Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

Por Redacción PortalPortuario / Agencia DW @PortalPortuario El cazaminas alemán Fulda zarpó de la base naval de Kiel-Wik, en el mar Báltico, con destino al Mediterráneo, donde inicialmente se integrará a una fuerza de defensa antiminas de la Otan. El buque está especializado en la detección y destrucción de minas marinas y, en caso de un despliegue internacional en el estrecho de Ormuz, se encontraría más cerca de su posible ubicación de operación. Desde el inicio de la guerra de Estados Unidos e Israel contra Irán, el 28 de febrero, el régimen de Teherán ha bloqueado el estrecho de Ormuz, una ruta marítima vital, que supuestamente ha minado. El cierre ha provocado un fuerte aumento en los precios del petróleo y del gas natural licuado (GNL) en el mercado mundial. El canciller de Alemania, Friedrich Merz, ha declarado reiteradamente que su país está dispuesto a contribuir a un acuerdo de paz, pero solo tras el fin de la guerra con Irán. Se lo prometió personalmente al Presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump. Merz reiteró “durante mi última visita y también en nuestras conversaciones telefónicas, le dije repetidamente que esta guerra nos está afectando significativamente, que nos gustaría que terminara y que estamos ofreciendo nuestra ayuda”. En la base naval de Kiel, se exhibe el dron submarino Sea Cat de la Armada alemana, con un cazaminas detrás. En la base naval de Kiel, se exhibe el dron submarino Sea Cat de la Armada alemana, con un cazaminas detrás. La Armada alemana posee una amplia experiencia en desminado. Desde el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, ha realizado continuas labores de desminado, especialmente en el mar Báltico. Diez cazaminas, equipados con modernos drones y buzos especializados en desminado, han consolidado su reputación internacional en esta zona escasamente poblada. La capacidad de desminado se considera un recurso excepcional dentro de la Otan. Como cualquier despliegue militar de las Fuerzas Armadas (Bundeswehr) alemanas en el extranjero, una posible misión naval en el estrecho de Ormuz estaría sujeta a condiciones. Estas se derivan de la Ley Fundamental (la Constitución alemana) y de la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional Federal, el máximo tribunal de Alemania. En primer lugar, tal misión debe estar integrada en un “sistema de seguridad colectiva” como Naciones Unidas, la Otan o la Unión Europea. En segundo lugar, el Bundestag (Cámara Baja del Parlamento), debe ser informado sobre el despliegue en el extranjero, debatirlo y aprobar el mandato. Este mandato define la misión exacta de la Bundeswehr, las capacidades militares que se le proporcionarán, el área de operaciones, el número máximo de efectivos y la duración de la misión. El Bundestag puede tardar días o incluso semanas en aprobar un despliegue. Por lo tanto, la Armada ya está realizando preparativos, lo que requiere la reasignación de recursos. “Todo lo que tenemos ya está desplegado. Especialmente lo relativo al escuadrón de cazaminas. Una nueva misión siempre implica la reducción de una existente”, señaló la capitana de fragata Inka von Puttkamer, comandante del 3.er Escuadrón de Cazaminas. La Armada alemana, que, según el ministro de Defensa, Boris Pistorius, es “la más pequeña en la historia de la República Federal”, ya está comprometida con varias misiones de la Unión Europea, la Otan y Naciones Unidas. La comandante Von Puttkamer aclaró que el peligroso trabajo en un campo minado solo puede realizarse bajo protección. “Las unidades de contramedidas antiminas solo pueden desplegarse si se mantienen a raya las amenazas desde la superficie y el aire. Así como una fragata no puede detectar una mina, un cazaminas no puede participar en combate aéreo. Por eso, siempre nos verán operando junto con fragatas o corbetas”. El nuevo avión de patrulla marítima P-8 Poseidon también podría utilizarse en este tipo de operaciones. Una operación de este tipo solo es posible en colaboración con socios, subrayó el ministro de Defensa Pistorius, y solo con Estados Unidos. Ellos tienen “la mejor perspectiva de la situación en la región”. “Los estadounidenses son quienes, junto con los israelíes, libran esta guerra, y por lo tanto, son con quienes debemos colaborar en lo que respecta a las consecuencias”, explicó el político alemán en abril a la cadena ARD. Se desconoce el alcance de la actividad minera en el estrecho de Ormuz. Así como cuándo se cumpliría el requisito fundamental para el despliegue de las fuerzas armadas alemanas: el fin definitivo de la guerra en Irán. Ese fin no parece probable en estos momentos, ya que las tensiones en torno al estrecho de Ormuz se han intensificado recientemente.

ASCOLI Aria pulita nel Piceno, in particolare nel territorio del capoluogo. La centralina ascolana di monitoraggio dell’Arpam (collocata in zona Monticelli) non ha registrato presenze anomale di polveri sottili Pm10. Zero sforamenti, dal 1 gennaio 2026 a questa settimana. Una linea che ricalca esattamente il trend del 2025. San Benedetto Discorso leggermente diverso per San Benedetto. Lì, l’apparecchiatura di controllo (installata nei pressi del palazzo municipale) segna per quest’anno tre giornate oltre i limiti consentiti dalle norme europee sulla salute pubblica. In particolare, si è avuto un doppio sforamento, il 14 e il 15 aprile, fortunatamente con quantitativi d’inquinanti minimi. Infatti, si sono registrati rispettivamente 52 e 51 microgrammi di Pm10 per metro cubo d’aria, con la soglia-limite fissata a 50. Complessivamente, il 2026 è in linea con lo scorso anno quando (sempre nello stesso periodo di riferimento) lungo la Riviera si registrarono due sforamenti. Questi non sono solo semplici numeri statistici. È ormai scientificamente provato, infatti, che la presenza di eccessive concentrazioni di micropolveri nell’aria incide negativamente sulla qualità della vita di chi quell’aria è costretto a respirarla. Il numero massimo C’è da sottolineare un’altra cifra importante: 35. Rappresenta il numero massimo di giornate in cui - ogni anno - possono essere registrati livelli di Pm10 superiori ai limiti. Passata tale soglia, ogni Comune è chiamato a prendere provvedimenti straordinari. Da questo punto di vista, sia San Benedetto che, ancor di più, Ascoli, possono stare tranquille. Entrambe hanno superato senza troppi intoppi il periodo invernale che generalmente, complici i gas di scarico degli impianti di riscaldamento, è considerato particolarmente critico sul fronte dell’inquinamento atmosferico. Anche quest’anno, dunque, si stanno rispettando i limiti. La soglia di 50 microgrammi su base giornaliera è pensata proprio per proteggere la salute dei cittadini; registrare solo tre giorni di superamento in un anno è quindi un risultato molto positivo per una città costiera come San Benedetto, caratterizzata da traffico urbano e flussi stagionali di persone e attività. La situazione di San Benedetto, alla luce dei dati ufficiali, appare oggi sotto controllo, ma non priva di sfide. Il rispetto dei limiti di legge non esaurisce infatti il tema della qualità dell’aria, soprattutto in una città costiera attraversata da grandi flussi di traffico e interessata da attività turistiche e produttive. Le politiche locali, integrate con il monitoraggio scientifico e l’informazione ai cittadini, restano quindi uno strumento fondamentale per mantenere e migliorare nel tempo la salubrità dell’aria respirata ogni giorno dai sambenedettesi. Le esortazioni Nonostante il quadro generale sia positivo, gli esperti ricordano che rispettare i limiti di legge non equivale a eliminare tutti i rischi per la salute: per proteggere completamente i cittadini, le sfide sulla qualità dell’aria restano sempre aperte.

