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A comedian has explained what the song from ‘The Lion King’ means in Zulu. It was fake and could cost you 27 million

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A Zimbabwean comedian went viral last month after claiming on a podcast that the Zulu phrase that opens the legendary theme song of ‘The Lion King’, ‘Circle of Life’ meant, simply and plainly, “Look, there’s a lion.” However, it was a joke: a false translation. Now the original composer, the South African Lebo M, is demanding $27 million from him in a federal court in Los Angeles. Aaaaa stork. Since 1994, millions of people have hummed “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba” without having the slightest idea of ​​its meaning. The phrase opens ‘Circle of Life’, the song with which ‘The Lion King’and is written in isiZulu and isiXhosa, two of the twelve official languages ​​of South Africa. The official translation used by Disney says: “Everyone hails the king, we bow before his presence.” It’s a Praise Imbongia form of oral royal praise poetry rooted in South African cultural tradition. Author, author. The song composed and performed by Lebohang Morakeknown artistically as Lebo M. Morake lived in exile in Los Angeles during apartheid. Hans Zimmer asked him to contribute his voice and his knowledge of African music to ‘The Lion King’ and the result was that initial scream that, as dawn broke on the savanna and the Disney logo rose, made the hairs on the back of the viewers of the time stand on end. The song was nominated for an Oscar for best original song and a Grammy, although it lost both to another piece from the same film, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. The false translation. In February, Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, appeared on the ‘One54’ podcast. The presenters began to sing the phrase from memory, like every neighbor’s son does. Jonasi stopped them: “That’s not how you sing, don’t destroy our language.” He then offered his translation: “Look, there’s a lion! Oh my God!” When one of the incredulous drivers asked him if he was serious, Jonasi insisted: “That’s exactly what it means.” The clip went viral in a matter of days. The song that seemed like an epic proclamation was actually just pointing to an animal. The demand de Morake acknowledges that “ingonyama” can be literally translated as “lion” in Zulu, but argues that in the context of the Praise Imbongi The word functions as a metaphor for royalty and ancestral authority. Jonasi’s translation would be, in the words of Morake’s lawyers, “a manufactured and trivializing distortion, intended as a crude joke for personal gain.” According to the same legal document, Jonasi has been making this joke in his repertoire for eight years. Who is Jonasi? The comedian, born in Zimbabwe and based in Pittsburgh, rose to fame in 2024 when he placed fifth in that year’s edition of ‘America’s Got Talent’. His comedy usually revolves around the contrasts between his life in Africa and American culture, and part of his regular repertoire includes criticism of the representation of Africa in Hollywood, such as the lions in ‘The Lion King’ having American accents or the baboon Rafiki speaking English with a South African accent. The joke was, in that sense, consistent with his usual discourse of questioning how Disney had treated African culture. Can a joke cost 27 million? The legal key to the whole matter lies in a well-established principle in American law: the First Amendment protects parody and artistic satire, but not false statements presented as true, even if said in a comedic context. Morake’s lawyers argue precisely that: that Jonasi did not present his translation as a joke but “as authoritative fact.” The lawsuit also cites: Jonasi’s attempt to monetize virality through merchandising. The amount requested amounts to more than $20 million in actual damages, plus $7 million in punitive damages. It is alleged to justify it that the viral is directly damaging Lebo M’s professional relationship with Disney and reducing his income from royalties. Disney has not made any statements on the matter. The answer. Jonasi launched a GoFundMe campaign titled ‘Help Learnmore Fight an Unjust Lawsuit‘ with which he has raised more than 16,000 of the 20,000 dollars he asks for. There he says that he never intended to cause harm and that he needs support to “protect his right to speak and tell jokes.” Before that, posted a video on Instagram in which he declared himself a fan of Lebo M’s work and proposed making a video together explaining the real meaning of the song. In networks, the composer responded that Jonasi “crossed a line by insulting African culture and spreading colonialist propaganda.” In Xataka | We all assumed that ‘The Simpsons’ would never end. Now, its showrunner has just confirmed it

