FILE - Homes stand abandoned due to ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio FILE - Homes stand abandoned due to ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine in Maceio The alleged crimes include damage to public property and environmental crimes confirmed to The Associated Press that those indicted were employees or contractors of Braskem one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the Americas Braskem is owned primarily by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor It operated the mining of rock salt in the area for four decades and has been under investigation since the neighborhoods began collapsing in 2018 Braskem said it had not yet reviewed the full police report and therefore would not comment on the individuals indicted who were connected to the company The petrochemical firm stated that it has cooperated with the investigation and “has always acted in compliance with industry laws and regulations regularly informing and reporting to the competent authorities.” Rock salt mining is a process of extracting salt from deep underground deposits brine-filled cavities left behind when the salt has been extracted can eventually collapse Structures built on top of such areas can topple Around 200,000 people in the Alagoas state capital Maceio were affected by the excessive extraction of rock salt O endereço abaixo não existe na globo.com Nossos serviços estão apresentando instabilidade no momento Algumas informações podem não estar disponíveis The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released data relative to the 2022 population Census: Urban Characteristics of housing Unit Surroundings The event was held at the autidorium of the Rector's Office at the federal University of Alagoas (UFAL) IBGE civil servants and other guests and was streamed online on Digital IBGE and on the Institute's social media channels The opening session was attended by the IBGE director of Surveys and the IBGE State Superintendent in Alagoas The results were presented by the IBGE analysts Felipe Borsani Junger highlighted that the data presented in the event “represent a revolution in the production of public policies and in the academic community.” He also compared the Population Census to a war operation given its logistics “We traveled millions of kilometers in order to reach the 90 million housing units visited This operation was also marked by Covid-19 We thank all those who participated and helped in the release of these results.” Gustavo Cayres highlighted that this release presents information about topics such as accessibility “That is closely related to our everyday life considering that Census data reveal that the majority of the population lives in the cities,” the director of Geosciences Giulia Scappini highlighted the special tone of the release “It brings great possibilities to public agencies and international bodies fostering considerations about how to strenghten these inclusive and sustainable public policies which places Brazil on the path of development of cities." the analyst Felipe Borsani explained the survey methodology “We use an electronic questionnaire to register data and surveyed the existence of elements in the surroundings and characteristics regardless of their conservation state It was then analyst Maikon Novaes’ turn to present the survey results “The survey of characteristics of housing unit  surroundings observed ten items related to road flow capacity and road pavement wheelchair ramp and foresting,” Novaes explained Data show that 32.8 million persons live in housing units located on roads with sidewalks free of obstacles which is equivalent to 18.8% of the total population in urban areas The lowest percentages were found in  Maranhão (4.7%) with 25.5% stood out with positive results The manager of Territorial Surveys and Characteristics presented information on characteristics of the population and of housing units and their urban surroundings Some information available referred to indigenous persons living in housing units with the lowest percentage of obstacles on the sidewalk (52.4%) with the highest percentage of residents (6.4%) on roads with less accessibility – maximum flow capacity for motorcycles “This population has the lowest percentages of all the items surveyed The manager also showed data about the state of Alagoas such as maximum flow capacity for motorcycles turning it into the third main one in the Northeast and the sixth in the country which places Alagoas as the leader in the Northeast and the third main one in Brazil IBGE signs cooperation agreement with the Federal University of Alagoas The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics signed a term to grant use of the building for the advanced data facility of the Institute’s Superintendency in Alagoas Alcides Tenório Júnior signed the document on behalf of their respective institutions Tonholo highlighted that this term “represents proximity and cooperative work of extreme importance for both institutions We have seen in this event the richness of information related to the urban segment and from the perspective of economy and accessibility The information refers to all our undergraduate courses being a cross-cutting issue to all areas of Knowledge This partnership will be a catalyst to high quality research of great impact on our territory.” Alcides Junior expressed his satisfaction with the event and his gratitude towards all participants the one working now and all those who participated in the Population Census This latest edition was the most challenging in years and we succeeded in producing results thanks to the professional abilities of our technical team.” the IBGE conducted the workshop A territory of information: potentialities of data in the 2022 Census In this free workshop they present technical and operational aspects of the survey Among the topics surveyed are: What the Census is besides potentialities of information for local managers © 2018 IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística Nós utilizamos cookies para melhorar sua experiência de navegação no portal. Para saber mais sobre como tratamos os dados pessoais, consulte nossa Política de Privacidade. Exterior renderings have been released for two temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Maceió Brazil Temple and the Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple The two renderings — first published Monday, May 13, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org — offer the first looks of the two houses of the Lord which had their site locations announced earlier More information for both temples — such as groundbreaking dates — will be released later The Maceió Brazil Temple — being designed as a single-story temple of approximately 19,000 square feet — will be built at Avenida Dr. Durval de Góis Monteiro, S/N, Quadra 0522, Lote 0228. The location was released March 6, 2023 Maceió is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil, with the port city known for its natural attractions and cultural diversity. The closest temple to Latter-day Saints in Maceió currently is the Recife Brazil Temple Nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints in more than 2,170 congregations reside in Brazil with missionary work and Church operations dating back to 1928 The Book of Mormon was translated and published in Portuguese in 1940 helping spark a new area of growth in Brazil Brazil is home to 23 total temples dedicated, under construction or announced, including the São Paulo Brazil Temple the first not only in Brazil but across all of South America when it was dedicated in 1978 Planned as a single-story building of approximately 10,787 square feet, the Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple will be built at 18 Avenida, Zona 4, El Terrero, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The temple’s site was released March 20 More than 290,000 Latter-day Saints comprising nearly 440 congregations reside in Guatemala where the first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in 1947 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the groundbreaking date for the Ribeirão Prêto Brazil Temple The artist renderings for the Maceió Brazil Temple and the Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple have also been released Groundbreaking services for the Ribeirão Prêto Brazil Temple will be held on June 22, 2024. Elder Joni L. Koch will preside and offer a dedicatory prayer Church President Russell M. Nelson announced this house of the Lord in October 2022. “May you focus on the temple in ways you never have before. I bless you to grow closer to God and Jesus Christ every day,” he said before announcing 18 new temples Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 32,000 square feet Brazil has 23 temples in use, announced or under construction. The Ribeirão Preto Brazil Temple will be one of three temples in the construction phase of development. The Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple and the Salvador Brazil Temple (dedication date October 20 Today, there are nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints in Brazil (more than any other country aside from the United States and Mexico) in approximately 2,175 congregations Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began preaching in southern Brazil in 1928 The Portuguese translation of the Book of Mormon was published in 1940 igniting a new era of growth in the country An artist’s rendering of the Maceió Brazil Temple has been released. President Russell M. Nelson announced the temple in April 2022. The site location was released in March 2023 An artist’s rendering of the Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple has been released. President Nelson announced the temple in October 2022. The site location was released in March 2023 Latter-day Saints worship in temples for several reasons: to make sacred promises with God to learn more about God’s plan for His children and the central role of Jesus Christ in that plan You are about to access Constant Contacts (http://visitor.constantcontact.com) You are now leaving a website maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints We provide the link to this third party's website solely as a convenience to you and security practices that differ from those on our website By referring or linking you to this website we do not endorse or guarantee this content If you would like to stay on the page you are viewing please click Cancel To download media files, please first review and agree to the Terms of Use. Download a photo or video by clicking or tapping on it. To download all photos or videos related to this article, select the links at the bottom of each section. Salt mines caused tremors and cracks in five neighborhoods in the capital of Alagoas As a result of earthquakes and cracks appearing in houses and roads, the public authorities have been forced to relocate around 60,000 people. The first residents of the five neighborhoods considered most at risk began to leave in 2019. In December 2023, Maceió’s local government stated that an area of 3 km2, almost 3% of the city’s urban area, was at risk of sinking. The problem worsened that month when the ground above one of the 35 mines, known as mine 18 and covered by the water of the Mundaú Lagoon, sank by around 2 m in just 10 days and then collapsed. There have been at least 50 reports of subsidence in urban areas due to salt mining in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia. One of the most significant occurred in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the ground above a mine sank 12 meters, destroying houses, buildings, sewage networks, and electrical lines. The mine was filled with water and closed in 2006, but as recently as 2021, the ground was still sinking by 1–4 centimeters (cm) per year. Deriky Pereira / UFAL Area of Maceió previously inhabited and now damaged by the sinking groundDeriky Pereira / UFAL the subsidence became more visible in 2018 upon returning to her apartment in the capital of Alagoas economist Natallya Levino of the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL) was informed by her husband that the lights in the living room had been shaking Cracks also appeared in the streets and in other homes in the Pinheiro neighborhood run by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) recorded a rare magnitude 2.4 earthquake in the region was intrigued by the situation: “Maceió didn’t used to experience such intense seismic activity and the effects reported by residents were never so strong.” a public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy attributed the intense tremor—and the smaller ones that followed—to the collapse or merging of underground salt mines which provide the raw material for caustic soda and plastics and were opened and operated by petrochemical company Braskem in the 1970s Based on analyses carried out a few months after the earthquake between June 2018 and April 2019 Braskem had to stop work at the mines and fill any collapsing mines with sand or cement “What is happening in Maceió is called induced seismicity caused by human activity such as mining,” says Nascimento who participated in the analysis of the tremors as part of a research project carried out with the SGB team “The signal recorded by the equipment is different from natural tremors indicating energy released by the earth shifting and collapsing.” Hartwig adds that the cavities cause something known as a stress imbalance which creates deformations in the layers above them The phenomenon can eventually reach the surface causing cracks in streets and buildings (see infographic below) “Ground movements begin subtly and more or less linearly then evolve into accelerated