Mouse P.I. for Hire hits a lot of the right notes with its fast first-person gameplay and brilliant rubberhose-style animation. But on Nintendo Switch 2, the constant frame drops and other technical hiccups hold it back from greatness. Fast and addictive FPS gameplay Brilliant visual style Excellent voice acting Messy performance Repetitive enemies can be grating No gyro Why you can trust TechRadarWe spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best.Find out more about how we test. Mouse P.I. for Hirehas caused quite the stir since it was revealed by Polish developer Fumi Games a couple of years back. Its rubberhose animation style,Doom-inspired boomer shooter gameplay, and Mickey Mouse-esque cast of characters helped it to stand out in the indie scene, and it’s already enjoyed a healthy dosage of positive reception from critics and players alike. Platform reviewed:Nintendo Switch 2Available on:PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PCRelease date:April 16, 2026 So, when I got the chance to try it out on Nintendo Switch 2, it’s safe to say I was pretty excited. Playing detective in a noir, rodent-filled world sounds pretty enticing, right? And given that I had some long-haul flights up ahead, going with the Switch 2 edition to mouse around on the go felt like a no-brainer. But just how good isMouse P.I. for HireonNintendo Switch 2? And does the indie title nail the boomer shooter formula and 1930s cartoon aesthetic? Here’s what I think after more than 20 hours with the game. Welcome to Mouseburg, where the cops are more crooked than an old shrew’s teeth, the ‘cheesehibition’ brings unrest, and the stench of crime lurks on just about every corner. For private investigator Jack Pepper — a war hero and former police officer — mystery awaits, with the cases of a missing magician, a murdered mouse, and a shrew-trafficking ring all drawing his attention. You’ll have to snoop around Mouseburg, shoot through your foes, dig around for clues, and solve these key cases, which may or may not be interlinked. It’s a fun premise for sure, and although the game is pretty linear, this ensures that the mystery is paced pretty nicely. When it comes to the investigative aspects,Mouse P.I.keeps things relatively simple. Across various locations, you’ll stumble across clues — such as misplaced notes or photographs — and be tasked with pinning them up at Jack’s office. Here, he will be able to ponder evidence, resolve leads, and decide what action to take. As a player, you’re not able to give much personal input into the investigation process — much of it unfolds before your eyes as Jack discusses his findings. It could’ve been interesting to see some multiple choice options or to think up correlations between pieces of evidence, but personally, I was happy for the game to take a more agile, straightforward approach. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Other than the main story, you’ll be able to take on side gigs, like gathering info for Jack’s journalist ally Wanda, or locating ingredients for his bar-owner buddy John Brown. The rewards for these aren’t always massive, but getting some extra coins to buy newspapers and comic books, as well as baseball cards required for a simple bar game, is always welcome. Although Fumi Games nailed the black and white 1930s aesthetic, stepping into the film studio and seeing a burst of color was a clever twist and a feast for the eyes. The main thing to discuss, however, is the game’s combat. This is a first-person shooter that wears its inspirations on its sleeve. The boomer shooter formula is executed very well, with fast-paced, brutal, and chaotic shoot-outs that feel thrilling to blast through. There's a bit of platforming mixed in too, which feels surprisingly sharp — and equally forgiving, as falling will simply respawn you from where you left off. My only issue withMouse P.I.’s rodent-packed shoot-ups is the unfortunate lack of enemy diversity. During the game’s approximate 20-hour run time, you'll encounter the same foes over and over again, which becomes a little dull in the latter stages. There's the occasional odd creature or robot sprinkled in, and the bosses offer some challenge, but it feels like the Devs could've given your enemies more weapon types and more unique looks depending on the area you're in. For Pepper, however, things are a bit different. He's given a neat selection of weapons to wield against his opponents, including the James Gun (a playfully named Tommy Gun), the Boomstick (a shotgun), the Loose Cannon (a cannonball shooter), and more. The James Gun is certainly the most reliable, and it makes a lot of areas easy to tear through, but there’s a hard mode if you want to test your skills. As a player, you can also choose to play with a controller, with a standard handheld setup, or with…ahem…mouse controls. The latter genuinely works pretty well, although I prefer the comfort of using aSwitch 2 Pro Controller, personally. One thing I've seen a lot of players lament, however, is the lack of gyro, which is packed into a lot of rival first-person shooters, and it would've been great to see here. I've been pretty positive aboutMouse P.I. for Hireso far, and I genuinely think it's a game that fans of games likeDoom Eternalwill love. But we're looking at the Switch 2 version in particular today, and on this platform, the game runs into far too many technical issues. The biggest issue for this title is its unreliable frame rate. With the Switch 2 docked,Mouse P.I.is targeting 1080p at 60fps (frames per second) in performance mode and 1440p at 40fps in quality mode. In handheld, it's 900p at 60fps and 1260p at 30fps, respectively. That's already not the most impressive, after all, this is hardly the most demanding game out there. ButMouse P.I.still struggles to reach some of those figures. The worst offender is Performance mode. In handheld mode, the game has constant frame drops, which can be pesky during combat situations and a bit of an immersion killer during exploration. Things are a bit better in docked, but I still experienced frequent drops, even when visiting areas like the kitchen by the bar. Sure, things are a bit steadier in quality mode, but there are still occasional drops, and the lower frame rate just doesn't lend itself very well to the fast-paced, fluid nature ofMouse P.I.’s gameplay. On top of this, I discovered other technical oddities, like menus scrolling without me pressing any buttons (no matter what controller I used), overlong loading screens, and even a crash when I was mid-mission. Don't get me wrong,Mouse P.I. for Hireis still playable on Switch 2. As frustrating as these issues are, the port is still workable, and I was able to push through the pesky frame drops to get over the line. Apparently, there is a patch in the works to address some of the game’s performance issues, which is a positive sign, although I'd argue that it should’ve played smoother from launch. Having said this, there is still a lot to love aboutMouse P.I. for Hire. Its story is pretty engaging, and the characters are voiced to absolute perfection. Yes, not all of the jokes about cheese land, but using it as a substitute for alcohol during the prohibition era really adds to the 1930s setting. The rubberhose animation style is also stellar, and suits the noir vibe to a T. In the same way thatCupheadcharmed audiences years ago,Mouse P.I. for Hirethrives off its charismatic, frantic, and sometimes bizarre animation. Oh, and that's not to mention the soundtrack, which features jazz hits from the likes ofDizzy Gillespie, as well as some iconic classical tunes. All in all, then,Mouse P.I. for Hireon Nintendo Switch 2 leaves me feeling conflicted. On one hand, I'd argue it hits a lot of the right beats when it comes to gameplay, narrative, and visual style. But on the other hand, I have to say, the sloppy performance was a bit of a let down, and makes this specific version of the game tougher to recommend. And that's where I'm at:Mouse P.I. for Hireis a largely enjoyable, fantastically animated boomer shooter — but if you own another system, like a PS5 or PC, I'd steer clear of the Switch 2 version, unless there's a major fix rolled out, that is. You're a fan of the boomer shooter genreIf you enjoy games likeDoomandQuakethen I'm pretty sure you'll have a fun time withMouse P.I. for Hire. There are a lot of similarities, from the first-person perspective through to the brutal combat and fast-paced movement that should satisfy fans of those titles. You love old school Disney animationIf you enjoy some of the vintage Disney stuff from the 1930s, you'll absolutely love the visual style ofMouse P.I. for Hire— it's executed brilliantly and adds a lot of charm to the overall experience. You own a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PCIf you have a system with superior specs to the Switch 2 on your hands, then I strongly suggest playing this game there instead. The performance issues on Switch 2 are pretty frustrating, and you'll be able to enjoy smoother frame rates on platforms like PS5. You want gyro controlsUnlike a lot of popular FPS games,Mouse P.I. for Hireopts to leave gyro out on Nintendo Switch 2. There are mouse controls, if you like to use them, but I suspect most players will stick with a standard controller setup. There are a fair few ways to customize your experience inMouse P.I. for Hire. For instance, there are three difficulty levels, you can either toggle or hold down R3 to crouch, you can turn blood effects off, and you can remap controls to your liking. On top of this, you can alter sensitivity, camera controls, aim assist levels, and even visual effects, like depth of field. Subtitles are also available, and you can pick from a wide array of text languages. I spent more than 20 hours playing throughMouse P.I. for Hire, during which time I completed the main story, finished a bunch of side quests, and tried nabbing as many collectibles as I could. Most of the time, I played the game in handheld mode on my Nintendo Switch 2, using theSony WH-1000XM6headphones to hear in-game audio. However, I did play the game docked from time to time, and had my system connected up to theSky Glass Gen 2television andMarshall Heston 120soundbar. More generally, I've reviewed a bunch of titles here at TechRadar gaming, including everything fromYakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Tiesthrough toKirby Air Riders. First reviewed April-May 2026 Harry is a Senior Reviews Writer for TechRadar. He reviews everything from party speakers to wall chargers and has a particular interest in the worlds of audio and gaming. Harry has a background in business tech journalism, particularly around the telecoms industry. 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Environmental engineer Ludmilla Aristilde (right) and her colleagues work on developing biotechnology-led solutions to combat pollution.Credit: Benjamin Barrios-Cerda/Aristilde lab Ludmilla Aristilde has always been aware of how closely tied well-being is to the world around us. Raised in Haiti, she and her family survived two cholera outbreaks stemming from contaminated water. “These were my earliest experiences of realizing that environmental pollution and human health are linked,” she says. “I was really young at the time, but I understood this was a serious thing.” At 12 years old, she learnt that some environmental damage could be undone. On a school trip to the deforested mountains above Port-au-Prince, Aristilde and her classmates were taught about the impacts of erosion, and they helped to plant around 1,000 saplings in the bare earth overlooking the capital. “It showed us we can do something to reverse the environmental consequences of our actions,” Aristilde says. Nature Spotlight: Synthetic biology Nature Spotlight: Synthetic biology Now an environmental engineer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Aristilde has dedicated her career to working out ways to mitigate environmental harm. She is part of a growing community of synthetic biologists using biotechnology-led solutions to tackle pollution ranging from microplastics and industrial waste to soils laced with heavy metals or explosive residues. Scientists are doing this mainly with the help of microorganisms containing DNA that the researchers have tailored for a specific function. These engineered microbes not only offer hope for cleaning up the environment, but can also be used in circular industries — ones in which materials are kept in use for as long as possible instead of being discarded — to repurpose pollutants or recover resources from waste streams. “Things are now feasible that were considered impossible a decade ago,” says Michael Köpke, a synthetic biologist and chief innovation officer at LanzaTech, a company headquartered in Skokie, Illinois, that transforms industrial waste and emissions into useful materials. “These technologies can help us as a society move towards a circular model, in which we use as much waste as possible for production of fuels, chemicals and materials.” Although synthetic biology offers a potential solution for tackling some of the many pollutants that plague the planet, researchers say that the field is being held back from reaching its true potential by concerns around releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment, and a lack of government funding and incentives. Should these challenges be overcome, however, many specialists think that modified microbes could be key partners for helping humanity to clean up some of the mess it has made of Earth’s water, air and soil. The idea of tinkering with microbes to address environmental problems is not new, says Víctor de Lorenzo, a molecular environmental microbiologist at the National Biotechnology Centre in Madrid. “In the late 1980s, there was this big hype about using engineered bacteria to address pollution, oil spills, you name it.” However, technological roadblocks and societal pushbacks against the use of genetically modified organisms — mostly because of fears around their effects on health and the environment — caused early efforts to stall, says de Lorenzo. “Little by little, people interested in this field moved into other, more promising areas,” he adds. “The field came to a kind of standstill.” In the early 2000s, advances in genetics and a growing awareness of the impacts of climate change and pollution sparked renewed interest in the use of microbes for bioremediation (cleaning polluted environments) and biomanufacturing (making useful products out of would-be pollutants). In the past decade, a “confluence of new techniques and approaches” has opened up many more possibilities for creating engineered microbes, says Hal