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Filmin has released a documentary about the riot police of the process. And now it has threatening graffiti on its headquarters

January 21, 2026 by usatoday24

The Barcelona headquarters of Filmin It woke up on January 20 with graffiti on its façade: “Collaborators with Spanish repression.” The message, signed by the independence collective Nosaltres Sols!, marks the most critical moment of a boycott campaign that began days before on social networks. The trigger: the programming of the documentary ‘Icarus: the week in flames’, focused on the testimonies of riot police from the National Police who acted in Barcelona during the conflicts of October 2019, after the sentencing against the leaders of the processes. What is it about? ‘Ícarus: the week in flames’, directed by Elena G. Cedillo and Susana Alonso, reconstructs the riots that occurred in Barcelona for seven days in October 2019, after the sentence against the leaders of the processes. The documentary, filmed in 2022 and available on Filmin since January 9, is based on interviews with agents and commanders of the Police Intervention Units who participated in the operations. “We had the feeling that this was a war,” declares one of them. The sequences include material recorded by the riot police themselves and from a helicopter, with scenes of the clashes in El Prat, Urquinaona Square and in front of institutional headquarters. The answer. Jaume Ripoll, editorial director and co-founder of Filmin, has tried to defuse the controversy appealing to the classic principle of “Programming a film is not equivalent to subscribing to its approach.” The platform insists that it does not censor content based on ideological orientation and defends that cinema should serve to “look squarely at what makes us uncomfortable.” However, the virulence of the reaction raises a question that transcends the specific case: can streaming platforms maintain a position of editorial neutrality, or does their catalog inevitably reflect an ideological position? Filmin is the platform with greatest historical commitment with the Catalan language and culture. In June 2017, two years before the events narrated ‘Icarus’the company launched Filmin.catbecoming the first digital platform for series and movies specifically in Catalan, anticipating giants like Netflix or Disney+. According to the last report from the Audiovisual Consell of Catalonia Introduced in December 2025, Filmin includes Catalan (in audio, subtitles or both options) in 2,350 titles in its catalogue, which represents 20.7%. The figure contrasts radically with Prime Video (9.5%), Netflix (3.5%), Max (3.2%) or Disney+ (2.2%). The paradox. The data makes the controversy more striking: Filmin is the platform that has historically supported the Catalan language and culture the most. In June 2017, two years before the riots that ‘Ícaro’ documents, the company launched Filmin.catthe first digital platform dedicated specifically to series and cinema in Catalan, before Netflix or Disney+ did so. Latest report from the Audiovisual Consell of Cataloniafrom December 2025, places Filmin as the platform with the greatest presence of Catalan (whether in audio, subtitles or both) with 2,350 titles, 20.7% of its offer. The figures for Prime Video (9.5%), Netflix (3.5%), Max (3.2%) or Disney+ (2.2%) are much lower. The platform has also produced original fiction in Catalan through Filmin Originals, such as ‘Selftape’, a series by the Vilapuig sisters about abuses in the Catalan audiovisual industry, and has co-produced titles with international coverage such as ‘Molt Lluny’ or ‘Forastera’. This history makes more surprising the painting of “collaborationism with Spanish repression” that it has received, signed by Nosaltres Sols!, a right-wing independence group born from the 2019 mobilizations led by the influencer David Silvestre. Other platforms and ideological controversies. The case of Filmin is not an exception in the sector. The large platforms have experienced comparable situations in recent years: debates about the permanence of certain content in the catalog and whether programming a work implies endorsing it. Netflix went through one of its greatest internal turbulences in 2021 due to the comedy special ‘The Closer’, by Dave Chappelle, which sparked accusations of transphobia. Trans workers from the company called a protest rally calling for the withdrawal of the program. Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, justified keeping it on the platform by arguing that “not all of Netflix’s content will be to everyone’s taste.” Woody Allen, of course. Prime Video faced a conflict of a different nature in 2019, when Woody Allen took the platform to court for breaking a contract that provided for the distribution of four feature films. Amazon argued that the “public perception” of the filmmaker had changed after accusations of sexual abuse against him reappeared, a circumstance that made the agreement unviable from a commercial point of view. The dispute ended with an extrajudicial agreement whose terms were not disclosed, but established jurisprudence: platforms can disassociate themselves from commitments with creators if they consider that their reputation damages the corporate image, without the need for judicial convictions. And ‘Gone with the Wind’. HBO Max adopted a measure in June 2020 that caused international reactions: the Temporary withdrawal of ‘Gone with the Wind’ coinciding with the moment of greatest intensity of the Black Lives Matter mobilizations. The platform explained that the 1939 film reproduced “ethnic and racial prejudices” that could be “hurtful” seen from the present. Weeks later, the film returned to the catalog preceded by an intervention by film historian Jacqueline Stewart, who contextualized its historical relevance while pointing out its racist representations. The formula chosen by WarnerMedia established a middle path: a title can remain available without omitting its conflicting elements, as long as they are presented with the necessary critical framework. Header | Jaume Ripoll In Xataka | Disney+ has discovered that Generation Z does not want to watch its two-hour movies. So he’s going to give them vertical microdramas

