pay

will pay them up to 25% more pension if they do so

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Although it is a stage of life that most of us look forward to, not everyone accepts the arrival of retirement. in the same way. There are people who, for the love of their profession or to continue running their company, decide to work beyond the age of 65. Others, however, do so under the obligation of a too fair retirement pension to face a cost of living that has not stopped rising. For the latter, we have good news. From now on, working beyond the ordinary retirement age will have a reward. The Government has decided to pay more to those who decide to return to work after retiring, and it will do so with a formula that until now was hardly used: the flexible retirement. The day opens wide. Until now, those who wanted to combine pension and self-employment could only do so between 25% and 75% of a full day. A very narrow margin for that would be profitable continue working beyond 65 years (or the 67 if the necessary contributions have not been made). Also, nothing self-employed in this formula. The new Royal Decree 416/2026which comes into force on August 28, changes that range by allowing retirees to work a day of between 33% to 80% of a full day. The other novelty, perhaps the most striking, is that the self-employed are entering this modality for the first time. They will be able to make their pension compatible with self-employed activity, as long as they have not been registered as self-employed in the three years prior to retiring. With more than 3.47 million of RETA members in May, the group is not exactly small. A reward for waiting six months. However, the entry into force of the Royal Decree comes with a detail that really does encourage those who have already retired to return to work. If you retire, wait at least six months without working, and then return to work, your retirement pension will increase significantly. If a retiree returns to work under these conditions to work between 55% and 80% of the full day, he or she will receive a 25% increase in the pension he or she received just before starting to work. With a working day of between 33% and 55% of the full day, the increase rises to 15%. “Our goal is for workers to have more and better options when it comes to retiring or combining employment and pension and now we propose an improved flexible retirement modality,” Minister Elma Saiz explained in a statement. Previously, the pension only decreased in proportion to the hours worked. Now there is a plus for coming back. Spain needs people to continue working. Behind this reform there is a serious demographic and financing problem: there are fewer and fewer young people contributing and more retirees earning for more years. According to the INElife expectancy at birth in Spain is already around 84 years, with women exceeding 86 and men close to 81. That is, there are more and more people with the right to collect a retirement pension, and they collect it for a longer period of time. Social Security, meanwhile, remains in the red. The system closed 2025 with a deficit of 5.58 billionalthough the data improves year after year thanks to employment. Let people extend their work life helps alleviate these bills, and that is why the Executive pushes in that direction from several frontsnot only with flexible retirement. Those who retire early are not so lucky. It’s not all good news. Who decides to retire before the legal age still suffers penaltyand especially those who have accumulated more than 40 years of contributions. Even if they have far exceeded the required period, a reducing coefficient cuts their pension just like any other early retiree. The collective, grouped in the association Asjubi40has been asking for this cut to be eliminated for some time. The Government has refused, and the reason is purely economic: removing that penalty would cost 3,358 million per year to Social Security. In Xataka | A new demographic reality is making its way in Japan: more than 5 million people over 70 years of age continue to work Image | Unsplash (Alen Gevorgyan)

“In the rental market the price has reached the limit of the tenants’ ability to pay”