Alper, a chemical engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. New synthetic-biology tools, he adds, have also made it possible to venture beyondEscherichia coliand the ‘baker’s yeast’Saccharomyces cerevisiae— the microbial workhorses of the laboratory and the original subjects of synthetic biology — to organisms better suited to specific environments and metabolic tasks. Environmental microbiologists Victor de Lorenzo (left) and David Rodriguez engineer bacteria to degrade toxic pollutants left behind by explosives.Credit: Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia Synthetic biologists do not usually reinvent the wheel. Instead, they look in nature for microbes that are already capable of degrading or utilizing certain contaminants or complex carbon-rich waste products. “Some bacteria, through natural evolution, learn how to eat these compounds,” de Lorenzo says. Researchers study these naturally occurring organisms to understand the biochemistry underpinning their metabolism of waste, then use that knowledge to create organisms that do the job even better. “We want things to happen faster, more efficiently and at a larger scale than the bacteria do just for their own survival,” Aristilde says. “This is where synthetic biology steps in.” Using tools such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, which identifies chemicals by measuring their molecular weight, Aristilde and other researchers can track the fate of specially labelled molecules when microbes consume and digest them. They study the enzymatic processes of those molecular meals, and where the bottlenecks occur. This gives them clues about how natural processes might be improved in the lab or be repurposed for new functionality, an approach called rational engineering. Scientists can insert genes from one type of bacteria into another to give a species a desired set of traits, or they can synthesize genes or even entire bacterial genomes that are essential for a specific application, Köpke says. Technologies are still far from being able to produce perfectly optimized microbes, but artificial intelligence is accelerating progress towards that goal. Hongzhi Tang, a synthetic biologist and environmental microbiologist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, says that researchers have not yet identified microbial genes or enzymes to degrade all pollutants. However, he adds, “AI will be very good for enzyme design, so I think we can solve this soon.” Scientists are now working on establishing bioremediation techniques to tackle a range of challenges, including the treatment of waste water generated in food-manufacturing processes, and repurposing industrial waste gas. Köpke and his colleagues, for example, have spent the past 20 years developing carbon-eating microbes that transform carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emitted from steel mills, oil refineries and agricultural waste into ethanol — which is then converted into aviation fuel and other useful materials. LanzaTech’s technology is now deployed at six commercial plants around the world, Köpke says, producing about 300,000 tonnes of ethanol each year and avoiding roughly half a million tonnes of CO2emissions. Other groups are focused on cleaning up contaminants that have already made their way into the environment. De Lorenzo’s lab, for example, is engineering bacteria that degrade nitroaromatic compounds, which are common components of explosives. “They’re super toxic and their chemical structure is very weird,” he says. If left in the environment, they degrade slowly and incompletely, often turning into other toxic intermediates. Plants, animals and microbes that come into contact with them might develop acute toxic effects, leading to long-term problems with biodiversity, nutrient cycling and overall ecosystem functioning. Engineered solutions to get rid of them, de Lorenzo continues, “can make a qualitative difference”. In a study1published in April, he and his colleagues focused on degradation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), a side product of trinitrotoluene (TNT) that is often found in soil around former ammunition factories and in places where TNT has been detonated. De Lorenzo and his colleagues took genes from a type of bacteria that naturally degrades DNT and transferred them intoPseudomonas putida— a species commonly used in biotechnology. Although the original organism could use DNT to an extent, it did not completely eliminate the compound and became highly stressed while trying to digest it, de Lorenzo says. He and his colleagues allowed the engineeredP. putidato evolve for nearly a year under conditions in which DNT was the only food source, which resulted in a unique bacterial strain with mutations that made it optimized for degrading DNT. Compared with the original strain, it degraded DNT “faster and without stress”, de Lorenzo says, and also completely removed the compound under experimental conditions. He hopes that microbes such as this will eventually ensure that vast tracts of land in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere will not be laid waste by contamination. Bacteria were engineered to digest the pollutant DNT. The lighter coloured wells indicate more DNT degradation.Credit: Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia Plastic bioconversion, another innovative frontier, kicked off in 2016 when engineer Kazumi Hiraga at the Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan and his colleagues found thatIdeonella sakaiensis, a naturally occurring bacterium that they discovered on plastic waste near a recycling facility, had evolved enzymes that made it able to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET)2. The finding suggested that researchers could use this natural discovery as a starting point for engineering microbes to recycle or clean up plastic waste more efficiently. Some 16,000 substances are used in plastics, however, so organisms and enzymes that can break down one polymer will not necessarily work for another. Alper and his colleagues, for example, started by improving enzymes in bacteria that can digest PET, a relatively straightforward plastic to break down, before moving on to more complex ones. Alper says that the team has now achieved significant degradation of polyethylene and polypropylene — plastics that are harder than PET for microbes to metabolize because of the stability of their carbon bonds. For some labs, the eventual goal is to increase the efficiency of engineered microbes by giving them the ability to tackle several pollutants at once. Last year, Tang and his colleagues described a marine bacterium they created with genetically engineered clusters of genes. The strain had the ability to break down five hydrocarbons: biphenyl, phenol, naphthalene, dibenzofuran and toluene3. Tests they ran on industrial waste water, seawater and contaminated saline solutions confirmed that the organism converted the pollutants into several naturally occurring compounds that wild bacteria could metabolize. Since the paper’s publication, Tang and his colleagues have created at least 50 more synthetic gene clusters designed to degrade various toxicants. They have successfully transferred ten of those clusters into a single bacterium, Tang says. “My aim is to create bacteria that can degrade all kinds of toxicants.” or Nature653, S1-S3 (2026) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01420-z This article is part ofNature Spotlight: Synthetic biology, an editorially independent supplement. Advertisers have no influence over the content. Rodríguez-Espeso, D., del Olmo Lianes, I., Spain, J. C. & de Lorenzo, V.Metab. Eng.95, 90–101 (2026). ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Yoshida, S.et al.Science351, 1196–1199 (2016). ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Su, C.et al.Nature642, 1024–1033 (2025). ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Download references Engineering resilient food systems in a warming world Spotlight06 MAY 26 J. Craig Venter obituary: maverick biotechnologist who sequenced the human genome Obituary06 MAY 26 Genome pioneer Craig Venter dies: here’s how he transformed science News30 APR 26 Goodbye GDP? 31 ways to replace the world's favourite measure of economic health News08 MAY 26 ‘Alternative COP’ must drive real, cooperative change in climate action Editorial06 MAY 26 To move beyond GDP, don’t ignore ecological economics World View05 MAY 26 Goodbye GDP? 31 ways to replace the world's favourite measure of economic health News08 MAY 26 Why AI chatbots that follow human laws are hard to build News Explainer07 MAY 26 ‘Alternative COP’ must drive real, cooperative change in climate action Editorial06 MAY 26 Seeking exceptional Senior/Junior PIs, Postdocs, and Core Specialists globally year-round Hangzhou, China Hangzhou Institute of Medicine Chinese Academy of Sciences (HIMCAS) CMLR's goal is to advance machine learning-related research across a wide range of disciplines. Beijing (CN) Center for Machine Learning Research (CMLR), Peking University Positions are open at all ranks, including tenured Associate, Full, and Chair Professors, as well as tenure-track Assistant and Associate Professors. Hangzhou, Zhejiang (CN) Westlake University Chemistry at the School of Science is committed to fostering inclusive excellence in a variety of research and teaching activities. Hangzhou, Zhejiang (CN) Westlake University Join Huazhong Agricultural University No.1 Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)

Australia is rich in minerals, metals, sun and wind. Iron ore, copper and critical minerals are all mined here and largely exported overseas to be turned into products such as steel, fertiliser, fuel and infrastructure. Mining and heavy industries create jobs and wealth. But their emissions are some of the hardest to cut. This is changing. Steel can now be made without coal. Hydrogen can be made using water and renewable power rather than from gas. The Australian governmentwants to creategreener export industries. It hasn’t been easy. Green hydrogen isproving difficultto finance and scale, while the development of green iron ismoving slowly. Interesthas grownin green fuels such as biodiesel during this year’s energy crisis, but progress remains slow. But hard doesn’t mean impossible. To make new exports competitive, policymakers should create green hubs close to renewables and where resources can be shared. To make enough green iron, green ammonia and green fuels to export, Australia will need large renewable energy zones, energy storage, hydrogen production, water supply and port infrastructure. Much of this already exists or is being scaled up. The problem is coordination. If every company builds its own separate systems for power, water and transport, costs rise and land use expands. It’s cheaper and more effective to plan regional hubs where industries can share infrastructure, use renewable energy more efficiently and reduce environmental impact. This isn’t new. Australia’s large, high-tech mining industry relies on hubs. Queensland’s port city ofGladstoneis a hub for coal and gas exports, aluminium smelting and chemical manufacturing. These heavy industries use shared infrastructure such as ports, roads and power. Countries such as China, Germany and the Netherlandsare usingthis hub method as they rapidly scale up green exports. The cost of green iron and steel depends not just on the technology used in furnaces, but on how well integrated the facility is. A waste stream from one plant can become an input for another. The intense heat produced by making green ammonia or clean fuels can be used for other processes such as preheating iron ore for ironmaking. Our modellingshows integrating renewables, hydrogen and green iron at a proposed hub in South Australia can cut power costs 20–30% compared to standalone projects by avoiding overbuilding of electricity infrastructure. More cheap renewable power is used, less gas is required and emissions fall more rapidly. Modelling of a separate hub in New South Wales showssimilar benefits. Future green hubs should be centred around a nature-positive philosophy, where industry and nature restoration sit side by side. Instead of approving projects one by one, planning happens across whole landscapes. Sensitive areas are protected from the start. Infrastructure is concentrated into shared corridors. Natural restoration is part of the plan. Australia has long been a major iron ore exporter, but makes little iron or steel here. If Australia moves rapidly, it could take more market share as buyers shift to clean options. German and Australian researchers areworkingto green the steelmaking process. One option is for Australia to make and export green iron as a precursor to steel. This would be a surprisingly effective climate measure.Studiessuggest Australia could singlehandedly reduce global emissions 4% if it turned its iron ore into green iron. Turning this vision into reality is not straightforward. Coordinated industrial hubs are difficult to deliver in Australia. Fragmented regulations across agencies slow progress. Environmental approvals are typically done project by project rather than at a system level. Government-business collaboration is limited. Business models focus on individual projects rather than collaboration. Where technical solutions exist, institutional and commercial barriers can slow progress. Here’s how to begin. First, policymakers should identify optimal hub locations able to co-host mining, processing, green fuel production and renewable energy. Second, plan the hubs at scale so environmental impacts can be managed and restoration work undertaken nearby. Third, give the hubs clear, measurable emissions and nature goals. Set targets for emissions reductions, renewable and hydrogen use, water recycling, and ecosystem restoration at a regional scale. Track them over time. Governments have a key role in setting the direction of travel. This means selecting hub locations, coordinating land use and infrastructure planning, aligning approvals to allow system-level assessments rather than individual and investing in shared infrastructure. They can also reduce risk by supporting early projects and broker agreements between companies. Long-term policy certainty will help unlock private investment. Industry must respond by collaborating. This includes sharing infrastructure where it makes sense, coordinating across value chains, designing projects around environmental outcomes and working with communities as genuine partners. Australia can punch well above its weight on green industry. If we succeed, our clean product exports will be a model for the future.

