“Hungary’s centre-right Tisza party widened its lead over Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz ahead of an April 12 parliamentary election, two opinion polls showed on Wednesday, although a large share of voters remained undecided. Veteran nationalist Orban faces the biggest challenge to his rule in 16 years, although the outcome of the election remains uncertain uncertain due to the many undecided voters, according to opinion polls. Centre-right Tisza, led by former government insider Peter Magyar, had the support of 56% of decided voters, up from 53% in early March, while 37% backed Fidesz, down from 39% three weeks ago, a poll by 21 Research Centre showed. Some 26% of respondents did not know who to back.” (04/01/26)
“A new large, long-running study suggests that drinking coffee might have cognitive benefits, provided it’s caffeinated and consumed in moderation. U.S. researchers found that people who regularly drank two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea per day had a lower chance of developing dementia than those who drank little or abstained altogether. Though caffeinated coffee intake was ‘significantly associated’ with lower risk of dementia, the same wasn’t true of decaf, according to the study.” (04/01/26)
“A protest over a rate increase forced Puerto Rico’s government on Wednesday to cancel ferry rides between the U.S. territory and the tiny island of Vieques that is popular with tourists. The protest comes as Puerto Rico reports a surge in visitors this month, with many locals and tourists traditionally visiting surrounding islands during Holy Week. Police said in a statement that some 12 trucks were blocking the boat terminal in Vieques. A one-way ferry ride to the island for decades had cost $2, but officials recently increased it to $11.25 for anyone who doesn’t live on Vieques, prompting an outcry.” (04/01/26)
“A judge in Brazil has blocked a project to build a zipline connecting the famous Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro to a nearby hill, Morro da Urca. The attraction’s developer said it would allow visitors to descend from Sugarloaf Mountain at speeds of almost 100km/h (62mph) via four ziplines covering a distance of 755m (0.47 miles). The project – which started four years ago — had triggered protests from locals and environmentalists, who argued that the construction work was causing irreparable damage to the Unesco World Heritage Site. The developer is expected to appeal against the decision.” (04/01/26)
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong state media]
“Five ships transited Tsushima Strait and were tracked heading northeast after China warned of strong response to ‘neo-militarism.’ As Tokyo was completing the deployment on Tuesday of its two Type 25 missiles targeting China, a Chinese naval fleet entered the Sea of Japan, while bilateral tensions continued to escalate. China has strongly protested the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force’s addition of the newly designated Type 25 long-range surface-to-ship guided (SSM) missile and hypervelocity gliding projectiles (HGP).” (04/01/26)
“A federal appeals court has denied a request from dozens of families to reopen a criminal case against Boeing over two fatal 737 Max crashes more than seven years ago. Lawyers for the families had argued that the U.S. Department of Justice failed to properly consult them before reaching a deal last year with Boeing that led a lower court to dismiss a criminal conspiracy charge against the company. The charge stemmed from allegations that Boeing misled federal regulators about a flight-control system linked to the crashes, which killed 346 people. In a unanimous decision released Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it disagreed with the families’ claims that federal prosecutors had violated their rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and therefore could not revive the case.” (04/01/26)
“Private sector employment growth was a bit better than expected in March, but health care and construction continued to provide nearly all the momentum, payrolls processing company ADP reported Wednesday. Job growth totaled 62,000 for the month, down just 4,000 from February’s upwardly revised level but above the Dow Jones consensus for 39,000. ADP’s report does not include government employees. Like February’s report, two sectors essentially provided all the gains. Education and health services contributed 58,000 — identical to the February total — while construction added 30,000. The health services total was held back in the prior month due to a since-resolved strike at Kaiser Permanente that sidelined more than 30,000 workers in Hawaii and California.” (04/01/26)
“A Russian military plane has crashed in [Crimea], killing 29 people on board, the Russian defence ministry has said. Wreckage of the An-26 aircraft was found on Tuesday after the plane lost contact with authorities during ‘a routine flight,’ according to the ministry. It blamed ‘a technical failure’ and reported no external damage to the aircraft, implying that missiles, drones or birds are not suspected of causing the crash. Seven crew members and 23 passengers had been on board as it flew over the … Crimean peninsula …. Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed the crash and said it had opened an inquiry into a flight safety violation. News agency Tass reported that communication with the plane was lost at about 18:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and the wreckage was found following a search and rescue effort. Ukraine has not commented on the crash.” (04/01/26)
“A Tunisian court handed down a two-year prison sentence to news website editor Ghassen Ben Khelifa, in the latest prosecution targeting media workers, a move the journalists’ union described as part of a ‘systemic’ attack on free speech. The SNJT union said on Tuesday that Ben Khelifa, editor-in-chief of the news website Inhiyaz, was charged with publishing false news in a case dating back more than three years. Ben Khelifa denied the charges, saying the case was fabricated and calling it evidence of a failing system.” (03/31/26)
“The Trump administration is moving the Forest Service’s headquarters out of Washington and into Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of a broader push to shift federal agencies closer to the regions they oversee and reduce the footprint of government in the nation’s capital. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the move Tuesday and said it will begin a sweeping restructuring of the agency, relocating leadership and redistributing authority across the country in an effort officials say will improve decision-making, cut costs and strengthen hiring. The shift represents a significant structural change to how the Forest Service operates, moving top leadership and key functions closer to the western states where the majority of national forest land is located and where wildfire risk and land management demands are most concentrated.” (04/01/26)