Solar storms are increasingly threatening for the earth. NASA wants to prepare with a “digital twin” of the sun

August 27, 2025 by usatoday24

The sun, that star that gives us life, also has an unpredictable character and potentially destructive. So much so that A large solar storm It could return to us technologically to the stone age in the blink of an eye. To avoid this, NASA and IBM They have joined forces To create a model that simulates the behavior of the sun. And how could it be otherwise, it has been generated with artificial intelligence. A authentic twin of the sun to understand it better. The union of forces of these two institutions has resulted in the creation of Surya, an artificial intelligence Designed to act as a digital twin of the sun and anticipate their violent outbursts with precision that with the models that are currently used cannot be achieved. Training an AI with the heart of a star. The challenge of predicting the space climate is undoubtedly a great challenge For scientists. To build Surya, the engineers turned to an inexhaustible data source: the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) NASA Hala. For nine years, this probe has State watching the sun without restcapturing images of very high resolution every 12 seconds in different wavelengths and measuring its complex magnetic field. Once you have all this information is where artificial intelligence comes into action to be able to organize and interpret them for experts. That is why the first thing Surya did is standardize all data formats to be able to process them together. Intelligent filtering of all this information. Once the data was unified, the next step was to use a long -range vision transformer, an architecture capable of analyzing gigantic images to identify patterns and relationships between points of solar activity, regardless of how far they are from each other. But he did not stay here, because thanks to a mechanism known as ‘spectral door’, the system was able to filter the ‘noise’ of the data to reduce memory use and improve the quality of the information with which it worked. Therefore, researchers were removed a lot of work to have to label all the images, causing it to adapt rapidly. More precision and twice as much time to react. The results of the initial tests are very promising. Until now, Traditional models barely gave us an hour in advance before a solar eruption. With Surya it has been shown to be able to launch a reliable warning two hours in advance, doubleing the humanity preparation window. But it is not only faster, but also accurate. The IBM and NASA team recorded a 16% improvement in precision when classifying solar rashes compared to the models used right now. Something that is also thanks to the ability to integrate information from other missions such as Parker solar probe or the Soho Observatory. An open tool for the science of the future. Far from saving this powerful tool in a key drawer, IBM and NASA have made it available to the entire scientific community. Surya is now available on platforms such as Hugging Face, GITHUB or even the Terratorch library. Kevin Murphy, NASA scientific data director, is clear: “We facilitate the analysis of the complexity of our star’s behavior with unprecedented speed and precision. This opens the door to a better understanding of the impact of solar activity on the systems on which our daily life depends.” The goal is for the Earth to be prepared. Although we see the central star of our system as harmless, the reality is that at any time this sensation can change. In this way, preparation and anticipation is fundamental and for the moment all hopes are put in this model of where it is possible to learn from the processes behind the evolution of the sun with the aim of having a greater amount of information. Images | Javier Miranda In Xataka | How the Solar System was formed: So that the Earth was born, a star had to die

Industrial espionage is threatening the largest chips manufacturer on the planet: TSMC

