Portugal's general discussion (general events)

[Mike88]

Government in a frantic operation to reduce debt by % of GDP below 100% for 2023:

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1743202907359498337

Fernando Medina carries out a special operation to reduce debt below 100%

At the end of 2023, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, set up a special operation, which included the purchase of public debt securities from private companies, insurance companies and banks, as well as the advance payment of debt from public companies, with a view to closing the year with public debt below 100% of GDP, says Expresso (paid access).

According to the weekly newspaper, only with regard to the repurchase of private debt, which was due to mature later, the operation may have reached 3 billion euros. Added to this are the usual injections to pay NHS suppliers and the payment of debt from public companies, with a value yet to be determined, but “not negligible”.

In the area of health, the Executive authorized, through two orders signed by the Ministries of Health and Finance, the extraordinary injection of 1,200 million euros for NHS entities to pay debts. In a first order, 650 million euros were made available to pay debts to suppliers who had used factoring. And last Friday, a new order for 550 million euros was signed for NHS public business entities (EPE) to pay debts to external suppliers.

In October, the Executive had estimated that public debt would reach 103% of GDP in 2023, but with this special operation Medina's objective could even be exceeded, leaving the final value below 100% of GDP. The final data will be confirmed by the Bank of Portugal in February, that is, in the middle of the electoral campaign for the legislative elections. In November, public debt reached the lowest level in three years, standing at 267.9 billion euros.

GDP is expected to be around somewhere between 266-267 billion in 2023. If the debt falls to 265 billion, then debt in % of GDP could stand at around 99.5%. We'll see.

[Mike88]

The crumbling Portuguese railway system: Less trains circulating and more and more delays:

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1744363729871908876

There are fewer and fewer trains and those that do exist arrive later

There are fewer and fewer trains and those that do exist arrive increasingly late. These are the main conclusions of the Mobility and Transport Authority, which says that the service has worsened, especially in the last four years.

A strike by workers at Infraestruturas de Portugal is scheduled for Wednesday, after a two-day partial strike last week. In two weeks, there will be disruptions to train traffic for a third time.

This data is not included in the report that the Mobility and Transport Authority presented at the end of 2023. But they support the conclusions that Jornal de Notícias featured on the front page this Monday.

Since 2019, the service has been getting worse. There are more connections being removed and users are increasingly complaining about the reduction in train supply and punctuality.

In 2022, companies operating in the country - CP and Fertagus - removed around 12,200 trains.

In 2023, in the first half of the year, says Jornal de Notícias, this number had already exceeded 22 thousand suppression.
(...)

This report comes one day after another one showed that the Portuguese consumed more than 5,000 tons of fossil fuels in 2023, the highest number in 13 years.

[Mike88]

Major police protests: Excuses from service and "breakdowns" in police patrol cars.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1744824969446449193

The dissatisfaction of the security forces, fueled by what they say is the lack of responses from the Government regarding improved salary conditions, is leading to the emergence of radicalization threats.

This inorganic movement that emerged within the PSP against the additional mission supplement assigned by the Government only to the Judiciary Police brought together more elements this Tuesday night, both from the PSP, the GNR and the prison guard, compared to Monday night , the unions pointed out.

Present at the protest in front of the Assembly of the Republic, in Lisbon, the president of the National Police Union, Armando Ferreira, highlighted to Lusa that there were "many more people" today and that they "continued to arrive".
(...)
Since late Monday afternoon, several PSP patrol cars, mainly in the Lisbon Metropolitan Command (Cometlis), have been stopped, with the police claiming that they are inoperable and have several faults.

The director of the PSP indicated today that an assessment is being made of the PSP cars that are inoperative and that the Lisbon command could be reinforced with vehicles from other locations.

The protest by PSP elements, together with the GNR military, began after the Government approved on November 29th the payment of a mission supplement for PJ careers, which, in some cases, could represent an increase of almost 700 euros per month.

Members of the PSP and GNR consider this to be "unequal and discriminatory treatment".

These protests arose spontaneously and were not organized by any union, despite the existence of a platform, made up of seven Public Security Police unions and four associations of the National Republican Guard, created to demand a review of salary supplements in the security forces.

