arrived

A new threat has arrived in the skies of Europe. They are not drones or fighters, and the order is to shoot before you ask

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For weeks now, the European sky has has converted in a silent front of hybrid war: brief incursions, weak signals, ambiguous trajectories and objects that, without carrying clear flags, force airport closures, diversions of trade routes and military responses that consume resources and erode civil normality. The pattern is repeated from the Baltics to Central Europe and seems designed to measure the NATO reflexes. Now something else has arrived, and it’s not drones or fighter jets. Balloon waves. Lithuania has announced that will bring down any balloon that crosses from Belarus after detecting in one go 66 night intrusions and chain closures of Vilnius airport. The government described the phenomenon as hybrid attack and activated the closure of the eastern border, initially temporary but set to become indefinite, with minimal exceptions for diplomats and EU citizens in transit. The decision marks a turning point on NATO’s eastern flank, where violations of airspace by drones, balloons and Russian aircraft are increasing. have become recurring in recent weeks, from Estonia and Poland to Denmark, Norway and Germany, fueling the impression of a sustained campaign of provocations calibrated to measure reflexes, saturate defenses and erode political tolerance at the cost of deterrence. Nature and sign. The balloons (some weighing more than 50 kilos, also used for tobacco smuggling) are interpreted not only as a criminal economy but also as a cheap instrument. psychological warfare and technical rehearsal: they stretch the “gray zone” five kilometers inward, force airport closures, degrade logistics, strain the civil and military decision chain and expose the friction of activating rules of engagement against targets no classic military sign. Lithuania will involve NASAMS, RBS-70, Avengers and MANPADS in neutralization, despite stocks depleted by transfers to Ukraine and the intrinsic difficulty of shooting down balloons with low radar signature and low kinetic energy. The political message is deliberate: any permeability (even if it seems marginal) will be treated as a strategic precedent. Escalation in NATO. We said it at the beginning, the episode arrives after penetrations of Su-30, Il-78 and MiG-31 in the Baltics, and after the recording of swarms of drones over Poland, Denmark, Munich or the Baltic, with more than 170 flights disrupted in one week in Vilnius and almost 14,000 passengers affected. Reiteration converts the episodic in pattern: state actors exploit loopholes in regulations (civil balloons, meteorological assumptions, smuggling) to degrade the continuity of European civil aviation and test the elasticity of ROE and allied cohesion without crossing explicit thresholds of article 5. Lithuania, in fact, studies consultations under article 4and has hinted that the closure could extend to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, raising the economic-logistical vector of the pulse. Hybrid war as a framework. Vilnius is clearand describes the phenomenon as a psychological operation aimed at disrupting daily life, testing NATO-EU synchrony and normalizing aggression (of low lethality, of course) as noise permanent. The background signal (at no point is Moscow explicitly named) fits into the repertoire hybrid warfare: discreet sabotage, information manipulation, low signal intrusion, erosion of trust and critical infrastructure, in conjunction with the war in Ukraine and under the plausible protection of Belarus. Plus: the closure of borders is accompanied by tougher criminal penalties against smuggling and coordination with Poland and Latvia to shield the eastern edge as a strategic unit, given the calculation that firmness, the earlier, will define how much the enemy will dare later. Image | LITHUANIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE In Xataka | Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones In Xataka | The Spanish invention that simplifies the hunt for Europe’s biggest threat: how to detect the arrival of drones in a matter of seconds

We have to start calling what is happening in Venezuela by its name. The “other” US bombers have arrived

