surprise

a delirium with surprise for the Guinness book

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In 1990, the Guinness Book went to Malaga to register a church Catholic never seen before. What was really unusual was not only its size, but its location: it was hidden inside a castle built by a retired doctor who had decided to dedicate years of his life to a very particular historical obsession. A castle born of an obsession. In 1987, when most people think about enjoying their retirement, the doctor Stephen Martin Martin He decided to embark on a much more unlikely undertaking. After decades practicing as a gynecologist and surgeon in the United States, he returned to Spain convinced that the figure of Christopher Columbus had not received the recognition he deserved and resolved lift with your own hands a monument that corrected that absence. What started as a personal idea on a plot of land in Benalmádena ended up becoming one of the strangest and most surprising constructions on the Costa del Sol: a contemporary castle that seems to have emerged from another era and that defies any attempt at architectural classification. Seven years, three men and no machines. The magnitude of the project is even more surprising when you know how it was built. Between 1987 and 1994Martín worked accompanied only by the bricklayers Juan Blanco and Domingo Núñez, building the set practically by hand and following techniques inspired by the Late Middle Ages. Without large equipment or financing institutional, the three men transformed stone, brick, cement and wood into a construction of about 1,500 square meters and more than thirty meters high. The project ended up consuming a large part of the financial resources of its creator, who continued ahead despite the skepticism of those who considered him an eccentric or a dreamer incapable of completing such an undertaking. An encyclopedia of history. Although it is popularly known as a castle, the monument is actually a gigantic story in stone dedicated to the voyages of Columbus and Spain at the end of the 15th century. Each corner contains symbols, characters, historical references and architectural elements designed to teach history visually. The set mix influences neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, neo-Mudejar and neo-Byzantine, becoming a species from architectural manual outdoors. Among towers, staircases, stained glass windows and sculptures there are allusions to the Catholic Monarchs, the navigators of the Columbian expedition, the House of Castile and the House of Aragon, as well as numerous episodes related to the discovery of America. The three cultures and the dream that was not fulfilled. One of the most unique aspects of the monument is its intention to represent the three great religious traditions who lived together in Spain at the time: Christians, Muslims and Jews. This cultural mix is ​​reflected in many details decorative decorations distributed throughout the construction. However, the most unexpected element is a chinese pagoda that emerges between the medieval towers. Its presence responds to a very specific idea: remember that Columbus never set out in search of a new continent, but rather a route to Asia. The castle not only honors what really happened, but also what the navigator thought he was doing when he began his journey. The stone caravels are the greatest tribute to Columbus. The monument is full of physical references to the trip of 1492. The silhouettes of the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María appear integrated into the structure itself, emerging between towers and walls as if they were sailing on an ocean of stone. La Niña occupies a prominent position under the La Rábida arch, La Pinta is integrated into the main façade and Santa María appears separate from the main complex as a reminder of its shipwreck. All this contributes to turning the complex into the greatest monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus of the world, a work conceived not as a historical reproduction, but as an artistic and symbolic interpretation of one of the most influential expeditions in history. Access to the tiny church The impossible church. However, the biggest surprise of the complex is not in its towers or its historical references. Hidden within the castle walls is the Chapel of Saint Elizabeth of Hungarya space of just 1.96 square meters that is often cited as the smallest Catholic church in the world by the Guinness Book of Records. The contrast is fascinating: a gigantic monument dedicated to one of the great stories of Western history houses inside a temple so small that it is barely possible to stay in it. to a single person. Some chronicles even they claim that during certain ceremonies the priest was the only occupant inside while the rest of the participants remained outside. Symbol more than building. The tiny chapel was never designed to house large congregations. Its importance lies in the meaning it concentrates in a minimum space. Consecrated by the prior of the Monastery of La Rábida and dedicated to a saint associated with charity and helping those in need, it represents a radically different vision of religious monumentality. In front of the great cathedrals and basilicas, this small enclosure demonstrates that symbolism and architectural emotion they do not depend necessarily the size. Its irregular floor plan, the religious figures preserved inside and some pieces made by Esteban Martín himself reinforce its character as a hidden gem within an already extraordinary work. The legacy of madness. Martín dreamed of the monument becoming a research center dedicated to Columbus and even imagined that one day it could house the remains of the navigator. None of these projects came to fruition, and the creator he abandoned the works in 1994disappointed by the little attention his work had received during the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the discovery of America. However, time ended up granting him the recognition he sought. Today the Colomares Castle It is one of the most unique buildings in Spain, an architectural fantasy built by a doctor and two bricklayers that combines history, art, symbolism and personal obsession. And perhaps the best proof of this is that, … Read more

