Lisbon Zoo presents its latest arrival…
With a lot of the country already on the move for Christmas, news ‘doesn’t stop’ (albeit it does seem to repeat itself every year):
Drink drivers persist
No matter how awful the tragedies/ how loud the warnings, Portugal’s drink-drivers continue to bet on the fact that they ‘might not get caught’. Almost 80 of them, every day, however, ARE caught as PSP and GNR police are out in force for the annual ‘Christmas’ road safety campaign. Figures for (only) the last four days on the country’s main roads show that an average of 76 drivers have been arrested every day for excessive blood alcohol levels. Said a statement by the GNR today: “Of the 5,073 traffic offences detected (since December 18), the following stand out: 696 for speeding; 144 for drink-driving; 122 for failure to use or incorrect use of seat belts and/or child restraint systems; 125 for improper use of a mobile phone while driving; 691 for failure to undergo mandatory periodic inspection; 219 for lack of mandatory civil liability insurance.”
At the same time the GNR registered 927 traffic accidents, resulting in three fatalities, 16 serious injuries and 232 minor injuries.
The balance of PSP police (active in urban areas) involved 295 arrests – 158 of which were “for traffic offences, namely 122 for drink-driving and 36 for lack of a legal driving licence”.
The urban police force also recorded, “678 road accidents, resulting in 227 injuries (12 serious and 215 minor) and, sadly, one fatality”.
Missing Brazilian found dead
The ‘missing Brazilian nanny’ reported last week has very sadly been discovered dead. The mystery appears to involve a ‘warring couple’ of employers, the female partner of which decided to confront Lucinete Freitas on an area of scrubland in Amadora, and bludgeon her to death with a rock. PJ police apparently ‘always suspected’ Ms Freitas fell foul of someone in her close circle, and thus kept the pressure up on her employers. The female suspect is currently being held in preventive custody on suspicion of qualified murder and profaning a corpse.
Baby chimp ready to be seen at Lisbon Zoo
Lisbon Zoo has a new arrival to ring in the festive season: a baby chimp, born just over three weeks ago – to a mother (and grandmother) who were also born at the zoo. The little creature is still so attached to mother Gabi that staff are not yet sure of its gender. As a result, there is not yet a name – but visitors may be delighted to spy the little face among its elders. The zoo certainly is thrilled with the event, stressing chimpanzees’ endangered classification in the wild due to illegal hunting for ‘bushmeat’ and the destruction of their natural habitats.
CHEGA ordered to remove its ‘anti-gypsy posters’
Portugal’s far-right party CHEGA has been ordered to remove all posters referring to the gypsy community as part of leader André Ventura’s presidential campaign. According to a ruling by Lisbon’s civil court, the “Gypsies must obey the Law” posters should be removed within the next 24-hours or CHEGA will incur a fine of up to €2,500-plus per day. Judge Ana Barão has also ordered André Ventura to refrain, in future, from determining or promoting, directly or indirectly, the display of posters with identical or equivalent content.
Reading between the lines, the ruling would suggest that the “This is not Bangladesh” posters have not been deemed the affront to the Bangladeshi community that critics initially complained that they were.
Socialists send CHEGA ‘dossier of 100 lies’
In no mood to exchange Christmas cards with CHEGA, PS Socialists have instead sent the party a ‘dossier of 100 lies’: more than 100 ‘verified lies, inaccuracies and manipulations’ disseminated in recent months that the party feels have worn away at everything that is acceptable in a democracy. In the missive sent to CHEGA, Socialist parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias stresses: “I consider this way of doing politics to be unacceptable – relying on lies and misinformation to spread ideas and proposals that are often extremist, xenophobic and incite hatred”.
According to Brilhante Dias, the PS will continue “to present the proposals it considers to be the best for the lives of the Portuguese people” and will promote “values such as freedom, equality and progress”.
“We must stop the lies for the sake of improving the living conditions of the Portuguese people and the health of democracy,” he adds.
Two bodies of fishermen lost in Caminha shipwreck wash up on nearby beaches
The bodies of two of the three Indonesian fishermen lost in a shipwreck off Caminha earlier this month have finally washed up on local beaches. The first was found early yesterday morning, at Praia do Moledo – still in the municipality of Caminha; the second, an hour or so later in Praia dos Salmões, in the borough of Viana do Castelo.
‘Knives out’ for minister
Minister for Interior Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, is getting it in the neck today via tabloid Correio da Manhã which has carried a couple of texts on the ‘chaos at the airports’ and the ‘inconstitutionality of the law (proposed) allowing PJ police access to people’s ‘metadata’ (internet traffic). The ‘chaos at the airports’ is blamed squarely on Ms Amaral by Armando Ferreira, president of police union SINAPOL – due to the government’s stunning lack of forward-planning in spite of the knowledge that a new EU entry/ exit system had to be implemented – while the metadata issue is laid at her door because “she was one of the voices that called for the law to be considered unconstitutional”. CM explains that due to national investigators’ lack of access to suspects’ metadata, serious criminals and pedophiles are able to wriggle off the hook. The paper adds that the arrest recently of a high-profile lawyer for pedophilia was only possible due to the access to his metadata that the FBI had (and was therefore able to tip PJ police off with ‘solid evidence’).
It is difficult to make predictions for 2026, but the possibility that Ms Amaral will stand down/ be replaced does seem to be amplifying.
