Month: December 2025

make Apple’s memory configurations look cheap

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For years, criticizing Apple’s pricing policy has been a more than justified constant: we have seen how the company charged $100 per a leap in capacity that it cost them ten, or asked astronomical figures such as 690 euros for a 2 TB SSD which in the market cost 100. However, the current memory crisis has turned the tables: the shortage is so serious and the inflation so aggressive that Apple’s rates are beginning to seem even “economical” compared to the competition. Context. As we have been telling in Xataka, the memory industry is facing a critical scenario. The AI ​​fever has caused chipmakers such as Samsung and SK Hynix to prioritize the production of HBM memory for servers and AI GPUs, leaving aside the consumer market. The result is a supply deficit that has skyrocketed prices by up to 300% for some components, forcing manufacturers like Xiaomi to warn that our next mobile will be more expensive. Others like Micron have not brought good news either: in fact, the manufacturer closes its Crucial consumer division to focus on the lucrative data sector. Dell and Lenovo raise prices, Apple freezes. The first chip to fall has been Dell. According to industry reportsthe company plans a price increase of 15-20% this month, while Lenovo has begun to warn its customers of imminent increases for early 2026 precisely due to the DRAM shortage. But the most striking thing is not the general increase, but the cost of the expansions. Dell is currently charging a surcharge of $550 for going from 16 to 32 GB of RAM in some of its XPS laptops, a figure that easily exceeds the $400 that Apple asks for the same jump in its MacBook Air. Bounce effect and an exception. The current situation has led to paradoxes never seen before: the traditionally expensive Apple maintains its prices stable (for the moment and thanks to already high margins), while the PC world suffers from market volatility. The Framework Modular Laptop Manufacturer He took the opportunity to point out the play: denounces that Dell’s prices are “abusive” and highlights that they charge 85% less for the same memory upgrade. However, even they warn that their cheap inventory will run out sooner rather than later. A future of pressured margins. Although Lenovo is well positioned to weather the storm thanks to its scale, financial analysts They warn that the rise in memory prices threatens their margins and end-user demand for the next 12-18 months. With Samsung and SK Hynix refusing to increase production To avoid a new bubble, it seems that the industry has entered a phase where paying premiums for RAM will be the new normal. This makes Apple’s historical “dunks” seem, ironically, like a refuge for its stability. Cover image | Composition with images of Applesfera and Andrey Matveev for Unsplash In Xataka | We have been assembling computers in the same way for many years. The RAM memories of the future promise to change that and more speed

Chinese fighters have targeted Japanese fighters over Okinawa. Japan’s response has been forceful: an archipelago of missiles

