International

Argentine Jorge Fernández Díaz wins the 81st Nadal Award with ‘El secreto de Marcial’

The Argentine writer and journalist Jorge Fernández Díaz has won the 81st edition of the Nadal Novel Award, endowed with 30,000 euros, with his autobiographical work ‘El secreto de Marcial’, which the winner of the award, Editorial Destino, will publish on February 5.

In the proclamation ceremony, Fernández Díaz, who had presented himself to the award under the pseudonym of Daniel Ocampo, has won the Nadal with a novel that had the provisional title of ‘Marcial’.

Previously, in the same evening, the winner of the 57th edition of the Josep Pla Prize for Catalan Prose was announced, endowed with 10,000 euros, which has fallen to the scientific popularizer and educator David Bueno, hidden behind the pseudonym of ‘Carro de Foc’, for ‘L’art de ser humans’, an essay that proposes a fascinating journey through the arts, neuroscience and education, which he had presented with the fictional title ‘Quan l’esser humà despierta’.

After the jury’s verdict was made public, Fernández Díaz, whose name coincidence with the former PP Minister of the Interior has not prevented any jokes, recalled that Nadal “is one of the world’s great prizes.”

“I am the son of two Asturians who emigrated to Argentina in the midst of hunger and fear of the post-war period after the Spanish Civil War and who built an epic emigrant in an immense Spanish community, forgotten and today in the process of extinction,” confessed the Argentine journalist, who wants to dedicate the winning novel precisely to “that forgotten community in which I grew up.”

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A few years ago, in 2001, Fernández Díaz wrote the successful novel ‘Mamá’, which he dedicated to his mother Carmina, an Asturian who was sent to Argentina at the age of 15 to flee poverty in the post-war period of Francoism.

The author now focuses on ‘El secreto de Marcial’ on “the most mysterious person”, his father, Marcial Fernández, who in ‘Mamá’ was “a secondary character, a chapter, because for some reason he was a hermetic person, who was present in an exceptional way.”

For the winner of the dean of the Hispanic literary awards, “there is only one mother, but every father is an enigma” and, for that reason, he decided to solve it: “My father did not have the tools to communicate with me, and his only way, the only sentimental education he bequeathed to me was to watch together some of the classics of old Hollywood, some films that I have later revisited.”

Since Marcial Fernández died in 2005, his father became “a kind of literary ghost” who challenged him to try to write about him.

“My father gave me for lost when he found out that I wanted to be a writer and it is an ironic turn that my father returns to Spain in the form of a novel and tonight,” he said excitedly.

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In Fernández Díaz’s opinion, his father was the archetype of “those tough men not trained for the paternal-child relationship, a facet that he left exclusively in the hands of the mother.”

Although he tells the life of Marcial, the writer has also wanted to narrate the life of the Spanish community in Argentina, which “had great importance at the time and is on the verge of extinction with some of its members already in the ages.”

The novel, the author points out, takes place in a different Buenos Aires from that of Marcial, where a family investigation takes place looking for the secrets of this enigmatic man, a research that takes the reader to Asturias.

In the same evening, previously, the 57th Josep Pla Prize for Catalan prose was presented to the biologist, researcher and science popularizer David Bueno, for his work ‘L’art de ser humans’.

After knowing the verdict, Bueno said that “this award is not the end of anything” and about the award-winning work he commented that it is “a fascinating journey through the arts, neuroscience and education, which redefine the way we perceive the world and ourselves.”

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In the usual evening that opens the literary course of the year every January 6 in Barcelona, which this year has remembered the centenary of Ana María Matute, personalities from the cultural, political and economic world have attended, headed by the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun.

International

IEA warns Middle East conflict could spark worst energy crisis in decades

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East could trigger the worst energy crisis in decades, warned Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who described the situation as “very serious.”

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, Birol compared the current scenario to the oil crises of the 1970s, noting that during those events the world lost around five million barrels of oil per day in each crisis.

“Today, we have lost 11 million barrels per day—more than the two major oil shocks combined,” he said.

The Turkish economist referred to the conflict that began on February 28, following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran, which have significantly disrupted global energy markets and driven oil prices higher.

Birol warned that the global economy is facing a “very, very serious threat” and expressed hope that the crisis will be resolved soon.

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“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues in this direction. Global efforts are urgently needed,” he emphasized.

International

Colombian Air Force Hercules plane crashes during takeoff with troops onboard

A Lockheed C-130 Hercules operated by the Colombian Air Force was involved in a “tragic accident” while taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, in the Putumayo department of southern Colombia, as it was transporting troops, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez reported on Monday.

The minister stated on social media that the exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined. He also extended his condolences to the families affected and urged the public to avoid speculation until official information is confirmed.

“This is a deeply painful event for the country. Our prayers are with the victims and their families,” Sánchez said, adding that emergency protocols have been activated and an investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, President Gustavo Petro expressed hope that there would be no fatalities in what he described as a “horrific accident that should not have happened.”

Petro also highlighted ongoing efforts to modernize the country’s air fleet and reiterated the need to acquire new helicopters and transport aircraft to strengthen military mobility, particularly in remote regions.

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According to local media reports, approximately 110 soldiers were on board the aircraft. So far, at least 20 injured military personnel have been rescued.

International

Paris prosecutors alert U.S. over alleged deepfake strategy linked to Elon Musk

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office said on Saturday that it had alerted authorities in the United States over suspicions that tech entrepreneur Elon Musk may have encouraged the spread of sexualized deepfake content on the social platform X to artificially boost the company’s valuation.

According to prosecutors, the controversy surrounding explicit AI-generated videos—reportedly linked to Grok, the platform’s artificial intelligence system—may have been deliberately triggered to increase the market value of X and X AI.

The office added that the alleged strategy could be tied to the planned June 2026 public listing of a new entity formed through the merger of SpaceX and X AI.

French authorities said they contacted the U.S. Department of Justice as well as legal representatives at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this week to share their concerns.

Responding on X in French to a report about the case, Musk referred to French prosecutors using an offensive term.

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When contacted, X’s legal representative in France did not immediately comment.

Grok, the platform’s AI system, has its own account on X, allowing users to interact with it or request content generation. For a period, users were able to tag the bot in posts to generate or edit images, a feature that may have facilitated the spread of such material.