red

Japan has three red lines on nuclear weapons. One of them no longer seems so untouchable

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Japan has a relationship with nuclear weapons that no other country can tell firsthand. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not just two names in the history booksbut the origin of a political identity built for decades around the rejection of the bomb. And yet, Japanese security also rests on a reality that is difficult to accept: America’s nuclear umbrella. What begins to move now is not necessarily the decision to cross that threshold, but something earlier and perhaps more delicate: the possibility of discussing whether all its red lines are still absolute. The debate. The intervention that reopened that conversation was carried out by Shinjiro KoizumiJapanese Defense Minister, on a Genron TV program broadcast this weekend. His approach was not that Japan should manufacture nuclear weapons or have its own arsenal, but rather that the country should change the idea that certain security issues cannot even be debated. In his words, for Japan it is a difficult issue to debate, but one of the issues that it cannot avoid touching is, precisely, nuclear issues. Three red lines. This framework has its own name in Japanese politics: the three non-nuclear principles. Japan commits to not possess nuclear weapons, not to manufacture them and not to allow their introduction into Japanese territory. The formula comes from the post-war period and has remained a central reference of its security policy, although the country continues to be protected by the extended deterrence of the United States, which includes its nuclear umbrella. The key difference. The third red line functions as a hinge between two worlds that Japan has tried to keep apart: its non-nuclear identity and its dependence on American deterrence. While the first two bans close the door to a Japanese bomb, the third affects how that protection would operate in a real crisis. That is the ground that is beginning to become debatable. Koizumi’s words. The Defense Minister did not present the nuclear debate as a conclusion, but as a debate that Japan would have to allow itself. His central sentence was direct: “For Japan it is a difficult issue to debate, but one of the issues that it cannot avoid touching is, precisely, nuclear issues.” He also pointed out against a political culture that, in his opinion, turns some security issues into forbidden areas: “We must change this idea that certain things are not even allowed to be debated.” The weight of his words is there: in moving the limit of the debate rather than in setting a new policy yet. The European mirror. Koizumi did not talk about nuclear in the abstract. He did so by looking at Europe, where the Ukrainian war has pushed governments like France and Finland to review assumptions that for years seemed established. In this context, he mentioned Paris, for its commitment to strengthening nuclear deterrence, and Helsinki, which has removed legal barriers to the introduction, transport or possession of nuclear weapons within its integration into NATO, although it does not plan to deploy them in its territory. The strategic race. Koizumi connected that debate to a broader idea: Japan faces not only tougher threats, but a world that decides faster. In the interview he spoke about Europe moving with a speed that Tokyo does not always perceive and put on the table the competition between the United States and Chinain addition to the role of AI in military decision-making. His argument is that a crisis is no longer managed with the political times of before, and that Japanese defense needs to discuss all its margins before those margins narrow. Nuclear, in that reasoning, appears as part of a larger review of national security. The line that moves. Japan has not crossed the nuclear threshold, and with what we have it cannot be said that Koizumi ordered a Japanese bomb. What is relevant is more subtle: one of the three red lines that for decades helped to organize its post-war policy is beginning to appear as a debatable issue. There is the fundamental change: the taboo has not fallen, but it no longer seems to protect all the ground that it protected before. Images | Red Shuheart | Japan Ministry of Defense In Xataka | A Russian family lived isolated in Siberia for more than 40 years. He didn’t know about World War II or the space race.

We have been putting bananas in red fruit smoothies for years. Science says it’s just what we shouldn’t do

