Apple Music will come to the app to offer the next step

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TikTok has become more than just a platform for short videos: for millions of people it is the place where they discover new music. Songs that appear in “Para ti” can go from being a viral fragment to becoming a global hit in a matter of hours. That role as a great musical showcase has redefined how songs are released and promoted in the industry. Apple Music seems to have taken note of that dynamic and is now committed to going one step beyond discovery. The novelty. “Play Full Song” seeks to shorten the journey between the moment someone discovers a song on TikTok and the moment they decide to listen to it in its entirety. From now on, Apple Music subscribers will see a dedicated button on their “For You” or sound details page, from which they can open an Apple Music player to listen to the full track. By tapping it, the user can play the track and continue listening to recommendations within the service. TikTok also adds that users will be able to save songs in “Your Music” and add them directly to their Apple Music lists. An agreement that goes through Apple Music. Although the button appears within TikTok, the complete playback is not done on the social network itself. The function uses MusicKit, Apple’s technology that allows you to integrate your catalog into other applications, so the song is played in Apple Music and listens are counted in that service. The important detail is that the integration is linked only to Apple Music. According to TechCrunchother streaming services, including Spotify, do not currently have an equivalent option to listen to full songs from TikTok. This integration does not appear in a vacuum. TikTok has been incorporating tools designed to connect the virality of its videos with streaming platforms for some time. One of them is “Add to music app”, a function that allows you to save songs discovered on TikTok directly to music services to listen to later. In parallel, the company has also explored other paths, such as its attempt to launch its own streaming service, an initiative that ended up closing. Since then, the strategy seems to focus on reinforcing its role as a discovery point that connects with other platforms. Music is also heard in community. The announcement also includes a feature called “Listening Party,” designed to bring artists and fans together for a shared listening session. During these sessions, fans can listen to songs in real time while interacting with each other and the artist themselves. TikTok describes the initiative as a new social way to experience music within the platform. Together, these tools aim at the same objective: reinforcing TikTok’s role as a meeting point between musical discovery, reproduction and direct relationship between artists and audience. Images | TikTok In Xataka | Netflix spends 17 billion on producing content and YouTube does it for free. And that’s why YouTube is winning the game

If the oil apocalypse becomes a reality, Spain has known for years how long it can last: 92 days

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Faced with the logistical blockage of Hormuz that threatens to drown the global economy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has decided to press the red button. The organization has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history: about 400 million barrels. To put it in context, this figure is more than double the 182 million barrels that were injected into the market in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Spain, as a member of the IEA, will not be left out. How to collect Europe Pressthe vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has confirmed our country’s support for this plan. If the proposal is approved unanimously, Spain will contribute to the market the equivalent of about 12 or 12.5 days of its national consumption. The Spanish bunker. All this movement leads us to the big question: how much margin does Spain really have if the situation becomes entrenched? Legally, there is a global obligation to maintain minimum security stocks equivalent to 92 days of sales or computable consumption. According to calculations of The CountryAdding all the capacities, the country has about 105 days of autonomy. This safety mattress works through a mixed system: The Corporation of Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (CORES) must maintain 42 of those dayswhile the remaining 50 days are maintained directly by the industry. Currently, CORES custody more than 5.4 million cubic meters of stocks. It’s not just crude oil. To be truly useful in a crisis, CORES reserves are composed by 54.4% diesel, 29.2% crude oil and 6.0% kerosene. stocks They are strategically distributed by Spanish geography. The Levante area accounts for 44.8% of the total, followed by the central area with 19.2% and the northern area with 17.7%. The objective of these reserves is not to replace normal long-term supply, but to inject fuel into the market to stop sudden price increases and buy vital time to reorganize logistics and trade routes. We can’t relax. Just because we have a margin of three months does not mean that we are invulnerable. Spain is a country with almost absolute foreign energy dependence. In 2024, national oil consumption was 1,322,492 barrels per daybut own production barely reached 76,947 barrels. Our net crude oil imports represent more than 100% of our consumption. Furthermore, our economy she is addicted to black goldespecially to move. The transport sector is responsible for 71.1% of the final consumption of petroleum products in Spain, with diesel/diesel being the undisputed king, accounting for 61.1% of that consumption. The Iranian asphyxiation has a crack. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have activated a logistical “antidote” capable of rescuing up to 7 million barrels per day. The main asset is East-West Pipelinean oil pipeline connecting eastern Saudi fields with the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The machinery is already in motion, there is already an “army” of at least 25 supertankers sailing towards Yanbu to load this crude oil. Adding to this effort is the United Arab Emirates pipeline, which provides up to 2 million additional barrels directly to the Gulf of Oman. The refinery factor. But the macroeconomy hits a wall, Saudi oil pipelines transport crude oil, not diesel. As analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warns, the real danger is the deficit of distillates. If Europe does not have enough refineries to process that oil in time, the desert pipelines are of no use. This is where the CORES bunker win the game. The 54.4% of already refined diesel that Spain stores is the only thing that guarantees that the trucks do not stop. In short, the Saudi “antidote” prevents total collapse, but our reserves buy the 100 days of peace necessary to avoid seeing the pump in the clouds. If diplomacy fails, not even the bunker will avoid the historic scare. Image | Volgotanker Xataka | The price of oil has plummeted overnight. The one at the gasoline pumps will remain the same