opinions, first contact and photos

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In June 2025, we had the opportunity to take control of the Omoda 9 SHS. After a Omoda 5 called to carve out a niche in the entry range that, in 2026, is also elbowing its way in among non-plug-in hybrids (it is already among the 10 best sellers so far this year), the Chery Group showed us what they aspire to be one of their flagship models. The Omoda 9 SHS burst onto the market with the clear objective of attacking the premium range for a fraction of its price. Plug-in hybridization, more than 100 kilometers of electric range, endless equipment and more than 500 HP were its arguments. At the moment, it is another car that is already among the 10 best-selling vehicles with this technology in Spain. We tell all this because Chery now presents us with the Jaecoo 8 SHS. A car that wants to be more than just another brother of the Omoda 9 SHS. A car that seeks its own identity. And he gets it. Jaecoo 8 SHS technical sheet Jaecoo 8 SHS BODY TYPE. Five-seater D-SUV MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHT. 4.82 meters long, 1.93 meters wide, 1.71 meters high. Wheelbase of 2.82 meters. 2,304 kg weight. TRUNK. Five seats: 730 liters measured to the roof. Seven seats: 700 liters measured to the roof. MAXIMUM POWER. 428 HP WLTP CONSUMPTION. 2.1 l/100 km 134 km of electric range ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTIVE. Zero emissions. DRIVING AIDS (ADAS). 20 ADAS driving aids, including adaptive cruise control. Camera with 360º projection. OTHERS. Own software compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. 50W wireless charging for mobile phone. Electric, heated, ventilated seats with speaker (driver’s seat). Double 12.3-inch screen and Head-Up Display. ELECTRIC HYBRID. No. Plug-in HYBRID. Yeah. A 1.5 turbo combustion engine and three electric motors. Two electric ones on the front axle of 102 and 129 HP and one rear of 238 HP. Together they produce 428 HP of power. electric No. price and release Now available from 54,990 euros before aid from the Auto+ Plan. Advertised price with aid and discounts from 44,490 euros. The challenge is to be different When someone asks me about the impact of Chinese cars in our country, I am clear. There are two spaces they can conquer. One is the low range, with MG leading the way by putting cars on the market that are below the price of Dacia. And they are raising their perception of interior quality. The second is the plug-in hybrid. These cars do not pay the tariff that electric cars do have to pay, which limits their possibilities to play on price. But that doesn’t happen with this technology.. And the result is evident: ultra-competitive prices. They can enter the fight at the floor price of this technology with very complete equipment. Or they can do like Chery with the Omoda 9 SHS and the Jaecoo 8 SHS, cars with a high quality perceptionengines that advertise outrageous powers and relatively high prices. But prices that have no comparison with European ones. Neither by size, nor by equipment, nor by power. The challenge of the Jaecoo 8 SHS is to have its own personality and separate itself from its Omoda brother to simply attract two different audiences instead of cannibalizing itself. In fact, during the presentation of the product, Francesco Colonnese, Vice President of Omoda & Jaecoo, already told us that they do not conceive the strategy as two different companies. They simply hope that the potential customer arrives at the dealership and stays with the aspect of the product that interests them most. If you bet on design, Omoda. If you bet on functionality, Jaecoo. That is why the Jaecoo 8 SHS has been given that character to work with the design. The car has an image clearly focused on pleasing those who like more off-road vehicles than SUVs. The huge grill confirms this, as do its square shapes. Inside, the possibility of being able to order it with seven seats and, despite everything, maintaining 700 liters of trunk space (measured to the roof) speaks volumes about that practicality. The five-seater option increases capacity by another 30 liters. As with its smaller brothers, Jaecoo clearly focuses its marketing strategy on customers in rural areas. They seek to please those who, for some reason, they seek to get off the asphalt at specific moments. The car has a mechanical rear differential that is activated from the central screen. Of course, the ground clearance is 18 centimeters so it is not a car to get into trouble on offroad. During the presentation we went out on some tracks without much difficulty but we found that it moves with ease and confidence when the terrain gets a little complicated. In addition, the good quality of the cameras is a good point in these terrains and the hill descent system works very well. That is, the car is not intended to replace a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Jeep Wrangler or Defender. It is also no competition for a Suzuki Jimny. But it is a very good idea so that he has to leave the asphalt with some regularity on easy paths, I think of ranchers, farmers or those who fish or hike as a hobby. If things get complicated, the car comes standard with specific driving modes for Sand, Snow or an Off-Road mode (in addition to the classic Eco, Comfort and Sport). All of them act on the suspension, which is adaptive, and on the steering. The car is, therefore, a very interesting option for that rural environment where it is easy to have access to a domestic outlet. It has an electric range of 134 kilometers that come from its CATL 34.5 kWh LMFP type battery (manganese is added to classic lithium and iron phosphate to improve density) which allows alternating current charges of up to 6.6 kW and 70 kW direct current. On the move, the car feels comfortable and well settled. It uses the … Read more

