The Observer Daily: illiberal land

The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom View in browser Illiberal land The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom Matt Russell and Brad Gray • Tuesday 15 July 2025 Dear friend, Earlier this year a meeting scheduled between the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, was abruptly cancelled at the last minute. To many observers, the move was considered a slight. Not so for Péter Szijjártó, the Hungarian foreign minister, who received a warm welcome from Rubio just days later. It's a striking series of events and one that prompts a question. Why, as many Hungarians turn away from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ideological blueprint, are conservative thinkers in the US, Britain and Australia gravitating towards it? And how is Margaret Thatcher's former speech writer involved? In this week's Slow Newscast, David Aaronovitch and Jonathan Lewis look at the forces behind Orbán's attempt to make Hungary, a small central European country, the epicentre of global conservatism. Click here to listen → "The enemy of nonsense" – George Orwell Also in The Observer The art of being a film extra During a dry financial spell last October, Yoel Noorali asked a friend in the film industry for a favour. He was writing a novel about an extra, so could he be cast in a crowd shot as research? It was a lie: Noorali needed the money. Noorali ended up on a two-week shoot at Blenheim Palace, where he was paid to stand with a briefcase, with shifts beginning at 5.30am. And The Observer Magazine ended up with a brilliant piece of writing interrogating the concept of "monetised standing". As Noorali writes: "Extras are among the only people alive paid not to do, but to be." Click here to read more → 'In setting any crossword clue, always, always think of the solver' by Tim Adams       For the last 53 years The Observer's beloved weekly Azed crossword has been set by Jonathan Crowther. During that time he has never missed a puzzle, but Sunday was his first weekend off in over half a century, because Crowther, now 82, is going monthly to enjoy a much-deserved break from the weekly grid. To celebrate his legendary career, New Review editor Tim Adams visited his home to discuss the art of the perfect clue and the community of puzzlers. The piece also goes behind-the-scenes with the rest of the team working on our puzzles each week – and introduces our new weekly setter, Colin Thomas (pseudonym: Gemelo).    If you are a puzzle fan, be sure to sign up to receive our puzzle newsletter, coming later this summer. It will feature trends, histories, insights and brain teasers all in one place. You can sign up by clicking here. Click here to read more → In a technology race against crime, it's the scammers who are streaking ahead by Martha Gill       Fraud is the most common crime in the UK. It makes up 40 per cent of all criminal offences and is rising sharply. The most common type of fraud, making up 59 per cent of all filed fraud cases, is identity fraud. Even though the UK's "fraud threat" is lower than the global average, it still costs the UK up to £1.8 billion a year. As Martha Gill writes in her weekly column, criminals are being helped by ever more efficient technology, but also by a network of scammers teaching others how to carry out crimes. Because many scams are carried out overseas, falling out of the British police's remit, Gill argues that one solution is to put the onus on the private sector instead. Click here to read more → Whipped smoked cod's roe by Nigel Slater       Forget Brat summer. Maybe, even, forget hot commie summer. It's time for whipped dip summer. The trend is flooding supermarket shelves and dominating charcuterie boards online and offline. But don't resign yourself to the chilled section. It can be a real treat to make your own. Nigel Slater's midweek dinner is a flavoursome whipped cod's roe dip: ready in 30 minutes and simple to make. Click here to read more → Listen The News Meeting What's fuelling a rise in measles cases in the UK? Rebecca Moore is joined by a trio of Observer reporters: Whitehall editor Catherine Neilan, senior audio producer Katie Gunning and senior writer Francisco Garcia. They discuss whether climate politics is full of hot air, what's next for the government's Prevent scheme and what's behind falling vaccine rates in some parts of the country Click here to listen → Thanks for reading. We'll be back tomorrow.   Matt Russell Deputy head of audio The Observer Brad Gray Production editor, newsletters The Observer   My Account To manage your newsletters, track tickets and more, go to the 'My account' page on the Observer website: Manage my newsletters Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.observer.co.uk to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.