population

The countries with the highest number of billionaires among their population, brought together in a very revealing graph

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The great fortunes they are not distributed uniformly across the planet. A few countries concentrate the majority of the world’s billionaires, while others barely contribute names to that exclusive club. The geographical distribution of extreme wealth leaves us with a snapshot that gives clues about which countries or tax policies encourage capital accumulation and they are the perfect breeding ground for generating wealth. In 2025, the wealth gap between the average population and the great fortunes has skyrocketed, but it has also left evidence of this difference between countries. The comparative graph prepared by Visual Capitalist allows you to compare this distribution in a very visual and direct way. The graph is powered by data provided by the study’Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025‘ prepared by UBS and the consulting firm PwC, in which an annual record of the number of billionaires is maintained. That is, people with assets exceeding one billion dollars at the beginning of the year. A billionaire factory To no one’s surprise, the US dominates by a wide margin the world ranking of countries according to the number of billionaires. The country hosts 924 people with a net worth of over a billion dollars, a figure that practically doubles that of the second-ranked player. This concentration also translates into a increase in joint wealthsince the sum of the US fortunes reaches a total of about 6.9 trillion dollars. China is in second place with 470 billionaires among its population. However, despite accounting for almost 50% of the billionaires in the US, their combined wealth is much lower, being close to 1.8 trillion dollars. That is to say, we only have half as many millionaires as the US, their combined assets are almost four times less. Third place on the list of countries with the most billionaires is occupied by India with 188 people with assets exceeding one billion dollars. Again, the comparison between India and China reveals a asynchronous growth between the number of millionaires and their total assets, with a combined capital of 888,000 million dollars. That is, with one third of China’s millionaires, the sum of the assets of the Indian magnates It is half of its Chinese counterparts. This reveals that a good number of Chinese millionaires have managed to overcome the billion-dollar barrier, but the accumulation of wealth from these great fortunes is not as pronounced as in other countries such as the US or India. The European map of billionaires Europe presents a internal distribution marked by notable differences between countries. According to data from the UBS report, Germany tops the European list with 156 billionairesbeing the main country on the continent in this aspect. Their combined fortune amounts to 692 billion dollars, which places them in a position alienated from the proportions of the United States or India. Common names also appear in the list in the lists of countries with millionaire populations, What are the United Kingdom like?which occupies fifth place with 91 billionairesor Switzerland with 84 great fortunes. In the following ranks are countries like Italy, which with 61 billionaires occupies the eighth position in number of great fortunes. France is also among the countries with outstanding figures, although well below these three leaders as it occupies thirteenth position in the ranking. In these cases, the harsh sales crisis in the Chinese and Asian markets for luxury products have seriously affected the balance sheets of exclusive brands like LVMH or Ferrariwhose owners are located as standard bearers of those great fortunes. The distribution of fortunes makes it clear that, even within Europethe concentration of billionaires tends to cluster in industrialized economies or with fiscal policies very oriented to capital returns. Spain takes positions Spain is not among the European countries with more billionairesalthough it has experienced recent growth in that select group. According to UBS data for 2025, the total number of Spanish billionaires who exceed the billion-dollar threshold It is 32 people. This figure places Spain as the seventeenth country with the most billionaires behind countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom or Italy in the continental ranking. The total combined wealth of the Spanish billionaires reaches $213.1 billion (about 182,602 million euros) in 2025, with an increase of 21.5% compared to previous years. However, in the Spanish case, the concentration of assets is not uniform, there is one figure that monopolizes a good part of that total assets: Amancio Ortega. In Xataka | Seven of the ten largest fortunes in the world in 2026 are due to AI: this illustrative graph makes it very clear Image | Visual Capitalist

China has done everything to stop its population bleeding. The result is the lowest birth rate since 1949