and irregular movements,” he explains Alexandre Affonso/Pesquisa FAPESPThe role of two extensive geological faults (fractures in a block of rock) that run parallel to Mundaú Lagoon is still uncertain Technical reports issued by the SGB state that they may have been reactivated which would contribute to ground movements but Hartwig and his group ruled out the influence of these faults does not rule out the possibility: “Despite being small the faults could be providing a way for water to infiltrate the mines No dialogue The scientists are helping shed light on and address these problems “Residents from the neighborhoods around the lagoon started calling me in 2010 asking me to look at cracks in their houses,” says civil engineer Abel Galindo Marques Marques specializes in building foundations and coauthored the book Rasgando a Cortina de Silêncios: O Lado B da Exploração do Sal-Gema de Maceió (Tearing down the curtain of silence: The B side of rock salt exploration in Maceió; Instituto Alagoas he participated in a meeting at the Alagoas Regional Council for Engineering and Agronomy (CREA) “Four people claimed the tremors and cracks had nothing to do with the mines which I had seen as the cause since 2017.” Hartwig says that in 2022 he asked Maceió civil defense agencies for access to field data which would allow for more consistent analyses he was offered a report and training for his team on how to interpret satellite data for ground surface movement monitoring “I received nothing more than a generic response—the conversation didn’t go any further,” he laments In the book A Cidade Engolida (The swallowed city; Pedro & João Editores an engineer from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) reiterate: “The absence of official data capable of guiding research and discussions has limited further studies.” After the most intense tremors Levino and colleagues from UFAL and other universities created a WhatsApp group and a website to share studies and other materials about subsidence in the area in addition to the YouTube channel “Relatos de uma Tragédia” (Reports of a tragedy) She also feels frustrated: “I never got to interview anyone at Braskem.” When asked to comment by Pesquisa FAPESP the SGB stated that no researchers were available to give an interview on the subject and Braskem did not reply The order to evacuate houses in sinking neighborhoods has affected thousands of people Despite having received or still negotiating compensation from Braskem some have had to move long distances away or even relocate to nearby cities in search of affordable housing The situation also resulted in store closures and suspension of the construction of a light rail transit (LRT) line according to an article published in the journal Logistics in September 2023 by the UFAL group in collaboration with researchers from Pernambuco (UFPE) and Brasília (UnB) “Other tremors could occur until the area stabilizes,” says Hartwig His prediction is based on studies from the 1940s by American geologist Ruth Doggett Terzaghi (1903–1992) who described five stages of subsidence caused by salt mines like those in Maceió imperceptible movements that can last decades or centuries The third lasts a few years and leads to the formation of surface depressions The fourth is collapsing of the ground and subsequent formation of craters in which the movement has accelerated greatly resulting in holes on the surface filled with water,” explains Hartwig The final stage is marked by mild and irregular subsoil movements © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has identified the site location for the Maceió Brazil Temple The location was released Monday, March 6, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org Additional information and details for this house of the Lord — including exterior rendering and information about groundbreaking — will be released at a later date The Maceió Brazil Temple — being designed as a single-story temple of approximately 19,000 square feet — will be built at Avenida Dr Maceió is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil, with the port city known for its natural attractions and cultural diversity. The closest temple to Latter-day Saints in Maceió currently is the Recife Brazil Temple located in the neighboring state of Pernambuco Nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints reside in Brazil Missionary work first began in Brazil in 1928; 50 years later the country’s first temple — the São Paulo Brazil Temple — was dedicated The site location for the latter was announced just a week ago Metrics details Ground subsidence caused by natural or anthropogenic processes affects major urban areas worldwide Sinkhole formation and infrastructure fractures have intensified in the federal capital of Maceió (Alagoas forcing authorities to relocate affected residents and place buildings under demolition we present a 16-year history (2004–2020) of surface displacement which shows precursory deformations in 2004–2005 reaching a maximum cumulative subsidence of approximately 200 cm near the Mundaú Lagoon coast in November 2020 By integrating the displacement observations with numerical source modelling we suggest that extensive subsidence can be primarily associated with the removal of localized deep-seated material at the location and depth where salt is mined We discuss the accelerating subsidence rates influence of severe precipitation events on the aforementioned geological instability This study suggests that feedback destabilization mechanisms may arise in evaporite systems due to anthropogenic activities fostering enhanced and complex superficial ground deformation Recently installed seismic stations registered very shallow seismicity (hypocentre < 1 km) under the lagoon and the neighbourhood of Pinheiro on the 1st of February 2019 A gravimetry survey showed negative anomalies (bodies with a lower density than the surrounding rocks) over the salt extraction area An audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) investigation also detected low conductivity at approximately 900 m depth which corresponds to the underground extraction layer Sonar measurements of the salt cavities have detected upward migration and enlargement and occasional total or partial collapses in most of them The 3rd of March 2018 seismic event with a hypocentre of approximately 1 km was later attributed to possible cavity collapse Geodetic measurements using Sentinel-1 SAR data during 04.2016 and 12.2018 detected cumulative subsidence reaching 40 cm with a maximum close to the lagoon shoreline Geological and geotechnical observations also identified several very shallow discontinuities visible in outcrops that have fostered erosion effects due to surface water infiltration further increasing the geological instability we present a 16-year history of the spatio-temporal evolution of subsidence in the city of Maceió we analysed a large archive of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from past and currently operational satellite missions between 2004 and 2020 highlighting the importance and effectiveness of the Interferometric SAR (InSAR) technique for monitoring geological instabilities To test the underlying cause of the subsidence pattern we used 3D geophysical source inversion and 2D geomechanical simulation Different 3D elastic source models were tested to explain the overall deformation pattern The distinct element method (DEM) allowed us to explicitly analyse subsidence due to mechanical failure of deep-seated cavities along a 2D transect in the regional geologic setting We investigate the possible influence of meteorological factors and discuss whether the subsidence has been constant or accelerated in recent times We further exploit interferometric measurements to highlight the dynamic evolution of the subsidence hazard by generating dynamic geohazard maps that are valuable for further infrastructure risk assessment The horizontal displacement maps show a westward motion in accordance with the slope of the subsidence which increases with increasing subsidence although the displacement is still a few cm/year The area of maximum horizontal displacement does not coincide with the area of maximum subsidence since the horizontal component is related to the vertical displacement gradient rather than its absolute value our projection of the line-of-sight InSAR displacement in the vertical direction is a valid approximation in areas where the subsidence reaches its maximum values From the area covered by InSAR observations we estimated a minimum cumulative surface volume loss of 7.9E + 05 m3 the volume loss is much larger because a considerable part of the displacement is hidden underwater Ground subsidence observations in urban areas can be better understood by simulating source processes which we approached using two modelling strategies we realized a source inversion that considered simplified sources in elastic host rocks only we develop more complex numerical models to explore the propagation of subsurface cavities until the misfit between the data and model is minimized The resulting point pressure model provides a good approximation of the centre of the displacement source while the rectangular crack model allows the retrieval of information regarding the possible spatial distribution and orientation of the displacement source The figures were plotted using Matplotlib python library using data from simulations and InSAR time series data along profile P1 Both simulated pressure cases show that the cavities already experience mechanical instability during working pressure conditions and fracture propagation into rigid upper layers The geomechanical condition is aggravated if the cavities were depressurized leading to further collapses and ground displacement with more inhomogeneities at the surface we investigated the ongoing geological instabilities in Maceió by integrating multi-temporal InSAR analysis with source modelling using elastic inversion and the distinct element method Almost two decades of displacement observations highlight the gradual spatio-temporal evolution of the main subsidence process The displacement observations also show the presence of a second minor unstable area on the south coast of the lagoon that is characterized by block caving subsidence This makes other explanations that associate geological instability with distributed surface water percolation or only with the destabilization of pre-existing geological structures highly unlikely The DEM also shows that deep cavities in the “salgema” salt layer can even under higher working pressure conditions mechanically create cracks in the upper layers that eventually lead to large-scale subsidence and small-scale surface features the deep mining horizon with resulting high surrounding environmental pressure and local rock mechanical conditions are the main reasons for the instability of cavities in this salt layer is an explicit indicator of geomechanical degradation Cracking of the surface layers and weakening of the bulk material eventually enables strong water percolation from rather superficial aquifers into deeper underground areas with a potential increase in material dissolution and erosion This process can lead to a feedback mechanism responsible for superficial ground deformation and even to enhanced local subsidence The connection between accelerated subsidence and extreme rainfall is further discussed The ongoing process of mechanical destabilization is indicated by the fact that even though all mining activities have stopped since mid-2019 the displacement observations show a decreasing trend only from the beginning of 2020 the known existing geological structures can foster water percolation and be reactivated if they spatially intersect the upward-moving cavities This may be the genesis of the minor area of subsidence south of the lagoon has an approximately constant rate and follows an NNW-SSE orientation similar to the dominant regional fault system Long and short term vertical displacement time-series and local rainfall data. The location of the plotted points is shown in Fig. 2a (a) 16-year long time-series: red (point 1) in the area of maximum displacement and green (point 2) in the minor subsiding region Rainfall values are on the left axis: black dots and line for local station mean values; purple dots and lines for CHIRPS mean values; blue histogram for local station monthly cumulative precipitations; pink histogram for CHIRPS monthly cumulative precipitations (b) 4-year short time-series for point 1 and 2 and histogram of local station monthly cumulative precipitations Black-lines are the linear displacement interpolation representing the velocity trends; white dots shows changes in linear trend (c) Seasonal trends: red and green dots of the residual estimated by subtracting a 3-grad polynomial trend from the displacement time-series for point 1 (point 1 res.) and point 2 (point 2 res.) respectively and black dots showing the displacement time-seires of point 3 in a potentially stable area The figures were plotted using Matplotlib python library using InSAR time series and precipitation data Knowing the dimensions and changes of subterranean cavities is of major importance for engineering mining and hazard assessment We herein compared the overall volume loss derived by the analytical model with the salt cavity sizes to obtain an overall idea of the possible cavity collapses we used forward modelling method to simulate the complete subsidence ellipsoid for the period of 2004–2020; we obtained a minimum overall volume loss of 26.6E + 05 m3 which is three times more than the volume loss estimated only from the InSAR observations Considering an average salt cavity size of approximately 3E + 05 m3 the above volume loss