USA

It is another “war” between China and the USA

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For a few years, video games They are the entertainment means that generates more income. It is estimated that the market is greater than that of cinema and the music Together, and 2024 was a very interesting year. The global benefits of the sector were around of 185,000 million dollars and, although we have many names of games that sell millions in the head, the “unexpected” data is that China is the market that starts the cod. And this graph reflects it perfectly. Two giants. First of all, the graph prepared by Visual Capitalist has been carried out taking into account the data of Newzoo. It is a firm that analyzes the state of the industry and, although the numbers can fluctuate if we take other sources, some of the largest companies in this sector work directly with Newzoo. That said, we must highlight the two giant markets of video games. Of the estimated total of 182.7 billion dollars in 2024, more than half correspond to benefits generated only by two countries. China led with 48.8 billion dollars and a portion of 26.7% of the market. The United States followed them closely with an estimate of 47.6 billion dollars, for 26.1% of the total. They are two absolutely gigantic markets, but they could not be more different. Duality. The United States is a market more similar to European and other Western countries. There is a balance between consoles, PCs and mobile platforms, which can explain that, if we think of the world’s largest video game market, for our perception the United States would have been the leader. We constantly have news about the millions that sell traditional video games and consoles, but the matter is that the mobile has a lot, very much to say here. HE esteem That mobile games generated 51% of those US benefits, consoles 31% and 18% PC. In China, smartphone game is the standard. HE esteem That, of those 48,800 million generated in 2024, more than 32,000 million were made in mobile games. The exponents were titles like ‘Honor of Kings‘,’ Peace Elite ‘(which is the Chinese version of’PUBG‘) and other games such as the Moba or Minigions that are designed to share in streaming. And if, loaded with microtransactions. Japan. With a population much lower than that of the other two countries, Japan is the third market in discord. The figures are far from the two giants, but the 16.6 billion dollars in revenue has merit thanks to a rich culture around video games and to have some of the main companies in the industry. Not only do we talk about developers, but also console manufacturers like a nintendo that sweeps at home thanks to a Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 which are ideal for the Japanese market (desktop for those who want, but above all laptops) and PlayStation. The mobile segment is again dominant with a My dear Of 70% of the total, but the strong attachment to Nintendo, the hybrid concept of Switch and the love of the ‘great N’ franchises have weight in the total. Curiously, The PC grew during the last yearbut it is still far from the consoles and, above all, from the mobile. South Korea. And another curious case is that of South Korea. The country does not have a development industry such as Japan or the United States (although recent titles such as’Stellar Blade ‘ They show that they look more and more at the triple industry a). However, the mobile game, microtransactions and, above all, the passion they have for competitive titles on PC, caused it to be crowned as the fourth market worldwide. Video games like ‘Starcraft‘,’League of Legends‘ and ‘Overwatch‘They are religion in the country (so much that even politicians They have used them in campaign to try to get young people). They are, yes, much more aligned with the rest of the countries. The rest and perspectives. Between 2% and 4% of the cake we have European giants such as Germany, the United Kingdom or France, which remain important, but much smaller than the actors already described in the upper lines. Of course, the strength of Europe is that it is a much more united market, with titles that usually bring languages ​​such as French, German, Italian, English and Spanish; And together they represent a significant weight. With the apparent opening of China in the global video game market and the weight of whales like Tencentas well as studies that are betting on gigantic developments (‘Black Myth: Wukong‘It would have been impossible a few years ago), you have to wait to see how the photo of this market can look for a few years. At the moment, the global estimate is that the market will continue growing until it reached a figure of between 500,000 and 733,000 million worldwide. It depends greatCloud Gaming‘They will be the dominant tools in the video game segment for the next few years. In Xataka | I use my PC to play in my “local cloud” from any device. Doing it is easy, and also, free

