world

How to add all the World Cup matches directly to your calendar

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Let’s explain to you how to add all the world cup matches directly to your calendarboth Google and Apple. This way, you can always know what game is playing each day and what the schedules are. This is possible thanks to the community of users, and a specific one who has created this calendar that you can easily add to your account. In it you will find the entire group stage with notifications 5 minutes before each game. The calendar will be updated later with the following rounds. One thing you should keep in mind is that you will be adding a third party calendarcreated by a user. This is a dangerous thingas it may allow this user to insert malicious links. We are going to suggest two calendars and tell you step by step how to add them. Calendar with all the World Cup matches We are going to give you two options for your calendar. The first is from the user @augustonarvaez8 of X, which has a version for Google Calendar and another for Apple Calendar. you also have iSpooker versionwhich has this link where you will find the versions for both calendars, as well as an online version. Then, you will only have to click on the link to the Google or Apple calendar, although the steps change depending on which one you use. Add matches to Google Calendar To add calendars to Google Calendar, what you have to do is click the corresponding link. Once you do, Google Calendar will open directly asking you for permission to add it, and simply press the button Add that appears in the window. Once you do this, you will have the World Cup calendar in the section Other calendarsand you can activate and deactivate it whenever you want. You’ll also be able to edit it to add a specific color for your quotes. Then all you have left is click on the match you wantand depending on the creator you will be able to see all the information they have added. Add matches to Apple Calendar In the case of Apple, the operation is not so intuitive. Clicking on the calendar link you will download an .ics filewhich is the format of calendars. Then you have to open the Apple calendar, and click on Archivefor choose the option Matter. This will open a file explorer window, where you will have to choose to import the ICS calendar that you downloaded from the link. And that’s it, with this you will have all the World Cup matches on your calendar. In Xataka Basics | Apps for football results 2025: the best 14 applications to receive notifications and view match statistics

There are people reselling tickets to the World Cup final for 2.3 million dollars. Great news for FIFA

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It is still too early to know if the 2026 World Cup will be a success, a failure or will be added without pain or glory to the extensive chronicle of FIFA. What we can say at this point is that enjoying the tournament in situ it won’t come cheap. Especially if you aspire to see the final, which will be played on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The cost of your tickets it takes months embroiled in controversy, but the debate has soured after some positions have come to light resale market for the price of a 200 m2 apartment in the center of Madrid. All with the veiled pleasure of FIFA. What has happened? That although there is still more than a month until the opening match, the World Cup in North America (to be played between Mexico, Canada and the USA) is already earning the dubious honor of being the most expensive of history. The fans screamed in the sky last decemberwhen the first tickets were launched, but the rates that were offered then seem like a ‘bargain’ when compared to those that are now being achieved in the purchase and sale market. In this secondary trade, channeled through FIFA, there are passes that are offered for the same What does a 200 m2 apartment in Madrid cost? Does it sell so expensive? Yes. The news has advanced it the Associated Press (AP) agency, but it comes with taking a look at the buying and selling platform of tickets hosted on the FIFA website to verify it. If we look for available passes for the final on July 19, we will see that there are people reselling them for more than two million dollars. To be precise, there are at least four seats on sale in the lower stand (behind the goal) for a whopping $2,299,998.85. Not all tickets cost the same, but resale prices are generally not affordable for everyone. The cheapest seats, 3rd category, are offered for $10,900. If you want a position with better views and more comfort, you can add a few thousand more to that figure and purchase higher category passes for $16,100, $33,800, $43,200 or even $207,000. The prize goes to the entries of 2.3 million and 991,500, which is what a seller asks for seats located in the front area. On Wednesday FIFA itself put up for sale a new block of tickets on its direct sales platform, where it was possible to find seats for the final by $10,990. Who controls these rates? Direct sale tickets are launched by FIFA itself, but things change when we talk about the secondary market. There, in the so-called “Resale/Exchange Market” the federation does not control prices, although it does take a considerable part of the business. For each transaction you pocket a commission which is divided into two parts. One, 15%, is applied to whoever purchases the ticket. Another, of the same value, is borne by whoever detaches from the entry for resale. As they explain in Guardianthat means that if one of the tickets that cost 2.3 million is finally sold, FIFA would deposit $690,000 into its account. But… How is that possible? In other editions of the World Cup, the resale price of tickets was limited at face value, but this time FIFA has changed the approach. The reason? First, adapt to the market of the host countries, especially the United States, which is the one will host more games of the tournament. Secondly, FIFA hopes that by channeling the buying and selling itself, the use of portals such as StubHub will be discouraged. “FIFA has established a ticketing and secondary market model that reflects standard ticket market practices for major sporting and entertainment events in host countries,” alleges in a statement cited by the Associated Press. “Resale facilitation fees are aligned with industry standards in the North American sports and entertainment sectors.” Is it an isolated controversy? The controversy has now arisen due to the prices that are being reached in resale, but the truth is that the cost of the tickets has been a matter of discussion since the first phase of sale, activated in December 2025. The focus has been on both the prices themselves and the system applied by FIFA in the sale, the ‘variable pricing’similar to dynamic rates. Consumer organizations like the OCU have already raised their voices for that same reason. For reference, in December tickets for the final were already being sold for prices ranging from 4,185 and 8,680 dollars. And this despite the initial promise to offer them for 60 dollars in the group stage. “They only exist as ridiculous green splotches on the edge of seating maps, little more than mirages of inclusion,” ironizes Bryan Armen, from Guardian. Does it only happen with tickets? No. The tickets are so expensive because, FIFA allegesare one of their main sources of income. However, passes to matches are not the only thing that is valued at a gold price. In recent days, another controversy has arisen around the celebration of the World Cup in the US that revolves around something that has little to do with sport: public transportation. The New Jersey rail operator has decided that those who want to buy round-trip tickets to travel from Manhattan to MetLife and watch the July 19 final there will have to pay 150 dollars. It is almost 11 times more than what the same service costs on a normal day, when it is around $12.9. Images | FIFA and Wikipedia In Xataka | Mexico City is already noticing the economic effect of the World Cup: it is losing homes and gaining Airbnb apartments