American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use

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I don’t know about you, but when I go to the grocery store, it often feels like I’m preparing for a catastrophe. Many of us live at home and I don’t like going shopping every other day, so I try to put in the cart what I need for at least a week. What’s happening? Then you need space at home to store it.. I have plenty of cabinets and drawers, but my kitchen refrigerator doesn’t have as much space as I would like. Even though I don’t have a kitchenettethis whole situation has made me consider more than once about jumping into an American refrigerator (you know, the ones with two doors with a left-right distribution). But, Is it really worth it compared to a wide combi? Let’s see which one can fit best in your kitchen and your needs. Bespoke AI American Refrigerator 178cm 659L Class E Inox RS70F65QETEF The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Choosing an American refrigerator If you start browsing stores looking for an American refrigerator, you will see that they all have a very large capacity measured in liters. This is something that cannot take us by surprise, although it has a certain “trick”, since it adds the space of the refrigerator to the freezer. What not many people notice is that, although these refrigerators are very large, the reality is that they are also narrow. And that’s where it comes in the pizza box test. There’s not much science to it, it’s just what you think: since the shelves are narrower, a pizza box does not fit horizontally. This is the most visual example, but you can take it to other everyday things that you are more likely to keep in your refrigerator. There we can include food trays, cakes, large tupperware or even watermelons if they are large. Now, what you lose in width you gain in height. This is ideal if you are one of those who practices batch cooking and you cook in one sitting for several days, so you can stack the tupperware without any problem. In addition, you can also take advantage of the more vertical distribution of the refrigerator to your advantage, placing the things you use most at the top and the things you use least at the bottom. More things to keep in mind about these refrigerators. First, the best thing they have: the freezer. The left-right distribution means that we have plenty of room to freeze things of all kinds and have them very well organized. Not only that, but its more vertical distribution also means that we can have a lot of space at eye level and not have to bend down every time we want to check what we have frozen. All this has a price (and never better said), since American refrigerators have higher energy consumption. There is also the issue of the water and/or ice dispenser that these types of refrigerators normally come with. It depends on the model, but there are those that need a water intake to make this workalthough there are others that have a tank that we can fill without the need for installation. And, speaking of installation, be careful with American refrigerators: they are deeper. This can make them stand out from the line of the furniture, something that aesthetically does not look very good. Choose a wide combi The vast majority of vans in stores are about 60 centimeters wide. We would not put one of these to compete in capacity with an American, but things change if we add 10 centimeters to the formula. It seems like very little difference, but from 70 centimeters wide, the combi gains a lot more capacity. And, of course, without taking up as much space in the kitchen as an American refrigerator. These pass the pizza box test without breaking a sweat, since its shelves are much wider. Now, the extra total capacity they gain is not enough to beat the American refrigerators. Not through the refrigerator, but through the freezer. There they clearly lose out, so if you have a freezer full of food, it may not be worth it to go for a combi. There is also the issue of consumption. It will depend a lot on the model we choose, but as a general rule, one of these wide combis It will consume less energy than an American refrigerator. It will not be a consumption figure large enough for us to rule out the Americans, but it will be something to take into account. The good and the bad of both options, face to face American refrigerator wide combi THE GOOD 🟢 Plenty of space to freeze and stack tupperware in the fridge You can have frozen products at eye level so you don’t have to bend down all the time Much more horizontal capacity for large containers and takes up less space Less electricity consumption THE BAD 🔴 Uses more light and has less horizontal space to store large things The “aisles” of the refrigerator are narrow, so if you put something bulky you won’t see what’s behind it Your freezer doesn’t do much, so you may have to juggle if you freeze a lot of food. Ideal for: Kitchens with a lot of space and for large families who need a huge freezer Smaller kitchens and for storing very wide trays or containers without a problem In summary: 👉 Choose an American refrigerator if: You have plenty of space and if you prioritize maximum capacity in your freezer. 👉 Choose a wide van Yeah: You prefer to have wide shelves and you want a large refrigerator, but not gigantic. Recommended models American refrigerator: Bespoke AI RS70F65QETEF As an American refrigerator option, we have this one from Samsung. Here we are talking about a refrigerator with a total capacity of 659 litersdivided into 239 liters for the freezer and 420 liters for the refrigerator. The refrigerators from this … Read more

