He has done it. He has pardoned himself "forever". In terms of taxes, he and his family will be able to do whatever they damn well please from now on. They will never be able to be investigated. The president of the USA has signed an out-of-court settlement with the tax agency that depends on his government, endorsed by the Department of Justice headed by one of his former lawyers. It's all in the family. In other words, Trump has agreed with himself to eternal tax absolution. The message is clear: I do whatever I want, got it? My power is absolute.

The United States has “permanently banned” the fiscal inspection of past tax returns of President Trump, his family, his companies, and his associates. Trump filed a lawsuit against the American treasury because he considered himself persecuted, and now he has withdrawn the complaint in exchange for this fiscal immunity and a multi-million dollar compensation fund that could also benefit attackers of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Friday that the number two of the Islamic State and the "most active terrorist on the planet" Abu-Bilal al-Minuki has been eliminated in Nigeria. According to Trump, his death occurred during a "very complex and meticulously planned mission" between the Armed Forces of the United States and those of Nigeria. Trump made the announcement on his social network, Truth Social: "Under my direction, brave American forces and the Nigerian Armed Forces have impeccably executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate from the battlefield the world's most active terrorist, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS (Islamic State)." "He will no longer terrorize the African people nor help plan operations against Americans," the leader added in his publication.

The exceptional visit of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to China has ended without a clear path for the geopolitical tensions caused by his administration. The unfounded optimism of the New York executive has not served to calm the market: on the contrary, the end of the trip coincided, this Friday, with the most intense rise in the price of the Brent barrel of the entire week. The European reference for crude oil skyrocketed at half past five in the afternoon, approaching 109 dollars. It is already on its way to the highs since the beginning of the war, close to 115 dollars, set at the beginning of the month.

“Let me state what should not need to be stated: the Pulitzer Prizes support the First Amendment of the Constitution.” With these grave words, Marjorie Miller made it clear from the first minute that the country is living in a time of exceptionality. The administrator of the most prestigious awards in American journalism recalled that this protection for the press adhering to the Magna Carta implies the ability to scrutinize political power and institutions, but that in recent times “the access to the White House and the Pentagon has been restricted.” With this assessment, it is not surprising that the verdict has leaned towards journalistic pieces that challenge Trump's opacity and scrutinize him in a time when the hunger to expand his power seems endless.

Donald Trump's crusade against academia and science does not stop. The US president has summarily dismissed the twenty or so experts on the independent council overseeing the National Science Foundation, the key agency for planning resources allocated to scientific—especially basic—and technical research in the US. Two recently dismissed members of this body—which has a budget equivalent to 8.5 billion euros—have made public that last Friday they received an email sent by the Office of Presidential Personnel, "on behalf of the president," thanking them for "their service" and dismissing them. According to them, "no other argument" was provided.

On Friday evening, Antena3 Noticias echoed an unusual case: “United States is investigating the mysterious murder or disappearance of eleven scientists. All of them were working with sensitive information and several were investigating life in space. Until now there was no official connection between them, but the United States press is starting to connect the dots”. The headline does not lie: indeed, the White House spokesperson has communicated the will to investigate these events and Trump himself has assured that in a week and a half they would report the conclusions. However, the uncritical way in which the news report explained the facts betrays more commercial intent than journalistic.The case is, without a doubt, very juicy: dead scientists, classified information and UFOs. A winning cocktail. But the most rigorous media are distancing themselves from it. It all began with the disappearance of retired General William McCasland at the end of February. He left home equipped with only a weapon and nothing more has been heard of him. Podcasters and content creators on social networks began to collect other old cases, forcing the common points between them and fabricated a pattern retrospectively, without it having existed previously. They built a conspiratorial narrative based on stereotypes: scientists who knew too much, discoveries about extraterrestrial life, and elimination of witnesses. The story goes viral and, following the 'roll it up' method, narrative layers are added: China, state secrets and UFOs. A conspiracy theory is created so perfect that certain right-wing American media could not resist it. And now we have a more powerful media and social ecosystem that has transformed isolated cases into a very attractive conspiratorial narrative. The story works even though the eleven cases are from different years and from very diverse professionals, intentionally unified under the generic label of "they had access to classified information." The noise, therefore, is amplified with a click. And, lo and behold, both the White House and Donald Trump end up talking about it publicly, committing to investigate it and provide an answer. A political communication strategy that allows connecting with audiences who normally distrust institutions. They thus project a sense of absolute control, showing themselves as a relentless government that acts in the face of highly strange and apparently dangerous events. Incidentally, this alleged mystery of the eleven dead scientists allows them to divert attention from much more important and uncomfortable issues that we already know about. It is very possible that, in the coming weeks, the media will talk about this case of the eleven dead scientists, but a critical look that dissects the details and miseries is essential: how the theory passes from internet forums to right-wing media and, from there, to institutional politics. Because instead of journalism there is a great desire to pull the wool over people's eyes.