This is the new treatment approved in the USA

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Age usually takes its toll and presbyopia is one of the main factors responsible for it. Now a few drops can change this. Approved in the US. The drug regulatory agency in the United States, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), approved a few weeks ago A new treatment against presound. It is a solution for ophthalmic use, a few eye drops, aceclidin, which applied daily can help reduce the effects of this disorder for about ten hours. A degenerative disorder. The presbyopy is an ocular disorder associated with aging. Over time, our eyes gradually lose their ability to focus close objects, which hinders some of the tasks of our day to day, such as reading. The presbyopy It usually begins to demonstrate between the age of 40 and 45, although its progress usually touches the roof when we turn 65. Today there are different tools to fight the presbyce, which include the use of lenses or surgery. Acechlidin. The treatment is based on aceclidin, a compound that had already been proposed in ocular health In other contexts, such as the treatment of some types of glaucoma. The compound acts by contracting the Iris sphincter musclethe person in charge of contracting the pupil, and does so, according to the developers of the new treatment, with a “minimum” stimulation of the ciliary muscle, another eye muscle, is located outside the Iris. What the treatment is achieved is a stenopic effect by making the pupil contract below the two millimeters. This effect is the one that works wings cameras Pinhole Or Stenopic, which gives them a wide focal range, even losing sharpness as a consequence of diffraction. Clinical trials. According to They explain from Lenz Therapeuticsthe company responsible for the new treatment, the approval of the FDA comes after a series of clinical trials, controlled and randomized double -blind studies, the Clarity 1, 2 and 3 trials. Can we check it? For now the treatment is approved in the United States but not in the European Union. In fact, despite having been approved in the United States, the drug is not yet available in the North American country: the responsible pharmaceutical company has put October as the month of launching the new drug. In Xataka | Those spots on your eye when you look at a clear background are not bugs: they are shadows and destroy them is worse than ignoring them Image | Towfiqui Barbhuiya /

This is how China is convincing their best minds to leave the USA

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Song Chun-Zhu is one of the most prominent authorities in the field of artificial intelligence. After almost three decades developing in the United States, in 2020 Zhu returned to China. It is one of the most notorious cases, but it is not the only one. China has been offering better conditions and more resources with one goal: to recover its best minds to lead the technological career. What’s happening. At the end of the 80s, with the promise of better working conditions and more resources a lot of Chinese talent emigrated to the United States. It was the case of the aforementioned Song Chun-Zhu or Liu Jun, who became one of the most prominent statesmen in the United States. Both They have returned to China And they are the example that the trend that began decades ago is reversing. Why it is important. China is the largest engineers in the world And this has become a key factor in the AI ​​era. It is estimated that at least 38% of the United States’s experts are Chinese and have studied in China. A recent example we have in The new Zuckerberg Superintelligence team, where almost all are Chinese. That a talent escape (rather return) from the United States to China could occur could tip the balance of leadership in AI. Surveillance and tensions. In 2018, the United States promoted the ‘China Initiative’whose objective was to combat economic espionage by the Chinese government. This affected the work of many Chinese scientists, increasing by 75% the number of academics who decided to return to their native country in 2021. On the other hand, the growing tensions between the United States and China, added to The cuts Under Trump’s second mandate they have made the weather anymore. China takes advantage. There is another key reason and that is that the Chinese government is offering very juicy incentives so that the best minds return to their land. They tell the Guardian, that Zhu was offered “resources he could never get in the United States.” It is similar to the case of the Brainco Neurotecnology Startup. It was founded in Boston by Han Biceng and currently has its headquarters in Hangzhou; He returned for the incentives offered by the government. More facilities. This summer, the Chinese government announced a New visa aimed at young technology and science specialists. This visa offers more advantages as more entries, period of validity and longer stay. They can opt for children under 45 who have STEM studies and researchers. With this, the government seeks not only to recover the talent that went abroad, but to attract foreign talent itself. Cover image | Song Chun-Zhu, Gary Lerude In Xataka | There is a city in China that is measured face to face with Silicon Valley: welcome to Hangzhou, the house of the ‘Six Little Dragons’

China’s technological development is unstoppable. It is accelerating and the responsible country is the USA

