famous

It has been frozen for 30 years at 8,500 meters. Now a mission wants to finally solve who was the most famous corpse on Everest

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If you like mountains and have ever gone (or fantasize about going) to Everest, surely the name of Green Boots sounds familiar: it is a reminder that climbing the highest mountain in the world is still a risky activity. The body of this mountaineer who died in the middle of the ascent was mummified at the entrance to a cave that you have to pass through when you climb the main ascent route from the Tibetan side. 30 years after his death, The Guardian echoes a leaked document where the rescue operation and repatriation of Green Boots to India is collected. In the rescue process it would also correct a mistake that has lasted three decades: the identity of the corpse would be cleared once and for all. The tragic story of Green Boots. “Green Boots” is the nickname of the mountaineer found in 1996 under a rocky outcropping at 8,500 meters above sea level, just 350 meters from the summit on the northeast route that ascends from the Tibetan side. The nickname has little originality: he was wearing boots of the same brand and model Koflach Arctis Expe phosphor green in color. His boots (and his body) were exposed and since it is in a transit area, it has become a macabre reference point to inform the base when they reach that position. Who really is Green Boots?. As for his identity, for almost 30 years it was assumed without official confirmation that It was Tsewang Paljoran Indian mountaineer who died in a severe snow storm known as the 1996 Everest disasterwhich killed 12 people. That tragedy inspired the book Into Thin Air. However, as reported by The Guardian, the document from the Indian rescue authorities identifies the body as Dorje Morupan Indian guard member of a Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition who died in that same tragedy. The document ensures that this identification “has been confirmed through a prior verification process within the framework of a prior technical evaluation”, although without detailing what it consisted of. The recovery mission. The rescue bidding document asks companies to bid for the mission, which must have at least six Sherpas who have previous climbing experience. In addition, they must provide evidence of the mission and transport the body to Delhi before October. As explains Alan Arnettean American mountaineer and well-known blogger about Everest, lowering it is going to be “an arduous task” and estimates the operation at about $150,000. The monsoon rains also work against it. According to Sherpa Tshiring Jangbu details to The Guardianfounder of Everest Sherpa Expedition and with experience in this type of operations, with only a third of the oxygen available compared to that at sea level, activity above 8000 meters requires enormous effort and decision making can become more difficult. And that’s not to mention the load: a frozen body with mountain equipment can weigh up to 200 kilos. In addition, limbs frozen at angles impossible for descent sometimes mean they have to resort to amputation. A cemetery called Everest. Precisely because of the difficulty, danger and cost of the rescue operation, approximately 200 bodies still remain there on the slopes of Everest. As New Zealander Guy Cotter, who coordinated a similar rescue operation with his company Adventure Consultants in 1997, explains: “For families, recovering a body from the mountain gives them comfort, as long as it does not put other people at undue risk.” And according to their experience, there have been cases of recovery of bodies in which more people have died. Aware of the risk of their hobby, there are experienced climbers who wish that, if they die while climbing, their remains remain on the mountain, but are moved out of sight. Of course, families do not always think alike. In Xataka | Climbing Everest in person costs 50,000 euros. Uploading it in 4K from the sofa at home is now free In Xataka | There is something worse than Everest turning into a mountain literally full of shit: scam rescues Cover | Pavel Novak and Gemini with Koflach Arctis Expe

18 years ago he went viral for his famous “I’ve messed it up.” Now Antena 3 has paid him 50,000 euros to turn it into a meme

