A dramatic police chase unfolded along the northern shore of Lake Balaton after a Mercedes driver refused to stop for police. Officers fired at the vehicle’s tires, but the man continued fleeing, ramming several police cars before crashing into a utility pole in Balatonfüred, Hungary.

Hungary’s first St Stephen’s Day under Péter Magyar showed both continuity and change in its foreign relations. Washington remained firmly present, Zelenskyy paired his greeting with an invitation to Kyiv, and Pakistan and India joined the list. Israel, by contrast, disappeared after having prominently celebrated its friendship with Orbán’s Hungary in 2025.

Nathan Cafnas, the self-described ‘race realist’ researcher who first published the accusations of plagiarism against Jason Arday, has been suspended from his position by Ghent University pending an investigation. He blames the decision on rector Petra De Sutter, who was also the first transgender minister to serve in a European Union country.

Two Afghan illegal immigrants have been found guilty of a knifepoint rape in Barking Park, England, while two other Afghan migrants appeared in court the same day accused of raping a 14-year-old girl on a train to London. The cases broke amid ridicule of new Home Office guidance explaining rape and sexual harassment to asylum seekers, sharpening the political backlash.

Péter Magyar’s first St Stephen’s Day as prime minister has been overshadowed by allegations that the company awarded the celebrations contract had been discussing the project weeks before procurement formally began. The controversy, which dominated the day, undermined Tisza’s symbolic, regime change-themed 20 August and left Magyar unusually silent.

A former British police officer has been convicted of sharing a meme mocking Islam, reigniting debate over free speech and Britain’s blasphemy laws. The case has also drawn attention in the US, with Senator Ted Cruz condemning the conviction and declaring on X: ‘No meme is criminal. The UK has fallen.’