realized

Europe has realized that nothing matters in technological sovereignty if it does not spend money on something crucial: defending its submarine cables

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There is a type of technological infrastructure that is invisible, but that has become essential in recent years: submarine cables. Conflicts like those of the Red Sea either the ukrainian war have shown that the seabed is a new battlefield. Damaging submarine cables havoc can be wreaked, and the European Union has just outlined its plan to strengthen the security and resilience of these cables. The goal? Track and stop threats in real time, but also repair underwater cables that enemies have attacked as soon as possible. Plan of action. In recent months, Europe has been weaving a plan to protect its submarine cables. These cables carry most of the world’s Internet traffic (an estimated 99%), but also other essential goods such as energy, vital when we want to tackle offshore energy. Hence the importance and, obviously, why the attacks also focus on them. Only in the first months of 2025 were more than a dozen submarine cables cut which seem few, but it really is something that can wreak havoc. And, therefore, Europe started to define an Action Plan with four main categories of action: Prevention: carry out risk assessments coordinated by countries and prioritize the financing of “smart” cables with redundancy. Detection: improve the monitoring capabilities of sea basins such as the Mediterranean or the Baltic to obtain a situation picture in real time. Response and recovery: strengthening rapid repair capacity and improving EU crisis protocols to act in a coordinated manner when a cable is damaged. Deterrence: use diplomacy and ultimately sanctions to respond to hostile acts. With global partners, promote a pact to encourage “cable diplomacy.” Repair of a cable Quick response. But of course, if deterrence does not work, we must act, and more recently, the European Commission has announced the steps to reinforce that strategy that aims to ensure that a damaged submarine cable causes as few headaches as possible. With an allocation of 40 million euros, the Commission seeks to guarantee a rapid and effective response to disturbances of submarine cables in emergency situations through adaptable modules. These modules, like repair kits, will be strategically positioned in various sea basins so that, in the event of a cable break, the ships repairing the cables will have quick access to these modules. It is one more step in a strategy that already had a first pilot call for 20 million euros a few months ago and whose objective was to finance modules in the Baltic Sea. Booster. Another measure will be the installation of the first two regional cable centers. In the Baltic, a Regional Center will be opened that will be responsible for strengthening surveillance and response mechanisms. The idea is that, with an allocation of 2.5 million euros, the information exchange platform and the capacity to both detect and prevent threats to maritime infrastructure will be improved. Finland will be the coordinator of the center together with Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden. On the other hand, in the Mediterranean, another center will be supported with 3.3 million euros. The task will be to make decisions, exchange information in real time and the same as in the Baltic: anomaly detection and coordinated response to incidents. Italy will be the coordinator together with Greece, Cyprus and Malta. With the first regional cable centers, Europe moves towards enhanced capabilities, strengthening our ability to detect threats, act faster and respond together – Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Next steps. In the end, these two strategies are part of a much larger plan in which they had already been assigned 595 million euros to 74 continental connectivity projects. In February of this year, the Commission also advertisement a package of some 347 million euros exclusively for submarine cable projects (construction, monitoring and repair), which shows that it is a strategic, basic infrastructure that fits in with the technological sovereignty plan that Europe is pursuing after seeing associations with allied countries weakened in recent years. Image | What’s Inside? In Xataka | A third of the world’s population cannot read this: the UN reveals that 2.9 billion people have never accessed the internet

the continent has just realized that its infrastructure lives in a world that no longer exists

