One resident believes “bigger cafés are taking over” from independent brands
People have said they find it ‘disappointing’ that some shops have ‘disappeared’ from their Cambridgeshire town’s high street. Over the years, many shops have disappeared from town and city high streets, leaving shoppers sad when some of their favourite brands leave.
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This is the feeling for some residents in St Ives. Jackie Smith said St Ives is a “very safe” and “lovely” town, but said that more shops and cafés are leaving the high street.
She said: “The bigger cafés are taking over from the smaller people. We used to have one café down the road that has gone now.
“There’s a big Caffe Nero, but also a Costa opposite. Younger people can afford to go somewhere like Costa now. You couldn’t do that in my day!”
Derek Green said he finds it ‘disappointing’ that more shops are leaving the high street. He added: “That’s the only thing disappointing about St Ives. We used to have a lot more independents, like cafés and shops, but the bigger brands are taking over.”
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His thoughts were echoed by another long-term resident, who wished to remain anonymous. They said the “high street is not what it used to be”.
They added: “We used to have a lot more shops than we do now, I mean you can see from how some are left empty. I guess it’s the same everywhere, but it’s a shame to see shops disappearing from the high street.”
Not only do people think there could be more in the high street, but they also think there could be more to the town’s market. Sara Jarlett, who runs a pick and mix stall in the market every Monday and Friday, thinks the market could be bigger.
She added: “Apparently years ago, the market used to be all the way down to the other side of the crossing. It’s a lot smaller now.” Sara thinks more stalls could be on offer at the market. She said: “You could get other stalls here like bric and brac.”
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As well as improving the high street, some locals believe there is a problem with traffic in the town. Amelia Phillips said: “The traffic sometimes heading to Cambridge at commuting times is bad.”
Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said traffic in the centre has “become a problem”. She added: “There are a lot more cars on the road compared to when I moved here a long time ago. But, I guess that is the same everywhere else.”
Love Story is the latest anthology series that comes from writer Ryan Murphy. However, it is actually written by Colin Hines.
The series itself is based on the book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, written by Elizabeth Beller. While the focus is on the relationship and management between the son of a former US President and a high-flying fashion executive, other significant moments are also presented.
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One of these is the final days of ex First Lady, Jackie Kennedy Onassis. In the show, she is played by Oscar-nominated star Naomi Watts, known for previous roles in The Impossible, Birdman, and All’s Fair.
But what happened to Jackie Kennedy in real life? How did she die? Here’s all you need to know.
How did Jackie Kennedy die?
JFK Jr’s mother, Jackie, is unsurprisingly a significant figure in the series as she was in real life. She was married to his father until his assassination in 1963. She remarried to business magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968, and they were together until his death in 1975.
While she is cited as redefining the role of First Lady, she later became a book editor for publisher Double Day. As is referenced in the series, Jackie was thrown from her horse in an incident in November 1993, which led to a short time in the hospital. While there, doctors noticed a swollen lymph node but thought it might be due to an infection.
However, her condition worsened a month later, and she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At the start of 1994, she began cancer treatment and publicly disclosed her illness, at which time a spokesperson said her prognosis was ‘excellent’.
She continued to work, but in just a few months, the cancer had spread to her spinal cord and brain. By March, it was in her liver, and doctors declared her condition terminal. Choosing to spend her final days at home, she died in her sleep on May 19, 1994.
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The day after her death, then-President Bill Clinton said, “Jackie Kennedy Onassis was a model of courage and dignity for all Americans and all the world. More than any other woman of her time, she captivated our nation and the world with her intelligence, her elegance, and her grace. Even in the face of impossible tragedy, she carried the grief of her family and our entire nation with a calm power that somehow reassured all of us who mourned.”
On May 20, 1994, JFK Jr. delivered a brief statement outside his late mother’s apartment. He said: “She was surrounded by her friends and family and her books and the people and the things that she loved. And she did it in her own way, and we all feel lucky for that, and now she’s in God’s hands.”
A private funeral took place less than a week after Jackie’s death. She was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, beside her first husband.
