Cross

When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, no one dared to cross it. Nobody except a 300 million Russian superyacht

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For months now, the Strait of Hormuz has been one of the places more dangerous of the world to navigate. Oil tankers anchored for weeks, freighters turning around with their empty warehouses and marine insurance with unattainable prices due to the high risk of receiving a missile strike from the coasts of Iran. No one wants to cross those waters while Iran and the United States launch cross-threats and naval mines at each other. In the midst of this chaotic scenario and without warning, a superyacht shaped like a futuristic submarine set sail from Dubai. It crossed one of the most guarded maritime stretches on the planet at the moment and, as if nothing had happened, set course to the paradisiacal coasts of the Maldives islands. A yacht with a single letter. The ship that challenged the maritime blockade of the ayatollahs and the United States is called Motor Yacht A or simply TOin honor of the initial of its owner: the Russian coal oligarch Andrey Melnichenko and that of his wife Aleksandra. The superyacht does not exactly go unnoticed. It measures 129 meters in length and its designer Philippe Starck, who also designed he Venus by Steve Jobs, he had in an interview for Boat International which took just a few seconds to sketch the first strokes of the yacht’s futuristic design TO. “Sometimes a design takes me only 30 seconds,” the designer acknowledged. A floating mansion with all the luxuries. He Motor Yacht A It combines a futuristic exterior with an interior of excessive luxury with capacity for 14 guests in seven cabins and up to 42 crew members. As and how he shelled Robb Reportthe superyacht has three outdoor pools in the aft area (one of them with a glass bottom over its own yacht club), a jacuzzi with aqua massage seats and a helipad. Inside, a large silver-lined staircase with a railing valued at $60,000 stands out, while the master suite, measuring more than 240 m2, incorporates televisions that descend from the ceiling, a rotating bed and bulletproof glass in the windows. In addition, the owner’s suite includes a private bathroom with a bathtub and shower also covered in silver. Altogether, a 2,200 m2 floating mansion worth approximately $300 million, according to the specialized medium SuperYatch Fan. The feat that no one saw coming. As indicated by the last location of your AIS beaconhe Motor Yatch A still was found at Dubai’s Rashid Port on July 4. Something that confirms the specialized YouTube channel The Yacht Reportwhich tracked his movements. According to the information obtained, the TO It sailed along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and took the safe corridor provided by Omani waters, not the Iranian corridor used by tankers and cargo ships, to reach an Omani port the next day. He stayed there for ten days. On July 14, he set sail again, crossed the US military blockade and entered the open waters of the Arabian Sea. Their declared destination, according to your AIS signal, They are the Maldives. The choice of destination is not accidental. In addition to transparent waters and fine white sand, the country serves as a refuge for the yachts of Russian tycoons who want to avoid confiscation of your assets due to sanctions for the war in Ukraine. He Motor Yatch A He was saved, his brother was not.. Melnichenko and his wife They were sanctioned by the European Union in March 2022, just days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although, according to what was published by Reutersthe millionaire managed to circumvent the blockade by protecting his assets abroad. However, the older brother of Motor Yatch Athe 142 meter sailboat Sailing Yatch Awas trapped in the port of Trieste where still in dispute with the Italian government and today is, almost unintentionally, a tourist attraction of the city. He is not the first millionaire to gamble. It is not the first time that a Russian yacht defies Tehran’s missile batteries or the US blockade by flouting prohibitions. In April, the Northowned by tycoon Alexei Mordashov, followed almost the same route to Oman. He TO has used the same formula based on the unexpected presence of a luxury yacht tiptoeing across the most stressed area of ​​the planet for a geopolitical conflict what has in a lifelessness to energy markets around the world. In Xataka | Anti-drone systems, swimming pools, jacuzzis and live lobster tanks: the price of the most expensive yachts in the world Image | Wikimedia Commons (MatthiasKabel), Superyatch Fan, Boat International.

