West

China dominates technological industries invented by the West

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iRobot, pioneer of domestic robotics and creator of the Roomba, has gone bankrupt and ends up in the hands of Piceaa Chinese manufacturer. It is not an isolated case but rather the symbol of a devastating trend in which Western companies develop technologies for decades and China ends up appropriating entire industries. iRobot was founded in 1990 by three MIT researchers. It launched the first Roomba in 2002 and sold 50 million units. For two decades it dominated the robot vacuum cleaner market. In 2021 it was worth $3.5 billion. Today it is worth 140 million25 times less. Picea cancels its 264 million debt and keeps everything. Why is it important. It’s not just about vacuum cleaners. Chinese manufacturers – Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi – already control almost 80% of the global robot vacuum cleaner market. With Picea purchasing iRobot, that figure is close to 95%. China not only manufactures cheaper: it now owns Western innovation that it previously only copied. The pattern repeats: Volvo has been Chinese since 2010. Motorola too. Segway, the scooter that was going to revolutionize urban mobility, ended up in the hands of Ninebot. Lenovo bought IBM PC. Haier took over GE Appliances. Geely owns Lotus. Western brands survive, but only as shells with Asian engineering inside. Between the lines. Europe blocked Amazon’s purchase of iRobot in 2024 for fear that it would dominate the smart home. The result: the company was not independent, but ended up owned by its own Chinese manufacturer and creditor. European “protection of competition” resulted in iRobot falling into the hands of its foreign rivals. iRobot outsourced its production to Vietnam to avoid Chinese tariffs, but Trump’s 46% tariffs on Vietnam cost it an extra $23 million in 2025. Meanwhile, Picea was simultaneously its manufacturer, its major creditor, and its indirect competitor. It didn’t even take a hostile takeover: just financial patience. He waited for iRobot will drown in debt and collected the remains. The invisible cost of innovation. iRobot invested decades in R&D: military robotics, space robotics, domestic autonomous navigation… That research is expensive, slow and risky. Chinese manufacturers have not had to pay that cost. They just had to wait for the technology to mature, copy what worked, and improve execution. The asymmetry is total. The West imposes antitrust restrictions on itself that slow domestic consolidations while Chinese companies operate with extensive state support, protected access to a domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers and regulatory scrutiny that cannot even be compared. Europe has recently blocked other similar operations, such as that of Adobe and Figma either that of Broadcom and Qualcomm. Yes, but. It is not about approving any acquisition without scrutiny, but about recognizing that blocking the purchase of Amazon has led to an objectively worse result: pioneering American technology that ends up in Chinese property. If you are truly concerned about Chinese companies dominating strategic sectors, this was a blunder with predictable consequences. Western governments constantly talk about technological sovereignty and their willingness not to depend on China. But concrete actions are producing the opposite effect. Ultimately, the only thing the West loses is not its industry, it is ownership of its technological innovation. In Xataka | The largest food chain in the world is Chinese, surpasses McDonald’s and is unknown in Europe: Mixue Featured image | Onur Binay

China is not only eating the West in electric cars or televisions. It also threatens Starbucks