is equivalent to the total collapse of almost nine salt cavities This estimation has to be considered conservative (a “minimum”) as natural effects such as material dilation of the sediment cover and anthropogenic refilling of cavities have not been taken into account we obtain an approximate subsurface volume loss of 22.5E + 05 m3 for the point pressure source and of 17.7E + 05 m3 for the rectangular crack only for the 03.2015–09.2020 period In subsiding areas, the damage to buildings and infrastructures is related to the strain changes that occur due to differential settlement33 A good indicator of such a strain factor is the angular distortion which is calculated as the ratio of the subsidence horizontal gradient the differential settlement and the distance between the two considered points for infrastructure risk assessment and emergency management angular distortion provides more appropriate information than displacement information alone Based on the aforementioned assumption, we properly classified angular distortion into hazard levels (see “Data and methods”), and we derived cumulative geohazard maps for the last 4 years (Fig. 7a–d) Since both ascending and descending acquisitions covering the same period and with the same time resolution were available only for the periods of 03.2005–03.2006 and 03.2015–09.2019 we ignored the horizontal component and converted the line-of-sight (LOS) direction from the satellite to the ground displacement into vertical-only components we chose the dataset characterized by higher spatial coherence and temporal density we performed a polynomial regression considering the average velocities of one year before and one after the time gap We estimated the residuals between the decomposed vertical component and the simplified vertical-only component for the period of 10.2016–09.2019 The approximate error is equal to two-thirds of the horizontal velocity and in the case of the westward horizontal component the vertical displacement is overestimated in the ascending geometry and underestimated in the descending geometry when assuming a vertical-only component the final error in the area of maximum subsidence due to the vertical-only simplification for the Sentinel-1 dataset The SBAS overall velocity error was estimated for each dataset by calculating the velocity mean and standard deviation over regions assumed to be stable (supplementary Table S1) The estimated overall error is on the order of 1–2 mm/year in the LOS direction which means for the cumulative displacement for the whole data period while this overall trend does not significantly affect the final interpretation and results localized errors characterized by higher values may be present in the dataset a subsidence hazard in the region outside the main deforming areas rake = 0° and slip = 0) and by fixing the horizontal location of the centre of the rectangle with the coordinates retrieved from the point pressure source modelling and opening values assuming a rectangular crack of 600 × 150 m By varying the length and width parameters the volume change estimated as length*width*opening remained quite constant The error is low at the margins of the 2D transect and higher with values up to approximately 50 cm in the part most affected by deformation Due to the discontinuous nature of the model each random assembly produces also different structures in the subsurface and at the surface An even larger number of model generations would decrease the error We restricted the detailed stress and crack analysis to a representative model for each scenario and have shown that the subsidence determined by InSAR is within the range of the simulated subsidence Ground surface response to continuous compaction of aquifer system in Tehran Iran: Results from a long-term multi-sensor InSAR analysis Land subsidence in Iran caused by widespread water reservoir overexploitation Permanent scatterer InSAR reveals seasonal and long-term aquifer-system response to groundwater pumping and artificial recharge: Permanent scatterer InSAR Imaging land subsidence induced by groundwater extraction in Beijing (China) using satellite radar interferometry monitored by time-series analysis using multi-sensor InSAR datasets from 1993 to 2011 Space geodetic imaging of rapid ground subsidence in Mexico City Detecting differential ground displacements of civil structures in fast-subsiding metropolises with interferometric SAR and band-pass filtering InSAR in urban underground construction monitoring: Pros and cons Case of la sagrera railway station (Barcelona Subsidence versus natural landslides when dealing with property damage liabilities in underground coal mines Impact of ground surface subsidence due to underground mining on surface infrastructure: the case of the Anomaly No Assessments of land subsidence along the Rizhao-Lankao high-speed railway at Heze between 2015 and 2019 with Sentinel-1 data Halite karst geohazards (natural and man-made) in the United Kingdom Natural and human-induced dissolution and subsidence processes in the salt outcrop of the Cardona Diapir (NE Spain) Al-Halbouni, D. et al. Dynamics of hydrological and geomorphological processes in evaporite karst at the eastern Dead Sea—A multidisciplinary study. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. 1–57, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-37 (2021) Sinkhole formation and subsidence along the Dead Sea coast Al-Halbouni, D. et al. Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey. Geomorphology 285, 305–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.02.006 (2017) Evaporite-karst problems and studies in the USA Sinkholes in Evaporite Rocks: Surface subsidence can develop within a matter of days when highly soluble rocks dissolve because of either natural or human causes Sinkhole investigation in an urban area by trenching in combination with GPR Monitoring ground subsidence induced by salt mining in the city of Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) InSAR analyses of terrain deformation near the Wieliczka Salt Mine Johnson, K. S. 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Estudos sobre a instabilidade do terreno nos bairros Pinheiro, Mutange e Bebedouro, Maceió (AL): Vol. I, Relatório síntese dos resultados n. 1. http://rigeo.cprm.gov.br/jspui/handle/doc/21133 (2019) Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements Relations between the eruptions of various volcanoes and the deformations of the ground surface around them Surface deformation due to shear and tensile faults in a half-space Uplift around the geothermal power plant of Landau (Germany) as observed by InSAR monitoring depth and yield of the 2017 September 3 North Korean nuclear test from InSAR measurements and modelling Monitoring surface deformation of deep salt mining in Vauvert (France) combining InSAR and leveling data for multi-source inversion Al-Halbouni, D. et al. Distinct element geomechanical modelling of the formation of sinkhole clusters within large-scale karstic depressions. 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Environ. 112161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112161 (2020) Land Subsidence risk maps and InSAR based angular distortion structural vulnerability assessment: an example in Mexico City In Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences vol Settlement of Buildings and Associated Damage 2004/18/EC & Authority: The European Union Per Regulation 305/2011 Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design—Part 1: General rules Download references We are grateful to Marcos Carnaúba for providing great help to retrieve local information We thank the Brazilian Geological Service (Serviço Geologico do Brazil—CPRM) for making the technical reports of their surveys and analysis publicly available We thank the Japanese space agencies for ALOS-1 and 2 satellite SAR data ALOS-2 data is copyright of the Japanese Aerospace Agency and was provided under the proposal 1162 We thank the European space agencies for freely providing ENVISAT and Sentinel-1 satellite SAR data Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL Present address: GEOMAR Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation performed the multi-temporal and multi-sensor InSAR analysis geophysical source inversion modelling and Geohazards analysis; D.H performed the distinct element method simulation and deformation data comparison; M.V. contributed to the deformation and geophysical source inversion interpretation contributed to the distinct element method interpretation contributed to the geological interpretation All authors provided information and/or critical comments during the manuscript preparation and contributed to manuscript editing The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87033-0 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science in Brazil’s northeastern coastal state of Alagoas As soon as a property has been fenced off by iron sheets the bulldozers will appear to flatten the land Large parts of the historical area have already been turned into an anonymous plain Bebedouro is one of Maceió’s suburbs where officially nobody can live anymore a magnitude 2.5 earthquake hit the city of some 960,000 people as this had never happened before,” said Neirivane Ferreira “Only later we learned on the news it had been an earthquake with its epicenter in the neighboring area of Pinheiro.” But Maceió didn’t have a history of seismic activity the Brazil Geological Survey concluded that parts of Maceió were subsiding due to nearly 50 years of rock salt extraction five neighborhoods were declared unhabitable by the local government; 60,000 people were forcibly displaced Compensation for residents was left with petrochemical company Braskem the biggest plastics manufacturer in the Americas But those affected complain that Braskem’s compensation program has been abusive lacking enough coverage and often forcing them to choose between low payments or no compensation at all Maceió’s salt deposits were discovered during a quest for oil in 1943 the city has been pierced by 35 mine shafts the deepest reaching up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) below the surface The salt was first mined by Brazilian company Salgema One study from 2010 warned that higher underground pressure due to rock salt mining could cause the ground to sink while subsequent research warned that subsidence caused by rock salt mining could reach up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in parts of Maceió “The extraction of rock salt in Maceió has always been internally and externally monitored supervised by the competent public bodies and with all the necessary permits,” Braskem PR consultant Nicolas Tamasauskas said in an email to Mongabay Braskem stopped extracting and presented a permanent closure plan that was accepted by the national mining authorities.” have been declared unfit for habitation in the five suburbs More than 60,000 inhabitants were forced to leave their homes More than 4,500 people lost their businesses Thousands had to look for alternative jobs while Braskem was free to dominate the negotiations and establish derisory values.” Braskem reached a settlement with public prosecutors and in cooperation with the authorities launched the Financial Compensation and Relocation Support Program Braskem helps residents search for a new home pays for relocation and offers a temporary rental allowance of 1,000 reais ($200) per month Braskem works with so-called “facilitators,” who appraise properties assist with paperwork and eventually negotiate with residents the final value of their properties Compensation covers that value plus 40,000 reais ($7,822) for “moral damages.” On March 31, according to Braskem, 14,400 of the 14,500 properties in the crisis area had been vacated. The company had issued 19,129 compensation proposals, of which 18,256 were accepted The company has allocated a budget of 14.4 billion reais ($2.8 billion) to deal with the disaster It already spent 9.2 billion reais ($1.8 billion) some two-thirds of which was paid as compensation for damage to private and public properties The remainder mainly concerned the process of closing the mines “There were no negotiations,” said Alexandre de Moraes Sampaio president of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Victims of Mining in Maceió then it turns silent for six months before you hear from them again.” Sampaio owned a real estate agency and a small marketing company in Pinheiro while his wife had a psychological practice Pinheiro was the first Maceió neighborhood to experience cracking and degradation in 2018 Braskem offered them one payment for all three entities but it was a ridiculously low amount,” Sampaio told Mongabay but it was still nothing compared to my real losses he lives some 100 km (62 mi) south of Maceió where he has managed to revitalize his real estate firm Most victims found themselves in a weak negotiating position as they had been forced to leave their properties Ferreira also negotiated for three years to receive compensation for her Bebedouro home “It was shameful what Braskem offered,” she said Braskem offered a sum that amounted to not even half the property’s value which made it very hard to find something similar elsewhere.” damages related to the mining disaster have been reduced to “land and stones,” as Braskem pays the bare minimum for properties “The compensation for moral damages is a mere pittance,” he said “Braskem … should pay a higher amount to every victim Sampaio said that the 1.7 billion reais ($332 million) compensation Braskem paid the Maceió municipality was below par as it did not account for things as lost income from taxes and lost utilities and infrastructure “Braskem arguably should have paid four times