On Friday, this platform decided to completely cut relations with the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to the lack of interest, apathy and resistance to the consecration of the rights of PSP and GNR professionals.

[Mike88]

One of Portugal's biggest media conglomerates, Global Media, faces deep problems: Unpaid wages, threats and massive firings:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1745096527842779619

The crisis in the Global Media group motivated a protest in defense of democracy in Lisbon and Porto. "The biggest scam in the history of journalism" or "investment fund = unpaid wages" are some of the phrases that can be read on the posters.

Journalists from the Global Media group accuse the administration of wanting to empty the newsrooms and in some cases interfering in editorial decisions.

The strike affects TSF radio and various publications, such as JN, DN, Jogo and Dinheiro Vivo. The 24-hour strike takes place on the day the deadline for adhering to the terminations proposed by the group, which wants to cut between 150 and 200 workers, ends.

Despite the management of Global Media announcing serious financial difficulties, Correio da Manhã says that the group spent more than two million euros on new hires, mainly on consultants and advisors.
(...)

The fund that owns the media conglomerate is rated as "dubious" by several European authorities:

The Global Media group, owner of the newspapers “Diário de Notícias”, “Jornal de Notícias” and radio station TSF, came under the control in September of the World Opportunity Fund, registered in a tax haven and owned by the Swiss fund manager Union Capital Group ( UCAP). And, as “Público” writes this Wednesday, UCAP triggered alerts from several European entities.

In January 2018, the Financial Sector Surveillance Commission (CSSF in its original acronym) launched an international public alert about “the activities of an entity called United Capital Group”. The CSSF is a public institution that supervises professionals and products in the Luxembourg financial sector.

For this institution, UCAP was “unknown” and had not been “regulated” by it, and was not yet “authorized to provide financial services in Luxembourg”.

Also in Spain, says “Público”, the National Securities Market Commission (CNVM) targeted the same entity because it was not registered nor authorized to “provide investment services” in the country.

In Spain, United Capital Group is thus prevented from “guarding and managing, on behalf of clients, financial instruments”, “granting credit or loans to investors”, “investment consultancy” and “transactions in foreign currency”. foreign”.

[Mike88]

Youth population decline: One third of Portugal's youth population already lives abroad and the trend continues to grow.

https://twitter.com/sapo/status/1745739905022709937

Flee of young Portuguese people. Almost one in three lives outside Portugal

The data is from the Emigration Observatory: almost 850 thousand Portuguese people between the ages of 15 and 39 have already left the country. The impact of this escape is “brutal”.

The numbers are included in the “Atlas of Portuguese Emigration” to be launched next week and are revealed in the weekly Expresso: close to 30% of citizens born in Portugal aged between 15 and 39 have already left the country in recent decades.

The number, which appears to be close to 850 thousand, confirms Portugal as one of the countries with the highest emigration rates in the world. On average, 75 thousand people have left the country annually since 2001 — the peak was in 2013, with 120 thousand Portuguese leaving the territory.

The experts interviewed by Expresso warn of the impacts of this flee of young people. According to Rui Pena Pires, scientific coordinator of the Emigration Observatory, this value has "a very complicated effect on fertility” as it means that almost a third of women of childbearing age left for emigration. In fact, Pena Pires states that the children of Portuguese mothers abroad “already account for around 20% of total births in Portugal”.
(...)

[Mike88]

Major police protests: Excuses from service and "breakdowns" in police patrol cars.

The police protests against the government's discrimination between security forces regarding wage supports, continues to make headlines and a lot of protests continue in several cities and in front of Parliament. This Friday night, 500 police officers started singing the national anthem in protest during a football match for the Portuguese League:

More than 500 members of the Public Security Police (PSP) demonstrated today at the Portimão Municipal Stadium, singing the national anthem in the 25th minute of the Portimonense - Farense game, in the Portuguese First Football League.

[Mike88]

4.5 magnitude earthquake felt in the Azores this morning. Road was closed after a landslide blocked circulation:

https://twitter.com/LastQuake/status/1746449404096074098

An earthquake with magnitude 4.5 was felt on the islands of Terceira and São Jorge, early this Sunday morning, reported the Azores Seismovolcanic Information and Surveillance Center (CIVISA).

