leaves

The head of AI at Alibaba leaves the company. That points to a 180º turn for the Qwen family models

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An employee leaving a company does not have to mean a radical change, especially when that employee has been the leader of an important project and his departure occurs just after the launch. This is what just happened with Junyang (Justin) Lin, the technological leader of the team qwen. A strange exit. On March 2, Alibaba launched a new model family lightweight with two fast models designed for edge use, a multimodal model for agentic systems and a reasoning model that stood up to much larger models. The next day, Junyang Lin announced on his X account “I am leaving. Goodbye, my dear Qwen,” without giving further details. And he wasn’t the only one. Also leaving the company were Hui Binyuan, a scientific researcher, and Yu Bowen, head of post-training at Qwen. No one has commented on the reasons behind his departure from the company and rumors that they had been fired They didn’t wait. However, according to Panda Daily, Alibaba said it had approved his resignation. ¿What is happening? Justin’s departure caused a stir among his colleagues, with some claiming that it was “the end of an era”. We are talking about the person who has led the Qwen team from the beginning and a great AI researcher, with an academic profile that exceeds 40,000 citationsso this decision has raised many eyebrows. Whether fired or resigned, Justin was a key figure on the team, but he also leaves just after a launch and several other employees have followed him. What is happening at Alibaba? Closed models. As we said, the parties involved have not offered more details, but the theories have not been long in coming and one of them is that Alibaba could be thinking of moving towards closed models. Alibaba has been making efforts to monetize its AI and closing their models could be part of the plan. It would certainly make sense for the project leader to quit at the prospect of such a profound change. There’s a new guy in the office. Shortly after the news broke, another one jumped out: Alibaba has signed Zhou Haowho until now was a researcher at Google DeepMind. Zhou will join the Qwen team as head of post-training, so he will directly replace Yu Bowen and not Justin. Zhou has been a key figure in the development of Gemini 3, the Seeker’s AI mode, and Deep Research mode. lto open source strategy. DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen… Chinese companies have become the standard bearers of open source AI, an antagonistic strategy with the closed stance of the US. But it is not a question of giving away AI just for the sake of it, but rather it is part of their roadmap: offering access to create a large user base and thus be able to be dominant in the future. Furthermore, Chinese companies know very well that the US is technologically ahead (Justin himself recognized it recently), so launching open and free AIs is a way to gain ground on them. However, in the long term it does not seem like a very good strategy because there will come a point where they want to monetize it and there is a risk of losing users who feel betrayed. We do not know if Alibaba has already started down this path, but if it has, we will soon see if this risk is real or not. Image | qwen In Xataka | China’s open AIs aren’t “beating” ChatGPT, they’re doing something more important: catapulting their industry

Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry

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In a movement more typical of “nihilistic penguin“that the head of security for one of the main protagonists in the development of AI, Mrinank Sharma, head of artificial intelligence security at Anthropic, has announced his resignation with a public letter in your X profile and he will dedicate his life to writing poetry. In his statement, Sharma not only explained why he is leaving the company that develops the models of Claudebut instead described the current state of AI development, with language that mixes alarm with personal reflection. “The world is in danger,” said the former director of Anthropic. The context: who he is and what he did at Anthropic. Mrinank Sharma headed the Safeguards Research Team from Anthropic, a research group focused on studying the risks associated with AI systems. Within Anthropic, Sharma’s work included developing defenses against risks such as AI-assisted bioterrorism and studying phenomena such as sycophancy (the tendency of AI models to user adulation), as well as investigate how AI can influence human perception and change cultural behaviors. He leaves, but leaves a message. The almost cryptic letter that Sharma published in X It quickly went viral due to the messages it contained. In it, he expressed his concerns in a tone that transcends the technical. One of the quotes that has attracted the most attention: “The world is in danger. And not only because of AI, or biological weapons, but because of a series of interconnected crises that are developing at this very moment.” Beyond the almost apocalyptic literalism, Sharma warned that humanity was approaching a critical point in which the development of AI was facing ethical dilemmas for those who develop it “our wisdom must grow at the same rate as our ability to affect the world, otherwise we will face the consequences.” Work to stay out of work. Sharma is not the only one who faces this ethical dilemma. According to sources of The Telegraphother Anthropic employees have expressed concern about the huge evolutionary leap in the latest AI models. “I feel like I come to work every day to stay out of work“one of the employees acknowledged to the British media. In a way this is true, since these employees are working on the development of a technology that, in all likelihood, change nature of his work, and that of millions of peoplea few years away. Is that good or bad? A first reading of the letter leaves the feeling that these workers are developing the weapon that will destroy humanity. However, a reading between the lines leaves Anthropic in a pioneering situation compared to its rivals from OpenAI, Microsoft or xAI: they are achieving advance at a pace which overwhelms even its developers. A sensation that does not seem to occur in the templates of other companies. Could it be that their models are not at that point of evolution? “Throughout my time here, I have seen repeatedly how difficult it is to allow our values ​​to guide our actions. We constantly face pressure to let go of what matters most,” Sharma wrote. The poetic turn. In addition to reflecting on the global risks he perceives, Sharma announced that his next professional step will be very different from the one he had until now. In his letter he mentioned his intention to devote time to what he called “the practice of courageous speech” through poetry. This change of lA for poetry has been interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction with the pace and focus prevailing in the AI ​​technology industry. Like Sharma, in recent weeks other key figures in Anthropic’s AI development have announced their resignation. Harsh Mehta and Behnam Neyshabur They also announced a few days ago that they were leaving the company. However, in these cases, the exit announcement was made and, immediately afterwards, a new AI project was announced. That is to say, far from the ethical postulates that Sharma proposed, his intention was more along the lines of digging into his own gold mine and not that of others. In Xataka | Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic: “studying humanities will be more important than ever” Image | mrinank sharmaAnthropic

France leaves Zoom and Teams behind in its administration and aims for something greater

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For years, digital services from American companies have enjoyed a clearly dominant position in Europe. A mix of consolidated trust and lack of regional alternatives competitive on many fronts, it has been constantly expanding its user base, both individuals and companies, while fueling a shower of million-dollar contracts also coming from governments and public administrations. The footprint of large American technology companies in the Old Continent is impossible to ignore. Gmail, Instagram, Spotify and YouTube are part of the daily lives of millions of Europeans. Likewise, it is common to find public organization computers running Windows, Office or Microsoft 365, a scene so normalized that it is rarely questioned. To this visible layer is added another much less obvious, but perhaps even more strategic: cloud computing. Providers such as Microsoft’s Azure, Amazon’s AWS, or Google Cloud host everything from everyday services to critical infrastructure. In parallel, in the field of cybersecurity, platforms such as CrowdStrike Falcon They are integrated into the core of sensitive systems used by airports, airlines or financial entities. When technological dependence becomes a strategic risk However, this balance is beginning to show cracks. The question is no longer just who provides the service, but what would happen if that partner considered reliable suddenly stopped being so. How would Europe respond to such a scenario? And, above all, are you preparing to face it? For some this is an extreme hypothesis; for others, a risk that can no longer be ruled out. The truth is that the debate is no longer marginal and has reached the offices of Brussels and several European capitals. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Since the re-election of Donald Trump, those responsible for strategic sectors in Europe are putting pressure on the large American cloud service providers to facilitate quick exit mechanisms. The objective is clear: to be able to transfer systems and data to local centers or to European suppliers if necessary. And what is considered an emergency situation? The possibility, remote but not impossible, that the United States limits or even suspends access to services and data centers operated by its own companies. It would be an unprecedented move, with profound consequences for the European economy and public services. Finding an argument to justify it is as difficult as it is simple: everything can end up revolving around a concept that is increasingly present these days: “national security.” Despite the existing tensions between Europe and Washington, everything indicates that such a scenario remains unlikely in the short term. Even so, there is one incontestable fact: The concern is real. In Brussels and in several European capitals, discrete but constant steps are already being taken to reduce dependencies and gain room for maneuver. Visio, the alternative to Zoom and Teams promoted by France France has become one of the most illustrative cases. The Government is promoting the progressive withdrawal of extra-European videoconferencing solutions in the public sector to replace them with Visioa “sovereign” and open source alternative. The State’s own digital strategy portal admits that, until now, the different departments have operated with a mosaic of tools and expressly mentions Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex. According to the official statement, this fragmentation “weakens data security, creates strategic dependencies of external infrastructures, generates additional financial costs and makes cooperation between ministries difficult.” The answer lies in a unified solution, developed by the Interministerial Directorate for Digital, under government control and based on French technology. Visio already has about 40,000 regular users and its deployment is planned to reach 200,000 public employees. Among the first organizations to adopt it widely during the first quarter of 2026 are the CNRS, the National Health Insurance Fund, the General Directorate of Public Finances and the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Zoom, the video conferencing platform that became popular during the pandemic The scope of the movement is better understood with a specific piece of information: the CNRS will replace your Zoom licenses with Visio at the end of March for its 34,000 employees and the 120,000 researchers associated with its research units. American solutions are thus beginning to lose ground in France, as has already happened in other countries. Denmark moves towards LibreOffice and Munich opted for Linux for years, although in this last case the path was not linear and ended with a partial return to Microsoft due to compatibility problems. These types of strategies, extrapolated to other attempts to promote sovereign alternatives, are not without obstacles either. It is worth remembering that open source does not automatically guarantee quality or pace of evolution. When maintenance, auditing, and development fall to a limited number of actors, product progress can slow down. Pointing out these tensions does not invalidate the approach, but it does help to understand its real complexity. Furthermore, the debate is not limited to public services. In a hypothetical decoupling of American platforms, ordinary users could also be affected. Some people, like our colleague Jose Garcíahave chosen to start a process of technological emancipation with respect to the United Statesa path that is not without friction. After years of moving in an ecosystem dominated by North American Big Tech, getting out of it requires time, sacrifices and assuming new limitations. Images | Government of France | Mika Baumeister | Yoyus sugiharto In Xataka | France and Germany have created a “European Notion” with a very simple objective: depend less on the United States