do not cross any red lines

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Anthropic announced yesterday the release of Claude Sonnet 5a more “normal” and conservative model than what we were used to. It is also cheaper, which makes it interesting to use in those AI agents that consume a lot of tokens. However, the most striking thing about Sonnet 5 is that it is a model that is especially capable in a key section: cybersecurity. Sonnet 5 is designed to behave well. At Anthropic they define it as “the most agentic Sonnet model to date” and highlight its improvements in the use of tools such as browsers or the terminal. But above all they highlight how Sonnet 5 behaves better than Sonnet 4.6 in terms of “unwanted behavior” and is safer to use. The “System Card” of the model also confirms that we are dealing with a model that does not want to cross red lines. Not very useful for finding vulnerabilities. The most striking thing is that Anthropic makes it clear that “it has a much lower capacity than our current Opus models to perform cybersecurity tasks.” That’s no accident: Anthropic has had so many problems with Mythos and Fable 5 who have probably wanted to bring a “risk-free” model to the market, even if that means making it more limited. Benchmarks promise, but do not amaze. Internal tests show how Sonnet 5 represents an important qualitative leap compared to Sonnet 4.6 and is quite close to Opus 4.8 in agentic programming or in the use of the aforementioned tools (terminal, browser), something that undoubtedly makes it very interesting for AI agents that automate many tasks, such as Claude Cowork. Fable 5 returns. The model comes just at a time when Anthropic was waiting for approval from the US government to be able to give access to its most powerful AI models: A compelling model for companies. Sonnet 5 is an interesting model for use in companies. Claude Code is the company’s flagship product and its adoption is enhanced with models that can perform well in agentic tasks that complete objectives autonomously. That requires intensive token consumption, and Sonnet 5, close to the performance of Opus 4.8, has a fundamental advantage over it. cheaper. While Fable 5 costs $10/$50 per million input/output tokens, Opus 4.8 costs $5/$25. That’s where things get interesting, because Sonnet 5 costs 3/15 dollarssignificantly cheaper, although during the first two months the cost will be 2/10 dollars as a promotional offer. An old school model. The launch of Sonnet 5 is striking because Anthropic had left its “modest” models well behind. Haiku has not been updated since version 4.5, in October 2025. The last version of Sonnet was 4.6, in February 2026. Both seemed to have been relegated to the background and Anthropic had focused on Opus and especially on the new models of the Mythos family. That changes now, probably because the move with these latest models has gone wrong: they were so powerful that the US government ended up vetoing them and taking control. In Xataka | Claude Fable 5 is the most powerful public AI model in history. Also the most expensive, exclusive and frustrating

“It is not wild boars that cross our roads; it is our roads that cross their habitats”

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In 1959, the biologist Jane Goodall documented how newly opened roads in East Africa altered ancestral routes displacement of primates and other mammals, forcing them to change movement and feeding patterns. Decades later, that early observation has become one of the great certainties of modern ecology: a road never divides just one landscape. The city as an invisible barrier. Modern cities are often thought of as perfect machines for moving people: cars, subways, scooters, roads and avenues designed to optimize each human journey. But that logic has a hidden cost. Under that network of asphalt and glass, thousands of animals coexist in an environment that for them functions as a permanent trap. Urban mobility, so efficient for us, becomes for wildlife a territory full of obstacles, noise and death points that alter their daily lives and reduce their living space. The noise that forces change. One of the deepest impacts is the acoustic. Many birds depend on song to defend territory, find a mate or communicate, but the constant noise Traffic has forced many species to change their behavior. Some raise their pitch, others advance their songs at dawn and others they just disappear. Adapting has a price: more energy expenditure, less reproductive efficiency and constant stress that breaks balances built over thousands of years. Glass, cars and silent deaths. They counted on a Vanguard report that the deadliest threat is often not even seen. Glass surfaces, transparent screens and illuminated infrastructure cause thousands of bird collisions each year. Robins, chiffchaffs and thrushes are among the most affected speciestrapped by an architecture that to the human eye is neutral, but for them it is an invisible trap. Added to this is road traffic, which turns secondary roads and urban roads into authentic corridors of mortality, especially for amphibians during their migrations. They are not the ones who invade. Here comes the idea that summarizes the true change of outlook. As the ecologist states Joan Pino in the middle“it is not wild boars or roe deer that cross our roads; it is our roads that cross their habitats.” The phrase dismantles a widespread perception: that fauna breaks into human spaces. The reality is the inverse. For decades we have fragmented forests, natural corridors and passageways with roads, train tracks and housing estates. When a wild boar appears on a highway or a roe deer in a district, is not invading anything; He is trying to move through a territory that was always his. The price of cutting up nature. That cut has measurable consequences. In Catalonia, accidents with wildlife have been doubled in the last decade, already exceeding several thousand a year. In that sense, it is not only a question of road safety, but a sign that ecological connectivity is failing. Spaces like Collseroladespite their proximity to large green areas, are becoming increasingly isolated due to traffic density and the proliferation of infrastructure. Physical distance matters less than the hostility of the middle ground. Rethinking the shared city. It is possible that the solution will not only involve building isolated wildlife crossings, although they remain essential. The challenge is much broader: design permeable territories where biodiversity can move without encountering lethal barriers every few hundred meters. Glazing adapted for birds, less aggressive lighting for bats, green corridors and less private traffic are part of this new logic. From this prism, the city of the 21st century can no longer be thought of as an exclusively human space, it will have to be understood, increasingly, as a shared ecosystem where moving does not imply expelling or silencing the rest of the invisible neighbors. Image | x In Xataka | In Spain we are putting GPS on wild boars to follow their wanderings. And we are discovering surprising things In Xataka | An “enemy” is invading the United Kingdom on a large scale and it is one of the most intelligent it has faced: the octopus