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China has encountered an even more complex challenge than the real estate crisis, the trade war with the US or the future of Taiwan: the babies. As your birth rate deflates (leaving the number of newborns below the number of deaths) the Asian giant is becoming less and less “giant”, a trend that threatens to punish the nation’s economy. Beijing knows it and that is why it takes time deploying measures that seek to boost their demographics. The problem is that, despite his many efforts, he can’t hit the nail on the head. Your latest official data birth rates show a new setback. What has happened? That despite all its efforts, China has not been able to stop its demographic hemorrhage. This is how it reveals the last balance from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), which shows a scenario similar to that suffered by other nations (inside and outside Asia) shaken by demographic winter: fewer babies, more deaths and general population decline. In short: a country that continues to lose weight little by little and risks complying UN predictionswhich estimates that by 2100 China will have lost more than half of its population, remaining at the size it had in the late 1950s. What does the data say? That in 2025 the authorities counted 7.92 million of births, 17% less than the previous year. The data leaves two other negative readings: the first is that it suggests that the birth rate increase registered in 2024 was punctual and has not been consolidated over time. After that brief rebound (which some associate to the cultural influence of ‘Year of the Dragon’) the Chinese birth rate has resumed the negative curve that it has been drawing for years. The second negative reading is that the decrease in the number of births has in turn reduced the country’s birth rate, leaving it in 5.63 births per 1,000 people. This is a historic low. A fact that has not been seen since (at least) 1949, year of foundation of the People’s Republic of China. It is about the steepest drop birth rate for the last five years. As AP News recallsChinese authorities do not regularly publish their fertility rate, but their last estimate, from 2020, was 1.3 children per woman. Now that indicator would have dropped to 1. The data is far from the “replacement rate” (2.1), essential to keep a country’s population stable. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Are there more figures? Yes. And they are just as bad. Deaths increased, going from 10.93 million registered in 2024 to 11.31 in 2025. The result of this drop in birth rates and increase in deaths was a natural loss of population (the data does not allude to the migratory effect) that brings China even closer to the projections of the United Nations by the end of the century. The NBS balance sheet reflects the loss of some 3.39 million of Chinese, leaving the country’s total population at around 1,405 million. It is the fourth consecutive year in which the country sees its population reduced, which has caused China to no longer be the most populous nation on the planet: from 2023 that honor India boasts itwhich comfortably exceeds the 1.4 billion of people. Why is it important? Birth rate and census are more than just demographic variables. They also influence the future of the country. The size of the population is directly related, for example, to domestic consumption (key piece in the country’s economy) or the health of its workforce. The demographic winter threatens to subject China to the same social pressures as other countries in Asia and the West, only on a much larger scale. Right now the population over 60 years old represents 23%. If nothing changes, in 2035 that strip will add 400 million of people, just like the entire population of the US and Italy combined. The big question is how that will affect their pension system. At the moment the country already has increased the retirement age. How to change it? That is the other reason why the NBS data is so important and has probably fallen like a bucket of cold water on Beijing. It’s not just about fewer babies being born and population being lost, it’s that the Government has been looking for a way to avoid it for some time… without success, at least until now. As far as birth rates are concerned, it seems to have hit the same rock as other neighboring nations that face a similar challenge, like japan either South Korea. What have you tried? Of everything. And without much success. Despite the billions of dollars invested in child care programs, the facilities offered to those considering becoming parents (from subsidies to medical attention) and efforts to form new couplesthe birth rate continues without increasing. And the Chinese authorities have gone to the extreme of go door to door encouraging women to be mothers. The reason? Beyond the influence of ‘one child’ policy (abandoned a decade ago) there are those who point to cultural changes and the high cost that (despite everything) parenthood entails in China. A 2024 report from the YuWan Population Research Institute in fact concluded that China is one of the most expensive places to raise children (especially if we talk about cities), even more than in Japan or the United States in relative terms. The study addressed both direct and opportunity costs. Image | Peijia Li (Unsplash) In Xataka | China knows that its population is going to collapse but it already has a long-term plan to solve it. Of course, thanks to AI

A beetle is decimating the population of Salamanca. And the biggest problem is that it is protected

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The story is old, He is almost 20 years old: a protected beetle is destroying the Salamanca oak forests. It is a wood borer that digs galleries in the oaks and ends up weakening them to the point of death. The aggravation. And, although it is true that the dehesa is a very small and localized ecosystem, its economic, social and symbolic importance is enormous. Therefore, the idea of ​​a plague that is ‘drilling’ the productive infrastructure of western Spain and that cannot be controlled because it is “in danger of extinction” makes many people nervous. The problem, as always, is that the matter is a little more complicated. What is that Cerambyx pig? Also known as ‘greater capriconium of the oaks‘, it is one of the largest beetles left in Europe. It is relatively easy to recognize it because it has disproportionate, enormous antennae, longer than the body itself. And yes, indeed, the Habitats Directive protects it at European level. That is, member states have the obligation to establish special areas for their conservation. What happens is that in Spain, at least, this has generated problems: to what we have already mentioned about the oak forests of Castilla y León, we must add the case of the Balearic Islands where the authorities they dedicate million-dollar budgets to protect the Tramuntana Mountains from the overpopulation of these insects. So it is a problem, right? Yes of course. What happens is that a small detail is usually ignored: that, as technical studies have been saying for decadesthe most susceptible trees are usually old or in poor physiological condition. That is to say, historically the greater Capricorn had an almost symbiotic relationship with ecosystems: it helped ‘renew’ the forest, eliminating trees in poor condition. That is, the current problem it’s not just the beetle: it is the poor state of the mountains and pastures. Disrepair? a few weeks ago we were talking de la Seca, a serious disease caused by a pathogen (Phytophthora cinnamomi), linked directly to the decay and death of holm oaks and cork oaks. But, as we also said, despite the alarmism about pests, they are the consequence of decades of bad forestry practices that have undermined the ecosystem from within. The pasture, we already know, is not a ‘virgin natural environment’: it is a very complex agro-silvo-pastoral system the result of centuries of forest clearing, extensive grazing and human uses of all kinds. Practices that have disappeared and have been replaced by other industrial practices that applied little management and a lot of brute force. To that, we must also add climate change. Mytec What is in danger of extinction is the ecosystem. That is the real problem: the hundreds and thousands of trees in poor condition, with strong water stress and problems of all kinds. And that’s where pests grow. Let’s go back to the beetle. Because, of course, its special protection status makes managing it even more difficult than normal. That’s why, The normal complaint is that “you can’t fumigate”: but that doesn’t mean you can’t ‘fight’. Things like silvicultural prevention, surveillance and advanced technical means can help control populations. Furthermore, the same regulations that protect it allows more serious approaches when necessary. However, the problem is the same as always: the forest (even a forest as socio-economically important as the dehesa) is only profitable if the externalities generated by its exploitation are not considered. The best examplewe have been seeing in Murcia for years. Image | Mytec / Josh Hume In Xataka | In California, the funds discovered that there is no investment more profitable than farmland. Now it’s Spain’s turn

