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‘Attack on civil society’: why Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank is in crisis

Under glittering chandeliers in a neoclassical ballroom, guests took their seats. It was 10am and scores of people had gathered at a private members’ club in Brussels for a conference to mark 250 years of American independence, organised by Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank in the EU capital, MCC Brussels. Opening the one-day event, the MCC director, Frank Furedi, said the 250th anniversary had “really escaped the attention of a European audience” in a speech that lauded the founding fathers before launching a sweeping attack on Europe’s “incompetent political class”. Beneath the glitz and bravado, MCC Brussels’ future is in doubt. The thinktank, which has previously co-sponsored an event featuring Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman and hosted the far-right Alternative für Deutschland MEP Alexander Jungbluth, is facing an urgent cash crunch as a result of Orbán’s political ousting in April. The man who beat him in a landslide victory, Péter Magyar, has said the state will no longer finance conservative gatherings and organisations including “the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and other affiliated organisations”. Under Orbán, the MCC in Budapest, an educational institute with strong ties to his Fidesz party, benefited from a massive transfer of state assets. The new prime minister, however, has announced an investigation into the transfer, describing this state financing as a crime. MCC Brussels launched in November 2022, an ostensibly independent offshoot of its parent institute in the Hungarian capital. It declared €6.37m (£5.45m) in annual funding in 2024 from MCC Budapest, making it one of the best-funded thinktanks in the EU capital. That wealth was evident at the Cercle Royal Gaulois in June, where guests discussed the future of western civilisation in the elite club adorned with sculptures inspired by ancient Greece and portraits of Belgian royalty. Furedi, once a member of a Marxist fringe party, now a leading ideologue for the new right, said that MCC Brussels would need alternative funding from September. “No matter what, we’ll continue in some shape or form,” he said, although in “a worst-case scenario … we have to have much more of an online presence than an offline one”. He dismissed Magyar’s allegation of a criminal transfer of funds to MCC Budapest as “bullshit”, adding that MCC Brussels’ finances were “very transparent”. Magyar, he continued, was “entitled” as elected prime minister to “get his hands on the funding that MCC has received from the public purse … What he is not entitled to do is to close down an institution that is doing good work.” MCC Brussels, he said, had “taken up themes that nobody else has touched”, contrasting its output with the “narrow conversation” in Brussels about the Green Deal and migration. As examples he cited an event about Romany and Jewish music in eastern Europe and forthcoming work on “psychology in the EU narrative”. But it is not the MCC’s “musical journey through Transylvania” event that has earned the thinktank its controversial reputation. Critics accuse the group of defending Orbán’s corrupt rule in Hungary, in the face of widespread independent audits of graft and democratic backsliding. It has also been accused of a lack of transparency over its own funding. In early 2024, MCC Brussels was an enthusiastic supporter of farmer protests in Brussels, capitalising on genuine anger with low prices and EU regulation across western Europe. The thinktank denied organising protests, saying it had participated in demonstrations and produced videos “to help farmers communicate their concerns”. It also published reports claiming that EU policy was “destroying” farming. Their interest came at a time when farmers’ protests across Europe were gaining vocal support from far-right groups and conspiracy theorists. MCC has also accused the European Commission of “funnelling billions into a shadowy network of NGOs and thinktanks” in a report that fuelled a broader campaign from centre-right and far-right lawmakers against EU funding of civil society groups. MCC Brussels spotlighted 10 federalist organisations and thinktanks that it said had received funds under the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme, which has a €1.55bn budget for 2021-27 that has so far been distributed to more than 6,500 organisations. Petros Fassoulas, the secretary general of the European Movement International (EMI), one of the organisations highlighted, believes the MCC’s report contributed to “a climate, a mood, an impression” against NGOs. After years of stable funding, EMI’s application for a €650,000 annual EU grant was rejected in 2025, while funding from the European parliament for awareness-raising campaigns on European issues never materialised. Fassoulas said he had no proof that a rightwing campaign to cut EU funding for NGOs had led to that outcome, but described the timing as bizarre. He added: “It is strange that at the very time the EU is under attack from Russian disinformation, US political campaigns and nationalist narratives, the commission cuts funding for an organisation that has traditionally supported the European project.” Marieke Ehlers, an MEP with the far-right Dutch Party for Freedom, cited the MCC’s NGO report as an example of their “interesting” work. MCC Brussels played an important role, she added. “Do I use [their reports] to influence my political work? I don’t think so. Do I find it interesting to read? Yes. Do I think it’s important … to have thinktanks across the political spectrum? Yes.” Not everyone thinks MCC Brussels is so benign. Roland Freudenstein, a longtime Hungary watcher, said MCC Brussels was “basically set up to defend Orbán’s corruption” with a broader mission to be the intellectual basis for the pan-European alt-right. An MCC spokesperson said: “We condemn the practice of corruption by all politicians and public servants.” Freudenstein worked at the Wilfried Martens Centre, the official thinktank of the European People’s party (EPP), when the mainstream centre-right group was convulsed over whether to expel Orbán and his Fidesz party. Orbán eventually withdrew his party from EPP in 2021 before it was kicked out over concerns about growing authoritarianism in Hungary. The following year, MCC Brussels was born. “The MCC became really important to Fidesz as something to counterbalance the political isolation that Fidesz felt in the European parliament and by extension in European politics,” Freudenstein said. The change in government in Hungary is not the only problem for MCC Brussels. It was suspended last month from the EU Transparency Register, a move that raises questions about its credibility. Inclusion on the register, an official database of lobby groups, is required if an organisation wishes to meet senior EU officials. The suspension followed a complaint from the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in February 2025 that accused MCC Brussels of failure to disclose its funding. MCC Brussels registered on the EU list in January 2024, but did not disclose its funding until August 2024. The MCC spokesperson said this was “was well within the time frame afforded to all new registrants”. Olivier Hoedeman, a co-founder of CEO, said the complaint had been initiated when MCC Brussels was “leading the attack on civil society”, adding that “their failure and refusal to disclose their own budget was just glaringly hypocritical”. More than 16 months after the complaint, Hoedeman said CEO was still awaiting the commission’s response. MCC Brussels claimed its suspension was “politically motivated” and had arisen over a dispute about whether MCC Brussels should be contained within the registration of its parent organisation. The European Commission repeatedly declined to explain the reasons for the suspension. “We do not comment on ongoing administrative proceedings,” a spokesperson said, adding that “the relevant organisation” always had “the possibility to share their views in writing before any decision on eligibility is taken”. For now MCC’s search for new funders continues. Looking back at the well-attended event in the mirrored ballroom at the Cercle Royal Gaulois, Freudenstein said: “If it hadn’t been for Orbán’s crushing defeat in April, they would be thriving.”