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Jensen Huang, the co -founder and general director of Nvidia, made it very clear in one of the statements he made during the already distant 2023 computer: “China is dedicating mass resources to the implementation of emerging companies specialized in the development of GPU. Do not underestimate them. “This warning was directed to the US government in a clear attempt to prevent you from the consequence that They will have the sanctions that seek to stop the technological development of China. However, this statement is not the only one that Huang has made with the purpose of describing the strategy of this gigantic Asian country. This executive too assures that “if China can’t buy chips for artificial intelligence (AI) To the US she will simply manufacture them. ” Huawei, Cambricon Technologies either Moore Threadsamong many other Chinese companies. It is likely that in 2026 China reaches technological self -sufficiency Jensen Huang is not at all the only expert who has warned the US government and his allies that his sanctions are promoting a flight forward. This statement by Marc HijinkDutch journalist expert in semiconductors and author of the highly recommended essay book ‘Focus: The Asml Way’expresses very strongly the impact that the USA and the Netherlands can have on the ASML business and the technological development of China: “I think that the great frustration that Asml feels is that by restricting the sale of their machines, not just those of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE), but also those of immersion, an opportunity opens for a Chinese competitor to enter the market. This could create a very powerful rival (…) if ASML entry into China is completely restricted The Chinese are forced to use their own technologywhich eventually drives its innovation. We see the same in the field of AI or with Huawei, which creates chips even with its limited lithography options. “ Its purpose is to transfer their knowledge to China because they are convinced that despite their efforts the US government will not be able to stop the technological advance of China Let’s change third. Liguo “Recoo” Zhang is Chinese, but has lived for several decades in the US and has worked in Siemens Eda, the US subsidiary of this German company that dominates the chip design software market in China. Zhang currently directs the Chinese Seida company, and in the business plan that he presented in 2022 with the purpose of capturing new investors, he collected that his company would have its chip design software ready in early 2024. However, this is not all. And is that in that document Seida defended that his plan went to “break the foreign monopoly.” Presumably the software developed by Seida is already being used by SMIC, Hua Hong semiconductor and other Chinese manufacturers of integrated circuits. In fact, SMIC is one of the investors of this company. Peilun “Allen” Chang, the director of Operations of Seida, assures that Zhang and other former employees of Siemens EDA left this German company as a result of US sanctions. Its purpose was transfer their knowledge to China because they are convinced that despite their efforts the US government will not be able to stop the technological advance of China. In the field of Chinese scientific development, it has also reached notable achievements in recent years. In fact, in the cover image of this article we can see the ambitious experimental reactor of nuclear fusion CFETR (Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor) that is being built in this Asian country as an alternative to ITER. In any case, before concluding this article it is worth returning to the domain of technology to make a bet: it is likely that In 2026 China already has its own UVE photolithography teamswhich are the machines you need to produce avant -garde chips. If this prognosis is fulfilled by the country led by Xi Jinping will reach its longing for technological self -sufficiency. Image | Xinhua News In Xataka | Xi Jinping’s “Made in China In China” In Xataka | ASML’s “invisible monopoly” is indisputable. Although without the technology of these companies would not have reached the top

LaLiga can no longer monetize her matches in Spain. So start playing them where: USA

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LaLiga is about to get what she has been trying since 2018: playing an official game in the United States. Villarreal-Barcelona on December 20 in Miami It is the official recognition that European football has accepted that its future is to stop belonging only to the cities it represents. Why now. Several stars aligned to complete a long process: The game will be played seven months before the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The country will be more receptive than ever football. Messi – precisely in Miami – is accelerating the consolidation of the MLS, against LaLiga’s interests. Television rights in Spain seem to have touched roof, it is a product marketed with an offer tension by The current model. There seems to be margin to raise prices for a business, that of football, which wants to continue growing so as not to be left behind the Premier League. And to stop the fugging of talent to the Premier itself or the Saudi league. Meanwhile, The US market offers the perfect combination To continue growing: More than 60 million Hispanics interested in football. High purchasing power. A Prime Time favorable that Asia cannot match. The equation. A game in Miami can generate 50 million euros direct compared to the 5 million it would generate in the Ceramic Stadium. With more than half of LaLiga’s income, coming from international rights, this is an anticipated movement. It was seen coming. LaLiga in fact He has been with physical presence for years in the United States by growing up there. No movement is a greater jump than hosting an official party. Not a friendly summer, but one with points at stake. The selection. Barça was essential to be a global brand that moves large audiences. Real Madrid is as much or more, but His very long open war with LaLiga He made his participation unfeasible. The Villarreal is also convenient: team attract enough (this year plays Champions) but at the same time manageable with its 20,000 members. Its president He has promised free trips to Miami For all the partners who want to attend. Those who do not want to travel will receive the return of 20% of the price of their fertilizer, although only one game will be lost, 5% of those played in the League. It is a patch that works for a club of its dimension in this first displacement, but it will hardly be sustainable if the parties abroad are normalized. The precedent. If everything goes as expected and LaLiga wishes, with FIFA and UEFA giving green light next to a RFEF that has already authorized it, there will be no turning back. In five years we can expect much more than a single match a year and not only in LaLiga, also in other important European leagues that seek to grow. Presumably, series A and Bundesliga. The transformation. Football is no longer a social ritual of citizen representation to become global content with consumers. The parties will go where the money is, not where the roots are. It is the same logic that the Club World Cup has taken to the United States and The Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. NBA and NFL They have been doing this for a decade. European football has simply defeated the taboo that caused the strong local roots of its clubs. And now what. This is not the end of the process but the beginning. Local fans who have paid fertilizers, t-shirts and television rights for decades will meet some games-in the case of Villarreal-Barça, perhaps the best of the season-playing thousands of kilometers. This is neither good nor bad per sealthough it will generate discrepancies among local fans who reject this model. It is the logical consequence of a sport that bills as a global industry but mostly continues to operate with local structures. LaLiga is not innovating, it is doing the same as other sports for ten years. The question is not whether this should happen or not, it has already happened. The question is what other European football traditions are about to fall. From Xataka We have contacted LaLiga to know its vision of this movement, but the organization has preferred not to make statements at the moment. In Xataka | The new Ibai football team already has a name and field. The problem is that the most important thing lacks: tradition Outstanding image | LaLiga

