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While reservoirs from all over the country reach record figures, Spain still has a black dot of the drought: Almería

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For eighth consecutive week, Spanish reservoirs have risen again. It was to be expected: the same rains that have “bitter” vacations to many during Holy Week are now becoming good water news. For the first time in many years, Spain has exceeded the 75% barrier in reservoir water. And yet, this enthusiasm does not reach a very specific area of ​​the country: The Southeast. Where the rains do not arrive. If we see an autonomous map of the country’s water reserves, we will see all of Spain in blue (light, medium or dark). All except Murcia; That, at 36.49% of its capacity, it can only appear in colors close to orange or red. And, although Reservations have grown a lotthe safe basin is still very touched with 10 points less than the historical average. For more Inri, it cannot be said that it is a management problem (although the management of the basin has always been a controversial issue). It is something that extends, as I say, to all southeast. The province of Alicante is at 31.75%. That is to say, above the terrible data last yearbut without reaching the average of the last decade. And then there is Almeria. Almería? What happens in Almeria? That hides among the excellent data from Andalusia (60.59%) and the more than good of the Andalusian Mediterranean basins (55.54%), The province of Almería has a huge problem: its reserves are 11.16%. Slightly better than a year ago, but still below Lbetter 2024 data. Almería’s problem with water is not new. That’s true. If we look, the historical average of the last 10 years in The province is 13.13%. Very slightly above the current figures. And we talk about a place with a huge weight of water intensive industries (agriculture and tourism); one that, in addition, is suffering like nobody Desertification problems and overexploitation (and pollution) of aquifers. As They said a few weeks ago from Ecologists in Action“Seeing Llover away the ghost of drought”, but in areas like Almeria that drought has been anywhere. It is a false impression that only management can difficulty. Lose the water war. At least there are three Almeria regions in which drought not only persists, but It is completely chronified: Níjar, Sierra de los Fizodes and El Levante. And that we talk about the Spanish province that adds the greatest number of rafts of different sizes and characteristics (27,000according to the latest estimates). In 1987, “the first reports on the deterioration of the aquifers of the Dalías field were announced, the point where intensive agriculture was born.” And the problem has only increased: “Every year, Almería starts its agricultural campaign with a structural deficit of around 200 cubic hectometers.” The story is simple, too simple. Almería wanted to become the great laboratory against desertification, but has become a battle territory. A battle that little by little We are losing. Image | Alicia Camacho In Xataka | Arid soils are devouring Almeria, Murcia and Alicante faster than we expected. And it does not seem that we can stop it

An US Army has reached the happiest country in the world. His immense border with Russia has changed the panorama of Finland