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New York is so damn big that it would be logical that the news of the opening of two coffee shops would pass unnoticed. After all, the city that never sleeps is full of places where one can taste (or pick up) a lattecappuccino, macchiato or any other coffee variation that comes to mind. The opening of the first two Luckin Coffee stores a few months ago in the Big Apple was however sneaked into media such as CNN either The New York Times and has inspired analysis of all kinds out of the country. Logical. After all, in just a few years Luckin Coffee has achieved bend your pulse to Starbucks in China. Now, for his landing in New York, he has chosen a place located barely 60 meters from one of their cafes. What is Luckin Coffee? If its name doesn’t sound familiar to you, don’t worry, it’s more than understandable: Luckin is a coffee shop chain founded in 2017 in China by Jenny Qian and Charles Lu and since then its expansion has focused mainly on the Asian giant. In 2023 he achieved a key milestone by surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee brand in China and in recent years it has not stopped growing: from close to 16,200 stores that it had that year in China (more than double that of its American rival) has gone on to manage more than 20,000 in several countries. In July the company spoke of 24,097 points of sale spread across mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. During the first quarter of 2025 alone, it launched 1,757. After taking over the Chinese market, a few months ago the company announced his landing in America with two stores in Manhattan and Washington Square Park, an area popular with students. “This is just the beginning. New York, we are here,” warned Luckin in networks. Is it that important? The landing of Luckin Coffee in the US market has generated expectation inside and outside the country. Normal. Your surprise Starbucks in China in 2023 (both in sales and number of stores) had a symbolic value that goes far beyond the numbers. To begin with, because the Asian giant is one of the big markets of the American multinational. Starbucks has also been established in the country for some time: it opened its first establishment in Beijing in 1999, contributing greatly to establish coffee culture in a nation that has traditionally opted for tea. That’s why Luckin’s jump to the US has generated so much interest. How has it succeeded? With a bet well defined. At least until now, Luckin Coffee’s strategy has been based on three pillars. First, a dizzying expansion focused on gaining market share. Second, the user experience. Customers manage their orders directly through an app and in just a few minutes they can collect their orders at the counter, without any human interaction. The mobile application is not only dynamic; It allows the company to retain its customers by using discounts, bonuses and gamification. The third bet is a wide offer and, above all, affordable prices. During its landing in the US, the Chinese chain has decided to launch aggressive discounts that leave its coffees in less than two dollars, considerably below of what Starbucks charges for its drinks in the Big Apple. In fact there is who points that the American multinational’s strategy to stand up to its Chinese rival will be to move in the opposite direction: if Luckin focuses on app orders and low prices, Starbucks has proposed eliminate the premises of their network that only accept orders via app and for pickup due to their low “warmth”. The idea: return to the origin, to the traditional cafeteria experience. Does it only happen with Luckin? No. In fact Luckin is just one of many Chinese tea chains, hot potsdrinks… that are landing in the US to compensate for the changes in the Chinese market. How he slid TNWT in a recent analysis On the subject, there they find an excess of supply and an economy weighed down by the real estate crisis and weakened consumption, which leads them to look to the other side of the Pacific. One of the threats that its US competitors face is that this leap comes with aggressive tariffs. Gaining a foothold in the US market will not be easy. The Luckin case is a clear example. It has just opened its first stores in New York, but in front of it it has almost 17,000 establishments that Starbucks manages in the US. If the Chinese chain has demonstrated something, however, it is its resistance. In fact, it has managed to overcome the serious crisis it experienced in 2020, when an accounting scandal left it on the edge of the abyss. Since then it has not only managed to recover and grow. Now aspire to quote again in the USA. Images | Xataka In Xataka | China has just beaten the United States in the most unexpected fight: that of branded coffee shops

They have published the plans for the future Russian nuclear bomber. And the worst thing for Moscow is that the West now knows how to deactivate it