Allow me, to begin, to express the pride and satisfaction, as someone would say, that a day as well celebrated as yesterday's Sant Jordi provokes. We can congratulate ourselves. We can congratulate ourselves.We know Regina well, at ARA, especially the newspaper's audiovisual team, of which she was a part. Regina, more than connecting with readers' tastes, has connected with readers' hearts, and such a phenomenon is unbeatable. Regina conveys truth. Added to this is the mastery of fresh and fun narrative technique, the result is yesterday's: number 1. This morning I spoke with her and she told me she was happy, for among other reasons, because it was also the triumph of humor in Catalan. has connected with readers' hearts, and such a phenomenon is unbeatable. Regina conveys truth. Added to this is the mastery of fresh and fun narrative technique, the result is yesterday's: number 1. This morning I spoke with her and she told me she was happy, for among other reasons, because it was also the triumph of humor in Catalan.

Orbán, the friend of Trump and Putin, a figurehead of the European far-right, a Trojan horse in the European Union, has fallen resoundingly at the polls. Let his continental imitators and those who whitewash them and aspire to deal with him take note. Here the imitators are called Orriols and Abascal. Perhaps people are starting to be fed up with discourses of hate, division, and confrontation. With hopeless, enraged, and fatalistic shouting. With "everything is shit." With those who, instead of proposing viable solutions to very serious structural problems, look for enemies under every stone every day, magnify them, feed them. With those who fuel chaos, like Trump does.

Donald Trump and Leo XIV were on a collision course from day one. A bombastic President of the United States who sends his police to hunt down immigrants and threatens the disappearance of an entire civilization cannot count on papal blessing. And when asked about it, Robert Francis Prevost calmly and with a quiet smile uttered a simple statement: “I am not afraid of the Trump administration,” which, coming from him, seems directly inspired by the evangelical “Do not be afraid.”

Iberia will temporarily suspend its direct flights to Cuba starting in June. According to the company, the decision is motivated by the "situation the country is going through" for several months, a fact that would have impacted demand "very significantly." The sale of flights, however, will remain open from November, when the airline plans to resume the route, "provided that conditions permit." In recent months, the company's operations in Cuba were already being affected by the serious situation being experienced on the island, where the United States has expanded its siege. In fact, as Iberia specifies, since last February 9, it has been necessary to make a technical stop in Santo Domingo to refuel the flights returning to Madrid.

Good news arrived tonight from Hungary:Viktor Orbán has lost the elections. He has lost them clearly, because the opposition leader has won them with a resounding two-thirds absolute majority with the highest turnout in Hungary's recent democratic history; never before had so many people gone to vote since 1989 when the communist regime fell, meaning there was a desire to vote and a desire for change.The profile of the winner, Péter Magyar, is apparently contradictory: he worked for Orbán's government, but has been increasingly distancing himself until stating tonight that "the people of Hungary have said yes to Europe". And in Brussels there is euphoria, because although Hungary is a relatively small country (9 and a half million inhabitants), Orbán's Hungary was a kind of black sheep in the European Union for a double and powerful reason: it was the candidate of Putin and Trump. It has always opposed European sanctions on Russia, and as for Trump, Orbán was one of the European references for the American president, to the point that last week Vice President Vance went to Hungary to support Orbán in an electoral rally. That Trump's candidates lose in Europe, that going hand in hand with Trump detracts rather than adds, is a sign that people do not want wars like those in Iran that are making us more expensive and complicating our lives, as we explain on this page: the rising cost of fertilizers threatens the cost of food, and it turns out that the Persian Gulf countries are among the main producers.the rising cost of fertilizers threatens the cost of food, and it turns out that the Persian Gulf countries are among the main producers.By the way, the first round of peace talks with Iran ended in disagreement (as expected) and tonight Trump said he will block the Strait of Hormuz (which will prevent Iran from charging tolls to pass through it), which in essence is an acknowledgment that he cannot open it. And since he does everything in bulk, this morning he attacked Pope Leo XIV in one of those on-the-fly responses, saying that the Pope is

The more Donald Trump sinks into the Iranian mire, the more we Europeans must regain the pride of being part of such an imperfect and self-conscious club. 