discovering the largest railway network in the world at 347 km/h

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A new day dawns in Beijing. After a long (and exhausting) day at the Motor ShowToday we have a long train journey ahead of us. Today we leave Beijing to head to Wuhuthe city where the headquarters of the Chery group is located, and yes, we do it by train. I admit that I am excited: it is the first time that I have gotten on both a bullet and a Chinese train. When I ask local Chery employees about Wuhu, what it is like, they all tell me the same thing: “for you it is a huge city, but for us it is a small city.” Wuhu has four million inhabitants. Madrid, to put us in context, has 3.4 million. I imagine that living in a country of 1.4 billion inhabitants causes the dimensions of things to become distorted. I suppose that for someone from Beijing traveling to Madrid is like when we go to town. Buildings in Wuhu | Image: Xataka Wuhu is located around 1,000 kilometers south of Beijing. Specifically, between Wuhan and Shanghai. Google Maps, which is not the most reliable reference in China, shows me almost 11 hours by car. By train, the trip lasts around four and a half hours, which is more than enough time to talk a little about this other small-big city and, in the process, get to know the city more closely. chinese railway network and the experience of traveling on one of its trains. China has made leaps and bounds in its electrification, we have seen that in the two previous installments of this daily blog. Well, in the same way that the electric and hybrid car has evolved, so has its railway network. Let’s go in parts. To get into flour let’s look at some numbers. Let’s talk about Spain. Our country has 15,652 kilometers of road, of which 4,000 kilometers are high-speed (+200 km/h). It is the second most extensive high-speed network in the world. The first, indeed, is the Chinese one. And it is with an absolutely insane difference. Roads in China | Image: Xataka According to the Chinese government and according to the local Xinhua agencyChina closed last year with 165,000 kilometers of track, of which “more than 50,000 kilometers” are high-speed. In 2025 alone, Chinese railways transported a whopping 4.59 billion passengers, 6.4% more than last year. In Spain, the figure was of 177.6 million. We cannot make the direct comparison because the size of China is like 17 times that of Spain, but it helps us put into perspective how enormous this infrastructure is. And it is getting worse, because this year they intend to put 2,000 more kilometers into operation. Only in the first quarter of 2026 will Chinese railways they completed an investment in fixed assets of 20.9 billion dollars. By 2050, the country’s goal is to achieve 274,000 kilometers. Image | Xataka The body in charge of managing most railway operations is in the hands of China State Railway Group Company, a state-owned company created in 2013 after the dissolution of the Ministry of Railways. Since 2019 it has been under the umbrella of the Ministry of Finance. There are other “private” lines that connect mines with refineries, for example. The network is divided into several horizontal and vertical corridors, mostly concentrated in the east of the country where, evidently, most of the population is concentrated and where coal is produced. Only one line extends to the northwest (crossing the Gobi Desert and bordering the Taklamakan Desert) and southwest of the country (near the Tibet Plateau). A train on the way to Wuhu | Image: Xataka ​But let’s leave geography and talk about experience, because it is not only that the Chinese network is larger than the Spanish one (for whatever reason), but it is also significantly faster. And no, it is not noticeable | Image: Xataka The Spanish high speed can be up to 300 km/h, but on a line like the one from Andalusia to Madrid it is normal for trains to not exceed 250 km/h. Sections of 200 km/h are also frequent. Also, recently, there have been more aggressive speed limitations on some lines. I write this on a train that moves exactly at 347 km/h and I must admit that because I have seen the figure on a screen, otherwise I would not have known. I don’t know if it will be the same on all trains, but the experience on this one has been exquisite. The train, despite going 50% fast, vibrates much less than the trains I am used to taking in Spain. I think the video speaks for itself. This speed, which has remained relatively constant throughout the trip, allows us to get from Beijing to Wuhu in about four and a half hours. The train has made some stops of just a few minutes at certain stations, but little more. In a country of these dimensions it makes all the sense in the world to bet on the railway. Not only to transport people, that too, but for the transport of goods. If we have discovered something these days it is that China has a competitive advantage by having all the links of the supply chain very close at hand. That, however, is of little use if the transport of goods does not accompany. It is not the case, although half. In Wuhu, where Chery was founded, the brand’s presence is much, much more evident | Image: Xataka Again, according to official Chinese government data, in 2025 alone railways moved a whopping 5.27 billion tons of freight, 2% more than the previous year. However, road and air transport remains very important when moving goods in the domestic market. At an international level, air and sea are the two great cornerstones. Tomorrow more, this time in Wuhu. More deliveries: Journey to the center of the Chinese motor (part 1): a walk through Beijing, Ebro, Chery and the silent streets Journey to the … Read more

