Category: Uncategorized

 

2023 STATE BUDGET – 11.5 MILLION EUROS TO BE INVESTED IN NEW GENERATION OF 112 CALL/OPERAIONAL CENTRES

 

Lisbon, Nov 02, 2022 (Lusa) – The Minister of Internal Administration announced today a reinforcement of the security of the National Internal Security Network, with an investment of 17.4 million euros in cybersecurity planned for 2023.

During the parliamentary examination in the specialty of the proposal for the State Budget for 2023 (OE2023), José Luís Carneiro said that next year “the planned investment in information and communication technologies will continue to be made”, preparing the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI). ) for “a secure digital transition”.

The official stressed that this investment aims to “strengthen the security of the National Internal Security Network, strengthening cybersecurity means” by 17.4 million euros.

The minister also noted that the sharing of resources and solutions between security forces and services, through the gradual integration of technical support and logistical support structures, “eliminating redundancies and freeing up human resources for the operational area” in the amount of 3.1 million euros.

José Luís Carneiro also advanced that in 2023, 11.5 million euros will be invested in the new generation of 112 operational centers, which will allow the geolocation of calls, a new application for the deaf and interoperability with European operational centers.

According to the minister, the Schengen information systems will be updated by eight million euros and the European travel information and authorization system by five million euros.

José Luís Carneiro also referred that 36.5 million euros will be invested in the emergency communications network of the State SIRESP, to which, over five years, another 75 million will be invested in the scope of the international public tender and a further 38.5 million euros in other investments.

COMMENT

The news of the investment of 11.5 million euros to enable the geolocation of emergency calls is welcome and should enable the location of those seeking assistance to be pinpointed, enabling a faster and more efficient response.

 

 

 

Fake News: Portugal involved in seven cases of disinformation since 2019

 

Lisbon, Oct 25, 2022 (Lusa) – Portugal appears in seven cases of ‘fake news’ about Ukraine or Member States of the European Union (EU), detected between 2019 and 2022 by the European External Action Service’s working group on misinformation.

The EU today launched a new tool on the EUvsDisinfo website – a new section, available at euvsdisinfo.eu/learn/ – that “explains the mechanisms, tactics, common narratives and actors behind disinformation and information manipulation “.

EUvsDisinfo is the main project of the East StratCom working group, having been created in 2015 within the European External Action Service to better respond to ongoing Russian disinformation campaigns affecting the EU and its partners.

In a search in the EUvsDisinfo database carried out today by the Lusa agency, Portugal appears in seven cases of disinformation, with the first having been detected on September 9, 2019, also involving Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and France.

The news, in Russian, from Sonar2050, mentioned that these countries were close to leaving the European Union, following Brexit by the United Kingdom, addressing the disintegration of the European project, due to the dominance of some countries over others, economic issues. or even the situation of migrants.

EUvsDisinfo, which dismantles each case of ‘fake news’, says that article “is a conspiracy that is consistent with a common pro-Kremlin narrative about the impending collapse of the EU”.

Also detected in 2019, on November 17, the Russian website Vesti7 states that French President Emmanuel Macron thinks that NATO was conceived as a response to the enemy [USSR], arguing that it was the opposite and that the Atlantic Alliance was thought of as a “threat to a friend against whom they fought against fascism”. The piece concludes that the creation of NATO was not justified.

Portugal is cited as a founding member of the Atlantic Alliance and EUvsDisinfo points out, in the rebuttal of the article, that historical revisionism is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative and that, after World War II, Soviet troops occupied several Central European countries and that the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, serving three purposes: to deter Soviet expansionism, to prohibit the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe, and to encourage European political integration.

Already an article by News-front, a ‘website’ based in Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014, mentioned on April 20, 2020 that cooperation between the Mediterranean countries, Portugal, Spain and Greece, called into question the hegemony of Germany. on the European continent.

According to the piece, Mediterranean countries suffered greatly from the tax regime imposed by Germany and during the covid-19 pandemic Berlin showed that it did not intend to help EU partners.

For EUvsDisinfo, the pandemic was used to boost the pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about “German hegemony in Europe” and “the supposed imminent collapse of the EU”, in addition to intending to pit several member states against each other.

