death

The depressing future of cheap mobile phones, in two graphs that are a death sentence for the low-end

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Quick, make a wish. The motive behind these lines is more difficult to see today than a four-leaf clover: the Realme C71 (which we tested less than a year ago) came on the market with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a RRP of 149 euros. A species in extinction, something impossible in 2026. We are facing a paradigm shift in the mobile industry. In recent years we have seen how manufacturers benefited from an excess supply of memories that made it possible to build combinations of RAM and storage at ridiculous prices. That era is over: a recent report from Counterpoint Research confirms that the cost of components is suffering its greatest pressure in a decade and the outlook is bleak: either brands sacrifice their profits or pass the cost on to the consumer. Or both and an extra: the entry range is disappearing in every sense. What has happened to the price of NAND and DRAM. The price increase in the first quarter of 2026 has been abysmal and without close precedents: RAM memory (DRAM) has suffered a quarterly increase of more than 50%. NAND Flash has seen an even more aggressive rise, exceeding 90% compared to the previous quarter As a picture says a thousand words, the graph prepared by Counterpoint Research: Source: Counterpoint Research Price Tracker Why is it important. This phenomenon is not a simple fluctuation or a temporary shortage, it is a structural change that puts the economic viability of many manufacturers in check. DRAM (speed and multitasking) and NAND (storage capacity) are essential in the user experience. Until now, scaling these memories was cheap, but not anymore. In the entry range, the cost of memory already represents almost half of the manufacturing “ticket”, sometimes exceeding the cost of the processor or the screen itself. With current profit margins, absorbing this impact is impossible: either the price is raised, or it is sold at a loss. The market has already revised downwards global shipment forecasts for 2026: Counterpoint estimates a drop of 2.1%, while IDC is more pessimistic and projects a decline of 12.9%, which would exceed the 12% contraction recorded in 2022. Context. The culprit has its own name: generative artificial intelligence. More specifically, the explosion of artificial intelligence infrastructure. The data centers that power AI models are demanding memory on a large scale, thus becoming direct competition with mobile manufacturers for the production of Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. Capacity is finite and AI takes priority for reasons of profitability. If we also take into account that the latest generation processors manufactured in 2nm they have become more expensivewe have the perfect storm. Retail. The increase in the price of memory does not affect all mobile phones equally. This is how the weight of memory is distributed in the total cost of the device: The entry range ($200 or less) is the most affected. With a typical configuration of 6 GB + 128 GB, memories already represent 43% of the total cost of the device. An increase of 30 dollars per unit is estimated. In the mid-range (400-600 dollars) the combination goes from 25 to 36%, which can mean 60 to 80 dollars per unit. In the premium range (over 800 dollars), the increase is more diffuse and they are also exposed to double pressure, that of the most expensive memories and that of the processors, which translates into increases of between 100 and 150 dollars that we will begin to see reflected in the launches of the second half of the year. How will the user notice it?. Counterpoint has estimated these price increases between $30 and $150 depending on the range, but the cushioning is not always going to be so obvious and direct. In the entry range, where the margins are so small, another way out is to cut the catalog to a minimum. We will see manufacturers “killing” the base model to force the jump to the next price step, much smaller catalogs and, above all, technical stagnation. The old 128GB will return as standard and, in the worst case, we will see steps backwards with the use of slower and older memories (LPDDR4X) to try to save the furniture in the mid-range. In Xataka | Best mobile phones in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models In Xataka | Having an AI on my phone that works without an Internet connection is more useful than I thought: this way you can start it Cover | Xataka, Pepu Ricca

When Sora was released many assumed it was “the death of Hollywood.” Only two years, then Sora no longer exists

