Storm Ciarán brings wind and heavy rain from Thursday
Storm Ciarán, which is moving eastward across the Atlantic, is expected to affect mainland Portugal and Madeira from Thursday, with strong wind and precipitation, mainly in the North and Center.
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According to a statement from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), storm Ciarán, as designated by the United Kingdom Meteorological Service, is moving along the Atlantic towards the east, and at 00:00 on Thursday, “should be centered west-southwest of the British Isles”, with an impact on these islands, “particularly in terms of wind”.
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“The Ciarán depression itself will not affect mainland Portugal, although side effects are expected, due to a frontal system that is associated with it, and which will cross the mainland during the early hours and morning of November 2nd,” reads the note.
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Thus, from the end of the afternoon on Wednesday and throughout Thursday “an increase in the intensity of the wind is expected, which will blow strong from the southwest on the coast, especially on the west coast, and in the highlands, with gusts between 70 to 100 kms per hour”.
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“Sometimes heavy precipitation is also expected, especially in the North and Center regions, where it should be persistent”, adds the IPMA.
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Additionally, the institute predicts that “there will be a very significant increase in sea agitation on the 2nd on the west coast, where the waves are expected to be from the northwest and reach five to seven metres in height, and with a high probability of exceeding seven metres, namely north of Cabo Raso”.
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“This episode should last until November 6th”, estimates IPMA.
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Mother gave birth privately to avoid baby being institutionalised
The woman who took her newborn daughter, who was under precautionary protection, from the Faro hospital nursery on Thursday, gave birth in a private hospital to eventually keep the child, the Judiciary Police (PJ) admitted yesterday.
The person responsible for the PJ's Southern board admitted today at a press conference that the birth of the child in a private hospital may "have been a plan by the mother to keep the child and circumvent the precautionary protection measures" decreed by the Family and Minors Court.
According to Fernando Jordão, the woman, who has another child who is institutionalised, is referred by the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People “for reasons of inability to treat the child”.
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The PJ located and detained the baby's mother, aged 37 - and a man, aged 45, who helped the mother - at a residence belonging to friends of the suspects, on the outskirts of the city of Faro, together with the newly-born baby. born, one month old.
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According to the person responsible for the PJ's Southern directorate, the woman is the parent, but there is no known degree of kinship between the man, either with the woman or with the child.
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The two suspects are charged with the crime of aggravated kidnapping, taking into account the child's age, said the person responsible.
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Fernando Jordão said that the child was under the responsibility of the Faro hospital, a unit of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA), “waiting for his fate to be decided, as he is subject to precautionary protection measures by the Family Court”.
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The same source said that the woman removed the newborn and transported her “in a normal basket, like a bag, taking advantage of moments of less supervision at the hospital, during the normal period of visits” to which she was authorized.
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Fernando Jordão considered “there was no responsibility on the part of the hospital”, given that the child was not subject to police surveillance.
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“It is a case that is similar to other known ones, where moments of less vigilance are taken advantage of during a visit,” he said.
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According to the PJ, the child was handed over to the custody of Faro Hospital and the two suspects are waiting to be brought before the court to be heard in the first judicial interrogation.
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According to a note sent to Lusa by CHUA, the baby was in hospital as part of the promotion and precautionary protection measures for children and young people at risk, “but without a clinical reason and awaiting a court decision on definitive care”.
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The baby's mother was authorised to visit the newborn, with the CHUA “immediately activating all safety, communication and collaboration protocols with the competent authorities”.
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PortimĂŁo: homeless man tries to set fire to a fuel pump
A 46 year old homeless man wholit the end of a fuel hose with a lighter in December 2019 has been acquitted, after serving 3 years in prison for the crime.
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The incident dates back to December 10, 2019, at 11 pm. The individual threw a beer bottle against the window of the Repsol gas station shop, causing a crack. While the employee contacted the Public Security Police (PSP), the man, with a lighter in hand, went to one of the fuel pumps, removed the hose from the fitting and lit it at the end, causing a flame next to the tank of diesel.
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The drops that fell caused momentary flames, however, due to the blockage of the fuel flow, controlled remotely from inside the service station, the flames on the ground ended up going out.
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The man had been sentenced by the Court of Portimão to three years in prison, but he appealed the decision and on September 12th this year the Court of Appeal of Évora revoked the sentence, however, the decision was not unanimous.
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The decision statement reads: “As a result of the proven fact that the defendant lit the lighter at the end of the hose when he was not refueling (nor was he going to refuel), and following an objective judgment of normality, it was clearly not possible to cause the fire that he was accused of, as the pumps were in prepayment mode at that time of night (after 11pm), and so were locked and the flow of fuel was blocked”.
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For this reason, the Évora Court of Appeal ruled that this was an impossible arson attempt.
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However, this was not the understanding of the judge who voted unsuccessfully, arguing that there are often fuel residues at the end of the hose handle despite it being locked/blocked, in addition to the existence of flammable products on the ground in the vicinity of the pumps.
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Maddie: Judiciary Police continue investigations
The Judiciary Police clarified yesterday that, in the investigation into the disappearance of English child Madeleine McCann, in the Algarve in 2007, steps continue to be taken, aiming to clarify the situation, and that they are still in contact with the child's relatives.
"In this context and as opportunely made public, in close coordination with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal acts of investigation and expertise have been carried out, in Portugal and abroad, as well as sharing information and revisited statements", said the Judiciary Police (PJ) in a statement.
According to the PJ, as "it is also normal in this type of situation and corresponds to good practices", face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, transmitting only "the procedural status, within the scope of the ongoing investigation, pending at the Public Ministry of the District of Faro".
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This clarification from the PJ comes after the BBC, cited by the EFE agency, reported that the PJ apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann, who was 3 years old at the time of her disappearance, for "the way it dealt with the girl's disappearance in the Algarve, in May 2007".
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According to the same news, a delegation of PJ agents travelled from Lisbon to London at the beginning of this year to apologise to Gerry McCann, Maddie's father, after the parents were named as suspects in the girl's disappearance.
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Madeleine McCann disappeared from the room where she was sleeping at a resort in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, while her parents were having dinner with friends nearby.
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In September 2007, the parents - Kate and Gerry McCann - were considered suspects in the initial Portuguese investigation, then led by detective Gonçalo Amaral, but this status was withdrawn from the PJ inspector the following year.
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Gonçalo Amaral went on to accuse the parents of involvement in their daughter's disappearance and even wrote a book related to the case of Maddie's disappearance.
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However, Portuguese police have now admitted that the investigation was not correctly conducted.
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After years of investigation, Portuguese agents this year supported the German authorities, who believe that German Christian Brueckner murdered the child, according to the BBC program.
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According to the BBC, Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor on the case, welcomed Portugal's apology, saying: "It's a good sign. It shows that, in Portugal, there is progress in the McCann case."
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Plane makes emergency landing at Faro airport after tyre burst during takeoff
A plane from the Irish low-cost airline, Ryanair, with 189 passengers on board made an emergency landing yesterday at Gago Coutinho International Airport, in Faro after one of the tyres burst during take-off. (VIDEO)
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The aircraft, bound for Belfast, had to turn back and circled around in the air, wasting fuel until it could land safely.
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CLICK HERE to see video of the plane's emergency landing.
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