All posts by Luis Moreno

Moreno Luis - is a business and economics reporter based in Barcelona. Prior to joining the BNE24 he was economics editor of the BBC Spaine and worked as an economics and political reporter for Murcia Tuday.

Dies after being infected with the 'brain-eater' amoeba in a US lake: it is the second case in two weeks

An individual who has not yet been identified has died in Georgia, United States, after being infected with the Naegleria fowleri amoeba, commonly known as the 'brain-eater' amoeba, the British newspaper Daily Mail reported on Monday.

The event has also been confirmed by the Georgia State Department of Public Health.. Although at the moment the authorities do not detail at what point it has occurred exactly, they assure that this person has been infected while swimming in a lake or in a freshwater pond.

It is also the second case that has occurred in two weeks, since another two-year-old boy died on July 26 in the state of Nevada due to infection with this same amoeba and also by bathing in a contaminated pool in which he was with his family.

This type of organism is found precisely in lakes, rivers, ponds and sources of fresh and warm water, according to the health authorities.. The way this amoeba enters our body is through the nose and can cause a brain infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

Once inside our body, the symptoms usually appear after five days: intense headache, fever, nausea and vomiting are the most common, although if the disease is in an advanced state, hallucinations and convulsions begin to appear.. The death of who is affected by this amoeba usually occurs five days after starting to have the first symptoms.

For the moment, although the health authorities assure that the risk of becoming infected is low, they have advised citizens to avoid bathing in fresh water. Since 1965 this amoeba has affected 150 people in the United States, of which only five have survived.

The theater of Nero comes to light after centuries buried at the gates of the Vatican

The find had been underground for two thousand years and was only mentioned in past texts, but this historic coincidence has revealed its whereabouts, and it turns out that it was located a few meters from the Vatican, in the courtyard of the Palazzo de la Rovere.

“With this excavation we were able to propose an identification proposal that is based on a series of archaeological clues that are very consistent with each other and that lead us to identify this space as the ancient theater of Nero,” said Alessio de Cristofaro, an archaeologist at the City Council. of Rome who has worked on the excavation.

The Nero theater was a luxurious building from the imperial era where the emperor liked to exhibit himself. It was built by himself in the area dominated by those known as “Horti de Agrippina la Mayor”, mother of Caligula, a large property of the imperial family Julio Claudia, where a huge circus for horse racing was built.

The texts of ancient authors such as Pliny, Svetonio and Tacitus commented on the existence of the theater in the area now occupied by the Vatican and its adjoining streets, but the large number of buildings that rise in this Roman neighborhood, many of them of high artistic and cultural value, made it difficult to start excavations to prove the location.

The discovered remains are part of the left side of the cavea, in the shape of a hemicycle, and the scene, where architectural elements that testify to the luxury and splendor of Nero's Theater were preserved, such as columns and decorations.

“The extremely rich architectural decoration, consisting of white marble and colored marble with fluted columns of the Ionic order and stucco covered with gold leaf, and the presence of a certain type of brick allow us to accurately date the building between the time of Caligula and that of Nero”, detailed Cristofaro.

The “Theatrum Neronis”

The “Theatrum Neronis” was a large theater with capacity for thousands of spectators, which was regularly enjoyed by Emperor Nero, a great fan of the arts and remembered for going up to the Roman stages to recite poetry, before the imperial family, his closest circles. and, on special occasions, a larger audience.

But in addition, the excavations have allowed the discovery of rare examples of glass goblets, pitchers, ceramic materials, pilgrim insignia, bone objects and rosary matrices from the Middle Ages accumulated over the millennia.

Since this was the path by which pilgrims from half the world arrived at the place where Christian tradition indicates that the tomb of Saint Peter, the first pope, is located under the current basilica of the same name, and they left behind religious objects and souvenirs.

“The Middle Ages are not easy to find in this city. It is known for its palaces, churches and certain historical sources, but from the material point of view there are not many remains like the ones we have here, which go from the 10th to the 15th century and which tell us part of the economic and social history of the city,” said Renato Sebastiani, also an archaeologist.

After almost three years of excavations and archaeological documentation, the work continues with the aim that the discovered elements can be visited in the coming years thanks to a museum space of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, owner of the Rovere Palace.

The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC, for its acronym in English) has alerted this July 27 about an outbreak of salmonella that affects several countries in Europe and whose origin, according to the investigations that continue to be carried out, seem be cherry tomatoes.

The outbreak began in France in August 2022 and the last registered case occurred in Sweden on June 24 of this year.. At the moment, there are 92 people affected, of which 81 are confirmed cases and another 11 continue to be studied.. In addition, one person has already died from this infection.

