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.

Pope Francis leaves his most critical ultra-conservative cardinal without an apartment

Pope Francis has decided to punish the ultra-conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the most critical of his management, without his apartment of more than 400 square meters and will reduce his salary.

The decision has not been made public, but was reported by some conservative portals that reported that, in the meeting on November 20 with the heads of the dicasteries (Vatican ministries), Francis informed them that he would eliminate the privileged rental of which the cardinal enjoys and would reduce his salary.

Austen Ivereigh, British journalist and author of The Great Reformer, very close to the pontiff, explained that Francis spoke to him about this decision during a brief meeting in the Vatican, although he wanted to clarify that the pope never called the cardinal an “enemy”, as some pointed out. media.

According to other media such as the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the pope would have explained that the reason for his gesture was the disunity that the cardinal creates and that he is using that apartment and that salary that the Vatican gives him precisely against the Church.

“I never used the word enemy or the pronoun my. I simply announced it at the meeting of the heads of the dicasteries, without giving specific explanations,” was the response that the pope gave to Ivereigh, as he explained.

The American cardinal turned 75 last June, the retirement age for prelates, he was prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura and also former patron emeritus of the Order of Malta, so he does not have any position in the Vatican Curia.

Even so, he has an apartment a few meters from Saint Peter's Square of more than 400 square meters and, as Ivereigh reveals, he has continued to receive a Vatican salary of between 5,000 and 6,000 euros per month.

For the moment, Burke has not reacted, but in the regular newsletter he writes dedicated to the faithful he stated, although without mentioning any specific fact, that “confusion, division and error have entered even into the Church.”

The cardinal participated in a conference titled The Synodal Babel, the day before the Synod began, in which the assembly promoted by Francis was harshly criticized, in which for the first time lay people, including women, were able to vote.

Letters with doubts

In addition, Burke and other retired cardinals, such as Walter Brandmueller of Germany, the Mexican Juan Sandoval, the Guinean Robert Sarah and Joseph Zen, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, published a letter with five doubts presented to Francis about the Synod.

In it they expressed concern that “the blessing of homosexual couples could create confusion, not only by making them seem analogous to marriage, but because homosexual acts would be presented as a good” and other issues.

Burke had already participated years ago in another letter with doubts sent to the pope after the publication of the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

On November 11, it was announced that Francis had removed Joseph E. as bishop of the American diocese of Tyler (Texas).. Strickland, after an inspection.

Strickland is an outspoken critic of Francis and in 2018 he joined the accusations against the pontiff declared by the former nuncio to the United States, Carlo Maria Viganò, regarding Francis' alleged knowledge of the abuses of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

The Pope says that one of the "great sins" they have committed is "masculinizing the Church"

Pope Francis has pointed out that one of the “great sins” that they have committed is to “masculinize the Church” because, in reality, “the Church is a woman” and proposed to “demasculinize it” starting with theology and inviting to give more space to more women theologians.

This was done this Thursday in the audience with the members of the International Theological Commission, the body established by Paul VI in the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 1969 (it was a proposal of the first assembly of the Synod of Bishops) , to help you examine the most important doctrinal issues.

Pope Francis, who is recovering from the flu that caused lung inflammation, did not read the prepared speech because his voice was weak, but he improvised some words.

“Forgive me, I have spoken too much and it has not done me any good,” said the pope when delivering the text he had prepared.. “How am I, better not to read it. “I'll give it to you,” he explained.

“There is something I don't like about you and forgive my sincerity. One, two, three, four women: poor women! They are alone! Oh sorry, five. We must move forward on this! “Women have a different capacity for theological reflection than men,” the pope said due to the low female presence in the audience.

“The Church is a woman. If we do not know how to understand what a woman is, what the theology of a woman is, we will never understand what the Church is.. One of the great sins we have committed is to 'masculinize' the Church,” the Pontiff acknowledged.

