Month: February 2026

It has taken years of development to give them a V6 engine

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“The Quadrifoglio is the most authentic expression of sportiness at Alfa Romeo and our cars are designed by true driving enthusiasts, we always put the focus on the driver” The words are from Santo Ficili, CEO of Alfa Romeo, who confirmed With them the Italian company once again put on sale the most special versions of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. And the company has resurrected the Quadrifoglio version, the one with a four-leaf clover on the side, four exhaust pipes at the rear and a brute V6 under the hood. The movement is the consequence of another mistake at the time. Stellantis has decided to put the sportiest and most special versions of its brand’s flagships back on the streets. The problem is that this movement is only the visible part of the iceberg. The one that is submerged is a real problem. A problem. The trees that don’t let you see the forest Yes, Alfa Romeo will bring the Quadrifoglio versions of its Giulia and Tonale to its European configurators. The sedan and the SUV will once again have specific sports versions, with all the aesthetic features but, above all, with an engine 2.9 liter V6 520 HP and 600 Nm. We are the first to celebrate it. But although the company has emphasized that the focus is once again placed on the most passionate about the brand and those seeking pure driving sensations, the truth is that the movement is simply a concatenation of errors. Just a year ago, Alfa Romeo confirmed that stopped selling the more performance versions and the 280 HP gasoline engine of its Giulia and Stelvio. A stage was closing. A few months before, Carlos Tavares had resigned (or had been resigned) from Stellantis. Another stage was closing. The Portuguese had become a kind of Carlos Ghosn in tiny A new “cost killer” had taken the reins at Stellantisthe largest automotive group in the world by number of brands in its portfolio. Brands that, since the company was born, have had to demonstrate their profitability. And Alfa Romeo was one of those that had the most complicated role. Tavares made decisions that, over time, are considered more than controversial. The first was to keep the brand portfolio intact. Of course, forcing companies to demonstrate how far they were capable of going and confirm for themselves that they were profitable. His inflexible hand ended up sending cars to the United States for which there was no outlet despite the fact that from the other side of the pond they already told him that there was no way to sell, for example, an electric Fiat 500. Solution? Little less than giving them away. The second was to bring the entire group into line. Same platform for what was to come, with a clear focus on electrification. The immediate result was a brutal cost reduction. The consecutive was a total loss of identity. Believing that the same plan could be equally successful for Citroën, RAM, Alfa Romeo or Maserati did not bode well. And so it has happened. The company has seen how billions were thrown away of euros in development. And how its sales have suffered until assume an impact on the accounts of 22,000 million of euros. The European Union has left a loophole open to combustion, has made medium-term objectives more flexible, The United States has lifted any environmental restrictions. Along the way, many of its brands have lost their identity. Maserati has run into a problem: the rich don’t want electric sports cars. And they have had to cancel a project in which They had invested more than 3,000 million euros. In the United States They had retired their well-known HEMI V8 engine and they have also had to back down because the path to complete electrification of brands like RAM was up in the air. Now, the same has happened with Alfa Romeo. Stellantis opted to completely electrify it and he made the same mistake as with Maserati or RAM, he lost identity. Alfa Romeo has generally had worse finishes than its premium rivals but was supported better or worse by a loyal public that accepted risky and different designs, a distinctive driving feel and engines like the V6 Busso which was, among other incentives, the company’s assets. Strip Alfa Romeo of any identityfrom any minimally aspirational halo to shoehorn it onto the same platform that all Stellantis’ small or medium-sized cars mount and make a Opel Frontera with the Italian brand’s bodywork it didn’t seem like the best idea. Especially if the ultimate intention is to sell cars. The results are being calamitous for Alfa Romeo. Junior doesn’t sell much and Tonale He is almost missing in action. The Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio are cars with a decade behind them, which makes them anticompetitive in the market. Giving them back their V6 engine is a small marketing exercise to boost sales of two cars that seem to have left the collective imagination when looking for a new car. The company, at least, once again has those halo cars that can attract the public and, at least temporarily, put the brand on the market. But if they are with us it is because Stellantis has thrown away the development of the future fully electric models that were going to replace them. These Quadrifoglio versions are also born with an expiration date. In a few months they will have to comply with Euro 7 and nothing confirms that with pure combustion they can be sold without making any adjustments. In 2027, if the plans end up being fulfilled, a completely renewed Stelvio should arrive with a new generation. Considering that they should ride the same platform, the same should happen with the Giulia. Yes, we welcome that both cars can be available. But it’s just a band-aid to stem the bleeding from a much deeper wound. Photo | Alfa Romeo In Xataka | Europe has been filled with Stellantis … Read more

An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not "good time": it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology

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If we take a brief look at how February 2026 is ending (the sun, the 20 degrees, the haze, the candy-like reservoirs), it is difficult not to say to ourselves: “Finally some good weather!” Above all, if we take into account that after these days of calm, a front will enter from the northwest, inaugurating meteorological spring in style. And yet, it is inevitable to raise an eyebrow. But let’s start at the beginning…. The arrival of a front from the northwest is not only synonymous with rain, but with a progressive drop in temperature and the return of the frosts after disappearing for a few days. Of course, the southern half is not going to notice it too much. Otherwise, the haze has been there for days causing problems (and locust rains in the Canary Islands) and, in the background, a DANA starts to give signs about what will approach Andalusia on Monday or Tuesday. In Xataka After the rains, Spain faces the same problem as a year ago: a devastating fire season Where is spring? If that’s the question, the answer is that it’s already here. Not just because this weekend ‘astronomic spring’ beginsbut because the meteorological dynamics have made everything accelerate in a strange way. Neither the processions deceiveneither allergies disappear. And that means the trap is already here. Because, although the reservoirs are full, they are not filled homogeneously. While Spain is at 83%, there are many basins with many problems (the Segura is at 47.2% and that of Júcar at 63.7%). And, starting in March, both evaporative demandas consumption (agricultural irrigation, urban peaks, tourism) skyrocket. Therefore, with the history of poor management that we have in the country and this feeling of “false security” that is spreading, having the reservoirs full unfortunately means nothing. Absolutely nothing. {“videoId”:”x7zoac4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Climate change and the influence of humans”, “tag”:”Earth”, “duration”:”304″} More problems, many problems. To all this we must add that we do not know what is going to happen from now on. We will never know, it is true: but this precipitation scenario is so new and unusual that all scenarios are open. The only thing that is clear is that, if we do not start managing the forest, forest fires are going to mark the country as soon as the heat arrives. The new normal? That is the second big question because the pan-European studies agree that we are going towards an earlier start of spring compared to previous decades. But no one is very clear if this is an anomaly or a first step. What is clear is that, no matter what happens, this is especially noticeable here in the south. And that is the first big question: Are we prepared? Are we willing to do what we have to do? Image |AEMET In Xataka |In China they are deploying metal firefighters. Maybe they are more useful than robo-waiters (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not “good weather”: it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology was originally published in Xataka by Javier Jimenez .

Jesus was not born in the year 1 or on December 25. Here’s what we know about his actual and exact date of birth

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With Jesus of Nazareth something curious happens. Few characters have been more celebrated, discussed and reviewed throughout the centuries. Today historians they usually coincide in which (although there is no material evidence of its existence) was a historical figure that can be framed in the Galilee of 2,000 years ago. However, despite all the attention he has received over the last 20 centuries, there are certain key details of his biography that remain shrouded in shadows. For example the date of your birth. And by “date” we don’t just mean the day, but also the year. When discussing, we could even question where was he born. The usual thing is to think that Jesus came into the world on December 25 in Bethlehem of Judea and that six days later humanity (at least the West or the West of Christian influence) entered into a new eraone in which history was dislocated into two stages that we still use today in the 21st century, whether we are Christians or not: the one before and the one after the birth of Christ (Anno Domini). Totally normal, right? That is, why else would we celebrate Christmas every December 25th, a word that comes from the Latin “https://www.xataka.com/magnet/nativitas” (“birth”)? And why do we talk about years BC and AD if it is not for the birth of Christ? Reality is more complicated and has some chiaroscuros. What do we know about the birth of Jesus? The answer to the previous question is very simple: little. Historians usually agree that there are basically two sources to address the topic of the birth of Jesus and both are reflected in the same work: the New Testament of the Bible. The evangelist gives us a clue Matthew. The other, Luke. The problem is not only the scarcity of information, but that both texts were written many decades after the events they narrate. To be more precise, around 80 and 90 AD, half a century after the crucifixion. Of course in the New Testament there are older texts (such as the letters of Paul or even the gospel of Mark, written around 70 AD), but they are of little use if what interests us is the childhood (and especially the birth) of Jesus. Taking into account the few references there are and the importance of the topic (we are talking about the birth of the central character of one of the most influential religions in history), it would be logical that Matthew and Luke coincide in their stories. It’s not like that. In their texts both offer us what experts call “chronological anchors”references that help us date the birth of Jesus, but those clues are scarce and do not quite fit together. What exactly do they tell us? Let’s see. “And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen his star in the east, and we have come to worship him. When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and Jerusalem with him.’ Matthew 2:2-4 “And it came to pass in those days that an edict went out from Augustus Caesar, that all the land should be enumerated. This first enumeration was made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And they all went to be enumerated, each one to his city. Then Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be registered with Mary, his wife, who was betrothed to him, who was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the days were fulfilled in which she was to give birth.” Luke 2:2-7 Although it may not seem like it a priori, both passages hide a small discrepancy, as explains in Wake up Ferro Professor Javier Alonso, philologist, historian and biblical scholar. The evangelist Matthew (and Luke) tells us that Jesus was born in the time of King Herod, but then Luke specifies that Mary was counted while she and Joseph were traveling to fulfill the census ordered in the time of Augustus. If we review history we see that both “anchors” they collide with each other. Herod the Greatruler under the orders of Rome, ruled Judea more or less between 40 and 4 BCyear of his death. As for the census that Luke tells us about, historians believe that it coincided with the census carried out by Quirinus in the time of Augustus, a fact mentioned by Flavius ​​Josephus. The problem, remember Alonsois that Quirinus ruled around 6 AD the region that covers Judea, years after the death of Herod. Conclusion? Both evangelists are actually drawing a fairly broad time frame, of a decade, that could be set between the years prior to the king’s death and 6 AD “There is a difference of at least 10 years between Matthew and Luke,” explains Alonso. Why do we say that Jesus was born when he was born? At this point that is the most reasonable question. If the evangelists point to a time horizon that begins several years before our era (Anno Domini), because devils Do we say that Jesus was born a few days before the 1st AD? Who and how set that date? To answer these questions we must go back a few centuries, although without reaching the era of Herod. Our attention will focus on beginning of the 5th ADwhen at the request of the Pope the Scythian monk Dionysus ‘the Exiguous’ He launched into a difficult task: calculating the date of Christ’s birth. It may sound strange that so many centuries later the followers of Jesus would worry about this question, but at stake there was a primary issue: clarifying when Easter should be celebrated (Computus paschalis), the main celebration of Christianity. Its date … Read more