According to the CIVISA website, the earthquake occurred at 07:19 local time (08:19 in mainland Portugal) and had its epicenter approximately one kilometer north-northwest (NNW) of Serreta, Terceira island.

This event "is part of the ongoing seismovolcanic crisis on the island of Terceira since June 2022", the statement also reads.

The Regional Service of Civil Protection and Firefighters of the Azores told the Lusa agency that "shortly after the shock, a landslide was recorded on a regional road in the parish of Raminho, which blocked the road", with the regional directorate of public works on the ground to resolve the situation.
(...)

[Mike88]

Drought in the Algarve region: Restrictions on water consumption are expected to begin next month.

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1744347111804854306

Algarve is experiencing "the worst drought ever"

It is the worst drought on record and has been getting worse over time. The rains did little more than mask with green the marks of scarcity that took place at the Bravura Dam, in Lagos.

It is the main victim in the Algarve of a decade of below-average rainfall. It is at 8% of capacity and another year is approaching, the third in a row, unable to supply water to farmers.

In Silves, it is clear that the closing of taps is much more recent. It's three months old, but no hope falls from the sky that such a harvest could be repeated.

The Arade dam is at 15%. Two million cubic meters is all the water that 1,800 farmers currently have for a campaign that would require 12.
(...)

Lower water pressure in taps and fines for excessive consumption of water:

Algarve municipalities have decided to reduce network pressure to try to make water reserves last until the end of the year, but they are also preparing to raise tariffs and impose fines for those who spend more.

The new intermunicipal regulation, to be submitted to the regulatory entity by the end of the month, puts an end to second meters, intended for domestic irrigation and swimming pools. It also increases rates and even provides for fines for the biggest spenders, whether domestic or hotels.
(...)

[Mike88]

Alongside the general elections, there is another big electoral contest to happen in Portugal.

André Villas-Boas announces candidacy for the Presidency of FCPorto, challenging the 42 year-old rule of Pinto da Costa:

https://twitter.com/B24PT/status/1747725625203249406

André Villas-Boas is officially a candidate for the presidency of FC Porto: "The club lives clinging, out of gratitude, to a management without direction or nexus"

It was in a sold-out Archive Room in the Porto Alfândega, with 700 people watching, that André Villas-Boas finally presented a long-announced candidacy. Under the motto “A Porto for all/There is only one Porto”, the club's former coach drew the current portrait of the emblem, spoke of gratitude to Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa that cannot mean being held hostage, referred to the dragons' financial problems and spoke, in general terms, of some of the measures of his program, which will be detailed in the coming weeks.
(...)
Villas-Boas promised FC Porto's entry into both senior women's football and futsal and on a financial level he says there will be a cut in half in administration salaries, as well as financial caps on annual bonuses. He also announced that he will create the FC Porto Foundation and assured that, with him at the helm of the club's destiny, the association will be maintained and that the club is not for sale.

Pinto da Costa, 86 years old and FCPorto president since 1982, is expected to also announce his candidacy. At the same time, Villas-Boas Instagram page was taken down after several "complaints". In recent times, Villas-Boas house has also been vandalized, with some people even injured.

[Farmlands]

Portugal has registered nearly 3 thousand deaths above average in a month because of Influenza A.

We've also had by far the highest death count per capita in the EU over it, more than twice as high as 2nd place Denmark. Parents are going to a friend's funeral soon due to this, which happened after the peak period. A smoker, but otherwise healthy person in their 60s. Covid is endemic now, but the flu still can be fatal.

[Mike88]

Portugal has registered nearly 3 thousand deaths above average in a month because of Influenza A.

We've also had by far the highest death count per capita in the EU over it, more than twice as high as 2nd place Denmark. Parents are going to a friend's funeral soon due to this, which happened after the peak period. A smoker, but otherwise healthy person in their 60s. Covid is endemic now, but the flu still can be fatal.

So sorry to hear about that. My condolences to your parents.

