Unintentionally, the war in Iran has dynamited the great oil cartel

The energy earthquake that caused the Third Gulf War has just claimed an unexpected victim: the unity of the oil cartel. As of May 1, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will no longer be part of OPEC and its OPEC+ alliance. As reported by the state news agency WAMin Abu Dhabi consider that it is time to prioritize their “national interest.” After spending almost six decades making “great sacrifices”, the Emirati Government considers that stage over and prefers to fly alone, guided by its own “strategic and economic vision” far from the limits of the group. The context could not be more volatile. The Strait of Hormuz—through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil normally transits— is submerged in operational chaos due to Iranian threats and attacks, in addition to the US blockade of Iranian ports. As explained Reutersin this scenario of suffocation, the Emirates has decided that its energy future needs to maneuver without the ties of Vienna. The beginning of the end of quotas. The impact of this exit is tectonic for the oil market. As analyst Saul Kavonic warns in the BBCthis breakup could be “the beginning of the end for OPEC.” With the departure of Emirates, the cartel loses approximately 15% of its total capacity and one of its most rigorous members, leaving the organization weakened and with only 11 core members. The key to this divorce lies in production, since the Emirati authorities had been complaining for some time that the cartel’s quotas unfairly limited their exports. As detailed by Robin Mills, analyst consulted by the cnnOPEC kept the Emirates restricted to a production of 3.2 million barrels per day, when the country has invested aggressively to reach a real capacity close to 5 million. The Emirates “have been eager to pump more oil for some time,” notes David Oxley of Capital Economics in the same medium. The economic consequences are already being felt. The World Bank, which classifies this crisis as the largest supply loss on record, predicts a 25% increase in energy prices. Brent crude oil has experienced extreme volatility, fluctuating between $104 and $119 per barrel since the start of hostilities. Looking ahead, Jorge León, from Rystad Energy, explains in Guardian that Saudi Arabia will be left alone to shoulder the heavy burden of stabilizing the market, which predicts much greater volatility in the long term. The Arab fracture. Beyond barrels and dollars, the departure of the UAE is a direct symptom of a deep geopolitical fracture accelerated by the war. Emirates feels abandoned. The disappointment of the Gulf: As highlighted Al Jazeerathe decision comes shortly after harsh statements by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the Emirati president. Gargash openly criticized the “historically weak” response of Arab countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to the Iranian attacks. According to Euronewsthe Emirates have had to absorb much of the impacts of missiles and drones, feeling that their OPEC allies have not provided them with political or military support. Direct tension with Riyadh: The departure has not been agreed with the de facto leader of the cartel. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei confirmed to Reuters who made this “political” decision without consulting Saudi Arabia. The relationship between both powers has been deteriorating for months due to economic competition and recent military disagreements, such as the collapse of their coalition in Yemen in December. An unexpected triumph in Washington. Curiously, this regional fracture represents a diplomatic victory for the American president. Donald Trump had been accusing OPEC of “scam the world” manipulating prices, while the United States paid for the military defense of the Gulf. The departure of the group’s third largest producer weakens exactly the structure that Trump had criticized so much. Towards a “new energy era”. Paradoxically, the flood of Emirati oil will not reach the markets tomorrow morning. As long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked by war, the impact on global supply will be limited in the short term because ships simply cannot leave. However, the message is sent. When the waters of the Persian Gulf calm, the world will find itself with a market flooded with Emirati crude oil, operating freely. The Emirates has decided to embrace a “new energy era”, the geopolitical map of the Middle East is being redrawn in the heat of the bombs, and OPEC, as we knew it, seems to be one of its first major collateral victims. Image | Emiel Molenaar Xataka | By blocking the Strait of Hormuz blockade, the US is dragging an unpredictable actor into the war: China

We had a perfect plan to decarbonize the electrical grid. The brutal consumption of data centers has dynamited it

