🕯️🇺🇦 Kyiv bids farewell to 11-year-old Maksym Veremchuk, who died during a Russian missile strike on the capital on April 16

I hope part of this is exposing how the propaganda that targeted various individuals and organisations (including Bellingcat and partners in Hungary) was produced and coordinated www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

I have this on repeat! 🕺 #Magyarország 🇭🇺

Several excellent contributions to this @theguardian.com panel on the Hungarian election. I particularly like the one by Zsuzsa Szelény. “Removing Orbán from office is one thing. Dismantling Orbánism is quite another.”

right I have wifi again - here was Budapest just now - at quarter past midnight!

Orban's system was rigged to give plurality winners with widespread support in the countryside super-majorities in the parliament - so Peter Magyar generated widespread support in the countryside and has been rewarded with 69% of the parliamentary seats. Now he can undo Orban's constitution!

❓One person was missing from Viktor Orbán’s side and the Fidesz camp: Péter Szijjártó. Is he already on a plane to Moscow?

The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world.

Do not miss: Tonight at 7pm ET @normeisen.bsky.social , @kimlanelaw.bsky.social (one of the top experts on Hungary, Orban, democratic backsliding) and I will have special report on Hungary elections- humiliation for Vance/Trump? a good sign for democracy? find out at www.contrariannews.org

Hungarians deserve every congratulations for giving Peter Magyar a bigger margin than Orban has ever gotten in all of his rigged elections - and this within the system that Orban rigged. Magyar now has a constitutional majority to undo Orban's constitutional prison and govern as a democratic leader.

Here's the map with 1/3rd of the votes counted. Tisza = blue; Fidesz = orange. The strength of the color tells you how far ahead the lead party is. It's a blow-out. Fidesz strongholds are falling to Tisza.

Not tonight endless scream, not tonight.

JUST IN: Viktor Orban conceded his defeat in Hungary. The far-right leader & Trump ally will no longer be prime minister. What remains to be seen is the size of his defeat — and whether the opposition wins a supermajority to amend the constitution and reverse Orban’s rule.

Time to sit down and write my short contribution for the Guardian panel of tomorrow. God damn I am so pumped!

Breaking News: Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat on Sunday in a high-stakes general election in Hungary. His defeat is a blow to the global nationalist revival promoted by President Trump.

Recall that Hungary does NOT have a proportional representation system. Orban gerrymandered all of the districts. PLUS, Hungarians get two votes - one for a representative, one for a party - and the final result is a complex combination of the two votes. www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how...

The polls have closed in Hungary - and it appears that turnout will approach 80%, a post-communist record.

Orban has not appeared on tv - he sent his chief of staff looking ashen. In the meantime, challenger Peter Magyar appeared on tv to claim that this is a historic day. There are no exit polls in Hungary but here are projections from a respectable researcher based on pre-election polls.

For the crucial Hungarian election, friends don’t let friends follow fake-experts. Follow these real experts instead: @gabrielagreilinger.com @danielhegedus.bsky.social @veghzsuzsanna.bsky.social @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social @zecsaky.bsky.social @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social @eublogo.bsky.social

I hate when fantasy films I made a long time ago begin to come true in real life.

“While Mr. Orban has worked to close the gap by fulminating against Ukraine and the European Union, Mr. Magyar has focused on corruption and living standards.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/w...

proud to work with @yjtorbati.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/i...

If German men aged 17 to 45 want to leave the country for more than 3 months, they’ll now have ask permission from the military: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

The first astronaut in history to speak French while en route to the moon — Canada’s very own Jeremy Hansen 🇨🇦

Ok but if you read that NYT Waffle House story it’s … a journey and please go read it because what www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

Tokyo cherry blossoms 🌸 the rain washed away a lot of the leaves just after peak bloom, but they were beautiful while they lasted.

Man, if Mark Rutte had a superpower, it would be the most extraordinary power to deny reality in the universe.

After years in Russian captivity, former mayor of Ukrainian city returns home An inspiring feature 🙏 @nprextra.bsky.social @joannakakissis.bsky.social

“We’re in the AI dread era.” www.wsj.com/business/how...

Spain closes airspace to US planes involved in Iran war, defence minister says

You know you've been around a while when you get a SANDWICH named after you ! Yassss! Ps I would never put cheese on my chicken salad . Pickles definitely ...cheese ? Never

Szabolcs Panyi is one of the bravest journalists in the world. And it is a measure of Orbán’s desperation that he attacks the messenger for telling the truth. Panyi deserves the support of all those who value freedom of the press. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

The Jetsons lied to us

"At this point, were Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for being allowed to develop nuclear weapons, nobody could be sure Trump would turn it down. If Iran made him the inaugural winner of the Cyrus the Great peace prize, those odds would improve" www.ft.com/content/2656...

Some of you never had to make peanut butter and jelly on leftover hot dog buns and it shows.

At least 64 people, including 13 children, have been killed in an attack on a teaching hospital in Sudan’s western Darfur region, the head of the WHO said. It is the latest assault targeting the country’s health care facilities in the civil war.

Terrifying numbers in latest annual survey of federal workers from @ourpublicservice.bsky.social. For example, DoD workers' trust in Hegseth is in the toilet. Only 11.5% of Army employees say their dept's political leaders "maintain high levels of integrity." Similar numbers for Navy, Air Force

"right the ship" is ... interesting framing to take here. It gives the presumption of brokenness.

TIL Greece has had a Patriot battery in Saudi Arabia since 2021. "Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said a Patriot air defense system, operated by Greek personnel, intercepted missiles aimed at oil refineries in Saudi Arabia." www.ynetnews.com/article/rymg...

The Jewish News, which I am proud to work for as Deputy Editor, has published an editorial on this week's Iftar prayers in Trafalgar Square www.jewishnews.co.uk/voice-of-the...

Q: You don’t regret that people might’ve lost important income to support their lives? A: No, I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit. Q: Ok. Did you reduce the federal deficit? A: No, we didn’t.

The Trump administration lowered the authorization level for lethal force, broadened target categories, inflated threat assessments and fired inspectors general, according to more than a dozen current and former national security personnel.

Terrific reporting, sad piece:

Images published by Iranian state media show remnants of a US Tomahawk missile at a girls’ school in Minab. It’s not possible to independently verify the provenance of the remnants from this imagery alone. But Bellingcat previously detailed how a Tomahawk missile hit a structure next to the school.

U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America My story for NPR and my chat on All Things Considered www.npr.org/2026/03/08/n...

In 1979 an Islamic Revolution toppled a monarchy only for a monarchy to be restored by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard in 2026

Today from me, a deeper look at the only industry that's been creating any jobs, and what it means for the people and the communities adjacent to it: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/b...