#porto tolle

[field-knots]

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil floods death toll rises to 90, dozens still stranded

Rescuers rushed to evacuate people stranded by devastating floods across the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul on Tuesday, with 90 reported dead and desperate survivors seeking food and basic supplies.

On the outskirts of Eldorado do Sul, 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) from the state capital of Porto Alegre, many people who left their homes were sleeping on the roadside and told Reuters they were going hungry. Entire families were leaving on foot, carrying belongings in backpacks and shopping carts.

"We've been without food for three days and we've only just got this blanket. I'm with people I don't even know, I don't know where my family is," said a young man who gave his name as Ricardo Junior.

The flooding has hampered rescue efforts, with dozens of people still waiting to be evacuated by boat or helicopter from stricken homes. Small boats crisscrossed the flooded town searching for survivors.

Continue reading.

[lenobyahhon]

!!PEOPLE ARE DYING BECAUSE OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN MY STATE!!!

If you’ve seen the news of southern Brazil these last few days you know we’re having the worst climate disaster of the country’s history because of torrential rains and floods. More than half the state I live in are out of their homes because of the water. Many have died drowned to the point cities have bodies floating around.

Here are some articles:

I am privileged to live in a higher area, but many aren’t. I have friends who were deeply affected and have lost everything. Our airport is closed. The ways by land were badly damaged and is very precarious. Our cities are isolated without food, shelter or water. So I have to share with you some ways you can help even from far away…

Reminder: our currency is cheap, so even small donations make a difference!!!!!

PRIVATE INITIATIVES:

GoFundMe, I think only for Europe? It’s in Euros

GoFundMe in USD

Any currency:

DONNATE DIRECTLY TO THE STATE:

Euros, dollars or pund sterling:

(I don’t super recommend this one tho, volunteers and private initiative are doing a very good job to get donations and distribute them, our government is focused on stopping the water and relocating people as they should)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Governo do Rio Grande do Sul (@governo_rs)

Any doubts or new information please contact me. ANY help is welcome!!!!

If you can’t donate money PLEASE help spread information! Like and share this post 🧡

[obrienmustsuffer]

Hi

My name is Eduardo Freitas, I'm a Brazilian historian and writer, author of two books about the Star Trek universe.

I live in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which was recently hit by an unprecedented climate catastrophe. Over 400 cities suffered intense flooding, leaving thousands of families homeless, with more than 1 million people directly affected by the floods.

At this moment, we need donations of clothes, medicines, food, animal feed, and volunteers to help with the transportation of donations and the sheltering of rescued individuals. We rely on your help to spread this great tragedy internationally and reach a greater number of people who have the means and availability to assist us.

If possible, please share links to reliable sources describing the tragic events and providing guidance on donations. If there is any mobilization in your country to help the people of Rio Grande do Sul, please assist by sharing on your social media as well. We rely on your help. Live long and prosper.

Thank you.

Donations: https://www.paraquemdoar.com.br/

More information:

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/deaths-brazil-floods-rise-107-horse-rescued-rooftop-2024-05-09/https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/world/brazil-floods-death-toll-intl-latam/index.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/world/americas/brazil-flooding-photos.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68968987https://apnews.com/article/floods-brazil-rio-grande-do-sul-dda51e5aae0e63a09b9ef64189f553b4https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/brazil-flood-porto-alegre-photos/

[pessiofficial]

barca vs. shakhtar donetsk match analysis (11/07/23)

wow, what can i even say. i have to start, i guess, by saying that we are in a really bad moment mentally. i think the clasico loss really took a toll on us. we haven't played as bad as we have in the last two games ever, and i've been watching barcelona since 2011. i've never seen something so anti-barca.

next i have to say i do NOT agree with sacking xavi. it's not the solution, especially not after two bad games. however i do think he is heavily to blame for what happened today. lewandowski should not be playing, period, but i understand we don't really have too many other options. but i'll get to him later, i want to go player by player and start with xavi. tactically we need a change, but the real sociedad game worried me more because we were actually playing our starters and not oriol/alonso.

okay, now to the players. i'll start at the back with ter stegen. despite my strong feelings about him i have to say he had a decent game and the goal wasn't his fault as much as the defense's. it could have been a lot worse without him.

next, christensen. he left the man completely unmarked but other than i didn't think he was really really bad. it was the one mistake that got us. araujo and cancelo were pretty decent and seemed like some of the only two players that were really trying to win. alonso is alonso, and balde played well when he came in.

the midfield was horrible. our build-up is nonexistent. part of this lies in the fact that xavi chose to play gavi higher up the field especially when he was doing so well in that deeper 8 role. he didn't get involved in the game. gundogan tried, to his credit. pedri did what he could when he came in and so did fermin. romeu i won't discuss, he's not my issue. there just needs to be so much more cohesion.

