Heavy backpack
A routine GNR ‘traffic stop’ focused on ‘goods in circulation’ has discovered two Chinese men transporting a backpack in their vehicle containing €300,000 in cash. As neither man (a father and son, living in the north of Portugal for several years) could justify the provenance of the money, nor where it was being taken, it was confiscated. The duo is now facing charges of fiscal fraud and money-laundering.
Political target
The home of Vasco Costa, a candidate for AD in Custoias (Matosinhos) in the October municipal elections was the target of a shooting on Monday. One bullet went through the double-glazed dining room window. Costa was at home when he says he was ‘surprised by a loud bang’, and then realised what had happened. He has subsequently stressed “the atmosphere in Matosinhos is anything but democratic”. PSP police are investigating.
Criminal haven
Portugal is not just a haven for wealthy foreigners fleeing their birth countries for sundry reasons, it is attracting foreign criminals too. People’s tabloid Correio da Manhã reports that in the last 18 months no less than 827 criminals, the majority of them foreign nationals, have been either arrested here or extradited to their home countries. In the main they are suspected of crimes like murder, rape and drug trafficking.
Bull baiting
The summer tradition of bull-baiting events during ‘festas populares’ has left a 17-year-old boy seriously injured and in intensive care in Lisbon. According to reports, the youth was ‘challenging the bull with an umbrella’ when he was gored. He suffered a perforated lung and serious injuries to his head and legs. The incident took place in Samora Correia last Sunday, during the traditional ‘running of the bulls’ through the town.
Health incentives
The Platform of Young Professionals in health (including doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, physiotherapists and nutritionists) has delivered a proposal to the minister of health, Ana Paula Martins, designed at stopping the ‘brain drain’ abroad. It suggests a 40% increase in salaries for young health professionals placed in locations within Portugal’s interior – the area currently suffering devastating wildfires. ‘Viver e Trabalhar no Interior’ proposes that incentives run for five years.
CO2 emissions
It may be something Brussels is ignoring in its focus on reducing CO2 emissions, but a study, published in specialist magazine ‘Applied Geochemistry’, reports that the Azores’ Fogo volcano on São Miguel island, emits around 232 tons of CO2 every day, even though it ‘lies dormant’. The emissions are on a scale of some volcanoes in eruption, admits the study, assuring that the emissions pose no danger to public health “because the gas dilutes in the atmosphere”.
