Europe

The Central Bank of Hungary has repaid its outstanding €721 million debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of schedule, clearing the way for the Fund to close down its representative office in Budapest at the end of the month as the country will no longer tolerate meddling in its domestic affairs.

Almost half a million pounds of British taxpayer-funded aid and equipment has fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda, the Department for International Development has admitted.

Diplomats in London have been given shock and awe, the financial kind: HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe’s biggest bank, has told more than 40 different embassies, consulates, High Commissions and the Vatican that it will close their bank accounts and gave them 60 days to move their business somewhere else. Diplomats are thrown into chaos: They scramble to find a new place to put their money, but it gets worse. Other banks have been refusing to take them as customers.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has asked the country's foreign intelligence service (BND) to provide a full explanation after it confirmed that it passed on data to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

The US government has paid at least £100m to the UK spy agency GCHQ over the last three years to secure access to and influence over Britain's intelligence gathering programmes.

Pope Francis has said gay people should not be marginalized but integrated into society, in some of the most conciliatory remarks by a pontiff on the issue of homosexuality. However, regarding women priests, he said the Church door is closed.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will remain in power for long years, and the opposing Coalition delegation comes out empty-handed from a meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

Russia has provided American whistleblower Edward Snowden with an official pass to allow him to enter Moscow.

The foreign-backed Syria opposition chief Ahmad Jarba arrived in Paris on Tuesday for a two-day visit aimed at convincing France to boost its support for militant groups.

Russia and the US have pledged to convene an international conference aimed at ending the crisis in Syria, a move that was announced at a midnight press conference between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on May 7th. Russia expressed deep regret that the majority of the opposition groups, including "Doha Coalition", unlike the Syrian government, have not shown readiness to participate in the conference.

Pope Francis warned Monday that the world risks having an entire generation of jobless young people as he arrived to Brazil. The 76-year-old Argentine, speaking to journalists aboard the papal plane heading to the Catholic youth event in Rio de Janeiro, said his trip aimed in part “to encourage young people to integrate into society” and convince the world not to abandon them.

The future king of the United Kingdom was born at 4.24pm in St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington after the Duchess of Cambridge had 11 hours of labour, with the Duke of Cambridge, HRH Prince William in attendance. The newest addition to the British Royal family and the Queen's third great-grandson, who weighs 8lbs and 6 oz, becomes the third line in the throne, moving Prince Harry down to fourth.