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The month doesn’t matter, almost not even the year. If you take a look at the latest CIS studies on the main concerns of Spaniards, there is a topic that repeats over and over in the main positions: housing. Or rather, how difficult it has become to find a home in Spain. In spring the 41.3% of respondents I recognized that this was the issue the more it kept them from sleepingabove the progress of the economy or problems related to employment. One of the agents that has analyzed the phenomenon the most in Spain is Fotocasa, a platform that advances important changes in buying, selling and renting. Record increases… Until when? The Spanish real estate market is going through a peculiar situation: the price of housing continues to rise (second-hand housing at a 17.2% year-on-year and the new at 9.7%), but the purchase and sale operations take several months downjust like the signing of new mortgages. The big question is… With that backdrop, how long will prices continue to rise? Can we expect a fall in the short or medium term or, at least, some relaxation in its rise? For Maria Matosspokesperson for Fotocasa and director of its study area, the answer is clear: the increase in prices accumulated in recent years and the increase in credit After the rate increase in June, they will end up being felt sooner rather than later in the market, softening the rise in m2. “We are going through a turning point in which prices have reached their historical maximum, surpassing the records we had for 20 years. Citizens are facing prices that we have never seen before,” he comments. “However, with the rise in interest rates we foresee an increase in the cost of mortgages. “What is expected is that the pace of growth will moderate.” Matos sees several interesting signs. The first, a clear difficulty for citizens to continue assuming the rise in housing prices. The second, a “change in the mortgage cycle” after the type review from the ECB a few weeks ago. “We are seeing how the access capacity of an important part of the demand, around 75%, is stretched to the limit, and also how in many areas the effort is at the highest levels in history.” Does that mean we will see a price decline? No. What is expected, Matos clarifies, is a certain downshift, but not negative percentages. “We will see how this rate of increase in prices of 20%, 18%, 16%… begins to moderate, that the rate of growth will tend towards normalization; but we will not see decreases because we still have a great imbalance between supply and demand that continues to push prices upwards.” That is one of the great keys to the market. For some time in Spain, homes have been created much higher speed from which buildings are built that can accommodate them, which adds more pressure to the market. For reference, in 2025 they were added to the registry of the Ministry of Housing 95,000 new houseswell below the 240,000 homes created, according to the INE. The Bank of Spain (BE) itself estimates the accumulated deficit between 2021 and 2025 in 750,000 houseswhich gives an indication of the huge ‘hole’ that would have to be covered to satisfy population growth. These are compelling figures, but they fall short for the Fotocasa analysts. Matos specifies that if both the needs of the rental market and the purchase and sale market are taken into account, this estimate would rise to up to touch two million of properties. “Our data tells us that more than 1.8 million homes would be necessary to be able to make up for the deficit we have in Spain,” he clarifies before detailing that between Madrid and Catalonia alone they would need 200,000 properties to balance supply and demand and stabilize prices. “The problem is that many more homes are created every year than we are capable of building.” Matos admits that there are hopeful signs, such as visa increase of new construction, but dark clouds are looming on the horizon. “We continue to encounter very important obstacles: the lack of finalized land, excessive urban bureaucracy and a increase in costs construction rate of 25%,” he comments. “Developers and builders have many difficulties developing these buildings. “There are cities in Spain where it takes longer to give you a license than to build the building itself.” However, the expert points out an equally or even more worrying factor: lack of personnel. “We were reaching a production of about 100,000 homes per year with all the problems of finding land, financing it, buying it and developing it. Now a new obstacle is added, which is that Spain would need to incorporate 700,000 new workers to construction to respond to the housing and infrastructure needs expected for the coming years. “Without bricklayers, formworkers, ironworkers, electricians, without construction managers it is impossible to increase the rate of production. Now that it has been diagnosed, we know why housing is not produced… If we do not resolve this labor deficit it is impossible to increase supply and alleviate the tension on prices.” The truth is that the Fotocasa spokesperson not only anticipates changes in the buying and selling market. It also does so in residential rentals, which in recent months has already has given samples of moderation in price rise. For example, there are real estate platforms that estimate that the year-on-year increase in rents in June was 4.2%In June 2025 it was 8.9% and the previous year it was 13.5%. Although the changes must be analyzed in the long term, Matos advances that his data invites us to think about a decrease in income of 1.6% at the national level. “We have a turning point in the market. We see how the price has reached the limit of the tenants’ ability to pay. It is something we expected because we were seeing in the last six months how it went … Read more

Europe wants to pay without depending on Visa or Mastercard, and Lidl has just taken a key step to achieve this: with Wero