Three different websites, in German (Snanews), Hungarian (Oroszhirek) and Russian (Armeniasputnik) refer on May 24, 2021 to an episode that took place in 2013, in which they accuse countries such as Portugal, France, Spain or Italy of ending the its airspace to the plane carrying the Bolivian President, Evo Morales, en route to Moscow and which had to land in Vienna, adding that the reason was the suspicion that former US intelligence agent Edward Snowden was on board the presidential plane, whose extradition was demanded by US authorities.

This narrative, it is explained, comes as a response to the episode of May 23, 2021, when Ryanair flight FR4978 was forcibly diverted to Minsk, for the arrest of a Belarusian opposition journalist, Roman Pratasevich. The EU condemned Belarus’ action against the civilian plane and the arrest of Pratasevich.

The mechanism to combat disinformation also states that the two cases cannot be compared, stressing that the Ryanair flight was intercepted by military fighter jets, armed with air-to-air missiles and that the Bolivian flight landed due to bureaucracy, with European nations refused entry into their airspace the aircraft landed in Austria because it needed refueling.

The most recent piece to address Portugal is from August 22, released by the Spanish version of the Russian-based international television network, RT, which accuses Germany of not showing solidarity with Portugal or Spain, and demanding allegiance to the think about building a gas pipeline to these countries.

According to EUvsDisinfo, this disinformation narrative “aims to arouse discontent and animosity against Germany among Spanish citizens” and “to erode European mutual trust and prevent the adoption of European solidarity measures that could mitigate the impact of Russia’s energy blackmail.” against the EU”.

“In terms of energy, both Spain and Portugal have more than enough supply to cover their needs due to their long-term investment in renewable energy and LNG plants and are capable of supplying up to 30% of Europe’s natural gas demand. . Some of the energy measures adopted by the European Commission are effectively the result of a joint proposal presented by Portugal and Spain, and not requirements of Germany’s own interest, as this message of disinformation implies.

The European External Action Service’s working group on disinformation detected 1,200 cases of disinformation in the European Union (EU) in one year regarding Ukraine and Member States.

DMC (ANE) // NS

 

“We are within what was our expectation at this stage. The process has been expanding from week to week”, revealed Minister Manuel Pizarro today, explaining that, so far, “about 250,000 people have adhered to the two vaccines”.

Two weeks ago, on September 7, a new vaccination campaign started with 2nd generation vaccines adapted to the Ómicron variant of covid-19 and which aims to immunize around three million people by December.

The process began with those over 80 years old with comorbidities and again takes place in stages, by age groups, advancing as appointments in the older age group are exhausted.

Persons aged 60 years or older, residents and professionals of nursing homes and the national continuing care network, people aged 12 years and older with risk diseases, pregnant women aged 18 or over are eligible to be vaccinated and diseases defined by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) and health professionals and other care providers.

“People are less alert to these infections, but it is even before winter comes that we must prevent ourselves”, warned the minister in statements to journalists at the end of a meeting with the head of the Coordinating Nucleus for Support to the Ministry of Health (NCAMS). ), Carlos Penha Gonçalves, in which the Secretary of State for Health Promotion, Margarida Tavares, and the Director General of Health, Graça Freitas, also participated.

Manuel Pizarro assured that there is no shortage of stock: “We have vaccines for all the patients that are scheduled in the coming weeks, but we are still receiving vaccines”.

 

MAI says crime is decreasing, but intensity of violence is greater

 

Lisbon, Sep 19, 2022 (Lusa) – The Minister of Internal Administration said today that crime is decreasing this year compared to 2019, a period before the covid-19 pandemic marked by confinement, but “the intensity of violence is increasing that requires attention”.

“We must compare crime figures with 2019, because 2020 and 2021 were years of a pandemic, and comparing with 2019 figures we have lower indicators, both for general and violent crime, but of course we must always be attentive to all manifestations of indiscipline and aggression”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists.

The minister advanced that crime is decreasing, but “the intensity of violence is increasing that require more attention”.

In this sense, he said that the Government created the Commission for the Integrated Analysis of Juvenile Delinquency and Crime and the Public Security Police is developing, on its own initiative, a set of interventions, namely special operations in the most crowded places at night.

