Rui Pinto escapes jail time in Football Leaks hacking case // Covid-19 vaccination campaign to kick off ‘in force’
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
Rui Pinto escapes jail time in Football Leaks hacking case
Football Leaks hacker Rui Pinto has been handed a four-year suspended sentence for attempted extortion and a range of other crimes, Público reports. He was also convicted of three counts of aggravated breach of correspondence and five of illegal access to data, and ordered to pay more than €22,000 in compensation to various organisations he harmed. The amnesty granted to young offenders due to recent World Youth Day festivities covered 68 counts of illegal access to data and 11 for breach of correspondence. Lisbon Central Criminal Court Judge Margarida Alves made it clear he would have been convicted for those crimes as well were the measure — which grants pardons for crimes with less than a year’s jail time to those under 30 at the time of the offence — not in force. Pinto used his website to share confidential documents such as transfer fees and deals from a range of European clubs and argued he was a whistleblower acting in the public interest, Reuters notes, in English. The judge said no one was above the law, adding the “truth is not an absolute value and does not have to be investigated at whatever cost”.
Covid-19 vaccination campaign to kick off ‘in force’
The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 and the flu will begin “in force” on September 29, Lusa reports. National Health System (SNS) executive director Fernando Araújo made the announcement last week, guaranteeing the process would be easy and no one will be left out due to a lack of vaccines. He said the jabs would be the new formulation targeted towards newer variants recently approved by the European Medicines Agency and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The vaccination will be carried out in health centres, along with flu inoculations, similar to last year. But for the first time some community pharmacies will also be able to vaccinate people. According to the SNS, anyone over five can get their first doses, those aged 18 and up are eligible for boosters and people over 50, in priority groups or with risky diseases can get the seasonal reinforcement jab.
Tax breaks and tuition refunds to keep youth in Portugal
The government has announced a range of new measures aimed at keeping young people in the country, including tax breaks, tuition refunds and free public transport, Público reports. Among other measures announced last week, young workers will pay no IRS in their first year and 25% of the full value in their second year, on a sliding scale that doesn’t hit 100% until the sixth year. But various tax specialists told Diário de Notícias the changes wouldn’t be enough to stop young people leaving in search of better pay and conditions. The problem, they said, was that wages and work conditions don’t match recent graduates’ high levels of education. On a broader scale, one in two Portuguese workers aren’t earning enough to pay all their expenses, according to the latest European Barometer on Poverty and Precariousness, Lusa reports.
In brief
Restaurants can't charge for cups of tap water. A law change on August 10 means establishments must make tap water and cups available for clients, according to the food and beverage sector association AHRESP. The water must be available to all clients actually at the venue (not passersby) and can’t be charged for, even at lower rates than bottled water. (Lusa)
Brawl involving 60 people breaks out over chestnut-selling spots in Porto. Three or four people were hurt, including some hit with glass bottles, as lots were drawn in the council building. (Jornal de Notícias)
Decarbonisation could grow national GDP 10-20%. McKinsey & Company partner Bruno Esgalhado insists Portugal can double the capital it attracts by proactively decarbonising its industries. (Dinheiro Vivo)
Building of controversial Time Out Market at Porto's São Bento station under way. UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites had pushed back against the plans, including a 21-metre tower ICOMOS called “intrusive”. The architect defended his work, saying it couldn’t be said to be “very tall”. (Público)
Porto music space to shut in favour of digital nomad accommodation. Extendam — Capital Partners in Hospitality has bought M.Ou.Co and entered into a partnership with Outsite, which already runs a coliving space in the city.
On a lighter note
A street has been flooded with red wine after two tanks burst at a distillery in Anadia, between Coimbra and Aveiro, Jornal de Notícias reports. Video of the incident shows a torrent of drinkable wine rushing down the street after the accident at Destilaria Levira, which has apologies for the accident. Emergency services were able to dredge the wine before it could reach the Cértima River and cause an “environmental disaster”, Câmara Municipal de Anadia vice-president Jorge Sampaio said. The wine was taken to a waste treatment station, despite what I’m sure were many requests for delivery elsewhere.
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