News Suspected tornado in Mississippi from Barry’s wet remnants Associated Press•
Tropical Weather This Sunday, July 14, 2019, image made from a cellphone video provided by the Mississippi Governor’s Office shows the flooded welcome sign at the entrance to Eagle Lake community near Vicksburg, Miss. In a Monday, July 15, posting of the short video on Twitter, Gov. Phil Bryant made reference that „the South Delta has become an ocean,” with the additional rainfall from Tropical Depression Barry, while calling on the federal government to build pumps to drain water from the confluence of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers. (Bobby Morgan/Office of Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant via AP)MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A suspected tornado struck a rural area of north Mississippi on Tuesday, damaging homes and knocking down trees and power lines as the wet remnants of Tropical Storm Barry rumbled through several states, officials said.A storm that may have included a tornado passed through Victoria, Mississippi, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, National Weather Service forecaster Andrew Chiuppi said.About a dozen homes were damaged by either straight-line winds or a tornado, Marshall County Emergency Management Director Hugh Hollowell said. A few people were checked out for very minor injuries, he said.
Crews were trying Tuesday afternoon to reach areas that were blocked off by large, fallen trees and downed, active power lines, Hollowell said.
Weather service experts were going to survey the area to confirm whether a tornado touched down.
Marshall County resident Jennifer Foy told WREG-TV that windows were blown out of her home.
„All we heard was a loud boom,” Foy said. „I guess it was a transformer blowing, and the wind just started moving things across the porch, and it started moving my grill across the porch, so I grabbed the kids and threw them into the bathtub.”
Storms caused by what was left of Barry have soaked parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, causing flash flooding in rural areas and prompting the shutdown of a stretch of interstate that links Little Rock and Dallas because of water on the road.
Barry spared New Orleans and Baton Rouge from catastrophic flooding but still drenched other parts of Louisiana with torrential rains. Cities as far as Memphis reported heavy rain from Barry: More than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain have fallen since Friday, Chiuppi said.
In Arkadelphia, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Little Rock, heavy rains inundated an animal shelter, and the shelter says one puppy died.
By 2 p.m. Arkansas Department of Transportation officials said lanes in both directions of Interstate 30, which had been closed due to flooding, were reopened. One small section heading eastbound remained closed while crews addressed slope erosion.
___
This story has been corrected to cite WREG-TV, not WMC-TV.
A heat wave will scorch the central and eastern US this week. Here’s how you can stay cool and survive
A heat wave predicted to scorch much of the central and eastern U.S. this week has left many already-sweaty Americans groaning. The unusually high temperatures could lead to power outages, whiny kids, unhappy pets … and bring about serious safety concerns.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for large swathes of the country where temperatures will reach triple digits. When combined with local humidity percentages, the weather this week might feel unbearable.
How can you stay comfortable? Survive? That’s why USA TODAY spoke with heat-related illness experts ahead of the upcoming heat wave.
Riana Pryor, a professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the University at Buffalo, studies athletic performance in extreme temperatures. She emphasized the importance of being proactive about your health – especially with extreme heat on the way.
Here are some ways you can take care of yourself and your loved ones:
Stay hydrated
Normally when you are hot, Pryor said, your body tries to keep you cool by sweating. That process is less efficient in extreme temperatures, however, even though your body keeps doing it.
“A lot of people don’t realize that if you’re feeling thirsty, you are already dehydrated,” Pryor said. When you are thirsty, she said, you are probably 1% dehydrated. As your body becomes further dehydrated, your brain function begins to become impaired, she said.
Children and seniors are less sensitive to thirst, she said, so they can become dehydrated without even realizing it.
Pryor recommends that children check their hydration levels when they use the bathroom – the color of urine is a good indicator for hydration. If your urine is the color of lemonade or lighter, she said, you’re good. But if your urine is the color of apple juice or darker, you could be in trouble.
To remedy this, and stay hydrated, you can drink any water-based liquids including sports drinks or juices. Caffeine is OK in moderation, Pryor said, but alcohol will lead to further dehydration.
You can also improve your hydration with a mindful diet rich with water-based foods like melons, berries and leafy greens.
Stay out of the sun
Avoid spending extended periods of time outside, if at all possible.
It is best to be in air-conditioned environments, whether that be your home, or a local library, movie theater or shopping mall.