Oche addicts: how Kenya fell back in love with darts

Peter Wachiuri pumped his fists as he sensed victory at the Jacaranda showground in the Kenyan city of Nakuru. Leading his opponent, James Kamama, in the final of the main event, Wachiuri approached the oche again, picked a dart from his left hand, leaned forward with an intense gaze on the dartboard, and threw double 10. “Game shot!” the announcer’s voice boomed across the hall. Cheers erupted in the crowd, gospel music played out of the speakers and Wachiuri launched into a celebratory on-stage dance. Match Play 2, a two-day tournament, had drawn 161 participants from around the country. “The tournament was excellent and all the players were great,” a jubilant Wachiuri said from the stage before the awards ceremony. Peter Wachiuri and James Kamama pose for a photo after the final of the main event After years in the doldrums, darts is enjoying a resurgence in Kenya. The groundwork was laid by darts development and marketing organisations that began to establish leagues and tournaments three years ago, professionalising the sport. As Dann Karori, a co-founder of Sirua Darts, which organised the Nakuru event, said: “We want to make Kenya the capital of darts in Africa.” The lift-off moment occurred last year when David Munyua, a veterinarian, became the first Kenyan to qualify for the sport’s showpiece event, the PDC World Darts Championship, held at Alexandra Palace in London. Not only did he qualify, Munyua went on to win his first-round match against the Belgian 18th seed, Mike De Decker, in one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks. “There was a very big tsunami after everyone watched Munyua play,” said Manpreet Kalsi, 42, a mall general manager and the top-ranked player in the first season of the Sirua Darts Circuit (SDC) league. “[People thought] ‘these guys can do it, why can’t we?’” Wachiuri discovered darts at a bar in Ngong, the town where he lives, and initially played to pass the time. He fell in love with the sport when he started making enough money to feed his family by betting on his own matches. Nicknamed “Kenyan King”, he later quit his job as a lorry driver to focus on darts and he is today one of the most accomplished players in the country, his achievements opening the door for others. In 2024, the year before Munyua’s breakthrough, Wachuiri was one dart away from making it to the world championship himself, missing his target by millimetres at the African qualifiers in Nairobi. Manpreet Kalsi and Peter Wachiuri at the oche Kalsi has been playing since the 1990s when his family held matches on Sundays over barbecues at their home in Nairobi. He won his first children’s tournament when he was about 14, then took a break from the sport, returning to it only 10 years ago and eventually being recruited by the Mang darts club in Nairobi, which played in competitions organised by the amateur-focused Kenya Darts Association. Nicknamed “The Prince”, like Wachiuri he has played at the Modus Super Series, a weekly competition held in Portsmouth on England’s south coast for non-PDC tour card holders. And like many other Kenyan players, Wachiuri and Kalsi participate in competitions organised by Sirua and the African Darts Group, a development and marketing organisation founded by South African player Devon Petersen. Long a staple of bar culture and social clubs, the first heyday of Kenyan darts came in the 1980s and 90s, largely thanks to the airing of a darts tournament called KBL Festival of Darts on the national broadcaster . The country’s best players started gracing the international stage. They included Robert Ngirigacha, John Munyui, Anne Wairimu and Mary Njogu, who all appeared at the World Darts Federation World Cup. But poor management and a dearth of corporate sponsorship meant that by the early 2000s, interest had waned. Spectators including Robert Ngirigacha (in green) and his wife Lucy Chemutai follow the proceedings at the Match Play 2 tournament