‘The challenge is to extract what we need without destroying the environment Lithium (stone in Greek) is a soft, light, silvery-white metal and a key ingredient in batteries for electric cars and mobile phones. Worldwide, Australia has the highest production (40,000 tonnes each year). Portugal is one of Europe’s largest producers of this so-called ‘white […]
‘Watch out – Art under your feet! This spring Portuguese pavement (calçada) was presented in Lisbon as a candidate for UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list. As of last year a total of 1,120 World Heritage Sites – demarcated by UNESCO as protected areas – exist across 167 countries. Portugal has 17 sites, the most recent […]
‘Just clapping doesn’t solve anything’ Despite the fact that Catarina Martins – the leader of the Left Bloc (BE) – regards the National Health Service (SNS) ‘a pearl of democracy’ and its workers ‘heroes and heroines’, working conditions are poor and staff shortages in public health threatening. After having reviewed the shortage of doctors in […]
‘Democracy has no owner’ (Carlos Moedas, new mayor of Lisbon) The ruling center-left Socialist Party (PS) of prime minister António Costa won the local elections with 34% of the votes. Although less convincing than 4 years ago, when the SP was able to take the lead in 160 of the 308 municipalities. This time the […]
Lack of doctors, just when reinforcement is needed after Covid19 Despite the fact that Catarina Martins – the leader of the Left Bloc (BE) – regards the National Health Service (SNS) as ‘a pearl of democracy’ and its workers ‘heroes and heroines’, working conditions are poor and staff shortages in public health-threatening. Let’s first take […]
‘Portuguese institutions are better prepared now’ – Ghalia Taki, Syrian refugee When Mustafa decided to flee Iraq five years ago and reached Portugal – via Syria, Turkey, and Greece – he was convinced to get asylum quickly. What he didn’t know was that the country was – at that time – ill-prepared in taking care […]
July was the world’s hottest month on record. The planet has reached +1.1°C above pre-industrial levels and is already starting to suffer the consequences with wildfires ravaging the US, Siberia, Greece, and Turkey, floods in Germany, Japan, and China, and thermometers hitting 50°C in Canada. CO2 concentrations continue to rise and global warming is happening […]
‘It’s not right. One turns his back and, suddenly, there are 214,286 Portuguese missing’ (Miguel Cardoso, Portuguese journalist) In the last 10 years, Portugal has lost 214,286 citizens (-2%) according to preliminary data from the 2021 Census, released on 28 July by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). It is the second time that something […]
Portugal is importing nearly 75% of its food and the Mediterranean country with the heaviest per capita food footprint, meaning that if everyone in the world consumes resources like the Portuguese, 2.5 planets earth are needed. The biggest culprit is the country’s exceptional appetite for fish. Portugal is – after Japan and Iceland – the […]
‘China is very powerful, with a clear vision. But it’s a secret state’ – Ai Weiwei The Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei (1957, Beijing) is one of the most influential and creative names in contemporary art.In 2020 he was elected as the most famous artist by the international journal The Art Newspaper. His father, […]