Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates arrives at the court to hear the rule if he will stand trial over corruption charges, in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro NunesRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLISBON, April 9 (Reuters) - More than six years after his arrest in a major corruption investigation, Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates will stand trial, but only on lesser charges of money laundering and falsifying documents, a judge in Lisbon ruled on Friday.In a decision that sent shockwaves through the country, Judge Ivo Rosa of...…Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates arrives at the court to hear the rule if he will stand trial over corruption charges, in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro NunesRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLISBON, April 9 (Reuters) - More than six years after his arrest in a major corruption investigation, Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates will stand trial, but only on lesser charges of money laundering and falsifying documents, a judge in Lisbon ruled on Friday.In a decision that sent shockwaves through the country, Judge Ivo Rosa of...WW…

By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, setting the country up to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life.“With this vote, parliament added dignity to our democracy,” Left Bloc lawmaker Jose Manuel Pureza said, calling the approval by 136-78 votes with four abstentions a “democratic answer to fundamentalism and fear”.The law legalises the practice in certain cases and under strict rules.People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are...…By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, setting the country up to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life.“With this vote, parliament added dignity to our democracy,” Left Bloc lawmaker Jose Manuel Pureza said, calling the approval by 136-78 votes with four abstentions a “democratic answer to fundamentalism and fear”.The law legalises the practice in certain cases and under strict rules.People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are...WW…

By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, setting the country up to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life.“With this vote, parliament added dignity to our democracy,” Left Bloc lawmaker Jose Manuel Pureza said, calling the approval by 136-78 votes with four abstentions a “democratic answer to fundamentalism and fear”.The law legalises the practice in certain cases and under strict rules.People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are...…By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, setting the country up to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life.“With this vote, parliament added dignity to our democracy,” Left Bloc lawmaker Jose Manuel Pureza said, calling the approval by 136-78 votes with four abstentions a “democratic answer to fundamentalism and fear”.The law legalises the practice in certain cases and under strict rules.People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are...WW…

By , LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal is running out of hospital beds across the public and private sectors, the head of its private hospital association said, after a record surge in COVID-19 cases.Slideshow The country of 10 million people, which fared better than others in the first wave of the pandemic, now has the world’s highest seven-day rolling average of new cases.“We are experiencing a war-like situation. We don’t have enough beds - in the national health service, private or social sector - to deal with a pandemic progression of 13,000 to 14,000 new cases a day,” Dr Oscar Gaspar...…By , LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal is running out of hospital beds across the public and private sectors, the head of its private hospital association said, after a record surge in COVID-19 cases.Slideshow The country of 10 million people, which fared better than others in the first wave of the pandemic, now has the world’s highest seven-day rolling average of new cases.“We are experiencing a war-like situation. We don’t have enough beds - in the national health service, private or social sector - to deal with a pandemic progression of 13,000 to 14,000 new cases a day,” Dr Oscar Gaspar...WW…

By , LISBON (Reuters) - The more contagious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain is spreading rapidly across Portugal, pressuring the health service at a time when authorities are scrambling to tackle the country’s worst outbreak since the pandemic’s start.Slideshow Around 20% of new COVID-19 cases being reported are of the more transmissible variant, Health Minister Marta Temido told broadcaster RTP late on Wednesday, warning that number could reach 60% as early as next week.Portugal’s daily COVID-19 cases rose 40% on Wednesday from the day before to a record 14,647, with the...…By , LISBON (Reuters) - The more contagious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain is spreading rapidly across Portugal, pressuring the health service at a time when authorities are scrambling to tackle the country’s worst outbreak since the pandemic’s start.Slideshow Around 20% of new COVID-19 cases being reported are of the more transmissible variant, Health Minister Marta Temido told broadcaster RTP late on Wednesday, warning that number could reach 60% as early as next week.Portugal’s daily COVID-19 cases rose 40% on Wednesday from the day before to a record 14,647, with the...WW…

By LISBON (Reuters) - An overnight curfew from 11 p.m. will come into force in Portugal on New Year’s Eve, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Thursday, as the government introduces measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus during the usually busy night.“We have to totally cut out on New Year celebrations,” Costa told reporters after a video meeting with ministers, adding that people would not be allowed to leave their homes between 1 p.m. and 5 a.m. from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3.Two weeks ago, Costa had said people would be able to return home before a 2 a.m. curfew on New Year’s Eve. But...…By LISBON (Reuters) - An overnight curfew from 11 p.m. will come into force in Portugal on New Year’s Eve, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Thursday, as the government introduces measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus during the usually busy night.“We have to totally cut out on New Year celebrations,” Costa told reporters after a video meeting with ministers, adding that people would not be allowed to leave their homes between 1 p.m. and 5 a.m. from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3.Two weeks ago, Costa had said people would be able to return home before a 2 a.m. curfew on New Year’s Eve. But...WW…

By LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese leaders have criticised U.S. ambassador George Glass after he said they must choose between the United States and China or risk the consequences.Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told reporters on Monday: “In Portugal it is the representatives chosen by the Portuguese and they alone who decide on their destiny, respecting the constitution and the rights it gives them.”Glass told the newspaper Expresso at the weekend that Portugal had to pick between its American “friends and allies” and its “economic partner” China. He described the country as a...…By LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese leaders have criticised U.S. ambassador George Glass after he said they must choose between the United States and China or risk the consequences.Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told reporters on Monday: “In Portugal it is the representatives chosen by the Portuguese and they alone who decide on their destiny, respecting the constitution and the rights it gives them.”Glass told the newspaper Expresso at the weekend that Portugal had to pick between its American “friends and allies” and its “economic partner” China. He described the country as a...WW…

By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal will go on high alert as more than 850 firefighters struggle to put out a fire sweeping across part of the country’s central region on Sunday, with strong winds and high temperatures complicating efforts to tackle the blaze.The wildfire has been raging in the municipality of Oleiros since Saturday afternoon but it has spread to two neighbouring municipalities and has already forced the precautionary evacuation of a number of people.A 21-year-old firefighter died in a road accident on Saturday evening while fighting the fire, and seven others were injured,...…By LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal will go on high alert as more than 850 firefighters struggle to put out a fire sweeping across part of the country’s central region on Sunday, with strong winds and high temperatures complicating efforts to tackle the blaze.The wildfire has been raging in the municipality of Oleiros since Saturday afternoon but it has spread to two neighbouring municipalities and has already forced the precautionary evacuation of a number of people.A 21-year-old firefighter died in a road accident on Saturday evening while fighting the fire, and seven others were injured,...WW…

By , LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s tourism sector reacted with fury and disbelief at Britain’s decision to maintain a quarantine regime for travellers coming from Portugal despite having a higher number of coronavirus cases and deaths.Slideshow Portugal was left off a list of more than 50 countries that Britain considers safe enough for travel without coronavirus-related restrictions, meaning holidaymakers returning from Portugal would have to quarantine for 14 days.That will be a major deterrent for British tourists, who accounted for 2.1 million of Portugal’s foreign visitors last year,...…By , LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s tourism sector reacted with fury and disbelief at Britain’s decision to maintain a quarantine regime for travellers coming from Portugal despite having a higher number of coronavirus cases and deaths.Slideshow Portugal was left off a list of more than 50 countries that Britain considers safe enough for travel without coronavirus-related restrictions, meaning holidaymakers returning from Portugal would have to quarantine for 14 days.That will be a major deterrent for British tourists, who accounted for 2.1 million of Portugal’s foreign visitors last year,...WW…