countries are exploring what’s known as geoengineering,” she said in the clip. “The idea is…

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How Burnham communicates is as distinctive as how he dresses. He wears his heart on his short sleeves with a rhetorical style that is personal, plain-speaking and can be emotive, whereas Starmer’s delivery can seem staid and, at times, awkward.  The difference in styles is clearest in the way the two politicians use social media. Even in his social videos, Starmer is often smart, and the content is professionally produced, talking directly into a fixed camera.   Burnham’s team can also make slick films, but he shoots plenty of selfie videos on his phone, too — in the back of…

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