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The tension between China and Japan has entered a cycle of accelerated deterioration that is no longer limited to diplomatic exchanges or formal protests. In recent weeks, the western Pacific has been the scene of maneuvers increasingly aggressive in which the lines between deterrence, warning and provocation become dangerously blurred. In the last few hours the most serious episode to date has taken place. A strategic rivalry. It all started on the weekend, with the lighting with fire control radar of Japanese fighters by J-15 aircraft from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning near Okinawa, a situation that has set off all the alarms in Tokyo. The gesture (an act iunequivocally hostile in military parlance) comes at a time when Japan has committed to reinforce its presence in the area around Taiwan and the Ryukyu island chain, a decision that Beijing perceives as a frontal challenge to its regional ambitions. The spiral is worsened by the statements of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, pointing out that an attack on the strait could activate collective defense Japanese, a phrase that China has elevated to the rank of strategic provocation. Radar, aircraft carriers and a risk. Aerial interaction near Okinawa fu much more an isolated incident: it marked the first time that Japan officially disclosed a radar lock Chinese about their fighters. The Japanese Ministry of Defense registered about a hundred of takeoff and landing operations of Liaoning aircraft, in parallel to two episodes in which the J-15 fixed their firing sensors on Japanese F-15s, forcing the latter country to immediately deploy its own combat air patrols. China responded accusing Japan of interfering in their exercises, alleging that it had previously delimited the maneuver area. Chinese aircraft carriers and destroyers moved through the Miyako Strait, one of the sea corridors connecting the Pacific to the East China Sea, while official Chinese media they ridiculed Japanese defensive capabilities and warned that any move toward a more active military role “would lead to its own destruction.” The language, accompanied by real maneuvers which combine naval presence, air patrols and psychological pressure, defines an environment where any tactical error could lead to a crisis. Liaoning Ryukyu as an advanced shield. Faced with this escalation, Bloomberg told that Japan has undertaken the largest military reconfiguration since the Cold War, articulated around a concept that analysts have called the “missile archipelago”. Yonaguni, the country’s westernmost island, has become a surveillance and electronic warfare outpost just a stone’s throw away. 110 kilometers from Taiwan. From 2022, after the salvo of Chinese missiles that fell near its coasts, Tokyo has multiplied the installation of anti-aircraft batteries, long-range radars and response units amphibian distributed throughout the Ryukyu chain. The military presence in Kyushu is also increasing, with deployments of F-35s and long-range missiles. At the same time, the government has started to prepare to the local population with briefings that reveal both the magnitude of the challenge and the growing concern among citizens who vividly remember the trauma of the battle of okinawa. The militarization of the region, although supported by a majority of young Japanese, continues awakening misgivings between sectors that fear that a conflict in the strait will turn their islands into the first line of fire. Japanese military in Okinawa Fight for historical legitimacy. we have been counting. The operational tension is added to an equally volatile front: the historical dispute. Chinese state media has reactivated narratives that question Japanese sovereignty over the Ryukyu, reinterpreting the postwar period and selectively citing statements of 1945 to present Japan as a nation whose sovereignty “is to be determined.” Beijing takes advantage of these references to reinforce its claim about the Senkaku and to argue that his view on Taiwan has a historical legitimacy that Japan cannot contradict. Tokyo responds by appealing to Treaty of San Francisco and to the existing international legal framework, but its effort to maintain stability collides with Chinese pressure, which combines repressive diplomacy with psychological operations aimed at local communities. In other words, the historical dispute is not rhetorical: it feeds the perception in Japan that the conflict with China is not temporary, but deeply structural. Taiwan in the shadows. The link between Japanese security and the fate of Taiwan is today explicit. The doctrine collective defense revised in 2015 allows the country to intervene if Japan’s survival could be compromised, and security analysts they point out that a hypothetical American operation to defend the island would require the use of Japanese bases. Tokyo’s refusal to cooperate with Washington, in such a scenario, would put the alliance itself at risk, making Japanese participation almost inevitable. China is fully aware of this and concentrates its efforts on fracturing the perception of inevitability, putting political, military and psychological pressure to erode the Japanese margin of decision. On that board, the new electronic warfare units in Yonaguni and the missile batteries distributed throughout the archipelago, they could become, if necessary, key nodes in an integrated attack chain between Japan and the United States, which would make them priority targets for a Chinese offensive in the initial phase. Uncertainty. The result of these dynamics is a western Pacific that advances towards an area permanent frictionwhere each movement is interpreted as a dress rehearsal and every political statement is magnified as a strategic notice. The air raidsnaval exercises, the militarization of the islands and the historical dispute between great powers converge in a reduced geopolitical spacedensely populated and highly symbolic. For Japan, the crossroads It is complex: reinforce its defense without reigniting domestic fears about militarism, coordinate with the United States without becoming an automatic target, and respond to China without setting the region on fire. For Beijing, the key is in maintaining the pressureexpand its margin of future action in the Taiwan Strait and fragment the strategic unity of its adversaries. Image | US Indo-Pacific Command, GoodFon, rhk111, RawPixel In Xataka | China has just shown Japan a diplomatic dart that it had been keeping for decades: World War II … Read more

