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Russia turned gliding bombs into Ukraine’s nightmare. 17 months later Ukraine is giving him his own medicine

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Two years ago Russia launched a FAB-3000 pump of three tons over Kharkov and the shock wave was so powerful that several local seismic sensors recorded it as if it were a small earthquake. Until then, Ukraine barely had a way to respond to a weapon capable of striking from tens of kilometers away. The nightmare that changed the war. For much of 2023 and 2024, Russian gliding bombs became one of the most devastating weapons of the entire war. Moscow discovered that it could transform old Soviet bombs into long-range munitions simply by adding relatively cheap wings and guidance systems. The result It was devastating: huge FABs of 250, 500 or 1,000 kilos launched from dozens of kilometers away, out of the reach of many Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses, capable of destroying fortified positions, bridges, logistics centers or entire neighborhoods. For Ukraine, this became a problem almost impossible to solve. Shooting down each bomb was extremely difficult, attacking the launching planes forced them to get too close to the front and each new Russian kit multiplied the pressure on cities like Kharkiv, Sumy or Zaporizhia. Seventeen months searching for an answer. The appearance now of the first gliding bomb Ukrainian marks something much more important than the presentation of new ammunition. It represents the moment in which kyiv believes it has found your own answer to one of the weapons that have done the most damage during the last two years. Development reportedly began in December 2024 and has required 17 months of work until reaching the final tests and the first official order from the Ministry of Defense. The weapon, named like Vyrivniuvach (“Equalizer”), uses a 250-kilogram warhead and has been designed specifically for the real conditions of the Ukrainian war. It is not simply a question of copying a Western or Soviet model: Ukrainian engineers tried to build an adapted pump to a scenario where planes fly at low altitude to avoid radars, where anti-aircraft defenses cover enormous areas and where each weapon must be cheap, quick to manufacture and easy to integrate. The importance of manufacturing at home. The great advantage of this bomb is not only military, but also industrial and strategic. Until now Ukraine depended on Western kits like the JDAM-ER American or French Hammer to convert conventional bombs into long-range guided weapons. The problem is that these systems arrive in limited quantities, depend on external political decisions and often include restrictions on where they can be used. kyiv had been trying for months to escape that dependence by building its own war industry. The Vyrivniuvach fits perfectly into that logic: according to its developers it costs approximately three times less than a JDAM-ER, can be prepared in less than half an hour and is designed to be integrated into already operational platforms such as the Su-24, MiG-29, Su-27 and even Western F-16 or Mirage 2000. A Russian UMPK gliding bomb attached to a Su-34 An increasingly cheaper and more massive war. The evolution of gliding bombs also reflects a profound change in modern warfare. For years, cruise missiles seemed like the ultimate symbol of precision strike. Ukraine and Russia have proven otherwise: It is often more efficient to adapt old weapons with relatively simple kits and mass produce them. Russia understood this earlier and converted its FABs with UMPK modules into a true constant attrition machinery against the Ukrainian defenses. Ukraine has ended up following the same path. The logic is brutally practical: a gliding bomb does not need complex engines, can be launched from great distances, costs much less than an advanced missile and forces the enemy to expend much more expensive anti-aircraft interceptors or accept the impact. The problem of attacking from outside enemy range. They counted the TWZ analysts that what made Russian bombs especially dangerous was the possibility of launching them outside the radius of many Ukrainian defenses. Russian planes could get relatively close to the front, release their ammunition, and return without directly entering areas covered by Patriot or NASAMS. Ukraine now wants exactly that same ability. Your new bomb is designed to hit targets located “tens of kilometers” behind Russian lines, including fortifications, command posts or logistics centers. This allows you to attack without constantly exposing the pilots to the densest air defenses on the front. Furthermore, as it is a national system, kyiv can use it against any target it deems necessary without depending on external authorizations or political limitations imposed by Western allies. Ukraine’s industrial war. The Vyrivniuvach It also symbolizes the extent to which Ukraine has ceased to be simply a country that receives Western weapons and has become a power. of improvised military innovation out of necessity. In just two years, kyiv has developed long-range kamikaze drones, unmanned naval systems, new munitions and electronic warfare solutions built at high speed and at low cost. The glider bomb is part of that same transformation. Ukraine understood that it could not win a long war by relying solely on limited foreign arsenals or deliveries subject to political debates in Washington or Brussels. That’s why the message behind this new weapon is so important: Russia turned gliding bombs into one of the biggest symbols of Ukrainian vulnerability, but seventeen months later Ukraine seems to have managed to hit back using exactly the same weapon. industrial and military logic. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Russian Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Satellite images reveal how much Russia fears Ukraine’s drones. 7,000 km away they are covering their nuclear missiles In Xataka | Once again, Ukraine has opened a missile launched by Russia. Once again, surprising manufacturers have been found