Whatever politicians (and, of course, analysts) do or say is conditioned by a major force, which is the impact of the war in Iran, which has not yet ended because it hangs by a very thin thread, which is the fifteen-day ceasefire. Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund warned states that “it is necessary to prepare for the worst”, because prices will rise, there may be a shortage of products or supply chain disruptions, because there will be no orderly return to normality, money will be charged more dearly to curb inflation, and states will not be able to indefinitely support tax cuts like the one approved by the Spanish government on the price of gasoline. All politics will have to operate under the impact of the war on people's pockets and public budgets. In this sense, this Trump war does no favors to the European far-right partners, such as Vox. But Pedro Sánchez polarizes the vote in Spain and voting against it or voting against the far-right is and will surely be a reason to go vote on the day it matters.From this fear of the far-right lives Rufián's project of uniting the left to the left of the PSOE.In yesterday's event in Barcelona, Rufián gave a headline, which is that Yesterday Rufián asked Esquerra to take the lead in the operation. Esquerra will not officially respond to Rufián. However, the party says that if it were up to Esquerra, the right-wing would never govern anywhere, not even in Spain, that they are aware that democracy could be at stake, but that it is not Esquerra's function to solve the discussions and egos of the Spanish left-wing parties. 

Cory Doctorow (Toronto, 1971) is one of the most lucid voices for discussing power and technology. Aware of the importance of words –he is a novelist and journalist–, he invented a concept at the end of 2022 to define, avoiding technicalities, the process that platforms were experiencing: emmerdification. A concept that has become popular and gives its name to his latest book, which has been translated into Spanish by Capitán Swing.

If on April 12th Viktor Orbán loses the elections, as the polls predict, Hungary will join the European countries where the far-right has peaked, like Marine Le Pen in the French municipal elections, or like in Italy, where Giorgia Meloni failed in a key call in the referendum on justice. The possible defeat of Orbán and the triumph of the liberal right of Péter Magyar would add to the siege of indications and suspicions that hangs over the Hungarian prime minister, accused of having leaked confidential information from the European Union to Vladimir Putin, as well as placing all sorts of obstacles to European support for Ukraine.

The Supreme Court of the United States began proceedings this Tuesday to determine the legality of Donald Trump's executive order to limit birthright citizenship.And, in an unprecedented gesture, the president appeared to listen to the oral arguments. It is the first time a sitting president has attended a Supreme Court session, highlighting how important this case is to the president.

On the war: the United States and Israel have neither overthrown the ayatollahs' regime, nor do they control the Strait of Hormuz, nor is Trump advancing peace talks as he wants us to believe with this daily obsession of talking, talking, and talking.Trump wants to claim victory and cannot, he wants to announce peace and bombs and missiles continue to be heard, and Tehran says they are not negotiating anything, the war is harming the lives of people and businesses all over the world, and it is sending us into an energy crisis that could strangle us all. The dictatorship of the Iranian clergy has understood that Trump is in a hurry to finish, and logically they are not; the regime is already very damaged, and now they want the whole world to blame Trump for the general impoverishment.In this regard, I recommend again theanalysis by our Head of International, Francesc Millán, on what might happen now. Because Trump said the war would last 4 weeks. It will be 4 weeks the day after tomorrow, Saturday. What should we do: insist on the diplomatic path or escalate the war, with nuclear weapons if necessary?In this scenario, today the anti-crisis decree is being voted on in Congress. It will be approved because Junts has already said they will support it because the PSOE will support what we explained yesterday about the zero VAT reduction for self-employed workers earning less than 85,000 euros per year. The vote and debate will be today, but yesterday Esquerra and Junts already debated another issue that will be voted on in a month, which is the decree extending rental contracts. And Rufián went all out against Junts: "Who do they work for? For whom? If they overthrow this decree, I wish them years of political ostracism. And I promise you that while I am here, I will strive very hard for that to be the case. Very. Because they do terrible harm to people, to this country, and to my country. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..."

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 week begins in a very dangerous way. As you know, Trump has announced attacks on Iranian power plants if Iran does not unblock the Strait of Hormuz Iran has warned that its response will be to attack the desalination plants of the Persian Gulf countries. You attack my electricity, and I'll attack your water.