Verdeliss’s latest challenge reminds us that impossible challenges are huge business

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Before we get into the matter, let me ask you an indiscreet question: What did you do between seven in the afternoon on Wednesday and the same time on Thursday? Most likely several things, including eating, sleeping, and stretching your legs. Of all of them Estefanía Unzu, better known by her alias ‘Verdeliss’he only did the last one. And in an unorthodox way. During 24 hours the influencer He dedicated himself to running on a treadmill installed behind a shop window in Madrid. It is the umpteenth proof of two trends that they walk run hand in hand: business and the fever generated by impossible challenges, a field that Verdeliss know well. What has happened? If in the last few hours you have stopped by the Decathlon store in Nuevos Ministerios (Orense Street, Madrid) it is quite likely that you have been surprised. On Wednesday the 25th at 7:01 p.m. in its window you could see a treadmill with a runner taking strides. At 2:00 a.m. the image was identical. And at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday the 26th, the same thing happened. The surprising thing is that during all that time (the 24 hours from 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday) the person who ran on the treadmill was always the same: Verdeliss. His balance: 24 hours of walking and more than 250 km. Why did he do it? Advertising. The challenge is part of the campaign orchestrated by Decathlon to promote the sneakers Kipride Maxof Kiprunthe brand with which the French chain aspires to expand its space in the growing business athletics and amateur running. In fact, the company has been in charge of giving visibility to the Verdeliss challenge on its networks, with videos, photos, interviews with passers-by and of course to the influencer herselfwho before starting to run assured that his objective is to test his limits. The underlying purpose: to take advantage of the challenge to give notoriety to the new Decathlin sneakers and provide them with a place in a hypercompetitive market, in which large multinationals such as Adidas or Nike work in different price ranges and frequently launch promotions. Kiprin introduced the Kipride Max ago just a monthpromote them as daily training shoes “designed to offer the brand’s most cushioned and comfortable ride.” Why Verdeliss? Because of his public profile. Runners there are many. Influencers, too. Estefanía Unizo Ripoll (‘Verdeliss’) has however managed to gain notable fame. And it has done so with two ingredients: an unconventional profile and a commitment to extreme challenges like Decathlon. The influencer Navarre has 40 years, eight children and combines his love for extreme sports with his businesswoman facet and media figure (he reached go through Big Brother). Since he joined YouTube in 2008, his profile has also changed: from basically publishing family content he has turned towards extreme sports. If his name sounds familiar to you even if you don’t follow current events running maybe it’s because in 2025 he went for it World Marathon Challengea test that consists of seven marathons in seven days and different continents. And that is just one of the challenges he has conquered. Another is the national championship 100 km on the road. Why is it important? Because Decathlon’s challenge not only tells us about it. It also tells us a lot about the fever (and business) generated around impossible challenges. People like to explore (or see how others explore) physical limits, whether climbing skyscrapersjumping from heart attack distances either swimming and running enormous distances with hardly any breaks. Behind many of these initiatives there are sponsorships (also campaigns with a more or less solidarity approach) and above all a huge media exposure for those who star in them. Verdeliss, for example, adds some 1.6 million of followers on Instagram and others 2.1 million on YouTube. The organization of extreme events also opens a business avenue: without going any further, participating in the World Marathon Challenge requires paying tens of thousands of euros. With yesterday’s campaign, Decathlon manages to position itself in a hypercompetitive market and the influencer (beyond the promotional agreement itself) feeds her image as an athlete capable of conquering extraordinary challenges, traveling 255 km in 24 hours. In the background there is another debate: to what extent facing challenges like this pushes the body to its limits. In the past Unzu herself has recognized having done “savages” and who does not seek to be “exemplary.” In fact, he even warns his followers: “Don’t do this in your house.” Images |Decathlon (IG) and Verdeliss In Xataka | The Winter Olympics leave Italy with a debt of 7.8 million dollars. Not to organize them, to win them

