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In 1966 a player from Argentina was sent off but there was no way to explain it to him. Since then there have been yellow and red cards

July 25, 2026 by usatoday24

When two people want to understand each other but do not speak the same language, they try to do so by speaking louder, gesticulating or resorting to things they do not understand about borders. And be careful, this is assuming that in football we always want to understand the referee: it would not be the first or the last time that a player acts the Swede when faced with a warning or a substitution… if he is winning, of course. Despite the sui generis speech by Tom Cruise In the last World Cup 2026, in modern football we manage with English (however tacky) and the rules of the IFAB, made up of the four football associations of the United Kingdom and FIFA, which allows anyone to know what it means when the referee team raises the flag or a card suddenly appears. It wasn’t always like this, so imagine the pitched battles that took place. The problem. An Italian and a Chilean go and… no, it’s not a joke: at the beginning of the 60s there were episodes of great violence in football and one of the most sadly remembered matches was the match between Chile and Italy in the 1962 World Cup, so much so that it is known as the “Battle of Santiago“. At that time there were no mechanisms to put a stop to that aggressiveness in the form of fights and fouls that occurred as a result of the heat on the playing field. The World Cup that changed everything. The quarterfinal match between Argentina and England in the 1966 World Cup was a before and after. As pick up the Smithonianat one point, an Argentine player tried to communicate with the (German) referee and his vehement gestures and pleas, impossible for the referee to understand, cost him expulsion for verbal violence. The player refused to leave the field until Kenneth George Aston, a member of the FIFA Referees Committee and also responsible for the refereeing of that World Cup, intervened. In that match the referee Rudolf Kreitlein had warned the English Bobby and Jack Charlton and had expelled the Argentine Antonio Rattinbut it was so unclear in the game that those interested they found out better laterthanks to the press. In fact, so much so that the England coach, Alf Ramsey, He went to a FIFA representative to clear up any doubts. Of course, the heat resulting from the match, the ambient noise and the language barrier between players and referee made understanding each other an impossible mission. Aston came to that conclusion, and he left there determined to change it. The solution. So he set out to do something to make the referee’s decisions clearer for both players and spectators. And something came to mind that everyone knows: traffic lights. Aston counts how it came to him: “As I was driving down Kensington Street in London, the traffic light turned red and I thought: ‘Yellow’, you can still get through; ‘Red’ means stop, out of bounds.” When he got home, he told his wife Hilda about his idea, who they count He disappeared from the room to return a few minutes later with two cardboard cards that fit perfectly in his shirt pocket, thus materializing the idea. The system officially premiered at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, 107 years after the birth of football’s first governing body, and since then it has been adopted in all federations. The power of a simple cardboard. The writer Rob Walker summarizes well the effect that that simple piece of paper has: it has enormous power when a referee displays it in an almost theatrical way in the player’s face. It provokes a stadium full of whistles and exaggerated gestures from the arms of the cautioned player and his teammates. Because everyone knows what it means: the loss of possession of the ball, a free kick and even being left with one less player on the field of play. Kenneth George Aston, who died in 2001, summarized the vision of football where that gesture that he himself invented and that is still valid in each and every match has extreme importance: a dramatic work in two acts with 22 actors and a stage director, the referee, without a script and without a known ending. In Xataka | Argentina 6 – Peru 0: the story of the alleged biggest fixing of the World Cups between dictatorships and missing people In Xataka | There is something in which Uruguay is a true and overwhelming world power: generating elite footballers Cover | Jason Gulledge and Tasnim News Agency

Argentina is clear that Argentina had to give away Argentina’s fourth World Cup. And no one in Argentina is very clear why.