And he announced that at the next meeting of the Council of Cardinals they will reflect “on the feminine dimension of the Church” because “this is not resolved by giving more ministries to women, that is another thing.”. It is resolved by the mystical way, by the royal way.”

Francis was referring to the request that arose at the Synod held in October to give new ministries to women, until now dedicated only to men, but which according to the pope has to go beyond just this.

WHO warns of an increase in malaria cases since 2019 and points to climate change as a cause

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of an increase of 16 million cases of malaria in 2022 (249 million) compared to 2019 (233 million), and points to climate change as one of the causes of this increase.

Thus, despite progress in expanding access to insecticide-treated bed nets and medications to help prevent malaria in young children and pregnant women, more people are falling ill with malaria, according to its latest report on the disease. , presented this Thursday at a press conference.

In addition to the disruptions caused by Covid-19, the global malaria response has faced a growing number of threats, including drug and insecticide resistance, humanitarian crises, resource shortages, the effects of global warming, climate change and delays in program implementation, especially in countries with a high burden of the disease.

Specifically, the World Malaria Report 2023 delves into the link between climate change and malaria. Changes in temperature, humidity and precipitation can influence the behavior and survival of the 'Anopheles' mosquito, which carries malaria.

Extreme weather events, such as heat waves and floods, can also directly impact disease transmission and burden.. In fact, Pakistan's catastrophic floods in 2022, for example, increased malaria cases in the country five-fold.

“The changing climate poses a substantial risk to progress against malaria, especially in vulnerable regions. “Sustainable and resilient responses to malaria are needed now more than ever, along with urgent action to slow the pace of global warming and reduce its effects,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.

Climate variability is expected to have indirect effects on malaria trends through, for example, reduced access to essential malaria services and disruptions in the supply chain of insecticide-treated nets, medicines and vaccines.

Climate-related population displacement can also lead to an increase in disease prevalence, as people without immunity migrate to endemic areas.

Data on the long-term impact of climate change on malaria transmission is scarce. However, the direction and magnitude of any impacts are likely to vary across social and ecological systems, both within and between countries.

Global Malaria Burden Trends and Response

Globally, there were five million more malaria cases in 2022 than the previous year, with five countries bearing the brunt of these increases. Pakistan recorded the largest increase, with nearly 2.6 million cases in 2022 compared to 500,000 in 2021.

Significant increases were also seen in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. Meanwhile, in the 11 countries that bear the highest malaria burden, rates of new infections and deaths have stabilized after an initial spike during the first year of the pandemic.. In these countries, which are supported through the WHO 'High Burden to High Impact' approach, there will be an estimated 167 million cases of malaria and 426,000 deaths in 2022.

Based on current trends, progress towards the critical 2025 milestones of the WHO global malaria strategy is “very far” from what was planned, according to the report.

“It is crucial to recognize the multitude of threats that hinder our response efforts. Climate variability poses a substantial risk, but we must also address challenges such as limited access to healthcare, ongoing conflicts and emergencies, the lingering effects of Covid-19 on service delivery, inadequate financing and implementation. of our core malaria interventions,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

“To move towards a malaria-free future, we need a concerted effort that fosters innovation, resource mobilization and collaborative strategies,” he noted.

The arrival of vaccines

However, the report also cites achievements, such as the gradual deployment of the first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine, 'RTS,S/AS01', in three African countries.

Rigorous evaluation has shown a substantial reduction in severe malaria and a 13 percent drop in early childhood deaths from all causes in areas where the vaccine has been administered compared to areas where it was not introduced.

This substantial reduction in illness and death adds to what is being achieved in these areas where mosquito nets, indoor insecticide spraying and other child health interventions have already been introduced.

Furthermore, in October this year, the WHO recommended a second safe and effective vaccine against the disease, 'R21/Matrix-M'.. The availability of two malaria vaccines is expected to increase supply and make a large-scale rollout possible across Africa.