Yeah, the flu season this year has been quite bad and to top all of that the chaos in emergency rooms didn't help at all. It was worse in the Lisbon area than in the rest of the country. Many say that the switch to pharmacies in giving flu shots is the main reason for the low rate of vaccination, but I think that's BS. From my experience, pharmacies are much better and faster in giving shots compared with health centers. My opinion is that many people actually have "shot fatigue".

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1748326968737857658

Portugal reached the highest excess mortality levels in Europe

In the space of a month, 2,800 more people died in Portugal than would have been expected, caused by the flu virus and overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms.

According to data from the Ricardo Jorge Institute, published this Thursday by the newspaper Expresso, between December 18 and January 14, an excess mortality rate of 28% was recorded.

According to the European mortality monitoring website (EuroMomo), both in the last week of December and the first two weeks of January, Portugal was the country in the European Union that recorded the highest levels of mortality.

The National Association of Public Health Doctors (ANSMP) considers that overcrowding in emergency rooms may have compromised effective care for people and contributed to high levels of mortality.
(...)

[Mike88]

Aximage poll for DN/JN newspapers and TSF radio on the Israeli-Hamas war:

Q1: Right now, Israel should...?

79% Stop and accept a cease-fire
10% Continue the war
11% Undecided

Q2: Which side of the conflict do you have more sympathy towards?

23% Israel
21% Palestine
24% Both
32% Undecided

Q3: Two-state solution?

74% Agree
12% Disagree
14% Undecided

Q4: One-state solution?

51% Disagree
30% Agree
19% Undecided

Poll conducted between 16 and 20 January 2024. Polled 801 voters. MoE of 3.50%.

[Mike88]

11-year-old student sodomized by 8 collegues, one of them his own brother. A school assistant was present and did nothing:

https://twitter.com/cnnportugal/status/1750893753932317063

CNN ALERT 11-year-old student sodomized by eight classmates at school in Bragança

An 11-year-old student was sodomized by eight classmates, aged between 13 and 16, inside a Vimioso school, Bragança district. The facts have already been communicated to the Judiciary Police and the Public Prosecutor.

The Vimioso Parish Council, chaired by José Manuel Alves Ventura, denounces "a climate of terror and concealment" that allegedly exists in the Vimioso School Group, reporting several cases of violence between students, between students and staff, and realizing that, on Friday, January 19, the "heinous episode of sodomization" occurred.

Several sources heard by Lusa confirm that the sodomization episode occurred at around 12:30 pm inside the educational establishment, "using a broom" and in the presence of at least one employee, who "did nothing" to stop the alleged attackers, information that also appears in the Vimioso Parish Council's presentation, which was also sent to the Regional Directorate of Education of the North (DREN).

According to these police and local sources, two of the attackers are 16 years old - already facing criminal charges - and the rest are between 13 and 15 years old, adding that, a week later, both the alleged attackers and the victim continue to frequent the same educational establishment.
(...)

What the hell?!?

[Mike88]

2023 GDP numbers: The economy “surges” in the last quarter of 2023, with a quarterly growth of 0.8% and 2.3% for the full year.

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1752285534951723190

Economy grows 2.3% in 2023 and escapes recession in the fourth quarter.

The Portuguese economy grew 2.3% in 2023, according to the quick estimate released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this Tuesday. This value is above estimates from the Ministry of Finance and institutions such as Banco de Portugal. In the fourth quarter of 2023, it avoided a recession by growing 0.8% quarter-on-quarter.

The outgoing Government predicted an economic growth of 2.2% in 2023, according to the projections included in the State Budget for 2024, while the Bank of Portugal pointed to 2.1%. The final result, according to still provisional data, was slightly higher — but continues to represent a slowdown compared to the 6.8% achieved in 2022.
(...)
In quarterly terms, after a contraction in the third quarter, the Portuguese economy grew 2.2% year-on-year and 0.8% quarter-on-quarter, having thus escaped a technical recession (defined by two consecutive quarters of contraction).
(...)

The numbers also show the Portuguese economy having the biggest growth in the EU at the end of 2023:

(...)
“Among the Member States for which data is available for the fourth quarter of 2023, Portugal (+0.8%) recorded the largest increase compared to the previous quarter, followed by Spain (+0.6%), Belgium and Latvia (both +0.4%)”, indicates the EU statistics office. Ireland, Germany and Lithuania saw economic contractions in the last quarter of 2023.

