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Added on the 20/09/2020 14:00:00 - Copyright : EFE Inglés
Lisbon, Sep 18 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The pandemic has not only caused infections and deaths in Portugal but it has also lead to poverty. Thousands of workers with stable jobs who overnight they stopped earning money and now have to turn to charity to survive.According to data from the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, in July there were 407,000 people registered in the unemployment centres, 37% more than a year ago, although the figure is highly questioned by economists, unions and politicians who point out that the real unemployment rate is even higher.FOOTAGE OF FOOD BANK IN LISBON AND FAMOES PARISH IN ODIVELAS. SOUNDBITES OF:-ISABEL JONET, PRESIDENT OF THE Portuguese Federation of Food Banks: "In two months we received more than 60,000 people asking for help. It is a huge increase, incredibly huge. It happened overnight. We started to receive requests and more requests. There were days when we received 2,000 help requests. It was very distressing because we did not see that entities were able to respond to all these people.""They are people who had never experienced poverty and suddenly, from one moment to another, they were left with nothing. They had no money, not even a euro because they had nowhere to work. Their workplaces were closed. For example, we are talking about hairdressers, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists, beauticians, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, Uber drivers ... "."A fifth of the population lives in a situation of poverty. This kind of poverty was traditionally more linked to age, people with low retirement pensions. A set of measures was implemented, such as the solidarity supplement for the elderly or the increase in lower pensions, but we still have people with pensions below 180 euros a month."-SOFIA MARTINS, COORDINATOR OF THE FOOD BANK AT THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Before the pandemic, until March, the food bank helped 48 families from Pontinha and Famões. Nowadays, in August, they are about 140 families. There was a fairly significant increase due to the pandemic ".-PAULO PINHEIRO, DIRECTOR OF THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Poverty is not only visible, but it is always a kind of iceberg. There is a type of poverty outside, visible, and people take the initiative and turn to help. But there is also a group of families to whom it is very difficult to help because it is ashamed poverty, they are not used to it or they do not want to say publicly that they are overcoming (financial) difficulties."-ANA PAULA, NEIGHBOR WHO HAS TURNED TO THE FOOD BANK:"My husband and my baby tested positive and I had to stay at home to take care of them. I was laid-off at work and during the pandemic, I could not leave home since I had to self-isolate after tested positive. I sought help by calling the City Council and the community center."
Lisbon (Portugal), Dec 10 (EFE).- Traditional businesses in Portugal claim authenticity to survive the losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Mobility restrictions and the absence of tourists in the country, which has reported 325,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 5,100 deaths, have forced these businesses to reinvent themselves in a bid to survive.FOOTAGE OF TRADITIONAL SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS IN LISBON, PORTUGAL.
"The Last Dance" is the 2020 documentary about Michael Jordan's time with the Chicago Bulls. CNN reports that Jordan is donating some of the proceeds of the documentary to feed that nation's hungry. Feeding America is the nation's largest hunger-relief outfit. Jordan gave the charity $2 million, which comes as the pandemic is pushing an inordinate number of Americans experiencing hunger. "In these challenging times and in a year of unimaginable difficulty due to Covid-19, it's more important than ever to pause and give thanks."
The Israeli forces drops thousands of flyers over Gaza City, with a message to the Gaza residents calling on them to evacuate to the south. IMAGES
Thousands of pilgrims from around the globe gather in Lisbon, many of them waving their national flags, as they wait to welcome Pope Francis at the world's largest Catholic gathering. More than a million people from over 200 countries are expected to visit the Portuguese capital for the World Youth Day, which is in fact a six-day international Catholic jamboree. IMAGES
U.S. President Barack Obama attends an outdoor arrival ceremony in heavy rain, as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).