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a tugboat approaching a dutch drawbridge and watering it with their hoses; stopped trams in Leipzig, British supermarkets without chilled products, melted roads… They seem like a bunch of curious anecdotes about how Europeans survive one of their first real ‘heat waves’. But they are not. Each of these failures is the symptom of a problem that, despite bombastic speeches and sickeningly detailed plans, we have persisted in forgetting: that climate change is serious. And here we are. A Europe that does not exist. For practical purposes, the event these days is the second heat wave that the continent has faced so far this year. We have seen incredible things: 37.3 in the United Kingdom, 37 in Denmark, 41.7 in Germany, 39.5 in Slovakia, 39.4 in the Netherlands… it is not only that the June highs have fallen in almost all the countries of Western and Central Europe, it is that absolute records have been broken (i.e. also July and August) in four countries. According to World Weather Attributionis the most severe episode ever measured in the region studied: in 1976, such heat would have been “virtually impossible” in June. And that is perhaps the most important lesson of these days: that the Europe of 1976 no longer exists. And we have begun to notice it in the worst possible way. Although we can make distinctions between what has happened these days (In Leipzig, the problem is that the sealant between the lane and the road surface softened to dangerous levels; while in Holland the bridges began to be refreshed by protocol without any problem being detected), the truth is that these are all signs that the European infrastructure is outdated. Many of Europe’s roads, bridges and highways were designed for maximums between 32-35. Before, exceeding that limit was something anecdotal (in the 119 years between 1881 and 2000 There was only one day in Germany that measured 40° or more), today is the ‘new normal’ (last week there were 4 days like this). It is important to note that so far I have not said anything about mortality. It will take some more time to have the complete data, but suffice it to say that France has already registered around 1000 deaths attributable to the heat wave. The obvious question is… what have we been doing all along? While all this is happening, no one can claim ignorance or surprise: in March 2024, the European Union itself recognized in its first European Climate Risk Assessment that “Europe was not prepared” for what was coming, that policies “were not keeping pace with the increase in risks” and that incremental adaptation “was not going to be enough.” I don’t want to say that nothing has been done. There are analyzes that say that without the adaptation of this century (things like heat plans, surveillance or the alert system) mortality would have been a 80% older. However, the data is there: no matter how much we have done, the deficit grows with each passing day. And that means we’re not doing enough. What can we expect? It seems like little or nothing. In recent years, public support for climate policies appears to have tempered. And there is a lot to do: we must not forget that estimates tell us that Europe’s air conditioning fleet will go from less than seven million devices in 1990 to more than one hundred million in 2030. That requires radical changes: an enormous reconversion that, given what we have seen, we do not know if we are going to want to undertake. Europe knows what is coming and knows what it has to do. You have it planned, signed and approved. The question is whether he will do it before this stops being an anecdote and begins to become an unmanageable crisis. Image | Bill Iliot In Xataka | ENT doctors agree: “Sleeping with air conditioning forces the nose to work excessively”

The US has realized that millions of workers have no future because of AI. And he got to work

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A question has been going around the councils of ministers and the main world economic forums since ChatGPT showed its capabilities in November 2022. How many jobs is going to destroy the AI? The founder of OpenAI himself has been one of the more pessimistic voicesand has even financed studies and pilot tests on universal basic income as a tool to mitigate the impact of AI in the world of work. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is also not optimistic about the impact of AI on the labor market: up to half of office jobs of recent graduates They could disappear in five years. Now, the same people who develop the great AI models are putting money on the table to cushion the coming labor blow. The concern about a labor apocalypse is such that it is even uniting political adversaries to find a solution together. United against the AI ​​workplace apocalypse. As and how he published The Wall Street Journallast week he was born RAISE USa non-profit organization that aims to train US employees in profiles with a future within the new AI economy that is coming in the coming years. The organization will be led by Democrat Gina Raimondo, former Secretary of Commerce in the Biden administration, but, what is more curious, is that she will do so together with the former Republican governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb. Yes, AI has achieved something that seemed impossible: that political parties and rival companies join forces to prevent millions of employees from being left without jobs due to the arrival of AI. The problem also wants to be the solution. The initiative starts with more than 500 million dollars already committed, half of a budget goal that is set at 1,000 million for several years to come. The goal of RAISE US is to harmonize the evolution of the AI ​​career, but without leaving people behind. “If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we will have gained nothing,” said Raimondo in the presentation of the project. The most striking thing of all is that, among the main donors of this initiative we find some of the main protagonists of the race for AI. Namely: Amazon, Microsoft, Bank of America, IBM, Cisco or the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Of course, Anthropic and the OpenAI foundation have also joined in. That is, the same people who are building the tools that can put their users out of work want to provide them with training for a future in a sector less exposed to AI or to cover the new professional profiles that will be created. AI is going to change everything. AI is evolving much faster than systems designed to protect workers, and that makes them more vulnerable. Goldman Sachs calculated that some 300 million jobs globally will be affected by the automation of generative AI. In the US, young people between 22 and 25 years old with jobs exposed to AI they already accuse the blow and its unemployment rate has risen almost three points since the beginning of 2025. The problem is that the current unemployment aid and subsidy systems are not designed to cover employees of entire sectors who, suddenly, lose their jobs. for AI automation. In Spain, unemployment benefits it is more guarantee when an employee becomes unemployed, but in countries like the US, only 27% of the unemployed receive unemployment benefitaccording to data from 2025. RAISE US objectives. An analysis 2025 Brookings Review reviewed decades of job training and retraining programs, and concluded that their results have been modest at best. RAISE US wants to redesign incentives so that companies prefer to retrain their employees rather than lay them off. It also proposes reforms in US unemployment benefits, so that a laid-off worker can continue collecting unemployment benefits while starting a business or starting training, instead of losing it as soon as he signs a new contract, something similar to what It is already applied in Spain in some specific cases to encourage their reintegration into the workforce. Get it started before it’s too late. The first pilot tests of the job training platform are already underway in four US states. In Arkansas, an AI-based career guidance platform is being tested that connects students and unemployed people with training programs tailored to their profile. In Maryland, the focus is on expanding a paid course program of at least nine months that gives candidates real-world experience in sectors with high demand of personnel, such as healthcare. The biggest fear of those who promote the platform is that their measures arrive on time. Labor markets already show signs of adjustment with changes in demand for certain technological profiles on the rise, while junior profiles they are in free fall in technology, law firms and consulting firms. In Xataka | We believed that AI was going to retire an entire generation of workers early. The opposite is happening Image | Unsplash (Shamin Haky)

