shoots

The closure of QatarEnergy shoots up the price by 45%, reviving fears of 2022

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Just when Europe breathed a sigh of relief, convinced of having stabilized its energy supply after the traumatic cut of ties with Putin’s Russia, the specter of the 2022 crisis has materialized again. A new “Black Monday” has shaken international markets, but this time the epicenter is not in Eastern Europe, but in the waters of the Persian Gulf. An unprecedented escalation of war in the Middle East has culminated with the temporary closure of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in the world. Europe reaches this moment in a position of vulnerability, since the gas market has mutated: it has ceased to be a simple raw material and has become a “high-speed financial asset” dominated by volatility. Added to this is that the continent has changed its dependency of Russian gas pipelines by methane tankers from the US and Qatar, today facing unusually low gas stores. The spark that set the markets on fire jumped on March 2, 2026. The state-owned company QatarEnergy issued a statement announcing the cessation of production of LNG and associated products after suffering military attacks on its strategic facilities in Ras Laffan and the industrial city of Mesaieed. According to the Qatari Ministry of Defense collected by Al Jazeerathe country was attacked by drones launched from Iran. One hit a water tank in Mesaieed and another hit an energy facility in Ras Laffan. Although the toll is about 20 injured and “minimal damage” after a rain of dozens of drones and missiles against the country, the decision to paralyze operations in Ras Laffan – which manages a capacity of 77 million tons per year—has been devastating. The chaos, however, not limited to Qatar. We are facing a regional domino effect. Saudi Arabia has been forced to temporarily close units of its giant Ras Tanura refinery after Iranian drones were intercepted. In parallel, Iraq has stopped the flow of a key pipeline to Türkiye for security reasons, and the Israeli government has ordered Chevron to halt production from its huge Leviathan gas field. The energy system faces a logistical problem There are some 150 ships paralyzed in the areawhich means an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuzthe bottleneck through which a fifth of the world’s maritime oil and gas trade transits. The situation is so serious that, according to the Financial Timeshalf of the world’s largest marine insurers will suspend their war risk coverage in the area, completely deterring cargo ships. But the paralysis of QatarEnergy has a deeper reading. For geopolitical analyst Bachar El-Halabi, consulted through their social networksthis is not just a supply shock, but a clever maneuver. By stopping production, Doha internationalizes the conflict: sends the message that it will not be a simple passive game board and puts the pressure directly on its partners in Washington, Europe and Asia. The macroeconomic impact is already visible. From the British environment They point to widespread falls in the stock markets -with the Stoxx Europe 600 losing almost 2%— and a flight of investors towards gold. As stated by Simone Tagliapietra, analyst at the Bruegel think tank cited by Bloomberg: “The threat to security of supply is immediate (…) we are facing a new scenario.” So, is the price of gas going to rise? The market’s immediate reaction has been one of true panic. The reference gas contract in Europe (Dutch TTF) recorded intraday increases of more than 50%. According to data collected by The Economistthe megawatt hour jumped sharply from below 40 euros up to touching 47.5 euros. At the same time, Brent oil rose 9%, hovering around $80 per barrel. The European citizen might ask: “If only 10% of the LNG that reaches Europe passes through the Strait of Hormuz, why does it affect us so much?” The energy expert Joaquín Coronado sums it up perfectly: Gas markets do not operate based on isolated physical volumes, but rather based on global prices. If Asia suddenly loses the Qatari tap, it will compete fiercely with checkbook against Europe for shipments from the United States or Africa. In fact, Coronado warns that the consulting firm ICIS projects that a closure 90 days in Hormuz would raise the TTF up to €92/MWh. However, in the midst of the noise, analytical voices ask for calm. The columnist of Bloomberg Javier Blas he remembered on his social networkssupported by the economic journalist Miquel Roig, who although a 45% rise is scary in the headlines, the current ones €46/MWh They are nothing compared to the absolute record of €345/MWh in the summer of 2022. As Blas states: “As always, putting the wide angle lens on helps.” Although we are far from historical highs, the current situation finds Europe unprotected. Joaquin Coronado provides worrying information: European gas storages are at 30%7.5 points below the 2025 level. In Xataka we explain it with the phenomenon of backwardation: since gas in the future was cheaper than current gas, it was not worth it for companies to fill their warehouses. This price spike has direct and immediate consequences. Crowned already advance that the price of electricity in the Spanish wholesale market (OMIE) will reach €106.6/MWh in tomorrow’s peak hours. For intensive industries (such as chemicals, fertilizers or ceramics), the profitability threshold usually is among the 50 and 60 €/MWh. If prices stagnate there, we could see a new wave of factory closures and a rebound in inflation. On this board, Spain lives its own paradox. Although it has regasification plants and ships on its coasts, it functions as an “energy island.” Our country lacks sufficient interconnections (pipes through the Pyrenees) to pump all that gas to Germany or Central Europe, preventing Spain from serving as a total lifeline for the continent. The closure of the QatarEnergy plant serves as a stark reminder of current energy geopolitics. Europe believed it had shielded its system by becoming independent of piped gas from Russia, but it simply has replaced one vulnerability with another: dependence on sea routes and American and Qatari … Read more

