Trotsky's assassin

Spanish police file from 1936 by Ramon Mercader del Rio (1914-1978)

Lev Trotski, a Russian communist theorist and one of the leaders of the October Revolution of 1917, is mortally wounded with an ice ax by the Stalinist agent from Barcelona, Ramón Mercader del Río, at his home in Coyoacán, near Mexico City. He dies the next day. The NKVD agent, captured by his mother Caridad del Río - a fervent communist militant - never confessed his true identity

Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Trotsky was the surname of one of his jailers that he used for the first time, in 1902, in a false passport to escape from Siberia), prominent Russian communist theorist, one of the leaders of the October Revolution of 1917, brilliant The organizer of the Red Army during the civil war years, he lost to the cunning Stalin in the struggle to become Lenin's successor at the head of the Soviet Union. Deported to Kazakhstan in 1928 and exiled from the country in 1929, his exile was a pilgrimage through Turkey, France, Norway and, finally, Mexico, where he arrived in January 1937, thanks to the mediation of the Mexican muralist painter Diego Rivera. In reality, for the ideologue of the permanent revolution, exile and pilgrimage were inseparable companions of his political militancy.

Leon Trotsky with some friends, in Mexico

Three years after arriving in Mexico, aware of the Stalinist threat, Trotsky was practically secluded in a village in Coyoacán, a suburb of Mexico City. The residence, known as the blue house, owned by the family of the painter Frida Kahlo, had been fortified, especially since May 24, 1940, when a group of almost twenty men, led by the Mexican painter David Siqueiros, attacked the villa in a crude attempt on Trostsky's life. Only one grandson of the revolutionary was slightly wounded in the foot by a ricocheted bullet, of the two hundred who fired wildly at the blue house.

But scarcely three months later, on Tuesday August 20, a young Canadian sympathizer, Frank Jackson, boyfriend of Sylvia Ageloff, sister of one of Trotsky's secretaries, a sporadic visitor to the village in recent months, managed to get into the office. of Trotsky with the excuse that he reviewed the draft of an article on the fourth international. Within minutes, a heartbreaking scream alerted the two bodyguards who stormed into the room. Trotsky, his face covered in blood, desperately clung to Jackson to avoid another mortal blow with the shortened-handled ice ax carried by the assailant. He was arrested - a pistol was also found on him, although it is assumed that he chose the silent ice ax in the hope of escaping. Brutally beaten by bodyguards, only the intervention of the communist leader saved his life "don't kill him, he has a story to tell."

Ramon Mercader in a hospital in Mexico City, after the attack.

Trotsky, who was seriously wounded in the skull by the blow of the ice ax, was treated at first by a neighbor, the Catalan doctor Wenceslao Dutrem. He was later transferred to the Cruz Verde hospital, where he underwent trepanation to try to extract the bone fragments from his brain. But the damage and intracranial pressure were so important that the old revolutionary died the next day, August 21, without having regained consciousness.

Frank Jackson, contrary to what Trotsky judged, said very little. He admitted that his name was Jacques Monard and did not deviate from the script he had learned: he had felt sincere admiration for Trotsky, but upon meeting him he had revealed himself to be responsible for the division of the international communist movement and had decided to kill him in an individual action. There was no way he would confess. Not during his tough stay at the police station, not at the trial, held almost three years later. Neither during the twenty years of his sentence, which he served in its entirety, nor after his release in May 1960. Later, almost another twenty years of solitary and anonymous life, accompanied only by his Mexican wife, Roquelia Mendoza, whom he had known in jail and his children. He was decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union, but lived in the USSR marginalized by the new leaders who sought to distance themselves from Stalinism. Later he worked as a translator in Czechoslovakia to finally land in Cuba, in search of a suitable climate for his health. He died in Havana on October 18, 1978. He was buried in the Moscow cemetery of Kúntsevo, under a tombstone in the name of Ramón Ivanovich López, the name he used during his last years, near the grave of another of the great spies of the 20th century, British double agent Kim Philby.