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In February 2024, OpenAI published on X a string of AI-generated videos with his new model, Sora. Although today, after two years of progress, they even feel outdated, at the time the result was convincing enough for the media around the world to start headlines that Hollywood had a very serious problem. Two years later, Sora does not exist. Panic effect. The effect of this presentation with videos was immediate: MIT Technology Review, for example, described them as “impressive“, although warning that they had probably been chosen and were not representative of the output usual. That did not stop the narrative: for weeks, the dominant conversation in the specialized media was that film studios were facing an almost perfect replacement tool: synthetic actors, sets generated in seconds, automated post-production… The Hollywood unions, which they had signed agreements with the studios the previous year after a historic strike they put the issue back on the table. Two bombs. Sora’s story has two moments of media panic, separated by eighteen months. The first arrived in February 2024, with the presentation of the model described above. There was talk that Hollywood had a serious problem, that the almost perfect replacement tool already existed and that the studios were not prepared to face this threat. The second came with the launch of Sora 2 in September 2025with real faces inserted in videos generated by AI and with third-party intellectual property by default, unless the prompts expressly requested otherwise. All of this multiplied the volume and intensity of the alarm in Hollywood and the media. What was said In February 2024, coverage of Sora’s first model mixed amazement and alarm in similar proportions. Fortune commented that OpenAI had moved the generative AI battle directly to Hollywood. NBCNews asked filmmakers if this was the end of Hollywood, and some responded that it wasn’t yet. IndieWire He sensed that Sora could mean the apocalypse of cinema. The cycle of apocalyptic headlines with Sora 2 was much more intense. CNBC declared that the app was challenging Hollywood and causing panic in the film industry. deadline He said Hollywood was raw. LA Times He spoke of a battle that was worsening and a firestorm unleashed in the sector. slatewell, he talked about how AI was about to crush Hollywood as we had known it. What happened then. The panic increased in December 2025, when Disney, the most careful entertainment company in the world with its intellectual property, signed a three-year agreement with OpenAI: investment of 1 billion dollars and access to more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and ‘Star Wars’ so that Sora users could generate them in their videos. Disney+ would broadcast a curated selection of that content. It was the definitive legitimation, which has only lasted 90 days. OpenAI has closed Sora before a single dollar has changed hands. Property problems. Sora’s problems have not only been financial. The app has accumulated a long list of controversies: deepfakes of deceased public figuresmassive use of copyrighted characters without permission prior, and the appearance of external tools to remove watermarks that identified AI-generated content. In November 2025, CODA (Japanese association representing, among others, Studio Ghibli and Square Enix) sent a formal letter to OpenAI demanding that it stop using its intellectual property to train the model. The families of Robin Williams and George Carlin They publicly asked for it to be blocked generating videos with your images. Moderating generative video content at scale turned out to be much more complex than moderating text or image. The consequences of hype. Analyst Ed Zitron criticized this attitude of the media, stating that they did not cover the launch of Sora but rather they amplified their marketing. Saying that Sora was a real threat to Hollywood was, from the beginning, an extrapolation built on selected demos and clips of a few seconds. Thousands of audiovisual professionals spent months convinced that their industry was about to be replaced by a tool that, according to OpenAI’s own numbers, never found enough users willing to pay $200 a month for it. The hype cycle has real consequences: it inflates expectations that are not met, generates costly defensive decisions, and when the product closes, no one takes critical stock. Sora’s coverage is a textbook case of how uncritical amplification of tech demos can be confused with industry analysis, and the damage that attitude can do. Hollywood is still alive. The closure of Sora does not erase the generative video sector in one fell swoop: runwaywhich rejected an acquisition offer from Meta, currently leads the sector with its Gen-4.5 model, along with I see 3.1 from Google and Chinese models Kling and Seedance. These tools are absorbing the space that OpenAI abandons. Who no one absorbs is Hollywood. The film industry, with all your problems (reorganizations, box office decline, threat of streaming), remains a profitable business built on decades of well-established creation, distribution chains and franchises that no generative model can replicate with a prompt. The question is not whether AI will transform audiovisual production (it is already doing so, in post-production, pre-visualization and marketing content creation) but in what real time frames and under what viable economic models. For now, the market responds that generating photorealistic video on a massive scale is computationally very expensive and that consumer users are not willing to pay what it costs. Disney signing Sora wasn’t evidence that Hollywood was in danger. It was, rather, evidence that big studios want to be in the AI ​​conversation, not outside of it. In Xataka | Seedance’s strategy was to copy first, go viral later and back away later. Until Hollywood said “enough”

Taking money from a family member just before their death seemed like a great idea to avoid paying taxes. It wasn’t