If you have to be outside, Pryor said, find shade or another area that gets more wind to cool you down.
It is best to wear loose, airy clothing in light colors, Pryor said. Wind can help cool your body, so clothing that exposes skin is better than long sleeve shirts, or other tight, restrictive clothing.
One of the best cooling techniques if you are outside, Pryor said, is to get your clothing wet with cold water. This will decrease your skin temperature and body temperature.
Check on vulnerable groups
Giselle Routhier, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless, said that homeless people are at an increased risk during extreme weather.
In New York City and in many other areas of the country, the government opens up cooling centers in public spaces when temperatures are predicted to be dangerously high.
There are others at increased risk, too – including occupational workers whose jobs require them to be outside for extended periods, said William Adams, director of the Hydration, Environment and Thermal (H.E.A.T.) Stress Lab at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Older adults will also be at increased risk, Adams said. As humans age, we lose the ability to regulate body temperature and could become ill because of heat without even realizing it.
If you have older family members, friends or neighbors without air conditioning, it is important to check on them a few times a day, Adams said.
„They might not realize that they are feeling sick or ill because of the heat,” Pryor said. „They might not call someone or think to pick up the phone to let someone know.”
Know the symptoms
Heat-related illnesses can present themselves in a variety of ways, Pryor said.
If someone around you starts to „seem off,” Pryor said, it is cause for concern.
Other symptoms include nausea, muscle cramps, loss of coordination or general sick feelings, Pryor said.Heat-related illnesses need to be treated immediately, she said, and a cold water bath is widely regarded as the most effective way to lower body temperature.
„If you’re starting to feel sick, you might as well cool yourself off and then get checked out,” Pryor said.
Keep an eye on pets
Pets can become sick from the heat, too, according to VHA Animal Hospitals.
„Instead of sweating, dogs eliminate heat by panting,” according to the Pet MD website. „When panting isn’t enough, a dog’s body temperature rises.”
This can happen if you leave your dog in the car, but it can also happen in other cases when dogs are exposed to extreme heat.
If your dog is panting excessively, seemingly uncomfortable or unable to move around, he or she may be overheating. According to VHA Animal Hospitals, pet overheating, or hyperthermia is an immediate medical emergency.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat wave survival tips: What to drink, what to wear and more
Quake damages buildings on Bali, other Indonesian islands FIRDIA LISNAWATI
Indonesia Earthquake
DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — An earthquake shook Bali and other Indonesian islands Tuesday, causing panic and damaging homes and injuring one person.
It was the second strong earthquake in Indonesia since Sunday, when a quake in North Maluku province killed four people and damaged nearly 1,000 houses. About 3,100 people in the province are living in temporary shelters, disaster officials said.
Tuesday’s magnitude 5.7 quake was centered at sea 82 kilometers (51 miles) to the southwest of Denpasar on Bali at a depth of 91 kilometers (57 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Indonesia’s geophysics agency said the quake didn’t have the potential to cause a tsunami.
The national disaster agency said one person was injured in Bali and 38 buildings including houses and a Mercure hotel had minor damage.
It posted photos on its Twitter account showing a damaged house and mosque in Banyuwangi in East Java and a damaged Hindu temple in Bali. Video showed damage to an ornate entranceway in Nusa Dua, an area of high-end resorts in Bali.
The main hospital in Denpasar evacuated patients, some attached to intravenous drips, to the hospital grounds, television video showed. Numerous schools and hotels were also evacuated.
„While having breakfast suddenly everything in the room swayed very strongly,” said George Stephen, an Australian holidaying in Bali’s Kuta area.
He said guests fled the hotel in panic but returned after about 15 minutes.
Indonesia, with more than 260 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location along the Pacific „Ring of Fire.” A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.
___
Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
A high pressure system stretching from coast-to-coast is keeping the heat turned on. The heat and humidity are made to feel worse by the large amount of moisture in the air coming from the Gulf of Mexico, much of it left over from Hurricane Barry.
The heat index, which is what the temperature feels like, should hit 110 (43.3 Celsius) in Washington, D.C., on Saturday and 109 (42.8 Celsius) in Chicago and Detroit on Friday, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of Weather Underground. Wednesday marked Washington’s seventh straight day with temperatures of at least 90 degrees (32.2 Celsius), and that streak was expected to last for another five days.