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Although it will always be a better option to eat whole fruit, smoothies and fruit shakes are a good way to eat healthyespecially in the heat of summer. When preparing them, it is time to experiment and try different mixtures and combinations of flavors. However, according to a study from the University of California Davisthere are combinations that are best avoided. In their case, they refer to bananas and red fruits. The key is in the flavanols. So much the banana like the red fruits They are very healthy. The first is especially rich in potassium, fiber and B vitamins. Forest fruits are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants such as flavanols. Precisely, it is with these that the problem arises. And, as these scientists saw in their study, bananas contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase that prevents the flavanols from red fruits from being absorbed. First experiment. These scientists carried out several experiments to reach these conclusions. In the first, 8 volunteers participated, who were given a red fruit smoothie or a capsule with flavanols. In both cases, when blood samples were taken, it was seen that the levels of flavanol metabolites had increased. This indicates that your body was metabolizing them to extract their benefits. However, when the process was repeated by adding banana to the smoothie, the results were very different, as the blood levels of flavanol metabolites were much lower. In search of the culprit. The guilt of polyphenol oxidase is not a suspicion. This was confirmed in a second experiment, in which a banana and red fruit smoothie was left at room temperature. After an hour, flavanol levels had greatly decreased. However, when the process was repeated with bananas that had this enzyme inhibited, they remained intact. Even separately. In another experiment, participants were given a smoothie made only of berries, followed by one made only with berries. banana. Again, the levels of flavanol metabolites decreased. It seems that polyphenol oxidase acts even when both fruits are put together in our stomach instead of in our blender. There are limitations to the study. This research took place in 2023 with only 8 participants. It’s a tiny sample size, so it can’t be considered very conclusive. Furthermore, all participants were men, so it is still not a representative sample of the entire population. The authors themselves indicated at the time that it would be necessary to carry out the study with more participants. At the moment, they have not done so. They have continued researching in the area of ​​flavanols, but not in relation to the drawbacks of mixing banana and red fruits. Although they have focused on the need to properly choose the fruits we consume. For example, recently published an investigation which concluded that eating five pieces of fruit and vegetables is not enough to achieve the adequate dose of these antioxidants in one day. You would have to choose the best options. Don’t despair either. If you love the combination of banana and red fruits, don’t suffer. It’s not dangerous at all. Simply, according to this study, flavanols are not extracted in the best possible way. You can resort to other additional sources and the problem would be solved. In any case, if for you banana is a dispensable complement, it may be better not to consume it with red fruits. Both fruits are very healthy, but the best option, based on this research, would be to eat them at two different times of the day. Image | Magnificent Xataka | The Spanish cherry had been dreaming for years of a scenario that has just come true: opening the doors of China

In 1993, no one could find the supposed red ninja from ‘Mortal Kombat’. There was a reason: it didn’t exist yet

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There was a time when the secrets of video games came in arcade machines, magazines, and conversations from someone who swore they had seen something impossible. Around the first ‘Mortal Kombat‘, that something impossible had the shape of a red ninja and a strange name: Ermac. The game had already shown that it could hide characters, so many players continued to look at the screen with the suspicion that there was another fighter waiting to be found. The clue that fueled that search was not born as a character, but as a technical entry within the game itself. Ed Boon, co-creator of ‘Mortal Kombat’, explained that During the development of the first game, the software had sections of code that, in theory, it was never supposed to reach. If that happened, the system incremented an error counter that the team could review on an internal audit screen. To shorten that record, Boon wrote an assembly macro called ERMAC, short for Error Macro. A rumor too good not to end up being true The detail that changed everything was where that counter appeared. Boon explained that the ERMACS number was listed right after the record of times the players had fought Reptile, who was a hidden character in the first ‘Mortal Kombat’. The association was almost inevitable: if Reptile existed and was counted there, Ermac could seem like another secret of the same type. For a player looking at that screen without knowing the code behind it, the name didn’t sound like an internal tool, but like someone. From there, the gap was filled by the collective imagination. Boon summed it up quite clearly long ago in X: rumors about Ermac became legend and some players insisted that they had actually faced him. The important precision is right after, because the co-creator of ‘Mortal Kombat’ cut the story with a short sentence: “They didn’t do it :)”. There was no hidden red ninja in the first game, but rather a misreading that had found the perfect ecosystem to grow. Ermac in ‘Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3’ The most revealing part is not only in the code, but in the trace left by the conversation. Alleged clue linked to Electronic Gaming Monthly dates back to 1993and the rumor continued to appear in forums long after: Mortal Kombat Online discussed it in threads from 2003 and later years. Boon recalled that in ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Reptile stopped being just a hidden fighter and became part of the playable roster, while the game added three other secret characters: Smoke, Jade and Noob Saibot. It was a clear sign that ‘Mortal Kombat’ was still playing with the idea of ​​the hidden, even if Ermac wasn’t there yet. For some players, that was enough to keep the search open a little longer. Ermac in ‘Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3’ The twist came in 1995, when ‘Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3’ finally turned Ermac into a real fighter. Boon explained it as part of a broader decision: for ‘Mortal Kombat 3’ they began to transform some myths into elements of the game, starting with the Animalities, the animal endings of the saga, and in ‘Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3’, the expanded version of 1995, they ended up adding Ermac to the roster. The character that many had searched for ahead of time now appeared as the red ninja that the community had already imagined, but with an important difference: this time he did exist. Ermac in ‘Mortal Kombat 1’ From there, Ermac stopped depending on rumor and began to have a life of his own within the saga. Boon recalled that, over the years, the character appeared in several ‘Mortal Kombat’ games and ended up accumulating history, background and a place within the lore. This evolution does not erase its origin, rather it makes it more peculiar: first it was an internal abbreviation, then an interpretation of the players and finally a fighter with an identity. Few characters summarize the relationship between error, community and canon so well. The last turn of the story came with ‘Mortal Kombat 1‘, the installment developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games in September 2023 as a reboot of the saga. Boon brought back Ermac’s origin at the time because the character was about to arrive in the game’s roster as downloadable content. It also served as the perfect context to present a fighter who had started as an error counter and continued to function, decades later, as a claimant. Images | YouTube Capture (Torne) | In Xataka | Independent analysts agree: “The Steam Machine is an expensive curiosity, not a gaming device for the masses”

