Tavira chef is the first Portuguese to win the world's biggest award for young cooks
Tavira chef, Artur Gomes, has become the first Portuguese cook to win the S.Pellegrino Social Responsibility Award, the biggest international competition for young chefs.
The 30 year old professional said “It is an honour and a great pride to receive this recognition, which was my main objective in this competition. Throughout this two-year journey, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my vision of what haute cuisine can be.”
The international competition had 15 young chefs participating, combining gastronomy with sustainability.
Artur Gomes was the first Portuguese cook to receive the distinction, which is one of the three awards of the Grand Final of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2022-23 , which will take place in Milan, Italy, between October 4th and 5th, 2023.
According to the organisation, the prize won by Artur Gomes is “given to the chef whose dish best reflects the principle that food tastes better when it results from socially responsible practices, conveying a message of sustainability”.
“It is the first time that a Portuguese person has received a world prize in the most important and influential gastronomic competition dedicated exclusively to young cooks and it is also a reason for greater pride to represent Portugal”, said the proud Artur Gomes on Facebook.
The winning dish was Celery “Vale das Lobas”, a recipe by Artur Gomes that took almost two years to develop and which was mentored by Henrique Sá Pessoa.
New driving license renewal platform launched by IMT
This week, the Mobility and Transport Institute (IMT) have launched a new platform that allows drivers both to consult the validity of each of the categories registered on the driving license, as well as indicating the moment from which they must proceed with renewal. The process can be started immediately, if the driver is already within the renewal period.
According to the IMT, the process of renewing your driving license has become easier and more intuitive.
In a second phase of development currently being completed, it is expected that new functionalities for consultation and registration will be included, such as the request for a certificate of authenticity of the Driving License to exchange the driving license abroad, and also the consultation of the points of the Driving, to be developed in partnership with the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR).
The platform is called “ My Driving License ”.
Despite all the information and awareness campaigns, there are still many drivers who have not revalidated their driving licenses within the period established by law, according to information provided by the IMT, so an 'Extraordinary Regime' put in place means drivers with a legally expired driving license (more than two years ago) will be able to renew their driving license without having to undergo a special exam.
Missing young man Quévin emptied his bank account before his disappearance
Latest reports state that 21 year old Quévin Andre Protseko, missing from his home in Santa Luzia, Tavira for over a week now, withdrew all the money from his personal account on the eve of his disappearance.
Quévin also had a debit card with him that his mother left him to pay expenses while she and Quévins father were away in Romania, but he has only paid bills with that card and did not use it to make any withdrawals.
The Judiciary Police are in the process of gaining access to the young man's laptop, to hopefully obtain some clues about his disappearance. The young man does not have social networks and is a student of Computer Engineering at the University of Algarve. Quévin has always been a conscientious student, except during this last year. HIs parents have discovered he was absent from university several times.
Quévin stopped responding to calls and messages after he spoke with his mother on Saturday evening, July 22nd, the eve of the day he was to travel to his brother's wedding in Romania.
“We were in Romania and Sunday morning Quévin needed to go with his parents-in-law to catch the bus from Tavira to Lisbon, and from Lisbon to Budapest. It was all put arranged. Saturday night, when I called him, at 20:33, we spoke very normally, I told him not to be late”, said Quévins mother.
New 'average speed' cameras come into force
The new radars that will be able to check the average speed of cars, and the related fines are hefty!
The new style 'average speed' cameras, unlike those that measure instantaneous speed, the new radar system monitors the average speed between two points by measuring the time taken by vehicles to travel a certain distance. It will be possible to calculate the time it took a car to travel the route, as well as the average speed. If the driver has completed the distance in less than the stipulated time, it means that he has not complied with the speed limit.
Fines range from €60 to €2,500.
According to the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) there will be 10 'average speed' cameras, whose location will not be fixed, being able to alternate between 20 possible locations. The exact date of their entry into operation and locations will be disclosed in advance by the ANSR, via their website.
To alert drivers, a specific traffic sign will be used, the H42 sign, which indicates speed surveillance in that stretch, but when it comes to mobile (and not fixed) speed cameras, this identification/signalling will not be required by law.
Where will the new radars be?
As we mentioned, ANSR will only have 10 radars available, but the places where they will be can be changed, across 20 location points. The list of locations includes:
Aveiro: A41;
Beja: En206 and IC1;
Castelo Branco: IC8;
Coimbra: A1 and EN109;
Évora: A6 and IP2;
Faro: EN398 Olhão-Quelfes (junction of the EN 125);
Lisboa: A9, EN10, EN6-7 by IC19;
Porto: A3.
Santarém: A1;
Setúbal: EN10, EN378, EN4, EN5 and IC1;
ANSR stated that “the radars will be on several roads in the national road network, including motorways, complementary routes and national roads.”
The location of the average speed cameras and the exact date of their entry into operation will be disclosed in advance by the ANSR, including through a website, where their location can be consulted.
ANSR claims that medium speed cameras contribute to a more than 70% reduction in fatal crashes.
Lagoa: Teenage boy rescued after diving from a cliff on the beach
A 13 year old German boy was rescued by emergency services after he "fractured his lower limbs, following a dive from a cliff at Praia do Carvalho, in Lagoa”.
The accident happened at around 15:30 on Friday afternoon, resulting in the dispatch of the Maritime Police of Portimão, crew of the Lifeguard Station in Ferragudo, a team from the INEM Medical Emergency and Resuscitation Vehicle (VMER), and members of the Lagos Volunteer Firefighter.
The boy was initially stabilised by lifeguards on the beach, and upon arrival of INEM and Portimão Volunteer Firefighters at the scene, “the victim was conscious”.
The young man was transported to the pier in Ferragudo by the lifeboat crew, where an INEM ambulance was waitingto transport him to a hospital.
French village tries a novel way to stop speeding drivers
The village of Bauné, in western France, has resorted to extreme measures to force drivers to respect speed limits. Usually the solution is speed bumps, but not this time!
Implemented two weeks ago, the village drew a series of continuous lines on the road, in an attempt to force drivers to slow down in a zone that has a speed limit of 20 km/h, but in which drivers often exceed 50 km/h.
“It is a city of 1700 inhabitants that is crossed by three main municipal roads. People drive fast and it's difficult to get people to slow down and have road signs that work," said Jean-Charles Prono, mayor of Loire-Authion which is made up of a group of seven villages including Bauné and where the problemstic intersection is located.
The purpose of the lines is "to make it difficult to read the landscape, that is, to create events that call the driver's attention to say what is happening", explained the mayor, also saying that they could have added speed bumps, but that these could be noisy in a village.
Road users and the internet in general did not react well to this measure. The road raises several legal issues can even be dangerous as it confuses drivers rather than slowing them down.
The mayor says that the configuration is not “definitive”, but that the objective was to do something quickly that could work to slow down drivers.
“At the moment it is working. I am aware that it can be disorienting and that care needs to be taken, especially with older people,” he said.
