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.

Beth Noveck (New Jersey, USA, 1971) makes it clear in each of her answers that she refuses to fall into defeatism. She offers solutions, gives examples of success, and argues that AI can help improve the functioning of institutions. And she knows what she's talking about, not only because she is an expert in how to use technology to make governments more open, but because she knows institutions from the inside: she was the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States during the administration of Barack Obama. She visits Barcelona to sponsor the presentation of the Pompeu Fabra University's 2026-2037 Strategy.

The war against Iran has entered a new phase, one that is more uncomfortable for the United States and whose effects are no longer limited to the military sphere. The conflict has escalated with consequences that are being felt in energy markets, global logistics, and diplomatic alliances. One of the turning points has been The attack on the South Pars gas field, the world's largest, which accounts for about 70-75% of Iran's gas productionThe attack forced the shutdown of two major refineries in the area. The effect was immediate: natural gas and Brent crude oil prices rose sharply, causing serious disruptions in international energy markets.

Any news we discuss here must be understood within the context of a war that increasingly affects us. War first in Ukraine, and now in Iran and Lebanon. The price of oil has climbed again, and we know that when gasoline goes up, everything else goes up. Our economy currently depends on two politicians, Netanyahu in Israel and Trump in the United States, who don't care about any of this because war gives them free rein to do whatever they want. For example, Israel has attacked the world's largest gas fieldSo this war, which the United States has called "Epic Fury," is bringing us epic inflation and epic disaster, like everything Trump's inept finger touches, especially when he lets himself be swayed by the Israeli lobby and trusts his intuition more than his generals. It's becoming clearer every day that the United States won't bring down the ayatollahs' regime with bombings and targeted assassinations.

We've had three weeks of bombing in Tehran—and in Tel Aviv, and Beirut, and Riyadh, and Doha...—and the war, the third Gulf War, has entered a thorny phase for Washington.

The main proof that things in Iran aren't going as Donald Trump planned is that in recent hours he has decided to attack the press because independent media outlets aren't buying his triumphalist narrative about the conflict. Trump doesn't like what he reads, and in a post on his social media he has directly targeted the press. New York Times and the Wall Street JournalTwo of the most prestigious media outlets in the United States are currently reporting in detail that the decision to attack Iran was made without considering its consequences, especially the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

We can't expect Trump to have read the classics, but we could at least hope he hadn't purged the entire American intelligence service. "War is a chain of accidental events that no man can control," Tolstoy wrote in War and PeaceIn his fresco on the Napoleonic Wars, Tolstoy insisted that conflicts rarely follow the plans of generals or rulers. Armies move according to strategies and doctrines, but history often advances through unexpected deviations: miscalculations, rash actions, accidents, or strokes of luck. War is, to a large extent, the realm of the unpredictable. This is why wars are so difficult to control once they have begun. Every move has new consequences, every response provokes a possible escalation, and every gesture can trigger unforeseen events. Wars spread geographically, politically, economically. And here we are. The power of uncertainty is especially visible today in the Middle East. Since the attack of October 7, 2023, the region has been undergoing one of its most profound reconfigurations, and in this scenario, the US and Israeli attack on Iran is central and has unpredictable consequences.

Whenever we try to understand complex situations, we try to find a reason that justifies how someone acts, or why something happens a certain way. Lately, even experts in politics, particularly international politics, are completely baffled as to the reasons behind this particular figure: any reasonable prediction based on the rules we previously knew has been shattered. Some, even with immense effort, have lined up all the facts, like an Excel spreadsheet, and tried to find a common thread. In Trump's case, at this point, we have to accept that everyone who has tried has failed.

In 2023, when he was still just a senator, JD Vance wrote an article in Wall Street Journal With a very explicit title: "Trump's best foreign policy? Don't start new wars." Vance justified his support for Trump's candidacy by saying he was convinced that Trump wouldn't send "Americans to fight across the seas." The New York tycoon was the only Republican candidate who criticized the Iraq War in the 2016 primaries, and during the 2014 campaign, he embraced isolationism to the point that at the beginning of his term, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize following the agreement to halt the war. Therefore, the decision to attack Iran has caused a rift within the MAGA movement, and highly influential voices like that of Tucker Carlson have expressed clear opposition.