do not cross any red lines

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Anthropic announced yesterday the release of Claude Sonnet 5a more “normal” and conservative model than what we were used to. It is also cheaper, which makes it interesting to use in those AI agents that consume a lot of tokens. However, the most striking thing about Sonnet 5 is that it is a model that is especially capable in a key section: cybersecurity. Sonnet 5 is designed to behave well. At Anthropic they define it as “the most agentic Sonnet model to date” and highlight its improvements in the use of tools such as browsers or the terminal. But above all they highlight how Sonnet 5 behaves better than Sonnet 4.6 in terms of “unwanted behavior” and is safer to use. The “System Card” of the model also confirms that we are dealing with a model that does not want to cross red lines. Not very useful for finding vulnerabilities. The most striking thing is that Anthropic makes it clear that “it has a much lower capacity than our current Opus models to perform cybersecurity tasks.” That’s no accident: Anthropic has had so many problems with Mythos and Fable 5 who have probably wanted to bring a “risk-free” model to the market, even if that means making it more limited. Benchmarks promise, but do not amaze. Internal tests show how Sonnet 5 represents an important qualitative leap compared to Sonnet 4.6 and is quite close to Opus 4.8 in agentic programming or in the use of the aforementioned tools (terminal, browser), something that undoubtedly makes it very interesting for AI agents that automate many tasks, such as Claude Cowork. Fable 5 returns. The model comes just at a time when Anthropic was waiting for approval from the US government to be able to give access to its most powerful AI models: A compelling model for companies. Sonnet 5 is an interesting model for use in companies. Claude Code is the company’s flagship product and its adoption is enhanced with models that can perform well in agentic tasks that complete objectives autonomously. That requires intensive token consumption, and Sonnet 5, close to the performance of Opus 4.8, has a fundamental advantage over it. cheaper. While Fable 5 costs $10/$50 per million input/output tokens, Opus 4.8 costs $5/$25. That’s where things get interesting, because Sonnet 5 costs 3/15 dollarssignificantly cheaper, although during the first two months the cost will be 2/10 dollars as a promotional offer. An old school model. The launch of Sonnet 5 is striking because Anthropic had left its “modest” models well behind. Haiku has not been updated since version 4.5, in October 2025. The last version of Sonnet was 4.6, in February 2026. Both seemed to have been relegated to the background and Anthropic had focused on Opus and especially on the new models of the Mythos family. That changes now, probably because the move with these latest models has gone wrong: they were so powerful that the US government ended up vetoing them and taking control. In Xataka | Claude Fable 5 is the most powerful public AI model in history. Also the most expensive, exclusive and frustrating

