achieved

Predicting a drought six months in advance was a utopia. The UPV has achieved this with a system that uses AI

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In recent years drought episodes have intensified in some regions and fear of a global drought flies over the environment. In this scenario, a team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia have created a system that can predict whether there will be a drought six months in advance. The system. The work has been carried out by the team from the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) of the UPV and has been published in the journal Earth Systems and Environment. The method integrates predictions from four reference climate systems (ECMWF-SEAS5, Météo-France System8, DWD-GCF2.1 and CMCC-SPSv3.5) and are processed using artificial intelligence techniques. From this data, the team calculated two of the most important international drought indices (the Standardized Precipitation Index and the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index), using data windows of 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. The method has been applied in the Júcar River basin, which usually goes through stages of recurrent and quite intense droughts. Why is it important. The novelty of this system is that it is not limited to using a single climate model or index, but rather it merges three pieces that are usually used separately and adds AI processing to correct biases and adapt the models to a regional scale. This allows the prediction to be more reliable since it does not depend on a single model. Furthermore, all of this has been integrated into an operational web toolintended to be used in water management and not only as an academic exercise. Results. The system is correct with a reliability of 90% when the prediction is made for that same month. If they want to obtain predictions three months in advance, the reliability is 60%, while for longer periods (12, 18 and 24 months) they do not give a percentage, but they affirm that the model is still useful for predicting what will happen up to six months in advance. Héctor Macián, co-author of the study, states that “The results confirm that the system is especially effective in reinforcing early warning of droughts, a fundamental aspect to anticipate management measures, reduce socioeconomic impacts and increase resilience to climate change.” Action window. As we said, the methodology has been developed in the Júcar river basin, which is a semi-arid area with long, dry and very hot summers, although researchers highlight that it is transferable to other drought-prone areas. Being able to foresee these episodes with up to six months of margin opens a window to implement the drought management plans much more in advance and thus be able to mitigate the effects. Image | UPV In Xataka | The remains of an ancient Mayan city leave us lessons for the future: an amazing system against drought

He has achieved it by combining James Webb and Hubble

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There are images that do not need context to impose themselves. Saturn is one of them. It is enough to see it to understand why it continues to be one of the great protagonists of the solar system: for its shape, for its rings and for that mixture of apparent simplicity and complexity that it hides. The same thing happens to many of us, we stop at any new photograph as if it were the first. And that is somewhat logical, because we do not always have the opportunity to observe it with a such a rich comparison between visible and infrared light nor to get closer, even through an image, to what really happens in its atmosphere. On this occasion, what NASA has shown It is not simply a new photograph, but a different way of observing the same planet. In a single comparative image (Click to download the image in high definition), the agency has put together an observation from Hubble taken on August 22, 2024 and another from James Webb captured on November 29 of the same year, 14 weeks apart. The result is a double view that seeks not so much to impress as to explain how what we see changes when we observe at different wavelengths. What are we really seeing in this image? If we stop at the image, the difference is obvious from the first moment. On the left, the James Webb shows a Saturn with darker, more contrasting tones, where the rings shine brightly because they are made of highly reflective water ice. On the right, Hubble offers a view much closer to how we would perceive it with the naked eye, with soft colors and more subtle bands. According to NASA, both telescopes are observing sunlight reflected by the clouds and mists of the planetbut each one does so in different ranges, which radically changes the information they provide. On the left, the image of Saturn captured by the James Webb Space Telescope; On the right, the one obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope: two views that reveal its active atmosphere, its moons and its bright rings Beyond the visual contrast, this comparison allows us to peek into what happens inside Saturn’s atmosphere. The agency explains that by combining both observations, scientists can study the planet at different altitudes, from the deepest clouds to the highest and most diffuse regions. In the Webb image, for example, a long-lasting jet stream known as a “ribbon wave” appears and also a persistent remnant of the great spring storm of 2010 to 2012. Hubble, for its part, provides continuity in monitoring the bands and the general evolution of the planet. At this point, it is worth clarifying something important: we are not looking at two photographs that reproduce Saturn in the same way. The difference is in how the light is collected and interpreted. Hubble works in the visible spectrum, the same one our eyes perceive, which is why its image is more familiar. James Webb, in this case, observes in the infrared, a radiation invisible to us which allows detecting clouds and compounds at different depths in the atmosphere. In order to display this data, scientists translate these signals into visible colors, and from there come the unnatural tones that appear in your image. If we move all this to a closer scene, the most reliable reference would be the Hubble image. That is the closest thing to how we would perceive Saturn, with soft tones, not very marked bands and bright but natural rings. But the interesting thing is not to choose between one or the other, but to understand what each look contributes. Webb’s allows us to go beyond the visible and detect processes that would otherwise remain hidden. And it is precisely in that combination where this image gains all its meaning. Images | POT In Xataka | Artemis II will take NASA to the Moon half a century later. He will do it with the help of the University of Seville