The surprise of the new Claude Opus 4.8 is not that it is (a little) better. The surprise is the “I only know that I know nothing”

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We didn’t expect it so soon, but here is Claude Opus 4.8the new version of Anthropic’s frontier model. Only 41 days have passed since release of Claude Opus 4.7which seems to make it clear that the company was not entirely happy with said model, which did not end up getting very good reviews either. With Claude Opus 4.8 the really curious thing is not that it once again sets records in most benchmarks. The surprise is his honesty. It’s better, yes, but it’s not what matters. In the internal results of the benchmarks published by Anthropic it is clear that Opus 4.8 is above Opus 4.7, but also GPT 5.5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro (curious, they do not compare it with the recent Gemini 3.5 Flash. It surpasses all of them in those tests except in TerminalBench 2.1, in which GPT-5.5 is somewhat superior. It is actually expected that each new model surpasses its predecessor, but what is striking here is the approach of the model. Honesty above all. Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, explained that the model not only programs better: “it is significantly more honest about its own work. It tells you when it is unsure about something and detects its own failures instead of declaring victory too soon.” I only know that I don’t know anything. Another Anthropic engineer, Catherine Wu, influenced in that new “personality” of Claude Opus 4.8, who is capable of admitting that he does not know something instead of answering for the sake of answering and overlooking errors in his answers or in the code he generates. Those who have tried it match in that it is a more “aligned” model, that is, one that adjusts to human values, intentions, ethics and objectives. Less hallucinations, more humanity. For some time we have been seeing how new AI models are better in benchmarks, but there have also been significant jumps in the reduction of hallucinations. Not only do they invent and make fewer mistakes: they begin to recognize that they don’t know everything. That is very important… and very human. The very complete “System Card” It includes numerous metrics that certainly seem to demonstrate that we are facing a much more polished model than its predecessors in this area. Workflows. One of the new features presented along with the model are the dynamic workflows (Dynamic Workflows), which are available in preview and are aimed at one thing: being able to work with more complex tasks in Claude Code. Thanks to this option it is possible to deploy hundreds of parallel agents in a single session, something for example useful for analyzing and migrating code repositories of hundreds of thousands of lines. No Sonnet and Haiku. Claude Sonnet 4.6 was released on February 17, 2026, but Anthropic has not updated this model since. Things are even worse for Claude Haiku, whose latest version is 4.5, released on October 15, 2025. These models were more modest versions in terms of performance but much cheaper (especially Haiku), and so far Anthropic has not updated them. That benefits their interests, because if you want the best, you can only have the best and the most expensive, but not the best in its “affordable” version. Mythos Capability Models Coming Soon. In the official Anthropic announcement they made it clear that “Users will detect that Opus 4.8 is a modest but tangible improvement over its predecessor”, but they also pointed out something important, and that is that in the coming weeks we will have AI models with capabilities similar to Claude Mythos, but publicly available: “We plan to launch a new class of model with even greater intelligence than Opus. As part of Project Glasswing, a small number of organizations are currently using Claude Mythos Preview for cybersecurity work. Models with this level of capability require more robust cybersecurity measures before their general release. We are making rapid progress in developing these measures and look forward to offering Mythos class models to all of our customers in the coming weeks.” In Xataka | Welcome to the AI ​​duopoly: the sector already has a turnover of 80 billion a year, but OpenAI and Anthropic take 89% of the revenue

Spain will have 27,000 new civil servants. The surprise is that experts in AI, cybersecurity and data science are now sought