Are the Rams and Eagles the two best NFC teams? For years, the NFC Conference of the National Football League has been one of the most competitive, featuring 9 different franchises over the last 15 years. For comparative sake, the AFC Conference has only sent 6 different franchises. With that being said, there seems to be a consensus top 3. Then the rest is a mixture of “1 win max caliber playoff teams” rounding out the top 10. No surprise here. The Rams have the most complete roster. And in some ways, they flaunted that during the weekend of the draft; suggesting that they did not need to use the 13th overall pick to immediately upgrade the roster this year but rather that the pick was a luxury pick. It seems like the only player drafted this year that could see the field is 6th round wide receiver, CJ Daniels. The Eagles made a huge splash on Day 1 of the draft by trading up to Pick 20 in order to select wide receiver Makai Lemon. It would surprise many if the Eagles keep AJ Brown after June 1st. If they don’t the Eagles will arguably have the best wide receiver room in the NFL. The defending champion are third on the list. Am I being too negative towards them? I don’ think so. They lost their offensive coordinator - Klint Kubiak, Kenneth Walker, Tariq Woolen, Boye Mafe, and Coby Bryant. Sam Darnold might have more confidence now but I still don’t consider him to be a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Chicago could be one of those teams that regresses in 2026 because they won so many games in the final 2:00 minutes against a soft schedule. Now they will play a first place schedule in 2026. But I do think that Ben Johnson will keep this team in a respectable place. This team could finish 11-6 again since its returning almost all of its offensive pieces and retooled the secondary. The Green Bay Packers did not have a first round pick this year since they traded for Micah Parsons. If they can get Parsons back, this team will compete with Chicago for the division crown. Offensive line remains a question mark as Matt LaFleur must find a way to protect Jordan Love for a full season. The secondary fell apart at random moments in 2025 but they added Brandon Cisse and Domani Jackson in the draft, while signing Benjamin St-Juste in free agency. I know, I know. But here’s the thing, the Cowboys have a top 5 offense with Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens. The defense was atrocious last year but that was expected with the trade of Micah Parsons. If the defense can just be average in 2026, then the Cowboys will win 10 games. Keep in mind they traded for players like Quinnen Williams mid year and then used resources this offseason to shore up the defense. I think Dallas can improve its win total. San Francisco is a confusing one to grade. Their departures this offseason were defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Bryce Huff, Jauan Jennings, Kalia Davis, Kevin Givens, Jordan Elliott, Dee Winters, Ben Bartch, Spencer Burford, Matt Hennessy, and Kendrick Bourne. However, the team will be relieved to have the return of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. But my biggest concern is: how will Christian McCaffrey hold up in his age 30 season with a lot of mileage from last year’s season (most touches in a season in his career). Carolina spent this offseason retooling the defense; adding Devin Lloyd, Jaelen Phillips, and Lee Hunter (rookie). I think Carolina’s ceiling is 10-7 and their floor is 7-10. The only reason I am putting the Lions this high is because they get the luxury of playing a last place schedule having finished 4th in the NFC North in 2025. Jared Goff’s limitations prevent them from being a higher ranked team. The Lions are now experiencing the salary cap restraints of paying Jared Goff top money. Bringing John Harbaugh into the fold automatically elevates the Giants. They had a huge win on Day 1 of the draft netting Arvell Reese and Francis Mauigoa. The Giants defense now contains Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Arvell Reese, and Kayvon Thibodeaux. NFC East quarterbacks will be up all night worrying about getting hit. And if you are worried about the loss of Dexter Lawrence, the Giants just signed DJ Reader to a 2 year deal. Washington fell off significantly in 2025 after their NFC Championship appearance in 2024. It did not help that Jayden Daniels fractured his non-throwing elbow. The offensive line is still a concern and the defense but Sonny Styles was arguably the best pick of the first round. I really want to put Atlanta higher but it’s just one thing holding them back…the quarterback. Whether its Tua or Penix, the offense will be held back by either of them. Otherwise, the offensive line is a top 5 unit in football and Bijan Robinson is the best running back in the game. Defensively, there is a solid core there but they might lose a handful of games because of incompetent quarterback play. Again, incompetent quarterback play will be the kryptonite here. I actually think there is a strong case that Justin Jefferson gets traded at the midseason deadline. I liked Tampa Bay’s draft but I think this team has gone stale which is why veterans Mike Evans and Lavonte David ended their time in Tampa. I’m not sure New Orleans was just another wide receiver away. Jordyn Tyson carries a lot of risk. The Saints are also using a lot of money for Travis Ettiene and Alvin Kamara. But what about giving resources to a defense that allowed 120 rushing yards per game? Whether its Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, or Carson Beck - the Cardinals don’t have a good starting option. Mike LaFleur will have his hands full in 2026 and can’t risk using all the tread on Jeremiyah Love’s tires. At the end of the day, a power ranking doesn’t get you to the Super Bowl. Any team can win any given Sunday. Sean McVay has always emphasized that you can easily be humbled in this league and not to take any win for granted. But the Rams are the best team on paper. If they can play to their caliber, the NFC should run through them in 2026. This is the title for the native ad

Le portacontainer cinesi stanno diventando sempre più elettriche. Ad aprile, Ningbo Ocean Shipping Co ha varato l’unità più grande al mondo: la Ningyuan Diankun. Ha una batteria più piccola, 20 MWh, ma una capacità di 740 TEU. Più efficiente, più container trasportati e – come titola il China Daily – “la portacontainer più intelligente al mondo”. Nave elettrica ed autonoma Nel settore navale si parla spesso dell’ibrido come unica soluzione possibile, ma non è così. Lo dimostrano i milioni di passeggeri trasportati ogni anno a emissioni zero ad Amsterdam e, facendo un salto dimensionale enorme, il crescente trasporto container completamente elettrico in Cina. Si tratta soprattutto di navigazione fluviale, ma in contesti molto ampi e con un traffico continuo che genera un inquinamento significativo vicino alle aree abitate. Nel 2020 avevamo raccontato la Zhongtiandianyun 001, una nave da 1.000 tonnellate equipaggiata con 1,458 MWh di batterie. Nel 2024 è stata la volta della Greenwater 01 del China Ocean Shipping Group, con 50 MWh di capacità elettrica e 700 TEU di carico (un TEU corrisponde a un container standard da circa 6 metri). Le caratteristiche centrali della nuova generazione di portacontainer elettriche sono riassunte da Ma Hongmeng, ingegnere senior dello Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute e responsabile del progetto. «La nave è caratterizzata da propulsione completamente elettrica, navigazione autonoma e alta efficienza operativa. Sono i risultati raggiunti dall’industria navale cinese». Secondo Ma, siamo all’inizio di una nuova era per il trasporto containerizzato costiero cinese: «Zero emissioni, operazioni intelligenti e alta efficienza: condizioni necessarie per raggiungere la neutralità carbonica e la trasformazione energetica del settore marittimo». Il grande carico trasportato a zero emissioni La capacità supera i 740 TEU e la nave è stata sviluppata e progettata da SDARI, mentre il sistema di propulsione elettrica è stato fornito dallo Shanghai Marine Equipment Research Institute. Entrambe le realtà fanno parte della China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), il più grande conglomerato cantieristico al mondo, controllato dallo Stato cinese. Passando ai dati tecnici: la nave è lunga 127,8 metri e larga 21,6 metri. Per quanto riguarda l’energia a bordo, l’unità è equipaggiata con dieci moduli di alimentazione a forma di container, per una capacità complessiva di 19.600 kWh, cioè quasi 20 MWh. L’autonomia? Distanza stimata: 100–180 miglia nautiche a seconda della velocità e del carico. «Questo consente alla nave di operare in modalità completamente elettrica, con zero emissioni e zero rumore per l’intera durata del viaggio, adattandosi perfettamente alle esigenze operative del trasporto containerizzato costiero», ha spiegato Ma. Sul sito aziendale vengono evidenziati anche i benefici ambientali: «La capacità è equivalente a quella combinata delle batterie di 300 auto. Dopo l’entrata in servizio, si prevede un risparmio di 580 tonnellate di carburante all’anno e una riduzione di oltre 1.400 tonnellate di CO₂, pari all’assorbimento annuale di circa 40.000 alberi adulti. In questo modo si raggiunge l’obiettivo di zero emissioni e zero inquinamento durante la navigazione». Una flotta green: 32 navi a basse emissioni