Germany already has its first military plan since World War II. And it’s going to take thousands of soldiers to carry it out.

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For decades, Germany avoided any gesture that recalled its military past, to the point that even talking about its own strategy generated political discomfort. That reflection had deep roots: on September 1, 1939, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany marked the beginning of the Second World War and left a mark that conditioned for generations the way in which the country understood the use of force. Almost a century later, that silence begins to be broken, but in a radically different context. A historic turn. Germany has taken a step that breaks decades of strategic caution by presenting its first comprehensive military strategy in the modern era, a 35 page document which bluntly assumes that the European security environment has changed irreversibly. In that sense, the invasion of ukraine has acted as a catalyst for a profound change in German mentality, forcing Berlin to move from a contained role within NATO to a much more active and defining one. For the first time since World War II, Germany not only talks about contributing, but to leadleaving behind his traditional discomfort with military protagonism. Except Washington. Although the official discourse continues to describe the United States as an indispensable pillar, the substance of the strategy points in another direction: Europe must learn to stand on its own. Washington is increasingly looking towards the Indo-Pacific and demands that its European allies greater involvementwhich has led Berlin to prepare for scenarios in which American support is not as automatic or immediate, at the very least. Without saying it openly, Germany is beginning to design a European defense framework where its role does not depend so much on North American coverage, but on your own ability to organize, coordinate and sustain the defense of the continent. The most powerful army in Europe. That’s the idea. The German plan is clear in its ambition: to convert the Bundeswehr into the conventional army strongest on the continent. To this end, a significant increase in troops is proposed, going from about 185,000 soldiers to figures that, adding active forces and reservists, could approach or exceed the 460,000 troops in the coming decades. This growth is not only numerical, but also structural, with a special emphasis on reinforce reserveswhich become a central element of national defense. The idea that emerges is forceful, one in which, if Europe wants to defend itself without depending entirely from the United States, will need a much larger military mass, and Germany is willing to lead that effort. A construction in phases. German rearmament is not considered as an immediate leap, but as a step process which will extend for more than a decade. In a first phase, the objective is to maximize readiness and rapid response capacity, ensuring that forces can operate at any time. Subsequently, it seeks to systematically expand capabilities in all domains, aligning with NATO objectives but with greater operational autonomy. Finally and finally, the horizon points to a deep technological transformationone where innovation, artificial intelligence and new forms of war define military superiority. Beyond the numbers. Yes, because the German strategy also reflects a more complex understanding of modern conflict, where the borders between military, civil and economic are increasingly blurred. Hybrid warfare, autonomous systems and the importance of information control force us to rethink not only how many soldiers or tanks are needed, but what effects they should be able to generate. In this context, the German strategy recognizes key shortcomings in Europesuch as intelligence, surveillance or long-range attack capacity, and proposes correcting them quickly so as not to be at a disadvantage against powers such as Russia. Europe as its own military pillar. The underlying message is difficult to ignore: the defense of the continent is already can’t rest exclusively in the traditional NATO structure as it was understood in recent decades. In this way, Germany wants to position itself like the axis on which a more militarily autonomous Europe could be articulated, capable of deterring and, if necessary, fight for herself. There is no doubt, the approach implies assuming a responsibility that was avoided for a long time, and that now appears inevitable in the face of a more unstable environment and a US ally. less focused on Europe. Human muscle. It is the last of the legs to analyze, because the entire German approach converges on a central idea that is beginning to take shape: if Europe wants to sustain a credible defense without completely depending from the United Statesyou will need mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers and rebuild a military base that had been reduced for years. Viewed this way, Germany is not only increasing its own forces, but is leading the way for what could be a continental effort much older. In that scenario, the question may no longer be just whether Europe can defend itself, but rather how much time, resources and personnel it is willing to devote to achieving this. Image | 7th Army Training Command, Pexels In Xataka | Germany was a sleeping military giant: now it has been awakened and it is already surpassing the US in bullets produced per year In Xataka | Germany is experiencing a new “industrial miracle” that it already experienced 90 years ago: that of weapons