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In recent years, Spain has promoted the public employment calls. This has managed to beat historical figures in the number of places and, although the OEP (Public Employment Offer) of 2025 took its foot off the accelerator, the Council of Ministers has just approved the OEP corresponding to 2026 with figures somewhat higher than those of the previous period. What draws attention is something else: the 1,700 positions for information technology specialists to achieve a ambitious goal. Transform Administration thanks to AI. 27,000 for the AGE. How has published The Government through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, the OEP 2026 includes 27,232 places for the General Administration of the State. It represents a small increase compared to the 26,889 places last yearalthough it continues to show that there is a personnel problem. The breakdown is 26,886 ordinary places and 346 corresponding to an extraordinary offer linked to the climate emergency. The Government points out that this offer will generate 6,200 net jobs and ensures that, since 2021, the different public employment offers have met the objective of rejuvenating the public workforce, with an average age now at 49 years. New specialists. Now, the big news is that the Administration wants profiles that are much more specialized in technology. Of these positions, 1,700 will be for information technology specialists. It is estimated that it is 42% more than those called in the previous offer and it is not only the increase in places, but also the profiles they are looking for. Because what they are looking for are “specialists in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Data Science” with the aim of, according to Minister Óscar López, “transforming the Administration.” López points out that we have to see what the administration’s priorities are, the needs of citizens and, thus, “have a more effective and efficient administration with the use of AI and the creation of quality public employment.” More digitization. This increase in digital profiles is supported by Government figures that indicate that the percentage of citizens who use official websites or applications is 83% while the European average is 75%. Furthermore, they point out that Spain is seven points above the average in digitalization of the Public Administration. The objective they aspire to is to increase digital administrative procedures by 25%, digitizing public administration. If this is going to be accompanied by the destruction of jobs, López affirms no and that what they are going to do is transform those jobs, not destroy them. They do not detail much else, other than that a series of digital training courses will be carried out with AI modules and “data tools” to strengthen the digital skills of all public employees. Exceeding 37,000. In total, counting the beaches already announced for the National Police, Civil Guard and Armed Forces, the OEP 2026 will exceed 37,000 places, slightly above the 36,588 last year. And, beyond the striking nature of these digital offers in AI and “data”, the Government intends to reinforce strategic areas such as the energy transition, the prevention of climate emergencies and the fight against climate change. The problem is that, according to the OECD, Spanish public employment remains below the international average. In the 2025 report, the OECD pointed out that Spanish public employment represented 15.25% of the total active population in 2023, with the average for all OECD countries being 18.41%. We will have to wait for more recent reports to see if the record rally of 2023 and 2024 has reversed the situation. Image | Treball Generalitat (edited) In Xataka | The easiest oppositions to pass in Spain following three criteria: by syllabus, by places and by requirements

We have just confirmed, to no one’s surprise, that Neanderthal dentists were real butchers

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Go to dentist or having maxillofacial surgeons for many people may be something that arose with our species and our great intellectsince we do not conceive that in prehistoric times our ancestors were worried about their teeth. But now we know that Neanderthals They had dentistsalthough logically with the techniques of the time. An evolution. Until now we knew that Neanderthals used small wooden sticks to get clean food scraps, something that, to be fair, some modern primates also do. However, a new find In the icy mountains of Siberia, what we thought we knew about prehistoric medicine has just been blown up. And it was not a simple instinct, since Neanderthals knew how to locate the source of acute pain and use stone tools to perform invasive dental interventions like those they can do to us today. Although logically we no longer have stone as a surgical material. Patient zero. The discovery that is the protagonist of this story has been named ‘Chagyrskaya 64’, and it is nothing more than a lower left second molar that belonged to an adult who inhabited the Chagyrskaya cave in the Altai massif in Russia. We even know that he belonged to a group that represented the most eastern known Neanderthal populations. Via: PLOS. Images of the tooth analyzed by the researchers. A tooth. At first glance, the tooth had a huge and unusual cavity in its upper part where it performs the chewing function. At first, archeology attributed this to the natural wear of the piece due to friction when chewing hard foods or simply from having received a blow. However, the edges of the cavity were smooth and rounded, so accidental breakage was completely ruled out. Furthermore, the pulp chamber, which is nothing more than the inner part of the tooth, was widened in a way that wear could not explain. What was happening. The answer to everything centers on the fact that the tooth had a severe cavity that someone tried to cure by force, removing the entire area of ​​the tooth that was in the ‘worst’ condition. And surely the pain that is felt with a cavity of considerable size that reaches the nerve area of ​​the tooth was the trigger for having to do this technique. Rustic dentistry. To prove that this hole was made on purpose, the research team used micro-computed tomography and extensive traceological analysis to see traces of use. Here what was seen is that the walls of the cavity had V-shaped stepped microgrooves, identical to those left by a perforator lithic, which was a sharp stone tool. And to confirm this, experts conducted experimental archaeology, replicating the drilling and rotation process on ‘modern’ human molars. And the brands matched perfectly. A conclusion. With all this information we can know that there was an individual who not only survived the brutal intervention in life, but also continued chewing with that tooth, as demonstrated by the subsequent polishing. It is true that they had no option to ‘cover’ that hole in the tooth as dentists do now after removing the cavity, but it did not prevent him from continuing with his normal life. A cognitive leap. Beyond the medical anecdote, the reality is that solving a cavity by excavating the infected tissue requires quite complex rational reasoning. Although we see it as easy now, identifying the source of the pain, conceiving the idea that it can be eliminated, selecting the tool for that task and executing precise rotary movements with the fingers is not easy. That is why this ability separates this behavior from mere animal instinct and shows that Neanderthals were more advanced than many of us had in mind. Images | Gerd Altmann wavebreakmedia_micro on Magnific In Xataka | A mixture of 4,000 kilometers: we have the first detailed map of the coexistence between Neanderthals and Sapiens