An experimental weather service forecast projects that nearly 100 local records will be broken Thursday and Friday in Texas, Oklahoma, parts of the Midwest and a large swath of the East Coast. On Saturday, 101 records could fall in an area stretching from Texas to Iowa and east to Maine and Florida, according to projections.
Deloris Knight said she will keep the heat out of her eastside Detroit home by keeping her doors and curtains closed while running the small window air conditioner in her living room.
„We have a couple of big fans. We have ceiling fans,” Knight, 63, said Wednesday while enjoying temperatures in the mid-80s (about 29 degrees Celsius) from her front porch. „I keep lemonade and gallons of frozen water in the refrigerator. At night, we’re in the house.”
Even that may not provide enough relief for some, especially for young children, the elderly or people with certain chronic illnesses.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s live air quality tracker reported that the air was „unhealthy” Wednesday for sensitive groups in a stretch of the East Coast from Baltimore to Bridgeport, Connecticut, including Philadelphia and New York City.
Such heat can be deadly. Over three days in July 1995, more than 700 people died during a heat wave in Chicago as temperatures rose above 97 degrees (36.1 Celsius). Many of the dead were poor, elderly and lived alone.
„Daytime hours when the sun is out is clearly our highest risk periods,” said Dr. Michael Kaufmann, EMS medical director with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. „We’re not expecting the drops in temperature at night — or the humidity — that we often realize when the sun goes down.”
Roger Axe, who heads the emergency management agency in Indiana’s Greene County, said he has asked churches and other organizations to open their doors as „possible lifesaving cooling centers.”
Officials in the Detroit suburb of Westland will keep the police station lobby and one of its fire stations open around the clock. The Chicago suburb of Orland Park also opened its police station as its primary 24-hour cooling center.
Kelly Boeckman, 31, and Taylor Knoll, 28, met Wednesday morning — when the heat was still bearable — to chat at a patio table in downtown Jefferson City, Missouri. Both have young children and said they are careful to keep them hydrated and protected from the heat.
„We definitely aren’t doing outside activities for the afternoon and evening, even though they want to sometimes,” said Boeckman, who has 6-year-old twins and a 3 year old. They’re „playing early, (getting) lots of water and hydration, (and) staying in the shade when we are outside.”
Steve Owen, a 54-year-old bus driver from Roeland Park, Kansas, dumped water on his head to stay cool Wednesday while waiting to pick up a day care group from the local pool.
„I’m usually revived and feeling much better,” he said after drenching himself. „That usually gets me through.”
The heat also can take a toll on pets and other animals. Officials at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago have spent the past few days preparing.
Blocks of ice weighing about 300 pounds (136 kilograms) were being trucked in for the polar and grizzly bears, and the zoo planned to give ice cubes to the reindeer. Additional animals were being given access to indoor quarters starting Thursday.
„The welfare of the animals is our top priority,” said zoo spokeswoman Sondra Katzen.
The same is true at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where some animals have cooling stations in their enclosures and space off-exhibit where they can go to cool down, said general curator Dave Bernier.
„I don’t expect it to be much change in attendance,” he said. „Once they decide they want to go to the zoo on the weekend, that’s usually where they go.”
___
Science Writer Seth Borenstein reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Heather Hollingsworth in Roeland Park, Kansas, contributed to this report.
Latest hot spell set to deepen drought pain in France
Latest hot spell set to deepen drought pain in France
By Bate Felix and Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS (Reuters) – Hot weather in France next week is expected to prolong drought conditions that have impacted several sectors including nuclear power generation and farming, and led to restrictions on water use in 61 administrative regions.
French meteorological services expect very hot and dry weather next week, with a slight risk of a heatwave in the southeastern part of the country. This comes after a hot spell set record temperatures at the end of June.
The hot weather and lack of rainfall throughout the year have led to very low levels of groundwater, which contributes to the volume and flow of rivers, said Violaine Bault, hydrologist at French Geological Survey BRGM.
When groundwater decreases and there is no rainfall, rivers dry up.
The situation was more critical in the Loire, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Burgundy regions in central and eastern France. The Rhone River has been severely impacted.
There has been very little rainfall in the region over the past three winters, Bault said.
French state-controlled utility EDF said on Tuesday that due to flow forecasts for the Rhone river, electricity generation could be restricted at its Bugey, St-Alban and Tricastin nuclear power plants from Saturday, July 20.