know where every naval fleet in the world is 24 hours a day

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For years, on the high seas, commanders trusted that dense clouds or a few well-calculated hours between satellite passes were enough to move undetected. The fragility of that trust was evident March 16, 1988when the American frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts collided with a mine in the Persian Gulf and was almost lost without anyone having seen the threat coming. That scene made it clear that at sea it is not always whoever shoots first who wins, but whoever knows exactly where to look… and when. The end of the invisible ocean. The great naval fleets have moved under an almost sacred premise: the sea is too vast, the weather is unpredictable and satellites were still supposed to be limited to guarantee constant surveillance. It turns out that this idea has just begun to break down tangibly after the chinese demonstration continuous tracking of a ship in motion from a geosynchronous orbit to almost 36,000 kilometers in height. What once depended on brief windows of observation can now be transformed into permanent surveillance, shaking one of the strategic pillars on which modern naval power has been built. Three satellites to see everything. The key to the leap announced by Beijing is not in deploying hundreds of satellites, but in change orbital logic: when placed in geosynchronous orbita single satellite can constantly observe the same region of the planet without interruptions. Not only that. With barely three platforms positioned over the large oceans, China could continuously cover the main sea routes and naval operation zones, achieving global surveillance 24 hours a day in any weather condition. There is no doubt, this introduces an idea that is difficult to ignore, because it is no longer about seeing more times, but rather about never stopping seeing, which brings closer the scenario in which any relevant fleet could be located and followed persistently. From detecting to fixing. Last month, China public a series of undated radar images to give an idea of ​​the power it has over our heads. The monitoring of Japanese tanker Towa Maru It was not only symbolic, but technical: the satellite radar system managed to maintain stable contact despite the waves, cloudiness and interference from the sea, and it did so with a margin of error small enough to be useful in a military environment. Although that precision alone does not allow a direct attack, it does fit perfectly into a broader architecture in which other sensors (drones, long-range radars or lower altitude satellites) refine the location in real time. In this context, weapons designed to attack ships at great distances could receive updated data constantly, drastically reducing the room for maneuver of the adversary fleets. South China Sea Washington in suspense. we have been counting. For years, the US Navy has exploited the gaps between satellite passes, weather conditions and the vastness of the ocean to conceal its movements. The appearance of a network capable of observing without interruptions threatens to eliminate that margin of operational invisibility, forcing us to rethink how aircraft carriers, submarines or logistical convoys are deployed. If every movement can be detected in advance, the strategic surprise is reduced and safety distances increase, which directly impacts the effectiveness of any intervention in sensitive areas. like Taiwan or the South China Sea. Resistant and difficult to destroy. Another key element is the very nature of these satellites: by operating in much higher orbits than traditional systems, they are considerably more difficult to neutralize with conventional anti-satellite weapons. Furthermore, by requiring only a few units to cover the planet, the system is cheaper to maintain and easier to protect or replace than large constellations in low orbit. A priori, this not only improves resilience in the event of conflict, but also complicates the plans of any adversary seeking to blind the space surveillance network. The software that listens in the noise. Beyond the hardware, the decisive leap seems to be in the algorithms capable of processing extremely weak signals after traveling tens of thousands of kilometers. Separating a ship’s echo from the chaotic noise of the ocean was, until now, a problem considered almost unsolvable at these distances, but the new approach allows identify minimal patterns amidst massive interference. This capability opens the door to even broader applications, from vehicle tracking to the detection of other military targets, and at least suggests that what has been seen so far could be just a first version of much more advanced systems. Master the orbit. In short, the strategic impact goes beyond the naval field and points to a deeper change where competition is no longer focused solely on controlling maritime routes, but on dominate orbital infrastructure which allows you to see before your rival. As many analysts point out, if this technology matures and is integrated with other intelligence and attack systems, the military balance could shift. towards those who control that permanent observation layer thousands of km away. In this scenario, the idea that it is enough a trio of satellites to monitor the movement of entire fleets ceases to be a hypothesis and becomes a clear warning for sailors of where modern warfare is headed. Image | Picryl, NASA In Xataka | China is making an “invisible ocean” of the planet: when it is finished it will steal the last advantage that the US had left In Xataka | China has just mounted the largest cannon in its history on the bow of a ship. And that can only point in one direction

