Hungary’s Parliament has approved major salary cuts for the Prime Minister, ministers, parliamentary leaders, and MPs.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s monthly gross salary will fall from HUF 7.8 million (€21,667) to HUF 3.8 million (€10,556), a reduction of more than 50%.

Most other senior officials and MPs will see their salaries cut by 40%.

Uzbekistan's national football team was subjected to lengthy, intrusive security checks in New York.

Bags unpacked, metal detectors, tactical whiteboards inspected...

Similar incidents involving Senegal and Iraq have fueled accusations of discriminatory profiling by US security ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

The Department of Defense has reduced its official list of recognized religious affiliations from 211 to 31, removing roughly 180 faiths and belief systems.

The new list includes major faith groups such as Christianity (various denominations), Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Baha’i, Agnosticism, and "No Religion."

Removed categories include Atheist, Humanist, Pagan, Wiccan, Druid, Asatru, and many other minority faith traditions.

Omar Artan has been removed from the list of officials for the 2026 World Cup after being denied entry to the United States.

Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over the treatment of activists detained after Israel intercepted a Gaza aid flotilla last month.

Ben-Gvir is being investigated on suspicion of torture and kidnapping involving Italian citizens among the detained activists.

No charges have been filed, and prosecutors would have to seek a trial if they determine there is sufficient evidence.

Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir:

Weapons for civilians. All the time, all the time, weapons save lives.

I tell citizens and residents: go arm yourselves. It saves lives.

Bernie Sanders:

I think what happened in Gaza is, in fact — and I say this reluctantly — was genocide.

The suffering of the Palestinian people exists today.

People are living in tent cities. The healthcare situation is a disaster. There are no toilets in many parts of the area. It's really quite horrible and unacceptable.

The United States should not be funding the Israeli military.

Bernie Sanders:

It's not just the right-wing extremist and racist government of Israel.

When you look at American foreign policy over the years, what do you have in Saudi Arabia? You have MBS—a guy who, according to American intelligence sources, is a murderer. He killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In Qatar, how many people know this, 90% of the people in that small country are migrant laborers.

And then you have the UAE, another dictatorship.

You have these dictatorships that do not tolerate dissent and treat women as third-class citizens.

So I think, to say the least, that our policy toward the Middle East needs some fundamental changes.

IDF strikes in Tyre, Lebanon intensified, expanding into new western neighborhoods near the city's Christian quarter.

A morning strike killed 9 people and injured 28.

The ICC Bureau voted to suspend Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan with immediate effect over sexual misconduct allegations.

A full Assembly of 125 member states will now decide on removal.

Khan denies everything, calling the process "unlawful."

Israel is loudest in response.

Israel's UN Ambassador immediately demanded the Netanyahu/Gallant arrest warrants be cancelled, calling the ICC "rotten to its core."

Marco Rubio played a key role in persuading Trump to back Israel’s strike on Iran following Tehran’s missile attack.

According to Israeli and U.S. sources, Rubio supported Israel’s argument that failing to respond would give Iran an advantage and encourage further aggression.

Source: Israel Hayom

Israel: Tel Aviv residents are blunt about the latest Iran-Israel exchange, "we basically lost."

Locals say Iran achieved its goal of creating strategic parity between Lebanon and Tel Aviv, leaving Israel "locked on both fronts."

On the ground: empty restaurants, no school, no sleep.

As one resident put it:

We are not winning for two years already. Almost three.

That's winning, having every six months a little bit of missiles from Iran.

Prof. John Mearsheimer:

When China was rising in the 1990s, I said the United States should not facilitate China's rise. It's a huge mistake.

You're going to create a peer competitor. You want to keep China as weak as possible. This is realism 101.

Their idea was that if you get China hooked on capitalism and integrate them into the global economy, we'll have no problem at all.

Prof. John Mearsheimer on China:

In my mind, it's going to want to dominate East Asia the way we dominate the Western Hemisphere.

They'd be nuts not to want to dominate East Asia.

They remember what happened the last time they were weak. It's called the century of national humiliation.

EU’s von der Leyen on Russia:

We propose for the first time to ban from entry into the European Union anyone who has served in the Russian armed forces since the beginning of the war.

Europe stays off limits for anyone who has participated in the invasion of Ukraine. As simple as that.

Greece is moving toward buying Israeli Heron TP armed drones, which would give the Greek Air Force its first UCAV (armed UAV) capability.

Source: Hellas Journal

Zelensky:

Ukraine will continue to respond to any strikes by the Russian Federation and will continue to use its legitimate long-range capabilities.

NEW: Türkiye and Saudi Arabia signed a railway cooperation MoU in Riyadh, advancing plans for a modern Hejaz Railway revival — a rail corridor linking Saudi Arabia through Jordan and Syria to Türkiye.

Long-term vision includes extending the line toward Oman and the Indian Ocean as an alternative trade route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.