Portugal

The European Commission on Tuesday stated the French government is allowed to contribute €4 billion to help keep Air France afloat.

In February, Ryanair lost a legal fight in the EU General Court against state aid being granted to Air France and Sweden's SAS through national schemes. Ryanair is still seeking to contest the German government's bailout of Lufthansa, as well as similar schemes in Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal.

Several European countries, inclduing France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania will resume administering AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine in the following days after European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced the vaccine was "safe and effective".

Emer Cooke, head of the EMA, said that while "a small number of cases of rare and unusual but very serious clotting disorders" were uncovered, the agency did not find that the vaccine caused an increase in the risk of blood clots.

A total of 13 European countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as of Tuesday due to blood clot concerns. Germany, France, Italy, Span, Portugal, Luxembourg and Slovenia suspended the vaccine on Monday, Sweden and Latvia followed on Tuesday.

Doing relatively better than other countries at the beginning of the crisis last year, Portugal is now overwhelmed by the last epidemic wave. Hospitals are saturated and positive cases are exploding. Half of the total 13.000 victims died since the beginning of the year.

Portugal is now asking for help to its European neighbors. Germany sent 8 doctors, 18 nurses and a large stock of medical equipment.

Germany is set to impose an entry ban for travellers from Portugal, Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom in an effort to curb the spread of more potent Covid-19 variants.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) said before a video meeting with his European counterparts that coordination with the EU had been unsuccessful because some member states remained too lax. "We cannot count on a European solution. That is why we are now preparing this nationally," Seehofer said.

The Portuguese Interior Ministry said that the worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world and the detection of new variants justified the decision. The suspension will happen, initially, between January 29th and February 14th.

Only repatriation and humanitarian flights are allowed and even then travelers will need to show a negative Covid-19 test result that was done 72 hours before boarding and will submit to a 14-day isolation period.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Portugal's president was returned to office for a second term with a resounding victory Sunday in an election held amid a devastating Covid-19 surge that has made the European country the worst in the world for cases and deaths. Rebelo de Souza had about 61 per cent of the vote.

Prime Minister António Costa, in a tweet, urged people to turn out for the ballot, saying that "unprecedented planning" had gone into ensuring that the vote could take place safely.

In Portugal, the government orders the closure of schools and universities for at least 15 days. Due to the new virus variant and the rapid transmission, caution must be exercised, says Prime Minister Antonio Costa, explaining the measure. The country reported 221 more Corona deaths on Thursday alone, the most ever in a single day, and 13,544 new infections.

More than 40 countries have imposed a ban on UK arrivals, include Belgium, Canada, India, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Switzerland. On Monday, European Union member states meet to discuss a co-ordinated response and France is planning to establish a protocol "to ensure movement from the UK can resume.

After having lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced all of his official engagements were suspended and he would self-isolate until 24 December. "The prime minister will undergo an immediate diagnostic test to determine his situation and will then decide, based on the results, how to manage his agenda over the coming days," so a statement of Sánchez’s office.

António Costa, Portuguese prime minister, met with Macron at the Élysée Palace on Wednesday and is currently awaiting his Covid-19 results in self-isolation. "The prime minister decided to cancel the trip [to Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea Bissau], as well as any public agenda that implies his physical presence. He will keep all executive activities and work schedule, which will be carried out remotely," Costa's office said.

The deadly beating by the local authorities of a Ukrainian man at the Lisbon airport last month passed relatively under the radar. Journalists from Portuguese newspapers DN and Público published numerous follow-ups until the chief of the Immigration and Borders Office decided to step down.

14 countries worldwide have committed themselves to the sustainable management of their national waters. The "Ocean Panel" is a body for sustainable marine management. A goal is it to place until 2030 a third of the seas under protection.

Involved are countries like Australia, Canada, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway and Portugal. Together they have a marine area that is about the size of Africa.

Portugal and Hungary are imposing stricter Covid-19 measures, including a night curfew. While Hungary's curfew will run from 8pm to 5am, Portugal's curfew is set to run from 11pm to 5am on weekdays and from 1pm to 5am on weekends.

The British Lewis Hamilton snatched the pole position for the Portuguese Grand Prix from team-mate Valtteri Bottas with a fast lap at the end of Q3.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen in start in third, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Racing Point's Sergio Perez.

After the qualifying, Hamilton said: "I can't tell you how hard that was today! I've just seen that Valtteri topped every session, and I've just been digging to find the time... I chose to do three laps to have a chance to beat his time."

The Portuguese soccer player for Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for Covid-19.

British transport minister Grant Shapps announced that travellers from mainland Portugal to England would have to quarantine from 03:00 UTC on Saturday. The announcement comes just weeks after the country was put on the safe list.

Travellers from the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira are still allowed to skip quarantine.

Bayer have beaten Lyon 3:0 and qualified to the Champions League final. Gnabry, twice, and Lewandowski scored for the German side.

Bayern have won all 10 matches in this Champions League edition with an aggregate score of 42:8.

Bayer will play for the title against PSG on August 24 at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon.

PSG have beaten RB Leipzig 3:0, at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, and qualified to the Champions League final for the first time in the club history. The club are the first French team to reach the Champions League final since Monaco in the 2003-04 season.

Marquinhos, Angel di Maria and Juan Bernat scored the goals for PSG.

PSG will play for the title against Bayern Munich or Lyon on August 24.

Lyon qualified for the semi-final of the Champions League by beating Manchester City 3:1 in Lisbon.

Cornet and Moussa Dembélé, twice, scored for the French side, while De Bruyne was the scorer for the English team.

Lyon's will face their 2009-2010 semi-final adversary, Bayern Munich, on August 19 at 19:00 UTC.

Playing at the Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, Bayern Munich crushed Barcelona, won 8:2 and qualified to the Champions League semi-finals.

The German side scored with Thomas Muller (twice), Philippe Coutinho (twice), Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski. Bayern became the first team to score eight goals in a Champions League knockout match.

Bayern will face Manchester City or Lyon in the semi-finals on August 19 at 19:00 UTC.