C-3PO had a boner in 1977 and was seen on thousands of trading cards. Until the parents realized

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As is well known, ‘Star Wars‘ was revolutionary in 1977 on many levels, but in no way was it more so than in merchandising. The story of the action figures and how Kenner beat Mattel by taking over the exploitation rights to the franchise is the most popular part of the story, but there are many other crazy anecdotes in a field that was literally beginning to be sown. For example, Topps launched a collection of trading cards with a very peculiar copy: 207 of the fourth series, with a nondescript image of C-3PO emerging from an oil bath. It lasted until the parents took notice. The sticker war. Sticker rights They were also disputed very briefly, as was the case with the action figures. Donruss, a company with experience in science fiction trading card collections, had the first option on the license and rejected it. Topps came in after some hesitation, put out a first series and watched it run out at an unprecedented rate. Five series later in 1977 alone, the film was still in theaters, and the company had to launch, with almost no time for revisions, series after series. For the fourth, the available photographs were almost the same as those already used in the first two, and that was where the problem arose. C-3PO oily. The controversial photograph showed C-3PO emerging from an oil bath. At first glance nothing seemed scandalous, but if you paid attention, the protocol droid seemed to have bypassed protocol with a large metallic appendage. The chrome earned its own nickname, “Golden Rod.” Parents’ complaints They didn’t take long to arrivethe letter was withdrawn and an airbrushed version produced. What happened really. There are three versions about the reasons that led to the error. The first, when in 2007 the official ‘Star Wars’ website published an explanation later removed: It was an optical effect because at the exact moment the photo was taken, a piece of the suit came off and was aligned in a way that suggested the obscene image. In his book ‘Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One’, author Gary Gerani raised another theory: someone from the prop team on the set had placed a metal appendage as a joke between colleagues. Because. The most detailed explanation was given in 2019 by Anthony Daniels himself, the android’s interpreter, in promoting his autobiography ‘I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story’. According to the actor, the oil was real and C-3PO’s suit at that time consisted of two pieces of thin plastic (front and back) joined with gold-colored adhesive tape. The oil dissolved that tape and when Daniels left the bathroom, the pieces separated and formed a crease in the crotch that created the bulge. Additionally, the actor believes that a Topps employee, when processing the photograph, identified the crease and deliberately accentuated it. Error wanted. Paradoxically, the corrected version of chrome 207 is today rarer than the original. There are more than 1,800 copies of the card with the error compared to less than 700 of the amended version, since the error circulated for months before being removed, and the correction arrived at the end of the fourth series, with smaller print runs, and was quickly eclipsed by the fifth series. And how much is it worth? In medium condition it costs 30 or 40 dollars, but in good condition it can exceed 5,000. By the way: Daniels has systematically refused to sign the error card. Any copy with his autograph is a fake, he says. In Xataka | This Star Trek movie was canceled in 1977 because science fiction had no future. Two weeks later Star Wars premiered Header | Kory Westerhold on Flickr