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Spain repeated the phrase “I have messed it up” with an unmistakable Madrid accent for almost two decades, being very clear about the origin (a young lifeguard whose intervention in the Antena 3 news program had gone viral on the Internet), but perhaps without knowing the true scope of the joke. The Provincial Court of Madrid has just set the effects of one of our most famous memes at 50,000 euros. The sentence. The Provincial Court of Madrid sentenced on May 5 Atresmedia to compensate the woman who starred in the video for “La he liado parda” with 50,000 euros. The court raised the amount set in the first instance, which had been 40,000 euros, and rejected the appeal presented by the audiovisual group. The resolution also orders the removal of the recordings from all Atresmedia platforms and prohibits their reuse in similar circumstances. What happened. The origin of the video is in the summer of 2008: an Antena 3 interview with a young lifeguard after an incident with chemicals in a swimming pool in San Sebastián de los Reyes, where she utters the phrase that would become a classic of Spanish humor. The original interview, protected by the right to information, is outside the sentence. What the sentence punishes is subsequent reuse: The condemnation also extends to La Sexta, Onda Cero and Europa FM, stations from the same group that continued to exploit the recording for years in comedy programs and compilations. The demand. The woman filed the lawsuit in 2021, after verifying that her voice and image continued to circulate without her permission. more than a decade later from that afternoon at the pool. There is an episode that gives an idea of ​​the scope and consequences of the video: years after the recording, some police officers, upon identifying her, came to comment among themselves “we are here with the one who has gotten into trouble.” It is just an anecdote that allows us to guess the pernicious reach of a video that went viral without the woman’s permission: it took her several years to return to work, it was an ordeal for her to see her image on television, she found herself wearing t-shirts with her face on it and she even had problems developing her profession almost a decade later, due to anxiety attacks, hospitalizations and medical leave. Who pays for the meme. The ruling does not hold Atresmedia responsible for the original viralization of the video, which attributed to the dynamics of the internet and social networks. The damage is “serious” in moral terms, although it is not entirely attributable to the chain. What he does attribute to him is the decision to continue broadcasting that material for years in his own programs, with massive audiences, when there was no longer any informative justification. Atresmedia is not planned appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court Other victims of memetics. The case of the Madrid lifeguard is, of course, not the first. The Star Wars Kid dates back to 2002, and his fame began when, at the age of 14, he recorded himself imitating a Star Wars lightsaber combat. A colleague found the tape, uploaded it to the Internet and the video became one of the first big virals on the internet. As a result, the boy suffered bullying, had to change schools and received psychiatric treatment. His family sued the colleagues responsible, claiming around $250,000 and reached an out-of-court settlement in 2006. Years later, he explained that a crime would have given him more legal protection than a viral video without his consent, since juvenile laws did not contemplate that scenario at that time, which was not yet known as cyber bullying. Victims in Spain. In Spain, the perhaps best-known case is that of Álvaro Muñoz, the 12-year-old boy who burst into unexpected racist comments when talking about tranquility is what is sought in the summer pools. He suffered his corresponding share of bullying and harassment when his address was made public, he received 17 complaints of racism and spent five years going to juvenile court. Recently has announced that he had regretted the comments and was entering a seminar, closing this circle of Celtiberia Memes. Luckily not all the protagonists of youth memes in Spain are broken toys: Miquel Montoro, the boy from “Host, piles”has become influencer of the rural world with social media accounts that exceed 400,000 subscribers. And José Gómez, who uttered the glorious phrase “You can’t live off petanque” has ended up becoming world champion of the discipline. The meme as a meat grinding machine. Researcher Limor Shifman defines memes, in her book ‘Memes in Digital Culture’as units of digital content created, imitated and transformed with the awareness of belonging to the same shared pattern. This is what explains why “La he liado parda” survived for so long: it stopped being the testimony of a specific person and became a reusable piece, without the need to reference the original event. The ruling recognizes, in some way, this mechanism: the magistrates distinguish between the legitimate informative use of the interview and its subsequent reuse for entertainment purposes, which they consider an interference in the right to one’s own image. Journalist Jon Ronson describe Similar processes occur when digital lynchings take place: the target loses its personal context and begins to function as a symbol of the transgression it represents, almost as if it were a company that has been involved in a public relations disaster and not a person with a life behind it. In this case, that symbol was not just constructed by anonymous users: the network itself that recorded the original interview fueled its circulation for more than a decade. In Xataka | When a town found a dead whale on its beaches, it decided to dynamite it. 55 years later they still celebrate it

One of the most famous western phrases is in a Clint Eastwood film, but it was improvised by one of his companions