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Finland lives A paradox. The nation became for the eighth consecutive year in the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 of the University of Oxford and the United Nations. However, and no matter how happy the lives of its citizens are, its geography has changed the geopolitical situation. While the country was crowned with such virtue, an United States army had come to prepare for “the worst.” Happiness. With an average score 7,736 out of 10the Nordic country maintained its leadership in a ranking based on the evaluation that people make of their own lives, through surveys that cover three years and measure subjective perception, social ties and trust. They accompany him in the top positions other nations of the North European Like Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, consolidating a pattern that highlights the virtues of strong social systems, access to nature, community cohesion and collective well -being as pillars of a satisfactory life. Harvard said that Finland’s persistent success was not noisy, nor depended on advertising campaigns, nor a national identity built on exceptionality. Rather, rather, on a Silent and robust balance between nature, social protection, free time, daily civism and an extended perception of security and mutual trust. Almost the same could be said of the rest of the “north” nations, the same whose geography could change the status quo. A new front. Almost along with New York Times counted A scene that had occurred in another area of ​​the nation. In mid -February, an emergency fictional message sent by Finland’s defense forces activated a large -scale military exercise: an enemy invasion required immediate assistance. Dozens of American soldiers, members of the newly created Arctic Division of the American Armythey left from Fairbanks, Alaska, and crossed the northern pole to land in Rovaniemi, north of Finland. Equipped with M-4 rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers, they were deployed in snowy forests, dresses with special white uniforms and steam waterproof boots. Although It was a drillthe geopolitical and climatic background endowed it with the most disturbing gravity: with the melting of the Arctic ice, this inaccessible region is inaccessible has now returned strategiccausing powers such as Russia, China, the United States and various European nations They actively train for a possible conflict in extreme conditions. The new Arctic centrality. According to Canadian General Robert McBridethe world’s armies have left behind the era of the “war on terror” to focus Your attention in the Arctica territory that, like We have been countinghas acquired prominence for its strategic value, natural resources and emerging transport routes. In that context, cooperation between Finland and the United States It has intensifiedespecially since Finland joined NATObecoming the country of the alliance with the most extensive border with Russia: 1,340 kilometers. The historical past (Finland He fought against The Soviet Union in World War II) reinforces the defensive nature of this relationship. “Russia will take everything that is not nailed to the wall,” recalled a said Finn -cited by Janne Kuusela, defense official, to the Times. Despite recent political changes and Trump’s verbal approach to Moscowin the icy field, cooperation between the two countries seems solid and determined. The United States Army displaced to the area Ice war. What’s doubt, put on the worst stage, the Arctic War It presents unique challenges. “It’s like operating in space. No one will come to help you. And the environment can kill you,” summarized the American colonel Christopher Brawley. The cardinal rule: stay dry. Finnish soldiers must pass An extreme test It consists of throwing themselves, with all the equipment on, in an open hole on an icy river, going quickly and changing clothes before suffering freezing, what they should do with the help of their classmates, since their hands stop responding in seconds. Jackson Crites Videman, a conscript of dual Finnish and American nationality, lived at 36 degrees below zero. We remember that Finland is one of the few democratic countries with conscriptionand before the latent threat of the east, ha Increased your budget In defense. Although the war in Ukraine has significantly reduced the Russian presence in the border region, the Finns calculate that it will only take between five and ten years to establish a tangible danger again. Preparations: Winter war. The designation in 2022 of the 11th Airborne Division of Alaska as the first and unique Arctic Division of the United States marked A doctrinal change. The US army tested new uniforms, combat skis and vehicles with caterpillars capable of climbing frost pending. During the drill in Finland, they showed a New transport model that climbs on the snow efficiently. Plus: Special rations For cold weather, with high caloric content, they reflected in the tests the amount of energy that simply demands to stay hot in that environment. And if winter imposes its rules, summer also does not offer relief in the enclave: with perpetual sun and without night, disappears The advantage of glasses Night vision, and when ice melts, the earth becomes an impassable lodazal of dense forests, rivers, lakes and marshes. No name, but with coordinates. Had the New York Times That, during the maneuvers, the troops took advantage of frozen rivers as improvised highways. With their rifles behind the back, they slipped quickly on the ice, in an environment that demands physical resistance and strategic clarity. Result? The exercise was finally considered a success For the commanders. Before the question of whether the proximity in recent times between Trump and Russia was a reason for concern, Finnish General Sami-Antti Takamaa was blunt to the middle: “It doesn’t worry me at all. The American airborne division has just arrived from Alaska. That is what matters to me.” Finland and NATO. Thus, and while the global geopolitical balance seems to stagger between tense alliances and resurgent threats, Finland, the happiest country in the world For eighth time With its 5.6 million inhabitants and an extreme geography, it emerges as one of the Defensive bastions more strategic in Europe. … Read more

China had been buying tons and tons of soy to the US for years. A country has won in place: Brazil