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May America return to “walk” bombers strategic actions against Venezuela gives shape to an idea: this is no longer a tactical whim, it is a military campaign that moves on a dangerous border between ambiguity and prelude of something of greater significance. Not only that: the presence in the air, sea and territorial periphery of a country without the capacity for military parity introduces a geopolitical message directed towards third partiesand places the region before an unprecedented scenario. The visible phase. United States has done it again. Now they have been B-1 Lancer (long-range bombers, high payload and supersonic speed) from Dyess (Texas) to the outskirts of Venezuelawithout entering sovereign airspace but close enough to constitute an unequivocal signal of availability of remote fire. These flights are added to previous demonstrations with B-52 and F-35B, and are part of a expanded deployment which includes eight warships, a submarine, P-8 maritime patrol, MQ-9 Reaper and a squadron of F-35s already advanced in the theater. The novelty is not the capacity but the frequency: what used to be an annual exercise has become a sustained cadence that Pentagon officials already hint will grow, under the operational argument of surveillance and destruction of boats, but with a clear transition potential to fixed targets ashore. What the bombers reveal. Air traffic scans showed pairs of B-1 with BARB21/22 and nodal planes (KC-135 for replenishment, RC-135 ISR and a E-11A BACN) composing architecture of command, link and persistence typical of complex operations, not symbolic gestures. The immediate precedent of the B-52 in the same areadescribed by the Department of Defense itself as a “demonstration of attack”, reinforces the reading that Washington is setting up an environment from which it will be able to strike from outside the Venezuelan tactical range without the need to preposition bombers in regional bases, exploiting the strategic autonomy of the heavy wing. The E-11 BACN The bridge and options. The campaign against suspicious vessels (with at least seven confirmed attacks on speedboats and a submersible since September) complies a double function: produces immediate kinetic effects and, at the same time, normalizes the use of lethal power without explicit congressional authorization on targets politically designated as “narco-targets.” Trump openly declared that, once the maritime phase has been exhausted, the attacks could move to land against distribution or production facilities, and former USAF officers admit that the B-1 platform is ideal for that scenario. The Republican-dominated Congress has blocked attempts to limit presidential authority, and the line between war on cartels and strategic coercion of the regime has been blurred. deliberately blurred. A B-52 and two F-35Bs seen flying together during the “bomber strike demonstration mission” last week The background. Before reappearing heavy wing on the Caribbean, Washington had consumed three cycles without success: maximum sanctions, political negotiation and recognition of a parallel government. They all failed in dislodging Maduro, protected by a Cuban counterintelligence apparatus and armored by alignment with Russia, China and Iran. The turn to military coercion (destroyers with Tomahawk, embarked special forces, ISR means and precision fire) replicates a repertoire with long and bumpy genealogy in Latin America, but here with a deliberately ambiguous purpose. The Caribbean without law. The Pentagon has sunken vessels alleging narcoterrorism, with no specific congressional authority to equate cartels with al-Qaeda-type threats. Trump came to contemplate blows on the ground that would produce high-impact viral images, but without a sure path to a stable political outcome: the available force (some 10,000 troops) is not enough for a conventional invasion, and a surgical assault to capture Maduro would entail catastrophic risks if it failed. The limits and fragility. I remembered a few hours ago the financial times that the recent history of the United States in “nation-building” after the use of force is poorand in Venezuela the vacuum after a forced decapitation could be occupied by hard factions of the apparatus or consolidate Maduro himself if a failed operation gave him an alibi for deeper repression. The legitimate opposition is fragmented or in exileand institutional continuity after a crash would be uncertain. The main weight of the warning lies not so much in the probability of an immediate attack as in the fact that, by declaring the war open to “narco-terrorists” and pointing to Maduro as one of them, the administration has crossed a line from which it is difficult to retreat without showing strength. The strategy. If you want, the bomber flyover In the face of Venezuela, it functions as an element of psychological pressure, as an enabling infrastructure for a rapid kinetic leap, and as an extra-regional message to those who support the regime. Until now, the legal elasticity of this “anti-drug” framework has served to go through it lining barriers to the use of force without declared war. Now, with the appearance of heavy wingWashington points out that coercion has left the discursive plane to settle in the closest thing to a real architecture of the theater. Image | USA, USAF In Xataka | The US has several warships deployed off Venezuela. Venezuela has a Soviet missile capable of penetrating them In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: there are 10,000 soldiers and unusual artillery pointing at the same place in the Caribbean

Privacy is dying since ChatGPT arrived. Now our obsession is for AI to know us as best as possible

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For years we have learned to distrust. Not to share too much, to be suspicious of each clickof each form, of each extra permission that the mobile phone or some app asked us for. To frown. Privacy was the last bastion of digital dignity, the ground we had to defend. But something has changed. And he has done it without resistance. Since ChatGPT and company arrived, and especially since the projects and expanded memorywe have crossed an invisible line. We no longer just agree to hand over our data, we offer it proactively. What’s more, we get frustrated when AI doesn’t remember enough, or when it’s not able to quickly process a report or analytics. Or when it doesn’t anticipate what we want. The paradox is brutal. We’ve gone from being outraged that Instagram showed us an overly personal and painfully targeted ad (shirts that camouflage lorzas, infertility treatments) to being impatient if ChatGPT doesn’t remember something we could use it to remember. Of the “I don’t want to be tracked” to “why the hell don’t you know me better by now?” The difference comes from the perception of immediate usefulness: social platforms monetized our data by selling their access to third parties to segment ads, AI uses it to give us more useful answers. Or so we think. The trick is in the illusion of reciprocity: When you provide information to a social network, you receive in return content that you did not ask for and advertisements that you do not want, no matter how accurate they may be. When you hand it over to an AI, you get personalized responses, assistance tailored to you, solutions that seem designed exclusively for your case. In the second case, the transaction feels fair. Symmetrical. Even generous on the part of the machine. But the architecture of power has not changed. She has only become more seductive. Now they don’t watch us, they understand us. And they don’t track us, but they remember us. Language matters, because it changes how we perceive what we are giving up. We have gone from being spied on to being cared for. And that makes a psychological difference, even though the end result is the same: handing over the entire map of who we are to entities we do not control. Privacy is not dead. He is giving up due to exhaustion. Because defending something that makes our lives more difficult, that deprives us of comfort and efficiency, is unsustainable when the alternative promises to know us so well that it frees us from explaining ourselves over and over again. In Xataka | OpenAI is making the tech industry unite its destiny with yours. For the sake of the global economy, it better work Featured image | Xataka