Ramón Mercader del Río

Frank Jackson's false identity lasted for hours after the attack. Sylvia Ageloff herself knew the alleged real identity of her boyfriend: that of Jacques Monard, the son of a Belgian diplomat who, to escape military service, took a false identity to move to America. Under the name of Jacques Monard, he was tried and sentenced despite serious doubts about his identification. He gave a version as detailed as it was suspicious and Belgian diplomats assured that, although he spoke perfectly French, and had undoubtedly been in Belgium, he did not seem to be a native of that country. Neither did some of the Catalan exiles, who later accepted that they had recognized him, reported his real name to the authorities or the press, out of fear or ideological affinity.

Twelve years later, a Mexican criminalist, Alfonso Quiroz, revealed that Trotski's murderer was actually Ramón Mercader del Río, from Barcelona. The definitive data of his investigation were Ramón's fingerprints taken by the Spanish police when he was arrested in Valencia in 1934. They coincided one hundred percent with the Monard ones.

Ramón Mercader was the son of the spy and communist agent Caridad del Río, daughter of Spanish diplomats, born in Santiago de Cuba, who had returned to Barcelona after the loss of the colony. In 1911 she married the industrialist Pablo Mercader and they had five children. But the placid and bourgeois life did not marry Caridad del Río, she frequented anarchist environments and allowed herself to be fascinated by the sexual liberation of the 1920s. The family locked him up in a mental hospital, but he escaped to the south of France with his children behind an attractive French aviator who years earlier had crash-landed on Mercader property. In France she came into contact with the communist movement, became a fervent militant and an effective agent for Moscow.

Caridad del Rio, mother of Ramon Mercader

Caridad captured her son Ramón, born on February 7, 1913, for espionage in the service of the Soviet Union. Ramón, a convinced communist, was a cultured young man, sportsman, lover of military discipline, polyglot, with elegant attitudes and enormously seductive. He joined the republican army at the outbreak of the Civil War, coming to command a battalion. However, in 1937 he was relieved of command - it is believed that he was in Moscow perfecting his training - and his track was lost until he reappeared in Paris in late 1938 to seduce the young American Trotskyist Sylvia Ageloff.

To enter the circles close to Trotsky was Ramón's mission, always under the baton of his mother and the agent of the NKVD, the security services of the Soviet state, Leonid Eitingon. Probably its initial task was to obtain information, only when the attack led by Siqueiros failed and Kahlo's blue house became a fortress, did Moscow assess the chances of success of an individual attack. And Jacques Monard was the right man. In the guise of a carefree rich young man, always ready to do small favors, he visited the blue house relatively frequently, but without taking much interest in the old revolutionary. When that August 20, 1940, he asked Trotsky to take a look at his article, he had no problem staying alone with him. Nobody suspected, not even that in the middle of August he was wearing a raincoat, where he hid the unusual deadly weapon, hanging from his arm.

Inditex

Inditex anava com un transatlàntic fins que ha xocat amb el coronavirus. La pandèmia ha portat la companyia d’Amancio Ortega a registrar pèrdues per primer cop des que va sortir a borsa, l’any 2001. Durant el primer trimestre (que en el seu cas va de l’1 de febrer al 30 d’abril) el grup ha perdut 409 milions d’euros. És una caiguda en picat si es té en compte que en el mateix període de l’any passat va obtenir un benefici rècord de 734 milions.

Les pèrdues han estat més importants del que es preveia bàsicament perquè la companyia ha decidit provisionar 308 milions d’euros per executar un pla d’impuls de les vendes en línia i actualitzar les botigues a causa de la crisi del covid-19. Sense aquesta dotació, la caiguda dels resultats hauria estat de 175 milions d’euros. “Són unes pèrdues que no seran fàcils de recuperar”, assegura el professor de l’escola de negocis Iese Jaume Llopis.

Cal tenir en compte, però, que Inditex és de les poques companyies que no han presentat cap expedient de regulació temporal d’ocupació (ERTO) tot i que en el període de confinament ha arribat a tancar el 88% dels 7.412 locals que té al món.

