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Ryanair cabin crews plan Wednesday strike

ryanair13Ryanair’s cabin crew based in Portugal are planning another day of strike action on Wednesday, April 4th, after Easter Sunday’s union action caused the cancellation of 27 flights to and from Portugal.
 
The airline's management illegally has drafted in crew based in other countries to fill in for Portuguese cabin crews whose members have complaints over maternity and paternity rights and a list of other gripes.

Portugal’s drought is over

RainLogoDrought now affects only 0.1% of the country with only three dams at less than 40% capacity.
 
The majority of the nation's reservoirs now have reserves above 80%. Five of them are completely full and there are only three, all in the south, with reserves remaining stubbornly below 40%, but not for long as more rain is on the way.

Done it! Renewables supplied 104% of Portugal's energy needs in March

windfarmseaRenewable energy sources supplied 103.6% of Portugal’s electricity consumption in March, something that has never happened before.
 
The Portuguese Association of Renewable Energies and eco-association ZERO are delighted to report that the data from National Energy Networks (REN) shows renewable electricity produced in March was 4,812 GWh, thus exceeding the electricity consumption of the nation, which was 4,647 GWh. 

Portuguese high-flyer joins loss-making Novo Banco

novobancoshinylogoIn a brave career move, Carla Antunes da Silva has accepted an invitation by US vulture fund, Lone Star, to join the general and supervisory board of Novo Banco.
 
Currently the director of strategy at Lloyds Banking Group, the Portuguese banker will join the all-male, all non-Portuguese supervisory board, taking the number of members to nine of a possible 12.

Minister ventures south to open Portimão sewage plant

waterPortugal’s Environment Minister, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, is risking another visit to the Algarve to sign a contract for dune reinforcement at Alvor, Portimão.

The work aims to create a better barrier against erosion by bulking up the sands along a one kilometre stretch of shoreline.

Chinese space junk re-enters Earth's atmosphere tonight at 26,000 kmph

worldThe 7.5 ton, 'Celestial Palace,' will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere at 26,000 kmph today, Sunday April 1st, before disintegrating into a fireball, or so Chinese aerospace officials hope. (See UPDATE below)
 
The descent of the Chinese space laboratory, Tiangong-1 (Celestial Palace 1), is not expected to cause any damage but should offer a display similar to a meteor shower, if those responsible for the errant object are to be believed.

Monday's railworkers strike will cripple the whole network

trainStationSantaremMonday’s strike by rail workers will be widespread as there is no provision for the skeleton service usually left in place.
 
A tribunal decided that no bvasic service was required as the strike is for one day only and alternative forms of transport will be operating.

Economy Minister bunged €1.3 million to buy fancy New York apartment

PinhoEDPBlackwaterThe former Minister of the Economy in the Sócrates government, Manuel Pinho, arranged the purchase of an apartment in New York for USD 1.24 million (€1.3 million) through a British Virgin Islands offshore company in June 2010.
 
The money has been traced back to the Grupo Espírito Santo slush fund administered by ES Enterprises.