The Canary Islands have just turned on the first platform that generates electricity by “boiling” the ocean

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They have been promising us for decades that the ocean would be the battery of the future. The difference now is that someone has finally plugged in the cable. The British company Global OTEC has installed in the waters of the Canary Islands the world’s first floating platform capable of extracting energy directly from the heat of the sea. It is not a concept. It is not a simulation. It is there, in the Atlantic, working. The end of intermittency. Unlike wind or solar energy, which are dependent on weather conditions, the ocean offers a constant and reliable source 24 hours a day. It’s what experts call “base load power.” Until now, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology had been tested in terrestrial environments. Until now, the main obstacle to bringing this technology to a full scale was infrastructure. The terrestrial prototypes needed huge pipes to pump cold water from the depths to the coast: kilometers of installation, exorbitant costs. For this reason, Global OTEC’s commitment has been to move the platform directly to the sea, eliminating that route. The result: 80% less pipe. And a model that, for the first time, seems truly scalable. A closed circuit that “recycles” the liquid. The system literally takes advantage of the temperature difference that exists between the surface of the sea and its dark depths. The mechanism is an extremely ingenious closed circuit: Evaporation: The warm water on the surface heats a special liquid that, due to its chemical characteristics, boils quickly. Generation: When boiling, this liquid is transformed into steam, which pushes a turbine that, when rotating, generates electricity. Cycle recycling: For the system to never stop, the vapor needs to return to its liquid state. This is where the newly installed deep pipeline comes into play, sucking in very cold water from the deep sea to cool the vapor and restart the cycle. In addition to generating energy completely free of carbon emissions, the installation takes up little space and is silent. It even offers an invaluable additional benefit to island ecosystems: freshwater desalination. An ecological lifesaver. The project was not born thinking about feeding large continental electrical networks. Its objective is more concrete and, in some ways, more urgent. The European consortium PLOTEC, which finances this development, is targeting Small Island Developing States, the so-called SIDS. These are regions that today depend on polluting and expensive diesel generators, and that also fit squarely in the hurricane belt. That is why the platform has been specifically designed to withstand extreme tropical storms. The Canary Islands, the great laboratory of Europe. That this world milestone has occurred in Spain is no coincidence. The platform has been installed on the Canary Islands Ocean Platform (PLOCAN). As explained by Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universitiesit is an infrastructure managed by a consortium financed in equal parts by the State and the Government of the Canary Islands. This enclave has become a true focus of international technological attraction. According to a statement from PLOCANits waters not only host thermal projects, but at the end of 2026 they will also host the European WHEEL project, led by the Spanish engineering company ESTEYCO. This floating offshore wind energy demonstrator reinforces the role of the Canary Islands as a strategic enclave and positions the region as one of the main European poles for the development and validation of technologies. offshore. Next stop: the commercial jump. With the ocean platform already installed and technical validation underway in the Atlantic, the horizon for this technology seems clear. “This is the moment when OTEC technology moves away from controlled environments and into the real world,” says Dan Grech, founder and CEO of Global OTEC. Its next objective is to install the first commercial energy module in Hawaii, an island market with all the conditions that this technology needs. The company estimates that there are more than 25 GW of diesel capacity on tropical islands that could be candidates for this transition. Although it is important not to lose sight of the fact that going from prototype to commercial scale has historically been the valley of death for many promising energy technologies. The learning curve that Grech compares to that of solar or wind took decades to lower costs to competitive levels. That being said, the platform is in the water. And that, in this sector, is already a lot. Image | Global OTEC Xataka | Every year millions of birds die because of wind turbines. The solution: paint them like poisonous snakes

