Guardian Digest

On Sunday, Hungarians will go to the polls to decide on their country’s direction for the next four years in an election that looks as if it will be a nail-biter. Viktor Orbán, Europe’s longest-serving prime minister – who has been in power for 16 years and transformed his country into an electoral autocracy – could lose the election. Ahead of the vote, EU officials have high expectations for change in Hungary under a potential new leadership. Politico reported that “the Brussels establishment is praying for [Péter] Magyar to win, hoping a Tisza government will deepen ties with the EU”.…

As a child growing up in Budapest, Péter Magyar had a poster of Viktor Orbán – at the time a leading figure in the country’s pro-democracy movement – hanging above his bed. Orbán was one of several political figures that adorned his bedroom, Magyar told a podcast last year, hinting at his excitement over the changes sweeping the country after the collapse of communism. Related: Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win? Now Magyar, 45, is the driving force behind what could be another momentous political change in Hungary: the ousting of Orbán, whose 16 years in power…

Benjamin Netanyahu has said there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and Israel would continue “to strike Hezbollah with full force” as the country’s military launched fresh strikes.The Israeli prime minister’s remarks and latest attacks on what the IDF called “Hezbollah launch sites” came shortly after Donald Trump said he had asked Netanyahu to be more “low-key” in Lebanon. Later on Friday, a US state department official said Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week. The announcement came as Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming…

The Good Friday agreement appeared over Northern Ireland like a sunburst – a miracle of political leadership that consigned the Troubles to history. Signed on 10 April 1998, it ushered in an era of peace that endures and is held up as a model for resolving conflicts around the world. Yet Northern Ireland will mark the agreement’s 28th anniversary on Friday with gloom. There is gratitude that the shootings and bombings are no more – but also disenchantment – verging on despair – with politics. The Stormont estate outside Belfast that hosts the region’s executive and assembly has become…

Occasionally the Murdoch commentator Andrew Bolt defies the party line. In 2021 he said News Corp Australia’s editorial campaign for net zero emissions by 2050 was “rubbish” and “global warming propaganda”. This week Bolt stuck his neck out in support of the war crimes prosecution of Ben Roberts-Smith, in a marked departure from News Corp’s approach since 2018, when the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald published a series of stories alleging the Victoria Cross recipient had committed murder and other war crimes. “I have a simple question for the people angrily defending Ben Roberts-Smith,…

With the crew of Artemis II set to return to Earth on Friday following its historic 10-day lunar flyby mission, the astronauts celebrated their lunar expedition and hailed the “golden age of space travel”, saying they hoped the historic mission would inspire the next generation. Speaking from on board the Artemis II on Thursday evening, the crew fielded questions from members of Congress as they prepared for their return to Earth. The mood of Thursday’s press conference was jubilant as politicians from both sides of the aisle congratulated the astronauts on their trip while asking questions…