The minister was speaking to journalists at the end of the promotion ceremony of the two new chief superintendents, five new superintendents and four intendants of the Public Security Police.

Among the new promotions is Paula Peneda, current commander of the Porto Metropolitan Command of the PSP, who, upon reaching the head superintendent, becomes the first woman to reach the highest rank of the Police.

 

The hacker group Ragnar Locker, responsible for the computer attack on TAP at the end of last month, have published personal data of 1.5 million airline customers. This Monday 19th September 2022, a document with 581 gigabytes of information was released on the Dark Web.

According to the newspaper Expresso, TAP did not give in to the blackmail of the group of hackers, who say they continue to have access to the airline’s computer systems.

The data released this Monday by the Ragnar Locker group includes names, addresses, mobile phone numbers of customers, as well as confidential agreements and professional identity cards and information about incidents during operations.

According to Expresso, the company only says that “the intrusion was contained at an early stage, before causing damage to operational processes. TAP’s operations are proceeding normally”.

Hackers had already published data on 115,000 customers more than a week ago, and threatened to leak more information if the ransom was not paid. Expresso advances that the Portuguese air carrier did not give in to the blackmail of the Ragnar Locker group.

The cybercrime group that claimed the attack on TAP is the same that carried out a cyberattack on EDP about two and a half years ago and, at the time, Ragnar Locker asked for a ransom of 10 million euros from the company that always denied any payment.

Using malicious applications, called ransomware, the group starts by infecting computer systems, encrypts and hijacks victims’ data. It then seeks to collect ransoms, usually in cryptocurrencies, so that they are more difficult to detect.

 

Seventeen people rescued from the sea at Mira, Coimbra

This is a service that is provided a few weeks before and a few weeks after the bathing season, which guarantees prevention on the beaches of the municipality, under the protocol signed in partnership between the Municipality of Mira and Adamastor.

“On Saturday, there were three rescues, in which four people were rescued. On Sunday, there were 13 rescues throughout the day”, Diogo Morais, coordinator of the Association of Lifeguards of Mira, told Lusa.

According to the source, although Portuguese were rescued, most were foreigners.

It was an “excellent job carried out this weekend when it was very hot and the sea was ‘treacherous’, with many waters and that’s why [the lifeguards] had a lot of work”, said the mayor. Municipality of Mira, Raul Almeida.

“As we are already out of the bathing season, luckily we have the prevention service. At the right time, the City Council invested in this project that ensures prevention in the period after the bathing season. At this time of year there is no surveillance, there is only this prevention carried out by two lifeguards and a quad bike, which is supported by the City Council”, he concluded.

The agreement between the municipality and Adamastor includes the provision of a quad bike by the municipality to the association, payment of fuel for its operation, two lifeguards, as well as the remaining material necessary for the exercise of functions.

COMMENT

Hopefully this large number in just one municipality will help get the message across concerning beach safety. It is fortunate that this agreement exists, as there are many beaches now without lifeguards, since the end of the bathing season.

It is important that people following the beach safety measures that are regularly promoted on this page especially as the number of drownings so far this year stands at over 100, the highest for 5 years.

 

UPDATE: 2230 Hrs

One person reported to have died i n the coastal city of Manzanillo Colima, when a wall at a mall collapsed (source BBC)

A very strong earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale was recorded this Monday in Mexico, announced the US Geological Centre.

There are still no damages or injuries to report, but the Associated Press reports that the quake was felt in the capital of Mexico City, located hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre.

The earthquake was recorded 37 kilometres off the coast of Aquila, between the states of Colima and Michoacan, at a depth of 15.1 kilometres.

Through Twitter, the Mexican seismological centre began by noting that the earthquake was registered with a magnitude of 6.8, later correcting it to 7.4.

Earthquake alarms sounded in the nation’s capital an hour after a nationwide drill, which took place on the same day as two other powerful earthquakes, in 1985 and 2017.