In this sense, the director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, Daniel Ngamije, has stressed the importance of having more resources to fight the disease.. “We must remember that malaria remains a preventable and curable disease. It is true that we face many challenges, and climate change is one more. But opportunities are also coming to us. However, we need resources and commitment to turn these opportunities into actions,” he claimed.

Ngamije has taken advantage of the presentation of the report to emphasize the importance of “revitalizing” the fight against malaria and increasing coverage, access to services, and ensuring that in the near future countries “are back on the right track ” when it comes to global malaria targets.

The CEO of RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Michael Charles, has spoken in this same sense, calling for investing “drastically” because “there are shortcomings” in the fight against malaria.. “We have to be innovative, especially in the way we approach this disease. We cannot take an isolated approach,” he said.. Along these lines, he has called for “interacting” and the health integration of malaria with other existing diseases to “really strengthen health systems at the community level.”

Inflation slows to 3.2% in November due to lower fuel prices and containment of food prices

Inflation has given the Spaniards' pockets a break in November. According to the provisional advance released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the CPI has moderated three tenths in the last month to register an interannual variation rate of 3.2%, favored by the lowering of fuel prices and the containing increases in food.

The slowdown in prices noted in November represents a positive variation in the CPI with respect to the interannual rate of 3.5% at which the data had been stagnant for two months, after having returned to increases in the second half of the year from 1 .9% registered in June. This means that, although prices continue to rise, they do so at a slower pace and far from the levels of a year ago, when in November 2022 inflation reached a rate of 6.8%. Compared to October, prices have decreased by 0.4%.

“The advance CPI data for November is very good news,” said the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, who highlighted that “salaries continue to gain purchasing power and Spanish companies, competitiveness.”. The inflation data for November closes the period with which the increase in contributory pensions is calculated to adjust them to the CPI. If the advance is confirmed, the increase in 2024 would be 3.8%. Also currently on the table is the increase in the minimum wage, which could take inflation as a reference, according to the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, last week.

The INE attributes the drop in inflation in November to a decrease in the price of fuel and tourist packages, as well as a slowdown in food prices, which would have become less expensive in the last month than expected. they did in November 2022. On the other hand, the statistical institute points out that the behavior of electricity has been worse than that recorded a year before, when its price fell by 22.4%.

While waiting to know the complete breakdown of the November inflation data by product categories – which will be published on December 14 along with the final reading of the general index – the CPI for food grew by 9.5% in October. Although it still remains well above the general index, the inflation of these essential products has experienced a pronounced moderation so far this year, after peaking in February when it reached a rate of 16.6%.

Core CPI down

The containment of food prices has been reflected in the behavior of underlying inflation, which is what discounts the price of energy and unprocessed food from the calculation due to their high volatility.. Specifically, the core CPI slowed down in November, registering a year-on-year variation rate of 4.5%, seven tenths below the 5.2% recorded in October.

This is the fourth consecutive month in which core inflation moderates its growth. The index has thus registered its lowest mark in more than a year, since it stood at 4.4% in April 2022.. At that time, the indicator was immersed in an escalation that peaked in February of this year, reaching an interannual rate of 7.6%.

Underlying inflation allows us to observe to what extent the rise in prices has spread to the economy as a whole, so its moderation in recent months is positive.. In fact, it is an indicator that is especially observed to calculate economic forecasts. Analysts like Funcas, for example, estimate that inflation will rise again to 3.5% in the first half of 2024. In that sense, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, warned on Monday that inflation will rebound in the coming months and insisted that it is too soon to “declare victory.

Pensions will rise by 3.8% in 2024 with the CPI: retirees will earn on average 52 euros more per month

Contributory pensions will rise by 3.8% next year, in line with the average inflation that has been registered in the last twelve months. The INE published this Wednesday the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November, the last figure that was missing to fully specify the dimension of the revaluation.

An increase of 3.8% will imply an increase in the system's average pension of about 45.5 euros per month. Currently, the average benefit amounts to 1,198 euros per month in 14 payments. In the case of retirements, the average benefit will be revalued by 52 euros per month and will thus go from the current 1,378 euros per month to 1,430 euros next year.. However, as more people will continue to enter the system with higher pensions in 2024, the averages are expected to rise somewhat more.