This is how the Asian jungle of Stallone’s classic became

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In 1985, ‘Rambo: Cornered II’ transported audiences to the jungles of Vietnam with devastating realism. But what the viewer took to be the Vietnamese jungle were the banks of the Coyuca Lagoon, the slopes surrounding the El Salto waterfall and the hangars of the Military Air Base No. 7 in Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco. All in the state of Guerrero. And the interior scenes, the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City. What happened. The production initially considered filming in Thailand, a destination with the most appropriate geography and vegetation density to recreate Vietnam, but the plan did not prosper. Producer Andy Vajna attributed the change to logistical and economic considerations (filming in Mexico was significantly cheaper and operationally less complex), although Stallone even mentioned in an interview that what made it unviable were the insects, something that Vajna denied. Whatever the real reason, filming began in August 1984 in the surroundings of Acapulco. She’s not the only one. The practice of using Mexico as a substitute for Asia was not unique to this production. For example, in 1987 ‘Predator’ was filmed in Palenque, Chiapas; and several Reagan-era films resorted to the same device. Mexico offered dense rainforest, real military structures available for filming, and a technical industry already consolidated around the Churubusco Studiosoperational since 1945 and still active today in the Coyoacán mayor’s office of Mexico City. Where was it. That the viewer did not notice the deception speaks well of the localization work. Each of the outdoor settings was chosen for its ability to suggest a remote and hostile landscape, and they were these: The El Salto Waterfallin the Valle del Río community, municipality of Coyuca de Benítez, more than two thousand meters above sea level. It was a practically virgin place, which made filming a lot easier. There Rambo ascends among rocks brandishing his bow. A specialist died in the waterfall. The Coyuca de Benítez Lagoon and the area known as “The Jungle” in Pie de la Cuesta served for the scenes in which Rambo sails towards his objective. He Omitlan Bridgein Tierra Colorada (municipality of Juan R. Escudero), was the scene of the destruction of three jeeps with explosive arrows, perhaps the most remembered action sequence of the film. The Military Air Base No. 7 of Pie de la Cuesta. Their hangars appear as the base from which the mission departs. The Mexican military themselves acted as extras and the real equipment of the installation served as props. To “Vietnamize” the Mexican landscape, rice fields, quarries and a giant Buddha statue made of gold-painted polystyrene were built. The consequences. The then Federal Directorate of Security (DFS) prepared detailed reports on the filming, later declassified and revised. In 1984, union leaders, the General Directorate of Radio, Television and Cinematography (RTC) and representatives of the Ministry of the Interior met to resolve a filming interruption caused by union demands. Filming later resumed, creating employment for approximately 500 people in the port. Four decades after filming, the Guerrero locations are still open to the public. El Salto Waterfall receives visitors and is known, even today, as Rambo’s waterfall. In Xataka | The special effects of 2025 are worse than those of 2010. And part of the blame lies with us viewers

