Two-party alliance led by the Social Democratic party was in power for less than a year
Portugal’s minority government has lost a vote of confidence in parliament, forcing its resignation and bringing the EU country’s third general election in three years.
The exact vote count wasn’t immediately available, but the speaker of parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, said the centre-right government was defeated.
Continue reading...MPs prepare to debate a motion of confidence that looks likely to topple centre-right government
Portugal is bracing for its third snap general election in as many years as MPs prepare to debate a motion of confidence that looks set to topple the centre-right government and trigger a return to the polls in May.
Luís Montenegro, the prime minister, who heads the Democratic Alliance (AD) platform that has governed Portugal since its narrow victory in last year’s election, called the vote of confidence, which is due to take place on Tuesday, in response to growing questions over his family’s business activities.
Continue reading...Miguel Arruda charged with theft after allegedly removing baggage from carousel and taking it home, reports say
A far-right politician in Portugal has been accused of stealing suitcases at several airports and kicked out of his political party as a result, the party has said.
According to several news outlets, police questioned Miguel Arruda on Tuesday at Lisbon airport and charged him with luggage theft after some of the missing suitcases were allegedly found at his home.
Continue reading...Airline seeking €15,000 in damages over ‘inexcusable’ behaviour it says forced plane to divert to Portugal
Ryanair is suing a passenger it claims disrupted a flight between Dublin and Lanzarote, seeking €15,000 (£12,500) in damages to cover expenses incurred when the plane was diverted to Portugal.
The airline said on Wednesday it had filed proceedings in Dublin’s circuit court against the passenger, whose behaviour on the flight last April it described as “inexcusable” and “completely unacceptable.”
Continue reading...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.
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