Sirua Darts is one of the organisations leading the recent resurgence. It was founded in 2022 by three darts enthusiasts – Karori, Penny Mubea and Jeff Muriithi – who felt Kenyan talent could excel anywhere with the right structure and support. Sirua runs a 12-week league featuring 20 teams from different parts of the country, with a total of 300 players. It also holds tournaments and partners with international bodies to grow the sport. The founders of Sirua Darts (l-r): Jeff Muriithi, Penny Mubea and Dann Karori The fans at the Nakuru event were mostly players themselves, but Karori said Sirua was working to develop the fanbase holistically, for instance by incorporating music and food at tournaments and marketing the sport externally. Karori lamented that the sport had “been lost in the country for 20 years”, meaning gen Z was never introduced to it. In order to reach that market, he added, “we need to make the games very exciting”. The effort is bearing fruit. On the day Wachiuri faced off with Kamama, who is from Naivasha town, the rhythmic thud of darts hitting boards filled the room as dozens of men and women in colourful kits battled it out in matches and chalkers swiftly wrote the scores on tablets. Outside, participants bantered around tables as they awaited their turns, while others sharpened their darts or sipped their beers. APPA Estates players strategise Left: Benard Muiruri, a member of the APPA Estates team, speaks with his teammate Victoria Wangu. Right: a player sharpens his dart In the women’s category, Millicent Wangui beat her fellow Nakuru resident Daisy Kipyator. Both the men’s and women’s finals had energised crowds, ecstatic walk-ons, and expert analysis via a YouTube livestream. Millicent Wangui plays Wangui, a police officer, said: “The spirit of darts is very strong these days and everybody is determined to win these tournaments because they can give us opportunities to compete abroad.” She dreams of playing in the women’s tournaments of the PDC and the Modus Super Series. Benson Ngari poses beside posters showing top darts players Everyone involved in the higher echelons of the sport agrees that attracting more player sponsorship to fund overseas travel, in particular, is the key next step. After the competition in Nakuru, there was a fundraiser for Benson Ngari, who had upset Wachiuri in the final of a qualifier in May for a spot at the Modus Super Series next week. “Since I started this game, I’ve been wanting to go play abroad. And I can say time has come, so I’m very happy,” said Ngari, a 45-year-old motorcycle taxi rider based in Nairobi, on the sidelines of the tournament. “I’m ready, though I still need support in terms of finances.” Ngari eventually secured sponsorship and was to leave for the UK today, but was denied a visa. People play darts in Ndenderu and Ruaka At the grassroots level, teams have sprung up in neighbourhoods in towns and cities to participate in SDC leagues. On a recent Friday evening at a bar and restaurant in Ruaka town, just outside Nairobi, players from the G9 Mnazini team played a wager game that doubled as practice for SDC matches. Down the road in Ndenderu on a Wednesday night, the Oche Addicts team played matches at a lounge and restaurant. The Morans team played their opening matches of the new SDC season at a commercial and residential block in the Nairobi neighbourhood of Parklands one Friday evening, as amapiano played in the background. The scene was a microcosm of how far the sport has come, and where it could be heading next. Munyui, who left darts in the early 2000s and returned to it three years ago, was playing. Now in his 60s, he said: “It’s good that Sirua has come and collected darts from where it was.” Also in the room was 14-year-old Aryan Khalsa, who finished 25th in the SDC last season and has been described by fellow players as the sport’s future. “I hope to be picked to go play international events and one day go to PDC,” he said. John Munyui and Aryan Khalsa