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An actor who, a priori, did not have to say any dialogue, fired four shots and uttered a phrase that sixty years later is still quoted in all Western stories. But that phrase wasn’t in any script. What’s more, the actor who pronounced it was not even the protagonist of a legendary spaghetti western work: ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. What’s happening. Tuco (Eli Wallach) is taking a bath when an old enemy surprises him with a revolver. Tuco shoots through the bathwater, cloudy with dust and soap, gets up and blurts out: “When you have to shoot, you shoot, you don’t talk.” According to Wallach himself, the scene I had no dialogue; It was he himself who improvised the phrase on the spot, and both Sergio Leone and the rest of the team laughed so hard that they kept it in the final cut. It is significant that the phrase was only uttered on two occasions: one during filming, in 1966, and another a year later, when dubbing the scene in the studio. How it got there. The actor used to say that Leone had signed him for his role as the bandit Calvera in ‘The Magnificent Seven’. However, what actually convinced Leone was a specific moment from ‘The Won of the West’, from 1962. Wallach recalled that his agent told him about “an Italian director who has seen your Western films”, to which he responded skeptically that he did not believe that Italian Western existed. However, he changed his mind when Leone showed him a sequence from ‘Death Had a Price’. All yours. Once he won the role, Leone let him do practically whatever he wanted with Tuco: the straw hat, the leather knee pads, the gesture of crossing himself at full speed several times in a row, it was all Wallach’s idea. Also he improvised almost the entire armory scenedespite having no idea how to assemble a revolver, and the real bewilderment of the clerk who was explaining the parts to him was captured on camera. Eastwood’s jealousy. The star of what would be the third film in the Dollar Trilogy worked in a much more contained manner, and his final presence on screen was much more dependent on editing. The script distributed the narrative weight between three characters for the first time, and he was not happy about that. In fact, Clint Eastwood he was close to turning down the roleuncomfortable with Tuco having more footage and better lines than him. He negotiated $250,000 and 10% of the profits in the United States before accepting. The film would end up grossing more than 38 million dollars with a budget of just 1.2 million, a success that consolidated both Eastwood’s status as an international star and Leone as a leading author of the genre. However, his fears were more than justified: decades later, it is Wallach’s improvisations that are most frequently cited when discussing the film. That’s what the classics are: untamable. In Xataka | “They were not used to silence”: when Clint Eastwood set foot in Spain for the first time in 1964, he was marked forever

Today the culmination of one of the most famous series in the history of Spain arrives on Prime Video in an ironic closing format

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When the series ‘Aída’ ended in June 2014 with four million viewers saying goodbye, no one seriously considered a sequel. A decade later, Paco León turns that reunion into metacinema with ‘There and back’which now premieres Prime Videoa film that functions as another chapter, but also as a question about what it means to revisit something that has not completely disappeared from collective memory. It is clear that the dizzying audience figures for ‘Aída’ belong to another era, when audience fragmentation was not as great as it is now. At one of its peaks, the series reached 33.2% share and 6,282,000 spectators. Throughout its nine years on screen, the series led the audience in its first two seasons; During the 2006-2007 season it was the most viewed Spanish fiction, and in the following season it not only maintained the leadership, but did so above foreign productions. ‘There and back’ arose as a commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the end of the series and twenty years of the original premiere. The filming featured almost the entire original cast (Carmen Machi, Mariano Peña, Miren Ibarguren, Eduardo Casanova, Pepe Viyuela, Melani Olivares, Canco Rodríguez and León himself), with the notable exception of Ana Polvorosa (Lore), who felt that she was not at her best to reprise her role. The twist that no one expected was the one that led the film to merge elements of fiction with metanarrative to show the recording process of an episode, mixing the original characters with the actors themselves giving life to themselves. The narrative axis is Carmen Machi’s resistance to returning to the character, and all this with abundant reflections on the nature and limits of humor, which the original series exceeded on numerous occasions. Can’t you make humor out of anything anymore? ‘Back and forth he does it… and he also wonders why. In Xataka | This Prime Video series ends after 7 years and 40 chapters, making history with an audience more divided than ever

The problem with Marcus Aurelius’ most famous phrase is that it is surely not his