El Corte Inglés leaves this top LG laptop with 1 TB and 32 GB of RAM at more than half the price

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If you were looking for a very top laptop to work, study or even play, we have found a very interesting offer during the “Save the VAT” campaign of El Corte Inglés. It’s about this LG gram 14Z90Sa 2024 model but still a very good purchase option. Although when entering the product page, it appears available for 881.06, everything seems to indicate that it is a price errorsince when the product is added to the basket, it costs 1,078.33 euros. However, it is a good offer, considering the LG official websitethis laptop is available for about 1,200 euros (similar price to what it has in other stores). Furthermore, before, this device cost 2,649 euros, so now you can take it with almost 60% discount. LG gram 14Z90S-G.AD78B laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7-155H, 32GB, 1TB SSD, 14″, W11 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A very top laptop at a totally unbeatable price now The screen of this ultrabook of the Korean firm is one of its main hallmarks. It is of type 14 inch IPSs with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels and anti-reflective treatment. In addition, it features a 16:10 format and a wide DCI-P3 color range of 99%. Your brain is the processor Intel Core Ultra 7-155Hwhich is accompanied by 32 GB RAM and internal storage SSD of 1 TB. In the graphics section, it comes with an Intel Arc graphics card, which will allow you to work with 4K UHD content with maximum fluidity. This laptop is ultralight, so It only weighs 1.1 kgso you can carry it comfortably anywhere backpack. In addition, its battery is another of its highlights, as it offers a range of up to 29.5 hours. You may also be interested in these accessories ZINZ Slim and Expandable Laptop Backpack The price could vary. We earn commission from these links BENFEI Laptop Stand with Docking Station USB C 7 in 1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | LG In Xataka | This is the gaming tower that I would buy. The computers with the best quality-price ratio for gaming recommended by Xataka In Xataka | Best gaming laptops: which one to buy and eight recommended computers from 770 to 3,000 euros

Olivier Blume is the CEO who has piloted Porsche’s jump to the electric car. Now he leaves with a message: “we were wrong”