A deadly strain of bird flu has landed on Australian shores. Does it pose a risk to pets?

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has arrived on the Australian mainland and, while there’s no evidence yet of mass animal mortality, authorities are on high alert. The virus has killed millions of birds and thousands of marine mammals since it began spreading around the globe in 2021. The risk to humans is low – but should we be worried about our pets? How far is bird flu spreading in Australia? Six cases have been confirmed since late June – four in Western Australia, one in South Australia and one in New South Wales – all in migratory sub-antarctic birds. The federal government analysed Australia’s 800 different birds and 350 mammals threatened by the disease. It assessed more than 150 native and unique bird species, and more than 10 mammal species including sea lions and fur seals, as being at “very high risk” of extinction or major decline if they caught the disease. Could bird flu spread among our pets? Along with birds and poultry, the virus can also be fatal for cats and dogs. The Australian government said in its advice that overseas infections were “infrequent” and usually resulted from “dogs or cats being exposed to sick or dead birds, other animals infected with [bird flu], consumption of raw pet food or unpasteurised (raw) milk”. Sheep, pigs, and horses were also considered low risk. The threatened species commissioner, Dr Fiona Fraser, urged the public to avoid touching potentially sick birds in the wild and to keep pets away from wild birds. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “Pet cats and dogs which come into contact with sick birds could capture H5 bird flu themselves and all mammals are susceptible to H5 bird flu, so that includes our pet cats and dogs,” she said. “And it’s generally good practice to keep your pets away from wildlife anyway.” In an article for the Conversation, Prof Ricardo J Soares Magalhães, a veterinary science expert at the University of Queensland, said the risks were very real for back-yard chickens if an outbreak occurred, particularly if they were free range, and advised keeping chickens housed as much as possible. The Tasmanian government has noted in its advice that no reptiles have been reported to be affected. A general practitioner vet and senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, Dr Anne Quain, told Guardian Australia it was important to take precautions to minimise risks because H5 bird flu was “highly pathogenic” and there were no vaccines for cats or dogs. “The infection can cause respiratory or neurological signs,” she said. “There are reports of fatalities in cats and (less commonly) dogs elsewhere in the world.” What are the symptoms of bird flu in pets? The Australian government says in its advice that signs of the disease “may be subtle or mistaken for other illnesses”. They vary between species, but can include fever, lethargy, discharge from eyes or nose, difficulty breathing and neurological signs, such as tremors or seizures. The president of the Australian Veterinarian Association, Dr Diana Barker, said signs of bird flu included lethargy, swelling and fever. She advised bird owners to isolate animals suspected of having the virus and call clinics rather than bringing the bird in, to minimise the risk of spread. “Right now, the risk to common household pets in Australia is low, and there is no cause for alarm,” she said. “However the public must remain vigilant … Most cases overseas have been linked to specific exposures, most commonly cats eating infected wild birds or infected raw meat. “Dogs appear far less susceptible and typically show only mild signs.” One study, published by the American Veterinary Medical Association, found domestic cats infected with H5N1 had overall mortality rates of 50 to 70%. Should I keep my cat locked inside and my dog on a leash? Sean Dooley from BirdLife Australia advised that cats should be kept indoors in general for bird safety. Owners should keep their cats indoors in the case of an outbreak – both to curtail potential spread and protect cats from falling severely ill, he said. Dog owners should keep them on the leash at the beach, particularly along the southern coast and after heavy storms, which tended to cause more dead birds to wash up onshore. “If we do find a bird flu spread here then there is going to need to be a change in behaviour if people want to protect their pets,” he said. What else should pet owners do? Quain said the best way to prevent the infection was to “minimise or eliminate the risk of exposure to wildlife or infected animals” – making sure outdoor animal runs couldn’t be accessed by wildlife. “While we know cats are likely to be more susceptible than dogs, it would be wise to avoid allowing dogs to mix with potentially sick birds or their carcasses,” she said. “Avoid leaving pet food or water in areas where wild birds or animals can have contact with it.” Quain said in other countries, raw poultry and unpasteurised milk were sources of infection, particularly in cats. “If you have any contact with sick or dead birds yourself, even if you’ve worn gloves, shower and change clothes before contact with cats and dogs,” she said. Additional reporting by Petra Stock