The economy’s big fear was a simultaneous global drought. Science has found our lifesaver

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We have been observing for years how climatic extremes They hit different parts of the globe, with the experience in Spain still very marked. But with him increase in temperatures To the extreme, one of the biggest fears of climatologists and economists is the synchrony of global droughts. That is, a scenario in which the main food-producing regions dry out at the same time. The good news is that science indicates that the Earth (at the moment) is not drying out. A problem. Logically, if the main countries in the world where wheat, rice, corn or soybeans are produced had a drought simultaneously, we would have a huge problem of product supplywhich for many is a real nightmare. But here the researchers have reached a conclusion: synchronized global droughts are severely limited and barely affect between 1.8% and 6.5% of the global land surface at the same time. Without a doubt, a great respite for economists who saw the end of the world as we know it and who has been published in Nature. But the most impressive thing is that all this is thanks to the oceans. What we knew. Until now, we knew that major climate events such as The Child wave North Atlantic Oscillationcould alter rainfall patterns thousands of miles away through what scientists call “teleconnections.” And it is something that the research team itself pointed out in the past: there are interconnected drought nodes at different latitudes, most in North America, South America, Africa and Australia. That is, when there is drought in one place, it can move to another. But, if these nodes are connected… Why doesn’t the entire planet dry out at once when there is an anomaly like El Niño? The answer is in the oceanic variability. An ally. In this case, the oceans act as an immense regulatory mechanism and that is why the authors literally speak of a phenomenon called ‘geographic trapping’. In this way, the dynamics of the oceans force the scale of these hydrological extremes to remain confined to certain areas, preventing drought from spreading across all continents simultaneously between the different nodes. It matters more that it doesn’t rain. Another of the findings that may be surprising derives from a common myth about extreme droughts. In this case we usually automatically associate the worst droughts with the suffocating heat wavesbut, nevertheless, the data from the last 120 years are clear in pointing out that the lack of precipitation dominates over high temperatures when determining the severity of a drought. That is to say, it is important that it does not rain or that it is extremely hot. Specifically, the lack of rain is responsible for two-thirds of the impact of the severity of these events, relegating temperature to a secondary role, although not negligible in a world that is moving towards warming of up to three degrees Celsius. It’s good news. That the planet has mechanisms to avoid a total global drought is excellent news for global food security and international markets, by ensuring supply for supermarkets. But scientists point out that we should not let our guard down. It must be kept in mind that, although 6.5% of land affected simultaneously, the maximum possibility that we have mentioned before, seems small on a planetary scale, if that percentage coincides exactly with the great “breadbaskets of the world”, the economic and humanitarian disaster can be equally devastating. In this way, the regions identified as “hubs” host a large part of global agricultural production, and the study warns of a growing systemic vulnerability in these areas. Images | edcharlie In Xataka | The drought is turning water into a very scarce and valuable commodity in Spain. And there are already organized groups of thieves