more,” he said Damages exist even outside the disaster zone The difference between what is considered safe and uninhabitable is at times only a street wide A restaurant or company located safely “across the street” that lost half its market due to the relocation of 60,000 people receives nothing “Insurance companies no longer insure properties in a radius of 1 km [0.6 mi] around the designated disaster zone,” Sampoio said some 40,000 dwellings lost 30% of their value In December 2023, Intercept Brasil unveiled a leaked compensation agreement the signatory is not allowed to disclose the amount of compensation all property deeds must be handed over to Braskem the chemical company today owns 99% of the disaster area People in Maceió fear that Braskem aims to turn the disaster into an opportunity for future development He pointed at an agreement signed by Braskem and the Maceió municipality which states the former “will not build in uninhabitable areas for housing or commercial purposes And a change in ownership will not change that.” Brazilian construction giant Novonor is Braskem’s majority owner, followed by Petrobras. Formerly known as Odebrecht, Novonor is in talks with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to sell its Braskem stake for an estimated $2 billion A third clause in the contract states that no one can sue Braskem on the outcome of a current or future investigation a parliamentary inquiry into Braskem’s handling of the mining disaster was launched eleven victims sued Braskem in the Dutch city of Rotterdam where the firm’s European head office and two financial holdings are based The claimants demand that Braskem will be held liable for the disaster and needs to pay for damages “Braskem’s financial compensation program has been criticized for failing to hold Braskem liable for the disaster it caused,” said Bruna Ficklscherer the British law firm representing the eleven victims Ficklscherer confirmed that people affected by the disaster yet located outside the designated disaster zone have had no opportunity to receive compensation health services and transportation have deteriorated in the neighborhoods surrounding the risk area Braskem tried to have the case dismissed by arguing the Dutch court lacked jurisdiction on the grounds that the company has financial entities and its European head office in Rotterdam Braskem consistently referred to the mining disaster as “the geological event,” while it presented the compensation program as the most beneficial possible The eleven claimants argued the exact opposite The Dutch court is expected to issue a verdict in towards the end of the year a rupture occurred in Braskem’s mine 18 in the neighborhood of Mutange part of the suburb had subsided by almost 2 m (6.6 ft) the authorities declared a state of emergency Braskem’s bulldozers have razed the neighborhood to the ground Many of the walls still standing in Bebedouro sadness and disaster,” one reads; another simply reads Banner image: Aerial view of the Bom Parte neighborhood half of which will has been declared uninhabitable and will be bulldozed FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] Brazil has fined petrochemical company Braskem 72 million reais ($13.5 million) for environmental damage in the northeastern city of Maceio The fine — imposed on Tuesday by the Environment Institute of the State of Alagoas — concerns damage caused to five neighborhoods in Maceio which are at risking of disappearing into a giant hole Brazil is very aware of the speed at which the ground is sinking Movement has slowed — 6.3 centimeters on Monday — but the danger remains The thousands of homes in the area have been uninhabited since 2019 a year after geologists determined that the sinking was due to Braskem’s decades-long mining activity The company — the sixth-largest in the sector worldwide — has failed to comply with the order to fill in the mine to stabilize the ground the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported Tuesday which affects a fifth of the land of Maceio The residents of the 14,000 homes directly affected were evicted years ago The five neighborhoods that existed above the mine are now a ghost town but made national headlines last Friday after several seismic movements accelerated the sinking process “Maximum alert for the imminent risk of collapse,” was the unequivocal warning made by authorities Brazil’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change criticized Braskem for its “disastrous activity” in Maceio Silva said that Braskem holds “total responsibility” for the crisis She added that environmental authorization processes need to be rigorous as any easing of the rules could lead to catastrophic effects as demonstrated by the situation in Maceio The crisis in Maceio has put Braskem under the spotlight has 8,000 employees and clients in more than 70 countries around the world It failed to fulfill its own plans to begin filling the mine galleries with sand to stabilize the ground This process was scheduled to start on November 25 a succession of seismic movements accelerated the sinking and set off alarm bells which the company has carried out in other mines the federal and state prosecutor’s office has presented a new lawsuit demanding that Braskem and the City Council provide 1,000 million reais ($200 million) to address the environmental risk It also calls on Braskem to compensate more families where it presented itself as an environmentally friendly company But it hastily shut it down after the crisis in Maceio made headlines said Monday in São Paulo that the company is committed to resolving this matter “without putting people at risk.” Without going into details he blamed the crisis on “political interests that end up creating distorted information Experts from the Brazilian Geological Service ruled in 2019 that the land was sinking due to the activities of Braskem which for almost half a century drilled in an area of Maceio that was home to almost 60,000 people which is used to manufacture caustic soda and PVC The agency of the Mining Ministry that oversees the sector’s activities ordered the company to stop extracting rock salt and close the affected mines It took two years to develop a project that was initially only going to seal the entrance to the mine The company changed its plans after realizing that the cavity was depressurized and decided to fill the almost half a million cubic meters of galleries with sand the volume that needed to be filled was reduced Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción ¿Por qué estás viendo esto? cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS ¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? 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All rights reserved Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Josie Kao MACEIÓ, BRAZIL — Less than a week after arriving in Brazil’s capital city of Brasília to welcome the country’s media and VIPs to the Church’s recently completed temple there, Elder Ulisses Soares traveled north and east to preside over a weekend of meetings with Church members In the five years since he was called as an Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the native Brazilian has testified of the Savior in many countries around the world His assignments to minister in Brazil have been few On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, Elder Soares was joined by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares, and Elder Joni L. Koch The group spoke to members of the Church in the coastal city of Maceió located more than 1,500 miles north of São Paulo “I do not get to come to my home country on assignments often or to speak in my native language often I want you to know how much this means to me to be here with you,” Elder Soares said The moment was special for him and for the members who look up to him “I represent the Savior as one of His witnesses.” Elder Soares said that he does not advocate the cause of Brazil as a country or Latin America on a larger scale with his fellow quorum members sustained and set apart the same way the other Apostles have been and that they are unified in seeking to do the Lord’s will as they fulfill their callings young adults and members at large in a series of meetings that lasted until the last possible moment on Sunday night before leaving for the airport to return to Brasília — where he continued his assignment at the temple open house and participated in a religious freedom symposium While the young adults were the last group to hear from Elder Soares they weren’t shy about asking many questions Dozens of hands went up each time he asked for volunteers “That was a unique young adult meeting,” he said after its conclusion “They had so many great questions – especially those about preparing for and being successful in marriage.” While some groups of young adults appear less than excited to hear about marriage when meeting with Church leaders these young adults wanted to hear about everything from best practices in dating to keeping a marriage fortified against temptations and divorce Elder Soares talked about how Heavenly Father can open people’s spiritual eyes when they are prepared for and searching for something with His help He said that he and Sister Soares had served in the same mission but it was after returning home that his eyes were open and he saw that she was someone he should consider dating Due to their busy schedules during the week, their courtship included many dates to the temple in São Paulo on Saturdays “It was also important to us that there were things we knew we would not do while we were dating,” Sister Soares said “We would not miss our Church meetings on Sunday even if we did not have a lot of money to go out We knew we would not break the commandments.” Elder Soares talked about other habits that can be created before marriage that can also strengthen a couple once they are married “Small acts of love and kindness” can help couples grow together each day in their marriage “Start before marriage — when you are dating,” Elder Soares said “Send words of appreciation through text messages or a small note or card Talk to each other about everyday things to better understand what matters to each other set goals and make plans for the future together.” Elder Soares told the young adults how special they are in the timeline of human history “You are the heroes reserved to prepare the earth for the Savior’s Second Coming,” Elder Soares said He told them that preparation takes courage and effort to develop into what God needs them to be “I pray God will help you understand your divine origin and potential,” Elder Soares said He also asked the congregation to be bold in sharing their testimonies of Jesus Christ the less you will fear teaching about Him,” Elder Soares said Elder Soares said they need to continually build their faith in Him “We must develop sufficient faith to trust that God knows better than we do and be willing to do whatever He asks us to do,” Elder Soares said The counsel to build faith in the Savior was not exclusive to the young adults in Maceió Elder Soares taught the same principle to all the members in their meetings over the two days The goal of every activity in the Church should be to help members build faith in the Savior “We do not operate entertainment centers,” Elder Soares said young men and young women should all be learning about the Savior at home and in their Church meetings and activities “The Children and Youth program connects youth to the Savior at a young age,” Elder Soares said And those connections to the Savior can help lead youth to serving missions and making temple covenants “The decision to serve a mission starts young,” Elder Soares said “Everything taught to children and to priesthood holders from age 11 on prepares them for a mission.” Speaking to families and wards where there is not a missionary tradition Elder Soares encouraged the start of something new “Create the tradition if it does not exist,” he said Those traditions — serving missions and making temple covenants — can’t start once young men turn 18 or young women turn 19 “Qualifying to be in a temple does not begin with temple recommend interviews,” Elder Soares said Part of the preparation comes from fulfilling ministering opportunities “We need to minister better to our families,” Elder Soares said. “Ministering, according to President [Russell M.] Nelson is a higher and holier way for us to care for each other like the Savior did.” Elder Soares shared his observation that some have made a habit of ministering by text message He said that does not feel higher and holier to him but it could be part of a ministering approach To know how to minister well and how to help youth prepare for missions and temple covenants, Elder Soares referred to President Nelson’s 2018 general conference message “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.” “Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon and regular time committed to temple and family history work,” President Nelson said in that conference message Spending regular time in the temple can be challenging when the nearest temple is hours away, Elder Soares said. Saints in Maceió are currently in the Recife Brazil Temple district He talked about being in Brasília for its open house and said that Latter-day Saints in both cities will have new spiritual opportunities and responsibilities “You will be blessed by having a temple in your cities,” Elder Soares said of those he was teaching in Maceió and those he had visited the previous week in Brasília Having a temple in each of those cities brings opportunities closer to members of the Church but individuals must attend and serve in those temples to receive the blessings President Nelson promised “My family waited 15 years to get to the temple,” Elder Soares said But the temple and its blessings will be much more accessible to Saints as more temples are dedicated Elder Koch encouraged members to avoid feeling as though having a temple means the work of building the Church in Maceió is complete He said it should make members of the Church more excited to share the gospel with their friends and family and invite them to receive the blessings available to them in temples “Only in the Church do we have all the covenants that enable us to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father,” Elder Koch said president of the Aracaju Brazil South Stake said Elder Soares’ message helped him better prioritize his efforts individually and in his calling “I felt inspired to move some things to the side and start doing some others,” he said “I wrote down some of the scriptures they mentioned that I already knew and had already studied but that I understood in a different way as they taught today.” Cynthia Gomes is the first counselor in the Primary presidency of the Maceió Brazil Pajuçara Stake She said the feelings she had as she heard Elder Soares’ testimony were new to her “I have never had [those feelings] before,” Gomes said “I know that the answers that Elder Soares gave were answers from the Lord Gomes said the love she felt was directed toward those she has responsibilities to serve in her calling “[Elder Soares] talked about ministering with love and I know that love will open the way for us.” Some members expressed concern about staying close to the Lord even after they have made temple covenants Elder and Sister Soares and Elder Koch all had counsel to help overcome that challenge “My most profound spiritual experiences have come when repenting,” Elder Koch said He talked about repentance’s role in becoming pure and holy and enabling a stronger ability to recognize the inspiration of the Holy Ghost Sister Soares said daily scripture study is key for her staying close to the Lord “The scriptures contain answers to my prayers,” she said “I learn to be like Him — what to change.” In addition to finding both answers and instruction Sister Soares said studying each day helps her feel guided and comforted by the Spirit the Lord is with me when I am with Him,” she said Elder Soares said this is part of becoming what Heavenly Father expects of His children “Strive to overcome the natural man,” he said “Search for what God’s plan is for you — how to do His will.” Elder Soares offered some practical advice on identifying both positive habits and others that may need correction “Look at life in two columns,” Elder Soares said The other is how the Savior would respond in a situation.” Getting angry or frustrated when someone cuts in line or says an unkind word may cause a seemingly instinctual reaction But purposefully trying to react as the Savior would helps stop the Spirit from being chased away due to negative actions that are instigated by the Adversary “Satan distracts from what is important and absolutely true,” Elder Soares said Individuals choose their actions and their reactions to situations That is part of agency and the plan of salvation God sent us here with a plan for us to return to Him,” he said But it can be easy to get sidetracked by small things that may make someone feel good but that aren’t true “Be careful of relative truths that can subtly enter your hearts through television music and social media,” Elder Soares said Those small distractions from truth can prevent individuals from arriving back to Heavenly Father So he encouraged members to rely on the Savior when they get off the path of righteousness “Jesus Christ will help you reach your ideal final destination He and our Heavenly Father are always there for you,” Elder Soares said Residents who remain in Brazil’s northeastern city of Maceio are worried about their homes and their safety A decades-long salt mining operation has caused areas around the city to sink.  On Sunday CGTN’s Paulo Cabral brought us the latest from Maceio.  Two locations in Brazil are among the 17 announced earlier this year for new Latter-day Saint temples No groundbreaking dates have been made public for the five temples not yet under construction Brazil is home to almost 1.5 million members of the Church, the third largest population of Latter-day Saints by country, after the United States and Mexico The first temple in South America, in São Paulo • The city has a population of about 1 million • Maceió is the capital city and largest city in the state of Alagoas Alagoas is ranked 17th in population among the country’s 27 states • There are 5 stakes in Maceió; the first was organized in 1982 • Maceió is currently in the Recife Brazil Temple district, which comprises 45 stakes, including 6 in the Salvador-Camaçari area. Maceió is about 170 miles from Recife and 375 miles from Salvador, where a temple is under construction • The city has a population of 433,991 the 12th-largest city in the state of São Paulo • Much of Santos is on the São Vicente Island along the Brazilian coast of the Atlantic Ocean • The Santos temple is the fourth announced for the São Paulo state, following the São Paulo Brazil Temple, dedicated in 1978; the Campinas Brazil Temple dedicated in 2002; and a temple announced for east São Paulo for which no specific site or timetable has been made public which when organized in 1973 became the 7th stake in Brazil • Santos is currently in the São Paulo Brazil Temple district Avolta has begun a six-year duty paid contract at Maceió-Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport which serves the coastal city of Maceio in the State of Alagoas The company opened a 170sq m store in January at the tourism gateway The airport served 2.5 million passengers in 2023 The departures walkthrough store carries perfumes & cosmetics fashion & accessories plus toys and souvenirs Aena Brasil CCO Juan José Sánchez added: “Aena has been working to provide amazing travel experiences to passengers at its airports The offer of a new commercial mix – with more shopping and restaurants – is part of the new approach implemented at airports in Brazil We are pleased to have Avolta on board to carry out this project at Maceió Airport.” Avolta President & CEO for LATAM Enrique Urioste said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this new contract at Maceió-Zumbi dos Palmares Airport and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Aena and the airport team for the trust they have shown in us “As the leading global travel experience player we will leverage our extensive knowledge and expertise in this region to take the airport’s shopping experience to an entirely new level for the millions of passengers who visit this airport each year “We look forward to working in close partnership with Aena to deliver the vision they have for the retail experience at Maceió-Zumbi dos Palmares Airport as we move closer to creating a travel experience revolution.” ✈ Note: The Moodie Davitt Report is the industry’s most popular channel for launching commercial proposals and for publishing the results. If you wish to promote an Expression of Interest, Request for Proposals or full tender process for any sector of airport or other travel-related infrastructure revenues, simply e-mail Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com We have a variety of options that will ensure you reach the widest most high-quality concessionaire/retailer/operator base in the industry – globally and immediately The Moodie Davitt Report is the only international business media to cover all airport or other travel-related consumer services Our reporting includes duty free and other retail Please send relevant material, including images, to Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com for instant Subscribe to our newsletter for critical marketing information delivered to your inbox is relaunching its annual whisky festival under the name Whisky Social Club The Australian Airports Association Retail & Commercial Forum will include a blockbuster programme of seven extra-curricular activities 1 is the 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" Maceió will be the center of university sports for a few days The capital of the Brazilian state of Alagoas is home to the FISU World University Championship Beach Volleyball from 6 to 10 September and the FISU World University Championship Triathlon on 9-10 September The Beach Volley matches are being held on the Pajuçara Beach which had already hosted the 2012 edition of the Beach Volley World University Championship 23 countries will participate in the Beach Volley competition and 20 in the Triathlon races Typical dances from the Northeastern part of Brazil featured at the opening ceremony which attracted a large attendance as well as the local television “It was important to show the culture of Alagoas and Maceió I’m very pleased with the presentation and warm welcome of the public and delegations,” said Luciano Cabral President of the Brazilian Confederation of University Sport Both Beach Volley and Triathlon championships will be live streamed on FISU.tv Brazil and USA – three teams each gender Portugal – two teams for the women’s competition Portugal and Switzerland – two teams for the men’s competition © International University Sports Federation If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below) so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue sinkholes and earthquakes linked to rock-salt mining activities caused huge damage to streets and buildings in several neighbourhoods in Maceió the capital of the State of Alagoas in northeast Brazil Since tremors connected with the salt-mining activities started in the area residents of the Maceió neighbourhoods have reported cracks in buildings and roads Many residents were forced to leave their homes due to fear that the building may collapse around them A report by the Brazilian geological service released in May 2019  blamed nearby salt mining by the Braskem Group the largest petrochemical company in Brazil for damage to the structural integrity of the property in Maceió Pogust Goodhead is representing thousands of victims still waiting to be compensated for damages and are now taking their legal battle to the Dutch courts to achieve appropriate redress for the impact that the operations of Braskem have had on their lives in Maceió the Dutch courts rejected Braskem’s arguments against jurisdiction meaning the case will now be heard in the Netherlands where the company has its European headquarters Pogust Goodhead is seeking to hold the Braskem Group accountable for the continued damages caused by their actions We represent a diverse range of clients against multi-national corporations Pogust Goodhead (a trading name of PGMBM Law Ltd) SRA License Number 512898 Pogust Goodhead is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complies with the Solicitors Code of Conduct, a copy of which can be located here Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome Content does not constitute legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship You should not act or rely on the basis of information on this site without seeking the advice of an attorney is a limited liability company registered at Chamber of Commerce (no 83137718) with its registered office at Herengracht 433 is a Dutch law firm that has entered into a partnership with the law firms PGMBM Law Ltd and PGMBM Ltd with the purpose to cooperate in accordance with section 5.2 of the Legal Profession Byelaw (in Dutch: Verordening op de Advocatuur) focuses (as the other partners within the said partnership) on collective actions is the contracting entity in relation to services provided by lawyers working at PGMBM Nederland B.V Pogust Goodhead (a trading name of PGMBM Law Ltd) SRA License Number 512898.Pogust Goodhead is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complies with the Solicitors Code of Conduct, a copy of which can be located here Família de Cícera vive com medo da casa cair após aparição de rachadura na parede - Pedro Stropasolas Why do I have to?” Arnaldo dos Santos asks summarizing the angst residents in the Bom Pastor neighborhood feel That’s one of the areas affected by Braskem’s crime in Maceió “I would like to ask Braskem why this side here has rotten and there it didn’t happen?” says Santos while pointing to the boarding Braskem put to demarcate the areas under risk of collapse The remaining houses in the Beco area are less than a meter from the boarding The neighborhood’s residents still wait to be relocated and receive financial compensation from Braskem through the Financial Compensation and Relocation Support Program (PCF in Portuguese), a demand to be addressed since Brasil de Fato's first visit to the community about seven months ago. According to Fernando Lima, president of the Bom Parto’s residents Association, the lack of income alternatives and the social vulnerability of the families living in the neighborhood increased during the first semester of 2024, while the reality of the families was only "brushed over" by the parliamentary commission of inquiry. Some senators traveled to Maceió on May 8, but did not visit Bom Pastor. “[It was] An on-site visit to get a sense of the situation," explains Fernando Lima. "We still have almost 27,000 people in the neighborhood. Houses are cracking so much so that the water table is almost at street level,” he adds. Braskem's contested expansion of the risk map In the house of Cícera dos Santos, an elderly woman who shares around 30 square meters with her son, husband and autistic sister, the crack in the living room wall runs from the floor to the ceiling. "It starts up here, comes down, and is already down here," she points out. Afraid