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Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette is streaming on Disney+
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As temperatures drop overnight, there is an increased risk of ice forming.
Parts of Cambridgeshire have been placed under a yellow weather warning for ice by the Met Office. The warning will be in place from 6pm on Monday (February 16) and will be lifted at 10am on Tuesday (February 17).
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Clear skies following a period of rain and sleet can lead to patches of ice forming. The areas covered by the warning include Peterborough, Ely, and Cambridge, as temperatures are set to fall to around 1C overnight.
People in these areas could be at risk of some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces. It is likely there will be some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements, and cycle paths.
If you need to leave the house when the warning is in place, you should leave at least five minutes earlier than normal to avoid rushing, according to the Met Office. This will reduce your risk of accidents, slips, and falls.
If you are travelling by car, you should check road conditions before setting off on your journey. You should also check bus and train timetables for any delays if using public transport.
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A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “Areas of rain, sleet, and hill snow will move southeastwards through Monday evening and night before clearing to the North Sea. Whilst some patchy accumulations of snow will be possible, more especially on ground above 150-200 m elevation, ice will be a greater hazard as temperatures fall fairly quickly once showers clear away.
“In addition, a period of strong northwesterly winds are also likely along some North Sea coasts later in the night and into Tuesday morning.”
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Stephen Neil, 60, was last seen in the village of Ae in Dumfries at around 7pm on Saturday.
Police and mountain rescue teams are searching a forest area for a missing man who has vanished in his campervan.
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Stephen Neil, 60, was last seen in the village of Ae in Dumfries at around 7pm on Saturday, February 14.
It is believed he is driving his old ‘L’ reg campervan which has been painted matt black and has green wheels and trim.
Police Scotland has enlisted the help of mountain rescue teams and dispatched a helicopter to scour for the missing camper.
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Officers are also appealing for the help of the public in tracing Stephen.
He is described as White, 5ft9 in height, has blue eyes and is balding with very short grey/white hair. It is not known what he is wearing.
Inspector Lloyd Caven said: “We believe Mr Neil may have travelled in his campervan to the Galloway Forrest area. That is obviously a huge area to search, so to assist local officers, we have enlisted the help of local mountain rescue colleagues and the Force’s helicopter.
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“We appreciate that the weather, road conditions and remoteness of the area is an issue, however, if anyone has been around there or has seen Mr Neil or his vehicle overnight or today, we’d ask that they contact police.
“Officers are checking CCTV, doing door-to-door enquiries, and have been liaising with various local agencies with regard to looking out for him.”
Information can be passed to police via 101. Please quote incident number 0211 of Sunday, February 15 2026 when calling.
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When a country is as vast as China, the idea of it having a singular cuisine swiftly teeters into the ridiculous. So it is: going for a Chinese might mean plates from Sichuan and Hunan, blistering with numbing spice; it might mean the sweet seafood of Cantonese cooking; or perhaps the colourful precision of the sweet-and-salt of dishes from Jiangsu. It might mean high end or low; exacting or cheerily shapeless; food for bottles of beer or pots of tea. It can be, then, hard to know where to start — at the local spot on the corner, in the warren of Chinatown, or among the moneyed of Mayfair?
And so we radioed for help. Ahead of the lunar new year, some of the biggest names in Chinese cooking offer their favourites, at both the peak and foot of pricing. We’ve cut repeat mentions of a few names — A Wong, Imperial Treasure and the Royal China Club had multiple shout-outs (Filipino-born chef John Javier was at pains to mention their lobster dumplings are the best he’s ever had) — but below are London’s best Chinese restaurants, as chosen by those in the know.