Millions in advertising convinced us that bottled water was healthier. Until microplastics arrived

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On many occasions we can associate bottled water as a higher quality option to hydrate ourselves above tap water. But the reality is that the latest scientific analyzes indicate that bottled water is a direct source of exposure to nano and microplastics (NMPs). This means that regular bottled water consumers may be ingesting up to 90,000 additional plastic particles per year compared to those who drink tap water. Something that breaks with the idea that we can reach everyone that bottled water is much healthier as they have always tried to sell us. The invisible enemy. The studypublished in the magazine Journal of Hazardous Materials defines microplastics as particles between 1 micrometer and 5 mm and nanoplastics as those smaller than 1 micrometer. Ultimately, very small particles that are released from plastic bottles throughout their life cycle. How they are released. According to the study, the particles are released not only by the natural degradation of plastic, but also by everyday physical and environmental stressors. For example, the simple act of opening and closing the cap or squeezing the bottle to drink generates friction that ends with the release of particles into the water. Another very common case is leaving the water bottle in the sun for a certain time. Many plastic particles are being released here because the degradation of the packaging is increasing. But in the opposite case, in freezing, we also have this same problem because it has also been shown that it is a factor that increases contamination by microplastics. Size matters. Once these particles are ingested, Its effect will depend on the size it has.. In general, the smaller it is, the more worrying it is for our body, since the more easily it will be able to cross biological barriers. If we talk about particles larger than 150 micrometers, the truth is that we can rest assured because they will directly pass through the digestive tract to the feces. But if they are smaller than 150 micrometers, they will be able to cross the intestinal cavity and enter the lymphatic and circulatory system, being able to reach the organs with particles smaller than 20 micrometers. But the real danger is in particles smaller than 100 nanometers that are considered nanoplastics. In this case, the particles are small enough to reach all organs, including the ability to cross such critical barriers as the blood-brain barrier and the placenta. The dangers. Continued exposure to nano- and microplastics is linked to a number of chronic health problems. This is not acute toxicity, but long-term cumulative damage. Among the main risks that have been identified are respiratory diseases, reproductive products, disruption of the immune system or increased oxidative stress. The challenge. One of the great challenges for researchers is the lack of standardized methods to analyze these plastics. Right now different tests can be found, but they vary in sensitivity and precision, which makes it difficult to reach a common criterion between the different studies in order to have a general image of the big problem before us. Right now, some techniques can detect very small particles, but not their composition, while others do the opposite, which is a very important limitation. But despite these, some studies already point to significant differences between the water brands we find on the market. For example, research cited in the report found that Nestle Pure Life and Bisleri had some of the highest average concentrations of microplastic particles. Regulation. This lack of standardization in studies has contributed to a large “legislative vacuum” in our society. And while there has been legislation on plastic bags, straws or single-use cutlery, water bottles have largely been left out of the regulatory focus. In this way, the author of the study points out that the consumption of water in plastic bottles should be done in emergency situations, but not as a daily practice due to the high consumption of microplastics that we are going to end up ingesting and that would generate a long-term problem. And we have already witnessed precisely how they have appeared microplastics in human testiclesthe breast milkthe blood, archaeological remains or also in the foods we eatlike the vegetables we consume. That is why in the long run we will have to specifically see the impact that prolonged consumption will have through different means, and not just bottled water. Images | Jonathan Cooper In Xataka | From causing diarrhea to making biodegradable plastics: the E. coli bacteria has a new job in Japan

There are fewer and fewer North Koreans fighting with Russia in Ukraine. An army has arrived with an irrefutable promise: Cubans

