Third Column

The building of Lugacom, a major telecommunications operator in Russian-occupied Luhansk, was struck during a nighttime attack. The company provides mobile phone and internet services across the occupied region, while its infrastructure is reportedly also used by Russian forces for military communications and data transmission.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: Spain has demonstrated, with facts, that it is possible to grow, create jobs, and at the same time reduce the public deficit and public debt without cutting or sacrificing public policies.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: There are countries that do not want to leave Europe, but rather want to join it. This means that our European project, the European Union, is not in decline. Quite the opposite. It is a moral beacon for humanity, a lifeline for human rights, democracy, social and territorial cohesion, and progress.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: whenever Europe stands united, Europe wins—as we have shown in recent years, for example, with the joint energy and gas purchases during the most difficult moments of the war in Ukraine.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: This illegal war in the Middle East and the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, they illustrate, I believe, the price for Europe. Focusing on our continent—but also, of course, on the world as a whole, particularly in the Global South, where resources are not what we have in Europe. So far this year, to give an idea, this war has cost Europeans an additional €100 million due to the rise in fuel prices.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro sanchez: In short, for this far right, conflict or confrontation is not merely a means to achieve power—it is an end in itself. Their strategy transcends borders. This far-right international, as I call it, weaves alliances to weaken Europe from within.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: there is one thing I share with them, and that is the clear understanding that there are lines which simply cannot be crossed. Among other reasons, because crossing them would mean doing so hand in hand with forces controlled by foreign leaders and oligarchs—the very people who fund and dictate the direction of this far-right movement that is spreading across the world. And on this there should be no doubt: Spain is governed from Spain. Not from Washington. Not from Tel Aviv. And certainly not from Moscow or Buenos Aires. That is the path Europe needs.

NATO and Ukraine have signed a new defence innovation agreement, giving Ukrainian companies and start-ups access to DIANA challenges, grants and more than 200 testing centres across allied countries. The partnership also opens investment opportunities through the DIANA Capital Network and access to its Rapid Adoption Service, helping Ukrainian innovators develop and bring new defence technologies into use.

French prosecutors have opened an attempted murder investigation after incendiary devices were thrown at police and gendarmes during protests in Paris. Explosive devices were reportedly thrown at around 15 officers, with one homemade firebomb engulfing a gendarme’s lower body in flames. The officer suffered burns, including second-degree burns, while no arrests had been made in connection with the attack at the time of reporting. The clashes followed nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs.

A truck loaded with explosives detonated near a military base in Planadas, southern Tolima, killing four people, including a two-month-old girl, according to local authorities. The blast damaged the Hospital Centro and several nearby homes, while wounded residents were taken to a local school for treatment. The perpetrators have not been identified. The attack comes amid President Abelardo de la Espriella’s tougher security strategy, which has included ending peace talks with armed groups and expanding military operations.