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Porsche is going through difficulties. To display data: Its profit margin has plummeted to 0.2%. Its sales are clearly declining and it has encountered the worst possible scenario in Europe, China and the United States. Now, Oliver Blume, who has been its CEO for a decade and has piloted the transition to electric cars in the company he leaves. And it does so with a painful message. “We were wrong”. This is what Oliver Blume has pointed out outside of Porsche in an interview with the German newspaper FACE: “Our strategy was to offer sports cars with internal combustion, hybrid and electric engines in each of our three segments, but not for all models. We were wrong with the Macan. With the data and market studies available at that time (late last decade), we would make the same decision today” The statement refers to the complete electrification of the Porsche Macan. A car that, like we count on Xatakaruns like a shot and maintains all the quality and touch of the company but has to deal with the backpack that Porsche, at the time, offered that same car with a V6 gasoline engine. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? Today the Porsche Macan is an exclusively electric car that, in addition, was delayed countless times as a consequence of creating a platform with an expiration date for this model and the Audi Q6 e-tron. A solution that only created more chaos and difficulties to an internal development that was prolonged to the point of being one of the reasons that removed Herbert Diess, then CEO of the Volkswagen Groupfrom the company. A perfect storm. In favor of Blume it must be said that Porsche has encountered a perfect storm. And this is reflected in the statements to the German newspaper: “The Chinese luxury market has plummeted by more than 80% in a very short time. In the United States, we face high tariffs. These two markets each account for more than 50% of Porsche sales” European luxury brands are having serious difficulties in China. It has been difficult for them to understand a market that has turned its back on them and that has changed his tastes. What was once a sign of quality has become an obsolete product. Now, luxury chinese cars navigate rivers, break speed records and they are filled with screens. “It was just an electrified Porsche. That’s all,” a Chinese customer pointed out to Bloomberg to express his disappointment when getting into the Porsche Taycan To this we must add that the tariffs that the United States has raised for the entry of vehicles from Europe have been a very harsh punishment for the Volkswagen Group and especially for Porsche, which distributes its production between Germany, Bratislava and Malaysia. There is no good option when it comes to putting cars in a very important market for Porsche and much more interesting than China or Europe if we take into account the drop in sales in the former and the position in terms of emissions in the latter. Already in July Porsche’s operating profit was estimated to fall by 67%. Not very flexible. In his interview, Blume acknowledges that they were not very flexible. Buoyed by the enormous success of the Porsche Taycan, the company decided it had to electrify its best-seller. With the numbers in hand, it seemed that converting the Macan into a purely electric car was a good idea to reduce emissions and avoid fines. Over time it has been proven that it was a bad decision. The European Union has made fines more flexible, delaying the accountability of manufacturers from 2030 to 2032 when the Volkswagen Group will have greater room for maneuver to cover Porsche’s presumed excess emissions with greater electric sales of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda or Cupra. Furthermore, they leave the door open to a future of very expensive combustion cars from 2035what gives life to an even more expensive and exclusive Porsche 911. Without understanding the public. But, furthermore, everything indicates that they did not understand their own audience. And the customer of a Porsche Taycan, the company’s most advanced car at its launch With the appeal of being its first electric car (which was also much more advanced than any other car on the market), it is very different from that of a Porsche Macan. Yes, it is very likely that there is a Macan audience that wants an electric car as a second vehicle in a home where there is already a Porsche 911 or a Panamera to travel with. But the Macan is also the gateway to the Porsche world, the most accessible entry for those who have always dreamed of having one of the Stuttgart cars in their garage. And that customer does not dream of an electric car. going backwards. It’s easy to talk in the past when the data said Porsche was on the right track With the electric car he only does a little more than two exercises. And it must be taken into account that the company has experienced years of record after record in the last decade. All in all, they seem to have verified that their range of clients is very wide. The Porsche Cayenne that it aimed to be electric only will include hybrid engines. The Porsche 718 that were also going to go all-electric They will maintain combustion versions. And the Porsche Macan is preparing for new gasoline versions that have to be mounted on another platform (presumably from the Audi Q5) because the current PPE does not allow the use of a combustion engine. Photo | porsche In Xataka | Porsche wanted to convince us that the electric sports car was the future. The problem: almost no one wants it

What changes are there with a channel that leaves, a new channel and another that changes its name