Much of the world economy right now consists of setting up data centers. And there is already a game on Steam that simulates it

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Surely what you want most when you come back from work is to turn on your PC or console to play a work game. There is not an ounce of sarcasm in this phrase, since for some time now games that are about that, about working, have become popular. And I don’t mean a ‘stardew valley‘ farm management or a ‘Animal Crossing‘mortgage payment: I mean games that are, directly, a second job. There are cleanof be an IT in a company, as a worker supermarket or of construction worker. Also being in charge of a data centerclear. With all the boom in data centers that have drunk the ram market and SSDs, it is possible that you can’t build a PC new because RAM is through the roofbut you can always fulfill the fantasy of being that person who has the power to set up servers and wire everything in their hands. Is called ‘Data Center‘, and as a game to learn how data centers work and turn off your brain, it is… interesting. The game of having an after-work job setting up data centers Don’t think of this game as a construction game like ‘The Sims‘ and the like. Here you already have the space and what you should do is internal management. You must buy the frames to install the racks, servers and switches, but not crazy, but depending on the needs of the clients who hire your services. Once you have the equipment, it is time to interconnect them with the Ethernet cables that link systems within the same rack, but that must also physically go to other platforms. The easiest thing is to pass those cables through aluminum structures hanging from the ceiling, and once you think you have everything ready, it’s time to turn it on. This is when your customers’ traffic is represented by light balls that travel along the cables. Those little balls have their reason because as things progress, Your clients will ask for more and more bandwidthand you will have to start managing and prioritizing. Equipment also breaks, so you will have to go to the PC to order spare parts or upgrades to have greater computing capacity. The idea is to create the perfect system with the best possible data flow, without bottlenecks and without wasting resources, carefully scaling to offer each client what they need and not oversizing. Those little balls represent data traffic. Each color is a customer It is, in short, a work game that can be repetitive, but that is why it works so well. In this type of titles you do not have to solve puzzles, You don’t have to be skillful with the controls or think too much. They are ideal for turning off the brain while we do a repetitive task and simply focus on what we have to do and what clients ask of us. It sounds like the most boring thing in the world, that second job that I mentioned at the beginning of the article, but they are perfect games to turn off the brain while we have a podcast in the background or something like that. In the comments of this particular ‘Data Center’, players highlight the “teaching” aspect and, despite the limitations of some systems, how realistic it feels. The store from which we must order the components Now, it is not a simulator. In the comments, players who claim to work in data centers point out that, although it is curious and represents some things very well, there are others that do not fit reality and technical options are missing such as VLAN systems or managing something as basic as power cabling. The best thing is that it costs nine euros and, if you don’t click on the first two, you can request a refund on Steam very easily. In the end, it is not a game for everyone. No game is, really.but ‘Data Center’ is one more of that much talked about wave of work games that is appearing recently. Because managing a data center may not be your thing, but for example, restore retro games or manage the latest video store of the city before Amazon eats it. Images | ‘Data Center’ on Steam In Xataka | It seemed like a game of imitating movements. It was actually diagnosing autism better than many clinical tests

We thought that the price of World Cup tickets in the US was going to be the biggest nonsense. Wait to travel by train