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The last time Russia’s bombers made the news was to verify a unprecedented assault in the Ukrainian war. It happened with the Spiderweb operation that kyiv carried out in the heart of the Moscow air bases, when a swarm of more than 100 drones hidden in trucks managed to destroy an important part of the Russian fleet of strategic bombers. The truth is that Russia was developing an unprecedented bomber to renew its fleet, although there are now doubts that it could materialize. The fragility of an industry. The international intelligence network InformNapalmin cooperation with the Fenix ​​cyber center, has revealed one of the largest information blows against the Russian military-industrial complex since the start of the war in Ukraine. The data, obtained after infiltrating the internal systems of the Russian company OKBM (key supplier of components for strategic aviation and the space sector), show Russia’s deep dependence on foreign machinery and reveal classified technical information of two programs considered pillars of its new generation aviation: the stealth bomber PAK DA “Poslannik” and the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter. And more. According to InformNapalmthe stolen files were used for months for the benefit of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and allied countries, which amplifies the impact of the leak both at the operational and political levels. Between ambition and sanctions. The PAK DA, designed by Tupolev to replace veterans Tu-95 and Tu-160represents the Russian attempt to create a subsound strategic bomber flying wing with stealth capability, intercontinental autonomy and dual nuclear and conventional capability. Conceived since the early 2000s, the project has suffered chronic delaysbudget problems and a persistent inability to consolidate a national production chain. The leaked documents include coded hydraulic system specifications like 80RSh115responsible for opening the bomb bay hatches of Poslannik-1, and confirm the existence of a classified contract between Tupolev and OKBM which requires absolute confidentiality and allows it to be terminated if state secrecy is violated. Technical documentation with engineering drawings and specifications for the RSh type box used in the PAK DA bomb bay system Extra page. Not only that. Apparently, a additional annex (called Supplementary Agreement No. 7) details the scheduling of the production phases between 2024 and 2027, a calendar that is now more than compromised by the scandal and the deterrent effect of European sanctions. Technological dependence. The filtrationFurthermore, it reveals a structural contradiction: the Kremlin’s discourse on industrial sovereignty contrasts with the reality of a system that cannot sustain its own projects. no western technology. OKBM, an essential part of the gear that produces actuators and transmission systems for the Su-57 and the PAK DA, depends on CNC machinery imported from Taiwan (Hartford HCMC-1100AG and Johnford SL-50 models) and Serbia (Grindex BSD-700U grinding machine). The equipment was purchased through subsidies from the Ministry Russian Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which shows that the State itself finances the evasion of international sanctions. This framework (a mix of obsolete engineering, technological dependence and state bureaucracy) has become a strategic vulnerability that compromises Russia’s ability to sustain complex long-term programs. Supplementary agreement confirming the continuation of the contract of the PAK DA component under the revised technical code 80RSh A failed industrial pattern. The leaked internal emails They also include documentation on RSh-65 systems of hinge and transmission used in the weapons compartments of the Su-57, the fifth generation fighter that Moscow presents as a symbol of its technological autonomy. However, the materials confirm that production remains subject to the same bottlenecks than the PAK DA: lack of critical parts, dependence on foreign suppliers and delays caused by a shortage of precision tools. Despite public investment and the expansion of plants in Kazaninternal audits attribute the delays to the departure of international manufacturers from the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine. The political coup. After the analysis of the documentsthe European Union officially included OKBM in its 19th sanctions package on October 23, 2025, recognizing its central role in Russian strategic weapons production and restriction evasion operations. This decision, directly motivated by the findings, confirms how cyber intelligence has become a battlefield expanse: a space where the exposure of industrial vulnerability can be as decisive as a physical attack. The operation, named OKBMLeaksis announced as the first chapter in a series of publications aimed at documenting the structural dependence of the Russian military sector on foreign technology and showing the erosion of its productive capacity. The Russian mirage. He OKBM case illustrates the distance between the Kremlin’s rhetoric about self-sufficiency and the material reality of an industrial complex sustained by imported parts, inherited engineering, and a network of opaque middlemen. If the PAK DA was to symbolize Russia’s entry into a new era of strategic aviation, the leak shows that the project is today a promise threatened by sanctionsproduction necks and lack of technological substitution. The vulnerability revealed transcends the technical: it reflects the accumulated cost of two decades industry dependency global and exposes the difficulty of sustaining a prolonged war without the support of a fully autonomous industrial base. In short, the scandal not only reveals aeronautical secretsbut rather it exposes the structural fragility of contemporary military Russia, whose defense apparatus seems increasingly sophisticated in its designs, but more than precarious in its actual capacity to manufacture them. Image | Russian Defense Minister, InformNapalm In Xataka | A 20-year-old technology led Ukraine to Russian bombers. Moscow’s answer comes from China: a laser cannon In Xataka | In 2024, Ukrainian trucks disguised as “home” entered Russia. Now they have dynamited their main air bases