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We are going to tell you what the changes are in Spanish DTT in 2026. Now that the year has started, there are some changes that we are going to encounter. Specifically, there is a channel that disappears, another that is released, and there is also a channel that changes its name. In this article we are going to briefly tell you what these changes are, which have taken effect since January 1, 2026. In principle no need to retune of DTT, but simply wait for the changes to be applied. However, we remind you how to retune your DTT in case you consider it necessary. Changes to Spanish DTT in 2026 The first change that applies to DTT in Spain since its entry in 2026 is the disappearance of the channel Paramount Network. It is a channel focused on cinema and television series, which has already stopped broadcasting. And the electromagnetic space of Paramount Network A new channel that is already broadcasting is going to take advantage of it. It is about the new channel Squirrel 2. In 2025, Disney Channel was replaced by Squirreland now we have a second children’s channel with this brand, more focused on series, while the first is more focused on movies. As Squirrel 2 has taken the place of Paramount Networkin principle it is not necessary to do a retuning. Simply, the channels will be replaced and their names changed in our receivers automatically. And this is not all, because there is also a name change. The channel BOMCine is renamed Squirrel 3reorganizing its contents to adapt to the new name. Of course, the channel that disappears and the one that is incorporated do so throughout the country. However, Squirrel 3 still has limited coverage as I had it with the previous name. It is only broadcast through the Autonomous Multiplex in regions such as the Community of Madrid, Valencia, Andalusia or Murcia, and on some operator platforms such as Orange TV or Vodafone TV. In Xataka Basics | How to create a pocket TV antenna using an old Chromecast to watch DTT on any TV

Telefónica leaves Wall Street through the back door. Goodbye to almost four decades in the largest market in the world

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Telefónica has started the procedures to delist your shares from the New York Stock Exchangewhere it has been listed since 1987. The securities will stop trading on Wall Street in a matter of days once the documentation is filed with the SEC. The telecom will only maintain its listing in Madrid, in the Spanish continuous market. Why is it important. The movement closes a symbolic chapter that began when Telefónica became the first Spanish company to be listed on the largest market in the world. But the symbolism was left behind: today maintaining that presence involves high administrative costs and regulatory demands that no longer compensate. The trading volume in New York is residual and investor interest is practically non-existent. The context. Telefónica’s stock has fallen more than 90% in the last fifteen years. Its current valuation is on the floor, very far from that giant that in the nineties became the most valuable company in Spain. The dividend, which for years was the main attraction for conservative investors, has been successively cut, the last time this quarter. Buying in Madrid is more direct, cheaper and with the same liquidity as in New York, where securities are hardly traded. Between the lines. This decision fits into the strategic plan presented in November by Marc Murtra, focused on aggressively reducing costs. Telefónica has been lowering its blinds on all fronts: Sold subsidiaries throughout Latin America except Brazil. Reduced the dividend. Presented an ERE which is ending its negotiation phase. And now it is abandoning stock markets where being present no longer adds value. Also will stop trading in Lima. The figure. 4,554 departures are contemplated by the ERE that was agreed this Wednesday with the unions, 26% of the workforce in Spain. Cost savings are the obsession of the new management: 3 billion annually until 2030. Yes, but. Investors who have ADR certificates (American Depositary Receipts) will be able to exchange them for common shares in Spain or hold and trade them in US over-the-counter markets. Telefónica will provide both options, although it is evident that it prefers the first. The background. The exit from Wall Street is not an isolated or recent decision: The telecommunications sector has lost interest from investors, especially in Europe. It is a mature business, highly regulated, with tight margins and little ability to surprise. Telefónica today is a very different company from the one that debuted on Wall Street: smaller, more regional, more European. Its new strategy focuses on four markets (Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil) and on consolidating itself as a reference operator with profitable scale, in addition to increasing its focus on technological solutions. Marking agenda. Wednesday’s day at the Distrito Telefónica offices north of Madrid was hectic. The contrast. When Telefónica went public in New York in 1987, it placed certificates worth $375 million, the largest influx of European capital on Wall Street up to that time. The telecom was then majority owned by the State and its debut was seen as a milestone of internationalization. Today it leaves unnoticed, recognizing that the regulatory burden and administrative costs of the SEC outweigh any benefits. Go deeper. The obligation to report detailed information to the SEC was useful at the time: thanks to it, data such as the price that STC or SEPI paid to enter the capital were known, information that the Spanish CNMV would never have required to reveal. But that level of transparency also has a cost, and Telefónica has decided that it is no longer worth paying for. In Xataka | The Government has had an idea so that the next blackout does not leave us without mobile data: let the operators pay Featured image | Telefónica, Lo Lo

This graph shows per capita coffee consumption and leaves us with a disturbing question: what is happening in Luxembourg?