Madrid and Catalonia are losing national population while gaining foreign population

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The latest data of the INE on population flows show a curious phenomenon (almost contradictory) in two of the most populated regions of the country: Community of Madrid and Catalonia. Although both maintain their capacity to attract emigrants from other countries, they have been losing already resident populations for some time. in favor of other autonomieswhich translates into an “internal” migratory balance in the red. In short: your migratory motor has two speeds. The big question is to what extent it is the result of housing cost. What has happened? that the latest data from the INE confirm that Madrid and Catalonia remain the favorite destinations for immigrants who decide to move to Spain, but at the same time both communities see how many of their own neighbors pack their bags to move to other regions neighbors, such as Castilla-La Mancha (case of Madrid) or the Valencian Community (case of Catalonia). The data is especially interesting if we take into account that they arrive with a residential market with skyrocketing prices. Community Total immigration balance SM Exterior indoor SM Andalusia 61,912 67,770 -5,858 Aragon 18,024 17,048 976 Asturias 14,225 10,340 3,885 Balearics 17,118 15,735 1,383 Canary Islands 27,770 27,331 439 Cantabria 5,977 5,051 926 Castile and León 26,407 24,316 2,091 Castile-La Mancha 27,746 23,819 3,927 Catalonia 122,593 129,030 -6,437 Valencian Community 115,742 104,776 10,966 Estremadura 4,008 5,096 -1,088 Galicia 30,325 27,730 2,595 Community of Madrid 100,971 113,964 -12,993 Murcia region 17,531 18,704 -1,173 Navarre 6,976 7,264 -288 The Basque Country 24,190 23,420 770 Rioja 3,906 2,998 908 Ceuta 217 416 -199 Melilla 630 1,460 -830 Is the trend so clear? Yes. It comes with taking a look at the tables of INE immigration balances to verify it. If we look at the balance of foreign migration (the difference between the population from other countries that moved to Spain and the Spanish population that settled in other nations), in 2034 the Catalan community registered a clearly positive result: +129,030 people. Things change when we talk about “internal migration”, which reflects population movements between the different Spanish communities, always within the country. In that case the balance left a negative result: -6,437. That is, there were 53,585 people from other regions who settled in Catalonia, but 60,022 Catalans who packed their bags to go to other autonomies. And in Madrid? The ‘photo’ It’s not very different. Its external migration balance showed a positive result of 113,964 people, but that of “internal migration” left a negative balance, with the loss of 12,993 residents. In 2024 there were 100,342 people from other communities who registered in one of the municipalities of Madrid, but 113,335 did exactly the opposite: they decided to pack their bags and change the capital for other regions. In fact, the Community of Madrid shows the worst internal migration balance (at least in net terms) in the country. Only Catalonia (-6,437) and Andalusia, which showed a negative balance of -5,858, come close (and by far). It’s not really a surprise. In May we told you how there are people from Madrid moving to Valladolid and taking the AVE every day to continue working in the capital. Can it go further? Yes. The INE allows you to go beyond the autonomous communities and obtain data at the municipal or even submunicipal level, by neighborhood. It is an interesting tool because it confirms how this double phenomenon is exacerbated in the two main cities of the country: Madrid and Barcelona. In the first (Madrid) the external migration balance was 73,959 people and the internal one was -18,722. In Barcelona these indicators marked +46,974 and -17,020, respectively. Valencia also presents a positive external balance and a negative internal balance, despite the fact that the community as a whole gained migration. Why is it interesting? Because population flows are not isolated phenomena. They occur in a context marked by multiple factors, among which is (especially if we talk about recent years) the increase in price of housing and an increase in ‘overcrowded homes’those in which people reside in overcrowded conditions. There are also another clear trend: the increase in certain migratory flows, such as those of Venezuelan origin, a phenomenon that is being felt in neighborhoods of all types of income. A recent study from Idealista confirms that Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most expensive cities in Spain. And he is not the only one. Photohouse calculate that Madrid and Catalonia are two of the regions with the most expensive second-hand housing in Spain, only surpassed by the Balearic Islands and (in the case of Catalonia) the Canary Islands and Euskadi. Does housing have that much influence? The INE study suggests this, especially because it appreciates differences within the municipalities themselves. “In some of the main cities it is observed that the most central districts are losing population, while the most remote ones are gaining it,” comments the organizationwhich cites several specific cases already confirm the trend: “In 2024 in Madrid, the subdistricts on the southeastern periphery were the ones that had the highest balance. In Barcelona and Valencia, those in the south were the ones that gained the most.” Of course more factors come into play. The Canary Islands or Balearic Islands, two regions very marked by rising housing prices and tourism, closed 2024 with a positive balance in both external and internal migration, just like the Basque Country. Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León also grew, receivers of a good part of the population that decided to leave the capital, and the Valencian Community, also a destination for internal migration from Barcelona. Images | Joshua Aguilar (Unsplash) and INE In Xataka | The silent surprise of Venezuelans: the number of immigrants has skyrocketed in Madrid, eclipsing Romanians and Moroccans