Now it is a label that worries the West

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I propose a mental exercise: close your eyes for a moment and try to remember what perception you had of most of the Chinese products a decade ago. With a few exceptions, you probably associated them with cheaper and lower quality alternatives than their Western equivalents. We talk about everything: from smartphones to cars. But something changed during this time. The Asian giant has completely transformed its role in the global economy, causing a real earthquake in multiple industries. Today, consumers—people like you or me—already have a very different perception when we see a label that says “Made in China.” And the question is inevitable: how did they achieve it? How China is moving from assembly to the forefront On the YouTube channel where formats such as 24/7the series Domotize or die trying and Science and Apartwe launch a new Xataka Presents dedicated precisely to understanding that transformation. Ana Boria invites us to look beyond the headlines to discover how China went from being the world’s factory to becoming a true technological benchmark. “The tension between the US and China for more than five years is due to a very obvious purpose: these two countries are disputing for world supremacy, and it is no secret,” explains our colleague. He also remembers how, in recent years, the administration of an American president recognized something that few in his country wanted to hear. With its Made in China 2025 plan, the country set an ambitious roadmap to lead in a wide range of strategic sectors. Some of them are obvious, such as the automotive industry. “It manufactures 57% of electric car batteries of the world,” says Ana, who goes into detail about why controlling the battery ecosystem It is key to understanding the rise of BYD, OMODA or JAECOO. But the list does not end there. “China controls 90% of the world market for drones, both those used to record professional video, as well as those used for agriculture or security.” DJI, its flagship manufacturer, has also become a reference brand among content creators thanks to its cameras and microphones. “China controls 90% of the global drone market.” The industrial muscle of the country led by Xi Jinping even extends to rail transport —where it dominates with the largest high-speed network in the world— and materials, with examples as relevant as graphene. “Furthermore, they consider it strategicso they invest millions in research for applications in medicine, energy and electronics. The result is that they control 83% of the market in Asia and the Pacific.” Ana also reviews the reaction of the United States to the Chinese advance, both in terms of innovation and trade restrictions. And it brings an important point to the table: not everything in this plan is brilliant. China is still years away from its competitors in certain sectors, although its pace of progress seems unstoppable. You can discover it in the full video available on the Xataka YouTube channel. Images | Xataka In Xataka | China was the great polluter of the planet: now it is emerging as the first “electrostate” in history In Xataka | Speed ​​has moved to China: BYD and Xioami are breaking all the records that Europe once dreamed of

The Spanish rail giant had planned to build a lightwail between Jerusalem and the West Bank. Now has a problem

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The Basque CAF It is found In the international view for its participation in the Jerusalem Railway Project, which connects Israeli settlements considered illegal by the United Nations. The pressure on the company has intensified after appearing cited in An official report of the UN on companies that benefit from the occupation. A dispute project. CAF has been part of a consortium with the Israeli Shapir since 2019 to build and expand the red and green lines of the Light Jerusalem Rail. The project, valued at 1.8 billion euros, includes 27 kilometers of new roads and 50 stations that connect settlements in the West Jerusalem. The Basque company would take more than 500 million euros for construction and equipment, in addition to its participation in management for 15 to 25 years. Why is it problematic. The UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, has included to CAF in its report “of the economy of occupation to the economy of the genocide”, presented before the Human Rights Council. According to the document, these infrastructure “contribute to the maintenance and consolidation of illegal settlements” and connect the colonies with Israel “while excluding and segregating the Palestinians.” The Human Rights Council itself declared the project illegal in 2016 and 2017. The pressure intensifies. Amnesty International has been asking CA for years to leave the project. “CAF cannot continue looking the other way and not meet international recommendations,” affirms Esteban Beltrán, director of the NGO in Spain. The organization also claims the Spanish government and the Basque Government, a shareholder of the company, to evaluate the CAF links with “the illegal behavior of Israel.” Others are retiring. The case It is not isolated. In 2024, the Catalan Comsa withdrew from the consortium that had won the construction of the blue line of the Jerusalem tram. The Basque Acerera Sidenor also announced that it will stop serving steel to Israeli companies. International funds such as the Norwegian sovereign have retired their participations from Shapir, a partner of CAF, and the manager Storeband excluded CAF from his portfolio for his participation in the project. CAF’s response. The company maintains in its sustainability reports that “no violation of human rights has been detected” derived from their participation and describes the territories as “object of political controversy.” However, for international organizations, CAF is obviating the resolutions of the UN Security Council, the European Union and the International Court of Justice on the illegality of settlements. Between the lines. The project places CAF at a crossroads between commercial interests and international pressure. Your shareholders include to the Basque Government, Kutxabank, the Matrix of the Mayoral Textile and the workers themselves with 25% of the shares. Meanwhile, the geopolitical context has hardened after the attacks of October 7 and the Israeli response in Gaza, increasing international scrutiny over any company linked to occupied territories. Cover image | Alexander Berezhnoy In Xataka | Ryanair’s escape in small airports has taken Andalusia to a radical idea: his own independent “aena”

There are more and more older people dying for falls in the US. And the culprit is an old acquaintance in the West

