Hungary has awarded three new hydrocarbon exploration concessions to state-owned MVM and energy giant MOL as Budapest seeks to strengthen domestic energy production and reduce reliance on foreign supplies. The winning companies will be able to explore for and produce oil and natural gas for at least 20 years.

A Moroccan migrant who entered Ceuta during the mass invasion was reportedly arrested over the alleged street rape of a ‘young Moroccan woman’. While local media reports contradict one another over the case, a pattern of sexual violence is already clear in the Spanish enclave, with courts proceeding in at least six rape cases involving three Moroccan suspects and minor victims.

Kristóf Milák led Hungary’s best night of the European Aquatics Championships on Thursday, first breaking the European record to win the 100m butterfly and then delivering a 46.29 anchor split in a historic 4x100m freestyle relay triumph. Hungary took its first European title in the event, already securing three gold medals during the tournament so far.

Famous American investigative journalist James O’Keefe dressed up in traditional Muslim attire to test Minnesota’s ‘voter vouching scheme’. Assuming fake identities at polling stations, he received confirmation from poll workers that he was allowed to vouch for up to eight other people, who would then be able to complete same-day registration and vote, all without anyone having to show any ID.

Foreign online marketplaces are accounting for an increasing share of Hungary’s e-commerce turnover, prompting the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) to increase its scrutiny of the sector. The authority said it has recovered tens of billions of forints for Hungarian consumers since April 2020.

Budapest is heading towards a future with significantly more heatwave days and tropical nights, according to climate simulations cited by Mayor Gergely Karácsony. By mid-century, most of the city could see temperatures rise by 3–5 degrees Celsius, with some outer districts facing increases of more than 6 degrees.

After winning 1–0 at home, Ferencváros travelled to Zabrze, Poland and got a hard-fought 1–1 tie against Górnik Zabrze. This means that they have advanced 2–1 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League qualifying; and no matter what happens in the next round against the Turkish club Trabzonspor, they are guaranteed a spot at least in the UEFA Conference League in the fall.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s military helicopter flight over Paks has triggered accusations of political propaganda and hypocrisy after he mocked Viktor Orbán for similar trips only months ago. The controversy comes as recent polling shows Tisza at 49 per cent among all adults, its first drop below 50 per cent since the election and its second consecutive month of declining support.

Francesca Hong looked almost certain to win Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. She led by double digits in every recent poll and had a 96 per cent chance of winning on Polymarket. Yet, Hong lost to David Crowley by just 0.48 points. All this took place just one week after another progressive candidate, Abdoul El-Sayed, was also heavily overpolled in Michigan.

Hubert Kós added the one major 200m backstroke title missing from his collection on Wednesday, winning European gold in Paris to become the reigning European, world and Olympic champion. One day before the final, he had come within 0.38 seconds of breaking Aaron Peirsol’s 2009 world record, prompting Michael Phelps to praise him online.

Nearly one-fifth of Hungary’s music royalty revenues could be at risk by 2028 because of the unregulated expansion of artificial intelligence, according to a new ProArt report. The organization estimates that cumulative losses between 2025 and 2028 could reach 12 billion forints.

The Hungarian government has ordered the immediate construction of a submerged weir on the Danube between the Paks nuclear power plant and Dunaszentbenedek to counter record-low water levels. Two 80-metre barges will also be placed on standby as a temporary measure that could raise the water level near Paks by up to 20 centimetres.

Hungary will mark its 20 August national holiday with a three-day programme across Budapest, with events taking place at ten locations. This year’s fireworks display will last 10 minutes, shorter than usual, and the celebrations will cost 4 billion forints.

The Geneva Consensus Declaration Secretariat has returned to Washington after three and a half years in Budapest, with Robert F Kennedy Jr and Marco Rubio publicly thanking Hungary for its stewardship. Since 2022, Viktor Orbán’s government has kept the coalition alive after the US withdrew under Joe Biden and Brazil later abandoned it under Lula, preserving the initiative until Trump’s return.

Karoline Leavitt will leave her post as White House press secretary at the end of August, weeks after returning from maternity leave, but will remain close to Donald Trump as an outside adviser. The 28-year-old, the youngest press secretary in US history, is expected to shift back into campaign mode as Republicans prepare for a difficult November midterm fight.