Spain has been building a bridge with China for years. Now it is the European Union that needs to cross it

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Pedro Sánchez is going to land in China this week for the fourth time in three years. No other Western leader comes close. Why is it important. What seemed like a diplomatic eccentricity has become a trend. A year ago, Spain seemed an outlier in Europe due to its favorable and close stance towards China. Today it is France, with its calls for tougher trade measures against the Chinese government, who seems isolated, according to analyst Noah Barkin in his specialized newsletter. Watching China in Europe. The context has changed everything: the war in Iran, the volatility of the Trump government and the tariff as a political weapon have pushed Europe towards where Spain already was. The context. In recent years, Spain has attracted a constellation of Chinese companies while maintaining a discourse of rapprochement with China that the rest of the EU viewed with skepticism, if not suspicion. The map of Chinese presence in the country is already considerable: The result of all this rapprochement is also reflected in capital flows: Chinese investment in Spain went from 149 million euros in 2024 to 643 million in 2025, an increase of 331% in a single year. Nevertheless, has done little to reduce Spain’s large trade deficit with the Asian giant. The pattern is known: investment arrives, but Spanish exports do not grow at the same rate. Openness has a price. Between the lines. Barkin describes it like this: Pedro Sánchez has positioned himself as the most openly pro-China and Trump-critical leader in Western Europe. This gives Spain a position as unique as it is uncomfortable. Being China’s favorite interlocutor on the continent means assuming the diplomatic costs of that position when the EU needs to maintain a common voice vis-à-vis China. The contrast. While Spain opens its arms, the European Parliament cautiously reopens its ties with China after eight years of distance. A delegation of MEPs visited China this week on the first official trip since 2018, with a clear message, according to coverage by Traffic light China: commitment does not mean concession. The European Union negotiates with one hand and shields with the other. Spain, on the other hand, has opted for the extended hand, practically alone. The big question. Is Spain a pioneer or a lever? A pioneer sets the path that others end up following because it is the right one. A lever is an instrument that others use for their own purposes. Barkin warns that Spain is following the Orbán model: welcoming Chinese investment without the necessary checks and balances. The comparison may be unfair in its nuances, but it points to a very real risk: that the Spanish opening strategy lacks the reciprocity that Europe needs to negotiate as a bloc. In Xataka | Donald Trump’s tariffs are having an unforeseen effect on China: its factories are getting stronger Featured image | ZQ Lee, Sam Williams

Italy snuck a bridge between Sicily and Calabria into NATO as “military spending.” Not even tanks can cross it

