Panamá se posiciona nuevamente como una nación líder ambiental global con la designación oficial de la ciudad como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales, a realizarse del 7 al 15 de junio de 2028.

La Convención de Ramsar sobre la Conservación de los Humedales es un tratado intergubernamental adoptado en 1971 en la ciudad de Ramsar, Irán, cuyo objetivo es promover la conservación y el uso racional de los humedales a nivel mundial. Cuenta con 172 países miembros y más de 2,500 sitios designados como Humedales de Importancia Internacional.

La Conferencia de las Partes (COP) se celebra cada tres años en distintas partes del mundo y reúne a gobiernos, organizaciones y expertos para evaluar avances y definir prioridades en la protección de estos ecosistemas.

Musonda Mumba, secretaria general de la Convención RAMSAR, estuvo presente en la firma del acuerdo junto al ministro de Ambiente, Juan Carlos Navarro, estableciendo formalmente a Panamá como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales.

Este convenio, de acuerdo a la información oficial, marca una estrecha colaboración para preparar uno de los encuentros ambientales más importantes del mundo, que reunirá en nuestro país a unos 1,500 representantes de más de 170 países junto a científicos, especialistas en humedales, pueblos indígenas, organizaciones ambientalistas y el sector privado.

Panamá es parte de la Convención desde 1989 y cuenta con seis sitios Ramsar reconocidos oficialmente como humedales de importancia internacional: la Bahía de Panamá, ubicada al este de la ciudad de Panamá; el Golfo de Montijo, situado en la provincia de Veraguas; San San Pond Sak, localizado en Bocas del Toro; Punta Patiño, en la provincia de Darién; Damani-Guariviara, ubicado en la comarca Ngäbe-Buglé; y el Complejo de Humedales de Matusagaratí, ubicado en Darién.

Los seis sitios RAMSAR de Panamá conectan biodiversidad entre Norteamérica, Centroamérica y Sudamérica, y actúan como corredores naturales únicos para especies migratorias; son áreas irremplazables de reproducción para peces y aves; y regulan procesos hídricos costeros de enorme valor social y económico.

Panamá posee una gran variedad de humedales que reúnen manglares, estuarios, marismas, lagunas costeras y humedales de agua dulce. Su ubicación entre dos océanos hace posible que estos cumplan con funciones ambientales vitales como proteger las costas, capturar carbono, regular el agua y conservar la biodiversidad, en otros.

El ministro de Ambiente, Juan Carlos Navarro expresó que la designación de Panamá como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales reconoce años de trabajo del país en la protección de humedales y ofrece la oportunidad de mostrar al mundo soluciones panameñas innovadoras basadas en la naturaleza.

“Nuestros manglares y humedales son ecosistemas únicos y majestuosos que ocupan una proporción importante del litoral panameño y proporcionan valor económico irremplazable a nuestras comunidades costeras. Los estamos cuidando de la mano de esas mismas comunidades, fortaleciendo la conservación de las áreas protegidas costeras y los corredores biológicos y humedales de los que dependemos tantos panameños para nuestra alimentación y bienestar,” manifestó el funcionario

Entre los temas prioritarios de este encuentro internacional está lograr acuerdos globales para la protección y el uso sostenible de humedales, ecosistemas esenciales para la vida humana y la biodiversidad planetaria.

Panamá ve el evento del COP 16 de RAMSAR como un momento propicio para crear alianzas regionales, atraer inversión en conservación y dar voz a los territorios tropicales en las decisiones internacionales sobre manejo de humedales.

Four Americans were reportedly caught in a fiery multi-vehicle crash in Mexico that left at least 10 people dead and about 10 others injured. 

The massive pileup happened Sunday after a tractor-trailer crashed into multiple vehicles on a highway in the western state of Jalisco, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit. 

While the agency reported 10 deaths, Mexico’s Army, Air Force and National Guard said nine people were killed.

Jalisco Civil Protection told Reuters that four Americans suffered minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital.

EIGHT BELIEVED DEAD AFTER B-52 CRASHES SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FROM EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE

«Four patients in minor condition, all U.S. citizens, were transferred to the Arboledas Hospital in Guadalajara by a private ambulance from the highway,» Jalisco Civil Protection said.

Reuters reported that two of those killed were minors.

Another two of the injured were identified as National Guard members who suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital in Guadalajara, according to Reuters. 

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show several vehicles engulfed in flames along the highway connecting Guadalajara and Tepic, sending multiple plumes of black smoke into the air. 

MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A ‘DEVASTATING LOSS,’ COMPANY SAYS

A firefighter works to douse the smoking engine of a destroyed vehicle after a devastating highway collision in Jalisco, Mexico, on Sunday. (Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit)

According to Mexican officials, the crash happened when a tractor-trailer apparently suffered a brake failure and slammed into a line of vehicles that had stopped because of an earlier accident. 

«According to initial reports, a trailer reportedly suffered a failure in its braking system and ended up crashing into several vehicles that were stopped due to a prior incident,» Mexico’s Army, Air Force and National Guard said in a post on X. 

POPULAR FLORIDA SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER KILLED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING WHILE INSIDE LUXURY SUV

The initial accident reportedly involved a rear-end collision between two tractor-trailers. As emergency crews responded, a third tractor-trailer crashed into the scene, according to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit. 