now for the elephant in the room. the attack. what can i say about them that isn't mean. lewandowski, ferran, and raphinha produced nothing today. 1 shot on target for an attack of this caliber is just pathetic. we need a real forward immediately, roque can't come soon enough. jesus.

anyway, overall this isn't how this team usually plays, i don't know what this was. i don't want to see us in the uel again, but if we play like this that's where we're going. all we need is one more point, and this was our best chance to do that. now we have to play porto, a much harder opponent, and i don't want to leave off qualifying until antwerp.

yeah. there are some tactical things that need to be fixed, but another issue is the lack of a good #9. lewy is just too old. also, there are basic things we can't do like heading, weighing passes, and just working together. no reason for professional footballers to do that. our players aren't given enough of the blame for what happens in games.

[rpallavicini]

Perché non pescare lui?

Il granchio blu blocca la produzione di vongole in Veneto a Porto Tolle. Le 14 cooperative del Consorzio cooperative pescatori del Polesine hanno deciso, loro malgrado, di sospendere l’attività per mancanza totale del prodotto. (ANSA) Sorgente: Caldo risveglia il granchio blu,primi stop alla pesca di vongole – Dal Mare – Ansa.it Perdonate la domanda che potrà sembrare stupida: si stanno…

[fraumogehtaufreisen]

Sooo, gerade habe ich das letzte Frühstück in Portugal beendet. Nun geht es nochmal an den Strand, dann wird zusammen gepackt und es geht nach Nordspanien.

Vorgestern waren wir in Porto, und gestern sind wir ewig lang am unendenden Strand entlang gelaufen. Das Meer ist superschön, die Häuser dahinter erstaunlich unspektakulär hier nördlich von Porto. Alle Straßen sind hier gepflastert, das liegt wohl am Untergrund. Eine Menge Christenpilger waren hier gestern schon unterwegs, bzw. zumindest ein paar.

Portugal ist ein wunderschönes und wildes Land in vielen Teilen und es hat mir supergut gefallen. Allerdings sieht man überall Spuren von großen Bränden, und die extreme Bewaldung mit Bambus für die Papierindustrie verringert die Gefahr, dass sich Feuer ausbreiten, nun Mal so gar nicht.

Die Algarve, auf die ich mich so gefreut hatte und von der alle so schwärmten, war sehr schön, aber tatsächlich nicht mein Highlight. Am freisten, wildesten und unverbautesten war tatsächlich die Region Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina mit all den wunderschönen und leeren Stränden und auch ihrem blühenden und alles wachsen lassenden Hinterland.

Den einzigen Nationalpark Portugals, den Nationalpark Peneda-Gerês, lasse ich aufgrund des schlechten Wetters dort aus.

Aber insgesamt hatte jede Ecke etwas Tolles und ich habe eine Menge wunderschöner Plätze kennengelernt und interessante Begegnungen gehabt. Und meine Art zu Reisen beinhaltet ja sowieso den Weg als Ziel!

[tmisaccidentreportbook]

MAG033, Boatswain’s Call

Case #0110201, Carlita Sloane Release date: August 18, 2016 First listen: 6th November, walking into work, remember crossing the overflow car park

The Big Boy Man, Oh Lord, He Cometh. Our first look at Peter Lukas, the other Sad Sea Dad of Rusty Quill.

- TIMOTHY STOKER! THE STONKER! MY BOY! MY SWEET CHEESE! MY ROTTEN LIL’ SOLDIER BOY!

- Reasons I love Tim: He gives me ‘bi guy who uses finger guns’ energy, he is not above weaponising his charms, and he’s also concerned about hoW SOME SHIT DOESN’T ADD UP JONNY!

- I’m being overly critical and harsh, and God knows, if I’d been putting a project like this together, I’d need a warehouse for all the wall space my cork boards would need to take up, but I’m grateful that they are addressing some of this in universe.

- I feel sorry for Jon and Jonny both. For Jon, he got yeeted into this position with no warning, he’s trying his best but he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing so he’s clinging to professionalism and academia like his life depends on it. These mistakes must be hugely embarrassing for him, eating away at him. And if these mistakes are just honest writing slips, then I feel for Jonny. It’s a new, big project, the early days were fucking chaos because of a perfect storm of issues, mistakes get made. But I love how it’s handled in universe.

- ‘Oh, and don’t get me started on the other case numbers around the Hill Top hauntings, they’re a mess…’ BIG MOOD.

- Please tell me Josh Cole and Samantha Emery were listeners who heard the inconsistencies and got in touch. Also, what sort of degrees are these guys doing, because I want in on that.