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Lidl has started to accept werothe payment system promoted by banking in Europe, in its German online store. Even at first it may not tell us much, but a supermarket of the stature of Lidl that adds one more payment method is part of a much broader movement: an attempt by Europe to stop depending on Visa and Mastercard for something as everyday as online payments. We tell you all the details. Wero, “the European bizum”. According to the chain itself has confirmedLidl is the first large supermarket in Germany to integrate Wero into its online payments. Lidl.de customers who have an account in one of the 18 banks that already support the system will be able to pay directly from their current account, in real time, and without the card or any US payment network intervening in the operation. How it works in practice. The process is simple, since it is enough to activate the Wero function once in the bank’s app, similar to the way Bizum works in Spain. From there, when completing the purchase on Lidl.de, the customer can confirm the payment from their own bank (the website automatically redirects them to the app) or scan a QR code with their mobile phone. The money comes directly from the bank account, and in case of return, it returns the same way. There are no card intermediaries involved. Why Lidl and why now. According to collect According to The Paypers, the deployment begins in Germany, but Lidl and the European Payments Initiative (EPI), the entity that manages Wero, already plan to extend its adoption to online stores in Belgium and France throughout 2026, and also incorporate payment in physical stores before the end of the year. Nicola Bracht, head of Schwarz Payment Solutions (the payments division of the Schwarz group, parent of Lidl), explained to the media that the decision responds “to the search for a fluid customer experience” and “data protection and security criteria aligned with European standards”, and has announced that the group expects Wero to continue growing as a transversal payment method across different channels. A European alternative to Visa and Mastercard. wero born in 2023 as a trademark of the EPI, an initiative founded in 2020 by fifteen European banks (including BBVA, Santander, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas) with the aim of building their own payment alternative that reduces dependence on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, all of them of American origin. Its name plays on the words “we” (us) and “euro.” The system was first launched for transfers between individuals in Germany, France and Belgium, and has since expanded its scope, first to payments between individuals and companies, and now to electronic commerce. Between the lines. What makes Lidl’s incorporation relevant is not so much the gesture itself as what it represents, since Wero’s arrival in high-volume e-commerce is, precisely, the land where Visa and Mastercard get a good part of their business most profitable in Europe. Until now, Wero moved mainly in the field of transfers between individuals, something similar to what Bizum offers in Spain. That a chain with the scale of Lidl begins to accept it in its online store is a step towards that other field, that of commercial payments, where the dispute with the card networks is really played out. Lidl has not been the only one to announce a similar move. And Decathlon will also accept payments through Wero in Germany on its website, as has confirmed the chain. Economic sovereignty. This advance by Wero also comes at a time when the European payments ecosystem itself is reorganizing to another level. Bizum, together with the Italian Bancomat Pay, the Portuguese SIBS, the Polish Blik and the Nordic Vipps MobilePay, has promoted the creation of a joint company based in Madrid that seeks to make all these national systems interoperable under a common infrastructure with Wero. The president of the Spanish Banking Association, Alejandra Kindelán, counted A few months ago “when we talk about payments, we talk about economic sovereignty, competitiveness and Europe’s ability to decide its future”, and payments have gone from being a simple infrastructure to becoming a question of sovereignty. And now what. The calendar managed by EPI points to Wero reaching more online stores in France and Belgium throughout 2026, and payments in physical stores (via QR and NFC) before the end of the year. We will have to wait to know if with so much alliance and momentum from the banking sector, Wero can end up becoming a real alternative to Visa and Mastercard in Europe. Cover image | Jonas Leupe and VLADISLAV BOGUTSKI In Xataka | Mistral is very far in the AI ​​race. Samsung doesn’t care about that and plans to invest a fortune in it

small differences that make it worth it (or not) to pay more to jump to the new generation

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Habemus three new Samsung foldables. The comparisons between them are interesting because, beyond the format, they also have other differences. Now, it is also worth looking back and compare them just with the previous generation. For this reason, today we are going to face the Galaxy Z Flip7 and to Galaxy Z Fold8. Technical data sheet of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Dimensions and weight Folding: 75.2 x 85.5 x 13.7mm Displayed: 75.2 x 166.7 x 6.5mm 188 grams Folding: 75.4 x 85.7 x 13.1mm Displayed: 75.4 x 166.9 x 6.1mm 180 grams folding screen 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FullHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) 397 pixels per inch 2,600 nits Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FullHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) 400 pixels per inch 3,000 nits Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster secondary / main screen 4.1-inch Super AMOLED Refresh rate: 60-120 Hz Resolution 948 x 1,048 pixels 4.1-inch Super AMOLED Refresh rate: 60/120 Hz Resolution 948 x 1,048 pixels processor Exynos 2500 Exynos 2600 Ram memory and storage 12/256GB 12/512GB 12/256GB 12/512GB main camera 50 MP wide angle, f/1.8. OIS 12 MP wide angle, f/2.2, 123º FOV 50 MP wide angle, dual pixel AF, OIS, f/1.8, FOV 85º 12 MP wide angle, f/2.2, 123º FOV front camera 10 MP f/2.2, FOV 85º 10 MP, f/2.2, FOV 85º battery 4,300 mAh 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging Reverse wireless charging Dual 4,300 mAh (typical) 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging PowerShare Reverse Wireless Charging price From 945.65 euros From 1,299 euros At first glance there are not too many differences between the two, but there are some that are worth taking into account before jumping into one or the other model. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, 256GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A design that tends to become increasingly thinner At first glance, both folding devices are so similar that it is difficult to distinguish them. Samsung maintains a design with which it is comfortable, although it continues in the same direction as other devices such as the Galaxy S26 Ultra. What does that mean? What the Galaxy Z Flip8 is a thinner and lighter device than its predecessor. Let’s talk about concrete numbers. It is about a reduction of 0.4 millimeters in thickness and 8 grams in weight. On paper, it is a small difference, but it is noticeable if we take into account that it is a foldable that seeks to be light and manageable. Interior display: change in maximum brightness level and hinge The exterior screen of the Galaxy Z Flip8 is identical to the one already released on the Galaxy Z Flip7, covering the entire surface of the device except for the camera modules. The interior doesn’t change much either, although Samsung The maximum brightness level has been improved from 2,600 to 3,000 nits. In practice, this should make it look better outdoors or in sunlight. Another change that comes to both the new Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra It is a technology called Flex Titanium. Simply explained, it is a titanium film along with a plate of the same material that goes in the area of ​​the wrinkle that the folding screen has. Its objective is clear: make this wrinkle barely noticeable and less visible. Processor renewal: Exynos again While the other two foldables of this new generation have a Qualcomm processor, the Galaxy Z Flip8 repeats with an Exynos. Specifically, we are talking about the Exynos 2600which is exactly the same processor that the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+so we can get an idea of ​​its performance. Here we have a jump in power and technical efficiency with respect to the Z Flip7 processor, which was the Exynos 2500. With this change we can expect that Samsung’s new foldable will be more powerful and efficient than its predecessor and even improves its thermal management. Otherwise, there are no more differences at the hardware level between both devices, which come with the same cameras and battery. New One UI, same years of updates As happens practically every time Samsung releases a new high-end mobile phone, the Galaxy Z Flip8 arrives with a new operating system. This device comes with One UI 9 and Android 17 as standarda logical change in this sense, since the Z Flip7 arrived with Android 16 and One UI 8. The biggest difference between both operating systems is that the new version will allow us to use more functions and tools on the external screen of the device. And what happens with years of updates? Here Samsung repeats the move: the Z Flip8 promises seven years of updatesthe same as its predecessor. Now, since the latter arrives in stores for a year, you are going to “spend” one of them when you update to One UI 9. Price increase for the Galaxy Z Flip8 The Galaxy Z Flip8 hits stores with two different configurations, as the Z Flip7 already did: 256 GB or 512 GB of storage (both with 12 GB of RAM). What this new mobile also comes with is with a price increase in both versions. We leave you below so that you can see, clearly, the change in launch prices between both devices: Galaxy Z Flip8 with 256 GB storage: 1,299 euros (for 1,209 euros for the Z Flip7). Galaxy Z Flip8 with 512 GB storage: 1,499 euros (for 1,329 euros for the Z Flip7). Which model to choose? Now that we have seen the differences between both devices, It’s time to opt for one. Both are a very good option if you like this type of folding mobile, although, depending on what you are looking for or what you want to spend, there is one that will be better for you. Why buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 … Read more

