Month: January 2020

More than 12,000 weapons and accessories and close to 16,000 personal protective equipment have been delivered to PSP, GNR and SEF since 2017, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) announced today.

On the day that elements of the PSP and GNR carry out protests simultaneously in Braga, Lisbon and Faro, the Ministry of Internal Administration took stock of the Law of Programming of Infrastructures and Equipment for the Forces and Security Service of MAI since 2017.

In a note sent to the Lusa agency, MAI said that since 2017, 12,279 weapons and accessories have been delivered to the GNR, PSP and SEF, of which 1,438 glock pistols and 919 extendable sticks, and it is also expected to receive 3,481 weapons and accessories, including 2,230  pepper gas sprays between this year and 2021.

The MAI also notes that the Law on the Programming of Security Forces and Services allowed the delivery of 3,179 ballistic protection vests and 1,590 helmets, as well as 11,513 other personal protective equipment such as belts and tactical gloves, with 1,115 batons being delivered this year.

The Ministry of Internal Administration points out that “investment in equipment for specialized functions” was also reinforced when 290 alcohol meters were delivered since 2017 and another 359 are planned for 2020.

According to the MAI, the criminal investigation received 319 pieces of equipment.

“The renewal of the automobile fleet of security forces and services has been a priority for MAI”, the note states, noting that around 1,000 vehicles were delivered, including 311 for patrolling, 308 for road enforcement and 137 for criminal investigation .

MAI says that about 600 vehicles will be delivered this year.

The Ministry of Internal Administration also indicates that the focus on preventing and fighting fires resulted in the delivery of 9,450 forestry intervention equipment to GNR, such as suits, gloves, boots and goggles.

This MAI balance comes also after the challenge to the statements of Minister Eduardo Cabrita, who, in an interview with Diário de Notícias and TSF, assured that the police “do not need” to buy personal protective equipment from their own pocket

Publication: Diário da República No. 11/2020, Series I of 2020-01-16

•  Issuer:Autonomous Region of the Azores – Legislative Assembly
•  Type of Diploma:Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores
•  Number:1/2020 / A
•  Pages:18 – 19

•  ELI:https://data.dre.pt/eli/resolalraa/1/2020/01/16/a/dre

Pdf version: Download

• SUMMARY

The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores decides to set up a working group, within the scope of the Permanent Commission for Economics, for the purposes of evaluation and general monitoring of the process of rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo through the Azores, with a special focus on monitoring the process of supplying goods and merchandise to the islands of the western group

• TEXT

Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Azores No. 1/2020 / A

Summary: The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores resolves to set up a working group within the Permanent Economy Commission to assess and monitor the process of rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo through the Azores, with special focus. monitoring the process of supplying goods and merchandise to the islands of the western group.

The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores resolves to set up a working group, within the framework of the Permanent Economy Commission, for the purpose of evaluation and general monitoring of the process of rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo through the Azores, with a special focus on monitoring of the process of supplying goods and merchandise to the islands of the western group.

Whereas the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo through the Azores on 2 October has caused a huge trail of destruction on several islands of the Azores archipelago, with considerable economic and social impacts;

Whereas in total Hurricane Lorenzo has caused an estimated € 330 million in damage resulting from damage to port infrastructure and support to port activity, the road network and other public facilities, housing, fisheries, agriculture and the private business sector;

Considering the brutal extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Lorenzo and, in particular, the fact that it left a trail of destruction on several Azorean islands;

Considering, in particular, that the island of Flores has been most severely affected by the passing of Hurricane Lorenzo, in particular in view of the almost total destruction of the port of Lajes das Flores, with an estimated loss of around 190 million euros. ;

Whereas the destruction of the port of Lajes das Flores entails limitations and serious constraints in terms of supply operations to the islands of Flores and Corvo;

Whereas, similarly, the pre-existing normality of Hurricane Lorenzo must be restored in the multiple areas affected and therefore damaged by it;

Considering, finally, that it is urgent to ensure that the processes inherent in the recovery works and other procedures necessary for the regularization of the functioning of the regional economy proceed as quickly as possible and that they fully respect the legitimate aspirations of the Azorean populations affected by the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo;

In this sense, without prejudice to the prompt and effective action of the Regional Government and Civil Protection, as well as the Government’s willingness to financially reimburse the losses incurred, it is now necessary to closely monitor the implementation of solutions for the effort to which meet the needs of the populations and businesses of the various islands affected.

Thus, the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores resolves, under the applicable regimental terms and under the terms of paragraph 3 of article 44 of the Political-Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, to constitute, within the Permanent Commission of Economy, a working group to assess and monitor the process of rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by the passage of Hurricane Lorenzo through the Azores, with a special focus on monitoring the process of supplying goods and merchandise to the western group islands.

Approved by the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Horta on December 13, 2019.

