World

After Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Janos Lazar is one of the most recognizable politicians in Hungary. In fact, the construction and transpor minister, who regularly makes headlines with racist and belittling attacks on minorities and poor people, is one of the few recognizable politicians within Orban's Fidesz party. He is still remembered for saying years ago that "those who have nothing are worth exactly that." Lazar, who is said to be keen to replace Orban one day, has now created the biggest scandal yet in Hungary's 2026 election campaign. On January 22, Lazar told residents of the town of Balatonalmadi, just outside the capital, Budapest, that he does not consider immigration to be the solution to Hungary's labor shortage. "If someone has to scrub the toilets on our Intercity train...

The murder of Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova returned to court on Monday for the third time. Marian Kocner, the businessman suspected of ordering the killing, has been acquitted on two occasions, but both times the verdicts were overturned by Slovakia's Supreme Court, citing serious flaws in how evidence had been assessed. The families of the couple — who were shot dead in their home in 2018 — are finally hoping for justice, although reaching a verdict is likely to take up to a year or even longer. Learning to live with loss "If I hadn't managed to come to terms with it, we wouldn't be sitting here talking," said Peter Bardy, editor-in-chief of the Slovak news site Aktuality.sk. Jan Kuciak's former boss spoke to DW in the same office where...

Twenty-five years in the making, the EU-Mercosur deal — a sweeping trade agreement between the European Union and the Latin American countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — has hit another roadblock, just days after being signed. The European Parliament who has yet to formally vote on the deal, voted on Wednesday, January 21, to send parts of the agreement to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a legality check. One of the initiators of the vote, Austrian Green MEP Thomas Waitz, told DW: "There are legitimate concerns, legal concerns, and it's important that the European Court of Justice checks them and gives advice on how to deal with these issues." Parliament wants the court to check one specific mechanism that could enable Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to ch...

Twenty-five years in the making, the EU-Mercosur deal — a sweeping trade agreement between the European Union and the Latin American countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — has hit another roadblock, just days after being signed. The European Parliament who has yet to formally vote on the deal, voted on Wednesday, January 21, to send parts of the agreement to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a legality check. One of the initiators of the vote, Austrian Green MEP Thomas Waitz, told DW: "There are legitimate concerns, legal concerns, and it's important that the European Court of Justice checks them and gives advice on how to deal with these issues." Parliament wants the court to check one specific mechanism that could enable Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to ch...