The massive flight of investors and millionaires suggests that he has achieved it

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For years, Dubai has been the promised land for millionaires from all over the planet who saw the United Arab Emirates as a idyllic place to live without paying taxes. The Iranian attacks with missiles and drones on different infrastructures in Dubai in recent weeks have changed that perception and the financial elite, especially Asian millionaires, are putting their feet (and fortunes) on the run. The city that seduced more than 81,000 millionaires Since 2014, it is now facing an unprecedented flight of capital and talent. The prestige that took decades to build is being tested in a matter of days. ​Explosions in the heart of the city. The last few weeks have left us images that few would have imagined in February. The Fairmont The Palm hotel, located in one of the artificial islands off the coast of Dubai, was hit for an explosion. Days later the remains of an Iranian drone demolished set fire to the iconic Burj Al Arab, the international airport has suffered damage from drone attacks and the american consulate has been the target of another drone attack. The city that boasted of being the safest in the world, in a matter of weeks, has become a scene of war. “The US-Israel war against Iran is undermining that crucial sense of security in Dubai. Dubai’s economic model relies on expatriate residents providing talent, muscle and investment capital. Stability and security are needed to attract skilled foreigners.”, assured to CNBC Jim Krane, researcher at the Baker Institute at Rice University. ​Asian money in retreat. However, the most visible impact is being felt among Asian investors, who had become one of the pillars of Dubai’s financial growth. According to data by Henley & Partners, Dubai is currently home to 237 centimillionaires (people with wealth of $100 million or more) and at least 20 billionaires Asia accounted for 47% of all multinational companies attracted to Dubai International Chamber in 2025, and around a quarter of the more than 2,270 foundations created in the Emirates have Asian ownership, according to data from the consulting firm BSA Law. Bloomberg published that the United Arab Emirates had attracted some 700 billion dollars from millionaires around the world, especially Asians. Singapore and Hong Kong, new chosen destinations. Grace Tang, CEO of Phillip Private Equity, pointed out to Reuters that between 10 and 20 of their customers, mostly Asian, are asking about how transfer your assets to Singapore to protect the value of its assets. Hong Kong also emerges as an alternative. For his part, Felix Lai, from the consulting firm JMS Group, counted to Bloomberg who had organized a private jet flight to transport 15 clients from Oman to Hong Kong at a cost of approximately $300,000. “They didn’t even care about the price,” Lai explained. “They just wanted to leave.” An advisor in Singapore who declined to be identified added that more than half of his 13 clients in the Emirates are seriously considering moving their assets: “Flying back and forth will be complicated even if the conflict ends tomorrow. It’s about trust.” Dubai’s economic model faces its biggest test. Dubai does not depend as directly on the oil industry as its neighbors, but its economy is based on its ability to attract expatriates, your investments and his talent. At the beginning of the year, the Dubai International Finance Center housed 1,289 entities linked to family offices (61% more than the previous year), and the 120 main families in the center jointly managed more than 1.2 billion dollars, according to CNBC. Although stock markets around the world have felt the earthquake resulting from the attacks in an area of ​​strategic resources for trade and energy, the impact of the conflict with Iran has been much more severe and direct for the Gulf markets. The Dubai Stock Exchange (DFM) has fallen more than 16.6% since the start of the war between the US and Israel against Iran. Fitch Ratings had already predicted before the war a real estate correction of up to 15% in 2025 and 2026. Everything indicates that they have fallen short the worst estimates of the financial consequences. Passing panic or structural change? Not all actors in the sector believe that this will lead to a permanent mass flight. Dhruba Jyoti Sengupta, CEO of Wrise Private Middle East in Dubai, pointed out to Reuters that his firm had not observed “serious conversations about capital flight” as its clients remain confident in the country’s long-term resilience. ​Nirbhay Handa, CEO of migration agency for millionaires Multipolitanpointed in Bloomberg “If uncertainty lasts a few weeks, some companies may pause their expansion, but stability will likely return quickly to Dubai as the situation improves.” What does seem clear is that the city will have to rebuild something much more difficult to build than its skyscrapers for millionaires: trust of those who chose it as a home for their money. In Xataka | A company wants to build a €4 billion megacasino in Dubai. The problem is that Dubai prohibits gambling Image | Unsplash (Wael Hneini)