Als mals resultats s’hi ha d’afegir que la multinacional preveu tancar entre 1.000 i 1.200 botigues durant aquest any i el que ve a nivell mundial. A Espanya la xifra oscil·larà entre 250 i 300 establiments. De fet, no és el primer cop que redueix locals. L’any passat ja ho va fer però de manera molt tímida. De les més de 7.400 botigues tancarà les que “han arribat al final de la seva vida útil” amb un client potencial jove i les que tinguin locals més propers. Per marques, abaixaran la persiana entre 250 i 300 establiments de Zara, entre 140 i 165 de Pull & Bear i entre 135 i 160 de Bershka.

¿És el coronavirus, el motiu principal d’aquest tancament? Segons Llopis la pandèmia és purament “una excusa” per fer una reestructuració que la multinacional ja volia dur a terme. “Aprofitaran la pandèmia per tancar botigues que abans del covid ja eren poc rendibles”, assegura el professor d’Iese.

Tal com ja estan fent altres cadenes de moda, com la catalana Mango, Inditex assegura que aprofitarà el que ha batejat com a “actualització” de les botigues per apostar per locals més grans, que estiguin situats en les millors localitzacions i amb més capacitat de venda. En aquest sentit, el grup apunta que, tot i els tancaments, en el període 2020-2022 creixerà un 2,5% anual la superfície comercial en metres quadrats precisament perquè preveu obrir 150 macrobotigues. Entre aquestes, n’inaugurarà una de 800 metres quadrats a Barcelona per a la col·lecció d’home aquesta tardor, ubicada just al costat de l’establiment que ja té al passeig de Gràcia, recentment ampliat.

Creix un 50% la venda online

La part bona d’aquesta pandèmia per al grup és que han crescut un 50% les vendes online durant el primer trimestre, i només a l’abril s’han disparat un 95%. “Tot i aquest increment i que aquest canal va guanyant clients, les vendes encara recauen molt en les botigues físiques i no crec que aquesta tendència es capgiri en els pròxims anys”, assegura el professor d’Iese.

Tot i així el president d’Inditex, Pablo Isla, va presentar ahir un pla d’inversió de 2.700 milions d’euros entre el 2020 i 2022 dels quals 1.000 milions d’euros es destinaran precisament a reforçar el canal online i els altres 1.700 a integrar tecnològicament totes les botigues. Entre els objectius del pla hi ha el d’incrementar les vendes d’internet fins a superar el 25% el 2022, quan l’any passat eren del 14%.

Les pèrdues d’aquest trimestre ¿seran només un refredat per a una empresa que ha demostrat tenir molt bona salut en els últims 20 anys? “No començaran a remuntar fins a l’últim trimestre de l’any”, assegura Llopis. Segons el professor, tot i que ja s’han obert les botigues, l’aforament està molt restringit i no serà una bona temporada d’estiu. “Aquest 2020 no obtindran els resultats previstos i difícilment aconseguiran els de l’any passat”, afegeix l’expert.

La multinacional celebrarà la seva junta general d’accionistes corresponent a l’exercici del 2019 de manera telemàtica. El consell d’administració proposarà un dividend de 0,35 euros per acció, un 60% menys dels 0,88 euros que es van pagar l’últim cop, que s’abonarà el 2 de novembre. El complement del dividend extraordinari de 0,78 euros s’ajornarà un any i passarà a repartir-se el 2021 i el 2022.

175

Milions d’euros

Són les pèrdues que la multinacional calcula que hauria tingut durant el primer trimestre si no hagués decidit provisionar 308 milions per donar un impuls al canal online i actualitzar les botigues. El coronavirus ha accelerat precisament aquests plans, segons reconeix la mateixa empresa.

1.200

Botigues que tancaran

La companyia d’Amancio Ortega preveu tancar fins a 1.200 botigues entre aquest any i el que ve. Tal com estan fent altres cadenes de moda, l’objectiu és apostar per macrobotigues i desfer-se de les més petites. A Espanya aquest tancament afectarà fins a 300 establiments.