China was the power that launched drones. Now he has realized his danger with a decision: close the sky to them

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Exactly 10 years ago an unprecedented event occurred. A small drone landed without authorization in the White House garden after its operator loses control. It didn’t have explosives or sophisticated cameras, but it was enough to activate a complete security protocol and put the authorities on alert for hours. That apparently trivial incident was an announcement to sailors. The drone empire closes its sky. It remains a paradox that China, the great dominatrix of the global drone market with millions of devices in circulation and leading companies like DJI, be the same power that has started to drastically restrict its use within its borders. Yes, I counted a few days ago the new york times that the new rules require register each device with real identity, link it to personal data and transmit real-time flight information to the government. Flying without authorization can lead to fines, confiscations and even prison sentences, and in cities like Beijing the ban is almost total, to the point of preventing the sale or entry of drones into the capital. Total control of airspace. Thus, the regulatory tightening It has turned what was once a recreational or professional activity into a terrain full of obstacles. In practice, much of the urban space is left out of use, with permits having to be requested in advance and rarely granted. In fact, users throughout the country have denounced interrogations, sanctions and confiscations even on flights that they consider legal, while some claim to receive calls from the police as soon as they turn on their devices. The result is a paralyzing effect: the sky is still full of drones in theory, but in practice fewer and fewer take off. Security, fear and Ukraine and Iran. Behind this shift is an easy-to-understand key factor: modern warfare. has shown that drones are no longer toys, but combat actors of first order. Recent conflicts have made it clear that even cheap models can monitor, attack or alter critical infrastructuresomething that especially worries Beijing in terms of internal security. The possibility of these devices being used against sensitive infrastructure or even political leaders has accelerated a response that seeks to eliminate any margin for improvisation in the air. The economics of low altitude. Paradoxically, the Times said that the tightening comes just when China wants to expand the commercial use of drones in what it calls “low altitude economy”. The objective is to turn them into key tools for logistics, agriculture, industrial inspection or light transportation. But to achieve this, the government considers it essential to first impose absolute control of airspace, like someone reorganizing a city before opening it to mass traffic. The problem: that this previous order is suffocating the ecosystem that it aims to promote. The final dilemma. If you like, the result is a contradiction that is difficult to resolve in Beijing: the nation that raised and built the global drone industry is limiting its use by the danger they perceive to the point of stopping innovation, business and adoption. Companies see sales fall, the second-hand market grows and entrepreneurs abandon projects due to the impossibility of operating. Meanwhile, some experts warn of another unexpected consequence: restricting access too much may prevent training future operators, just when the world is heading towards wars and economies where knowing how to handle a drone will be a strategic skill. Image | Infinity 0 In Xataka | China just showed the world what comes after the combat drone: 96 drones with a science fiction launch In Xataka | 200 drones in the hands of a single soldier: China is advancing very quickly in a type of war that seemed like science fiction

We have been banishing the humble traditional salt shaker from the table for years. Now we have realized that it is a mistake