To no one’s surprise, companies that lay off employees for AI are not seeing the benefits they expected.

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We have been hearing for years that artificial intelligence was going to transform the labor market as we know it. Apparently, companies that bet heavily on automation would gain productivity, save costs and leave the competition behind. And yes, many technology companies they have taken that path: dismiss employees to finance your leap into AI. A new report from the consulting firm Gartner has just poured cold water on that strategy. The research, based on surveys of managers of large organizations with income exceeding $1 billion annually, reveals that staff cuts They are not producing the economic benefits that many expected. The most striking thing is that the figures are practically the same among the companies that They fire and those who don’t. Gartner numbers. The consulting firm found that around 80% of large companies that are implementing autonomous AI technologies have reduced their workforce to a greater or lesser extent. As and as highlighted Fortunethese personnel cuts in some cases affected up to 20% of employees. However, when analysts looked at who was obtaining better economic results, the data indicated that there was no appreciable difference in the return on investment of those companies that had laid off a good part of their workers and those that had kept them on staff. As Helen Poitevin, distinguished vice president and analyst at Gartner, noted, “There is no connection or correlation between those achieving ROI and layoffs.” The substitution fallacy. According to the authors of the report, the logic that has dictated the strategy of many technology companies is that, if AI can do the work that was previously done by a human, dispensing with that human will reduce costs, and that savings automatically becomes profit. The problem is that this equation is not being fulfilled. Gartner notes that companies that opted for workforce cuts to use AI ended up at the same point as those that did not. Poitevin warned that this approach could be “very damaging in a broader sense,” noting that some organizations that cut staff were forced to rehire employees shortly after. Amplify people, not replace them. Gartner data revealed that the companies that are achieving the best results are those that They don’t use AI to replace peoplebut rather they incorporate AI into production processes so that their employees perform more. In fact, one of the risks posed by the strategy of replacing personnel with AI is that the company stops investing in the medium term in improving its operations and loses productive capacity. The report notes that companies that use AI as a co-pilot for their workers tend to invest in training programs, create new roles to oversee the implementation of AI and redesign workflows, making their employees increasingly autonomous and productive. The future of work: transformation, not apocalypse. Gartner projects that by 2029 the number of jobs created thanks to AI will exceed those lost, thus coinciding with other previous analyzes such as that of the World Economic Fundwhich point towards a shift in labor profiles, not towards a balance of net job destruction. Between 2023 and 2029, approximately 6 million jobs will be automated worldwide, a small proportion of the nearly 2 billion jobs available globally. Still, the impact of AI is real. Gartner estimates that about 32 million workers a year will see their jobs automated. The author of the report assured that AI “is not causing a workplace apocalypse, but it is unleashing chaos and changing the way people work.” In Xataka |“They blame AI for layoffs they would do anyway”: Sam Altman confirms that AI has been used as an excuse to lay off Image | Unsplash (Raj Rana)

Today on Prime Video, the conclusion of the best series from the creator of ‘The Sandman’ comes with a radical surprise in its duration