August 5, 2025 by usatoday24

It is no secret: espionage is very present in The semiconductor industry. It is in other sectors and we can be sure that a strategic industry such as integrated circuits It is not at all immune to him. On this occasion “the victim” is the Taiwanese company TSMC, The largest integrated circuit manufacturer of the planet. And, curiously, this plot of industrial espionage does not arrive at any time. And this company is about to start the large -scale manufacture of chips using its most advanced integration technology: The 2 Nm. What we know at the moment is that, According to Reutersthe Taiwanese authorities have arrested three TSMC employees because they have allegedly stole commercial secrets of this company. As we can expect, behind this detention is TSMC itself, as He has revealed The Taiwan Superior Prosecutor’s Office in a statement. According to Nikkei Asiathose responsible for this company have realized that two employees and a former employee have been made with critical information about the photolithography of 2 Nm of TSMC. This information is very valuable. In fact, it could be used by a competitor to optimize its own semiconductor manufacturing processes. The research has not yet determined whether this stolen information has reached another company, but United Daily News ensures that researchers have registered the offices of the Japanese company Tokyo Electron. At the moment this last signature has not confirmed or denied anything. Other industrial espionage frames that have given much to talk Our next protagonist is Asml. This Dutch company is the only one that is currently capable of manufacturing teams of extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) that are necessary to produce avant -garde chips. At the end of 2023 Peter Wennink, the then general director of ASML, confirmed that a Chinese origin employee had abandoned the company in 2022 after being recruited by Huawei with the purpose of revealing this Chinese company secrets of the Dutch firm that a priori could compromise their business. According to the Dutch medium, Russia has something important in its favor: it has spies inside Asml This event was so serious that those responsible for ASML decided to include it in their 2022 annual report and Wennink was forced to Give explanations In a meeting with investors. According to this executive, the information stolen by the former Chinese employee It was partial. In fact, he described it as “one piece in a puzzle whose box is not in your power.” This Wennink statement rightly reflects The titanic complexity that have the most advanced lithography equipment produced by ASML. At the end of last year this company starred in another plot of espionage. Again as “victim.” The Government led by Vladimir Putin intends to have a prototype of UVE lithography equipment capable of manufacturing 130 Nm chips ready in 2026. And in 2028 another similar one trained to produce integrated 7 nm circuits. A priori it is difficult to believe it, but, according to the Dutch medium USRussia has something important in your favor: it has spies within ASML. Like China. In fact, one of them, a former employee of Russian origin, He has been arrested and is accused of stealing critical commercial secrets. The last plot of industrial espionage that I propose that we review is starring the South Korean company SK Hynix and the Chinese company Huawei. In mid -April 2024 a former employee of Chinese sk Hynix origin It was stopped at a South Korean airport when he was about to enter the country. The accusation that was cernia about it was very serious: it was suspected of having stolen confidential information about semiconductor manufacturing processes Used by SK Hynix to give it to Huawei. This employee decided to print 3,000 pages of technical documents, and that movement gave it away because it aroused suspicion immediately within the company. He faces 18 years in prison. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | South Korea fears US reprisals. To avoid their old lithography equipment, they take dust on a warehouse

How a German submarine cable is threatening to change energy control in Spain

March 25, 2025 by usatoday24

European energy infrastructure is one of the more interconnected in the worldone in seven electricity units It is marketed through terrestrial and submarine cables. However, electrical networks They need more connections and improvements to guarantee stability and energy safety. Now, a German company has decided to challenge the monopoly structure of Spain. German initiative. The Europe Link Development Company has proposed Apollo-Link, a project to create underwater interconnection between Spain and Italy. From the project page They have explained that it is an alternative to continue promoting networks in Europe and more in A context of energy crisis. In this way, the initiative would allow Italy to reduce its energy dependence and take advantage of the renewable energy of Spain. Connection so far. Currently, the interconnection of Spain with the rest of the EU countries is done through France, except with Portugal. The Spanish electricity grid has exclusivity in the transport of electricity, so the German project will challenge the monopoly structure. However, there are exceptions for private international interconnection projects that can be described as “Merchant Lines”. Merchant Lines. European legislation allows third parties outside of transport networks (TSOS) to develop international interconnections under the “Merchant Lines” regime, which is eximicated from the regulations of the Spanish electricity sector. However, these projects must meet certain requirements, and the technical-economic viability of the interconnection must be demonstrated. Despite the possibility of these private projects, the TSO always have preference to execute projects that conform to the official network planning. Economic impact. As The economist has been able to have accesswithin the energy sector they have warned about the implications of this project. While Italy would benefit from Spanish renewable energy, on the other hand Spain would experience an increase in electricity prices due to the greater exchange with other countries. The negotiation of economic terms and the distribution of benefits and costs will be crucial to avoid disadvantages for the country, as already It happened in full crisis of 2022. In addition, before the implementation of the project, thorough studies must be carried out to evaluate its impact on the networks of both countries. What will it consist of? Europe-Link Development has mentioned which seeks to facilitate the exchange of electricity between Spain and Italy. The objective is to link the electrical systems of both countries through an underwater cable of 660 kilometers and an exchange capacity of 2,000 MW. However, it is in a preliminary phase and needs the approval of the managers of the electrical networks of Spain and Italy, Electric and Terna, respectively. Image | Apollo-Link Xataka | Taiwan has just stopped a ship after cutting an underwater cable. The problem is that there are only Chinese citizens inside

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