Portugal also has the best performance (among the available countries) in year-on-year terms: it grew 2.2% compared to the same period in 2022. Spain's GDP grew 2% and Belgium's 1.6%. In this metric, growth rates were positive for six countries and negative for five.
(...)

[Mike88]

Government in a frantic operation to reduce debt by % of GDP below 100% for 2023:

National Debt in GDP % falls to bellow 100% in 2023, 98.7%:

https://twitter.com/ECO_PT/status/1753013227921785057

Public debt below 100% of GDP one year ahead of schedule. It stood at 98.7% in 2023

As expected, after Fernando Medina's “special operation” at the end of last year, public debt fell below 100% of GDP in 2023, something that had not happened since 2009. The public debt ratio was fixed at 98.7% last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP) released this Thursday.

It was a goal reached a year earlier than predicted by the resigning Government in the State Budget for 2024, and the value of the debt was even below the projection for 2024, which was 98.9% of GDP.

“The weight of public debt in GDP reduced from 112.4% in 2022 to 98.7% in 2023“, indicates the Bank of Portugal, taking into account the estimate of the gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023 — these are values preliminaries that will later be confirmed when the GDP deflator is known. GDP will have grown 2.3% in 2023, according to the quick estimate from the National Statistics Institute (INE) published this week, above what was projected by the Government (2.2%).
(...)
The BdP also indicates monthly data, which reveal that in the month of December 2023, public debt from a Maastricht perspective decreased by 4.8 billion euros compared to the previous month, to 263.0 billion euros. “This decrease reflected a reduction in debt securities (-3.3 billion euros), especially long-term, deposit liabilities (-1.0 billion euros) and loans (-0.6 billion of euros)”, he notes.

This reduction in securities was part of the “special operation” carried out by the Minister of Finance at the end of last year, so that public debt would now fall below 100%. Part of this operation involved paying hospitals' debts to suppliers. Another part involved the repurchase of public debt from banks and insurance companies by the Portuguese Treasury, in what was understood as a “national purpose” by the bankers, who acceded to the Government's request and sold part of their securities portfolio in December.

[Mike88]

Police protests: Portuguese league match cancelled due to lack of police agents to ensure security. Clashes around the stadium injured 6 people.

The game between Famalicão and Sporting, scheduled for this Saturday, was canceled after its start was postponed by an hour, to 7:00 pm, due to a lack of police.

The mandatory number of PSP agents for the game to start was not gathered. From what SIC found, 15 agents are needed inside the stadium. Of these, 13 were medically discharged.

There is still no new date for the match and Sporting will return to Lisbon.

In a statement, the League explained that there were no safe conditions for the match to take place.
(...)
Around 6:00 p.m., emotions in the vicinity of the stadium flared up with the throwing of various objects, including glass bottles and chairs. A witness interviewed by SIC says that it was a group of 'casuals' from Sporting who started the clashes.
(...)
Quickly, a van from the PSP special unit stopped the clashes.

Six people were injured, including a Famalicão employee, a supporter liaison officer, after being kicked in the head.
(...)

[Mike88]

Alongside the general elections, there is another big electoral contest to happen in Portugal.

André Villas-Boas announces candidacy for the Presidency of FCPorto, challenging the 42 year-old rule of Pinto da Costa:

Pinto da Costa announces candidacy for a 16th term as FCPorto president, as many Porto supporters' group members were arrested for suspect of threatening and harassing other Porto fans.

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1754213207382663595

After discovering the suspicions contained in Operation Praetorian, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa appeared, at the Porto Coliseum, this Sunday, to confirm that he will be a candidate, once again, for the presidency of Futebol Clube do Porto.

After discovering the suspicions contained in Operation Praetorian, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa appeared at the Porto Coliseum, this Sunday, to confirm what he had predicted just over a week ago. He will be a candidate, for the 16th time, for president of the club, and he announced it with criticism of André Villas-Boas, memories of the 2568 titles he won and praise, in particular, for a supporter in the room: Manuel Pizarro, Minister of Health (and Sérgio Conceição was also there). He also guaranteed that the club will reveal “a positive balance of a few tens of millions of euros” in its accounts
(...)