Supplemental: THEY WERE! Oh I love that! Heck yeah!

- Tim’s trying to be so kind about it and making it out to be no big deal, even using it as an opportunity to introduce Jon to some other people around the institute, and Jon is snapping and snarling like a cornered, wounded animal.

- Tim being the audience surrogate to give us a clear explanation of the file numbering system, thank you sweet child. Also possible that he does in fact know the system, and it pitching a soft ball at Jon to rebuild his confidence a little.

- Tim is like the office emotional support golden retriever and I love him but that role can take its toll on a person and my boy’s got hidden depths. I think he can just see Jon struggling and it trying to throw him a line.

- ‘Martin keeps showing me his tongue and asking if it ‘looks infested’.’ You can hear the ‘bi panic’ in that uncomfortable laugh because you KNOW my boy Martin is a snacc.

- Jon just sounds so beaten down and tired. I don’t suppose any of them have been sleeping terribly well of late, between Sasha’s encounter with The Distortion and Martin’s encounter with The Flesh Hive. The Institute probably isn’t the most welcoming or homiest of bolt holds.

- Straight out the gate, needed to google where Porto do Itaqui was because I had next to no idea. Also, Brazil if flipping huge and its’ shore line is a lot wigglier than I gave it credit for.

- The Tundra, what a name for a ship. Ugh, it’s brilliant, I hate it. The world’s Arctic Tundra is estimated to have a population of 4 million. That’s 0.05% of the world’s population for about 10% of the world’s land mass.

- ‘A lot of people don’t think shipping is a job for women. Hell, a lot of people who work on ships don’t think it is.’ The 2021 BIMCO/ICS Seafarer Workforce Report records women making up 1.2% of the global seafarer workforce, and that’s a 45.8% increase compared with the 2015 report. Carlita has has to fight for her place and I bloody respect her for that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had, indeed, made men bled for it.

- ‘…at that point I was starting to get a bit desperate’, and that’s just how they get you isn’t it. The Entities have a wonderful knack of rolling in when all the other doors are closing and you believe that the alternative for what you reaching for has to be worse. I wasn’t sure what ‘workaway’ meant, as far as I understand it, she’d be working for passage and food.

- Peter Lukas. The Big Boy Man himself. Wonder if the lil bit of pepper Jon is putting on the name is the result of a few jigsaw pieces falling into place?

- ‘He sat there at a small table, completely alone, drinking a cup of black coffee.’ There is zero joy in this man. Just none.

- The way Carlita describes it, with the feeling of a door closing, it almost feels like Lukas is maintaining a little pocket of the lonely in this seedy bar, one that Carlita unwitting steps into, leaving the rest of the world behind.

- ‘We have one space.’ Well… isn’t that fucking convenient.

- The lack of activity and the shipping containers already in situ, I’m trying to remember, does Carlita discover that they’re empty?

- I looked up a boatswain’s call whistle and played a few mp3, shrill little things. Got a lot of different calls to relay different messages over the noise of work and the sea, but my favourite thing I learned is that in Star Trek, the boatswain's call can be heard before anytime Kirk speaks to the crew over the comms.

- Not sure what the pay difference is between ordinary and able seaman, but the ranking system was introduced in1652. I think it is just a case of experience at sea.

- Must have been a quick cast off and she must have been desperate if she didn’t have time to discover the bearing until they were already out of port. One advantage to being OS as opposed to an AS I suppose is a drop in responsibilities. In theory, she just needed to pull her weight and get home.

- ‘Hell, not being too comfortable around people is a damn fine reason to go to sea.’ Big mood. But you can’t really take that with you an apply it to the crew that same way. Not when you’re working on the sea and need to work together for survival in so many instances. As well as the isolation, there’s the added threat of isolation in a hostile environment. Also kudos to her for not going insane, I really like my own company, but I’m not a fan of extended silence. Don’t like the thoughts getting in, so I turn to podcasts, and podcasts lead to these sort of fucking things…

- Kinda feel for Lukas a lil, even on your own boat, you’re hiding from folks.

- What was it about Sean Kelly that made him scared? Had he been a recent addition to the crew? Fresh enough to not be hardened to it but there long enough to know what’s happening? Also, making him a quasi countryman to Carlita, there was a foothold for camaraderie there, but it never happened.

- Containers rusted in place, never moved on or off of the Tundra, only painted and repainted. The cargo isn’t in the containers. There may have been worries about Carlita’s previous ship possibly trafficking people, but I think this vessel is of more concern.

- I appreciate that she’s smart and savvy enough to not go poking around when she first sees something amiss. We’ve had some idiots, and Ms Sloane is not one of them.