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The World Cup is a universal spectacle, but its prices during the tournament that will be held this summer in North America (United States, Mexico and Canada) will not exactly be within reach of all budgets. Especially if you want to enjoy the final, which will be played July 19 in it MetLife Stadium from New Jersey. And not just because their tickets are sold at exorbitant prices. The region’s public transportation operator has revealed that round-trip tickets between Manhattan and MetLife will cost 150 dollars. That decision has already generated a intense controversy. What has happened? That the celebration of the World Cup in the US is being marred by the enormous cost what it will mean for the fans. Until now we knew that those privileged who want to follow the matches directly in the stadiums will have to pay stratospheric sums for the tickets, especially if we talk about the final which will be played at the end of July at MetLife Stadium. That was relatively predictable. Now we know something else: even tickets to go to the stadium on public transport will be priced at the price of gold. Are they that expensive? Yes. A week ago The New York Times has already advanced that round-trip tickets to MetLife from New York’s Pennsylvania Station would cost more than $100, although the public transportation operator, New York Transit (NJT), was reluctant to confirm the information. The mystery did not last long. On Friday, when announcing the mobility plan for the World Cup, the company revealed (almost in passing) that the filtration of Times had fallen short. “Non-transferable, non-refundable, round-trip train tickets will be on sale exclusively to ticket holders on May 13 through NJ Transit for $150,” keep it up the operator when informing of the transportation services that will connect MetLife Stadium, renamed temporarily as New York New Jersey Stadium to conform to FIFA’s sponsorship policy. In the same statement NJT explains that round-trip bus tickets (also non-transferable and non-refundable) will be sold for $80. Is it more expensive than normal? A lot more. NBC News I remembered These days a round-trip ticket to MetLife Stadium usually costs $12.9, so the fare that those who want to use the train on the day of the final will have to pay will be 11 times higher than normal. The price will be very superior This is what fans who travel between Penn Station (New York) and MetLife pay to enjoy NFL Jets or Giants games. Although the price of bus tickets will also quadruple in Boston, where they will be disputed four gamesthere has been international competitions in which fans with tickets could freely use public transport. In the case of the USA, The Wall Street Journal remember that the original 2018 pact between host cities and FIFA included free transportation, but the requirement was relaxed a few years ago. Now fans must pay $150 for a trip that is covered in less than half an hour by car. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Has it generated controversy? Yes. Because of the amount itself (150), but also because the NJT plan does not contemplate Reduced rates, which means that children and seniors will have to pay the same amount as everyone else. It is important because MetLife Stadium will host a total of eight games of the World Cup in which the teams of Brazil, France, Germany and England (among others) will compete. Among those events also includes the most significant of all: the final. Those who want to skip the train or bus and go by car to MetLife will not have it easy either. The celebration of the World Cup will cut considerably the availability of parking in the area, which explains, among other things, that passes are being offered to park in the parking lot of a shopping center in the area for $225, such as has revealed NCB News. Why does it go up so much? That question connects directly with the political debate that has broken out in New Jersey around the World Cup, its costs for the public coffers and the return it will have for the region. Governor Mikie Sherrill (Democratic Party) assures having “inherited” an agreement by which FIFA “does not contribute a single dollar” for transportation and warned that NJ Transit will be forced to pay “a bill of 48 million dollars” to mobilize the tens of thousands of fans who will come to watch the games. MetLife Stadium seats more than 80,000 spectators and Sherrill’s message, just like the one NJT has transferred to the New York Times is clear: “The cost of the eight matches will not be borne by our regular users of public transport.” That is to say, the first step is for the fans (if not FIFA itself) to pay for the transportation required by the competition. Sherrill’s position has caused tensions with the federation, which warns of “deterrent” effect What will the train fares have and remember that MetLife has hosted other macro events without the organizers having to pay for transportation. During the debate, there was also talk of the income that FIFA will receive thanks to the tournament and the return for the USA. Is it just transportation? The truth is that no. The transport controversy is added to another that already goes back a long way: that of the price of tickets to enjoy the World Cup matches. A few weeks ago, FIFA already made headlines because tickets for the final were selling for up to $10,990. Not only are they astronomical figures that threaten to become “the most expensive in history”, as warns the BBC. They also far exceed those of a few months ago. In March, after the president of FIFA recognize that prices could “go up or down according to demand,” the OCU denounced the use of “dynamic pricing”. The rates already they have put on guard to Euroconsumers. Images | … Read more

The Congo River has been an insurmountable barrier for the two closest capitals in the world for decades. Until now

