Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule came to a crushing end despite being propped up by Donald Trump’s administration who sent US Vice President JD Vance to support Orban

Hungarian Prime Ministr Viktor Orban suffered a crushing defeat and sent shockwaves across the world as Donald Trump humiliatingly loses his top ally in Europe.

Hungarians signalled they wanted an end to Orban’s 16-year rule and instead voted to give Tisza party leader Peter Magyar a thumping majority. Orban’s rule was characterised by pivoting away from the European Union in favour of Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

But when it appeared clear a crushing defeat was at hand, Orban conceded, commenting: “The election results are not final yet but the situation is understandable and clear. The election result is painful for us, but clear. The responsibility and possibility of governing was not given to us. I have congratulated the winner.

READ MORE: JD Vance’s embarrassing moment after ringing Donald Trump on speakerphone at rallyREAD MORE: Major blow for Putin as ally Orban ousted from power in shock Hungary election defeat

It was clear the defeat struck a bitter nerve in Moscow, wth Kirill Dmitriev sharing his view in a reply to Tommy Robinson’s claim the election loss meant Hungary had “fallen.” Dmitriev said: “This will just accelerate the collapse of the EU. Check if I am right in 4 months.”

Orban’s loss will prove to be a humiliation for the Trump administration, who sent Vice President JD Vance to prop up the Hungarian’s flagging campaign. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer commented on the news with a warning, saying: “Pay attention, Donald Trump. Wannabe dictators wear out their welcome.”

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: “Far-right authoritarian Viktor Orban has lost the election. Trump sycophants and MAGA extremists in Congress are up next in November.”

Other world leaders celebrated Magyar’s win as an opportunity to reset Hungary’s relationship with the rest of Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had been a target of Orban’s ire, said on X/Twitter: “Congratulations to @magyarpeterMP and the TISZA party on their landslide victory. It is important when a constructive approach prevails. Ukraine has always strived for good-neighbourly relations with every European country, and we are ready to advance our cooperation with Hungary.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Congratulations @MagyarPeterMP on your election victory. This is an historic moment, not only for Hungary, but for European democracy. I look forward to working with you for the security and prosperity of both our countries.”

The feud between US president and the Pope has deepened after Donald Trump revealed he’s ‘not a fan’.

Trump took aim at Pope Leo XIV on his Truth Social platform saying the first American pope should ‘stop catering to the Radical Left’.

The war of words between the two figures erupted after the head of the Catholic church branded the Iran war ‘unjust’.

In a post on Sunday, Trump wrote: ‘Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible on foreign policy’.

He added: ‘I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. 

‘I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers into our country.’

He also praised Leo’s brother Louis, adding: ‘I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA.  He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!’

Trump later told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, where he landed with Air Force One: ‘I don’t think he’s doing a very good job.

‘I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.’

Over the weekend, Pope Leo said a ‘delusion of omnipotence’ was fuelling the US-Iran war, and demanded political leaders to stop and negotiate peace.

Trump later said the US will blockade Iranian ports from 3pm UK time on Monday – a move the UK, which has minesweepers in the area, is not taking part in.

Who is Pope Leo XIV’s brother Louis?

Louis Prevost is the elder brother of the Pope and told ABC in October 2024 that he was a supporter of the MAGA movement.

In an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, Prevost said he was viewed as ‘the black sheep of the family’, adding he toned down his tweets and Facebook posts because they always ‘end up on the news’.

In the same chat, he revealed he speaks to Leo ‘maybe once a week’.

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Forum Theatre Billingham will stage Sleeping Beauty from December 2, 2026, to January 3, 2027, featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Michael Marouli and Britain’s Got Talent 2025 Golden Buzzer winner Max Fox.

Michael Marouli will take on the role of Carabosse in what promises to be a lively and glamorous festive production.

Michael Marouli (Image: Supplied)

Mr Marouli said: “I am beyond excited to be performing in the North East and bringing some Drag Race glamour to Billingham.

“Panto is all about larger than life characters, fabulous costumes and having fun with the audience and this role lets me do all of that and more.”

