agreed

Spain agreed with Germany and France to bypass the US. And it will end with a fleet of F-35s because of a French name

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Since the end of the Cold War, Europe has tried several times to build large joint military programs capable of rivaling those of the United States, almost always clashing with national interests, different industrial cultures and, of course, technological egos that are difficult to fit into. Each generation of fighters has promised more integration and less external dependence. Few have managed to fulfill it, and now it was not going to be less. The surprise that was not. He FCAS was born as a high-caliber strategic ambition: France, Germany and Spain agreed to promote a new generation combat air system to get ahead of the United States and reduce European dependence of American fighters, with the ubiquitous F-35 in all pools. It was an explicit attempt to surprise technological, industrial and political in front of Washington. Today, that project more than 100,000 million of euros staggers to the point of threatening the opposite result: that Europe will continue buying F-35s and that Spain will end up reinforcing a US fleet just when it had opted for its own alternative. Dassault, the constant. Here comes an actor with a name of his own who has turned everything upside down. The main blockade does not come from Berlin or Madrid, but from a historical constant in the French military industry: Dassault Aviation. The Financial Times recalled this morning that the company, controlled by the Dassault family for generations, has demonstrated time and time again that its priority is maintain absolute control of the design and production of French fighters. He already did it in the eighties abandoning the Eurofighterand today he repeats the pattern at the FCAS, refusing to give up technical leadership or accept a shared governance with Airbus. Dassault Rafale A project broken from within. Furthermore, the FCAS was designed as an integrated system: a manned fighter, drone swarms, advanced weapons and communication networks, with Dassault leading the aircraft and Airbus the rest. That balance was blown up when disputes began on specifications, distribution of work and industrial control. France wanted a plane lighter and navalizableGermany another heavier and more versatile one. The technical differences masked a possibly deeper clash: who is really in charge at the heart of the system. France does not rule as much as it seems. Here another crux appears to understand the mess: although the French State is Dassault’s main client and controls exports, its real capacity to impose decisions is limited. Yes, the company has survived nationalization attempts, political pressures and merger projects for decades, always prioritizing independence and control. Hence, presidents have passed and ministers have changed, but Dassault remains the same. President Emmanuel Macron has tried rescue the FCAS in multiple diplomatic rounds, but his room for maneuver has narrowed as he nears the end of his term. Spain, trapped in collateral damage. The Spanish nation entered the FCAS as a partner convinced that the project would allow it break the dependency technology of the United States. That agreement with Germany and France meant resigning in the short term to the American F-35 in exchange for their own European future. If now the FCAS ends up failing as it seems and Spain ends up resorting again to American fighters, the irony is bitter: because the fault would not be in Washington, but in “home” of an ally. The outcome that no one wanted to admit. As we counted yesterdaywith the project running aground, Germany is already slipping that it could go on your own or look for other partners, while France protects to their national champion. From that perspective, the FCAS has become the closest thing to a failed test of European credibility in common defense. For Spain, the risk is now double: losing years betting on a blocked program of billions of euros and being forced to knock on Washington’s door again, although now with less political margin and worse conditions. He surprise European will have to wait and for now it is diluted, and the old Atlantic balance is imposed again, this time not due to lack of ambition, but because of excess control. Image | José Luis Celada Euba In Xataka | Spain, France and Germany could not depend on the “button” of the F-35. So the future European fighter aims for something else In Xataka | If the question is where is the 100 billion European fighter, the answer is simple: stuck on a dead-end runway

