Humanoid called Digit fuelled boosterism at Web Summit, but also raised concerns about jobs, safety and climate
This year’s Web Summit, in Lisbon, was all about artificial intelligence – and a robot sorting laundry.
Digit, a humanoid built by the US firm Agility Robotics, demonstrated how far AI has come in a few years by responding to voice commands – filtered through Google’s Gemini AI model – to sift through a pile of coloured T-shirts and place them in a basket.
Continue reading...Complaint filed against André Ventura and two Chega colleagues for statements about fatal shooting of black man
Former politicians, musicians and lawyers from across Portugal have filed a criminal complaint against the leader of the far-right Chega party over “false or biased” statements made after a fatal police shooting of a black man.
For the past week, Portugal has been reeling from the death of Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef originally from Cape Verde. An official police statement initially said Moniz had fled, crashed a car and brandished a knife before an officer opened fire.
Continue reading...Nova university programme criticised for only having white instructors and for some of its content, such as session on ‘does racism really exist?’
A top university in Lisbon has suspended plans to launch a postgraduate programme on racism and xenophobia after the course was criticised for hiring only white instructors.
The programme, offered by the faculty of law at Nova University in tandem with the government-backed Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia, was also condemned for some of its content, such as a session entitled: “Does racism really exist?”
Continue reading...Measure designed to stem brain drain is pulled from budget at last minute amid conflict between coalition partners
Portugal has paused plans intended to stem the country’s brain drain by offering young people a decade of progressive tax breaks that would have seen them paying nothing at all in their first year of work.
The proposal, advanced by the centre-right minority government of Luís Montenegro, had been one of the most eye-catching schemes in Portugal’s 2025 budget.
Continue reading...Residents of Albergaria-a-Velha tell of the fear and losses brought by a blaze that evoked memories of 2017 disaster
The fires are out in Albergaria-a-Velha now, their embers washed away by the heavy rain. But their reek still carries on the damp air, rising from the sooty earth, the scorched tree trunks, the burnt-out cars and houses, and the puddles of black and acrid water.
If the numbers offer a glimpse of the toll that last week’s wildfires took on this northern Portuguese municipality – four people dead, at least seven injured, 25,269 hectares burned and 81 homes damaged – they cannot convey the sense of fear and loss that the 26-metre-high flames brought with them.
Continue reading...One dead and several missing as ‘life-threatening situation’ declared in earthquake-hit Ishikawa prefecture
Heavy rain caused extensive flooding in central Japan over the weekend, with at least one person reported dead and several more unaccounted for.
Officials said “unprecedented” rainfall generated floods and landslides in Ishikawa prefecture, where a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day killed more than 200 people. The Japan meteorological agency issued its highest-level warning for Ishikawa, advising of a “life-threatening situation”.
Continue reading...More than 50 people injured as 54 fires burn across country amid hot, dry and windy weather
Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in wildfires ravaging central and northern Portugal, authorities have said, after three firefighters died on Tuesday when their vehicle was trapped in flames.
Portugal’s civil protection service said 54 wildfires were burning nationwide, mainly in the north, with 5,300 firefighters mobilised. France, Greece, Italy and Spain sent eight water-bombing planes through the EU’s mutual assistance mechanism.
Continue reading...Public warned not to approach men believed to have escaped high-security facility with help from outside
A British inmate is among five prisoners on the run after breaking out of a high-security prison in Portugal, local authorities have said.
The man, named locally as Mark Roscaleer, and his fellow fugitives were said to have escaped from the Vale de Judeus facility on Saturday with help from people on the outside. He is serving a nine-year prison sentence for kidnap and robbery, according to Portuguese media.
Continue reading...One person still missing after aircraft that was returning from a firefighting mission crashed into river
Portugal has declared a day of mourning after a firefighting helicopter crashed in the Douro River leaving at least four dead and one missing.
The pilot survived the accident, which happened in Lamego a little after 12.30pm on Friday afternoon while the helicopter was returning from fighting a fire near Baião, just inland from the city of Porto.
Continue reading...José Maria Neves says governments should still try to have such conversations and build solutions using diplomatic corridors
Cape Verde’s president, José Maria Neves, said the rise of rightwing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate about colonial reparations but argued that should not stop governments from having those conversations behind closed doors.
In an interview with the news site Brasil Já, published on Wednesday, Neves said debating reparations in the “public arena” could lead to more political polarisation in countries such as Cape Verde’s former coloniser, Portugal, where the far right is on the rise.
Continue reading...Hazel Behan, who says main suspect in Madeleine McCann case raped her in Portugal in 2004, tells court she will never forget his eyes
A woman who alleges she was raped at knifepoint by the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has told a court she would never forget the eyes of her attacker, which “bored into my skull”.