BYD CEO is clear about why the company is losing steam in China

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Wang Chuanfu, president and CEO of BYD, has publicly acknowledged for the first time the reason behind the company’s sales decline in the Chinese market. During an extraordinary shareholders meeting held on December 5 in Shenzhen, the CEO bluntly admitted that the manufacturer has lost the technological advantage that differentiated it from the competition. According to local media, Wang said that they had lost that ‘wow factor’ in the domestic market, in reference to the impact that their innovations previously generated. The underlying problem. The local media China Securities Journal collected the statements of the head of BYD, who stated that the drop responds to two main factors. On the one hand, he admits that BYD’s technological advantage is no longer as pronounced as in previous years, which has reduced the surprise effect of its products in the market. On the other hand, the CEO acknowledged that unresolved practical problems persist, such as the slow charging speed of its vehicles in low temperature environments, a critical aspect for users in certain regions of China. The numbers confirm the trend. In November 2025, BYD sold 480,186 new energy vehiclesthe highest monthly figure of the year, but which represented a decrease of 5.25% compared to the same month in 2024. It is the third consecutive month of year-on-year decline. Domestic sales were particularly weak, at 348,300 units, a drop of 26.81% year-on-year. In contrast, exports exceeded 100,000 units per month for the first time, reaching 131,700an increase of 297% that has become the company’s main growth engine. We have already seen how they have broken into Europe. For BYD and the rest of the Chinese manufacturers, it is important to continue consolidating their foreign business for two main reasons: to continue feeding their factories and to increase their profit margins in the face of a China that seems to live in a constant price war. The competition tightens. Chinese manufacturers such as Geely, Changan and Chery They have intensified their offensive with efficient hybrid and more affordable electric models, eroding their market share. Furthermore, the homogenization of products in the industry has made it difficult for BYD to stand out like before. In September 2025, SAIC Motor even temporarily surpassed BYD in monthly sales, according to they counted from CarNewsChina. BYD’s response. Wang Chuanfu hinted that the company is preparing “heavy technologies” that will be announced soon, although it did not offer details. The CEO stressed that BYD’s strength lies in its team of approximately 120,000 engineers, who will be key to regaining technological leadership. The company plans to intensify its investment in electrification and smart technologies over the next two to three years. Self-criticism included. Wang also made an exercise in self-criticism by admitting that favorable market conditions in previous years generated a certain complacency in the areas of marketing and merchandising, as they point out from CnEVPost. And now what. BYD revised its global sales target for 2025 downward, from 5.5 million vehicles to approximately 4.6 million. Between January and November, the company accumulated 4,182 million units soldwhich represents 90.9% of the adjusted objective and a growth of 11.3% year-on-year. Figures that contrast with the spectacular expansion rates of previous years: 218% in 2021, 209% in 2022, 62% in 2023 and 41% in 2024. Stella Li, its vice president, already warned us during the Xataka Awards gala We will soon have very interesting news from the manufacturer. So we can only wait to see what the firm’s strategy will be to alleviate the effect of competition. In Xataka | The world’s rare earth reserves, laid out in this graph showing the brutal dominance of a single country

14,000 million euros had disappeared

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Raise your hand if you haven’t lost money before. It’s happened to all of us and then the first day of cold in the pocket of some coat. The problem is that this money is the fortune of one of the main heirs of the hermès empire. Nothing less than 14,000 million euros. Nicolas Puech, heir to the founding family of Hermès, has just presented a demand civil against LVMH and Bernard Arnault, claiming the fraudulent sale of 6 million bearer shares of Hermès. However, this is not a simple business demand. Behind there is decades of betrayed trust and a story that mixes friendship, wealth management and one of the most intense stock market battles in French luxury. A trustworthy advisor. For years, Nicolas Puech, fifth generation heir of Thierry Hermés, founder of the select luxury fashion brand that has manufactured cult pieces only available of a lucky fewentrusted the administration of his assets to Eric Freymond, a Swiss manager who managed his Hermès shares and investments with broad powers. According what was published by The Wall Street Journalthe relationship between the two was close and based on total trust, which is why Puech signed mandates and documents without really supervising each operation. According to the heir, this blind trust allowed Freymond to make financial movements behind his back, without his knowledge. The rich heir lived without worrying about the management of his fortune. Operations hidden from the heir. As and how did he count The Wall Street Journaleven the gardener’s wife of one of his properties in Spain, the one he wanted to adoptwarned him of the excess of trust he was placing in his wealth manager and his dubious loyalty. The critical point arose from the Hermès shares that Puech owned. It is suspected that Freymond, taking advantage of the trust placed in him, sold part of those shares during LVMH’s offensive to take over the share control of Hermès in 2010. Although LVMH finally agreed to withdraw and sold his participation in 2014, Puech maintains that some of those shares came from his assets and were transferred without his consent. The shares were bearer shares, which makes their traceability in transactions difficult. Complaint against the deceased manager. Upon discovering what he considered a scam on the part of his wealth manager, Puech filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland against Freymond for breach of trust and embezzlement, alleging that his manager had defrauded him and that his actions they had disappeared mysteriously. The situation became complicated when Freymond passed away in July 2025 in an accident in Switzerland, leaving many questions unanswered and adding complexity to the judicial process. The only person who knew the real whereabouts of Puech’s fortune has taken his secret to the grave. Direct lawsuit against LVMH. Now, with Freymond deceased, and after some failed financial operations Due to not being able to provide ownership of its shares, Puech has decided attack LVMH directly and its president Bernard Arnault, demanding 14,000 million euros. According to collected Reutersthe lawsuit alleges that the disappearance of its shares allowed LVMH to take control of 23% of Hermès and indirectly benefit from Freymond’s irregular management. Something that the company founded by Arnault has denied categorically. “LVMH and its shareholder firmly reaffirm that they have never, at any time, misappropriated Hermès International shares, in any way or without anyone’s knowledge, and that they do not own ‘hidden’ shares,” the group stated in a press release. According what was published by Swissinfoafter the share purchase operation and subsequent sale agreed between LVMH and Hermés, Arnault would have obtained a capital gain of 3.8 billion euros for those shares. The first civil hearing was held on November 20, 2025 at the Paris Judicial Court, and the case remains open while the responsibility of all those involved is investigated. In Xataka | There are more and more millionaires determined to spend their entire fortune before they die. They don’t want their children to inherit it. Image | Flickr (Trump White House Archived), Hermès (Kevin Scott)