July 22, 2026 by usatoday24

“Let’s forget about everything. Let’s just play. Let’s just think about playing, people” With these words Leo Messi tried to raise the morale of his teammates before taking the Met Life Stadium field on July 19. In the scene you can see Enzo Fernández crying and Lisandro Martínez also congested. The video cuts off. It is, probably, the first video that begins to unleash the madness. The first one after Spain’s victory against Argentina to proclaim herself as World Champion is used to begin to suspect that something has happened, that something strange has escaped us. That the World Cup final is rigged. Why, by whom and how is something for which no one has an answer. What is certain is that some Argentine fans, YouTubers and certain press have combusted. “There is no doubt, they gave him the order to lose” “There is no doubt that the Argentine National Team was given the order that it had to lose. As a psychologist, I am trained to see and hear what was not said. And in Sunday’s game I saw strange things. They treated us like fools and put on a show” This time the words are an Argentine fan who claims to be a psychologist, an expert in gestural language and “not to talk about conspiracy theories.” He does not understand that “strange injuries” occurred or the approach and changes of Lionel Scaloni, Argentine coach. Click on the image to go to the original tweet The reason for this fan was clear: Fifa had to crown a 19-year-old world champion (Lamine Yamal) because that sells more than a champion Argentina “with a Messi who has already earned money and who is coming to an end.” The idea that Argentina could not win this World Cup because it played with Messi is somewhat funny because it has its counterpart in all the theories that pointed out that, precisely, Argentina had to win because it was Messi’s last World Cupthe best story for a competition that has shone for its individuality and for its own American commercialism. What we can praise about the previous video is the calmness with which the fan speaks. “I have no proof but I also have no doubt that they sent us to die in the final”assures this other fan who links the final lost by Argentina with the end of Italy 90a competition in which Argentina lost against West Germany when it arrived as World champion after Mexico 86. Of that match, Diego Armando Maradona said that Grondona, then president of the AFA (Argentine Football Association), had already warned them that they had no chance of winning the final because the designated referee was Mexican. “We were dedicated,” Maradona repeated in this interview. Comparisons with that final have been repeated for the obvious bridges that can be built between both games: Argentina competing against a European team after becoming champion and its star playing, supposedly, his last game with the national team (Maradona would return for United States ’94). But the accusations of fixing have been growing and slowly getting out of hand: “Everything that was predicted on the cover of The Economist magazine came true. We live in a simulation, everything is timed. I don’t know if they have a time machine. If they also know how to manipulate the energy of the mind worldwide so that what they want to happen happens…” For example this video from another fan in which he proposes “we continue feigning dementia, accepting that everything is written and we live in a simulation.” Click on the image to go to the original tweet For this other fanit is clear that “they were squeezed” because there were snipers in the stadium. Reasons are not known but This talk show does put them on the table: It was all a plan by Florentino Pérez, Atlético de Madrid, Giani Infantino, Donald Trump and the United Kingdom. The basis on which this theory is based is that Argentine players who play in Europe were threatened with losing the final. “They robbed us again (…) they turned us around and the best player told his teammates. The guy who headbutted England (Lautaro Martínez, who did not play in the final), the most important goal from the hand of God or the greatest goal in history (the two that Diego Armando Maradona scored against England in Mexico 86)… was he banned from playing? (…) No one will ever tell the secrets of football. Neither Messi nor Chiqui Tapia (president of the AFA). Do you know why? Because they were squeezed. And this is going to cost me dearly. Yesterday they squeezed Argentina like with the Malvinas, like with wealth, like the hectares sold in Bariloche. Yesterday it was sold to the Argentine team and it was not sold by the Argentines, nor by Chiqui Tapia, nor by Messi, nor by Scaloni, nor by the players. Because we put ‘the Malvinas are Argentine’ on a flag that two Argentine blacks took who if they weren’t footballers they would have to leave their lives in the Malvinas. Let them tell it to me however they want Click on the image to go to the original tweet One of the ideas that has been repeated the most in recent days is that Argentina lost because the designated referee was European. A decision that had its controversy before the final (It was even rumored that an Iranian referee would whistle the match) However, in this other gathering Another reason was pointed out why Argentina would have had to let itself lose. Eduardo Feinmann, well-known journalist in the country for his controversial interventions on politicsrejected the idea floated by one of the members that Argentina had sold the final in exchange for the FBI not arresting Chiqui Tapia. And the AFA is being investigated for an alleged diversion of money to two associations that operated in the United States. Click on the image to go to the original … Read more

Argentina 6 – Peru 0: the story of the alleged biggest fixing of the World Cups between dictatorships and missing persons