Meta just launched managed accounts for tweens

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WhatsApp is part of the daily lives of millions of people and, in many homes, also part of family communication. The company itself has been presenting it for some time as a common tool to talk to parents, notify that someone has arrived home or coordinate day-to-day activities. However, The platform establishes that its use is intended for people over 13 years of age.. Now Meta has decided introduce a new modality designed precisely for that terrain. The novelty. What was announced by Meta consists of introducing a new type of account within WhatsApp designed for preteens. Instead of creating a conventional profile, the minor uses an account managed by a parent or guardian that is linked to that of the adult from the moment of configuration. This allows the person responsible to monitor certain aspects of app usage, such as who can send messages, which group invitations can be accepted, or what privacy settings apply to the account. A more limited experience from the beginning. The managed account does not replicate all the usual WhatsApp functions, but rather reduces the service to the essentials. In this format, the preteen can use the application to send messages or make calls, but some of the tools that the platform has incorporated in recent years are excluded. Among them are channels, the possibility of sharing location or integration with Meta AI. The adult is in control. As we say, these managed accounts not only limit functions, they also change who makes certain decisions within the application. Once the minor’s account is linked to that of the father, mother or guardian, that person begins to manage various aspects of the use of WhatsApp. You can decide which contacts are authorized to communicate with the account, which group invitations can be accepted, and review message requests from unknown numbers. Additionally, privacy settings are protected by a parental PIN, meaning only the responsible adult can access and modify them. privacy. Although managed accounts introduce new controls for adults, WhatsApp ensures that the platform’s privacy system remains intact. Messages and calls remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so only people participating in the conversation can access their content. Step by step activation. To launch one of these managed accounts, the process begins on the child’s phone and also requires the parent or guardian’s device. WhatsApp also indicates that both devices must have the most recent version of the application and that the person managing the account must be over 18 years of age. The adult must download WhatsApp to the preteen’s phone and choose the option to create a managed account during the setup process. Download WhatsApp on the minor’s mobile Choose the option to create an account managed by a parent or guardian Register and verify the minor’s phone number Enter date of birth and confirm age Scan the QR code with the adult’s mobile phone to link the accounts Verify that the adult is of legal age Create a six-digit parental PIN to protect settings Finish setup on the child’s device The Spanish context adds another layer. In Spain, the debate about minors’ access to certain digital platforms has been ongoing for some time. At the beginning of 2026, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced the intention to ban access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age as part of a future regulation aimed at reinforcing digital protection at those ages. In this framework, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube appear in the debate, while WhatsApp would be left out as it is considered a messaging service and not a social network. The new function seems designed to respond to a familiar use of messaging that the company itself assumes exists. Instead of ignoring it, Meta proposes a model in which this access occurs with more limits and with the direct supervision of a responsible adult. The result is a more limited version of WhatsApp, focused on basic communication and with additional controls over contacts, groups and privacy settings. In this way, the company tries to fit the use of the application by preteens within a more controlled environment. AvailabilityWhatsApp has only confirmed that these accounts will begin to roll out gradually in the coming months. That calendar leaves open an important question in regions like the European Union. In the European Region, On April 11, 2024, the company lowered the minimum age of use from 16 to 13 years to harmonize it with the rest of the world. However, the sources consulted do not yet detail how this new modality administered for minors below that threshold will be articulated in Europe or what scope it will actually have in those markets. Images | WhatsApp In Xataka | You’ve been ‘user84721’ for years. A study just showed that AI can know who you are in minutes

What happens to our brain when we pray or meditate, according to neuroscience

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Joan of Arc listened to divine voices that guided her steps in battle. Saint Teresa of Jesus described mystical ecstasies that left her paralyzed. For centuries, these experiences have been framed exclusively in the realm of faith and dogma, but modern science has decided to look into the abyss of mysticism with a much more earthly tool: brain scans. It has its science. It is called neurotheology and it is a discipline that is beginning to emerge, although it is not free of controversy. Its objective is not to prove the existence of God as such, but to decipher the neural circuits that light up when humans try to communicate with him. The “neurons of God.” In his recent book “God’s neurons”biologist and researcher Diego Golombek proposes a fascinating hypothesis for the most mystical situations. They point out that many of the visions and extreme spiritual experiences that have been documented by figures who have gone down in history could be closely linked to neurological phenomena such as temporal lobe epilepsy. According to Golombek, these electrical storms in the brain activate regions linked to intense emotions and altered perceptions, creating an experience that the subject interprets as direct contact with divinity. Although the question here is whether there is a ‘God button’ in the brain or an area that is activated when we focus on our spirituality. The short answer here is no. What was known. For years there was speculation about the existence of a “brain module” exclusive to the divine, but classic studies, such as the one carried out in 2006 by neuroscientist Mario Beauregard with Carmelite nuns, refuted this idea. To demonstrate this, he introduced the nuns in fMRI machines and asked them to relive their deepest mystical experiences. Here the results demonstrated that there is no single “God zone” but rather that prayer mobilizes a complex and extensive network that includes the caudate nucleus, the insula and the parietal lobe. This is why God, neurologically speaking, is a team effort. The real impact. Beyond the debate about the origin of visions, neurotheology has found very fertile ground in psychiatry and mental health. Andrew B. Newberg, one of the world’s pioneers in this field and author of “Principles of Neurotheology”, has been documenting for decades how religious practices and meditation physically alter our gray matter. In recent studies from this same 2025, Newberg’s team has addressed the practical applications of neurotheology in integrative psychiatry. The findings are revealing, since people with a consistent religious or spiritual practice show significant correlations with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and greater general well-being. Because? When praying or meditating routinely, there is sustained activation in areas such as the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for attention and decision making, in addition to alterations in the insula, which suggests that these practices have a protective effect on mental health. For authors such as Newberg or Víctor Páramo Valero himself, these data reject purely materialist and reductionist explanations, since neuroscience does not deny God, but rather explains how our brain is equipped to process spirituality. There is controversy. Not everything in neurotheology is a bed of roses, since there are also many criticisms around. We have an example in the researcher Javier Bernácer, who warns about the danger of confusing correlation with causation. Thus, the fact that areas of the brain light up in a scanner while someone prays does not prove that prayer is the sole cause of that activation. He notes that much of today’s neuroimaging offers “anecdotes, not definitive evidence,” and calls for the discipline to adopt controlled trials to rule out cognitive biases. In Xataka | Three MIT physicists have reached a mathematical conclusion about God: if the universe is closed, there is no room for an external observer