How did the outbreak start?

The salmonellosis outbreak was first detected in France in August 2022. The strain was detected there in a plate of mixed salad that contained cherry tomatoes among green leafy vegetables and that was made specifically on August 17 of that year.

It was a few days later, on August 22, when the first case of salmonella derived from this outbreak was confirmed. Since then, another 16 cases have been registered in the French country and the number of those affected has been increasing throughout Europe, although the authorities assure that the majority have occurred between October 2022 and March 2023 and that the current risk of exposure It is low.

How many affected are there?

So far, a total of 14 countries have been affected by this salmonella outbreak.. To the 16 that have been reported in France, we must add many others spread throughout the European continent: Germany has 26 affected, Finland with 12, Sweden with 11, Austria and the Netherlands with 5 cases each, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Czechia with 4 affected and Norway, Ireland and Estonia with a single case. In addition, two other similar cases have been reported in the United States. In Spain, for the moment, there has been no case.

In total, 92 people have been affected by this outbreak of salmonellosis. Of these, 81 are confirmed cases, while another 11 are still under study.. According to the center there is also one deceased among all those affected.

The origin: cherry tomatoes

According to the investigations that continue to be carried out, the origin of this salmonella outbreak is tomatoes, specifically its cherry-shaped variety, popularly known as cherry tomatoes.

Authorities have investigated tomatoes from France and Austria, where the outbreak is believed to have originated, and have led to wholesalers in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany and tomato growers, also located in Spain, the Netherlands and Morocco.

However, it has not yet been possible to establish any microbiological evidence in these tomatoes, so it has not been possible to detect the point of infection and/or contamination in the companies and producers investigated.

How is salmonella?

As stated by this organization, salmonellosis is an infection that affects humans after eating raw or undercooked food contaminated with salmonella bacteria.

Although the incubation period and its symptoms may depend on the type and number of bacteria ingested, as well as the immune status of each person, it is normal for symptoms to appear 12 to 36 hours after consumption of these foods.

These include fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, accompanied by nausea and vomiting.. These symptoms usually last only a few days and antibiotic treatment is not needed, although due to dehydration, hospital admission may be necessary.. In the case of the elderly or people with suppressed immunity, a salmonella infection can be fatal.

Poland shields its border with Belarus against the advance of Wagner's mercenaries

Poland has decided to strengthen security on its border with Belarus after finding that more than 100 mercenaries belonging to the Russian-linked Wagner group have moved near the border with Poland, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday.

Morawiecki told a press conference that the mercenaries had approached Suwalki Gap, a strategic point in Polish territory located between Belarus and Kaliningrad.

Poland is a member of both the European Union and NATO, and has worried about its security with Russian ally Belarus and Ukraine on its eastern border. Those fears have grown since mercenaries from the Wagner group arrived in Belarus since the group's short-lived rebellion earlier this summer.

Just a few days ago it was the Polish Minister for Special Affairs, Stanislaw Zaryn, who warned that “we must be prepared in the event that mercenaries from the Wagner Group are used against Poland.”. “It is not clear what mission they will finally carry out,” he added.

The President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, has also asserted that the presence of mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Belarusian territory constitutes a “serious threat” to Lithuanian security, as well as to the rest of the countries bordering Belarus, such as Poland and Latvia.

The Wagner Group mercenaries were sent to Belarus as a solution to their attempted rebellion against the Russian authorities at the end of June.. In response, Lithuania took additional security measures and prepared its Armed Forces to collaborate with the Border Guard in case of emergency.

Three Nigerien ministers and the leader of President Bazoum's party arrested

Niger's ministers of Oil, Mines and Transport, as well as the leader of the ousted president's party, Mohamed Bazoum, have been detained, according to police sources.

They are Sani Issoufou Mahamadou, Minister of Oil and son of former President Mahamadou Issoufou (2011-2021); Ousseini Hadizatou Yacoub, Minister of Mines; Alma Oumaru, Minister of Transport, and Foumakoye Gado, Chairman of the Niger Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNSD).

According to the same sources, several more people from the PNSD, the party in power in Niger until the military coup a few days ago, were also arrested for posting messages on social networks calling for resistance.

The Nigerian coup board asked citizens in the last hours not to use social networks to “transmit information and political messages likely to disturb public order”, under threat of arrest.

In networks, former president Issoufou also stated that he was negotiating to obtain the release of President Bazoum, held since last day 26 by the coup junta in the Presidential Palace of Niamey, and “to restore him to his functions.”