Last week, several high profile members of Porto's main supporters' group, Super Dragões, were arrested for alleged threats and harassment to other Porto fans.

(...)On Wednesday, the PSP detained 12 people, including two employees of the 'dragons' and the leader of the Super Dragões, Fernando Madureira, as part of Operation Praetorian, which investigates the incidents that occurred at an extraordinary General Assembly (GA) of the club.

According to court documents, to which the Lusa agency had access, the Public Ministry maintains that the Super Dragões fans intended to "create a climate of intimidation and fear" at the FC Porto AG, on November 13, 2023, in which there were incidents , so that the statutory review could be approved, "in the interests of the current" 'blue and white' leadership.

The District Attorney General's Office of Porto announced that "crimes of harm to physical integrity in the context of a sporting spectacle or event related to the sporting phenomenon, coercion and aggravated threat, public instigation of a crime, throwing of objects or liquid products and also an attack on freedom of information".

[Mike88]

Shooting in Amora, Lisbon metro area, ends with one dead and 3 injured:

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1758812694763986966

Shooting in Amora leaves one dead and three injured, one in serious condition

One man died and three others were injured, one of them seriously, following gunshots in contempt, in the early hours of today, in Amora, in the municipality of Seixal (Setúbal), said a PSP source.

The police source told Lusa agency that the contempt, next to a bar, occurred at around 4:00 am.

Three men were "transported by their own means" to Garcia de Orta Hospital, in Almada, with the death of one of them, aged 40, being declared dead in that hospital unit, said the same source.

One of the other two, aged 22, was considered seriously injured, and the other, aged 21, was injured slightly, according to police.

Another man, who was shot and considered slightly injured, was taken to Barreiro Hospital, they added.

The PSP went to the scene of the incident, but did not identify any suspects.

The Setúbal Judicial Police were called to the scene and are investigating the case, according to the Public Security Police (PSP) source.

The PSP reinforced policing at the Garcia de Orta and Barreiro hospitals, to try to identify any witnesses to the disorder.

[Estrella]

Kind of off topic, but were there ever any plans to merge PSP, GNR and PJ? It seems kind of pointless to have three different police agencies under different management doing things that could be done by just one (or multiple ones divided by, say, districts rather than cities and countryside), especially when Portugal is not a federal country and the whole militarized rural gendarmerie thing doesn't really have a reason to exist in the 21st century.

[Mike88]

Kind of off topic, but were there ever any plans to merge PSP, GNR and PJ? It seems kind of pointless to have three different police agencies under different management doing things that could be done by just one (or multiple ones divided by, say, districts rather than cities and countryside), especially when Portugal is not a federal country and the whole militarized rural gendarmerie thing doesn't really have a reason to exist in the 21st century.

Not off topic at all, as the current police protests show. A merge of PSP, the security police, and GNR, the national guards, is discussed and proposed from time to time, but it always "crashes" on the mess that is the Portuguese State organization. Police and Guards unions are open to a merge, but the main parties run away from the idea. And in fact, if you look how the extinction of SEF, the former border control agency, and the creation of a new one, was managed, one may think that it's better to maintain things how they are.

Plus, there's another reason why a merge could be complicated: There are deep rivalries between PSP/GNR and PJ, with both sides being very defensive regarding their respective causes. The recent police protests erupted because of the "double standards" of the Government, by benefiting PJ and forgetting GNR/PSP.

[Mike88]

Shooting at a Lisbon suburb neighborhood leaves two injured, one of them a child in critical state:

https://twitter.com/Lusa_noticias/status/1759232999592239501

Child shot in Setúbal hospitalized in critical condition

A 7-year-old child was shot in the head this Sunday in the Bela Vista neighborhood, in Setúbal. The minor was initially transported to São Bernardo Hospital in critical condition and later transferred to Santa Maria Hospital, in Lisbon.

The PSP intervention team is in Bela Vista this afternoon and for the second time this Sunday, to guarantee the safety of the area.

The child's grandmother, aged between 40 and 50, was also hit and suffered minor injuries.

It all happened around 12:30, when a man driving in a vehicle fired a shotgun and hit a woman and a boy.

