International

Israel accuses Sánchez of “inciting Jewish genocide” for recognizing Palestine

The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, accused on Tuesday the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, of being “accomplice of inciting Jewish genocide” for recognizing the Palestinian State and for not ceasing Vice President Yolanda Díaz when he said that “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.”

Vice President Díaz later clarified her words and said that when she assured that “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea” she meant that the two States, Israel and Palestine, must “share a future of peace and prosperity,” after the Israeli ambassador in Madrid, Radica Radian-Gordon, accused her of using “a Hamas slogan.”

However, in a message on social network X, both in Spanish and Hebrew, Katz accused Díaz of seeking the elimination of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian “terrorist state” and compared it to the supreme Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, and the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

“President @sanchezcastejon – by not firing @yolanda_diaz_ and announcing the recognition of the Palestinian State – is complicit in inciting the murder of the Jewish people and war crimes,” the Israeli Foreign Minister wrote today, also labeling the account of the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

Israel has reacted with anger to the official recognition of the Palestinian State made today by Spain, Ireland and Norway and has even prohibited the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem from providing consular services to Palestinians residing in the occupied West Bank in retaliation.

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But the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, thanked on Tuesday for the official recognition of Palestine by three European countries, a decision that he described as “brave” and that he assured demonstrates an “international consensus” to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinian Presidency welcomes the courageous and bold European political positions, especially those adopted by Spain, Ireland and Norway that recognized the State of Palestine,” Abás said today in a statement released by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

In that same text, Abás also alluded to the statements of the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, who on Sunday said from Brussels that the solution of the two States “is not a painful concession” or a threat to the security of Israel, but “the only long-term guarantee” for its security and prosperity.

“(That) is consistent with the official Palestinian position, which has repeatedly stressed that military and security solutions have failed,” Abás said today, who also thanked Borrell’s criticism of Israel for not complying with the latest order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered him to “immediately stop” his military offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza.

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International

Winter Storm Fern Leaves 30 Dead and Over One Million Without Power Across the U.S.

The massive winter storm Fern, bringing polar temperatures, battered large portions of the United States for a third consecutive day on Monday, leaving at least 30 people dead, more than one million households without electricity, and thousands of flights grounded.

In the Great Lakes region, residents awoke to extreme cold, with temperatures dropping below -20°C. Forecasts indicate that conditions are expected to worsen in the coming days as an Arctic air mass moves south, particularly across the northern Great Plains and other central regions, where wind chills could plunge to -45°C, temperatures capable of causing frostbite within minutes.

Across the country, heavy snowfall exceeding 30 centimeters in roughly 20 states triggered widespread power outages. According to PowerOutage.com, nearly 800,000 customers remained without electricity on Monday morning, most of them in the southern United States.

In Tennessee, where ice brought down power lines, approximately 250,000 customers were still without power. Outages also affected more than 150,000 customers in Mississippi and over 100,000 in Louisiana, as utility crews struggled to restore service amid dangerous conditions.

International

Spain approves plan to regularize up to 500,000 migrants in Historic Shift

In November 2024, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a reform of the country’s immigration regulations aimed at regularizing 300,000 migrants per year over a three-year period, in an effort to counter population aging in a country where births have fallen by 25.6% since 2014, according to official data.

Going against the trend in much of Europe, Spain’s left-wing government has now approved an exceptional migrant regularization plan that could benefit up to 500,000 people, most of them from Latin America.

The measure will allow the regularization of around “half a million people” who have been living in Spain for at least five months, arrived before December 31, 2025, and have no criminal record, Migration Minister Elma Saiz explained on public television.

The plan, approved on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, establishes that applications will be processed between April and June 30, enabling beneficiaries to work in any sector and anywhere in the country, Saiz said.

“Today is a historic day for our country. We are strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, and one that is compatible with economic growth and social cohesion,” the minister later stated at a press conference.

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The socialist government of Pedro Sánchez stands out within the European Union for its migration policy, contrasting with the tightening of immigration measures across much of the bloc amid pressure from far-right movements.

Central America

Honduras swears in conservative president Asfura after disputed election

Conservative politician Nasry Asfura assumed the presidency of Honduras on Tuesday with an agenda closely aligned with the United States, a shift that could strain the country’s relationship with China as he seeks to confront the economic and security challenges facing the poorest and most violent nation in Central America.

Asfura’s rise to power, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, marks the end of four years of left-wing rule and secures Trump another regional ally amid the advance of conservative governments in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina.

The 67-year-old former mayor and construction businessman was sworn in during an austere ceremony at the National Congress, following a tightly contested election marred by opposition allegations of fraud and Trump’s threat to cut U.S. aid if his preferred candidate did not prevail.

Grateful for Washington’s support, Asfura—who is of Palestinian descent—traveled to the United States to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, before visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We need to strengthen relations with our most important trading partner,” Asfura said after being declared the winner of the November 30 election by a narrow margin, following a tense vote count that lasted just over three weeks.