In an enlightened piece of legislation, as from June 1st the adverts on Portuguese TV stations must be at the same volume as the programme that the advertising break is interrupting.
The strategy of assuming everyone is stone-deaf when the adverts come on has long been criticised by viewers and consumer associations, who have filed thousands of complaints with Communications Regulator to no avail, until now.
The bullfighting debate returns to Portugal’s parliament, rather appropriately on World Children’s Day, as the specific aspect to be debated is the participation of under-18-year-olds in the activity that continues to cause argument across the country.
MPs from People Animals Nature, the Left Bloc and The Greens want to stop under-18-year-olds participating in bullfighting activities.
Banco Português de Negócios (BPN), was the bank that the government controversially bailed out in 2008 after reckless management and malpractice has created an initial debt of €1.8 billion.
José Oliveira e Costa, the former President of BPN is the man held mainly responsible for the financial scandal that resulted in the bank being sold off to the Angola’s Banco BIC for €40 million in 2011.
Thousands of Italy’s beautiful villages are at risk of decaying away, with nearly 2,500 heading towards mass depopulation.
A report from environment agency Legambiente presented this week to Italy’s national council agency detailed 5,627 towns which have now have fewer than 5,000 residents. Of this 2,430 are being hit with a serious depopulation crisis.
The former Minister of the Economy Álvaro Santos Pereira has resurfaced at the OECD where he works as a top economist.
Pereira’s previous post-ministerial occupation as an author began and ended with his book that attacked the former Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas, a party leader who later retired from mainstream politics.
Changes may start to be made at the Bank of Portugal with the resignation of Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, the man whose speciality was in "areas of punitive action and conduct supervision," leaving a choice vacancy at the banking sector's regulator.
According to the Bank of Portugal's announcement today, "The request for termination of service was presented by Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, for personal reasons" and accepted by the governor.
The Gaming Department of Portugal’s largest charitable organisation, Santa Casa da Misericórdia, has launched a campaign on Responsible Gaming to warn people that gambling is only for people over 18 and that adults should be responsible when faced with a startling array of scratch cards and lottery tickets in sales outlets.
Santa Casa receives profits from the public’s purchases of tickets and scratch cards and is uses some of that money to promote responsible and moderate gaming habits - with the rest of its gaming profit used to run itself and fund its charitable works.
The captain of the stricken ship Costa Concordia has heard that his appeal against a 16-year prison sentence has been upheld.
The appeals court in Florence rejected Francesco Schettino’s appeal. Schettino was not in court when the verdict was announced.