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For three years millions of fans of ‘Good Omens‘ trapped in one of the cruelest cliffhangers on recent television, which concluded the second season. Now the conclusion of this story of friendship between heaven and hell comes back to Prime Video turned into a very different series… and for reasons that go far beyond creative decisions. And the third season has been reduced to a single 97-minute episode. In December 2023, when Prime Video confirmed the renewal of the series, Neil Gaiman, creator of the adaptation and co-author with the late Terry Pratchett of the original 1990 novel, Gaiman had not yet been canceled by the industry after several accusations of sexual assault. In October 2024, Amazon confirmed that Gaiman was no longer part of the production team, and disappeared from the credits. The season originally intended to be six episodes was reduced to just one hour and a half. The third installment picks up the narrative arc where season 2 left off: Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) is the Supreme Archangel and is entrusted with the supervision of the Second Cominga responsibility that surpasses him when Jesus disappears from the divine plan and begins to wander the streets of London. Crowley (David Tennant), for his part, has been wandering around Soho for months, sunken. Old acquaintances return, such as Jon Hamm as Archangel Gabriel, Derek Jacobi as Metatron and Doon Mackichan as Archangel Michael. As always, critics have praised the extraordinary chemistry established between the two protagonists of the series, although many point out that the drastic reduction in footage is noticeable in a certain narrative haste. ‘Good Omens’, of course, is not the only series affected by the change in public perception of its creator: Netflix’s ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ was canceled in 2024 after a single season; ‘The Sandman’ on Netflix concluded in 2025 with its second season; Disney halted the adaptation of ‘The Graveyard Book’ in September 2024; and ‘Anansi Boys’, the Prime Video series with Delroy Lindo that had already finished filming, remains without a release date, and we may never see it. In Xataka | One of the most brilliant films and also the most ignored by the last Oscars arrives today on Prime Video

send a robot with a 300 kilo surprise

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In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, some Polish fighters improvised small remote controlled vehicles loaded with explosives to try to destroy German positions without exposing directly to his men. Those rudimentary machines could barely move through the rubble and many ended up unusable before reaching the objective… but they left an idea floating that the battlefield would take decades to recover: perhaps one day the first troops to enter an enemy building would not be soldiers. The new way to assault a building. For decades, clearing an enemy-occupied building was one of the most important tasks. most brutal and dangerous of any war: advancing through rooms, stairs and basements while each door could hide an ambush. They counted in Forbes that Ukraine is beginning to completely change that logic. In Kostiantynivka, Russian troops hiding in an abandoned block were probably waiting for drones arriving from the sky. What appeared It was something different: an unmanned ground vehicle that entered from the rear loaded with 300 kilos of explosives before to detonate the building. The operation, coordinated with other ground robots and support drones, perfectly summarizes where urban warfare is evolving. Ukraine is no longer just using drones to observe or launch small grenades: it is converting kamikaze robots on wheels in assault tools capable of partially replacing the infantry in the most suicidal missions on the front. Coordinated machine warfare. The most important aspect of this evolution is not only the explosive robot, but the way in which starts to combine with aerial drones, sensors and recognition systems. Ukraine is developing a kind of “robotic mixed war” where each machine meets a different function. Aerial drones locate targets, monitor routes and provide an overview of combat, and ground robots advance close to the ground carrying machine guns, mines, supplies or huge explosive charges directly to Russian positions. That cooperation resolves many of the individual limitations of each system. Flying drones have speed and vision, but they can barely carry weight. Ground robots are slow and vulnerable, but can move loads capable of destroying an entire basement or opening breaches impossible for a conventional FPV. The result is a battlefield where different machines begin to act as a coordinated unit which increasingly replaces tasks traditionally reserved for soldiers. Robots to save soldiers. Behind this transformation there is also a much harsher reality: Ukraine needs to reduce the exhibition of his infantry. After years of war of attrition against a larger Russian army, each urban assault has become an extremely difficult human cost to bear. That is why terrestrial robots are rapidly moving from being experimental tools to becoming a real tactical need. Initially they were used mainly to transport ammunition, evacuate wounded or clear mines, but pressure from the front and the proliferation of drones have accelerated their evolution. towards offensive functions direct. Zelensky, in fact, has already ordered tens of thousands of UGVs for this year and kyiv’s stated objective is to automate even a good part of the logistics of the front. In other words: Ukraine is trying to progressively replace people with machines where the chances of survival begin. to be too low. The terror of “Baba Yaga”. Already we have talked of him before. In parallel to these ground robots, Ukraine has also developed an increasingly sophisticated psychological dimension around its aerial drones. The most symbolic case is that of the Vampire, the famous hexacopter named by the Russians. as “Baba Yaga”. Its nocturnal sound has become a real tool of terror on the front. In Sumy, for example, a Vampire managed rescue two soldiers Ukrainians captured after locating their captors, identifying them using thermal cameras and bombing them as they fled. Beyond the spectacular nature of the episode, the drone represents something much more important: the combination between cheap technology, ease of use and enormous operational flexibility. For a few thousand euros, Ukraine has a platform capable of launching anti-tank mines, transporting supplies, resisting electronic jamming and coordinating with other robotic systems on the ground. The consequence is that Russian soldiers begin to face a constant threat that can appear from the sky, from a window or from an apparently empty street. The battlefield of the future. The war in Ukraine is accelerating a military transformation that other militaries will study for years. The most striking thing is not only the proliferation of drones, but how these platforms are starting to physically replace Complete combat functions. A terrestrial robot loaded with explosives Entering a fortified building was a few years ago an image typical of military laboratories or science fiction films, but now it is part of real operations in destroyed cities of Donbas. At the same time, the combination of fiber optics, jam-resistant navigation, and machine-to-machine coordination is making it increasingly difficult to neutralize these systems with conventional electronic warfare. Ukraine continues to lose many of these robots to Russian FPV drones, but even that reinforces the industrial logic of the conflict: destroying machines is more acceptable than losing soldiers experienced. If you also want, little by little, urban warfare begins to look less like the battles of the 20th century and more like an environment saturated with autonomous systems where the first units that come into contact with the enemy are no longer people, but robots loaded with explosives observed from a distance from a screen. Image | x In Xataka | To achieve the milestone of building the largest drone industry without China, Ukraine has found an explosive ally: Taiwan In Xataka | The war in Ukraine is being filled with “Mad Max” ships: metal screens and nets against FPV drones in the Black Sea