China wants the world to pay for lithium at its price. And it’s not that easy

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China has taken a definitive step towards the internationalization of its raw materials markets: this month has opened foreign investors its lithium futures contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX). This measure comes after similar openings in iron ore and oil, and is part of the Chinese Government’s ambition to strengthen your influence on global prices of raw materials and expand the international use of the renminbi (RMB). Futures are contracts that set today the price at which a commodity will be bought or sold at a future date, regardless of what its market price is at that moment. This contract is not an anecdotal movement. In the last year, the GFEX has traded 120 million lots of lithium carbonate, an essential material in lithium-iron-phosphate batteries (LFP) that equip a good part of current electric vehicles. China processes around 60% of the world’s lithium and it is by far the largest battery market on the planet. In this context, its physical weight in the supply chain is undeniable. However, converting that industrial weight into real financial power is much more complicated. Chinese capital controls mean that the vast majority of futures trading, despite its enormous liquidity, is domestic in nature. It is primarily domestic speculators and not global commercial participants who set these prices. A recurring speculative fever Volatility is the first obstacle. Last year the closure of a CATL mine was enough to unleash a real speculative fever in the GFEX contract. In fact, on July 6, 2025, the daily volume fell to 174,787 lots, just 35% of the annual average, an example of how quickly interest deflates once the initial frenzy passes. This stock exchange has had to intervene on several occasions to stop similar episodes. In July 2025 he imposed a daily limit of 3,000 lots in new positions for those who were not members of a futures society. In November he went further: he tightened commissions and position limits, and prices plummeted immediately. The clearest precedent dates back to 2016, when Chinese retail money poured so heavily into steel rod futures that the volume traded in a single day exceeded the negotiated total on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. China opened its crude oil contract on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange using this same rhetoric in 2018 Another important note: adding to this regulatory volatility is the problem of financial plumbing. Foreign operators can now deposit margins in dollars, but with a 5% discountso only $95 out of every $100 counts as collateral. All trading and settlement is still done in RMB, and repatriating those profits is not easy. China opened its crude oil contract in the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE, for its acronym in English) using this same rhetoric in 2018. And although achieved considerable foreign participationcompanies still have to simultaneously manage price risk, RMB/USD exchange rate risk and capital repatriation risk; three exposures that on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) or the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) would be reduced to one. The result is that as long as these futures remain subject to political intervention and capital controls, they will predictably continue to function as an essential reference for the market, but not as the authentic benchmark against which the rest of the world can manage its risk. Image | freepik More information | Volt Insight In Xataka | ASML has had an exclusive monopoly on the very complex photolithography machines for years. China is close to breaking it

Anthropic was accused of stealing books to train its AI models. Their solution has been simple: pay