to stay there, Cícera says she would have left the property if she had been given the choice. "I just want them to give us the right to have a small house somewhere else to live. That's all," she says. The area where she lives in Bom Parto, on the banks of the Mundaú Lagoon, includes Beco do Sargento, Beco Diazepam, Nova Vila and Carroças Street. They were all included in the latest version of the Civil Defense Priority Action Lines Map, published in November 2023. The expansion of the map – which also comprehends families living on Marquês de Abrantes Street, in Vila Saém, and the Farol neighborhood – included 1,200 properties in the Civil Defense monitoring area and was carried out only after a public civil action filed by the Federal Public Defender's Office, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Alagoas. The inclusion of these families in an area suitable for relocation, as well as financial compensation, however, was suspended by the Federal Regional Court of the 5th Region on January 22 this year at Braskem's request. Since then, the process has been at a standstill in the courts. "In the case of the Bom Parto neighborhood, the situation is deteriorating faster. We have a case that has already been at the trial court and is currently at the appellate court without the slightest prospect that it can be resolved so that 15% of the neighborhood can be relocated," says Fernando Lima. "We managed to get in touch with a private law firm, where we are filing a lawsuit for relocation, compensation and moral damages because through the official way – the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office – our lawsuit has stalled. For how long will we wait?" he adds. Arantes pointed out that requalification works are being implemented in the region, and around BRL 1.7 billion (US$ 316,1 million) will be invested in socio-economic and urban measures. But the Civil Defense is the agency responsible for demarcating areas for relocation, and Braskem has always been diligent in complying with these determinations. In the petition that supports the request to suspend the expansion of the risk map, Braskem justifies that "for a series of anthropological, social, urbanistic and economic reasons, a community should not be removed from its original home, except in the absence of any other option.” When asked by the senators of the commission of inquiry why Braskem contested the inclusion of 1,200 properties belonging to families living in the Bom Parto region, the mining company said the "damage to the properties associated with the subsidence phenomenon" is no longer a reason to relocate the families, according to the most recent Civil Defense report. For this to happen, according to the company, it is necessary to have "soil movement, even if minimal.” The "minimal" soil movement, however, was confirmed at the CPI by the testimony of Abelardo Pedro Nobre Júnior, the general coordinator of Maceió's Civil Defense. He confirmed that the properties on the banks of the Mundaú Lagoon that have cracks in the walls are being monitored according to the latest version of the map, as it is a place that records "soil movement of 5mm to 10mm per year.” According to Júnior's statement, what is not known is whether "these pathological manifestations correlate" with industrial activity at Braskem's mines, which is why the area "needs to be studied.” Still about the cracks on the walls and floods in the region, the representative of Maceió Civil Defense told the commission of inquiry that these issues were not related to the environmental disaster, but to a "historical" problem families living in the surrounding areas of the Mundaú Lagoon face. Fernando Lima disputes this view. "The living conditions have always been difficult, but with the event [ground sinking], with this social genocide, the conditions have become subhuman," he says. The flood situation, according to families that live neighboring the Mundaú Lagoon, became even more serious after the ground sank more than 2 meters in the area of mine Number 18 in December. "The water took everything. I have nothing left. I have my mother, my brothers and my daughter," laments José Roberto dos Santos, who moved in with his mother, Cícera, after the flood. While Braskem and the Civil Defense give their justifications and propose monitoring and "studying" the region, the families of Bom Parto are sick living in cracked houses susceptible to flooding. "The population urgently needs to be relocated. Ever since the mine problem came up, Bom Parto’s residents have had no peace. All they can think about is disaster. Many people are depressed and anxious. Most of the elderly are sick," explains Paulo de Oliveira, a resident of the neighborhood and one of the four garbage collectors working in the community. "We need to get out of here. There's a lack of security and sanitation. People here are left with cockroaches. That's my appeal," he added. The population also complains about the lack of janitorial services, which should be Braskem’s responsibility. Brasil de Fato saw debris from demolished houses, open sewage and garbage piled up around evacuated areas. Residents take it in turns to clean up the site. "I studied, my father educated me. He gave me strength to work, but today I live full of germs. You can show the people: there's germs here in this water, taking out the garbage. Look around and you'll see what is happening here," laments Arnaldo dos Santos, showing his two injured feet.  "The people at Bom Parto aren’t dogs. I have two beautiful kids and I can't give my children anything else. I used to earn BRL 200 (US$ 37) a day here," says Arnaldo, whose income to support his two kids today is only what he earns from the Family Grant program (known in Brazil as Bolsa Família). Published on May 15, the final report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on Braskem held the company responsible for environmental crimes such as "ambitious mining" and indicted 11 people, including the company's vice president, Marcelo de Oliveira Cerqueira. The text by Senator Rogério Carvalho (Workers’ Party) also calls for the restructuring of the Civil Defense risk map and the revision of compensation agreements for affected families, also considering the risk of economic isolation in areas such as Flexais, in the Bebedouro district. Although the final report proposes the removal of Bom Parto’s residents and considers the CPI's outcomes a "milestone", the assessment of the Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining (MAM, in Portuguese) is that there is still a long way ahead for the agreements to be fulfilled. "The report is there, over 600 pages long. How long will it take for justice to be done, for people to have their desire to relocate met?" he asks. Residents see the absence of the parliamentary commission in Bom Parto and the failure to resolve the neighborhood's problems are seen as an act of class prejudice. "I consider it segregation, a real prejudice against the Bom Parto community, just because it's a slum, because it's in poor social conditions. That's what we think," Fernando Lima concludes. All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced, provided it is not altered and proper credit is given. All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced, provided it is not altered and proper credit is given. Você está usando um navegador antigo e que não tem suporte a muitas de nossas funcionalidades . Por favor faça a atualizaçãor para uma melhor experiência Stay on top of everything Braskem is doing You can change your cookie settings by turning on or off analytical and third-party cookies right here. You cannot turn-off strictly necessary cookies. You can find out more about cookies aqui. Please note that some features of the website will not work without cookies. MACEIO, Brazil (AP) — This part of Maceio, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas state, used to buzz with the sounds of cars, commerce and children playing. It went silent as residents evacuated en masse, eager to escape the looming destruction of their homes, which were cracking and crumbling. Beneath their floors, the subsurface was riddled with dozens of cavities: the legacy of four decades of rock salt mining in five urban neighborhoods. That caused the soil above to settle and structures atop it to start coming apart. Since 2020, the communities have hollowed out as tens of thousands of residents accepted payouts from petrochemical company Braskem to relocate. Few holdouts remain, several of whom told The Associated Press they imagine the ground under their feet resembling Swiss cheese. Still, Paulo Sergio Doe, 51, said he will never leave his home in the Pinheiro neighborhood where he grew up. “The company can’t impose what it wants overnight to do away with the lives and histories of so many families,” he said in an interview outside his home. Braskem is one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the Americas, owned primarily by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht. The company isn’t forcibly evicting anyone, though those still here said it feels that way. It reached an agreement with prosecutors and public defenders to compensate families so they could uproot and start over elsewhere. By Braskem’s count, 97.4% of affected homes — more than 14,000 — are now vacant, the company said in its 2021 earnings call on Thursday. The 55,000 evacuees left behind not just neighbors and friends, but also jobs; 4,500 mostly small- and medium-sized businesses that sustained 30,000 people were shuttered, according to a study The Federal University of Alagoas published last year. Among those businesses were local supermarkets and a ballet school that operated for 38 years, according to Adriana Capretz, part of the university’s work group to monitor the neighborhoods. The exodus is evident from above; departing residents salvaged everything they could sell for extra cash, including their roof tiles. Their removal allows unimpeded views inside the once-occupied spaces. The amount Braskem offered wasn’t enough for Natalícia Gonçalves. The retired teacher, 77, also said she felt too old to start fresh. So she watched as everyone in Pinheiro left her. Now she lives inside a makeshift fortress behind boards and plants aimed at deterring would-be burglars. Braskem security guards do rounds on motorcycles, briefly interrupting the evenings’ eerie silence. “They've already done everything to force me to go, but I have my rights,” she said from behind her home's fortified exterior. “I'm afraid, especially at night when no one is around. The light is dim, there's hardly any. I protect myself with my plants, but I'm alone, with God.” Braskem has so far disbursed about 40% of the more than 5 billion reais (about $1 billion) it has set aside for relocation, compensation of individuals including residents and local employees and the transfer of facilities like schools and hospitals, the company said in its earnings call. It is directing 6 billion reais more for closing and monitoring the salt mines, as well as social, environmental and urbanistic measures. Wrapping up the call, Braskem's CEO Roberto Lopes Pontes Simões highlighted the company's year, including “all the advance we had in Maceio” in having relocated nearly everyone from the neighborhoods. No house has been swallowed by the earth, nor was any person killed. Capretz, a professor in the university's architecture and urbanism school, said that doesn't mean heartache was avoided. “The tragedy is happening, not just regarding the geological phenomena but, primarily, because there are cases of people who committed suicide, many who became sick with depression, lost their social lives, family ties, friends and neighbors,” Capretz said as she walked through the Bebedouro neighborhood. “None of that is being considered by Braskem.” The company's press office said in a lengthy response to AP questions that it provides free psychological consultations to any residents participating in the compensation and relocation program. It said the program was created based on law and legal rulings in similar cases and said compensation offers are always presented to individuals alongside their lawyer or a public defender. But negotiations can be clouded by sentiment; the price of a house isn’t the same as the value of a home. Quitéria Maria da Silva, 64, and her grandson were waiting for the rest of their family to come play dominos on a table they set up beneath the only lamppost on their street that’s still functional. Even as da Silva said she would move were Braskem to pay her requested amount, she expressed ambivalence: “I always lived in my house and now, if I have to leave here, where will I go?” ___ AP reporter David Biller contributed from Rio de Janeiro Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. MACEIO – Brazilian and Polish teams realized a sports practices exchange in the host city of the II International University Beach Games The Polish athlete Stachu Szymankiewicz, one of the six participating in the Challenge, said he was delighted with Brazil and the reception of the people of Maceió. “It’s our first time in South America, and we are enjoying our time spending here. The weather is very different from Poland, mainly because now it’s the end of winter there, but we just love being here. Everyone smiles and always wants to help us. We hope to return soon”, he said. In addition to Stachu, the Polish delegation was also composed by Paweł Lewandowski, Stachu’s partner, both from the University of Environmental and Science in Wroclaw, the second male team, Piotr Staszewski and Piotr Adamczyk, and the female team Dorota Chyży and Sandra Bembenek, the four students from the University of Economy in Wroclaw. In the