Nintendo announced that it will stop selling its three Switch console models, as well as other products, in its Store and other retailers in Europe starting in February 2027.

In this way, the company announced the end of the first hybrid console in Europe. The affected products are the standard model, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED. The main reason for this measure is compliance with new European battery regulations.

The company has indicated that it will continue manufacturing Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch OLED consoles in the coming months, and that all three models will be available in European stores.

“Once the European Union implements the new regulations (requiring electronic devices to have removable batteries), the company will stop shipping Switch 1 units to stores.”

Other products affected by this measure include: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Controller for Nintendo Switch, Pokémon™ GO Plus +, Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, SEGA Mega Drive Controller for Nintendo Switch, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Controller for Nintendo Switch.

M.Pino

Source: hobbyconsolas

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Companies offering the purchase, sale, and custody of cryptocurrencies in Spain must have permits to operate in the country from July 1st, the date on which the regulations in this market established by the MiCA law come into effect.

According to industry analysts, exchanges and other service providers must be duly registered with the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) by July 1st; otherwise, they must cease operations immediately.

There are 56 entities in Spain licensed to offer crypto services; among them are BBVA, CaixaBank, and OpenBank (Santander Group). All are considered benchmarks in the national crypto market.

The MiCA law aims to provide security, transparency, and oversight to transactions. The end of the transition period represents a significant reduction in the number of operators who will no longer be able to offer their services.

M.Pino

With information from international media

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The president of the Caracas Stock Exchange, José Grasso Vecchio, stated in a radio interview last week that investors with concrete projects have arrived in the country from the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in order to generate new business opportunities.

Grasso Vecchio affirmed that “the interest has moved from inquiries to technical planning; he also assured that there are strong responses from people who are discussing figures, concrete projects that will be seen in the coming months.”

According to the official, this dynamism is reflected in “the local stock market index, which has already registered a 200 % increase so far this year.”

Grasso Vecchio indicated that key sectors, such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and agribusiness, are attracting the attention of foreign investors thanks to the easing of sanctions by the United States and the reopening of Venezuela’s relations with the IMF and the World Bank.

From his perspective, the Venezuelan market currently has “all the conditions to compete internationally, focusing on providing confidence to those who see the country as a strategic place to invest in this new economic phase.”

M.Pino

Source: alnavio

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With 73 % of voters in favor, Switzerland approved the permanent use of cash in a referendum this Sunday, March 8.

In an increasingly digital world, a high percentage of transactions in Switzerland are still paid for with cash. The referendum to decide whether this payment method would be maintained was announced last year.

Thanks to the voters’ support, state entities must now guarantee “the availability of cash in the country, and it is ruled out that it could ever be replaced by virtual money. This guarantee will be enshrined in the Constitution.”

Meanwhile, due to the rise of digital payment platforms and applications, Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, will continue to consider “the possibility of launching a virtual Swiss franc in the future, a cryptocurrency issued by the Swiss National Bank, which, following today’s vote, will have to coexist, if it comes to fruition, with physical coins and banknotes.”

M.Pino

Source: 20minutos

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Venezuela plans to direct its Aloe Vera production to international markets in 2026, especially to its commercialization in Asia and Europe, taking into account its importance in the production of pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and personal care products.

The country “plans to export a greater volume of Aloe Vera products to the Asian and European markets through the Sabilven company, which has consolidated itself as a strategic ally of the Ministry of Popular Power for Food,” stated the company’s president, José Diego Castillo.

The executive highlighted other sectors where the use of Aloe Vera is key, such as “dehydrated products, beverages, and aloe with collagen. He also noted that Asian and European markets are the largest consumers of these products.”

Castillo stated that the company he leads is capable of increasing production by 200 % this year to meet the demand of the European and Asian markets, adding that Salbiven has a variety of completely organic products for all the areas it serves.

M.Pino

Source: primicia

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German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider unveiled the bill, which prohibits new oil and gas projects in protected areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

It also includes provisions to eliminate the granting of future licenses “as a prerequisite for the approval of an existing project on the maritime border between the Netherlands and Germany, off the island of Borkum.”

It is important to note that the gas extraction project, managed by the Dutch company One Dyas, spans both countries. This means that the authorities of both nations would have had to issue permits.

Officials have made it clear that sand and gravel extraction would still be permitted under the Ministry of Environment’s draft bill.

M.Pino

Source: elperiodicodelaenergia

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The UK Parliament took a significant step in the cryptocurrency market with the passage of the Property Act 2025, which recognizes them as a third category of property.