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A federal judge in San Francisco has given the final green light to the $1.5 billion agreement between Anthropic and a group of authors and publishers that They reported her for using her books without permission to train Claude. And after extracting millions of books from digital libraries without authorization, and from physical bookstores to scan and destroy en masse, everything has ended up being settled with money. What has happened? Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin definitively approved this Monday the agreement that Anthropic reached with the plaintiffs, as collect Reuters. The figure was already known since last year, when Judge William Alsup gave his preliminary approval, but this last step was missing for the money to begin to be distributed. How we got here. A group of writers sued Anthropic in 2024 accusing her of using copies of her books to train Claude without her consent. Judge Alsup ruled in June 2025 that training AI with copyrighted books falls under “fair use,” a decision that set an important precedent for the entire industry. The judge also clarified that, although training with those books was legal, Anthropic had broken the law by downloading more than 7 million copies from digital portals without authorization and storing them in a kind of internal library that was not necessarily intended for training, according to explains Reuters. That specific point was going to be decided in a separate trial, with compensation that could skyrocket to hundreds of billions of dollars. So to avoid this, Anthropic preferred to make an agreement. Between the lines. As we explained some time ago, the court documents that came to light revealed the real scope of the project, baptized “Panama”, and with which the company came to physically buy and scan millions of bookscutting their loins to digitize them and then recycling them. Before going this route, Anthropic employees, including its co-founder Ben Mann, had downloaded books directly from unauthorized repositories such as LibGen. The company has always maintained that this content was never used to train a business model, but it was precisely that part of the process that took it to court. How much and to whom. The distribution is made at a rate of about 3,000 dollars per work, out of an estimated total of 500,000 titles between authors and publishers, according to details TechCrunch. Aparna Sridhar, deputy general counsel at Anthropic, said in a statement that the company reached this agreement in 2025 after the ruling that recognized training with books as fair use, and added that more than 91% of the affected authors and publishers have already claimed their share of the payment. For his part, Justin Nelson, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, has called the settlement “historic” and has stated that it represents the largest copyright recovery ever achieved, according to collect also Reuters. Not everyone is satisfied. Some authors have raised objections, arguing that the amount was insufficient, benefiting plaintiff’s lawyers too much or unfairly leaving out certain rights holders. Judge Martinez-Olguin has rejected these arguments, considering that they did not realistically reflect the risks of having gone to trial, and approved fees of more than $101 million for the lawyers, below the $187.5 million they had requested. according to Reuters. Some authors and publishers directly opted out of the agreement and have their own lawsuits against Anthropic that are still ongoing. Why it is important. This closure does not resolve the underlying legal debate for the rest of the sector. And since it is an agreement and not an appealed ruling, Alsup’s decision on “legitimate use” will never reach an appeal court, so it does not constitute binding jurisprudence, as underlines TechCrunch. Each judge is free to interpret similar cases in their own way, and that is just what is happening with the lawsuits opened against Google, Meta, Midjourney and OpenAI for similar reasons. Cover image | Anthropic, edited by Xataka In Xataka | It took 15 years for computers to improve the productivity of companies. AI may take longer for one reason: sabotage