Another of the unknowns that is cleared up with the November CPI is the amount of the maximum pension, also linked to inflation. This benefit will rise from the current 3,059 euros per month in 14 payments to 3,175 next year (116 euros more). Along the same lines, the maximum contribution bases will increase from the current 4,495.5 euros to 4,720 in 2024. The part of a worker's salary that exceeds that amount is exempt from contributions.

In addition, non-contributory pensions—those that do not require having contributed to Social Security in order to receive them—will increase by 6.8%, in line with the provisions of the reform approved by the Executive in March of this year.. This percentage increase will also be applied to the minimum contributory pension and the minimum vital income.

In this way, the non-contributory individual retirement pension will be 517 euros per month in 14 payments (33 euros more than in 2023); The minimum vital income for an adult without burdens will rise to 604 euros per month in 12 payments (38 euros more) and the minimum contributory retirement pension with a dependent spouse will grow to 1,032 euros per month in 14 payments (66 euros more per month ).

Now that the size of the pension increase is known, the Government must make it official through a royal decree that is expected to be published in December, when the inflation data for November is final.. In addition, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration usually sends a letter to pensioners in January in which it informs them of how their benefit is after the revaluation.

The increase in all benefits, the maximum pension and the contribution bases must be reflected in the General State Budgets, where the Government will also detail the cost of the revaluation. If the scales used by the Bank of Spain are applied, which estimates that for each point of inflation spending increases by 1,800 million euros, the cost of the revaluation will be around 6,840 million.

The purchasing power of pensioners is protected by law since December 2021, in such a way that benefits are always revalued with inflation. However, this was not always like that. In 2011 the Government froze all pensions except the minimum and non-contributory ones to cut expenses in the midst of the financial crisis. In 2013, a mechanism was introduced that limited revaluations to 0.25% while Social Security was in deficit.

The Euribor suffers its biggest monthly drop in three years although the average mortgage will rise almost 100 euros with the November review

The pressure of the Euribor on the mortgaged is lessening, although it does not stop. With just over 24 hours left until the end of the month of November, everything indicates that the reference index for calculating the interests of the vast majority of variable rate mortgage loans in Spain will close the month slightly above 4% after experiencing its biggest monthly drop in more than three years. Even so, those who review their monthly payment with this last information will have to face an increase that will be close to 100 euros in the case of the average mortgage.

The Euribor has fallen in November to a monthly average of 4.027%, more than one tenth below the 4.16% in October. Although the data is provisional – in the absence of knowing what level the indicator will be at this Thursday, the last day of November – it is not expected to vary significantly, except for a major surprise.. In this way, the Euribor has broken its upward trend, which in recent months had led it to stagnate at around 4.1% with an increasingly slower growth rate.

The fall in November not only represents a change in trend in the evolution of the Euribor, but also represents its largest fall since July 2020, when the index went from -0.15% to -0.28%, still negative and affected by the economic stoppage of the pandemic. This is the second monthly decrease recorded by the Euribor so far in 2023. It already decreased in August from 4.15% to 4.07% after more than a year and a half of consecutive increases.

“With the return of summer, the trend has changed and we are returning, little by little, to a certain level of stabilization of the Euribor,” explains Simone Colombelli, mortgage director of the mortgage comparator and advisor iAhorro.. “It is likely that it will end this year around 4%, up or down, and that it will move between 3.75% and 4% throughout the first half of 2024,” predicts Miquel Riera, an analyst at HelpMyCash. “It is also not ruled out that it could fall to 3.5% in the most optimistic scenario,” he adds.