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For decades, problems such as goiter, hypothyroidism, and childhood cognitive deficits linked to a lack of iodine in the body seemed to be a thing of the past in developed countries. All this was a success of the advances that were seen in public health from the 20th century onwards by targeting the need to add iodine to salt of table that we all consume. But now in many countries there is a significant deficiency in iodine that can lead to the appearance of serious diseases. The culprits. Ironically, new health and wellness trends, as we are seeing a huge boom in non-iodized “gourmet” salts that seem very cool, but they do not have the iodine that is supplemented to classic salt and that we need in our diet. The map of a deficit. According to data from the WHO itself in Europe and the Iodine Global Network, mild iodine deficiency persists and is spreading in countries where it was believed to be an eradicated problem. To give us an idea, in the UK Recent data suggest that women of childbearing age have gone from having sufficient levels to being classified as having mild deficiency. If we continue investigating, in Australia the problem has been reappearing for years despite fortification attempts, while in the United States, recent reviews published indicate that the deficit is growing again despite the historical iodization of salt, linked to new dietary patterns. The ‘gourmet’ culprit. Historically, common table salt has been our primary vehicle for consuming dietary iodine. But in recent years we have seen a trend appear for this product, such as Himalayan pink saltflaked sea salt or kosher salt. The problem with these options, in addition to being much more expensive, is that they are perceived as very healthy alternatives. The problem is that they are almost never iodized, and that is why their increasing consumption in order to improve health is ultimately causing the opposite. There is more. In addition to the salt problem, it must also be kept in mind that in many countries cow’s milk has traditionally been the main source of iodine in the diet due to livestock supplementation and milking disinfectants. But its consumption is falling radically. This is in addition to a general transition towards vegan or flexitarian diets that has increased the consumption of vegetable drinks that, although they are reinforced with calcium or vitamin B12, are not fortified with this iodine. Its consequences. That there is an iodine deficiency is not nonsense, since iodine is the fundamental fuel of the thyroid gland and is vital for neurological development, and that is why the European Food Safety Authority establishes that an adult needs 150 micrograms of iodine per day, a figure that rises to 200 µg in pregnant women. If we focus on pregnant women, having a deficit can have fatal consequences with problems in fetal cognitive development or even drops in IQ. The cases. An analysis published in 2019 estimates that there are currently 81.4 million cases of deficiency in women of reproductive age and, although since 1990 the global prevalence has decreased enormously thanks to universal iodization, the problem now presents a dichotomy: it affects regions with a low human development index such as sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of resources, and rich countries due to modern dietary decisions. The solution. Here the WHO demands that prevention policies be reinforced through specific legislation, promoting universal iodization of all salts, both those for direct consumption and those used in processed foods and bakery. In addition, the need to require or encourage vegetable drinks to be systematically fortified with iodine is pointed out, matching the nutritional profile of cow’s milk. In this way, we return to the original idea of ​​introducing iodine into common table salt, so now it is time to supplement the new foods that appear on the market. Images | Jonathan Cooper Melissa DiRocco In Xataka | If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you don’t have a “superpower”: it’s a warning signal from your brain

The video game has realized that it is no longer culturally relevant. So he’s taking desperate measures

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If you have heard about the launch of new ‘Resident Evil’ and you go on TikTok looking to see something gameplay or how to defeat a specific zombie, be careful because you are more likely to end up watching videos dedicated to the back of its protagonist Leon Kennedy than to any weapons guide. You’re reading right: at his back, at his growls and the way he forces a closed closet, and not exactly at his return to Raccoon City. None of this is coincidental. Capcom, responsible for ‘Resident Evil’, has not only launched a tremendously anticipated title from a saga much loved by players, it has built a campaign to generate conversation, desire and, above all, a constant presence on networks. Thirst tweets (messages from fans expressing attraction or admiration for a character), clips designed to go viral and creative decisions aimed at provoking a specific reaction in the audience. fandom It is something that we usually see in marketing campaigns for cinema. A very obvious recent example may be that of the actor Jacob Elordi in the middle of promoting ‘Wuthering Heights‘ being a victim of countless fancams (those clips with images highlighting an actor or character). But no, this time we don’t have a Hollywood star but a fictional character; and the effect is the same. Capcom has joined the wave and in doing so has put many unknowns surrounding the video game industry on the table while beginning to clear up others. Because the question is not why this particular campaign has worked, but why the video game industry needs to do it now. Video games sell but they don’t create conversation The truth is that we cannot say that the video game industry is in the midst of a creative crisis, but rather in a crisis of cultural visibility and, therefore, it is beginning to react with strategies typical of other media. The list of video games that may interest us by theme, gameplay or aesthetics is infinite, but really that wealth remains largely for those who are already in the medium. For the general public, the video game is still something more opaque and specializedcompared to other cultural areas. The audience, even if they are not movie buffs or music fans, can be up to date with the big premiere of the week or a new album by Taylor Swiftbut it is difficult to know about the new game of Hidetaka Miyazaki. And the thing is, not only does it help that you like the product, but also the red carpets, the media interviews and the marathon weeks of promotion. Capcom would kill for this. Thus, we can stay up to date and find out about Zendaya’s new premiere thanks to a viral video talking about the theme of her looks for the red carpet or about Bad Bunny’s new album through a clip of her interview on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jimmy Fallon. On the other hand, here the video game is at a clear disadvantage and does not generate that type of media attention and following outside of the endemic media. Cinema and music with trends, premieres and their stars constantly cross the public conversationa barrier that the video game cannot break. With few exceptions such as ‘Grand Theft Auto‘or a new generation of’Pokémon‘, few releases achieve a similar level of expectation. We are facing a striking paradox, we are talking about an industry that manages to generate more money globally, but at the same time has difficulties occupying that space in the collective imagination. This disconnection seems difficult to overcome, because although the ideas and quality of many titles are more than remarkable, there is an underlying problem that shakes the world of the industry. While income shows record numbers (the global video game market grew by 5.3% in 2025 to reach $195.6 billion), the truth is that the sector is going through a wave of continuous layoffs that hits both small studios and big companies that seemed untouchable like Epic Games with its totem Fortnite. These dynamics of layoffs, cancellations and restructuring show the structural tension that goes further of the games themselves and make it imperative to rethink, not so much what is done, but how it is presented. Video games have not known how to turn their icons into elements of constant cultural conversation. It is striking how some of its most emblematic characters such as Cloud Strife from ‘Final Fantasy VII’ or Ezio Auditore from ‘Assassin’s Creed’, despite their influence in the sector, barely permeate the broader collective imagination and only become icons recognizable mainly by those who already know the medium. And for this. Trailers or old classic events like the E3 or more recent quotes like Game Awards They are not enough to wake up the interest of the general public for new releases; recognizable “faces” and viral moments are needed. We already had a clue in 2023, if for the world of video games the title ‘The Last of Us’ is a reference, the king of the fancams Pedro Pascal and the HBO adaptation so that, through another format, this story would reach the global conversation, even increasing game sales. In this context, strategies like Capcom’s make complete sense: the aim is not to alter the product, nor the original idea, but to transform how it communicates, positions itself and, above all, how it becomes more visible beyond its own niche. Capcom and the twist “thirsty” New releases, such as in film or music, should also be an event with shared experiences and campaigns that transcend the news and Capcom has taken note. It even seems that the Japanese company has attended the “Margot Robbie school”: just as the actress throughout the promotion of “Wuthering Heights” commented and fangirled with all of Jacob Elordi’s romantic gestures during filming, making him the perfect Heathcliff; Capcom has moved that same logic to the world of video games. With a campaign that reaches not only hardcore … Read more