Max Fox (Image: Supplied)

Max Fox will star as Prince Max of Middlesbrough, bringing what the theatre team describes as “charm, energy, and show-stopping vocals” to the pantomime stage.

Mr Fox said: “I’m delighted to be performing this Christmas in Billingham as Prince Max.

“It is such a fun role, and I can’t wait to bring the vocals and energy.

“I loved performing in Billingham recently on a touring show, the audience were fantastic, so I’m thrilled to be returning.”

The cast also includes several familiar faces.

Warren Donnelly (Image: Supplied)

Warren Donnelly, known for roles in Shameless and Coronation Street and award-winning for his performance in Beauty and the Beast in 2022, will return as The King.

Jessie Williams, who previously played Angela Darling and is known for The Dumping Ground and The Return of Tracey Beaker, returns as Fairy Sparkle.

Charlotte Flower (Image: Supplied)

Charlotte Flower, last year’s Tiger Lily, will play Princess Aurora, and Lewis Pallett moves from the ensemble to play Wormtail.

Audience favourites will also return.

Liam Mellor will return as Chester the Jester, and resident dame Robert Squire will reprise his role as Queen Betty of Billingham.

Lewis Pallett (Image: Supplied)

The production promises something for everyone.

Organisers have revealed that this year’s pantomime will include a 3D scene, colourful comedy, musical numbers, and a cast full of personality.

Theatre bosses say demand is already high.

Jessie Williams (Image: Supplied)

Tickets are selling quickly, with Forum Theatre describing it as “the pantomime of your dreams.”

Details on booking

Tickets can be booked at the theatre’s box office or online at the Billingham Forum’s website.

By comprehensively disassembling a dismal Chelsea, Manchester City have set the stage for next Sunday.

They know that if they beat Arsenal at home they will have definitively swung the title race, and that a win over Burnley can put them back on top. Mikel Arteta’s side are equally aware that even a draw still keeps the trophy in their hands.

You could say it’s the best possible setting, except this is not a meeting of two challengers both going in on their best form. It’s only one.

While Arsenal endure a long week of the soul at the worst possible time, City are coming together in a confidently exuberant manner. You could feel it among the fans, one of them captured drinking from an Arsenal bottle. You could feel it all around the stadium, amidst the anger of Chelsea fans, and – eventually – the many empty seats.

City supporters were singing like they were champions in waiting, for the first time in some time, and it was entirely justified.

They even made up some of the goal difference, winning 3-0. Arsenal can lament that Bournemouth were a much sterner challenge than Chelsea at this stage of the season, but that’s their own problem.

City meanwhile just added to Liam Rosenior’s problems, too.

Having initially come up with quite an effective gameplan, the young Chelsea coach had no response to Pep Guardiola’s half-time adjustments. It is yet another big game that the Catalan has swung through his own tactical insight, and an admittedly burgeoning squad.

They don’t really look “in transition” now.

Guardiola, for his part, pointedly said “it is the mindset, not the tactics”.

Nico O’Reilly has quickly matured into one of the best performing players in the league, and one of the most decisive.

His goals against Arsenal ensured he has already secured one trophy for City, and the crucial opener here – another towering header – may well have sent them on the way to the most important they can yet win.

It also caps a spell that is comprehensively impressive in another way.

While Arsenal have struggled against Southampton and Bournemouth, having looking so tepid in that Carabao Cup final, City have in the same sequence beaten: the current league leaders; the reigning English champions and the reigning world champions.

All of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have been dispatched in three different competitions with a record of nine goals scored and none conceded, to put Guardiola’s team in the best possible mindset for next Sunday and maybe the most important win of all.

Within that, though, there might also be a genuine football lesson.

Wider debates can be made about the advantages that come with the nature of the City project, and there will of course be references to the ongoing Premier League case – the club insist on their innocence. Taking the current situation as it is with Arsenal still six points clear after a game more played, though, only one side looks to actually be looking to maximise what they can do.

City are pushing out the margins of their play, expressing themselves, while Arteta’s team are playing within the margins, constraining themselves.