Despite the decrease, the mortgage payments that are updated with the November data will increase, since the index is higher than the 2.828% recorded a year ago. For an average loan of 150,000 euros for 30 years and with a spread of 0.99%, the update will cause the monthly bill to go from 691.35 to 790.81 euros, which will mean an average increase of 99.45 euros per month. month. In the case of a mortgage of 300,000 euros with the same conditions, the increase would reach 198.91 euros, going from 1,382.7 to 1,581.61 euros.

These increases are less than last year, but it rains in the wet, because the increases accumulate. The November review implied in 2022 an average increase of 242.37 euros for a mortgage of 150,000 euros and 484.74 euros for one of 300,000. In this way, in two years both assumptions respectively accumulate an average increase of 341.82 and 683.65 euros.. “We do not expect decreases in the mortgage payments in the short-medium term; what is more likely is that the increases in payments will be smaller than last year,” says Estefanía González, spokesperson for the mortgage advisor Kelisto.es.

At the moment the Euribor has broken with the forecasts that indicated that it would approach 4.5% throughout 2023. In fact, the daily data has dropped by 4% this Wednesday. Specifically, it stood at 3.983%, a level that is far from the annual highs recorded in September, when it reached 4.23%.. However, analysts urge caution.. “This trend is striking, but we should not give up. It is good news, that is clear, especially for those with mortgages, but it is still too early to say that the Euribor is not going to rise again. In fact, it is likely that it will,” says the mortgage director of iAhorro.

The indicator used as a reference in the majority of variable mortgages reflects the change in tone of the European Central Bank (ECB), which in October took its foot off the accelerator after ten consecutive increases in interest rates. The institution chaired by Christine Lagarde left the official rate at 4.5%, an unprecedented level since the entry into circulation of the euro. However, the monetary authority has already warned that rates will remain high for as long as necessary in order to return inflation below 2%. “While waiting for what happens at the next ECB meeting, on December 14, it seems that the markets are already discounting that there will be no future rates in the short and medium term,” says González.

The rise in the Euribor in the last year and a half—in which it has gone from negative rates to exceeding 4%, thus reaching highest levels since 2008—has contributed to cooling the housing market. According to the latest data released this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the mortgage firm fell by 29.6% in September compared to the previous year, accumulating eight consecutive year-on-year falls.

The OECD advises Spain to make a "strong" and "sustained" fiscal adjustment to reduce public debt and generate spending margin

The OECD, an organization made up of mainly high-income countries, recommends that the Government launch a fiscal adjustment plan as soon as possible to redirect the situation of Spanish public finances.. The organization believes that Spain needs to undertake a “strong” and “sustained” fiscal consolidation to keep the debt on a downward path and thus be able to generate room to assume the increase in spending linked to the aging of the population or undertake transformative investments that drive growth. .

This is what the economists of the Paris-based institution point out in their fall macroeconomic projections report for 2024 published this Tuesday.. The OECD sees the need for a more ambitious fiscal adjustment than the one the Government has hinted at so far.. The organization believes that with the measures on the table the public deficit would fall to 3.2% of GDP next year, still above the limits allowed by Brussels.

In this way, the organization joins the call to tighten the belt that has already been raised by the IMF or the European Commission itself in view of the return to fiscal rules next year after four years of suspension.

Adjustment recommendations for European countries have been taking place in recent weeks. The deteriorated appearance of public finances in the Old Continent after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have left several Member States, including Spain, in a difficult situation.. The latest to have problems has been Germany, champion of fiscal discipline, which has even had to suspend constitutional limits on debt to face a budget crisis.

In Spain, the Executive has sent to Brussels a budget plan for 2024 in which all anti-crisis energy support measures decline, while in the expenses section free state public transport is maintained, the revaluation of pensions is included and the increase in the salary of civil servants.

However, the Government has only just started the budget process and no member of the Council of Ministers has yet closed the door to extending any of the measures that expire in December.. In fact, Pedro Sánchez himself announced during his investiture session that he will extend the VAT reduction on certain basic foods until mid-2024.