This means that Bitcoin and other digital assets are now considered property, independent of physical objects and contractual rights.

The law – the Property (Digital Assets etc.) Act 2025 – received Royal Assent from King Charles III on Tuesday, December 2, “marking a milestone in the regulation of digital finance in the country. The new legislation responds to a recommendation from the UK Law Commission issued in 2023 and was introduced in the House of Lords in September 2024.”

British courts had previously treated cryptocurrencies as property in individual, case-by-case rulings. The new law creates a specific category for assets such as Bitcoin, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

This parliamentary decision provides “greater clarity and protection for consumers and investors by ensuring that digital assets can be clearly owned, recovered in cases of theft or fraud, and incorporated into insolvency or inheritance proceedings.”

The law provides stronger legal avenues for “proving ownership, handling disputes, and offering protection in related crimes or litigation.”

M.Pino

Source: diariobitcoin

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WhatsApp is preparing to launch a new feature that will allow users to create groups with users of other messaging applications, in response to the new EU regulation called the Digital Markets Act.

The feature is already in the testing phase in Europe. As a result, “people who use this messaging application will be able to message others who prefer to use Telegram or Signal. But the most transformative aspect of this change is that everything can be done without leaving the application.”

Regarding the Digital Markets Act, it “requires large technology companies to open their services so they are compatible with each other. This aims to break down the digital walls that separate one app from another.”

Testing of the beta versions shows that users will be able to send messages, photos, videos, voice notes, and documents without switching apps. “However, some features, such as custom stickers or disappearing messages, may not be available at first.”

Meta has confirmed that users will have the option to select who can contact them from other applications. “There will be several options: allow messages from everyone, only from contacts, or block access altogether. This aims to prevent spam or unwanted messages from external platforms.”

End-to-end encryption will remain the primary tool for protecting the privacy of conversations so that no one, not even WhatsApp, can read users’ messages.

Among the specifications of the new feature is the option to choose whether they prefer to receive only WhatsApp messages in their inbox or messages from other applications together. In addition, it includes a “simple onboarding process where users can learn more about third-party chats and activate the feature. Options will include choosing which third-party apps they want to receive messages from and how they would like to manage their inbox,” as Meta published on its blog.

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Source: primicia

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In July 2024, cybersecurity provider KnowBe4 began observing suspicious activity related to a new employee who started manipulating and transferring potentially harmful files and attempted to run unauthorized software. It was later discovered that he was a North Korean worker who had deceived the company’s human resources team to obtain a remote job. In total, he managed to pass four video conference interviews, as well as a pre-employment background check.

ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, analyzes and delves into this scam and warns that no organization is immune to the risk of inadvertently hiring a saboteur.

“Identity-based threats are not limited to password theft or account takeover, but extend to new hires. As AI becomes more adept at falsifying reality, it becomes essential to refine and optimize hiring processes” warns Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the ESET Latin America Research Lab.

This type of threat has been present since at least April 2017, according to an FBI alert and tracked as WageMole by ESET Research. According to Microsoft, the US government has discovered more than 300 companies—some of them Fortune 500—that have fallen victim to these types of attacks between 2020 and 2022. The tech giant was forced in June to suspend 3,000 Outlook and Hotmail accounts created by North Korean job applicants.

Furthermore, a US indictment accuses two North Koreans and three “facilitators” of obtaining more than $860,000 from 10 of the more than 60 companies where they worked. ESET’s research team warns that the focus has recently shifted to Europe, including France, Poland, and Ukraine. Google, for its part, has warned that British companies are also being targeted.

Identity theft scams

These scams are possible because fraudsters create or steal identities that match the location of the target organization and then open email accounts, social media profiles, and fake accounts on developer platforms like GitHub to add legitimacy. During the hiring process, they may use deepfake images and videos, or face-swapping and voice-changing software, to disguise their identity or create synthetic ones.

According to ESET researchers, the WageMole group is linked to another North Korean campaign they track as DeceptiveDevelopment. This campaign focuses on tricking Western developers into applying for nonexistent jobs. The scammers ask their victims to participate in a coding challenge or a pre-interview task. But the project they download to participate actually contains Trojanized code. WageMole steals these developer identities to use in their fake employee schemes.