Founder of prominent underground church released from prison in China

The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches has been released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States. Ezra Jin, the founder of Zion Church, landed in the US on Friday evening. He was one of dozens of church members who were detained in a sweeping crackdown on Christians in October. “We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling overwhelmed with joy,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We thank God for this tremendous miracle. We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.” China’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jin’s release is a rare case of China releasing one of its own citizens, apparently in response to lobbying from the US. In 2024, David Lin, an American pastor of Chinese origins, was released from prison after 20 years after lobbying by the state department. Jin’s case was raised by Donald Trump on his visit to Beijing in May. The US president said that Xi Jinping, China’s president, was “seriously considering” releasing pastors jailed in China, while saying that progress on other detained figures, such as the British citizen Jimmy Lai, was harder. Jin’s wife and children are in the US and have repeatedly appealed to the US government and to Trump directly to secure Jin’s release. Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, testified before congress in November. Trump later described her as a “beautiful daughter” and promised to raise Jin’s case with Xi. Jin, a Chinese citizen, is one of the most recognisable faces of China’s underground church movement. He founded Zion Church in 2007. In 2018, the church’s physical location in Beijing was forced to close, but the group later moved to online sermons that allowed them to extend their reach to thousands of members. Christianity is legal in China but worship is only permitted in government-controlled churches. In 2018, the government said there were 44 million Christians in China but other estimates, which included unregistered believers, put the number at about 130 million. Many Christians shun government-controlled churches and prefer to worship in underground groups such as Zion, also known as “house churches”. In the past year, China launched a major crackdown on house churches. In January, members of Early Rain church, another prominent group, were detained. In June, an Early Rain gathering in Sichuan in south-west China was raided by police with reports of more than 30 people being taken for questioning. Several members of Zion Church remain in detention. Last month, the cases of nine members, including Jin, were transferred to prosecutors on charges of illegal business operations and fraud. Nine others were released on bail pending trial.

