burying Archives - usatoday24

The US is launching a missile capable of burying the Tomahawk on Iran. And the big question is where are you doing it from?

March 3, 2026 by usatoday24

The image of an American precision strike has been linked to silhouettes taking off from the sea or from the air. However, in recent years the Army has invested billions in recovering a capability that seemed secondary: hitting very, very far… from the mainland. In that bet may lie one of the greatest transformations of modern military power. A debut that changes theater. USA has premiered in combat the so-called Precision Strike Missileits new tactical ballistic missile, within the operation against Iran. It is not a minor evolution of the former ATACMSit is rather a leap in scope and concept. With more than 500 kilometers radius (and room to grow towards 650 and even 1,000) practically doubles the depth of ground fire available until now. As in many other “premieres”, it is not symbolic, it is doctrinal. A missile to bury the Tomahawk. The PrSM flies at speeds greater than Mach 3 in the terminal phase, allowing it to arrive earlier and better penetrate hardened targets. Forehead to Tomahawkslower and subsonic, the new system greatly reduces the enemy’s reaction time and complicates interception. Additionally, two missiles fit in a single HIMARS launcher pod, meaning that double the punch per vehicle. Of course, it does not replace the Tomahawk in strategic range, but in regional scenarios it can be left in the background due to speed, survivability and response capacity against time-sensitive targets. A PrSM capsule seen in front of a US Army M142 during an exercise in Australia. The M142 carries a 227 mm rocket with six projectiles. The Persian Gulf as a platform. At this point, geography explains a good part of the movement. The Gulf has a medium width of just 250 kilometerswith American allies aligned on the western bank and Iran occupying the eastern one. With a range of 500 kilometers, a land battery located anywhere on the Arab side can cover wide swathes from Iranian territory without the need to penetrate its airspace. That makes the missile a perfect tool to support an air campaign without exposing fighters or depending exclusively on ships. A test launch of a PrSM The key question: from where? The most decisive fact remains unknown. No has been confirmed Which Gulf country has authorized the use of its soil to launch these missiles. This mystery is not technical, it is rather political. The reason? Allowing a US land battery to fire on Iran automatically makes that territory in possible objective of retaliation. Many States in the region have historically preferred discreetly support to Washington while avoiding public exposure. Put another way, the exact location of the launch determines what capital takes on the direct risk. Hunting sensitive targets. Short-range ballistic missiles are especially effective against radars, mobile launchers and air defense nodes. Plus: they can be maintained on permanent alert and strike within minutes when a target arises. In a conflict where neutralizing anti-aircraft systems is key to sustaining air superiority, the PrSM provides a ground suppression capability which until now relied heavily on aviation and naval missiles. Beyond Iran. If you also want the premiere of the PrSM send a signal to other scenarios, especially the Pacific. Its planned evolution includes anti-ship versions capable of attacking moving targets and variants with greater range that will touch the threshold of medium-range missiles. It we have counted before. The US Army wants regain prominence in long-range warfare, traditionally dominated by the Air Force and Navy. Iran, in that sense, has been the first real test bed. Cost, volume and future. It is the “but” of any ballistic missile. Each projectile can exceed a million and a half dollars, although the price has been dropping as production increases. The goal is to reach up to 400 units annuallywhich will expand the available inventory and facilitate its sustained use. With future versions that could exceed the 1,000 kilometers rangethe PrSM does not seem just a substitute for the ATACMS. It is the first stone of a terrestrial architecture that seeks to project deep power from solid ground. What is really at stake. In short, the real twist is not that the United States has launched a new missile in a war, but that it has from the ground and against Iran. If he Tomahawk has symbolized precision warfare from the sea, the PrSM aims to represent the return of the tactical ballistic missile as a flexible instrument of regional pressure. And while it is not known with certainty from what ground ally is taking off, the political dimension of that launch will continue to be as relevant as the technical one. Image | CENTCOM, Australian Army, US Army In Xataka | If the question is how much of Europe is within range of Iran’s missiles, the answer is simple: a fairly large In Xataka | The arrival of the B-2s to Iran can only mean one thing: the search for the greatest threat to the United States has begun

Ryanair proposes burying the hatchet with Aena and negotiating the new rates until 2031