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My go-to is a tiny eatery called Lucky Dog (70 Brick Lane, E1, 020 3730 2346), which serves authentic dishes from the north-eastern region of China. I usually eat here once a week with the family — the food is so comforting and the execution never fails. Skewers are a must — my favourites are the lamb and pork belly skewers and grilled chicken. Other favourites are the Guo Bao Rou, a sweet and sour crispy pork accompanied by Chinese chives or enoki mushrooms, and their signature Liang Pi — cold, glass noodles with sesame peanut sauce. Another favourite is the Mandarin Kitchen (14-16 Queensway, W2, mandarin.kitchen). Here there is a large selection of classic Cantonese dishes and they specialise in Cantonese-style seafood; the must-order item is the signature lobster, Yee Mien — I haven’t found anywhere in London that does better Cantonese lobster noodles!
I love businesses that specialise in one thing and do it really well. In China and Hong Kong, street stalls often make just one dish and have spent generations and generations to perfect it. Here, Dumpling Shack (Old Spitalfields Market, E1, dumplingshack.co.uk) is the same. Somewhere else I love is New Loon Fung (42-44 Gerrard Street, W1, 020 7437 7332). I go religiously every Sunday with my family for dim sum, and it’s nice to have food so close to Hong Kong in London. New Loon Fung is also a reference point for me; after I’ve been developing a dish for a while, I can lose sight of what it’s meant to taste like, and going back to New Loon Fung I can recalibrate myself. I’m also a massive fan of Sichuan food; my grandma was Sichuanese. I love the offal and whelk dishes at Ma La Sichaun (37 Monck Street, SW1, malasichuan.co.uk). Those kinds of dishes really exemplify a Chinese mouthfeel, the chilliness and the cartilage texture. It’s unique to what we do, and it’s good to try dishes that celebrate that.
Charlene Liu and Linda Liu, Liu Xiaomian
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We’ve visited Min Jiang (Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington High Street, W8, minjiang.co.uk) a few times over the years for its famous Beijing duck and were impressed by its authentic taste and presentation, which is definitely a must-try for first-timers. You can have it with two servings — we usually have the duck and tofu soup as the second serving. Cafe TPT (21 Wardour Street, W1, cafetpt.com), meanwhile, is a typical Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown. What we like the most is their great value dessert menu: the signature sweet bean curd with mango and grapefruits is our all-time favourite. You can stop by and ask for takeaway, or go there during off-peak hours for a dine-in service.
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My all-time favourite Chinese restaurant in London is A Wong (70 Wilton Road, SW1, awong.co.uk), especially if I want to splurge. Why? Because it is true Chinese-London food that does not stand still. Chef Andrew Wong’s dishes are constantly evolving and changing — always for the better. His dumplings are out of this world, and Andrew makes traditional dishes his own, like his Peking duck. I also love the way he takes vegetables to extraordinary heights, so much so that I almost want to turn vegetarian. The secret at A Wong is to ask about the latest dish of the day. You will not be disappointed. Another I love is Din Tai Fung (various locations, dintaifung-uk.com), an offshoot of the famous Taipei shop in Taiwan. Here you can watch the chefs folding the famous xiao long bao, a steamed dumpling with soup inside. But the inside scoop is that everything else on the menu is also up to par. The pork chop is excellent, as are the stuffed chilli peppers, and the magical aromatic beef noodle soup. It is easy to eat your way through the menu and then return for more.
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Steven Joyce
I really enjoy how traditional Imperial Treasure’s (9 Waterloo Place, SW1, imperialtreasure.com) Cantonese flavours are and its Singaporean heritage. Try the dim sum and have it with tea, since they go well together. And I remember, after I left Beijing and came to London, Barshu (28 Frith Street, W1, barshurestaurant.co.uk) was the first place where I found the traditional citron flavour. It remains authentic. I’d recommend first-timers mention their tolerance to spicy food to the staff, since it can often be very spicy. I tend to order the Chongqing chicken and the fish with pickled vegetables.
