Latest news with #AndreiKhalip
The Star
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Star
Spain battles 20 major wildfires amid scorching heat, deploys more troops
A dog walks past a cemetery as smoke rises from a wildfire in As Fermosas, in the Ourense province, Galicia, Spain, August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Nacho Doce VILLARDEVÓS (Reuters) -Scorching heat hampered efforts to contain 20 major wildfires across Spain on Sunday, prompting the government to deploy an additional 500 troops from the military emergency unit to support firefighting operations. In the northwestern region of Galicia, several fires have converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region. Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, with Spain among the hardest-hit countries. In the past week alone, fires there have claimed three lives and burned more than 115,000 hectares, while neighbouring Portugal also battles widespread blazes. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas on Sunday, Spanish national weather agency AEMET said. "There are still some challenging days ahead and, unfortunately, the weather is not on our side," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news conference in Ourense, one of the most affected areas. He announced an increase in military reinforcements, bringing the total number of troops deployed across Spain to 1,900. Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, told Spanish public TV temperatures were expected to drop from Tuesday, but for now the weather conditions were "very adverse". "Today there are extremely high temperatures with an extreme risk of fires, which complicates the firefighting efforts," Barcones said. VILLAGERS RESORT TO BUCKETS In the village of Villardevos in Galicia, desperate neighbours have organised to fight the flames on their own with water buckets as the area was left without electricity to power water pumps. "The fireplanes come in from all sides, but they don't come here," Basilio Rodriguez, a resident, told Reuters on Saturday. Added Lorea Pascual, another local resident: "It's insurmountable, it couldn't be worse". Interior ministry data show 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June. In neighbouring Portugal, wildfires have burnt some 155,000 hectares of vegetation so far this year, according to provisional data from the ICNF forestry protection institute - three times the average for this period between 2006 to 2024. About half of that area burned just in the past three days. Thousands of firefighters were battling eight large blazes in central and northern Portugal, the largest of them near Piodao, a scenic, mountainous area popular with tourists. Another blaze in Trancoso, further north, has now been raging for eight days. A smaller fire a few miles east claimed a local resident's life on Friday - the first this season. (Reporting by Guillermo Martinez, Ana Cantero and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Clelia Oziel)
Zawya
24-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Portugal swings to 0.2% budget surplus in first quarter
Portugal swung to a budget surplus of 0.2% of gross domestic product in the first quarter from a revised deficit of 0.4% a year ago, despite an economic contraction in the first three months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday. The National Statistics Institute (INE) said public revenues grew 7.8% year-on-year increase, while expenditure increased by 6.4%. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip)
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Portugal to investigate far-right leader over anti-Roma remarks
By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) -Portuguese prosecutors have opened a probe into remarks made by far-right leader Andre Ventura against the Roma community, three days after an election in which his Chega party surged and was tied for second place in parliament. The public prosecutor's office said on Wednesday it had opened the investigation after receiving a complaint against Ventura. It gave no further details. The Letras Nomadas non-profit group, which promotes jobs and education for the Roma community, said it was one of 10 associations behind the complaint, which was made because they considered pre-election online videos published by Ventura as an incitement to hatred. The Roma are Europe's largest ethnic minority and have a long history of social exclusion and discrimination. In one of the videos, Ventura ranted at municipalities that he said were building social housing specifically for the Roma, asking: "But why are we building houses for gypsies? Are we building for normal people?" "That video was the most offensive to us, although others were also pretty serious," said Bruno Goncalves, vice president of Letras Nomadas. "Ventura even said in the video he'd probably get complaints over that statement. He knew he was crossing the line." Chega officials had no immediate reaction to the investigation. Ventura is a law postgraduate who once trained to be a priest but who made his name as a TV sports commentator. He gained notoriety in 2018 with incendiary remarks against the Roma. He founded the anti-establishment Chega in 2019, advocating tougher sentences for criminals, calling for an end to Portugal's "open doors" immigration policy and accusing the mainstream political parties of perpetuating corruption. Chega became the third-largest parliamentary force in 2022, quadrupled its parliamentary seats last year to 50 and added at least eight seats in Sunday's election, with votes from abroad yet to be counted and four seats to be attributed. These votes could make Chega the main opposition party to the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. AD won 89 seats, more than in the previous election, but no parliamentary majority. Montenegro has refused to make any deals with Chega.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Explainer-What is at stake in Portugal if election is called?
By Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal could face its third early parliamentary election in just over three years after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro proposed a confidence motion in his centre-right minority government. If the government loses the vote in parliament, it will take on a caretaker role, pending a decision by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on whether to dissolve parliament and call a new election. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. There are scenarios under which a new election would not be held but an early election appears the most likely option. WHY DID THE PRIME MINISTER CALL A CONFIDENCE VOTE? Montenegro presented the confidence motion after the opposition threatened to call for a parliamentary inquiry into Spinumviva, his family's data protection consultancy. He founded the company in 2021 but handed ownership to his wife and sons in 2022. Spinumviva has made contracts with private companies, including a casino and hotel business, that the opposition says have benefited Montenegro. He has denied any conflict of interest or ethical shortfalls. Political analysts said Montenegro feared a prolonged inquiry would cloud the rest of his term as prime minister and may have decided it would be better to contest an election sooner rather than later - while his Social Democratic Party's ratings are still high and the economy is on a strong footing. There is no active investigation under way into Spinumviva although prosecutors are analysing an anonymous complaint against Montenegro linked to its dealings. Assets acquired after marriage belong to the couple under Portuguese law, leaving the transfer of ownership in a grey area between civil and commercial law. COULD THE GOVERNMENT WIN THE CONFIDENCE MOTION? The confidence motion is expected to be held on Tuesday. The centre-left opposition Socialist Party (PS) and far-right Chega have a combined total of 128 seats in the 230-seat parliament, and have said they would vote against the government in a confidence motion. The alliance led by Montenegro has 80 seats. WHO WOULD WIN AN EARLY ELECTION? Rebelo de Sousa has said that if an early election proves unavoidable, the earliest dates would be May 11 or 18. Latest opinion polls from February show very little change from last year's election, which the alliance led by Montenegro won by a slim margin over the PS, securing a four-year term. The alliance of Montenegro's PSD and the conservative CDS-PP is polling at around 30%, slightly ahead of the PS, with the far-right Chega in third on 18%. IF THERE ANY WAY OF AVOIDING AN EARLY ELECTION? Montenegro and his government could emerge victorious from a confidence vote if the PS were to abstain on the condition that a parliamentary inquiry is opened into Spinumviva. But after its sabre-rattling of the past few days, that seems a remote possibility. If the confidence vote goes against the government, the president could ask the ruling coalition to come up with a replacement for Montenegro. But Montenegro's party has said he would lead it in any new election, so that option is all but ruled out. HOW ABOUT THE ECONOMY? Despite the political upheaval of the past four years, Western Europe's poorest country - a member of the European Union and NATO - has shown stronger economic growth than most EU states, posting budget surpluses and reducing its debt under the centre-left and then centre-right governments. Although it is struggling to contain a housing crisis, in part provoked by a tourism boom, strife has been rare. A government change could stall big investment projects, including lithium mining in north Portugal, and the long-delayed privatisation of TAP airline, in which several key industry players have shown interest. Montenegro said Portugal's growth and surplus targets were not in jeopardy and "there is no reason to see Portugal as a focus of instability in the European Union".