They are essential for the defense of the country

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Finland has learned to live on alert throughout its history. During the Cold War, until flying trees were invented to mislead the Soviets. And since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022, the threat of an eventual Russian invasion has once again flown over the horizon. In December 2025, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned to the allies (the EU) in the face of a possible attack by Russia in the next five years. Faced with a Russian incursion into Europe, Finland is on the front line. The Nordic country knows it: It has been involving the entire population in defense for decades. Not even supermarkets are spared. The Nordic total defense. Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have been applying a model in which the military and civil sectors operate in combination for decades: the total defense. In short, defense is the responsibility of the entire society, not just the army. This model is also not limited to times of war, but is always active, with courses, drills and contingency plans. And it does not only contemplate a traditional war, but also any threat, such as cyberattacks or sabotage. Of all the Nordic countries, Finland has the most developed system (and Denmark dismantled it almost completely): it did not lower its guard with the end of the cold war and your last update describes comprehensive security as the foundation of resilience in Finnish society. What happens in supermarkets. A practical example of how total defense reaches all levels is in supermarkets: they have the obligation to maintain strategic reserves of essential products, such as flour, sugar or oil; which they keep in cellars or underground bunkers with emergency generators. Thus, no matter what happens, supply to the population is guaranteed. The BBC collects the example of Group S and Kesko, the two largest supermarket chains in the Nordic country: together exceed 80% quota of food retail trade). In addition, they participate in preparation committees alongside administration officials and undergo drills. Why it is important. Because preparing for war in times of war is normal (there is no choice), but doing so and maintaining it in times of peace is more complicated. The Nordic plan requires a social assembly between civil and military society that moves in difficult terrain: can a democratic and market society function as a cohesive defense system without falling into authoritarianism? Considering the Finnish reality, it seems so. Of course, psychologist Jennifer De Paola from the University of Helsinki explains for the English medium that there are two pillars on which this total security is based and makes it unviable for other states: trust in institutions and a high level of social equality. The level of corruption in Finland is very low: it ranks second (out of 182 countries) in the Corruption Perception Index. Spain ranks 49 55. Since childhood. Thinking about a war looming in the future is a frightening possibility because of everything it implies, so this permanent alert mode could potentially be a problem for the emotional stability of the population. It’s no secret that preparing for the worst creates anxiety. Paola tells something curious: when asking children between 10 and 12 years old to draw happy people, I expected to find drawings related to fun. What he found was that they associate happiness with security and unhappiness with insecurity. It is no coincidence: it is the result of decades of socialization in a culture where collective security is a value internalized since childhood. In Xataka | Now that Europe has sent its troops to Greenland, a question emerges that no one wants to ask: what happens if the US invades it? In Xataka | When the USSR declared war, Finland decided to protect its roads in a peculiar way: with flying trees Cover | András Rátonyi and Tara Clark

OpenAI had to choose between “being the company that has erotic AI” or competing with Anthropic. And he has chosen the obvious

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Sam Altman wasn’t afraid to try things. That people want to create Studio Ghibli style images? Forward. AI Videos hyperrealistic? Go for it. A browser with AI? we have it. Wherever I saw an option to add AI, OpenAI added it. But that was before, because these projects are being put on the back burner or directly closed for a simple reason: they are blank bullets. ChatGPT is not going to flirt with you. According to the Financial TimesOpenAI has canceled its plans to launch an erotic chatbot, and now the goal is to focus its resources on its most important products. The decision is partly a response to tensions and internal criticism from employees and investors when offering sexualized AI content. One former employee noted that “AI shouldn’t replace your friends or family; you should have human connections.” Making an erotic chatbot is not that easy. In addition to the social impact, it seems that OpenAI has had to face really complex technical challenges when creating this type of chatbot. Training an AI model to do something that “normal” models were trying to avoid was causing problems. For example, when including data sets with explicit content it was necessary to eliminate illegal behavior, such as bestiality or incest. That adult mode, called “Citron mode” internally, could have required users to prove that they were over 18 years old. Too much risk. The move to launch an “adult mode” of ChatGPT was reputationally risky, and people familiar with the decision have indicated that OpenAI wants to begin a long-term investigation into the effects of explicitly sexual chats and the emotional bonds that this type of interaction can create in users. They point out that at the moment there is no “empirical evidence” about the impact, but for now they are clear. And yet, there is another great reason to cancel it indefinitely. Let’s focus on what makes money. In recent weeks we have seen how the new pretty girl of the world of AI is Anthropic, which with Claude has managed to conquer precisely the market sector that is beginning to generate income decent for AI: the companies. OpenAI had been especially focused on end users, but the steps it has taken to try to convince us to pay for ChatGPT Plus/Pro They don’t quite work. No ads, no shopping. A few months ago OpenAI announced that ChatGPT was already capable of buy things for you with its Instant Checkout. The feature was really promising and proposed a paradigm shift in the rules of traditional e-commerce, but this launch seems to have had much less impact than expected. The decision to place ads during conversations seems not going to make ChatGPT’s revenue skyrocket either, so the solution is becoming clearer: if we have to be like Anthropic, we will be more Anthropic, we imagine Sam Altman is saying. Goodbye Sora… The ads don’t quite work, neither does Instant Checkout, and many other launches have not gone beyond generating a fleeting expectation. It happened with Sora: that OpenAI I abandoned her It is a disturbing sign that the company prefers to completely recalibrate. …hello superapp. Another sign of this reorganization is the fact that OpenAI is preparing a desktop tool that will unify its chatbot, its code platform (Codex) and the Atlas browser. The objective, to create a super app with agentic capabilities, not only oriented to code, but also to productivity. It is not clear if they will launch it as a solution for end users or the destination will be the company, where Anthropic is winning the game. New ‘Spud’ model in sight. In The Information indicated this week that OpenAI had recently completed development of a new AI model called Spud. OpenAI is expected to launch it in the coming weeks, and Altman reportedly told his employees that such a model “can really accelerate the economy.” It is not clear what it refers to (agent capabilities?), but with it OpenAI may be able to regain some of the ground lost with Anthropic. If Anthropic lets him, which we doubt. Image | Universal Pictures In Xataka | Wikipedia has banned using AI to write or rewrite articles in English. Human knowledge begins to raise barriers