Lee Che Liang, Park Chinois
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Hunan (51 Pimlico Road, SW1, hunanlondon.com) is fantastic because of the concept of having no menu — it takes away the pressure and chaos of ordering, and you’re left in the hands of the masters. You just say what you like and how spicy, then waves of small plates arrive at the table; we had about 18. The chilli beef and cuttlefish were outstanding. Otherwise, Xi’an Impression (117 Benwell Road, N7) might not look like much from the outside, but it’s where I like to go for authentic and typical Xi’an local food. Their hand-pulled noodles are second to none, perfectly finished with hot oil and ground chilli wrapped around the ribbons of noodles. I also have fond memories of eating with friends at Plum Valley (20 Gerrard St, W1, plumvalley.co.uk). It’s family run and puts a fun twist on classic regional dishes: always start with some fresh dim sum, while the Hong Kong-style wind shelter stir-fried whole crab is a showstopper dish that leaves us fighting over who gets the last piece.
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At the top end, the Peking duck is great at MiMi Mei Fair (55 Curzon Street, W1, mimimeifair.com) and the closest I’ve had here to the ones in Sydney and Asia. But with London’s Chinese dining scene, my heart lies with the more accessible end of the spectrum: Dim Sum Duck (124 King’s Cross Road, WC1, Instagram) used to be my favourite — when I could get a table! If you’re lucky and there’s no queue, it’s guaranteed satisfaction. Get the prawn wontons with salad cream, har gao, siu mai, roast duck and the beef flank hot pot. Still, my all-time favourite is the Old Street Chinese Restaurant (184-186 Old Street, EC1, theoldstreet.co.uk). I always order the sizzling fish fillet, twice-cooked pork belly, frog legs in an iron wok and the braised cabbage in superior broth. If you’re feeling adventurous, pork kidneys in chilli sauce and the sliced beef and ox tripe in chilli oil are also big hits.
A hidden network of underwater fibre optic cables could offer unprecedented new insights into the lives of some of the world’s most threatened and elusive sea creatures.
That’s the hope of researchers from the University of Washington, US, who have laid 1.25 miles of cable across Puget Sound, just south of the Canadian border, to eavesdrop on the region’s endangered southern resident orcas.
The technique, known as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), works by firing laser pulses through the fibre optic cables and analysing tiny disturbances caused by vibrations and sound. It’s already been used to monitor earthquakes and in recent years has proved adept in detecting marine mammals.
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Now the University of Washington’s Dr Shima Abadi hopes to use DAS to track orcas by mapping the distinctive clicks they make as they hunt and navigate. If successful, the system could provide early warnings to ships to slow down or steer clear, reducing the risk of disturbing or injuring the whales. Scaled up, the approach could tap into the 870,000 miles of fibre optic cable criss-crossing the planet’s oceans.
“This innovative approach could be a break-through in conservation efforts and open new possibilities to expand analysis on a much larger temporal and spatial scale,” said Abadi.
Main image: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen
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US forces have boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean as part of efforts to target illicit oil tankers linked to Venezuela.
Military personnel boarded the Veronica III in a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding”, the Department of War said in a social media post on Sunday.
Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to transport the crude oil.
“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine – hoping to slip away,” the Department of War said on X.
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“We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.
“No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this.”
Image: US forces have boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean. Pic: X/Department of War
Image: The operation is part of efforts to target illicit oil tankers linked to Venezuela. Pic: X/Department of War
The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s website.
The Panama Maritime Authority said that the ship was no longer registered after its authorisation was cancelled in December 2024.
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Image: The US described the operation as a ‘right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding. Pic: X/Department of War
The Veronica III left Venezuela on 3 January, the same day as Maduro’s capture, with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil, TankerTrackers.com posted on X.
“Since 2023, she’s been involved with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil,” the organisation said.
Emails Sarah Ferguson sent to Jeffrey Epstein – even after his conviction for sex offences – depict her as needy and desperate, with repeated requests for cash
Sarah Ferguson has ‘gone to ground’ following the latest drop of Epstein files, with her daughters ‘mortified’ over the revelations.
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Amongst millions of documents released by the US Department of Justice are threads of communication which appear to be between Jeffrey Epstein and the former Duchess of York. Fergie comes across as increasingly desperate in pleading emails to the convicted paedophile, chasing both his money and his support.