2.700

Inversió prevista entre el 2020 i el 2022

Tot i les pèrdues d’aquest primer trimestre, el grup va anunciar ahir un pla d’inversió de 2.700 milions d’euros per executar en el període 2020-22. Un miler d’aquests milions es destinaran a reforçar el canal online, que de febrer a abril ha augmentat un 50% les seves vendes. L’objectiu és arribar al 25% del total de facturació per aquest canal el 2022. Els 1.700 milions restants s’invertiran en integrar tecnològicament les més de 7.000 botigues que formen el grup Inditex.

-60%

Caiguda del dividend

El dividend per acció serà de 0,35 euros, quan l’últim es va pagar a 0,88 euros, un descens del 60%. La companyia té previst abonar-lo el pròxim 2 de novembre. En canvi, ajornarà un any el complement del dividend extraordinari de 0,78 euros que es repartirà entre el 2021 i el 2022.

Plastic pollution accumulating in human organs, study finds

Potentially deadly particles of plastic chemicals used in products including food packaging and mobile phones have been found for the first time in major human organs, a new study warns. 

US researchers analysed 47 samples from a tissue bank originally established to study neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. All of the samples - which included tissue taken from kidneys, livers, lungs and spleens - contained traces of micro- and nano-plastics, which have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other health conditions. 

Microplastics “are typically less than 0.2in (5 mm) across, but so-called nanoplastic particles can be as small as a fiftieth of the width of a human hair”, according to Daily Mail.

Workers in landfill dumping

Previous research has found that “microplastic particles had passed through the digestive systems of people across the globe”, says The Times. But the new study is the first to show that the plastics can also accumulate within human organs.

Presenting their results yesterday at the American Chemical Society Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting, the scientists revealed that the particles found included polycarbonate, polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

Polycarbonate “is used to make laptop and mobile phone cases, CDs, DVDs and safety glass”, while polyethylene is in “everything from shopping bags and plastic wrap to drain pipes and bullet proof vests”, the Mail reports.

With 8.8 million tons of plastic waste dumped into the ocean every year, there are few, if any, corners of our oceans free of pollutants. The impact of these pollutants on marine life and ecosystems is tremendous.

“Meanwhile, polyethylene terephthalate - commonly known as PET - is used to make clothing fibres, plastic bottles and food containers.”

The team also found that all of the organ samples contained bisphenol A (BPA), “a common plastic ingredient that has been linked to fertility problems”, adds the i news site.

“We never want to be alarmist but it is concerning that these non-biodegradable materials can enter and accumulate in human tissues, and we don’t know the possible health effects,” said researcher Varun Kelkar, of the University of Illinois.

Plastic garbage on the mountain river bank 

Study co-author Charles Rolsky, of Arizona State University, added: “There’s evidence that plastic is making its way into our bodies but very few studies have looked for it. At this point, we don’t know whether this plastic is just a nuisance or whether it represents a human health hazard.

“You can find plastics contaminating the environment at virtually every location on the globe, and in a few short decades we’ve gone from seeing plastic as a wonderful benefit to considering it a threat.”

More on Plastic pollution accumulating in human organs, study finds.

Ben Cross dies aged 72 as Chariots of Fire and Star Trek actor passes away

Chariots of Fire star Ben Cross has died at the age of 72 following a short illness, his family have announced.

The actor was hailed for his portrayal of British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film, which won four Oscars including best picture.

A statement from his representatives said: "Ben passed away suddenly today following a short illness.

“He had just finished shooting The Devil's Light for Lionsgate and later this year will be seen in Last Letter From Your Lover in a leading role."

A post on his Facebook page, which claims to be written by his daughter Lauren, said Cross experienced a "rapid decline" in the last week.

It said: "I am utterly heartbroken to share with you that my darling father died a few hours ago.

"He had been sick for a while but there was a rapid decline over the past week.

"The press will be announcing his death soon, I just wanted you all, his most loyal and loving fans, to hear it from us first.

"Thank you for all your support over the years. He really enjoyed interacting with you."

Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross in London to a working class Catholic family.

In 1970, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada) aged 22.

After graduating, he moved from the stage to screen and appeared in a minor role in 1977's A Bridge Too Far alongside Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine.

The same year he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in Privates On Parade.

He found wider success in 1978 appearing in the play Chicago as Billy Flynn, the lawyer representing murderer Roxie Hart.