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For months, reports about foreign fighters in Ukraine indicated to North Korea as the main source of soldiers sent to support Russia. Then there was official confirmation by both nations. Quietly, however, that balance is shifting in surprising ways. On the board of the war in Eastern Europe, another country begins to displace Pyongyang in the role of largest supplier of troops to Moscow, an unexpected turn that reveals both the fragility of Russia and the depth of its authoritarian alliances. The Cuban front. What began as a regional invasion has transformed into a global war, in which Russia not only faces Ukraine and its Western allies, but also mobilize a network of regimes to sustain the war effort. Among them, Cuba emerges as an unexpected actor: according to Ukrainian estimates, up to 25,000 Cubans They could join the Russian front, becoming the largest foreign force in Ukraine, above the North Korean contingents. For the Kremlin, the usefulness of this formula it is evident: The casualties of foreign fighters do not generate internal protests, do not require compensation to Russian families and reduce the political cost of the conflict. In a country with more than one million estimated casualtiesattract soldiers overseas It is also a matter of strategic survival. A formula that is difficult to reject. The main motivation for many Cuban recruits is simple: economic. On an island mired in one of the worst crises in recent decades, where the average salary barely exceeds 20 dollars a month, the promises of charge $2,000 a month They fight any ideological objection. Some accept the contracts convinced, others are deceived with job offers in construction or factories, to discover upon arriving in Russia that their destination is the battle front. Analysts like Cristina López-Gottardi they point out that the economic attraction is irresistible, but they also highlight the political dimension: Havana obtains income from remittances from combatants and consolidates its alignment with Moscow, presenting it as a gesture of “revolutionary loyalty” and, incidentally, a symbolic challenge to Washington. Experts point out that the regime seeks reinforce your narrative anti-American, presenting participation as an act of internationalist solidarity, although in practice it is a source of foreign currency in times of hardship. Mercenaries, coercion and globality. The Cuban presence is part of a broader trend: the growing Russian dependence on foreign fighters. According to intelligence data, in 2025 almost half of the prisoners captured in Ukraine They were not Russian citizenswhen in 2022 they barely represented 1%. From Africans recruited under threats of deportation, until deceived students With false job offers in “shampoo factories”, including North Koreans sent as cannon fodder, Moscow turns to a whole mosaic of forced soldiers or mercenaries. In this sense, the Cuban contribution not only strengthens the Russian lines, but also magnify the image of a war waged by an international authoritarian axis that includes Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and now Cuba, sharing weapons, technology and experience on a battlefield converted into a laboratory for modern warfare with drones, electronic warfare and new combat tactics. Cuba as a diplomatic target. Cuban involvement in Ukraine has not gone unnoticed by the United States. The Trump administration has decided to use it as a central argument in his diplomatic offensive against Havana at the UN. An internal State Department cable, dated October 2, instructed US delegations to pressure allies to vote against the traditional annual resolution demanding an end to the US embargo on Cuba. Year after year, the measure has had overwhelming support (in 2024, 187 countries voted in favor and only the United States and Israel against), although Washington hopes to reduce that margin by presenting evidence that the Miguel Díaz-Canel regime has become in active accomplice of Russian aggression, with between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters deployed on the front. In the documents is underlined that Cuba “has failed to protect its citizens from being used as pawns” in the war, and the regime is accused of “undermining democracy” in the region, particularly through its alliance with Venezuela. The embargo and sanctions. Washington’s strategy seeks to disarm the Havana narrative, which presents the embargo as the root of all their evils. The diplomatic cable instructs to highlight the corruption and incompetence of the Cuban government, in addition to highlighting that the economic problems do not derive from the sanctions, but from its mismanagement. Trump, upon his return to the presidency, has hardened the restrictions: has reinstated Cuba to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, has further limited financial transactions and has sanctioned third countries that collaborate with Cuban doctors abroad. Faced with this pressure, the Cuban regime accuses Washington of seeking a pretext for aggression and even instrumentalizing the anti-drug fight in the Caribbean as an excuse to increase tension. That said, the backdrop seems different: the combination internal collapse and military alliance with Moscow places Cuba at the epicenter of the geopolitical struggle between Washington and the authoritarian bloc. Military school. Beyond the diplomatic balances, what worries many analysts is that the war in Ukraine has become an involuntary academy for allied armies of Russia. Every foreign contingent that steps on the front learn first hand the techniques of the first great drone war in history: from swarm operations to electronic warfare. As warns Bill Colefounder of Peace Through Strength Institute“the real danger is not the thousands of Cubans or North Koreans sent, but what they learn and then export to other conflicts in Latin America, Africa or Asia.” This transfer of war knowledge turns war into a multiplier of global instability, with authoritarian regimes absorbing tactics and adapting them to their own scenarios. The Cuban paradox. The participation of thousands of Cubans in the Ukrainian war also reveals a paradox: while for the Havana regime it represents both a source of foreign currency and a reaffirmation of its anti-American identity, for Moscow it is a cheap solution and politically comfortable to internal wear and tear, and for Washington an opportunity to intensify diplomatic pressure … Read more

For decades, Spain has been oblivious to the boom of evangelical churches worldwide. Until they arrived in Madrid