How to create an application in Google AI Studio for free and easily

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Let’s explain to you how to create a simple web application with Google AI Studio. It is a program with which you can create applications, websites, or other projects by writing the code with artificial intelligence. Come on, you tell him what you want and Gemini will generate the web application, also showing you the code. But there are some things you need to keep in mind, so we’ll start by telling you the risks involved in creating a webapp with AIespecially in terms of privacy if you are going to publish it. Then, we will tell you step by step how to proceed in a simple way. Before you start, dangers to be aware of Before we get into this, you should keep in mind that may not be a good idea create a web application using artificial intelligence, especially if you plan to publish it. It all depends on what you are going to use it for. To start, with Google AI Studio you will only build a skeleton of the web page or web application, pure HTML code without a secure and private database for each user you access. Therefore, without a login system, you run the risk of all data being exposed on a kind of public board. For example, imagine that you create a notes web application, and that you publish it on the Internet. So, everything you write can be read by othersand even other people will be able to add elements. This means that what Google AI Studio allows you to do are web application skeletonsa complete code that you will then have to fill out to add databases and records. It is best not to publish them. as generated by this tool. There is the possibility to ask the tool to generate an application with local memory to be saved in your browser. This will make it private by saving the data in the cache, although everything you type will be lost if you change browsers or when cache cleans are done. And the other big problem with creating a web application with an artificial intelligence tool is that there may be bad code that does not work wellso it is always advisable to review the code with knowledge and verify that everything does as it should. Use an AI to design the prompt Google AI Studio works with artificial intelligence, which means that you can describe what you want with natural language, and then it will translate it into an application. Therefore, you will only need one prompt. However, It will be more effective to use an AI to generate the prompt. It is like using an AI as a translator so that the idea you have in your head is reflected in a much more complete and complex prompt that you will then be able to review. For example, I have used Claude and I have explained to him what I want the application to have and the ideas for the design. When making the request I have specified that what I want is a prompt to make a web application in Google AI Studio. As a result, Claude has created me a multi-paragraph prompt in English, also including the color code I want it to use. In addition, he has thought of an interface to do it, and has designed the prompt explaining it so that Google AI Studio understands it. As a small noteremember that this AI has Claude’s Artifacts, which are like internal applications. Therefore, you will always be able to say something like “create an artifact from this prompt”, so you will be able to create an internal app and verify its style. This will not be the same as the one from Google AI Studio, but you can use it as a test. We start creating the application To start creating your application, enter Google AI Studio with the web aistudio.google.com. Once inside, click on the section Buildwhich is used to start creating an application. Now copy the prompt that we generated before and paste it in the writing field. I recommend that when you do it check the prompt in case there is anything in it that you want to change. Once you have it, click on the button Build to start the process. Now, Google AI Studio will generate your app. When it does, you will see that the screen is divided in two. On the left you have a part that is like a chat with the tool’s AI, and on the right the preview. Once you finish, you can test that everything works to your liking, and use the chat on the left to request changes and corrections. It is very important that you now take your time adding and changing elements in the application. Do it little by little, don’t be in a hurry and make short prompts with specific changes to progress progressively. With every prompt you type, Google AI Studio will remake the app. You can also ask the AI ​​that generated the app questions, and based on the answers to ask it to make changes. For example, you can ask him make sure the data is saved in the localStoragein the computer’s memory, so that they are not exposed on the network. You can also ask for more complex things, like helping you set up a system for signing in with your Google Account and saving your data to Google Drive. In this case, the AI ​​that you have on the side of the project will guide you step by step through what you have to do and giving you the credentials to do it. By default the tool will show you a preview of what you are creating. but you can click on the tab code to preview the internal code of the web application. You also have a download button to download the code and then be able to use it whenever you want. … Read more