A tsunami threat has been issued

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that waves reaching one to three metres (three to nine feet) above the tide level could hit coastal areas overnight.

https://www.tsunami.gov/?p=PHEB/2022/09/19/22262001/2/WEPA40

COMMENT

 

A 45-year-old man died today 18th September 2022 after allegedly feeling unwell when entering the water, going into cardiac arrest, at Praia da Saúde, in Costa da Caparica, in the district of Setúbal, the National Maritime Authority (AMN) reported.

In a statement, the AMN clarified that the alert was given at 1:30 pm, with elements of the Lisbon Maritime Police Local Command, the Emergency and Reanimation Medical Vehicle of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and members of the Volunteer Firefighters.

“The victim, a 45-year-old man, was pulled out of the water alive by lifeguards on the beach, having gone into cardiorespiratory arrest upon arrival at the beach,” says the same note.

According to the AMN, resuscitation was performed without success, and the death was declared on the spot by the INEM doctor.

The body was transported by the Volunteer Firefighters of Cacilhas to the morgue of Hospital Garcia da Orta.

 

Rural fire Medronheira, Odemira

Incêndio:Bush

N.º Oc. 2022020023633

UPDATE: 1730 HRS

Fire now under conclusion. All roads re-open

Deployment 211 operatives supported by 76 vehicles.

UPDATE 0700 hrs

The fire was brought under resolution at 0225 hrs, meaning that it is under control.

As at 0700 hrs a total of 254 operatives supported by 89 vehicles remain deployed.

UPDATE: 22.20 HRS

Deployment 259 operatives supported by 92 vehicles.

n a new report to Lusa, at 8:30 pm, the mayor Hélder Guerreiro indicated that he was aware of a total of 13 people removed from their homes , only “for prevention”, including the first seven. Furthermore, “15 people left a tourist accommodation” only and only “on their own initiative”.

All these people, whether those who were withdrawn or those who left voluntarily, went “to the homes of family members or to their own homes”, since “no one is” in the pavilion of Escola EB2,3 in São Teotónio, prepared to welcome the displaced, stressed the mayor.

Contacted by Lusa, after 8:15 pm, a source from the national relief operations command of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), explained that “the fire still has two active fronts”. The fire “burns with moderate intensity, we are proceeding with the repositioning of some means that have been arriving in the meantime”, she added. At 8:44 pm, there were 240 operational personnel and 84 vehicles, with the air assets having already left the theatre of operations.

The same ANEPC source said he hoped that, “during the night, the means that have just arrived in the theatre of operations” can be repositioned so that, eventually, it is possible to “control the fire ”.

UPDATE: 1945 hrs

Deployment is now 257 operatives supported by 84 vehicles and 5 aircraft.

UPDATE 1715 hrs

Deployment 225 operatives supported by 74 vehicles and 8 aircraft

Two families, a total of seven people, were “preventively removed” from their homes, in the area where the fire is raging in the municipality of Odemira (Beja), and taken to São Teotónio, the mayor told Lusa news agency.

“People were removed preventively. There were two families, representing seven people”, explained the mayor, Hélder Guerreiro, to Lusa, at 16:45.

The seven people were taken to the pavilion of Escola EB2,3 in São Teotónio, which “is ready to receive” residents who need to be removed from their homes due to the fire.

“It is [the place] that is prepared to receive people, with food, a place to stay, everything”, stressed the mayor.

According to Hélder Guerreiro, “for now, there is no indication of burned houses”, only of “evacuations that had to be carried out in a preventive way”.

The mayor also said that National Road 120 (EN120), which connects Odemira to the Algarve, “is interrupted on the section between Boavista dos Pinheiros and São Teotónio”.

Contacted by Lusa, a source from the GNR’s Beja Territorial Command, confirmed the removal of seven people from a place “called Ourada” to São Teotónio.

And the cut to traffic on the EN120, because “the fire is right next to the road” and it was necessary to “guarantee a safety perimeter and cut” the road.

“Alternative roads are Estada Municipal 502-1 and 502-2, on the São Teotónio side”, while “on the Boavista dos Pinheiros side, the alternative is the vicinal road 1-9” informed the GNR.

UPDATE 1700 HRs

Deployment 199 operatives supported by 67 vehicles and 8 aircraft.

As forecast earlier the wind has decreased considerably.

