WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Behind this week's headlines

Shoppers beware!

The Portuguese Food and Economic Security Authority has been carrying out inspections on supermarkets because some may have been charging more than displayed on shelves. Eighty inspectors were at work checking on Wednesday as basic basket prices for foodstuffs increased by 21.1% last year, more than twice the rate of inflation.

 

Inflation dropping

The National Statistics Institute announced on Tuesday that the consumer price index fell from January by an estimated 0.2% to 8.2% in February. This was the fourth consecutive fall.

 

More renewable electricity

The government wants to increase the amount of renewable energy in electricity production to 80% in the next three years, according to the minister of environment and climate action. Portugal has natural resources that cannot be underestimated, he said.

 

Cutting plastic waste

Ahead of a UN meeting on plastic rubbish, the EU wants sweeping new packaging regulations for Portugal and all 26 other nations in the bloc. The new rules would require companies to make the containers for takeaway food and drinks easier to reuse and recycle, thus causing less pollution, according to Bloomberg Green.

 

Child abuse in 2022

Portugal’s criminal investigation police (PJ) detained 210 people for sex crimes against children in 2022, the highest number in the last five years. The Luca news agency was informed of this by the criminal coordinator of these cases in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.

 

Affordable housing

The state wants to make more land available for affordable housing projects in the wake of scrapping golden visas and banning new short-term rental licences that have greatly pushed up housing prices for residents while their wages have remained the same.  

 

Isabel dos Santos

The former billionaire Isabel dos Santos, whose assets have been frozen in Angola and Portugal, reportedly still owns luxury properties in London worth more than £20 million. Interpol is seeking her arrest for alleged embezzlement, fraud, influence pedalling and money laundering. She is thought to be living in the United Arab Emirates.