he left everything agreed after the Second World War

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Of all the possibilities that are being heard about “the Greenland thing”one, possibly the most plausible, is getting lost in the conversations. No money, no political pressure, not even the “military option”. If the United States wants something in the Arctic, it only has to turn to an old and little-known Cold War pact. There is no need to buy what you control. The Donald Trump’s obsession “buying” or even “taking” Greenland is actually based on a false premise, because for more than seven decades the United States has already had a freedom of military action extraordinary without the need for formal sovereignty, something that turns his recent threats more into a political gesture than a real strategic necessity, despite the fact that he justifies them in terms of national security and the presence of Chinese and Russian actors in the Arctic. The 1951 agreement. The core of this situation is in the defense agreement signed in 1951 between the United States and Denmark, which gives Washington the right to build, operate and maintain military bases throughout Greenland, deploy personnel and control air and maritime operations, a scope so wide that Danish experts recognize that, in practicethe United States can get almost anything it wants simply by asking for it, without resorting to annexations or impossible purchases. From WW2 to the Cold War. The origin of the agreement dates back to Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II, when fear that Germany would use Greenland as a platform to America led to a defensive pact which allowed the United States to expel the Germans and build more than a dozen bases on the island. That presence that remained during the cold war through radars and early warning systems and which today focuses on strategic Pittufik Space Basekey to tracking missiles over the North Pole. Headquarters of the Schalburg Corps, a unit of the Danish SS, after 1943. The building occupied was the lodge of the Danish Order of Freemasons located on Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen. Why buying is impossible. Beyond the military, the idea of ​​buying Greenland collides with a clear political and legal reality: Denmark cannot sell it and the Greenlanders themselves, who today have the right to decide their future through referendumthey overwhelmingly reject any US takeovera position reaffirmed by his prime minister and backed by polls showing massive opposition to a Washington takeover. The 2004 amendment. The defense agreement was updated in 2004 to explicitly recognize Greenland as an equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark and force the United States to consult on any significant changes to its military operations, a requirement that, according to Danish analystsworks more as a diplomatic courtesy than as a real brake, since if Washington wanted to expand its presence it could do so immediately without violating the existing framework. Trump, Venezuela and escalation. The recent American coup in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro seem to have emboldened Trump and his entourage, who talk about Greenland as if it were an inevitable lootprovoking an angry reaction in Copenhagen and Nuuk, where it is warned that any attempt at occupation rempire the international orderwhile European leaders remember that the legal framework already gives the United States everything it needs without resorting to threats. It’s all about minerals and the Arctic. It we counted yesterday. Beyond military geopolitics, Greenland attracts for its enormous reserves of critical minerals and, very importantly, for your key position in an increasingly navigable Arctic, although even here experts agree that the United States does not need to control the territory to access those resources. The reason is simple: Greenlanders are open to doing business with anyone… as long as their sovereignty and right to decide are respected. Image | Defense Visual Information Distribution Service In Xataka | The gold of the 21st century is not in Venezuela: China and Russia know it and that is why the US wants Greenland no matter what In Xataka | If the question is “what is the next country on the US list” the answer has been on the table for months

from 978 announced layoffs to 791 agreed

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A few weeks ago, Amazon announced a aggressive adjustment plan that would affect 14,000 employees in your template. Unfortunately, on this occasion the staff at the offices that the Spanish Amazon subsidiary has in Barcelona and Madrid were also affected by this layoff plan. The ERE, which started with 978 planned departures for the Barcelona office, has ended up being reduced to 791 employees after negotiation with the unions. The key is not only in how many people the ERE has been reduced, but in how this exit is ordered and with what protection network they do it, achieving much more advantageous conditions. From 978 to 791 layoffs. The core of the agreement that has been reached between CCOO and Amanzon is the reduction in the number of layoffs in the Barcelona office, which drops from 978 initial layoffs to 791 people, which implies a reduction of 19% compared to what was initially announced. According to data of RTVE, the staff of these offices was about 2,800 people, so the cut would mean a reduction of 28% of the total in the office in the Catalan capital.​ According to the statement Made public by CCOO, the majority union representing the workers of that office, in addition to lowering the final figure, the agreement incorporates voluntary departures and the option of permanence for protected groups, along with relocations within the group.​ Improvements in conditions and compensation. Economically, the ERE negotiation table agreed on a compensation of 38 days per year worked, with a limit of 24 monthly payments, and a minimum compensation of 7,000 euros for each dismissed worker. Paid leave was also agreed until February 28, linked to the possibility of opting for payment of company shares. According to sources of ElDiario.esto these conditions, a payment of 1,500 euros is added for people whose visa depends on the employment contract and the payment of medical insurance until May 31. At the state level, the same media indicates that the total cut in Spain is around 920 workers between the Amazon Spain Services offices in Barcelona (791 layoffs) and Amazon Digital Spain with offices in Madrid (129 layoffs). More AI, less staff. Union sources link the ERE to the automation of processes associated with the implementation of artificial intelligence but also to “relocation to other places with more lax labor regulations,” CCOO said in its statement. This regulatory file presented in Barcelona and Madrid is part of a broader corporate cutback by Amazon: the company announced in October a reduction of approximately 14,000 corporate jobs worldwide for organizational reasons. Something that from the Ministry of Labor has been criticized because Amazon presented a net profit of $21,187 million in its balance sheet for the third quarter of 2025, which represents an increase of 38.2%. In Xataka | Big Tech doesn’t stop firing its engineers. At the same time, they have stepped on the accelerator in hiring Image | Unsplash (Adrian Sulyok)