we have turned the ocean into an acoustic hell

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The ocean is no longer the silent paradise it used to be, as beneath the surface a constant cacophony of engines, propellers and giant ship hulls has created an “acoustic fog” that is suffocating marine life. and this It is creating a very serious problemespecially with the whales that are trying to raise their voices to be heard over the noise of the ships, but physically they can no longer scream. We have it close. To understand the magnitude of the problem, one does not have to go far, since in the Strait of Gibraltar itselfone of the busiest maritime highways on the planet, cetaceans are living on the edge. And here science is seeing that the pilot whales of the strait are “screaming” to communicate with their groups. However, the effort is in vain, since the data reveals that, no matter how much these whales try to raise their vocalizations, they barely manage to reach half the noise level generated by maritime traffic continuous. Simply put, the noise of merchant ships and ferries silences them and does not cut their communication links with others of their species. Why not stronger? It would be the most logical question that could come to mind, but the reality is that science points to the existence of an unbreakable physiological limit in their larynxes that makes it impossible for them to raise their ‘voice’ any higher. It must be taken into account that the vocal anatomy of these whales is perfectly adapted for the depths, but becomes ineffective to compete with the frequencies and volume of merchant ships that travel on the surface. In fact, below 100 meters of depth, their ability to compensate for environmental noise hits a biological wall, since maritime noise is masked in such a way that their vocalizations are completely disrupted. The danger of your instinct. Added to this physical limit is a behavioral problem, since evolution has prepared whales to deal with the natural noise of the ocean, but human noise is completely foreign to them. Studies here showed that while these animals know how to react to natural threats by adjusting their singing patterns, they do not have the instinct necessary to evade anthropogenic noise. They simply don’t process the sound of a freighter as a threat they must flee from or adapt to until it’s too late and the end is quite catastrophic. Its impact. It is not limited to the fact that they cannot “talk” to each other, but this sound masking forces the animals to abandon rich feeding areas for more impoverished but quiet areas. Furthermore, since males and females cannot communicate from kilometers away, the rates of encounters to reproduce fall. In the end, we are facing a problem that is serious, which has led institutions such as the Ministry for the Ecological Transition to monitor these hot spots of noise in the Mediterranean that are altering the behavior of fauna. And all because the whales here cannot adapt to the rhythm of our noise, so the solution is to make our boats ‘quiet’ so that they do not have a great impact on the fauna. Images | rawpixel.com on Magnific In Xataka | He dug a 60 cm pond in the garden and in a few weeks clutches of frog eggs appeared: from useless grass to nursery

Europe throws away 16 billion a year in electronic waste. Spain has just turned on the first oven in Europe to recover them

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Those cell phones, computers and small devices that are gathering dust in a drawer and ending up in a landfill contain valuable minerals such as copper, silver and platinum inside, which also end up there. Every year in the Spanish state almost 930,000 tons of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are thrown away, which makes Spain the sixth state on the continent in generation of this type of waste. according to data from the UN E-waste Monitor by 2024. Of these, less than half is documented and recycled waste. In a context in which rare earths and critical minerals are a strategic resource of which Europe wants to achieve sovereignty, Spain has taken a step forward with a CSIC pilot plant pioneer in the old continent: a furnace capable of melting that electronic waste to extract valuable metals from it. The pioneer oven. A few days ago the National Center for Metallurgical Research of the CSIC inaugurated in Madrid the first European pilot plant capable of recovering critical metals from electronic waste using a submerged lance furnace, which exceeds 1,200 °C to melt electronic waste. The milestone was formalized with the first experimental casting of metals obtained directly from electronic waste and obtained materials such as copper, gold, silver and platinum in a clean and efficient way. In conventional furnaces, the heat comes from the outside, but in this case a metal lance is introduced that injects oxygen and fuel directly into the molten bath, which generates intense turbulence that mixes and homogenizes the material, accelerates chemical reactions and improves energy efficiency. Why is it important. Because every year Europe generates millions of tons of electronic waste containing copper, gold, silver, platinum and strategic minerals necessary for the energy transition and digitalization. A part of them is not recovered: it is lost or used outside the continent. The facility in question is an advance in advanced pyrometallurgy and the management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment that shows that it is possible to treat this waste in Europe, thus preventing the associated economic value from leaving the continent, which allows the raw materials to be reincorporated into the European production chain itself. In addition, it connects directly with the Critical Raw Materials Law of the European Union, which fixed that at least 25% of the critical raw materials consumed by the EU by 2030 must come from recycling. The EU is currently heavily dependent on imports of critical raw materials, often from a single supplier, which poses a serious geopolitical risk in the form of dependence on strategic sectors such as renewable energy, digitalisation and defence. Context. The generation of WEEE is out of control and breaking records. According to the UN international waste observatoryin 2022 the world generated 62 million tons, 82% more than in 2010, but less than in 2030, when the estimated figure is 82 million tons. Europe takes the cake: in 2022 it was the region with the highest volume of WEEE per inhabitant with 17.6 kg per person, of which only 7.3 kg were recovered. But that garbage is money: the UN E-Waste quantifies the economic value of those 62 million tons at 91 billion dollars a year. If of this global total of WEEE, 13 million tons of garbage per year They belong to Europe. Calculated proportionally, it would be equivalent to losing about 19,000 million dollars annually due to poorly managing these materials (about 16,340 million euros at the exchange rate). While we search for deposits and accelerate their exploitation in a sector dominated by China, we have a deposit pending to be exploited: the “urban” mine with WEEE recycling. The situation regarding WEEE in Europe in 2022. UN E-Waste 2024 How it works. He submerged lance furnace is based on the ISASMELT processso that the raw materials only need to be pre-mixed, there is no need for fine grinding or drying, which simplifies the feeding with materials as heterogeneous as WEEE. The separation of materials is based on the difference in densities: once the waste is melted, copper and precious metals such as gold or silver tend to sink to the bottom of the reactor due to their greater density, while the slag (which is non-metallic) floats on the surface, which makes extraction simple. The project has been possible thanks to a public-private collaboration between CENIM-CSIC and two companies, the European copper smelting giant Atlantic Copper and the metallurgical company Glencore Technology. Yes, but. The CENIM facility is a pilot plant, not an industrial plant, and this leap in pyrometallurgy is not exactly small: engineering issues must be resolved such as the management of the gases emitted in the process or the useful life of the furnace’s refractory materials, among others. And this project may find its political framework in the Critical Raw Materials Act, but this It’s more of a statement of intent. than anything else: it does not have a roadmap nor has it made available new funds to accelerate these initiatives. However, the biggest problem is not in the oven, but in recycling or the absence of this: 46% of WEEE and the critical materials it contains are lost before reaching any recycling facility, simply because collection is poor. There is little point in developing highly efficient recovery technology if electronic waste ends up mixed with organic waste in the brown container. Or if it is exported outside of Europe. The real bottleneck remains collection. In Xataka | Mortadelo and Filemón work for the CSIC: TIA agents explain the history of science to us with their comics In Xataka | The CSIC wants to create quantum solar energy capable of self-regulating its temperature. His inspiration: painting Cover | yasin hemmati and Nathan Cima