has chosen the most risky

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17:01 this Friday, February 27. That was the deadline that the United States gave Anthropic to grant full powers to the Pentagon about the use of your AI. It is your software that is fully integrated with Palantir and the Department of Defense systems, but the US believes it has a problem: Anthropic has tied its AI to some moral rules that shouldn’t exist. So this week Defense sent them a message: either they give them an AI without restrictions or there will be consequences. And Anthropic has answered with a resounding “no.” Monumental friction. Here we are not facing a conflict between companies: it is a company against its Government. Anthropic offered its AI to the Pentagon for integration into its systems. He did it at a symbolic price: one dollar. The Pentagon accepted and the response was a $200 million contract. The Department of Defense began integrate Anthropic AI into your systemswith everything that entails: full access to documents that no one outside the Pentagon can access. The US also wants be a field toolbut there is a problem: that AI is ‘programmed’ so that it cannot be used for mass surveillance of American citizens, for the development of weapons or for the use of autonomous weapons. This is precisely what the Pentagon wants to do. The Secretary of Defense sent a message to Anthropic: or they give them AI without limits or they make them a Huawei. These are my principles. We imagine that they have been some intense days, but Dario Amodei, CEO of the company, has answered on its blog. His opening sentence is powerful: “I deeply believe in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies to defeat our autocratic adversaries.” Good start to what seems to be a statement in which he gives in, but… no. After a review of what they have “given up” so that their AI is in the Department of Defense systems and criticize that the US removes the tasting from the Defense Production Act of 1950 to terrorize an Anthropic that will go public this year, the resolution is firm: “we cannot agree in good conscience to the request.” The company is clear that its AI can be very helpful to the Government, but it continues to oppose, mainly, two specific uses: Mass espionage because AI can put together complete databases of anyone’s life. The use of autonomous weapons that cannot be trusted for decision making, since they do not have the judgment that a professional soldier does (or that a professional soldier should have). An AI does not question, has no remorse, does not wonder if it is right or wrong or if the goal is a false positive. An AI… executes. We have breastfed for you. In the statement, Amodei launches almost a plea, a “with everything I have given you,” stating that this commitment to the leadership of the United States has been against the interests of the company itself. They point out that they have given up “several hundred million dollars to prevent Claude from being used in companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party” and that this cost some attacks by China, with some of their companies trying to abuse Claude. And it is an open letter, a declaration of intent that has been endorsed by competitors’ employees. For 219 from Google and another 65 from OpenAI. Many have given their names, many others have signed anonymously, but all with the same goal: to reject the Department of Defense’s demands to use their models for mass surveillance and “autonomously kill people without human supervision.” “In any case, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience agree to your request” There is no middle ground. No matter how nice and romantic the statement from Google and OpenAI employees sounds, the reality is different. They are challenging the Government, a Government that is continually demonstrating that it is going to execute whatever they want (there is ICE, the climate movements, the departure of the WHO, tariffs or threats to partners and allies). And the problem is that Anthropic has a lot to lose, much more than that $200 million that is pocket change in the context of AI investments. If they give in, it would mean taking a step back in an almost founding aspect of the company. If they do not give in, they become the “prestige brand” of AI. They demonstrate that they have the model that today’s most technologically advanced army needs and that they are untouchable, at least as long as a United States that is already moving towards alternatives such as Google, X and OpenAI finds an alternative. But they run the risk of, as we said, being blacklisted by the US. The Government has threatened to condemn Anthropic to being a company that poses a “supply chain risk”. As Amodei points out in the statement, it is a label reserved for the country’s adversaries and has never been applied to an American company. It would put Anthropic in the same bag as Huawei and other Chinese companies and would prevent the rest of the American partners from making deals with them. But, even if they do not give in, the US can take over AI by force with the letter of the Defense Production Act. Through this decree, if they consider that this tool is necessary and essential for national security, it does not matter what Amodei says. On the roof of the Pentagon. That’s where the ball is right now, and time is running out. As we said before, it is not an operation between companies, it is not a fight between politicians: it is a company that is being threatened by its own country. A threat that is a “give this to us by fair means or we will take it from you by bad means”. In any case, we have to wait to see how … Read more

The owner of Volvo and partner of Renault will also sell Chinese electric cars in our country

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It is possible that if you are not very up to date with the automobile market, the word Geely may not be very familiar to you. Yes, it is more likely that Lotus will tell you something else. And you surely know Smart and Volvo. Any of them, any of those companies that were once European, are owned by Geely, one of the largest Chinese automotive groups in the country. Now, the company lands in Spain with its own brand. Yes, Geely in addition to owning a portfolio with up to 16 brands Under his direction, he also has his own car company. So that we understand it quickly and easily, just as the Volkswagen Group has the Volkswagen brand or as Renault owns Dacia but, of course, sells cars under the Renault brand. Geely, therefore, will arrive in our country with two electrified models. Its presence, as is evident from the first and mentioned brands, is already palpable in Spain but now it will have its own vehicles on the street, with its distribution network separate from any other company and with two SUVs that point to the present and future of the brand. Geely arrives in Spain To have a general photograph of Geely and know what is behind this new brand, the first thing you should know is that in 2024 they became the first Chinese manufacturer to establish itself as one of the 10 most important automotive companies in the world. Shortly after, the brand has been surpassed by the enormous muscle of BYD but In 2025 it managed to put 3.02 million on the market of cars counting only the companies born under its umbrella (without adding Volvo or Smart). With the latter he reached the 4.12 million units sold and was positioned as the ninth largest automotive group in the world, exceeding 2024 sales by 800,000 units. For its arrival in Spain, the company has announced two vehicles. Geely E5 He Geely E5 It is an electric SUV with 160 kW (218 HP) and a maximum range of 475 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle. It will be available with two battery sizes (60.22 kWh and 68.79 kWh) developed in-house. In the press release, Geely does not confirm the total peak power and only mentions that it will go from 30 to 80% autonomy in 20 minutes. Geely Starray EM-i On the other hand, the Geely Starray EM-i It is a plug-in hybrid with a combined power of 262 HP where the greatest weight of its dynamics falls on the electric motor that reaches 160 kW (218 HP). It also has two battery options (18.4 kWh and 29.8 kWh) that increase the total range of the set up to 943 kilometers in the mixed cycle. At the moment, Geely does not specify its autonomy in fully electric mode. It is to be hoped that, little by little, we will learn more details about these two new models, especially in their commitment to software and digital functions focused on the user. We do know that this latest plug-in hybridization system has been developed in the heart of Horse, the joint venture that Geely maintains with Renault to continue looking for solutions focused on combustion engines. Regarding its distribution, Geely says that it is developing a network of nationwide dealers “supported by partners with extensive experience and deep knowledge of the local market.” It is to be expected, therefore, that at least in the first months and years its distribution will be supported by the large groups that have been supporting brands such as BYD or the Chery Group. And the Chinese companies are making a strong investment in dealerships to give customer confidence. At the moment, the Chinese company has not set a specific date for us to see these cars on the street but it does set a deadline of “the first half of 2026”, so in the next four months we should have all the details. It must be taken into account that Geely is making clear efforts to expand its market with its own brands. We recently learned that is interested in entering the United Statesdespite the fact that the geopolitical context is complicated. It has also been rumored that it could occupy part of the Ford plant in Almussafes. Movement is key in an ultra-competitive Chinese market that is slowing down and Spain has shown interest in the firms arriving from this country, especially among entry-level vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Photo | Geely In Xataka | MG, BYD, Lynk&Co, Omoda: who’s who of Chinese car manufacturers in Spain

All this smelled like singe to the market.