These are the provinces with the most first-time passes

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Passing the driving test on the first try doesn’t just depend on how well you have prepared. It also has a lot to do with where you do it from. a study has analyzed the data of all the autonomous communities based on records of passes and failures from 2024, and reveals striking differences between each community: the first-time success rate ranges between 56.42% in Castilla-La Mancha and 42.65% in the Canary Islands. Below all the details. Every second. The national average of passes in the practical exam on the first try is 50.21%, according to the report from Carwow. In theory, the figure is slightly higher: 51.48% manage to pass it on the first attempt. The rest need at least one additional attempt, and 54.06% of the drivers who ended up passing the test did so after having failed at least once. The provinces where the first pass is approved the most. Castilla-La Mancha tops the national ranking with 56.42% passing the practical on the first try, followed by Asturias (55.60%) and Extremadura (54.12%). Murcia (52.53%) and the Valencian Community (51.97%) complete the top five. If we go down to the city level, the study places Soria as the town with the highest overall success rate, with 60.70% combining theory and practice. On the other hand, Badajoz has the highest practical pass rate in the entire country, with 63.29%. The provinces where it costs the most. At the opposite extreme, the Canary Islands (42.65%) and the Balearic Islands (42.77%) are the autonomous communities where it is most difficult to pass the pilot the first time. Cantabria (46.14%) and Madrid (44.89%) are also clearly below the national average. At the city level, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria registers the worst data in the country both in theory (40.69%) and in practice (37.19%), with a combined rate of just 38.94%. Why is there so much difference? There really is no single factor that explains everything. The type of traffic, the topography of the roads, urban density and the usual exam circuits directly influence the difficulty that one may perceive in the test. Driving through Madrid or Barcelona in the exam has nothing to do with driving through Soria or Badajoz. This is something that, according to collects Idealist In its analysis of the cost of the license, it already leads some applicants to change cities to take the exam looking to do it in a “simpler” place. More difficulty in exams. One of the most relevant data from the Carwow study is the downward trend in approval rates. In the theoretical exam, all the provinces analyzed registered a drop compared to ten years ago, with a national average of 14.47% fewer passes. According to the studyCiudad Real is the one that has fallen the most: 23.25% less. In practice, the situation is more unequal: some provinces improve (Ávila rose 16.72%) while others worsen (Palencia fell 15.24%), although the national average variation barely reaches 0.48%. And suspending is also expensive. The cost of obtaining a license goes far beyond what many initially calculate. The average price of the B license in Spain is around 650-700 euros if everything is approved the first time. But that figure can easily go to more than 1,000 euros if one fails several times, since each new call implies going back to pay DGT fees (94.05 euros) in addition to additional practical classes, which range between 25 and 50 euros per session depending on the city. Carwow’s own studio points out that 38% of those surveyed declared having paid less than 700 euros, while 7% paid between 1,000 and 1,500 euros. Those who already have the card. The outlet also asked nearly 1,000 Spanish drivers about their experience. 80% assure that they would pass the practical again the first time if they had to repeat it today. And among those who encountered difficulties during the process, 15% of those surveyed said it was due to lack of time, the price of obtaining the license (7%), or lengthy waiting lists to be examined (7%). In Xataka | The four days in which Valencia had a red and green traffic light at the same time: a mess resolved with a 45,000 euro fine

Spain has been looking for a way to make mass tourism more digestible for years. The US threatens to do the job for her