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The hyperbolic idea of a mega suspension bridge record to unite the Italian peninsula with Sicily is something that the Romans already dreamed of. We are talking about an infrastructure that, if carried out, would become the largest suspension bridge on the planet. However, its chronicle as the driving force of rearmament in Europe is comparable to the project of underwater tunnel between Spain and North Africa. The old dream of the Strait. The ambition to link Sicily with the Italian peninsula by means of what would be the longest suspension bridge in the world reappeared at the center of the national debate not as a technical proposal, but as a head-on crash between political power and institutional control. Although the project It has been orbiting the imagination of different governments for decades, it was the combination of Matteo Salvini’s personal impulse and the political will of Giorgia Meloni’s executive that tried to reactivate it with an extraordinary sense of urgency. However, that speed caused the breakup: the Court of Accounts, constitutional guarantor of the control of public spending and compliance with national and European standards, rejected the file considering that the 2005 competition could not legally support a work that has tripled its estimated cost, that presents significant documentary gaps and that could violate essential rules of competition and environmental evaluation. Stand by. The decision made a few weeks ago, preventive and not definitiveexposed deep fissures in the management of the project, where political urgency prevailed over internal technical warnings from the Ministry of Transportation itself, which had requested more time to complete the documentation. The duel for two. The government’s reaction was immediate and furious. Meloni accused The judges were accused of overstepping their bounds and Salvini, who had turned the bridge into a symbol of his political survival, denounced a political gesture disguised as a technical judgment. They both had to moderate tone after recognizing that, although the Court of Auditors does not have the “final word”, its reservations are binding in the sense of raising the political responsibility of the executive: if the government decides to move forward without satisfying its objections, the Court will register the reservations and send them to Parliament, leaving an official record of the risks, including legal, budgetary and procedural ones. Continue without permissions. This warning is especially important given the possibility of future litigation promoted by groups opposed to the work. Still, the law allows the government go ahead even without the full endorsement of the institution, a path that Meloni and Salvini do not rule out, although aware that putting maximum pressure on the Court could open an institutional fracture that is difficult to manage and increase the likelihood that the courts will overthrow the project in later phases. The figures and the promises. The bridge 3.7 kilometers It is not just an infrastructure: it is a political symbol. Salvini presents it as a public work most important in the worldcapable of regenerating southern Italy, generating more than 36,000 jobs, stimulating economic growth of more than 23 billion euros and reducing crossing times across the Strait ten minutes away. But these arguments compete with other factors: its cost has escalated from the 3.8 billion expected in 2005. up to 13.5 billion current, and the Sicilian railway routes remain precarious. Furthermore, the local population asks before improvements in internal mobility that an iconic megaproject and the seismic risks of the Strait, one of the most active points in the Mediterranean, still lack a fully convincing technical response. For Salvini, however, abandoning the project would mean accepting a decline in his influence within the Italian right, especially at a time when Meloni dominates the political scene and his own bases are looking for evidence that he retains capacity. The technical fissures. The decision of the Court of Auditors was based on concrete elements: missing or poorly presented documentation, procedural shortcuts, inconsistencies between old figures and current projections, doubts about compliance with European procurement standards and an environmental file that, according to the judgesis based on claims of “imperative public interest” without the required technical support. The institution denounced that part of the essential documents They weren’t even pointed out. by the ministry, forcing the magistrates themselves to identify them. In parallel, the ministry’s technicians had warned Salvini months before that the precipitation could lead to exactly this scenario. The minister decided move forward anywayaware that delaying the process would have meant admitting that the work schedule set for the end of the year was impossible to meet. That political obstinacy is now turning against him, in the form of doubts about his ability to manage such a monumental project. The labyrinth of the contest. The most explosive element for the immediate future of the bridge is the question of the tender. Salvini opted to reactivate the contract awarded in 2005 to Eurolink consortiumled by Webuild and accompanied by companies from Spain and Japan, precisely to avoid a new contest. In 2012, when the project was paralyzed, the consortium demanded 700 million euros in compensation, which it will only withdraw if works resume. But the judges have pointed out that financial changes and uncertainty about the updated cost could force a new tender, which would delay the work for years, perhaps more than a decade. Environmental objections. The government tried to shield the project with a document that proclaimed reasons of public interest imperative to overcome environmental obstacles, but the Court of Accounts he replied that these justifications lack solid technical support and do not adequately detail the impact on extremely sensitive coastal and marine areas. Thus we arrive at the executive’s attempt to present the bridge as an infrastructure of strategic value. for NATO (arguing that it would facilitate rapid movement of troops in the central Mediterranean), an idea that was welcomed with skepticism and even irony: for regional experts, the bridge would be “at most a military objective,” not an operational tool. The use of international security as an … Read more

The US is not a country for trains. They want to fix it with one that cross the country carrying people and trucks