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Why should an additional tax be paid for receiving money in inheritance for which the deceased already paid taxes? Many people ask that question and They decide to jump into the mountains (prosecutor) trying a thousand and one tricks to avoid payment of the Donations and Inheritance Tax. The most common trick is to empty bank accounts of the family member before he or she dies. Spoiler: it goes wrong. A solved case by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid shows that this belief can be very expensive, and that the attempt to avoid the treasury can end up exactly where one wanted to avoid arriving: paying the Treasury even more than what they would have paid in the beginning. Money, what money? A woman was listed as the owner or authorized person on several of her sister’s bank accounts. In September 2017, this died without leaving a will. When the General Directorate of Taxes of the Community of Madrid began to investigate the case, it found that the deceased’s assets were much larger than what her sister wanted to make out. As of December 31, 2016, the three bank accounts of the deceased accumulated considerable balances: one with 9,217.08 euros, another with 51,216.58 euros and a third with 132,644.53 euros, in which the sister appeared directly as joint owner. In addition to these savings, the deceased had received 45,000 euros in April 2017 for the sale of her part of a property that she shared with her sister. By December 31, 2017, all the money in the accounts was gone. The Treasury calculated that the total money and assets that should have been declared in the inheritance amounted to 122,931.67 euros, to which was added the value of 50% of a property in Hoyo de Manzanares valued at 1,812.50 euros. ​No resignation possible. The sister responded to the first requests from the Treasury by assuring that the deceased had died without assets. Some time later he provided a notarial document of renunciation of inheritance dated September 29, 2020, more than three years after death occurred. His argument was that he did not know that his sister had assets, and that the only movements he had made in the deceased’s accounts were payment procedures for the residence where he received care his sister in her last month of life. The court that reviewed the case in the first instance initially agreed with him, considering that this payment could be interpreted as timely management. However, the Community of Madrid, in charge of collecting the tax, appealed and the TSJM resolved differently. Although in theory you can renounce an inheritance at any time during the process, doing so after having acted on the deceased’s assets has tax consequences that no notarial deed can erase. What does it mean to accept an inheritance without wanting to do so?. In Spain, you do not need to sign any paper to legally become an heir. The law includes in its article 999.3 the figure of tacit acceptance, which occurs when someone acts on the assets of a deceased as if they were already theirs, even if they have never confirmed acceptance of inheritance. Withdrawing money from your accounts, selling your property or simply managing your assets are examples of actions that, in the eyes of the law, are equivalent to saying “yes, I accept”, even if no paper has been signed.​​ The problem is that many people are not aware of this rule and believe that as long as they do not sign anything before a notary, they are safe. In reality, what matters is not what is signed, but what is done. The Supreme Court takes decades establishing that any act that unequivocally reveals that someone he is behaving like an heireven if informally or even unconsciously, has the same legal and fiscal effects as an express acceptance of the inheritance.​ What the law says about disappearing money. The TSJM applied the article 11.1.a of the Inheritance and Donation Tax Lawwhich establishes that the assets that would have belonged to the deceased up to one year before his death They are considered part of the inheritanceunless proven otherwise by solid evidence. Not only did the sister not provide any explanation as to what had happened to that money, but she did not even try throughout the entire process. The court also assessed that the deceased was admitted to a nursing home and was receiving special care, which made it highly unlikely that she would have been able to manage the withdrawal of the money from her accounts on her own. Given that the sister was the owner or authorized owner of all of them, the judges concluded that moving that money was equivalent, in the eyes of the law, to having accepted the inheritance. Pay the tax, but get rid of the fine. The TSJ of Madrid confirmed that the woman had to pay 26,217.11 euros as settlement of the Inheritance Tax for her sister’s inheritance. However, the judges annulled the fine of 17,999.73 euros that the Madrid treasury demanded, because the Community of Madrid failed to prove that the woman had acted with the deliberate intention of deceiving the treasury, something that the law requires before being able to impose a financial penalty of that type. In Xataka | The “Great Transfer of Wealth” is not only a thing for the rich: demographic change will concentrate wealth among the youngest Image | Pexels (cottonbro studio)

Iran has spent decades excavating its “missile cities.” Satellite images have just revealed that they are a death trap

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For years, Iran has shown the world tunnel videos endless tunnels dug under mountains, with military trucks circulating between missiles lined up as if they were cars in an underground subway. It was understood that many of these facilities extend kilometers underground and are part of one of the military fortification programs. most ambitious in the Middle East. What almost no one knew until now is to what extent this gigantic hidden labyrinth could become a key piece of the current conflict. The cities, but with missiles. Yes, for decades, Iran has excavated an extensive underground base network known as “missile cities”, complexes hidden under mountains and hills intended to protect its enormous ballistic arsenal against air attacks and guarantee the regime’s retaliation capacity even in the event of open war. There are numerous videos Officials released in recent years where we could see long tunnels illuminated by artificial lights, windowless corridors and convoys of trucks loaded with missiles ready to move to the surface, an entire military architecture designed to hide thousands of short and medium range projectiles away from spy satellites and enemy bombers. Some installations even incorporate silos dug into the rock or mechanical systems on rails to move missiles within underground galleries, a perfectly assembled choreography reflecting a strategic project conceived to ensure arsenal survival Iranian in a protracted conflict. The images that reveal the paradox. However, the war has begun to show the unexpected reverse of that strategy. Recent images from space have revealed Smoldering remains of destroyed launchers and missiles near the entrances to several underground complexes, a sign that systems hidden underground are becoming extremely vulnerable at the moment when they must go outside to shoot. It makes sense. American and Israeli surveillance planes, armed drones and fighters They patrol constantly over the areas where these facilities are located, observing the entrances to the tunnels and attacking the launchers as soon as they appear on nearby roads or canyons. In other words, what for years was a system designed to hide mobile weapons It thus becomes a relatively predictable pattern: tunnel entrances, exit roads and deployment areas that can be monitored from the air and destroyed as soon as activity is detected. From strategic refuge to death trap. They remembered in the wall street journal A few hours ago this change has revealed a structural problem in the very concept of missile cities. Underground complexes are very difficult to destroy from the air, but they are also fixed installations whose location is known by Western intelligence services. In practice, this means that much of the arsenal remains stored in specific places while enemy planes continually fly over the airspace, waiting for the moment when the launchers come out to act. Many military analysts summarize the dilemma in a simple way: What was previously a mobile and difficult to locate system is now concentrated in fixed points, which facilitates its surveillance and reduces its capacity for surprise. Commercial satellite images themselves show destroyed launchers As soon as they left the mouths of the tunnels, fires were caused by leaked fuel and access to facilities bombed with heavy ammunition. Missile base north of Tabriz in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 23, the one on the right from March 1 after the first attacks The air offensive against underground infrastructure. As the first week of war approaches, the military campaign has begun to focus increasingly on these infrastructures. They told Reuters that the first phase of the attacks focused on destroying visible launchers and surface systems capable of firing at Israel or US bases in the region, while the second stage aims straight to the bunkers and buried warehouses where missiles and equipment are stored. Israeli aviation, with American support, has attacked hundreds of positions and has managed to drastically reduce the number of launches, while an almost constant air offensive that hits targets continues. both in Iran and Lebanon during the same missions. The stated objective is to progressively degrade Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones until it is completely neutralized. Missile base north of Kermanshah in Iran. The image on the left belongs to February 28, on the right it belongs to March 3 A gigantic arsenal underground. The actual scope of these facilities remains difficult to determine. There are military estimates that place the Iranian arsenal before the war between about 2,500 and up to 6,000 missilesstored in different facilities throughout the country, many of them excavated under mountains or in remote areas of the territory. Despite the attacks, Iran has managed to launch more than 500 missiles against Israel, US bases and targets in the Gulf since the start of the conflict, although many have been intercepted and the pace of salvos has decreased rapidly. That drop suggests that attacks on launchers and storage centers are beginning to erode the country’s ability to respond. The strategic dilemma. The result is a strategic paradox that is just beginning to become visible. Missile cities were designed to protect the core of Iranian military power and ensure its ability to retaliate, but in a scenario where the enemy dominate the air and watch constantly the entrances to these complexes can become choke points for the arsenal itself. Iran has spent decades excavating these underground bases with the intention of making its missiles invisible. But satellite images of the war are showing something very different: that this labyrinth of tunnels, designed as a shelter, can become one of its greatest vulnerabilities when the launchers are forced to surface under the look constant flow of planes, drones and satellites. Image | X, Planet Labs In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is new: neither drones nor missiles, bulldozers have reached the front In Xataka | You’ve probably never heard of urea. The missiles in Iran are destroying their production, and that will affect your food

