Football Leaks ‘trial of the century’ starts in Lisbon // Push for electric car charging at cafes and shops
Portuguese news in English on September 4, 2020.
By the numbers
Case numbers seem to be staying pretty high, with Lisbon and the Tejo Valley and the North solidifying as the two main areas of concern. But the Algarve has recorded 18 cases for two days in a row now, which is more or less twice as many as we’re used to seeing there.
Football Leaks ‘trial of the century’ starts in Lisbon
The massive trial of accused Football Leaks hacker Rui Pinto began today in Lisbon, a process that has brought international media to the capital and could last months. His 90 charges range from unauthorised access to data and violation of correspondence to attempted extortion, Reuters reports, in English. The website exposed tax avoidance by prominent football figures and contributed to an eventually overturned ban on Manchester City competing in the Champions League. Security is tight in what Público notes has been dubbed by some as “the trial of the century”, citing an expert describing dummy cars, disguises and even the possibility of snipers and other armaments. In his opening statement to the trial, Mr Pinto said his work as a whistleblower was over and he never received money for what he did, Diário de Notícias reported. “I'm not a hacker, I'm a whistleblower,” he said. “I made public a lot of important information that would never be known otherwise.”
At-risk children forced to quarantine
A health directorate requirement forcing endangered children to isolate for 14 days after being taken from their families is coming under increasing pressure. In the Os Miúdos (The Kids) care home, there are children who haven’t visited their families since March, even though family reintegration is the project’s main goal, Público reports. Some kids were spending weekends with their families before the pandemic hit, but that was stopped to avoid them having to isolate. The Directorate-General of Health guidelines, reportedly now under review, are aimed at stopping the coronavirus spreading through homes such as these. The new school year now looms as the biggest concern, as operators have to balance the risk of contagion with predicted difficulties in learning via teleschool, particularly for children with learning difficulties. Público tried contacting a long list of care homes in recent days and few would speak, some because they were not following the rules and didn’t want to attract attention, and others for the opposite reason. In one of the few institutions that responded, 14 children are in quarantine after leaving for holidays.
Push for electric car charging at cafes and shops
A group of Portuguese researchers are pushing an “airbnb of electricity” model that would see drivers charging their cars at local cafes as they indulge in a bica and a tosta mista, Público reports. The plan, aimed at accelerating the electrification of vehicles, forms part of the Portugal 2030 initiative, which itself aims to tackle the environmental crisis, poverty, devaluation of science and corruption. The researchers’ contribution is divided into four objectives: a more sustainable, knowledgeable and fairer country, without poverty. On the other subjects, the researchers suggest state financial aid be made automatic for those in need, the end of tax havens, science and innovation investment above 3% of GDP and training of specialists in corruption prevention.
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In brief
UK split over Portugal quarantine rules. Flights to England don’t require quarantine, but anyone heading to Scotland or Wales must isolate for 14 days. (BBC in English)
Festa do Avante! kicks off its most tense edition ever. The whole country is watching to see what happens when 16,500 people gather for the weekend. (Diário de Notícias)
Audit fails to identify owners of funds that purchased massively discounted assets from Novo Banco. Auditors concluded Novo Banco did not have “additional information” to scrutinise the buyers.
On a lighter note
I’m not sure if jokes about death can be considered “lighter” but this brutal ad from a funeral company in Aveiro is mostly being taken in the right spirit. They’ve launched a “special offer” for anyone heading to the controversial Festa do Avante! (see above). It’s obviously working to attract business: the top commenter says they’ve just decided to give the company a call when they die! The punchline works a bit better in Portuguese than English but I’ve explained it (ruined the joke) below for anyone who’s interested.
The video is on Facebook but unfortunately I can’t embed it properly here.
Terra means earth but is commonly used to refer to someone’s hometown. So the bit at the end says: “We offer you a lift to your terra.”
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