Sony has taken advantage of its AI to improve photos. It turned out quite average

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Sony presented the mobile this week more anti-2026 that we had seen in the high range. A return to the headphone jack, the generous bezels, the microSD card and, beyond the curious, a photographic bet that promised to be solid. Just yesterday, the Japanese company published on its social networks how the new assistant worked AI camera in the new Xperia, one “to bring photos to life.” The post has gone really viral, since it is not clear who and why it seemed right to publish said publication in X. all bad. The publication already has 8 million views and more than 3,000 comments, the first of which are directly memes. Beyond the fact that this is the usual trend in X, there are reasons to be disoriented by Sony’s publication. According to the company, which also publishes the same examples on its website, the new AI camera assistant helps create “expressive options to bring our photos to life.” And yes, although what is a good photo and what is not is partly subjective, the publication leaves no room for interpretation. Yes, I laughed. “Life”. The photographs that Sony has shown with the AI ​​mode are terrible. Not from a subjective interpretation, but from introducing photography into any editing programread the histograms, and objectively analyze that they are completely burned (full overexposure) and with a very high color distortion. As the company has shown, this is a mode that completely destroys the naturalness of the original photography, and without practical use to improve the results on a daily basis. Not too surprising. Sony is the leading camera manufacturer in the world. In fact, there are hardly any filmmakers and content creators who do not use their cameras. When buying a phone, the reference to know if it has a good camera is that it has a Sony sensor. But, for some reason, in all Xperia generations there have been serious problems with the camera. Usability of the apps, final quality of the photographs, strange looks that were not completely understood… Despite leading with an iron fist in video cameras, the Xperia division in mobile phones does not come close to what is expected from the manufacturer. Hope? The margin of doubt is always necessary and, after the virality of the publication, it is more than likely that Sony will give AI processing a twist. And, if not, we will always have an additional way to create memes. In Xataka | We have been juggling for ten years to transfer a photo from iPhone to Android. Google closes the wound with AirDrop