it shoots up 500% and makes the creator of DeepSeek gold

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Beijing’s quest for technological self-sufficiency has a new king: Moore Threads, the chip designer, has staged a historic stock market debut in Shanghai. Its shares soared more than 500% on its first day of trading. The euphoria has validated the strategy of a giant which, despite being on the US blacklist, has become one of the great hopes for breaking the semiconductor blockade. And in this maneuver, the great beneficiary has been the founder of DeepSeek. A debut and million-dollar profits. The IPO has not followed the usual channels. The China Securities Regulatory Commission gave the green light to the operation in just four months, a record time compared to the usual 470 days on average, something that underlines the state’s urgency to capitalize on the sector. According to SCMPLiang Wenfeng – through his fund – acquired more than 82,000 shares before the premiere. The result: a profit of almost $5.6 million in 48 hours. Nikkei Asia confirms that the company has reached a capitalization of 305 billion yuan (about $42 billion), becoming the fourth most valuable company on the STAR market. And it is not yet profitable: it hopes to be profitable in 2027. The pedigree of the alternative. The market is not buying just anything, it is buying the Chinese alternative to NVIDIA. Moore Threads is not just another startup; was founded in 2020 by Zhang Jianzhong, who was general manager of NVIDIA in China. In fact, this insider knowledge is what led the US to consider it a direct threat and include it on its blacklist in 2023. Its GPUs, such as the MTT S4000, are the spearhead of an industry that seeks to replace the H100 and H200—the latter yes it will arrive in China directly— Americans in state data centers, where the government already requires a 50% share of local chips for these crucial teams. It’s not just chips, it’s software. What makes Moore Threads dangerous to Jensen Huang’s business is not just the silicon, but its attack on an important technology for NVIDIA: CUDA. The Chinese startup has developed MUSA, a platform that allows you to recycle code written for NVIDIA and run it on your own GPUs. It is something that eliminates the main barrier to entry for Chinese companies that wanted to migrate but were trapped in the American software ecosystem. And it is also the missing piece in the puzzle of the historic alliance of Chinese companies forged to overthrow NVIDIA. The circle closes. The DeepSeek creator’s investment in Moore Threads is not reduced to financial terms. DeepSeek, which already hinted in August that I would no longer need NVIDIA chipsis collaborating closely with the chipmaker to optimize its AI models on domestic hardware. With an alternative to NVIDIA that triples its value and an AI capable of competing with Gemini and ChatGPT, China is building a closed ecosystem where hardware and software feed each other. It is a symbiosis that, in addition to uniting, shields. To the Chinese industry against any future sanctions from Washington. Cover image | Composition with images of Moore Threads and Matheus Bertelli for Pexels In Xataka | Cambricon Technologies: this company is China’s punch on the table to beat the US in AI