women’s category, the team Dorota Chyży and Sandra Bembenek won the first place, followed by Brazil in second and third. In the men’s category, the team Stachu and Paweł took first place, followed by Brazilian teams in second and third places. According to Luciano Cabral, president of the Brazilian University Sports Confederation (CBDU), organizer of the Camp, the event was a sports practices exchange and experiences for Brazilian and Polish students and also a preparation for the Brazilian delegation that will compete at the Beach Games. “During the week, we used the Beach Volleyball Federation Training Center, with the participation of students from schools in Maceió who came to watch the games, and the athletes could feel as if they were in a great competition. It was a great warm-up for the next week event, and today we closed the tournament on the Beach Games stage, in a big structure, on the beach”, Luciano Cabral explained. According to Luciano Cabral, Brazil also has plans to increase the actions, opening the Camp project to other sports and countries. “The Camp was important as a pilot project to develop bigger actions among the European and American continents.” they're scared (of a collapse)," Kaspary told Reuters "That gives them a right to compensation."All the prosecutors said Braskem would likely have to pay out a significant amount in that case with Melro estimating close to 2 billion reais A decision or potential settlement is not expected for at least several months while any appeal could take years.Braskem has not formally provisioned for any potential costs related to that case as its outcome remains "very uncertain," a representative said.Petrobras declined to comment.EARTH HOLLOWED OUTOn the ground the frustration among residents is palpable Some said financial compensation was beside the point."So many people have had their homes here for so long and they have stories to tell," said Silvania Carmo Machado who moved 35 years ago into her hilltop house which overlooks surrounding countryside.While authorities want her to leave and Braskem is set to offer 81,500 reais for her home she has pledged to stay put.Since the 1970s Braskem Latin America's largest petrochemical producer and a household name in Brazil a scenic estuary popular with boaters.The salt is pumped to a nearby Braskem plant where it is transformed into chlorine-based products that eventually become PVC piping and other consumer goods.Above ground with little more than a large metal tube above each well.Yet slowly the mines have hollowed out a layer of the earth about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) below the surface they say cracks have emerged in homes in four neighborhoods that harbor everything from expensive apartment blocks to hillside shanty towns.Januario was among the many residents whose walls and ceilings had been cracking for several years But the fissures were initially small and easily fixed which followed a heavy rainstorm a month before prompting local and federal authorities to investigate.In May 2019 Brazil's federal geological survey issued a report saying Braskem was to blame.Ana Laura Sivieri Braskem's marketing and communications chief told Reuters there could potentially be other causes for the tremor and cracking the type of soil in the region or a geological fault."Outside those other causes Braskem is singled out by the geological service as one of the principal causes Braskem has raised doubts about this," she said.'WE WANTED TO STAY'Braskem which has closed all its salt mines in Maceio said it had not laid anyone off at its chlorine plant Its operations employ hundreds of people and account for 3% of the state's economic output.During a Reuters visit to the plant dozens of workers could be seen performing maintenance tasks such as raking leaves and cleaning the premises Braskem is considering importing salt to allow it to restart production.With billions of reais on the line major shareholders are watching the situation in Maceio closely partly because Petrobras was dissatisfied with how the company was dealing with the case according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.Braskem and Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro SA) declined to comment about the circumstances of the former CEO's dismissal could not be reached for comment.Braskem said it would execute the January deal with speed and compassion to help those displaced.For displaced residents like Januario the wrench of leaving their homes is tough to overcome Januario's family now lives 22 miles away in a nondescript district next to an airport.He had to abandon his bar and is now helping out at a transportation firm His mother and wife have both been diagnosed with clinical anxiety and depression."We wanted to stay in our neighborhood," he said "That doesn't have a price."Reporting by Gram Slattery and Amanda Perobelli in Maceio Brazil; Additional reporting by Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro and Paula Laier in Sao Paulo; Editing by Pravin Char BRASÍLIA, Brazil — When members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak to missionaries around the world, they frequently recount their own experiences as young missionaries. While speaking to missionaries in the Brazil Brasília Mission, however, Elder Ulisses Soares had one of his converts join him To the surprise of many of the missionaries Elder Soares taught and baptized Eliezer Santos while serving as a missionary in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission President Santos served a mission of his own after Elder Soares returned home from his mission On Thursday, Aug. 3, Elder Soares, accompanied by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares, took some time while on assignment at the VIP open house of the Brasília Brazil Temple to speak with missionaries serving in the area With President Santos on the stand with him Elder Soares encouraged the missionaries to maintain contact with those they teach He said that communication can help both the missionary and those they teach to have support throughout life as they progress along the covenant path This counsel came as Elder Soares taught the missionaries that having the Lord involved in their work now will have benefits during the rest of their lives “Much of your future depends on what you do now “The amount the Lord is involved in the rest of your life can be determined Sister Soares told the missionaries that part of learning to make good decisions is learning to repent daily and learn from mistakes The efforts needed to become better each day aren’t always easy with others who are different from ourselves and with controlling our thoughts and emotions.” I always wanted to be a missionary,” she said “Elders and sisters seemed like angels to me.” Elder Soares told the missionaries that he and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve know that being a missionary can be challenging He had a piece of counsel for them to recall in those moments I hope that brings you courage and faith,” he said Elder Soares taught the missionaries from “Preach My Gospel” about planning and setting goals He taught that Heavenly Father has given a model of how to do both of those “Heavenly Father has a plan — the plan of salvation,” he said “And He has a goal as part of that plan to get all of His children back to His presence.” He told the missionaries that focusing on plans in order to accomplish goals sometimes requires sacrifices “He wanted our success so badly that He gave His Son because He wanted the plan to work He wanted you to have every opportunity to return to Him.” Reading from Moses 3 Elder Soares showed that the Lord knew He wanted plants before plants were created on earth He said everything was created spiritually before it was created physically “He planned everything before it happened here,” Elder Soares said “Think about the perfection of this model He has given us.” Elder Soares conveyed the love the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has for the missionaries Following the first week of the Brasília Brazil Temple open house Elder and Sister Soares went on assignment to the Brazilian coastal city of Maceió for a series of meetings and trainings with members there Elder Soares also met with missionaries on Friday and talked with them about the importance of being called to serve in the name of the Savior I represent Jesus Christ,” Elder Soares said Elder Soares told the missionaries how he had not been called because of where he was from but because it was what the Lord chose through His Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson ‘Jesus Christ wants you to be a special witness of Him,’” Elder Soares shared He then told the missionaries that they are called to assist the Lord’s Apostles in taking the gospel to people around the world and to testify of Jesus Christ as their Savior Sister Soares spoke with the missionaries about the challenge that can pose and the pressure missionaries may feel to be perfect. She invited them to remember that becoming perfect is a process and read Psalms 6:2 with them Sister Soares told the missionaries this is an important principle for them to both teach and practice “Repentance is a daily practice,” she said sometimes the hardest repentance and forgiveness to ask for and to offer come among companions “We can’t have divisiveness in our companionships,” he said Isn’t that what the Savior did on the cross?” Elder Soares pointed out that even in one of the Savior’s most difficult moments and even when those responsible were not repentant Elder Soares said learning how to forgive as the Savior forgave is a useful spiritual skill throughout life and in the different relationships individuals have with each other Forgiving and asking for forgiveness allows for harmony in companionships and creates an environment where Heavenly Father can bless the lives of others by inspiring companionships and trusting them to teach the children God has prepared to receive the gospel or feel the influence of the Holy Ghost “Missionaries who want to help others never miss a chance to find people to talk to — in a taxi He explained that habits sometimes keep people from recognizing when the Holy Ghost prompts them with what to say and whom to say it to Being too caught up in looking at a phone or finding entertainment by distractions that are all around can limit the Spirit’s influence “We have to break habits that keep us from finding those who need the Lord’s help,” he said He depends on us speaking to His children about His plan.” Feeling the inspiration needed in those moments requires spiritual power and spiritual power requires making good choices “Spiritual power depends on your decisions but how can the Lord trust you with someone if you have not prepared?” he asked the missionaries Elder Soares shared that the missionaries who taught his family when he was a child had to have been prepared before meeting his parents because his parents had questions they wanted answered about God If the missionaries hadn’t studied and if they didn’t understand the scriptures they wouldn’t have had the spiritual power needed to answer questions and have the Holy Ghost magnify their efforts and touch the hearts of Elder Soares and his family “The Lord promises to magnify your efforts He will take what you do and make it bigger and more impactful than you could alone,” he said Missionary companions Sister Sabrina Tapley from the Laurel Springs Ward in the Coal Mountain Georgia Stake from the Itaquá Ward in the São Paulo Brazil Itaquá Stake were excited and energized by what they felt as Elder and Sister Soares spoke “I felt very strongly the love that the Lord has for His missionaries,” Sister Araújo said “It made me feel grateful to know that God has chosen us to come here and help people.” Sister Tapley said that beyond knowing missionaries are called by God she is grateful for the help He offers as they serve “… Maybe we don’t feel qualified to help or teach but I know that when we do our best and when we love people with the pure love of Christ we will help them receive what they really need.” Elder Josiah Daines from the Jupiter 1st Ward in the Stuart Florida Stake is only a couple of months into his mission and he said he felt impressed to do a better job of talking to as many people as he can while serving a mission it was really hard for me to talk to people from the Bedford 2nd Ward in the Hurst Texas Stake said the encouragement to find people was important to him because their work is focused on creating a new group of a few Church members in a developing area near Maceió Everyone deserves this opportunity to have the gospel in their life,” he said “And it’s not fair to them if I don’t want to talk to them just because I don’t feel like talking.” From the bulletin of the Holy See Press Office – 8 November 2023 The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Carlos Alberto Breis Pereira, O.F.M., as coadjutor archbishop of Maceió, Brazil, transferring him from the diocese of Juazeiro. Print SÃO MIGUEL DOS MILAGRES Brazil — Anyone who says it’s the journey that matters most wasn’t trying to navigate through the favelas of Maceió my launch point for Brazil’s Costa dos Corais Although Maceió has a reputation for crime the real threat occurred when my GPS had me turn onto Avenida Presidente Roosevelt I was facing three lanes of traffic heading directly toward me Our Fiat rental was small enough to squeeze onto the bike lane — a maneuver that barely fazed the cyclist I almost clipped And I succeeded in driving a good half-mile with not a single motorist honking which drew exuberant crowds numbering in the millions and the upcoming World Cup and the Summer Olympics Brazil has now elbowed its way onto the world’s