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China likes American soybeans. A lot. Every year matters from the fields of Illinois, Minnesota or Iowa Millions of tons From a crop that is consumed directly in pod, it is processed or is intended to feed cattle. The problem is that in full Commercial Warand with him Tariff crossing Of more than 100% applied by Washington and Beijing to their respective exports, that American grain will probably stop being attractive in Chinese factories. It has already happened years ago, during the commercial war of the first mandate of Donald Trump. And then, as now, China began to look with increasing interest other sources of soybeans. Which is it? Argentina and especially Brazil. A figure: 27 million. He Tariff pulse Between the US and China, which has resulted in a rise in encumbrances of more than 100% to the commercial flow in both directions, threatens to hit a key merchandise: soybeans. The reason is very simple. American farmers sell a lot, a lot of soy to the Asian giant. In 2024 that flow exceeded 27 million tons metrics, with a value of 12.8 billion dollars. Moreover, oleaginous seeds (group that includes soy) were one of the main US exports to China in terms of value. Two years ago, the US-China Business Council calculated that, together, oleaginous seeds and cereals represent the largest export of the US to China, with a value that was then ascended to 25.4 billion. To have a clearer image of what soybeans supposes in those accounts, The New York Times Precise that last year mobilized nine cents of each dollar of goods that the US sold in China. USDA data shows that the Asian country monopolizes Something more than 40% of the Total US Soy Sales. A percentage: 135%. That is the rise of tariffs that will have to deal with that huge flow of American grain to China from now on. The percentage is the sum of two increases: the 10% imposed by Beijing in March to the importation of certain agricultural products and The extra 125% With which, already in recent weeks, he responded to the escalation of the commercial war with the US. The question they leave by driving those rise in levies is obvious: how will it affect the flow of American soybeans? Will it remain attractive to the Chinese market with that 135% rates? The issue has generated expectation between The analysts And of course Farmers worry From the US, a good part of them installed in states that, such as Iowa, Indiana or Ohio, are important soy producers and last November they voted for Donald Trump. “We deal with bad weather, pests, tractor breakdowns,” he lamented recently Heather Feuerstein, owner of a Tnyt Michigan farm. To all these challenges are now added tariffs, which in their opinion suppose “a threat” for their way of life. One date: 2017. While the tariff pulse with which he has started 2025 is being particularly intense, it is not the first time that Feuerstein and the rest of his colleagues are seen in a similar situation. Years ago, during his first presidential mandate, Trump has already started a commercial war with China that fully affected soy exports. As? Leading Beijing to bet on other suppliers and reducing the flow of grain ‘made in USA’. Nikkei precise which in 2017 was behind almost 40% of Chinese imports. Although the commercial flow remains high, in 2024 that figure was already 20%. Recently the CNN elaborated A detailed graph in which it shows that between 2017 and 2018 the US soybeans exports to China foster from 31.7 million metric tons to 8.24. Since then the flow has been recovered until it is located at 27.2 last year, although the data remains below the one registered before Trump’s first mandate. In general, from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) esteem that the commercial war caused direct losses to the US agricultural exports that exceeded the 27,000 million of dollars between 2018 and 2019. A country: Brazil. Every war has its winners. And the commercial open years between the US and China has a very clear one if we talk about soybean trade: Brazil. He same graph The CNN shows that as US exports lost bellows those of Brazilian grain shot. From 2016 to 2018 the flow destined for China rose to 68.6 million metric tons and in 2024 the 72.5 million tons were exceeded, well above the US export levels. In general, it is estimated that in recent years China increased 35% Its annual imports of Brazilian soybeans while they reduced the Americans by 14%. If the growth is ever seen the growth was Very superior. What does that mean? That in 2017, Brazilian soybeans supposed about 50% of its imports for China, now Round and 70%. A reflection “will have to acquire more”: “If you can’t get it from the United States, you will have to acquire more than Brazil. And they will have to pay more,” Comment to Tnyt Neusa Lopes, agricultural tour directive, an outstanding soy producer of the state of Mato Grosso, in Brazil. The truth is that the commercial war comes after, at the end of 2024, XI made a state visit to Brazil to strengthen ties between the two countries and the Brazilian Association of Soy Producers I confirmed recently that at the beginning of the month the Asian giant signed contracts for millions of tons of grain. Beyond Brazil, There are analysts They point out that Beijing could rely on Argentina, Another great producer. Between what happened eight years ago and the current scenario there is however An important difference. After years of commercial flow between China and Brazil, today the first one has much easier to stock up on the crops of the South American country. The Asian giant has invested in warehouses, railways, ports and other infrastructure that facilitates the transfer of Brazilian soybeans in Chinese ships. The clearest example is the great open terminal this year in the … Read more

The world’s most expensive coffee cup costs 300 euros and is sold in the only country willing to pay something like this: Japan