Why communities already vaccinate the entire population (and not just the elderly)

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Every winter, history repeats itself in our country. Along with the drop in temperatures, the flu makes an appearance in our environmentcausing many people to start sniffling, coughing or having a fever. In general, in order to prevent the worst of this virus during the previous months, we are committed to carrying out vaccination campaigns for a part of the population, while the ‘unlucky’ rely on paracetamol and some slightly bad days. The epidemic. For a few days now, Spain has been officially in a flu epidemic due to the increase in cases in much of Spainwhich has led some communities to activate the recommendation to wear a mask in some locations. Everything to avoid, above all, continuing to spread the virus and not infect those most vulnerable people who can easily end up admitted to a hospital, putting strain on the health system. The problem this year is in the ‘variant K‘ of this virus for which we were not fully prepared with the vaccines available and neither were our immune systems. But luckily the weapons we have have a predictable effect to minimize their effects on the body. Vaccination system. Currently vaccination officially recommended to a specific population. One of these groups are the smallest in the house, because they are a group of people who act as vectors. This means that it can become infected, have a very long incubation and then barely show any symptoms. The problem is that they will be able to infect everyone around them, such as their parents or even elderly people such as grandparents, which is a serious problem, since they will manifest the disease aggressively. In this way, the strategy is to block this vector with the vaccination of children under six years of age, although not without being free of bioethical problems. On the other hand, there is vaccination for the elderly, health personnel or immunocompromisedwhere infection by this virus can lead to a very delicate state of health. Vaccination for all. Vaccinating a small part of the population is the strategy on the table right now, but more and more voices are pointing to the need to carry out mass vaccinations. As happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this way, the Spanish Association of Vaccinology (AEV) and the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the AEP defend this strategy due to the pure statistics that exist in our country. They point out that as long as vaccination coverage is not massive, the virus always finds “gaps” to circulate. If we only vaccinate grandparents, the virus circulates freely between children (the major transmitters) and young adults, mutating and staying strong until, inevitably, it jumps back to the vulnerable. The keys. As we have said before, the AEP has been insisting in universal childhood vaccination (from 6 to 59 months). Not only to protect the child, but because children are very efficient vectors, and they conclude that if the virus is stopped in daycares and schools, you indirectly protect the entire community. But there are more and more voices that point to the need for Those under 17 years of age should also fall within the technical criteria to receive this vaccine. But not only these, since international organizations such as the ECDC and the WHO have indicated that expand coverage to “broad segments of the population” (including cohabitants and active workers) is the only real way to contain the epidemic wave. The more vaccinated people there are at the beginning of the wave, the fewer “highways” the virus has to move. It is already being done. From public administrations we already see how vaccination is being recommended before the maximum peak of this epidemic arrives, which is expected just at Christmas, since that is when people can gather the most in a closed space. In this way, the Minister of Health herself, Mónica García, point for “the entire population to be vaccinated” without reference to the criteria established in the technical plans. And it is something that the autonomous communities are doing, opening the door to anyone who wants to be vaccinated by eliminating restrictions. Catalonia, for example, since December 1 It has been opened so that anyone who wants to be immunized can do so. For their part, Galicia and Castilla y León have implemented mass vaccination campaigns without prior appointment (“open doors”) during the weekends, making it easier for anyone passing by to receive the jab. yesThey have joined the strategy of “accelerating immunization” by eliminating the bureaucratic barriers of prior appointment. The underlying message of these policies is clear: if you have the arm and the will, we want you vaccinated now. The sooner the better. The experts in this case are quite clear because the vaccine does not ‘work’ at the time of inoculation. You have to wait a few weeks to generate optimal protection against the virus to reduce symptoms in the event that you contract the disease. Images | Mufid Majnun In Xataka | Bacteria have an ‘escape plan’ to survive the viruses that kill them, and it is key to defeating superbugs