The death of ‘El Mencho’ sends a worrying message

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2026 will be remembered in Mexico for several reasons. One, scheduled, is the celebration of the world cup. The other, unforeseen, is death this sunday of Nemesio Oseguera, alias ‘El Mencho’, one of the most important names in international drug trafficking. The unknown now is to what extent both events will overlap and if the second will influence the first in some way. It is not a question that we ask ourselves, but a murmur that is beginning to sound in the sports press around the world, from the United States either South Korea. The reason is very simple: the same country that in the last few hours has postponed matches due to the violence unleashed by the death of ‘El Mencho’ will have to host national teams that will compete in the World Cup in four months. What has happened? That the fight against drug trafficking has written a key chapter in Mexico. An operation orchestrated by the Mexican army with the support of US intelligence ended on Sunday with the death of Nemensio Rubén Osegeuera‘El Mencho’, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The news is important for several reasons. First, due to the relevance of the protagonist, ‘El Mencho’, who, as detailed by the Secretariat of National Defense, died while being transferred (already injured) to Mexico City. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And who was it? Despite having maintained a low profile and low visibility, Mencho had managed to become one of the most relevant leaders of American drug trafficking. Also one of the most sought after in the world. The US even offered 15 million dollars to whoever facilitated his arrest. The reason is the reach of the CJNG, an organization with diversified businesses, tentacles throughout Mexico (and part of the US) and a power that has already demonstrated in several occasionswhether executing judges and high officials or even shooting down helicopters with cannon fire. For the Government of Donald Trump ‘El Mencho’ was also “one of the main traffickers of fentanyl” from America. Has it had repercussions? Yes. And that is the second reason why Oseguera’s death is so relevant. The operation deployed on Sunday in the mountains of Jalisco has triggered an earthquake that has spread through Mexico with roads closed and episodes of violence that, for example, have led to a dozen of States to suspend their school classes and have affected part of the country’s air traffic, with the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The Mexican newspaper The Financier speak directly of “a wave of violence.” The local and international press inform of blockades and attacks on businesses in Jalisco and other Mexican states and the authorities have identified more than 252 roads with cuts in twenty regions, although they guarantee that 90% have already been resolved. That has not prevented Canada or the United States have advised its citizens to avoid going out in certain areas. Has it affected anything else? Yes. Beyond traffic, logistics, education or commerce, the tumults unleashed in certain parts of Mexico by the death of ‘El Mencho’ have been felt on two fronts. One is tourism. As reports the BBCthe Puerto Vallarta airport has suffered cancellations and diversions, a relevant fact considering that it is one of the most popular destinations in the country. Added to this are messages from Canada and the United States, but also from nations such as the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand, asking their citizens for caution. Another front that has not been immune is sports. Especially football. After what happened yesterday, at least two matches of first level. One was the women’s classic between Guadalajara and América, which was to be played at the Akron stadium (Zapopan). The other, the scheduled match between Querétaro and Juárez, from Liga MX, in the state of La Corregidora (Querétaro). Is that important? That the violent reactions to the death of ‘El Mencho’ affect tourism and (above all) the football agenda could seem like a minor issue if it were not for the fact that 2026 is not just any year for Mexico. In a few months the country will become, along with the US and Canada, World Cup host. In fact, the stadium where Querétaro and Juárez were due to meet yesterday will soon host a friendly match between the Mexican team and Iceland. The Akron stadium (the same one where Guadalajara and América should have played) will also be the scene this summer of several events in which teams from Korea, Colombia, Uruguay and Spain will participate. Can it influence? Of course the coincidence has not gone unnoticed. In Spain, sports media such as BRAND either ACEbut they are not the only ones. The South Korean media The Chosun had an impact in the last hours on the same idea and reporter Ephrat Livini slid in your analysis of what happened to The New York Times (TNYT) a key fact: “Much of the violence occurred in Guadalajara, a center of 1.4 million inhabitants that is home to the World Cup.” The problem is not only the violence unleashed in the last few hours. The key is what happens from now on and the multiple scenarios that are opening, among which includes a possible internal war within the CJNG to succeed the fallen boss or an offensive by rival cartels to dispute his territories. A few days ago (before the death of ‘El Mencho’) the newspaper The Time revealed since Mexico has redoubled its vigilance against the possibility that, taking advantage of the World Cup, Colombian drug traffickers may enter the country posing as fans. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Now that the most wanted cartel in Mexico has died, three disturbing possibilities open up. And they all point to the same place: the US