e autonome La politica ambientale non si limita a quest’ultimo varo. E l’azienda lo sottolinea: «Ningbo Ocean Shipping possiede 32 navi ecologiche e a basso consumo energetico, pari al 57% della sua flotta, e 19 navi intelligenti, circa il 34% del totale: un segnale dei progressi compiuti nell’ammodernamento verso soluzioni a basse emissioni e a guida intelligente». Sul fronte elettrico, la Ningyuan Diankun avrà presto una gemella: la Ningyuan Dianpeng, con prove in mare previste a maggio e consegna a giugno. Ci siamo quasi. Per quanto riguarda le funzioni smart, queste includono la sala macchine intelligente, dotata delle tecnologie chiave per la navigazione autonoma in acque aperte. In concreto, la piattaforma integra percezione visiva in qualsiasi condizione meteorologica, pianificazione autonoma del percorso, sistema automatico di avviso di collisione e commutazione fluida tra guida manuale e automatica. Inoltre, il sistema intelligente è in grado di acquisire in tempo reale i dati sull’ambiente di navigazione e identificare ed evitare proattivamente i rischi, riducendo alla fonte la probabilità di errore umano. Il valore aggiunto del silenzio La silenziosità delle barche elettriche è spesso apprezzata dai diportisti, ma l’abbattimento del rumore su una nave da lavoro rappresenta un beneficio ancora maggiore per chi ci lavora e ci “vive” 24 ore al giorno. Lo sottolinea Wang Ting, capitano della Ning Yuan Dian Kun: «Rispetto alle navi tradizionali alimentate a combustibile, il cambiamento più evidente in una nave completamente elettrica è l’assenza di rumore. In passato, la sala macchine era dominata dal rombo del motore principale, mentre oggi la navigazione è quasi silenziosa. Questo crea un ambiente di lavoro più rilassato e permette all’equipaggio di concentrarsi meglio sulle operazioni: un miglioramento significativo portato dall’energia verde». Un altro vantaggio è la coppia lineare e immediata dei motori elettrici. «Accelerazione e decelerazione risultano fluide e molto reattive, praticamente senza ritardi, rendendo le manovre più semplici. Tuttavia, ciò richiede nuove competenze agli operatori: devono imparare a gestire l’energia in modo efficiente, monitorare attentamente i consumi e pianificare la velocità della nave in maniera più razionale». L’elettrificazione porta benefici ambientali, ma incide in modo sostanziale sul benessere dei lavoratori senza dimenticare il comfort per i passeggeri nei traghetti. E’ quindi positiva, ma tutta da verificare nelle sue risultanze concrete, la volontà del nuovo ministro al turismo Mazzi di convertire in elettrico la navigazione nei laghi italiani. LEGGI TUTTO: Non tutte full electric, ma tutte elettrificate e guarda il VIDEO

Note: Gerardo Naranjo’sSon-in-Law(now streaming on Netflix) is not a remake of the1993 Pauly Shore yukfest. No, it’s a Mexican satire about political corruption in which Adrian Vazquez plays an absurdist character who resists easy definition. And it isn’t an easy watch – but sometimes that can be rewarding, right? The Gist:It all starts in prison. The narrative, at least. It actually starts in 2019, when we see Jose Sanchez (Vazquez) planting a gun in the hand of a man who’s rather quickly bleeding out inside a car, having been executed by about 1,000 bullets. Then again, maybe it all started in 1985, when Jose was an idiot teenager in San Diego who tries to buy one single little ecstasy pill from a dealer, gets talked into selling a variety of illicit wares at a party, then gets nothing for them when the girl he likes passes the drugs out to all her friends thinking Jose brought them for that reason. Then Jose avoids trouble by moving to Mexico to live with his uncle, who barely moves from his chair in front of the TV. By 2005, Jose is a ponytailed law student who’s schtupping his best pal’s sister Lucia (Veronica Bravo), whose parents are rich and well-connected politically – and it’s a bit of a scandal when he knocks her up. TEN YEARS LATER reads a big title card, and no, we’re still not done leaping around on the timeline, because we’ll jump back to the present-day prison situation on the regular. However, at this TEN YEARS LATER point, Jose has settled in and just, well,settled. Ponytail’s gone, pushbroom mustache is present and hovering about 18 inches over his paunch. He and Lucia are married with two kids. Nice house, since she comes from dough. He’s the executive vice president at his in-laws’ transportation company, a cushy nepo-adjacent job that, from the looks of things, is 90 percent title, 10 percent busy work and zero percent agency or influence. The guy looks bored as hell. Remember the drug guy from the 1985 scene? Well, a parallel character turns up in the TEN YEARS LATER (that would be 2015 if my math is accurate) piece of the timeline. That character is “The Air Conditioning Guy,” scare quotes absolutely necessary, because he’s clearly no HVAC expert. Jose’s even warned to not mess with the guy known as El Lobo (Jero Medina), which is an invitation for him to fire up a conversation that results in a handshake that results in a smash cut to Present Day Jose in an orange jumpsuit, needing a shave, while we piece together that El Lobo is the dead guy in the car at the beginning of the film. Present Day Jose meets with a petroleum-coated lawyer (hired by the in-laws, it seems) who intends to get his client out of the clink by framing him as a “very minor player,” a phrase that makes Jose bristle. He was trying NOT to be a very minor player, and maybe that’s the hill he’ll die on. If he’s principled – and I’m not sure he is; in fact, he may not know the word even exists – he’ll stay in prison like the very unminor big shot he wanted to be. I mean, he was the attorney general of Albacruz, and was eyeing running for mayor. Minor, his ass! Is this a conundrum for him? Hard to tell. He’s kinda impenetrable. I’m not sure we know what he truly wants – possibly because he may not know what he truly wants. What Movies Will It Remind You Of?So, are we amused or repulsed by an opportunist character like Tom Cruise’s Barry Seal inAmerican Made, who essentially stumbled into a massive fortune thanks to his moral blind spots? Performance Worth Watching:It’s easy to appreciate the layers of Vazquez’s performance, which is very subtly amusing as Jose maintains bland composure even during tense moments, possibly because the guy doesn’t quite comprehend the repercussions of what’s going on. Sex And Skin:Some brief sex scenes; a scene in a strip club. Our Take:Honestly, I foundSon-in-Lawbaffling. It’s slippery and challenging likely by design, and feels like inside baseball on Mexican politics (and as an American, I’m watching the game from outside the stadium). Audiences can usually get past some of those details and grok the broader strokes, but those, too, are difficult. What motivates Jose to make the decisions he does, beyond a vague yearning to acquire power and influence? What’s going on inside his head? The mercurial nature of the guy is equal parts alluring and frustrating – and again, that feels intentional, perhaps to reflect the humanist folly of social and political climbers. Directing a screenplay by James Schamus, Alexandro Aldrete and Gabriel Nuncio, Naranjo steadfastly and pointedly avoids peddling easy laughs or emotional beats. (There’s a death in the film The narrative follows Jose as he half-unintentionally weasels his way into a family that likely considers him to be a loser, half-intentionally gets involved in politics, half-assedly backs into involvement with drug cartels, half-successfully negotiates peace among three cartels at war, half-haphazardly becomes a notorious figure known as El Serpiente and half-accidentally ends up in the clink. The story rides on the notion that Jose only has to be half-corrupt because the system is corrupt for him. Of course, the part of the system that’s partway (that’s less than halfway, I’d like to point out) functional also put him in prison, but the system also seems likely to get him out as long as he’s willing to make a personal compromise and admit that he’s barely done anything even though he likes to think he’s done lots of things. Bewildered? That’s the point, to watch as an opportunist dimbulb like Jose chases his tail for 100 minutes. The screenplay is structured as a series of knotted convolutions that feel somewhat haphazardly arranged, as if to reflect the ridiculous manner in which our protag rises and falls, and how the combined social, legal and governmental systems enable him to be a privileged idiot. It feels episodic at times, like it could be more satisfyingly fleshed-out in a miniseries. And it’s hard to judge, because it’s frustrating and confusing – again, by design it seems – but with clear intent to satirize the ins, outs and what-have-yous of Mexican power structures. It’s a choice made by the filmmakers to have us stand at some remove from Jose, and just shake our heads at this guy and all the madness around him. Our Call:Son-in-Lawis a tough one – a satirical comedy that refuses to be easy to laugh at, and the story of a guy we don’t like or dislike. It may take two viewings to fully make sense of it, and there’s craft and vision behind the film, so if you’re up to it, STREAM IT, but be warned that it offers no immediate satisfaction. John Serba is a freelance film critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Werner Herzog hugged him once.