A website has collected more than 1,000 speed limitations on Spanish trains. Adif has knocked her down

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They are called Dignitat a les Vies and they say they are “fed up with the mistreatment by Renfe, Cercanías and Adif.” The claim is clear: “we want a decent railway system.” And as a means of protest they had a website with all the speed limitations found on Spanish railways. They had it, because Adif has taken down the website. Cessation of activity. It is the title that heads a writing from Dignitat a les Viesa platform that until last Friday had an active web page in which all the speed limitations of Spanish railways were collected. The text reads that Adif has confirmed that the blocking of the page is derived from a previous complaint on its part, understanding that “the information on Temporary Speed ​​Limits (LTV) is ‘sensitive’ and cannot be known by the general public.” Listening to the road manager, the court has ordered the blocking of the website. What was shown? Simply, all the speed limitations present on Spanish roads. Supported by users and, above all, by machinists according to The Country, The association had a map where more than 1,000 incidents were recorded. The map, which Dignitat a les Vies assures has been replicated by the media (such as its own The Country) and has not been removed, showed public information that Adif refuses to provide in what they describe as “an act of paternalism. According to these users, “Adif is failing to comply with the current legal framework. In accordance with Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility, Regulation (EU) 2017/1926 (MMTIS) – updated by 2024/490 – and Directive (EU) 2019/1024”, which requires them to make public “the data on the infrastructure and its restrictions.” And they emphasize that showing them “helps the user understand chronic delays.” The restrictions. As reflected in the newspaper The CountryIn Spain there are currently more than one mile of temporary speed restrictions active. This means that there are more than 1,000 points where drivers must circulate at a speed lower than the maximum speed permitted at that point in a generic manner. These restrictions are a consequence of actions on the tracks but also the consequence of continuous warnings by train drivers. And it is that, as they have confirmed to Xatakathe workers indicate with a report points that, in their opinion, should be reviewed or do not allow driving at the maximum speed required. Everything indicates that, after the Adamuz accident in Córdobathe zeal with these notices is greater than before. Train drivers also have the power to reduce speed at specific points if they so deem it necessary. These speed reductions must be reflected with a notice to the command post and in a report but, as we said, Adif has the final say on what is reviewed, what point is left for later and where speed restrictions are applied and for how long. Is it important? Yes, because temporary speed restrictions have multiplied high-speed travel time. Right now, Adif has indicated to the operators that Journey times are going to be longer in Madrid-Barcelona due to actions on the tracks and trains have been eliminated. This situation will last for months and as it is an issue that falls on the side of the road manager, the client has no right to compensation. The data of The Country They indicated on March 9 that there are 422 points where trains must run at a maximum of 30 km/h. It is the most repeated speed limitation. If the restrictions at 60 km/h or less are added, there are more than 850 points in Spain where high-speed trains cannot go above this speed. Where are there more limitations? Due to the volume of traffic and passengers, it is logical that the restrictions in Madrid-Barcelona have focused attention. Especially since it has been difficult to travel between both cities during the day without suffering any surprises or being clear about what time you are going to arrive, which complicates the traditional movement between cities. However, the media reports that line 100 Madrid-Hendaya is the most affected with 83 temporary speed limitations that reduce speed by 112 kilometers along the total 641 kilometers, followed far away by line 400 Alcázar de San Juan-Cádiz, which totals 85 limited kilometers spread over 69 restrictions found along 577 kilometers. However, it is the line 240 S. Vicenç Calders-L’Hospitalet that is most affected if the number of kilometers with active speed limitations is taken into account. And of the total 71 kilometers of the line, 56 of them have limitations below normal as a result of 35 conflict points. Photo | José Ignacio Esgarriaga In Xataka | Spain decided to build its social life around the AVE. And now he’s discovering the consequences of failing.