turning the “sea of ​​death” into a carbon sink

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For decades, the Taklamakan desertin the Chinese region of Xinjiang, has had a nickname quite eloquent: “the sea of ​​death.” And it is no wonder, since it is the second largest mobile dune desert in the world and a place where, historically, whoever enters does not usually leave. But faced with this major problem with sand for the surrounding areas, China decided to find a solution. The solution. China since 1978 has been waging an ecological engineering war against sand with a very specific weapon: the Three North Shelter Belt Programbetter known as the Great Green Wall. A name that seems to come out of Game of Thrones, but its objective is to stop erosion and sandstorms. But a new massive study published in PNAS has just revealed an unexpected and monumental side effect: human intervention has turned the edges of one of the driest places on Earth into an active carbon sink. The data. The study has focused on 25 years of data obtained through field work and also with satellites. What the team has found on the margins of the Taklamakan is what they call a “cold spot” of carbon dioxide. This means that in reforested areas the concentration of CO₂ is between 1 and 2 parts per million smaller than in the surrounding environment. And although it may not seem like much, in climatology it is an outrage. The trend in this case is quite clear, since The vegetation cover is increasing every yearand there is also a tendency for soil and plants to be “eating” more carbon than they are emitting. How is it possible? The million-dollar question here is pretty clear: how do you keep 66 billion trees alive in a place where it barely rains? The answer lies in water management technology and species selection. In this case, the project does not focus on planting oaks or pines, but is based on Extremophilous species like him Tamarixhe Haloxylon and the Euphrates poplar, which are plants evolutionarily designed to survive on very little. But the technological key has been the use of drip risk with saline water. Origin of water. China discovered that under the Taklamakan there are immense aquifers, but they are too saline for traditional agriculture. However, these “halophytic” plants can tolerate it, so it seemed like it was done on purpose. That is why groundwater is used to irrigate the protective strips that exist, especially around the famous tarim desert highway. The result with this is that soil moisture drops drastically between waterings, but the plants survive. And, although the salinity of the superficial soil increases, studies indicate that it is manageable in the long term and does not salinize the deep layers. This has made it possible to complete in 2024 a “green belt” of 3,046 kilometers that encloses the desert, stabilizing dunes that previously moved meters each year. Its stability. Unlike the Great Green Wall attempts in the Sahara, which have suffered from political instability and a lack of continued funding, the Chinese project has maintained its course since 1978. This continuity has allowed a “40-year experiment” that is now bearing fruit with important conclusions. The Chinese authorities themselves cite that national forest coverage has gone from 10% in 1949 to 25% today, thanks in large part to this project. As a result, in places like Maigaiti in Xinjiang, sandstorm days have dropped from 150 a year to fewer than 50. It is not the panacea. The source article warns of the limitations of this project: photosynthesis and carbon sequestration are strongly correlated with seasonal precipitation. This means that at least 16 liters of rainfall per month is needed in high season to maximize its effect. But behind it is climate change that is drastically altering rainfall patterns in Central Asia, which could weaken the carbon sink. Although what is happening in Taklamakan is causing a paradigm shift, since now where we see reforestation of deserts, we also see a way to cool our planet by reducing the concentration of CO₂. Images | Wikipedia Jasmine Milton In Xataka | Someone has counted each and every tree in China. Because? Well because now it is possible