The aging of its population is about to leave Japan without a key element for the nation: pants

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Japan has entered a unprecedented demographic phase for an advanced economy: retirement mass of the generation that supported its industry coincides with a young one that is too small (and unwilling) to occupy the jobs that this economy requires to continue functioning. On paper, global demand for certain domestically manufactured goods has never been higher, but in the engine room, those who know how to produce them are aging without substitutes. Fabric turned into luxury. He japanese denimslowly woven, dense and dyed with natural indigo in repeated cycles, enjoys a moment of consecration worldwide: Dior, Balenciaga and other luxury houses incorporate it, celebrities exhibit it, the market projects grow more than 85% until 2035 and tourism (supported by a weak yen) triple sales in Kojima’s “Jeans Street.” For an industry that had been hollowed out by decades of cheap imports, the return of demand is not marginal but cultural: the value resides in the texturethe way indigo ages and in that kind of aura of exclusivity that results from real and not cosmetic scarcity. In fact, brands with Japanese only website and without direct export they increase that breath of rarity and price. Without a job when it is most demanded. The apogee has arrived when the productive base collapses: There are barely fifty artisans left in the founding heart of the japanese selvedgethe average age is close to seventy, and apprentices last months before giving up due to noise, heat, grease, discipline and slowness. Bloomberg counted that the skill curve is not linear: it takes six months to five years to operate the loom and up to a decade to maintain and repair it. With the master generation entering retirement and entrepreneurs without time to transmit the trade, continuity is broken by calendar, not by market. Ancient technology. The shuttle looms of the early 20th century (now relics) allow continuous edging what gives the “selvedge” and the density of the weave that produces an unmistakable drape, feel and aging in the fabric. Japan came to have 300,000 machines of this type. The problem? Today there are less than 400 operationsa lower third a single signature. To maintain them you have to remove pieces of other machines already stopped and work at a pace that doesn’t fit with today’s industry. They cannot be replaced by automation without losing exactly what the customer pays for: a finish that only time gives on a slow-made fabric. What is authentic is paid for. Plus: the one who pays For this denim you are not looking just for the feel, but for a product that takes time to make, that ages well and does not depend on the rapid rotation of fashion. In other words, this preference fits with the rejection of fast-fashion and a turn towards objects designed to last. The signs are many and clear: Levi’s sells “Blue Tab” lines for twice the price of a normal 501, Capital places jeans worth several hundred or thousands of dollars, and funds linked to the almighty LVMH they invest in Kojima brands. The problem of aging. Japan is getting older faster than there is time to teach the trade. The factories have plenty of orders, but they cannot get hire or train substitutes. The owners travel and manage, but they do not have hours to teach, and the machines will be lost due to lack of parts and hands that know how to maintain them. If the drift continues like this, the problem will not be a lack of demand but capacity: in about ten years (according to own manufacturers) this type of product will no longer be able to be made because neither the technicians nor the machines will be able to work. There are no shortcuts. The final paradox is that the boom of the sector It doesn’t seem like it’s going to save the job, rather it accelerate towards the limit: The more demand grows, the more it squeezes the few remaining hands and the less time there is to teach others. Thus, the world Japanese denim is faced with a disturbing choice: slow down the pace to transmit the trade (even if that means losing sales in the short term) or exploit the latest generation until it is exhausted, knowing that this would leave a product that will possibly disappear, not due to lack of market, but because no one will be able to do it anymore. Image | PxHere, Liface In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. In Xataka | Japan’s aging has hit rock bottom with a devastating fact: more and more elderly people want to live in prison

China knows that its population is going to sink but already has a long -term plan to solve it. How not, thanks to the AI