In the last one they agreed to the end of the war in Ukraine by error

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This Friday a meeting will take place with historical character depending on what is remembered (or not). Finally, and if nothing twists, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the heads of state of the United States and Russia, They will gather in Alaska With the Ukraine War as the main conductive thread. One thing should be quite clear: whatever they are talking about, we should keep calm and wait for a second translation after the first statements. An error He already put an end to the contest a few days ago. The misunderstanding. The scene took place last week and the German medium Bild. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff erroneously interpreted Vladimir Putin’s statements during his meeting at the Kremlin. The Russian president maintained his goal of obtaining total control of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporiyia and Jersón, offering only a partial high in the attacks (limited to not hitting energy infrastructure or large cities in the rear), but without contemplating a high fire. Washington, meanwhile, had proposed to freeze the war on the current front line in exchange for broadly lifting the sanctions and establishing new economic agreements with Moscow, an initiative that was rejected by the Kremlin. What happened? That Witkoff confused the Russian demand of “peaceful withdrawal” of Ukrainians in occupied territories with a supposed Russian withdrawal of those same areas, a carafal error that, according to officials Ukrainians and Germansdemonstrates ignorance and incompetence in territorial matters of Washington. Diplomatic repercussions. The episode, apparently, It was discussed In a recent night videoconference between Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and European partners. The meeting left the Europeans already Ukraine surprised with an unprecedented truce of war. A situation that, once understood, gave way to the feeling that the Trump administration does not have a unified vision of the situation, with the confusion of Witkoff as Inexplicable and central factor. In addition, a Criteria difference: Rubio defended the direct involvement of Europe in the negotiating process, while Vance and Witkoff preferred to just inform the allies of the steps Trump will adopt. A history of disagreements. Had a few hours ago The Financial Times that previous summits between Trump and Putin have been marked by unusual dynamics and episodes that feed the perception of a constant tactical advantage for the Russian leader. From Your first encounter At the Hamburg G20 Summit in 2017 (where Trump confiscated The notes of his interpreter and held private conversations without the presence of US officials) until the meeting of Helsinki in 2018When he publicly questioned the conclusion of his own intelligence services on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, the employer has been of interactions without transparencyAcritic acceptance of Putin’s statements and absence of internal control mechanisms. Other contacts, such as in Vietnam or in the G20 of Buenos Aires, They repeated the format of informal exchanges and without registration, reinforcing the image of a Trump more inclined to the personal relationship than to the structured confrontation with its counterpart. Putin tactics and risks. Analysts and veterans of negotiations with the Kremlin, as the former French president François Hollande, They warn that Putin combines an exhaustive domain of the technical and legal details with a strategy of “professional lie” and manipulation of the times. Among his methods is Deliberately lengthened Conversations with extensive stories, introduce half large truths and offer minimal concessions to appear movement without modifying their substantial position. Past examples They include denying any relationship with safe separatists in Donbás despite the evidence of military and financial support, or rejecting international border monitoring claiming that there were no violations. This style, together with your absence of pressure internal policy and its experience of decades, contrasts with a Trump described by European interlocutors as emotional, impatient and little inclined to factual analysis, which It makes vulnerable to the biases that Putin can explode. Demands and position of Ukraine. President Volodimir Zelenski insists In participating directly in the conversations and has declared that it is willing to stop the fire, but not to give in occupied territory. Trump, who has suggested a possible “exchange of territories for the benefit of both”, contemplated a trilateral summit, although finally Keep the bilateral requested by Putin as initial format. Vice President JD Vance admits That an eventual agreement will leave both parties unsatisfied, but acknowledges that it works to coordinate agendas that allow the three leaders to sit. Expectations The Alaska meetingfirst since Trump’s return to the White House, occurs at a time when the US president no longer Face the limitations that imposed in his first mandate a vigilant congress and advisors who tried to channel the relationship with Moscow. Now acts with a much greater marginbacked by a small team and without significant internal counterweights, while Putin continues to operate in an environment where It has no rivals immediate. Observers like Kirill Rogov They anticipate that the Kremlin will try to persuade Trump to accept his narrative and stop the support of Ukraine, a strategic objective that does not require substantive concessions. Although the Summer Russian Offensive It has had limited results and external factors (such as Trump’s threat to impose tariffs to the Indian oil) They could give him incentives to dialogue, the general expectation is that Putin will seek to win time, while Trump will prioritize get an agreement that can present as personal victory in foreign policy. And, in the background, please there is someone to translate what they agree on. Image | Trump White House Archced In Xataka | Ukraine has opened the most advanced Drone Kamikaze in Russia. Now they know what the key to their power is: nvidia In Xataka | Europe has 700 aircraft to fumigate crops that seemed harmless. Until he took them to Ukraine