The Ministry of Labor wants death leave to be extended to 10 days. Obstacle: Congress

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The Ministry of Labor plans to approve by royal decree law the extension of leave for the death of family members up to 10 days. Although the formula would allow its entry into force immediately after the Council of Ministers, there is a risk that the measure will end up being overturned later in Congress. Just like share El País, the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, confirmed this Tuesday that “the intention would be for the rule approving leave for bereavement and death to be an urgent rule” and that his “predisposition is to do so through a royal decree law shortly.” The Government’s strategy. By processing the norm as a decree law instead of as an ordinary draft law, the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz seeks to ensure that the extension of permits is applied immediately, without waiting to complete the entire parliamentary procedure. That would make the measure come into force the day after its publication in the BOE, although it then requires validation by Congress within a maximum period of one month. According to account In the middle, during that period, workers who suffer a family death could now access extended leave. Agreement. Job agreed with CCOO and UGT On December 15, the paid leave for the death of a spouse, common-law partner or relatives up to the second degree (parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren) was extended from the current two days (extendable to four in the event of displacement) up to 10 days. These could be used continuously or discontinuously within four weeks after death. Furthermore, just as share El País, the agreement includes a new 15-day permit for palliative care, divisible into two fractions over a period of three months, and one day of leave to accompany someone who is going to receive euthanasia, regardless of family ties. Rejection. The employers’ association CEOE and Cepyme have opposed the proposal because they consider that “it represents a new attempt to transfer to companies the cost and responsibility of public policies on care that corresponds to the Administration,” as they indicated in a statement. The lack of consensus in social dialogue marks the position of the PP, which has already announced its vote against following its criterion of rejecting labor measures that do not have the joint support of unions and employers. Key vote in the air. Parliamentary arithmetic turns Junts and PNV into decisive pieces in approving or not the measure. Just like they point From El País, the Catalan nationalists have already joined together with PP and Vox to overturn the reduction in working hours and have maintained very critical positions with other proposals rejected by unions and employers, such as the increase in the self-employed quota. For the measure to be approved, the Executive would need the support of the entire left plus the support of Junts and PNV, or at least the yes of one and the abstention of the other. Comparisons with Europe. Labor has been highlighting Spain’s delay compared to neighboring countries in regards to death leave. From the middle they point out that Portugal extended the paid leave for the death of a spouse in 2023 to 20 days, equal to that of children, while in France 12 working days are granted for the death of children and 14 if the deceased is under 25 years of age. According to the ministry, the current two days in Spain are insufficient to face a duel. A controversial vote. The decision to take the measure through a decree law responds to a clear intention to make it difficult for the opposition to reject it, since it is a measure of high social sensitivity. “suffering from the death of a son or daughter” is “not a question of the right or the left,” counted Pérez Rey in the middle. Cover image | Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | Deepfakes are much more than a bad joke. Now the Government wants them to be a violation of the right to honor

Tesla popularized “invisible” car door handles. China has just handed down its death sentence

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In China they have been wanting for a long time ban retractable handles of the vehicles, a design commonly popularized by Tesla. It is no wonder, since over the last few years we have witnessed serious fatal and safety incidents involving this type of handles. The regulations will force many of the best-selling models on the market to be redesigned. what has happened. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has approved a new safety regulation that will come into force on January 1, 2027. The regulation prohibits door handles recessed in the body and requires that all vehicles have visible handles and a mechanical opening system on each door, according to they count from Financial Times. Why is it important. The hidden handle design has become popular in recent years in electric cars. In China they had been following Tesla’s example for a long time, looking for a more minimalist aesthetic and small aerodynamic improvements. Virtually all of the major electric car manufacturers in China have models with retractable handles. However, these designs have proven to be dangerous in emergency situations. The trigger. A fatal accident in 2024 with Aito’s M7 SUV was one of the main triggers. Three people, including a two-year-old child, died after a crash. Videos shared on social media showed rescue teams breaking windows to try to save victims. As Aito explained in a statement, “the power and signal cables were immediately cut, preventing the handle controller from receiving the ejection signal.” The concern continued after two accidents with the Xiaomi SU7whose videos showed people struggling to open the vehicle doors to rescue those inside, without luck. What the regulations require. Just like they explain from CarNewsChina, the ‘GB 48001-2026’ standard states that each door must have a mechanical exterior handle located in specific areas of the door surface, with sufficient space for manual operation in emergencies such as deployment of restraint systems or battery problems. Electric handles must include independent mechanical mechanisms capable of withstanding forces of at least 500 N. On the other hand, inside, each side door must have at least one mechanical opening handle with graphic symbols of at least 100 mm × 70 mm and clearly visible instructions or pictographic symbols. Impact on the industry. The regulations will affect numerous models from manufacturers such as Xiaomi, BYD and others that have adopted designs similar to Tesla. Bill Russo, founder of Automobility, counted to FT that the standard will require changes to some models but not a complete redesign. “Many manufacturers already design alternative handle solutions for export markets with different regulations,” he explains. “With the new regulation, we will be ready to change any handle as the government wants,” Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD, told Bloomberg TV. Outside China. Perhaps the most notorious case is in the United States, where the issue of hidden handles is also being investigated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened investigations on Tesla Model Y and Model 3 over concerns about the accessibility of their vehicles in emergencies. A particularly serious accident in California that caused the death of three teenagers in a Cybertruckwhere neither the occupants nor anyone close to the incident could open the doors through the hidden handles and reinforced glass, prompted Congress to take action and Tesla to announce a redesign of its handles. Cover image | Eyosias G In Xataka | Putting solar panels on an electric car sounds like a total win-win: the reality of extra autonomy is a bucket of cold water