- Gotta love a woman with a pair of steelies.

- EMPTY CONTAINERS! CALLED IT!

- The boatswain's call, the ‘old-fashioned boat, with oars and a winch’, there’s something archaic about The Lonely. Something very old, or rather, behind the times.

- Yup, Sean Kelly’s the sacrificial lamb and the whistle is the dinner bell. It’s a little bit of a take on the ‘Appease the Volcano God’ trope, swapping heat and lava for cold and fog.

- ‘…it “hadn’t been an easy choice”.’ Yeah I would have stuck to myself after that too.

- ‘…twenty-five thousand pounds. For barely two weeks work. I don’t mind telling you, it was almost enough to tempt me back. Almost.’ So that’s why folks stay. For the pay. I wonder how many folks on that vessel were desperate enough that they chose to roll the dice and keep sailing?

- ‘…here does not appear to have been anything explicitly supernatural occurring in this statement.’ Jon’s right, from the outside it just appears real weird and probably a murder was committed.

- ‘…the Tundra is a currently-active cargo ship operating for Solus Shipping PLC, a company founded and majority-owned by Nathaniel Lukas.’ Solus… solo… urgh. Also, where in the line of Jonah’s Lukas sugar daddies does Nathaniel fall? Actually, that’s a present tense. Is that Elias’ ex-to-the-power-of-twelve brother-in-law or something?

- ‘It doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to do any further investigations into this.’ Proceeds to list off a shopping list of hinky shit that warrants a lot of digging getting more salty and rabid with each word. Starting to see a little bit of season 2 Jon come through there.

[crisllis]

If possible, please share links to reliable sources describing the tragic events and providing guidance on donations. If there is any mobilization in your country to help the people of Rio Grande do Sul, please assist by sharing on your social media as well. We rely on your help. Live long and prosper.

Thank you.

Donations: https://www.paraquemdoar.com.br/

More information:

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/deaths-brazil-floods-rise-107-horse-rescued-rooftop-2024-05-09/https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/world/brazil-floods-death-toll-intl-latam/index.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/world/americas/brazil-flooding-photos.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68968987https://apnews.com/article/floods-brazil-rio-grande-do-sul-dda51e5aae0e63a09b9ef64189f553b4https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/brazil-flood-porto-alegre-photos/

these are pictures from before and after the floods. these are 2 days old:

these other pictures are more recent, mostly from yesterday:

Rio Pardo, RS / Eldorado do Sul, RS

Canoas, RS

Porto Alegre, RS

this is a nightmare.

[head-post]

Firefighters died battling fires in Portugal

Three Portuguese firefighters died in one of dozens of wildfires, bringing the total death toll to seven, according to WAtoday.

Portugal is battling dozens of active fires, mobilising some 5,300 firefighters and seeking help from the European Union.

The head of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Agency, Andre Fernandes, reported that 125 fires were reported between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Some of them “were “beyond extinguishing capacity,” but focused on “preserving human life and property.”

Authorities closed several motorways, including the one connecting Lisbon and Porto, and suspended train services on two railway lines in northern Portugal.

Fernandes reported that three firefighters from the Vila Nova de Oliveirinha fire brigade died while fighting a fire in the town of Nelas about 300 kilometres northeast of Lisbon. His deputy, Mario Silvestre, said earlier that the overall situation was “calmer but still worrying and complex… with many villages and settlements being affected, and the teams very dispersed across this theatre of operations.”

Portugal and neighbouring Spain recorded fewer fires than usual after a rainy start of the year. However, both countries remain vulnerable to increasingly hot and dry conditions, which scientists attribute to global warming.

Jorge Ponte of the meteorology agency IPMA stated that Monday was “one of the worst days ever” in terms of fire risk. The situation may improve with the possibility of showers on Thursday, although the danger still remains.

The government requested assistance from the European Commission under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. As a result, Spain, Italy and Greece sent two water-bombing aircraft each.

Read more HERE

[radarglobal-blog]

Potencialidades e fragilidades do sistema portuário.

A International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), fundada em 1955, com sede em Tóquio, Japão, é uma aliança global de portos, representando 185 portos e 160 negócios relacionados a portos, em 88 países, que lidam com mais de 60% do comércio marítimo mundial e mais de 60% do tráfego mundial de contêineres. Representa globalmente os interesses de seus membros, no âmbito regulatório, na Organização Marítima Internacional, na Organização Mundial das Alfândegas, na Organização Internacional de Normalização e atua no Fórum Marítimo Global e no Fórum Econômico Mundial.