ESA prepares for a hypersonic leap. Invictus is his letter to compete with China and the USA on extreme flights

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Just a couple of decades ago, take off from a conventional track and fly five times faster than sound seemed reserved for science fiction. Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) He wants to pave that path with Invictusa Experimental hypersonic platform that could transform the way the old continent accesses space. Invictus is not a missile neither a military plane nor a vertical pitcher. It is an aircraft concept conceived to fly to Mach 5, take off horizontally and return intact to be reused. Its modular structure – you must exchange materials, motors and software – will allow to test very different configurations throughout several campaigns. We are talking about a program funded through instruments such as General support technology program (GSTP) and the Element of Technological Development (Tde) of ESA. The key is to provide Europe with its own technological base on a land dominated by the United States and China. The great enemy is not speed: it is the scoring temperature Reaching Mach 5 does not depend only on engine power. The great obstacle is thermal: friction on the fuselage raises the external temperature to Extreme levels and converts incoming oxygen into a gas that cannot be compressed or used directly. In this sense, Invictus will integrate an engine Early Hydrogen fed, whose thermal exchanger will be able to cool air at more than 1,000 ° C in dozens of milliseconds. “It will provide an invaluable opportunity to test the entire motor flow route, from air intake to the postquemor, at a real scale in an integrated aircraft,” David Perigo, chief engineer of ESA said. Technology does not start from zero. Reaction Engines developed KNOWan atmospheric-aorbital hybrid engine supported in its day by ESA. After the entry in company administration in 2024, part of its team and intellectual property went to Frazer-NASH, which now moves that know-how To Invictus. What were previously laboratory tests will be integrated for the first time into a complete and reusable aircraft, a key step towards European space aircraft. The strategic background is clear: if Invictus demonstrates its viability, Europe could move towards orbital planes capable of carrying out civil and military missions with a difficult rapid and flexibility to match conventional vertical rockets. The Consortium —frazer-NASH in front, together with Spirit Aerosystems and Cranfield University-has 12 months and 7 million euros of initial financing to deliver the complete preliminary design of the vehicle, indispensable step before programming the testing campaigns in flight. The internal calendar points to a first demonstration flight around 2031. While the United States and China compete to dominate hypersonic flight, Europe does not want to stay in the barrier. With Invictus, that spears a clear message: the continent intends to design the future access to space in its own terms. Images | THAT | Frazer-Nash In Xataka | Jeff Bezos’s space company has advanced Spacex in a key milestone to go to the moon and Mars: zero evaporation

Europe has promised to spend 250,000 million dollars in US energy. The problem is that the USA surely does not have it