In case there was not enough “gasoline” in 2026, the attack by a Russian drone has crossed a red line: that of Chernobyl

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In the early 1980s, a Soviet satellite detected what appeared to be the launch of several US nuclear missiles. The duty officer, Stanislav Petrov, suspected that something was wrong and decided not to report of an imminent attack. He was right: the sensors had mistaken reflections of the sun on the clouds for real missiles. That decision avoided a possible nuclear escalation during one of the most tense moments of the Cold War. Chernobyl, again. In a war where drones are already They attack strategic airfieldsmilitary bases and industrial centers located hundreds of kilometers from the front, it seemed difficult to find a new red line. However, a russian attack against a facility related to spent nuclear fuel near Chernobyl has revived one of Europe’s most persistent ghosts. There was no radioactive leak nor were safety limits exceeded, but the simple fact that a drone hit an infrastructure linked to the site of the worst nuclear accident of modern history was enough to generate international alarm. Almost forty years after the 1986 disaster, the name Chernobyl still have a unique ability to raise concern inside and outside Ukraine. Nuclear storage facility severely damaged in Chernobyl exclusion zone after Russian drone attacks The exclusion zone. According to Ukrainian authoritiesa Russian Shahed-type drone crashed into the reception building of the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone at dawn. The explosion caused significant damage into the structure and sparked a fire that was quickly extinguished. There were no victims and the stored nuclear fuel was not directly affected, since the containers were not in the area hit by the attack. Even so, the installation is part of the infrastructure intended to store for decades waste from Ukrainian nuclear power plants, which made the incident a matter of great political and strategic sensitivity. Why worry? The concern did not arise because of the material damage, but because of what could have happened in a worse scenario. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that very close to the building reached there is a large amount of nuclear material stored under strict security measures. Although radiation levels remained normal, the episode once again brought to the table an issue that accompanies the conflict. from 2022: the vulnerability of nuclear facilities in a war where drones, missiles and long-range attacks are part of the daily routine. Each incident forces us to remember that infrastructure designed to operate in peacetime now exists within a combat zone. A constant pressure. The attack is not an isolated event. Over the past few years, war has repeatedly placed nuclear facilities Ukrainians at the center of international concern. The best known example is Zaporizhia power stationthe largest in Europe, occupied by Russian forces since 2022 and a common scene of cross accusations about bombings, sabotage and security threats. Added to this is the precedent February 2025when another drone damaged the gigantic confinement arch built to cover reactor number 4 at Chernobyl. Although a radiological emergency did not occur then, the incident damaged part of the structure’s protection capabilities. A symbolic dimension. Beyond its physical effects, the attack seems to have an enormous symbolic weight. Ukraine presents it as a demonstration that Russia is willing to take risks related to nuclear security to increase pressure over kyiv. Moscow, for its part, has not acknowledged any responsibility. The truth is that the episode occurred in a moment of intensification of long-range attacks by both sides, with drones hitting increasingly deeper and more sensitive targets. In this context, reaching a facility linked to Chernobyl sends a message that transcends the battlefield and also seeks to impact international public perception. The return of European nuclear fear. we have been counting. The war in Ukraine has shown that the nuclear risks of the 21st century are not limited to atomic weapons. Power plants, spent fuel depots, energy supply lines and complex security infrastructures can become targets or get caught up in the conflict. That’s why he Chernobyl incident has had such an impact despite not causing immediate radiological consequences. In a Europe already marked by war, the arms race and tensions between great powers, the attack has served to remind us that the legacy of Chernobyl is still present. He 1986 accident It belongs to the past, but the fear it inspires continues to be one of the most powerful psychological tools on the continent. Image | IAEA ImagebankEnergoatom/Telegram In Xataka | We had been wondering for years why the Chernobyl wild boars were so radioactive. The answer was not in the accident In Xataka | Cartography of a nuclear disaster: the maps that 40 years later reveal the real magnitude of Chernobyl

