Exit polls put Rumen Radev's new, left-leaning, pro-Russian party far ahead following Bulgaria's eighth

Bulgaria, the EU's poorest member, has been gripped by a political crisis since 2021, when the conservative government of Boyko Borissov was toppled, also amid anti-corruption rallies.

The Sunday vote marks the eighth election in five years. Many hope that the outcome will put an end to the political impasse that has long dogged the country.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/50684968

"Nice country you have here. A shame if something were to happen to it"

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46143241

April 19, 2026

Mediators are seeking to extend the United States-Iran ceasefire, as hopes of reaching an agreement before Wednesday’s deadline faded on Sunday, sources have told Middle East Eye.

Senior regional officials said progress had been made in recent days on key issues, including Iran’s enriched uranium, the Strait of Hormuz and the future of Tehran’s allied armed groups across the region.

However, the mood shifted over the weekend, according to a senior Turkish official.

“There are several moving parts in the negotiations. Some are on track, but the gaps in others remain too wide to bridge,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, like other sources in this report.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46143996

April 19, 2026

Hamas has rebuffed a proposal by the US-backed “Board of Peace” to disarm the group, citing ongoing Israeli violations of the first phase of the ceasefire.

Palestinian sources with direct knowledge of the talks told Middle East Eye that Hamas views the plan, presented earlier this month, as a “trap” designed to ignite civil war in the Gaza Strip and destabilise Palestinian society.

The group fears the proposal would leave Palestinians in Gaza defenceless while allowing Israeli-backed armed gangs to operate freely and spread disorder.

“Hamas completely rejects this,” a Gaza-based source said, adding that opposition is even stronger within its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, which considers disarmament “collective suicide”.

Persistent inflation, rising unemployment, and corruption cases are creating the worst possible panorama for the president’s public image

In a scenario constructed from the official statistics promoted by the government, Javier Milei’s Argentina is a happy world: poverty is falling to its lowest level in the last seven years, economic activity is reaching record highs, and fiscal balance is being maintained.

But, simultaneously, more and more people say that their present situation doesn’t align with the successes touted by the far-right president, a disconnect pointed out not only by his detractors but even by figures of economic orthodoxy aligned with his policies.

Ukrainian investigators are examining whether a terrorist attack in Kyiv was directed by Moscow after a man shot dead six people on Saturday before he was killed by police.

The gunman, 58, opened fire on passersby before barricading himself in a supermarket and taking hostages. Detectives sealed off the area in the Holosiivskyi district and tried to negotiate with him. He refused and was killed after a 40-minute standoff.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said police and the security services were trying to establish a motive for the “tragic” attack. About 14 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy, he said.

“He took hostages and unfortunately, killed one of them,” Zelenskyy added. “He shot dead four more people right on the street, and one woman passed away in hospital after being seriously wounded. My condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.”

Local media named the perpetrator as Dmytro Vasylchenkov, a Ukrainian citizen who was born in Moscow. He had previously lived in the Russian city of Ryazan and was a longtime resident of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region. He had a criminal record, Zelenskyy said.

Rat poison has been found in a jar of HiPP baby food, police in Austria have said, after a recall of the product from more than 1,000 Spar supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

Police in Burgenland said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190g (7oz) jars of carrots and potatoes baby food reported by a customer had tested positive for rat poison.

HiPP had said on Saturday it could not be ruled out that a dangerous substance had been introduced into the product, and that its carrots and potatoes jars may have been tampered with.

The police statement said the affected jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar and a lid that had already been opened or damaged or missing a safety seal, or had an unusual smell.

It was a bad week for Israel in Europe: the country lost its staunchest regional ally when Viktor Orbán was toppled from power in Hungary, and Italy suspended a key defence pact.

The shifts are likely to pave the way for long-delayed sanctions against violent settlers in the occupied West Bank, and add to broader pressure for the EU to reconsider its relationship with Israel over its wars in Gaza and the wider region.

“Hungary’s veto was the only thing preventing the package of sanctions against violent settlers,” said Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu, the director of the Israel-Europe relations programme at the Mitvim thinktank and a lecturer at the European forum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“I expect once the [new] Tisza government is in place, that would be one of the first things the EU would like to push, and it should be easy for [Péter] Magyar to say yes. Netanyahu is on the wrong side of history from the perspective of many Europeans, and he is a symbol for Orbán.”

Donald Trump said on Truth Social that his representatives were going to be in Islamabad on Monday night for more negotiations.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

Mohammed Ashour was on the road at 5am, speeding towards his hometown of Shaqra. The Lebanese army, the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah had all told residents of south Lebanon not to return, that it was still dangerous despite a ceasefire. But the 60-year-old had been displaced for 44 days – he had counted each day – and he would not wait another hour before seeing his home.

At 3pm, Ashour was still on the road. The normally two-hour drive turned into 10, as the line of cars returning south stretched for miles down the Lebanese coastal highway. The Lebanese army had worked through the night to repair the Qasmiyeh Bridge into Tyre, bombed by Israel hours before the ceasefire, and cars were inching over the ad-hoc crossing one by one.

“They told me my house was destroyed. But I wanted to come and see it for myself,” said Ashour, still in his car. He had left his family in Beirut, wanting to shield them from the destruction that awaited them in their village.

Ashour was one of thousands of Lebanese who rushed back to their villages in south Lebanon on Friday in the hours after the shaky 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect. People returned to south Lebanon despite the rubble-strewn roads and collapsed bridges, crossing dirt roads and even driving through the Litani River, and despite a ceasefire that promised no permanent peace.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45805435

🌊 We must stop eating wild ocean animals, including open‑pen "farmed" saltwater fish such as salmon. https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/exploring-underbelly-chiles-salmon-farming-industry

If you’re not urgently dependent on seafood for survival, simply switch to other options such as land / closed‑system aquaculture or plant based solutions.

I'm not saying everybody needs to become a vegan/vegetarian right now, that is up to each individual, but we should avoid the worst of the worst.

That is, if we want to at least keep a few of the giants of the seas alive. 🦈🐳🦑🐠🐟🐡🐬🦑🪸🦐

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45805435

🌊 We must stop eating wild ocean animals, including open‑pen "farmed" saltwater fish such as salmon. https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/exploring-underbelly-chiles-salmon-farming-industry

If you’re not urgently dependent on seafood for survival, simply switch to other options such as land / closed‑system aquaculture or plant based solutions.

I'm not saying everybody needs to become a vegan/vegetarian right now, that is up to each individual, but we should avoid the worst of the worst.

That is, if we want to at least keep a few of the giants of the seas alive. 🦈🐳🦑🐠🐟🐡🐬🦑🪸🦐

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46136230

April 18, 2026
The delegation told Cuba’s leadership that it had only a narrow window of time to make the economic and political changes demanded by the Trump administration.

[Imperialist vultures circling around Cuba - drive them out!]

The U.S. delegation last week proposed bringing Starlink satellite internet to the island and allowing free connectivity. It also urged the Cuban regime to make economic changes to attract foreign capital, grow the private sector and transition to a market-based economy.

These economic changes, the State Department official said, would also need to include ways to compensate U.S. citizens and corporations that had assets and properties confiscated in the 1960s.

Cuba would also need to release political prisoners, the official added, and allow greater political freedom.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62827353

A final attempt to broker a compromise between Germany and France over the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) has failed, according to German media reports.