Top 15 stories from 91 across 7 days
Merkel, Draghi and a cross-party bloc urged Hungarians to pick Péter Magyar, signaling EU leaders now see regime change as the cleanest fix to Orbán’s constant veto threats.
Why it matters: If Magyar wins, Brussels regains leverage over rule-of-law funds frozen since 2022.
JD Vance lands in Hungary 48 hours before polls open, offering Orbán fresh U.S.
The Court formally set its decision for June 2026, cementing a two-year stretch where citizenship rules—and 11 million people’s status—hang on nine votes.
Foreign Minister Szijjártó confirmed he briefed Russian officials while the EU weighed fresh sanctions, risking Budapest’s voting power in the next package.
Zelenskyy slotted an Easter-Monday sit-down with U.S.
Treasury scrubbed Delcy Rodríguez from its blacklist 18 months after branding her “illegitimate.” Caracas now holds a bargaining chip Washington wants: credible election timelines.
Special Operations flew 300 miles inside Iran to lift two F-15 crew before IRGC units closed in, officials said. Tehran’s public silence suggests both sides want the incident contained—for now.
Justice claims the three states’ bespoke rules undercut federal oversight of interstate betting markets. The test case could decide whether prediction sites answer to 50 regulators or one.
State reversed 2019 sanctions on acting president Delcy Rodríguez, signaling it now treats her—not the jailed Nicolás Maduro—as Venezuela’s legitimate interlocutor. U.
Beijing hosted Pakistan-Afghanistan security talks for the first time since Kabul’s fall, offering infrastructure money instead of lectures.
Sanctions on Delcy Rodriguez were lifted hours after Maduro’s arrest, signaling Washington is ready to bankroll a transition if Caracas keeps the generals in line.
Charles III’s first U.S.
Moscow broadcast “full control” over Luhansk; Kyiv published drone footage of fighting inside the claimed zone, daring Russia to prove it.
Commission lawyers are mapping how to freeze cohesion funds and pull Hungary’s voting rights the moment Orbán secures another term. Draft timeline shows Article 7 could activate within weeks.
Iran’s president asked Americans to “show one clear gain” from the war while Trump told Fox the campaign is “97 percent done,” a numerical claim Pentagon officials wouldn’t echo.