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He price of a cup of coffee It is an excellent socioeconomic indicator. That “1.20 euros” of a coffee with milk in a conventional bar is the measure of measuring with which many Spaniards in recent years have compared the Daily Products Pricebut that rod has long since broke. The boom of chains like Starbucksspecialty coffee shops and trembling reality of the coffee market has caused the price of this delicious and healthy drink increase dramatically. But even if we pay more or less depending on the place where we live, there are so exclusive cafes that does not matter where we take it because its price will continue to be crazy. And one of those expensive coffees occurs on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The price? 315 euros. The cup, not the kilo. And even the most coffee experts do not know if it is worth it. Coffee that costs a third of the minimum wage We are talking about asking for a donut of a couple of euros to accompany a cup of coffee of more than 300 euros. It is complicated that many of us imagine something like that, but it is what happens with some coffees such as Nakayama Estate. And, within that it is a barbarity of money for a cup of coffee, I will turn to that xataka meme: it makes sense. Put the quotes you want here. Okinawa is just at the north limit of the so -called ‘coffee belt’, which makes it one of the most extreme areas where it can be cultivated. We have already told that coffee occurs mostly in what we know as the “coffee belt” and that, although the Climate change It is allowing coffee to develop in areas Like Sicily either Spainit is still a peculiarity that coffee occurs so to the limit of the optimal zone. In addition, Nakayama is not too high above sea level. To grow coffee, especially the Arabic varietywhich is usually used in the specialty coffee, the altitude to which it is grown must be between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level. In Nakayama, farms are between 150 and 500 meters. To round the formula, it must be taken into account that they use sustainable practices without pesticides and with Japanese employees who charge higher wages than those that farmers from other coffee producing areas can collect. In summary: they are not the ideal conditions, it is difficult to harvest and the wages are high, which directly impacts the price, but there is more. Nakayama Café is not only exclusive for the achievement of carrying out such a harvest, but for the low production they get every year. Brazil is the main coffee producer and in 2022 that production was more than 3,100,000 tons. Vietnam is the second, with almost 2,000,000 tons that same year. New Caledonia is one of the most producers weakwith two tons of coffee. Nakayama would not enter the graphics, because its production is 300 kilos a year. And if we add that very scarce annual production with the factors mentioned above since coffee has distinctive notes thanks, precisely, to that low height crop, we result in a cup that is exceptionally expensive. I would be unable to distinguish a cup of this select coffee from my coffee in Costa Rica every morning, but someone can: James Hoffman. We have ever talked about him, since he was named better barista in 2007, he has such interesting recipes –I have tried this– like that of a Donut coffee and, in addition, It is coffee toaster. It has, in short, a palate qualified enough to analyze something like a cup that costs more than 300 euros. To do this, he went to one of the most expensive coffee shops: Shotin one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in London, to try this coffee. There are only special coffees, such as private crops of islands like Kona in Hawaii, Santa Helena Café (one of the most remote islands in the world) coffee Kopi Luwak that is extracted from excrement from an animal and, of course, that of Nakayama. The letter has no prices, and we already know what this usually implies. Ok, very good, but … is it worth it? According to HoffmannNo. Not quite. “It is more acid than I expected and has a good texture, a touch of wood and is very fruity,” says the British YouTuber. “The barista has done really well, there is a good barista after this coffee and it is a mature coffee, well -processed, well roasted and well done, but I do not think that its flavor and its price are connected.” In addition, he adds that he does not think he has distinctive characteristics of other low -altitude coffees that he has tried. And, although this may seem devastating, really, as I said before, it makes sense. Because, as Hoffmann, the price and perception of those 300 euros for a cup of coffee (espresso, in addition, without milk), depends on the value that we give to things, something that is linked to the size of the portfolio. It occurs with virtually any product whose price is not objective and depends on what we are willing to pay. This Okinawa coffee, better or worse, is like an exclusive wine, fashion brands, chocolate, watches, cars and What can occur to us. Because, obviously, Shot has not cost so much money, but has revalued to the extreme the price of that coffee due to the aura of exclusivity that has to be of the few coffee shops in the world that has those grains in particular. The truth is that, after writing this, I still escape from my head to pay 315 euros for an espresso and I don’t know how many Bernabéus equivalent. But I know that for the price of that espresso, you can buy three games of Nintendo Switch 2 and you have left over for a coffee from the street end. … Read more

Brazil has taken 23 years to discover that its English judge Albert Lancelot Canterbury is called José and never left the country

