Good morning.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to wrest control<\/a> of the vital waterway from Iran after peace negotiations between the countries failed.<\/p>\n The president also threatened to bomb Iran\u2019s water treatment facilities, power plants and bridges if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons program, the key sticking point between the two sides. The in-person negotiations in Islamabad collapsed on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n In response, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said that if any warships approached the strait to enforce a blockade it would be considered a breach of the current ceasefire and dealt with strongly.<\/p>\n When would the blockade start? US Central Command (Centcom) announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10am ET. Experts have said it could risk further increasing oil prices.<\/p>\n Which vessels will the blockade affect? Centcom said it would be confined to ships transiting through Iranian ports \u2013 and that it would permit passage of ships headed to ports belonging to the US\u2019s Gulf allies.<\/p>\n How could a blockade help the US reopen the strait? The strategy appears to be that the US hopes to eliminates Tehran\u2019s greatest point of leverage<\/a> \u2013 its chokehold of the strait \u2013 by stopping Iranian oil exports. Tehran has indicated that it would like to keep control of the strait after the war has ended, and to charge fees to ships.<\/p>\n Hungarian opposition ousts Viktor Orb\u00e1n after 16 years in powerViktor Orb\u00e1n conceded defeat after a \u2018painful\u2019 election result. Photograph: Bernadett Szab\u00f3\/Reuters<\/p>\n Hungary\u2019s opposition Tisza party, led by P\u00e9ter Magyar, has won the election<\/a>, ending Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s 16-year rule in a result that has thrilled EU leaders and is likely to rattle the White House.<\/p>\n EU leaders praised Magyar<\/a> after his decisive election victory against Orb\u00e1n, whom many saw as a direct threat to Europe\u2019s peace and prosperity. Orb\u00e1n has repeatedly vetoed support for Ukraine, and his far-right government recently outraged the EU when it admitted to providing a backchannel to Russia during summits.<\/p>\n People celebrate in the streets after the announcement of the partial results of the parliamentary election in Budapest. Photograph: D\u00e9nes Erd\u0151s\/AP<\/p>\n What does it mean for the far right globally? The election was watched closely as a test of the strength of the far-right movement that Donald Trump has worked to spread around the world. Last week the vice-president, JD Vance, traveled to Budapest, saying that he had come to \u201chelp\u201d Orb\u00e1n, while Trump has also endorsed the leader.<\/p>\n What kind of margin did Tisza win by? It has a super-majority. With 98.74% of the vote counted, Tisza was projected to have won 138 of the 199 seats in the country\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n Eric Swalwell quits California governor race after sexual assault allegationsEric Swalwell on Capitol Hill last year. Photograph: Annabelle Gordon\/Reuters<\/p>\n Representative Eric Swalwell, the Democratic frontrunner in the crowded race to be governor of California, has quit after a series of sexual assault and misconduct allegations<\/a> by a former staff member and at least three other women.<\/p>\n The woman who worked for the California congressman said he had sexually assaulted her twice when she was too inebriated to consent, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. CNN reported that three other women accused Swalwell of sending them unsolicited nude photographs or explicit messages.<\/p>\n How has Swalwell responded? He said he would \u201cfight the serious, false allegations that have been made \u2013 but that\u2019s my fight, not a campaign\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n In other news \u2026Pope Leo XIV has been criticised by Donald Trump, who wrote that the pontiff should \u2018stop catering to the Radical Left\u2019. Photograph: Angelo Carconi\/EPA<\/p>\n Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Pope Leo calling him \u201cweak\u201d and \u201cterrible\u201d, while claiming that the pontiff is \u201ccatering to the Radical Left\u201d<\/a>. Trump also posted a photo of himself as an AI-generated Jesus.<\/p>\n Senator Bernie Sanders has warned \u201cthe worst is yet to come\u201d unless workers overcome a \u201cruling class\u201d of billionaires, as the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said AI was \u201ccoming for human jobs\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n One person was killed and six injured in a mass shooting at a Chick-fil-A in New Jersey on Saturday night, according to authorities, who said no arrests had been made yet<\/a>.<\/p>\n A truce between Russia and Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Easter formally expired on Monday, with both sides having accused each other of breaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stat of the day: US underemployment rates reaches 42.5% \u2013 its highest level since 2020Graduates hold up their diplomas and caps. Photograph: Davidovich Mikhail\/Alamy<\/p>\n American college graduates are facing a brutal entry-level job market, with underemployment \u2013 not having enough paid work or not doing work that makes full use of one\u2019s skills and abilities, according to the Oxford dictionary \u2013 standing at 42.5%, its highest level since 2020. Graduates blame the rise of AI, internal hiring<\/a> and high employer expectations, as many entry-level roles ask for candidates with three to five years of experience.<\/p>\n Building power: He was sentenced to death, despite not pulling the trigger. An unlikely coalition saved his lifeAn usual coalition argued that executing a 75-year-old man who didn\u2019t pull the trigger was wrong. Composite: Rita Liu\/The Guardian\/Getty Images\/Charles Burton<\/p>\n Charles \u201cSonny\u201d Burton, who had been on death row since 1992 for the killing of Doug Battle during a robbery, was due to be executed by nitrogen gas on 12 March. But an unusual coalition, including faith leaders, the victim\u2019s daughter and conservative advocacy groups, managed to pressure Alabama\u2019s governor<\/a> into commuting his sentence to life without parole. They made the case that executing a 75-year-old man who didn\u2019t pull the trigger \u2013 while the man who did died in prison with a life sentence \u2013 was just wrong.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss this: How patients are diagnosing chronic illnesses with the help of anonymous TikTok usersMalina Lee, a 31-year-old Texas baker, says a comment by a TikTok user with the username \u2018PickleFart\u2019 helped lead to her thyroid cancer diagnosis. Composite: Rita Liu\/The Guardian\/Getty Images\/Malina Lee<\/p>\n While health misinformation abounds on social media, amid the noise, TikTok users are also increasingly reporting<\/a> that the algorithm has helped them detect medical issues before they were aware of them themselves. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny, but it\u2019s also kind of sad,\u201d one TikTok user said. \u201cIt shows how broken the American healthcare system is that people are seeking out medical advice on social media apps.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate check: Iran war has heightened the twin threats of nuclear war and the climate crisisDemonstrators carry anti-war signs outside the White House in Washington DC on 7 April. Photograph: Probal Rashid\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n The Iran war has highlighted how entrenched the world\u2019s dependency on oil and gas remains \u2013 but also the threat of nuclear war<\/a>, argues former chief of the Australian defence force Chris Barrie. \u201cThe diplomatic architecture needed to address climate change is being corroded by a war conducted unilaterally and without mandate,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Last Thing: Money to burn? The humble box of matches gets a $315 makeoverPanth\u00e8re de Cartier set of three matchboxes, \u00a3235. Photograph: Cartier<\/p>\n What\u2019s the most you would pay for a box of matches? I\u2019d guess substantially less than \u00a3235 ($315), the price tag on a Cartier set of three tubes<\/a>, decorated with panthers and containing 80 matches each.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/p>\n Sign up for the US morning briefing<\/p>\n<\/p>\n First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you\u2019re not already signed up, subscribe now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n