On the other hand, the transitional president of Chad, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, shared this morning the first photograph of the deposed president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, since the military coup that country suffered last Wednesday.

As reported by himself through the social network Twitter, Déby Itno met with Bazoum in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.

Inflation in the euro area drops two tenths to 5.3% while GDP rises 0.3%

Year-on-year inflation in the euro area stood at 5.3% in July, two tenths below the June rate, according to preliminary data published this Monday by the community statistics office, Eurostat.

By components, food, alcohol and tobacco were the main factor influencing prices, registering year-on-year growth of 10.8%.

After food came services (5.6%, compared to 5.4% in June).

The interannual rate of non-energy industrial goods stood at 5%, compared to 5.5% in June.

For its part, the drop in the energy rate in July was 6.1%, when in June it had been 5.6%.

According to the data by country, in Spain the inflation rate stood at 2.1% in July, one of the lowest in the EU along with those of Luxembourg (2.0%) and Belgium (1.6%). .

At the opposite extreme, the highest inflation rates in July were recorded in Slovakia (10.2%), Croatia (8.1%), Lithuania (7.1%) and Austria (7.0%).

The rate in Germany was 6.5%, while in France it was 5.0%.

Eurostat will publish the final inflation data for July on August 18.

rise in GDP

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro area, during the second quarter of the year, grew by 0.3%, as reported on Monday by the community statistics office, Eurostat.

The preliminary estimate published today shows, on the other hand, that the GDP remained stable in the EU.

In Spain, GDP grew by 0.4% between April and June.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, the rise in GDP was 0.6% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU.

In the first quarter of 2023, GDP had remained stable in the euro area and had increased by 0.2% in the EU.

Of the Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of the year compared to the previous one, Ireland registered the largest increase (3.3%), followed by Lithuania (2.8%).

On the other hand, decreases were registered in Sweden (1.5%), as well as in Latvia (-0.6%), Austria (-0.4%) and Italy (0.3%).

Comparing the data for the second quarter with those for the same period in 2022, Spain, with year-on-year growth of 1.8%, was among the most important rates, only surpassed by Ireland (2.8%) and Portugal (2.3 %).

On the other hand, decreases were recorded by Sweden (2.4%), the Czech Republic (0.6%) and Latvia (0.5%).

Eurostat specified that the preliminary estimates of GDP are based on incomplete data still subject to revision.

These are the Harvard university degrees that you can do online and for free

When it comes to talking about universities, there is no one with greater fame and prestige than Harvard. Founded in 1636 (140 years before the United States itself), the Massachusetts institution is considered the best university in the world. Studying (let alone graduating) there is the dream of millions of university students around the world who aspire to excellence.

However, many of them have to give up that dream for different reasons.. One of the most frequent, the economic one: according to El Comercio, being a Harvard student costs more than 82,000 dollars.

But what if they told you that you can study for free at Harvard? And it is that the famous university offers a series of course and career programs that can be done online and for free and only assuming the costs of issuance and the title, according to El Español

Harvard offers more than 130 free training

Harvard University itself has a course search engine on its website, where you can filter by price, duration, field of study or modality, among others.. If you filter by free price, you can see that the University offers different free courses.

Up to 9 pages of courses that are several weeks long and that only require the payment of the verification certificate at the end of the course (and that costs around 150 dollars in most cases).

What free courses does Harvard have?

The free courses, which can be found on the official Harvard website, are varied: most are dedicated to programming and new technologies, such as 'Introduction to game development', 'Introduction to computing', or 'Introduction to Intelligence Artificial with Python'.

There are also different formations of the Humanities branch, such as 'The first empires of China and the emergence of Buddhism', 'Contemporary China: the People's Republic, Taiwan and Hong Kong' or 'Religion, conflict and peace'. Other courses offer global visions, such as 'Justice' or 'EE public policy. USA: social, economic and foreign policies'.

Social Sciences also have a place in these study programs, with training such as 'Big Data Solutions for social and economic disparities'; as well as the branch of Medicine, with courses such as 'The opioid crisis in the United States' or 'MalariaX: defeating malaria from the genes to the world'.

Art, Business, Education or Data Science or even Law training: up to 133 free Harvard programs that can be consulted at this link.

Free Harvard University Courses Harvard University

How to Enroll in Free Harvard Courses

To enroll in the free Harvard courses, you have to search for the desired course on the online training website of the university center: Harvard edX. Once there, you simply have to select the course (from which we can consult information about the program, the cost of the certificate and other aspects) and open an account or log in on the web to enroll in one of the different dates offered at based on the duration of the course.