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We recently discovered that from the age of 35 our performance did not collapse as it had been thought, but rather On the contrary. However, it is a law of life that new problems derived from health and our physical form arrive with old age. In fact, in the United States they have realized one thing: more and more elderly die from falls, and have found the culprit. A growing problem. In the United States, falls have become one of the main causes of death among older people. In 2023 they died More than 41,000 adults over 65 years of injuries associated with fallsand the mortality rate has tripled in three decades. The most vulnerable group, those over 85, went from 92 deaths per 100,000 in 1990 A 339 in 2023. This increase is alarming because it coincides with decades of programs, medical guides and investments to prevent falls that, despite the efforts, have failed to reverse the trend. Drugs as a trigger. Epidemiologist Thomas Farley holds that differentiates it with countries like Japan or Europe lies in the high medication of the greatest Americans. Points to the called Frids (“Fall Risk Drugs”), a group that includes benzodiazepines, opioids, antidepressants, gabapentin, certain classic heart and antihistamine medications such as diphenhydramine. These drugs induce sleepiness, dizziness or weakness, and are linked to 50–75% more falls in the elderly. His proliferation, in his opinion, explains why deaths multiplied without other factors, such as loss of mobility, poor vision or risk risks, have worsened in the same proportion. Other factors. Other specialists like Thomas Gill and Neil Alexander Matizan In the New York Times That vision. They point out that before death certificates used to attribute the death of elders to heart failure or other ailments, minimizing the role of falls. Today Document betterwhich increases statistics. In addition, medicine prolongs the lives of people with chronic diseases and multiple disabilities, making the current cohort of over 85 years Be more fragile than that of thirty years ago. That accumulated fragility could partly explain why they survive less after a fall. Also, although the use of opioid and benzodiazepines has decreased or stabilized, they have The prescriptions are grown of antidepressants and gabapentin, which maintains the pharmacological exposure. The urgency of the “discomfort.” Before the consensus that drugs play a key role, the emerging strategy It is the “discomfort”: Review and remove unnecessary medication or adjust doses to reduce risks. Networks like the US depressal recordch network They insist that it is easy to prescribe, but difficult to remove treatments once established, by clinical inertia and patient resistance. The list Beers Criteria I already recommend alternative therapiesas cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, physiotherapy, exercise and psychological approaches for pain, instead of powerful anxiolytic or analgesics. Samurai discipline to the rescue. In parallel to the numbers of the United States, Un work from the University of Tohoku revealed that The re-hoa traditional Japanese practice associated with the samurai that consists of slow and controlled movements of sitting, rising and walking, can significantly improve the strength of the knees and reduce the risk of falls in seniors. In just three months, adults who made this routine for five minutes a day, four times a week, increased on average 25.9% Its knee extension force, compared to 2.5% of the control group. The method, which does not require equipment and minimizes risks of injury, is raised as an accessible alternative to combat the loss of muscle mass and the fragility of age, combining physical benefits with the cultural value of an ancestral tradition adapted to the challenges of modern health. Preventable tragedy. Be that as it may, each fall that causes fractures, brain injuries or dependence is a devastating event that alters lives and generates huge costs. The paradox is that many of these deaths They could be prevented with a more rigorous control of the prescription and with programs that prioritize non -pharmacological interventions. The key, in the case of the United States, points to patients and caregivers demanding their doctors Check the treatments and raise alternatives, because often that conversation does not happen. The increase in deaths from falls in the elderly, far from being an inevitable consequence of aging, reflects failures in the care model and opens an urgency: to balance the extension of life with the quality and safety of those years won. Image | MR.FINK’S Finest In Xataka | We had always thought that after 35 our performance collapsed. Is the opposite In Xataka | China has a huge youth unemployment problem. So much, that some people pretend that they work

There are American and Europeans fed up with the lack of “traditional values” of the West. So they are moving to Russia