how it works and how to configure it to pay with it on your mobile

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Let’s tell you What is Bizum Pay and how does it work? This application created to be able to pay with Bizum in stores. The Spanish application arrives to compete with the American Visa, Mastercard, Apple or Google trying to take over our mobile payments. We will start by explaining what Bizum Pay exactly is and how it works, so that you know how to differentiate it from normal Bizum. Then, we will tell you how to install and configure the app on your mobile. Of course, I am already warning you that being able to configure it will depend on whether your bank has already implemented the service. What is Bizum Pay Bizum Pay is an application that works like Google Pay or Apple Pay, and is used to pay in card machines using your mobile. Thus, instead of carrying a physical card with which to pay, you can do so using your mobile phone, and with the extra layer of security provided by biometric identification, confirm the payment with your face or fingerprint. The operation of the application is the same as that of other paid apps. You launch it, and when you have unlocked it, you bring the mobile phone closer to the dataphone. Both will connect and you will make the payment. The difference between a normal Bizum and Bizum Pay is that the normal Bizum is made to send money to other people using your mobile number. Meanwhile, Bizum Pay is created to be used in card machines and pay in establishments, replacing your physical cards and other American payment apps. How Bizum Pay works There is a fundamental difference between Bizum Pay and other payment systems. You are not going to link a card but your bank account. All mobile payment applications work by linking a physical card to use from the device, but in Bizum Pay you use your account. Therefore, it is not a virtual card that you are going to use, but when you pay with this system you make an immediate transfer between accounts. The money leaves your bank account and goes to the establishment’s account configured in its contactless payment infrastructure. This makes sense, because Bizum itself is a service for making transfers directly from the bank account where you have set it up to someone else’s. The difference is that with Bizum Pay you no longer need to use phone numbers to send moneyand everything is done through the establishments’ dataphone. Bizum Pay also allows you to store tickets or passes, just like Apple Pay or Google Pay. Additionally, in the app you can see all the payments you have made, saving these “tickets” to consult them whenever you want. The Bizum system has the same security guarantees as the rest of the mobile payment options. You’ll have to unlock your device to pay, so it’s safer than paying with a card that others can use. Bizum currently has 39 participating banking entitiesamong them the most important banks in Spain, but also many neobanks. How to configure Bizum Pay To configure Bizum Pay, you have to download the application on your mobile. You have it available on Google Play for Android and in the App Store of iPhones. You install it like any other app. When you open the app for the first time, you will be taken to a screen where how it works is explained. You will have to slide, and in the end you will have to write the phone number to which you have Bizum linked. You know, that number that you configured in your bank app, and that is the one that your friends use to send you money through this system. This will take you to the activation of Bizum Pay in your bank’s appthe one where you have Bizum configured. When the bank app opens, you can confirm the activation of the payment app. Your bank may not yet support Bizum Pay. This will depend on each bank, and you may have to wait a few weeks until you can use the application. But the activation is as we have explained to you. When you activate Bizum Pay you will have to configure it as your default mobile payment app. The steps to follow depend on your mobile: On Android: Settings > Connected devices > NFC > Contactless payments On iOS: Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Contactless App If you get involved, use Android or use an iPhone, the best thing is use the settings search and search for terms such as “payments” or “contactless”, so that the option automatically appears. When you enter this screen you will have the mobile payment app that you usually use configured, and you will be able to change it to Bizum Pay, although only when you already have the app activated. In Xataka Basics | Bizum in 2026: everything that changes (and what does not) in transfers with this system

The intestine has a “Goldilocks zone.” And if we often defecate outside it, we must pay attention.

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Pooping is a thermometer of gut health. So much so that in Australia they encourage employees do your things at work. It is a moment that we can even take advantage to read or to do infinite scroll on mobile (even for share the site where we are pooping), but also one we should pay more attention to. The reason is that the time and frequency are details that say a lot about our long-term health. Cause or consequence? Over the years, different research has been carried out on the importance of defecation as such, but also on the ideal time to do itits frequency and the shape, size and texture that they should have the depositions. Studies have been carried out that linked the constipation with a higher risk of infections and diarrhea chronic with neurodegenerative diseases. However, these observations were made in subjects who already had a disease, so it was necessary to find out if the intestinal problem was a cause or a consequence. Since science is not done alone, a team from Institute for Systems Biology took the lead in answering that question. The study. In it studyresearchers Sean Gibbons and Johannes Johnson-Martinez analyzed the clinical, genetic, microbiological and lifestyle variables of 1,400 healthy adults. Something that the subjects had to detail was the frequency of bowel movements, which would be classified as follows: Once or twice a week – Constipation. Three to six times a week – Low frequency. One to three times a day – Normal frequency. More than three times a day – Diarrhea. “Goldilocks Zone”. Researchers found that people who reported eating a high-fiber diet, exercising regularly, and being well hydrated had good bowel movements. In a display of scientific humor, they baptized this “the Goldilocks zone,” which is a bowel movement frequency of between one and two bowel movements a day. That is the point at which, according to researchers, the balance between the microbiome and physiological markers is optimal. Therefore, the optimal frequency is between one and two times a day, but this is not always the case and when there is an imbalance that is when problems begin within us. Ideal stool shape: type 3 and 4 More serious than it seems. Johnson-Martinez comments that “if feces remain in the intestine for too long, microbes use up all the available dietary fiber, something they normally ferment to produce short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial for health. If this happens, the ecosystem changes and begins to ferment proteins, which generates various toxins that can reach the bloodstream.” Those byproducts of protein fermentation leaked into the bloodstream, such as p-cresol sulfate and indoxyl sulfate, pass to the kidneys, being associated with markers of worse kidney function… constipation. If, on the other hand, diarrhea occurs, the feces practically do not pass through the intestine, causing clinical parameters related to liver damage. That is to say: with constipation, the kidneys suffer. With diarrhea, the liver. Snitch. Gibbons comments that chronic constipation, which we have just seen what effects it produces, has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders and the chronic progression of kidney diseases. What remains is to define whether this abnormality in intestinal movement is an early warning of a chronic disease or organ damage. Now, the study also explores how this frequency of intestinal movement is also related to the anxiety and depressionrelating mental health to bowel movements. The researchers comment that it has been possible to link the frequency of bowel movements with all body systems and how it is something that can be a risk factor in the development of chronic diseases. Their hope is that medicine will take bowel movements seriously to “optimize health and well-being, even in healthy populations, based on bowel movement frequency.” And something interesting is that, if we do not have any problem, we should neither hold back the urge nor force it, because we artificially reduce and increase the time that the feces are in the intestine. Study the feces. There is an important detail that must be taken into account: having a frequency other than once/twice a day may be normal. The problem is when it becomes chronic. That’s when we should ask ourselves what is happening. There may be a health problem, but also that we have a diet low in fiber from fruits and vegetables. It is logical, but food and our lifestyle It is something inseparable from our feces. Plus, keeping an eye on them from time to time is not a bad idea because it is a free gut health test. Also you can scan your poop with an app that analyzes it thanks to AI. The time matters. Being in the “Goldilocks zone” is relevant, but previous studies have also explored the idea that when we poop is relevant, too. Studies carried out in 2020 and 2022 They related circadian rhythms to gastrointestinal activity. At night, intestinal activity decreases significantly, but during the day, especially after waking up or eating, there is greater mobility. An optimal time is half an hour after waking up, since the colon is activated after a night’s rest, but defecating later than that moment does not mean that something is wrong because there is some flexibility in the matter. Images | Cabot Health, Bristol Stool Chart, Sincerely Media In Xataka | Everest has become a dumping ground for feces. Solution: that all climbers carry theirs in bags