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They do not run good times for the Catholic Church, which dealt with a Vocations collapse and one clear loss of practitioners. However, others that are going better. As the Latin American community has gained presence In the Madrid region it has also been done by the Evangelical Church, increasingly present in its streets and with greater influence. Both, in fact, that there are those who calculate that they are opening places of worship to A past speed. Your data are of course amazing. What’s happening? That evangelical faith is extending strongly in Spain. And specially for the Community of Madrid, where he has been experiencing a real boom for years that can easily be traced in two areas: hemeroteca, who have been echoing of the trend; And on the streets (and polygons) of certain districts, which have seen how apartments, commercial bass or even old industrial workshops and ships were reconverted in places of worship. Are there data to try it? Yes. The observatory of religious pluralism in Spain leaves two interesting. The first is that, according to the registration available right now on its website, in the Community of Madrid there are 834 places dedicated to evangelical cult. The second is that, with that figure, the evangelists are (from afar) the minority confession with more presence in the region. They monopolize more than 69% of the totalquite above the Muslim, which barely reaches 12%. The Observatory itself points out that its data starts from a directory of places of worship that was last updated in October 2021. To have a more complete photograph it arrives with a look at the local press. In August The newspaper dedicated A wide report to the expansion of the evangelical temples in Madrid that spoke of the religion also passed the 800 centers of worship, which even exceeds the number of Catholic parishes, 702. How does it expand? At a surprising speed. Especially if we take into account that it coincides with a moment of weakness of the Catholic Church, marked by A serious vocations crisis that has forced him to pull imagination to maintain temples operations located in the rural. According to The data published yesterday by The countryover the last five years the Madrid region has seen how places of evangelist worship opened at a record rate: one every four days. The proliferation of this kind of temples is not in any exclusive case of the capital. The Observatory reveals that there are also hundreds and hundreds distributed throughout the rest of the country, especially in Catalonia, Andalusia and the Valencian Community. The Board of Directors of the Agency He attributes themrespectively, 984 and 731 and 495. In all Spain Newtral calculates 4,653 distributed for just over 800 municipalities. What reveals Madrid? Several things. Especially the force with which the cult expands and where it does. Although the number of temples has grown clearly in the region, it has not done so homogeneously. While the most central district brings together 21 temples, in Carabanchel we find almost 90, which has made some practitioners refer to it as the “evangelical gold mile.” The Observatory Board of religious pluralism shows that confession also has A rather relevant community Distributed by Alcalá de Henares, Móstoles, Fuenlabrada, Parla, Torrejón de Ardoz, Leganés or Getafe. Any of these locations has dozens of points of worship. What is the reason? There is not one. But the phenomenon coincides with another clear trend: the increase in the population of Latin American origin in Madrid. Last year the region lived a historical milestone when overcoming the symbolic barrier of the Million residents born in Spanish -speaking countries. The data is relevant because it confirms the exponential increase that the community has experienced in recent years, after successive migratory waves. As a reference, at the beginning of this century they barely went from 81,500. Beyond its evolution, it imports (and much) the weight that Americans have reached within Madrid’s society, already representing one in seven population. Why is it important? Because although Catholicism still has a key weight in Latin America, Protestantism and more specifically evangelism (and the Pentecostal movement) movement) has gained strength On the other side of the Atlantic. Upon arriving in Spain, immigrants not only retain the faith they professed in their countries, but helps them preserve their identity and establish ties. “They bring practices, leaders and networks already consolidated in origin that are reproduced in neighborhoods and municipalities where they settle, and find in the Pentecostal churches a space to maintain the identity community,” reflects the sociologist Paola García in A study On the phenomenon published in 2010. Religion abounds, allows them to “maintain identity continuity and, at the same time, mitigate the loneliness and vulnerability of the migratory process.” Are they just temples? No. They are anchor points. And its function goes beyond religious celebrations. They also serve as a space for socialization and support, which partly explains how temples They have expandedoccupying low, old workshops and even ships that come to rent by thousands of euros. “It is a form of social reconstruction that explains why Pentecostalism has found in Latin American flows a conducive land to grow,” he abounds. In Spain they live 1.5 million of people who declare themselves evangelists: to represent 0.2% of the population in 98 became 2% in 2018. Is there anything more than religion? Yes. Although the places of worship have a valuable social function and it is not an exclusive problem of evangelism, there are those who question the approach of some congregations from Latin America that are implanted in Europe. “It is difficult to know when we are talking about an evangelical church and when of a sect”, duck Luis Santamaría del Río, Ries expert, in an essay on the matter published in 2023 cited by The country. The researcher remember that in Spain the groups meet the same population as on the other side of the Atlantic, but “with a different purchasing power.” … Read more

It seemed difficult for the Galapagos Islands to be more threatened. And then a watchmaking pump arrived: Airbnb