L’inquinamento atmosferico e marino nei pressi delle aree portuali è un’emergenza silenziosa che colpisce ogni giorno migliaia di cittadini. Per questo Meritocrazia Italia chiede al Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti e al Comando Generale delle Capitanerie di Porto un intervento immediato, strutturato e non più rinviabile per la verifica degli scarichi delle navi e delle emissioni in atmosfera. Un problema reale, con conseguenze concrete Nei porti italiani transitano ogni anno migliaia di imbarcazioni mercantili e da crociera. Oltre al traffico commerciale, questo significa scarichi di acque di sentina, rifiuti liquidi e solidi, e soprattutto emissioni di ossidi di zolfo, ossidi di azoto e particolato fine derivanti dalla combustione dei motori. Sostanze che si accumulano nell’aria delle città portuali con un impatto diretto sulla salute respiratoria, sulla qualità della vita e sull’ambiente costiero. Da anni associazioni ambientaliste, comitati di quartiere e amministrazioni locali denunciano un sistema di controlli spesso insufficiente, frammentato e privo di reale efficacia deterrente. La posizione di “Meritocrazia Italia” La nostra missione è riportare il merito e la responsabilità al centro dell’azione pubblica. Per noi merito significa anche garantire regole chiare, applicarle con competenza e farle rispettare senza eccezioni. Non si tratta di essere contro il settore marittimo o lo sviluppo economico. I porti sono infrastrutture strategiche per il Paese, snodi fondamentali per il commercio e l’occupazione. Ma la crescita non può avvenire al costo della salute pubblica e della sostenibilità ambientale. Le richieste concrete di Meritocrazia Italia 1. Piano straordinario di ispezione // Avviare entro 30 giorni un piano straordinario di controlli su tutte le navi in sosta e in transito nei porti nazionali, con verifica del rispetto delle normative IMO 2020 sui limiti di zolfo e delle direttive europee in materia di qualità dell’aria. I controlli devono essere a campione ma frequenti, imprevedibili e basati su analisi tecniche certificate. 2. Monitoraggio continuo delle emissioni // Installare e potenziare centraline di monitoraggio della qualità dell’aria nelle aree portuali, con dati in tempo reale resi pubblici e accessibili a cittadini, comuni e autorità sanitarie. La trasparenza è il primo strumento di prevenzione. 3. Responsabilità e sanzioni certe // Applicare senza deroga le sanzioni previste dal Codice della Navigazione e dalla normativa ambientale vigente per chi viola i limiti di scarico e di emissione. La certezza della pena è l’unico deterrente efficace contro comportamenti illegali e dannosi. 4. Coordinamento istituzionale // Creare un tavolo permanente tra Ministero, Capitanerie di Porto, ARPA regionali, Autorità di Sistema Portuale e amministrazioni comunali per garantire un approccio unitario e non frammentato al problema. Il metodo Meritocrazia Italia Non servono proclami, servono fatti. Non servono controlli di facciata, serve un sistema di verifica basato su professionalità, indipendenza e tecnologia. La politica ha il dovere di proteggere l’interesse collettivo e di assicurare che le regole siano uguali per tutti. La tutela dell’ambiente non è una bandiera ideologica. È una condizione essenziale per il diritto alla salute, sancito dall’articolo 32 della Costituzione, e per lo sviluppo sostenibile del Paese. Meritocrazia Italia chiede al Ministero competente e alle Capitanerie di Porto di assumere con immediatezza le proprie responsabilità. Non è più tempo di proroghe o di commissioni. È tempo di agire. Avv. Walter Mauriello Presidente Naz.ale Meritocrazia Italia

This 2021 Winnebago Era 170B is a class B motorhome that was built on a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500XD chassis. Features include a kitchenette, a wet bath, a sleeping platform, a refrigerator, a microwave, a toilet, storage cabinets, and a television. The van is finished in Iridium Silver and is powered by a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 that turns the dually rear wheels through a seven-speed automatic transmission. It rides on 16″ Alcoa aluminum wheels and is further equipped with roof-mounted solar panels, a retractable awning, a power generator, side steps, heated and swiveling front captain’s chairs, Distronic Adaptive cruise control, and MBUX infotainment with navigation. Acquired by the seller in 2025, this Winnebago Era has 26k miles and is now offered with manufacturer’s literature, front window covers, a clean Carfax report, and a clean Arizona title in the seller’s name. The high-roof body is finished in Iridium Silver and features a rooftop air conditioning system and solar panels as well as a retractable awning, a power generator, a ladder, audio speakers, rear parking sensors, shore hookups, a receiver hitch, and a right side—sliding door with a screen. Ceramic coating was applied to the vehicle in September 2025. The 16″ Alcoa aluminum wheels were wrapped in 215/85 Kumho Crugen HT51 tires under current ownership. The chassis is equipped with an Electronic Stability Program (ESP), and braking is handled by discs at all four corners. The rear brake calipers, pads, and rotors are said to have been replaced in August 2025. The front cabin houses heated, swiveling, and power-adjustable captain’s chairs with position memory settings, and they are trimmed in brown upholstery. Carbon-fiber trim accents the dashboard and door panels, and appointments include Distronic cruise control, crosswind assist, automatic climate control, and MBUX infotainment with navigation. The leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel sits ahead of a 130-mph speedometer, a 5k-rpm tachometer, a digital information display, and gauges for coolant temperature and fuel level. The digital odometer indicates 26k miles, approximately 2,600 of which have been added under current ownership. The rear cabin is outfitted with a captain’s chair, inward-facing seats, and a sofa that folds flat into a sleeping platform. Additional equipment includes a three-burner liquid propane cooktop, a sink, a refrigerator/freezer, a High Pointe microwave, stowable tables, storage cabinets, a flat-panel television, a Jensen audio system, and overhead lighting. Both house batteries are noted to have been replaced. The wetbath features a tethered shower sprayer, a sink, a teak wood floor, and a toilet with a bidet attachment. The 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 was factory rated at 188 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a seven-speed automatic transmission that was serviced in August 2025, at which time the dually axle is said to have been replaced. The Carfax report is free of accidents or other reported damage. The winning bid does not include shipping. It is the buyer's responsibility to arrange the details of any shipping or delivery, and to pay any taxes, duties, or charges associated with shipping or delivery.View our third-party shipper recommendations. We need to confirm your billing address in order to appropriately charge fees and taxes should you win an auction. Please provide your billing address below. Congratulations! You're the high bidder. 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Where do theHouston Texansrank entering the 2026 summer ahead of a new season? It was a quietly productive offseason for Houston following its playoff loss to New England. After moving off of Tytus Howard, theTexansshored up the offensive line in free agency with the signings of Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller. On defense, Houston extended several candidates, including All-Pro Will Anderson Jr., and brought in outside names like defensive back Reed Blankenship and defensive tackle Logan Hall. Eight players were selected last month during the NFL draft. Several, including offensivelineman Keylan Rutledgeanddefensive tackle Kayden McDonald, should be Day 1 contributors. Others, liketight end Marlin Kleinanddefensive back Kamari Ramsey,are likely long-term depth pieces to shore up question marks for the future. So, where does Houston rank entering the summer? Sports Illustrated's Connor Orrrecently revealed his newest power rankings after the draft. While the Texans didn't take the top spot in the AFC, they did rank fourth among contenders in the conference and sixth overall, trailing theBuffalo Bills(No. 3),Denver Broncos(No. 4) and Kansas City Chiefs (No. 5). When prompted to break down the Texans' ranking, Orr pointed to the additions of Rutledge and McDonald as game-changers for the trenches, thus creating more stability in the weakpoint of the squad from last year. "Keylan Rutledge and Kayden McDonald with the first two picks is a dream scenario for Houston,"Orr wrote. "This offensive line will have at least three new starters, and McDonald gets to slot in behind Sheldon Rankins, one of the more underrated modern defensive tackles, whose evolved understanding of the defense allows playmakers behind him more opportunities. McDonald is going to swallow blocks and set the Texans’ screaming linebacker corps free." Houston returns nine starters from the No. 1 defense a season ago. McDonald won't be a Day 1 starter opposite the recently-signed Sheldon Rankins, but he is expected to rotate in with Tommy Togiai on run-heavy snaps to contain backs from breaking to the outside. As for Rutledge, while he played guard in college, some believe he's destined to shift inside even more to center. Jake Andrews started there last fall, but it would be far from shocking to see the Georgia Tech standout shift inside and build a rapport with C.J. Stroud. To read the entire power rankings,click the link here.