Two workers from Elon Musk in Doge agreed to a private network. The US keeps the secrets of your nuclear arsenal there

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In February, one of the most rocambolesque stories was known around Doge, the Government Efficiency Department led by Elon Musk to essence, cut where he can in the administration of the United States Government. Apparently, they fired 350 officials who had to Readmit rapidly. The reason: they were the specialists in the assembly of nuclear eyelets. The story has now taken a more dangerous turn. The access they should never have. I told it a few hours ago exclusively NPR through confidential information access. Apparently, it was revealed that two young employees of that government efficiency department (Doge) created under the orders of Elon Musk, obtained accounts in classified networks With nuclear information highly sensitive. What’s doubt, the news has unleashed a political storm and national security in the United States. Luke Farritor, a former 23 -year -old Spacex fellow, and Adam Ramada, a Angel Investor Without previous experience in armament or intelligence, they appeared for at least two weeks in the directories of the reserved systems of the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense, according to sources with direct access to the networks. From denial to confirmation. The media counted that, although the energy department first denied any link, later admitted that the accounts Yes they were createdalthough they insisted that never They were activated nor used. So, the medium NPR remembers that the mere existence of these accounts, in maximum security environments that normally require a “Q” accreditation (The highest level of authorization of the DOE), has aroused alarm among experts, who interpret it as a sign of the growing and worrying doge penetration in critical areas of the state apparatus. All nuclear information. To understand the importance of the network to which they have had access, let’s think that the systems accessed by these employees are not mere confidential data repositories: these are networks that store and transmit plans for nuclear weapons design, special materials for their manufacture and strategic communications between laboratories, production centers and the pentagon. The first one, the NNSA Enterprise Secure Networkserves to share Restricted data between key actors of nuclear arsenal. The second, Siprnetallows the flow of information classified between the Department of Energy and Defense, including operations that could compromise national security if they were disclosed. Although it appears in the access directories does not equals to directly see classified documents (by the policy of “Need To Know”), experts Consulted by NPR They emphasize that it is the technical “head” that could provide future applications or expand the scope of influence within those platforms. Shadows on transparency. Plus: the incident adds to a series of controversial episodes starred By Doge In other federal agencies. As we count in February, a purge in the NSA directed by Doge (reviring only partially after public pressure) caused the dismissal of dozens of nuclear area employees. Shortly after, an informant denounced that Doge members had accessed internal systems of the National Board of Labor Relations (NLRB), requesting that They will not register their activities and deactivating monitoring tools, in addition to delete access traces. Not just that. One of the income attempts was made from an IP address located in Russia Using credentials created by Doge, which unleashed new suspicions and ignited cybersecurity alerts in several sectors of the government. These movements, added to the recent scandal by the use of signal application On the part of the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to discuss sensitive military operations, they delineate a dangerous informality pattern and reckless management of critical information of the nation. The Doge experiment. Thus, the very existence of Doge, an entity born to “modernize the State” under the tutelage of Musk, begins to be questioned even between related sectorsgiven its opaque growth and the lack of accountability. His model (which combines entrepreneurs, technologists and actors outside the public administration) was sold as a response to the traditional bureaucracy, but it is generating fissures in institutional security and control systems. The case of Farritor and Ramadapeople without experience in intelligence or defense, shows the risks of introducing private operators in the ultrasecreta spheres of the State without proper safeguards. While the Department of Energy avoids giving explanations about why these accounts were created, analysts such as Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Projectthey warn that even unlacified budgets require delicate technical referencesand that any “ajar door” can have unpredictable consequences. A parallel state. The truth is that, far from being an isolated incident, Doge insertion into nuclear networks reveals a broader and more dangerous trend: the emergence of a administrative power not electedwith access to privileged information, but without clear legal mandate or sufficient democratic supervision. If you want also, it implies that the logic of “technocratic” access overlaps institutional logic, and in that scenario the state becomes a testing ground for Operators with own agendas. The consequences of this reconfiguration are still in development (even overlaps Musk’s output), but the scandal leaves a warning meridianly clear: when the obsession with efficiency eliminates controls, which is gained at speed can cost very expensive, at least, In security. Image | Gage Skidmore In Xataka | Elon Musk fired hundreds of employees and now he has to hire them again: they were experts in nuclear weapons In Xataka | Elon Musk fired 6,000 employees two weeks ago. Now the US faces the massive entry of invasive species