Em status consultivo, a IAPH ainda trabalha com outros órgãos das Nações Unidas, como a UNCTAD (Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Comércio e Desenvolvimento), o PNUMA (Programa das Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente) e o Pacto Global da ONU, como referência do setor para compartilhar as melhores práticas dos portos mais avançados e sofisticados do planeta, incluindo inovações em transição energética, descarbonização e redução de emissões nos portos e em todas as interfaces navio-terra.

O relatório internacional “Seatrade Maritime Global Ports Report 2023” analisa como os portos estão se adaptando ao mundo pós-pandemia, adotando princípios ESG e se preparando para operações automatizadas, revelando como estão ativamente preparando o terreno da transição para a energia verde, abordando as emissões e investindo em infraestrutura para enfrentar a responsabilidade compartilhada das mudanças climáticas.

Em um mundo sem fronteiras, o monitoramento constante do cenário externo, identificando os exemplos e os benchmarkings para o setor, é uma prática essencial para contribuir com o aperfeiçoamento contínuo do sistema portuário brasileiro.

Após três décadas do início do processo de modernização dos portos brasileiros, resulta inegável constatar a forte contribuição dos investimentos privados, o que, todavia, deve ser encarado com certa reserva, observados alguns pontos de atenção e fragilidades neste cenário.

Considerando que as relações de comércio internacional estão alicerçadas, fundamentalmente, no funcionamento do setor aquaviário, o fenômeno da globalização econômica provocou profundas alterações no segmento portuário e, em todo o mundo, teve início um amplo e acelerado processo de modernização dos portos, cujo objetivo maior foi o aumento da eficiência e a redução drástica dos custos na prestação dos serviços portuários.

A corrida pela modernização, por sua vez, ensejou o questionamento acerca da eficácia dos modelos até então adotados na gestão dos portos, sobretudo no propósito de abrir novas oportunidades de maior participação do capital privado.

O Banco Mundial criou uma classificação que permite agrupar os principais portos em atividade no atual cenário mundial em quatro modelos: service port (portos inteiramente públicos); toll port (admite a participação da iniciativa privada, mas preserva um alto grau de intervenção direta do estado); landlord port (o poder público detém a propriedade da área e transfere sua exploração para empresas privadas, normalmente mediante contrato de arrendamento por prazo determinado) e private port (todas as responsabilidades recaem para a iniciativa privada).

O sistema portuário brasileiro, atualmente regido pela Lei 12.815/13, sofreu profundas transformações ao longo dos últimos 30 anos, abandonando o modelo monopolista estatal (service port) e estabelecendo um novo cenário composto por portos públicos, denominados portos organizados, regidos pelo modelo landlord port, e terminais de uso privado (TUPs), que são instalações localizadas fora dos limites dos portos organizados e exploradas pela iniciativa privada mediante autorização, com modelo de gestão private port.

No caso do Brasil, a coexistência de dois modelos distintos não deve ser vista, em si, como uma contradição jurídica.

Sendo uma economia emergente, com baixa capacidade de investimento público, a abertura para que a iniciativa privada pudesse participar e dar uma contribuição efetiva no desafio de recuperar e modernizar os portos brasileiros mostrou-se uma medida acertada.

Entretanto, uma fragilidade do sistema portuário brasileiro é que, partindo-se do conceito mais amplo de porto como porta de acesso para as mercadorias, considerando que as mercadorias não se destinam e não se originam no porto em si, é condição absolutamente necessária para a consolidação de um empreendimento portuário a sua interligação com outros modais, notadamente o rodoviário e o ferroviário.

Como já é notório, um dos principais problemas que os portos brasileiros enfrentam nos dias presentes é justamente a questão da acessibilidade terrestre, de modo que, mesmo havendo apetite da sociedade para investir nos terminais de uso privado e nos arrendamentos dentro dos limites dos portos organizados, é fundamental a atuação do estado para promover a integração entre os modais e garantir o bom funcionamento do sistema portuário.

O fortalecimento dos modelos de gestão privados não deve significar a renúncia do estado às responsabilidades que lhe são inerentes. Se o Brasil optou por fomentar a participação da iniciativa privada na atividade portuária, ainda assim caberá ao poder público papel determinante, seja como investidor em infraestrutura complementar, seja como planejador, regulador e indutor do crescimento econômico.

É dever do estado brasileiro coordenar o planejamento com um enfoque mais amplo, pensando a estrutura logística de forma sistêmica, eliminando os gargalos e promovendo a necessária integração entre os modais.

A título de ilustração, cabe o exemplo da situação que se apresenta na Baía de Todos os Santos, a segunda maior baía do mundo, capital da Amazônia Azul, verdadeira dádiva da natureza, onde atualmente estão em funcionamento dez portos (dois portos organizados e oito terminais de uso privado), mas, por absurdo, inexiste acesso ferroviário e o acesso rodoviário é realizado única e exclusivamente pela BR-324, com péssimo índice de desempenho operacional.