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On the facade of the Turnberry golf course, between the Scottish Greens and the handshakes of hand, Europe and the United States They avoided a commercial war with an agreement that has been received with relief, but with considerable skepticism. As a headline, diplomatic victory sounds, but energy reality hides much greater complexity. The tariff pact. Donald Trump described the agreement as “the greatest of all”, announcing it from his Scottish resort. For his part, Ursula von der Leyen stressed that they had avoided reaching 30 %tariffs, which Washington had threatened to impose if an agreement was not reached before August 1. The agreement establishes a 15% tariff On European exports to the United States, accompanied by investment and import commitments that seek to “rebalance” a historically asymmetric commercial relationship. However, among the headlines a figure stands out: 250,000 million dollars annually in European Liquefied Natural Gas Purchases (LNG), Petroleum, coal and even US nuclear fuel. And there begins the problem. Does the United States have the capacity? The answer, As the journalist Clyde Russell has analyzed in ReutersIt is a clear “no.” In 2024, the total value of the United States energy exports to the European Union – including raw, gas, coal and refined products – was approximately 65,000 million dollars. To reach 250,000 million promised, they should quadruple. Even if Europe bought 100 % of US exports of crude oil, gas and coal – and no other country received a single drop of American energy – it would continue to be well below the objective. Russell He has described it As “an illusion”, comparable to the failed “phase 1” agreement between Trump and China in 2019, when energy purchases of 200,000 million were promised that were never fulfilled. So what is motivation? The explanation is more in politics than in logistics. The EU has preferred to avoid an escalation that threatened to paralyze its industrial exports, especially in sensitive sectors such as motor, pharmaceutical or semiconductors. As Columnist Pierre Briançon has explained in Reutersit is a “chapter disguised as success.” The new 15 % tariff multiplies by ten the previous average (1.6 %) and is not accompanied by equivalent tariff concessions by the US, beyond some specific sectors such as aviation or certain chemicals. Meanwhile, the European bloc also promises an additional 600,000 million dollars in direct investment in the United States during Trump’s mandate, including armament purchases. All this in a context of increasing tension by war in Ukraine, the dependence of NATO and American pressure on European technological regulations. From Moscow to Texas. One of the key justifications presented by Von der Leyen is that this energy turn reinforces European independence with respect to Russia. As pointed out in The Telegraphimporting US gas and oil will allow the continent “to free itself from Russian energy blackmail.” However, As several diplomats cited by Financial Times have pointed outThis also means a deeper dependence on an unpredictable and volatile trade partner. “Trump knows exactly where our pain threshold is,” an ambassador confessed to the British newspaper. In fact, it is not the first time that Trump threat directly to the EU with punitive tariffs if there are no immediate concessions. In addition, the London medium has detailed That the EU had a retaliation package worth 93,000 million euros, but was never activated due to lack of internal consensus. Germany, Ireland and Italy pressed to soften measures and protect national interests. Brussels’s “commercial bazuca” never shot. A word flies over: renewable. This energy turn also puts the European ecological transition under pressure. The pact does not mention concrete commitments in renewables, and on the contrary, Trump took advantage of the summit to load against wind energy, describing it as “the most expensive energy form” and a “scam”, As the Telegraph has collected. This raises a contradiction: while Brussels promotes projects such as Invest ai To create chips gigafactories and boost green digitalization, at the same time compromises astronomical sums on fossil fuels. A dissonance that, As the expert Mujtaba Rahman recalled in statements to Nyt“It reflects European concern for other geopolitical scenarios rather than for energy coherence.” Are they winning time? To ask ourselves, this is the first thing that comes to mind: it seems that Europe has bought time. Time to avoid immediate reprisals, to keep Trump moderately satisfied, and for the next administration – be it or not – redesign the rules of the game. A strategy that reminds the “Run the Clock” with which China sailed the 2019 trade war. Meanwhile, neither 250,000 million exist, neither gas flows yet, nor are the details closed. As The journalist Tim Wallace has summarized: “What seems like a tactical victory today, tomorrow can reveal its strategic cost.” Image | Unspash Xataka | The US has come to threaten Apple to manufacture the iPhone in the country. Your answer: spend 500 million in magnets