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This summer, and while Spain declared war to the sector, the holiday rental He reached levels that until recently they would have seemed more typical of a dystopia. In fact, the platforms began to do business to the Pool rental for hours. Meanwhile, in places like New York, who closed the tap to Airbnb in 2023, they had discovered that two years later Hotels are happy. With this scenario, the Galapagos Islands have encountered the problem at home. The arrival of Airbnb. I told the weekend The New York Times. In the Galapagos Islands, one of the most delicate natural environments on the planet, the rise of Airbnb after the pandemic has transformed the tourist panorama. Alicia Ayalaknown as “the queen of Airbnb”, Symbolize This turn: rent apartments at affordable prices that attract backpackers and middle -class families, in contrast to elitist tourism that dominated for decades. Figures? Today there is More than 1,300 accommodations of this type compared to about 300 regulated hotels, which has generated an explosion of low -budget visitors who spend less and, according to critics, contribute to environmental deterioration and the banalization of a declared place World Heritage. Impact and tensions. Criticisms focus on the inability of short rentals to meet the Strict environmental standards that do govern for hotels, forced to pay permits, provide conservation funds and manage waste in a territory without drinking water or sustainable energy. The proliferation of uninformed visitors multiplies harmful behaviors: garbage on beaches, protected fauna or consumption of threatened species. In fact, researchers They warn that uncontrolled tourism threatens to convert the islands into a “Venice of Nature”, where the immediate economy of the preservation of unique ecosystems. Mass tourism and local economy. The archipelago went from receiving 6,000 annual visitors in the seventies to a forecast of 300,000 in 2025driven by commercial flights, social networks and the appearance of cheap excursions replacing the traditional luxury cruises. What is happening is A stage that It is repeated in The entire planet. This massification has left family hotels with empty rooms, while competing against Airbnbs that operate with lower costs and low supervision. At the same time, the tourism sector holds 80% Of the 30,000 inhabitants, so the dilemma between immediate income and sustainability becomes more acute in an isolated environment that depends on expensive imports and limited services. The legal (and political) battle. Although the Ecuadorian Constitution and the special legislation of the Galapagos They recognize rights of nature and limit hotel development, the absence of specific regulation for Airbnb generates a void that the hosts have taken advantage of. The Ministry of Tourism He has declared illegal Many of these accommodations and has ordered closures, but lacks effective control mechanisms, while platforms such as Airbnb claim to comply with current regulations and ask for clear rules. UNESCO He has urged Ecuador to stop growth and regulate digital tourism, although the attempts of hoteliers to achieve changes have been left unworthy. Threats and uncertain future. To tensions for tourism problems are added of illegal fishing, drug trafficking And, more recently, the fusion of the Ministry of Environment with that of Energy and Mines, played by experts such as a turn towards The exploitation of resources above conservation. In this context, the dispute between regulated hotels and hosts of Airbnb reflects a deeper conflict: to what extent Ecuador is willing to sacrifice Ecological integrity of the galapagos to sustain their economy. Among the pressure of tourism growth, the lack of effective regulation and the political signals that prioritize extraction on preservation, the future of the archipelago as a natural sanctuary remains, more than ever, in question. Image | Diego Delso In Xataka | In 2023 New York closed the tap to Airbnb to protect his home. Two years later, only hotels are happy In Xataka | Airbnb has just eliminated 65,000 tourist floors. The problem is that consumption has found another 55,000

This cyclist touched the world record through Eurasia. Then he arrived in Russia, and since then he cannot leave

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The history of sport is full of heroicities and records They seem impossible to beat. Also of moments of great cruelty, where the elite athlete “dies” on the shore, just a few seconds, meters or even centimeters of glory. Therefore, the story of a French cyclist who has been so close to being crowned with A historical deed It is being news these days. TO Sofiane Sehili44 years old, he only lacked Russia, and there it continues. An interrupted epic trip. As we said, Sofiane I was nothing to be crowned in the History books: Nothing less than a bicycle, without assistance, 17 countries from Cabo Dan Roca in Portugal to Vladivostok at the eastern end of Russia in just 62 days, which would have exceeded the 64 -day world record. After about 18,000 kilometers of inhospitable roads, storms, tremendous nights in Mongolian gas stations and China’s infinite steppes, he was at just 180 kilometers of your goal when He was arrested On September 2 by Russian border guards in the Irf region, accused of cross illegally From China despite having a valid visa. Your odyssey, narrated in videos They showed both the pain of pedaling with the feet sunk in mud and wet socks and the joy when contemplating wild horses and lonely landscapes, it has ended abruptly in a cell. The Euroasyatic labyrinth. The arrest occurred after VAryans frustrated attempts to cross the border between China and Russia. In official positions, the step was denied because only Chinese or Russian citizens can enter a bicycle, while in other steps only access by car, bus or train is admitted. After these rejections, Sehili tried to advance by a forest near Suifenhe and, by showing his passport to the Russian guards, It was arrested. Your partner, Fanny Bensussan, confirmed thatafter being rejected at the official crosses, he looked for alternative routes, which precipitated his arrest. The Ussuriysk court ordered its imprisonment until October 4 waiting for trial, without formal charges. From record to hostage. Sehili’s case cannot be separated of a pattern Increasingly evident in Moscow: the arrest of foreigners in what analysts and NGOs qualify as “hostage diplomacy.” Russia has accumulated notable history, such as the basketball player Brittney Grinerthe journalist of the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich or the consultant Paul Whelanamong others, used as exchange sheets by Russians convicted in the West. French citizens have also suffered this policy, such as the researcher Laurent Vinatierconvicted of not registering as a “foreign agent” and recently accused of espionage at risk of Up to 20 years in jail. In this context, the imprisonment of a resistance athlete, although apparently the result of a border incident is also interpreted as a political movement of international pressure. The human dimension of the challenge. Beyond geopolitics, Sehili’s journey illustrates the hardness of the Ultra-resistance challenges. Throughout his journey, the man faced frozen nights in cement floors, hotels without minimal conditions, constant breakdowns, wind against and the wear of pedaling more than 270 kilometers a day. In his storiesmoments of absolute hopelessness were mixed (when he confessed not to want to move on) with moments of total serenityin which he recognized that these adventures made sense of his life. Human contact, such as the gesture of a Chinese woman who He offered hot food And he introduced his children after a rainy and cold day, worked as small reminders of the value of his trip. Disturbing precedent. That Russia has arrested a cyclist On the edge of a world record, it places resistance sport on unpublished field, where physical and personal challenges can collide with the political interests of the states. Sehili’s image, exhausted but determined to reach Vladivostok, contrasts with the reality of a converted border In political trap. His case, far from an anecdotal, emphasizes how even sports gestures can be trapped in a geopolitical scenario where governments They instrumentalize citizens foreigners to send forces of strength or to prepare future diplomatic exchanges. On the border between sports feat and repressive diplomacy, Sehili’s journey will remain as a symbol of the individual’s fragility in the face of power calculations. Image | Capture/ YouTube In Xataka | An hour, a bike and a cyclist: or how to break technological barriers in the record of the hour In Xataka | A 1978 day, Porsche tried to reach 240 km/h … with a bicycle. And ended up getting it