It is not whoever shoots faster who wins, but whoever types better

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The video game ‘Final Sentence’ is the perfect example that there are no mechanics that are too dry or complex: if the design is good and the packaging attractive you can have some of the content creators most relevant on the internet typing lapidary phrases without rest as if they were secretaries of some oil magnate. Typing for the masses in a title whose final version is not yet available but whose demo is already sweeping Steam. What is it. ‘Final Sentence’ is an independent video game with an overwhelmingly simple concept: a battle royale typing game in which up to 100 players compete to survive based on speed and precision when writingand where every spelling mistake is potentially fatal. Developed by independent Lithuanian studio Button Mash (actually just one person), the game creates an experience that some media have compared it to ‘The Squid Game’ or other games like ‘Buckshot Roulette’. The inspiration, according to your managercomes from your own clumsiness at the keys and the search for more entertaining ways to improve. Why has it been so successful? A series of factors have come together that have turned it into a bombshell. On the one hand, and above all, the launch of a playable demo as part of the latest Steam Next Fest in October. On the other hand, it uses a mechanic that we know well, the free-for-all, which is part of the essence of hits like ‘Fortnite‘, and washes his face. Being easy to understand and difficult to master (that is, anyone can start playing immediately), it also has an implacable brutality with errors: any mistake is severely punished. Which gives it both an addictive component and a viral character that has helped many content creators try it. The pressure of 100. He battle royale It is carried out against groups of rivals of between 40 and 100 players (although it is also possible to organize smaller private games). But the interesting thing is in the most populated ones: seeing how one after another the rivals finish their sentences, the players can feel the imminent elimination, since not only those who make mistakes are punished, but also those who are slower in finishing writing what they have been ordered to. Who has played. People as followed on the Spanish-speaking internet as IlloJuan, ElRubius, Genuine993, PNKeasy They have tried the game, but you just have to go around platforms like Youtube to check that there are thousands of videos with gameplays of the game, all squeezing out the component of tension and terror that this very peculiar concept has. The reason? The idea of ​​”write or die” is extremely juicy and practically any viewer, regardless of cultures and languages, can identify with it. Play to write. Since that legendary ‘The Typing of the Dead‘ that allowed you to connect a keyboard to the Dreamcast to undertake a literary version of ‘House of the Dead’, the very specific subgenre of “typing video games” has experienced multiple mutations, to the point of generating its own variants. There are, for example, online competitive titles (‘TypeRacer‘, ‘NitroType‘, ‘Ratatype Race‘), narrative and adventure games (‘Epistory‘, ‘The Textorcist‘, ‘Type to Continue‘) and games more oriented towards educational or casualas ‘TypingClub‘, the platform Typing.com or the hilarious Ztype. The important thing: that you have the keys well oiled, because you can see every work tool there… In Xataka | Transcribing at full speed with a keyboard with only 21 keys: the job of a stenotypist, according to someone who has been in it for 35 years

We have been intrigued by the “blue areas” in which longevity shoots. His secret may be in Finland

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Scientists have observed for year “Blue Areas” With a mixture of fascination, suspicion And a pressing question: are there places that people usually enjoy longer and healthier lives? Is it easier to meet centenary people in certain regions From the planet, like Okinawa (Japan), Ikara (Greece) or Sardinia? And if so, why? A group of Finnish researchers believe they have found A new candidate To “Blue Zone” to the west of your country, a finding that can help us better understand these mysterious areas. For now, they have already managed to generate expectation. What happened? Some time ago a group of researchers from the Åbo Akademia University based in Turku (Finland), a peculiar objective was proposed: finding out if a part of its country fits the characteristics of what is usually known as ‘blue areas’geographical areas that stand out for the high longevity and healthy life habits of its inhabitants, two realities that experts believe they are directly related. To be more precise Nordic scientists focused on a handful of territories of the old Western Finland: The Swedish majority region of Ostrobotnia, South Ostrobotnia and the Åland islands. As explained in The article In which they have reflected their conclusions, their idea was to analyze the longevity indicators and then find out if the best results corresponded to the cities in which people enjoy a healthier lifestyle. But … What is “blue zone”? Regions in which people (apparently) enjoy longer and more healthy lives than normal. It is not a new concept. Its origins can be traced At least until 2004when the magazine Experimental Gerontology public A broad study on the centenary population of Sardinia, Italy. In it the authors marked with that color (blue) the regions of the map in which the longevity data were higher. In addition to identifying them geographically, researchers speculated that these indicators could be explained by factors such as nutrition, lifestyle or the proliferation of genetic characteristics that favored the locals. The fact is that the ‘blue areas’ liked and shortly after, in 2005, a journalist from National Geographic He used it in Another article in which he talked about three regions of the planet where on average the population enjoyed longer and healthy lives: Okinawa, in Japan, Loma Linda, in California, and Sardinia. The text was affected in the same idea: the phenomenon connects with certain healthy habits in these territories, such as nutritional diets, physical activity, stress control and moderate alcohol consumption, among others. And what did they find out in Finland? Åbo researchers identified a series of curious phenomena who, in summary, have taken them to conclude That the Swedish region of Ostrobotnia “could be a blue zone”, with a population characterized by its high life expectancy, health and positive life habits. However, that’s just one of your conclusions. And maybe not the most interesting. To understand it it is necessary to know Your study and the figures on which it supports. What figures? The most interesting are longevity. According to The data collected in Journal of Aging Research In the åland islands life expectancy among babies who came to the world between 2020 and 2022 was 83.5 years, in ostrobotnia of 83.1 and in southern ostrobotnia of 81.8. Any of these data exceeds both the mean of Finland (81.6) and EU’swhich is around 81.5. Worldwide, life expectancy at birth in 2022 was 72.6 years and, According to statistathat global average will not approach that of Ostrobotnia until the end of the century. Of course, it is a global average. In Spain the data is already Very simulate. And what does that tell us? The Åbo team did not limit himself to studying longevity records. After all, the blue areas have not been analyzed only according to demographic data. Experts also take into account factors such as “lifestyle and health”, which includes social relationships, diet, physical activity or even vital purposes. By taking into account these parameters, experts reached a conclusion: the relationship between them (longevity and the characteristics of blue areas) are not as evident as one would expect. What does it mean? That the greatest longevity data are not necessarily in the regions that best fit the ideal characteristics of a “blue zone”. It sounds confusing, but it is better understood with an example. The longest study of the study was Åland, an area that effectively presents good health data, but is “diverted from several principles” of what could be considered the ideal lifestyle. In part of Ostrobotnia something different happens: the healthy lifestyle is well implanted and yet its life expectancy is less than in other areas. What is the conclusion? There are several. To begin the researchers concluded that, if the age, health and implementation of the lifestyle of the blue areas, the Swedish Obstrobotnia are taken into account It could be considered Perfectly one of those redoubts that stand out for their longevity. Just like Other regions of the planet, such as Okinawa, Ikara or Oglybasra. However, research throws another more interesting reading, especially in the face of future studies on blue areas: when analyzing them it is important to take into account the context. “The possible coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle I could vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts,” indicates the articlewhich acknowledges that their data shows that “the Nordic regions with greater longevity are not necessarily adhere to the lifestyle of blue areas.” In other words, they insist: “The important lifestyle principles for longevity can vary in different regions.” Why is it interesting? Because beyond the implications it may have for Western Finland, its authorities, doctors and demographers, research throws new data and keys to the study of blue areas, a concept that in recent years has aroused two feelings: fascination … and skepticism. Since National Geographic public Your article The concept has generated debate and suspicion of those who warn that their scientific base results Little solid. In 2019 Dr. Saul J. Newman launched An article in which … Read more