Comment

With a rain front moving into the Algarve heading generally north east with short and heavy showers, it will be interesting to see whether this reaches the fire area and if so the affect. Latest ACCU weather map in comments.

UPDATE 1600 hrs

Deployment 136 operatives supported by 43 vehicles and 10 aircraft.

The fire that has been burning for three hours in the municipality of Odemira (Beja) has two active fronts and is evolving “with some intensity”, due to the wind, with some scattered houses, Civil Protection told Lusa.

According to a source from the National Operations Command of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), contacted by Lusa at 14:50, “there are some sensitive points” in the area “where the fire is evolving”, which are precisely “some scattered dwellings”.

“At the moment, we are not aware of homes that have to be evacuated, however, there are means that are already dispersed across these sensitive points to prevent and protect them,” he said.

The same source explained that the fire, whose alert was given at 12:05 and which broke out in the Medronheira area, in the parish of São Teotónio, Odemira, “is active and burning with some intensity in an area of ​​bush, cork oak and eucalyptus trees” .

“It is a fire that, at the moment, is developing with two active fronts”, he said, referring that, at that time, 149 operational personnel, 10 air assets and 41 support vehicles were involved .

This device is being reinforced with “means from Setúbal, Évora and Faro, which are on their way to the site”, he added.

n that area “some wind can be felt” and this factor has been what “is making the fight difficult”, because, despite being a mountain area, “it is not very high” and even “has good access”.

Also contacted by Lusa, the mayor of Odemira, Hélder Guerreiro, confirmed that the area affected by the fire “has some scattered dwellings”, but, in case it is necessary to proceed with evacuations, “there is already a pavilion in São Teotónio on standby” .

“And we have all the means ready so that, if something happens, we can act”, he said, stressing, however, that, until now, “it was not necessary to evacuate houses”.

SITERP 1500 hrs 18th September 2022

Deployment 149 operatives supported by 41 vehicles and 10 aircraft

A total of 116 operatives and eight air assets were fighting, at 1:49 pm, a fire in the Medronheira area, in the municipality of Odemira, according to the Civil Protection website.

The location of the fire is about 3 kms east north east of the town of São Teotónio and about 15 kms north of the border with Faro District (Algarve)

According to the website of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), the fire alert, in a wooded area, in Medronheira, in the parish of S. Teotónio, Odemira, Beja district, was given at 12:05.

In addition to the flames being fought by 149 operatives, they are supported by 41 ground vehicles, 10 aircraft.

Wind in the area for 1500 hrs is forecast by 1pMA at 15 km/h gusting to 40 km/h from the south east but decreasing considerably by 1700 hrs before picking up again later tonight. Air temperature 32.1C.

The high winds will aggravate the fire fighting.

Contacted by the Lusa agency, around 1:30 pm, the District Relief Operations Command of Beja (CDOS) sent further clarifications on this fire, as it was mobilizing resources to the site.

Earlier a CDOS source told Lusa that the flames were raging in an “area of bush and fruit trees”.

 

The districts are: Beja, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre, Santarem and Setubal

Rain warning:

“Showers at times heavy, which may be hail and accompanied by thunderstorms and gusts”

Thunderstorm warning:

“Thunderstorms and showers, which could be hail, and accompanied by gusts”

The IPMA forecast for this period is: At the beginning of the week, the mainland will be under the influence of an east or south current, associated with the circulation induced by depression to the southwest or south of the Iberian Peninsula. Showers are expected, especially in the Central and Southern regions on the 19, 20 and 21, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms, still with some uncertainty associated typical of these weather patterns.

ADVICE

FROM FIRE TO FLOODS

With heavy rain falling on burned land (from recent wild fires) debris flows are possible. These are fast-moving, deadly landslides.

They are powerful mixtures of mud, rocks, boulders, entire trees – and sometimes, homes or vehicles. You’ll often hear “debris flows” called “mudslides” or “mudflows”. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but to scientists, each is a different kind of landslide and debris flows are the most powerful and dangerous of the three. If you live downslope from burned area we suggest you are a\ware of the risk, by reading this article here.

https://www.weather.gov/bou/floodafterfire…