His best gift has been having turned 5.5 billion euros into bricks

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Amancio Ortega has just turned 90, but the tireless businessman he hasn’t slowed down. While the world speculated about whether the founder of Inditex would reduce his investment activity at that age, his team in Pontegadea closed one operation after another at breakneck speed. In the last year, Pontegadea completed 17 real estate purchases with a total investment that exceeds 5.5 billion euros. As and as detailed The Worldthe figure of rental income that Ortega receives through his real estate giant exceeded 977 million euros in 2024, and in 2025 they reached 1,089 million euros. The landlord of big companies. Although 2025 has been characterized by the diversification of investments, the brick remains the star product of Ortega’s investments. The most striking bet of 2025 was the purchase of eight office buildings in six cities spread across five countries, with a joint investment of 1.5 billion euros. Pontegadea’s investment recipe is simple in theory, but somewhat more complex to put into practice: always choose buildings of high strategic value located in the most important urban centers…and, if possible, that already have solvent tenants. The logic is undeniable, a “high-end” building is a highly valued value by hotel chainslarge companies that use them as headquarters or brands that use them for set up their flagships in the center of large cities around the world. In this way, they ensure receiving income from day one. The largest operation of 2025 in this sense was the acquisition of “The Post”, a historic Vancouver office building with Amazon as a tenant. The millionaire closed the purchase of that former Canadian post office for 1.1 billion Canadian dollars, which is equivalent to about 680 million euros. The rest of the office purchases were distributed throughout Europe, the US and other regions, consolidating a portfolio of buildings spread throughout the world. The great logistics bet. If Inditex has become the textile giant that it is today, it is not because of its contribution to fashion designbut for the development of its logistics network that allowed it to take any clothing line to any corner of the world in record time. This obsession with logistics comes from its founder, and in 2025 we have also seen it in Pontegadea. Ortega’s investment in the field of logistics it’s not new. It has been investing in logistics centers in Europe and the US for years, but in 2025 it has opted for another approach: ports. At the end of October 2025, the millionaire’s participation was announced with 49% of PD Ports sharesone of the most important port operators in the United Kingdom, in an operation valued at more than 500 million euros. At the beginning of 2026, it was confirmed that Pontegadea was continuing along this investment path with participation in a joint offer valued at 11.7 billion Australian dollars (approximately 6.9 billion euros) to take over 100% of the Australian manufacturing giant. Qube logistics., although the exact percentage corresponding to the Spanish millionaire has not been made public. Control of energy. Using the same philosophy that Pontegadea applies to real estate investments, Ortega consolidated his position in the companies that control the power distribution networks in Spain and Portugal. It increased its stake in REN, the Portuguese electricity and gas network operator, from 12% to 13.7%, which places it as the second largest shareholder behind the Chinese electricity company State Grid Corporation, which controls 25% of the group. He occupies a similar position in Redeia, the electricity grid operator in Spain, of which he controls 5% of its capital, being also the second largest shareholder only behind the 20% held by SEPI. The engine that moves everything: Inditex. Behind all this investment movement there is a constant generator of liquidity: Inditex. In the last five years, Zara has increased its value by 98% and has increased its dividend by 88%, which has meant an income of 14.6 billion euros for Ortega. only in dividends. That constant cash flow It has been what has allowed us to finance the most active year in decades for Pontegadea. The result of this financial activity has been reflected in the form of an increase of 4.9% in the fortune of Amancio Ortega during 2025. Although it is a notable increase, the fortune of the founder of Inditex grew less than that of other large Spanish assets such as Rafael del Pino (34%) or Juan Roig (13%). In Xataka | Amancio Ortega: the billionaire who lives like another neighbor. Except for private jets and superyachts Image | GTRES, Unsplash (Sergio Kian)

Tourism has turned Norway into the latest theme park. And the business of hunting the northern lights in a risky sport