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Exactly 10 years ago, a decade, the media made the case of an Australian of Vietnamese origin famous. Its history today is part of that set of surreal stories that were born (and died) on the network. Apparently, the guy, called nothing less What Phuc Dat Bichhe was censored by Facebook due to his name (and his hilarious similarity with “Fuck That Bitch”). Unfortunately, the story in the end was too good to be true. In Brazil it occurred to the resemblance, but for 23 years nobody doubted Judge Edward Albert Lancelot Dodd Canterbury Caterham Wickfield. The “aristocrat” of the countryside. The short version: for more than two decades, the judicial system of the state of São Paulo housed a judge who did not exist. La Tarce: José Eduardo Franco Dos Reis, a Brazilian citizen, managed to pass public exams, graduate in Law at the University of São Paulo and exercise as a magistrate under a completely false identity: Edward Albert Lancelot Dodd Canterbury Caterham Wickfield, a name as extravagant as Anglophile. The farce began in the 80s, when two reis, determined to reinvent itself, falsified his birth certificate to present himself as a British aristocrat born in Brazil but raised in the United Kingdom. In 1995, already officially converted to a judge, the character consolidated with Press Interviews in which he narrated a fictitious childhood between English castles and noble lineages. An institutionalized lie. The really fascinating thing about this story is the time that has gone unnoticed by the authorities. The truth came to light in 2024when two Reis (even using Wickfield’s name) went to a government office to renew its identity document. Although all his legal roles were in the name of his alter ego British, the number of birth registration coincided with that of a Brazilian citizen. The crossing of fingerprints confirmed the suspicion: Judge Edward Albert Lancelot Dodd Canterbury Caterham Wickfield never existed. It was, in reality, a carefully built and sustained character for more than 20 years by “José”, a man who never left the country and who managed to deceive colleagues, institutions and control organisms without anyone questioning his story … despite the obvious theatricality of his name. An unlikely explanation. After discovering fraud, two Reis was summoned to declare. Then, the man appeared under his real name for the first time in decades, although he offered an even more delusional defense: he said that Wickfield was His twin brotheradopted in childhood by a couple of British aristocrats. Nor did he provide evidence or explain the origin of the names, although Media as Folha de S. Paulo They have pointed out the clear and obvious literary inspiration: from Sir Lancelot of The round table Even Mr. Wickfield from David Copperfieldby Charles Dickens. The Prosecutor’s Office formally accused him of ideological falsehood and use of false documents, but so far it has not been able to be located, so it has not been formally notified. A judicial fortune. During his career, “José” accumulated prestige, power and a juicy pension of more than $ 28,000 per monththe same ones that continued to charge even after his retirement in 2018. However, after the revelation of fraud, the Court of Justice of São Paulo has ordered the immediate suspension of his payments, an amount that only in February It would exceed 166,000 reais. No doubt, the case has left the stunned Brazilian public opinionnot only because of the magnitude of the deception, but by the dimension of the structural failure of the institutions that allowed a man to live under a literary identity, absurd and completely invented within one of the most monitored powers of the State. To the small screen. If you want also, the scandal is not only an anecdote of imposture, but a living metaphor of how the appearance, Language and authority can build parallel realities in systems that do not always require rigorous evidence to validate their pillars. The Wickfield-Dos Reis case not only ridicule the judicial system Brazilian, but reveals bureaucratic fragility against the imposted charism and a well -spun narrative (apparently). Plus: that a judge could be inspired by British literature to create their identity and exercise for decades without being discovered, it is both a structural failure and An institutional tragicomedy worthy of a Dickens novel … or a script that I could surely prepare the Netflix very. Image | ITOLDYA, Devianart In Xataka | Indeed, if you doubted that someone was called Phuc Dat Bich, you were right In Xataka | AGLOE: The story of how a city that did not exist until Google eliminated it was introduced into the maps

The doors of green hydrogen from Spain have found its starting point: the Basque Country

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While Spain account With several hot green hydrogen points, infrastructure for distribution, such as H2Med, still Keep in development. However, the Basque Country has emerged as a new channel. Short. The H2BIDEA project, coordinated by Nortegas, aims to boost the development of a pure hydrogen distribution network in the Basque Country. The initiative will have the aid of the company Tubos gathered, in charge of creating the special tubes where high pressure hydrogen (160 bar) will be transported. A great initiative. Through a consortium of Basque companies, H2bidea It is cemented The pillars for the Basque Corridor of Hydrogen (BH2C). With this corridor they seek to establish an interconnected green hydrogen infrastructure that facilitates its transport and distribution, both regional and European. In three years, H2BIDEA hopes to have a distribution network demonstrator called H2TESTLAB, which will allow evaluating the efficacy of the installed infrastructure, according to has had notic access from Álava. Mass support. The project has the support of the Basque Government and the European Union, as well as with the collaboration of the Basque Companies Consortium, such as Arizaga, Bastarrica and Company (ABC Compressors), Orkli, Commercial of Electronic Applications (FIDEGAS) and Calcinor Servicios. It is not the only one. Because Spain continues to advance in the creation of more projects, such as the Mediterranean corridor (H2Med). This development initiative intends to interconnect Spain, France and Portugal by 2030 in what will be the first European hydrogen infrastructure. However, in recent weeks, has faced a controversy In Zamora on the use of water in the production of green hydrogen. More challenges at European level. A recent study by West Wood Energy consultant has estimated that only 17% of green hydrogen projects in the continent will materialize within five years. In that context, According to a Global Energy Monitor reportEurope faces difficulties to fulfill its decarbonization strategy due to the shortage of hydrogen produced in a renewable way. The limited amount of available green hydrogen and the slow progress of the announced projects question the viability of the energy transition plans of the continent. From another perspective. The Basque Corridor is an initiative that has emerged as a strategic point for the production and export of green hydrogen. In this way, it joins the ambitious plans of Spain to become a European green hydrogen leader. In fact, recently, the Spanish nation launched A hydrogen project with an investment of 1,214 million euros from the NextGneu funds. Image | TUBOSREUNIDOS Xataka | The Plan of Spain for leading green hydrogen has been faced with an unexpected problem: Zamora