July 19, 2026 by usatoday24

In the context of a dictatorship that made opponents disappear daily, the 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina, an embarrassing chapter in the history book of football. “I knew what was happening to those who governed, but I could not imagine that cruelty towards the disappeared,” he said. would justify years later César Luis Menotti, Argentine coach from 1974 to 1982. While the Videla regime used the championship as propaganda Facing the outside world, the Albiceleste team, immersed in the competition and oblivious to the country’s political climate, was overcoming rounds supported by an enthusiastic public. In the decisive match against Peru, Argentina needed four goals to reach the final. He scored six and the controversy that that result raised is still alive today. Since the dawn of the World Cup, Argentina had pursued its organization. Finally, at the FIFA Congress on July 6, 1966, the South American country was chosen as the host country for the 1978 edition. At that same meeting, it was agreed that West Germany would host the 1974 World Cup and Spain would host the 1982 World Cup. Argentina had 12 years ahead of it to properly prepare the event. However, two years before the World Cup was held, events were going to take an unexpected turn. Football to whiten infamy On March 24, 1976, Jorge Rafael Videla carried out a coup d’état that overthrew the democratic government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, popularly known as Isabelita. Videla assumed the head of state at the head of a Military Junta, initiating the cynically called National Reorganization Process, which included a systematic plan to remove anyone suspected of dissidence from circulation. Videla swearing in as president of Argentina in 1974. (Eduardo Di Baia/AP) At first, the blow put the celebration of the championship in check. Belgium and Holland offered themselves as alternative venues, but the time margin was limited and FIFA estimated the show had to go on. Like Hitler at the 1936 Olympic Games or Mussolini in the 1934 World CupVidela used the World Cup for propaganda purposes. The tournament was an instrument to convey to the world the image of an open, advanced and plural Argentina, of a thriving football and political nation. No expense was spared for this: it is estimated that the organization of the tournament ultimately cost ten times what was budgeted, although no accounts were ever rendered. However, the situation in the country was far from the happy Arcadia that the military intended to portray. Kidnappings, torture and murders They were common in the development of relentless repression directed at all those suspected of not being sympathetic to the regime. It is estimated that up to 30,000 citizens He made the Military Junta disappear during those years. On June 1, 1978, a speech by Videla inaugurated the championship: “Within the framework of friendship between man and people, and under the sign of peace, he officially declared this eleventh (sic) World Football Championship 78 officially inaugurated.” At the same time that the ball was rolling in the opening match between West Germany and Poland, The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo metlike every Thursday at 3:30 p.m., to cry out for their missing children. While the Argentine people celebrated Kempes’ goals, thousands of people were silently retaliated against. The screams from the River Monumental Stadium reached the Navy’s Higher School of Mechanics, converted into a detention and torture centerwhich was a few blocks from the stadium. There are many detainees They faced a contradiction: His fan heart longed for the victory of his team, but reason dictated that victory would serve to consolidate the dictatorship. Finalists after beating Peru In terms of football alone, the Argentine team passed the first phase without problems and reached the last game of the second tied on points with Brazilwith Kempes becoming progressively more toned as the tournament progressed. According to the strange format of that World Cup, the winners of the two groups of the second phase went directly to the final, without semi-finals. The Netherlands won in group A, reaching the final for the second consecutive World Cup, despite the enigmatic absence of Johan Cruyff. In group B, Brazil and Argentina played everything on one card in the last match, but the locals played with the advantage of playing their match three hours later, and thus knowing the result of Brazil (FIFA had not yet unified the schedules of the first phase, a measure taken after the El Molinón pact). Brazil did its job and won 3-1 against Poland, a result that forced Menotti’s team to win by a margin of four goals against Peru. The Peruvians had had a formidable first phase, achieving first place in their group ahead of the Netherlands, but they had deflated in the second group and reached the last game without anything at stake. The Argentines dominated the match from the beginning, and at half-time they were already winning 2-0. After the restart, the Albiceleste team came out in a rush and 5 minutes into the second half they had already achieved their goal (4-0) against a Peru that seemed knocked out. Two more goals still fell and, midway through the second half, the scoreboard already showed the final 6-0. Objective achieved: Argentina was in the final of his World Cup. The shadow of a fix From the first moment, Argentina’s massive victory against Peru was surrounded by a halo of suspicionwith different and complementary versions, and crossed accusations between some protagonists. The passivity of the Peruvian defense during some goals raised suspicions, as did the signing of Peruvian defender Rodulfo Manzo for the Argentine team Vélez Sarsfield at the end of the World Cup. The first to raise the hare was Ramón Quiroga, the goalkeeper who defended the Peruvian goal that afternoon at the Gigante Stadium in Arroyito. In an interview with the newspaper La Nación in 1998, Quiroga, Argentine by birth but naturalized Peruvian, revealed his misgivings about the referee (“I think he … Read more

How to watch Spain – Argentina: date and time of the 2026 World Cup final, and where you can watch it on any device