there is no clear or agreed plan to reach the AGI

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The call Stargate Project It’s going to be a lot to talk about in the coming years. The colossal bet to make the US a leader in AI will focus on the construction of data centers in that country. And yet the proposal faces enormous challenges. Money galore.The investment of 500,000 million dollars in the next four years It is simply overwhelming. That figure represents approximately 30% of Spain’s GDP in 2023 (1.62 trillion dollars), and it certainly represents spectacular support for the North American country’s ambitions. Objective: achieve an AGI. In the official announcement, project participants explained how “all of us hope to continue the development of AI—and in particular IAG—for the benefit of all humanity.” General artificial intelligence (IAG or AGI for its acronym in English) is the holy grail of the discipline, and OpenAI, which will have operational responsibility for Stargate, has been pursuing it for some time. The diffuse meaning of AGI. The problem with this objective is that it is very diffuse. To clarify the issue a little, OpenAI and Microsoft wanted to define it in economic terms and indicated that an AGI will be when it achieves 100,000 million profits. Theoretically, these systems will equal or surpass human intelligence in all fields, and the social and economic implications could be colossal. But we don’t know if we will achieve it. Much more important than giving a definition is actually achieving that artificial superintelligence, and here there is a critical problem: no one knows how to achieve it. Technology companies and AI startups—such as created by Ilya Sutskever either that of Francois Chollet— are following different paths to reach that goal, but it is not at all clear that any of them has the key to an achievement of this type in their hands. And we don’t know how they want to get to it. None of the companies working on the development of an AGI clarify how they are planning to reach that objective, and the feeling is that they are experimenting without knowing very well whether the chosen path will allow them to achieve that objective. Meta made his intention clear a year ago, OpenAI and especially Altman are especially optimistic about itand the same thing happens with Musk and xAI. Mustafa Suleyman, head of AI at Microsoft, is more cautious and he prefers not to make predictions about when we will reach it, although he sees it as feasible. In AnthropicApple and Google seem equally reserved on this issue, but it is inevitable to think that they are also working to not be left behind. Hyperinvestment for hyperpromises. This gigantic investment is to a certain extent contradictory, especially when several experts warn that there is some AI slowdown and scaling—more power and more data to train models—doesn’t seem to work anymore, or at least it doesn’t seem to work as much. There are certainly promising trends such as AI agents or the models that “reason”but is building beastly data centers what we need? Is brute force enough? This also implies equally enormous energy requirementsand it will be interesting how the US resolves these new needs. But that large investment will allow companies to continue talking about how close AGI is, when we have no idea if it is close or simply is not and will not be. An American AGI with Japanese and Arabic money. Especially curious is that the entire project is dedicated to turning the US into an AI leader and manages to develop an IAG, but the money comes partly from other countries. SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son (on the right in the image), will be the main initial support and will immediately invest 100,000 million dollars, it is Japanese. And MGX is an investment fund from the United Arab Emirates that participated in the investment round recent from OpenAI (like SoftBank) and which also has an alliance with Microsoft. That means that these companies (and perhaps their countries) certainly have a prominent role in this project and its potential benefits. Image | Wikimedia |Wikimedia In Xataka | OpenAI presents its new lucrative structure. Their mission: raise tons of money to develop the AGI

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