Predicting dementia seven years in advance seemed impossible. An AI with Spanish participation has just achieved it

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The diagnosis of the neurodegenerative diseases You face a problem at the time the diagnosis is made, since in many cases it is diagnosed when the symptoms are already evident and this makes the brain damage irreversible. But… What if we could peer into the future of the brain years before the disease shows its face? This is precisely what a Spanish team has done with a new biomarker. The study. The future of medicine involves making increasingly earlier diagnoses so that the success of treatments is much greater, and now in a recent published article in Science Report The door opens for this to be a reality in dementia. To get here, what the researchers propose, where have you participated Rubén Armañanzas, from the DATAI Institute of the University of Navarra, is the use of a test such as the electroencephalogram together with artificial intelligence to develop a biomarker capable of predicting the risk of dementia with up to seven years in advance. Your methodology. To understand the magnitude of this advance, we must look at the population on which the study was carried out, which are people with subjective cognitive impairment. These are patients who go to the doctor because they notice that their memory is failing, but when they undergo standard cognitive tests, the results are completely normal, so they cannot be given a clear diagnosis even though it seems that something is not right. Until now, medicine found a blind spot in this phase as there was no way to know if these ‘complaints’ in memory were the prelude to Alzheimer’s or simply confusion. But now, the study with 88 older adults with this situation has shown that the brain emits alarm signals long before psychological tests detected them. You just had to know how to ‘read’ them. A new method. Here the research has unified different metrics to be able to read these warning signs. The first thing of all is to use an electroencephalogram to measure brain activity, which is a cheap, quick and non-invasive test. From here, the BrainScope technology platform analyzes this data by looking for 14 specific features related to neuronal connectivity and brain wave behavior. Once these characteristics are ‘found’, an AI algorithm comes in that processes the patterns and determines whether the patient analyzed can progress towards mild cognitive impairment or dementia such as Alzheimer’s. And the results are spectacular, since it has demonstrated outstanding precision when separating patients who develop the disease from those who do not. The future. The great value of this biomarker is not only technological, but also clinical, since the most reliable current tests to predict pathologies such as Alzheimer’s require painful lumbar punctures or scans that are not cheap. A system based on EEG and AI could be easily integrated into primary care clinical protocols or routine neurological consultations as it does not have a very high cost and, above all, is not invasive. The important thing here is to detect neurodegeneration in the earliest phases in order to gain golden time so that new drugs can act at the beginning of the disease and gain years of quality of life. Images | Robina Weermeijer In Xataka | We have a new “theory of everything” to understand Alzheimer’s. Its key is in some small granules

Humanity has been wondering for years how to adapt to climate change. The Mayans already achieved it centuries ago