That may well be crucial, especially if this does come down to goal difference, as is highly possible.

Just look at the contrast from the closing stages of both of this weekend’s key title games.

Outside a frustrated and harried Eberechi Eze, Arsenal couldn’t really get on the ball. They couldn’t even sustain a wave of pressure, their attackers so frustrated, while the whole team struggled to just… play.

Against that, Rayan Cherki was in full flow. He was again loving it, just using another pitch as a canvas.

There was the artful ball to O’Reilly for the opener and then the incisive run and through ball to set up Marc Guehi.

It is remarkable to think that this was actually City’s first league win since 28 February, even if it is just two games.

That is how much has transformed over the recent cup interlude.

Jeremy Doku finally thundered in the third to just reflect a team playing without any doubt or hesitation.

They’d hit three in 17 minutes. It barely mattered that Erling Haaland again didn’t score.

The difference with Arsenal on Saturday couldn’t be more apparent, as the City fans asked whether they were watching over in north London.

“You have to play to win,” Guardiola said, while making a pointed comment about how going out of the Champions League has actually helped keep his side fresh.

Arsenal have now seen City ramp up in April a lot. When asked about a near-perfect record in this month during his time at the club, Guardiola laughed “it’s the sun”.

He was so relaxed afterwards he was imparting life lessons about “doing your best”.

By City’s third goal, a lot of Chelsea fans weren’t watching. Stamford Bridge had started to empty long before the end.

A malaise has engulfed the place. By that point, Enzo Fernandez’s punishment barely seemed relevant. Rosenior said the midfielder is now “in the clear” and he’s now “looking forward” to having him back. Are Chelsea’s fans really looking forward to anything, though?

The only teams they have beaten since 4 March are Wrexham and Port Vale.

Some allowances can be made for Rosenior in a situation that was complicated even before he came in – and he here pointed to Marc Cucurella’s disallowed goal – but was he ever ready for this?

It was abject. Even his substitutions seemed too late.

City are meanwhile coming to form at exactly the right time.

Far from a first Arsenal title since 2004, this is currently looking like it’s set up for a repeat of 2023.

As the manager himself said, it’s the mindset.

I AM not surprised that Councillor Ravilious has an almost impossible problem to solve with a deficit of over £100m in the road repairs budget.

I held the same position until the Conservatives were ejected in 2019 but the roads were in a much better state then and the subsequent LibDem/Green administration did little to keep up with maintenance.

However, the deterioration in the roads has been dramatic since then; I doubt if anyone took account of the fact that the new electric buses are much heavier that the diesels they replaced and this hasn’t helped.

Our house now shakes when a bus passes over (or into) the potholes; I made a report seven weeks ago and some patching was done but the other holes have continued to grow.

Quite simply, many roads require complete resurfacing, not patching but that £100m has to come from somewhere.

Peter Dew,

Rivelin Way,

York

—

Counting every pound

Just choked with laughter on my cornflakes. I have just read the list of proposed carriageway (road?) repairs where every one is detailed to the nearest £.

Do they include provision for every KitKat to be consumed?

Surely to the nearest £1,000 should be good enough unless the figures quoted are fixed prices.

R Shenton,

Connaught Way,

York

—

Get shops to reopen

THANKS to Trump’s actions, the price of fuel is skyrocketing.

Maybe now is the time to curb online shopping and keep delivery vans off the road for a bit.

Maybe even get a few shops to re open?

Joanne Ellis,

Charlton Street,

York

—

What are today’s health hazards?

RE: the article about how after many years off ill health brought on by the addiction to heavy smoking, Gillian Cunningham had successfully quit.

Growing up in the 1950s you were surrounded by smokers, most of the men having done their war service had returned home with the smoking habit.

Unfortunately most children/ young adults thought it the thing to do to appear more mature than their actual age.

I quickly realised that my father’s shortness of breath was down to his smoking habits and shied away from cigs.

Lots of people now of my age suffer after years of puffing away from (COPD ), emphysema and chronic shortness of breath .

I wonder in 50 years’ time and looking back what people will think of the hallucinogenic drugs and the social implications of the internet and mobile phone use?