The investigation into the circumstances under which this incident occurred is underway. The situation near Bela Vista Police Station is calm, as is the neighborhood.
(...)

[Mike88]

Pro-Palestinian activists vandalize the Foreign Affairs ministry government building:

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1759528201364058295

The phrase "Israel kills, Portugal supports" was painted on the gate of the government building. Pro-Palestinian activists accuse the Government of supporting a "colonial project based on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people".

Activists in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance broke several windows at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Lisbon, this morning and painted the phrase “Israel kills, Portugal supports” on the building's gate, confirmed the PSP.

In a note sent to Lusa, a group of activists in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and with the Collective for the Liberation of Palestine, Climáximo and the Lisbon Student Climate Strike denounced what they consider to be the “support of the Portuguese government and, particularly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to a colonial project that, for more than 75 years, has been based on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”.

“In the last four months, this support has become even clearer”, considers the group, remembering that, since October 7, 2023 – the time of the surprise attack by the Islamist movement Hamas against southern Israel -, minister João Cravinho “was quick to show their solidarity with the Zionist regime.”

“On several occasions, he defended Israel’s right to ‘defend itself’, [Portugal’s] duty of solidarity with Israel’ and highlighted ‘the friendship between Portugal and Israel’”, he highlights.

In the note, members of this group report the phrase painted on the gate of the MNE building, as well as having broken glass windows, information confirmed by the PSP and the GNR, which guards the building.

Speaking to Lusa, a GNR source confirmed that at 03:00 the officers who were inside the building realized that glass had been broken and a phrase painted on the gate, recalling that no one was detained.
(...)

[Mike88]

World's longest living dog registered in Leiria, Portugal:

World's oldest dog died this Sunday at the age of 31 in Leiria district. RIP Buddy.

Guinness World Records removes the titile of "world's oldest dog" to Portuguese dog who did last year:

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1760643998925087163

Guinness withdraws title of oldest dog in the world from Bobi

This Thursday, the Portuguese Bobi lost the title of oldest dog in the world, after Guinness World Records reported that there is no evidence to confirm the age of the Alentejo mutt, who died in October 2023.

Bobi received the title when he was 30 years and 268 days old. However, doubts arose as to whether he was actually the oldest dog in the world or not.

Although his birth, on May 11, 1992, was apparently confirmed by the Portuguese Government's pet database and the National Veterinary Union, the international veterinary community raised some doubts about the animal's longevity, which prompted Guinness World Records to investigate Bobi's past.

Now, Mark McKinley, director of Guinness World Records, says there is “no conclusive proof of Bobi’s date of birth.”
(...)

[Mike88]

When you call a ridesharing company and they do this:

https://twitter.com/BilbiaOfissial/status/1760698783954768027

TVDE always has a shortcut up its sleeve

A TVDE vehicle descended the Escadinhas de Liberdade, next to the Águas Livres aqueduct, in Lisbon. The accident happened this Thursday and no injuries were reported, but the car was damaged.

According to residents of the area, the driver was traveling along the street perpendicular to the stairs, when, without explanation, he turned towards the steps.

The vehicle went down several flights of stairs, ending up getting stuck between the steps and the facade of a building.

[Mike88]

Final economic numbers from 2023:

https://twitter.com/Lusa_noticias/status/1763162570251239501

INE confirms that the economy grew 2.3% in 2023 and avoided recession in the 4th quarter

(...)
"Domestic demand made a positive contribution to the annual variation in GDP, although lower than that observed in the previous year, with a slowdown in private consumption and investment. The contribution of net external demand was also positive in 2023, but less intense than in the previous year, with exports and imports of goods and services in volume slowing down significantly", can be read in the INE report.

In nominal terms, reveals INE, GDP increased by 9.7% in 2023, reaching around 266 billion euros.
(...)

Overall 2023 numbers:

GDP growth: 2.3%
GDP: 265,7 billion euros
GDP per capita: 25,388 euros
Unemployment: 6.5%
Debt: 263,0 billion euros
Debt %: 99.0%
Deficit/Surplus: +1.7%*
Inflation: 4.3%

*Provisional data.