Portugal

Seville, Jun 27 (AP-PTI) Cristiano Ronaldo certainly attracts most of the attention, just not all of the attention.

Ronaldo is on the verge of becoming the all-time leading scorer in international soccer. He can set the record on Sunday when Portugal faces Belgium in the round at 16 of the European Championship.

But the Belgians won't be focused only on Ronaldo.

LISBON, June 26 (Reuters) - Over 70% of coronavirus cases in the Lisbon area are from the more contagious Delta variant, which is quickly spreading to other parts of the country, a report said late on Friday, as authorities scramble to stop a worrying rise in infections.

The national health institute, Ricardo Jorge, said in its report that the Delta variant, first identified in India, represented 51% of cases in mainland Portugal, showing the variant is "spreading rapidly" as it happened in Britain.

(Reuters) --- Portugal will allow tourist flights from European Union countries with low infection rates and from the UK, but passengers must show a negative coronavirus test on arrival, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

The announcement came a day after the Portuguese tourism authority gave the green light to UK tourists to enter the country from Monday. 

In a statement, it said the ban will be lifted on European countries with less than 500 cases of infections per 100,000 people.

PORTO, Portugal (AP) — The European Union cemented its support for Pfizer-BioNTech and its novel COVID-19 vaccine technology Saturday by agreeing to a massive contract extension for a potential 1.8 billion doses through 2023.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said her office has approved a contract for a guaranteed 900 million doses with the same amount of doses as a future option.

PORTO, Portugal (AP) — European Union leaders cranked up their criticism of the U.S. call to waive COVID-19 vaccine patents Saturday, arguing the move would yield no short-term or intermediate improvement in vaccine supplies and could even have a negative impact.

On the second day of an EU summit in Portugal, the European leaders instead urged Washington to lift export restrictions if it wants to have a global impact on the pandemic.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — On the list of things not to do during a pandemic, holding big international gatherings is close to the top.

But European Union leaders and their large following of diplomats and advisers are meeting in Portugal on Friday for two days of talks, sending a signal that they see the threat from COVID-19 on their continent as waning, amid a quickening vaccine rollout.

LISBON, April 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced that 183,000 jabs were administered against COVID-19 this weekend, with the vaccination of 170,000 teachers and school staff completed.

The immunization of Portuguese education professionals had been interrupted due to questions raised about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

According to Costa, “the vaccination process is proceeding in its normal terms” and Portugal “is ready to fulfill the objective” of its immunization process.

LISBON, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal’s parliament extended a state of emergency for 15 days as health experts warned that a gradual relaxation of strict lockdown rules now underway could soon lead to a significant jump in coronavirus cases.

The state of emergency grants the government powers to take emergency measures such as imposing a nighttime curfew if deemed necessary, though the general trend is currently to ease a lockdown imposed in January to curb what was then the world’s worst COVID-19 surge.

LISBON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition Pedro Siza Vieira said on Monday that there is a "great concern" about the "integrity of the European Union (EU) single market after the COVID-19 pandemic."

The remarks were made at a press conference after the meeting of the Competitiveness Council, which was held virtually under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU and brought together ministers from European countries in this sector.

LISBON, Mar 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, yesterday, announced a seven-billion-euro (8.33-billion- U.S. dollar) investment, in forest preservation until the year 2030.

“It is an investment in fire-fighting and prevention equipment, but it is above all, an investment in the structural transformation of our forest, which means, avoiding monoculture (and) creating a landscape mosaic,” he said, in the city of Lousa, in central Portugal.

The forest should be considered as “a source of wealth” and something that has “added value,” he stressed.