In three days, Russia celebrates its Victory Day. And Ukraine has a surprise prepared 1,500 kilometers away

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In May 1987, a young 19-year-old German pilot named Mathias Rust He managed to cross a good part of Soviet airspace with a small civilian plane and land next to Red Square. without being stopped. The episode caused enormous humiliation for the USSR because it showed that even the heart of Moscow could be reached in ways that no one expected. Countdown to Putin’s big parade. Russia prepares for May 9, the most symbolic day of its entire political and military calendar, while Ukraine intensifies a campaign of attacks that seems designed precisely to ruin that sense of control and security. The Kremlin has even announced a unilateral truce for the days of the parade, but kyiv has responded by making it clear that it does not intend to coordinate anything with Moscow and remembering that Russia cannot quietly celebrate Victory Day “without the good will of Ukraine.” The situation is especially uncomfortable for Putin because, for the first time in many years, Moscow faces this date with the feeling that even its capital can become a target. Moscow no longer seems like a completely safe place. The recent attack against a skyscraper luxury hotel located a few kilometers from the Kremlin has been much more than a simple symbolic coup. Ukraine has been trying to bother to Moscow ahead of the May 9 parade, but this time the message comes in a different context: Russia has reduced the size of the event, eliminated some of the heavy military deployment and greatly reinforced the defenses around the capital for fear of new drones. Meanwhile, Zelensky has hinted directly that Moscow fears seeing drones flying over Red Square during the parade, something unthinkable just a few years ago and extremely delicate for a celebration designed precisely to project power and control. The big news is the distance. The most important change in this phase of the war is happening far beyond Moscow. Ukraine is managing to attack industrial cities and military bases located more than 1,500 kilometers from the front, reaching regions of the Urals that for decades were considered a safe rear even in Soviet times. Cities like Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk or Perm begin to experience airport closuresinternet restrictions and attacks against refineriesmilitary installations or industrial infrastructures. The psychological impact is enormous because many of these areas experienced the war as something distant until just a few months ago. New missiles and drones are changing the rules. The appearance of the transonic missile F-5 Flamingo reflects the extent to which Ukraine is transforming its deep strike capability. kyiv claims to have used this system to destroy a factory Russian military about 1,500 kilometers away, a facility linked to components for missiles, aviation and naval systems. Beyond the specific damage, what is important is the trend: Ukraine no longer depends solely on improvised drones or isolated attacks, but is beginning to build a sustained capacity to hit strategic infrastructure deep inside Russia. The jam-resistant navigation systems, extreme range and possible integration of Western technology clearly show that kyiv is trying to make Russian territorial depth much less useful than it was at the start of the war. The Soviet rearguard in doubt. Plus: there is a huge historical burden in the places that Ukraine is attacking. During the Second World War, much of the Soviet industry was moved to the Urals precisely because they were considered territories impossible to reach from Europe. Cities like Chelyabinsk became known as “Tankograd” because of the concentration of military factories far from the front. Now, eighty years later, Ukrainian drones and missiles are demonstrating that that strategic depth no longer guarantees security. What once required bombers and huge air campaigns can now be achieved with long-range drones and relatively cheap missiles capable of traversing thousands of kilometers. Avoid vulnerability on its most important day. Because he May 9 parade It is not just any ceremony for Russia. It is the great annual showcase of Russian military power, the event where the Kremlin connects the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany with Putin’s current political legitimacy. That is precisely why it is so sensitive that Ukraine is increasing pressure just before the event. Russia is shooting down hundreds of drones around Moscow and strengthening security of the capital while trying to avoid any image of chaos during a day observed by foreign leaders and broadcast throughout the country. The problem for the Kremlin is that Ukraine has already managed to install a most uncomfortable idea: even more than 1,500 kilometers from the front, there is no longer a complete sense of refuge, and that includes beyond the Urals. Image | Fire Point In Xataka | Today in “the war in Ukraine beyond all comprehension”: drone pilots are training with ‘Grand Theft Auto’ In Xataka | Ukraine has barely captured any North Korean soldiers. The reason is brutally simple: they prefer to immolate themselves