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Beyond its architecture, urban planning and art, there is an aspect of the Mayan civilization that fascinates archaeologists: its decline. Over time, historians have understood that the decline was not sudden nor did it respond to a single factor, rather there was a sum that included changes in trade routes, wars and, above all, adverse weather, with droughts. severe and prolonged. Now we know something more. Even during the stages of Classic Terminal (800-1000 AD) and Postclassic (1000-1500 AD), while large urban centers succumbed, there were settlements that adapted to climate changes. What has happened? Which a group of archaeologists has just published an article in which they capture their years of research in a Mayan settlement located in ‘Birds of Paradise’, some wetlands located in the north of Belize. The site itself is not new. Scientists identified it long ago a few years with the help of lidara tool that is revolutionizing archaeology. What is new are the conclusions that its analysis has left. He study is published in the magazine PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) and, among other issues, concludes that the wetland offers valuable information about how the Mayans responded to the social and environmental changes they dealt with during two crucial stages of their history: the Classic Terminal and Postclassic, a period that goes from the 9th to the 16th centuries. What have they found out? As they explain from New York University (NYU), to which the main author of the study belongs, one of the most interesting readings that the site leaves is the extent to which the Mayans adapted to the vagaries of the climate. Basically, researchers have proven that at a time when large urban centers were abandoned, pressured in part by intense droughtsthere were Mayan settlements that managed to survive in the wetlands. As? For its ability to adapt to the environment. And how did they do it? Taking advantage of the means they had at hand. “Wetlands provided resources for hunting and fishing to ancient populations, in addition to serving as refuge in periods of drought and social upheavals,” they explain from NYU. The environment supplied them with something else, equally or even more valuable for their settlements: construction materials. The site in question that they have analyzed in Belize in fact includes eight mounds of earth that could have served as a base for building buildings and a large elevated limestone platform. The experts also rescued wooden posts, animal remains and ceramic artifacts, clues that tell us about how life continued while other nearby urban centers declined. What do the experts say? “Together these findings reveal a highly adaptable community with diverse tools, food and construction materials. It shows us that Mayan communities could change habitats and survive extreme climates,” explains Timothy Beachprofessor at the University of Texas at Austin, who nevertheless recognizes that “we still do not know the size of this wetland population and its functioning.” Now archaeologists aim to go one step further. “Our next moves include expanding the excavations to understand how the Mayans built with unconventional wood, how they ate, and how this settlement fit into a region that was suffering from widespread abandonment.” Why is it important? Because of the historical era we are talking about. In their article, the researchers assure that the Belize site demonstrates the ability of the ancient Mayans to adapt to “the profound challenges” that they had to live through from the 9th century AD. For reference, a team led by the University of Cambridge discovered not long ago that between 871 and 1021 they happened eight persistent droughtsof at least three years, in the Yucatán Peninsula. The worst of all actually lasted more than a decade. The scientists arrived at that conclusion after analyzing a stalagmite from a Yucatan cave. And, beyond how spectacular it may be, the data is interesting because it tells us about the challenges that the Mayans faced during the Terminal Classic (800-1000 AD), when the limestone cities of the south they were abandonedthe dynasties declined and civilization moved north, losing part of its political and economic power in the area. Are there more conclusions? “As the large urban centers of the Mayan regions succumbed to interconnected socio-environmental factors, the communities of the Birds of Paradise complex persisted through that transition by constructing a series of elevated structures of earth, stone and wood with direct access to the abundant resources and connectivity offered by the riparian wetland system,” reads the article published in PNAS. “It provides evidence for persistent populations between the Elevated Interior Region and coastal regions during the Terminal Classic to Postclassic. While nearby highland urban centers were abandoned, this population continued to emphasize wetland agriculture and provides our best evidence for other subsistence strategies, such as fishing and gathering other proteins, reflected in the faunal assemblage,” they add the researchers. What did they dig? That is another of the surprises that the study leaves behind. Archaeologists discovered what NYU describes as “the largest collection of architectural wood” located inland, as well as artifacts that help historians understand everyday life in the wetlands. It may seem like a minor issue, but it is not common to find remains of wood in Mayan sites. On the contrary. Their very nature causes them to degrade in tropical environments. In Belize, experts have discovered “a unique opportunity” which allows them to better understand how the ancient Mayans built, what types of wood they used and how they used each one. Is it so uncommon? The majority of preserved Mayan wooden remains are figurines, spears and boxes that were recovered mainly in caves in Belize at the beginning of the 20th century. Remains have also been found in mountainous and saline areas in the south of the country. The new findings go further. “It challenges long-held beliefs that sites like this could not survive in the American tropics and suggests we might be overlooking similar sites,” admits Lara Sánchez-Morales, professor of anthropology … Read more

science has already achieved it

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The idea of ​​controlling what we dream or using downtime to solve complex problems may sound like science fiction in fairly iconic movies like Inception. However, the “dream engineering“has ceased to be a fantasy since science confirms that not only can we influence the content of our dreams, but doing so can improve our mental health and cognitive ability. The device that whispers. The technique is called Directed Dream Incubation (TDI) and the most recent results, published in 2025, suggest it could be the key to treat chronic nightmares and increase our sense of control over the subconscious. The key is that, unlike spontaneous lucid dreams, this technique uses technology to detect specific phases of sleep and send auditory stimuli. A recent study published in Sleep Advancesput this system to the test with surprising results. And using a device called Dormiothe researchers monitored the sleep phase N1that is, the transition stage between when we are awake and asleep and which lasts approximately between 1 and 7 minutes. How it was done. The experiment was simple but effective, since the participants only had to lie down and take a nap. At that moment, upon detecting the onset of sleep, the device the instruction whispered “Think of a tree,” and then the subject had to be awakened briefly to ask for a verbal report and then he was allowed to sleep. The result was overwhelming: 92% of the participants incorporated the “tree” theme in their dreams. Subjects reported everything from visions of forests and roots to more abstract transformations related to vegetation. Control as therapy. What was truly revolutionary about the 2025 study wasn’t just getting people to dream about trees, but what happened afterward. The researchers here discovered a significant increase in Dream Self-Efficacy (DSE), which is nothing more than an individual’s belief in their own ability to control or influence their dreams. Having this sense of being able to control your sleep is crucial for treating disorders such as trauma-related nightmares that are common in post-traumatic stress disorder. Solving problems. Although the study of Sleep Advances focuses on mental health, other parallel investigations explore the productive aspect. In these experiments, puzzles were used that are difficult for anyone to solve, and that is why while people were sleeping they were induced to dream about this puzzle. The result was that 42% of participants Those who were induced to dream about the puzzle managed to solve it when they woke up, compared to only 17% of those who did not dream about the problem. This suggests that the brain, when given the right stimulus, can continue to process logical and creative information in the background, a phenomenon that technology now allows us to systematize. Sleep therapy. Although the aforementioned study had a preliminary sample of 25 people (almost half of whom suffered from frequent nightmares), the data point to a paradigm shift. Until now, we slept “blind”, but tools like Dormio and protocols like TDI suggest a future where sleep is not a passive period, but an active state that we can program. Whether it is to overcome trauma, as they suggest, or to find the solution to a creative problem, technology is beginning to illuminate the darkness of our dreams. Images | iam_os In Xataka | If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you don’t have a “superpower”: it’s a warning signal from your brain

