How a Liberal Dissident Became a Far-Right Hero, in Hungary and Beyond

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How a Liberal Dissident Became a Far-Right Hero, in Hungary and Beyond Photo No one exemplifies the angry direction of post-communist Eastern Europe more than Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary. He is expected to lead his party to victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday. Credit Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images BUDAPEST — During the final days of communism in Hungary, a young, liberal dissident wrote to a foundation run by the Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, asking for a grant to finance his research into grass-roots democracy.
Hungary would soon “transition from dictatorship to democracy,” the student wrote in 1988. “One of the main elements of this transition can be the rebirth of civil society.”
The student was Viktor Orban. Now the prime minister, Mr. Orban is expected to lead his party to victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday — not as the pro-Western statesman he once promised to be, but as a hero to the far-right, a scourge of civil society (and of Mr. So..

‘Big Brother’ in India Requires Fingerprint Scans for Food, Phones and Finances

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‘Big Brother’ in India Requires Fingerprint Scans for Food, Phones and Finances
NEW DELHI — Seeking to build an identification system of unprecedented scope, India is scanning the fingerprints, eyes and faces of its 1.3 billion residents and connecting the data to everything from welfare benefits to mobile phones.
Civil libertarians are horrified, viewing the program, called Aadhaar, as Orwell’s Big Brother brought to life. To the government, it’s more like “big brother,” a term of endearment used by many Indians to address a stranger when asking for help.
For other countries, the technology could provide a model for how to track their residents. And for India’s top court, the ID system presents unique legal issues that will define what the constitutional right to privacy means in the digital age.
To Adita Jha, Aadhaar was simply a hassle. The 30-year-old environmental consultant in Delhi waited in line three times to sit in front of a computer that photographed her face, captured her..

Global Health: TB Treatment May Leave Some Patients Contagious

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TB Treatment May Leave Some Patients Contagious Photo An HIV-positive woman with tuberculosis symptoms at a hospital in Uganda. Researchers studying TB patients who were also infected with H.I.V. found that they may require higher doses of the standard medications. Credit Rebecca Vassie/Associated Press The World Health Organization’s dosage guidelines for two leading tuberculosis medications may be far too low for patients with H.I.V., allowing them to remain contagious for longer than necessary, a new study has found.
TB, now the leading infectious killer worldwide, takes over 1.5 million lives per year. Treatment lasts at least six months and can cause serious side effects, making it difficult for patients to stick to it.
Doctors have been prescribing two TB drugs, rifampicin and isoniazid, for almost half of a century. But the new research, published in March in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, adds to growing evidence that higher doses may kill the deadly mycobacteria fas..

Defying Arrest Deadline, Brazil’s Ex-President Dares Police to Come Get Him

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Defying Arrest Deadline, Brazil’s Ex-President Dares Police to Come Get Him Photo Supporters of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil outside the headquarters of the metal workers’ union in São Bernardo do Campo on Friday. The former leader spent Thursday night there as he weighed his response to an arrest warrant. Credit Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil — Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil defied a Friday deadline to report to prison to begin serving a 12-year corruption sentence, daring authorities to haul him away from a union headquarters thronged by his supporters.
As the 5 p.m. deadline neared, Mr. da Silva’s supporters counted down the last five seconds. Then they began chanting: “There is no surrender!”
Mr. da Silva’s decision set the stage for a heated confrontation between the most loyal defenders of a polarizing, yet enormously popular politician, and law enforcement officials who regard his imprisonment as..