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Taiwan votes in high-stakes recall election that might oust China-friendly party

Taiwan votes in high-stakes recall election that might oust China-friendly party

France 249 hours ago
01:25
26/07/2025
Death toll rises on Thai-Cambodian border on third day of fighting
Asia / Pacific
25/07/2025
Thailand and Cambodia clash: A border dispute fuelled by nationalism
Asia / Pacific
25/07/2025
Thai-Cambodian border fighting enters second day
Asia / Pacific
25/07/2025
More than 140,000 flee as Thai, Cambodian border clashes escalate
Asia / Pacific
25/07/2025
100,000 flee Thai-Cambodian border as troops clash for second day
Asia / Pacific
24/07/2025
Thailand-Cambodia border crisis traces roots 'to pre-colonial Southeast Asia"
Asia / Pacific
24/07/2025
EU-China ties hit 'inflection point' and calls climate chage 'a priority'
Europe
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Orban vows to veto EU budget over frozen EU funds
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Orban vows to veto EU budget over frozen EU funds

The Hungarian government will not vote on the EU budget until Budapest receives its frozen EU funds, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a speech at the Bálványos Free University on Saturday. According to Orban, the adoption of the EU's record-breaking budget requires unanimity. "And until we get our backlog of money, there will be no new European budget. We will bring it home, and we will not make any concessions on our sovereignty," he said. Approximately €9.5 billion in COVID-19 recovery funding and €8.4 billion in cohesion funds make up the frozen funds by Brussels over persisting concerns about Hungary's democratic backsliding. Brussels and Budapest over the years have been at loggerheads on a range of issues, most recently that of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the situation has been made worse by the financial issue. Orbán accuses the European Commission of "financial blackmail" and meddling in domestic matters due to its reasons for freezing the funds. Hungary previously unblocked about €10.2 billion of the frozen funds following the adoption of legislation aimed at reducing political meddling in its courts and strengthening judicial independence. However, a complaint was filed by the European Parliament against the EU Commission for its controversial decision to release the €10.2 billion ahead of a crucial summit. Some €18 billion remains frozen, with no signs or indication of progress, but in front of the large audience, Orban vowed to get the EU funds. Orban claims Trump helped avoid World War III The Commission's landmark €2 trillion long-term budget for 2028–2034 emphasises defence and economic competitiveness. For it to pass, it requires unanimous agreement among member states and must also be backed by Parliament, by a majority of its component members. In his speech in Tusványos on Saturday, Viktor Orbán said that the election of US President Donald Trump has helped the world to avoid a third world war for the time being, but the chances of its outbreak are still increasing. Orbán gave a speech with a sinister tone, touching on a variety of topics that included the war in Ukraine and the Fidesz party. The Hungarian PM blasted the EU for backing Ukraine and accused the EU leaders of dangerously waging a trade war with the Trump administration that Europe "cannot win." While some of his claims were typically outlandish, Orban received applause from the audience, with one attendee saying, "We got a very clear, very understandable vision from the Prime Minister. And we are not in an easy situation."

Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday
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Von der Leyen to meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Scotland. In a post on X where she announced the meeting, von der Leyen added that they will "discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Trump also confirmed the meeting will take place after arriving in Scotland. The European Commission earlier in the week briefed member states on the progres of trade negotiations with the EU and the possibility of resorting to anti-coercion measures in the tariff dispute between the EU and the US. The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against. The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April, with up to 30% tariffs targeting products including yachts, aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium. This was the latest development in a negotiation process that has lasted several months. The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all other imports. On 12 July, Trump ramped up pressure on the EU by threatening to impose 30% tariffs as of 1 August if no agreement was reached. The White House said Trump will also be meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit. Trump golf tour blurs politics and family business The US President arrives in Scotland on a five-day visit during which he is set to visit a golf course in Aberdeenshire ahead of its opening on 13 August, and another near Turnberry. His family owns both golf courses. The fact that Trump is using a presidential overseas trip - complete with his large entourage of advisers, White House staff, secret service agents and reporters - to promote Trump-brand golf courses shows how the president has become increasingly comfortable mixing his pursuits on government with his family's business interests. Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organisation while he is president. The company has reached a number of lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration negotiates tariff rates for those countries and around the globe. A White House spokesperson has called the president's visit to Scotland a 'working trip." She also said that Trump 'has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.'

'We are neighbours': fleeing Thais and Cambodians call for peace
'We are neighbours': fleeing Thais and Cambodians call for peace

France 24

time7 hours ago

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'We are neighbours': fleeing Thais and Cambodians call for peace

The death toll from three days of fighting has risen to 33, the majority civilians, after a long-running border dispute sharply escalated into combat waged with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops. "Relations used to be good -– we were like siblings," said 56-year-old Sai Boonrod, one of hundreds of Thais sheltering at a temple in the town of Kanthararom after evacuating her border village home. "But now things may have changed," she told AFP. "I just want the fighting to end so we can go back to being like siblings again." Over the Cambodian border, 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Sai's temporary home, a similar scene plays out: hundreds of evacuees huddled in makeshift tents on a temple site, surrounded by emergency food rations and their hastily packed clothes. "We are neighbours, we want to be friends," one 50-year-old told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity at the temple shelter in Phumi Bak Thkav. "But they are attacking us. We are fleeing homes because of them." Tensions have long flared over the countries' shared 800-kilometre border, peppered with ancient temple sites claimed by both nations. The previous most deadly clashes broke out between 2008 and 2011 -- leaving at least 28 people dead. But stretching her legs on a bamboo mat, Sai said "it was never this violent" in previous times. She is one of more than 170,000 evacuated from the countries' border zones, but her husband stayed behind to help guard neighbours' livestock and belongings. "I want them to negotiate, to stop firing quickly... so the elderly can return home and the children can go back to school," she said. The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on Friday and both sides have said they are open to a truce -- but accused the other of undermining armistice efforts. 'End the fighting' This flare-up began with a gun battle in late May killing one Cambodian soldier, and festered with tit-for-tat trade restrictions and border closures before hostilities spiked on Thursday. At 73 years old, Suwan Promsri has lived through many episodes of border friction -- but said this one feels "so much different". He said resentment of Cambodians among Thais -- including himself -- is growing, with patriotic online discourse fanning the flames. In February, Bangkok formally protested to Phnom Penh after a video of women singing a patriotic Khmer song in front of a disputed temple was posted on social media. The fighting has also been accompanied by a wave of online misinformation and disinformation from both sides. "Before the internet, I felt indifferent," said Suwan. "But social media really plays a part in fuelling this hatred." Despite the divisions, he is united with his Thai neighbours, and those over the border in Cambodia, in his calls for peace. "I want the government to realise that people along the border are suffering. Life is difficult," he said. © 2025 AFP

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