The daily headlines multi-million dollar investments announced in new language models and cutting-edge chips. Venture capital investors have pumped more than half a billion dollars into AI startups over the last five years. But, as a revealing analysis warns of TechCrunchthe smart money has begun to change sides: today, the best investment in Artificial Intelligence is no longer software. The reality on the ground has become extremely arid. Putting up walls and stacking servers in a giant data center has become the easy part of the equation. The real wall the tech sector is crashing into is finding the electrons needed to power it. According to a report by the analysis firm Sightline Climateup to 50% of data center projects announced for 2026 could face delays. Of the 190 gigawatts (GW) of capacity the company tracks globally, just 5 GW are under actual construction today. The bottleneck is no longer the microchips. It is access to the electrical network. The tyranny of 24/7. Consumption has run amok at a pace that 20th century infrastructure cannot process. A Goldman Sachs analysis projects that AI will shoot energy consumption of data centers by 175% by 2030. The figures all point in the same direction: the Open Energy Outlook predicts that electricity demand combined data centers and crypto mining will grow by 350% this decade. As a result, the pristine image of the technological cloud is evaporating. Google’s emissions have increased by 48% in the last five years, and Microsoft’s by 31% since 2020. The reason? What is known in the industry as the “tyranny of 24/7”. The algorithms do not sleep and require a continuous and steady power supply; They cannot be turned off simply because the wind stops blowing or the sun sets. Given the lack of mass storage systems globally, the fuel that is covering this urgent gap is not green. It is natural gas, which has returned from retirement as the great structural support of the sector. A global collapse with two faces. The pressure has already broken the market balances. In the PJM region—which supplies 13 eastern US states and has the highest density of data centers in the world—capacity prices went from $30 to $270 in a single auction at the end of last year. As John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, noted, we are facing a “golden era of energy demand”, but with an insurmountable physical limit: “the new electrons cannot reach the network quickly enough.” This electrical asphyxiation is redrawing the global map, and Europe is the best example. Historically, the European market was dominated by the “FLAP-D” markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin). But the network of these cities is no longer going strong. According to data from Greenpeacedata centers accounted for almost 80% of electricity consumption in Dublin, forcing Ireland to impose a moratorium. The market share of these traditional capitals will fall sharply by 2035causing a mass exodus to the Nordic countries (with unburdened networks and cold climates) and to southern Europe, such as Spain, Greece and Italy, in search of green megawatts. The hardware and network problem. When we scratch beneath the surface of this collapse, we discover that the physical problem splits into two large gaps. First, the machine to generate the energy is missing. Since intermittent renewables are not enough, companies turn to gas. However, gas turbines have become a rare commodity. Three years ago, Siemens Energy executives considered this market “dead”; Today, the factories are so overwhelmed that the delivery times for these turbines can extend up to seven years. Second, the “plumbing” is missing. Once the electricity is generated, the task of taming it within the building falls to the transformers. It is an iron and copper block technology that has barely changed in 140 years. As explained TechCrunchAs servers demand more power, traditional electrical equipment will take up twice as much space as the servers themselves. It is mathematically unsustainable. ‘Smart Money’ changes sides. Against this backdrop, venture capital is pivoting. Big tech companies (Amazon, Google, Oracle) are starting to behave like energy giants, devising alternatives to minimize their dependence on an outdated public grid through hybrid or generation approaches. on site. The solutions are divided into several fronts: The nuclear resurgence: Google has signed a pioneering agreement with Kairos Power to develop seven small modular reactors (SMR) by 2030, and Amazon tried (although regulators temporarily blocked it) connecting a data center directly to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. Super batteries: Google is collaborating in Minnesota with the company Xcel Energy and the startup Form Energy to install batteries capable of discharging energy for 100 hours, thus stabilizing the peaks of renewables. Hardware innovation: Dozens of startups (such as Amperesand or DG Matrix) backed by investment funds are developing silicon-based “solid state” transformers, seeking to finally retire old iron and copper to save vital space in facilities. Regulatory surgery: In southern Europe, organizations such as the CNMC in Spain are applying “flexible access permits”, forcing centers to accept cuts in emergencies so as not to collapse the entire country. The paradox: AI as savior of the electrical system. However, the story has a fascinating twist. The same technology that today threatens to burn the cables of half the world could be the one that ends up saving the electrical system. According to the consultant’s estimates Deloittethe application of artificial intelligence to optimize industrial systems and electrical networks will save more than 3,700 TWh globally by 2030. That is, AI will save almost four times the energy consumed by all the data centers on the planet combined. A report of Ember over Southeast Asia (ASEAN) support thiscalculating that integrating AI into the management of its networks will save more than 67 billion dollars and avoid the emission of almost 400 million tons of CO2. But to get to that future of efficiency, you first have to turn on the machines today. And what is at stake is the world economic map. Hosting these centers is … Read more