The hoteliers promised them happy with the huge business of the terraces. Until the new antitabaco law arrived

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Spain is a country of Terraceum. It was before and it is much more (if possible) now, with the memory of the COVID-19 still present and while the country gradually becomes a huge tourist power that is on its way to the 100 million visitors foreigners The hoteliers have not been oblivious to that pull and have turned the terraces into a fundamental part of their turnover, especially in summer. Now they fear that THE NEW ANTITABACE LAW put it in danger. Goodbye, terraces (with smoke). The government wants the roads of the tobacco industry and the hospitality industry to pass separately. Completely. In 2006 there was a first step in that direction with the Law 28/200515 years ago progress was made with a Legislative reform And now the Executive wants to make another movement that would completely banish the smoke from the bars terraces. This is expected by the legislative draft that He has just received the approval of the Council of Ministers, a document that still has a parliamentary route ahead (in fact it does not even guarantee its approval in the lower house), but that has already done Jump alarms Among the hoteliers of the country. Of bars, cigarettes and vapers. Although it does not collect All changes to those who aspired by the Ministry of Health, The new regulations It is clear in two key aspects. First, in equating electronic cigarettes to conventional tobacco. Second, at the time of veto That people smoke (or vapee) on the terraces. Moreover, the department of Mónica García has not stayed there and advocates a sharp prohibition of tobacco in “closed public spaces and an expanded list of exterior environments”, among which includes all those enclosures in which shows, sports facilities, parks, transport stations, educational centers and (of course) are the tables that the bars take out abroad. Pending jobenes. It is not the only thing that the government has in mind, which aspires that adolescents find it even more difficult to hook themselves. The new standard not only restricts the sale of tobacco (and the rest of the products that the law quotes, such as electronic cigarettes) to minors, but directly forbids smoking. It also veto any advertising and demands a more precise labeling, although it leaves out the generic packaging that doctors ask. “A severe threat”. The proposal has not liked the hoteliers, who have not taken long to warn of the coup that will be advised by the ban. The collective He raised his voice Already on the same Monday (after the Council of Ministers gave its placet to the draft law) to question the effectiveness of the norm and remember that today smokers and non -smokers live in the terraces without problem. “It goes against the hoteliers, not against tobacco. On our terraces there has always been a peaceful coexistence and with respect to people who do not want to smoke,” claims José Luis Álvarez, president of the hospitality of Spain, on the bill. It is not the only voice in the sector that points in that direction. The employer Otea, hospitality and tourism in Asturias, insists In his “resounding rejection” to the veto and warns that the new restriction represents “a severe threat” for business. What do they argue? The hoteliers wield several arguments. The main one is that they believe that the law will condemn smokers to closed private spaces, such as houses, and stir a problem (in their opinion) non -existent. “There is currently a good coexistence between smokers and non -smokers on the terraces,” claims The employer, who claims to have a 40DB study that shows that 56% of Spaniards do not believe urgent to prohibit tobacco on the terraces. Moreover, a large majority (82.5%) He is convinced that customers will continue to smoke in the immediate vicinity, “hindering the work” of those who work in the bars. Camareros … and police. Another of their fears is how tourists will fit the veto, customers who may not know the ban when they feel on a terrace and take a cigarette. “It will generate special confusion among the millions of tourists visiting Spain every year, a country where the tourism sector represents one of the main economic motors,” They censor. The president of the hospitality of Spain, José Luis Álvarez, is even more graphic and warns that the waiters will have to “make police”, warning the clients of the ban. Looking at Europe.. “There is only one country throughout Europe where smoking is not allowed, Sweden. And we are going to be Spain, that we have more tables and more chairs than all Europe, which prohibit smoking from tourists on our terraces,” regretted Yesterday the sector leader in an interview with four. The association recalls that when France decided Give yourself with standards To restrict tobacco he opted for “Exclude expressly“The terraces not to damage their economy. The norm French aspires to get “the first generation without tobacco”, so the smoke will veto in outdoor spaces, such as beaches, gardens, marques and playgrounds, but leaves out the electronic cigarettes and does not play the chairs and tables that their hoteliers place outside their establishments. The value of a terrace. The speed and forcefulness with which the hoteliers have come out to show their discomfort is not surprising. On the contrary, it confirms a reality: the enormous weight that the terraces have been acquired in the accounts of the bars and restaurants. There are several factors that explain it. One, key, is the antitabaco standard that has been applied so far and its interior restrictions, but others are added, such as the effect of the pandemic or the policies adopted by Some municipalities What have reduced tax burden of the terraces. The result is that the terraces have been expanding through the squares, streets and sidewalks of the cities, a growth that has sometimes generated friction with the neighbors. In Sevillewhere at least in 2023 there were around 1,300 businesses With evenings, the … Read more