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In 2024 China exceeded 1,400 million inhabitants, but according to United Nations Data That figure will begin to fall remarkably in the coming decades. Predctions talk about 2050 The population There will already be between 100 and 200 million people, and for 2100 in the best Chinese cases it will have only 900 million inhabitants. Among many other things, there will be a huge impact In a key sector: that of the number of workers available. Source: United Nations In Economist They go further and stand out as today 22% of Chinese citizens are over 60 years old, but in 2035 that fee will rise to 32.5%. The Birth rates They are also very low: to maintain the population that rate should be 2.1 children per woman, but in 2024 the rate It was 1.0 children. And as they point out in Chinese triviumthe situation threatens to make China fall into “the average income trap”, slowing the growth of its economy because, simply, it cannot already have so much cheap labor and the level of exports that it had so far. More productivity. The Xi Jinping solution lies in a concept that the Chinese government calls “new quality productive forces” (NQPF). It is a strategy to boost productivity, and for this you can take advantage of technological innovations, improve education or disseminate ideas and improvements throughout all industries. In April XI He already indicated that its 15th “five -year plan” (from 2026 to 2030) will precisely drive this type of measures. And above all, one. Ai plus. That is where the so -called AI Plus directive, a long -term plan that in the next 10 years hopes to get AI becomes fully infiltrated the entire business and consumption fabric in China. The phases They are clear: 2027: reach a penetration rate of more than 70 % of terminals and intelligent agents in six key sectors (science and technology, industry, consumption, social welfare, global governance and cooperation). 2030: That penetration rate must be 90%. 2025: According to the report, “the AI ​​will be adopted as universally as electricity and the Internet, becoming the ‘basic infrastructure’ of society.” In all areas. The plan pretends that AI is the great technological innovation that allows to boost productivity in all types of areas. For example in innovation and scientific discovery, but also in industrial transformation. In the latter case both agriculture and services are short -term objectives for the deployment of AI. And also for consumption. In the consumer sector, AI must stimulate demand with the application of this technology in products such as connected cars or intelligent domestic devices. And of course, the objective is also that AI accompany and help all citizens in education, work or to improve health. Governance and cooperation. The last two major sectors of the initiative are those that affect government efficiency – for example, for urban planning, national segurity or online censorship – and international competitiveness. In the latter case, the plan defends that AI must be considered an international public good and must follow an open source philosophy. Challenges. Some experts believe that the success of the AI ​​Plus program is not assured, and there are also no clear metrics that serve to really measure the contribution of AI to economic growth. Jeffrey Ding, from the George Washington University, explains that “China faces a diffusion deficit because its ability to innovate and be a pioneer in new technologies far exceeds its ability to spread those advances throughout the economy.” Low adoption. Although the country can train its best talents of AI in its best universities, it has certain problems to achieve that same training between “standard” ingenerios, which can create a barrier for the adoption of these technologies. A survey conducted in 2022 confirmed That perception: only 4.5% of the companies owned by the Chinese government confirmed that the efforts to transform them digitally were “fulfilling expectations.” And the AGI, what? Interestingly, in that document there is no mention of the General Artificial Intelligencewhat seems to suggest once again that China prefers to make generative AI infiltrate throughout society instead of going in search of supremacy in AGI. That does not mean that China does not end up looking for this type of achievement, but at the moment its focus is another. A much more pragmatic and that is precisely aimed at mitigating the effects of its future demographic contraction. Image | Global panorama | Brian Matangelo In Xataka | China has found the formula to upload salaries while still being the world’s factory: a silent robots invasion

That Mount Fuji erupts would be catastrophic, so the Government of Japan has used AI to warn the population

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The Japanese government has published a video created with artificial intelligence that shows the devastating consequences that would have an eruption of the Mount Fuji For the 20 million inhabitants of Tokyo. The video, disseminated last Sunday by the Disaster Prevention Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is part of a strategy to prepare the population before a natural catastrophe that, although it is not imminent, is possible. What does the video show. The simulation starts with a woman in a crowded street that receives an alert on her mobile informing her that the volcano has erupted. “The moment can come without prior notice,” warns the narrative before showing huge columns of smoke leaving the Fuji. The images generated by AI show how volcanic ash would arrive in Tokyo in just two hours, covering buildings and vehicles, and plunging the capital in the dark even during the day. Why now. Japan is in the Fire belt Del Pacífico, an area of ​​intense seismic and volcanic activity. The country houses 111 of the approximately 1,500 active volcanoes in the world. Mount Fuji, who for centuries erupted every 30 years approximately, He has been asleep since the known as Hoei eruption of 1707. The authorities have intensified the alert tone in the last year, especially after warning in January that there is 80% probability that A severe earthquake hits The Nankai pit region in the next 30 years. The economic and social impact. According to Official estimatesa large -scale rash would produce 1.7 billion cubic meters of volcanic ash, of which about 490 million would accumulate on roads, buildings and other surfaces. Economic losses could reach 2.5 billion yen (about 14,200 million euros). The ash would cause the collapse of wooden buildings with little load capacity, paralyze rail transport, cut the electricity supply and hinder the distribution of essential foods and products. Reactions found. We have had the reactions of all kinds. While some users in networks They have expressed His concern: “The idea that volcanic ash causes chaos in the transport of Tokyo’s metropolitan area is terrifying,” others have criticized the approach for which the government has opted, considering it as alarmist. “It tends to be used to stir a feeling of crisis and fear”, commented Another user. Practical preparation. The Government recommends to residents of areas near the Fuji maintain essential supplies for two weeks. The simulation includes a family scenes preparing pantries with canned food and first aid kit. However, some citizens indicate the practical difficulties of these measures, especially during Japanese summers, when temperatures reach Suffocating levels and an electric cut would be especially problematic. Cover image | Caleb Jack In Xataka | Science already knows what has been the worst year in the history of mankind. And there is surprise: it did not depend on humanity

