Hello,

Hungary's opposition Tisza party secured a parliamentary super-majority ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year hold on power, and Russia refused to extend its Easter ceasefire unless Ukraine accepts its terms.

This comes as the United States has announced a naval blockade on all Iranian ports effective today, after peace talks in Islamabad collapsed, with Iran accusing Washington of shifting its position at the last moment.

More below ⤵️

Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇭🇺 Hungary ousts Orbán after 16 years: Péter Magyar's Tisza party secured a super-majority of 138 out of 199 parliamentary seats, ending Viktor Orbán's grip on power. EU leaders welcomed the result, though analysts warn Fidesz's deep entrenchment across state institutions, media and the judiciary will make meaningful reform slow.

2️⃣ 🇹🇼🇨🇳 China offers Taiwan goodwill gestures after opposition talks: Beijing announced measures to facilitate Taiwanese agricultural exports and explore a formal communication channel with the Kuomintang, following a rare visit by opposition leader Cheng Li-wun. Taiwan's government rejected the steps as a form of coercion, reiterating that any cross-strait negotiations require official authorisation.

3️⃣ 🇺🇸🇻🇦 Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV: Trump called the pope "weak" and "very liberal" on social media and to reporters, after Leo made a public plea for peace amid a fragile US-Iran ceasefire. The pope had previously called Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilisation "unacceptable," though he did not name the president directly in his Saturday prayer service.

4️⃣ 🇨🇺 Cuba warns US against military action: President Díaz-Canel warned in an NBC News interview that any US military strike or attempt to remove him from power would be met with armed resistance. He accused Washington of a "hostile policy" toward Cuba while saying his government remains open to dialogue without preconditions.

5️⃣ 🇰🇵🇨🇳 Kim backs China's multipolar push: Kim Jong Un met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Pyongyang, voicing support for Beijing's vision of a multipolar world and reaffirming backing for the one-China principle on Taiwan. The visit came ahead of a scheduled Trump-Xi summit in May, which some South Korean officials hope could open a diplomatic channel with Pyongyang.

Together with:

1,000+ Proven ChatGPT Prompts That Help You Work 10X Faster

ChatGPT is insanely powerful.

But most people waste 90% of its potential by using it like Google.

These 1,000+ proven ChatGPT prompts fix that and help you work 10X faster.

Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:

• 1,000+ ready-to-use prompts to solve problems in minutes instead of hours—tested & used by 1M+ professionals

• Superhuman AI newsletter (3 min daily) so you keep learning new AI tools & tutorials to stay ahead in your career—the prompts are just the beginning

Claim your free prompts

Major Story

🇮🇷 Iran War Update

Military

🛢️ US blockades Iranian ports after peace talks collapse: CENTCOM announced a blockade on all maritime traffic entering or exiting Iranian ports from Monday, though vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to non-Iranian ports will not be impeded, contradicting Trump's earlier threat to target the entire strait. Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned any approaching military vessels would violate the active ceasefire and be "dealt with severely."

🛢️ Hormuz traffic grinds to a halt: Shipping through the strait, which had been moving at reduced levels, came to an immediate standstill following the announcement, with vessels turning back after Trump separately ordered the Navy to seize ships that had paid Iranian transit tolls and destroy Iranian-laid mines.

🇨🇳🇮🇷 China preparing weapons shipment to Iran: U.S. intelligence indicates Beijing is weeks away from delivering MANPAD air defense systems to Tehran, with sources who spoke to CNN saying shipments may be routed through third countries to obscure their origin. The move would contradict China's stated role as a ceasefire broker, and Trump warned Beijing would face "big problems" if the transfer proceeds, as a Chinese Embassy spokesperson denied the claims outright.

Diplomacy

🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran blames US for collapse of Islamabad peace talks: Foreign Minister Araghchi said the two sides were "inches away" from a memorandum of understanding before the U.S. shifted its position, with Iran accusing Washington of "maximalism" and "shifting goalposts." The breakdown preceded CENTCOM's announcement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Oil/Economic

🛢️ Oil spikes as US announces Iranian blockade: U.S. crude jumped 8% to $104 a barrel and Brent crude rose 7% to $102 following Washington's announcement of the naval blockade on Iranian ports effective Monday.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia restores key oil pipeline to full capacity: The East-West pipeline is back to pumping roughly 7 million barrels per day following damage sustained during the US-Israel war on Iran, with the Manifa oilfield also fully restored, though the Khurais oilfield remains offline after losing 300,000 barrels per day of capacity. The pipeline has become a critical alternative route for global oil supplies amid Iran's near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Together with:

What 200K+ Engineers Read to Stay Ahead

Your GitHub stars won't save you if you're behind on tech trends.

That's why over 200K engineers read The Code to spot what's coming next.

• Get curated tech news, tools, and insights twice a week

• Learn about emerging trends you can leverage at work in just 5 mins a day

• Become the engineer who always knows what's next

Join 200k+ engineers

Other News

1️⃣ 🇮🇱 Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa for third time this year: Israel's National Security Minister entered the mosque compound under settler and military protection, offering Jewish prayers in violation of the 1967 status quo arrangement. Both Jordan and the Palestinian Authority condemned the incursion, while Ben-Gvir said he intends to press Netanyahu for further changes at the site.

2️⃣ 🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia refuses to extend Easter truce: The Kremlin warned military operations will resume after the 32-hour ceasefire expires unless Zelensky accepts its terms, framing the decision as his alone. Both sides accused each other of thousands of violations during the truce, as the war entered its fifth year.

3️⃣ 🇹🇼 Taiwan drills for Chinese blockade: Taiwan announced its first-ever joint exercises between the Interior Ministry and other departments to practice escorting energy supply ships under a naval blockade. The deputy interior minister warned a blockade of the Taiwan Strait would cut off energy supplies across the broader region.

4️⃣ 🇮🇪 Ireland clears fuel blockade after clashes: Police restored access to the Whitegate oil refinery in Cork after a roughly one-hour operation involving clashes and pepper spray, as around 600 of Ireland's 1,500 filling stations had run dry. The government offered a support package to the transport and agriculture sectors in an effort to ease ongoing nationwide protests over fuel costs.

5️⃣ 🇬🇧🇲🇺 UK shelves Chagos Islands handover: The British government ran out of time to pass legislation transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after failing to secure formal US approval, with Trump's opposition cited as the key obstacle. Mauritius' foreign minister vowed to pursue all diplomatic and legal avenues to complete what he called the "decolonisation" of the islands, with talks between the two governments scheduled for April 22.

Weekly Updates?

Want weekly updates as well as daily?

Subscribe to our sister publication Geopolitics Weekly here ⤵️

Our Shop

Ukraine Phone Wallpaper Pack