Assim, sem a atuação do poder público, independente da forte participação de investimentos privados nos portos da Baía de Todos os Santos, a questão da deficiência de acessibilidade terrestre continuará sendo um fator de limitação para que se possa explorar na sua plenitude o extraordinário potencial da atividade portuária local, o que representa, sem dúvida alguma, uma das principais alternativas para se alavancar o desenvolvimento da economia do mar em nosso estado.

ATHAYDE, Eduardo e FARIA, Sérgio. Potencialidades e fragilidades do sistema portuário: É fundamental a atuação do estado para promover a integração entre os modais e garantir o bom funcionamento dos portos.  [S.I.], 9 set. 2024. Disponível em: https://atarde.com.br/a-tarde-esg/potencialidades-e-fragilidades-do-sistema-portuario-1286184. Acesso em: 9 set. 2024.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil counts cost of worst-ever floods with little hope of waters receding soon

Death toll in southern state of Rio Grande do Sul increasing daily as authorities plan four ‘tent cities’ for 77,000 displaced people

Three weeks after one of Brazil’s worst-ever floods hit its southernmost state, killing 155 people and forcing 540,000 from their homes, experts have warned that water levels will take at least another two weeks to drop.

The death toll across Rio Grande do Sul is still increasing daily, and more than 77,000 displaced people remain in public shelters, prompting the state government to announce plans to build four temporary “tent cities” to accommodate them.

On Friday, the state’s governor, Eduardo Leite, said the costs to rebuild will be “much higher” than the 19bn reais (£2.9bn) he initially estimated.

Several cities are still underwater, including the state’s capital, Porto Alegre, where 46 of the 96 neighbourhoods were flooded. Even residents of non-flooded areas have had to endure days without electricity and potable water.

Of the seven main rivers in the state, five are still above the maximum water level, and experts say there is little hope the waters will recede anytime soon.

Continue reading.

[ultimiterremoti]

Terremoto 03:34:55 M2.0 epicentro "3 km W Porto Tolle (RO)"

[nedsecondline]

‘The sea has taken everything’: How rising salt is destroying Italian coast | Environment | Al Jazeera

Subsidence – the slow and progressive sinking of the ground over time – is a phenomenon which has become very familiar to the inhabitants of the Po Delta region. It has caused the complete submergence of entire stretches of coast over the past 50 years. The “Isola Bonelli Levante” in Porto Tolle is among the most striking examples of segments of land which have slipped into the sea. A large rice…

[mygainyear2024]

Day 41 Leiria was a surprise

Today I headed out early to catch the Rede Expressos bus to Leiria to pick up a hire car. As an aside, the local public transport is not great. I'm using a national bus company to travel what I consider a short distance, and the frequency is not great. I did a little research about what I might see in Leiria but didn't have high expectations. I'm now googling vegetarian/vegan restaurants in the hope I might get better coffee! But don't worry in Porto and Lisbon I have several options showing on my newly recommended Kava app!

Sadly at the bus station a woman was being prevented from getting on (I'm assuming) our bus by a man. He had her positioned against a wall and covered by his frame. It was clear to me that had she tried to make a run for it, things would escalate. She was trying to negotiate herself away from him. I might have approached in an English speaking country, but sensing I would not be understood, I instead went inside the office and told the male worker "Policia" and pointed outside. He looked and said "I don't think so!" I insisted "Sim, Policia, 112". I walked out and waited for a short time before I really had to get on the bus. I could see the worker came out and the woman said something to him and then yelled "Obrigada". I suspect he called the police, or was intending to, and either they or he asked her if she wanted help and she declined but said thank you. There really is a long way to go!

Forty minutes later I arrived in Leiria and headed for the mercado municipale. This was the cleanest mercado I have been to. So clean I used their toilets three times as I criss-crossed the city. There was an antique/boot market opposite where I purchased more earrings and a Marilyn Monroe broach (Portugal loves Marilyn and Frida Kahlo). The stall holders spoke great english and told me they'd been to Australia several times, and lived in East Timor for 6 years.

Next stop a walk up to the castle, then on to the coffee shop. Along the way I ducked in and out of interesting clothing and homewares shops, stumbled across street performers advertising the Festival atol João Moital, looked into an art gallery that was the former national bank, made it to the café for a delicious apple cake and great looking coffee (but sadly made on UHT milk) and then headed for Sixt car rentals. A little later than expected and luckily I got there before 12.30 as that was closing time. Three other people were ahead of me and no staff member in site. The poor man was on his own and after sorting paperwork for each person, then had to walk quite a distance to bring the cars in. I was getting quite concerned I would miss my nail appointment back in Nazaré.