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Be it for your energetic effectsby its benefits in the body or even for their psychological effectscoffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Is one of the engines of the economy of countries like Colombia or Brazil, as well as a thermometer of global economic health. Coffee culture continues to expand, and in this graph we can see which countries whose inhabitants drink the most coffee every day. There is only one question: what about Luxembourg. Europe >> others. Despite not being producers (although climate change may change that sooner rather than later), Europe gives the rest of the world a review of coffee consumption. Including powers like Brazil, Costa Rica or Colombia. The top 10 positions in coffee consumption correspond to European countries, and except for Greece, which has managed to sneak into the TOP, they are all northern countries. Outside of that ranking we find a country that may be unexpected: Lebanon. Then we have Brazil, Canada and another string of European countries. But if there is a proper name on this list, it is Luxembourg. Luxembourg has a trick. Visual Capitalist has created the graph taking the data from Cafely. After an impressive display of figures, they detail that they have taken data from sources such as the International Coffee Organization, as well as from Wikipedia to calculate per capita consumption and from global surveys of more than 4,000 people. All this has led them to calculate that Luxembourg drinks coffee. And a lot. That each person, on average, drinks 5.31 cups a day seems outrageous. It does not reach worrying levels of caffeine consumption (There are drinks that are not coffee and have much more caffeine), but it is a fact that draws attention. However, there is a trick: Luxembourg’s per capita figure is explained because almost half of those who work in the country live abroad and drink coffee on the road, as well as to stay awake, and although they are not the country’s population, that consumption has been taken into account for Luxembourg’s totals. 5.31 coffees a day implies 118,227 cups that each person drinks throughout their life, and is well above other countries: Cups consumed throughout life Money spent throughout life Luxembourg 118,227 425,618 Finland 83,939 335,756 Sweden 58,612 216,863 Norway 58,159 255,900 Austria 45,198 149,153 Denmark 44,676 241,250 Swiss 42,318 211,591 Netherlands 39,854 123,548 Greece 37,449 116,092 (27) Spain 23,988 46,057 (28) Costa Rica 22,229 56,683 (39) venezuela 12,844 20,423 (41) Colombia 12,264 13,981 a fortune. The average price per cupFurthermore, it is not cheap at all. Not counting atrocities that can be paid in countries like Japan (it is not a product either and transportation is expensive) or Dubai (because… it’s Dubai), the average price of a cup in northern European countries is quite high. Contrast with the average price as we go down to Portugal, Italy or Spain. And more interesting than the average price of a cup It is the account of the money we spend on coffee throughout our lives, which we can also see in the table above. The great absentee. It may be striking that countries like Mexico have a consumption of just 0.29 cups, but along with Guatemala, Argentina or Peru, it is one of the countries with the least roots in coffee. For example, it esteem that each Mexican consumes 2.1 kilos of coffee per year, while Colombians increase the figure to 4.2 kilos. But the big absentee on this list is… China. The Asian giant is not a traditional coffee consumer, but things are changing. There is not only multitude of cafes and chains like Luckin Coffee that are present practically on every corner of a big city, but they are leading the greatest growth in the region in opening of new brand cafes. And they are not only emerging in the region: China is taking over tons of coffee from Brazil due to a market that is growing at double-digit speed since 2010, with a growth annual average of more than 20%, which is well above a world average that barely reaches 2% But anyway, there is no one to blame Luxembourg. And if at some point they blame you for drinking a lot, you can now say that you are trying to raise the average for your country in this curious competition. In Xataka | The latest craze for weight loss is adding mushrooms to coffee. Science is not clear that it is a good idea

If the question is whether they can geolocate you during your work day and use it to fire you, justice leaves no doubt: yes