That performance is widely believed to have earned him his role in Chariots Of Fire.

Cross played athlete Abrahams, with the late Sir Ian Holm nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor in his role as coach Sam Mussabini in the film based on the true story of two British men racing for Olympic gold in 1924.

In the intervening years, he appeared as Malagant in 1995's First Knight and Sarek in the 2009 Star Trek reboot.

Shortly before his death he finished filming the horror feature The Devil's Light for Lionsgate.

Cross has two children, Lauren and Theo.

Israeli, German military jets overfly Dachau in tribute

German air force Bundeswehr Eurofighters and an Israeli Air Force jets fly in formation over the Fuerstenfeldbruck airbase in commemoration of the 1972 Olympic Games assassination attempt in Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. The attempt to rescue the hostages failed at the airbase in Fuerstenfeldbruck in 1972and the hostages perished. It is the Israeli Air Force's first time conducting joint air combat exercises in Germany

 German and Israeli Air Force jets flew over the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau on Tuesday in tribute to the Jews and others killed there in the Holocaust.

Two Israeli F-16s and two German Eurofighters escorted an Israeli Air Force Gulfstream G-550 carrying the commanders of both air forces over the camp memorial outside Munich, while a third Eurofighter filmed the formation from the sky.

They also flew over the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield to pay tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes killed during the Munich massacre attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Two athletes were killed and another nine taken hostage by the Palestinian group Black September from the Olympic Village on Sept. 5, 1972. During a botched rescue attempt at the airfield by German police, the other athletes, along with five of their captors and a West German police officer, were killed.

The Israeli aircraft are part of a group of six F-16s, two Gulfstreams and two Boeing 707 tanker jets that arrived in Germany on Monday for two weeks of exercises.

Operating out of a German air base in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, they will be conducting exercises with the German air force for the first week, and also planes from the Hungarian air force in the second week.

It is the first time ever that the Israeli Air Force has participated in such exercises in Germany. A total of around 180 Israeli personnel are involved.

The electric chair: a colorless, odorless and tasteless death

William Kemmler is the first inmate to be executed by electric chair, a modern alternative to hanging that was intended to save the condemned person suffering. In 2008 the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution will condemn it as a ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ that inflicts ‘immense pain and agonizing suffering’

Preparing an inmate for execution in the electric chair, circa 1900, at Sing Sing Prison (USA)

On August 6, 1890, the electric chair was used for the first time in the United States. William Kemmler is executed in Auburn prison, in the state of New York.

That modern method for the condemned to suffer less than with the gallows, demonstrated over the years that it did not save suffering. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled: electrocution "inflicts intense pain and agonizing suffering."


"Burning the body of the prisoner is an inherent part of electrocution." 'It is common for witnesses to see smoke coming from the head or legs of the prisoner. But it is a sign of a civilized society that we punish cruelty without practicing it. '
In February 2008, 128 years after a long history as a method to execute those sentenced to death, the chair began to have its days numbered. The Nebraska Court ruled by six votes to one that "evidence existed" that electrocuting inmates inflicted "immense pain and agonizing suffering." This was a ‘cruel and unusual punishment’, for which it was prohibited by the eighth amendment of the United States Constitution.

 The history of this punitive method dates back to August 6, 1890. That day William Kemmler, accused of murdering his lover with an ax, became the first death row inmate to be executed by electric chair. A murder machine invented by a Thomas A. Edison employee, Harold P. Brown, hired to develop an electrocution system for executing inmates was the architect.
The ‘signing’ of Brown, an electrical engineer, was due to the search in 1886 for an alternative system, more humane than the one that had been used until then, the gallows.
Brown developed a system based on alternating current, which in his opinion was more suitable for performances than direct current.
The "practical invention" was faithfully portrayed by the press of the time, which referred to Kemler's execution in the following terms: "It was a horrible sight, much worse than the hanging." And the thing is that the contraption was far from being perfect, since between the first and second shocks, during the minute it took to recharge the generator you could hear the prisoner moan, burned and still alive.
Her ill-fated debut did not prevent Martha Place from suffering the same fate in Sing Sing Prison just nine years later, becoming the first of twenty-six women to be executed by electric chair.