The President of the Legislative Assembly, Ana Luísa Luís.

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The Portuguese submarine “Tridente” set off today on a two-month mission to the Mediterranean Sea, which “discreetly” aims to gather information to help combat drug and human trafficking. .

“The great advantage of the submarine is really, to do it discreetly without changing the environment, that is, we are in the place and the prevaricator does not know that there is the submarine to gather information”, explained the commander Ribeiro da Paz .

The military was speaking to reporters at the Lisbon Naval Base in Almada, Setúbal district, at the 32-man farewell ceremony at the start of the mission    over the next 60 days to gather “vital information” on arms, drug trafficking and people.

Still, he said, the submarine “has no immediate counter-ordinating action”, only collects “information in the area” to pass on to “Atlantic Alliance partners who will act at sea with surface or land means”.

This is a mission within NATO’s “Sea Guardian” operations, which is more focused on illicit arms and narcotics trafficking, and the “Shopia”, which the European Union has put in place to combat illegal migration.

It was a match in a heavy fog, but with “the morale of the garrison always on top,” because, “in a narrow corridor like the interior space of the submarine, everyone should be in a good mood,” said the commander.

The Minister of National Defense, João Gomes Cravinho, attended the ceremony, stressing that, through this mission, Portugal is “contributing to make the Mediterranean a little safer”.

“This is a very important operation because we all know the daily tragedies in the Mediterranean, human tragedies and also some sources of insecurity that also affect Portugal,” he explained.

According to the official, security in this area “had some improvement” last year, but “the broader conditions remain, namely the insecurity in North Africa and also great difficulties on the African continent that are a source of migration to Europe” .

At the end of its participation in these operations, the Tridente submarine conducts an exercise in southern Spain with the Spanish Navy, which, according to Gomes Cravinho, “strengthens the joint capacity to combat the scourges, which are the same.”

The return of the “Trident” to the Lisbon Naval Base is scheduled for March.

 

 

Nearly 50 people have been arrested after a migrant smuggling ring that operated through Gibraltar was broken up in a huge police operation.

Over 200 Policia Naconal agents worked with the Royal Gibraltar Police through Europol in an operation that spanned throughout Spain and Europe.

Five vehicles as well as 12 mobile phones and €19,000 in cash was seized after a number of searches both in Gibraltar and the Campo area.

A total of 44 people were arrested from Spanish provinces, with three more detained in Gibraltar on European Arrest Warrants.

The people smugglers were believed to have made up to €1million euros from the scheme, charging each migrant up to €8,000 to bring them into Europe.

The alarm was first raised in 2018 after the RGP noticed an unusually large number of people entering Gibraltar with UK short-stay visas.

Following further investigation, it was revealed that Moroccans from Casablanca and Tangier had their documents fraudulently arranged by the ring.

They were then provided with flights and accommodation in Gibraltar, being instructed to meet with local contacts.

Under cover of night when it was difficult to identify them, they were driven into Spain via the frontier on their own vehicles.

After a night in La Linea at hostels or the ringleaders’ homes they were then given coach tickets to different parts of Spain.

Drivers, taxi-drivers and other members of the criminal group helped move around the migrants at the cost of upto €200 each.

The ring, which also smuggled tobacco, proved resourceful in evading police for some time, bringing around 130 Moroccans into the EU.

“Organised crime is inherently transnational, causes significant harm and affects the stability of communities,” said RGP Commissioner Ian McGrail.

“We are satisfied with the successful outcome of our joint operation with the CNP (Cuerpo Nacional de Policia) which has made possible thedismantling of an organised crime group operating on both sides of the border.

“This cross-border police cooperation serves to underline just how seriously the RGP views threats of this nature, and how seriously we take our responsibilities to thwart activities that pose serious risks to the community.”

 

The Assembly of the Republic today approved two votes of condolence for the victims of domestic violence who died last year, one presented by the PS party and approved unanimously, and the other by Chega, approved by majority.

The vote put forward by the PS expresses “the most vehement rejection of all forms and acts of domestic violence and violence against women”, and stresses that “domestic violence is a serious crime that causes irreparable damage to many lives and in some cases their loss.”

“It is a crime that mostly victimizes women, their agents being mainly men”, says the socialist party, which warns that “it should not be ignored, however, that the most recent statistical elements confirm a tendency for the number of male domestic violence victims increasing”.

The PS notes that this is a “cross-cutting issue with other countries in our civilizational context, and that even societies with high levels of equality maintain large numbers on the subject,” but notes that “Portugal was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention. Istanbul, approved by the Assembly of the Republic and ratified by the President of the Republic in 2013

Still, “the fact that this is a cross-sectional drama cannot but excuse us from recognizing the imperative to continue to seek answers that contribute to their more efficient prevention and repression.”