People have become more singular and many lack face to face communication skills.

I wonder what the future will make of the gigantic mistakes we are presently now making – only time will tell the harm and damage we are inflicting on our bodies.

D M Deamer,

Penleys Grove Street,

Monkgate,

York

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Why not sack him?

IS Starmer, like Miliband, an eco maniac?

If not, why does he not dismiss his colleague from government? This refusal should suggest he is either weak or incompetent and totally agrees that we should all be paying higher bills when cheaper supplies are on tap.

Peter Rickaby,

Moat Way,

Brayton

CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military announced it will begin a blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday, tempering President Donald Trump ‘s earlier vow to entirely block the strategic Strait of Hormuz as early reports indicated that ships had stopped crossing the waterway.

The move came after marathon U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, and it set the stage for a showdown. Iranian leaders vowed to counter the blockade.

U.S. Central Command announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran, and would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.” CENTCOM said it would still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait, a step down from the president’s earlier threat to blockade the entire strait.

Trump later confirmed the timing in a post on his Truth Social website.

The announcement of the blockade halted the limited ship traffic that resumed in the strait since the ceasefire, said an early report from Lloyd’s List intelligence. Marine trackers say over 40 commercial ships have crossed since the start of the ceasefire, down from roughly 100 to 135 vessel passages per day before the war.

Later Sunday, Trump extended his feud over the war with Pope Leo XIV, lashing out in a Truth Social post that called the Catholic leader “terrible on foreign policy.” The extraordinary broadside came after Leo denounced the war and demanded that political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

The blockade could have far-reaching effects

The blockage is likely intended to add pressure on Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil since the war began, much of it likely carried by so-called “dark” transits that evade Western government sanctions and oversight.

Trump also hopes to undercut Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz after demanding that it reopen the waterway where 20% of global oil transited before fighting began. A U.S. blockade could further rattle global energy markets.

Oil prices rose in early market trading after the blockade announcement. The price of U.S. crude rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel, and Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to $102.29. Brent crude cost roughly $70 per barrel before the war in late February.

Iran says ‘if you fight, we will fight’

A chorus of top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation. Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser and a former Revolutionary Guard Commander, wrote on X that the country’s armed forces had “major untouched levers” to counter a Hormuz blockade. He said Iran would not be coerced by “tweets and imaginary plans.”

Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran’s side in the talks, addressed Trump in a statement on his return to Iran: “If you fight, we will fight.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later said the strait remained under Iran’s “full control” and was open for non-military vessels, but military ones would get a “forceful response,” two semi-official Iranian news agencies reported.

During the 21-hour talks this weekend in Pakistan, the U.S. military said two destroyers had transited the strait ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran denied it.

No word on what happens after ceasefire expires

The face-to-face talks that ended early Sunday were the highest-level negotiations between the longtime rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Trump said Tehran’s nuclear ambitions were the core reason for the talks’ failure. In comments to Fox News, he again threatened to strike civilian infrastructure if it didn’t give up its nuclear program.

“In one half of a day they wouldn’t have one bridge standing, they wouldn’t have one electric generating plant standing, and they’re back in the stone ages,” Trump said.

Tehran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons but insists on its right to a civilian nuclear program. The landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump later pulled the U.S. out of, took well over a year of negotiations. Experts say Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, though not weapons-grade, is only a short technical step away.

___

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, Boak from Miami and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing; Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Brian Melley in London; Ghaya Ben MBarek in Tunis; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julia Frankel and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

The fault has temporarily taken Platform 1 out of use, limiting operational capacity and causing knock-on delays across several routes. Services running to and from Charing Cross, including those to Hayes (Kent), Dartford, Gravesend, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Strood, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone East, Hastings, Ore, Ashford International, Ramsgate and Dover Priory, may be revised or delayed by up to 10 minutes.

“Every child deserves to have delicious, nutritious food at school that gives them the energy to concentrate, learn and thrive – meals that children will actually recognise and enjoy, backed by robust compliance so that good standards on paper become good food on the plate,” she said.