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Everything indicates that hostilities have ceasedand with a result that at this point few observers expected: Netflix has given up bidding more for Warner Bros., paving the way for Paramount to take over the media giant for about $111 billion. It is the (foreseen) outcome of a bidding war that started in October 2025 and that now gives a new kick and unexpectedly reorders the panorama of the streaming and global entertainment. The war dates back to 2016. That is, to the purchase of Time Warner by AT&T in October 2016 for $85.4 billion, including debt. The intention was to combine the largest telephone company in the United States with the assets of HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics to build a technological and entertainment giant. There were problems from the beginning (the merger was delayed almost a year due to legal issues) and it deprived the company of the optimal launch window for HBO Max in a market that was already beginning to become saturated with streaming services. streaming. In 2021 AT&T would give WarnerMedia to Discovery. Expenses and more expenses. The new Warner Bros. Discovery had ambition. Its CEO David Zaslav presented a project of 20 billion annual expenses to reach 400 million global subscribers, but none of that was fulfilled: the shares have fallen 60% since 2022, with losses of 35 billion dollars in market capitalization. In June 2025, Warner advertisement which was separated into two companies: one for studios and streaming and another for linear networks (with CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery and Bleacher Report). The aim was to release the burden of the cable channels, which were mainly responsible for a debt of 37,000 million. Back to the ring. This split once again makes Warner Bros. a more attractive target than a conglomerate with dozens of cable television channels and millions in debt. In October, it formally opened a sales process, which boosted its price by more than 10%. Three names stood out from the rest: Netflix, NBCUniversal and Paramount Skydance. The first two only wanted studies and streamingthe third was willing to buy the entire company. According to some analyststhis made the operation very risky for Paramount, but very interesting for Warner. David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, had even made three informal offers before October, which had been rejected. Bidding war. In November the three candidates presented their proposals non-binding: Paramount at $25.50 per share (the first of all, a month earlier, had been $19), Netflix and Universal with non-public offers. In December there was a second round, and Paramount rose to $26.50 per share. Universal pulled out. On December 5, Netflix was considered a winner from the auction with $27.75 per share and without counting the channels. Paramount’s tantrum. Three days later, David Ellison launched a hostile offer directly to WBD shareholders: $30 per share in cash for the entire company. The offer was supported by the Ellison family, the private equity fund RedBird Capital, the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. From there, offers followed. backed by the CEO’s fatherLarry Ellison. He continued to raise the price and continued to address shareholders directly, without success. Paramount’s triumph. In February, Netflix granted Warner a seven-day waiver to resume talks with Paramount: after what Sarandos described as “flooding the area with confusion,” Paramount was forced to come up with its best proposal or be ruled out. On February 24, put on the table $31 per share in cash, plus the assumption of debt and several extras: a regulatory penalty fee of $7 billion if regulators blocked the closure, the assumption of payment of the $2.8 billion that WBD would owe to Netflix if it broke its current agreement, and a holding fee for shareholders if regulatory approval was extended beyond fall 2026. The shareholders waited for a counteroffer from Netflix, but it did not arrive: the profitability projections Above $30 per share were very complicated: the share price had grown 63% compared to Paramount’s first offer. Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, had traveled to Washington that same day to meet with Trump administration officials, is spoken that looking for more data on the regulatory environment. Before the end of the meeting, Netflix had already spoken: it was not going to raise its offer for purely financial reasons, which made Paramount’s option more than possible a winner, in the absence of formal confirmation from shareholders. And now what? Well, immediate effect: Netflix shares rose about 13%, Paramount gained 5%, Warner fell 2%. That is to say, the market celebrates Netflix’s retreat. On the table, a few issues to resolve: the formal board vote and the regulatory approval phase (which, in the best scenario projected by Paramount, will not conclude before September 30, 2026) that can explode in countless areasalthough the climate is favorable given the political situation (the relationship between Larry Ellison and Trump – one financed the other’s campaign – is more than public). Where are we now. Netflix has many other tentacles to grow with. For example, it has just reached an agreement with Sony whereby the company’s releases (the Spiderverse films, yes, but also the next ‘Zelda’ or the Beatles films by Sam Mendes) will have an exclusive world premiere with the platform. Something similar happens with Universal: Netflix is ​​the streaming premiere platform for franchises like ‘Jurassic World’. Netflix ended 2025 with more than 325 million paying subscribers and projects revenues of between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion by 2026. It is not doing badly, and will increase its investment in content to approximately $20 billion annually, according to its quarterly letter to shareholders. On the other hand, we will have an entity that combines two of the five active traditional Hollywood studios with a multitude of linear channels and two streaming services. streaming. Of course, it is still early to talk about mergers between HBO Max and Paramount+, sales of Warner’s historical archive to alleviate debts or conflicts between CNN and CBS … Read more

That is precisely why he is going to fire 40% of the staff.