In 1832 Britain realized that it didn’t have much sun. Since then, a law requires that houses have good light

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If there is something that the United Kingdom could blame for its geography and climate, it is the gray days. Rare is the moment when the sun is not covered by clouds in Mary Poppins’ country, where natural light has become a scarce commodity to fight for. So much so, that there is a “right to light” by which homeowners can legally prevent new construction that obstructs natural light rays into their homes. This law is actually an easement established in 1832 by which the owner of a building with windows that have received natural light for more than 20 years has the right to prohibit adjacent constructions that limit it. That is, historically, a person was entitled to this if natural light and air had passed freely through their windows during that time and been enjoyed without disturbance. And these homes protected by the ordinance were marked with the “Ancient Lights” sign. Therefore, if a neighbor tried to violate this by building a structure or planting trees, the owner had the power to sue him for the “nuisance”. Of course, it is important to note that these do not only affect direct sunlight. But it gives the right to a minimum level of natural lighting, not direct rays of the sun. Although this urban planning law has undergone quite a few changes since its inception, the power of property owners to demand natural light continues to be debated in British cities. Nowadays, These “Ancient Lights” signs are still found on buildings around London and other counties such as Dorset and Kent. And the law, more than 100 years later, continues to be the protagonist of all types of litigation, becoming a headache for judges, lawyers and construction companies. The idea of ​​”having the right to light” Let’s go into more detail. A question that arises from this concept is: how much natural light does a person have the right to? And that is precisely where this law has several legal loopholes. Because a building owner’s windows don’t even have to be completely blocked by a neighboring obstruction for that right to be invoked. You simply have to maintain the same level of lighting that the owner has experienced for twenty years, something that is quite diffuse. In the 1920s, Percy Waldram, an expert in this law, proposed a system to standardize the sufficient amount of light that people could claim. He suggested that “common people” required at least one foot-candle (a measure of light intensity) for reading and other work. If the builder, including a homeowner planning an extension, identifies a risk affecting light rights, they must notify the affected homeowner and engage with them to reach an amicable agreement. This could be as compensation or a redesign to rectify or mitigate the problem. However, if there is a dispute, There are two ways to take legal action: damages and/or a court order. The first consists of granting a sum of money to compensate for the loss. The second may require demolition of part or all of the new building unless some other structural change can remedy the problem. The latter is usually too expensive. The idea for many years was that if a property owner did not take immediate steps to obtain a court order, the only remedy available to them was damages. However, a 2010 case left builders stunnedas the court held that it was possible to obtain an injunction even after the completion of the new building. In another more recent case from 2020the court granted an injunction to a property owner two years after the completion of the infringing work. The court found that the builder had proceeded with full knowledge of the risk he was taking. Is there a similar law in Spain? The easements They also exist in Spain. It is the right that the owner of a property has over the adjoining property that limits the proprietary powers of the owner thereof. In fact, it is not so uncommon to find cases in our country (especially in individual homes), in which Your neighbor has one or more windows that face directly onto your property. Is it legal? As regulated by the Civil Code in article 580no party wall can, without the consent of the other, open any window or opening in a party wall. Otherwise, the owner of a wall that is not a party wall and that is adjacent to the back of another owner may open windows or openings in the same wall. to receive lightsas long as it complies with the premises established in article 581 of the Civil Code. Furthermore, as stipulated in the article 582 of the Civil Code: “You cannot open windows with straight views, nor balconies or other similar overhangs, over the neighbor’s property, if there is not two meters of distance between the wall on which they are built and said property. Nor can you have side or oblique views over the same property, if there is not 60 cm of distance.” In Xataka | If your renovation is a pain, think about the house that cost 120 times more than its original cost: a masterpiece In Xataka | If the question is whether they forgot the elevator shaft in the tallest residential skyscraper in Spain, the answer is simple: it was much worse Image | Chris Flexen

