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Vance heads to Budapest to shore up Orban’s support before Sunday vote

United States Vice President JD Vance is travelling to Budapest to bolster support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz Party faces its most difficult election in over a decade.

The White House announced last week that Vance would arrive in Hungary on Tuesday and hold two days of bilateral meetings.

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In February, US President Donald Trump endorsed right-wing leader Orban ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary elections, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country that month to show support.

Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor of sociology at Princeton University in the US who has spent years as an analyst and critic of Orban’s government, says that the trip is meant to underscore the close relationship between Trump and his Hungarian counterpart.

“Orban will make a big deal out of the fact that he’s got Trump’s support. And that’s why Vance is coming,” she said, adding that she is sceptical that Vance’s trip will have a large impact on the outcome of the election.

“If you look at the polls in Hungary, they show the opposition with an 8 to 12 percent lead, in some recent polls up to a 20 percent lead. One visit by a relatively low-profile American vice president is not going to change that.”

Fidesz party voter Gergo Farkas takes part in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s election campaign rally with his friends in Szombathely, Hungary, April 2, 2026 [Marton Monus/Reuters]

Robust opposition

Orban’s 16-year tenure has been marked by the erosion of the independence of institutions such as the judiciary and the media, as well as reforms that critics say have slanted the electoral system in favour of Orban and his Fidesz party.

But despite what the opposition has described as a deeply imbalanced electoral environment, most polls show the 62-year-old Orban trailing the 45-year-old opposition leader, Peter Magyar, and his Tisza Party.

Magyar is a former high-ranking Fidesz official who broke with the party two years ago and has emerged as a popular voice railing against Orban’s rule.

His campaign has focused on corruption, deteriorating social services, economic conditions, and Orban’s combative relationship with the European Union, which has often centred on immigration and support for Ukraine.

The European Union suspended billions of euros in funding for Hungary in 2022 over what it characterised as democratic backsliding and declining judicial independence.

Magyar has pledged a more cordial relationship with the European bloc, as well as reforms that could lead to the restoration of suspended funds.

While Orban has depicted the opposition as a destabilising force that will sell out the country’s national interests on behalf of Ukraine and the EU, Magyar’s right-leaning politics mean that policies on issues such as immigration would see little change.

“Magyar is centre-right; he’s basically a believer in much of what Orban has done, minus the corruption. In EU terms, he’s slightly eurosceptical but wants to get the money back,” said Scheppele.

Peter Magyar, Hungarian opposition leader of the ‘Tisza’ (Respect and Freedom) Party, delivers a speech at a demonstration during commemorations of the 178th anniversary of the 1948-49 Hungarian Revolution on March 15, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary [Janos Kummer/Getty Images]

Blueprint for the US right

While Orban’s approach to consolidating power and his embrace of far-right politics have mired his relationships in Europe, they have made him a source of inspiration for the US far right and prominent members of the Trump administration, such as JD Vance.

Hungary has previously hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual summit where individuals and groups from across the US right and allies from other countries gather to discuss the future of the conservative movement.

When CPAC convened in Budapest in 2024, Trump sent a video praising Orban for “proudly fighting on the front lines of the battle to rescue Western civilisation”.

Shared ire for Muslims, immigrants, and centres of liberal politics such as universities has helped cement that bond, and Vance himself has enjoyed especially close relations with Orban’s government.

When he was selected as Trump’s running mate in July 2024, Orban’s political director shared a photo of himself posing with Vance, captioned: “A Trump-Vance administration sounds just right.”

Orban’s Hungary has been at the centre of the Trump administration’s shifting policy towards Europe, firmly aligning itself with far-right parties and immigration restrictionists in countries such as France and Germany.

Scheppele says that Orban’s relationship with the Trump administration and status as an icon of the global far right may be of limited use in an election that is mostly focused on domestic issues.

But she noted that more tangible steps, such as a pledge of US financial support from the Trump administration if Orban wins, could buoy his chances in the closing days of the race.

“The big thing to watch is that, when Orban came to the US recently, Trump appeared to promise a fiscal safety net if Orban wins,” said Scheppele, adding that the US took similar steps before the 2025 midterm elections in Argentina in order to bolster right-wing ally Javier Milei, now the country’s president.

“Trump hasn’t made that kind of formal promise, and he’s now denied that he made any specific promise. But the Orban people think that Trump is going to backstop them if they win the election,” Scheppele added. “If Vance makes that kind of announcement, it could be a real game-changer.”

April 7, 2026
Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Unveils Takeover Bid for Universal Music Group

Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Capital Management disclosed early Tuesday that a takeover bid for Universal Music Group has been submitted to UMG’s board. The offer includes about $10.9 billion in cash, plus additional stock that pushes the total consideration to about $35 a share.

