Portugal

27 January 2020; AFP: Lawyers for a Portuguese computer hacker said on Monday he was responsible for revealing the dealings of Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, a corruption scandal with fallout across Europe and Africa.

LISBON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An Angolan court has ordered assets of Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the country’s former leader, to be frozen in the highest-profile move of an anti-corruption drive launched by President Joao Lourenço.

Since ending ex-President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ nearly 40-year grip on power in 2017, Lourenço has been trying to reduce the influence of the former first family, recover lost assets and privatize state firms.

LISBON (Reuters) - A storm sweeping across Spain and Portugal has killed at least five people, damaged buildings, cut power lines and forced authorities to shut roads hit by flooding and fallen trees, officials said on Friday.

Storm Elsa hit the Iberian Peninsula on Wednesday and increased in intensity on Thursday afternoon, packing high winds and heavy rain. Authorities said it was being tracked by a second storm, Fabien.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has the “full right” to annex the Jordan Valley if it chose to, even as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned the country against taking the bold step.

Netanyahu said his proposal to annex the strategic part of the occupied West Bank was discussed during a late-night meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He said they also agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty.

LISBON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday rejected a report laying out the Democratic case for President Donald Trump’s impeachment as “just all wrong”.

A 300-page report released by Democrats leading the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee earlier this week leveled allegations of sweeping abuse of power by Trump. It also suggested that Pompeo was among senior officials who either knew about or were involved in an effort to gain political benefits from a foreign power.

LISBON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Friday that it was decisive for the country to have double access to the centralized funds of the "Horizon Europe" program for science and research, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency.

He made the remarks at the signing ceremony of the "legislature contract" between the government and the higher education institutions -- a commitment that provides for an increase in funding of 55 million euros by 2020 and an annual growth in budget allocation of 2 percent per year by 2023.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The center-left Socialist Party got the most votes in Portugal’s general election Sunday, leaving it poised to continue leading the government for another four years.

With 226 seats in the 230-seat parliament awarded in the official count, the Socialists reached 106 seats, compared with 77 for the second-place Social Democratic Party.

The parliament chooses a government, usually taken from the party that has the most lawmakers.

LISBON, Oct 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal votes on Sunday with Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists tipped to win a second straight term after presiding over a period of solid economic growth following years of austerity.

Costa’s likely re-election bucks the trend of declining centre-left fortunes and the rise of far-right, populist parties seen elsewhere in Europe.

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s ruling Socialists have extended their big lead in an opinion poll five weeks before an Oct. 6 parliamentary election, the latest edition of the survey showed on Saturday, suggesting Prime Minister Antonio Costa could win his first full majority.

The survey by pollster Pitagorica for TSF radio and the Jornal de Noticias newspaper put the center-left Socialists on 43.6% of voting intentions, up from 43.2% a month ago, leaving the main opposition Social Democrats well behind at just 20.4%.

LISBON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese government on Friday wowed to prepay European creditors 2 billion euros of Troika debt by the end of this year, Portuguese Lusa News Agency reported.

Finance Minister Mario Centeno said that "a process of early repayment to European creditors" is already underway for the debt contracted by Portugal under the Economic and Financial Assistance Program between 2011 and 2014 with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, known as "troika."