five refurbished consoles from 92 euros

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Now that Christmas is approaching, it is a good time to go shopping for gifts. And if you have to give something to a retro lover, Back Market has some refurbished consoles at a very good price. All of them have the seal of “Very good“, which means that they work perfectly and the parts have been checked, but they show some signs of use. It is also worth mentioning that Back Market offers a two-year warranty and allows returns until January 31. In addition, they can be financed in 3, 4 or 6 months. Nintendo DS Lite by 176.02 eurosNintendo’s iconic dual-screen console. Game Boy Color by 207.04 eurosa portable console that has a huge catalog of video games. Nintendo 3DS XL by 284.05 eurosa portable console for those looking for a large format. Wii by 92.60 eurosan ideal desktop console to play with family or friends. PS Vita by 261.33 eurosthe latest portable console launched by PlayStation. Nintendo DS Lite The nintendo ds It is one of the Nintendo consoles with the best video game catalog. In fact, titles like ‘Chrono Trigger DS‘, ‘Pokémon White 2 and Black 2‘ either ‘New Super Mario Bros.‘. The peculiarity of its double screen was exploited in many of them and its portable format allowed us to take it anywhere. By 176.02 eurosBack Market has the Lite model in white. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Game Boy Color On the other hand, if what we are looking for is a console prior to the Nintendo DS, Back Market has the Game Boy Color for a price of 207.04 euros. This console also had a huge assortment of video games that took advantage of the color screen that the original model did not have, such as ‘Pokémon Crystal‘ or ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. In this case, the store has the console in purple. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Nintendo 3DS XL A few later generations came the Nintendo 3DS betting on its screen that was capable of playing video games in a “3D mode.” Titles like ‘Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate‘ either ‘Pokémon X/Y‘. Back Market has the console in its XL version for 284.05 euros in silver and black. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Wii If what we are looking for is fun at home with family or friends, rather than a portable console, we may be more interested in a desktop console. Back Market has reconditioned the Nintendo Wiia console with a large assortment of family video games and that offers us a quite striking premise: moving while we play. Its price in this case is 92.60 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links PS Vita Although the PS Vita It did not receive as many video games as the portable consoles that we have mentioned in this list, many of them gave a twist to such emblematic sagas as Uncharted or God of War. Back Market has this same console refurbished for a price of 261.33 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Lyashenko in freepikNintendo, PlayStation In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: these are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too.