In this regard, the Socialist deputies point out that “Portugal has adopted a broad set of measures aimed at preventing and repressing domestic violence, both as regards the criminal law regime and the adoption of protection and assistance measures of the victims ”.

“Still, we must continue to go this way and do more, expressing the deepest regret for the lives that were lost in 2019 as a result of this serious crime, which is domestic violence,” they note in the text.

Chega’s vote of “the deepest condemnation of the continued occurrence” of these crimes and “the deepest regret for all the deaths” was approved, although the PS voted against, the abstention of PCP, ENP and Free and the favourable vote of the others.

The text, signed by Mr André Ventura, points out that “in a saga that seems endless, rare is the week when it is not the country facing another death at the hands of one of the greatest scourges of our time, domestic violence”.

In Portugal, 35 women victims of domestic violence died last year and Chega notes that “Portugal cannot continue to whistle sideways while every year, every month or every day continues, one after the other, emerging” cases.

From the deputy’s point of view, this paragraph should “make everyone ashamed as a society and more as political decision makers”.

For this reason, according to Ventura, “it is therefore urgent to provide the necessary legislative changes so that this problem can be more muscularly tackled”.

At the session today, two votes from Chega, one of repudiation for assaulting a doctor, when she was giving consultations at the hospital in Setúbal, which had the votes against the PS, BE, Livre and PAN, party that made a statement, were voted down.

 

Seven people were detained in a PJ operation to dismantle a criminal drug trafficking organization that led to the seizure of 3.5 tons of hashish that were being transported by sea from North Africa to Portugal.

Under the operation, which resulted from an investigation launched last year, the vessel used to transport the drug was also seized. Five of the detainees have already appeared before the judicial authorities and detained, said PJ in a statement. .

The investigation, under the responsibility of the National Judicial Police’s Counter-narcotics Unit, aimed at dismantling this organization, “suspected of introducing large quantities of hashish from North Africa into the national territory for later transport, by land to several European countries, “the statement said.

The PJ states that in this operation, called “Catavento” and which had the support of the Navy and the Air Force, “it was possible to locate and then intercept, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in front of Cape St. Vincent, a fishing vessel that the criminal organization concerned was transporting approximately 3,500 kg of hashish, which were seized with the vessel.”

The detainees, a Portuguese citizen and six foreigners, are between 29 and 52 years old.

The research, which was also supported by the Spanish National Police Board and the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Center – Narcotics (MAOC-N), will continue with a view to collecting further evidence, the report adds. PJ

INEM’s Urgent Patient Orientation Center (CODU) last year received more than 1.3 million emergency calls to respond to sudden illness or trauma, according to a report published on 10^th January.

The data, released on the Health Portal website, indicated that, in total, the emergency means were triggered 1,339,048 times.

The four National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) helicopters were deployed 963 times, a daily average of three missions.

This INEM service provides Advanced Life Support (VAS) care at the scene of events and during transportation to health facilities that are most appropriate to the clinical status of patients.

The 44 Emergency Medical Resuscitation Vehicles (VMER), distributed throughout the continental territory, were deployed on 97,970 occasions, which means that 268 VMER were used daily and that each car was fired six times a day.

The Immediate Life Support Ambulances (IVS), manned by a nurse and a Prehospital Emergency Technician (TEPH) and providing differentiated care measures, accounted for 36,616 occurrences. . Every day, the 40 SIV ambulances were called on to intervene on average on 100 occasions.

INEM’s 56 Emergency Medical Ambulances (AEM) were deployed last year on 140,433 occasions, while Emergency Medical Motorcycles (MEM) were activated for 6,110 occurrences, thus ensuring a faster arrival of a rescue facility following an incident.

The figures also indicates that the four ambulances of Pediatric Inter-Hospital Transport (TIP), a service dedicated to the transport of critically ill newborns and pediatric patients, performed 1,439 services.

The Mobile Emergency Psychological Intervention Units (UMIPE), responsible for transporting to the place of occurrences the psychologists of the Center for Psychological Support and Crisis Intervention (CAPIC), were activated 610 times.

The data also indicate that INEM ambulances based in Medical Emergency Posts (PEM) of the Delegations of the Portuguese Red Cross and Fire Department were deployed on 880,604 occasions.

At the end of last year, in order to increase the distress capacity of the partners of the Integrated Emergency Medical System (SIEM), INEM signed 12 additional protocols for the establishment of PEM posts, with SI1 having 371 ambulances able to provide emergency care. pre-hospital to all citizens.

UK citizens have been warned to beware of scammers when donating to charities collecting for the Australian bushfires relief effort.

The UK’s Foreign Office Minister Heather Wheeler has called for Britons to double check the fund is registered with the Australian Charities Commission. (Source Australia News 9)

In Australia the Western Australia (WA) Commissioner for Consumer Protection authority is urging people only to donate to licensed charities to avoid being scammed or to avoid any doubt that the money will get to the right cause.

