Pedro Sánchez is increasingly alone in the European Union with the migratory challenge. A few days after the entry into force of the migration reform and the agreement to create centers outside the Community territory for deporting immigrants, several European leaders have reproached the Spanish Prime Minister for his stance on migration and the massive regularization of newcomers at the European Council meeting this Friday in Brussels, according to various diplomatic sources.

Pedro Sánchez is already used to swimming against the current in the European Union. He was one of the first leaders to raise his voice against Benjamin Netanyahu and, later, against Donald Trump. He also refused to accept the major rearmament demanded by NATO and, among other things, is the voice that has shown itself most openly opposed to the hardening of migration policies. And now, he adds another battle in which he finds himself increasingly alone: at a time when the community club intends to toughen its tone against China, Sánchez defends it as a "potential ally". "Europe needs friends", he defended at the entrance to the meeting of European leaders.

The United States administration has once again attacked European allies from Brussels. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday a new review of the deployment of American troops in Europe and threatened to stop paying its NATO dues until all allies fulfill their defense spending commitments. Spain, for example, has refused to commit to reaching 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, as demanded by the White House. "Some countries have not yet shown a credible path to meeting commitments made in The Hague. Too much talk," lamented the American leader.

The relationship that the European Union should maintain with China has divided member states in recent years, but now all agree in qualifying the trade deficit between the European bloc and the Asian giant "unsustainable", according to various diplomatic sources. For this reason, more and more European governments are advocating for an escalation of tone against Beijing, and want to request at the leaders' summit this Thursday and Friday in Brussels that the European Commission put forward measures to limit Chinese imports.

About twenty workers from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) sexually abused at least fifty-nine refugee women from Sudan. In most cases, humanitarian staff forced them into non-consensual sexual relations in exchange for food or work. The non-governmental organization has admitted the accusations and explained in a statement this Monday that it has dismissed the 18 responsible individuals—who will not be able to work with the organization from now on—but acknowledges that it has not been able to identify some of the other alleged perpetrators.

For the first time in a decade, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has fallen. At the end of 2025, there were 117.8 million people in this situation, representing a 4% reduction compared to the previous year. But what might seem like good news at first glance hides a darker reality: record numbers of returns under adverse conditions have also been recorded.

The United States has launched a new wave of attacks against Iran. Late Tuesday evening, Central Command reported that its forces had begun firing "self-defense" projectiles into Iranian territory in response to the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. "The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression," the U.S. military said on X. Meanwhile, the Fars news agency reported several explosions in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, near the Strait of Hormuz. This is the first time the U.S. has attacked Iran since the ceasefire. According to the news portal Axios, the target of the attacks would be Iranian air defense and radar systems around the strait.

Nuclear deterrence is the idea that one state will think twice before attacking another if the second possesses a nuclear weapon. With this premise, for decades the maintenance of atomic arsenals has been justified and some middle powers have continued developing and modernizing missiles in an opaque manner. Political consensus on the idea of nuclear deterrence has reached the point where European powers are beginning to unite under a single nuclear umbrella, now that their American protector is more reluctant to defend them.

A naval drone detonated this Friday in the Romanian port of Constanta, in the Black Sea, near an oil terminal, causing a large explosion. The incident, caused by a device similar to those used in the war in Ukraine, left no victims, according to the Ministry of Defense. Images from the scene shared on social media show a large plume of smoke rising on the horizon of the coastal city's port.

While the energy crisis is choking the Gulf countries, which foresee billions in losses and years of hardship due to damage to their oil infrastructure, on the other side of the Atlantic there is a country experiencing unprecedented growth. Bathed in Caribbean sun and covered in tropical forests, Guyana has benefited from the chaos resulting from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz thanks to its oil production.

Peacekeeping missions are facing an unprecedented crisis. The number of international personnel deployed has fallen to 78,633, the lowest figure since 2000 and a 49% decrease from 2016. This is the main conclusion of a report by the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which warns that the viability of multilateral peacekeeping is at risk. While the number of deployed personnel has been decreasing throughout the decade, 2025 saw the steepest year-on-year drop (17%), coinciding with the start of Donald Trump's second term in the United States. Last year, there were a total of 58 active operations in 34 countries, three fewer than in 2024.

When the agreement between the United States and Iran seemed imminent, Donald Trump has made a new U-turn and has conditioned the understanding on the Gulf countries normalizing relations with Israel, its historic regional rival. In a message on his Truth Social network, the American president has urged the mediating states, starting with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to sign the so-called Abraham Accords – which explicitly include this normalization – if they want the pact that would allow the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened to prosper.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz seems closer than ever. The United States and Iran, which have been negotiating for months through Pakistani mediators, have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen this maritime route, according to U.S. officials cited by the New York Times and Associated Press. Both sides are celebrating that there is consensus in some areas of the agreement, but they disagree on how and when the understanding should be announced.

The 18 Catalan activists who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla landed this midday at El Prat airport from Istanbul, after having spent five days detained by Israeli authorities. With banners of "Welcome home" and shouts of "Long live, long live Palestine," nearly two hundred people awaited them in the Terminal 2 hall, and the reception left emotional images of reunion with their families. Dressed in gray Israeli prison tracksuits, flip-flops, and a Palestinian scarf, the activists denounced the mistreatment they suffered and demanded action from Western governments: "We are risking our lives because governments are silent and complicit," assured Ariadna Masmitjà, a teacher linked to the IAC union, who also asked the European Union to break relations with Israel.

The United States is not easing its threat against Cuba. The day after indicting the former president and one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Raul Castro, the US military has reported deploying a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the US "Nimitz", and a strike group in Caribbean waters. "Welcome to the Caribbean, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group!", the Southern Command, responsible for operations on the continent, wrote on X in a message threatening the "unmatched" reach and lethality of the deployed vessels.

The organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, the expedition carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza to denounce the Israeli blockade, have reported that several vessels were fired upon by the Israeli army while being intercepted. "Shots clearly fired at the ship Girolama", the organization explained in a brief statement, adding that Israeli soldiers fired on at least five of the vessels.

Donald Trump has left China –where he met with Xi Jinping– with kind words, but without having resolved any of his concerns: neither the blockade in Hormuz, nor the Taiwan crisis, nor the trade balance. Manel Ollé, professor of Chinese studies at the UPF and expert in the Asian giant, analyzes the meeting between the two leaders, which has been more marked by gestures than by tangible agreements.

A program that can remotely activate the microphone and camera of a mobile phone or access message history. Software capable of scanning real-time traffic to identify people and generate profiles. A device that connects to a computer or mobile phone and can download all its information by bypassing passwords. These and other technologies manufactured in member states of the European Union too often end up in the hands of governments that violate human rights, despite current legislation to prevent it. This is the main conclusion of the report "Looking the Other Way" published this Tuesday by the NGO Human Rights Watch, which denounces that the European Union's mechanisms to prevent these exports have failed.

Israel has intercepted some of the humanitarian aid ships that are part of the Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza. This was reported by Israeli radio, citing military sources, and confirmed by the Global Sumud Flotilla through a statement in which they assure that speedboats identified as the Israeli army have stopped their ships. According to their account, they pointed their lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons at the crew members and ordered them to position themselves at the front of the boats and get on all fours.

The Flotilla activists detained by Israel will disembark in Greece soon. This was announced by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, who assured in a message on X that "the individuals transferred from the flotilla boats to the Israeli ship will disembark on a Greek beach in the coming hours", in coordination with the Greek authorities. "Israel will not allow the legal naval blockade on Gaza to be broken", the text concludes.