July 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Let’s explain to you How and where you can watch Spain’s match against Argentina. This is the grand final of the 2026 World Cup, in which our team has the option of getting the second star, the second World Cup in its history. But in front of them they will have an Argentina with Messi in a state of grace. Let’s make the article simple. First we are going to tell you the date and time to which this match is played. And then, we will tell you what your options are to be able to watch it from any device. Date and time of Spain – Argentina Spain’s match against Argentina will take place tomorrow, Sunday, July 19. Both teams will face each other at the New York New Jersey Stadium, a field where the New York Giants and the New York Jets of the NFL American football usually play. The grand final will be played at 9:00 p.m. in Spanish peninsular time8pm in the Canary Islands. And with this match we will know which of the two teams finally takes the world cup home. Where to watch Spain – Argentina As we have explained to you when we told you where you can watch the 2026 World Cupas it is a match for the Spanish National Team, you will be able watch it for free live through La1. This will allow you to see it both on DTT and on mobile phones or browsers through RTVE Play. Obviously, the party It will also be issued in the payment options that you could have to watch all the World Cup matches. It will be broadcast on DAZN and you will be able to watch it on any device if you have it contracted. You can also see it on the DAZN Mundial channel, available on both Movistar Plus and Orange TV. In Xataka Basics | Apps for football results: the best 14 applications to receive notifications and see match statistics

Chile wants a tunnel under the Strait of Magellan to link Tierra del Fuego with the continent. The project exists, the agreement with Argentina does not

June 18, 2026 by usatoday24

Today, if a person wants to cross from Chile or Argentina to the island of Tierra del Fuego, they depend on ferries and barges. Normally, about 600 vehicles and around 2,000 people They cross the island every day. The extreme southern region of Patagonia is also a complicated area in meteorological terms, which leads to the suspension of maritime transport services every now and then. Hence, it makes all the sense in the world that they are considering building an underwater tunnel that connects both regions. The idea is to build an underpass of about 3.7 kilometers in the First Angostura, thus replacing ferry transportation. The project has existed on paper for a long timebut now it has just gained some political momentum. What exactly is proposed. The project would consist of an underwater road tunnel that connects Punta Delgada, in the continental zone, with Bahía Azul, on the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego. This section, known as First Angostura, is the point where the Strait of Magellan narrows to the maximum, making it the most technically reasonable place to attempt a work of these characteristics. Why is it resurfacing now? The project has been included since June 2025 in the Extreme Zones Development Plan 2025–2035 of the Magallanes Region. The governor of Magallanes, Jorge Flies, has been the main person responsible for restore some visibility to the initiative in recent weeks, according to some media reports. What the technicians say. Francisco Hernández, academic at the University of the Andes, counted to the Uruguayan edition of El País that the work is technically possible, but warns that it should not be seen “as a simple work.” The media also points out more difficulties than the length of the route, including the detailed study of the geology of the seabed, the water pressure, the currents or the seismic behavior of an area located very close to the mountain range. Depending on the results of these analyses, the project could be executed with a TBM-type tunnel boring machine or using conventional rock excavation techniques. According to account According to La Nación, Norwegian engineers have already reviewed the proposal in a preliminary phase and concluded that the conditions could be favorable. cHow much does it cost and who pays. The estimates oscillate between 500 and 1.5 billion dollars. As it is a binational project, Chile and Argentina would have to agree on the distribution of the investment, the management model and long-term maintenance guarantees. The media also points out that viability does not depend only on engineering, but on there being a firm agreement between both countries on who pays, under what conditions and with what operating scheme. What point is it really at? For the moment, the tunnel is nothing more than a proposal included in Chile’s planning. There is no official confirmation of the start of works, no definitive agreement between the two countries, nor guaranteed financing. The next step would be to complete the geotechnical and geophysical studies that allow the design, costs and security, evacuation and emergency systems to be refined. Until then, we will have to wait to find out if the project finally comes to fruition. Cover image | Vincent Etter and Ricardo Gomez Angel In Xataka | With 3,500 tons and 15 meters in diameter, China already has the largest tunnel boring machine in the world for high-speed trains

Argentina wants to get rid of parents who do not pay their children’s pensions. So he kicked them out of the football stadiums