You can sign up for free courses and be a graduate of Harvard University through this link.

Spain faces a decisive second semester for the economy, marked by uncertainty and political instability

Spain goes on vacation without the certainty of whether there will be a stable government when it wakes up from its rest in September. And if there is a time when stability is important for economic policy, it is undoubtedly the second half of 2023.. Firstly, because the country has to start preparing for the return of fiscal rules in 2024. Brussels has already put homework: a budget adjustment of 9,000 million if Spain does not want to expose itself to sanctions. And, secondly, because the economy is facing a scenario of uncertainty in which the growth engines are beginning to show signs of exhaustion.

The second half of the year is always important at an economic level, but this time it is even more so, given the circumstances. The return of summer is when preparations begin to prepare the General State Budget (PGE). The public accounts have to be ready before September 30 to send them to Brussels in October and then the Commission for its approval in November.

However, this year the budget cycle will be conditioned by the parliamentarian. The calendar suggests that there will not be a new Executive until the first week of September at the earliest and the process could easily be extended until November. If there is no success, the elections will have to be repeated and the new Executive would hardly take the controls before 2024.

The results of the elections do not anticipate that the investiture will be resolved quickly. The block on the right does not add up and has the declared opposition of the rest of the parliamentary arch. While the one on the left would need, in principle, the support of ERC, Bildu, PNV, BNG and the abstention of Junts. Something that is by no means guaranteed.

In this situation, if there are no Budgets, the 2023 public accounts will be automatically extended next year, although the Executive has the possibility of approving new budgets to replace those extended later. The problem is that the accounts currently in force are designed for a scenario without fiscal rules with a forecast deficit of 3.9%.

Spain has committed to Brussels to reduce the imbalance in the accounts to 3% in 2024, which would imply an adjustment of at least 9,000 million euros. In principle, if the European Commission's recommendation to withdraw support measures to alleviate energy prices is complied with, it would be enough to cover most of the adjustment.. It should be remembered that if Spain fails to meet its deficit targets, it is exposed to sanctions from Brussels. A penalty that, beyond economics, is worrying about the reputational effects it entails.

And it is that the question is not only to convince the European Commission that Spain is capable of balancing the accounts, it is also necessary to persuade the markets. With an ECB in retreat, the country is more exposed to investors wanting to buy Spanish public debt securities, although for the moment Spain is not having problems placing its debt.

towards the slowdown

The macroeconomic outlook for the second semester is also uncertain. All the omens point to the fact that political instability will overlap with a slowdown in the economy that is already beginning to be perceived in various indicators.. Without going any further, economic growth in the second quarter slowed to 0.4% with a drop in exports greater than expected. Along the same lines, the Social Security affiliation data for June already reflected a slowdown in job creation, with the lowest figure in eight years for this month.

The outlook for the next two quarters is marked by uncertainty. In Europe, the context is one of economic stagnation, with the German engine seized up in an environment in which the strong rises in interest rates by the ECB will continue to reduce growth. As the year progresses, interest rate hikes will continue to unfold their effects and further cool the economy.

The Euribor will continue to make a dent in the pockets of the around four million homes mortgaged at a variable rate. Funcas forecasts suggest that loan installments will continue to become more expensive at least until May 2024. In this context of historically high interest rates, financial tensions like those experienced in March with the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse could reappear.

The great hope is the evolution of consumption. With exports declining due to weakness in Europe, household spending could be the lifeline of the national economy in the coming months. The drop in inflation, added to the improvement in wages, will allow families to recover part of the purchasing power lost during the crisis. The strong job creation that has occurred in the last year may also contribute to consumption.

Another of the key variables will be the rate of execution of the European recovery funds, which has slowed down considerably in the first half of the year. Between January and June 2023, only 7,700 million euros have been committed, an amount less than that of the two previous years at this point (20,620 million in 2021 and 12,856 million in 2022).. Spain has yet to request the fourth and fifth disbursements – endowed with 10,000 and 7,000 million respectively – which must be requested before the end of 2023.

Even with everything, the economic growth achieved to date will clearly be enough to guarantee that Spain closes 2023 as the major European economy with the greatest growth in GDP in 2023.. Even if the national GDP freezes in the two remaining quarters of the year, growth will be at least 2% due to the carryover effect from the end of last year.