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Surprising data were known last May: more and more Americans sought to leave the country to Live in Europe. The problem: that the old continent seemed to be closing its doors with migratory policies stricter. What very few anticipated is a new migratory current: that of Westerners who, seeking to recover the “traditional values” that have been lost … and end in Russia. The attraction for the Russia of War. I told it last week The Financial Times. In full invasion of Ukraine and under an increasingly repressive regime, a group of Westerners has chosen to move to Russia in search of what they perceive as “traditional values” in front of a west who consider decadent. Among the most notorious cases is Derek Huffman’san Arizona welder and father of six children, who emigrated with his wife and children alleging rejection of “LGBT indoctrination”, immigration and insecurity in the United States. To accelerate the obtaining of Russian citizenship, he decided to enroll in the Army and fight in Ukrainedefending Even on YouTube that he did to gain respect and a future in his new country. His extreme case has received criticism and also media attentionbecoming a symbol of a reduced but very publicized phenomenon. The “visa of shared values”. Moscow launched in 2024 A special visa For disenchanted western, which facilitates permanent residence to about 150 people per month, a measure that reminds of Soviet propaganda that opposed a corrupt West to a supposedly moral Russia. Although in numbers they are just A few hundredtheir stories receive great diffusion in YouTube channels with Professional productionseveral of them linked to Russia Today According to researchwhich suggests a state effort to amplify the narrative of Russia as a refuge for the conservatives of the West. Examples and integration networks. There are many more cases in addition to the Huffman, such as The one of the Feenstraa Canadian family with eight children who settled on a farm in Nizhni Nóvgorod and reached almost 200,000 subscribers On YouTube, or Stephen Shoresan American computer scientist turned to orthodoxy who claims to feel freer in Russia against the “culture of cancellation”, although he lives under the threat of Ukrainian drones. At the institutional level, figures such as Maria Butina (former Russian agent deported in the United States) and businessmen such as The German Jakob Pinneker They help these immigrants to integrate, facilitating their installation and extolling the “family order and values.” Contradictions and realities. While the Kremlin exhibits these cases as proof of its appeal, the reality is that tens of thousands of Russians They have fled since 2022 to avoid mobilization, political repression and international isolation. In the country itself, thousands of people fulfill condemns for protesting against war or publicly disagree with the regime. The paradox It is evident: Those who come from the West Echoes of the Cold War. What we see today has clear historical parallels with the Soviet strategy during the Cold War. At that time, the USSR I tried to attract to intellectuals, artists and western militants who felt marginalized or frustrated with the capitalism and politics of their countries. Many communists and supporters They traveled to Moscow convinced That there they would find equality and social justice, some even acquired Soviet citizenship or were used in propaganda campaigns that showed the “exploitative west” against “socialist paradise.” The most emblematic case was that of The deserters North Americans who, after the Korean or Vietnam War, sought refuge in the USSR or allies like Cuba and North Korea, converted in trophies ideological. Strategic background. The flow of Westerners to Russia is minimal in figures, but useful in the propaganda plane. Under the official narrative, it reinforces the idea that Russia is not isolated and that even citizens of the Western enemy seek refuge under their flag for reasons of values ​​and morals. In the geopolitical plane, it points to an attempt to counteract the story of a country in crisis and project the image of cultural strength against a fragmented West. Of course, social also reveals the existence of disenchanted minorities In Europe and the United States that, not finding lace in their societies, becomes something very similar to useful pieces for Moscow’s speech. Image | RakoonDerek Huffman/YouTube In Xataka | More and more Americans want to live outside the US but they have a problem: Europe is closing its doors In Xataka | Digital nomadic visas: the countries hook to attract the best digital talent without paying the cost to keep them

Ukraine has just opened the tanks used by Russia. The surprise is capital: West has manufactured them