June 4, 2026 by usatoday24

To enjoy a soccer match in an Argentine stadium it will no longer be enough to have a ticket. From now on, fans must comply another extra requirementequally or even more important: being up to date with your children’s pensions. In an attempt to hit where it hurts most, the football heart of the nation that gave birth to Maradona, Messi or Di Estéfano, the authorities have activated a system that prohibits access to the fields to parents who ignore the costs of feeding their children. The Government has 13,000 people in its sights, defaulters whom it just got complicated for them also the USA World Cup. “They don’t enter the fields anymore”. The phrase is from Alejandra Monteoliva, Minister of National Security, who recently announced, via Xthe decision to close the stadium doors to those who are not up to date with their pensions. “Delinquent food debtors no longer enter the fields. Starting today, together with the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, we incorporate debtors into the Safe Tribune program. And they will no longer be able to go in to watch a soccer game,” explains Monteoliva before underlining the basic idea: “He who does not comply with his children, off the courts.” Is it something new? Yes. And no. ‘Safe Tribunes’ It is not a new program. Carry years applying in Argentina and its objective is to reinforce access control to sports events, although until now the focus has been focused mainly on violent fans, accused, convicted or with arrest warrants. It is basically dedicated to checking the documentation of those who go to the camps to check their history or even if they are carrying drugs or knives. For a while now some jurisdictions of the country, as Buenos Airesalso decided to veto sporting events for those who do not comply with the alimony of their minor children. As a reference, the Buenos Aires authorities they assure that since March 2025, 173 controls have been carried out that have made it possible to identify 150 “delinquent food debtors”, fans who were prevented from accessing stadiums or concerts. “So far in 2026 alone, 84 have already been carried out with 75 offenders.” What’s new then? That Argentina has decided to go one step further, combining and reinforcing both initiatives: ‘Safe Grandstands’ and restrictions on access to stadiums for parents with debts. For this, the Ministry of National Security and the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Años have signed an agreement that “marks a qualitative leap” in field controls throughout the country. The key is in the exchange of information, which will allow thousands of new names to be included in the ‘Safe Tribune’ red list. To be more exact, we talk about 13,000 people, “delinquent obligors” registered in Buenos Aires and 13 other provinces spread across the country, such as Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Tierra de Fuego, Santa Cruz or Tucumán. From now on all of them will have a difficult time when they want to watch games in the stadiums, at least as long as they do not catch up with the food pensions they owe. Click on the image to go to the tweet. “Consequences”. Alejandra Monteoliva has not been the only one to insist on the advantages of the system. Something similar has been done, too. via Xthe head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri: “In the city a year ago we prohibited the entry of food debtors to stadiums and mass shows. Now, in joint work with the Government, we added our database to the Safe Tribune program to reinforce these controls throughout the country. Anyone who does not comply with an obligation as basic as feeding their children must have consequences.” Where it hurts the most. In his message, dated May 26, Macri left bouncing another fundamental idea: access controls with the debtor registry in hand will not only be done in the country’s stadiums; The idea is that they will also be applied during the World Cup. Milei’s team has sent a list to the US with more than 30,000 Argentine fans who have restricted access to the World Cup stadiums, which will start in a week in Mexico. And these include, confirms Monteolivathe 13,000 delinquent parents. It is not just another announcement or a declaration of intent. The new restrictions in Argentine stadiums have become official already in the Official Gazette and the Executive has also published a resolution (444/2026) announcing the sending to the US Embassy of information on people with restrictions to access sporting events. The measure is adopted based on the cooperation agreements signed between both Governments and its list would include the “alimony debtors”. Some sources they assure that the veto will extend to Canada and Mexico, the other hosts of the FIFA Cup. Is the problem so serious? In case the 13,000 registered in the system do not give a clue, in 2024 Unicef provided another even more emphatic one: that year it published a report in which it warned that 56% of mothers living in Argentina do not receive child support when the father does not reside in the home, a percentage that rises to 68% if we include mothers who do not receive it regularly. Field access restrictions will only apply when there is a judicial or administrative resolution that demonstrates non-payment and the affected person appears in the official registry of defaulters. Images | Jimmy Baikovicius (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | The World Cup in the USA is making merit to be the most expensive in history: tickets are already reselling for 2.3 million dollars

Argentina and Taiwan have hundreds of Chinese fishing boats in front of them. And no one has cast their nets into the sea to fish