Martha Place was the first of 26 women to be executed by electric chair in the United States. She died on March 20, 1899, for having murdered her stepdaughter, Ida Place

 From then on, due to its efficiency, the chair became the preferred method until the middle of the 19th century. In 1949, its use fell out of favor, and no state decided to adopt it. The cause was the execution of inmate Willie Francis, which shocked public opinion. The chair had been improperly installed, presumably by a drunken assistant, and Francis's cries: "Stop! Let me breathe!" Were far from adjusting to the dignified death that the method promised.

On May 3, 1946, 16-year-old Willie Francis was executed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

The trajectory of the ‘death chair’ since then has been tortuous:
- In 1944, George Junius Stinney, an African American teenager from South Carolina, is executed, accused of having murdered two white girls. The alleged murderer was only 14 years old, making him the youngest human being to be executed in the history of the United States.
- In 1966, the United States prohibited executions. Ten years later, the death penalty is reintroduced but with lethal injection.
- In 1999, 34 of the 38 states where the death penalty existed legislated that it could only be executed by injection.
- In 2002, Nebraska was the only state that maintained the electric chair, although in other states the convicted person could select it 'à la carte' as a method to access the afterlife.
- In 2008, Brandon Hendrick in Virginia made history by becoming the last inmate to be executed in the chair.
Final balance:
4,461 human beings have been executed in the electric chair
. New York, with 685 is the first state, and South Dakota, with one, the last.

Most Spaniards think ex-King Juan Carlos should not have left, opinion poll finds

Spain's former king, Juan Carlos, leaves after attending the funeral ceremony of Luxembourg's Grand Duke Jean at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg

Nearly two-thirds of Spaniards believe former King Juan Carlos, who left the country this week amid a financial scandal, should not have gone abroad, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday.

Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 in favour of his son Felipe, abruptly announced his decision to leave on Monday but there has been no official confirmation of where he went, setting off an international guessing game.

The poll by SigmaDos for the conservative newspaper El Mundo found 63.3% of those questioned felt it was a bad idea for the 82-year-old ex-monarch to have left, while 27.2% agreed with his departure.

Some 80.3% said they thought Juan Carlos should face any potential legal proceedings. The poll, carried out between Aug. 4-6 after he left, found 12.4% said he had nothing to answer for and 7.3% did not voice an opinion.

In June, Spain's Supreme Court opened a preliminary investigation into Juan Carlos' involvement in a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia, after Switzerland's La Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported he had received $100 million from the late Saudi king. Switzerland has also opened an investigation.

The former monarch is not formally under investigation and has repeatedly declined to comment on the allegations.

Juan Carlos's lawyer said on Monday his client was at the Spanish prosecutor's disposal despite his decision to leave.

ROLE IN TRANSITION

Despite the disapproval, reflecting Juan Carlos' sinking popularity in recent years, some 69.2% of those questioned in Sunday's poll said he played an important role in the transition from dictatorship to democracy after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, while 24.4% said he played "little or no" role.

The pro-monarchist newspaper ABC reported on Friday that Juan Carlos had travelled by private plane from Spain to the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

Other media have said he is in the Dominican Republic or in Portugal. Officials there have said they have no knowledge of him arriving.

A Spanish government spokeswoman declined on Sunday to comment on his whereabouts. His lawyer and the royal palace have all this week declined to say where Juan Carlos is.

News website Niusdiario.es posted a photograph https://www.niusdiario.es/nacional/casa-real/exclusiva-nius-foto-llegada-rey-emerito-juan-carlos-aeropuerto-abu-dabi-emiratos-arabes-unidos_18_2990670271.html on Saturday that it said showed him walking down the steps of a plane at an airport in Abu Dhabi. If confirmed, it would be the first image published of the ex-king since his departure.

The blurred shot appears to show Juan Carlos wearing a white face mask and talking to an official, but there were no signs or other details in the frame to confirm the location or date. Niusdiario.es gave no details on who took the picture.

United Arab Emirates officials and the Emirates Palace Hotel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

https://youtu.be/xPpLgQtnrMQ