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Initially this article was going to be about what the emperor Marcus Aurelius said, not about what Marcus Aurelius never said and we have made him say. Let me explain. With half a polarized country and thousands of families still recovering from the fights political-ideological-religious that accompany Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve after-dinner meals, a few days ago I decided to consult good old Marco Aurelio Antonio. What can the philosopher emperor teach us about tension? The answer came to me like a fall from the sky (via Google): “Everything we hear is opinion, not fact. Everything we see is perspective, not truth.” Sage. Accurate. Poetic. A plea in favor of tolerance, respect and the ability to relativize without falling into relativism resigned. One of the many (many) aphorisms of Marcus Aurelius that invite us to listen, not give in to impulses and, definitely, flee from gratuitous quarrels. The problem is that it is quite likely that that phrase, replicated infinite times in networks, anthologies and newspapershas never left Marco’s lips (or pen). Yes, it has been attributed to specialized accounts of X with more than 600,000 followers, yes, we have seen it in top level newspapers; but there are serious doubts that the philosopher emperor uttered it. Even that he sympathized with her. Emperor’s word (or not) To clear up doubts, the first and simplest thing is to turn to the great philosophical legacy of Marcus Aurelius: ‘Meditations’the work that collects his philosophical reflections. There, in point 15 of the second book, we find a more or less similar statement, although much shorter and related to another author. In fact, Marcus Aurelius recognizes its value, but with some important nuance. “‘That everything is opinion’”. Evident is what is said referring to the cynic Mónimo. The usefulness of what is said is also evident, if the substance of the saying is accepted, to the extent that it is appropriate.” The phrase refers to the philosopher Mononym of Syracuse (4th century BC), member of the Cynic school, and also connects with another great name of antiquity, the Greek comediographer Meander. Now… Why does Marcus Aurelius share it? Throughout the work the philosopher returns on several occasions about that idea, although with a form (and especially a background) that does not quite coincide with that phrase we found on Google. In book His interpretation is rather another: If you are distressed or sad, it may not be so much because of the external factors but because of the way you face them. No trace of the famous original phrase. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What we did find (again on Google) are contemporary authors who warn of two things: not only is there no evidence that Marcus Aurelius ever uttered that aphorism, but that he probably would not support it. In Medium the thinker Gregory Sadler remember the mention of Monimos in the ‘Meditations’ (“everything is what you suppose it to be”), but insists on the importance of context: “Marcus Aurelius is not really endorsing that statement as unconditionally correct. He claims that those words are clear and that they are useful if one accepts their usefulness to the extent that they are true“. “As you read these passages, and even more so as you read and understand the Meditations Taken together, it is quite clear that Marcus Aurelius not only does not endorse any kind of relativism. It would be strange if he did, since that would contradict many other things he claims,” ​​insists Sadler. He is not the only one who thinks this way. On the Modern Stoicism website is pointed out He cites it as the most obvious (and famous) example of a phrase “erroneously attributed” to the Roman emperor. It is not just about putting words into the philosopher’s mouth that he never really said. The problem, remember its authorThomas Colligan, is that in this case the aphorism lends itself to interpretations that directly collide with what Marcus Aurelius did think. “It seems to deny the existence of an objective reality and instead endorses a subjective view of the world where anything goes,” he warns: “Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics would certainly not have endorsed this view.” The emperor’s alleged phrase has also not passed PolitiFact analysis (a project of the Poynter Institute), that considers her discredited. After seeing how it went viral on networks, PolitiFact investigated whether or not the happy quote can be attributed to Marcus Aurelius, for which it even contacted an expert from the University of Tasmania, Dirk Baltzly. Your conclusion? It turns out “vaguely possible” that the quote is a free paraphrase of a passage from ‘Meditations’. What does the passage in question that Baltzly points out say, a quote that we find at the end of a long reflection of the third section from book IV? As follows: “All those things that you are seeing will soon be transformed and will not exist. Also constantly think about how many transformations you have already witnessed by chance. ‘The world, alteration; life, opinion.’” In other words, there is a certain echo, but no trace of what is probably one of Marcus Aurelius’s most shared phrases on networks. It could remain an anecdote (and a frustrated article on polarization), but how they reveal Sadler or Colligan, the problem is that this is not the only phrase falsely attributed to Marcus Aurelius, nor is Marcus Aurelius the only thinker to whom false phrases are attributed. Not even the emperors and greatest thinkers in history are safe from fake news. On the contrary, they seem more vulnerable the greater their fame. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | “The greatest obstacle in life is the loss of today”: Seneca already went through your same existential crisis 2,000 years ago

The most famous bridge in the US recorded more than 2,000 suicides. Until in 2024 they found an “invisible” solution