One benefit from being the last customer and kept waiting was sweet talking the man into giving me another car after he asked if a station wagon would be ok, god no! I don't have a small car, but it's an auto at least. After discovering I didn't have the right cord for Apple Play and knowing I would be late for my nail appointment, I punched in Pingo Doce to google maps. At least I knew I could park there and it wasn't down some narrow streets. After missing a right turn (yep I've also forgotten my rights and lefts) and losing 5 minutes I'm finally on my way. On the toll road the limit is 120km. I caught myself doing 133km at one point and most cars were speeding past me! Luckily it wasn't busy. I gather the €2.75 toll might be a bit pricey for some locals.

I was going to head out in the car again to Alcobaça to see a recommended monastery, but it closed at 6pm. I knew there were folk festival events down at the beach so I headed there instead, and did a long walk.

Looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day in Tomar tomorrow. I understand it might be a bit medieval.

[newstfionline]

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Extreme weather seems nearly everywhere (AP) In sweltering Brazil, flooding killed dozens of people and paralyzed a city of about 4 million people. Voters and politicians in India, amid national elections, are fainting in heat that hit as high as 115 degrees (46.3 degrees Celsius). A brutal Asian heat wave has closed schools in the Philippines, killed people in Thailand and set records there and in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and Myanmar. Record temperatures—especially at night when it just won’t cool down—have hit many parts of Africa. Flooding devastated Houston, and the United States as a whole just had its second highest number of tornadoes for the month of April. In a world growing increasingly accustomed to wild weather swings, the last few days and weeks have seemingly taken those environmental extremes to a new level. Some climate scientists say they are hard pressed to remember when so much of the world has had its weather on overdrive at the same time. According to University of Michigan environment dean Jonathan Overpeck, “If this record pace of warming continues, 2024 will likely be a record year of climate disasters and human suffering.”

US to delay two arms shipments to Israel (Washington Post) The Biden administration is delaying the sale of at least two arms shipments to Israel amid mounting concern about the country’s plan to expand a military operation in southern Gaza that could dramatically increase the conflict’s death toll, said four people familiar with the matter. The White House and State Department declined to explain the decision, but it is the first known instance of a delay in U.S. arms transfers since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack. One U.S. official described the move as a “shot across the bow” intended to underscore to Israeli leaders the seriousness of the United States’ concerns.

New York tops list of cities with most millionaires (Bloomberg) New York City’s residents have more wealth—in excess of $3 trillion—than those of any other metro in the world. New York has almost 350,000 millionaires, which is the most of any city and up 48% from a decade ago, according to a global ranking of the wealthiest cities. That means about one in every 24 of its 8.26 million residents has a seven-figure net worth, compared with about one in 36 in 2013. New York still has a large share of the ultra-rich, too: the report found that it has 60 billionaires and 744 people with investable wealth of more than $100 million.

Too much water, and not enough: Brazil’s flooded south struggles to access basic goods (AP) The mayor of a major city in southern Brazil on Tuesday pleaded with residents to comply with his water rationing decree, given that some four-fifths of the population is without running water, a week after major flooding that has left at least 90 people dead and more than 130 others missing. Efforts were continuing to rescue people stranded by the floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, as more rains were forecast for the region into next week. The capital, Porto Alegre, has been virtually cut off, with the airport and bus station closed and main roads blocked because of the floodwaters. “I can’t shower at home, wash the dishes or even have drinkable water,” the 35-year-old Jorge said in her car as she prepared to travel. She had just a gallon of water for the 200-kilometer (125-mile) drive to the city of Torres, so far unaffected by the floods.

In London, a Houseboat Used to Be the Affordable Option. Not Anymore. (NYT) When you walk along the towpaths lining London’s 100-mile network of canals, a life on the water can appear idyllic. The boats dotting the winding banks look impossibly charming, romantic, colorful. Even better, they’re cheap to acquire compared with buying a conventional land-based house or apartment in the city. “It’s so peaceful here,” said David Ros, a freelance sound designer who has been living on the London waterways for 15 years. “I wake up in the morning and open the side door looking out over the river, and the ducks are waiting for me to feed them. It’s just a really nice way to live.” As he spoke, a kingfisher flew by and the sun cascaded through the windows of his 43-foot-long Dutch barge. He bought his current houseboat about six years ago for £30,000 ($38,000). It was a “complete wreck,” he said, so he did extensive renovations. But a two-bedroom Dutch barge houseboat in the area will now run you around £190,000 ($238,000).