This story was originally published byCalMatters.Sign upfor their newsletters. Selling bonds. Awarding tax credits. Overseeing pension funds. Investing idle cash for maximum return. These are the roles of California’s treasurer, a job that evokes someone with a fondness for green eyeshades and a favorite Excel function. But in California — as inmost other states— it’s a job that goes to a politician. That may leave voters wondering: What’s the best combination of skills, experience and values for such an exceedingly wonky job? Ask the six candidates and you’re liable to get six different answers. California’s next money manager should be a detail-oriented former diplomat, according to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. For state Sen. Anna Caballero, Kounalakis’ chief Democratic rival, the better option is a wily elected official from a working class community with experience running a government bureaucracy. The two Republicans, Jennifer Hawks and David Serpa, both believe it should be someone eager to check the fiscal impulses of California’s overwhelmingly Democratic political establishment. Board of Equalization member Tony Vazquez thinks a long-time elected tax commissioner is a good fit. Glenn Turner, a former crystal and Tarot card seller-turned mental health activist, believes the role calls for someone with a radical political vision. Not even turn-of-the-century Gov. Hiram Johnson, one of modern California’s political founding fathers, knew what makes a good state treasurer. The job, he complained to the Legislature in 1911, is “merely clerical” and its “qualifications naturally can not be well understood.” The June 2 race is largely a rivalry between the top Democrats. There isn’t much reliable public polling, but as measured by name recognition, high-caliber endorsements and campaign cash on hand, this is Kounalakis’ race to lose. That’s in part thanks to her current role as lieutenant governor — a job that commands statewide name ID and governing experience, even if its list of responsibilities is relatively short. Kounalakis’ personal fortune has also surely helped her become a top candidate. The daughter of developer Angelo Tsakopolous, founder of Sacramento-based AKT Development Corporation, she has nearly nine times as much money parked in her campaign account as the other five candidates combined. Kounalakis entered Democratic politics as a major donor, helping her secure an ambassadorship to Hungary under President Barack Obama. Those fundraising connections also have paid off this cycle: She is endorsed by former first lady Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Kounalakis wouldn’t be the first to take this path to the treasurer’s office. Phil Angelides, who served from 1999 to 2007, is also an AKT alum whose political career was partially funded by Tsakopolous. Though Kounalakis initially ran to replace Newsom as governor, sheswitched to the lower-profile treasurer’s racelast summer amid flagging prospects in a crowded field. But Kounalakis, whose campaign did not respond to requests for an interview, has since argued that her experience as a developer and her self-professed technical orientationmake the role of treasurer a better fit. She told theSan Francisco Chroniclethat she craved a technical role after so many years as a diplomat “standing in front of a podium with a visiting dignitary.” Kounalakis’ decision was an unwelcome development for state Sen.Anna Caballero. A longtime state legislator who served as Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency secretary under former Gov. Jerry Brown, the Merced Democrat was the presumptive favorite until then. Caballero has the upper hand by at least one metric: She has raised more money than Kounalakis since the beginning of this year, even if her campaign account is dwarfed by the war chest the lieutenant governor has amassed over the years. Both Kounalakis and Caballero are termed out of their current roles. The competition between the two top Democratic hopefuls is fierce, even if they don’t seem to disagree about much. Both want the state to simplify the application process for affordable housing subsidies — which is already in the works with the governor’snew housing agency. Both support recent treasurer’s initiatives to direct state funds toward renewable energy projects and to administer aretirement savings programfor workers whose employers don’t offer pension or 401k accounts. Bothexpressed enthusiasmabout aproposalto require state banks and other financial institutions to lend more in lower income neighborhoods and communities. Where there is daylight between the two, it is more a matter of emphasis than major disagreement. Caballero, for example, avidly promotes the use of hydrogen anddairy gasas gasoline alternatives and said the treasurer could foster private-public partnerships in those industries. As a member of the State Lands Commission, Kounalakis is an avid advocate for off-shore wind power development. Though Kounalakis and Caballero are the two most formidable candidates, it’s far from certain that both will make it to the November ballot. One of the top two spots could easily go to a Republican under California’s system in which the top two vote-getters advance. California’s Republican establishment has been doing everything possible to make that happen. The California Republican Party formally endorsed Jennifer Hawks, a Bay Area party activist and former private school administrator, over fellow Republican David Serpa.Reform California, the conservative fundraising and get-out-the-vote organization run by RepublicanAssemblymember Carl DeMaio, also endorsed her. “There’s a risk of splitting the vote,” DeMaio noted in alive-streamed conversationwith Hawks. “We need to make sure that we have someone in the general election that we can be proud of.” The day-to-day work is mostly done by professional staff and it doesn’t vary much with changes at the top. That doesn’t afford their elected boss much room for creativity or innovation. Bill Lockyer, the state’s treasurer between 2007 and 2015, said the job’s main role is to ensure that work is done with Californians in mind — that the “professional staff is managing responsibly.” Still, there are occasional opportunities to do more with the job. Lockyer pointed to his decision to invest in international renewable energy projects through the World Bank — afirst for the state— as one of his most important achievements. When Angelides held the office, he used the treasurer’s posts on the boards of the state’s two major public employee pension funds to inveigh against investment banks and to champion the rights of shareholders. Other Democratic treasurers have acted as fiscal foils to Republican governors. Since the days of Hiram Johnson, the post has also occasionally been derided as a sinecure for career politicians awaiting their next move. That, said Caballero, is decidedly not why she wants to be treasurer. Pointing to her work on housing policy and rural economic development, she said everything in her legislative career “relates back to what’s in the treasurer’s office.” Adding a not-so-subtle dig at Kounalakis: “I’m not on a stepping stone up to something else.” Not that the treasurer’s office has been a particularly effective stepping stone: Angelides, Kathleen Brown, and, more recently, John Chiang all attempted post-treasurer’s office runs for governor. None succeeded. This article wasoriginally published on CalMattersand was republished under theCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivativeslicense.

By Bobby Allyn , Eliana Morales Gil Polymarket claims its headquarters is on the 21st floor of the Oceania Business Plaza. So do more than a dozen other crypto companies. But the address leads to a law firm.Eliana Morales Gilhide caption PANAMA CITY — On the 21st floor of a gleaming skyscraper in the heart of the upscale Punta Pacifica neighborhood here is the official corporate office of Polymarket, the wildly popular prediction market site that has flourished in President Trump's second term. Polymarket, which is worth anestimated$15 billion, moved to its Panama base following scrutiny from American regulators. If Polymarket users have a legal dispute, the company'sterms of servicestates it will be resolved in a closed-door arbitration process in Panama. But when NPR recently visited the law office listed as its home base inPanamanian government documents, there was no sign of Polymarket, nor the entity it does business as in Panama, Adventure One QSS Inc. Instead, a nondescript corporate lobby opened into a large space with about a dozen unoccupied computer stations positioned in the middle of the room. An office worker said the attorney who runs the firm, Mario García de Paredes, was not available. The worker had never heard of Polymarket or Adventure One. Public records show that Polymarket is far from alone in using this Panama City law office as a headquarters in an office park known as the Oceania Business Plaza. So do at least 15 other cryptocurrency companies, including Helix, Drift Protocol, Goldfinch and Parti, a crypto-based prediction market live-streaming site that partners with Polymarket, according to publicly available corporate records. Court filings show the law office also did work for FTX, the now-collapsed exchange whose founder,Sam Bankman-Fried, was handed a 25-year prison sentencein the fraud scandal that took down the crypto empire. In a bankruptcy document detailing unpaid FTX debts, the law office is listed as being owed $13,889. Polymarket and the other companies using the Panamanian law firm did not return requests for comment. Neither did García de Paredes when asked repeatedly for comment by NPR. Corporate law experts say while there is nothing illegal about housing a business inside a shell company, the practice is often a strategic move to protect a firm's wealth or shield it against lawsuits and action from government regulators. "From a tax and regulatory point of view, Panama offers many advantages," said Bruce Zagaris, a Washington lawyer who specializes in international criminal law. After the Biden administration cracked down on Polymarket for operating without a license in 2022, itwound downits U.S. business and set up shop in Panama, a country that has long been a popular tax haven for American firms looking for an off-shore subsidiary. Billions of dollars are traded every week on Polymarket's overseas exchange, including bets on war, military strikes and the toppling of world leaders, which are illegal under U.S. commodities law. The prediction market industry has seen breathtaking growth in President Trump's second term. On Polymarket, more than $8 billion was traded in April alone, compared to less than $1 billion last April, according to analytics firmThe Block, which estimates that, together with Polymarket's main competitor, Kalshi, the prediction market industry recorded more than $24 billion in trades last month. It's a remarkable reversal of fortunes for Polymarket. Undera 2022 settlementhammered out with the regulators in Washington, Polymarket had to pay a $1.4 million fine andshutter itsAmerican business in the U.S. for operating as an unlicensed exchange. Two years later, FBI agents used a battering ram to break down the door of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's Manhattan apartment as part of a probe into whether Polymarket was violating that settlement. Within months of Trump's second inauguration, those problems started getting smoothed out. The Justice Department dropped its investigation into Polymarket. Donald Trump Jr., the president's son,becamean adviser to the company and his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, invested millions into Polymarket. Trump's regulatorsapproved a dealallowing a separate version of Polymarket to re-enter the U.S. Administration officialsinvited Coplanto the White House for a roundtable on cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, the website where all of Polymarket's action happens remains technically banned in the U.S. under the 2022 settlement. It's an awkward position for the company: the Trump administration has openly embraced it, even as the billions of dollars in bets flowing on the site weekly are not supposed to be available to Americans. Polymarket trades, whether on thelikelihood of a nuclear detonation,how far a California wildfire will spread,orwhen the U.S. will strike Iran, are accessible in "view-only mode," meaning it's possible to see how people are betting, but U.S.