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When the golden gate Opened almost a century ago, it was celebrated as an architectural triumph of engineering and modernity. It happens that the history of many of the great works has had a second reading. Sometimes they have failed due to technical problemsand others have ended up marked by uses that no one foresaw. Over time, a bridge can become something very different from what its plans imagined. The bridge and its dark history. The Golden Gate Bridge, inaugurated in 1937 between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific, has been for decades one of the places most associated to suicide in the United Stateswith a rate of more than 2,000 jumps confirmed and a real figure surely higher because not all cases are seen nor all bodies are recovered. In 2006 there was one of the worst years, with at least 34 deathsand that was also the turning point in which relatives of victims, as Paul Mullerdecided that it was unacceptable to continue living with that routine of tragedies without a physical and effective response on the bridge itself. The barrier that changed destiny. The solution ended up being a deterrent system “invisible” installed along both sides of the bridge, one based on stainless steel cables of marine grade placed about six meters below the pedestrian walkways. It is not something that can be seen from afar or from normal traffic, but it is evident to those who look over the edge. The idea is simple and tremendous at the same time: if someone tries to jump, they fall on that structure, are injured or shocked, and the possibility of completing the fatal fall into the water is cut off. The barrier created to prevent suicides The effectiveness of the new impact. For many years the Golden Gate recorded an average of about 30 deaths annuallya figure that seemed entrenched and almost impossible to break. However, in 2024, with the facility entering its final phase and with adjustments still underway, the deaths they went down to eight. Last year, in 2025 and with the system already operating for twelve months, there were only four and there were no falls between June and December, a stretch that could be one of the longest without suicides on the bridge, although old records are not always complete. By the way, from the beginning of 2026 there is already a casewhich reminds us that there is no such thing as zero risk. That said, the general decline is so evident that even its promoters see it as clear proof of effectiveness and a mirror for the rest of the hanging architectures. Surveillance and intervention. The barrier does not act alone, because the bridge maintains an electronic surveillance system and a team of agents whose task is to detect and stop attempts before they occur. In the last year, 94 successful interventions were achieved, about half of what was normal before full installation, suggesting that the problem does not disappear suddenly. In fact, there are still people who come with the idea of ​​jumping, but now the margin of action is greater and death is no longer as immediate or as certain as it was for decades. Installation of anti-suicide barriers, February 2020 Against inertia and cost. The truth is that the installation of the barrier came after a very long road full of political blocks, doubts about aesthetics, discussions about price and debates about if it would really work. Already in 1939 it was recommended to raise the railings, but for decades measures were avoided while the death count rose from 500 to 1,000 and it continued to grow with chilling regularity. The organized pressure from family and professionals ended up crystallizing at the Bridge Rail Foundationand after years of paperwork the work started in 2018. The project also became very expensive, going from an estimate of 76 million dollars to a final cost of 224 million dollarsand even took longer to install than the bridge itself to build. The “invisible” barrier Why it saves lives. One of the central ideas is that reducing easy access to a lethal method works, even if it sounds too simple. A 1978 study by Richard Seiden, at the University of California at Berkeley, followed 515 people who had gone to the Golden Gate with the intention of jumping and were deterred, and concluded that 94% were still alive or had died of natural causes. This reinforces the idea that many suicidal crises are acute and not permanent, and that placing a specific obstacle at the exact moment can make the difference between dying and surviving. Bridges and the same problem. There is no doubt, the Golden Gate incident was not an isolated case, and there are other iconic bridges that have ended up with a similar reputation by becoming recurring scenes of suicides. In the United States, the royal gorge bridge next to Hoover Dam, or the Chesapeake Bay Bridgethey have had known histories and episodes that have fueled debates about surveillance and barriers. In Canada, the Bloor Viaduct in Toronto was for years one of the most problematic points until it was installed a great prevention structureand something similar happened in the United Kingdom with the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, where the combination of height, accessibility and symbolism forced action and reinforce early intervention. Also in Australia, the Sydney Harbor Bridge has been targeted of concern and initiatives preventive, and in Europe there are numerous cases on urban bridges and high-rise viaducts that share the same pattern: very busy and at the same time very exposed. The same idea is repeated in all of them, when a bridge becomes a known point, it is not just a problem of physical security, it is a social phenomenon that feeds on itself, and the more famous it is, the more important it becomes to cut that inertia before it becomes part of your identity. The legacy. The Golden Gate had been in operation for decades … Read more

The founder of Ikea was one of the richest men on the planet, but his most famous trick is available to everyone