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In 2025, Spain was left with the desire to reach the 100 million tourists foreigners. Now a cloud on the other side of the Atlantic threatens to move that milestone further away also in 2026. In a turbulent scenario, conditioned by the warthe brent barrel climbing and domestic politics, more and more Americans are rethinking their trips abroad. This is suggested by at least one report from the consulting firm Cirium, which has detected a “puncture” both in flight reservations between Europe and the US and (and here is the key) from the US to Europe. The data is relevant because the flow of Americans connects with other fronts that affect Spain, such as the demand of the tourism sector or the housing. A percentage: 11.2%. The data has advanced it USA Today. In a chronicle on tourism and international travel patterns, the newspaper slips a couple of data from the consulting firm Cirium that leave a clear reading: the demand for transatlantic flights is suffering. And quite obviously. According to their analysis, reservations from Europe to the United States have experienced a year-on-year decrease (July 2025-July 2026) of 15.34%. In the opposite direction, from the United States to Europe, a drop of 11.19% has also been recorded. Country of origin Tourists (2025) AVERAGE expenditure per tourist € (2025) United Kingdom 19,084,423 1,240 France 12,767,491 908 Germany 12,050,833 1,317 Italy 5,704,989 956 Netherlands 5,007,641 1,423 USA 4,456,665 2,297 Portugal 3,383,482 602 The alarms go off. The falls are striking, but they are even more shocking when compared to measurements that the consultancy managed at the beginning of the year. The outlook they drew at that time was also negative and predicted falls, but not so abrupt. Europe-US reserves pointed to a decline of 14.22% and US-Europe reserves of 7.27%. The reading is clear: travel forecasts have worsened, especially those of Americans. Why is it important? That the US has lost appeal among foreign tourists is no surprise. In 2025, after the return of Donald Trump to the White House and the trade and immigration war with which his mandate began, there began to be talk of a tourist boycott to the country of the stars and stripes. In 2026 the outlook is not simple either. The US has the powerful claim of the World Cup (it is the host along with Mexico and Canada), but the year has still started losing travelers and Oxford Economics estimates that, despite the ‘FIFA effect’, 2026 will close with a discreet growth tourism of 3.9%. What is striking about Cirium’s analysis is that the flow of tourists does not seem to be suffering only in the ‘USA direction’. Demand also pushes in the opposite direction, from Americans themselves, who are less interested in crossing the pond to visit Europe. USA Today cites two cases: reservations to Frankfurt have been reduced by 26.8% and those to London by 11.31%. Half surprise. The truth is that Cirium’s data only confirms the forecasts released several months ago by YouGov, which in December published a study in which he already warned that Americans would face their international vacations with some “caution” in 2026. The report left out some percentages for reflection. For example, 60% of those surveyed admitted that they never traveled abroad for pleasure, something that is largely explained by the cost of flying. Another interesting fact is that 43% admit to having traveled less abroad during the last year. But… And why is that? There is no single answer. When talking about the decline in demand in December, YouGov slid two factors why Americans pack less now. First, due to “economic uncertainty”, a reason cited by almost a third (28%) of those surveyed. Second, due to the increased cost of travel, something that 18% complained about. Since then the picture has become more complex. Added to the uncertainty are geopolitical tensions and the conflict in the Middle East, which, remember USA Todaybeyond the rise in oil prices, has “revived fears of terrorism.” The newspaper recalls that messages like the one left not long ago by Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, about the security risks derived from the war in Iran weigh on US travelers. There would be another factor influencing Americans’ flight plans. The prolonged government shutdown from the end of 2025 has increased the burden on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which partly translates into long lines at the country’s airports. Now we add the changes to the airport map caused by the war in Iran, the foreseeable increase in the cost of transportation and flight cancellation due to increased costs. Does Spain care? Yes. The US is not only a world power. It also represents an important fishing ground for tourists and expats interested in spending time in our country. According to data from the INE, last year Spain received 96.8 million of foreign visitors. Of them some 4.4 million (almost 5%) came from the US, making it one of the main foreign markets. Its average expenditure per person is also high: 2,297 euros in 2025, above the average (1,392) and nations like Germany. Its weight is relevant if Spain wants to reach the goal of 100 million visitors. It is also felt in another market closely connected to tourism: housing. Both through vacation rentals and the expatswhich in recent years have set their sights on the European market due to their attractiveness. In fact there are experts who they already warn that there are areas like Mallorca that are arousing more and more appetite among Americans looking for luxury homes. Image | Martijn Vonk (Unsplash) In Xataka | China stripped Japan of its tourists in hopes of causing an economic hole. Nothing could be further from reality

You just have to distribute the loading schedule better

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Among the challenges and doubts that the electric car presents is what would happen if there were mass adoption. Obviously they would have to be fed. If we think about fossil fuel cars and their variants, the solution has been operational for decades: those gas stations spread throughout our municipalities that we use as we see fit. In the event that everyone had an electric car, the million-dollar question is whether the electrical grid is designed to support that demand. A study by The Brattle Group for EnergyHub Change that focus that invites you to think about more investment in infrastructure for a more sensible solution: choose the moment well. Because there is a potentially disastrous habit: charging the car as soon as you get home. What the study says. This study shows that the most widespread solution to manage the charging of electric cars is to take advantage of the cheapest nighttime electricity rate. When night falls and the price drops, the bulk of the cars begin to charge practically at the same time, creating at that moment a consumption peak twice as high as the largest peak that could occur if each driver charged whenever they wanted without any type of restriction. Why is it important. Because the electrical network does not suffer from total consumption but rather it is those specific peaks that are critical, forcing the infrastructure to be reinforced. The problem is not how much energy they consume but when. The study calculates that precisely this attractive night rate is what forces work to be done earlier than necessary, with secondary lines, transformers, substations, an expensive infrastructure that everyone pays for, whether they have an electric car or not. What the study proposes is to use active managed charging, that is, to intelligently distribute the charging moment of each vehicle. According to their tests, this practice would allow between doubling and tripling (depending on the network section, between 1.3 and 3.2 times) to absorb more EV cars without major rushes. Context. The study sample is the driving and charging habits of 58 people residing in the state of Washington in real use situations. And although there are obviously differences between American and Spanish citizens (without going any further, in the architecture of their homes), this charging habit can be extrapolated and so can its conclusions. Thus, while the cheap American rate starts at 9 p.m., in Spain It goes from 12 at night to 8 in the morning. Nowadays, the standard strategy of countries and electricity companies to distribute consumption involves peak-off-peak rates because they are easy to implement and understand for citizens. However, this type of time discrimination rates were developed before electric cars existed and even the latest modification (in Spain it was in 2021) when these were rare birds. The proposal. This type of charging does not imply that the driver loses absolute control over the load or that in the morning you prepare to go to work and find that your vehicle has 10% battery. Broadly speaking, smart charging looks like what mobile phones do. Thus, the most advanced platforms analyze the real usage habits of each person so that, when you go to the car at your usual time, you find it ready. The system knows what time you need the car charged, it charges it little by little during the night, taking advantage of the times of lower demand and arrives on time with the car ready. The study concludes that the key is to anticipate: if these systems are implemented before mass adoption, the savings in infrastructure can be notable. A trust problem. The point is not so much to have this technology, as there are companies like ev.energy, Kaluza either WeaveGrid with pilot programs of virtual power plants that manage demand to balance consumption, but with trust: forget about the plug and hand over the charging task to a platform with the peace of mind that you will have your car ready when you need it. In Xataka | How much does it cost to charge an electric car: recommended rates In Xataka | Electric car charger: the best models Cover | EV Charging Ratio

