Against Iran, Trump has not won. Trump, certainly, has not lost either. The same could be said of the ayatollahs' regime, which has seen its leadership decapitated, but has responded by extending the conflict throughout the Middle East, especially to the crucial energy enclave of the Strait of Hormuz. The fairest verdict would be a draw, a tie, but a tie from which almost everyone for now – with the sole direct exception of Israel and indirect exception of Russia – has emerged worse off: the United States has not achieved the much-proclaimed change of regime in Tehran, Asia has suffered a very serious energy shortage, a hesitant Europe this time has remained on the sidelines of the calls to action from its American friend while seeing Ukraine's position weakened against Moscow, the Arab monarchies of the Gulf have lost their tourist-financial glamour and, of course, Iran has suffered a very severe attack on its political system and infrastructure.

Humanity has taken another step in its exploration of the Moon. A new leap forward to discover the hidden face of the celestial body. The space milestone of NASA's Artemis II mission, with a group of humans positioning themselves at a record distance from Earth – 406,771 kilometers away – has coincided with a dark moment on Earth itself, also with the United States as protagonists. The president who can boast of the lunar achievement is the same one who has threatened humanity with destruction, not of a religious dictatorial regime but of "an entire civilization." In this case, the name does make sense and evidences the mentality of a Donald Trump who acts like a barbarian announcing the end of a "civilization."

Spain and Catalonia continue to be European exceptions regarding the performance of the economy and job creation. With the data for March presented by the Ministry of Labour, Spain reaches for the first time in history the mark of 22 million Social Security affiliates, 3.4 million more than in 2018, when Pedro Sánchez arrived at Moncloa. In the case of Catalonia, the record was reached last summer, with 3.9 million affiliates, then it fell slightly and is now about to recover (3.88 million). Unemployment also decreased by 23,000 people in the State and by 3,777 in Catalonia. At the end of the month, we will have the data from the EPA survey and, therefore, a more accurate snapshot of the unemployment rate.

This week, two trials are set to begin in Madrid that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on Spanish politics. This Monday, the trial for the Kitchen case kicks off at the National High Court, and on Tuesday, the Supreme Court will try the former minister and former organization secretary of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, for the first case affecting him: an alleged scheme to collect commissions for selling masks to various state institutions.

The Costa del Sol, with its epicenter located in the city of Marbella, is the southern gateway for drug entry into Europe and a true hub where mafias from all over the world converge, to the point that police forces acknowledge their inferiority compared to organizations that move hundreds of millions and have practically no limits. L'ARA wanted to get a close look at the impact of the drug business on the Andalusian coast with two major reports, one focused on Marbella and another, to be published tomorrow, on Barbate. Marbella has been synonymous with luxury and glamour, but also corruption, for many decades. Barbate, on the other hand, represents the other side of the coin, that of old fishing villages where poverty has driven many young people towards drug trafficking, who are nothing more than pawns of international cartels.

Since Pete Hegseth was appointed Secretary of Defense of the United States, a name that would later change to Secretary of War, he has dismissed more than a dozen high-ranking military officials, including several four-star generals. The latest case occurred this very Friday, when Hegseth forced the early retirement of the chief of staff of the army, Randy George, right in the middle of the Iran war. But Trump and Hegseth's purge of the military goes back much further, to the beginning of their term, so they have ended up shaping a tailor-made military leadership.

The Islamophobic shouts at the Cornellà-El Prat stadium during the match between Egypt and Spain have gone around the world and are a very worrying exponent of the level of disinhibition of the extreme right everywhere. The case is especially regrettable because the best player of the Spanish national team and probably of the world is a Catalan of Muslim religion named Lamine Yamal, raised in the Rocafonda neighborhood of Mataró. The Barça star has sent a forceful message through social networks and has branded the "racists" and "ignorant" the scoundrels who on Tuesday chanted all sorts of insults, including to Pedro Sánchez, at the Espanyol stadium.

That the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Cava, which in addition to the traditional wineries of Penedès –90% of production is made in Catalonia– integrates others from territories such as Aragon, Navarre, La Rioja, the Basque Country, the Valencian Community and Extremadura, was not a very comfortable arrangement for some producers was already known. The product's visibility is not very uniform, probably due to the disparity of origins, and the state-level regulations governing the designation do not satisfy some producers.

From April 15, those who have suffered sexual abuse in the past by members of the Catholic Church or in any other religious sphere will be able to opt for reparation overseen by the Ombudsman. Despite the system's imperfections, which do not include some of the victims' demands, yesterday's signing of the protocol should be read as a new success for this victims' movement that, for some years now, has managed to have the damage recognized and responsibilities accepted. The protocol establishes how people who until now could not go to justice because their case had expired or because the abuser had already died will be able to opt for reparation. And, most importantly, the arbiter will not be the same ecclesiastical institution within which the abuses were committed, and which has systematically denied or minimized them until very recently, but rather it will be the state, through the figure of the Ombudsman, that will act as arbiter and will ultimately decide what the restoration should consist of, which will largely be economic.

Vladimir Putin has launched his spring offensive in Ukraine. Taking advantage of a dry March after a brutal winter, the Russian army has intensified attacks against the last major Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donbas, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, with assault operations exceeding 600 attacks in four days and battalions of up to 500 soldiers. The objective is clear: to conquer what the military calls the Donetsk fortress belt before the diplomatic path, if it ever materializes, freezes the conflict map.