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You may like it more or less Ikeabut I don’t think there are many doubts about the success that the company has had throughout its history. One figure was key in his rise. Its founder, Ingvar Kampradwas a different man of his time. The businessman died with billions of dollars in his account and, however, the key that led him to success and that he strictly followed throughout his life was very simple. Hint: never spend more than necessary. Ingvar Kamprad before Ikea. When you imagine the guy who built the Ikea empire, you may think of someone who lived a dream life that very few can achieve. However, if the company is what it is today, it is partly because Kamprad was the complete opposite of those stereotypes. Despite his wealth, he was known for your most frugal habits. Born in Sweden in 1926, his beginnings as a “businessman” began very early. At the age of five he sold matchesand at ten he dedicated himself to selling bikes, fish or even Christmas decorations to his neighbors. At the age of 17, he created Ikea with the money his father gave him for his good grades. Of course, I didn’t sell furniture then, just small utensils for the house. ELON MUSK VS JEFF BEZOS: STAR WARS Kamprad in 1965 Ikea is getting older. It happened in 1956, when Kamprad revolutionized the market and the furniture industry itself with the introduction of flat boxes with furniture to assemble at home. Yes, this began a way of selling the product that has continued to this day and that reduced the company’s costs in exchange for the consumer doing the other part of the work: assembling the furniture. The founder achieved such success that he became one of the richest men on the planet. In fact, when he died in 2018 he was eighth on the world list and had a estimated net worth of 58 billion of dollars. However, if you had met him in life, you would not have thought that you were dealing with a billionaire. Kamprad’s life hack. Talking about the secret of the success of a company like Ikea in an article is nothing short of an act of faith. Surely it is better understood in a book and in a more relaxed way, but we can understand some keys through the figure of its founder. And Kamprad insisted on one thing: saving, and he carried that maxim every day of his life. “Everything we earn we need as a reserve,” said. For example, the man was known for flying economy class, staying in budget hotels, or drive a Volvo 240 GL of 93 that lasted 20 years. In fact, he only gave it up when he was convinced it was dangerous. Kamprad said that he learned to be prudent with money in the small town in southern Sweden where he grew up: “it is in Smaland’s nature to be thrifty.” Example of this it happened in 2014when he returned to Sweden after 40 years of tax exile with clothes “bought only in flea markets.” The haircut anecdote. In 2008, The guardian told a scene which said a lot about the businessman’s personality. Apparently, after paying around 22 euros for a haircut in the Netherlands, he said the price was too high for his usual budget for haircuts, “I usually try to get a haircut when I’m in a developing country. The last time was in Vietnam,” he went on to say. The philosophy of life, to the company. These habits not only represented the beginning of Kamprad’s personal philosophy towards consumerism, but were also to serve as a model for his employees. He New York Times detailed that low-cost flights, meals and hotel stays were initiatives that he promoted among executives. In fact, in 1976 he distributed what was called “Testament of a furniture dealer“, a booklet with guidelines that Ikea employees have followed since then. In it, he details parts of his frugal philosophy, stating that “wasting resources is a mortal sin at Ikea.” His inheritance, his legacy. Decades before his death, Kamprad had placed ownership of the Ikea brand in a complex network of foundations and holding companies. However, these assets were not transmitted to his heirs. Apparently, the Stichting Ingka Foundation, a Dutch entity whose stated purpose is to donate to charities and “support innovation” in design, controls most of the Ikea stores. Additionally, the Interogo Foundation owns the rights to the brand and controls global franchises through a subsidiary. This foundation is managed by a board in which members of the Kamprad family have minority control. That is, the heirs retained some of the wealth and control, but the majority of their fortune is held in charitable trusts. A complicated structure as a result of his desire to preserve Ikea’s unique culture and ensure its long-term survival. Why Ikea. Before finishing this small collection of stories about the man who founded the most famous furniture company, a secret that many do not know. Why is it called Ikea? It is an acronym of the initials of Kamprad’s first and last name, and the initials of the name of the family farm where he was born (Elmtaryd) and the nearest village (Agunnaryd). Image | Ikea, Haparanda Midnight Ministerial, Public Domain In Xataka | The psychology behind IKEA selling you cheap food in its restaurant In Xataka | Online sales and manufactured in local carpentry shops: Slowdeco, the “Valencian Ikea” that does not even try to compete against Ikea

Italy has been importing its famous “Italian” tomato paste from China for years. And now China has a problem