Big Tech has entrusted the keys to its kingdom to NVIDIA. Now they want the keys back

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NVIDIA is no longer a gaming graphics card company: NVIDIA is a ubiquitous company. That means it is the baby at the baptism, the bride at the wedding and the cement of the manufacturing industry. artificial intelligence. Your hardware is in the most powerful data centers on the planethis software controls everything and your money invest in any company that has something to say in AI. Big Tech (and everyone) is blindly trusting NVIDIA and has been given the keys to the house, but something is changing. And now they want the keys back to regain control. All the spotlights. Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta have bought hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs to shape your AI aspirations. At some point many began to develop their own hardware, but in the end NVIDIA’s was everywhere and was the one that gave the most guarantees, so they “gave up.” Apple, curiously, opted for Amazon. And not just the big ones. OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral or xAI are purely AI companies that They bet very heavily on NVIDIA from the beginning. Its hardware is the one that leads the way, the one that Western and Chinese companies want and the one that has such a brutal demand that it has elevated the company as the best client of TSMC and Samsung. amd. But no one likes to have all their eggs in one basket, and those same names are moving. From a position of absolute dominance, in a short time we can move to another in which the hardware market is much more diversified. AMD is NVIDIA’s great historical rival in the PC gaming segment (and in consoles), but although they were out of the conversation for a few years, they have returned with force. They have the hardware and are moving to get the same memory that NVIDIA has (and Samsung wins more than anyone else) and contracts as juicy as the one they achieved recently with Meta. The big rival also has deep pockets and is committed to taking a piece of the AI ​​pie. The Chinese threat. On the other side of the world we have China. We have said on numerous occasions that China is on to other things when we talk about AI. If the West pursues the AGI (with questionable claims like it’s already here), to China doesn’t care exactly. They want fast chips that allow them to create accessible and monetizable models in the short term. But they also have Huawei, the company that has become the spearhead of the Chinese technology industry thanks to its collaboration with foundries such as SMIC is allowing, in an unthinkable way due to vetoes, can develop advanced chips. The development of cutting-edge chips still needs to be achieved, but Huawei already has more powerful inference chips than NVIDIA’s H20, according to them, and a supercluster for training. Taking back control. Because in that term, “inference”, is where the current key is. AI training is important because it is what allows the model to then have the data and have a wardrobe to pull from, but inference is the final layer, which processes the user’s request to provide a response. There is not so much raw power needed, and that is what almost all the companies mentioned above are taking advantage of. Amazon, Google or Meta have programs in which they are actively researching or developing chips proper for inference. OpenAI has signed an agreement with Broadcom to supply chips and xAI along with other companies Musk also has its own chips and they plan to open factories. And in China things are no different with Cambricon wanting to be a local alternative to NVIDIA and giants like Alibaba either ByteDance getting into chip design. Groq. Given this, do you think NVIDIA is standing still? Among their hardware proposals, they have Groq, an inference accelerator that is designed for, next to Vera Rubinprocess a large amount of data at enormous speed. Groq was an unknown in the world of AI – until NVIDIA licensed it – and specialized from the beginning in that: chips with minimal latency for inference. The key is in the architecture of its chips and it was a piece that was missing from the NVIDIA catalog and shows that, although the rest want the keys back, the one that already had them may have made a backup copy to continue being the reference. Because they may all be preparing their chips, but while they arrive, NVIDIA is already there and, in fact, with Groq it seeks to sneak into theThe $50 billion pie: China. Problem for NVIDIA. But of course, that’s part of the story. The other is that NVIDIA also has all its eggs in one basket: that of AI. In the middle of last year we already mentioned that six customers represent 85% of all NVIDIA revenue in the previous quarter. It is an absolute nonsense that shows that, if there is a shift in technology, a puncture of the bubble or a new player that arrives strongly, the situation for NVIDIA may not be so favorable. The question is whether a regime change can come and everything will be allowed to collapse like a house of cards. The uncomfortable thing is that an absurd amount of money is being invested and it’s not something that can escalate forever. In Xataka | Jensen Huang believes we have reached the “coming of the AI ​​wolf.” It is perfect for feeding a Tamagotchi

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