This new biodegradable material is much more than a simple substitute for plastic

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He used oil that we generate in the kitchen it seems that has no more life than end up discarded, but the reality is very different. The Holy Grail, right now of modern materials science, is to get rid of the oil dependencebut also solve the problem of the waste we already generate. And this is something that has become evident with fryer oil, which now has a new function: being an adhesive. A progress. A team from the University of South Carolina has killed two birds with one stone with a surprising solution: transform the fryer oil into a material that imitates polyethylenebut it is biodegradable and adhesive. But this adhesive is so strong that it has even managed to tow a car using only two steel plates joined with this material. The oil problem. The plastic we use in our daily lives is polyethylene, which is cheap, flexible and resistant. But it has a serious problem: it is of fossil origin and with how difficult its degradation is makes it contribute to global pollution. On the other hand, we have used cooking oil. It is estimated that we generate about 3.8 billion liters per year worldwideand although it is used to produce biodiesel or lubricant, converting it into high-performance thermoplastics was a barely explored field due to the complexity of its chemical composition. Breaking down the fat. What the team led by Chuanbing Tang and Olga Kuksenok has achieved It is not simply “recycling” the oilbut to deconstruct it and reassemble it at the molecular level. And this is something fundamental, since you can take advantage of both the fatty acids and the glycerol that are part of this fat. By polymerizing these components, they created aliphatic polyesters that almost perfectly imitate the mechanical properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), the plastic we commonly use in bags and packaging. A new material. The surprise came when the result of this experiment did not generate a traditional polyethylene that is inert, but rather this new material derived from oil has chemical groups that can act as molecular ‘hooks’. That is, it can stick like glue. The research wanted to demonstrate its adhesive capacity on different surfaces such as stainless steel, copper, wood or cardboard. And the results were surprising, since in cut resistance tests it surpassed other renowned commercial adhesives, and could even be used as a silicone gun to seal boxes. Moving a car. Without a doubt this is the litmus test that wanted to demonstrate that used oil has great strength behind it. To do this, they joined two steel plates with this polymer and used them to pull a four-door sedan uphill. The union in this case held without any problem. The importance. This is a big step towards the circular economy. We are not just talking about making a “less bad” plastic, but about creating new materials with high added value, such as their ability to glue the waste we have in the kitchen. And in many things it can be difficult to recycle. Imagine a future where the oil from today’s French fries becomes the bumper on your car or the sticker on your next Amazon package, only to be processed again without ending up in a landfill. This is precisely what science is trying to achieve to increase recycling strategies and dependence on fossil resources. Images | Zoshua Colah Scott Sanker In Xataka | We have been thinking for decades that plastic recycling was worth something. Maybe we were wrong

it shoots up 500% and makes the creator of DeepSeek gold

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Beijing’s quest for technological self-sufficiency has a new king: Moore Threads, the chip designer, has staged a historic stock market debut in Shanghai. Its shares soared more than 500% on its first day of trading. The euphoria has validated the strategy of a giant which, despite being on the US blacklist, has become one of the great hopes for breaking the semiconductor blockade. And in this maneuver, the great beneficiary has been the founder of DeepSeek. A debut and million-dollar profits. The IPO has not followed the usual channels. The China Securities Regulatory Commission gave the green light to the operation in just four months, a record time compared to the usual 470 days on average, something that underlines the state’s urgency to capitalize on the sector. According to SCMPLiang Wenfeng – through his fund – acquired more than 82,000 shares before the premiere. The result: a profit of almost $5.6 million in 48 hours. Nikkei Asia confirms that the company has reached a capitalization of 305 billion yuan (about $42 billion), becoming the fourth most valuable company on the STAR market. And it is not yet profitable: it hopes to be profitable in 2027. The pedigree of the alternative. The market is not buying just anything, it is buying the Chinese alternative to NVIDIA. Moore Threads is not just another startup; was founded in 2020 by Zhang Jianzhong, who was general manager of NVIDIA in China. In fact, this insider knowledge is what led the US to consider it a direct threat and include it on its blacklist in 2023. Its GPUs, such as the MTT S4000, are the spearhead of an industry that seeks to replace the H100 and H200—the latter yes it will arrive in China directly— Americans in state data centers, where the government already requires a 50% share of local chips for these crucial teams. It’s not just chips, it’s software. What makes Moore Threads dangerous to Jensen Huang’s business is not just the silicon, but its attack on an important technology for NVIDIA: CUDA. The Chinese startup has developed MUSA, a platform that allows you to recycle code written for NVIDIA and run it on your own GPUs. It is something that eliminates the main barrier to entry for Chinese companies that wanted to migrate but were trapped in the American software ecosystem. And it is also the missing piece in the puzzle of the historic alliance of Chinese companies forged to overthrow NVIDIA. The circle closes. The DeepSeek creator’s investment in Moore Threads is not reduced to financial terms. DeepSeek, which already hinted in August that I would no longer need NVIDIA chipsis collaborating closely with the chipmaker to optimize its AI models on domestic hardware. With an alternative to NVIDIA that triples its value and an AI capable of competing with Gemini and ChatGPT, China is building a closed ecosystem where hardware and software feed each other. It is a symbiosis that, in addition to uniting, shields. To the Chinese industry against any future sanctions from Washington. Cover image | Composition with images of Moore Threads and Matheus Bertelli for Pexels In Xataka | Cambricon Technologies: this company is China’s punch on the table to beat the US in AI