This is the plane that USA used in Iran

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He B-2 Spirit It has been used again in a conflict scenario, this time within the framework of an American operation against nuclear facilities in Iran. It does not usually transcend information about its deployment, but this mission has been publicly confirmed. What has come to light allows us to better understand how a bomber is operated that, by design, is designed not to leave their mark. The mission, baptized as Operation Midnight Hammerwas executed under direct orders of the US president. The objective: attack three Iranian nuclear infrastructure in a coordinated, fast and with the lowest possible margin. As explained General Dan Caine at a press conference, the main deployment was made up of seven B-2 bombers, which took off from the American continent and flew for more than 18 hours until reaching their goal (about 37 hours in total). Official Pentagon Diagram showing the B-2 route in the midnight hammer operation against Iran During that journey, the airplanes made multiple reposses in flight, presumably using airplanes KC-135 Stratotankerwith the support of units that coordinated the operation in several domains: terrestrial, aerial, spatial and cybernetic. The logistics complexity was such that Some bombers were diverted to the Pacific as lurein a deception effort that only knew a handful of military controls. Go out without being seen The main formation crossed the Iranian airspace in complete radio silence, escorted by fourth and fifth generation fighters They cleared the corridor at high speed. The maneuver was backed by different commands – including the US Strategic Command and the Space Command– And it was timed to the second. According to the Pentagon, no enemy shots were recorded during the approach. Once on the ground, the B-2 attacked Fordow and Natanz, two of the most sensitive enclaves of the Iranian nuclear program. Minutes before, an American submarine had launched more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles to neutralize other defenses and surface structures. Now, piloting a B-2 in a mission of this type requires more than skill. Require Aguante. They are only two crew on board, in a cabin that – although broader than that of other bombers – is not intended for comfort. They carry suits, helmets, oxygen masks and sit in ejectable seats that have been described as “Notably uncomfortable” for those who have flown in them. The rest moments are contemplated: there are times when one can pilot, and the other sleep. As explained to Newsweek Naveed Jamali, a journalist and veteran who witnessed one of the training, the pilots must complete simulations of up to 24 hours to be authorized to participate. The plane has toilet, but not with a full bathroom. Four key reasons During his visit to Whiteman Air Force Base, the same journalist interviewed one of those responsible for the unit. He asked what B-2 was unique. The answer was clear: “scope, payload, precision and stealth”That combination, he said, does not offer any other plane in the world. And it is precisely what makes it a critical tool in this type of operations. Scope, payload, precision and stealth: are the four qualities that make B-2 a practically unmatched bomber. B-2 can travel more than 9,600 kilometers without reposting. It can transport up to 20 tons of armament – conventional or nuclear – and is designed to make even the most advanced anti -aircraft systems. It has no direct rivals. And there are only 20 active units. Image of B-2 while supplying fuel in full flight It should be noted that the B-2 is also one of the most expensive to operate. Each unit exceeded the 900 million dollars in 1997 (about 1.8 billion dollars in 2025), Considering only the acquisition cost with spare parts and support. If the total expenditure of the program – development, maintenance, training and facilities – the figure was included, the figure amounted to about $ 2,130 million per aircraft in the late 1990s, According to the US government responsibility office (GAO). The origins of the project date back to late 1970s. Initially 132 units were planned. After the end of the cold war and the dissolution of the USSR, that number was cut. In 1992, President George HW Bush limited production to 20 operational units. Years later, the Clinton administration approved to convert an additional prototype – the number 21 – into fully functional aircraft. The B-2, on stage after the incident recorded in Guam in 2008 Today, however, only 20 active units remain. One was lost in an accident in 2008, shortly after taking off the Andersen base, in Guam. The incident was due to a Anomaly in pressure sensorsaccording to A report of Air Force Safety Center. It was the first accident of a B-2 and its loss was never replaced. The B-2 also has another quality that makes it unique: its ability to transport the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), one of the most powerful bombs ever built. Weigh more than 13,000 kilos and is designed to pierce the surface before detonating. Image from below the B-2: its winging design is no accident In this operation, that capacity was key. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, confirmed that it was the First time the MOP was used In a real scenarioand that his role was essential to impact facilities deeply buried as Fordow. Although we will have to wait to know the real damage of the operation. More than 25 years have passed since its entry into service, but the B-2 is still a tool without a rival. Not only for its destructive capacity, but for what it represents: an plane that can cross half planet, dodge defenses and execute a surgical attack without a trace. Images | Northrop Grumman | Dod Rapid Response | US Ministry of Defense | US Air Force (1, 2, 3, 4) In Xataka | The key between a nuclear and latent nuclear program is the destination of the enriched uranium. And that is a problem for the US

An island wants to unite Spain and be the autonomous community number 18. The problem is that it belongs to the USA