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It happened a few years ago in Icelandwhen the authorities saw forced to close temporarily access to a natural canyon after thousands of visitors hiked it off marked trails, damaging vegetation and eroding the terrain in a matter of weeks. What had been an almost unknown corner for years suddenly became in a viral phenomenonleaving an unexpected impression: a remote landscape transformed into an overflowing place in a very short time. Now it’s your turn to Norway. From quiet city to saturated destination. What was for years a peaceful northern town has transformed into a global phenomenon: Tromsø has gone from a medium-sized university town to receive massive waves of visitors attracted by this new hype in the form of northern lights. The growth, driven largely by social media, has local capacity overwhelmed to the point that, in high season, tourists far exceed to residents. We are talking about collapsed streets, strained services and constant pressure on infrastructure that reflect how tourism has turned the environment into something very different from what it was. The rise of a business without control. The problem arises because, at the same time, it has emerged a parallel industry of unregulated guides that operate outside the law, taking advantage of the low barrier to entry and high demand. With a car, a mobile phone and access to aurora tracking apps, these operators offer improvised routes that compete with legal services, eroding both the local economy and the quality of the experience. In fact, they counted in the New York Times that the authorities estimate that a significant part of these activities escapes official control, generating income that does not revert to the community and multiplying the problems. Mass tourism turned into operational chaos. The result is a scenario where the search for auroras has become unpredictablewith convoys of vehicles traveling on roads, constant route changes and a general feeling of disorder. Specialized police teams patrol the city and its accesses looking for these activities illegal, but clandestine operators adapt quickly, sharing information and using tactics to avoid controls. This constant game between surveillance and evasion has turned the activity into something much more complex than a simple tourist excursion. Failed experiences and feeling of being scammed. As a result, for many visitors, the promise of a unique experience is has translated into frustrationdeceptions or unexpected situations, with stories of tours that are not completed, guides who disappear and keep the money or even police interventions in the middle of the tour. The contrast between the idyllic image of the destination and the reality experienced by some tourists has begun to leave its mark in reputation of the place. What should be a memorable natural experience sometimes becomes a chaotic and unreliable process. A destination converted into an extreme theme park. All of this has led to a deeper transformation: one where the northern lights are no longer just a natural phenomenon, but the center of an intensive industry which works almost like an outdoor theme park. The pressure to capture that perfect moment has turned the activity into a constant race against time, weather and competition, raising the risk and tension with each outing. Thus, what was once pure contemplation now comes closer and closer to an experience extreme where improvisation and business weigh as much as nature itself. The impact on those who live from the phenomenon. They remembered in the Times that for legal and experienced operators, the situation has changed radically, facing unfair competition that reduces prices and deteriorates standards. What should be a season of celebration has turned into a struggle to maintain viability of the business in a saturated environment. Another one, as already it happened in iceland and its volcanoes or more recently on Everesta change that reflects a broader reality: when tourism grows out of control, even the most spectacular destinations can end up trapped in your own success. Image | PXHere In Xataka | Touristification has made Mercadona find itself with a rival in Barcelona: 24-hour supermarkets In Xataka | There is something worse than Everest turning into a mountain literally full of shit: scam rescues

It turned out so well that he doubled and expanded it

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Tourism equals overcrowding in Venice. It is nothing new and, in fact, the enclave has been a pioneer in some regulations that have sought to put a stop to the hordes to reconcile the lives of the locals and ensure that its ecosystem does not end up swallowed up as a victim of its own success. Its geography simply does not allow for more, and that is why they have imposed caps on large groups with fines to whomever passes, or even They have tracked phones. They also imposed a pioneer tollan entrance fee that went so well that the days doubled. Now also the price. The experiment is consolidated in 2025. As we said, Venice is a pioneer in the imposition of an entry fee for single day visitorsand the success has been such for the administration that They decided to double the rate in 2025, raising it from 5 to 10 euros for those who enter without an accommodation reservation. Furthermore, and as we explained in the past, The measure was applied on 54 days of the year, almost double the 29 days selected in 2024. The dates included a continuous block from April 18 to May 4, followed by every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of July. The charge will remain between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:00 pm, and those who reserve at least four days in advance will be able to pay only 5 euros. And it will be updated in 2026. Yes, because the system extends to 60 daysnot 54. Now it practically covers every weekend and several long weekends between April and July. Of course, the double rate is maintained: 5 euros if you reserve at least 4 days in advance, or 10 if you reserve later. Furthermore, the official schedule checkpoint remains from 08:30 to 16:00, the mandatory QR system is now much more consolidated and controls are more frequent, and fines can still reach between 50 and 300 euros if you do not have the QR or do not pay. Extra ball: the exemption is maintained for those who sleep in hotels or apartments within the municipality of Venice, although they must still register online. Impact on tourism rate. In 2024, almost half a million tourists (485,062) paid the entrance fee, that is, generated 2.4 million euros in income to the public coffers (The cost of the system or the destination of the funds raised have not been revealed). Registration data indicates that, after Italians, the main tourists were Americans, Germans and French. In addition, the measure achieved a slight reduction in the number of visitors coming from the Veneto region, although the authorities have not provided figures. We also remember that despite this rate increase, access remains free for those who spend the night in the city, although You must register online at cda.ve.it to obtain your exemption. Travelers who only transit through Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto or Stazione Marittima are also exempt, as well as those who visit the outer islands of the lagoon (Lido, Murano and Burano) without passing through the center. The future in Venice. It’s the big question. The authorities admit that the tax alone is not enough to manage mass tourism, but they do consider that The system created lays the foundation for future regulations stricter. Venice, which receives tourists from 194 countriesremains one of the destinations most affected by tourist overexploitation, which has led to the implementation of increasingly restrictive measures in an effort to protect its fragile urban ecosystem and preserve its historical character. A more than difficult equation. Image | Hervé Simon In Xataka | Venice spent 5 billion euros on flood barriers. Five years later they are already “unsustainable” In Xataka | The citizens of Venice staged a small rebellion over Jeff Bezos’s wedding. Now it will be held at another point *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2025