There is a “nihilistic” penguin who decided to embrace certain death. The Internet has been obsessed with him for weeks

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If in many years some historian were to investigate how the world has started 2026, they would find one of those surprises that raise eyebrows: humanity (or at least that part of humanity that rubs shoulders on the Internet) has started the year fascinated by a “nihilistic penguin”. With Ukraine at war, Trump threatening to annex Greenland to the US (by hook or by crook) and Nicolás Maduro detained In a New York prison, half the planet is dedicated to speculating why the hell one fine day in 2007 a palmiped from Antarctica undertook a suicidal trip that would have inspired himself Friedrich Nietzsche. It sounds bizarre, but it makes sense. What the hell is that penguin doing? It sounds bizarre, but for weeks thousands of people around the world have been asking themselves that same question: What is that penguin doing? The bird in question is a Pygoscelis adeliaean ‘Adelia’ like there are thousands of them in Antarctica, but which about 19 years ago came across the German filmmaker’s cameras by pure chance Werner Herzog while recording his documentary ‘Encounters at the End of the World’. The film lasts almost 100 minutes during which Herzog shows snowy plains, seals, underwater scenes and a multitude of frozen landscapes. At one point, however, his camera captured something curious, a detail that caught the attention of some critics years ago and now it has revolutionized half of the Network. The scene shows an Adelie penguin doing something totally counterintuitive. Without us knowing very well why, the animal begins to walk with a firm step away from the rest of its flock, entering between frozen mountains. Ahead, nothingness. No company. No food. That is, death. “But, why?“ The scene is shocking. First because it seems to go against the most basic common sense. At least the human one. Second, because of the surprising determination of the penguin, who sets off on his way without hesitation and only for a brief moment seems to stop to look at everything he leaves behind him. The third reason why it has captivated half the Internet is because Herzog himself was in charge of giving it importance and highlighting its drama. “But why?” he wonders the German filmmaker in the narration that accompanies the scene. After all, he only has miles and miles and miles of barren land ahead of him that take him further and further away from the safety of his colony and food sources. “It caught our attention. It wasn’t heading to the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice or returning to the colony. Shortly afterwards we saw it heading towards the mountains, 70 kilometers away. Dr Ainslie explained that even if he captured it and brought it back to the flock, it would return to the mountains. But… Why?” fascinated account Herzog. The full question would be a little longer: Why the hell would a penguin ignore its own survival instinct? There must be a reason, right? That is exactly what the documentary filmmaker proposed at the time and it has been worrying half the world for weeks. There is who has speculated that the penguin perhaps had a problem that altered its orientation or an ailment that affected its behavior. There is even talk of possible changes at an environmental level or of a exploratory instinct unconventional. If the panorama were not disturbing in itself, add Ainslie’s disturbing observation: it does not matter that Herzog or anyone else tried to correct their course. The animal would begin its deadly journey again almost instantly. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is this something so strange? The penguin’s attitude does. Our attempts to find an explanation that fits our way of seeing the world (often from a anthropocentric optics), No. We humans have been debating for some time whether animals have something similar to a sense of morality. For example, we ask ourselves if in episodes that seem to us cruel There is a latent intention or they are simply the result of instinct. We have even speculated on the possibility of “altruistic” behavior in fauna. It may sound strange, but these are questions that have arisen in view of specific behaviors. A crow that finds a large amount of meat and decides warn others companions to share the feast, a whale investing time and energy in protect a seal harassed by killer whales, a duck that cares for a cub of another species, even putting itself in danger. Are those animals being generous? Are they selfless or do they act motivated by an instinct that, ultimately, seeks the preservation of themselves and their species? These are issues so complex that they have even given rise to scientific studies. What does it have to do with the penguin? Well, in recent weeks, after Herzog’s video once again gained popularity on the internet, many people have seen a 100% human attitude in the palmipede. Of course, one that has little or nothing to do with altruism or cruelty. What they appreciate is pure nihilismthe doctrine that embraces “nothingness” (hence its name, ‘nihil’) and denies the pillars on which philosophers have relied for centuries: the existence of religious, political and social principles and, in general, any foundation in morality. There is no purpose. Not even life has a meaning like the one that religions have sought for centuries. And what does Herzog’s penguin do if he doesn’t embrace that very thing, nothingness? Does it not evoke, in words by journalist Adil Faouzi, “a willful desertion of the logic of life itself”? The animal recorded by Herzog seems to capture these ideas so well, to condense them in such a powerful way, that many have nicknamed it: the “nihilistic penguin”. A little far-fetched, right? Depends. We do not know what motivated that small creature to undertake a journey towards its own death and who have tried Finding an explanation points (as we said before) to a possible illness or some type … Read more