Johannes Klæbo, the human locomotive that has dynamited cross-country skiing

The first thing is the message. An electrical current that crosses the brain. And everything is unleashed. The brain sends the signal: more wood for the locomotive. The nervous system executes the order. More fibers and more fast fibers are put into motion. The muscles demand more energy. The heart rate goes up. The heart pumps more blood. With blood comes oxygen. And the quadriceps, the hamstrings, the calves become the coupling rod of the locomotive. Boom. Boom. Boom. Up and down. Johannes Klæbo only needed to steam his head. Its engine already seemed to be running at full capacity when the storm hit. How wrong we were. It remained to be seen how he crushed the ground with his skis with the frequency of someone fleeing from the enemy but the rage of someone who crushes him. With the determination of someone who knows they are making history. Click on the image to go to the original tweet (and see the devastating attack) An overwhelming number Three minutes and 40 seconds to cover a thousand meters. Nothing too special. If we talk about putting on some sneakers and hitting the asphalt. Very different when you put on skis, face a slope and reach peaks of 18 km/h to destroy your rivals. This is how Johannes Klæbo broke the sprint distance cross-country ski race. 3’39″74 Less than 220 seconds to cover a distance of 1,585 meters on skis. Where of course you go down, but where you also have to go up. Klæbo let himself go in the final meters, enjoying his overwhelming superiority as he did before. Usain Bolt in Beijing in 2008. How will you enjoy? Remco Evenepoel with the Eiffel Tower behind him in 2024. Or as Tadej Pogacar repeats over and over again, the athlete with whom he is most compared for his domain. Johannes Klæbo was born in Trondheim (Norway) in 1996. It will be 30 years in October. By then, it is certain, he will be able to display 15 gold medals accumulated in World Cups in his living room. On the other wall his nine Olympic medals will stand out, seven of them gold. Who knows if four more will accompany him as he did at the 2025 World Cup in Trondheim, his home. Because after gold in the speed test and the 10+10 kilometer skiathlon, the Norwegian can become the Winter Olympian with the most gold medals in history. At the moment, the reign is held by two other Norwegians. Marit Bjoergen, distance runner, is the person with the most Olympic medals in a winter games with eight golds, four silvers and three bronzes. He is followed by Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, biathlete, with another eight golds, four silvers and two bronzes. If he wins his six golds in these Olympic Games in Milano Cortina 2026, Klæbo would remain at 13 medals but the weight of 11 golds would elevate him to a new level. So far, it’s already been seven. The Norwegian skier is one of those forces of nature that dominates any distance record and type of race within his sport. Like Pogacar, Armand Duplantis or Kilian Jornet, he is one of the chosen ones. One of those athletes who go down in history. Athletes who not only win, they crush any type of insurrection. And the most meritorious thing, they turn it into a spectacle. Johannes Klæbo is also part of a generation of Norwegian athletes that are breaking with the established. Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the result of a father who worked obsessively with his three children popularizing double threshold training. Karsten Warholm He was the first man to break the 46-second barrier in the 400-meter hurdles. Kristian Blummenfelt He is a triathlon world champion, Olympic champion and Ironman distance world champion. Johannes Thingnes Bø, biathlete, recently retired with five Olympic gold medals, two silver and two bronze. Magnus Carlsen is another of those geniuses whose roof, perhaps, only “El Mundo” can put it. Photo | Olympics In Xataka | The Winter Olympics are facing the most unexpected technological doping: penis punctures

An US missile dynamited a boat in the middle of the Caribbean. And then Venezuela went to Gemini to see if the video was real