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For decades, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been living in a peculiar situation: although they have the nearest capitals at the geographical level of the entire planet (with the exception of the Vatican and some cases special, like Nicosia), both metropolises live behind each other’s backs. At least as far as communications are concerned. Today to travel from Kinshasa (RCD) to Brazzaville (Congo) you need get on a ferry to cross the river that separates both countries or even a plane which covers the journey as long as it takes you to have a coffee and read the headlines in the newspaper. Now that’s about to change. Capitals just a stone’s throw away. The story of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the former Zaire) has been anything but quiet. This has ultimately contributed to both nations sharing a particular condition, beyond the similarities between their names: their capitals are a stone’s throw away. Between Brazzaville (RC) and Kinshasa (DRC) there are a handful of hundreds of meters and a river, the Congo. Depending on the reference we take, between both metropolises there is between one and three kilometers in a straight line. If we except the even more peculiar relationship between the Vatican and Rome (and some curiosities historical), Brazzaville and Kinshasa are often considered the closest capitals. However, despite this proximity, those who want to travel from one city to another right now do not have it easy: they must take a ferry that covers the journey in half an hour or even (if they are in a hurry… and more money), fly over the limited airspace that separates both capitals. What if we build a bridge? The situation is sufficiently anomalous that the authorities have considered on several occasions building a bridge between both banks. The idea can date back at least to the 90s and has been rescued several times since then. Without much success. Whether for political or budgetary reasons or simply because the fear As infrastructure reduces commercial traffic in some influential ports in the DRC, the Kinshasa-Brazzaville viaduct has failed to make it past paper. Coming out of the box. That could change soon. In February the finance ministers of the DRC and the CR reached a bilateral agreement to establish a special tax regime that clears the future of the construction of the viaduct. It may seem like a minor issue, but the infrastructure is expected to be subject to a toll and, beyond the traffic of individuals and tourists, every year moves trucks loaded with thousands and thousands of tons of merchandise. “We have a harmonized tax and customs framework. We also have a bilateral pact, which will allow us to relaunch the call for tenders,” celebrated after the technical meetings Caddy Ndala, from the Brazzaville delegation. An agreement… and something more. If the bridge seems to see (finally) the light at the end of the tunnel, it is not only because of the tax agreement between both countries. The project has also attracted the attention of Africa50an investment platform founded by the African Development Bank (ADB) and African states. The entity is presented in fact as the “main promoter” selected by the DRC and RC to drive the public-private partnership that will shape the infrastructure. Global Highways precise that part of the investment to shape the viaduct will also come from the ADB, which has already financed the feasibility studies. And what will the viaduct be like? The main infrastructure will consist of a short bridge more than 1.5 km which will pass over the Congo River and allow the passage of vehicles and railways. It will also have sidewalks and border control posts. The idea is that the viaduct connects further with the roads that already exist in both countries, facilitating communication between the capitals. “The idea dates back to the mid-19th century,” recognized years ago the president of the ADB, Akinwumi Adesina. To clear its roads, the technicians have selected the narrowest point on the border. In an attempt to put an end to the misgivings that the infrastructure arouses in several commercial ports in the region, it has also been agreed to carry out complementary works of improvements in them. Hunting for goods. The bridge won’t exactly come cheap. In 2017, the ADB estimated that the project would require 550 million dollars, an estimate that has since risen to exceed 700 million. In return, the structure promises to completely change the relationship between both capitals. In 2020 the Africa Investment Forum pointed out that the forecasts involve both triggering the flow of people and goods: the former (people) would go from 750,000 annually now to more than three million; As for the latter (merchandise), it would rise from 340,000 to two million tons. Images | Google Earth and Africa50 In Xataka | A 2.5 billion-year-old geological wonder: Zimbabwe’s Great Dam seen by NASA from space

Last year, almost no robots finished the Beijing half marathon. This year one has broken the human world record by seven minutes

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The half marathon world record is held by Jacob Kiplimo with a time of 57:20 achieved just a month ago in Lisbon. This Sunday a humanoid robot called Lightning ran that distance in 50:26achieving for the first time a milestone that had never been achieved. Robots seemed clumsy and unable to outrun humans, but that is no longer true. And it’s just the beginning. Robots are already faster than humans. In the half marathon held on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Beijing, the absolute dominators were the humanoid robots. Lightning not only broke the human world record by almost seven minutes: he managed to arrive 17 minutes before the first human runner to cross the finish line. The first three classified They were also Lightning models developed by Honor. From disaster to excellence. The first edition of this same event, the Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, It was an absolute disaster for humanoid robots. Only a third of those who ran it managed to finish the race, they were controlled remotely and ran at a pace much lower than that of human runners. This year things were very different: more than 100 robots were presented and most finished the test, but also almost half ran autonomously and several managed to surpass even the best human runners in the world. This is Lightning. The winning robot measures 169 centimeters, weighs 45 kg and was specifically designed to adapt to complex terrain and move at high speed. Its legs measure about 95 cm and its proportions are designed to imitate the stride of elite human runners. It has a liquid cooling system which curiously has been adapted from the one found on Honor smartphones. Du Xiaodi, engineer in charge of this project at Honor, explained that “Running faster may not seem significant at first glance, but it allows technological transfer, for example in structural reliability and cooling, and eventually in industrial applications“. Not everything went well. The race, however, also had moments in which the robots failed. One of them collided with a nearby vehicle although he managed to stabilize himself and continue walking. The H1 model from Unitree, the most famous humanoid robot manufacturer in China, collapsed as it approached the finish line and had to be removed from the road. One of the Lightning models hit a barrier after crossing the finish line, and some other robots they had difficulties with the curves and unevenness of the route. The event also served as a test bed for batteries, joints, motors and algorithms that control these machines. Industrial applications. Xiaodi mentioned it but also Liu Xiangquan, professor of robotics at the University of Science and Information in Beijing. According to him, these long-distance races allow the resistance and behavior of these robots to be evaluated, something essential for their application in industrial environments. Here not only speed is evaluated, but also the aforementioned resistance, stability or the capacity for autonomous navigation in uncontrolled environments. But a key component is missing. Although the demonstration and milestone is fascinating, what this field needs most is other things. For example, advance manual dexterityperceive the real environment in unforeseen situations and be able to perform varied tasks and not focus so much on repetitive movements. Industrial robots are already good at that, but here we are looking for much more versatility because at the moment these robots They are not able to fold clothes or put the plates and cutlery in the dishwasher with sufficient speed and dexterity. China continues to set the robotic pace. The Asian country has completely devoted itself to the world of robotics. Dominate this segment and its companies They manufacture 80% of global production. In recent months we have seen spectacular demonstrations such as the one Unitree carried out with a dozen humanoid robots at a martial arts show. Sunday’s half marathon is one more element of that narrative and that message that China is leaving to the world: robots are our thing. And in a year, what? Breaking the world record is very striking, but this event tells another story: that of how in just one year Chinese manufacturers have managed to improve their models in an amazing way. If everything continues to improve at this rate, it is difficult to predict what the robots that run the next marathon will be capable of, but it seems logical to think that at this point the athletic ability of robots will be absolutely amazing. Image | CGTN In Xataka | In China they are not satisfied with creating advanced robots: a company has developed a head that gestures like a human