In a context of growing population pressure –in Catalonia with 8 million people, 100,000 new users are added to the medical system each year–, today in our country there are more than 200,000 people waiting for an operation, more than 200,000 awaiting a test, and more than 500,000 queuing for a first visit with a specialist. These figures, which the ARA has accessed, already speak for themselves, but to truly assess the magnitude of the issue, we must look at waiting times.

No one could have imagined, when the US and Israel launched the first attacks against Iran on Saturday, February 28, that especially Washington and, specifically, US President Donald Trump, had not foreseen the consequences. The evolution of events makes it increasingly clear: there was no strategy. At least, not on the part of the US. Another thing is the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which takes advantage of the opportunity to achieve its expansionist goals, with no regard for international law and human rights.

Pedro Sánchez on Thursday bid farewell to his closest and most loyal collaborator since he arrived at Moncloa in June 2018. Since then, María Jesús Montero has continuously held the Finance portfolio, one of the most sensitive in any government, and from there she has climbed positions to become, in December 2023, the first vice-president, i.e., number two in the executive. Undoubtedly, Sánchez is giving up one of the pillars of his government to send her to compete in Andalusia against Juanma Moreno Bonilla, a mission that currently seems impossible. It is true, however, that in politics, this month and a half remaining until the elections is an eternity.

Catalonia's current renewable energy capacity is 5,018 MW. The target for 2050, to meet the European requirement of zero emissions, is to reach 61,861 MW. The work to be done is enormous and urgent. The starting point is deplorable. We are at the bottom of the list in Spain. The philosophy nimby (not in my backyard(Not in my house) has made a hole. It's gone too far.

In his latest book, essayist and political advisor Giuliano da Empoli states, The hour of the predators (Ediciones 62), that "chaos is no longer the weapon of insurgents but the hallmark of power." In the book, he explains that new world leaders like Trump or Putin act as agents of chaos because it is the way to consolidate their authority in a world where there are no rules but brute force. Donald Trump's actions in the last few hours perfectly fit this definition.

The EU is going through difficult times, with two powerful enemies closing in and trying to undermine its autonomy in every area. One is Vladimir Putin's Russia, which, since the invasion of Ukraine, has not stopped threatening the European space, even militarily. The other is Trump and his administration, who have not stopped showing contempt for the EU and threatening it economically and even militarily, despite being historical allies. And, as if that weren't enough, there are the internal enemies, the main one being, and this is not too surprising, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, who has not stopped throwing a wrench in the works of EU initiatives, especially those related to European support for Volodymyr Zelensky's Ukraine.

Nursing homes bear the enormous responsibility of ensuring a dignified life for thousands of citizens, many of whom arrive to spend the most fragile and vulnerable years of their lives. Their work is essential, as the sector itself acknowledges when it denounces the lack of human and material resources with which it faces this task, in a country where, given the ever-increasing life expectancy, these facilities and services will become increasingly necessary.

Nuclear energy has a very bad reputation, and ever since Chernobyl, it has earned the fear it inspires. However, this hasn't stopped many countries from continuing to invest in it because they need it to function. In Catalonia alone, it accounts for more than 50% of the energy we generate. The Fukushima earthquake, now 15 years old, gave ammunition to anti-nuclear activists, and several countries, including Germany and Spain, began denuclearization plans, relying on seemingly stable gas and oil reserves and the possibility of adapting to renewable energies for long-term sustainability. The war in Ukraine, which cut off the supply of Russian gas, and now the Gulf War, have changed things.

Politics shouldn't be all about pronouncements and grand gestures. Pragmatism is also essential. In short, it's about being practical so that citizens, those governed, feel they aren't being abandoned when times get tough. And this seems to be the path the Spanish government has taken with the package of measures designed to mitigate the effects of the war in the Middle East. The conflict, whose end appears far off, has driven up gas and oil prices and, consequently, the prices of everything related to them, such as fuel and electricity. That's why the measures announced by Pedro Sánchez will amount to around 5 billion euros, far less than the more than 20 billion mobilized in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine—but we are still in the early stages and don't know how long the war might last. The first decree focuses on reducing energy taxes, one of the services most affected by the impact of the Middle East crisis, and one that could have ripple effects throughout the economy. In addition to lowering the VAT on electricity and gas from the current 21% to 10%, as well as on biomass raw materials such as pellets and firewood, the energy production tax, currently at 7%, is temporarily eliminated and reduced from 5.5% to a special rate of 0.5%. Maximum retail prices for butane and propane are also frozen. The VAT on gasoline and diesel is also reduced, which, according to the Prime Minister's office, will result in a savings of approximately 30 cents per liter when filling up. Consumer organizations estimate that the reduction will be around 17 cents for diesel, which has seen the largest price increase. A key point, also included in the decree, is granting the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) new supervisory and sanctioning powers to prevent operators from exploiting the tax cut to increase their profit margins and enrich themselves. This is essential to prevent the tax reduction from benefiting certain companies more than citizens and, therefore, taxpayers.

Infrastructure is a national issue. And it should be treated as such. The Chamber of Commerce, together with the council that brings together the 13 existing chambers of commerce in Catalonia, has launched an observatory to monitor public investment. It will not only point out what hasn't been done but also propose what should be done, both in the immediate future and in the longer term. The most urgent projects, up to 2030, total €14.5 billion and cover priorities such as rail, airports, water, and roads. But it doesn't stop there; it also projects to 2043, at which point the necessary investments reach €53.8 billion.