Members of the Irish-language rap group Kneecap were banned from entering Hungary ahead of their scheduled performance at the popular Sziget Festival as authorities argued the musicians’ presence in the country would constitute a risk to national security. The Belfast trio, scheduled to play on Sziget’s closing day on Aug. 11, is known for anarchic energy, satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland. The group has faced criticism for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references and for political statements seeming to glorify militant groups...

British leader Keir Starmer and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to sign a hard-wrought trade agreement Thursday that will slash tariffs on products including Scotch whisky and English gin shipped to India and Indian food and spices sent to the U.K. The two prime ministers are due to hold a signing ceremony at Chequers, the British leader’s country residence outside London. The trade agreement between India and Britain, the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, was announced in May, more than three years after negotiations started, and stalled, under Britain’s previous Conservative government. The U.K. government said the deal will reduce India’s average tariff on...

The wreckage of a plane that crashed while carrying 49 people has been found in Russia’s Far East, local emergency services said Thursday. Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that they had found the plane’s burning fuselage on a hillside south of its planned destination in the town of Tynda. Images of the reported crash site circulated by Russian state media show debris scattered among dense forest, surrounded by plumes of smoke. An initial aerial inspection of the site suggested that there were no survivors, Russia’s Interfax news agency said, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Its sources also said...

For six hours every day after school, Nahideh works in a cemetery, collecting water from a nearby shrine to sell to mourners visiting loved ones’ graves. She dreams of becoming a doctor — but knows it is a futile dream. When the next school year starts, she will be enrolling in a madrassa, a religious school, to learn about the Quran and Islam — and little else. “I prefer to go to school, but I can’t, so I will go to a madrassa,” she said, dark brown eyes peering out from beneath her tightly wrapped black headscarf. “If I could...

Clashes have erupted along the Cambodia-Thailand border, escalating with the use of multiple-launch rocket systems and armored vehicles. This is coming after weeks of cold conflict from both sides, with both blaming the other for starting the fight. Cambodia fired artillery shells and rockets into Thailand, while Thai military scrambled F-16 jets to carry out air attacks. Fighting has intensified along the border, with airstrikes, heavy shelling, and civilian casualties reported. Thai Foreign Ministry stated: “Cambodian forces launched Grad rockets at civilian targets inside Thailand, causing deaths and injuries!” Reportedly both sides have launched attacks against each other on the...

Blistering temperatures across several provinces in Iran led the government to declare a public holiday on Wednesday, a step taken to protect citizens and a power grid that critics say is aging and mismanaged. Temperatures soared over 125 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country, and banks, businesses and government offices in the capital Tehran shut down. Similar public holidays have been announced in recent years due to sweltering heat. The extreme temperatures have put a strain on the country’s power infrastructure, which was already reeling from devastating attacks by Israel during a 12-day war, and could develop into a full blown...

Six students from a university in China drowned Wednesday after falling into a flotation tank while visiting a mine in the country’s Inner Mongolia region. The students from Northeastern University in Liaoning province were observing the flotation process when a grid plate they were standing on suddenly gave way, causing them to fall into the tank, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. “Despite rescue efforts, all six students were confirmed drowned after being pulled from the tank. One teacher was also injured,” Zhongjin Gold, a subsidiary of state-owned China National Gold Group that operates the mine, said in a company filing...

 Chinese President Xi Jinping urged top European Union officials on Thursday to “properly handle differences and frictions” as he criticized Brussels’s recent trade actions against Beijing at a tense summit dominated by concerns on trade and the Ukraine war. Expectations were low for the summit in the Chinese capital marking 50 years of diplomatic ties after weeks of escalating tension and wrangling over its format, with the duration abruptly halved to a single day at Beijing’s request. “The current challenges facing Europe do not come from China,” Xi told visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, state news agency Xinhua said. He urged the E.U....

French media giant Canal+ has officially acquired MultiChoice Group in a landmark $3 billion deal. This move gives Canal+ full control over popular African pay-TV platforms DStv and GOtv, as well as Showmax and SuperSport. South Africa’s Competition Tribunal approved the takeover with conditions, including commitments to local content investment, no job cuts for 3 years, and the creation of a new South African-owned company, LicenceCo, to manage broadcasting licenses. The deal signals a new era in African entertainment merging Canal+‘s French-speaking reach with MultiChoice’s dominance across English-speaking Africa. The takeover offer by French firm Canal Plus of MultiChoice is...