Humanitarian flotilla
Portuguese figures Mariana Mortágua (Bloco de Esquerda MP), Miguel Duarte (activist) and Sofia Aparício (actress) will be joining a ‘humanitarian flotilla’ setting sail for Gaza this week, in a bid to deliver aid to the population and ‘break the Israeli siege’. This will be one of a number of flotilla attempts by activists to ‘reach Gaza’. None have been successful so far. This particular flotilla hopes to reach Gaza mid-September.
‘Unspeakable attack’
The Portuguese government has joined governments throughout the civilised world in condemning the ‘unspeakable’ Israeli ‘double tap’ attack on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza which claimed the lives this week of at least 20 health professionals, civilians and journalists. Writing over ‘X’, the ministry of foreign affairs insists a ceasefire “a basic humanitarian imperative, cannot be delayed any longer”. Israel’s prime minister has called the incident “a tragic mishap”.
University crisis
The soaring cost of accommodation is one crucial factor that is behind the plummeting numbers of students applying for Portuguese universities. Others include the country’s falling birthrate and ‘distrust that a university education acts as an effective social elevator’. Academic federations are calling on the government to study the situation and adopt measures to reverse it. According to tabloid Correio da Manhã, “for now the education ministry remains silent”.
Working pensioners
The number of Portuguese citizens aged 70 and above who remain working has doubled in the last 10 years, according to new data released by Social Security. Reasons for this have been given as “better conditions of health” and “necessity” – the latter almost certainly being the driving reason for almost 29,000 salaried workers well past pension age still being at their posts at the end of last year.
Socialist pilgrimage
Still not convincing the bulk of the Socialist electorate that he is the right man to be leading them back to ‘glory’ (meaning power), PS leader José Luís Carneiro has started a ‘pilgrimage’ along the country’s longest road, the EN2 – his intention being to ‘listen to the country’ and create territorial development contracts that enable ‘the enhancement of territorial resources’ and ‘the removal of obstacles and asymmetries to development’ (More on this to come…)
Hotel school
Portugal’s government wants to strengthen cooperation with Mozambique in tourism by finally moving forwards with the Hotel School project that has been mooted for decades, without seeing any progress. In Maputo earlier this week, secretary of state for tourism Pedro Machado stressed that Portugal is the only European country with a network of public tourism schools, and he is “absolutely sure” national entrepreneurs would be willing to participate in such a venture.
Electric doubts
Consumer watchdog DECO has cast doubts on the government’s E-Lar programme, designed to lure people away from their gas appliances to ‘purchase electric’. The reason is that the programme will only allow ‘selected suppliers’ – leaving citizens with no freedom to ‘shop around’ for the best prices. DECO believes a better solution would be to assist citizens in insulating their homes, explaining that E-Lar would effectively add to people’s household bills.
Water-bombers
Foreign aircraft operating in Portugal to fight forest fires under the European Civil Protection Mechanism are to remain in this country until Friday. Acording to national emergency and civil protection authority ANEPC, the two medium-sized Fire Boss aeroplanes from Sweden and the two heavy-duty Greek Canadair planes are expected to return to their countries of origin on Saturday (August 30). The French Super Puma helicopter has already returned to its homebase. With today seeing no active wildfires on national territory, an urgent debate on the last few weeks of firefighting will take place in parliament tomorrow.