The Zapotecs have been fascinating archaeologists for years. A 1,400-year-old tomb in Mexico has revealed how they viewed death

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“It is the most relevant archaeological discovery of the last decade in Mexico.” Who is speaking It is Claudia Sheinbaum, president of the country, and although it is not unusual for authorities to resort to superlatives when presenting historical findings, in this case the enthusiasm of the Mexican leader seems more than justified. After all, it is not every day that we find jewels like the one that the INAH just located in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca: a tomb from 1,400 years ago that promises to reveal new secrets about one of the most fascinating pre-Hispanic cultures of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Who is it? The Zapotecs. What has happened? That Mexico has shown (one more time) that still hides first-class archaeological treasures. Your Government has just announced the discovery of a 14-century-old tomb decorated with exceptional paintings and sculptures in the south of the country, in San Pablo HuitzoOaxaca. There the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) has documented a Zapotec tomb dated around the year 600 AD, a large and ornate mausoleum that stands out for its good level of conservation. Its structure and sculptures are so well preserved, in fact, that experts hope they will shed new light on the civilization that erected it. Is it so relevant? Yes. Perhaps the best proof is that the Mexican authorities have not spared congratulations and flattery when referring to the discovery, which the president herself has been in charge of presenting. “We are very proud of the most relevant archaeological discovery of the last decade in our country,” he said. claim Sheinbaum on social networks. Similar words have been used by the Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curielthat has emphasized that same idea: it is not just that the Oaxaca tomb is spacious or rich in decoration, it is that a good part of its structure has managed to remain intact for 1,400 years, so today it offers a valuable ‘historical window’ to historians dedicated to the study of the Zapotec civilization. “This is an exceptional discovery due to its level of conservation and what it shows about the Zapotec culture: its social organization, its funerary rituals and its worldview, preserved in architecture and painting.” What does the tomb show? A combination of murals and sculptures surprising. At the entrance to the antechamber we find a sculpted owl, an image that in the worldview of its pre-Hispanic creators symbolized night and death. The figure is fascinating because its beak hides another surprise: the stuccoed and painted face of a Zapotec lord. Because of this position it stands out, right at the entrance to the mausoleum, archaeologists suspect that it could be a portrait of the ancestor to whom the tomb was dedicated and to whom his descendants turned as an intercessor before the gods. Is there more? Yes. As we move forward we find a decorated lintel with a frieze made up of stone tombstones engraved with “calendrical names”. If we look towards the jambs, another surprise: the figures of a man and a woman dressed in headdresses. Once again, their position has led archaeologists to speculate on their possible role, which in this case would be that of guardians. Already inside the funerary chamber, the walls preserve parts of “an extraordinary mural painting” with ocher, white, green, red and blue colors. In them, their authors portrayed a procession of characters with bags of copal. What do we know about the tomb? Researchers will have to continue studying it to understand it better, but they already have some clues. For example, the dating: they believe that the tomb dates from the late Classic period, around the year 600. They have also come to the conclusion that its sculptures and mural evoke “symbolic representations associated with power and death.” Now it is their turn to continue deciphering its iconography and (just as important) to advance conservation efforts. INAH himself explains that its experts are working to stabilize the mural, which is in a “delicate” state after 14 long centuries exposed to changes in time and the advance of roots and insects. Who were the Zapotecs? If the tomb has generated so much expectation, it is not only because of its good general state of conservation. The tomb is also valuable because it opens a new window to the Zapotecsa pre-Hispanic civilization from Mesoamerica that called themselves Binniza (“people who come from the clouds.” As remember the Mexican Archeology platform, constitute the oldest group in the Oaxacan region and since at least 1400 BC they mainly inhabited the Central Valleys and their surroundings. Its peak was reached between the 4th and 10th centuries AD, with its settlement of Monte Albán standing out above all, one of the most relevant cities in Mesoamerica at its time. It is estimated that it hosted some 35,000 people. The region has such relevant historical and heritage value that in 1987 UNESCO declared the historic center of Oaxaca and Monte Albán as a world heritage site. In recent decades, archaeologists they had already found Zapotec tombs. Images | INAH In Xataka | If Spain believes it has a problem with droughts, it is because it does not know what led the Mayans to collapse: 150 extreme years

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