Spain is filling up with buildings with pets. The Horizontal Property Law clarifies what to do when they cause nuisance

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It comes with going outside to check it out. Spain is increasingly a country of dogs and cats than of babies. Literally. about a year ago The World did the math and it turned out that there are 1.8 million children under four years old for 10.5 million pets, which leaves a ratio of almost six animals per infant. This is perceived in the economy, society, cities… and of course the neighborhood communities, where it is not strange that a question arises: ¿What the law says about pets living in apartment blocks? In case of discomfort, noise, dirt… What does the regulations provide? Are there so many pets? Yes. Although it is not easy to compile accurate statistics on pets, there are two sources that help us get a precise idea of ​​the extent to which we have opened our homes to dogs, cats, reptiles, rodents, fish, birds and other fauna. The first is the REIACwhose census is based on microchipped pets. At least in 2023 it added 9.2 million dogs and 1.2 million cats. If we base ourselves on Anfaac, the association of feed manufacturers, your latest data They speak of 6.9 million dogs, 4.9 million cats, five million fish, 3.2 birds, 740,000 reptiles and 548,000 small mammals, which raises the general count of pets above the 20 million of animals. The big question, especially when we talk about pets of a certain size, that run around and must go outside several times a day, as is the case with dogs, is… What happens when they cause disturbances inside a building? When it comes to communities of owners, the reference standard is the Horizontal Property Law (LPH), a law that does not address the issue directly, but does establish a valuable framework, especially in its articles 7.2 and 9.1, which recall the coexistence guidelines that neighbors must respect. Article 7.2 of the LPH: “The owner and occupant of the apartment or premises are not allowed to carry out activities in it or in the rest of the property that are prohibited in the statuses, that are harmful to the property or that contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illicit activities”. Article 9 of the LPH: “The obligations of each owner are: to respect the general facilities of the community and other common elements, whether they are for general or private use of any of the owners, whether or not they are included in their apartment or premises, making appropriate use of them and preventing damage or damage from being caused”. The regulations themselves also remind us that, in the event that a neighbor is carrying out annoying activities (which in this case can be transferred to your pet), the community president should ask you to correct them. If that does not happen and the problem persists, the case may end up being taken to court. Although the LPH is a key tool, other standards come into play in this case. The reason is simple. When we talk about pets and neighborhood communities, two different planes overlap. On the one hand, there is the right that everyone has to enjoy their home freely. On the other hand, there is the necessary coexistence between apartments and the shared enjoyment of community areas. The first thing, the enjoyment of the home, is regulated the Constitutionwhich among other issues protects its “inviolability” and private property. Regarding the second, coexistence within the building, it is normal that it is regulated by the statuses of the community. And although this document cannot prohibit owners to have pets at home (a different thing is the tenants and what appears in their rental contracts), the internal rules of a block can establish certain limits when using collective spaces, such as elevators, gardens or swimming pools. Therefore, it is advisable to consult what the statutes say about pets. For example, they may prohibit dogs from being walked off-leash in the building. What there is no doubt about is that if the animal causes any damage, the owner is responsible. It is clearly established by the Civil Code in his article 1905in which he remembers who should assume the responsibility (and costs) if a dog, cat or other animal causes damage outside your home. Article 1905 of the Civil Code: “The owner of an animal, or the one who uses it, is responsible for the damage it causes, even if it escapes or is lost. This responsibility will only cease in the event that the damage came from force majeure or the fault of the person who suffered it.”. The Animal Welfare Law also sets guidelines related to the care of pets at home, which in turn influences the conditions in which they must live, both in houses and in apartments within buildings. For a start (article 27.i) No pet can be left unsupervised for more than three days in a row, a period that is reduced to 24 consecutive hours if we are talking about dogs. The rule also prohibits dogs and cats from living permanently on terraces or balconies, which is considered a “serious infringement”. Image | Eri Gonzales (Unsplash) In Xataka | The Horizontal Property Law is quite clear about one of the most conflictive phenomena of winter: Christmas

