Former President Barack Obama rubbed the Trump administration’s nose in its own failure in the wake of the Hungarian election.

President Donald Trump dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Europe to whip up support for autocrat Viktor Orbán, whose 16 years in power came to an end with a landslide victory for rival Péter Magyar on Sunday.

“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,” Obama wrote in the wake of Vance’s mission to central Europe. “Most of all, it’s a testament to the resilience and determination of the Hungarian people—and a reminder to all of us to keep striving for fairness, equality and the rule of law.”

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is seeking to lunge and leg press his way to a historic fourth term, as the octogenarian politician uses a flurry of workout videos to convince voters he is fighting fit ahead of October’s crunch election.

Lula looks set to face off against a senator almost half his age in what will be the leftist’s seventh presidential campaign since he first sought Brazil’s top job in 1989, when he was 44.

Determined to show Lula is in fine fettle despite the passing years, allies have busied themselves publishing footage of the Worker’s party (PT) chief working out at the gym or taking a jog.

As major news outlets cut off the Wayback Machine, journalists and advocacy groups are rallying to protect the Internet Archive’s vast collection of web pages.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20260413111431/https://www.wired.com/story/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril/

cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/63712342

April 13, 2026

https://archive.ph/HEZna

On Sunday, it happened: Viktor Orban was defeated. In an election with the highest voter turnout in Hungarys democratic history, Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party won a two-thirds supermajority, enough to alter the constitution that Orban had rewritten to shore up his power.

Some admirers of Orban have argued that the fact that he lost proves he was never an autocrat to begin with. What it really demonstrates, however, is that opposition to Fidesz was so strong it was able to overwhelm all the structures Orban put in place to protect his rule: wildly distorted voting districts, a captured media, state-sponsored propaganda, local patronage networks, and widespread threats and intimidation.

The accommodation reservation website Booking.com has suffered a data breach with “unauthorised parties” gaining access to customers’ details.

The platform said it “noticed some suspicious activity involving unauthorised third parties being able to access some of our guests’ booking information”.

“Upon discovering the activity, we took action to contain the issue,” it said. “We have updated the pin number for these reservations and informed our guests.”

The company, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, lists more than 30m accommodation venues around the world and says it connects “millions of travellers” with experiences, transport and places to stay.

Booking.com declined to say how many people the hack had affected. A spokesperson said that “financial information was not accessed”.

Iran executed at least 1,639 people last year, the highest number recorded there since 1989, two non-governmental organisations say.

The total represents an increase of 68% compared to 2024, when 975 executions were recorded, according to a report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (EPCM).

Most of those hanged were convicted of drug-related offences or murder, they say. But at least 57 were convicted of security-related charges, including two protesters.

The NGOs warn that Iranian authorities could use executions even more extensively this year in the wake of January's protests and the war against the US and Israel.

Lego spoofs have lit social media up as Iran keeps winning the online propaganda war against a bewildered US

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/45881675

April 12, 2026

from +972’s Sunday Recap
+972Magazine [published in Israel]

For Palestinians in the West Bank, as Ghaith J. experienced, traveling abroad has become a humiliating ordeal. When he travelled to Istanbul in December, Israel closed the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan without any warning — turning his journey into 36 hours of missed flights, uncertainty, and endless waiting.

Also:

• What Israelis can learn from the nightmares of an Iranian hangman
• On TikTok, Palestinians in Israel are a scroll away from organized crime
• Inside the Israeli army’s propaganda wing
• PHOTOS: How hypermilitarism pervades everyday life in Israel

Abraham Rodríguez stares at the corn furrows he must plough before the end of the day. It is not even noon in Artemisa, Cuba, but the sun beats down hard and he’s already tired: working the land is a tough job. He has done it for almost half his life, since he was 13 and his mother got a divorce. He is turning 26 this year.

Farming has always been hard, he says, but now it is almost impossible to sustain. “I make 1,200 pesos (£1.80) a day, so I have to work two days to buy a bottle of oil.”

It has been weeks since he ate meat. His last meal, last night, was a dish of white rice and fried banana. “Breakfast? What’s that?” he says.

Not so long ago, he could spend part of his salary on eating out once a week, but after Covid, he says, everything changed for the worse. Now, he wouldn’t mind a US intervention, “as long as it’s for the better”.

Meta wants employees to feel “connected” to the AI Zuckerberg.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20260413134718/https://www.theverge.com/tech/910990/meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-ai-clone