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Know that your company knows where are you every minute of your workday can generate discomfort and even doubts about its legality. However, the courts have been clarifying this area for some time. A recent ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Asturias does so with unusual forcefulness. The case involves an elevator maintenance technician and an application time control which recorded, in addition to his schedule, the exact point from which he clocked in. What seemed like a routine tool ended up becoming the key to a disciplinary dismissal which today is fully validated by justice. Schedule control with advanced features. As detailed in the sentence issued by the Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Asturias, a maintenance employee of an elevator company used a time control application installed on the corporate mobile. His function was simple: mark the beginning and end of his day and do it from the place where he attended to each incident. The company distributed the routes on a daily basis and registration had to be done at the customer’s location, not from another point. However, the employee’s workday began to show strange patterns. In one month, the company detected up to 11 outbound signings made from the employee’s home and coinciding with work hours. The record indicated that, instead of closing his last intervention from the customer’s location, the technician finished his day on time, but already at home. Notices, warnings… and a disciplinary dismissal. The company did not act immediately. Before the dismissal, he issued several internal warnings to the worker and reminded him of the operation of the application, pointing out the irregularities detected and reminding him the obligation to sign from each real location. Even so, the signings from home continued, so the company interpreted that the agreed working day was being breached. Finally, he proceeded to the disciplinary dismissal, considering it proven that the technician ended his day prematurely and from a place outside the workplace. The Social Chamber of the TSJA confirmed the decision of disciplinary dismissal and validated the use of geolocation as evidence. What the law says. The TSJA ruling is based on the article 20.3 of the Workers’ Statutewhich specifies “the employer may adopt the surveillance and control measures he deems most appropriate to verify compliance by the worker with his or her work obligations and duties.” Therefore, and given the mobility nature of the position, the time control system with geolocation was justified. In addition, Organic Law 3/2018 on Data Protection (LOPDGDD) specifically regulates geolocation systems. Your article 90 requires clear information about the existence of these systems, their purpose, the scope of the processing and data protection rights. In this case, the app was corporate, the device belonged to the company, the worker knew how it worked, and the application only recorded the location when the application was opened. Taking all these regulations into account, the TSJA considered that the company acted within the law and used a proportional tool, linked to strictly labor purposes and correctly communicated to the employee. Time nuances. He Workers Statute It also precisely delimits when the day begins and ends. Article 34.5 establishes that “working time will be calculated so that both at the beginning and at the end of the daily shift the worker is at his or her workplace.” This is where we have to differentiate workplace and job position. It is not a minor nuance: effective working time begins when one is operationally available to perform the assigned functions. This does not mean that the employee must arrive at the workplace at the agreed time, but rather that he must be at his workplace at that time. If there are 10 minutes from the company entrance to your position and you arrive at the work center at your agreed time, you would be arriving 10 minutes late. The same applies at departure time. That employee must remain at his position until the agreed time, and then collect his things and leave the company. If you are leaving the company premises at the agreed time at the end of the day, you would be leaving 10 minutes early. The only exception to the rule: there is no job to go to. The Supreme Court has recognized a relevant exception: When the company does not have offices, premises or any physical space where workers can start their day, the employee’s home can be considered a valid starting point for the day. This doctrine applies especially to completely decentralized companies whose workers only move from client to client. In these situations (well accredited and exceptional), the travel time from home to the first client can be counted as workbecause the home assumes the function of the only available operating point. But as long as there is a work center or a clearly defined place where the activity can begin, this exception does not apply. Clocking in from home, as in the case of the Asturias elevator technician, is not justified and is a non-compliance with working hours. In Xataka | Breakfast and the first 15 minutes of entry are work: the Supreme Court sets the limits of time control Image | Unsplash (Kevin Grieve)