will impose 25% cars tariffs manufactured outside the country

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Donald Trump announced this Wednesday their intention to impose new tariffs on Imported cars. The measure is part of its aggressive economic strategy and could open a new front of tensions with neighboring countries and the European Union. From the Oval office, the former president said that he will apply 25% tariff to “all cars that are not manufactured in the United States”, starting from the current 2.5% base. In their own words, these new tariffs will join the existing ones. Entry into force. Although the announcement is already official, the new measures will not be applied immediately. The tariffs will enter into force on April 2, date that will also mark the beginning of the reciprocal measures long announced by the president. The “great three.” Trump said he had addressed the issue with the main car manufacturers in the country – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. In his own words, the message was clear: “If you don’t have factories here, you will have to start and build them.” Increased price in sight. As Tax Foundation points outtariffs work, in practice, as taxes applied to imported products. That extra cost usually falls to importers, which in most cases transfer it directly to the final consumer. Impact on exporters. If brands that manufacture cars outside the US fail to absorb the additional cost of tariffs, They could lose ground in front of local options. In that scenario, consumers would tend to choose vehicles produced within the country. The US imports many cars. Although the automobile industry is part of the United States industrial DNA, the country depends largely on imports. Almost half of the cars sold in the United States come from abroad, which amplifies the impact of new tariffs. According to 2024 data from World’s Top Exportsthese are the main exporting countries and their weight in imports in the country. Mexico: 22.8% Japan: 18.6% South Korea: 17.3% Canada: 12.9% Germany: 11.7% First reactions. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has said in x which deeply regrets the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports. He also says that “the EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, but protecting their economic interests.” Images | The White House | Yannis Zaugg In Xataka | In full tariff war with the US, Mexico has had an idea: to manufacture its own “cheap” electric cars

The success of goal AI in the US has been limited, but now they want to try in a country addicted to WhatsApp: Spain

