AGUEDA, Portugal: Portugal’s firefighters have mastered most of the deadly forest fires in the north of the country, according to official data Thursday.
And improving weather conditions have raised hopes that they could extinguish the last of the blazes by the end of the day.
The wildfires, which sprang up over the weekend fed by crushing heat and strong winds, have killed five people, four of them firefighters. Another 77 people were injured, 12 of them seriously.
By late morning on Thursday the civil protection service website said 1,200 firefighters were battling the six remaining fires in the northern districts of Aveiro and Viseu.
A day earlier, 3,900 firefighters were tackling 42 active fires, supported by more than a thousand vehicles and around 30 aircraft.
But overnight, the teams brought several blazes in villages in the Aveiro region covering a front of around 100 kilometers (60 miles) under control.
Temperatures have dropped since the weekend and rain is forecast for Friday.
But there has been extensive damage in the north and center of the country, much of it to the eucalyptus groves there.
One estimate issued Wednesday by the Copernicus observatory said at least 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of vegetation had been destroyed.
And data from the European Forest Fires Information System (Effis) said the total area hit by the recent fires came to 100,000 hectares: 10 times more than the area burnt since the beginning of summer.
Dozens of houses were also destroyed or damaged.
Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
https://arab.news/mm6fp
Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- The wildfires, which sprang up over the weekend fed by crushing heat and strong winds, have killed five people, four of them firefighters
- Another 77 people were injured, 12 of them seriously
Trump to meet Venezuelan opposition leader Machado after praising its government
- Machado finds herself competing for Trump’s ear with members of Venezuela’s government
- The lunch marks the first time the two have met in person
WASHINGTON: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrived at the White House for lunch with Donald Trump on Thursday, a meeting that could affect how the US president seeks to shape the South American country’s political future.
Machado, who fled Venezuela in a daring seaborne escape in December, finds herself competing for Trump’s ear with members of Venezuela’s government and seeking to ensure she has a role in governing the nation going forward.
The lunch marks the first time the two have met in person.
HOPES OF MOVE TO DEMOCRACY
After the US captured Venezuela’s longtime leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a snatch-and-grab operation this month, various opposition figures, members of Venezuela’s diaspora and politicians throughout the US and Latin America have expressed hope that Venezuela will begin the process of democratization.
But for now, Trump has said he is focused on economically rebuilding Venezuela and securing US access to the country’s oil. The day after the January 3 operation, he expressed doubts that Machado had the backing needed to return to the country and govern, telling reporters, “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Trump has on several occasions praised Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s interim president, telling Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, “She’s been very good to deal with.”
Machado was banned from running in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election by a top court stacked with government allies. Maduro claimed victory, but outside observers widely believe Edmundo Gonzalez, an opposition figure backed by Machado, in fact won more votes by a substantial margin. While the current government has freed dozens of political prisoners in recent days, outside groups and advocates have said the scale of the releases has been exaggerated by Caracas.
One potential topic of conversation for Thursday’s White House meeting will be the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to Machado last month, a snub to Trump, who has long sought the award. Machado has suggested she would give the prize to the US president for having deposed Maduro, though the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.
Asked if he wanted Machado to give him the prize, Trump told Reuters on Wednesday: “No, I didn’t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Pressed on what he would do if she brought the prize nonetheless, he responded: “Well, that’s what I’m hearing. I don’t know, but I shouldn’t be the one to say.”
“I think we’re just going to talk,” Trump told Reuters. “And I haven’t met her. She’s a very nice woman. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
After her visit with Trump, Machado will meet with a bipartisan group of senior senators on Capitol Hill in the afternoon. The opposition leader has generally found more enthusiastic allies in Congress than in the White House, with some lawmakers having expressed concerns about Trump’s dismissals of her ability to govern.