Japan has crossed a red line in the Pacific with the US. China just responded with warships closer than ever

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When in 2013 two Russian strategic bombers They flew over without warning airspace near Japan, forced Tokyo to deploy interception fighters in a matter of minutes in one of the most tense responses in its recent history. The episode, almost forgotten outside military circles, made clear the extent to which there are movements in the Pacific that, even if they last just hours, can change the way countries look at each other for years. A crossing of lines. Japan has taken a step that for decades it carefully avoided: integrating for the first time with combat troops in maneuvers led by the United States in the Indo-Pacific, de facto breaking a political and strategic barrier inherited from the postwar. This movement is not symbolic, because involves deploying soldiers, ships, aircraft and missiles in a real conflict simulation scenario, which brings Tokyo closer to a much more active role within the US military apparatus. The decision, furthermore, occurs in a context of growing concern about Taiwan and for him balance of power in the region, which makes this gesture more than just cooperation: it is a clear sign of strategic alignment. China’s response: closer than ever. Beijing’s reaction has been immediate and measured in kilometers: the deployment of warships on routes much closer to Japanese territory than usual, including transit through waters that it rarely used to access the Pacific. Although China insists that these are routine exercises, the pattern reveals a willingness to press and demonstrate operational capacity in sensitive areas, bringing its military presence closer to points that it previously avoided. Not only that. This movement fits in a trend wider than greater naval aggressiveness around Japan, where each maneuver not only tests capabilities, but also political limits. Everything revolves around an island. The background of this escalation is the Taiwan issuewhich acts as the axis of tension between China and Japan since Tokyo left open the possibility of intervening if a conflict breaks out on the island. Beijing has interpreted these statements as a red lineand has since responded with diplomatic protests, economic pressure and military demonstrations. Every Japanese step in or around the strait is seen as a provocation, and every Chinese move seeks to recalibrate that balance without openly crossing the threshold of direct confrontation. Balikatan: from exercise to message. It is another of the crystal clear readings. The Balikatan maneuvers have ceased to be a simple bilateral exercise to become a multinational display of forceone with more than 17,000 troops and the participation of countries such as Australia, France or Canada. The active incorporation of Japan changes its nature, because it introduces a key actor in the so-called “first island chain”, a geographical and military barrier. designed to contain Chinese expansion in the Pacific. The deployment of anti-ship missiles and live-fire exercises, including the destruction of naval targets, reinforces the idea that rehearsing a scenario of high intensity maritime conflict. The battle for the islands. Also we have talked on several occasions in this chain of territories (which goes from Japan to the Philippines passing through Taiwan) that has become the axis of the US strategy to limit Chinese naval projection. Japan, by integrating more deeply into this system, contributes to the creation of a species of distributed “fortress” that seeks to hinder any Chinese advance towards the open Pacific. For Beijing, however, breaking or surrounding that barrier is a strategic prioritywhich explains the increase in its activity beyond that line and its insistence on operating in waters increasingly distant from its coast. An increasingly fragile balance. The result of all this is a scenario where each movement has a double reading: what some present as routine trainingothers interpret it as a climbing sign. Japan has taken a step that redefines its role in regional security, and China has responded by bringing its naval power closer to a distance it previously avoided, creating an action-reaction dynamic that increases the risk of incidents. Thus, in a global context marked by many other conflicts that could divert American attention, the Indo-Pacific is positioned as the great board where the balance of power of the 21st century is played. Image | CCTV In Xataka | Japan has dozens of “forgotten” islands off the coast of China: it is now preparing for the worst scenario In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: China has concentrated thousands of fishing boats off Japan, and its idea is not to fish

Iran has just crossed the great energy red line. Türkiye is the first victim of a blackout that is already looking at Europe