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The train It is the spine of many countries. In Europe, communications between countries and within them They would not be understood without the trainbut there are others Examples like Japan or a China that has built almost 50,000 kilometers of high speed in record time. If we look at the United States, the case is the opposite: high speed that shines for its absence, with projects that are a nightmare and an overwhelming domain of the plane and the car for passenger transport. Of course, they have proposed to change the situation with a mastodontic project: a train network that connects New York and California. They have baptized him as ‘Transcontinental Chief’, and they will not have anything easy. Figures. First of all, some context and the proper names of this story. Amtrakor National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger trains company in the United States. It was created as a commercial entity, but depended on federal and state subsidies for most of its routes. Its network covers more than 500 stations in 46 states and has a network of about 39,000 kilometers, including the NEC, the corridor between Boston and Washington DC Despite that huge network of roads and stations, in 2024 he transported about 32.4 million passengers. Much of the traffic corresponds to paths within the NEC and none of the paths exceeds 200 km/h. For comparing, in 2024, Renfe transported 35.2 million travelers in high -speed services and another 60 million in medium distance. We do not count the 442 million nearby, since they are short journeys. Chief Transcontinental. It is evident that the country needs a railway impulse, something that has been attempted on a small scale (even with trains that do not use fossil fuels), but the projects do not finish curdling. That is where Ameristarrail enters the scene, a private company dedicated to the proposal and development of long -distance interurban and high capacity interurban services. The project they are promoting is the one baptized as ‘Transcontinental Chief’ to connect New York and Los Angeles by train. He proposed itinerary He would connect the Hoboken station in New Jersey with Los Angeles, through cities such as Philadelphia, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and stop at the National Park of Grand Canyon. In this way, large urban and tourist poles would join. Recycling. He project From America has a couple of good ideas to get ahead. The first is to take advantage of what is already paid. That is, use the roads and stations that are already built to give new life to deficit infrastructure operated by other entities and by Amtrak itself (such as the Southwest Chief). Also use locomotives and wagons that already exist, such as beds beds and men’s restaurant cars because the full trip will be long, since the speed of those tracks is limited to 150 km/h. According to the company, if this plan is followed, a new legislation will not be necessary that would complicate and delay the project, but no additional public financing, since, in essence, the work is done and you only have to put the infrastructure up to date. Because although the United States does not have a solid passenger transport network by train, it does have a wide railway line focused on merchandise transport. Hybrid. The second good idea is to try to squeeze this train as much as possible. In addition to passengers, the idea of ​​America is to turn the train into a kind of ferry. This implies that private cars can be charged in platform cars so that a family, for example, can go from end of the country with their car, but without driving them. In addition, it has also been projected that there would be other cars capable of loading complex trucks, next to their drivers. Thus, truckers can get on the train, rest their mandatory time while the journey towards their destination does not stop. They have called it ‘Rolling Rest Stop’ would be a pioneer in the country, in addition to giving a boost to certain routes of merchandise trucks that cross the territory. MEH. Aim Football World Cup. Now, from Amtrak they don’t have it so clear. At the moment, the public company has release that they are not going to promote this proposal for America because they are not clear that public investment has to be made. It is not closed, eye, since the drivers maintain that there is enormous potential to convert long -distance services into profitable and sustainable lines, and that is something that Amertk needs. Images | Ameristarrail, Amtrak In Xataka | Renfe has a new and gigantic project in progress: a night train to connect Europe from this to west

Volkswagen presents the ID. Cross concept and the most important thing is not the car, it is the flying in its strategy