Argentina has achieved something unprecedented since 1974: reforming its labor market

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After a session of more than 13 hours, the senators of Argentina they have given the go-ahead to the processing of the labor reform proposed by the government of Javier Milei. The call Labor Modernization Law It is Milei’s first major legislative victory in 2026 and rewrites pillars of the current labor system in force since the 1970s. In parallel, the union centers prepare new strikes and judicial actions to try to stop a rule that, in their opinion, makes dismissal cheaper, lengthens the working day and empties the right to strike of any content, while the Executive insists that without this type of reforms Argentina will remain trapped in a rigid labor marketwith a lot of underground economy and little investment. The Senate approves it, the street does not. The project of labor reform in Argentina has overcome its main obstacle by obtaining the necessary majority in the Senate, after more than 13 hours of session that ended with 42 votes in favor and 30 against, with no abstentions. The measure was approved while on the street Tear gas and police charges quelled the discontent of workers and union organizations. The balance of these protests is at least 15 injured and several dozen protesters detained. With the approval of the Senate, the Government is already maneuvering so that the labor regulations pass without major changes their approval by the Deputies, which is considered a mere procedure with supports already closed. Cheaper layoffs. The economic heart of the reform is in the calculation of severance pay. The law modifies what parameters are taken into account to calculate the settlement after dismissal. The bonus is left out of the compensation calculation (Supplementary Annual Salary), vacations and non-monthly bonuses, concepts that today many judges do take into account when calculating compensation. The practical result is that, in the event of an unfair dismissal, the worker will receive compensation lower than with the current scheme, although the norm incorporates a minimum limit of 67% of the usual salary. In addition, large companies can divide the payment of compensation to dismissed employees into up to six monthly installments, and up to 12 installments for SMEs. A common fund for compensation. To cushion the impact of compensation on companies, the new regulations contemplate the creation of the Labor Assistance Fund (FAL), a kind of common “piggy bank” for companies that is filled with mandatory monthly contributions. Large companies will contribute 1% monthly and SMEs 2.5% on the same basis that is used today for Social Security contributions. Therefore, Social Security will no longer have these resources and they will be administered under state supervision. When a worker is fired, a good part of the compensation that corresponds It will not be assumed by the company, but will come largely from that fund. Day up to 12 hours and bank of hours. The reform does not increase the working hours, which continue to be a maximum of 48 hours per week, but it does change how they are distributed. The key is in the “hour bank”. Company and worker may agree that, instead of paying for all hours worked beyond the eight hours per day established by law, they are counted as overtime hours and are later compensated with days off or reductions in working hours. This measure opens the door to some days that the day can be extended up to 12 hours, as long as it is then balanced within the agreed period. For the Executive, this new model gives flexibility to sectors with peaks of activity. For the unions, it gives rise to the continuation of the days without the economic bonus that today protects the worker. Unregulated overtime. Another of the changes approved in the new Argentine labor regulations is that compensation for overtime is no longer regulated almost exclusively by collective agreements, and is now negotiated individually between the employee and the company. Added to this is another relevant novelty in terms of salaries: the salary can be paid both in pesos and in foreign currency, or even in kind, food or accommodation. Salary payment must be made through a bank transaction, thus reducing the underground economy that encourages cash payments, and increasing fiscal control. Medical leave and vacations. Medical leaves due to illness or accidents other than work are limited in some cases. If the cause of the decline is considered a voluntary act or a health risk behavior, the employee will receive 50% of the basic salary for three months, as long as he or she does not have dependents, or six months if he or she does. In other cases, the percentage may reach up to 75% of the salary. The company also gains weight in the medical and control boards, which the unions interpret as a lack of protection for sick workers. Vacations also change logic. The new law allows vacation days to be divided into blocks of no less than seven consecutive days, which may be rotated throughout the year. In this way, it is no longer guaranteed to have all the summer vacationand it is only ensured that the worker will have at least a few days of vacation in the summer coinciding with school vacations once every three years. In practice, companies gain margin to organize the vacation calendar according to productive needs and distribute staff in different batches during the year without the employee having the power to decide on it. Limits on the right to strike. One of the most sensitive points for the labor movement are the restrictions on the right to strike and union organization. The reform significantly expands the list of “essential services“in which, even during a legal strike, at least 75% of the activity must be maintained. For the worker, this means that many stoppages will result in almost normal services and that the pressure capacity of the strikes is significantly reduced. Union meetings during working hours will require prior authorization from the companies and will not … Read more