With more and more foreign population, Murcia has reminded Spain of its great dilemma: integrate or veto

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Spain is (increasingly) a land of immigrants. If the national register is growing and caressed already the 50 million inhabitants is basically for The thrust of the population born abroad, which compensates for the PLANCHAZO OF BUSINESS. As it becomes more diverse and combines different cultural and religious traditions, Spain confronts an urgent challenge: decide what position to adopt before that hodgepodge, increasingly palpable in public spaces. In Jumilla, Murcia, that debate has just turned strongly. Jumilla earrings. Jumilla It is a town in the region of Murcian Altiplano of almost 27,300 inhabitants famous for their Wines and pears. Today, however, it stars holders in the media throughout the country (and some foreigner) for a very different reason: his City Council has approved a measure that will prevent the hundreds of Muslims who reside there (more or less 7.5% From its inhabitants it comes from countries where this belief is majority) to celebrate religious festivities in the municipal sports center, as they have been doing in The last years. “Over -up and incompatible”. To understand it, you have to go back a few weeks ago, when you vox, with A single councilor In the corporation, he presented a proposal “in defense of Spanish identity”. The text can be read in full in The X account of Vox Murcia but basically stated that the Consistory vet the celebration of the Lace -up party or “other commemorations outside our traditions” for being “incompatible with the identity (…) Spanish”. Did he go ahead? The proposal went through the Plenary at the end of the month, with the negotiation of local budgets as a backdrop, and gave rise to a debate during which the PP presented an amendment that was validated with the popular votes, the abstention of Vox and the rejection of the mayor of the PSOE and IU-PODAMOS-AV. What did you raise The amendment? Broadly speaking, “urges the government team to promote cultural activities, campaigns and proposals that defend our identity and protect traditional religious values and manifestations.” Not just that. The text also slides that the Consistory will retouch the regulations that regulates the enjoyment of sports facilities so that they are “exclusively” to events organized by the municipality itself and makes it clear that “in no case” will be used for “cultural, social or religious activities outside the City Council.” Enough for the measure to have generated a considerable stir. “Is the Muslim word?” In view of the great controversy that has been generated and that what happened in Jumilla has echoed even in The pages of The Guardianthe municipal government, in the hands of the PP, has not taken long to calm the spirits. “It does not go from religion or nationality”, He claimed Yesterday his spokesman, Maricarmen Cruz, in statements collected by RTVE. “Where does the Muslim word appear, where the word ban appears?” The Consistory argues that the people have great sports activity and need their pavilions to focus on that use. Who wants to celebrate other types of acts will need to look for another place. “We have not vetoed anything,” emphasize Cross. “Jumilla has more spaces. Who has said to centralize there?” “Land of Christian roots”. The reality is that the amendment approved in full complicates that the near them 1,500 Muslims that live in the town they celebrate the collective prayer of the end of Ramadan and the Lamb party in the City Council sportsman, as they have done during The last four years. “The measure comes from where, from a embarrassing and racist motion of Vox. What has done is bleaching it,” complaint the former mayor and local spokesman of the PSOE. The truth is that Abascal’s formation has not taken long in Remove chest So consider a pioneer measure that “prevents celebrating Islamic parties in public spaces.” “Spain is and will always be a land of Christian roots”, He underlined Yesterday the training in X. The Central Executive He has already warned which will supervise “very closely” the effects of the agreement in search of “hate speeches” and Jumilla’s Muslim population It does not hide His concern: “They have taken away a place to pray and now it is an erzo, but we do not know what else they can take us tomorrow.” Click on the image to go to Tweet. “It’s discrimination”. The debate is interesting enough (and broad) to have reached the Catholic Church. The country It echoes Today of the discomfort of Spanish bishops due to Jumilla’s motion, a text in which no confession is cited but the use of public spaces for religious acts is restricted. “Attentive against the fundamental rights of any human, and does not affect only a religious group, but all religious confessions”, Catholic prelates warn. “Making these restrictions for religious reasons is a discrimination that cannot occur in democratic societies.” Beyond Jumilla. Jumilla’s case comes only a few weeks after Pacheco Torre disturbancesalso in Murcia, which left a wave of violence aimed at the Maghreb population. Both case reflect a reality that transcends the Murcia community and points to one of the great challenges Spain has ahead: with an immigrant population In clear ascent (Among the nationalities that grow the most are the Moroccan and Algerian), the country must decide what position to assume before the new identity and religious manifestations. And that affects both newly arrived immigrants and their children, born in Spain and retain their legacy. In the near horizon, debates appear as what attitude adopt to parties linked to other cultures and the presence of religious symbols in public spaces (Hiyab yes or no) or even in cemeteries. Two models: France and the United Kingdom. Spain has two models close to those to look, that of France and the United Kingdom. The first has opted for example for a Restrictive regulations On the use of the hijab that has led to situations such as the one lived last summer, when Sounkamba Sylla He was about to stay out of the … Read more