The story began on September 2, when Donald Trump affirmed That the United States Armed Forces had executed a precision attack against a “positively identified” vessel that transported drugs from Venezuela and was operated by members of the Aragua Train, designated by Washington as narcoterrorist, with a balance of eleven dead according to their own story. From then on until now all kinds of events have occurred. The video. Shortly after, the president amplified the message with A declassified video Through social truth that shows the detonation of a white missile in the high seas and a public warning to future traffickers, while Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, He corroborated the characterization of “lethal coup” against an objective that would have sailed from Venezuelan coasts. A senior defense official, cited in the background, confirmed The action as a precision attack against a “Drug Vessel”, in line with the known employment of rapid boats of three or four force used for cocaine routes to the north. Context and political framework. The announcement came days after Trump will order to deploy Three marine ships in the Caribbean to reinforce the interdiction of posters against Venezuela, expanding the role of the pentagon in missions traditionally led by the coastal guard. The president already He had instructed At the beginning of the year to prepare force use options against transnational criminal organizations after declaring them as foreign terrorist organizations in executive order, an framing that seeks to provide greater legal flexibility to extraterritorial kinetic operations. In parallel, the treasure sanctioned to the so -called Cartel de los Soles (Officer Network accused by Washington of drug trafficking and supporting the Aragua Train and the Sinaloa Cartel) as a specially designated global terrorist entity, consolidating a financial and safety pressure scaffolding. Caracas responds. Shortly after, Nicolás Maduro, whom the United States considers an illegitimate ruler for electoral fraud, human rights and drug trafficking violations, He warned That Rubio pushed Trump towards war and promised resistance if Venezuela is attacked, describing US military accumulation as “the greatest threat that our continent has seen in 100 years.” Although the Venezuelan government did not immediately react to the concrete attack, the martial tone and the doctrine of “defense of the territory” enunciated by Maduro raise the political bar and increase the risk of incidents of narrative or operational climbing in a dense maritime environment and complex jurisdictions. The norm vs the lethal force. It also happened another problem. I remembered The Wall Street Journal that the expansion of the prominence of the Pentagon contrasted with the standard procedures of the Coast Guard described by the former United States embassy in Panama, John Feeley: Identification, stop orders, priority for preserving life, neutralization of engines with .50 caliber shooters from helicopters if the boat tries to flee and approach to verify load. According to that doctrine, the use of direct lethal fire is not the norm except in legitimate defense; Hence, the kinetic destruction of a suspicious boat, without the typical sequence of “interdiction and approach”, represents a qualitative leap in commitment rules and in the signal issued to criminal networks and the states that shelter them. The video goes on a suspect. The clip, which Trump presented as proof of the effectiveness of its anti -drug strategy and as a warning to organized crime, He went to the protagonist being quickly questioned by Caracas. Freddy Ñáñez, Minister of Venezuelan Communication, accused in the networks Social to the president to disseminate images “generated by artificial intelligence”, pointing out the aesthetics “almost caricaturesca” of the explosion, visual artifacts and water with an artificial aspect, characteristic of synthetic productions. He did it with an equally doubtful study. Namely: He asked Google’s AI, Gemini, what seemed to him the sequence, and it responded after an analysis that “it was very likely” that it would have been created generated by ia. The doubts to the operation. Again, Trump said the ship crew belonged to the Aragua Train, a Venezuelan criminal organization designated by Washington as a terrorist group in February. However, the veracity of the material was questioned. Reuters Indian That he did not find conclusive manipulation evidence, although he continues to review the video as part of his verification process. Beyond the technical debate, security experts They expressed reservations On the performance in itself following the exhibition of Feeley and remembering that the usual practices of the Coast Guard seek to preserve lives and rarely open fire against suspicious vessels, since most crews are surrendered without resistance. Electoral key message. Plus: The episode has acquired a greater relevance for the context in which it occurred: it was Trump’s first public appearance in a week, in the midst of Speculations about your status Health at 79. The video became A propaganda instrument More than in a military part, used by the president and his main ministers (Marco Rubio outdoors and Pete Hegseth in defense) to underline his hard hand against drug trafficking. The message that accompanied the clip In social Truth, written with Trump’s usual excessive style, reinforced the intimidating tone towards any attempt to introduce drugs in the United States. The shadow of AI. In addition, the controversy has spread to the broadest field of digital manipulation. Ñáñez insisted in which the piece was an artificial creation aimed at manufacturing a media victory, while, in parallel, Trump himself contributed to confusion by disqualifying as “probably generated by AI” another viral recording that showed alleged objects thrown through a White House window, despite the fact that the Executive himself himself He had explained which was a contractor performing maintenance work. The contradiction fed the perception of a president willing to use the Technological ambiguity To mold the political story. F-16A of Venezuela Two fighters appear. In the last hours the tension has increased. The pentagon confirmed that two Venezuelan fighters F-16 They approached To the American destroyer USS Jasson Dunham, a Arleight Burke class ship deployed in the Caribbean as part of the drug … Read more

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