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Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and current CEO of Block (which manages Square, Cash App and Tidal), has just done something that few CEOs dare to do: fire 40% of his employees at once, at a time when is making profits. The most curious thing is that its investors seem to agree with Dorsey’s decision and have celebrated it with a historic rise in the company’s shares. Thus, Block will go from having more than 10,000 workers to just under 6,000. That leaves a balance of more than 4,000 layoffs in a single day. Dorsey does not hide: the official reason is increased productivity What artificial intelligence offers. A 40% cut with benefits. Dorsey communicated his plans to lay off 40% of his staff through a post on Xand justified it as a proactive move, not a response to any financial problem. According to the CEO himself, the company is going through a good economic moment and is marking an upward path in profits. “We did not make this decision because we are in trouble. Our business is solid. Gross profits continue to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers and profitability is improving,” the CEO confirmed in his statement. That is precisely one of the keys that it is marking the latest rounds of layoffs and it makes a big difference in terms of the traditional reasons why companies fired their employees. As its CEO points out, the layoffs are not the result of a financial crisis, but rather are due to the increase (or the promise of that increase). in productivity that AI automation brings. This technology allows do the same with less staff. “We’re already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re building and using, along with smaller, flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working that fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a business. And that’s accelerating rapidly,” Dorsey wrote in his message. Those laid off do not stay stranded. The more than 4,000 employees affected by the unexpected layoff will receive 20 weeks of base salary plus one additional week for each year of seniority in the company. According to collect Business Insideremployees affected by staff cuts They will be able to keep their corporate devices and will be given an additional payment of $5,000. As Dorsey explained, they are aware that, in the short term, the layoffs were going to be irremediable, so instead of progressively reducing their workforce, they have chosen to cut short, avoiding smaller rounds of layoffs that damage the morale and focus of the staff and the trust of clients and shareholders. “I would rather take firm, clear action now and build from a position of belief than manage a slow downsizing toward the same outcome.” Why now and why so many. According what was published by WiredBlock has been applying personnel cuts in different departments for months. The company had already laid off 931 employees in March 2025 and nearly 1,000 more jobs in January 2024. One of the reasons behind these successive layoffs is the correction of overhiring during the pandemic, a correction that caused hundreds of thousands of layoffs among the main technology companies between 2022 and 2024. This is an argument that Dorsey has not deniedbut it does not stand out as the main trigger for layoffs, putting the target on the increase in productivity that AI provides. Block surpassed 12,000 employees in 2022, in a stage of accelerated expansion that now, with AI tools integrated into the workflow, is impossible to justify. Block CFO Amrita Ahuja was quite blunt about it, ensuring that the layoffs will allow the company to move faster “with smaller, highly talented teams that use AI to automate more work.” Investors applaud him. Block shares they were shot more than 24% after the announcement. This is the reflection of a dynamic that is becoming increasingly common in which investors reward with increases in share prices and massive layoffs as a sign of efficiency and modernization. Michael Blank, associate professor of finance at Stanford Business School, explained to Business Insider that this dynamic could unleash a competition between CEOs of large companies to convince investors that their companies are better prepared than their rivals, thus turning massive layoffs into a tool to improve capitalization figures. Block’s stock had been struggling for months before the announcement. According to data collected by Ad Hoc News In February, the stock was trading 21% below its start-of-year price and 37% below its 52-week high. In that context, Dorsey would have managed to kill two birds with one stone: reorganize his company towards a more AI-oriented model and relaunch investor confidence. Doing more with less: the key to layoffs. With his decision, Dorsey has left a message that goes far beyond Block’s management itself, and proposes a change in the relationship between the number of people a company needs to do a job. “It seems inevitable that this will spread to all publicly traded companies. We have to find a way for everyone to be an owner and have some exposure to the benefits, as the number of employees drops dramatically,” said Jessica Verrilli, CEO of the venture investment fund Adverb Ventures. in response to Dorsey’s post. In the presentation of Block’s results, the CEO assured that the increase in AI productivity It inevitably led to staff cuts because fewer hands were needed to do the job. “I don’t think we’re the first to realize this. I think most companies are late,” collected Business Insider. He’s not the only one who thinks so. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has been running a similar strategy for years and, in a recent interviewassured that by 2030 his company will be able to do without 30% of the 3,000 employees who currently make up the payment platform’s workforce due to the increase in productivity provided by AI. In Xataka | “The world is in danger”: Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry Image … Read more