with his latest Rosco, he has achieved audiences typical of the last century

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Rosa Rodríguez has entered the history of Spanish television, thanks to the 2,716 million euros she won in the legendary final rosco of ‘Pasapalabra’. The nightly special gathered 4.1 million viewers at its peak (a 45.3% share), figures that seem taken from another decade. But what is notable is not the prize or the specific audience, but rather that this contest, broadcast outside the prime timehas maintained for 25 years a capacity for convening that defies all logic. The fragmentation of audiences pulverizes formats each season, but ‘Pasapalabra’ grows. What happened. After 307 duel programs with Manu Pascual, Rodríguez, an Argentine teacher living in Galicia, completed the Rosco that gave her access to the largest jackpot ever awarded by ‘Pasapalabra’. Rodríguez and Pascual starred in the longest duel in the history of the program, 307 broadcasts faced in the final Rosco, a mark that far exceeds any other confrontation in the format. Pascual accumulated the absolute record for individual participations with 437 programs, and on six occasions he was one letter away from completing the rosco. On Thursday night, Rosa correctly resolved the 25 definitions (from “cruiser” to “Earl Morrall”, the American football player who closed her victory – not without controversy, since her pronunciation was not entirely correct, which triggered the inevitable on social networks. tongo accusations-) and dethroned Rafa Castañountil then holder of the largest jackpot with 2,272 million euros obtained in March 2023. Pascual left the contest with 270,600 euros accumulated, a considerable figure that does not mitigate the frustration of having touched the jackpot on half a dozen occasions. The audience. The data turns Pasapalabra into a statistical anomaly. This season, the contest registers a daily average of 1,928 million viewers with a 20.3% screen share. These figures correspond to its usual evening broadcast, in a time slot, eight in the afternoon, which the industry does not consider prime time and which competes with the end of work days, commuting and family routines. The tentacles of Pasapalabra. The impact of the program transcends its own broadcast. On Thursday Antena 3 reached 18.9% daily averagedouble its usual performance. ‘The Anthill’with Rosa and Manu before Rosco, scored a spectacular 23.5% of shareits best figure since March 2023. Vicente Vallés’ nightly news program reached close to 3.1 million viewers, its highest in three years thanks to the audience awaiting the outcome. The evening magazine ‘Y Ahora Sonsoles’ and the daily series ‘Sueños de Libertad’ also recorded season highs dragged by the ‘Pasapalabra’ effect. It was the day with highest television consumption of the entire seasonwith 10 million Spaniards in front of the television after 11:00 p.m., 20% more than the previous week. A revealing fact: the final Rosco segment alone reaches a 25% screen share and 2.6 million viewers on average, surpassing the global audience of the entire program. It is the moment of maximum tension, when the secondary screens turn off. 25 years. The permanence of ‘Pasapalabra’ in the Spanish television ecosystem for a quarter of a century is complex to explain. Since its debut on Antena 3 in July 2000, the contest has aired on three different networks, several judicial stoppages and presenter changes. It has not lost cultural relevance. Its format maintains a deliberately simple structure: two contestants accumulate seconds in verbal agility tests that they then invest in the final Rosco, 25 definitions whose answers correspond to the alphabet. That invariability is, paradoxically, one of its greatest attractions. An anomaly. The context in which Pasapalabra thrives makes its success even more surprising. At the end of 2024 63.3% of Spanish households with Internet access used at least one paid audiovisual platform. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and the rest of the on-demand services have radically reconfigured consumption patterns: viewers decide what to watch, when to watch it and on what device to play it. The rigidity of the traditional television schedule should be an obstacle, but it is not However, the numbers refute the supposed obsolescence of linear television. Digital platforms accumulate 16.7% of total audiovisual consumption in Spain, and traditional television maintains 83.3% according to a Kantar analysis from July 2024. Among those over 50, free-to-air television continues to be the dominant medium, with consumption exceeding three hours a day on weekends. ‘Pasapalabra’ capitalizes on that type of audience. The unique touch. What distinguishes ‘Pasapalabra’ from extinct formats like ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’? Its ability to generate events within the routine. Each Rosco is not just another episode: it is a potentially historic event, a unique opportunity to witness a record. The architecture of the growing jackpot transforms the daily broadcast into a series with no pre-established end. The suspense builds up for months until it explodes on nights like this Thursday. At prime time. Atresmedia’s decision to move the delivery of the boat to prime time generates a recurring debate among Pasapalabra’s loyal audience. Miguel Aparicio, director of the program, recognized that initially the team resisted this strategy: they preferred to “reward that follower who pays attention day after day” while maintaining the surprise factor. When Rosa completed the Rosco, Antena 3 built an entire programming architecture around the event, with a special prior to 8:00 p.m. in the program’s usual time slot, the appearance of the contestants on ‘El Hormiguero’ and finally the broadcast of the decisive Rosco after 11:00 p.m. This tactic has been repeated with the last big jackpots: Pablo Díaz in July 2021 (30.8% and 4.3 million), Rafa Castaño in March 2023 (37.4% and 4.5 million) and Óscar Díaz in May 2024 (30.1% and 3.2 million). They were all moved to nighttime hours after weeks of building expectations. The strategy works. Not only for the contest, which multiplies its usual audience, but for the entire grid. In Xataka | Telecinco’s crisis is so great that it is leading it to extreme measures: merging sets to save costs