In the middle of the heatwave, Italy is debating whether it is “idiotic” to pay €95 for an ice cream cone

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would you pay 95 euros for a cone ice cream? It may seem like a far-fetched question, but in Italy a thorny debate is heating up that has among its protagonists: Flavio Briatorethe Piedmontese businessman famous for his connection with the Alpine F-1 team. In recent days, the tycoon has heated up the networks by calling “cretin” (idiot) who spends dozens and dozens (and dozens) of euros on a cone ice cream, a comment that was not liked in a shop in Apulia known precisely for that: selling ice cream with gold for €95. As we said, the debate is served. What has happened? To understand the controversy we have to go back a few days, when a story began to circulate in the Italian press. explosive statement from Briatore that has little to do with his usual business: ice cream. Although the businessman is known above all for his connection with Formula 1, years ago he promoted a chain of exclusive pizzerias call Crazy Pizza. Perhaps that is why the ‘Pomeriggio Cinque’ program contacted him to talk about summer and food. Everything was perfect, until Briatore harshly criticized those who buy cone ice cream for 70 eurosenough to enjoy a good seafood dinner. What exactly did he say? He assured that anyone who spends so much money on a cookie and cream cone is a “cretin”a word that in Spanish could be translated as “idiot.” In recent days this outburst has been repeated again and again on Italian networks and media such as Daily of Puglia, Il Messaggero either Leggoamong many (many) other newspapers, fueling the debate about whether, matters of tone aside, Briatore is right: Is it crazy to spend 70 euros on an ice cream cone, no matter how luxurious and tasty it may be? Before continuing, one detail must be clarified. On Monday the newspaper The Republicone of the most read in Italy, accurate that in reality Briatore’s words are not new and his controversial video dates back to 2024. In any case, it doesn’t matter. His statements have now gone viral, the debate has permeated the country and, above all, it is now that the other interested party has responded: a business in the Puglia region that effectively sells ice cream at seafood prices. Of course, now its star product, the one that Briatore criticized, is no longer sold at 70 euros. That was his launch price. Now it costs a whopping €95an increase supposedly forced by the increase in the price of its ingredients. What business is that? Mokambo Gelateriaan artisanal ice cream shop located in Ruvo di Pugliaa city in Apulia of around 25,500 inhabitants. Although it is not a particularly populous town and is far from moving the hordes of tourists who visit Rome, Florence or Venice every year, Mokambo has managed to become a popular reference in its sector. And one of the reasons is its most exclusive product: Lo Scettro del Re (King’s Scepter), an ice cream launched in 2018 for 70 euros. Since then he has given a lot of talk. @nick_radogna Ho Mangiato il Gelato D’oro is €70 🍦Second is it worth it? #gelato ♬ suono originale – Nick Radogna What have their owners said? Basically they have taken advantage of their renewed media pull to show off their chest. Both since your profile on Instagram, where they accumulate 24,000 followers, as in interviews with Italian media. For example, a few days ago one of the business owners, Vincenzo Paparella, chatted with Corriere della Sera to respond to Flavio Briatore. “I think he simply hasn’t understood who we are. He probably imagined that we are one of those who take a normal cream ice cream, put a gold leaf on top and sell it at an exorbitant price. If that were the case, he would be absolutely right to criticize it. But our project is totally different,” claims. What the famous ‘King’s Scepter’ offers, claims the Italian ice cream maker, is not a simple cone with cream, but “a gastronomic experience” with “a journey, a history, a work of research and experimentation.” But… What is the ice cream like? A gourmet product in every rule. The ‘Scepter’ incorporates a sheet of 24-karat edible gold, Iranian saffron, Bronte pistachio and fresh whipped cream. In theory, its ingredients include freshly milked milk from the Murgia area and free-range eggs. Of all these products, the one that makes it most expensive is Sargol saffron of Mashhad, in theory the reason why right now it is charged 95 euros. The ice cream parlor of course offers cheaper items, such as cones for five euros. And is it sold? Although not everyone can spend 95 euros on a cone that can be enjoyed in a matter of minutes, Paparella claims that the ‘Scepter’ has achieved surprising success. “In this time we have received more than 2,000 people who have come from all over the world just to enjoy this experience,” presume the ice cream man In fact, they have 148 people with reservations to try it between now and September. It is not a negligible figure if we take into account that, beyond the price, Ruvo di Puglia is not exactly a well-known destination. What is the underlying debate? “The numbers speak clearer than any controversy,” ditch Paparella. And he is right. We may consider it expensive or not, but the undeniable thing is that the ‘Cetro’ has a market and there are people willing to travel to a remote town and spend almost 100 euros to taste a cone. At its core, the debate is old and quite simple: does the gourmetization? Is it demand that determines prices? Curiously, as was remembered these days in the Italian press, the controversy has now arisen from the hand of a businessman (Briatore) who is no stranger to the world of luxury. Images | Mokambo Gelateria In Xataka | Spain’s favorite ice creams are from Mercadona and have no “brand”. And there is a … Read more