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The powerful tomato sector Chinese faces turbulence. After achieving a prominent position in the global market and becoming the largest tomato orchard in the world, the Asian giant has encountered a drop in sales in a strategic market: the European market. More specifically in Italy, where the demand for vegetables from Xinjiang has deflated at the stroke of controversies. The data is quite eloquent. Only during the third quarter of 2025 did sales of Chinese tomato paste in Italy decrease about 80%. Tomato ‘made in China’? It comes with taking a look at the maps from World Population Review to understand the enormous weight that China has achieved in the world tomato market. According to its latest data, in 2023 the nation produced about 70.1 million tons. This places it considerably above India, which occupies second place with 20.4 million tons, Turkey (13.3 million), the US (12.4 million) or Egypt (6.2 million), which complete the ‘TOP 5’. Also from Spain, which occupies ninth place, with nearly four million. Extremaduran farmers warned about the growing threat from China a few months ago, who recognize that the competition exerted by the Asian tomato is already their “biggest problem”. It’s not just that China harvests tons and tons of vegetables, it’s that it does so at such low costs that they make its tomato paste (a fundamental product for the food industry) unbeatable. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is he that attractive? Yes. And it is not something that is observed only in Extremadura. Just a year ago Francesco Mutti, CEO of the sauce manufacturer that bears his last name, recognized that much of the cheap tomato paste coming from China is produced in the Xinjiang region with “very, very low labor costs.” something similar they slid in 2016 from Las Marismas (Andalusia): “They ask us for European quality at the price of Chinese tomatoes, something impossible taking into account the costs.” In practice this means that China exports every year tons and tons of tomato to the European market, which in turn generates a lucrative business. OEC calculate That last year the Asian giant exported processed tomatoes worth 1.21 billion dollars. If we look at its main destinations, Italy occupied a priority place, with a value of 83.8 million dollars. And what has happened? That although China is a gigantic exporter and has managed to differentiate itself in prices, its product has been compromised by an unexpected factor?: controversy. I told it a few days ago Financial Times. News about the use of forced labor in Xinjiang (a region that has attracted attention of the UN for alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur minority) and the lack of clarity The labeling with which some Italian companies identify the origin of their products has conditioned Chinese pasta exports, in which large state companies play a crucial role. Result? Against this backdrop, to which is added the campaign of the Italian agricultural association Coldiretti, China has encountered a problem: a ‘pinch’ in exports that has left it with a huge stock of processed tomatoes. Financial Times assuresciting data from the platform Tomato News, that the Asian giant has a reserve of between 600,000 and 700,000 tons of tomato paste. To understand its scope, it is equivalent to six months of exports. Has demand dropped that much? Yes. The data shows that the Western market seems to want to move away from the doubts that shadow the Chinese product. In general, Chinese tomato paste exports decreased by 9% year-on-year during the third quarter of 2025, but if we focus specifically on sales to Western EU countries, that percentage rises to 67%. In the specific case of Italy, purchases plummeted by 76%. “It is clear that Europe has become a difficult place to export,” recognize to Financial Times Martin Stilwell, head of Tomate News, the source of the data. Do we handle more data? Yes. There are two other reveals. The first has to do with the value of processed tomato exports to Italy. If between January and September 2024, Chinese customs recorded about 75 million dollars, this year, during the same period, it did not even reach 13. The other data has to do with the volume of fresh tomato processed to turn it into pasta: 4.8 million tons in 2021, 11 million in 2024 and 3.7 this year (estimate). For Stilwell, the reading is clear: faced with the difficulties of selling, China chooses to cut expenses instead of increasing its stock. What does China say? That accusations about the use of forced labor in Xinjuang are “a lie” created and propagated by “anti-Chinese forces” to harm the country. The truth is that years ago the US decided to turn its back on imports of tomato paste from that region of the Asian giant and in the case of Italy they weigh somewhat more than the suspicions of the UN. In 2021 the Caribineri ‘hunted’ a company that labeled its canned tomato as “100% Italian” when in reality it included product from China. “If we assume that Italy has 80 companies related to tomato processing, three, four or five have committed dishonest practices,” Mutti assureswho regrets the damage this does to the reputation of the Italian sector. Images | Tom Hermans (Unsplash) and Arthur Wang (Unsplash) In Xataka | Four nations are fighting over a fruit that smells like rotten eggs. China has turned it into its gastronomic phenomenon

Bill Gates has been a famous “workaholic” but he knew who to hire to solve problems: the lazy ones

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Bill Gates is one of the most decisive figures in the evolution of technology of the last 40 years. Found one of the most innovative companies of his time can only be achieved through a lot of work. However, Bill Gates himself has stated that he can be a little lazy at times. The technology magnate has been away from the first line of command at Microsoft for some time, and he dedicates all his time and fortune to the philanthropic work carried out since foundation he created with his ex-wife Melinda Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invests in projects that encourage development, education and well-being of people in developing countries and at risk of social exclusion. One of his recent hobbies related to raising awareness about these socially conscious investments has been to create the Unconfused Me podcast in which he chats with personalities related to the scientific, teaching or business fields. In one of his last talks with San Khan (founder of Khan Academy) the magnate confessed that In his school days he was quite lazy. With an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 160, Bill Gates He has always had a knack for mathematics.. However, the millionaire himself confessed in his autobiographical book ‘Source code: My beginnings’he always tried to do as little as possible in class to pass the law of least effort. In eighth grade, his teacher reproached him for his attitude: “How can you be so lazy? You could be very good at this,” the teacher told him. “But we’re not doing anything interesting. I had this idea that the less effort you put in, the cooler you are.” Bill Gates states that, that teacher was crucial in his life since thanks to him his attitude towards learning changed since the teacher provided him with books and resources that encouraged his interest to continue moving forward and achieve a goal. Put a lazy person to solve a problem Bill Gates took his attitude towards effort to the extreme in the early years of Microsoft, when was able to remember car license plates that were parked in front of the Microsoft offices and relate them to their employees to know, at a glance through the window, which employees were still in the office and which had already gone home. In a so competitive scene As is the case with technological innovation, it is surprising to come across a phrase attributed to Bill Gates: “I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” However, in it we can see represented the Bill Gates lazy and unmotivated in his school years. In reality, it’s not that Bill Gates is excited about being surrounded by sloths, but rather the meaning of his statement aligns with what he learned from his eighth grade teacher: the important thing is to have a clear objective. If your goal is not to overwork, then you will find a way to get the job done as easily as possible. The motivation to do something has been so important in Bill Gates’ career that even people around him have used it as a tool to prevent the technology magnate from neglecting his duties at the helm of Microsoft. In Xataka | Bill Gates was so obsessed with driving a Porsche 959 that he managed to change the laws that prevented him from doing so Image | Flickr

