“Discretion”. This is the word that all the leaders of the PSOE repeat almost like a mantra to refer to the conversations with the parties that could support a new investiture of Pedro Sánchez. Even so, from the direction of Ferraz they have sent a message this Thursday implicitly addressed to ERC and Junts, which demand in exchange for their support self-determination for Catalonia and amnesty for those convicted of the illegal referendum of 1-O.

“I understand that there may be political forces that start the negotiations with maximum, very maximalist positions, but I also tell you that what we have in hand is as important as the future of our country and that it would not be understood that these political forces would remain in positions of maximums, let's say, without making any kind of movement”, stressed Félix Bolaños, acting Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory, during a visit to the works of the Murcia-Almería high-speed line, in the Pulpí-Vera section.

The also member of the Federal Executive of the Socialists is trying to convince the pro-independence formations, which have displayed a catalog of petitions that do not fit into current legislation as a price for their votes, to reconsider.. In this sense, he has stressed that “the essential thing” is that it is possible to “continue to speak calmly” and that any agreement reached be “a point of balance, where all parties feel comfortable, of course within the law, within the Constitution, that means that Spain continues advancing”.

17 of August

The first litmus test on the rapprochement of positions proposed by Bolaños will be next August 17, which is when the Congress Table is constituted.. The negotiation of positions in this key body for the functioning of the institution also usually leaves clear clues about the support that the candidate for the investiture could have later, for which no date has yet been set..

Regarding the vacations of Sánchez and his family in Morocco, the Minister of the Presidency has indicated that they are “a strictly personal matter” about which he has “nothing to say”, reports Europa Press. However, he has added that he does have “something to say to the propagators of hoaxes”: “They have to assume their sad fate, because they are not the majority in this country, nor do they condition anyone's life”.

The independence movement will intensify the use of Catalan as a new workhorse before a possible negotiation with the PSOE for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. It will not only claim its definitive shielding in the Catalan school, despite the judicial resolutions against it, but also its use in the regulations of the Congress and the Senate together with other Spanish co-official languages. Thus, they want to show their strength in one of the areas, such as linguistic demands, which has had the most support on the streets in recent years in Catalonia and which has brought together the most consensus of ERC and Junts after their distancing due to the sovereignist process.

Aware of what is at stake in this claim, not only to force the PSOE but also against its opponents from the Esquerra, the former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, has taken the lead in the Catalan's claims to gain strength against the secessionist electorate in half of the legislature in Catalonia. For this reason, in the last few hours, messages on social networks with topics related to language have increased.

In one of this Thursday, he pointed out that when talking about the reform of the regulations of Congress so that people can speak in Catalan, as the leader of Sumar Yolanda Díaz did this Wednesday, it must be taken into account that “the regulations are not said to exist the obligation to use Spanish, or the prohibition to use another official language. Therefore, the political will of the presidency is enough. And until now there has never been “.

Thus, he recalled that in the case of a proposal to reform the Senate regulations so that Catalan has the same rank as Spanish “do you know who presented the 59 proposals for extensions to avoid debate and voting in committee? The Socialist Parliamentary Group” and for this reason he accused them of being “masters in parliamentary filibustering. Is this the itinerary that you have planned for Catalan to be the official language of the Spanish Congress? Because if it is this, we already know the bread that is given…”.

For Puigdemont “the reform process is usually a strategy to waste time by pretending that you are trying to fix a problem that in reality you don't give a damn about” and for this reason he added that “extensions and more extensions…. until the proposal has lapsed because the legislature has finished”.

A few days ago, the former Catalan president also used the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that obliges a school in Girona to teach one or more core subjects in Spanish after estimating a precautionary measure from a Catalan family to attack the State and close ranks with the political use of Catalan.

“They are deconstructing social and political consensus for mere linguistic supremacy, and they still ask that they continue to issue blank checks because 'the right must be stopped,” said Puigdemont, who added: “Can you explain to us what you have done all these years to stop the judicial right? What have they done to respect the language policy approved and agreed upon by the majority of Catalans? They had the votes, they had the key and they had all the power.. but the Catalan retreats pushed by the official offensive of the State”.

That is why Puigdemont issued a warning to those who want to negotiate the investiture with Junts: “This scheme cannot be repeated if you want to have different results.”

The date of the investiture debate for the future Prime Minister has not yet been set. Even so, the two parties that aspire to reissue the coalition that has been in charge of the Palacio de la Moncloa during the last legislature have already had their first frontal clash.

What has made the sparks fly publicly just 10 days after the elections were held have been the negotiations to ensure the essential number of votes that would allow Pedro Sánchez to revalidate his position. The PSOE has tried to assert its status as majority partner, with 121 seats, to argue that it is up to it to take charge of “all the steps” with the rest of the parliamentary groups and therefore urge Sumar -which has 31 representatives in the chamber – to stay out of it.

But the space leader who has replaced Unidas Podemos on the political board, Yolanda Díaz, has already made it clear that she does not plan to assume a merely secondary role with resignation.. He demonstrated it yesterday by announcing in an interview on TVE that he will support allowing Catalan to be spoken in the Lower House -which, in addition to one of the demands that Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) has raised in exchange for its support for the left bloc- , in addition to Basque and Galician, a proposal that had not even been previously agreed upon with the representatives of the party with which it still shares the Council of Ministers.