The US ignored Ukraine’s pleas to Russia, and now Iran has turned the US into Ukraine

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In recent years, something curious has happened in the military world: the most influential drones on the battlefield are not the most advanced, but some of the cheapest. Small devices with triangular wings and simple engines, inspired by Iranian designs, have ended up starring thousands of attacks in several conflicts and forcing entire armies to rethink how to defend their skies. Paradoxically, stopping them usually costs much more than making them. And the United States has realized it late. The war that changed the battle. we have been counting. The Russian invasion of Ukraine inaugurated a new phase in modern warfare marked by the massive use of cheap drones capable of overwhelm the defenses traditional aerials. Since 2022, Russian forces have launched tens of thousands of Shahed drones (of Iranian origin) against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, forcing kyiv to develop an improvised but increasingly sophisticated defense. This experience, acquired in extreme conditions and under constant bombing, has turned the country into the most advanced laboratory in the world to combat this type of weapons. What began as a desperate fight to protect their airspace ended generating new tacticselectronic warfare systems and interceptor drones specifically designed to destroy these low-cost loitering munitions. The weapon that changes the economy of war. The success of Shahed drones is based on brutally simple logic: its price. Each can cost between $20,000 and $50,000, a paltry figure compared to the systems designed to stop them. For years, Ukraine and other countries have been forced to use anti-aircraft missiles that can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to shoot down a single drone. This asymmetry turns each interception into an economic defeateven when the target is destroyed. To solve the problem, Ukraine began to develop cheaper solutions: interceptor drones that pursue and attack the Shahed, mobile teams with machine guns, electronic jamming systems and surveillance networks adapted to detect these devices before they reach their objectives. The great strategic paradox. Here appears one of the most striking ironies of the current conflict. For years, Ukraine asked for more help to defend against Iranian drone attacks used by Russia and developed specific technology to combat them in view of the fact that no one (or few) paid attention to them. Even now we know who came to offer that experience and those systems to the United States in meetings held at the White House, where he presented proposals to create anti-drone defense networks in the Middle East. That offer was ignored at that time. Ironies of fate, months later, after the start of the war with Iran and the launch of thousands of drones against American bases and allies, Washington has been forced to knock on kyiv’s door and ask for help. In a sense, the conflict has reversed the roles: The most powerful military power in the world is now facing the same dilemma that Ukraine has been trying to solve for years, defending its positions from swarms of cheap drones that force it to spend fortunes to be neutralized. The world calls kyiv. This accumulated experience has turned Ukraine into a unexpectedly valuable partner for countries now suffering similar attacks. Governments in the Middle East, Europe and the United States have begun to request advice, technology and training to defend themselves against Iranian drones. Zelensky himself confirmed that his government has received multiple requests to share knowledge on interceptors, electronic warfare and air defense tactics adapted to this type of threat. kyiv has responded sending experts and systems to some US bases in the region as it tries to balance that aid with its own defensive needs against Russia. From laboratory to export power. The war has also transformed the Ukrainian defense industrial sector. Local companies produce now thousands of interceptor drones every month and have developed models capable of pursuing and destroying Shahed at a fraction of the cost of traditional missiles. Some manufacturers claim to be able manufacture tens of thousands of monthly units, which has aroused enormous international interest. Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabiahave begun negotiations to acquire Ukrainian interceptors and technology, seeking more sustainable solutions than relying exclusively on extremely expensive Western anti-aircraft systems. A new global race: anti-drone defense. The rise of these technologies reflects a change unimaginable until recently in contemporary military logic. The great powers have discovered that systems designed to intercept ballistic missiles or fighter jets are not necessarily effective against swarms of cheap, mass-produced drones. In the Persian Gulf, Israel and the Arab states have had to spend large quantities of missiles Patriot, THAAD or Iron Dome to stop relatively cheap attacks. This dynamic has caused a global career to develop more economical solutions, from interceptor drones to automatic air defense systems capable of confronting massive threats. A global lesson. In short, what began as a regional war in Eastern Europe it’s over redefining the way many countries understand air defense. Ukraine, which for years fought almost alone against massive Iranian drone attacks operated by Russia, has unexpectedly become the world reference to combat this threat. The paradox is simple and obvious, because the technology and tactics developed by a country that was fighting to survive have become essential to protect some of the most advanced military powers on the planet. In the new drone war that extends from Europe to the Middle East, the experience accumulated in the skies over Ukraine has become one of the most valuable strategic assets of the moment. So much so that even has invested the papers with the United States. Image | ArmyInform, Lycksele-Nord, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine In Xataka | The United Kingdom has opened the kamikaze drone that exploded at the European base. The surprise is capital: it is not from Iran, it is “made in Russia” In Xataka | Shahed drones are spreading terror in the Gulf. Ukraine has offered the solution and the price to pay has a name

