The owners of TAP today said the Government recognises that they are doing "a good job" in managing and reorganising the former State owned company.
As for the government taking back majority control of TAP, as stated in the Socialist Party’s pre-election manifesto, Humberto Pedrosa of Gateway say that he is confident that all parties can reach a good agreement and wants to settle out of court.
Germany’s economy registered healthy growth in 2015 and it will be able to use the surplus to help cover the costs involved in taking in more than one million refugees.
Europe’s biggest economy grew by 1.7% last year, according to the federal statistics office Destatis, after recording growth of 1.3% in 2014.
Last year’s drought in Portugal led to a decrease in the production of renewable energy, down 14.5% compared to 2014.
Despite this slowdown, the production of electricity from renewable sources accounted for the majority of electricity produced in Portugal, some 50.4%, the rest coming from fossil fuels.
Five lifeguards from Spain have been arrested in Greece on suspicion of people trafficking refugees.
"A preliminary investigation has been opened," a Greek coastguard spokeswoman said, adding that the suspects were likely to be charged with "attempting to facilitate the entry of illegal migrants."
A German tourist in California has said she is “humiliated and angry” at discovering a hidden camera in her Airbnb rental.
Yvonne Schumacher is taking Airbnb to court in San Francisco for negligence, claiming that the firm does not vet owners of the properties who use Airbnb to attract renters.
The Sikh Federation UK has sent in an update on Paramjeet Singh, given asylum in the UK 15 years ago but remaining in detention in Portugal, awaiting extradition at the request of the Indian authorities.
On Monday January 11th, John Spellar MP (Paramjeet Singh’s local MP in the UK) challenged the Home Office Minister (James Brokenshire) in Parliament.
A survey reveals that drop in VAT from 23% to 13% for the restaurant and hotel sector announced for January wil lead to a boom in staff hires.
More than two thirds of Portuguese restaurant and hotel companies are looking to recruit more staff when the VAT rate is reduced from 23% to 13% "in January" according to the Socialst Party promise. The survey was commissioned by the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Portugal (AHRESP).
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, has decided that Portugal should increase exports of goods, and warns that the country cannot become "tourism-dependent" so must diversify.
In terms of exports, "the country's progress has been remarkable in recent years," said the minister, adding that "in 2011, the exports of goods and services were worth 30% of the Portuguese GDP. In 2015 we exceeded the target of 40%. Are we happy? We are. Are we satisfied? No. We want more, we want exports worth more in terms of GDP and that the relationship between goods and services in these exports improves as well," said the minister, to an audience of 280 young people who are part of the ‘INOV contact’ programme.
