In our ongoing weekly digest, we sum up and explain the most important public affairs events of the week from Hungary. We guide readers on the road to the 12 April 2026 election — a poll without precedent in the region over the past 15 years. This week, we cover: A spy drama in the campaign. Fidesz»»»

Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro held up his pictures and posters protesting his abduction from Caracas, Venezuela, during a demonstration on January 4, a day after he was captured in a U.S. raid. Maduro is scheduled to appear in court in New York Thursday. File Photo by Rances Mat»»»

Share: Richard Kouyoumjian, a former Minister and the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Lebanese Forces Party emphasized In a statement that “what is required is not merely the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador, but the severing of all ties with a repressive, reactionary, and totali»»»

Two days into the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran adopted a strategy of widening the geographical scope of its retaliation to maximise its chances of survival against a militarily superior opponent. As a result, it summoned Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, to join the battle. But could its entry into »»»

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China and Russia should jointly promote deescalation in the Middle East, Chinese Special Envoy for the Middle East Zhai Jun said Thursday at a meeting with Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov. "Russia and China, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, support a ce»»»

The US stressed the importance of the two Libyan western and eastern authorities implementing the unified development spending programme agreement, it had previously brokered in Tunis, and establishing a unified budget. This came after a meeting with the Hafter family in eastern Libya. Specifically»»»

Dubai: Rich tributes have been paid after an Indian expat social worker and businessman in Dubai died back home on Tuesday evening. Sayyed Shahul Hameed Maliga Thangal, a UAE resident for 30 years and a veteran community volunteer in Dubai, died after a battle with cancer, a family member told Gulf»»»

Ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted Lebanon's cabinet session on Thursday in protest over the government declaring the Iranian ambassador persona non grata, a Lebanese official told AFP. The two Shiite parties have a combined four ministers, with one independent Shiite also represe»»»

“The old world is dying,” Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote in 1930, “and the new world struggles to be born.” His Marxist convictions notwithstanding, Gramsci would feel at home in the Trumpian age. The old world, in this case, is the international order that the United States built in the»»»

Frankfurt, Germany: The Middle East conflict is a threat to financial stability, a senior European Central Bank official said Thursday, warning that it could spark "systemic stress" in the markets. The turmoil unleashed by the conflict has come at a time of growing worries about a bubble in tech st»»»

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil met Thursday in Baabda with President Joseph Aoun and said he presented a proposal aiming to protect Lebanon through dialogue. "We began a round of meetings with officials, starting with His Excellency the President, due to our awareness of the great dang»»»

Preparations for the early parliamentary elections on April 19 are progressing on schedule, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced, presenting both paper and machine ballot samples. According to CEC spokesperson Rositsa Mateva, the design remains unchanged from previous elections, and vote»»»

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met Thursday with President Joseph Aoun and said he conveyed to him a message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi affirming "the full solidarity of Egypt and its leadership, government and people with Lebanon in these difficult circumstances." He st»»»

The shadow campaign to swing the Hungarian election against Viktor Orban has escalated with the wiretapping of Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. The case offers a rare look into how bureaucrats, journalists, and spies run a regime-change operation in real time. Read more Battle for Hungar»»»

Members of the Nuestra America Convoy wave as they arrive at the port in Havana on Tuesday. The convoy, inspired by the Global Sumud Flotilla that delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza in 2025, aims to send a message of political support to Cuba, which has been subject to a U.S. oil embargo since Janu»»»

Dubai: Pakistan is playing a central role in facilitating indirect talks between the United States and Iran, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday, highlighting Islamabad’s commitment to regional peace and stability. Dar wrote on X: “There has been unnecessary specul»»»

The Pentagon is developing military options for a "final blow" in Iran that could include the use of ground forces and a massive bombing campaign, two U.S. officials and two sources with knowledge told U.S. news portal Axios. A dramatic military escalation will grow more likely if no progress is ma»»»

Humanitarian organizations under intense strain because of the United States' steep cuts to foreign aid say they are scrambling to find the funds needed to respond to the war in the Middle East, where millions of people have already been displaced by the widening conflict. U.S. President Donald Tru»»»

The renovation of Saint Demetrius Cathedral in Vidin (Northwestern Bulgaria) is being carried out for the benefit of citizens and spiritual life, not for political purposes, said GERB leader Boyko Borissov here on Thursday. He inspected the progress of the repair works on site, for which the last r»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran wants to legalize fees for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian parliament member Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi said on Thursday. "We want to develop a bill in which sovereignty, dominance and control over the Strait of Hormuz will be considered law, creating a»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran should take the US proposal more seriously, as there would be consequences if the deal was abandoned. "The Iranian negotiators are very different and 'strange.' They are 'begging' us to make a deal, which they should be doing s»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump's surprising claim this week that talks with Iran were yielding great progress has only raised more confusion over a war whose goals were already unclear. The most basic question: What talks? A 15-point plan from the Trump administration offering a potential pathway to a»»»

For more than four decades, Pakistan’s approach toward Afghanistan has been guided by a simple assumption – that Afghanistan’s political trajectory must remain aligned with Pakistan’s security interests. From the Soviet war of the 1980s to the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s and again after the Fa»»»

As Israel trades fire with Hezbollah, calls for mass evacuations and sends ground troops deeper into Lebanon, its leaders have hinted at a long-term occupation modeled on the devastating conquest of much of Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it needs to establish a zone of control »»»

As Israel trades fire with Hezbollah, calls for mass evacuations and sends ground troops deeper into Lebanon, its leaders have hinted at a long-term occupation modeled on the devastating conquest of much of Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it needs to establish a zone of control »»»