-based traders are prevented from putting any money down. Polymarket's terms of service tell users not to use a virtual private network, known as a VPN, which can disguise where exactly someone is connecting from online. Timothy Massad, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees U.S.-based prediction markets, said there are real questions about what exactly Polymarket is doing to prevent American users from accessing its overseas exchange. "They could certainly require stronger geofencing so it becomes even more difficult for U.S. users to participate," he said, referencing the tactics used to block people from a certain region from accessing a site. Some geofencing approaches, for instance, require that users verify their physical location using GPS to ensure someone is not just appearing to be in another location with a VPN. Asan indictment last monthagainst a soldier accused of netting more than $400,000 on military secrets shows, Polymarket's rules against VPNs can be bent. Prosecutors allege the U.S. Army master sergeant, Gannon Van Dyke, committed wire fraud and other crimes when he masked his location in North Carolina with a VPN, allowing him to wager $33,000 that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was on the verge of being taken out of power. Van Dyke would know,authorities said, since he was directly involved with planning and carrying out the operation. Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Polymarket's Coplanthankedthe Justice Department for acknowledging Polymarket's cooperation in the investigation in a post that seemed to convey just how much scrutiny his site is under these days. "Noise aside, the reality is we work proactively with all relevant authorities on any suspicious activity on our marketplace," Coplan wrote on X. "This happens constantly behind the scenes, despite what many are led to believe." Some are led to believe otherwise, in part, because of Polymarket's corporate shield in Panama. Workers enter the Oceania Business Plaza in Panama City. Polymarket claims its headquarters is on the 21st floor of the building. So do more than a dozen other crypto companies. But the address leads to a law firm.Eliana Morales Gilhide caption A decade ago,the Panama Papers, an international investigative reporting project, illuminated how the ultra-rich conceal their wealth in off-shore tax havens, like the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Panama. Polymarket has long had an office in New York City's Upper East Side and has never misrepresented its presence in Panama, where the company does not have any employees. Still, in response to NPR's questions, Polymarket would not specify why it chose Panama as its legal residence. Lawyers who help American companies set up Panamanian subsidiaries pointed to the benefits cited most frequently by U.S. firms. First, the tax benefits: There's no income tax for Panama-based companies whose work happens outside the country. There is also no capital gains tax on investments. Another big advantage to locating in Panama is legal: It can be a reprieve from civil judgements from foreign courts. "It's a long legal process. There are a lot of formalities and hoops to jump through," said David Mizrachi, a lawyer with a private practice in Panama. Another Panamanian attorney, who works with crypto startups to establish corporate roots in Panama, including in the same building Polymarket uses, said there is an "innocuous layer" to going to Panama, comparing how many American firms incorporate in Delaware and are not based there. But when Panama serves as a company's official headquarters, it can provide a legal shield. "Companies are always seeking protection from civil and criminal risk, and Panama can offer that," said the attorney, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the work. "If you're someone trying to enforce a judgement, good luck getting a Panamanian court to do that," the attorney said. For instance, Panamanian law views judgements from foreign courts as presumptively invalid, unless the country's supreme court approves them, Mizrachi noted. Zagaris, the international criminal law expert, said Polymarket's Panama base gives Trump officials a justification for taking a mostly hands-off approach,since all the controversial betting on the site is outside the jurisdiction of regulators in Washington. Nonetheless, that posture could change when Trump is out of office. "Offshore platforms still have a responsibility to determine where their customers come from," Zagaris said. "If you don't have law enforcement difficulties with this administration, they might have them in the next." Eliana Morales Gil reported from Panama City

Cuando el fiscal ambiental Carlos Chirre y su equipo llegaron al puerto tras destruir 15 dragas ilegales en el río Colorado (Madre de Dios), no encontraron a la justicia, sino a una turba. Unas 80 personas armadas con palos los acorralaron, quemaron sus botes y los amenazaron de muerte. “Así interdicta el pueblo”, le gritó una de las mujeres que lideraba el motín. Esta escena, documentada en un extenso reportaje de Mongabay Latam, ilustra una cruda realidad: Perú ha perdido el control del territorio. La fiebre del oro no se detiene. Según advierten en AP News, la minería ilegal se está desbordando hacia nuevas zonas de la selva peruana, como la provincia de Tambopata y rincones vírgenes de Madre de Dios, dejando a su paso selvas devastadas y ríos convertidos en lodazales tóxicos. Nadie está a salvo. La histórica estación científica Panguana —con más de 60 años operando en Huánuco— ha sido cercada por retroexcavadoras que operan día y noche. Las amenazas de muerte contra el personal científico obligaron a evacuar la zona. El investigador Eric Cosio advierte sobre la magnitud de este enemigo: el grado de sofisticación logística de estos mineros supera ampliamente al del narcotráfico. Operan a plena luz del día, extrayendo oro a mediana escala y a la vista de todos. La gran trampa legal. Los afluentes son bienes públicos e intangibles, pero el propio Estado es quien ha facilitado su invasión. Según la investigación, existen al menos 215 concesiones mineras vigentes que atraviesan cinco de las principales cuencas de la región. El truco legal es perverso: aunque el título de concesión no autoriza a extraer el mineral sin haber obtenido previamente los permisos ambientales, en la práctica basta con tener ese papel en la mano para instalar dragas y engañar a las comunidades indígenas, afirmando que el Estado les ha otorgado ese derecho. Pero el escudo definitivo de la impunidad tiene un nombre: el Registro Integral de Formalización Minera (Reinfo). Como detalla Wired, este registro temporal (cuya vigencia el Congreso ha extendido hasta 2026) otorga inmunidad penal a los mineros inscritos. Mientras figuren "en proceso de formalización", pueden estar removiendo el lecho del río y usando mercurio —actos prohibidos por ley— sin poder ser procesados como mineros ilegales. La complicidad política. Aquí entra el factor que explica la situación de forma meridiana: Luis Otsuka, actual gobernador regional de Madre de Dios y exdirigente minero, posee una concesión llamada K-1 que se superpone a la comunidad nativa Tres Islas. Aunque el Poder Judicial ordenó anular estas concesiones para proteger el territorio indígena, fue el propio gobierno regional de Otsuka el que, años después, las reactivó. El futuro inminente. En la región de Loreto, donde la minería apenas empieza a asomarse con fuerza, la tragedia sanitaria ya está en curso. Según una investigación del Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (Cincia), el 79% de los pobladores evaluados en la cuenca del río Nanay ya presentan niveles de mercurio en su organismo superiores al límite recomendado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Claudia Vega, investigadora de Cincia, lanza una advertencia aterradora: debido a que en Loreto las comunidades comen pescado diariamente, una expansión de la minería los acercaría a padecer niveles de intoxicación masiva comparables al histórico desastre de Minamata en Japón. A nivel global, la crisis también pasa factura climática. La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú subraya que la paralización de la torre de medición en Panguana compromete directamente al proyecto internacional AndesFlux. Sin esta estación clave en el centro del Perú, el mundo pierde datos vitales a largo plazo para entender cómo se forman las lluvias y cómo funciona el ciclo del carbono en toda Sudamérica. Del río a la sangre. Según Deutsche Welle, la contaminación castiga con mayor crueldad a los pueblos originarios. Julio Cusurichi, dirigente de la organización indígena AIDESEP, denuncia que los estudios en Madre de Dios ya muestran niveles de mercurio muy por encima de lo permitido en mujeres embarazadas, provocando que los niños nazcan con severos problemas neurológicos y malformaciones. Esta bioacumulación es letal. Como explica Claudia Vega (Cincia), el mercurio arrojado a las aguas se transforma en metilmercurio y entra a la cadena trófica a través de los peces carnívoros. Pero no solo eso: la quema del amalgama de oro libera vapores que viajan kilómetros, envenenando el aire de zonas urbanas y bosques que ni siquiera tienen actividad minera directa. Detrás de este ecocidio hay un mercado internacional sediento. El medio alemán señala que existe un tráfico multimillonario de mercurio proveniente de México hacia la Amazonía. Además, expone un vacío global: el Convenio de Minamata —diseñado para frenar este tóxico— no prohíbe completamente su comercio, permitiéndolo bajo ciertas excepciones para la minería artesanal, una grieta que es aprovechada sin piedad por las mafias. Detrás de este ecocidio hay un mercado internacional sediento. El medio alemán señala que existe un tráfico multimillonario de mercurio proveniente de México hacia la Amazonía. Además, expone un vacío global: el Convenio de Minamata —diseñado para frenar este tóxico— no prohíbe completamente su comercio, permitiéndolo bajo ciertas excepciones para la minería artesanal, una grieta que es aprovechada sin piedad por las mafias. Un daño perpetuo. El mercurio no es un problema que el tiempo pueda borrar. "El mercurio, como es un elemento, no lo destruimos", recuerda Claudia Vega. No desaparece; simplemente viaja, se filtra y se hereda a las próximas generaciones. El oro que hoy sale de la Amazonía peruana hacia los mercados globales está manchado por algo más denso que el lodo y el mercurio: está manchado de vacíos legales deliberados. El Estado ha creado un monstruo burocrático donde estar inscrito en un registro o tener una concesión en un papel vale más que la salud de una comunidad nativa o el cauce natural de un río. Mientras las leyes sigan protegiendo al destructor antes que al destruido, la Amazonía seguirá perdiendo la batalla. Imagen | Marco Milon Xataka | Hay dos superpotencias globales peleando por hacerse un hueco en la costa de Perú: Estados Unidos y China