guide them to the exit one by one… with a surprise

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In the late 80s, during the call “tanker war”the United States even escorted civilian ships in the Persian Gulf under flags changed in a hurryin an operation so delicate that any error could have triggered a direct conflict between powers. Even so, the simple transit of each ship became an almost surgical operation. A blocked strait that paralyzes half the planet. Since the start of the war in Iran, the Strait of Hormuz has become a critical bottleneck for the global economy. It is estimated that at this time there are around of 1,000 ships who remain trapped since the beginning of the conflict and about 20,000 sailors They remain on board with increasingly limited supplies. Not only that. The blockade imposed by Iran after the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel has reduced traffic at minimum levels and has stressed energy markets. The situation is such that analysts warn of a possible breaking point if the situation continues, since a fifth of the world’s oil normally circulates through this route. The US plan. In this scenario, Washington has launched the so-called as “Project Freedom” with an idea as direct as it is risky. Free trapped ships guiding them one by one outside the strait, yes, through coordination between countries, insurers and logistics operators. However, after the announcement it was learned that the key to the plan is what it does not include and that has become its great “surprise”: in reality there will be no naval escorts traditional boats accompanying each ship, according to Washington officials. Although the United States deploy destroyersaircraft and thousands of troops in the region, traffic will rely more on traffic management and indirect deterrence than on direct armed protection. Diplomacy, threats and an extremely fragile balance. The movement also occurs in parallel to indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The messages at the moment are rather mixed, combining diplomatic optimism on the one hand… with strong warnings from both sides on the other. On one side, the United States insists that it will respond forcefully to any interference in the process. Iran, for its part, has just made it clear through its news agencies that any foreign military presence in the strait will be considered a direct threatso the United States “plan” threatens not to occur. A military deployment present but contained. There is no doubt, despite the absence of escorts direct, the environment remains heavily militarized. The United States maintains a wide presence with aircraft carriers, aircraft and unmanned platforms ready to act if the situation escalates. At the same time, naval mines have been detected and specific attacks against ships in the area. In other words, in the current scenario, transit has become an operation of calculated risk where coordination replaces direct protection. The real pulse: control, pressure and global economy. Beyond the movement of ships, what is at stake is the control of one of the most important energy arteries of the world. Iran uses the blockade as a pressure tool in the midst of negotiations, while the United States tries to unblock the situation in its own way and with one caveat: without legitimizing that control. The result is an intermediate solution that summarizes well the tension of the moment: intervene just enough so that the boats leave without causing an escalation that blows everything up into the air. Image | Iranian Media In Xataka | After gasoline, the war in Iran is about to skyrocket the price of something just as painful: your Zara clothes In Xataka | Iran has pulled out a “trick” to sell to China while avoiding the US: turning the ocean into its secret gas station

