The Fourcast

Hungary has woken up to a political earthquake. After more than a decade in power, Viktor Orbán has been defeated, with Péter Magyar securing a historic landslide victory in an election seen as a major test for democracy in Europe.
It’s a slap in the face for Donald Trump - after JD Vance called on Hungarians to support their incumbent leader. But did his attempt to raise support for Orban do the exact opposite?
Could this mark a turning point not just for Hungary, but for Europe more broadly? And does this result signal a shift away from populist politics - or is the bigger story still to come?
In this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Hungarian journalist and disinformation expert Szilárd Teczár and political analyst Mujtaba Rahman to unpack how this happened - and what it means for the future of Hungary - and Europe.

What is really going on in Lebanon? Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah across the country.
Iran says Israel is violating the terms of the ceasefire - so could the peace talks set to be held tomorrow in Islamabad collapse before they’ve even started? And is this exactly what Israel wants? 
On this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined from Beirut by Lebanese journalist Rania Abouzeid and in London by Channel 4 News foreign correspondent Secunder Kermani, who’s just returned from Lebanon.

It’s uncertain whether the ceasefire Donald Trump brokered with Iran will hold after Israel launched a massive barrage of airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon leading Tehran to reclose the Strait of Hormuz. 
US vice president JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation to Islamabad in Pakistan, has acknowledged that the ceasefire is “fragile”. 
So is there any chance it could lead to a last peace? Is this a moment where a global economic crisis was averted at the last minute, or just postponed? 
On this episode of the Fourcast Indicators Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by defence and intelligence analyst Mark Urban and Channel 4 News Economics Editor Helia Ebrahimi.

Wireless Festival has been cancelled, following the government’s decision to block Kanye West’s permission to travel to the UK.  
The American rapper, who’s now known as Ye, was due to headline the festival in Finsbury Park in the summer. 
He has a long history of antisemitic comments and actions, including writing a song glorifying Adolf Hitler. Mr West has blamed this on a brain injury and missed Bi-polar diagnosis. 
He has apologised and says he has reached out to the Jewish community in the UK. 
On this episode of The Fourcast, Keme Nzerem is joined by Dr. Toby Greene from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and music journalist Yemi Abiade.

NASA’s Artemis ll mission has blasted off to the moon - with the familiar rhetoric of exploration and human achievement. It’s the first crewed voyage out of low earth orbit in more than half a century - but behind the celebration - another story is taking shape.
The modern ‘space race’ is a high-stakes contest for military, economic and technological dominance here on earth. A contest where whoever controls orbit, controls everything below. 
So what does Artemis tell us about this contest? About the collision of scientific aspiration, strategic military rivalry, and economic leverage? 
How are the world’s governments, militaries and increasingly private companies shaping this orbital order? 
On the latest episode of The Fourcast, Keme Nzerem is joined by Libby Jackson, Head of Space at London’s Science Museum, formerly head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency.
And Gabriel Elefteriu, Senior Research Fellow in Space Power at the Council on Geostrategy. His work is on defence space policy, and the global space power balance.