Saudi Arabia’s ace in the hole to break the Iranian blockade in Hormuz

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Iran’s survival strategy in this war is based on a tactic of geopolitical suffocation: strangling the Strait of Hormuz to impose an unbearable economic cost on the West. However, while the financial market blindly speculates with express truces and the price of fuel follows its own dynamics at the pumps, the physical reality on the ground is about to change. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have a logistical “antidote” capable of rescuing up to 7 million of those barrels, radically changing the equation and breaking Iranian blackmail. The “antidote” in the desert. This lifeline was not improvised yesterday. Known as the East-West Pipeline (or Petroline), It began to be built in the 80s for fear that the war between Iran and Iraq will paralyze the Persian Gulf. According to Middle East Eye, It is a pharaonic artery of some 1,200 kilometers that winds through the Arabian desert, connecting the gigantic extraction fields in the east directly with the port terminal of Yanbu, bathed by the waters of the Red Sea. In this way, the crude oil can go out into the world without coming into the range of the Iranian missiles in Hormuz. As confirmed by the CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, in Financial Timesthe company is working around the clock to raise pumping to the pipeline’s maximum capacity: 7 million barrels per day. Before the crisis, only 2.8 million barrels circulated there. Nasser detailed that about 2 million barrels will remain to feed its refineries on the west coast, leaving the not inconsiderable figure of 5 million barrels per day ready for the global market. The machinery in motion. Saudi Arabia has stepped on the accelerator. “We should reach maximum capacity in a couple of days,” said the head of Aramco, according to statements collected by Reuters. If Riyadh manages to consolidate this route, the kingdom will be able to export close to 70% of its usual shipments. The energy analyst Javier Blas underlines in your column for Bloomberg that right now the critical thing is to look at the flow export outside of Hormuz, and not so much in wellhead production. And shipping data supports this frenetic activity: Bloomberg has detailed as an “armada” of at least 25 supertankers (known as VLCCs) have changed course and are sailing towards the port of Yanbu to load this lifesaving crude oil. Adding to this ball of oxygen is the effort of the United Arab Emirates. Through their Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, which also bypasses the dangerous strait to exit the Gulf of Oman, they are providing between 1.5 and 2 million additional barrels per day, according to the data of Wall Street Journal. The small print. However, as with any large-scale emergency logistics operation, there is no magic wand. Experts warn of several blind spots in this strategy: The port funnel: According to the agency Argus MediaAlthough the Saudi pipeline manages to transport 5 million barrels for export, the port of Yanbu has its own limits. Its nominal loading capacity is about 4.5 million barrels per day in two terminals, but market sources place the proven effective capacity closer to 4 million. The fuel crisis (distillates): As Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warns, analyst cited by Middle East Eyethe current problem goes beyond crude oil; It is a diesel and aviation fuel crisis. The pipeline East-West It transports crude oil, not refined products. This leaves markets such as Europe, which were highly dependent on Middle Eastern refineries (such as the gigantic Emirati Ruwais plant, recently hit by a drone). The Houthi threat and the collapse of the tanks: Moving the oil outlet to the Red Sea returns the spotlight to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. As Greg Priddy points outships loading in Yanbu bound for Asia will have to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, exposing themselves to drone attacks. Added to this is that, faced with the inability to remove ships through Hormuz, the Gulf countries are filling their storage reserves to the limit, forcing Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq to drastically cut extraction from their wells, as it has progressed Bloomberg. Buying time in the “Battle of the pipelines”. Nobody in the oil industry deceives anyone. Aramco’s own CEO admitted the “catastrophic consequences” What would a prolongation of this scenario have for the world economy? As Blas concludesthese alternative pipelines do not replace the opening of the Strait of Hormuz permanently. Its main mission is another: to buy valuable time. If the Saudi-Emirati duo manages to get this enormous pipeline to spit millions of barrels into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman, they will stop the panic at the Western pumps and take away Iran’s main negotiating asset. Far from the political and stock market noise, the resolution of this crisis is being fought in the logistical desert. Image | Aramco Xataka | Light and gas have become luxury items. Europe’s plan is to intervene in prices no matter what the cost