radar screen Chris and I were seeking tranquillity and empty beaches on our two-part trip a boutique inn a world away from the shanty towns and sugar plantations we would pass on the way to São Miguel dos Milagres It was an uneventful three hours by the time we made that final turn for the beach Soon we were sipping agua de coco under a canopy of thick green leaves “This is the Amendoeira tree — which we used to name the inn,” said Tsachi Greenhut has taught us a great deal about nature,” Jessy said “and how to lead a simple life without the stress and overconsumption of big cities.” which abuts the largest protected marine reserve in the country is big on sustainability; hence the solar panels organic vegetables and participation in environmental projects more than 1,000 miles away (a 2 1/2-hour flight) from Rio’s all-night samba clubs hot tubs and healthful aesthetic enhanced by locally influenced fusion cuisine Yet Amendoeira is small enough to feel intimate Eight bungalows are set amid a plush green carpet and fragrant flowering plants; most are just a few steps from the shaded deck overlooking the ocean it’s the vast expanse of calm transparent water that is the main attraction That’s why Chris and I were on the sand in time for the 5 a.m sunrise on four of the five mornings we spent here This schedule helped prime us for the snorkeling/manatee viewing excursion that we planned for 7 a.m so it was closer to 8 o’clock when we began the half-mile walk through the knee-deep water to meet the jangada flattish wooden boat built for the baby waves called out as we stepped onto the boat for the five-minute trip to the tidal pools We were forced to rely on our hastily learned Portuguese but we didn’t need anyone to translate the fact that we were drifting through an azure bathtub with huge stands of coconut palms fringing the shoreline The snorkeling didn’t compare to the Great Barrier Reef’s but there is something sublime about swimming in perfectly clear 82-degree water on a late December morning The highlight of the trip began with our getting stuck on a beautiful sandbar and waiting for the tide to rise so the boat could enter the Tatuamunha River home to the sanctuary for the country’s most endangered aquatic mammal the Program for the Reintroduction of Peixes-bois Marinhos has been educating locals and tourists about the importance of conserving these creatures that were nearly hunted to extinction a manatee nuzzled my foot after lifting its flipper onto the boat the peixe-bois approached the boat as we drifted along the mangrove-lined riverbank but the 2-foot swell was just a faint precursor to the more dynamic phase of our trip — exploring Morro de São Paulo on the Bahian island of Tinharé Getting there had us retracing our tire treads back to Maceió — this time driving with the traffic on Avenida Presidente Roosevelt and catching a one-hour flight to Salvador where we would take a catamaran to Morro de São Paulo the next day If you find yourself in Bahia’s capital with a few hours to explore just follow this three-part formula: Pelhourinho + Moqueca de Camarão + Balé Folclórico da Bahia Pelhourinho is the neighborhood you’ll visit and sleep in; moqueca the regional specialty made with coconut milk is what you’ll eat; and the Balé Folclórico is the most scintillating hour and the best 35 reais (about $17) you’ll spend in Brazil as the catamaran made the 21/2-hour trip through calmer-than-normal waters I kept returning to images of the fire dancers and capoeira acrobats backflipping across the stage My concerns about a travel blog comment — “If there are even the tiniest of waves on the ocean do not do not take the catamaran between Salvador and Morro de São Paulo!” — didn’t materialize and soon we were sifting through the suitcases stored chaotically in the front of the boat apart from the hills — morro means “hill” in Portuguese — is the lineup of wheelbarrows And if you happen to arrive during the run-up to New Year’s Eve you’ll see why the place is known as party central That’s why we chose the highest pousada on the island When I glanced at his cart holding our belongings I was relieved someone else would be pushing the “vehicle” up the 45-degree inclines dirt paths and the final 155 steps in the 90-degree heat When Marga Bendel-Bauer greeted us at the summit in her German-accented Portuguese I realized we had ended up in an oddly tropical German paradise and the morning bread and cake abundant — if that’s what you’re into — but mostly we had a tranquil refuge from the all-night raves below It’s a 10-minute stroll to the village’s carless central plaza which may be why they invented caipirinhas you’ll stop caring that fish is overcooked and the pasta is mushy The concrete eventually morphs to sand leading to the four main beaches named snack bars and restaurants with live music extend well onto the sand It’s also ground zero for the never-ending parade of sunga-clad men and women in their biquíni fio dental (“Fio dental?” Yes that things calm down — though I was drawn to the triangle of beach between Third and Fourth thanks to its snorkeling spot where I spied an electric blue fish If you crave fewer Brazilian tourists (few Americans venture here) you can join one of the many boat excursions to Ilha de Boipeba with its miles of pristine beaches Our 45-minute speedboat jaunt had us ricocheting against 8-foot waves and joining a flotilla with about 100 snorkelers captivated less by tropical fish than by beer bottles balanced on floating food trays we were dropped off at windswept Boca da Barra beach near the river that promised (and delivered) a much calmer route back With just a couple of hours to explore the vast stretches of powdery sand and shady trails through the rain forest but then we would have missed Morro’s Réveillon — or New Year’s Eve Americans obsessively watch a ball drop on TV or freeze in Times Square; Brazilians throw flowers into the ocean and jump the waves for a dose of good luck and enlightenment Standing with our feet in the warm water as the countdown began there was not a sunga or bikini to be seen — just a throng of Brazilians clad in white to purify their souls for the coming year travel@latimes.com Lifestyle Travel & Experiences Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map View important Copyright © information related to freeware files here The archive sbmo_fsx.zip has 68 files and directories contained within it This list displays the first 500 files in the package Signing-up for PRO gives you super fast, unrestricted speed to the thousands of MSFS, FSX, P3D & X-Plane downloads which include aircraft, scenery, and more - click here to view the library for free or.. Sign-Up Now PRO membership payments go directly back into the website to pay for hosting, bandwidth, and development costs. It's what also enables us to offer a free download tier. Join over 145,000 subscribers of our free dedicated flight simulation newsletter. Featuring new add-ons, products and industry news. Are you using the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 release? homicide rate still high despite increased prosperity Police patrol a shantytown in Rio de Janeiro The number of killings in Brazil has dropped in larger more affluent cities such as Rio but jumped in poorer areas “They shot a woman in the bar last week,” said Maria das Gracas da Silva, a 49-year-old maid. “They shot her right in her mouth, which usually means she said something she shouldn’t have. Then they just took off.” Up the road, Francisco Kummer pointed at a nearby tree from inside his small school supplies shop. “I’ve seen two murders recently, including one right here in front of my shop,” he said. “The men on the motorcycles weren’t actively looking for the guy, but they must have wanted him, because when they noticed him, they stopped abruptly. Three shots in the head.” More than 2,000 people are killed each year here in the tiny state of Alagoas, with a population of a little more than 3 million, making it much more dangerous than big cities such as Sao Paulo and Brasilia. But the problem of killings is nationwide and has not improved for more than a decade. Brazil’s high homicide rate has barely budged since 2000, even as economic growth has brought millions out of poverty and reduced social inequality. A study by several United Nations agencies, including the World Health Organization, which used global data from 2012, the most recent year available, showed that Brazil had the highest number of killings in the world. The nation’s death toll of more than 64,000 that year, according to the report, is comparable to the number of people who have been killed annually in Syria’s civil war. Brazil’s homicide rate remains higher than that of Mexico, despite the drug war raging there since 2006. From 2000 to ‘12, Brazil experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity, with almost every social indicator improving. Except one. “All else being equal, we expect that if there is a major drop in inequality, homicide rates go down,” said Christopher Mikton, technical officer on the WHO Prevention of Violence Team, who worked on the report. However, “in 2000, Brazil’s homicide rate was 32.2 per 100,000 residents, and in 2012 it was just over 32.4.” “In the same period,” he said, “the world overall got about 16% safer from murder, while developed countries saw a drop of 40%.” The Brazilian government offers a lower estimate of the number of killings, putting it at about 50,000 in 2012. About half the victims were young black men, local data indicate. There is no evidence of improvement since 2012. Studies point to a broad set of possible explanations for the persistent violence. Experts cite the continued prevalence of the drug trade and violent gangs in certain neighborhoods, as well as corruption and poor training among police forces and ineffectiveness in the court system. They say that despite social improvements, inequality is still high by global standards. The mega-rich live close to youths who lack educational and professional opportunities, and that increases the risk of crime. “It’s essential that we change the justice system, socioeconomic conditions and the way that the police work,” said Sergio Adorno, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo and director of its Center for the Study of Violence. “The police continue to be very violent and the justice system is slow. They’re both relics of the past.” There has been one significant shift in the last decade: The number of homicides has dropped in larger and more affluent cities, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and jumped in the poorer northeastern region, which includes Alagoas. Experts have no easy answers for the change. One theory is that some members of criminal gangs, such as Red Command, which was founded in Rio, have moved here as they have lost territory to security crackdowns and better policing at home. Another is that the number of young men — a demographic more likely to commit crimes — has grown. The homicide rate increased in the northeast even as the region’s economy grew much faster than that of the southeast, which includes Sao Paulo and Rio. Kummer, the shopkeeper, recalls that his closest brush with death came precisely when the economy took off in his neighborhood. He received threats after he complained to authorities about a booming nightclub nearby. “All kinds of different people began to come up to me and give me messages and dark warnings,” he said as he looked out at joggers passing by a park where he witnessed a killing. “They’d say things like, “Watch out’ or ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with,’ or most menacingly, ‘Stay safe.’” For much of the last five years, Brazil’s violence churned along in the background, rarely interfering with the economic or political headlines that dominated here, unless it spilled into the lives of the white upper-middle class. But the economy has slowed, and with President Dilma Rousseff weakened politically by scandals, newly empowered conservatives have gone on the offensive in Congress. They have brought crime to the center of the national debate by pressing for a law to try 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, a move that neither most crime experts nor the federal government believe would reduce violence. During her reelection campaign last year, Rousseff proposed altering the constitution to allow more federal involvement in crime-fighting at the state level. This would be a big step toward allowing local authorities to work together effectively, said Regina Miki, the national secretary of public security. “We’d like to able to bring all the relevant local authorities to the same table, establishing goals and streamlining enforcement and judicial processes, as well as provide education and training for the police,” said Miki, who acknowledges that the national homicide rate has not improved. But Rousseff would need congressional support for any such changes, given that police and local security are under the jurisdiction of state governors. Despite the violence, Miki pointed to Alagoas as successful test case for more federal involvement. After national intervention, the homicide rate came down to 64 per 100,000 people in 2012. Three years earlier, it was more than 100 per 100,000. Jeovar da Oliveira Verissimo, 70, said he has watched generation after generation turn to crime and violence and is not yet convinced that things have turned around. “Well, I guess maybe there’s been a small improvement, maybe I can smell some good things in the air,” he said, sitting on a bench across from a burned-down building previously used for selling drugs. “After all, it’s been a month or two since I’ve seen a murder around here.” World & Nation Hollywood Inc.