Furthermore, it is far from clear that the Executive will be able to carry out public accounts for 2024.. First, the coalition partners will have to agree; Then they will have to be able to convince five nationalist political forces of different political stripes (ERC, Junts, EH Bildu and PNV) and, if that were not enough, they will have to be able to overcome the more than foreseeable PP veto on the spending ceiling in the Senate.

Less growth in 2024, but above the eurozone

Regarding economic growth, the OECD forecasts GDP growth of 2.4% in 2023, which would slow to 1.4% in 2024. The forecast of the Paris-based organization is more pessimistic than the one it presented almost three months ago. The growth forecast for 2024 has been lowered by half a point and is distanced from that of the Government, which expects a GDP increase of 2%.

Even with everything, Spain would be one of the countries that would grow the most in the euro zone in both 2023 and 2024. The OECD predicts that the euro zone economy will barely advance 0.6% this year and 0.9% next year. Among the large euro economies, Germany will suffer a contraction of 0.1% this year and will only grow by 0.6% in 2024. In the case of France, GDP will rebound by 0.9% this year and by 0. 8% next year, while in Italy the economy will grow at a rate of 0.7% both this year and next.

As most analysts point out, the only engine that will move the Spanish economy in 2024 will be domestic consumption, which should be boosted by the recovery of purchasing power caused by the fall in inflation and the rise in wages. European recovery funds will also play an important role, which should sustain investment over the coming years.

Díaz proposes expanding unemployment benefits to those under 45 years of age and accuses Calviño of wanting to cut the aid

The Ministry of Labor has revealed this Wednesday the main lines of its plan to reform the unemployment benefit system, the aid received by the unemployed who have already exhausted their contributory benefit.. The department headed by Yolanda Díaz proposes expanding the coverage of aid to those under 45 years of age who do not have family responsibilities, simplifying access or eliminating the waiting period of one month to collect it, according to Labor sources.. From the second vice presidency, they insist that the proposal goes “in the opposite direction to those who propose cuts”, a dart directed at the Ministry of Economy led by the first vice president, Nadia Calviño.

Furthermore, Díaz's proposal also seeks to make it easier to make aid compatible with incorporation into the labor market during the first month and for file reviews to be quarterly, according to the aforementioned sources.. The Ministry of Labor is finalizing the draft of the reform, which it hopes to bring to the Council of Ministers “as soon as possible.”

The reform has become a new reason for dispute between the two economic souls of the Government. The second vice president has surreptitiously accused Calviño of wanting to cut benefits and has claimed the competence of her ministry in this matter.. “We have learned about the Economy proposal and we show our absolute disagreement,” Díaz said this Wednesday before journalists gathered in the Congress courtyard. “I guarantee that we are not going to promote any cuts,” he added.

The second vice president has defended that this is a reform that aims to “gain rights”, expand subsidies and eliminate bureaucratic aspects to improve the quality of provision.. “The Government is not going to cut the unemployment benefit: it is going to improve and modernize it, working people can rest assured,” he concluded.

Discrepancies with Economy

The legislature has begun with swords raised between Calviño and Díaz, who already left notable clashes during the previous Government in matters such as labor reform or the increase in the minimum wage, where the initiative is taken by Labor.

The Ministry of Economy has not openly presented a specific proposal, but some information known in recent weeks suggested that Calviño's department wants to move towards a decreasing subsidy model – higher at the beginning, but which would be reduced as time passes. months-.

Economy sources consulted by 20minutos indicate that the ministry “is aligned” with the proposal that Labor has advanced this Wednesday. “Ultimately, what we want and share is that the entire system is aimed at supporting employment,” they point out.. Calviño's ministry adds that the two parties continue to exchange documents and work at a technical level to close the reform as soon as possible.

Last Monday, the Secretary of State for the Economy, Gonzalo García, gave some more insight into the position of the first vice presidency.. At an informative breakfast, García pointed out that the reform should focus on promoting compliance with the activity agreements made by the unemployed with the Public Employment Services.. These activity agreements are the pact that the unemployed person reaches with the administration in which he or she undertakes to actively look for work and accept offers that suit their profile.