Putin’s Fifth Inauguration (NYT) Vladimir V. Putin was inaugurated for a fifth term as president on Tuesday in a ceremony filled with pageantry and a televised church service, as the Russian leader tried once more to depict his invasion of Ukraine as a religiously righteous mission that is part of “our 1,000-year history.” Mr. Putin was re-elected in March. If he serves the full six years of his new term, he will become the longest-serving Russian leader since Empress Catherine the Great in the 18th century. “Together, we will be victorious!” Mr. Putin said at the end of a speech after he took the oath in the Kremlin’s gilded St. Andrew’s Hall.

Ukraine Says It Foiled Russian Plot to Kill Zelensky (NYT) Ukraine’s security services said on Tuesday that they had foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top military and political figures. Two Ukrainian colonels accused of participating in the plot have been arrested on suspicion of treason. The Ukrainian domestic intelligence agency, the S.B.U., said in a statement that the plot had involved a network of agents—including the two colonels—that was run by Russia’s Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the main successor to the K.G.B. According to the S.B.U., the agents working at Russia’s direction were tasked with identifying people close to Mr. Zelensky’s security detail who could take him hostage and later kill him. It is not the first time that Ukraine has reported a potential assassination attempt aimed at its top leaders. Mr. Zelensky said in an interview with an Italian television channel earlier this year that his security services had told him of more than 10 such efforts.

Voters in southern India are more resistant to Modi’s Hindu-centric politics (AP) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wielded near-total control over Indian politics since coming to power 10 years ago, with one exception: He has failed to win over the country’s wealthier southern region. Five states across southern India account for roughly 20% of the country’s population and 30% of its economy. They are the heartbeat of India’s manufacturing and high-tech sectors. They are ethnically diverse and proudly multilingual. They empower women with educational and employment opportunities and have a long history of progressive politics. Not one of them is controlled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party—a stark rejection of its Hindu-nationalist agenda that enjoys wide support in northern India. Voters and leaders of India’s southern states have different needs than their counterparts in the north, which is more rural and populous. Modi’s injection of religion into politics only exacerbates tensions with many southern voters.

Japan’s Working Women Are Making Progress (NYT) When the future empress of Japan entered the country’s elite diplomatic corps in 1987, a year after a major equal employment law went into effect, she was one of only three female recruits. Known then as Masako Owada, she worked long hours and had a rising career as a trade negotiator. But she lasted just under six years in the job, giving it up to marry Crown Prince—and now Emperor—Naruhito. Much has changed for Japan’s Foreign Ministry—and, in some ways, for Japanese women more broadly—in the ensuing three decades. Since 2020, women have comprised nearly half of each entering class of diplomats, and many women continue their careers after they marry. These advances, in a country where women were predominantly hired only for clerical positions into the 1980s, show how the simple power of numbers can, however slowly, begin to remake workplace cultures and create a pipeline for leadership.

Israel in Rafah (Washington Post) Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, shutting down the flow of aid and sending thousands of civilians fleeing as they opened a new front in the months-long war to eradicate Hamas from the territory. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had gained “operational control” of the Palestinian side of the crossing as part of a “precise counterterrorism operation” in Rafah, which shares a border with Egypt. The incursion Tuesday appeared limited, but it also shut down the crossing, a key entry point for aid to southern Gaza , a situation that a U.S. State Department spokesperson called “just unacceptable.” Even if supplies were ready to cross, the U.N. warned that there was no one on the Gaza side to receive the aid since Palestinian workers have fled the area to escape fighting. “Safety is from God only. The Israelis announced the blocks that they will enter. I am currently next to those areas, so when our turn comes, we will have to leave—if we are still alive by then,” Mohamed Khaled, 22, told The Post. “We can’t find anywhere to go now. There is no place left. People are being scattered around, each leaving in a direction. Constant bombardment, I swear. It is not easy to leave. Transportation is extremely expensive for us. I pray tomorrow I could find a place to go to.”

Anguish as Kenya’s government demolishes houses in flood-prone areas and offers $75 in aid (AP) Kenya’s government has begun bulldozing homes built in flood-prone areas and promising evicted families the equivalent of $75 to relocate after a deadline passed to evacuate amid deadly rains. In the capital, Nairobi, a bulldozer ripped through iron-sheet walls as people watched in despair. Security forces with guns and batons stood guard and fired tear gas at some residents. The government last week told thousands of people living near rivers, dams and other flood-prone areas to vacate as heavy rains that have left 238 people dead in recent weeks continue to pound. Most of those whose houses are demolished say they do not know where to go, even though the government claims they were notified about options. President William Ruto, who visited the vast Mathare informal settlement along the Nairobi River on Monday, said those whose houses had been demolished would be given 10,000 Kenyan shillings ($75) to help them resettle elsewhere.