Electric companies prioritize investment in wind energy to compensate electricity at 0 euros/Mwh due to excess photovoltaic

Large electricity companies are prioritizing investment in wind power over photovoltaic as a way to alleviate the effect that the increase in solar parks in Spain has caused in electricity prices, close to zero euros per megawatt/hour (Mwh). ) or free of charge, during daylight hours, especially in spring and summer. This is seen in the distribution between these two technologies in the renewable parks that Iberdrola, Endesa or Naturgy have in operation and this was made explicit a few days ago by sources from the latter company.

“A photovoltaic plant can give 2,100 hours of production and a wind power plant, from 3,600 to 4,000, depending on the location,” explains Juan Carlos Badillo, an expert in renewable investment, from ATZ Investment Partners, who affirms that what the path that a market of incentives is going on at the moment “is to go towards wind projects”, because they are more profitable. As he says, this is not something that only happens in Spain, but is a worldwide phenomenon.

At the end of 2020, Naturgy's installed wind power capacity in Spain was 1.9 gigawatts (GW), 61% more than in 2018, and a net energy production with this technology of 4,058 GWh. On that same date, the installed capacity of solar energy was 675 Mw, divided between Brazil, Chile and Spain.. Here, the net production was 425 GWh.

Despite being considered the world leader in photovoltaics, the presence of wind energy in the generation of renewables in Iberdrola is greater, both in Spain and in the rest of the countries where it is present. If in the 2022-2024 plan it contemplated installing 3.6 GW of photovoltaic energy and 0.4 GW of wind power, this technology will be the one that will mainly support the 39% boost to renewable generation that the company foresees in the 23-25 plan , when it will moderate the installation of photovoltaic with 3 GW and the wind power will increase by 1.4 GW.

Despite the fact that technically building a photovoltaic park is easier than a wind farm, because it is more complicated in engineering or construction, the most obvious explanation given in the renewable energy sector for companies choosing to invest in more complex projects in Generally more inaccessible places, is that wind turbines allow electricity to be produced at any time of the day, because with more or less force, the wind always blows while photovoltaics only generate electricity during the hours of the day when it is sunny.

The underlying economic reason has to do with the so-called “pointing coefficient”, the result of dividing the average cost of the electricity bill by the average price of electricity, which contains the advantage that electricity companies see in compensate with wind energy the price of electricity that remains close to zero euros during the central hours of the day, when the entry of photovoltaic means that there is a lot of demand and little demand.

According to sources from the renewable sector, it is now perfectly normal that on a spring day the price of electricity is close to zero euros/Mwh in the middle of the day, when photovoltaic generation is at full capacity and pumping a lot of electricity into the system. at a time when the demand, for example domestic, is much lower. Things change when the sun goes down and people go home to prepare dinner or put on the washing machines.. At that time, the renewable asset is wind power, which, as it no longer has competition from solar power at that time, rises in price. “Having electricity at zero euros or 15 euros at certain hours of the day and 100 euros at eight in the evening is totally normal,” they explain.

The very low prices that electricity is reaching due to the large amount available due to the push of photovoltaics has led the wind sector to unsuccessfully ask the Ministry of Ecological Transition for a way to avoid prices equal to zero, which Teresa's department Ribera points out that they would be avoided if the sector resorted to regulated auctions, which set a fixed price for years. Sources from the electricity sector stressed a few days ago that the preference for wind turbines is a way of gaining at hours when there is no light what is not coming in when there is a lot of solar energy.

What happens in general is that if the thing costs a lot of solar competition and makes the price go down, the price billed for the plants at a time when solar production grows and not the demand, makes the price

the pointing,

Yes it is easier to develop and build and operate but it has that problem

an incentive market right now is to go towards wind projects (it is more profitable)

Yes, it completes the curve and it is logical that it will go to wind power

but it's global

Yes, I think there is interest in taking a photo, but not at any price and combining it with hybridization and discussion

market incentive theme

batteries, capacity market, yes there may be a scenario where batteries can enter but it will be an adjustment, yes there may be but it has a pricey incentive

It depends on the cpaic of accident to other technogoacs (perhaps the less prepared companies use the photov because it is more technologically simple)

Despite these low prices…. RESULTS

Declas

-unsuccessfully- to the Ministry of Ecological Transition a

profit sector

Ukraine and the US are preparing to negotiate a bilateral security agreement

The Ukrainian presidency has announced that it will begin negotiations with the United States in the coming days to agree on a bilateral agreement with security guarantees to guarantee Washington's support until Kiev achieves NATO membership.. “Security guarantees for Ukraine will be concrete and long-term commitments that guarantee Ukraine's ability to win now and deter any Russian aggression in the future,” said the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency, Andri Yermak.. These guarantees “will be valid until Ukraine becomes a member of NATO,” Yermak added.

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