Someone has calculated which countries in the world have increased their military spending the most and there is a surprise: Spain is in the lead

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With the beating of war drums in the background, the invasion of Ukraine encystedthe tension climbing in the Middle East and Donald Trump feinting with removing the US from NATO at the same time required more investment military to its partners, in 2025 the world has chosen a clear path: spend more money on defense. Quite a bit more. SIPRI calculations show that global military spending increased by 2.9% last year to almost 2.9 trillion dollars. This increase is largely explained by the effort made in Asia, Russia and Europe, where an unexpected protagonist stands out: Spain. Despite the differences With the leadership of NATO and the loud friction with Trump, the reality is that Spain is one of the countries that has increased its investment most clearly and is already in the “Top 15” in volume of war spending. What has happened? Which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just published a study on military spending in 2025. It is a valuable tool because it helps us understand two things: how much the planet is investing in strengthening its war capacity and, more importantly, how that flow of money is distributed geographically. Reading it is particularly interesting in Spain for another reason: it shows that, despite the friction that Madrid has had with the White House and the address of NATO on account of military spending, Spain has made a notable investment effort. In fact, on the SIPRI list it stands out as one of the countries that has increased its defense spending the most, surpassing other European partners. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How much does Spain invest? If we base ourselves on the SIPRI data, 34,256 million of euros. The figure is important because of its scope, but above all because of the trend it shows: it shows that last year military spending increased by 50% in Spain. If we look back even further, to 2016, the increase is 122%. It is also the first time Since the mid-90s, the allocation for weapons exceeds 2% of GDP. If these data were not sufficient in themselves, they stand out even more when compared with the rest of the countries analyzed. Although the US, China and Russia lead the investment effort in terms of spending volume, when we look at the increase in spending there is only one nation that exceeds 50% of Spain. Which? Belgium, with an increase of 59%, although its level of spending is much lower than that of Spain (14.5 billion dollars). In fact, the increase in investment has allowed our country to position itself in the global “TOP 15”, behind Poland or South Korea and ahead of Canada. How is it possible? That jump is largely due to Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved a year ago and that, according to the ministrycontemplated an initial investment of 10,471 million already in 2025. However, the SIPRI tables reflect that Spain continues to dedicate much fewer resources to defense than other EU (and NATO) partners, such as Germany, France, Italy or Poland, which in the last decade has skyrocketed its spending. Why is it important? For what we mentioned before: 2025 will be remembered for many debates, but there was one in particular that grabbed headlines for months and made Spain stand out worldwide. Despite Trump’s pressure for NATO partners to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, Madrid claimed that it could meet its commitments with an investment of ‘only’ 2.1%. His position was not liked in the White House, but it ended up leading to a pact with those responsible for the Atlantic Alliance. How much does the rest spend? That is another of the readings that leaves the study of SIPRI. In general, its technicians estimate that military spending increased by 2.9% worldwide in 2025, to around $2.9 million. It is the eleventh consecutive year in which the amount of resources that the planet allocates to the war machine has increased and explains that today the “global military burden” (its weight with respect to GDP) reaches 2.5%, marking its highest level since 2009. Are there differences? Yes. That increase was not distributed equally throughout the world. While in the US military spending suffered an annual contraction of 7.5%, in Europe military spending grew by 14% to reach 864,000 million of dollars. The same trend continued in Russia (+5.9%) and Ukraine (+20%), immersed in a war since 2022, or China (+7.4%) and Japan (+9.7%). That the US distances itself from this trend is something purely circumstantial. If its war expenditure decreased in 2025, it was due to the change in policy regarding the military support offered by Ukraine. In fact, SIPRI recalls that the US Congress has already given the green light to a considerable increase in military spending for this year and it is not unreasonable that something similar could happen in 2027. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Nobody saw it coming: Ukraine’s scariest drone doesn’t move, just waits for a Russian soldier to appear

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