Aberg shoots a 63 in the first round and leads by two at Torrey Pines

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SAN DIEGO — Ludvig Aberg shot a 9-under 63 Wednesday at what he calls his favorite place in the world, taking a two-shot lead over Danny Walker and Hayden Springer in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pins. Aberg took the lead in a PGA Tour first round for the first time, after posting the best opening score of his young career. The 25-year-old Swede took advantage of playing the easiest North Course at Torrey Pines, hitting 16 of 18 greens while notching eight birdies and an eagle on the coastal course. “I like when you hit a lot of drives, and I feel like I did that a lot today, and I’ll probably do the same thing tomorrow,” Aberg said. “I love any golf course when it looks like that, when you have the views, and Torrey Pines is a really great place.” Walker, 25, was outstanding in his fourth appearance on the Tour. He recorded the best round of the opening day on the more difficult South Course, where the stroke average was 72.487 compared to 70.218 on the North. Walker and Springer finished one stroke ahead of Lanto Griffin, Zac Blair, 48-year-old Zach Johnson and 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter. They all played on the North Field. The Japanese Hideki Matsuyama, the highest ranked among those present at the tournament and winner at The Sentry in Kapalua, shot a 68 in the South. Aberg, who finished ninth last year in his debut at Torrey Pines, began the new season with a fifth-place finish at Maui after undergoing knee surgery last fall. After earning the Tour’s rookie of the year award in 2023, he went winless last year despite placing in the top five six times, including runner-up finishes at the Masters, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the BMW Championship. The Farmers Insurance Open begins on a Wednesday and ends on a Saturday to avoid a final-round conflict with the conference finals in the NFL. ___ This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.

Man shoots and kills brother during family altercation in Houston

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A man from Houston, Texasallegedly fatally shot his younger brother during a heated argument about their motherwho fainted and hit his head during the altercation. The Houston Police Department (HPD) received at least three calls about family disturbances overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday at a home near Morroco Road, at the intersection of Gessner and Tanner Road. The first police intervention was recorded around 6:00 pm on Tuesday, when they came for a argument between the younger brother, in his 20s, and his girlfriendwith whom he shares a baby. On that occasion, the police took the young man to the north of Houston to calm down, according to information from Lieutenant Willkens of the HPD cited by Telemundo. Hours later, authorities returned to the home after reports that the younger brother had returned and threatened his girlfriend. However, a relative denied the threats, indicating that the young man had only returned for work clothes. The fatal outcome occurred after 1:15 am on Wednesday, when the younger brother returned requesting to spend the night at the house. This situation caused an argument between the brothers, which intensified when their mother fainted, hitting her head. They both began to blame each other for what happened, until The older brother pulled out a gun and shot the younger brother in the chest, killing him.. Authorities indicated that everyone present in the home is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. So far, the identities of those involved have not been revealed. Keep reading: –Suspected MS-13 gang member accused of murder in El Salvador arrested in Texas–Hispanic man dies of heart attack after his son was accidentally shot in Texas–Houston man stabs his mother because she refused to give him his wallet

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