Microsoft has finally realized what the community has been shouting at it for months: we don’t want so much AI

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The people are fed up with the avalanche of AI that has flooded Windows and Microsoft turned a deaf ear to the numerous community complaints. They have put AI even in Notepadwhich is saying something. Microsoft’s obsession has caused the Windows image to sufferbut finally it seems that they are listening to the users. We are still passing. One of the things Microsoft has been doing in its pro-AI crusade is add Copilot buttons everywhere. It’s in Paint, in Notepad and even they want to put it in file explorer. Although Microsoft has not commented, according to Windows Central fontsthe company is rethinking its AI strategy and one of the things that is under review are these buttons that they have been adding almost indiscriminately. Maybe they end up eliminating some or just being more selective from now on. Windows Recall. “It’s like having a photographic memory.” This is how Microsoft sold what aimed to be the PC+Copilot star feature. What followed were many doubts about your safety and so many criticisms that Microsoft had to delay the project for more than a year. Recall is already implemented, but according to Windows Central the company is not satisfied with how it is working and wants to correct course. How they will do it at the moment is unknown. There will still be AI. Microsoft still has a lot of AI features in the works and nothing indicates that they will stop, so if you were rubbing your hands at the idea of ​​a Windows 11 without AI, that is not the case. Some of the initiatives they have underway are: agentic functions which they announced in November of last year (to which The community flatly refused.by the way) and developer features like Windows ML or semantic search. The complaints have been heard. There will probably still be more AI features than the community would like, but it seems that Microsoft has heard the feedback and they are going to take their foot off the accelerator. The obsession with AI has not been the only reason for discontent, there have also been highly criticized decisions such as force to use an online account to upgrade to Windows 11 or the stability problems after updating. Despite everything, Windows 11 is advancing unstoppably and It is already on more than 1 billion devices. Image | Microsoft, edited In Xataka | I have decided to become independent from all US technology and embrace European technology. This is how I’m getting it

Saudi Arabia has realized that to attract wealthy expats and Western tourists it needs something: alcohol