Pershing Square said that UMG’s stock has been undervalued because of uncertainty around the company’s ownership structure and around UMG’s stake in Spotify, and by the company’s delay of its planned stock listing in the U.S. Ackman previously struck an agreement with the company last year to establish a secondary listing in the U.S. in addition to its primary home on the Euronext Amsterdam listing.

The Wall Street Journal pegged the total value of the offer at more than $63 billion.

Ackman praised UMG’s current regime led by Lucian Grainge for cultivated an unparalleled artist roster. But the financial performance has been lacking. Ackman is one of the loudest hedge fund investors out there, exerting enormous influence through social media, podcasts and media interviews.

“Since UMG’s listing, Sir Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” Ackman said in a statement. “However, UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”

Ackman, who has been sparring with UMG management, asserted that “all Transaction equity financing will be backstopped by Pershing Square and affiliates, and all debt financing will be committed at signing.”

Pershing Square asserted that the offer is a 78% premium to UMG’s recent trading price in the $19.60 range. In addition to cash, shareholders would receive 0.77 shares of New UMG stock for each share of UMG held. Per Pershing Square, the deal “will enable the cancellation of 17% of UMG outstanding shares while preserving the company’s investment grade balance sheet and its long-term financial and strategic flexibility. New UMG will have 1.541 billion shares outstanding.”

Pershing Square’s statement included a bullet point list of reasons why UMG’s board should embrace the takeover offer, including “uncertainty concerning the Bolloré Group’s 18% stake in the company,” what it described as the “underutilization of UMG’s balance sheet, which has led to reduced returns on equity” and “the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm.”

Representatives for Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

April 7, 2026
‘Beef’ Actor Hong Dao Leads Vietnamese Folklore Dark Comedy ‘A “Good” Best Luck’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Vietnam’s Mockingbird Pictures is heading to the Beijing International Film Festival with “A ‘Good’ Best Luck,” a dark comedy drama drawing on local spiritual folk traditions.

Directed by Khương Ngọc and Tấn Hoàng Thông for VIC.N Studio, the film centers on Tâm, a young delivery worker whose heart condition from birth leads him into a strange folk ritual called “lying in a coffin” – a practice held to transform one’s destiny through the symbolic act of death. Dương Hải Yến serves as executive producer.

The cast is led by Hồng Đào, one of Vietnam’s most widely recognised performers, whose turn in Netflix’s “Beef” brought her to a global audience. She also appeared in “Mai” (2023), among the biggest box office draws in Vietnamese film history. Khương Ngọc and Hồng Đào have worked together before, on dramas “The Real Sister” and “My Little Grandma.” Võ Tấn Phát plays the lead role.

“A ‘Good’ Best Luck is a deeply local story, but one that speaks to universal questions about fate and responsibility,” said Dương Hải Yến. “It reflects how people turn to belief systems when pushed to the edge and how real change ultimately comes from within.”

Mockingbird Pictures holds worldwide distribution rights and is pursuing both theatrical openings across the region and deals with international streaming platforms. Talks with prospective buyers are ongoing.

“As global audiences continue to embrace authentic, culturally rooted storytelling, we see ‘A “Good” Best Luck’ as a film with strong potential to travel and connect with audiences beyond Vietnam,” said Phong Duong, business director of Mockingbird Pictures.

The film, whose Vietnamese title is “Lên Hương,” is in its final production phase and is pencilled in for a Vietnam release in the final quarter of 2026. Mockingbird plans to take the project to further festivals and markets in the months ahead.

April 7, 2026
Bitcoin ETF inflows hit highest level since February

Bitcoin traded around $68,780 on Tuesday as U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted their strongest daily inflow in more than a month.

Funds added a combined $471 million on April 6, according to SoSoValue data, marking the largest inflow since Feb. 25 and the sixth-biggest daily total this year. The figure remains below January’s peak flow regime, when multiple trading days topped $700 million.

These high inflows come as bitcoin continues to stall below $70,000, with weak spot demand and distribution by large holders capping upside. ETFs have increasingly offset that pressure, acting as a primary source of marginal buying.

Macro signals offer limited direction. Markets are pricing a 98% probability that the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady at its April meeting, according to Polymarket data, with minimal expectations for near-term cuts or hikes.

Bitcoin’s relationship with global monetary policy may be shifting, with ETFs changing not just the scale of demand but its timing.