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We had been holding our breath for weeks, accepting the logistical tension in the Strait of Hormuz as the new normal. However, the war has crossed an irreversible red line. We have gone from a trade blockade to the physical destruction of the world’s energy engine, and the consequences are already being felt in the global economy. The impact was so immediate that the price of natural gas in Europe skyrocketed by 35%. Global interdependence has caused the first major domino to fall to be thousands of kilometers from the epicenter: Turkey has become the first country to suffer a gas supply cut, marking the beginning of a chain reaction. The blow to the energetic heart. It is not just any objective. As explained Deutsche Welle, South Pars is the largest natural gas reserve in the world – shared with Qatar, which calls its part North Dome – and contains enough gas to supply the world’s needs for 13 years. It is the basis of Iran’s energy survival. The response from Tehran was withering and expansive. As detailed in the Wall Street JournalIran did not limit itself to responding to Israel, but attacked vital infrastructure in neighboring countries, launching missiles against the gigantic Ras Laffan industrial complex in Qatar (the largest liquefied natural gas facility in the world) and refineries in Saudi Arabia. In the midst of this war chaos, Iran turned off the tap: Tehran suddenly paralyzed its natural gas exports to Türkiye. Türkiye in the eye of the hurricane. The cutoff to Türkiye is not an anecdote, it is the symptom of a systemic crisis. According to the data provided by BloombergLast year, Ankara imported around 13% or 14% of its total gas needs (about 7 billion cubic meters) from Iran. To the gallery, the Turkish government tries to project calm. How to collect ReutersTurkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has categorically assured that “there are no supply problems” and that the country’s storage facilities are at 71% of their capacity. Furthermore, the minister insists that oil dependence of the Middle East is a “manageable 10%” and they are already accelerating diversification agreements with giants such as TotalEnergies, Exxon and Shell. The markets are not optimistic. The experts consulted by Middle East eye They point out that Turkey has alternatives – such as increasing the flow from Russia or Azerbaijan – but the closing of the Iranian tap will force Ankara to compete fiercely in the international market for emergency shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Panic reaches Europe. And this is where the domino effect hits us directly. As Türkiye goes on a desperate hunt for LNG ships, the pressure on prices becomes unsustainable for the Old Continent. The day after the start of the conflict, the price of gas rose 55%. However, in the midst of this European chaos, one country is resisting the challenge much better than its neighbors: Spain. Thanks to a massive deployment of solar and wind energy, our country manages to cushion the initial blow by sinking prices during daylight hours. But the transition is painfully incomplete and we are not invulnerable. As analyst Antonio Aceituno, from Tempos Energía, warns, the Spanish balance is broken when evening falls. When the sun disappears, gas combined cycles begin to cover demand, returning tension to prices. It is empirical proof that, without massive batteries to guard the sun, at eight in the afternoon we are still at the mercy of what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. As the expert Gerard Reid reflects in Euronewsit is preferable to depend on China to import a solar panel once every 25 years, than to depend on gas from the Persian Gulf every day. Broken diplomacy. Arab governments are “furious” because they feel the US-Israeli strategy has put a target on their backs. For its part, Qatar has called the attacks on its facilities a “dangerous and irresponsible step” and a direct threat to its national security. In the midst of this powder keg, Washington’s role is erratic. President Donald Trump took to social media to deny prior knowledge of the Israeli attack on South Pars. However, Trump did not hesitate to issue a brutal ultimatum to Tehran: if it attacks Qatar again, the United States will “massively blow up the entire” Iranian oilfield. The scars of a systemic war. As my colleague Miguel Jorge analyzes well,the dynamic that has been activated is dangerously reminiscent of the 1991 Gulf War. It is no longer about destroying military capabilities or political pressure; We are facing a war against the very infrastructure that supports the states. The apparent lightness with which this conflict has developed has dragged us into a dead end. Iran has shown that it does not need to win a conventional military war; It is enough for him to set the energetic heart of the planet on fire. Even if a ceasefire were signed tomorrow, the material reality is inescapable. Charred refineries and dry pipelines to Türkiye are not rebuilt with signatures on a piece of paper. The scar on the world’s infrastructure will take years to heal, and the crisis that we had been avoiding for months has already detonated irreversibly. Image | Hamed Malekpour Xataka | The red lines are ceasing to exist: the fear of the US and Qatar in the face of Iran’s attacks on basic infrastructure

