Category: Uncategorized

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.

Rain that fell during December led to a further easing of the drought, but 37.3% of mainland Portugal remains in this situation, according to data from IMPA

According to the drought weather index (PDSI) available today on IPMA website, of these 37.3%, only 3.5% is related to severe drought (eastern Algarve).

Data indicate that in December there was a worsening of the drought situation in mainland Portugal compared to November.

By the end of December however, the northern and central regions were no longer in a drought situation, due to severe and moderate rainfall in much of the north of Cape Mondego.

In the southern region, according to the IPMA, there was a significant easing of the weather drought situation, however, severe drought persisted in the eastern Algarve.

The institute classifies into nine classes the drought weather index, which ranges from “extreme rain” to “extreme drought”.

The report indicates that as of December 31, 2.7% of mainland Portugal was in severe rain, 31.8% in moderate rain, 18.7% in light rain;  24.8% in light drought, , 9.5% normal, 9% moderate drought, 3.5% in severe drought.

The institute classifies into nine classes the drought weather index, which ranges from “extreme rain” to “extreme drought”.

According to the IPMA, there are four types of drought: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological and socioeconomic.

Meteorological drought is directly linked to the rainfall deficit when rainfall is below normal.

Then, as the deficit widens over two, three months, it shifts to an agricultural drought because water deficiencies in the soil are beginning to develop.

If the situation persists, it will develop into hydrological drought, when there is a lack of water in the dams. There is also socioeconomic drought, which is considered when it already has an impact on the population.

In addition to the drought index, the IPMA Climate Bulletin also indicates that December was warm in relation to air temperature and rainy in precipitation.

According to the IPMA, the average value of average air temperature in mainland Portugal (10.99 degrees Celsius) was higher than the normal value by 1.02 degrees, being the third highest since 2000 (highest in 2015 and 2000).

Regarding rainfall, the IPMA indicates that the average amount of precipitation in December was higher than normal, corresponding to about 127% of the monthly normal value.

The IPMA points out that since 2010 there was no precipitation above normal in December.

Precipitation values ​​in the northern and central regions were much higher than the average value, with the highest values ​​recorded in Cabril, Bragança district, (528 mm), Penhas Douradas, Serra da Estrela, (473 mm), Guarda (466 mm) and Covilhã, district of Castelo Branco, (433 mm).

In the southern regions, rainfall was lower than normal, for example, the 47.9 mm of rainfall in Faro corresponds to about 40% of normal (115.6 mm).

On 2^nd January, Patricia Gasper Secretary of State for Internal Administration and David Thomas President Safe Communities Portugal met to discuss a number of matters concerning civil protection.

Patricia Gasper assumed the post under the new Government recently, being responsible for civil protection and road safety. Previously the post was Secretary of State for Civil Protection but this was changed to reflect a broader portfolio with the inclusion of road safety.

Included in the discussions were: public communication during crisis situations such as rural fires; location finding by the emergency services during crisis situations; civil protection and Safe Communities Portugal priorities; prevention and self-protection during rural fires and measures for AL rented accommodation under the Safe Village Safe People program.

These were matters that had been accorded priority with fast tracking where necessary before the main fire season. A strategic approach to communications was discussed.

Also discussed was the role of Civil Protection Volunteer Organisations, of which Safe Communities was one of nine as well as future collaboration and related issues.

In respect of road safety Patricia Gasper explained the priority that needs to be given to the main causes of serious road accidents and that the laws concerning issues such as drink driving and use of mobile phones whilst driving were currently under review.

In the framework of the above a number of ideas were discussed for further consideration

The Algarve and the municipality of Almodôvar, in Baixo Alentejo, are the places that will be most affected by the flu outbreak, which is spreading throughout the country this first week of the year, more precisely between the 1st and 8th.

The Center for Health Studies and Evaluation (CEFAR), of the National Pharmacy Association, predicts that the outbreak will reach grade 4 (high) in the Algarve region and in Almodôvar, so ‘greater turnout is expected’ at health services’.

“In the remaining continental territory and the Azores, the outbreak will reach grade 3 (moderate) in the first week of the year, but still with a tendency to increase new cases”, according to the National Association of Pharmacies.

These forecasts are based on the ‘Pharmacy Alarm Clock’, ‘barometer that anticipates flu activity from drug dispensing data’.

The “Pharmacy Alarm Clock” predicts flu activity, county by county, based on daily dispensing numbers for medicines and health products. The network of pharmacies serves, on average, 520 thousand people per day. This mass contact with the population makes it possible to anticipate the evolution of the epidemic by two weeks.