A recent Binance Research report finds bitcoin’s correlation with its Global Easing Breadth Index, which tracks 41 central banks, has turned sharply negative since 2024, the same year U.S. spot ETFs were approved. Before then, bitcoin tended to follow easing cycles with a lag. That relationship has now flipped, with the inverse effect nearly three times stronger.

The shift reflects who sets the marginal price. Retail once reacted to macro after the fact. ETF-driven institutional flows are more forward-looking, positioning ahead of expected policy moves.

“BTC may have evolved from a macro ‘lagging receiver’ to a ‘leading pricer,’” Binance Research wrote.

ETF inflows continue to absorb supply and anchor prices, which could explain the continued daily inflow.

If what Binance Research proposes holds, bitcoin may keep trading as a forward-looking asset, pricing in central bank pivots before traditional markets rather than reacting to them after the fact.

April 7, 2026
Amazon’s new USPS deal will see postal deliveries cut by 20 percent

Earlier this year, Amazon threatened to cut US Postal Service deliveries by as much as two thirds. Now, the parties have reached tentative a deal that will see USPS deliveries reduced by 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported. While not as drastic as first menaced, the reduced volume will still deal a financial blow to the USPS.

“We’re pleased to have reached a new agreement with USPS that furthers our longstanding partnership and will let us continue supporting our customers and communities together,” an Amazon spokesperson told the WSJ.

Amazon is the USPS’s largest customer, accounting for 15 percent of its volume and $6 billion in revenue. A two-thirds cut would have been a disaster for the USPS, but a 20 percent reduction could result in more than $1 billion in lost revenue nonetheless. Amazon would have needed to scramble as well, as it relies heavily on the post office for rural and last-mile deliveries.

Amazon’s contract with the USPS was set to expire in September 2026, and in October Amazon said it wanted to strike a deal by December 2025. However, the USPS abruptly pulled out of negotiations, according to Amazon, and implemented a new bidding process for last-mile deliveries. “Our goal was to increase our volumes with USPS, not reduce them — until USPS abruptly walked away at the eleventh hour in December,” Amazon said at the time.

Amazon was reportedly considering expanding its own delivery network if the USPS deal fell through, though the company may have started those rumors itself to prod negotiations. The Postal Service decided to re-engage with Amazon after bids from several Amazon rivals fell short of its volume and revenue expectations, according to the WSJ‘s sources. The new agreement is still subject to approval by the federal Postal Regulatory Commission.

April 7, 2026
Abra CEO Bill Barhydt: “We Haven’t Seen the True Bottom in Bitcoin Yet; It Could Drop This Far”

Abra CEO Bill Barhydt, a seasoned figure in the cryptocurrency world, assessed Bitcoin’s current market state, upcoming macroeconomic developments, and the future of the sector. According to Barhydt, the final “capitulation” phase may not have occurred in the market yet.

Bill Barhydt noted that Bitcoin has been trading in a narrow range for some time, drawing attention to the question of whether the market is in an accumulation phase or a period of calm before a new wave of decline. Barhydt stated, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a downward breakout with a capitulation move,” pointing to the $50,000-$55,000 range.

Related News Company That Previously Purchased a Large Amount of Bitcoin Sells BTC: Says It May Sell More

However, he added that such a decline would remain a “shallow bear market” given Bitcoin’s historical volatility.

Barhydt argued that the focus should be on the major transformation in financial infrastructure rather than short-term price movements. Stating that the perspective of traditional finance (TradFi) giants towards cryptocurrency has completely changed, the CEO said:

“In the future, everything will be tokenized. From Tesla shares to SpaceX shares, from Bitcoin to real estate, all portfolio structures will be managed through tokens.”

*This is not investment advice.

April 7, 2026
Trump says US could charge for Strait of Hormuz passage amid Iran war

US president says Washington, as the ‘winner’ of the war, has a ‘concept’ for charging a toll in strategic waterway.

Published On 6 Apr 2026

President Donald Trump has suggested the United States may be looking to charge a toll in the Strait of Hormuz after the war, a move that would likely require direct US military control over the strategic waterway.

Asked on Monday whether he would accept a deal that would allow Iran to take fees from ships to traverse the strait, the US president said: “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

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Trump reiterated that Iran has been militarily defeated, a claim that he has been making since the early days of the war, despite Iran’s sustained drone and missile attacks across the region and its continuing blockade of Hormuz.

“The only thing they have is the psychology of, ‘Oh, we’re going to drop a couple of mines in the water.’ All right, no, I mean, we have a concept where we’ll charge tolls,” Trump told reporters.

Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, lies mostly within Omani and Iranian territorial waters. About 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the strait before the war.