The world will run out of memory for AI chips until 2027. And cell phones and cars are already paying the price

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The big bottleneck in the artificial intelligence industry has nothing to do with AI models, GPUs, or data centers. It has to do with memory, and for months we are immersed in a crisis of which now the manufacturers give us more information. Three companies—Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron—control 90% of global production, but current estimates indicate that between the three They can only cover about 60% of expected demand through 2027. That’s terrible news not only for AI, but also for everything non-AI. The era of memory scarcity. These three manufacturers have prioritized HBM production for AI accelerators because these memories leave better margins. The direct consequence is the shortage of DRAM memories, which are used in PCs and mobile phones, and since October 2025 we have seen how this market has skyrocketed in price. Betting everything on one segment has left the other dangerously neglected. Samsung will have new factories. According to indicate In Nikkei, Samsung plans to launch its fourth memory manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in 2026, although mass production will not begin until 2027 or later. Furthermore, not only memories will be manufactured in that plant. There is a fifth plant under construction on that same technology campus, but it will be dedicated to HBM chips and will not begin operating until at least 2028. The South Korean giant has another ace up its sleeve: the United States. HBM to power. SK Hynix is ​​the only one of the three that has a concrete supply improvement for 2026, because it has already started manufacturing HBM chips at its Cheongju plant in February. It is also accelerating construction of a plant in Yongin, near Seoul, with the goal of completing it by February 2027. Micron also asks for patience. Meanwhile, Micron, the American company, has the goal of starting production of HBM chips in Idaho and Singapore in 2027, and will build a factory in Hiroshima that will theoretically come into operation in 2028. It has also just purchased a plant in Taiwan from Powechip, but the chips that come out of it will not be available before the second half of 2027. This is not enough. The consulting firm Counterpoint Reserach estimates that in order to resolve the current DRAM crisis, an industry-wide production increase of 12% annually until 2027 would be required. However, current plans add up to a growth of 7.5%, which makes it clear that these expansions by these three manufacturers are not enough. For Counterpoint analysts, the consequence is clear: the balance between supply and demand will not be normalized until 2028. SK Hynix is ​​already talking about supply limitations for AI chips could last until 2030, and the truth is that all the forecasts only confirm that this problem will still last for years. We consumers pay the price. Memory is an absolutely transversal product that is everywhere. 80-90% of current memory chips go to computers, mobile phones and servers, and the rest to cars and industrial equipment. The most direct impact is already in the mobile market entry-level: memory already represented 20% of the manufacturing bill for one of these smartphones, but that figure is expected to reach 40% by mid-2026. That gives manufacturers few (or no) options, which will impact that cost on the price of these devices. And so with everything. IDC esteem that mobile sales will fall by 13% in 2026 due to this circumstance. The danger of cycles. The memory industry has a history of cycles in which the rise and fall of memory prices is traditional. In 2023 there was a collapse in prices after post-pandemic demand for PCs faded. Several manufacturers recorded historic losses, and learned the lesson of overproducing to meet demand. Now that we need more production, manufacturers are being much more cautious when it comes to increasing their production or investing in new factories. For them, by the way, the crisis is going great: Samsung has earned in three months of 2026 what it earned in all of 2025. China to the rescue. Although South Korea and the United States dominate global memory production, there are several Chinese manufacturers that are gradually gaining relevance. YMTC and CXMT They have been growing significantly in production for some time and that is making now have a golden opportunity to gain market share over competitors that they seemed unattainable. Image | Liam Briese In Xataka | The situation with RAM prices is so desperate that there are already those who build their own memory at home

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