Liam Hoare 🇺🇦

Out this morning in Fathom: My review of “Fate,” a new novel by Zeruya Shalev about love, pain, and the toll the dreams of Israel’s founders took on the dreamers themselves.

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Voter turnout as of 2 P.M. has reached 44.9 percent, the highest at this hour since 1973, when the data was first measured, Israel's Central Elections Committee said. Follow @haaretzcom.bsky.social's rolling election coverage at: www.haaretz.com

I really dislike the term ‘late stage capitalism’ but I don’t know how else to describe the line outside the takeout coffee place on Kärntnerstrasse that gives you a mini teddy bear with your drink.

Help Nigel Farage is on R4 arguing for Brexit where is time

"In advance of Israel’s pivotal election [today], Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought for weeks to orchestrate a new airstrike on Iran but ran into resistance from the military’s chief of staff, according to three senior Israeli defense officials and three other people briefed on the matter."

I love my new morning routine of turning on the Today programme to hear an extended interview with a Reform politician. #r4today

"Yet all this book proves is that she is now like the alcoholic who cannot admit his or her drink problem: and until she does there is no hope for her. Of all the books I have ever reviewed that purported to offer a serious thesis, this is without question the most deranged." 🎁🔗

💥WSJ reports that Trump wants Viktor Orbán as UN secretary-general, with Russian and Chinese backing. Back in May, I reported that MAGA circles were already eyeing a top UN job for Orbán—then a DSG post to shield him from prosecution. More on @vsquare.bsky.social: vsquare.org/goulash-orba...

So how did Lula come from behind to defeat Bolsonaro? In short, turnout. Bolsonaro's vote share barely moved. But Lula banked millions of votes from those who didn't vote in the first round & won eliminated candidates' votes. A remarkable mobilisation. Second round turnout is usually below first.

Same.

The ingenuity and indefatigability of Serbia's student-led civic protest movement is one of the most inspirational political stories of my lifetime.

Vucic concedes defeat. The true scale of the Student List victory remains to be seen — but this a political earthquake for the Western Balkans. Sincere congratulations to the citizens of Serbia who held out hope against hope and mobilized in extraordinary numbers.

Serbien: 51% für die Studierendenliste, 40% für Vucic nach den ersten Prognosen. Alle anderen Parteien verfehlen der Parlamentseinzug.

Vučić lässt in Belgrad, vor dem Sitz der Wahlkommission, die žandarmerija im voller Montur auffahren - eine Spezialeinheit, zuständig auch für die Niederschlagung von Protesten.

Stadtwanderweg 12 ✅

I've signed the following petition: "We call on the governing parties to give children born in Austria Austrian citizenship if their parents have lived here legally for several years." And you can too: mein.aufstehn.at/petitions/ei...

Obviously all of these American and European far-right influencers were brought in by the Serbian regime ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday. But who actually directed the operation, and how much these individuals were paid, is still worth investigating.

I really don't want to see your clippings from one of Mehdi Hasan's ragebait egotrip interview shows, thanks.

In einer Bäckerei in Wien Ottakring sollen sich die Unterstützer des serbischen Langzeitmachthabers Aleksandar Vučić organisieren.

Jared Kushner’s Hacked Phone Revealed His Secret Negotiations—Including More Than $700 Million In Transfers

It’s going to be a rough two years here as his brain keeps breaking in even more terrifying ways

All these involuntary noises have to be a symptom of something that can be diagnosed clinically, right?

An annual ticket for Vienna public transport will cost €483.10 in 2027.

Christmas music season is only a few days away, and I've discovered that, in Austria at least, Patti Labelle's original Christmas album "This Christmas" has been removed from service by Spotify.

Only 7,397 asylum applications were lodged in Austria in the first nine months of 2026. The largest contingents continue to come from Syria and Afghanistan. Around half of applicants were children. Per head of population, asylum application numbers in Austria have been below the EU average in 2026.

Four Russian diplomats working in Vienna have had their accreditation revoked by Austrian authorities on suspicion they were engaged in espionage.

Necessary as it may be, my god has anyone needed as much constant reassurance as that amorphous blob we call ‘business’? #r4today

ICYMI.

Elon Musk reportedly invests about $1 billion in Skydance

sure what's the worst that could happen

The latest edition of The Vienna Briefing about "No Way Home"—a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna about exile and belonging—is available now. viennabriefing.substack.com/p/no-way-hom...

"The attack was part of a broader effort to position agents, explosives and weapons across Europe to strike targets supporting Ukraine and sow chaos that could strengthen political opposition to military aid for Kyiv, according to investigators and intelligence officials."

"Die [MA35] der Stadt Wien lehnte den Antrag ab, weil bei [Vedran] Džihić vier Verwaltungsstrafen vermerkt sind. Es handelt sich dabei um Petitessen. In der Nähe der Universität stand sein E-Auto einmal ein paar Minuten zu lang vollgetankt in der Aufladezone."

The latest edition of The Vienna Briefing about "No Way Home"—a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna about exile and belonging—is available now. viennabriefing.substack.com/p/no-way-hom...

Larry Ellison Went on Borrowing Spree to Bankroll His Son’s Warner Bros. Bid www.wsj.com/finance/larr...

Parlamentswahl in Serbien: In Österreich dürfen knapp 11.000 Auslandsserben und -serbinnen wählen. Es gibt zu wenige Wahllokale und Beeinflussungsversuche für den Autokraten Vučić zu stimmen. www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

If I understand this story correctly, an author pledged her royalties to a proscribed terrorist organisation, and then as a matter of precaution, she and her publisher agreed to halt distribution of her books to avoid legal liability, and this, somehow, is censorship.

Someone make the math math.

"The screenplay is a veritable treasure trove of awful dialogue. I believe that it was 100% Shapiro. Not even AI writes stuff this bad."