Mediterranean countries seemed ideal for solar panels. Until the dust storms arrived

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The Mediterranean has always been seen as a privileged land for solar energy: abundant sun, large extensions and A clear commitment to renewables. However, two factors that come from the south and of the climate change are putting this equation in check: the dust storms of the Sahara and the sustained increase in temperatures. The short. A new study warns that Sahara dust can reduce solar production in southern Europe by up to 50 %. Work, Posted in Renewable Energy magazine By the Hun-Ren Research Center of Astronomy and Earth Sciences of Hungary, analyzes the episodes between 2019 and 2023 in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. More in depth. To reach these conclusions, the scientists resorted to a data arsenal: the forecasts of the European Network of Transport Systems Operators (ETSO-E), NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis, the European database Copernicus Cams V4.6 and satellite cloud and aerosols. Thus they were able to evaluate time and daily how dust alters solar irradiance and, therefore, the ability of panels to produce electricity. The additional finding is worrying: the current photovoltaic forecasts for the next day usually fail. In Spain and Portugal they tend to underestimate the real loss of energy (up to 15% less than expected), while in Italy and Greece the opposite occurs, with overestimations of up to 10%. A problem that aggravates. Saharan dust is not a new phenomenon, but climate change is intensifying both its frequency and its reach. And Spain, as a study of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) warns collected in Xatakait is a true “hot point” of European warming. In the last 50 years, temperatures have increased 3.27ºC in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, more than double the Mediterranean mean. Summer has extended 36 days, rainfall has decreased almost 20% and desertification advances by regions such as Murcia, Almería or Alicante. The scenario for 2050 is a country with steppe or even almost desert climate in much of its territory. If Spain becomes a warmer and more dry desert, dust storms will be more frequent and its impact on even greater solar energy. Is there a possible solution? Until now, the great enemy of conventional solar panels was not only dust, but also heat. As we have developed in Xatakafor each degree above 25ºC, traditional plaques lose between 0.05% and 0.34% efficiency, which can translate into falls from 10 to 25% in very hot days. But a recent study by Laughborough University proposes a script turn: The so -called photoelectocrochemical flow cells (PEC). This experimental technology not only supports heat, but takes advantage of it, with an optimal point around 45ºC. In addition, it does not require active cooling, which lowers installation and maintenance costs. In parallel, startups like the Australian Coolsheet They are developing Passive cooling hybrid systems that cool the panels and, at the same time, heat water for industrial or domestic use. Every 10º less on the plate can be 4% more electrical efficiency. Beyond the results. The research is not limited to more solar panels, but that It must be integrated In the new photovoltaic, more forecast of dust effects, improve real -time monitoring and design technologies that convert heat and extreme conditions into allies, not enemies. Spain and the Mediterranean advance towards a scenario in which the sun will be more abundant, but also more hostile. The future of solar energy is to accept this paradox: it is not just about installing panels, but of adapting them to a changing climate, full of dust, heat and drought. Scientific research, technological innovation and political planning must go hand in hand so that the sun remains the solution, and does not become part of the problem. Image | Eduardo Milla and Unspash Xataka | We believed that the Sahara was going to “eat” Almería and Murcia in the future. Some researchers believe that it will reach Mallorca

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