A humiliating email exchange, recently released by the DOJ, shows Sarah telling the disgraced financier that she “desperately” needed money – and even asks Epstein to give her a job.
“But why, I don’t understand, don’t you just get me to be your House Assistant. I am the most capable and desperately need the money,” the email, dated May 2010, reads, adding, “Please Jeffrey think about it.”
In August that year she emailed him again, according to the Daily Mail, saying: “I am feeling very traumatised and alone. I am wanting to work for you at organising your houses.”
A month later, she said: ‘when are you going to employ me…. My friendship is steadfast to the end, even after the body is cold… Love you now and always… And I know you do tooo. [sic]’
The messages were sent after Epstein pleaded guilty and was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June 2008, but was let out five months early on July 22, 2009. Under the terms of his release Epstein was required to register as a sex offender.
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It’s also claimed that while Epstein was on house arrest after he was released, Fergie travelled to his home with her girls in tow. At the time, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie would have been 20 and 19 respectively.
In another message from January 2010, Sarah fawned over Epstein, writing: “You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service. Just marry me.”
There are also requests for money. In March 2011, Sarah admitted borrowing £15,000 from Epstein, but in an interview with the Evening Standard she said she made a “terrible, terrible error of judgment”, adding: “I abhor paedophilia”.
Emails appear to show, however, that the former Duchess repeatedly turned to Epstein for help as her business ventures failed. According to the latest file release, in one message from 2009 she told him: “I urgently need £20,000 for rent today. The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?”
Account transactions further show that Epstein also transferred $150,000 (£109,000) to Fergie following a share sale, wiring the cash to the former Duchess. (She is also said to have been bailed out by the late Queen in the past when the bank Coutts “demanded £500,000 within 14 days” .)
Sarah actually later apologised for her comments to the Evening Standard. Just one month after she disowned him, Sarah backtracked in an email to Epstein, calling him a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”.
“As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the P [pedophile] word about you,” she reportedly wrote. “I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”
A spokesperson for the ex duchess said at the time that Sarah backtracked to Epstein through fear, as he had “threatened” her with legal action.
Sarah has gone to ground in recent months – but her whereabouts were seemingly revealed last week. It emerged that she recently spent time in the French Alps before moving on to the United Arab Emirates – where her youngest daughter Eugenie was recently spotted, having travelled to Qatar for an art fair as part of her job with art dealer Hauser and Wirth.
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Fergie is even said to be plotting a ‘comeback’ of sorts. It’s claimed that the disgraced Duchess is now brazenly scouting around for a new PR team as she plots her return – without Andrew – with the hopes of continuing to live in the Windsor area. Sources say she has told friends: “I need to get back to work. I need money.”
But it’s going to be incredibly difficult for Sarah to rebuild the life she once had, according to royal correspondent Jennie Bond. “If it is true that she still thinks she can make some sort of comeback, she is more deluded than I thought possible,” she told the Mirror.
“Her charities have deserted her, her publishers have pulped her latest book, and almost every day brings more revelations about her fawning and prolonged friendship with the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
“Ferguson has made some spectacular comebacks before, and has even managed to get herself back into the family fold for royal social gatherings, such as Christmas at Sandringham. But to think she could come back from this latest disgrace – with her emails calling Epstein a legend and a supreme friend, even …perhaps jokingly…asking him to marry her, suggests she is away with the fairies.”
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Representatives of Sarah Ferguson have been contacted for comment.
A gunman opened fire at the property on School House Road in Oldham
Pictures show multiple bullet holes in the window of a home in Oldham this morning following a shooting.
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The shooting happened on School House Road yesterday (Sunday, February 15). A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said officers were initially called to reports of criminal damage at a property at around 1pm.
Police then discovered a gunman had opened fire at the home. No injuries were reported and an investigation is now underway.
This morning at least four bullet holes can be seen in the front window of the home. Forensic officers have been spotted taking pictures of the blasted window as they probe the scene.
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A cordon remains in place on School House Road as officers carry out their investigation. A number of police vehicles are stationed on the scene.
