While Portugal’s hard-pressed households try and make sense of their shrinking monthly budgets, the price of gas and electricity steadily has been rising to make it one of the most expensive in Europe.
Portugal registered the highest increase in gas prices for households within the European Union last year, according to the latest data published by Eurostat.
José Sócrates is free, but just for the afternoon as he was taken to Lisbon from his cell in Évora prison to be questioned by prosecutor Rosário Teixeira for the second time since his arrest last November.
It’s lonely in prison for the former socialist prime minster as his friend, the co-accused Carlos Santos Silva was allowed home last week and is under video surveillance to make sure he doesn’t try anything sneaky.
Identity theft crime has soared again in Britain, this time by 27% in the first three months of 2015.
The UK’s fraud prevention service, Cifas, has warned that credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services are at risk if thieves steal someone’s name.
As many as 250,000 British expat pensioners have failed to claim all of their pension benefits.
The average amount to be collected ranges from £2,000 to £30,000 a year, with tax-free lump sums worth between £500 and £40,000 also unclaimed.
The 15-year cut-off date that prevents an estimated one million overseas British from voting in UK parliamentary election has been scrapped.
The Votes for Life bill was announced in the Queen’s speech today but those keen to vote in the European in/out referendum remain disappointed.
Following the announcement by Swiss and US investigators of criminal proceedings against FIFA for alleged money laundering in connection with the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and allegations of “systematic” corruption in the United States and Latin America, Transparency International has said Sepp Blatter must now stand down and upcoming presidential elections suspended.
In a statement, Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of Transparency International said:
A number of top Fifa officials have been arrested in Zurich on corruption charges brought by the United States Justice Department.
More than a dozen Swiss policemen swept into the five star Baur au Lac hotel in the early hours of the morning, where several officials were believed to be staying ahead of this week's Fifa Congress meeting.
The Nogueira Group, which paid €26 million for the insolvent AliSuper chain of convenience stores in 2012, is selling off 18 of its shops, the first nine are going to Intermarché for €5 million.
Negotiations are continuing for further store sales with interest from the Jerónimo Martins Group, owner of Pingo Doce.