Galicia has advised not to bathe in the most famous hot springs of Ourense. His mayor has responded to the Fraga in Palomares

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Is it worth an image than a thousand words? Manuel Fraga believed so. That is why in 1966, when he served as Minister of Information and Tourism of Franco, he starred in one of the more emblematic moments (and Castizos) of the recent homeland: a swimsuit was put and accompanied by the then US ambassador, Angier Biddle Dukethere was a dip near Palomares. It was only a few weeks that several thermonuclear bombs had fallen in the area after the collision of a B-52 bomber and an American tank plane and (of course) an image of a certain normality had to be transmitted. If Fraga himself bathed without fear of radiation why were people going to do it? Almost 60 years later the mayor of Ourense, Gonzalo Pérez Jácomeit seems to have reached the same conclusion as your compatriot. To clear the doubts about the health of Las Termas do Muiño, one of the most popular claims of the municipality, the councilor decided to cope some bermuda and take a bath before the cameras. Of course, instead of Angier B. Duke to him accompanied his own councilor in charge of the portfolios of tourism, arts and celebrations and thermal management, Noa Rouco Ferreira. Both in a swimsuit, both arranged to the dip. “As if we would return 60 years ago” Click on the image to go to Tweet. “Five, four, three … we are here, in the hot springs of Muiño”, Pérez Jácome starts in a video in which he poses next to Rouco and a huge poster of the Xunta that advises the bathroom in the area. Before following the mayor realizes that without a shirt or shirt he has no way to hold his micro in the flap, so he chooses to hook it on the hairs of the chest. Solved that small logistics, continues, pointing to the poster with the Galician government logo. “It would be very long to explain all this regulation, which is a roll. You will see through our social networks and different informative channels what the situation of the hot springs is. The fact is that this is the recommendation of the Xunta,” insists pointing the poster. “And as if we came back 50 or 60 years agowith that of Palomares, here the councilor and a server, the mayor of Ourense, we are going to take a bath. “ At that point the video is cut to show Jácome and Rouco in the water. “Natural paradise, incomparable in the world. I pay attention to me, pay me attention. You will see, you will see,” proclamation The mayor of Ourensana Democracy (DO) lying in the water with his partner. The piece lasts 68 seconds, enough for the ‘bathroom in Palomares’ of Jácome has become news in the rest of Spain and the video fly in networks, something that is already accustomed. Throughout the last years the Galician has gained impact beyond the local chronicle by The music video with which his party was presented to the elections, a piece in which he versioned the Village People; Your crusade Against the bollards either The teleworking and his hubby by The costumes. Now adds a new reason: a picture with echoes of the Fraga bath in Palomares and The jacuzzi of Jesús Gil. In the background there is something more complex: the status of the Termas do Muiñoa set of swimming pools almost in the bed of the Miño very popular in Galicia. In June the Xunta He warned That the area does not have the statement of thermal water or complies with the characteristics to be declared a “bath area”, which warned: “As long as it is not regularized, from the Xunta the City Council is requested to place a signage that reports the recommendation of the recommendation of Refrain from the bathroom“ For the Consistory things are different. In A statement released after the bathroom of Jácome insists that the “discrepancy” with the Xunta is only of “administrative, non -sanitary” character and insists that the bathroom does not represent any risk. “The hot springs maintain the same usual health, what has changed is the regulations of the Xunta by introducing new administrative requirements, than non -sanitary,” emphasize The ourensana democracy leader, who ensures that the “periodic analytics” that the City Council performs the health of the waters. For now, his media dip He has achieved something: That Media Spain is talking about the hot springs of Muiño, something that does not come to them badly now that the installation has returned after several months closed by the floods of the Miño. Images | Gonzalo Pérez Jácome (X) In Xataka | If the question is how to prevent people from throwing garbage outside the cubes, in Galicia they have had an idea: rummage into it

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