A cordon is also in place on nearby Roundthorn Road, at the back of the property which appears to have been targeted. Police want to speak to any witnesses of the shooting, or anyone with CCTV or dash cam footage.
In a statement, a GMP spokesperson said: “At around 1pm yesterday (Sunday 15 February 2026), we were called to reports of criminal damage at an address on School House Road in Oldham. Officers attended the scene and confirmed that there had been a firearms discharge.
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“A scene remains in place whilst we continue our enquiries and thankfully, no injuries have been reported. Investigations are ongoing.
“We are appealing for witnesses or any information about this incident – anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage that could assist our investigation should contact us on 101 quoting log 1397 of 15/02/2026.
“You can also report information via LiveChat on our website or through the independent charity Crimestoppers – anonymously – on 0800 555 111.”
An American who moved from a place where it’s “normal to spend senselessly on food” to the UK was blown away by the prices in Waitrose, but then they “went to Tesco”
An American who moved from a country where it is “normal to spend senselessly on food” to the UK has expressed her shock at the price of groceries in Tesco. Having “stared down a $13 (about £9.50) carton of eggs” in the US, Ashley Baker was so delighted by Waitrose’s UK prices that she called her mum to marvel at the cost of bin bags.
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In comments that appear to highlight the cost-of-living gap with neighbours across the Atlantic, she described food shopping in Britain as “paradise” — until the excited shopper “went to Tesco”.
She claimed that unless they’d heard Lily Allen’s 2006 track, LDN, which mentions it, most Americans would not know the supermarket that offers a “similar bounty at two-thirds of the price”.
In a piece for The Times, Ashley said: “So when I spotted one on the Cromwell Road, I pulled over. It delivers a similar bounty at two-thirds of the price, along with a wider assortment of Little Moons mochi and all sorts of additional discounts for loyal Clubcard holders.
“And best of all: a free car park and a Waves Car Wash, where the lovely chaps have my junker looking like it’s fresh off the lot for £25. If pressed, I will declare that Kensington Gardens is my favourite place in London, but I think we all know that’s a bare-faced lie.
“When I’m really feeling evil, I like to blast my American group chats with pics from the produce aisle. Wonky carrots reduced to 43p. Brussels sprouts down to 85p. An entire sleeve of Jaffa Cakes for less than a Zone 1 ride on the Tube.”
Ashley amusingly noted that her friends had initially told her to “sod off”, but they have since stopped replying, leaving the writer fearing she may have “gone too far”.
It comes after another US expat in the UK shared a “culture shock” that left them “frustrated”.
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Taking to Reddit last year, the unnamed person claimed there was a difference in how “closing time” operates between the two nations.
They wrote: “Something I’ve noticed living in the UK is how differently ‘closing time’ works. In the US, if a place says it closes at 9pm, you can usually walk in at 8:55 and still get served — ‘closing’ means that’s when they stop serving new customers.
“In the UK, closing time is when employees expect to be walking out the door to go home. Restaurants shut their kitchens an hour before the posted time, and grocery stores might even stop letting people in 20–30 minutes before closing.
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“This caused some frustration my first year here: I’d walk into a café ten minutes before closing, hoping to grab a coffee, only to find the machine already turned off.”
They added that they might head out to buy milk or eggs shortly before a shop’s closing time, only to discover staff would not allow anybody in.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since he retook power in 2010.
Led by euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.
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Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.
Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.
In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”
Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.
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Other U.S. conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.
Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.
Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the U.S. leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.
Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.
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Details of the civilian nuclear deal were not known ahead of Monday’s signing in Budapest.
During his White House visit in November, Orbán had agreed to U.S.-Hungary cooperation in the civil nuclear industry, including the purchase of compact nuclear reactors — known as small modular reactors or SMRs — and spent fuel storage.
Hungary signaled it was ready to support construction of up to 10 SMRs with a potential value of up to $20 billion. Orbán also said Hungary would enter a nuclear fuel deal with U.S.-based Westinghouse to supply nuclear fuel for Hungary’s Russian-built Paks I nuclear plant.