The nuclear plants, with a combined capacity of around 10,800 megawatts, use water from the river as coolant.
EDF’s use of water is regulated by law to protect plant and animal life. It is obliged to reduce output during hot weather when water temperatures rise, or when river levels and the flow rate are low.
The company said two nuclear reactors at the St. Alban plant and one at Bugey could be impacted over the weekend, but production losses are expected to be lower from Monday.
A spokesman for EDF said the utility had carried out modifications at its reactors after the 2003 and 2006 heatwaves to adapt them to hot conditions.
He said the changes enabled the plants to cut water use, while ventilation systems were added to reduce the impact of high temperatures.
„NO RAIN FORECAST”
Grain crops in the EU’s largest producing country should also be affected, especially spring crops such as maize and sunflower which are at key development stages. Wheat crops are less at risk, with harvesting underway in many parts of France.
Maize fields, which are widely irrigated, should suffer from increasing restrictions on water use.
Other fields have already passed a critical point, with farmers reporting irreparable damage.
„There is no rain forecast until the end of the month, so all of it will be roasted,” said crop grower Christian Piveteau in Montbert, western France
„We had never seen a situation like this at this time of the year. Usually it rather happens late August, early September, after maize crops’ flowering. Without rain, there will be nothing left,” he said.
Livestock farmers will also be impacted as dry weather parched pastures used to feed animals for a second consecutive year.
(Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz and Valerie Parent; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Escocia bate récord de muertes por consumo de drogas: más de 1.000 en 2018

Esta cantidad supone más del doble que en 2008 (574 muertes por esta causa) y triplica la tasa de mortalidad de Inglaterra y Gales, situándose en los niveles de Estados Unidos, que vive una gran epidemia de consumidores de opioides sintéticos que han devastado a las poblaciones. Ningún país en Europa se acerca tampoco a estos registros. Recordemos que la población escocesa es de aproximadamente 5,5 millones de habitantes, por lo que proporcionalmente la cifra es elevadísima.
El perfil de estas víctimas es el de hombres (72%) de entre 35 y 44 años, la que se conoce como la generación Trainspotting, en referencia a la película de los años 90 sobre el consumo de drogas en el país, aunque no se puede olvidar que la mortalidad también ha aumentado entre los jóvenes. Los causantes, en la gran mayoría de los casos, son los opioides. Y es que la heroína, la metadona o la codeína estuvieron presentes en el 86% de las muertes.
Los expertos consideran que se ha producido una tormenta perfecta que ha provocado que las cifras se disparen. Algunos de los factores que han contribuido han sido: cada vez más personas consumiendo múltiples drogas al mismo tiempo; medicamentos recetados cuyas consecuencias son impredecibles; y adictos de varias décadas, cuya salud ya es débil.
Hay que recordar además que en los años 80 y principios de los 90 hubo una gran epidemia de consumo de heroína en Reino Unido que además tuvo mucha presencia en Escocia. Otros factores propios del país como el abuso de sustancias utilizadas para tratar la depresión o el elevado consumo de alcohol también conllevan a unas mayores tasas de mortalidad.
Glasgow, el eslabón más débil
En este sentido, Glasgow aparece muy señalada. La ciudad, que cuenta con una esperanza de vida muy baja, que apenas supera por estrecho margen los 70 años, ha tenido numerosos adictos en el pasado. Tanto es así que los expertos critican la facilidad para acceder a la heroína y a las benzodiazepinas, algo que ha ido lastrando la salud de la urbe.
Desde hace años se discuten distintas soluciones e incluso cada vez son más las voces que piden una despenalización que permita afrontar el problema,aunque de momento no parece que vaya a ser posible, aunque parece claro que el país necesita medidas urgentes que acaben con esta lacra.
Buscan a un bañista perdido en Girona y lo encuentran en un prostíbulo
Y de pronto, ya no estaba. Un grupo de jóvenes se encontraba en una playa de Roses (Girona) el pasado sábado compartiendo un baño cuando uno de los miembros desapareció.
Asustados, sus compañeros informaron a las autoridades que, inmediatamente, montaron un operativo de búsqueda del bañista perdido.
Guardia Civil, Mossos d’Esquadra, Policía Local y hasta voluntarios. No faltó nadie. Barcos y helicópteros… De todo. Pero el desaparecido seguía sin dar señales. Comenzaba a temerse lo peor en una época siempre peligrosa de ahogamientos y desapariciones en el agua.