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The automotive segment celebrates one of its big weeks. The Munich Motor Show, now renamed IAA Mobility, brings together these days to theThe manufacturers that present their novelties For the coming months, and one of them is a Volkswagen that has taken the appointment as a crucial event to rethink the future of its electric cars. Have already confirmed that They will stop using rare names for their EV And they have taken the opportunity to show their new SUV 100% electric: The ID. Cross concept. It will be ‘Made in Spain’ and a key piece to fight against the avalanche of Chinese cars. In addition, the buttons return. Change of concept. Something worth clarifying is the name. Id. Cross is like the electric version of the Volkswagen T-Cross, but that surname ‘Concept’ can mislead when indicating that it is a prototype. In this case it doesn’t seem like something like What Jaguar did a few months agosince the images that the brand has shared have a more street air than prototype. It is expected that the final version is similar to what they just showed. But the important thing is the name. VW wants to give a fly to some of its recent policies, the choice of the name being a sample that The experiments are over. The new pole will be the pole and this new SUV is an ID. (which identifies your electric family) with the surname ‘Cross’. The numbers are also over They can confuse more than anything else. SUV + EV = Win. About design, as our partners detail Motorpasionwe have a car very similar to the combustion T-Cross. It has 4.16 meters long, 1.83 wide and a height of 1.58 meters. The main trunk will be 450 liters, similar to the combustion version, but add another 25 liters in a small compartment in the front. That it is a SUV, although with a compact size, it is a very interesting strategy in terms of potential autonomy. VW has not given details about its capacity, but it has indicated that it will have 420 km approved WLTP and a 175 km/h tip. It will be based on the MEB platform and will be built in the same money as its cousin, the Skoda Epiq: that of Landaben In Pamplona. “Id. Cross shows that we offer again, finally, the correct name. With this new generation of VE, we now meet our promises” – Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen This combination of Urban SUV Together with EV, he promises to be one of the golden egg chickens for manufacturers, since it is A very demanded format And, in addition, the extra space in front of a compact or utilitarian allows to install a larger battery, reducing the time that passes in the plug and expanding its versatility. It wasn’t so difficult Back to the button. Apart from the outside, VW has shown images of the interior of this ‘concept of preerie’. Very diaphanous, soft colors, different materials and completely folding seats to maximize the load. We will see how this translates into the final model, but there are two elements that are very important. On the one hand, the screens are not missing. We have two: one behind the 11 -inch steering wheel with the digital instruments and another 13 -inch central for the entertainment info system. But something that is obvious and that, curiously, VW does not detail in its release It is the return of the buttons. Companies have launched Tactile controls on screenssomething that has been eating the physical buttons Even in brands that seemed to star in the ‘resistance’ To this trend. The problem of the screens is that they can fail and are less intuitive than a button. VW minimized these physical controls by installing digital buttons that gave several headaches to the brand, and After the alluvion of criticismcomes the flying that the company itself already warned with that “It is not a mobile, it is a car“ In these images, however conceptual they are, we see that there are a lot of buttons both in the steering wheel and under the central screen, as well as a joystick that seems to control for that infotainment screen. Declaration of intentions looking at China. Thus, and as much as it is not a final car (although it will be necessary to see how much the unit of this of Preserie moves, the id. Cross confirms the change of course of a brand like VW: the buttons return, the family names return. And those decisions are consolidated with a model that will be vital for the company for a very simple reason: the competition in this sector will be fierce. In the same Mobility, Stellantis has received with open arms A ship arrived from China up to LEAPMOTOR B10. Although the Chinese brands are consolidating in the West with All types of motorizationsthey continue to have great interest in electricity for those who control the world battery market, and this B10 is the result of the Agreements between Stellantis and Leapmotor To assault the 100% electric compact terrain in which the ID wants to compete. Coss. In fact, the VW model is somewhat more compact with an autonomy similar to that of B10. The last of the concepts. The competition is served with rivals such as the Renault Scénic E-Techhe Byd Atto 3 or the MG ZS EVbut to see this new id. Cross we will have to wait. In its presentation, the brand has confirmed that the ID will first arrive. Polo, then the id. Polo GTI and later, but in 2026, the definitive version of this ID. Cross. On the price they have not said anything, but taking into account the segment in which they want to compete, it is expected to be positioned in the 30,000 euros window. At the moment, the IAA Mobility has served to see a clear response from the German brand to two controversies in … Read more

When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden. It would be the beginning of its end