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It We count A while ago, in front to secessionismboth in Europe and in other continents we find the face of the other currency: movements that what they are looking for is the union against separation. One of them has sounded again these days. Actually, It is not newbut it always gives speaking in the case of a territory Very particular from the United States … and want to be part of Spain. Union is strength. As we said, this Another face of the currency travels shared historical and historical narratives, from the desire of the Moldavos to return to the body of a Romania with which They share languageculture and past, even, as we will see, in the echoes of Imperial nostalgia of some Puerto Ricans who, in a gesture as unusual as revealing, imagine their future not in the 51st star of the American flag, but as an autonomous community number 18 from Spain. Examples There are moresince Tyrol del Sur has revived in the past old belongings Habsburg-Germanic when dreaming of a Reintegration in Austriawhile The “Great Albania” Ethnic-national ghosts were revived yet lit In the Balkans. He Iberismmore lyrical than political, evoked the peninsular union between Spain and Portugal, sustained more by nostalgic intellectuals than by movements with real citizen traction. In parallel, The “Great Hungary” He kept beating on the margins of Magaria nationalism, especially among the Hungarians who were out of the borders after the TRIANON TREATYand in Valonia, a small game dreams of return to France a strip of the old Napoleonic space. The same end. All these movements, although of little practical viability, reveal that identities not only fragment: sometimes too They seek to reconstituteas if the map of Europe, far from stabilizing, was still an unfinished canvas where some villages aspire to join beyond the borders they have to live. Let’s put as an example the Puerto Rico case. A historical link. Among the embers of a Empire that dissolved More than a century ago, there are still territories and movements that, by conviction or nostalgia, aspire to restore the political ties that one day united them to the Spanish crown. This is the case of Puerto Rico, an archipelago that for more than 400 years was an integral part of the Spanish empire and that, after the effects of the Spanish-American war in 1898, was ceded to the United States. Since then, the island has lived in an ambiguous legal status as Associated free state: It is not an independent nation, but neither a sovereign state within the American Federation. In that institutional limbo the MOVEMENT AWARD MEASURESa group that proposes, in a serious although controversial, that Puerto Rico returns to Spain and becomes its autonomous community number eighteen. In other words, the initiative seeks to activate historical, sentimental and legal springs to reverse the course taken more than a century ago, challenging both the structure of the Spanish State and the constitutional rigidity of the United States. Legal obstacles. Obviously it is not so simple. In fact, the legal reality is relentless against the aspirations of the movement. The United States Constitution prohibits any form of territorial secession that is not mediated by Congress, which annuls the possibility of Puerto Rico abandoning its link with Washington without a highly unlikely legal process. On the other hand, Spain lacks a mechanism in its order that contemplates the Incorporation of a territory foreign as a new autonomous community. Although activists They denounce a blackout Informative that prevents the dissemination of their message within Puerto Rico, they claim to have the 16.3% support of the population (figure not verified by independent studies). There is no game. In addition, and very important, being constituted as a cultural association and not as a political party (a limitation imposed by US legislation on entities with proposals incompatible with their federal system) cannot attend elections or develop institutional political activity. All this gives the movement a more symbolic than pragmatic, more provocative than realizable. Background questions. Be that as it may, and despite the obvious limitations, AWAY MEETING Open a peculiar window on the perception of identity in Puerto Rico. In a territory where there is no Right to vote By the president of the United States, where American citizenship is granted without full representation and where Spanish remains the maternal language of the majority, there are sectors that feel culturally closer to Hispanic Europe than to the Anglo -Saxon universe. The phenomenon, although minority, Old debates revives On decolonization, self -determination and belonging, not only from a legal perspective, but also from an emotional, historical and linguistic. Image | Pexels In Xataka | The ghost of secessionism travels Europe In Xataka | A Caribbean island causes a new exodus of millionaires: Puerto Rico

Israel’s great goal in his war against Iran is to destroy Fordow. And you can only get it with a bomb that has USA