Pero nada más lejos. Ese “nadador fugado” no se había perdido en el agua, no. Se había escapado al lugar más insospechado: un prostíbulo de La Junquera. Y como resulta ahora evidente, no había dicho ni palabra a sus compañeros.
TAMBIÉN TE PUEDE INTERESAR
La laguna seca de Aculeo muestra las heridas de la crisis climática en Chile
Valdivia de Paine (Chile), 16 jul (EFE).- Las profundas grietas en el lecho seco de lo que un día fue la laguna de Aculeo, al sur de la capital de Chile, son las heridas que ha provocado la disminución de las precipitaciones desde el año 2010 en el centro del país, como consecuencia directa de los efectos de la crisis climática.
Terrones de arena resecos cubren ahora la superficie de lo que hace menos de diez años era un oasis de agua del que disfrutaban los ciudadanos de Santiago como lugar de recreo y dispersión.
La laguna de Aculeo se secó definitivamente en mayo de 2018 y donde antes abundaban las embarcaciones, las canoas y los deportes náuticos, ahora pastan caballos y vacas entre los juncos resecos que perecen al sol ante la falta de agua.
Tras seis meses de trabajo analizando el caso, expertos de la Universidad de Chile corroboraron que la desaparición de la laguna de Aculeo se explica porque las precipitaciones de la última década (2010-2018) son aproximadamente 38 % menores que el promedio histórico.
„Es una situación bien preocupante porque de acuerdo a todas las proyecciones de cambio climático, lo que está ocurriendo ahora con este patrón de precipitación no se espera que se vaya a revertir. Se espera que continúe en el tiempo”, ha señalado a Efe la profesora de la facultad de Ciencias Forestales de la Universidad de Chile Pilar Barría.
La laguna de Aculeo, que antaño fueron 1210 hectáreas de agua que se alimentaba de las lluvias estacionales que discurrían desde las montañas que la rodean, ahora es un desierto agrietado con reminiscencias náuticas que recuerdan un pasado húmedo que no hay certeza de que pueda volver.
„Todas las proyecciones climáticas tienen incertidumbre. Puede ser que en uno o dos años más comience a llover, pero si nos basamos en los modelos de cambio climático se muestra que las proyecciones indican que esto sería la nueva normalidad. Se proyecta que Chile tenga menos precipitación hacia mediados y finales de siglo”, afirma la catedrática.
Desde el centro del fondo de la laguna, mirando hacia lo que fue la playa hace años, ahora cuelgan a unos 4 metros de altura los embarcaderos inservibles y los botes deteriorados que pasaron de flotar en el agua a quedar atrapados y oxidados sobre la carcomida tierra.
Aculeo no es un caso único ni en Chile ni a nivel mundial, pero sí podría ser un ejemplo claro de las últimas consecuencias de la emergencia climática.
„Es parte de un fenómeno global que se puede ver en otras formas en latitudes similares, no solamente en Chile central, sino que se observa también en el sureste y suroeste de Australia, o en el hemisferio norte también”, ha agregado Barría.
La sequía de la laguna es un ejemplo perfecto para explicar la situación que vive el centro de Chile, que cada vez se reseca más por los efectos del calentamiento global y la falta de actualización de los criterios de consumo y uso de los recursos hídricos.
Chile central es la barrera natural entre el norte chileno, desértico y árido, y el sur, lluvioso y boscoso, y su proximidad entre la costa pacífica y Los Andes (unos 140 kilómetros) presume una cuenca suficientemente abastecida de agua.
Sin embargo, la mayor parte proviene de las precipitaciones, aunque estas „han disminuido”, ha dicho la profesora Barría, principalmente a causa de la expansión del anticiclón del Pacífico.
„Durante nueve años seguidos hubo menos precipitación, una reducción de aproximadamente el 38 % respecto al promedio histórico y eso significó un déficit hídrico importante”, ha explicado.
La disminución del recurso hídrico supone menor cantidad de agua en los acuíferos, por lo que la disponibilidad es menor.
Dozens of whales stranded on Georgia island remain at sea after rescue effort by beachgoers
More than two dozen pod whales that were helped back into deep water by beachgoers after stranding themselves on St. Simon island remained offshore Wednesday, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Crowds of beachgoers of all ages descended on about 30 whales in shallow water Tuesday, pushing and shoving them back to sea in an impromptu operation captured live on social media.