It’s a sign of where Google wants to go.

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Alphabet has just tied Sundar Pichai as CEO of the company with one of the more generous salary bonuses of the technology sector. No less than 692 million dollars in the next three years. The figure, without a doubt, draws attention, but what is truly revealing is not the amount of the bonus itself, but rather what variables its collection is conditioned on. Two of the most generous economic blocks depend directly on the value reached by Waymo, the autonomous taxisand Wing, its subsidiary delivery with drones. With this move, Alphabet has made clear in writing what its priorities are for the next three years. A bonus that reveals a strategy. He official document presented before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), details how Alphabet will incentivize Pichai to develop the company’s strategy through 2029. In this document, Alphabet’s board of directors assures that “further incentivizing Mr. Pichai is in the best interest of Alphabet and its shareholders, and is designed to maximize long-term value for shareholders.” As usually happens in this type of bonuses for senior managers, Pichai’s compensation plan will materialize in the form of a series of share packages that are unlocked as the set objectives are achieved. The base salary of the CEO of Alphabet remains at two million dollars annually, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2020. In reality, he does not care too much since if it increases it will also your tax bill would increase. The important thing about the bonus is the bonus action packages, which are divided into three blocks. The first tranche, valued at $84 million in Alphabet shares, are the easiest to obtain since they are released month by month for three years and all Pichai has to do is remain in his position as CEO. The second block, worth $126 million (with two tranches of $63 million each), is linked to Alphabet’s stock market performance compared to the rest of the S&P 100 companies. This tranche can double if Google’s stock market value exceeds the board of directors’ estimates. Finally, the third block is that of the so-called Bet Performance Units: shares directly linked to the growth of Waymo and Wing, with a joint value of 175 million, but with the possibility of doubling their value to 350 million dollars if estimates are exceeded. Waymo and Wing: what they are and why they matter. Waymo is the company Alphabet autonomous vehicleswhich was born as an internal Google project in 2009. Today it operates robotaxi services without a human driver in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. In February 2026, it completed a financing round that valued it at $126 billion. In the package of shares that Alphabet has offered to Pichai, the party linked to Waymo has been assigned a block worth $130 million, which can reach up to $260 million if the company reaches double the proposed stock market target for the next three years. Wing, for its part, is not as well-known as Waymo, and focuses its activity on delivering orders with drones. Its operation consists of delivering light packages directly to the customer’s home in a matter of minutes, covering what is called “last mile deliveries“. In January 2026 he announced the extension of your agreement with the Walmart supermarket chain to reach more than 270 stores by 2027, with a potential audience of more than 40 million Americans. In Pichai’s package, Wing is assigned a block worth 45 million dollars, expandable up to 90 million.​ Some go for robots, others for robotaxis. Linking a good part of that salary bonus of the company’s CEO to the success of two projects that until now had been considered minor, suggests that Google is already willing to take its AI one step further and that the next step is to give the definitive support to the models of Autonomous driving AI and air navigation. With this movement, the Mountain View firm seeks to fully immerse itself in the race for robotaxis and autonomous delivery networks to stand up to Tesla, Uber or Amazonand place itself in a dominant position in a sector that promises to move billions of dollars in investments over the next decade. A figure in perspective. If Pichai meets all the objectives by 2029, his salary bonus will be well above those of other large technology CEOs (with the exception of Elon Musk mega bonus at Tesla). Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft, collected 96.5 million dollars in fiscal year 2025, of which about 84 million came from shares; Tim Cook, at Apple, earned 74.3 million in the same period. Pichai’s previous package, approved in December 2022, was $218 million and had a similar target-based structure to this one. Since Pichai took over as CEO in August 2015, Alphabet’s market capitalization has gone from $535 billion to $3.6 trillion, briefly touching $4 trillion in January 2026. Forbes esteem that the head of Google’s parent company has a personal wealth of about $1.5 billion. a figure very far away of the 255.2 billion dollars that Larry Page has or the 235,500 of Sergei Brin. In Xataka | We knew that the CEOs of large companies were very well paid. What we didn’t know was how much their salary had been raised. Image | European UnionWaymo, Wing