In the cemeteries of Galicia, the Christs have begun to disappear from the tombstones. There is a suspect: “red gold”

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The surprise was capital. And sad. Mostly sad. A few days ago, when she went to the pantheon where her relatives are buried, a neighbor from Celanova (Galicia) found that the figure of crucified Christ that decorated the tomb was missing. The curious thing is that not only was his own missing. Taking a look at the rest of the cemetery he found that the same thing was happening in five other tombs. In one, in fact, the Christ had been torn off and only preserved part of one arm, as if someone had burst it by using force with a lever. The case would not have made it out of the local press if it were not for the fact that it was not the only cemetery in Ourense in which the neighbors found that image. What has happened? That in the rural cemeteries of Galicia, more specifically in Ourense, dozens and dozens of Christs are disappearing. It takes a look at the regional press to see that it is more than a simple anecdote: March 16 Vigo Lighthouse informed of the disappearance of figures in two cemeteries in Celanova, days after The Voice of Galicia spoke already of 40 Christs torn from graves and Europa Press raised the total count to more than 50 crucifixes. One of the last media outlets to take stock has been Galicia Press, which on Wednesday the 18th reported the lack of more than 70 Christs in at least five different cemeteries. But… And why is that? Cemeteries are spaces of mourning and meditation, so it is not common (at least not in Spain of the 21st century) encounter cases of missing Christs like the one that shakes rural Ourense. There are a few theories to explain it. It could be acts of vandalism. Or some practice related to esoteric rituals. The Galician authorities are not inclined towards one or the other. For them the mystery is much simpler: the Civil Guard is investigating it like robberies, beatings carried out by criminals who are not interested in crucifixes and their artistic or spiritual value, but in something much more prosaic. What interests them is brass, stainless steel and above all copper with which these pieces were manufactured, a metal that recently reached a record price. ‘Red gold’ thieves? Exact. Recently the Civil Guard recognized to Europa Press who works “without ruling out” any possibility, but the starting hypothesis is quite simple: criminals sneak into cemeteries at night, especially in winter, steal figures that are often made of metal and then melt them down and sell them. Its objective focuses above all on copper, ‘red gold’whose price has been shot after the revaluation of recent years. The idea is that the material reaches the scrap market without raising suspicions and is reused in the industry. The Region even talks about the “band of the christs” and slips that they could be traveling professional criminals. Where have they stolen? The thefts seem to focus on a specific area, in the province of Ourense. Galicia Press point basically to rural cemeteries in the Celanova region and nearby towns, which includes cemeteries such as Santa María de Pontefechas, San Xoán de Viveiro, San Breixo de Celanova or Santo Eusebio de A Peroxa. There are those who expand the affected area in the province and speaks of assaults in cemeteries in the towns of Maside, Verea or Allariz. Thieves do not hesitate either take rings or resorting to force to extract the metal pieces, which has already led them to break crosses or some Christ, as in Pontefechas, where in one of the attacked tombs only part of an arm remained fixed to the stone head. Some parish priests of the archpriest have put on alert to their parishioners to be alert to theft. Why copper? For its value. It’s nothing new. Although its price has fallen slightly in recent days, the price of ‘red gold’ has escalated notably during the last year, reaching spikes historic at the beginning of 2026. The Region specifies that a kilo of this metal can be sold at between eight and ten euroswhich explains why it has been on the bands’ radar for some time now. The interest of criminals is not limited to cemeteries. Not long ago the Civil Guard dismantled a group that was dedicated to stealing copper cables in part of Asturias and the province of Lugo. The authorities estimate that a total of 24,000 kilos valued at 115,000 euros. In 2025 it has already fallen a similar band in Ourense and at the end of 2023 the arrest of other criminals dedicated to the same activity in the border area with Portugal. Does it only happen in Galicia? No. A quick Google search arrives to find news about copper theft in other communities in Spain. Since the bands are interested in the material, it is worth as much wind farm wiring and industrial coils as telephone infrastructure, rail transport either lighting. Proof of how juicy the business is is that at the end of 2025, the Interior reported the arrest of 18 people accused of more than thirty copper thefts worth 1.7 million euros. And what happens in cemeteries? Galicia is not the only place where cemeteries (and their metallic decoration) have whetted the appetite of criminal gangs. Last fall the National Police counted around 200 tombstones from the Torrero de Zaragoza cemetery that had suffered damage. Most for the same reason: tearing off bronze figures and other ornaments. More or less similar episodes have been experienced in the Community of Madrid, Castile and León or the Region of Murcia, where in 2023 the authorities arrested several people for allegedly carrying out more than 80 robberies in a municipal cemetery. The objective is the same: to loot copper, bronze and brass for resale. Images | M. Peinado (Flickr) and Home Office In Xataka | Twenty years ago, 45% of Galician families saved money thanks to the garden: … Read more