a bizarre vote in Congress leaves the closure intact

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What started as a political maneuver by the Popular Party to open the door to prolonging the life of Spanish nuclear power plants ended up becoming one of the tightest and most surprising votes of the legislature. The amendment that sought to suppress the closing dates of Almaraz, Ascó and Cofrentes was rejected by a single vote, a minimal difference that was only possible thanks to the – unexpected – abstention of Junts. The result was 171 votes in favor – PP, Vox and UPN -, 171 against and seven abstentions from Junts, who shot down the proposal. The Government breathed a sigh of relief, although the underlying debate—what to do with nuclear energy at the height of electricity demand—remains more open than ever. Congress stops the PP nuclear amendment. The amendment introduced by the PP in the Sustainable Mobility Law It intended to eliminate from the ministerial orders the dates for the definitive cessation of operation of the Almaraz, Ascó and Cofrentes plants. With this, the popular parties sought to open the door to possible extensions, especially at a time when the owners of Almaraz They have already formally requested extend its useful life until 2030. According to El PaísJunts left the vote in suspense until the last moment, leaving it unclear whether they would vote with the PP and Vox or support the Government. His abstention finally tipped the balance. The movement was even surprising due to the political context: it came just 24 hours after a tough confrontation between Míriam Nogueras and Pedro Sánchez, in which the Junts spokesperson accused the president of being “cynical and hypocritical.” However, in the vote the strategy was different because Catalonia consumes more electricity from nuclear origin than any other community. What does this rejection really mean? Although politically the vote had a huge impact, technically things remain more or less the same. The amendment would not have automatically extended the life of the plants, but it would have modified ministerial orders without requiring the report of the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), a mandatory requirement by law. Besides, They remembered a precedent: In 2012, the PP itself demanded this report when it reopened the discussion on the Garoña plant. The tension was amplified because the debate had no direct relationship with the Mobility Law, a regulation linked to the receipt of 10,000 million euros of European funds, as various media emphasize. The PP amendment thus introduced an energy element in a text on sustainable mobility, which increased unrest among the Government’s partners. So, is the nuclear shutdown schedule still valid? Yes. With the fall of the amendment, the calendar agreed in 2019 between the Government, Enresa and the electricity companies remains intact. The calendar, as we have already explainedit looks like this: Almaraz I: closure in 2027 Almaraz II: 2028 Chests: 2030 Ascó I and II: between 2030 and 2032 Vandellós II and Trillo: until 2035 However, the fact that the calendar is still standing does not mean that an extension is ruled out. Contrary to what it may seem, the rejection of the amendment does not prevent companies from requesting an extension nor does it block the Government from authorizing it. As the Executive himself recalled —as cited by El País—: “The right to request an extension is not created by a ministerial order, but by current regulations.” In fact, as mentioned above, Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy have already formally requested that Almaraz remains operational until 2030. Administrative clash. The real problem is technical and bureaucratic. According to The Independentthe bureaucratic procedure has been crossed unexpectedly: the CSN can take up to a year to issue its report, but the regulations force the plant to request closure in March 2026, if the calendar is not reviewed before. That means Almaraz could be asking to close while the CSN evaluates whether it can continue operating. A scenario that no one thought of in 2019 and that adds more uncertainty to the nuclear transition. Everything that nuclear encompasses. Added to this is the Government’s position. The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has reiterated on several occasions the three red lines of the Executive, that the expansion does not entail costs for citizens, guarantee of nuclear safety and security of supply. However, these three conditions clash precisely with the diagnosis that they make the electric ones: operating the plants beyond 2027 with the current tax burden is economically unviable if the market does not exceed €65-70/MWh. The expected prices are around 55, so Iberdrola and Endesa insist that keeping the nuclear park open requires alleviating taxes that, according to the Ministry, would end up having an impact on consumers’ bills. The economic debate does not end there. Enresa’s fund for the dismantling of the plants only covers 43% of the real cost. According to figures that we have had access to in Xatakathere is a hole of 11.6 billion euros not yet financed, a fact that overrides any discussion about deadlines and extensions Can Spain do without nuclear power? The underlying issue is no longer political, but technical. Spain wants to build a 100% renewable system, but it has yet to be demonstrated that the network can sustain that model without the stability that nuclear energy provides. The new digital systems that must replace inertia of the reactors are still in the testing phase, and the CNMC has detected inconsistencies in the frequency and voltage control procedures. In parallel, regions with strong industrial and digital growth—such as Aragon, which is experiencing a data center boom—warn that the network is practically at the limit. Simply put: companies ask for time; The territories ask for certainties; The Government asks for guarantees. An official closure, but an open debate. Congress has closed the door to the PP’s fast track, but it has not closed the nuclear debate. On paper, the calendar remains intact; In practice, the transition coexists with technical tensions, industrial interests and territories that fear what will come next. The question … Read more

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