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In one of his picturesque life, Tony Howarth had a revolutionary vision: Create a perfect car for Africa. A cheap, resistant, easy to repair and that could be made locally with sustainable materials. His project, baptized as ‘Africar’, promised to change transportation in the African continent forever. However, what began as an altruistic dream It ended up becoming a legal nightmare which led its creator directly to prison. From a filmmaker to engineer with a mission: to manufacture the perfect car for Africa Image: Silodrome Howarth was not any businessman. Graduated in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, had developed since childhood A passion for mechanics which led him to build his own fuel injection system for his motorcycle when he was barely ten years old. However, it was his recognized career as a photographer and filmmaker that led him to devote himself to this peculiar project. And is that Howarth has traveled more than 130 countries, experiencing in the first person the difficulties of African land roads. During his trips through Africa in the 70s, Howarth realized that Western vehicles were not designed for the extreme conditions of the continent. Earth tracks, deep potholes and the lack of specialized workshops turned any breakdown into a capital problem. In addition, the programmed obsolescence of the Western car industry made the spare parts more and more difficult to achieve. An inspiration of the Ford Model T Image: Silodrome The concept of Africar was inspired by the legendary Ford Model T, a vehicle that had been designed precisely for the roads without asphalting from Rural America of the early twentieth century. Howarth understood that what Africa needed was something similar: A simple, durable and that could be repaired by local mechanics No need for sophisticated equipment. Its design was revolutionary for its simplicity. The chassis was built with stainless steel tubes to avoid corrosion, while body panels could be manufactured with local materials such as laminated wood impregnated in resin, aluminum or even plastic. The chosen engine was the Citroën GSA Boxer Propulor Refrigated by air that offered reliability and ease of maintenance. An expedition that changed everything Image: Lancslive In 1984, Howarth built three prototypes of Africar for an ambitious expedition that would be documented by Channel 4: A journey from the Arctic Circle to the African Ecuador. The three vehicles-a ranchera, a pick-up and a six-wheel model-demonstrated their worth crossing thousands of kilometers of extreme land. During the journey, Africar exceeded evidence that left a Land Rover Series III that accompanied them. Their long -running independent suspension and their high distance to the ground allowed them to overcome obstacles that stuck more conventional vehicles. The fatal error Image: Lancslive The success of the expedition opened the doors to investment. In 1986, Howarth founded Africar International Limited in LancasterEngland, and began to capture capital of private investors. However, He made a mistake that would end his project and, later, in prison. Concerned about the dependence of the Citroën engines, which could be obsolete at any time, Howarth decided to invest the money of investors in developing their own engine. It was a logical decision from the technical point of view, but catastrophic since the financial. The funds were exhausted before completing the development, and the clients who had paid in advance did not receive their vehicles. The situation became unsustainable when investors discovered that the prototype shown in a Christmas presentation of 1987 was actually an empty shell: without engine, with the doors stuck and still wet paint. A bitter ending and a legacy that endures Image: Silodrome In July 1988, the Police intervened and Africar International Limited ceased its operations. Howarth fled to the United States in a desperate attempt to get the financing that saved the project, but it was useless. In 1994 he returned to the United Kingdom, where He was arrested immediately. Tony Howarth declared himself guilty of a fraudulent crime and five to obtain goods through deception. Was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In his own words, the prison experience “was like being in a British boarding school.” Although Africar never manufactured in series (it is estimated that only one and six specimens of production were built), Howarth’s idea did not die with him. His concept has inspired other African entrepreneurs, such as the creators of the Mobius in Kenyathat resumed the vision of a car designed for the region, despite Its economic difficulties. Cover image | Silodrome In Xataka | The list of 2025 most reliable cars has left us the most unexpected surprise: the best car does not have Toyota or Honda

A man put an Airtag in his shoes and donated them to the Red Cross. And then discovered strange things

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The city doesn’t matter. Neither the country. Not even the time of year. In Europe it is difficult to visit a minimally large town and not be at least a handful of containers For the donation of clothing, especially at busy points, such as commercial areas, urbanizations or the surroundings of Iglesias. The idea is to make people easy to give a second solidarity life to those pants, that shirt, that dress or those shoes that no longer serve us, but … What happens to all those garments? Where do they end? Recently Moe.haaa German influencer, decided to answer those questions in an original way: with the help of an AIRTAG, some old sneakers and an international flight that has ended up generating a considerable controversy. Where does my clothes end? That is the question not much was asked Moe.haaan influencer that one day decided to approach a container of donations from the Red Cross of Germany and throw some sports shoes. The key is that Moe’s. Before the young man had made an incision in the rubber sole to insert An AIRTAG And then cover it with a template, so that the piece passed totally unnoticed. The Airtag, remember, are Location devices That thanks to Bluetooth and the vast network of Apple devices distributed around the world constantly report its location. They are not GPS locators as such, but they are very useful to find out where you have left the keys or portfolio, especially in areas where there are people with iPads, iPhones or Apple Watches. And that was precisely what Moe wanted. What did you find out? That those old shoes began to travel. Literally. On the influencer screen the device drew an itinerary of hundreds of kilometers that even crosses several borders. In Your video Moe.Haa shows how he leaves his shoes in a Starnberg container, Bavaria, and from there they travel first to Munich and then to Puch (Austria), Kranj (Slovenia) and Zagreb (Croatia). The route does not end there. Before stopping, the influencer verifies that the footwear still makes another jump until Cazinin Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total about 800 kilometers. The trip was fascinating in itself, but Moe. To clarify the mystery, the young man climbed an airplane, flew to Bosnia and Herzegovina and then led to the canton of a-Sana. There he located the store in a matter of Cazin and (Bingo!) He identified the shoes with the hidden Airtag on a shelf. And what did they do there? The first thing that the young man checked is that the place is not dedicated to distributing free clothes among people in need. His shoes were on sale. They cost 20 frames, about 10 euros. Intrigued, Moe.Haa approaches them to the box to buy them and there the employee clarifies that her boss is a Bosnium who lives in Germany. The influencer asks then if the money is related to donations and the response of the dependent is sharp: no. “How can it be sold here, 800 km away, without employees reporting that it is a donation to the Red Cross,” He wonders At the end of the video. What does Red Cruz say? Moe’s video has generated such a stir that German Red Cross (DRK) He ended up resorting Also to Tiktok to give explanations and solve doubts. On its website the NGO also contributes Some clues. According to its estimates, the DRK collects between 70,000 and 80,000 tons of used garments, an immense amount of textile that is mostly unusable. The organization estimates that only half can be used. The rest serves only “as raw material.” Of the half that is reusable between 4,000 and 5,000 T they are dedicated to the purpose that donors have in mind when they deliver their clothes: it is destined for needy people. That, Clarifies DRKit is only 10%. The rest of the usable clothing is dedicated to another different purpose. “It is sold”, Confirm The NGO. The garments end in the hands of specialized companies and DRK receives funds that, insistsallow you to pay for your work and finance initiatives in Germany and Bavaria. Why don’t those pieces be sent in good condition to other places, such as African countries with higher poverty rates. The reason is very simple: logistics costs are “prohibitive.” Images | In Xataka |