Drones have reached France’s nuclear submarines

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What began more or less a year ago in a hesitant way has become a certainty: Europe has entered a new phase hybrid confrontationone where traditional lines of defense become insufficient in the face of a range of tactics that combine cheap technology, covert actors and deliberate strategy to saturate to the states with ambiguous threats. The last barrier that has been jumped is, perhaps, the most dangerous. Disturbing mutation. The recent drone flyover on the nuclear submarine base of Île Longue, in France, and the immediate declaration a few hours ago of the state of emergency in Lithuania due to balloons from Belarus, these are not isolated incidents but manifestations of a growing pattern which seeks to explore vulnerabilities, overwhelm alert systems and expose the fragility of European security. Both episodes show the extent to which hybrid warfare has ceased to be an abstraction and has become an operational reality that affects civil aviation, nuclear infrastructure and political stability on the eastern border of the European Union. Drones on nuclear deterrence. That five drones of unknown origin managed to lurk over the weekend on Île Longue, the most sensitive installation of the French deterrence apparatus, marked a turning point. This base houses the four nuclear ballistic submarines of the French Navy, the core of the capability “second blow” of the country. The military response It was immediate: deployment of units, electronic counterattacks using jammers and activation of the alert protocol for strategic installations. It turns out that no drone was neutralized nor identified to its operators, which increases the feeling, once again, of a threat that operates deliberately in the dark. France had already registered similar raidsbut the temporal coincidence with others in Europe and the systematic use of drones near bases with nuclear weapons reinforce the suspicion that these maneuvers seek to test response times, map defensive patterns and, above all, generate a climate of concern both among military officials and the population. Extra ball. Although the French prosecutor’s office insists that there is no evidence of foreign interference, strategic context points to more than just random flights: from Ireland to Denmark, passing through the Netherlands and Germany, anonymous raids on airports, air bases and reinforced security zones have proliferated, many of them documented by military authorities that do not rule out the hand of Moscow. A vulnerability and pressure of airspace. He episode in Irelandwhere several military-style drones appeared in the air corridor planned for the landing of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, raised even more alarm. The reason: Ireland lacks radars operational, it does not have solid protocols to classify aerial threats and has minimal capabilities to counter drones, a strategic void that was exposed in the face of a possible operation designed to highlight national weaknesses. On a continent where drones have already forced to close airports Repeatedly, the Irish incident fits into a sequence of actions that seek to demonstrate that any country, even one that is not militarily involved in the war, can be vulnerable. Irish experts they warn that, regardless of the authorship, the confusion generated and the inability to react clearly represent a victory for any actor seeking to erode European cohesion. An official inspects a balloon used to transport cigarettes, in an undated photo released by the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service Balloons from Belarus. In parallel, a few hours ago Lithuania was forced to declare the state of emergency due to the constant arrival of weather balloons from Belarus. At first glance, these devices seem harmless, mere carriers of contraband. But in logic of hybrid warfarewhat is important is not so much the sophistication of the medium but its ability to force a disproportionate state response. The balloons have invaded Lithuanian airspace, forcing to close repeatedly Vilnius airport and have introduced concrete risks for civil aviation, forcing authorities to mobilize civil, police and military resources. A war of attrition. For Lithuania, a country bordering both Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, these incidents are not perceived as minor events, but as part of an attrition strategy intended to saturate their surveillance capacity and underline their exposure. After months of drone incursions, cyberattacks and electronic warfare, Vilnius interprets balloons as another step in a calculated escalation that uses cheap means to obtain strategic effects. Signs and a more aggressive phase. If you also want, what connects drones on French nuclear submarines, unidentified devices over Ireland and smuggling balloons that force an entire country to activate a state of emergency is its strategic role: demonstrate that Europe can be destabilized with simple tools, difficult to attribute and capable of generating considerable psychological, economic and political costs. So far, each incident individually can be minimized, but together they paint a picture. simultaneous pressure map on European airspace, on critical infrastructure and on the institutional cohesion of the EU. France already speaks openly about a “hybrid confrontation”Denmark attributes some incidents to “hybrid threats” of probable Russian origin and the Baltic countries consider each action a destabilization test. The result is a Europe that recognize the dangerbut that is still far from a unified response capable of tackling a threat that thrives precisely on ambiguity, the proliferation of small incidents and the difficulty of proving direct responsibility. An unprecedented threshold. What does seem crystal clear is that these episodes as a whole reveal that Europe is crossing a threshold where conventional security is no longer enough. Russian hybrid warfare (or, at least, the widespread perception of its advance) is now manifesting itself in ways that disrupt civil lifecompromise nuclear assets and overwhelm state apparatuses where they are most vulnerable. The presence of drones on a base that houses the french nuclear deterrent and the need for Lithuania to activate extraordinary powers to stop improvised balloons are signs of the same trend: the adversary does not need spectacular victories to cause damage because it is enough to multiply ambiguous threats until stability is eroded. Perhaps that is why the big question has been on … Read more

