East Med Pulse

🇪🇺 Mediterranean just turned into a game of “who brought more toys” to defend Cyprus: - 🇫🇷 France: Carrier + 8 frigates + 2 amphibious helicopter carriers - 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, and 🇩🇪 Germany: A frigate - 🇬🇷 Greece: 2 frigates, 4 F-16 Viper - 🇬🇧 UK: HMS Dragon warship + 2 anti-drone Wildcat helicopters - 🇹🇷 Turkey: 6 F-16s and air defense systems Source: CNN

Big personal news: I’ve been recruited by Google DeepMind for a new Philosopher position (actual title), focusing on machine consciousness, human-AI relationships, and AGI readiness, starting in May. I’ll continue my research & teaching at Cambridge part-time. Absolutely stoked!

الشراكة الاستراتيجية مع دولة الإمارات العربيَّة المتَّحدة الشَّقيقة تجسَّدت اليوم في توقيع اتفاقيَّات أحد أهم وأكبر المشاريع الاستثماريَّة المشتركة بين البلدين. مشروع سكَّة حديد ميناء العقبة سيعمل على تعزيز التنافسيَّة الاقتصادية لميناء العقبة ليكون بوابة استراتيجيَّة إقليميَّة، ويفتح مجالات تنمويَّة واسعة في المملكة.

A swift end.

It’s six o’clock in the morning in Hungary, and voting is now under way. Polling stations are open until 19:00, when counting begins immediately. There will be no official exit poll tonight. By law, opinion polls can only be released after 19:00, and even then most pollsters have not committed to a precise release time. The most reliable updates will come from the National Election Office of Hungary, which will publish turnout data every two hours and results in batches once counting begins. Based on previous elections, early results should start appearing around 20:00, with roughly 30% of votes processed. By 22:00, about half of the ballots are usually counted. By midnight, the count typically reaches around 90%, though postal and embassy ballots will continue to be added in the days after election night. Around 8.1 million people are eligible to vote. That includes roughly 7.6 million citizens with a Hungarian address and about half a million diaspora voters who vote by post. A further 90,000 Hungarians registered to vote at embassies and consulates abroad. Hungary elects 199 MPs. Of those, 106 come from single-member constituencies decided by simple majority, and 93 from national party lists. The main parties in this election are Fidesz, the ruling party; Tisza Party, the main opposition challenger; Mi Hazánk Mozgalom on the far right; Democratic Coalition (Hungary) on the centre left; and Hungarian Two‑Tailed Dog Party, which blends satire and protest politics. The results tonight will show who wins, but the mechanics of the count mean the full picture will take a little longer to emerge.