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In the war there are also “unboxing”, but of combat drones. In fact, this is how they have been revealed from hidden messages of the troops of Moscow, until The origin of the vast majority of technology components (with big surprises). It was also revealed to what extent China is part of the war machinery, or even that the power of these unmanned combat planes has Nvidia as an engine major. What we did not know so far is what was inside the Russian tanks. Foreign dependence. Yeah, Revelation of Ukrainian intelligence on the massive use of Western and Asian teams in the production of Russian tanks has revealed to what extent Kremlin’s industrial self -sufficiency It is compromised. He Updated report Del Gur details more than 260 high precision machines employed by uralvagonzavodthe only great manufacturer of combat cars in Russia and responsible for the entire range of T-seriesfrom the V-72 veterans to him T-14 Armata. Made in the West. The majority of these teams, which include American vertical lathes, Italian folding German machining centers and presses, were acquired in the fifteen years prior to 2022during military modernization prior to the invasion of Ukraine. In other words, although they do not constitute violations of the most recent sanctions, their presence in Russian factories raises a continuity problem: Without spare parts or software updates, armored production runs the risk of degrading quickly. The central role of Uralvagonzavod. Based in the urales, Uralvagonzavod It concentrates the heart of the Russian capacity of armor, holding a production that is estimated at 20 to 30 new tanks per month, despite the pressure of the war. In 2024 he opened a equipped engines plant with European CNC machinesevidence of how even in the middle of the war campaign Russia continued to benefit from foreign technology through indirect routes and third countries. The gur warns That these deliveries, although more complicated and expensive due to the sanctions, have not stopped, which keeps alive the assembly line of the Russian armored ones. The paradox is that the Soviet industrial prestige, once a symbol of self -sufficiency, now rests largely on the legacy of foreign machinery. The strategic dimension. The Published list By Ukraine, which also collects 42 types of equipment from Austria, Japan, South Korea and China, points to a broader pattern: Russia uses a total of 1,396 foreign machines in 169 factories linked to the invasion. Each of these teams It is documented through contracts, recordings and files of state acquisitions, which gives the probative weight to the complaint. The Ukrainian message seems clear: when cutting access to spare parts, technical fluids and software licenses, the Russian military industrial base can be strangled. kyiv has proposed Reinforced diligence measures, such as adding GPS trackers to exported machines and demanding in situ inspections, in order to prevent their products from ending up holding the enemy war industry. Vulnerability mirrors. We have counted before. The finding of Western components and Chinese in drones long -range manufactured by Moscow, local versions of the Iranian Shahed, reinforces the thesis that the Russian military industry depends critically on foreign pieces. Kremlin can hide this weakness With propaganda On its technological autonomy, but in practice its war machine is based on gears manufactured in countries that are today part of the Block that sanctions it. Putin himself, aware of the limits of production, He publicly admitted In April that “there are not enough weapons”, reflecting the tensions between the self -sufficiency discourse and the reality of an industry that, without access to the West, runs the risk of being paralyzed. The industrial Achilles heel. If you want, the Ukrainian complaint converts the Russian dependence on a strategic Achilles heel: while its army spends armored in the front at a higher pace, the ability to manufacture new depends on Machines that do not control. If the sanctions manage to isolate Moscow with spare parts and services, the ability to sustain their war effort could deteriorate irreversibly. When exposing these vulnerabilities, kyiv not only seeks to weaken the enemy, but also directly involve To Western manufacturers and governments in the supervision of their export chains, remembering that another battle is fought in the Ural workshops: that of the industrial pulse that can decide war. Image | Вталий кзьин In Xataka | Ukraine has opened the most advanced Drone Kamikaze in Russia. Now they know what the key to their power is: nvidia In Xataka | Ukraine has hunted an “invisible” drone of Russia. The surprise has been capitalized when opening it: it is “made in USA”

The Critical Mineral Companies of the West are trapped between the US and its best client: China

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Western companies that are dedicated to the extraction and processing of critical minerals are between the sword and the wall. These raw materials They are fundamental for many strategic industriessuch as those of semiconductors, telecommunications, advanced weapons or electric car, so USA and China are using them as a resource to exert pressure on the other. This situation represents a very serious problem for Western mining companies because Donald Trump’s government has imposed very strict controls to China of these minerals, as well as High tariffs. Rio Tinto and BHP are the world’s largest western miners, and its best client is China. In fact, According to Volt Rush In 2024, 57% of Rio Tinto’s income came from China compared to 16.7% of the US. Losing the Chinese market is not an option for these companies, so the managers of the two companies I just mentioned have met with President Donald Trump in the White House with the purpose of defending their interests and protecting their position in China. However, they also have something to offer to the Administration: the possibility of reinforcing the US supply chain by opening new deposits in the country, such as the “Resolution Copper” project of Arizona, delayed for years due to the opposition of the Apache tribe of San Carlos. China dominates an essential market for the US and its allies: that of rare earths On April 4, just 24 hours after Donald Trump announced the taxes that he was going to apply to the importation of most products from abroad, The administration led by Xi Jinping responded. And he did it forcefully. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: the Scandio and the Disposio. These chemical elements are probably less known than metals prohibited by China previously, such as Gallium or Germanio, but They are at least so important Like the latter because they have a fundamental role in the industries of integrated circuits, telecommunications and the manufacture of storage devices. Many companies have high -power magnet reservations made with rare earths, but possibly they will only allow them to subsist a few months The ability to put pressure from China had not yet been extinguished. Just ten days later, on April 14, the Administration did not hesitate take another step forward With the purpose of putting in check, in addition to the industries that I just mentioned, those of electric cars, aeronautics and advanced armament. To achieve this, it effectively suspended, in addition to the export of the most valuable rare earths, that of high -power magnets that have a critical role in the industries that I have cited in this same paragraph. Chinese authorities are retaining in ports throughout the country not only rare earths, but also high -power magnets acquired by electric cars manufacturers throughout the planet, aerospace companies, chip factories and armament companies. Many of these organizations They have high -power magnet reservations Made with rare earths, but possibly they will only allow them to subsist a few months. Europe in particular is in an extremely delicate position. China’s export controls are directed mainly to the US, but the old continent It does not remain unscathed. At least for the moment. In fact, in Germany, which as we all know is the heart of the European car industry, There are already experts who assure that if China continues to retain rare earths and electric motors some essential parts of the electric cars production chain will stop in a few weeks. For the European car industry this blow would be very difficult to fit. European companies that are dedicated to the manufacture of semiconductors are also in a very compromised situation. According to Reuters Many European chip production lines They will stop very soon Due to the shortage of crucial supplies, which has led the European Chamber of Commerce to meet with officials of the Ministry of Commerce of China to ask them to allow rare earth supply to European companies that are dedicated to the production of integrated circuits. Image | Volker Braun | Gage Skidmore More information | Volt Rush In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