Giving evidence in the trial of Christian Brückner, who stands accused of five sexual assaults in Portugal of women aged between 10 and 80 between 2000 and 2017, Hazel Behan, 40, who was raped in June 2004, told the court: “I believe that this man was my attacker.”
Continue reading...Main suspect in Madeleine McCann case in court in Germany charged with three rapes and two indecent assaults
A woman who was raped at knifepoint by a masked man in Portugal 20 years ago has told a German court how the trauma of the ordeal had left her suffering from frequent panic attacks.
Hazel Behan, 40, broke down as she recalled how a man dressed in black had entered her apartment in the resort of Praia da Rocha in the Algarve at 3am on 16 June 2004. She told how he stood over her bed and woke her by calling her name before proceeding to rape her repeatedly over several hours.
Continue reading...Unaffordable rents and property prices risk becoming a key political battleground across the continent
Spiralling rents and sky-high property prices risk becoming a key battleground of European politics as far-right and populist parties start to exploit growing public anger over the continent’s housing crisis, experts have said.
Weeks before European parliament elections in which far-right parties are forecast to finish first in nine EU member states and second or third in another nine, housing has the potential to become as potent a driver of far-right support as immigration.
Continue reading...President advocated ‘paying the costs’ of colonial-era crimes but government says focus is on deepening international cooperation
The Portuguese government has dismissed suggestions from the country’s president that it should “pay the costs” for slavery and other colonial-era crimes, saying it has no plans for reparations and will instead focus on deepening international cooperation “based on the reconciliation of brotherly peoples”.
Campaigners have long appealed to Portugal to address its legacy as the European country with the longest historical involvement in the slave trade. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, nearly 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic on Portuguese vessels.
Continue reading...Critics of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa say behind remarks is lack of national recognition that slavery should be discussed in schools
Portugal needs to “pay the costs” of slavery and other colonial-era crimes, the country’s president has said, in a rare instance of a European leader seemingly backing the need for reparations.
Portugal has long grappled with calls by campaigners to address its legacy as the European country with the longest historical involvement in the slave trade. During the span of four centuries, nearly 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels.
Continue reading...Environmentalists fear focus on economy may undermine country’s climate transition – one of most radical in Europe
Portugal has been among Europe’s more ambitious countries in terms of climate action, but the rise of the far right in recent elections could threaten the positive steps the country has taken.
At the end of 2023, Portugal broke records as it went for six consecutive days relying solely on renewable energy. But national elections in March this year marked a significant shift in the political landscape, with the far-right party Chega (Enough) making a major breakthrough. Having more than quadrupled its number of MPs from 12 to 50, Chega holds considerable sway in the 230-seat parliament, where it could influence legislation.
Continue reading...Heavy rainfall brings landslides to country’s south-east. Elsewhere, a wild temperature fluctuation in Iberia
Brazil was hit by devastating floods over the weekend that have so far claimed 20 lives in the resultant landslides and mudslides. There was heavy rainfall in parts of the south-east, including Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis and the larger Espírito Santo region, with hourly rainfall totals of about 20mm recorded in places. Cumulative totals from Friday through Sunday were close to 250mm, particularly along the coast: this is far higher than the monthly average.
Landslides and mudslides occurred across the region, and a number of houses collapsed. Rescue operations are under way to look for people who may have been stranded by the floods. Although there may still be a few showers over the following days, the worst of the rain has now passed.
Continue reading...Luís Montenegro must now try to form government but has vowed not to do any deal with far-right Chega party
Portugal’s new prime minister, Luís Montenegro, has promised stable government after the country’s president invited him to try to form a minority administration that could face a rough ride in a hung parliament.
Montenegro, 51, was named prime minister early on Thursday after a long-awaited count of overseas votes confirmed a narrow victory in 10 March elections for his centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD).
Continue reading...Diogo Santos Coelho from Portugal faces a 52-year sentence for alleged cybercrime relating to RaidForums site
A vulnerable autistic man is pleading with the UK government to block his extradition to the US on cybercrime charges where he faces a 52-year sentence for alleged offending that began when he was a child.
Diogo Santos Coelho, who has been assessed as at very high risk of suicide, said he had been groomed and exploited online by adults from the age of 14 into committing the alleged crimes, which relate to the website RaidForums.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Democratic Alliance leader Luis Montenegro says it will not rely on Chega party to govern
The leader of Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance, Luis Montenegro, has claimed victory after a closely contested parliamentary election that saw the far-right surge.
With almost 99% of Sunday’s votes counted, the Democratic Alliance – an electoral platform made up of the large Social Democratic party (PSD) and two smaller conservative parties – and the Socialist party (PS) were each on 28.67%.
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