China's Xi celebrates warm Hungary ties on last stop of Europe visit

NEWS WIRES

May 8, 2024 at 9:32 p.m.·1 min read

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hungary Thursday seeking a "new journey" with Beijing's closest European Union ally amid Beijing's divisions with the West over the Ukraine war and global trade.

The state visit to Hungary is the last leg of Xi's European tour, his first to the continent since 2019.

In recent years, the Central European country of 9.6 million people has attracted a flood of major Chinese projects, mostly related to the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries.

Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok warmly received Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan with military honours in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Budapest on Thursday morning.

The Chinese leader arrived in the Hungarian capital on Wednesday night after wrapping up his visit to Serbia, and later attended a state dinner with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Budapest was decked out with Chinese flags and placed under tight security, while Tibetan flags were hidden from sight.

In an op-ed published in Hungary's pro-government Magyar Nemzet daily ahead of his arrival, Xi praised a "long-standing friendship" he described "as mellow and rich as Tokaji wine", referring to the renowned Hungarian vineyards region.

On the streets of Budapest, Hungarians were divided over the visit.

Reuters
Helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi crashes, search under way
DUBAI (Reuters) -A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident. The official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were "at risk following the helicopter crash", which happened on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan in Iran's northwest. A Turkish drone identified a source of heat suspected to be the helicopter's wreckage and had shared the coordinates of the possible crash site with Iranian authorities, Anadolu news agency said on X.
The Daily Beast
Biden Camp Has a Field Day With Wobbly Trump at Podium
XThe Biden campaign gleefully turned one of Donald Trump’s favorite digs against him on Saturday, branding the 78-year-old candidate as woefully geriatric in response to his embarrassing stumble at a Minnesota rally on Friday.Video from the event shared by Biden-Harris HQ on X showed Trump grabbing the lectern during his remarks on stage, after nearly toppling the podium over.A feeble Trump nearly falls down on stage after he leans on his podium too hard and then goes on an angry rant calling hi
TVLine.com
Alice Stewart, CNN Political Commentator, Dead at 58
Alice Stewart, the longtime political reporter and CNN commentator, has died. She was 58. Law enforcement confirmed the news to CNN on Saturday, saying Stewart’s body was found outside in northern Virginia earlier that morning. According to CNN, officers believe her death was the result of a medical emergency and no foul play is suspected. “My …
Business Insider
Ukraine bombs the port where Russia's Black Sea fleet moved to after Crimea got too risky for its warships, reports say
Ukraine missiles and drones hit the Novorossiysk where Russia's Black Sea fleet took refuge after repeated attacks on its Crimea base, reports said.
Rolling Stone
Stefanik Loses It When Fox News Host Reminds Her She Called Trump a ‘Whack Job’
"It's a disgrace that you would take a New York Times article and just read negative quotes," the congresswoman said to host Shannon Bream
Associated Press
Iran's president, foreign minister and others found dead at helicopter crash site, state media says
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63. The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month.
United Press International
Rudy Giuliani served notice of Aziz. indictment during birthday party
Rudy Giuliani's 80th birthday party in Florida was interrupted when the former New York City mayor was served with a notice of indictment in an alleged plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona.
The Hill
Crockett to Greene: ‘Don’t come for me’
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) warned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to not come after her after the two lawmakers clashed during a House committee hearing Thursday night. “Don’t come for me,” Crockett told MSNBC’s Katie Phang when asked if she had any other messages to share with Greene. “That is all that I need to…
Reuters
Factbox-What happens in Iran when a president dies in office?
* If a president dies in office, article 131 of the Islamic Republic's constitution says that the first vice president - who is Mohammad Mokhber - takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran. * A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange an election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.
The Hill
Ukraine ups pressure on US to allow strikes in Russia: ‘This is insane’
Ukraine’s struggle to fend off Russia’s massive offensive in the Kharkiv region has underscored a pressing issue that Kyiv has long tried to overturn: a ban on firing U.S. weapons to hit inside of Russia. Russia launched its Kharkiv offensive from the neighboring Belgorod region, and some Ukrainian officials are arguing that the attack could…
INSIDER
Conservatives are fighting guaranteed basic income programs using a surprising argument: They aren't universal
Conservatives groups are attacking guaranteed basic income programs for being discriminatory.
Business Insider
Russia is finally getting serious about its war, and it spells trouble for Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine looks different today than it did at the start of the conflict.
France 24
The battle of Monte Cassino: Both glory and dishonour for the French army
On May 18, 1944, Allied troops captured Monte Cassino in Italy, celebrated for its historic hilltop abbey, after four months of bitter fighting. The soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps particularly distinguished themselves in the battle for this key point in the German defensive line. But their military honours are now marred by accusations of war crimes. “Garigliano is a great victory ... France will know one day. She will understand.” On the evening of his departure from Italy in August
CNN
He was acquitted on charges related to the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. Now he’s running for sheriff
Eric Molitor, who was acquitted on charges linked to a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is now looking to unseat an incumbent county sheriff.
INSIDER
Trump teases idea of 3-term presidency at NRA convention
Speaking at the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Dallas, Donald Trump hinted at a third presidential term if he win in November.
The Wrap
‘SNL’ Season Finale Cold Open Sees James Austin Johnson’s Trump Introduce VP Short List – From Kristi Noem to Hannibal Lecter | Video
Yes, Tim Scott made it too The post ‘SNL’ Season Finale Cold Open Sees James Austin Johnson’s Trump Introduce VP Short List – From Kristi Noem to Hannibal Lecter | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
HuffPost
Donald Trump Floats Hannibal Lector As Possible VP Pick In Searing 'SNL' Open
The fictional serial killer has come up in Trump's campaign speeches multiple times over the past few months.
Business Insider
The model for NATO defending Ukrainian airspace from Russian attacks already exists, says German politician
A German politician said the Western defense of Israel from Iran is a blueprint for protecting Ukraine.
The New York Times
Trump’s New York Trial: Where Page Six Meets ‘12 Angry Men’
NEW YORK — Of every question asked during the trial of former President Donald Trump, few have so precisely reflected the proceeding’s universe as the one a defense lawyer asked a witness, Keith Davidson, in early May: “Do you know who Tila Tequila is?” Davidson, a Los Angeles lawyer with a niche specialty of extracting financial settlements from celebrities, certainly did: A men’s magazine model and reality television star who was fleetingly MTV famous in the early 2000s, Tila Tequila had once
INSIDER
Donald Trump's political maelstrom could be close to sucking Ivanka back in
Friends of Ivanka Trump told Business Insider that, despite her recent distance from her father's political brand, never say never to a return.

Latest Stories