China is diverting its largest rivers thousands of kilometers away. The price to pay is a huge environmental mystery

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Water in China has a basic geographical problem, since the south of the country floods very frequently while the north is in a drought situation. To solve it, the Asian giant has spent decades running which is probably the most ambitious hydraulic engineering project in the history of humanity, since they are literally moving nature. Making history. If there is a country capable of altering the face of the Earth to guarantee its economic and demographic survival, it is China. The premise is as simple to understand as it is pharaonic to execute, since what they are doing is transferring water from the rich Yangtze River basin in the south to the arid plains in the north, where a large part of the country’s population, agriculture and industry is concentrated, but barely 20% of its water resources. The result of this It is the ‘South-North Water Transfer Project’ that has a colossal network of canals, pipelines and pumping stations that are defying geography. The figures of a titanic work. To estimate the size of this project, it is enough to go to official sources, since, according to the latest updates from China’s Ministry of Water Resources, the infrastructure is unparalleled in the world. Specifically, to date, the system has managed to transfer more than 70,000 million cubic meters of water through its central and eastern route. From a hydrological perspective, as detailed in CEDEX technical schemes on platforms such as Hispagua, this is equivalent to moving entire rivers artificially. The beneficiaries There have been 150 million people who have seen how this water injection It has even allowed an “ecological replenishment”, recovering the water table in northern areas that had been depleted for decades. But massive intervention on the ground always has a “B side.” The rivers. As China redraws its water map, an alarming fact emerged, as official censuses revealed that tens of thousands of rivers appeared to have disappeared in the country in just a few decades. Here the specialist media have raised great global concern about this phenomenon, since it is not known if this transfer was drying out the country at an unprecedented rate. The answer. It was given to us by an article published in 2019 that pointed out that the massive “disappearance” of the channels was not due to the fact that they had evaporated overnight due to dams or climate change, but rather to a problem of cartographic methodology. That is, historically, censuses included what scientists call ‘pseudo-rivers’ and used counting criteria that were not supported. Now that they have applied a much better and more consolidated hydraulic classification, the number of these “lost” rivers has been drastically reduced. The ecological cost. The fact that rivers are not disappearing en masse from the maps does not mean that the megaproject is free, since modifying the flow of some of the most important basins on the planet entails risks that scientific literature has been monitoring for years. Already in 2009, a classic review published in Wiley by researcher Zhang Quanfa warned of the profound Yoenvironmental implications of the transfer. Here he proposes that extracting such massive volumes from the south irreparably alters the Yangtze basin, causing an alteration of the southern aquatic ecosystem, or it has even been seen that as less fresh water reaches the mouth of the Yangtze, sea water penetrates inland, threatening the local supply and agriculture of the delta. The demographic cost. Added to these environmental warnings is the institutional analysis of experts such as Mark Wang and Chen Li who point out the governance challenges and the enormous political and social friction generated. Here different critical organizations point out that the authorities have forced the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people and have required multimillion-dollar investments in treatment plants to prevent contaminated water from the south from ruining the reserves in the north. Images | ダモリ In Xataka | A small river lost between Russia and North Korea is testing something much bigger: China’s patience with both.

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