Cow corner: cricket match abandoned after runaway bull stops play

A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull stormed the playing field and charged at players. The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield Cricket Club near Newcastle was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground. Martin Oswell, director of the Tyneside club, said the young bull, which weighed about 800kg, had escaped from a farm and travelled about a mile to the playing field where it arrived at about 3pm. Safety concerns quickly arose as the animal could be seen charging at players and farmers who attempted to recapture it. Police were eventually called to the scene before the bull left “of its own accord”, Oswell said. He told the Press Association: “Two of the farmers tried to stop the bull and it actually hit one of them. “He was OK but I mean the beast probably weighed about 800kg. “It was a juvenile bull, incredibly fit, athletic – quite frankly, it was quite dangerous.” Oswell added: “We couldn’t get rid of it. There was no chance that the game was going to restart before the cutoff time. “At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny – but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned.” The bull’s owner drove a cow to the cricket club in an effort to entice the animal off the field but to no avail. Oswell added: “The farmer who owns the bull arrived at the ground and tried at first to sort of cajole it and get it into a pen, but it failed. “The bull was very frightened – it was spooked.” Burnopfield CC, who are second in the North East Premier League, had scored 226 runs against opponents Hetton Lyons who were 12 for one when the match was interrupted.

Archaeologists uncover ancient Byzantine city in Egypt’s western desert

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a well-preserved Byzantine-era city in the western desert. The fourth-century quarters had residential and religious structures, including a basilica-style church in the Dakhla oasis. Archaeologists also found coins, pottery fragments and tools. Separately, 18 ancient tombs were discovered at Marina el-Alamein, near Alexandria, which includes rock-cut and limestone tombs, pottery and a granite sarcophagus. The tourism and antiquities ministry said the first discovery reveals details of daily life, urban development and economic activities when Egypt was part of the Byzantine empire. The unearthed quarters included north-south thoroughfares intersected by east-west streets, forming open squares and public spaces, said Hisham el-Leithy, secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities. A basilica dating back to the mid-fourth century stands at the settlement’s head, overlooking its main streets, along with remains of two watchtowers to safeguard the outskirts, according to Mahmoud Massoud, who chairs the archaeological mission. The oasis, located in Egypt’s western province of New Valley, is on Unesco’s tentative list, a step away from being added to the agency’s world heritage list. A heavily fortified structure with thick defensive walls, and many houses consisting of reception halls and vaulted roofs, were found in the area, Massoud added. Among them were the house of Tisous, a church deacon, which dates to the second half of the 14th century. Archaeologists believe it served as a house church before the construction of the city’s basilica. Archaeologists also uncovered bread ovens, kitchens, grinding tools and bronze coins bearing portraits of Byzantine emperors, Latin inscriptions and Christian symbols. A group of gold coins unearthed dated to the reign of Roman emperor Constantius II, who ruled between 337 and 361, the ministry statement said. Diaa Zahran, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish antiquities department, said they found a collection of about 200 pottery fragments which would have been used as writing material. The fragments, known as ostraca, have inscriptions detailing commercial transactions, correspondence and other details of daily life, according to Zahran. Archaeologists also found ancient tombs in the Marina el-Alamein archaeological site, which is about 62 miles (100km) west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The findings included 11 rock-cut tombs with an average depth of eight metres, and seven surface limestone-built tombs, the ministry said. It has brought the total tombs found at the site to 48. In the site, archaeologists found pottery vessels, amphorae, lamps, plates, altars and limestone basins. The mission chief, Eman Abdel-Khaliq, said they found a 2.5-metre-long granite sarcophagus, with skeleton remains that were being studied. Close to the sarcophagus, they found the remains of a plaster sphinx statue, she said. Four gold pieces were placed inside the mouths of some of the deceased, known as “the golden tongue”, which had been a practice associated with funerary beliefs of that era, Abdel-Khaliq said. Marina el-Alamein is an archaeological site close to the city of Alamein on Egypt’s northern coast, unearthed in 1986. Archaeologists believe the site was the ancient Greco-Roman port city of Leukaspis on the Mediterranean, which was built in the second century and thrived until the fourth century.

Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg oil terminal and nearby port

Ukraine launched a big overnight drone attack on St Petersburg and the surrounding area, hitting the city’s oil terminal and port infrastructure in the wider region. The St Petersburg governor, Alexander Beglov, said the city had been subjected to a “large-scale” drone attack that had hit its oil terminal. He said there were no casualties and the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, said a drone had struck the area of Vysotsk port, about 170km (105 miles) north-west of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. The port handles oil, grain, coal and liquefied natural gas. Drozdenko said 72 drones had been shot down over the region, and there was minor damage in several settlements. He gave no information on the impact on Vysotsk port. In a post on Telegram, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the attack as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia. Zelenskyy said: “Ukraine’s defence forces struck port oil infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia’s war, and also hit Kronstadt, an important military target more than 850km (530 miles) from Ukraine’s state border.” The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, dismissed the strikes on energy facilities as “not critical”. There was no Russian confirmation of a strike on Kronstadt, a major naval base near St Petersburg that Ukraine also targeted in an attack last month. Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this year, inflicting heavy damage on refineries and causing petrol shortages across the country’s 11 time zones. Elsewhere, the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region and the Russian-installed governor of Crimea said drone strikes had killed one person in each region, with several more wounded. South of St Petersburg, the governor of Pskov region said more than 30 drones had been shot down overnight. He reported minor damage and injuries, including at a factory in the town of Velikiye Luki. Zelenskyy also denied Russian claims that the eastern city of Kostiantynivka had been captured by Moscow’s military. Russia’s military told president Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of the city, a target that the Kremlin has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region. Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story. “If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps [the Russian president, Vladimir] Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war.” Ukraine’s general staff also said Kostiantynivka remained under the control of Ukrainian forces. It said in a statement: “Military units and subunits of the 19th army corps of the eastern grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches.” Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four key settlements that form a defensive line central to Ukraine’s effort to hold a final part of the heavily industrialised Donetsk region. Russia’s defence ministry also claimed it had taken five villages in eastern Ukraine: Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, and Vasylivka in Donetsk region.

Tens of thousands march in London for annual Pride parade

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London for the annual LGBT+ Pride parade. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, joined the crowd as they proceeded through the capital on Saturday afternoon. The event’s organisers said that more than 35,000 marchers from about 600 groups made their way from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall via Piccadilly, many carrying rainbow flags. The activist Julian Hows, 70, who was at the front of the parade, told journalists: “Pride is important because it needs to have an underlying level of protest, and you can see the freedoms that we have can so easily be taken away. “We also always need to push further because there’s always somewhere where our rights are being taken away.” Madonna would not be attending the Pride event, organisers have said. Pride in London posted on social media: “In response to the rumours, we can confirm that Madonna will not be appearing or performing at Pride in London. “We have two fantastic headliners at Trafalgar Square to conclude a brilliant day of protest and celebration.” Speaking prior to the event, a Pride spokesperson said: “The urgency is clear: NHS gender-affirming care waiting lists now exceed four years in some regions while a comprehensive trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy remains uncodified into law despite a 2018 government pledge. “At the same time, the community infrastructure LGBTQ+ people rely on is shrinking – since 2006, 58% of London’s LGBTQ+ venues have closed. “Together, these gaps in care, protection and safe spaces are unfolding amid continued hostility, with Home Office figures showing that more than 18,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were reported to police in 2025.” Britain’s first official Pride march took place in London in July 1972, inspired by the Stonewall uprising in New York three years earlier. Police raided a popular gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, leading to a week of demonstrations against harassment and discrimination. Rebecca Paisis, the event’s interim chief executive, said she wanted to oversee “the most inclusive Pride in London event yet”. She said: “Our movement has always been built on many voices becoming one united front – from the people who marched in 1972 to those joining us for the first time this year. That’s where our power lies. “As LGBTQ+ people, we’ve never been strangers to adversity, but neither are we strangers to collective action. This year’s campaign is a reminder that while the community often faces challenges in isolation, it is by coming together that we can change history.” However, in recent years, the London event has been criticised by some LGBTQ+ activists who no longer feel represented by it. It has faced accusations of “pinkwashing” by allegedly allowing some corporations to profit from their involvement in the event without any real commitment to LGBTQ+ equality. Some activists have also suggested the event is not diverse enough. Since 2024, a number of LGBTQ+ groups have tried to distance themselves from the London march, due to concerns about sponsors’ connections to the arms trade and the war in Gaza.