Fundraisers are also reminded that to collect money for a charitable purpose such as this requires a licence, or for a licensed charity to be involved.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said, with multiple fundraising campaigns popping up, there is a risk that the money raised may fall into the wrong hands.

“Heartless scammers see disasters such as the current bushfires as an opportunity to capitalise on the community’s generosity and profit out of other people’s misfortune by creating fake charities online, via social media or fake websites,” Mr Hillyard said.

“It’s doubly cruel because, not only does it con the donor out of their money, it also denies the true cause much-needed funds for those impacted by the disaster.

“When making donations, stick with well-known and trusted charities such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army and make sure that you donate via their official websites and don’t respond to random emails or texts that may be from scammers impersonating established charities and contain links that take you to fake sites.

Summary of advice when making bushfire donations:

• Scammers are pretending to be legitimate well-known charities, creating their own charity names, and impersonating people negatively impacted by the bushfires.
• Scammers are cold-calling, direct messaging and creating fake websites and pages on social media to raise funds.
• Do not donate via fundraising pages on platforms that do not verify the legitimacy of the fundraiser or that do not guarantee your money will be returned if the page is determined to be fraudulent.
• Be careful about crowdfunding requests as these may be fake and also come from scammers. Check the terms and conditions of funding platforms and ensure you are dealing with official organisations. If you are unsure, make your donation to an established charity instead.
• If you are donating to an established charity or not-for-profit organisation, ensure it is licensed with Consumer Protection or registered with the ACNC.
• A list of licensed charities in WA can be found on the Consumer Protection website.
• If you think you have paid money to a scammer, contact your bank immediately.

Seven unions of PSP and the Association of Guard Professionals (APG / GNR) will today 9th January hold a national meeting open to all police to decide on protest actions to take place on January 21.

The meeting, which will be held in Lisbon, was decided after “the intransigent stance” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) in the ongoing negotiation process, according to the Association of Police Professionals (ASPP / PSP), one of the organizing unions.

ASPP President Paulo Rodrigues told Lusa that the protests to be held on January 21 are unlikely to be in the form of a demonstration similar to that of November 21 last year, and other actions are being considered.

The January 21 protest was decided at the November 21 rally, in which PSP unions and GNR professional associations demanded a solution to the main demands of the class.

Among the demands of the GNR police and military class are the payment of the risk allowance, the salary update and the remuneration supplements, the increase in staff and more and better personal protective equipment.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has set a specific timetable for matters under discussion with trade unions and socio-professional associations of the security forces.

On 16^th January 2020 a meeting will be held to discuss remuneration supplements, and on  13^th February a further meeting will discuss the new law on infrastructure and equipment programming of security forces and services, and on 5^th March will be on security and occupational health.

The magnitude of the Lisbon Earthquake may not have been as high as has been estimated so far. The devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Portugal on All Saints’ Day in 1755 would have been in Richter’s 7.7 degrees, below the nearly consensual 8.5 to 8.9%.

This conclusion is evident in a study by João Duarte Fonseca of the Instituto Superior Técnico of the New University of Lisbon, which has now been published in the newsletter of the Seismological Society of America.

For the Portuguese researcher, who for years has been paying attention to the Lisbon Earthquake and has published many on the subject, the location of the epicenter was on the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula and earthquake faults may also have occurred.

To reach this conclusion, he used macro seismic data from Portugal, Spain and Morocco. This re-evaluation may have implications for the seismic hazard map, João Duarte Fonseca   said in the publication of the American society that is dedicated to seismology.

“While the current official map assigns the highest level of risk to southern Portugal, gradually decreasing to the north, the interpretation presented now concentrates the risk in the Greater Lisbon area ,” said João Duarte Fonseca.

The 1755 earthquake, along with the fires that spread throughout the city, is considered one of the most important events in seismic history, leading to the deaths of about 20,000 people, although there are higher estimates.

The 1755 earthquake is seen as unusual as it has caused extreme damage hundreds of miles from its epicentre. “The explanations given for extreme damage in Lisbon tend to invoke an unusually low attenuation of seismic energy as the waves move away from the epicenter, something that should not be observed anywhere else in the world,” the seismologist explained. “Current attempts to harmonize seismic risk assessment across Europe face major discrepancies in this region that need to be investigated for better risk mitigation and management through building codes and land use planning.”

The new magnitude estimate for the 1755 earthquake is similar to that of another major regional earthquake, the magnitude 7.8 recorded in 1969 at the Gorringe Bank in the Atlantic. However, the damage caused by this earthquake was much less severe, in part because ground faults did not accumulate enough stress to make them “ready for rupture,” says João Duarte Fonseca.