February 28, 2026 by usatoday24

There are many signs that define a toxic relationship. Ryanair and Aena seem to have fully entered into one of them. The Irish company is playing the good cop, bad cop game with the airport manager. But, unlike what usually happens, there is only one player here. One that unfolds and that attacks as soon as it reaches out. What happens? That Ryanair “would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Aena and agree on competitive incentive programs, available to all airlines, that would stimulate traffic.” That is, a hand extended after continued attacks on Aena, the company in charge of managing the vast majority of Spanish airports. There is only one problem, that proposal must be found in the fifth paragraph of a statement that repeats over and over again the position that the airline has taken regarding airport taxes in our country: “Aena’s excessive rates are diverting that traffic towards more competitive airports in other parts of Europe.” What is Ryanair talking about? In its latest publication, Ryanair points to a Aena statement of February 25, 2025 in which the company noted that “passenger traffic at Aena airports in Spain grew by 3.9% in 2025, with 321.6 million passengers.” And not only that, the company assures that in 2026 it will grow another 1.3% to reach around 326 million passengers. But the true origin of the last exchange of statements was found a few days ago. On February 18Aena presented its proposal for the coming years with an average annual increase in airport taxes of 3.8% between 2027 and 2031. The increase will result in an increase of 0.43 euros per passenger, according to Aena. The company assures that these increases are essential to undertake an investment wave of 12,888 million euros with a great boost from the Canarian airports that should receive investments worth 1.8 billion euros. very hard. “The Aena monopoly statement of Wednesday, February 25, is astonishing for its inability to understand how to take advantage of Spain’s airport infrastructure to boost traffic, tourism and employment,” is how the press release that Ryanair has distributed begins to explain its position regarding Aena’s latest communication. And once again, the company focuses on airport taxes in regional enclaves. “Aena’s DORA III proposal (where investments are collected in the coming years) It is exactly what you would expect from a protected monopoly: defending itself, blaming others and ignoring the damage caused by its own pricing policy. With the DORA III proposals, Aena plans to increase airport taxes by 21% without taking inflation into account. “This will be another nail in the coffin of regional connectivity in Spain for the next five years, unless the CNMC and the Government of Spain intervene and reject this failed monopolistic strategy.” an open door. However, the Irish company opens the door to a new negotiation with Aena despite the fact that this company “has closed the door”, in the words of Ryanair. The airline assures that it intends for part of the 300 new aircraft that will arrive in its fleet to be destined for one of the Spanish airports. And the company is once again focusing on smaller airports. In 2025 they carried out a restructuring that has left some of them, such as Valladolid, completely empty. They claim that their traffic has increased by 11% in Morocco, 9% in Italy and 60% in Albania. Despite this, they do not point out that even with their partial withdrawal have increased their presence in Spain by 100,000 places. And although its 0.5% growth is small, it is also misleading. It has moved more passengers than ever in our country and some withdrawals are understood only by commercial agreements that, in reality, are flights subsidized by local entities. Something that Morocco applies but that also have been using some town halls in Spain. Interested. What seems evident is that Spain continues to be one of the main airport markets in Europe. Last year, our country reached a new tourist record: 97 million. And the great objective is to achieve break the barrier of 100 million tourists this same year. Aena is aware that tourism is a powerful weapon when it comes to putting pressure on airlines with annual increases. Maurici Lucena, president of Aena, pointed to a lack of responsibility on the part of the airlines and to acting “in bad faith” when they criticize the increases, in words reported by EFE. For its part, the Association of Airlines (ALA) presses for the CNMC to reduce Aena’s proposal which they call a “high rate” while they have presented a proposal that advocates lowering rates by 4.8%. The gap between both proposals is 4,950 million euros. Photo | Xataka In Xataka |

The last secret of anti-drought farming is literally burying sheep’s wool

January 12, 2026 by usatoday24

The wool we have in our clothes today may be seen as something insignificant, but in the past It was considered “white gold” that supported the economy of many countries around the world. Currently, Australia is one of the giant producers worldwide that has two types of products: fine wool, which sells very expensive, and low quality wool that is left unused. but science has already found a way to take advantage of it in agriculture itself. An underused resource. The scientific literature that has been growing in recent months suggest that this residue is actually an underutilized piece of biological engineering that is able to retain water where no one else can. And this is something that is very interesting for the most desertified lands, such as what happens in Spain, for example. And in those countries that are more arid, such as Australia or in Spainthere are several problems: the lack of water and the speed with which it evaporates from the ground. That is why this is where the “microsponge” function that wool can have comes in. The essays. After seeing that wool has this property to retain water, science began to work on it. It was then that scientists began to apply processed waste wool in agriculture, as pellets or in compressed form. In this way, after placing it on top of the earth, it was seen how the compacted and dry soils were beginning to regenerate. Simply a layer of wool on the soil can reduce surface water loss by up to 35%. This is something really positive, since it has been observed an increase in microbial activity of between 30 and 50%, and also the test crops showed increases in production of between 12% and 18%. A simple idea. Wool acts as an insulating blanket that prevents the sun from incinerating the soil, but it also acts as that hygroscopic sponge that allows water to be provided without it evaporating quickly. There are nuances. If we go down from the enthusiasm of field trials to the coldness of the laboratory, we find something different. A study published in 2022 pointed out that wool waste not only does not damage the microbiota, but rather stimulates it. Unlike other materials that can “steal” nitrogen from the soil to decompose, wool degrades by slowly releasing nutrients. More recently, in a 2025 studyan analysis of the use of wool pellets in lettuce cultivation. The water retention figures here are more conservative, but equally valuable: they documented improvements in soil moisture of between 3% and 25%. Everything always depended on the specific type of soil, being most effective in sandy soils that are most prone to drying out. Why it works. The key to the sponge as a true help for our crops is in its physical and chemical structure. It has been specifically seen that wool can absorb up to twice its weight in water without much problem. This is essential, because when it rains or is watered it will be able to store a lot of moisture and will gradually release it when the environment dries out. But also, we are talking about a slow fertilizer. This is explained because, being composed of keratin, wool is rich in nitrogen and sulfur. In addition, its biodegradation is slow, making it an organic alternative to synthetic fertilizers. Circular economy. Beyond its function in the field, the research frames wool within the need to reduce fossil inputs. Currently, manufacturing nitrogen fertilizers consumes large amounts of natural gas, so using wool as fertilizer can help us meet this large consumption. In addition to all this, the rancher gets rid of waste that previously cost him money to eliminate or took up a lot of space and the farmer obtains a material that protects his soil from erosion and drought. Images | Sam Carter Mike Erskine In Xataka | Extremadura has become master of an unexpected sector: the cultivation of tobacco “made in Spain”

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