May 20, 2026 by usatoday24

In January 2026, a NASA satellite captured off the Argentine coast a strange image: a huge luminous spot floating in the middle of the South Atlantic, so bright that it looked like a city that had suddenly appeared on the ocean. From the ground nothing could be seen, but from space, however, it was impossible to ignore it. The new floating wall. Last February we count what was seen through satellites, and since then it has not stopped repeating itself. For years, the world assumed that Chinese fishing boats were just that: boats dedicated to fishing. In 2026 that perception is changing rapidly. From the South China Sea to the South Atlantic, different governments are observing the same phenomenon: enormous chinese civil fleets remaining for weeks in strategic areas without clear fishing activity. To be more exact, Argentina and Taiwan, separated by half a planet, now face a surprisingly similar situation: hundreds of Chinese vessels off their coasts whose function seems to go far beyond catching fish. What is disturbing is not only their presence, but the growing suspicion that Beijing is using apparently civilian ships like tools permanent geopolitical pressure and maritime surveillance. Get paid to occupy the sea. I counted last April the ABC chain that investigations into the so-called Chinese “maritime militia” have shown the extent to which Beijing has professionalized this strategy. In the South China Sea, many ships receive state subsidies simply by staying in certain disputed areas. The crews spend entire days at anchor, with hardly any fishing activity, while they help consolidate the Chinese presence around reefs, maritime routes or foreign military exercises such as Balikatan. For Western analysts, the goal is clear: physically saturate the sea with civilian vessels to intimidate rivals without the need to directly deploy traditional military units. Taiwan discovers that anyone can be a problem. The pressure on Taiwan has made this tactic much more visible. This same month of May, Taipei expelled to the Chinese scientific vessel Tongji after detecting suspicious operations near the island. Officially he was carrying out oceanographic studies, but Taiwanese authorities suspect that collected strategic information on the seabed and nearby waters. The incident reflected the great problem what Taiwan faces: It is already difficult to distinguish between civil ships, scientific ships, coast guard ships or military support platforms. That is why the island has even begun to adapt its coast guard patrol vessels to carry anti-ship missiles and act as part of national defense in the event of conflict. Argentina sees the same pattern. Also in May, Reuters reported an extensive report. Thousands of kilometers from Asia, Argentina has been observing another enormous concentration of Chinese ships in front of its waters for years. Every season, about 200 fishing boats illuminate the South Atlantic during squid fishing, forming a gigantic floating city visible from space. Although they officially carry out legal fishing activity outside the Argentine EEZ, Washington and part of the Argentine defense apparatus suspect that many of these vessels could be gathering intelligencemapping the seabed or measuring local surveillance capacity. The context makes the issue especially sensitive for a reason: the area is close to the Strait of Magellan and the access to Antarctica, two strategic areas of enormous geopolitical value. Master the sea without shooting. For its part, China denies that there is any military use of these fleets and maintains that their ships act according to the law international. However, it is becoming evident to many countries that Beijing has found a very effective way to expand its maritime influence without resorting to open war. In other words, the real change does not seem to be in the Chinese destroyers or aircraft carriers, but in the ability to bind a huge number of civilian ships in the ocean until the border between fishing, surveillance or strategic intimidation becomes unrecognizable. Meanwhile, Argentina and Taiwan are already seeing the same reality: one where there are hundreds of Chinese boats off its coast, and with each passing day it seems more strange that everyone has gone there so as not to cast their fishing nets. Image | CSIS/AMTI/Vantor In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan In Xataka | China’s best weapon doesn’t fire a single bullet: 300km ‘moving wall’ to close sea routes instantly

We believed that hantavirus did not jump between humans. Until someone went to a birthday party in Argentina

May 8, 2026 by usatoday24

In recent weeks, the term ‘hantavirus‘ is on the lips of many people, and it is no wonder to the big outbreak that has emerged in the middle of the ocean on a luxury cruise ship. As time goes by, there is more and more data that we have on the table, since we have gone from having the idea of being faced with a virus no possibility of transmission between humans to a scenario in which this is possible and has already occurred. What we knew. When we think about hantavirus, epidemiology usually leads us to a very specific scenario, such as rural areas with infected rodents and humans who become ill by inhaling particles of their excrement. The cycle usually ends there, in an evolutionary dead end that goes no further. However, there is an exception, which is the Andes variant of this hantavirus, which has a high lethality and circulates mainly in South America, being the only one that can be transmitted from person to person. It is not a new phenomenon, but its propagation mechanism, strongly linked to social events and the so-called “superspreaders“, makes it a pathogen of special surveillance, as has been demonstrated by the recent large outbreaks in Argentina and its impact now on an international cruise ship with people who are not currently under control due to its long incubation period. His past. To understand the magnitude of the problem, you have to travel back in time and more specifically to the mid-90s where the medical community believed that hantaviruses were strictly zoonotic pathogens, that is, they were transmitted from animals to humans. But in 1996, an outbreak in southern Argentina changed virology textbooks. Here the publications of the time They made it clear that the 1996 outbreak was happening directly between humans thanks to molecular analyzes that determined that the viruses that were infecting patients were quite similar. A birthday. In a simple meeting between several people in November 2018 in Epuyén, it was clearly confirmed that something was happening with this virus. Here are three symptomatic people who attended a birthdaya funeral and a doctor’s office caused the contagion of 34 people, of whom eleven ended up dying due to the clinic that presents this very aggressive virus. This case set a great precedent, being the clearest example we have to see that the Andes hantavirus can spread in social environments without there being close and continuous contact as was thought until relatively recently. But the most interesting thing is the possibility that there are ‘super-contagators’, who are people who can more easily infect those around them and which right now may be the most plausible theory that explains this contagion on the cruise. Similar. Abdirahman KHALIF Mohamud, spokesperson for the World Health Organization, was the one who shown the similarities that may exist between this birthday in Argentina in 2018 and the case of the cruise because in both cases there was a concentration of people in a closed space. The tranquility. In the cases that are documented right now, which are not many, it could be seen that at the moment in which the authorities isolated the confirmed cases, the transmissibility began to decrease. But in addition, it is also known that when a virus is transmitted three times, there is no more contagion from it, so its capacity to spread is lower, which is good news. The problem is that there is still a lot of information that is emerging in this regard, and although there are experts who point out that we are not going to be facing a major pandemic like Covid, fear is still quite present. In Xataka | The hantavirus was going to reach Europe sooner or later and, as always, it caught us offside