«As a result of this second impact, three private vehicles and two tractor-trailer trucks were completely destroyed by the fire,» the authorities said. «Additionally, two other private vehicles and an official Dodge Charger unit belonging to the National Guard sustained material damage. «

Mexican authorities inspect the incinerated frame of a tractor-trailer on a highway connecting Guadalajara and Tepic in Jalisco, Mexico, on Sunday. (Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection of Nayarit)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Firefighters later extinguished the blaze, officials said. 

Local outlet El Financiero reported that the driver of the tractor-trailer was detained by the National Guard. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Washington D.C.’s entrenched politicos sprang into action this week before key confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate to try and sink President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Roughly 1,200 Department of Justice (DOJ) alumni signed off on a letter on Tuesday sent to high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee leaders demanding they reject elevating Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he prepares for confirmation hearings next week on July 15 and 16.

Blanche, who previously served as former AG Pam Bondi’s No. 2, has been tapped by the 47th president to do the job permanently, sending the former bureaucrats into a frenzy.

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOMINATE ACTING AG TODD BLANCHE TO PERMANENTLY LEAD JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

The signatories of the letter trying to stop the process bill themselves as former DOJ employees from Republican and Democratic administrations, which is true. But even a cursory look at some of the names reveals the letter’s true hyperpartisan nature.

Here are a few:

• Lori Lightfoot, the former mayor of Chicago and a far-left Democrat with a long history of anti-Trump rhetoric.
• JP Cooney, an ex-prosecutor and Democratic congressional candidate who served as Jack Smith’s top deputy during Smith’s special counsel investigation into President Trump over later-dismissed criminal charges. He’s running his campaign on the grounds that he «spent [his] career standing up to powerful people and holding them accountable, including Donald Trump.»
• Aaron Zelinsky, who served as assistant special counsel to former FBI director Robert Mueller during Russiagate, which evidence now suggests was a «manufactured» Obama-era intelligence fabrication to smear Trump.
• Robert Turkavage, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in New Jersey.
• Sara Zdeb, who worked as chief oversight counsel for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin is currently the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member.
• Candice Cook, the former DOJ chief diversity and inclusion officer.
• Sam Bagenstos, a political appointee in both the Biden and Obama administrations with a history of bashing Trump and who also brags about his progressive bona fides on his University of Michigan Law biography page.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined «CNN This Morning» on Monday to discuss her fight against teachers unions during the pandemic. (Screenshot/CNN/CNNThisMorning)

UNEARTHED DOJ EMAILS EXPOSE TURMOIL OVER BIDEN-ERA MEMO URGING CRACKDOWN ON PARENTS

«This list is a who’s who of partisan activists, including liberal politicians such as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who saw crime drastically rise under her tenure, Trump impeachment witness Pamela Karlan, and multiple former disgruntled Biden administration officials, some of whom were directly involved in the weaponization of the Department,» a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital of the letter.

A former White House official quipped that, «It looks like they passed a petition around the MS NOW green room.»

Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump DOJ says Blanche has the support of law enforcement.

«Law enforcement throughout the nation supports the nomination of Acting Attorney General Blanche, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing police leadership in dozens of major U.S. cities; the International Association of Chiefs of Police, representing tens of thousands of law enforcement leaders worldwide; and the Major County Sheriffs of America, representing hundreds of the nation’s largest sheriffs’ offices,» the spokesperson said.

The letter itself states that as former DOJ employees, the signatories take seriously their «oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.»

It complains that Blanche has fired hundreds of DOJ employees, some of whom, they say, were fired for «having worked on cases the President didn’t like.»

«The consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country,» the letter says. «They’ve meant that much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done as well – leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.»

A U.S. Justice Department logo in the department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference in Washington, Jan. 24, 2023. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

But the note is eerily reminiscent of another widely-covered stunt that turned out to be a political operation to protect then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during his 2020 election bid.

In that instance, 51 former intelligence officials, including known Trump adversaries former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, penned a letter to the public claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal appeared to be a foreign intelligence operation.

The contents of Hunter Biden’s personal computer, published in October 2020 by the New York Post, contained shocking videos and photos of drug use, lewd sex acts, and sensitive business communications. It eventually was dubbed the «laptop from hell» due to the public relations nightmare it caused for the Biden campaign.

The former intelligence officials immediately jumped to Biden’s defense, claiming the letter had «all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.»

Hunter Biden arrives at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware, for his trial on felony gun charges. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

«Such an operation would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now multi-year operation to interfere in our democracy — the hacking (via cyber-operations) and the dumping of accurate information or the distribution of inaccurate or misinformation,» the letter said.

Mainstream news outlets ran with the letter, downplaying the scandal.

By early 2022, many of those same news outlets were forced to report that the emails and files from the laptop were, in fact, authentic after federal investigators looked into the matter.

James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, center, at the White House on Sept. 7, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Clapper was one of the few signatories who answered for the bogus Russian intelligence claim, but he stood by the letter, claiming the ex-intel crowd never said for sure that the laptop was a Russian operation.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

«Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph,» he told The New York Post. «I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate.»

So it appears the latest actions are just a repeat of the same playbook Democrats have been using to push their agenda against Trump.