Seven-year-old William Evans has been found dead and bound in her mother’s home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother and her two trans women lovers are now charged with the murder of the boy, along with child endangerment. According to the detective in charge of the case, the victim was likely tortured before his death.

Hungary is preparing to sink two 80-metre barges in the Danube to raise water levels around the Paks nuclear plant as the river falls back towards critical lows. The emergency measure comes just days after Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the immediate danger had passed, while work also begins on a permanent riverbed sill intended to secure cooling water for the plant.

Hungary’s state development bank withdrew more than €170 million in EU funding from a company controlled by Lőrinc Mészáros, a businessman close to Viktor Orbán, just four days after approving it, citing transparency rules. OPUS TITÁSZ is challenging the reversal, while PM Péter Magyar, who has already named Mészáros as a likely target of his cabinet’s anti-corruption push, welcomed the move.

The 230 migrants packed onto a record-breaking mega-dinghy show how radically Channel migration has changed: fewer boats are getting through, but each carries far more people and launch areas now stretch into Belgium. Behind the crossings is an increasingly professional industry, largely run by Iraqi–Kurdish networks, moving Chinese-made equipment through Türkiye and Germany to northern France.

The Labour government’s plans to distribute asylum seekers more evenly across the United Kingdom have sparked controversy after a former military base near the village of Piddington, home to just 400 people, was selected to house 1,250 migrants. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said wealthier communities must ‘play their part’, while residents fear the impact on their small village.

A 49-year-old man fled from police near Lake Velence after officers attempted to stop him over an expired vehicle inspection. His car eventually caught fire in a sunflower field, where police located and arrested him using a drone.

A total of 570 kilometres of main and secondary roads will be renovated at 210 locations across Hungary this year at a cost of nearly 149 billion forints, Transport and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy said. More than half of the renovated road network will be financed through EU funding.

A 26-year-old Algerian illegal immigrant jailed over a brutal street beating in Valencia has now been accused of raping a homeless woman on the two preceding days, making it a violent rampage lasting three days. Spanish media report that he had been detained 18 times since entering Spain illegally in 2020 and was subject to a final deportation order that was never enforced.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has urged Americans to turn out in force for the November midterms, warning that Republicans are trying to ‘rig the system’. In her video message, Harris also used the phrase ‘too big to rig’, a campaign catchphrase promoted by President Trump and his supporters in the 2024 presidential election,

Hungary’s parliament elected András Baka president on Tuesday, with the former Supreme Court chief receiving 140 votes in favour and six against in a secret ballot. A total of 146 MPs took part, with no invalid ballots and no abstentions, while the governing Tisza Party’s 141-seat parliamentary supermajority provided the overwhelming support for the new head of state.

Rabat’s demand that Spain return all Moroccan unaccompanied minors, including those who entered Ceuta during the recent mass invasion, has exposed a major weakness in Spain’s migration system. Once placed in child protection, minors can obtain residence, move to the mainland and eventually secure permanent status, creating incentives that have already been deliberately exploited.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have issued a joint message calling for stricter immigration policies across Europe. Despite coming from different sides of the political spectrum, the two leaders say they are united in defending Europe’s security, laws, and Christian cultural heritage.

‘The Ipoteka acquisition shows how Hungary can leverage its geopolitical connections with the Turkic world through its observer status at the OTS into economic and commercial benefits. Uzbekistan is not just another frontier market. It is a substantial…country that has strong and improving transport links eastwards to China and westwards through Kazakhstan towards the Caspian Sea and Europe.’

Hungary could introduce three new higher education programmes, while an Artificial Intelligence Informatics master’s programme could also be added to the country’s official list of higher education programmes. Public consultation on the proposal began on Monday.

New reporting has raised the possibility that Viktor Orbán could seek a senior international role after leaving office, from FIFA to the United Nations. The former prime minister reportedly discussed opportunities during his US trip and is interested in becoming UN deputy secretary-general, as a constitutional term limit and Tisza’s anti-corruption drive narrow his path back to power.