Argentina has been resisting with its own for years and is now modernizing it

March 20, 2026 by usatoday24

In Latin America, the development of own tanks has been more the exception than the norm. Most countries have historically chosen to import already consolidated platforms, which leaves any attempt to build a local armored industry in the background. In this context, Argentina occupies a unique place: not only did it design its own battle tank, the Argentine Medium Tank (TAM)but he managed to produce it and incorporate it into his Army. Decades later, that same system is still in service and going through a new stage of modernization. From the original TAM to 2C-A2. The Medium Argentine Tank was born at the end of the 1970s as a response to the need to have its own system that was up to the international standards of the time. Its design represented a leap for the Army at the time, aligned with the means used by other military forces. With the passage of time and technological evolution, that starting point became outdated, which prompted the development of the 2C-A2 version to adapt it to the demands of current combat. The news. The jump to the 2C-A2 standard is not limited to a superficial update, but rather responds to a deep review of the system. The process has included improvements to the turret, cannon, night vision and computerized fire control systems, with the aim of increasing precision and combat effectiveness. Added to this is the incorporation of technology that allows it to operate in adverse conditions, such as smoke, fog or night scenarios, along with work on the chassis to maintain the coherence of the whole. As we can see, the modernized version maintains the base of the vehicle, but incorporates relevant improvements in its features and systems. According to the Army Expo filehas a 720 horsepower diesel engine, capable of reaching 75 km/h and a range of 550 kilometers. Its main armament remains a 105 mm cannon, accompanied by a 7.62 mm FN MAG machine gun, with a crew of four. The first complete squad. December 20, 2024 marked a turning point with the delivery of ten units of the TAM modernized to the 2C-A2 standard. According to the Argentine Government, these vehicles were incorporated into Army facilities in Boulogne, in the province of Buenos Aires, which made it possible to complete the first squadron equipped with this version. With this step, the system stopped being just a project in development to become an operational capability within the force, this being the only delivery confirmed in available sources. A project that is consolidated. Beyond that milestone, the most recent sources point to a continuity phase of the program during 2026. According to Military Zonethe Argentine Army maintains the TAM 2C-A2 as one of its main lines of modernization, with ongoing work and planning to sustain the pace of advance. It is not about new announcements, but rather about consolidating what has already been started. Among the elements that define this stage are: The program continues in development and has an assigned budget, as indicated by the director of the General Directorate of Materials in March 2026. There is already a complete operational squadron and work is being done to complete a second The modernization combines the tower update with the recovery of the chassis It is projected to extend the useful life of the system between 20 and 30 years The approach is based on “cores of modernity” that can then be progressively expanded More than modernizing. The program is not limited to updating the vehicle, but involves broader work in terms of sustainment and autonomy. According to an interview collected by Zona Militarone of the objectives is to master the entire logistics and maintenance cycle, reducing external dependency. This includes work in Army facilities itself, where both modernizations and subsequent support are carried out. Other projects. The Argentine case is not the only attempt in the region, but it is one of the few that went to the end. Brazil, for example, developed the EE-T1 Osóriothrough the Engesa company, a combat tank that stood out in tests and came to compete with Western models. However, the project failed to make the jump to mass production and ended up being cancelled. This difference is key to understanding the regional map: it is not enough to design a tank, the true turning point is to be able to mass-produce it and integrate it into an operational force. Argentina’s position in the regional panorama. In a context in which few countries managed to sustain their own projects of this type, keeping a system in service and taking it to a new phase of modernization makes a clear difference. The TAM 2C-A2 not only represents a technical update, but also the extension of an industrial and military project that has managed to remain operational for decades, something unusual in the region. Images | Argentine Army (1, 2, 3, 4) In Xataka | We believed that everything happened because of the new fighters. The F-16 has been in the air for 50 years and continues to sell like hotcakes