“Myself and Mr. [Jaume] Asens and Sumar are working both in the negotiation with the PSOE and in the negotiation with other formations that are progressive and democratic,” the acting second vice president of the Government warned this Wednesday.. “Therefore, discretion, let each political formation do its job and from Sumar we are already doing ours,” he stressed.

In this way, Díaz responded yesterday to the number two of the Socialists, María Jesús Montero, who in another interview on the public channel the day before had said that who has “the responsibility of articulating the majority” so that Sánchez can be invested again as president ” is the main party that makes up that progressive bloc”, of which he stressed that it has “increased both in the number of votes and seats”. “Therefore, we will be the ones in charge of being able to contact the different political groups and take all the necessary steps, since we already have training during this legislature,” added the also acting Finance Minister in a direct message to the minority partner.

After the scrutiny that left a victory for the PP but without arithmetic options for a parliamentary majority that would take Alberto Núñez Feijóo to La Moncloa, Sumar did not take even 24 hours to announce the appointment of Jaume Asens as negotiator before the independence formations. The leader of En Comú Podem was precisely the person who accompanied Pablo Iglesias to jail in 2018 when the then leader of Podemos visited those convicted of the 1-O consultation.

Now Díaz tries to put himself in that position of favoring “détente” and “dialogue” in Catalonia, which in his day led the purple formation and, in turn, mark the step in this field for Sánchez's team. “Sometimes people in politics are important. Mr. Asens here is; The PSOE knows it very well and I think that all of Spain already knows it,” the vice president brandished this Wednesday.

new leadership

The successor to Iglesias thus debuts her new leadership in the space that has brought together the left of the PSOE with a marked profile of her own. This contrasts with the three and a half years that he has been in charge of the Labor portfolio in which, despite his deep differences with Nadia Calviño, head of the Economic Affairs area, on issues such as the amount of the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage , he did not usually air them in public.

“We are not going to be in this government to do nothing or to stay as we are,” Díaz warned, taking a reissue of the coalition for granted, but with changes aimed at “gaining rights and moving forward.”. “We are starting the negotiation, but I do want to be clear: for us the program of the government agreement is the key,” he stressed.

In this sense, he said that, although “the ministries have more focus”, what worries them “is not so much the structure” of the new Executive, but “the contents”: “The first thing is what we are going to do and when we have what we will work on who are the best people to do those tasks.

What Díaz did specify is that, unlike her predecessor, she will decide “by consensus with the Prime Minister” the name of the ministers who will be within Sumar's quota of power. This was his expeditious response to whether he would claim the Equality powers, which during this legislature have been in the hands of Podemos, in addition to being marked by multiple controversies.

The Marivent gardens were decked out again this Thursday to open up to Balearic civil society. Felipe VI and Doña Letizia repeated the call in the palace, and that this year they held a dinner with more than 500 guests. This occasion was much more symbolic, since the Royal Family celebrates half a century of summer vacations in Mallorca, 50 years of memories and anecdotes that have guaranteed their continuity in Doña Leonor and Doña Sofía. Because since the princess was born 17 years ago, she has never missed her appointment with the island.

The Heiress and her sister did not participate yesterday in the appointment with civil society. Following the custom of the House, as long as they do not reach the age of majority, they are exempt. But the Kings were joined by Doña Sofía, who has been installed on the island since the end of July. The three of them left the main Marivent building minutes after nine at night.

The Kings and the mother of Felipe VI were placed on the esplanade in front of the house. Doña Letizia chose a white dress with a blue print, while Doña Sofía put on a set of shirt and pants with plant motifs. The King, in a suit, endured the night better after the drop in temperatures and the northeast wind that blew. Doña Sofía has enjoyed these days with her granddaughters, who due to school obligations will barely see this course. The Princess of Asturias enters the General Military Academy on the 17th and the Infanta Sofía leaves for Wales at the end of the month, where she will attend the last two years of school at UWC Atlantic College.

The greeting to the half a thousand guests began when they had all arrived at Marivent. The Balearic authorities opened the queue, who were making their debut at this event after the change of government, led by the popular Margalida Prohens.

The new regional executive has shown a position openly related to the figure of the King since its first weeks of existence. Prohens herself praised the fact that the Monarch spends the summer in Mallorca and asked him personally last week, in the formal hearing of La Almudaina, to come more often.

It is a change of heart regarding a faction of the outgoing Balearic government, some of whose members have always declared themselves expressly opposed to the Monarchy. Last year, without going any further, some prominent members of these parties even exhibited their refusal to attend Marivent's reception despite having been formally invited. Former President Francina Armengol (PSOE), however, did always attend.