What the war in Ukraine has not achieved, Greenland has done. Europe has taken out its “commercial bazooka” against the US: Ozempic

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For more than a year, Europe has become accustomed to living trapped in an uncomfortable balance where depends on the United States for its security through NATO, to sustain the Ukrainian effort and, ultimately, for the strategic architecture that has protected it since the Cold War. Now Greenland has done jump into the air part of the rhetoric. Europe and the counterattack. The crisis has erupted when Trump has returned to ignite a trade war using Greenland as an excuse and as an ultimatum: either some type of “agreement” that brings the island closer to the United States is accepted, or tariffs arrive first from 10% and after 25% a group of European countries designated by a minimal but symbolic gesture, to participate in Arctic maneuvers with Denmark. What until recently many in Europe preferred to interpret as bravado or negotiating tactics becomes an explicit message of political pressure that no longer leaves room for the fantasy of appeasement. And there appears the real change: what the Ukrainian war had not completely achieved (a frontal European response to American reprisals) Greenland is doing itbecause the coup is not against a geopolitical adversary but against alliesand because it puts Europe before a brutal choice: accept the blackmail and normalize it, or respond even if it hurts, even knowing that it continues to depend on Washington for its security and to contain Russia. The European bazooka. There is no doubt, the European reaction It is not born from enthusiasm, but from the feeling that there are no longer many other solutions: Greenland cannot be “handed over”, nor can Denmark sell an autonomous territory against the will of its population, and the very idea that an acquisition could be forced due to commercial threats opens a pandora’s box that affects the entire continent. In this context, Brussels dusts off for the first time his toughest tool, the so-called anti-coercion instrumentdesigned precisely to punish political pressures through rapid and forceful economic measures. on the table two paths appear that mark a leap in mentality: reactivate a package of tariffs worth of 93,000 million of euros already prepared and, if the escalation continues, go further of goods and target services, investment and even access to the European market for large American companies. The European message tries to be twofold, seeking a de-escalation that avoids an open clash, but making it clear that, if Trump turns trade into a method of extortion, Europe can also respond strongly. The crash that nobody wanted. The most disturbing thing about this episode is not only the economic impact of a tariff war, but the strategic fracture that it implies: Europe knows that a serious trade conflict with the United States will would infect NATOto Ukraine and the entire deterrence architecture against Russia. That is why the continent moves cautiouslycalling emergency meetings, preparing the ground for talks in Davos and even delaying previously agreed trade detente measures. But the core of the problem is that Trump is not negotiating a percentage or a clause: you are elevating a territorial objective to a national priority, presenting it as a requirement to “improve the security” of the Arctic, and implicitly denying that Europe can guarantee it. In this framework, Europe tries not to break the bridge, but assumes that it can no longer behave as if the bridge were indestructible. The sovereignty of Greenland. We’ve told it before: while Washington talks about “acquisition,” Greenland insists that its future belongs to them, that many they want more independencenot change flag. This point is essential because it explains why Europe doesn’t want to give in: it is not just about Danish pride or formalisms, but about sovereignty and democratic legitimacy, as well as an explosive precedent within the Union itself. The tariff threattherefore, works as an attempt to isolate Denmark and make it the weak link, although it has the opposite effect: it reinforces the idea that if you are attacked over a strategic issue, you will be respond as a block. And therein lies the paradox: instead of dividing, the pressure forces coordination, especially between Paris and Berlin, which push a harder line while others ask for time to see if Trump offers a “way out” before the punishment is activated. The “Ozempic bomb”. Amid the noise of bases, submarines and Arctic routes, the unexpected weapon appears: Denmark is not a commercial giant, but it exports products to the United States that directly affect the pocket and everyday lifeand that turns any tariff into a kind of political boomerang. The half of its sales Recent visits to Washington focus on medicines, vaccines, insulin and related products, because Novo Nordisk is there, the Danish economic engine and the factory of the global phenomenon Ozempic and Wegovy. That dependency converts Denmark in a kind of de facto “pharmaceutical state”: Your private growth and employment largely revolve around that industry, and any trade turbulence impacts both sides. If Trump makes these medicines more expensive, the blow will not stay in Europe: it enters the US market like health inflation and social unrest, just where the political margin is most fragile. And that is why Ozempic, more than a product, works as symbol of interdependence reality that makes a tariff war not just a lever, but rather a grenade. Lego and other reminders. The same effect is seen with Lego and other products Danes beloved in the United States, or with less visible but critical sectors such as hearing aids and certain medical equipment. In the real world, supply chains do not respect emotional boundaries: many parts are manufactured in different countries, assembled in others, and sold in markets that depend on global logistics. This means that tariffs punish not only the “enemy” exporter, but also companies, distributors and consumers. Trump can imagine squeezing Denmark to bend it, but the pressure leaks out in prices and disruptions in the US market itself, and also erodes the relationship with an ally that already offers military access in … Read more