BYD sales are sinking in China, so its plans now go through two countries: Mexico and Argentina

March 18, 2026 by usatoday24

BYD has its eye on America. At the moment, its entry into the United States is almost impossible but its expansion plan not only targets the country that has tried to build a wall against Chinese car manufacturers. The Chinese company has set its sights on Canada. But also further south, in Mexico. And much further south, in Argentina, with a project that crosses the entire continent. 100,000 cars. According to Stella Li, vice president of BYD worldwide, the volume of cars that Mexico and Argentina have claimed that the Brazilian factory exports to them. According to Chinese media, this volume of orders is distributed equally, with 50,000 cars for each country. The export order for the Brazilian factory demonstrates the growing interest in both countries for BYD plug-in vehicles. He’s not the only one. In Brazil alone, BYD sold 113,000 cars last year, making the country the country that bought the most cars from the company outside of China. A factory is key. Since last summer, BYD is producing cars in Brazil with a clear focus for South America. There it produces the BYD Dolphin Mini (what we know in Europe as BYD Dolphin Surf) and will share facilities with the BYD Song Pro and BYD King, plug-in hybrid options. The plant, which started with controversy after working conditions close to slavery will be reported During its construction, it has the current objective of producing 150,000 cars each year but is capable of expanding the volume to 600,000 cars per year. The investment, therefore, is strong. At the moment, production has begun in the SKD version, with kits that arrive partially assembled, as is happening in Barcelona with the Chery Group, but according to BYD The goal is for production to be completely local over the years. From Mexico to Argentina. In Bloomberg They explain that the plant will be the central industrial hub of the entire continent for BYD. The company started with a production of 150,000 cars per year and planned to expand its capacity with a second phase to 300,000 cars. However, last October they announced that they plan to double this figure and reach 600,000 cars manufactured per year. Expansive plans in America are key for BYD. The company is seeing its sales slow down in the local market. In China, the State has withdrawn aid to the purchase of “new energy” vehicles (plug-in hybrids and electric), which directly impacts a company like BYD that has no other alternative in its range. Added to this is that the State has been trying for years to mobilize local consumption, which declines without this aid. The news coming from outside China indicates in Blomberghave been good news for the company whose shares have begun to rebound after a sustained fall. The Mexico case. Looking ahead to its expansion, BYD has set its sights on Mexico. In fact, Chinese manufacturers have been gaining great popularity in the country. enough so that the Government, in a clear nod to the United States, has raised some 50% tariffs on these cars. A strategy that, for the moment, has been unsuccessful in its first stages because These companies had already exported cars in very high volumes. However, BYD has the best tool in Brazil to continue selling in Mexico. Both countries have a special treaty that allows them to take cars from one country to another without paying tariffs along the way. The company planned to build a factory in Mexico which, in addition, he wanted to use as a back door for shipping cars to the United States. With the closure of this border and the tariffs already imposed on Chinese cars (and those to come)BYD ended by throw away your plans. The Argentina case. As we said, Mexico and Brazil are not the only two attractive markets for BYD. Argentina has become another vein that, supposedly, has demanded the importation of 50,000 Chinese cars. In Infobae They point out that this figure is equivalent to 10% of Argentina’s annual vehicle production. Until now, the Argentine market has been highly regulated in its imports but it has opened up. This has increased imports by 97%, making it more important than ever for companies to export outside their borders. (90% of them already do it). However, they are seeing how the reception capacity in countries like Peru or Ecuador is lower because Chinese vehicles are also beginning to enter these markets. At the moment, tariff-free imports to Argentina are based on quotas. Quotas that, of course, They are 50,000 units which are exactly the ones that BYD plans to send to the country from Brazil. An eye on Europe. But, in addition, the Chinese company says it is not only interested in America. In presenting all these figures, BYD also assured that it had one eye on Europe. And with him progressive link between Mercosur and Europeit will be easier to import cars to Europe economically. It remains to be seen, however, if BYD is compensated for the efforts it has to make in terms of homologation to bring cars from Brazil. And tariffs are one thing and security obligations are quite another. Despite this, the company may have an opportunity if it manufactures pick-up for America, widely purchased in the region but with very low performance in Europe, so it can compensate for its exports so as not to have to dedicate specific assembly lines in our soil for a marginal type of vehicle. Photo | Jimmy WooBYD and Nicolas Flor In Xataka | Spain has a new brand of Chinese cars and it arrives with an ambitious plan: “Five million units by 2030”

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