Europe fails to find the perfect solution for cross -border payments. Bizum and Banco Santander have just put it on a tray

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Santander has become the first Spanish bank that allows its customers Send Bizum to other European countries. It is something that is achieved thanks to the interoperability between Bizum, Bancomat and MB Waya connection that according to the bank will connect 50 million users and 186 financial entities. It is a first step waiting for a unique pawous solution for which no agreement is reached. The first in Spain. Banco Santander has formalized the possibility of sending money through Bizum in a cross -border way. The agreement has been necessary between different payment solutions such as Bizum (Spain), Bancomat (Italy) and Mbway (Portugal), being limited instant payments to these two countries, for the moment. After performing the corresponding successful pilot tests, the clients of this bank will be the first to be able to pay outside Spain. The method will be the usual: we will only have to write the mobile number of the user to which we want to send the payment, and this will be carried out immediately and without commissions. It will not be alone. Santander has been the first to move token, but the possibility of sending Bizum out of Spain will be a standard before summer. Abanca, OpenBank, Caixabank, BBVA and Banco Sabadell are advancing in the implementation of this service, planned for the second quarter of 2025. It has not been thanks to Europe. While Europe Follow in search of a unique solutionthe private company moves record. Cross -border payments are possible thanks to the European Initiative (European Payments Alliance), a joint project initiated by Bizum and followed by both Bancomat and MB Way, with the aim of adopting instant transfers paneuropeas using existing infrastructure. In other words, it has been necessary for those responsible for the platforms to agree, in the absence of a European alternative that encompasses. The European Bizum. The European Central Bank has been trying to advance in a system of instant payments to interconnect the different member countries. But he doesn’t get it. During the last two years we have seen progress as Free transfers in Europe, Tests with digital purseand brushstrokes on a “European Payment Initiative” which has barely advanced since 2022. Countries like Spain They make 95% of immediate payments with Bizumbut this is not the only name that sounds as a candidate for possible means for European payments. There are those who try strongly. Solutions such as Bizum, Bancomat, BM Way or Swish were born as responses to the national need to be able to pay freely and free. The problem for the EU? None have been thought from scratch as a single payment solution. This is where solutions such as Weroa proposal towards “a unique payment solution, all in one, instantaneous and paneuropea, capable of covering over time all cases of payment that consumers and professionals require.” Banks such as German and French They are already promoting this servicenot yet compatible with solutions like Bizum. Nothing clear. The ECB points out that “instead of combining strength and sharing resources to develop paneuropeas solutions, national communities have often preferred to preserve the legacy of the investments made in the past”, an attack on models such as Bizum and a clear look at proposals such as Wero. With many delays and few proposals on the table, the road to a “European bizum” continues to draw distant. But, meanwhile, in Spain we will not take to pay with virtually any bank outside our borders. In Xataka | Bizum and Finance: What changes in transfers control after eliminating the threshold of 3,000 euros

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