Casio knows that his calculators have the lost battle in the West. So you have designed a B: Africa

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In a world dominated by smartphones, where any mobile has a calculator application, it might seem that the days of pocket calculators are counted. However, Casio, the Japanese giant who has been in the business for almost 60 years, has a plan to stay as a relevant company: carry its scientific calculators to the classrooms of developing countries. In search of the ideal countries to continue expanding. Since its first scientific calculator in 1972 was launched, Casio has achieved great achievements such as a reference in the Spanish Meracdo. But now he focuses on eight countries in Asia and Africa, among which are Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladés and the Philippines. The calculator as an infallible ‘antitrampas’ system. The program baptized as ‘Gakuhan’ is not limited to selling calculators only. Casio seeks to promote teaching methods that integrate these devices, pressing so that schools use them in classes and allow their use in exams. The reason is simple: the calculators They have a much less copy risk than smartphoneslacking Internet connection functions. In the case of Spain this is something that we see in the selectivity, for example, where one of the requirements is obviously not having any electronic device on top and Nor any calculator that can transmit information. Although always when you get to Baccalaureate, it is raised The question of which is the best calculator to study. And this is precisely what they sell to the professors of Asia and Africa with a sales manager who has become the official ambassador of this program. The objective of its task is clear: create educational material where the calculator is essential to develop the activity and offer competencies to students. A market in decline, but with a resilient niche. Despite the presence of smartphones, Casio has managed to maintain a stable business with calculators. Although the sales of this device have fallen two thirds from its peak in the last 20 years, the company sold more scientific calculators than basic last year. In fact, it has expanded its range of scientific calculators to 73 models, 40% more than seven years ago, to adapt to the subtle differences of each country. European countries have their ‘antitrampra’ versions. For example, in Germany and France Comas are used instead of points for decimals and the graphic calculators of the United Kingdom They have an “exam mode” that deactivates the functions not allowed. Although the educational technology business of Casio is not as large as that of watches, which generates 60% of total salesit does provide a constant income flow. The company expects Sell 23 million scientific calculators in 202510% more than the previous year. Other products have not had the same fate as calculators. Mobile phones have caused the disappearance of many products or even icons that we had normalized in our society, such as public phones, Pocket cameras or the music players like the walkman either The iPod. In this case they have failed to reinvent themselves to continue advancing with the new advances of society. Others, such as instantaneous cameras, They still have their niche Within lovers of Vintage, Like what happens with vinyl. But in this case the calculators in mobiles, tablets or computers do not seem to end the products dedicated to it. In institutes it remains a practically mandatory product and on which we depend on not making the calculations with a pen and paper such as a simple division. Images | Robert Schneider Aaron Lefler Doug Linstedt In Xataka | Better scientific calculators: which to buy for the institute and the university and eight recommended models from 10 euros

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