The Chinese side has a weapon that is impossible for the European side.

by

Talk about technological and commercial war leads us to look at United States and China. They are the two who star in the great conflict between vetoes and a race for technological independence. But between the Netherlands and China there is a bunch of look at me and don’t touch me. In the eye of the storm is Nexperia, a Chinese semiconductor company, but based in the Netherlands. After a public breakup and a civil war between the two headquarters, Nexperia China has just threatened something very big: they are capable of manufacturing wafers 12 inches… and the unit in Europe no. And it is something that adds to that technological sovereignty that China pursues. Summary of the sauce. Before getting into the matter, it is worth reviewing because history has gone from 0 to 100 in just a few months. Nexperia is a manufacturer that originated from the split of the Dutch company NXP Semiconductors. They are, as their name indicates, a semiconductor company, the material with which the chips that all our devices contain are created. China has been wanting to consolidate its semiconductor industry for years, even before Trump’s veto, and bought Nexperia in 2017 for $2.75 billion. The headquarters were in the Netherlands, but the owner was a Chinese consortium backed by the country’s government. In October 2025, the surprise arrived: Netherlands confiscated Nexperia by surpriseallowing the country full control of its operations. Aim? Protect Europe’s chips. Consequence? Very risky move in relations with China that were already deteriorating. The next move was breakup of the Chinese part of Nexperia with the European onethe stoppage of chip shipping which threatened world automobile production for a time and totally broken communications between both parties. It is not that the company was divided into two separate entities: it was that it was one body with two brains. And they didn’t speak. Be careful what a mess. With this said, we return to the present. Although relations were still very tense, they seemed to have eased somewhat until, a few days ago, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce warned that tensions between Nexperia Netherlands and Nexperia China were flourishing again. It seems that the Dutch side had disabled the professional accounts of all your employees in China (we are talking about key work systems such as Office 365 and similar) and China said “yes? Well, I’m not sending you materials to make wafers.” From China, this action was classified as unforgivable as it “seriously disrupted the company’s normal production and operations.” And the threat came: “if a new crisis arises in global semiconductor production and supply chains, the Netherlands will be to blame.” This is something that would affect, above all, to the automotive industryand we already have enough with the RAM crisis. Shortly after, on March 6, Nexperia China reported that many operations had already resumed and Nexperia Netherlands, without denying the action, questioned whether it had really been as serious for the Chinese side as they were making it out to be. 12 inch wafers. The Dutch side was very well positioned in wafer manufacturing and was supplying them to Nexperia China before they stopped talking to each other. Since then, the Chinese side has secured suppliers and improved its technology on its own. And they are not doing badly. In a statement published by Nexperia China, the company stated have started small-scale production of 12-inch wafers. In them, it “prints” the same components that are also manufactured in the Dutch part, but with a nuance: the Chinese wafers are larger. The larger the wafer, the more you can “print” on it and the easier it is to develop large-scale production. This means more chips at lower prices due to economies of scale. According to the Chinese side, Nexperia Netherlands cannot manufacture 12-inch wafers in European facilities, so they now have the advantage. a wafer And in detail. The larger the wafer, the more it can be “printed” and the more chips can come off a single wafer. Local supply. This has two implications. On the one hand, what we talked about: economies of scale and the ability for automakers to buy from China instead of the Netherlands. On the other hand, the demonstration that they can manage on their own with other suppliers. Now, it esteem that the Shanghai plant has a production capacity of 30,000 wafers per month compared to Nexperia’s 83,000 in Hamburg, but of course, if they have found the key to producing larger wafers, in the end fewer wafers can yield more. And beyond all, it is a demonstration of the extent to which the two sides are going their separate ways and, in recent communicationsnone of them have any intention of fixing things. And, in the end, it is one more example of something bigger: it is currently impossible to separate global technology from geopolitics. Images | Steve JurvetsonJohn McMaster In Xataka | Spain is betting its future in the semiconductor industry on a single card: gallium chips

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