Three of the whales, which can weigh 800 to 1,000 pounds, died, but the rest made it safely back to sea Tuesday evening, according to Glenn County Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
DNR whale biologist Clay George indicated that the dead whales were euthanized after becoming incapacitated. The DNR planned necropsies on the animals.
“While stranding is a known natural occurrence, the only thing we can do is to continue pushing them out to sea,” George said.
Harbor pilots had spotted the whales in a nearby shipping channel Wednesday morning.
DNR spokesman Rick Lavender said conservationists from the National Marine Mammal Foundation followed the whales in a boat to make sure they were safe and stayed offshore. A helicopter searched for more stranded whales by air and found none.
The initial operation to save the whales was captured on a 15-minute video taken by local resident Dixie McCoy and posted on Facebook around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. It shows vacationers, families and kids pushing or dragging them into the water.
„It is so sad,” McCoy says at one point. „They are going to die if they don’t get help.”
Thousands of whales are dying: No more public beaches for the carcasses to rot
Whaling: Why did Japan just resume commercial whaling?
But one by one, the beachgoers – kids and parents alike – splashed water on the struggling animals, some of whom were crying out, and then tried to roll, push or drag the creatures into deeper water.
Also joining the rescue effort were responders from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Sea Turtle Center and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Help can be summoned quickly on the island by calling 1-877-WHALE-HELP.
George said the whales were likely confused, as they normally stay more than 100 miles offshore. The American Cetacean Society says pilot whales are often involved in mass strandings partly because of their social nature.
Contributing: Associated Press
Post by dixie.mccoy.7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia: Pilot whales beached on St. Simons Island, rescued
Por Alberto Peña
La Junta destaca la „excepcionalidad y calidad” del busto de Adriano incautado en Écija
Sevilla, 17 jul (EFE).- La consejera de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía, Patricia del Pozo, ha destacado „la excepcionalidad y la calidad” de busto del emperador romano Adriano incautado en Écija (Sevilla) por la Guardia Civil el pasado 14 de julio.
La pieza fue incautada en una finca privada de la localidad sevillana, estará custodiada por el Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla, a pesar de encontrarse en estos momentos en deposito judicial, y podrá exhibirse en él una vez que la Junta de Andalucía se haga cargo de la pieza.
En conferencia de prensa, la consejera de Cultura, ha destacado el trabajo „impresionante de la Guardia Civil”, a la que ha agradecido la recuperación del busto para „el disfrute de todos”.
De la pieza romana ha celebrado el buen estado de la conservación del mármol y la enorme fama histórica y literaria el emperador representado al que unen „fuertes lazos con esta tierra” y que „tenía que volver a su casa”, ha dicho la consejera.
Por su parte, la directora del Museo, María Soledad Gil, ha explicado que, a pesar de unas roturas antiguas que presenta la pieza, su mármol es de „excelentísima calidad”, y ha explicado que se trata de un objeto de importación, de procedencia no hispánica, „estilísticamente muy bien realizada” y los futuros análisis deberán certificar si se trata, como se especula, de material de origen heleno.
El Museo Arqueológico expondrá el busto de Adriano, cuya efigie representa una etapa temprana de su periodo en el poder, de manera conjunta con otro localizado hace algunos años y que pertenece a etapas más avanzadas del emperador, nacido en Itálica, según ha dicho la directora de la institución.
En la operación, la Guardia Civil detuvo a tres personas de la misma familia que tenían intención de poner la pieza en venta y que se encuentran imputados acusados de delitos de apropiación indebida y contra el Patrimonio Histórico.
Desde su llegada al museo, la escultura ha sido sometida a una limpieza manual de barro y tierras adherida, a la espera de poder realizar una limpieza química en suelo húmedo para eliminar de manera más exhaustiva los residuos que acumula, para su „completa restauración y consolidación”, ha explicado Soledad Gil.
A causa de la excepcionalidad de la pieza, las primeras estimaciones destacaron el alto precio que habría podido adquirir en el mercado negro o en el ámbito de las subastas, que pudo superar los 500.000 euros, según ha informado la Junta de Andalucía en un comunicado.
En el mundo sólo se conservan cinco modelos parecidos a este busto, con coraza y manto militar, localizables en ciudades como Roma, Florencia o Nápoles.