The key to the scam lies with the foreign facilitators

• Creating accounts on freelance websites
• Opening bank accounts, or lending the North Korean worker their own
• Purchasing mobile phone numbers or SIM cards
• Validating the worker’s fraudulent identity during the employment verification process, using background check services. Once the fake worker is hired, these individuals receive the company laptop and install it on a laptop farm located in the hiring company’s country. The North Korean IT worker then uses VPNs, proxy services, remote monitoring and management (RMM), and/or virtual private servers (VPS) to conceal their true location.

“The impact on deceived organizations could be enormous. Not only are they unwittingly paying workers from a heavily sanctioned country, but these same employees often gain privileged access to critical systems. It’s an open invitation to steal confidential data or even demand a ransom from the company” emphasizes the ESET researcher.

In terms of detection and protection, ESET explains how to prevent an organization from becoming a victim

1. Identify fake employees during the hiring process:

• Check the candidate’s digital profile, including social media and other online accounts, for similarities with other people whose identities they may have stolen. They may also create multiple fake profiles to apply for jobs under different names.

• Pay attention to discrepancies between online activity and declared experience: a “senior developer” with generic code repositories or recently created accounts should raise red flags.
• Ensure they have a legitimate and unique phone number, and check that their resume is consistent. Verify that the companies mentioned actually exist. Contact references directly (phone/video call) and pay close attention to employees of staffing agencies.

Since many applicants may use fabricated audio, video, and images, insist on video interviews and conduct them multiple times during the hiring process.

During interviews, consider any claim that the camera is malfunctioning a major red flag. Ask the candidate to turn off background filters to increase the chances of identifying deepfakes (signs might include visual glitches, facial expressions that appear stiff and unnatural, and lip movements that are not synchronized with the audio). Ask questions based on the location and culture of where they “live” or “work,” for example, about local food or sports.

2. Monitor employees for potentially suspicious activity:

• Be on the lookout for red flags such as Chinese phone numbers, the immediate download of RMM software on a newly issued laptop, and work performed outside of normal office hours. If the laptop authenticates from Chinese or Russian IP addresses, this should also be investigated.
• Monitor employee behavior and system access patterns, such as unusual logins, large file transfers, or changes in work schedules. Focus on the context, not just the alerts: the difference between a mistake and malicious activity can lie in the intent.
• Use insider threat detection tools to identify anomalous activity.

3. Contain the threat:

• If a North Korean worker is believed to have been identified within the organization, proceed cautiously at first to avoid alerting them.
• Restrict their access to sensitive resources and review their network activity, limiting this task to a small group of trusted individuals from the IT security, human resources, and legal departments.

Preserve evidence and report the incident to law enforcement, while also seeking legal counsel for the company. “Furthermore, it’s a good idea to update cybersecurity training programs. And ensure that all employees, especially IT recruiters and HR staff, understand some of the warning signs to watch out for in the future. Threat actors’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) are constantly evolving, so this advice will also need to be updated periodically. The best methods for preventing fake candidates from becoming malicious informants combine human expertise and technical controls. Make sure you cover all the bases,” suggests Gutiérrez Amaya of ESET.

ESET invites you to learn more about cybersecurity by visiting: https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/.

For other useful preventative information, also available in Venezuela: https://www.eset.com/ve/, and on their social media channels @eset_ve. Also on Instagram (@esetla) and Facebook (ESET).

With information and reference image provided by ESET and Comstat Rowland

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Germany has taken positive steps toward its clean energy transition, which includes initiatives in renewable energy, hydrogen, and LNG diversification, supported by significant federal policies.

Data and analytics firm GlobalData estimates in this field that Germany will reach “509.9 GW in 2035, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7% between 2024 and 2035.”

According to the company, last year renewable energy accounted for “54.7 % of Germany’s electricity generation, led by wind and solar PV. By 2035, renewable generation is expected to reach 628 TWh, representing 82.9% of the energy mix, driven by the large-scale expansion of solar PV and the development of onshore and offshore wind farms.”

The goal for 2030, according to Mohammed Ziauddin, energy analyst at GlobalData, is to reach 80 % renewable generation, supported by its Renewable Energy Act (EEG), the National Hydrogen Strategy, and significant investment in modernizing the electricity grid.

But the European country still faces challenges, “such as grid congestion, the Dunkelflaute (periods of low renewable production), and the slow deployment of dispatchable gas-fired generation capacity to support intermittent renewables.”

Added to this are rising energy prices, uncertainty regarding regulatory frameworks, and lengthy permitting processes for wind projects that also limit deployment.

M.Pino

Source: elperiodicodelaenergia

(Reference image source: American Public Power Association on Unsplash)

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