Trump’s latest comments came as he issued what he called a “final” ultimatum to Tehran to reopen the strait and agree to Washington’s terms or face attacks against Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.

The US president told reporters on Monday that any deal with Iran must include reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be, we want free traffic of oil,” he said.

Reports have suggested that Iran is already charging a toll for some of the few ships it is allowing to pass through the strait.

“The Strait of Hormuz situation won’t return to its pre-war status,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X last month.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also called for “new arrangements” to manage the waterway after the war, ensuring safe passage for ships and protecting Iran’s interests.

“I believe that after the war, the first step should be drafting a new protocol for the Strait of Hormuz,” he told Al Jazeera in March. “Naturally, this should be done between the countries that lie on both sides of the strait.”

The White House said last week that Trump is considering asking Arab countries to pay for Washington’s expenses in its war on Iran.

April 7, 2026
Kalshi Scores Biggest Legal Win Yet in Appeals Court Decision Against New Jersey
In brief

Kalshi won a major appeals court ruling that its sports-related markets should be federally regulated.

The court said oversight belongs to the CFTC, not state gambling authorities like New Jersey’s.

The decision strengthens Kalshi’s position in a broader national legal battle likely headed to the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia handed a significant victory to Kalshi Monday, ruling that New Jersey has no claim to regulate the prediction market under existing state gambling laws.

Wagers on Kalshi—including those related to sports—instead fall under the federal purview of the CFTC, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled 2-1 on Monday.

The appeals court affirmed a preliminary injunction granted last spring against New Jersey, after gambling regulators in the state sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist order. The state regulators had argued Kalshi’s sports-related markets were unregistered sports bets by another name; Kalshi argued they were event contracts exclusively regulated by the CFTC.

Last April, a federal judge in New Jersey sided with Kalshi, ruling New Jersey could not enforce a ban on the platform as the case proceeded to trial—becuase Kalshi was likely to succeed on the merits of its case.

Today, two appellate judges came to the same conclusion, affirming the judge’s original ruling. They are Chief Judge Michael A. Chagares, who was appointed to the Third Circuit Appeals Court by former President George W. Bush, and Judge David J. Porter, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.

The sole dissenting judge in today’s ruling, Jane R. Roth, lambasted her colleagues’ decision, arguing that although Kalshi’s sports-related wagers are registered as event contracts, that one factor does not change their inherent nature as bets on the outcomes of sports games.

“The Majority [holds] that Kalshi’s registration as a DCM and branding of its wagers as sports-event contracts are acts of alchemy that transmute its products from sports gambling to futures trading,” Roth dissented. “I see Kalshi’s actions as a performative sleight meant to obscure the reality that Kalshi’s products are sports gambling.”

The Third Circuit ruled in Kalshi’s favor.

People use prediction markets because they’re more fair, transparent, and reward being right.

Free markets work. We should keep them that way.

This is a big win for the industry and millions of users. pic.twitter.com/Ay0dLtgZdV

— Tarek Mansour (@mansourtarek_) April 6, 2026

Roth was appointed to the court in 1991 by former President George H.W. Bush.

“The Third Circuit ruled in Kalshi’s favor. People use prediction markets because they’re more fair, transparent, and reward being right,” Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour wrote on X. “Free markets work. We should keep them that way. This is a big win for the industry and millions of users.”

Kalshi posted to Mansour’s post when reached by Decrypt for comment on today’s ruling.

As a U.S. Appeals Court decision, today’s ruling can only be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court—unless the 3rd Circuit opts for a rare en banc review, in which every judge on the circuit would collectively rehear the case.

For over a year now, state and federal courts across the country have come to vastly differing conclusions in the jurisdictional dispute over prediction market regulation. Nevada, for instance, recently succeeded in temporarily banning Kalshi in the gambling-dominated state. On Friday, a state judge extended that initial 14-day ban for another two weeks.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has aggressively argued that prediction markets should not have to comply with state gambling laws. Last week, the Trump CFTC, along with the Department of Justice, sued Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut for attempting to regulate prediction market platforms.

Due to the extent of the disagreement, the matter of prediction market regulation is likely to ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to include comments from Kalshi.

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April 7, 2026
Circle’s Arc Network Reveals Quantum Resistance Plans as Bitcoin, Ethereum Face Threat
In brief

Arc Network will launch its mainnet with built-in post-quantum signature support.

The phased roadmap targets full quantum resistance across wallets, validators, and infrastructure.

Experts predict quantum computers could break current cryptography within a few years, with Google seeing a real threat to Bitcoin by 2032.
Arc, an upcoming layer-1 blockchain backed by USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, announced that its impending mainnet launch will come with post-quantum signature support—part of a broader roadmap to address growing concerns about quantum computing threats to cryptocurrency.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible blockchain aims to protect institutional digital assets from future quantum attacks that could break current cryptographic systems.