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It happened a few hours ago and American media They are taking it on their covers. Trump and Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke on the phone. It is not clear what they said, but the call occurred while the president has been considering a distant option: that the United States intervenes directly in the Israel’s efforts for damaging the nuclear capacity From Iran. In the background, an idea that was intuited from the beginning of the conflict: the only way to reach Fordow was Through Washington. A key decision. On a day that could define the rest of its presidency, Trump faces one of the decisions more transcendental Of his mandate: or not to the Israel War against Iran. After returning from the G7 summit in Canada, the president held a high -level meeting and talked directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While, In your social networks He proclaimed that the United States had “total control of Iranian airspace,” warned Supreme Leader Ali Jameneí who was an “easy white” and demanded an “unconditional surrender”, without defining the terms. Although until recently Trump had advocated a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, his rhetoric and his most recent military movements (such as the deployment of bombers and Naval destroyers) suggest that this direct intervention is seriously considering. The change of posture. Had the New York Times In an extensive report how that turn to action in Washington’s position has been brewing. Throughout the last weeks, Trump has traveled from diplomatic containment to a growing acceptance of the military road to the Iranian challenge, largely pushed by the constant pressure of the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu. While Trump tried to keep negotiations with Tehran (even sending A personal letter Ayatolá Jamenei and presenting nuclear cooperation proposals with regional participation), American intelligence began to warn that Israel He planned an attack Imminent against the Iranian nuclear program, with or without the support of Washington. Israel and pressure. The Times explained That Netanyahu, tired of years of containment by successive US presidents, seemed willing to launch a large offensive, not only on nuclear facilities, but potentially on the Iranian regime itself. This direct threat, added to the growing Trump skepticism Regarding the Iranian will to reach a real agreement, it caused an inflection: although at the beginning it rejected deliver the antibunker bombs requested by Netanyahu, the president ended up offering support in intelligence and now even values ​​the use of b-2 bombers and heavy armament against Fordowhe heart Underground Iranian nuclear enrichment. Symbolic weight. It is the other leg that explains the turn of events. It is not only a product of intelligence reports or impatience to stagnant negotiations, but also symbolic and media weight of the Israeli attacks and the role that Trump You want to project before its base: that of a strong, decisive and protective leader of Israel’s interests. Gathered with their advisors at Camp David, the media have counted that the President debated various optionsfrom passivity to total implication, and opted for a Intermediate strategy that would allow him to maintain a certain political distance while offering operational support. However, as Israel He obtained tactical victories (Including the murder of Iranian military leaders and the possible penetration in Natanz’s facilities), Trump began to change his public position, hinting at a more active role in the United States in the campaign. The goal. Because the key, againis in Fordow, the Iranian uranium enrichment center excavated under a mountain, a fortress that could only be destroyed by a name: the gigantic GBU-57 pumpsthat only B-2 can launch. The possibility of attacking with this arsenal, added to the perception that Israel cannot destroy underground installation without US support, feeds the sensation of imminence. MOP underground at White Sands Missile Range before his first explosion test in 2007 The bomb that drills mountains. Thus, and in the midst of a conflict that does nothing but grow, the potential role of the United States in an air operation against Iranian nuclear facilities brings to stage one of the most feared and less used artifacts of the US arsenal: the GBU-57A/B. Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 13,600 kilos bomb Designed to do precisely what its name indicates: to penetrate deeply into the earth and destroy underground fortifications. Unlike conventional mass dispersion pumps, MOP is a precision weapon, not saturation. Its forged steel structure and its guide by GPS allow it excavate up to 60 meters in solid rock (or even more, after years of improvements not revealed) before detonating in the heart of bunkers, tunnels or underground laboratories designed to resist the apocalypse. It is not the volume. Although it is the explosive non -nuclearly heavy of the US military inventory, its effectiveness does not depend on the destructive volume, but on its surgical capacity to eliminate what is beyond the reach of any other pump. Despite its devastating potential, it has never been used in combat, but its deployment is contemplated only for missions that alter the global strategic balance. B-2’s first public flight in 1989 19 B-2. And here appears the other fundamental leg of the strategy of this deterrent pump. The MOP cannot be launched from any aircraft. Only the B-2 Spiritthe stealthy strategic bomber of the United States Air Force has the structural and technological capacity to load it and deliver it in the target. With just 19 operational units (a good part parked On Diego García Island), The B-2 is not a bomber: it is a platform designed to go far, avoid radars and attack in depth, literally. In the past, these devices have flown round trip missions of more than 30 hours From Misuri until Libya or Kosovowithout scales except reposses in the air. Plus: the Recent updates to the MOP system they have sought to perfect the Integration between bomb and planein addition to improving the capacity of the intelligent spolet to detect structural “empty” (floors, cameras, tunnels) and exploit exactly at the most … Read more

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