Dubai: The United States and Iran are digging in, raising the risk of a deeper and wider conflict as diplomacy stalls, military pressure builds and Tehran tightens its grip on the Strait of Hormuz — a move already rattling global markets and regional security. The renewed push for talks comes despi»»»

Share: FILE- Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary guard (IRGC) flags . Both bare a hand holding up a rifle and a globe. IRGC operatives fired the first rockets at Israel on March 2 , 2026 and Hezbollah is now being commanded by IRGC according to Lebanese PM . Lebanon decided the Iranian ambassador f»»»

In an address on the Day of Thrace, President Iliana Iotova paid tribute to generations of awakeners and revolutionaries, the Siege of Adrianople and the victorious Bulgarian arm, the President's press secretariat said on Thursday. Iotova said: "We relive the terrible summer of 1913 and the upheava»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe IRGC Launches 82nd Wave of Strikes on US-Israeli Assets with Drones, Missiles 26-03-2026 12:23 PM The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC»»»

Thursday’s news coverage spans a wide range of topics, with fuel prices emerging as a central theme across television programmes. Speaking on Bulgarian National Television, Atanas Katsarchev, Chief Economist of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, and Vassil Velev, Chairman of the Governing Board »»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe “Iran Has Upper Hand, Washington Lost the Initiative”: Ex-Head of UK’s M16 26-03-2026 11:42 AM Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger in an inte»»»

UNSMIL called for the immediate release of Mr. Mahdi Abdelati, a political activist who was reportedly arbitrarily detained in Misrata on 18 March by the Internal Security Agency. In its statement released yesterday, UNSMIL said this arrest and detention appears to violate Libyan law and Libya’s in»»»

Oil prices jumped and equities fell Thursday as investors tracked developments in the Middle East amid hopes that US and Iranian officials will bring an end to a conflict that has ramped up fears of an unprecedented global energy crisis. Markets have been buoyed since late Monday after Donald Trump»»»

The Trump administration is again seeking to prosecute Letitia James, attorney general of New York, after failing to do so several times last year. File Photo by Derek French/UPI | License Photo March 26 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is again seeking to prosecute New York Attorney General Letit»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran has threatened to open a "front" in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to counter the United States, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, citing a military source. Earlier, Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Tehran could open new fronts of hostilities with the United »»»

As military tensions continue to reshape the Middle East, Egypt is moving to solidify its financial defenses through deeper strategic cooperation with Beijing. In a high-level diplomatic call on Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, discussed an ur»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States’ use of oil from its strategic reserve may indicate the risk that the conflict with Iran could drag out, George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the first Trump presidential campaign, told Sputnik. "These reserves are designed to only access during »»»

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro will appear Thursday in a New York court for the second time since his capture by US forces in an extraordinary nighttime raid. Maduro, 63, and wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost three months after American commandos snatched th»»»

Walking on the Moon by 2030, building a lunar base, and then perhaps on to Mars: after 30 years of honing its expertise, China is challenging the United States' supremacy in spaceflight. As US space agency NASA prepares for its crewed lunar flyby mission, Artemis II, we take a look at China's ambit»»»

Police operations targeting vote-buying and violations of electoral rights are continuing across Bulgaria, with multiple coordinated actions reported in different regions. Authorities say arrests have already been made as part of ongoing investigations into alleged schemes involving electoral fraud»»»

A Turkish-operated oil tanker was attacked early Thursday in the Black Sea, possibly by an unmanned surface vehicle, Türkiye's transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said. "I can say that a foreign-flagged ship operated by a Turkish company, which had loaded crude oil from Russia, reported an explo»»»

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (R) gestures beside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a welcome ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on his first official visit to North Korea, state media reported Thursday. Photo by KCNA/EPA SEOUL, March 26 (UPI) -- Belarusian President Alexa»»»

Following the detention of the head of the Regional Postal Station in Kardzhali (Southern Bulgaria) on Wednesday, caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev told Nova TV that a large group of party members, led by the town's mayor, who is running for Parliament, attempted to enter the regional police »»»

European Union lawmakers are on track to give a green light -- with conditions -- Thursday to the bloc's tariff deal with US President Donald Trump, which Europe hopes to salvage while also racing to diversify its trade ties around the globe. Brussels and Washington clinched the deal last summer th»»»

Iran and the United States hardened their positions as diplomacy aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the war in the Middle East appeared to be faltering on Thursday. Tehran moved to formalize its control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz while Washington prepared for the arrival of US combat forces in»»»

Learn how visual tools help investors navigate Bulgaria’s euro transition, manage GBP/EUR risk, and interpret cross-border market trends more effectively. Bulgaria’s anticipated transition to the euro marks a structural shift for investors managing cross-border assets. As currency dynamics and capi»»»

Lebanon’s cabinet meets on Thursday in a first test of a deepening political crisis, after a sharp split between the “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and Amal Movement and other factions over a decision to declare Iran’s ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, persona non grata. The government will convene at»»»

Only weeks after Iranian diplomat Mohammad Reza Sheibani returned to Beirut as ambassador, his name has become the focus of a diplomatic crisis. Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry withdrew its approval and declared him “persona non grata”, reflecting rising tensions between Beirut and Tehran and drawing re»»»

Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) condemned yesterday Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors, urging it to quickly provide compensation to all its victims. The 47-member council endorsed a resolution put forward by the six GCC states and Jordan condemning Iran’s moves to close the Strait of»»»

Ever since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on 28 February 2026, Europe has appeared sidelined and divided over a conflict that could shape the international balance of power in the years ahead. As might be expected, differing approaches by its 27 member states show that the European»»»