Among the local authorities invited yesterday were also the President of the Balearic Parliament, Gabriel Le Senne; the Government delegate in the Islands, Aina Calvo; the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés; their counterparts in Ibiza and Menorca, Vicent Marí and Dolfo Vilafranca; the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, as well as regional deputies and senators and a large group of mayors from all the municipalities of the Islands. From the judicial sphere, the president of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands, Carlos Gómez; the new regional superior prosecutor, Julio Cano or the chief colonel of the Civil Guard, Alejandro Hernández. The world of universities, culture and sports was also represented, with members of the Mallorca Palma Futsal team, champion of the 2023 UEFA Champions League.

The attendees were placed on the esplanade in front of the main entrance to Marivent, where there were small round tables, and enjoyed a cocktail based on typical island products, designed by Macarena and Daniel de Castro. Its restaurant, Maca de Castro, is distinguished by a star from the Michelin Guide and located in Puerto de Alcudia. It is the second year that they serve the reception dinner, in which they premiered in 2021.

Harmon, a compound present in foods such as coffee, must be added to the list of promising molecules to achieve healthy aging..

A new study in cell lines and animal models suggests that the substance can extend life expectancy, reduce age-related frailty, and improve various metabolic parameters related to quality of life during aging.. Details of the research are published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.

Led by researchers from the Madrid Institute for Advanced Food Studies, IMDEA Alimentación, with the participation of the INCLIVA Health Research Institute of Valencia, the study is the first to show these benefits.

“Until now these properties of the compound were not known. It is an example of all the compounds with interesting properties that remain to be discovered and developed,” confirms Pablo Fernández Marcos, head of the Biopromet Metabolic Syndrome Group at IMDEA Alimentacion, and principal investigator of this work.

The scientist indicates the steps that have been taken in this investigation. “We first tested harmol in cells in culture, to reduce the use of animals as much as possible, where we described its molecular properties and how it works inside the cell.. Subsequently, it was experimented on invertebrate models (flies and worms), with very short life times, around 1 month, in which we verified that it extended the life of these animals”.

Finally, in mouse models, they observed that harmol protected against diabetes caused by obesity (type 2), and that very old mice treated with harmol showed surprising protection from muscle fragility, a very serious problem in the elderly.” .

Harmol -a compound from the beta-carboline family known for its neurological effects- improves skeletal muscle function and metabolic parameters associated with quality of life during aging.

Treatment with this compound, in addition to extending life expectancy in the two invertebrate models, improved, as Fernández Marcos anticipated, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and hepatic lipid accumulation in a model of prediabetes. Among the changes at the neuromuscular level, a very significant reduction in frailty has been found in old treated animals.

On the potential beneficial implications of harmol for the general population and more especially for the elderly, the IMDEA Food researcher explains that the described product is “natural and present in coffee and other foods. We are not sure if the amounts present in food can activate these healthy processes or if, by contract, higher amounts are required. There is still a lot to study. On the other hand, this work is one more grain of sand to strengthen the concept that keeping mitochondria healthy throughout life is a good strategy against aging”.

The secret: keep mitochondria healthy

Harmol, like other beta-carbolines, is present in many foods including coffee beans, meat, fish or cereals, as well as tobacco leaves.. At the doses used in the study, harmol showed no toxicity and very little central nervous system effects, consistent with its poor ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and thus reach the brain.

The research indicates that muscular aging is associated with an energetic collapse that is explained by an alteration in the mitochondria, one of the most relevant cellular components, since it is the main responsible for the energy production of the cells.. Mitochondrial dysfunction causes the appearance and progression of functional deterioration associated with sarcopenia or loss of muscle mass and power that occurs during aging, and the geriatric frailty syndrome, which affects more than 33% of the population over 80 years of age. .

A frail elderly person, compared to a robust one, is more likely to end up being dependent and fatigues more easily than a young person, among other things, because their mitochondria stop being functional, they lose the ability to produce energy.

Age-associated mitochondrial dysfunction can be modulated through different interventions aimed at maintaining mitochondria in good condition.. These strategies are based on the induction of mild mitochondrial stress that triggers a coordinated compensatory response between the nucleus and mitochondria, resulting in improved mitochondrial function.

Fernández Marcos explains that in the work they describe harmol as a mitohormetic: a compound that causes moderate stress in the mitochondria, which initially damages it slightly. This moderate stress triggers responses from the entire cell that, in the medium term, makes the mitochondria more resistant and work better.. It is the mechanism that exercise or caloric restriction follow. When these stimuli are repeated over time, the body manages to have healthy mitochondria.”

Luis Filipe Costa-Machado, from IMDEA Alimentación, also comments on another interesting aspect of the study: it has been discovered that this mitochondrial improvement effect “is carried out by cells through mechanisms similar to those that make us feel happier, since they share the same target proteins. This opens up an interesting field of research on the association between psychological state and aging.”

Based on the findings on harmol, one of the unknowns is whether it is possible to obtain substances through food that allow healthy physiological aging.. For Fernández Marcos, in all known organisms, the most effective way to achieve healthy aging is caloric restriction. It is about following a varied diet with all the essential nutrients; but consume fewer calories than are considered 'normal'.

“This triggers a wide variety of healthy processes for aging: among other things, it prevents the accumulation of fat in the tissues, the mitochondria remain strong, or a cellular cleaning mechanism called autophagy is activated. That is to say: no eating too much helps us age better.