Ford will have two electric cars based on the Renault 5. It is confirmation of a Ford that is diluted in Europe

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Ford will have at least six electric cars on the market. Four of them will not be “purely Ford” cars. And the American company has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with Renault to provide the brand with two “affordable” electric cars. The agreement also contemplates a future partnership for commercial vehicles. But above all, a concept floats in the air: what Ford do we expect for Europe? Two electric made in Renault. With a press release, Ford and Renault have confirmed that the first will use the Ampere platform to launch two “affordable” electric cars on the market in the coming years. The first, they point out from Ford, should reach dealerships in the early stages of 2028. That is to say, what seems certain is that we will see a kind of Renault 5 with the Ford logo. The question is whether we will see a second electric car based on the Renault 4 (to expand spectrum with something B-SUV type) or based on the Twingo to look for another type of client. For now, everything indicates pointing to new Renault 5 and 4 Ford. In France. These Ford cars with a French flavor will even be manufactured in Electricitythe plant that Renault has in France and where the aforementioned come from Five and Fourhence it is the couple that we will probably see on the street. The arrival of these new models is also a boost to the factory itself. It is where Renault’s small electric models are assembled, but also the Nissan Micra (brother of the Renault 5). They have the capacity to continue expanding production and had options from Alpine, Dacia or Mitusbishi, which are also part of the Renault Group or are collaborators. The arrival of the new Ford is an endorsement for a plant that has the capacity to assemble up to 620,000 vehicles annually. Ford, what Ford? In the statement, Ford wanted to mark territory and defend that the new cars that leave the French plant will have the hallmarks of the oval brand. “The two cars will feature distinctive driving dynamics, authentic Ford brand DNA and an intuitive user experience,” the company says. The truth is that in the medium term, Ford will have six electric cars on the market and four of them are mounted on external platforms. Thus, only the Puma Gen-E and the Mustang Mach-E They are purely Ford cars. The ford explorer and Capri have been launched on the basis of Volkswagen’s MEB, with the ID.4 as a brother of the Americans. Now two more electric cars will arrive from outside the company. The two speeds. The announcement does nothing more than reaffirm the strategy that Ford seems to have decided for Europe. The company has long been talking about a company at two speeds where the vehicles with the highest cost for the customer (and benefits for the company) are manufactured by Ford with its hallmarks and sold in exclusive families within the company itself such as Ford, Raptor or Bronco. The rest of the models, such as electric ones, for which you must make big investments and whose financial results are not being too good due to slower customer reception than expected, is what is being left in the hands of third parties. That is to say, Ford is trying to focus its efforts and make its highest-cost investments in those models that it knows work best for them. This has a counterpart. The brand risks being diluted between models that have their personal touch, like the Explorer, but where there is no doubt that they have a very characteristic Volkswagen car flavor. This strategy of “third party” models for Europe endangers the company’s brand image and could place it in a less dominant position if in the future they want to return to making their own investments for the European market. And Valencia? The announcement adds to the future Ford Bronco Sport for Europe, a model that will be assembled in Valencia, according to Automotive Newsand that comes to keep the plant alive with a “Europeanization” of the American model based on the Ford Kuga. A few weeks ago, The Automotive Tribune It also pointed out this possibility and that another second model would arrive at the Valencian plant. This strategy would help keep the factory alive by assembling models with combustion engines while electric ones (which require greater investment and lower return at low prices) are being left in the hands of third parties. Photo | Renault and Ford In Xataka | Until now, on Amazon you could buy practically everything except cars. That just changed with Ford

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