China turned off the oil tap when the conflict with Iran broke out. Now he reopens it to rescue a thirsty Asia

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When the Strait of Hormuz was practically sealed after the outbreak of the well-known Third Gulf War, the world held its breath. In the midst of widespread panic over the strangulation of one of the planet’s most vital energy arteries, the first major tectonic movement came from Beijing. The Asian giant opted for the crudest pragmatism: it ordered its large refineries to immediately and opaquely stop gasoline and diesel exports to shield its own tanks. China isolated itself to survive. However, in just a few weeks, the board has taken an unexpected turn. With an Asia that looks into the abyss of the shortage, Beijing has decided to reopen the valve, going from being a protectionist actor to establishing itself as the great energy lifeline of the region. Asia’s savior: China. The shockwaves of war have left the Indo-Pacific region shivering. Asia has become “ground zero” of the crisis. In Australia, the panic has emptied the gas stationsforcing the government to cut emergency taxes; India has had to sacrifice tax revenue to freeze prices due to shortages; Japan has refused to share its strategic reserves with its neighbors; and Vietnam airlines They have had to cancel en masse their flights due to the lack and extra cost of aviation fuel. In the midst of this desperation, China has made its move. As anticipated BloombergBeijing has given the green light to its state refineries to export 500,000 tons of fuels (gasoline, diesel and kerosene) over the next month. According to sources cited by oil pricecompanies such as Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) already have shipments ready on ships that will be destined, as a rescue, to severely punished neighboring nations such as Vietnam and Laos. The energetic rice bowl. That China can afford to export fuel while the rest of the continent applies rationing measures is not a miracle, it is the result of a silent strategy. China took advantage of previous years to buy heavily sanctioned and cheap crude oil (Russian, Venezuelan and Iranian), managing to accumulate colossal reserves of almost 1.4 billion barrels. According to researcher Henry Tugendhatthis gives Beijing a cushion of about 104 days of domestic demand, in addition to having a “floating warehouse” of Iranian oil tankers anchored off its coasts waiting to be unloaded. Returning to “Game of Thrones.” But Beijing’s move goes far beyond helping its neighbors; It is a direct geopolitical challenge. As detailed South China Morning Post (SCMP)China has for the first time activated its so-called “Blockade Rules” of 2021. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has issued an official order prohibiting domestic companies from complying with the sanctions recently imposed by the United States. Washington had sanctioned five refineries Chinese independent companies (known as “teapots”), including Hengli Petrochemical, accusing them of financing the Iranian military by purchasing its oil. By ordering the contempt of these sanctions because they are considered a “improper extraterritorial application”Beijing demonstrates that it not only has physical control of the crude oil, but that it is willing to engage in a legal and financial confrontation with the United States to protect its supply lines. Tightrope diplomacy. The short-term scenario will be played in the offices. As explained The New York TimesChina is playing both sides in this conflict. On the one hand, he acts as a peaceful mediator, pushing Iran to negotiate to de-escalate tension, having been key in the fragile temporary ceasefires. However, on the other hand, US intelligence agencies suspect that Chinese companies continue to export dual-use material and even military technology to Tehran. All of this is meticulously calculated ahead of the imminent May 14 summit in Beijing between Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. According to the analysts consulted through the New York environmentthe fact that the US is bogged down in the Middle East and rapidly spending its military resources, gives China a position of tremendous strength to negotiate over tariffs, trade and the US naval blockade. lenergy as the definitive weapon of the 21st century. The Strait of Hormuz crisis has functioned as a stress test for energy globalization. The sanctions drawn up in Washington attempt to financially suffocate the actors in the conflict, but the tyranny of physical infrastructure imposes its own rules. China has shown that the energy wars in this decade are not only decided with naval deployments, but with warehouses full of strategic reserves, independence in refining capacity and overwhelming dominance in the manufacturing of renewable energy. By reopening its export tap, Beijing sends a clear message to the world: while the West hyperventilates over the price of a barrel, China is the one who has the ability to decide who is left in the dark in Asia. Image | Photo by Bundo Kim on Unsplash Xataka | China is one of the largest refining powers on the planet. And he has decided something: to keep all the gasoline he produces

Evangelism has been leading a revolution in Madrid for years. Now he has turned the Metropolitan into a huge church