The United Kingdom has found lithium under its feet, but extracting it is going to be a billion-dollar logistical nightmare

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For vacationers visiting cornwallin the south-west of the United Kingdom, the landscape is a haven of peace dotted with historical remains. It is the land of the old tin and copper mines that inspired series like Poldarka region with more than 4,000 years of mining history. However, beneath this postcard scenario lies the most coveted resource of the 21st century. The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson baptized it in 2021 as the “Lithium Klondike”, in reference to the historic gold rush. Today, As detailed in an extensive report by Guardianthat “white gold” is the great hope for the British energy transition. The race for the first drop of lithium. The sector has recently reached milestones that seemed impossible a decade ago. On the one hand, as reported Financial TimesCornish Lithium company has just commissioned its first commercial demonstration plant in the region. This facility is designed to extract lithium from hard rock in former clay (kaolin) mines, a crucial step that demonstrates that large-scale domestic mining is technically feasible. Crushing stone is not the only way. In parallel, a fascinating technology has emerged that unites mining and renewable energy. It turns out that, several kilometers deep, the superheated water flowing through the fractures of the granite of cornwall It is loaded with dissolved lithium. As explained by BBCTaking advantage of this has enabled a historic milestone: the United Downs power plant, operated by Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL), has become the first in the country to generate electricity from the Earth’s heat, while producing the first domestic supply of lithium extracted from these underground fluids. The mechanics, as detailed Guardianis ingenious: the boiling brine is pumped (at about 200 °C), its heat is used to drive turbines that generate electricity, the lithium is chemically extracted and the cold water is returned to the subsoil. The initial figures for this project are modest—just 100 tons of lithium per year, enough for 1,400 electric cars—but the goal is to scale up to 18,000 tons per year. What does it really mean to unearth this treasure?? As emphasized Financial Timesthe primary motivation is geostrategic: the West desperately needs to reduce its dependence on China in the critical metals supply chain. Additionally, unlike wind or solar energy, geothermal brine provides renewable electricity “24 hours a day, 7 days a week”, shielding the network against the vagaries of gas. An abyss riddled with obstacles. But from the laboratory to the commercial mine there is a stretch full of barriers. First, drilling wells kilometers deep or building processing plants requires massive injections of capital. The GEL project has already cost 50 million pounds, inform BBC. Furthermore, the market is ruthless: recently, the Imerys British Lithium (IBL) side project, which promised to create the largest lithium hub in the country, has had to be halted due to “funding constraints and difficult market conditions.” The second major obstacle is the emotional shock with the population. A report from a few months ago in The Conversation perfectly illustrates this drama in the village of St Dennis. For Cornish Lithium to expand its open-pit mine at the former Trelavour quarry, it needs to demolish huge conical mountains of clay waste. The problem is that the locals have affectionately named them Flatty and Pointy. What for the mining company is debris that blocks lithium, for the people it is their heritage, their visual identity since the 19th century. It is the bitter dilemma of the green transition: sacrificing the local landscape to save the global climate. The Spanish mirror. This tension between national urgency and local rejection resonates strongly in Spain. As we have explained in Xatakathe European Union has launched a lifeline of 22,000 million euros to support 47 strategic mining projects and stop the bleeding of foreign dependence. Seven of them are on Spanish soil, with three standing out in Extremadura: the Aguablanca mine (the only nickel deposit in Europe, which reopens after a decade) and the tungsten mines of Las Navas and La Parrilla. However, the syndrome NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”) hits just as it does on British soil. The same publication recalls that the emblematic and controversial Cáceres lithium mine has been left out of European aid due to the fierce opposition of neighborhood and environmental platforms, a social pressure that has already managed to knock down similar projects in Ávila. The shadow of the dragon: the clock is ticking. While Europe deals with waste dumps and bureaucracy, China competes in another league. Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned to launch An operational mine takes an average of 17 years. The West is running against the clock, and Beijing is two decades ahead of us. And the data is suffocating. China processes 80% of the world’s lithium and 95% of graphite. For years, they sold batteries below production cost, taking losses to exterminate Western competition and establish silent dependence. Far from relaxing, the Asian giant keep devouring the subsoil: it has recently tripled its lithium reserves (going from 6% to 16.5% worldwide) thanks to new discoveries in its salt lakes. And the problem is not just “white gold.” The IEA alert that by 2035 there will be a 30% supply deficit in copper. Without copper for the cables, having batteries will be useless. The true cost of the transition. The UK’s mining awakening is the perfect microcosm of the challenge facing the West. We have discovered that we have the treasure under our feet, but geology is only the starting line. “White gold” requires colossal sacrifices. It requires risking billions in unstable markets, altering places that communities love and facing a very slow bureaucracy in the face of an implacable Asian rival. The batteries that will power the 21st century are not only going to cost us money; They will require profound social wear and tear. Lithium promises us the future, but unearthing it is going to be a real nightmare. Image | Cornish Lithium Xataka | China sold cheap batteries … Read more

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