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It is late, that sure. The question is whether he will achieve what he has not achieved in the United States. There they can use Goal AI Integrated on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram for almost a year, but it does not seem that these options have managed to convert this platform into a success. Will they do so in Spain and other countries in Europe? Goal AI sneaks into your chats. The Meta AI announcement in April 2024 raised A very different approach to that of chatgpt. Instead of considering as an independent chatbot that one can use in a web browser, he invited us to use it as part of WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram. He sneaked into our chats And in our social networks, and the question was if that strategy would work. Modest options. We could Test goal AI Thanks to the use of a VPN when it appeared in the US, and its options seemed decent, but of course not striking in front of the competition. In order to focus, it was still the integration of the service into its social networks. Many users … After all this time the adoption of this AI platform has been remarkable according to those responsible. Susan li, cfo in the company, indicated To investors in January 2025 how Meta AI already had 700 million active monthly users – who have used it at least once a month -, compared to December 600. Growth seems striking, but talking about monthly users is very different from talking about weekly or daily users. … but with apparent little use. In fact, David Curry, from the Business of Apps consultant, indicated in CNBC In December that the Meta AI website generates only 10 million visits per month, much less than great services such as Chatgpt or Gemini, and even that less popular services such as Anthropic Claude. Of course, what matters is that users use it within the platform, but their success at WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook is an unknown and it is not easy to measure it. Goal does not want us to get out of WhatsApp. A priori the idea seemed suggestive and promising: WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook are already applications in which people spend hours a day, so trying to offer an AI directly in them seemed logical. However, the personal character of these applications collided with that more general use of AI. Ask an AI inside WhatsApp for a recipe or a summary of some data does not seem so natural for that more personal function, and although the option is useful, it does not seem to have set among those who have tried it. Users complain. Some of the users who have tried it in the US They simply hate her and warn how to use it that data is collected and can be used to give them to advertiserswhich means another threat to privacy. Others ask why it cannot be deactivated or eliminate from your apps. In fact, one of the debates around the goal strategy is precisely at that point: the company He has forced To users to have a goal AI in those applications without having requested it. Will we chat with goal AI in Spain? The adoption of WhatsApp is particularly high in Spain, and this may be a good opportunity to know if the idea of ​​goal works here. In the US that option does not seem to have been a success, which makes you doubt its success in other regions. In the company, yes, they seem to be preparing for that eventuality. But now they want to bet on an independent app. Although goal AI has Web versionthat option is still not available in Spain or in other countries of the European Union. Integration into their social networks does not seem to have been the success they expected, because now the company is determined to Offer an independent application to the chatgpt style. Mark Zuckerberg I had already warned of that intention at the beginning of the year, in fact. After the appearance of the news, even Sam Altman joked indicating that perhaps it was time that in OpenAi they began to create a social network. Goal AI Plus. Everything points to what goal will offer both a free version of its service – as the one it already offers – as a payment. That “goal ai plus” would adopt the subscription model and thus compete with Chatgpt plus and other similar services. Here the challenge is precisely to offer more striking options than those of other services, something that for now does not seem to happen. Well in Open Source, regulate in the rest. Calls, THE OPEN SOURCE OF METAit is excellent for developers and for those who want to use AI at home, but their benefits compete with those of increasingly striking models, and a goal, for example, does not offer reasoning model that competes with Deepseek R1 nor has he announced news on very fashionable land such as AI agents or search engines. In Xataka | We already know how much spending on AI by companies in 2024 has grown. An absolute barbarity

Something is changing in Europe if the country that has been neutral will also check it: Switzerland