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evangelism build muscle in Madrid. The weekend tens of thousands of people gathered at the Riyadh Air Metropolitan stadium to participate in The Change 2026a Christian event that had its first edition in August 2023 at the Benfica da Luz stadium (Lisbon) and revolves around gospel, prayer and evangelization. The event is important not only for its content or participants, which includes the footballer Daniel Alves. It is above all because it connects with other manifestations recent and multitudinous Christianity. What matters, but even more so when and where. What is The Change 2026? A Christian macro event held this weekend in Madrid. Its highlight came on Saturday, when a massive event was organized at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium (Atletico’s field) which, according to organizers’ calculations, was attended by more than 35,000 people. In the website from The Change details that the first event of these characteristics took place in 2023, in Lisbon, and has already attracted thousands of people. At its genesis is the Rodrigues Pereira Association, an organization promoted by the preacher of the same name. Tickets to the event were freealthough they required prior registration and the organization accepted donations. Why is it important? Its attendance data is interesting in itself, but if there is a reason that explains the curiosity that The Change has aroused (and the comments that it has generated in networks) is that it connects with other much broader trends. The main one, the celebration of massive religious events in Madrid. We had the best example beginning of 2026when the city hosted two events almost simultaneously that had thousands of attendees. He January 10 Vistalegre served as the setting for a concert by Kahuna Group Music, a Catholic group that brought together thousands of people. On the same dates, the Movistar Arena hosted the prayer meeting Callswhich had Alpha España among its organizers and had the evangelical group Hillsong as the opening act. They were not two isolated cases. In April some 85,000 people They participated again in the fourth edition of the Festival of the Resurrection, organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists and which once again featured Hakuna. Catholics and/or evangelists? It is not a minor issue. The Change vindicate that their event “is not the fruit of a single organization”, but “the heartbeat of a united church, with the same feeling.” The Catholic Church, however, has distanced itself from the event held this Saturday at the Metropolitan. In fact, on March 12, the Archdiocese of Madrid sent a statement brief and firm in which he made it clear that it had nothing to do with The Change. “This initiative is being promoted in our diocese by people outside it, in collaboration with a priest and an association led by a Portuguese evangelical pastor,” pointed out the Madrid Catholic Church, which clarified in passing that it was only informed of the event “when it had already been called.” “Consequently, the Archdiocese of Madrid does not consider itself linked to this event and regrets the call for activities of this nature in its jurisdiction without the necessary coordination with diocesan pastoral care.” Is it an important detail? Yes. Because it connects with a broader phenomenon that transcends the event held this weekend at the Metropolitano. Beyond the rise of Christianity (a trend that studies do not always support: some suggest a growing interest in the spiritual, rather than in orthodoxy), The Change or Llamados show a change in the way of expressing faith. A shift that also pivots towards a form of collective prayer and celebration centered on pop music, rock, big screens and collective prayers, manifestations far from the liturgy of more traditional Catholicism. Is it something new? No. The change comes from years back and it has not been without debate. The Online School of Apologetics has published, for example a list of “twelve reasons why it is not good to listen to Protestant music” and in 2011 the website Religion in Freedom he was wondering Whether Catholics should take note of the evangelists’ use of music. All this, between the controversy by Hillsong. In recent days, voices uncomfortable with the Metropolitan event have also emerged. One of the clearest is Universitarios Católicos (almost 132,000 followers on X), which took advantage of the weekend event to remember the rise of evangelism in the Community of Madrid. “One of the consequences of mass immigration: the loss of our Catholic identity,” concludes. Religion in Freedom assures that, although on Saturday people linked to the Catholic Church or Charismatic Renewal of Madrid could be seen in the stadium, the vast majority of attendees were not linked to the Church of Rome. Specifically, the media estimates that if in the event held in 2023 in Lisbon Catholics represented 25% of the public, in the case of Madrid they were 10%. What was seen in The Change? The event revolved around gospel, corporate prayer and preaching. Among the participants, names stood out such as Rodrigues Pereira or Dani Alves, former footballer for FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team sentenced to four and a half years in prison (sentence later revoked by the Superior Court of Justice) for a violation. From that same thing, from his experience in prison, Alves spoke before the thousands of people gathered at the Metropolitano. “I was in prison for 14 months, but there Christ set me free. I have lost everything, but by losing everything I found Jesus.” Is it just religion? No. It’s culture. And demographics. Events like Saturday’s may grab headlines, but they are rooted in a much more important… and silent reality: over the last few years, evangelism has been expanding throughout Madrid, coinciding with the increase in Latin American migration. The Observatory of Religious Pluralism in Spain recorded a few months ago 834 places dedicated to evangelical worship in the region, which made it the minority confession with the greatest presence, ahead of Muslims. The phenomenon, very visible in the polygons where new … Read more

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