paint a road red

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There is nothing like installing a speed radar (or simply warning it) to make a driver take their foot off the accelerator. But there is a more effective method: painting the road. It has been proven that when we see colors, lines and shapes painted on the asphalt, drivers slow down. So in India they have not thought twice. That’s why they painted the road red. Because? Madhya Pradesh is known as “the Heart of India”. The region has been growing at a good pace for some time, especially supported by tourism that is attracted by its ruins, its temples and a truly striking nature. But this region is also famous for something else: tigers. And those tigers are the reason India is building “the first red road”. Or what is the same, two kilometers where the asphalt has been painted a striking red color with the aim of alerting drivers and reminding them that they are traveling through a space where tigers, one of the protected animals in the area, roam freely. Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. A wildlife sanctuary. This is how they define the website from this reserve to the area in which the road we are talking about is located. An area of ​​about 2,339 km² where tigers but also bears, leopards and wild dogs roam. The problem is that the NH-45 highway also runs through that space, a road that connects Bhopal and Jabalpur, two cities with a total of more than four million people if their metropolitan areas are added. Click on the image to go to the original post A road painted red. One of the solutions devised has been to paint the road red to signal to drivers that they are passing through a particularly sensitive space. The road has been renovated to redirect animal traffic to 25 underpasses and 11 cameras control that they do not sneak onto the asphalt. However, one of the most effective measures is to paint the road with huge red squares. And although various measures can be taken to reduce speed on a road, painting the asphalt is one of the simplest in terms of effort and money invested. In Spain, the DGT is trying to paint some sections with a huge red line. In Catalonia (the DGT has no powers there), try the same with circles at the entrance to curves to warn motorists. And in the United States it has been proven that painting the streets is a good method to protect children and prevent accidents. Our brain. In this case, in addition to being painted, the squares also create a small noise in the tires to convey to the driver a greater obligation to take their foot off the accelerator. However, it’s just about tricking our brain. When a road is painted with squares of this type or a red line is added in the center, the perception we have as drivers is that the lane is narrower and, almost immediately, we lift our foot off the accelerator a little when we perceive that it is more unsafe to travel at the same speed than on an asphalt that has not been modified. It is, simply, a sensory illusion. Playing with the shapes and their sizes is enough for the driver to understand that something is happening there and that he should take his foot off the accelerator. In some Spanish cities like Madrid they have what are known as “dragon teeth” on streets with schools or hospitals to create the sensation that they are narrower and make drivers lift their feet. and it works. The most surprising thing is how something so simple delivers results. In Bloomberg pointed out a long time ago that the city of New York implemented Asphalt Art Initiativeto draw enormous murals at the most conflictive intersections in the city. After painting them, drivers began to pass more slowly and the number of serious injuries after a hit went from 50% to 37%. Something similar was used in a Beuné crossing (a town located near Angers, western France). There, his neighbors, tired of the town’s road being crossed as if it were a highway, decided to paint the ground. The result was immediate, the cars took their foot off the accelerator. Photo | Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve and Google Maps In Xataka | A huge red line: the DGT’s experimental measure in one of the most dangerous stretches in Spain

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