🇭🇺🤝🏳️‍🌈 Hungary: Lawmakers scrap Orbán-era anti-LGBTQ+ provisions

Hungary's parliament passed a bill amending the 2021 "child protection law." The move is considered the first significant reversal of Orban's curbs targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

The 2021 "child protection" law introduced restrictions on the "portrayal" or "promotion" of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children. In reality, this meant that even books addressing these topics in an age-appropriate manner could only be sold in black plastic packaging with warnings.

Critics argued that the law promoted the bigoted view automatically linking homosexuality and child abuse. The European Court of Justice had also ruled in April that it violated EU treaties.

Tuesday's amendment repeals most of the statute, except the provision protecting under-18s from sexually explicit or violent material. It passed with the support of the governing majority, with 139 lawmakers voting in favor and 51 against.

🔗 https://www.dw.com/en/hungarys-parliament-votes-to-reverse-anti-lgbtq-legislation-from-orban-era/a-79647826

🇮🇱 Israel's New Grand-Strategy;

Excerpts from an article published by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a think tank funded by the Tel Aviv University:

'The United States is a “declining power” and, given its ongoing social and political shifts, will soon abandon Israel in any event.'

'Severing ties with the United States is therefore not only inevitable, but essential to Israel’s independence.'

'The state’s Jewish identity takes precedence over its democratic system of government.'

'any arrangement with Arab actors is temporary and deceptive'

'War is necessary, and preventive war is preferable because it secures a significant achievement at the outset.'

'most Arab states are not genuine nation-states … undermining their stability is viewed as a natural process, one that Israel can manage more effectively than it can contend with strong nation-states, and one that it should even encourage.'

'Defense is established by creating communities and outposts in all areas of friction with the Arab population, in Judea and Samaria, and in security zones in Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.'

'This deployment requires the IDF to implement the principles of preemptive attack and forward defense in practice, and further contributes to the destabilization of the "synthetic" Arab states.'

'Preemptive, surprise strikes are viewed as the only way to achieve victory, giving offense precedence over defense.'

🔗 https://www.inss.org.il/publication/new-concept/

🇮🇷🇺🇸⚡️ — Iran has adopted new tactics for attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to keep global oil prices elevated and influence the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, two senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

The officials said the strategy, approved at the highest levels of Iran's leadership, began roughly 10 days ago and involves changes to both the frequency and methods of attacks against ships Tehran considers to be violating its restrictions.

Iran also plans to expand operations beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman and surrounding waters.

One Iranian official said Tehran intends to prevent President Trump from lowering oil prices ahead of the November elections, describing the strategy as a calculated effort to disrupt U.S. attempts to stabilize energy markets.

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 U.S. president, Donald Trump, has expressed some regret over the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28th 2026.

“We might have gone too far with the leaders because we don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore,” the US president told supporters at a rally in Ohio.

“Nobody wants to be the president of Iran,” he added, noting that potential candidates were unwilling to assume the position.

🔗 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-911511

🇵🇱❌❌ Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, subtly threatened Starlink founder, Elon Musk, that the EU may drop his company as a provider for satellite internet after multiple Ukrainian politicians and AFU-affiliated Telegram channels reported a deliberate internet connection slowdown on which Ukrainian drones rely to stay on target.

The Trump Administration previously threatened consequences for Ukraine if it did not halt its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

@CIG_telegram

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 In the first 14 days of October, 5 ships were attacked by unknown UAVs with two sunk in the Black Sea.

Clues point to Russia being the culprit in at least 2 of the cases:

🔶 The Turkish owned General Cargo Ship — ROYAD MAMMADOV — flying under the flag of St. Kitts and Nevis, was struck and disabled on October 5th inside Romania's EEZ, departed Izmail, Odessa Oblast carrying grains bound for Ravenna, Italy. 2 out of the 11 crew members were killed. The ship became partially submerged but did not fully sink.

🔶 The Ukrainian owned General Cargo Ship — CHELSEA 3 — flying under the flag of Malta, was struck and disabled on October 13th inside Bulgaria's EEZ. It departed from Girsun, Turkey and was bound for Giurgiulești, Moldova.

The three other ships that were hit are:

🔶 The General Cargo Ship — ABLE — flying under the flag of Palau, was struck and disabled on October 6th inside Bulgaria's EEZ. It departed Galați, Romania and was headed for Istanbul, Turkey. Although it wasn't mentioned what cargo it was carrying, the ship was likely carrying grains or other agricultural products from Ukraine who has been evading Russia's naval blockade using Romanian and Bulgarian ports.

🔶 The General Cargo Ship — ALFA WATAN — flying under the flag of Togo, was struck and sunk on October 6th inside Bulgaria's EEZ. It departed Turkey and was headed for Sulina, Romania from where it would have sailed through the Sulina canal to one of the Romanian ports on the Danube, Galați or Brăila.

🔶 The General Cargo Ship — HS DIGNITY — flying under the flag of Guinea-Bissau, was struck and sunk on October 13th inside Bulgaria's EEZ. It departed Algeria and was bound for Brăila, Romania. The crewmembers have not been rescued and are listed as missing.

Based off the departure and destination ports, clues point to Russia as the likely culprit for all 5 of these incidents even if only one of the vessels had Ukrainian managers and another one departed from a Ukrainian port.

Romania and Bulgaria's EEZ is not covered by NATO's article 5 as the EEZ or Exclusive Economic Zone is not considered "sovereign territory". Territorial waters comprise the area between the coast up to 12 nautical miles after which the EEZ begins and extends up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

@CIG_telegram

🇱🇧🇱🇧 Hezbollah Executive Council chief Ali Damoush announced a new housing program for families whose homes were destroyed, rendered uninhabitable or are located in buildings scheduled for demolition.

The program will apply only for Lebanese residents in Beirut and the southern suburbs which were extensively bombed by Israel.

A Lebanese family may receive as much as $14k if living in Beirut or $12k if living in the suburbs. The money will be going to home owners who lost their properties, not tenants.

Payments will be made in four instalments over one year, starting ​with $3,500 for families in Beirut and its southern suburbs and $3,000 elsewhere.

Reuters reported last week that Hezbollah had received $200 million from Iran to help displaced Lebanese families, citing two people with direct ​knowledge of the transfer, though the US disputed Tehran's ability to provide such financial assistance.

It is unclear how Iran was able to transfer the money to Hezbollah with some reports claiming that Iranian operatives were traveling to car to Iraq carrying $10k each in cash, boarding a plane for Beirut and handing the cash in person to Hezbollah.

🔗 https://www.imlebanon.org/2026/10/13/hezbollah7656543434/