The aging of the population and a poor pension system has a new symbol in Japan: grandmothers are rented

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During the last months, the great drag crisis Japan with the aging of its population has been expressed in multiple formats. For example, in the field they are becoming Schools in hotels And more and more elderly for living in jail. In fact, the situation is such that the shortage of young labor has turned retirement into an aspiration of the past, with a large group of over 70 years keeping your work life Active The latest: the nation has begun to rent grandmothers. Grandmother for hours. As we said, in the context of a society that ages quickly and where loneliness and isolation They have become structural phenomena, Japan has witnessed the emergence of a unique and deeply revealing service: Ok obaachanan initiative that allows rent grandmothers For hours to fulfill as varied functions as teaching to cook, take care of children, accompany a loving break or simply provide emotional support. Behind this phenomenon, which might seem picturesque at first sight, underlies a series of economic tensions and social that clearly draw the fragility of the social contract in the Third Japanese age. With More than 9.3 million of people over 65 years old still active (That is, one in four elders continues to work after retirement age), many are forced to seek new forms of income against pensions that are barely enough to meet basic needs. For these older women, OK Obaachan represents not only an economic way, but also a form of Keep feeling usefulpresent and linked to society. A human catalog. The service, offered by the Client Partners companyis presented as a multifunctional female personnel (a kind of task and company company) and offers grandmothers to a cost of 3,300 yen per hour (More transport). The current template includes about 100 women between 60 and 94 yearswith diverse profiles and skills that cover From the kitchen, calligraphic writing or family mediation, to the simple ability to listen, advise or do affective presence. What began as a practical project has become an experience deeply human: Some grandmothers accompany people who want to leave the closet in front of their parents, others participate in academic research on social evolution in Japan, and there are those who simply help cope with everyday life. Some of the “rental grandmothers” Grandmothers of all colors. He Customer profile It is as wide as that of the grandmothers themselves: young people without family, lonely adults, people looking for a maternal figure, or even couples in the process of rupture that require a conciliatory presence. The range of services covers from functional to emotional, and in many cases the symbolic. Social reactions. What’s doubt, the appearance of the service has generated reactions found In Japanese society. While some value the possibility of receiving advice and affection from an experienced person, others express discomfort Before commercialization of human ties. In fact, they have appeared comments on networks social ranging from praise to the idea of ​​”feeling needy” to irony about the physical risk for the elderly or even the complaint about the lack of an equivalent service for men. Because, in effect, ok obaachan is exclusively feminineboth in its template and in its parallel services of “rental friends” or “rental relatives”, all managed by a company that It is defined as “Manitas company only for women.” They counted the media premises that, although there is a male version called Ossan Rental (Centered on middle -aged men, between 30 or 40 years), its approach is different and more informal, and does not reach the level of visibility or sophistication of the service focused on grandmothers. Grandmothers as a symptom. The proliferation of this type of services cannot be analyzed without attending the demographic backdrop that makes them possible. We have gone counting: Japan is one of the countries more aged of the world, with an inverted population pyramid, rates of minimal birth rate and a longevity that exceeds 85 years on average. Traditional family structures are They have eroded: Unipersonal households They multiplyintergenerational links They weakenand community fabric It is fragmented. In this scenario, older people not only face economic uncertainty, but also an existential vacuum. Initiatives like OK Obaachan They workas well as a kind of emotional economy, in which rent affection (either On the contrary), listening and the human heat that was previously given in the family. Far from being a marginal curiosity, the phenomenon embodies an adaptive response (and, of course, commercial) to a deeply structural need. Radiography of the present. If you want, although the boom Ok obaachan Point to the endearing, functional or even ingenious, deep down it is a sign of cultural transformation. The figure of the grandmother, traditionally associated with the home, the transmission of values ​​or the emotional refuge, has become a professionalized resourcenegotiable and temporal. What was previously free and spontaneous is now organized, is invoiced and reserved for hours. A RARE Av of professionalization of tenderness that speaks both of the spirit of resilience of older women and the void left by a Hyperravalized societywhere every need (even affective) must be covered For a transaction. Japan, as in so many Other trendsit is possible that anticipating a phenomenon that could be reproduced in other industrialized societies. In an increasingly individualistic world and agedperhaps the question is not why there is a grandmothers service for rent, but why the hell we need so much. Image | Miki YoshihitoClient Partners In Xataka | The aging of the population in the field has taken Japan to an unprecedented proposal: converting schools into hotels In Xataka | The aging of the population is causing Japan to make an unprecedented decision: welcome digital nomads

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