EU countries were unable to approve a new package of economic sanctions against Russia after Slovakia confirmed it would maintain its veto. Ambassadors will give it a new try when they meet again on Friday.

The course I teach at Cambridge has become exorbitantly expensive and is inaccessible for most people. So I've decided to share the entire reading list with the public — here, via this thread. My course is called "Development Economics" and consists of 8 lectures. 🧵

More than 500 people were detained in Serbia for the past 10 days by Vucic’s regime.

💥Viktor Orbán’s main lobbying arm abroad, Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), was founded by his ex-national security advisor András Tombor. 444 reveals testimonies suggesting MCC’s founder was the “godfather” behind a decade-long scheme siphoning public funds from Budapest.🧵

What should States do in response to the US administration sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt, the ICC Prosecutor and Judges? Publicly condemn the use of sanctions to undermine the ICC and express strong, unconditional commitment to the ICC and its critical global mandate; to the

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Pyongyang is prepared to continue supporting the Russian authorities in their efforts to “resolve the situation” in Ukraine. meduza.io/en/news/2025/0…

"Los jóvenes no son una generación inherentemente misógina: se están radicalizando por algoritmos diseñados para ofrecerles contenido cada vez más extremo" bbc.in/46arOKY

Muy bien Patricia Madrid Bernardo Wolloch 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗰𝗲 📺 Telemundo Precisamos más programas periodísticos en la TV. Con perspectivas y estilos diferentes, profesionales, polémicos, incisivos. Guste a quien le guste. Más periodismo. Más libertad de expresión.

LaSpisa and Mitchell (2025) find that democratic dyads are more prone to maritime conflict due to stronger domestic interests, executive constraints, and weaker territorial norms at sea. academic.oup.com/fpa/article/21…

István Tiborcz, who married Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s daughter Ráhel in 2013, nearly doubled his net worth to almost €500mn in the past year alone, according to the Hungarian rich list. ft.com/content/156c3a…

🇺🇦💔Benjámin Aser, the first volunteer from Hungary to die in Ukraine, served in the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade & was killed on May 24, shortly after his 21st birthday. A week after I first reported on his death, Hungary’s pro-Kremlin Orbán government still hasn’t said a word.

Trump remains a clear and present danger to democracy, and seizing control of the election process remains the most direct path to authoritarianism. trib.al/jWasnUY

💥Orbán’s demographic strategy is a disaster. Over the past decade, 37.8% of Hungary’s population decline was due to emigration to other EU countries. 📉Hungary is losing the competition to retain its own citizens while birth rates tank. VSquare vsquare.org/inside-viktor-…

The blueprint does not limit the amount of data that can be transferred or how often DHS can request it. The system could easily be expanded to acquire all the information the IRS holds on taxpayers, said experts who reviewed the documents. propublica.org/article/trump-…

Russian propagandists in uproar as Moldova finally roots out Putin's puppets. kyivinsider.com/ilan-shors-pro…

Of the 230+ Venezuelan deportees: • Almost half had immigration cases that were not yet decided • More than 60 had pending asylum claims, some just days away from final hearings These men had followed U.S. immigration procedures. Then Trump changed the rules.

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship, and why most of Silicon Valley will quietly watch democracy burn. My interview with Jon Fortt (my fellow DePauw University '98 grad) about the dangerous coalition between the far right and the tech right via Decoder Podcast theverge.com/decoder-podcas…

'Global Challenges to Democracy' by Valerie J. Bunce, Thomas B. Pepinsky, Rachel Beatty Riedl and Kenneth M. Roberts. 📚 cup.org/45oPRFg 📚 The first comprehensive, cross-regional comparative study of democratic backsliding and resiliency around the world.

Emails show that IRS chief counsel Andrew De Mello said a recent DHS request did not comply with the law. Two days after refusing the demand to turn over more than 7 million home addresses, De Mello was pushed out of the top legal job. propublica.org/article/trump-…

💥Viktor Orbán’s government banned Irish band Kneecap from entering Hungary over “antisemitic hate speech,” per gov’t propaganda paper Magyar Nemzet. Kneecap were set to play Sziget Festival on August 11, but Orbán's government urged cancellation—which Sziget organizers refused.