García claimed that there must be “reciprocity” between the support that the administration provides to find employment for these people and “the active search for employment and the acceptance of appropriate offers,” which are required of recipients of aid.. The Secretary of State defended that the system must take into account “the shortage” of profiles in “many sectors” of the Spanish economy. In addition, he pointed out that the minimum vital income incorporates “social protection elements” that cover needs that previously depended on these employment subsidies.

According to the latest available statistics from the Ministry of Labor, there are currently 710,622 people who receive some type of unemployment benefit after having exhausted their contributory benefit.. Of them, the majority are unemployed over 52 years old, who have particularly difficult employability and often accumulate long periods of unemployment.

They find 87 migrants in the trailer of a truck in Mexico and the driver flees the scene

Mexican authorities found 87 migrants from Latin America and Asia in the trailer of a truck that was circulating on the Tapachula-Huehuetán highway, in the southern state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, the National Migration Institute (INM) of Mexico reported this Wednesday. .

In the vehicle were 46 adults who were traveling alone and 41 “women, men and minors who made up 14 family units,” according to a statement from the organization.

The authorities intercepted the truck on Tuesday night at a checkpoint on the highway between Tapachula and Huehuetán, according to the INM, and the driver and his companion “fled from the scene.”

The organization detailed that citizens from nine different countries were identified: Dominican Republic, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bangladesh, Uruguay, Guatemala and China, who “could not prove their regular stay” in Mexico.

“With full respect for their rights and guarantees, the adults were taken to INM facilities to begin the corresponding administrative procedure,” according to the statement, which adds that the families “were accompanied to a shelter of the entity” under the guardianship of the System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family.

The transport of migrants in overcrowded conditions reflects the “unprecedented” migratory flow from Mexico and Central America, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has previously warned, which in early November reported an annual increase of more than 60%. irregular migration that crosses Mexican territory in 2023.

Pope Francis remains stable, but "lung inflammation" persists

Pope Francis' health conditions remain “stable”, but the “lung inflammation” that has forced him to suspend the trip to the climate summit in Dubai persists, the Holy See reported this Wednesday.

“The holy father's conditions are stable, he has no fever, but lung inflation associated with respiratory problems persists,” the Vatican confirmed in a statement.. For this reason, the Argentine pontiff, who will turn 87 on December 17, will continue with antibiotics.

This Wednesday morning, Francis appeared before thousands of faithful at the traditional general audience and stated that he was still not well, so his catechism had to be read by a collaborator. “I'm still not well with this flu. The voice is not good,” he explained to the faithful present in the Paul VI classroom at the Vatican.

Before the hearing, the same thing had happened when he received the Scottish football club Celtic, as he preferred that his collaborator give the prepared speech and then improvised some words.

Last Saturday Francisco underwent a CT scan (computed axial tomography) in a hospital in Rome, which confirmed these health problems.

Several ailments this year

Despite recent respiratory problems, which forced him to cancel the aforementioned trip, as already happened with the visit to Congo and South Sudan, which was rescheduled due to knee problems, this Tuesday he received and chatted for more than two hours with the Spanish bishops, summoned to analyze the situation of the seminaries in Spain.

During the Angelus last Sunday, Jorge Bergoglio did not appear at the papal palace either and stayed in the chapel of his residence, Casa Santa Marta, to pray the Sunday prayer, which was broadcast by the Vatican media.

In this situation, on Monday he chose to receive the president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and his entourage at his residence, and not at the Apostolic Palace.

Francisco has had several ailments this year due to age and a complicated operation for an abdominal hernia

In April, he was hospitalized for three days for bronchitis that had to be treated with antibiotics and which caused concern, since the pontiff arrived with fever and in an ambulance.

In June, by surprise, and due to the presence of adhesions from his previous colon diverticulum operation in July 2021, he had to undergo surgery again for an abdominal hernia and was hospitalized for nine days.