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In the world, Ironiza A few months ago the European geopolitics expert Ulrike Franke, there are few certainties. One is death. Another taxes. And the third, almost at the same level as the previous two, is the military neutrality of Switzerland. Your own government presume that it is “one of the foundations” of its foreign policy, a status recognized internationally since 1815 and that in practice prevents it from taking advantage of armed conflicts or joining military alliances, no matter how much powerful (and above all lucrative) Let it be your arms industry. In an increasingly complicated world, marked by the three years of war in Ukraine, the approach of the US and Russia and relationships more and more tense Between Brussels and Washington, this status of neutrality seems to soften. What happened? That although Swiss neutrality is part of the country’s DNA, it is recognized worldwide and has overwhelming support in Helvetic society (91% in 2024), Something is changing in the Alpina nation. It comes with a quick turn by Google to find items that They wonder For the future that Switzerland has if he maintains his equidistance, they talk about “Relanding” either “questioning” of neutrality or even report how Bern It has been involved in projects of Military Cariz. It is not so much The president of the country was pronounced on the issue, Viola Amherd. “It should be reviewed”. The clearest evidence was left by the Swiss federal council in August, when he published A series of “recommendations” in terms of security prepared by an expert commission. Among them there is a centered on the neutral role of Switzerland that generated a special interest. The reason? Your firmness. “The neutrality policy should be reviewed, focus more on its security function and apply with more flexibility,” starts The chapter. They are just that, recommendations embodied in a report, but it is revealing. “The majority of the commission recommends to better align neutrality policy with the United Nations Charter and take into account the distinction between aggressor and victim,” The document aboundswhich also advocates to review the federal law of 96 in the matter of defense and the approach to the Atlantic Alliance and the 27 community states. “Cooperation with NATO and EU must continue to deepen with a view to achieving a common defense capacity and be a real cooperation.” The importance of context. The recommendations are understood much better in context light, one that has evolved clearly since it was disclosed The reportin August 2024. The first key is the Ukraine War. After his beginning Bern He decided to join To European sanctions to Russia Bajo The argument that supporting purely economic punishments does not imply positioning itself in an armed conflict. That reasoning did not prevent, however, a few months later, in August 2022, Moscow stop considering To Switzerland a neutral country and even rejected a Berna offer to mediate in the war. Geopolitics … and market. There are other keys, such as the fact that Switzerland was incorporated into the United Nations In 2002 (with everything that implies), but among them there is an especially interesting. Switzerland may be a neutral country, but has companies that export hundreds of millions of euros in war material. And while in 2022 that business reached A record levelthe following year the flow He collapsed partly by the neutral status of the country, which Block re -export of weapons and ammunition manufactured in Switzerland to countries at war, such as Ukraine. “Raise the ban”. In Your report August is also dedicated to the arms policy in which it is advocated to “strengthen and adapt better to threats” the Swiss industry. “The majority wishes to lift the prohibition of re -export to the countries mentioned in Annex 2 of the ordinance of February 25, 1998 on war material,” the document collects. In said annex A twenty and a half of countries are cited from different regions, including Germany or Spain, which in 2023 assured that Bern “blocked” the re -export of military material to Ukraine to reinforce his defense. And Trump arrived. That was the context a few months ago. Since November one more factor is added: Donald Trump, than from his Arrival at the White House He has revolutionized international politics, especially in Europe. In the two scarce months that the Republican has been in office, he has threatened take out to the US from NATO, he has complained that the alliance “Take advantage” from Washington and has implied that Europe will not be able to count forever or unconditionally with the “Defensive umbrella” United States. Has that climate influenced in Bern? Financial Times (FT) published a few days ago An extensive analysis in which he argued that the new scenario is pushing Switzerland to establish closer defense ties. At stake also enters a new name, Martin Pfistera colonel who in a matter of days will become the new Swiss defense minister and has already been favorable to greater cooperation in defense with NATO and the EU. “Absolutely necessary”. As collect the newspaper British, Pfister has publicly assured that he sees “absolutely necessary” cooperation and joint training with NATO. And that even though Switzerland, precisely because of its historic neutral status, is not part of the Atlantic Alliance. Beyond his words, the Alpine country has made several interesting movements over the last months without altering its neutral status: He has decided to join to an EU project to facilitate military mobility, He has signed a statement to be part of the European sky shield initiative (ESSI) and the government even It has been proposed Relax the restrictions for the export of weapons. “I have never seen a scenario that reflects the situation we are in,” Jean-Marc Rickli commentsfrom the Geneva Security Policy Center to FT. “In transatlantic relations there have been ups and downs, but the possible detachment of the US with Europe, in addition to aligning with Russia … has generated a shock in Europe, including Switzerland.” … Read more

How to scan a product and check with these apps if it is European and what country comes from

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Let’s tell you How to scan a product to know if it is European or what concrete country is coming. You can also know the relations that this country has with Spain, the description of the product, and if it is a foreigner you can even know the European alternatives. Due to the geopolitical context, many initiatives of this nature are emerging. In this case it is Several mobile applications They analyze the barcode or the product logo, and they tell you if they are European. We will tell you both the main apps to do this and the way to use them. Apps to know if a product is European Let’s start with a small list with Some applications for scanning products and know if they are European or not. At the moment, there is no multiplatform unified app, but we have several independent apps available for Android or iOS. BUY European for Android: A quite new app that analyzes the products for its barcode, and tells you the company to which they belong and the country they are. Is on Google Play. BUY European for iOS: It is not the same app as for Android, but does the same. You analyze the product barcode and tell you if they are European. It is in the App Store. Buyfromeu for Android and iOS: It allows you to know if a product is really made in Europe, and gives you alternatives. It also allows you to look for alternative for online services. Do not escape anything, you only use a search engine, and this is multiplatform. Is on Google Playand In the App Store. Buyeuropean for iOS: An app that does not analyze the barcode, but the face or cover of the product. Then look for that product and tells you its origin, and it is not European even gives you alternatives. It is in the App Store. How these apps are used In most cases, all you have to do is install the app and give permission to access the camera of your mobile. This permit is necessary to take photos of the barcode or the front of the product you want to analyze. Once you have done this, simply take a picture of the product or bar code, it depends on the app. Sometimes it is not even necessary to take the picture, you just have to point towards it. In any case, When reading the application, it will show you the product data And he will tell you if it is European or not. What this app does when detecting if the product is not European depends on each one, in some cases an alternative can be offered. What you can know with certainty is when one of these products is from some country on the continent. In Xataka Basics | 61 European alternatives to Google, X, Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Dropbox, Google Drive, WhatsApp and other popular services

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