It was the second worst value on the IBEX 35 in 2025, but it achieved its best portability data in history

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Telefónica has closed its busy 2025 with two opposite faces: in bag plummeted 11% and ended up as the second worst value on the IBEX 35, only ahead of Puig. But on the street he won the battle: captured almost 200,000 mobile lines of the competition, its best historical record in portability. Why it is important. This contradiction explains well how the market no longer rewards only commercial success. Investors demand financial visibility, robust cash flow and a clear roadmap. Telefónica has achieved the first, but with the change of presidency a year is still in process of the rest. The turning point. Everything changed on November 4th. At his Capital Market Day, in which he took the opportunity to Publish your five-year strategic planthe operator announced a dividend cut in half (from 0.30 to 0.15 euros per share) and cash projections lower than expected. Investors immediately punished it: less dividend, less cash and little clarity about some operations. The backdrop. The stock market punishment contrasts with Telefónica’s best commercial year in a long time. The sum of Movistar and O2 portability quintupled in 2024 and consolidated the leadership of the leading telecom in the premium segment of the Spanish mobile market. Digi led the total market with 783,000 net lines, dominating the low cost. MásOrange lost 513,000 mobile customers, its worst result. Vodafone Spain gave up 435,000 lines, even with the sum of Finetwork. Telefónica’s commercial success is explained by a pincer strategy: Digi sweeps through increasingly cheaper rates, so Movistar and O2 have entrenched themselves in the highest value segments, where customers pay more and remain loyal. But that victory has not translated into stock market metrics. Only Puig has had a worse 2025 on the IBEX than the telecom company. Yes, but. The theory of “IBEX dogs” suggests that 2026 should be a better year for Telefónica. The most punished values ​​usually recover the following year and the analyst consensus sets a target price of 4.04 euros per share, 16% above current levels. Besides, The IBEX 35 has closed its best year since 1993. The index closed with a revaluation of 49%, driven mainly by banks and their record results. And now what. Telefónica faces 2026 with a more austere discourse on balance sheet and debt. The key is no longer in the strategic announcement, but in its execution. The market has discounted the dividend cut and what remains is to demonstrate that the new remuneration policy, linked to cash flow, is sustainable over time. For now, the year starts with an ERE that will cost 2,500 million euros and will save about 600 annually starting in 2028. Will that be enough to convince investors without sacrificing the commercial capacity that has allowed them to gain customers again? In Xataka | Telefónica has gone from 67,000 workers in 1997 to 25,000 today. And his plan is clear: go even lower Featured image | Telephone

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