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Bank of Portugal rejects Fosun's €1.3 billion bid for Novo Banco

bopcarloscostaThe Bank of Portugal and the Chinese company Fosun have failed to agree on the sale of Novo Banco, mainly because of the price.

There is still a third candidate in the race, the US based Apollo fund but The Bank of Portugal is not able to start negotiations with Apollo as its offer price was below the other two that have been considered and now rejected.

Medical Council zero help over Algarve's shortage of doctors

pedronunesYet another argument has broken out at Faro hospital as the Medical Council blamed local management for a lack of doctors.

Portugal’s Medical Council chairman says that quality of health care in orthopedics is at stake, pointing to a lack of doctors.

British love affair with beer carries on

beerdrinkerBeer-loving Brits can take heart from the growing number of breweries opening in the UK which cater to individual tastes.

A major increase of 204 last year has seen the number swell to 1,424 across the nation, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

Novo Banco - Fosun sale deadline passes

bankofportugalThe Bank of Portugal, in negotiations with Chinese insurance giant Fosun, announced yesterday that it will release information "in due course" on the result of talks to close the sale of Novo Banco.

Last night the deadline passed for the end of talks with bidder #2 - Fosun.  The Bank of Portugal has three options left: to sell to Fosun at the price asked, to start negotiations with US venture capital fund Apollo, or to postpone the sale and re-run the competition when Novo Banco has resolved the issues that is preventing its sale.

El Niño could ease severe drought

oceanA strong El Niño already underway has been confirmed by specialists. It could bring relief to the drought-stricken farmers of California.

El Niño occurs when the warm ocean waters in the equatorial areas of the Pacific move east toward South America. This then alters the weather patterns, such as tropical storms shifting eastward.

Final UN report on Portugal's justice system shows nothing much has changed

judgereportGabriela Knaul, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in Portugal, announced her initial findings in February this year and now has released the 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers' dated June 10, 2015.

Knaul’s interim comments on Portugal’s judicial system had described a system that was "slow, expensive and difficult to comprehend," with criticism of the new Citius court management system launched in September 2014 that ended in chaos after being forced to close down for six weeks.

Second guilty verdict in Monsanto poisoning case

monsantoA farmer in France has won his case against Monsanto, at least for now.

The agrochemical company was again found guilty, this time by an appeal court, of poisoning cereal farmer Paul Francois after he inhaled the firm’s weedkiller.

Portugal's Church charities offer refugees shelter and care, "never mind the cost"

fatimaimage2Manuel de Lemos, president of Portugal’s 'misericordia' church charities* did not suggest a figure but said that his members, or ‘misericordias’, can accommodate ‘significant numbers’ of refugees and that this contribution will be "decisive."

The president of the charities said that at the moment he is doing a survey of how many spaces each institution can offer, but stressed that his members will "contribute decisively to welcome the refugees coming to Portugal.”