The network’s roadmap spans wallets, private smart contract state, validator authentication, and supporting infrastructure. Unlike approaches that would force disruptive network-wide resets, Arc’s design is opt-in with no mandatory migration required, according to the company.

Post-quantum signature support will arrive alongside the forthcoming mainnet launch, while quantum-resistance private state protection is noted as a “near-term” enhancement. Post-quantum-designed infrastructure will come later, followed by the “long-term” improvement of validator signature hardening.

The technical challenges are significant. While classical signatures measure 64-65 bytes, post-quantum signatures can be an order of magnitude larger. Arc’s sub-second block finalization leaves attackers only a 500 millisecond window to forge validator signatures. The roadmap document emphasizes that blockchains need quantum-resistant protections across every layer of the stack, not just at the wallet level.

The move highlights challenges facing established networks—Bitcoin’s migration to post-quantum wallets alone could take months of continuous processing in a best-case scenario, Arc’s documentation states.

“The organizations that lead this transition will be the ones that started building before the urgency became undeniable,” Arc’s post reads. The technical complexity of quantum-resistant migrations poses significant hurdles for networks with large user bases and extensive infrastructure.

The quantum threat has gained urgency as “Q-Day”—when quantum computers could break public-key cryptography—approaches. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has warned about “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, where adversaries collect encrypted data today to decrypt once quantum computers become powerful enough.

Most major blockchain networks lack adequate preparation for quantum threats that could render current security obsolete, making proactive approaches increasingly critical for protecting long-lived digital assets.

Bitcoin developers have discussed potential mitigation solutions for years, with a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP 360) recently gaining traction. Meanwhile, Ethereum developers have coalesced around a roadmap championed by co-founder Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation, with plans to implement quantum resistance before it’s a problem.

The price of ALGO has surged over the last week after the Algorand blockchain was cited in a Google research paper about post-quantum cryptography. Google recently said that the quantum threat to Bitcoin could take root by 2032, even sooner than previously projected.

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April 7, 2026
Shaquille O’Neal, Warner Launch ‘Dunkman’ Professional Dunk League

Warner Bros. Discovery may no longer show NBA games on TNT each week, but that doesn’t mean the company is no longer playing basketball.

Shaquille O’Neal, Authentic Brands Group and Warner’s TNT Sports will launch “Dunkman,” the first professional league tied to dunking, in summer of 2026. The inaugural season will feature 24 skilled dunkers competing live across four events. Finalists will compete for a world championship title and a grand prize of $500,000. Eli Lilly & Co., the pharmaceutical giant, will also work as a partner with the league.

“The NBA’s dunking contest over the last ten to fifteen years has been terrible,” O’Neal told Variety during an interview on Monday. “We want the best dunkers around the world, and we know there are a lot of great dunkers out there.”

O’Neal will serve as commissioner of the new league.

The launch of Dunkman — which got its start as a six-episode competition late last year — is the latest in a a new series of efforts by media companies to take more control over the sports rights that fill up so much more of their programming schedules. The cost to show top tier games from the NFL and NBA, among others, continues to rise. With that in mind, many of the nation’s big media companies have tried to launch their own entities. Warner also works with the three-on-three Unrivaled women’s basketball league and manages “The Match” celebrity golf tournament. Fox Corp, is a major owner of the UFL spring football league.

“We’ve kind of come to the conclusion that these guys are professional athletes that need to be organized” says Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer of Warner’s TNT Sports, during an interview. “We believe there’s an opportunity to bring a league to the fans,” who have already shown interest in seeing great dunks playing on digital and social media

Live league events will air across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, with additional content streamed across “Dunkman,” social channels, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and YouTube.

O’Neal is passionate about the concept, says Lee White, head of sports content at WME, which represents the basketball legend. “Shaq has been outspoken about the state of the dunk contest and how it’s lost relevance in recent years. The star power isn’t there, but more importantly, the innovation and creativity has fallen off,” he says. “But rather than just complaining about a problem and waiting for someone else to fix it, Shaq and the team have built something entirely new with ‘Dunkman.’ We feel this is truly a groundbreaking competition that brings together the best viral dunk artists from around the world and appeals to an audience that is underserved.”

O’Neal says fans will get to meet some new athletes. He cites the example of a Polish doctor who took part in the initial contest and displayed some surprising skills. “This is a new professional league, not a dunking contest,” he says, “We are calling all dunkers.”

.

April 7, 2026