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.

The Aeropark aviation museum will welcome visitors on Saturday with a programme exploring the past, present and future of flying. The Night Of Aviation event will feature historic aircraft, illuminated cockpits, engine demonstrations, airport tours and talks with aviation professionals.

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,

The ninth Budapest Classic Film Marathon will screen 100 restored films from September 15 to 20, including the original version of The Match Of The Century starring Ferenc Puskás and Tony Scott’s The Hunger featuring David Bowie. The festival will also mark the 70th anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 revolution.

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 has become a leading regional centre for scientific research and education in animal welfare by 2026, according to the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest. The university said its cross-institutional and interdisciplinary model is unique in the region.

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.

Around 900 Hungarian high school students from across the Carpathian Basin and the global Hungarian diaspora will gather in Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary for the third National Hungarian High School Camp. Polish–Hungarian and media camps will also be taking place at the same location.

Viktor Orbán’s recent vacations abroad have fuelled criticism that he is disappearing at moments of domestic crisis. Those same trips, however, overlap strikingly with progress in MOL’s bid for Serbia’s NIS: undisclosed talks in Washington, an OFAC extension days later and a Serbian visit alongside MOL deputy CEO Oszkár Világi, pointing to possible influence beyond formal office.

BYD has signed an environmental cooperation agreement with the University of Szeged, under which the university will conduct independent monitoring of air, water, soil and noise levels, as well as stationary emissions.

Brazilian influencer Bianca Barreto has been convicted of a ‘social racism’ offence for misgendering transgender MP Duda Salabert from the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade). She was sentenced to two years in prison and a R$20,000 (around $3,800) fine.

EU-funded projects under Hungary’s Baross Gábor Rail Development Plan can now begin following the publication of a government decree. The ten-year programme aims to modernize the country’s rail and fixed-track transport network with a total budget of 3,550 billion forints.

Hungary’s government has sent schools a 14-point proposal package aimed at making primary education more child-centred, including shorter 35-minute lessons, longer activity breaks and more experiential learning.