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Maybe the Spanish we are moving away little by little from alcohol, but beer, wine and spirits continue to be a pillar of Western leisure. Saudi Arabia knows this well, as in its efforts to modernize and gain appeal to Westerners (both expats wealthy as tourists) has decided to make more flexible access to the drink in the country, where its purchase has been radically restricted for more than 70 years. The change is being made timidly, silently, almost underground; but it tells us a lot about how the kingdom is transforming. The news that they are coming in drops to the West they leave a resounding reading: foreigners will be able to buy alcohol in Saudi Arabia… as long as they meet a series of requirements that focus in your wallet. Looking to the 20th century. If you like to share a few beers with friends, have dinner with a glass of wine or drink a cocktail when you go out, Saudi Arabia is not your country. Or it hasn’t been at least for the last seven decades. The kingdom is governed by shariawhich vetoes alcohol. Even Foreign Affairs reminds Spaniards traveling to the country that public consumption “is strictly prohibited” and landing with bottles can lead to “severe fines” and an accusation of smuggling. Saudi Arabia’s zeal to ban the drink dates back to at least the mid-20th century. And not only because of Koranic law and the fact that the kingdom claims to be the guardian of the sacred places of Islam. In the early 1950s, King Abdul Aziz banned the sale of alcohol after one of his sons, Prince Mishari, assassinate a diplomat British drunk. For diplomats. Although getting alcohol in Saudi Arabia is much (very much) more difficult than in Europe or even in Dubaisomething is changing in the Islamic kingdom. The first sign came just two years ago, beginning of 2024when the Saudis saw the first liquor store in more than 70 years. Of course, the business was launched with certain limitations. To begin with, the establishment only sold alcohol to non-Muslim diplomats. In fact, it opened precisely in the neighborhood of the city where they work. At least at first The Executive also intended that customers would have to register through an app, obtain an authorization code and respect certain quotas. A small (big) step. That first store may not look anything like the liquor stores of Europe, but its debut marked a milestone in Saudi Arabia and began to break the long taboo that prevailed in the kingdom around alcohol. Last November that opening was confirmed when agencies such as Reuters either Bloomberg revealed that the country planned to open two new liquor stores: one in Dhrahan, in a complex owned by the oil company Aramco, and another in Jeddah. The first would be designed for non-Muslim employees of the company. The second would be located again in an area frequented by diplomats. Expanding the market. In November, both Reuters and Bloomberg reported another relevant news that is now has confirmed The Wall Street Journal: The Riyadh liquor store that was theoretically intended for foreign diplomats will also sell bottles to certain residents of Saudi Arabia. To whom? Especially non-Muslim foreigners with Premium Residence. These residence permits are basically granted to businessmen, large investors, wealthy foreigners and qualified professionals who work in strategic sectors or for the Government. In December Bloomberg needed In fact, customers who want to buy wine or spirits in Riyadh have to prove that they earn at least 50,000 riyals per month, about $13,300. Reporter Vivian Nereim, from The New York Times, came in person outside the Riyadh liquor store and spoke with customers of the business who (among other issues) confirmed that one price is applied to diplomats and another, higher price, to the rest of the buyers. A bottle of mid-priced white wine cost about $85, about five times the US price. “Something was coming”. Against this backdrop, recently TWSJ public a chronicle which goes one step further. According to the American newspaper, Saudi Arabia plans to continue making its relationship with alcohol more flexible with another historic decision: allowing its consumption in luxury hotels and resorts in the Red Sea. “We always knew it was going to happen, that Saudi Arabia was preparing for something,” explains Michael Ratneyformer US ambassador, who speaks of “physical signs” that have been seen for years: “You went into restaurants and they all had bars. They didn’t offer alcohol, but the infrastructure was emerging.” The example of Dubai. The objective is clear: to reinforce the country’s attractiveness for expats, investors and tourists as part of the policy promoted by Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernize the nation, diversify its economy and reduce your fiscal deficit. In recent years the kingdom has already taken several steps in that direction in different areas (in 2018 allowed women get behind the wheel of a car and in 2034 will host the World Cup) and there are those who point that in terms of leisure and alcohol will look to the United Arab Emirates. Especially to Dubai. In part of the UAE, access to alcohol is limited, but it is relatively easy to obtain in Dubai, a city that has stood out for its ability to attract tourists and wealthy foreigners. For years, those who wanted to access alcohol in Saudi Arabia had to resort to the diplomatic courierartisanal manufacturing at home or the black market, with the risks that it entails. The question is to what extent the kingdom is willing to change that to attract foreign assets. Images | سيف الظاهر (Unsplash), Ambitious Studio*-Rick Barrett (Unsplash) In Xataka | There is an age at which we should stop drinking alcohol forever. Neuroscience is clear why

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