World
Thousands protest in Portugal to demand higher wages
Portugal is one of Western Europe’s poorest countries with official data showing that more than half of all workers in country earn less than €1,000 a month.
Thousands of people have attended protests in two cities in Portugal to demand higher wages and pensions and improvements to social services like housing and healthcare.
Called by the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP), the country’s largest federation of trade unions, marches took place in Porto and the capital, Lisbon.
The CGTP’s Secretary General, Tiago Oliveira, said the protests were directed at both the public and private sectors and wraps up a month of activism under the banner, ‘Increase Salaries and Pensions, Solve the Country’s Problems’.
Oliveira said the day-to-day difficulties faced by workers stem from political decisions and highlighted unaffordable housing and limited access to healthcare as key concerns.
He also criticised a recent deal the government struck with the General Union of Workers (UGT) and four employer confederations which proposes increasing the monthly minimum wage to €870 by 2025. CGTP members were left out of those negotiations.
“There is money in the country. The problem is the distribution of wealth and we need to keep working to ensure that a larger share goes to the workers who produce it every day,” said one protester in Lisbon.
While another in Porto complained that his education hadn’t guaranteed a good job and salary.
“I have a university degree and I thought it would be different, that I would have better conditions and opportunities but unfortunately that’s not the situation and we’ll be here to fight for something better,” he said.
Portugal is one of Western Europe’s poorest countries with official data showing that more than half of workers in country earn less than €1,000 a month.
Currently, workers in Portugal get a minimum wage of €820 a month.
The government has also proposed raising the minimum wage by €50 a year until 2028, increasing the national minimum wage to €1,020 in 2028.
But despite the increase, Portugal’s minimum amount remains far below its European Union counterparts.
Comparing Portugal’s minimum wage
According to data from Eurostat, out of the 22 member states that have a minimum wage, Portugal’s ranks twelfth in the bloc.
The European ranking is led by Luxembourg, where the minimum monthly wage stands at €2,204 per month.
Behind Luxembourg is Ireland, where workers earn a minimum wage of €1,840 a month. The Netherlands comes in third with €1,829 per month.
Belgium is also in the top five highest minimum wage-paying countries in the EU with a monthly salary of €1,774. Germany pays €1,761, while France’s minimum pay is set at €1,550 per month.
World
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Israeli strikes pounded areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a day after eight people were killed, according to the authorities, in the northernmost attack on Lebanese soil since the start of the war. Israeli officials said two men were killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon on Tuesday.
World
Germany braces under collapsing government and looming Trump trade war
With the re-election of former President Donald Trump to the White House and the collapse of the coalition government under German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Germany is bracing for an economically and politically dubious time.
From the campaign trail, Trump pledged to increase import tariffs on friends and foes alike under the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act” which would increase all U.S. tariffs to match the taxes enforced by each corresponding country.
“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff,” he outlined in his campaign agenda. “If they charge US, we charge THEM—an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”
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However, it is unclear if the president-elect still plans to push these specific tariff increases, as he has also suggested there should be a 10% tariff on imports from all countries, as well as 60% duties on imports from China, according to a Reuters report.
China was not the only country in Trump’s crosshairs, as the now president-elect also referred to the European Union (EU) as a “mini China” and warned the bloc would have to pay up.
“They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our farm products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States,” he told supporters at an October rally in Pennsylvania. “No, no, no. They are going to have to pay a big price.”
Some economic experts have warned that increasing tariffs – which are paid by companies importing the goods, not by government entities – could lead to rising costs worldwide, including in the U.S., as well as further inflation.
A report earlier this month by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) pointed to findings by Germany’s Institute for Economic Research in Cologne that said the promised Trump tariffs are estimated to cost the country roughly $127 billion over the next four years.
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“Trump’s victory does not bode well for a Germany that is dependent on U.S. security and thrives on open markets,” the GMF said in its report on how the U.S. election will impact Germany. “And uncertainty in Europe’s largest economy is not ideal when the EU needs to find its place in a world in which the U.S. president is not expected to support the traditional, rules-based international order.”
However, it is not only Germany’s flagging economy that could spell uncertainty for Berlin’s international standing, as Scholz faces a vote of no confidence in January after he fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his coalition government collapsed.
A confidence vote is now set to be held in Germany on December 16 – which Scholz, given his minority status, is expected to lose.
The most likely next step will be for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the parliament and call for elections which are not expected to be held on Feb. 23, 2025.
The EU now stares down a potential trade war with the Trump administration while one of its leading nations, both geopolitically and economically, will essentially sit as a lame duck while Berlin waits to see who will be next to lead the country.
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz – who could find himself the next German chancellor – said he intends to cut a deal with Trump.
In an interview with Stern magazine, Merz reportedly said, “In Germany, we have never really articulated and enforced our interests well enough, and we have to change that.
“The Americans are much more on the offensive. It shouldn’t end with only one side profiting, but rather with us making good arrangements for both sides,” Merz said according to a Bloomberg report on the interview. “Trump would call it a deal.”
World
There is no safe zone in Gaza, warns UNRWA
UNRWA’s Scott Anderson described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as critical and called on all sides to respect civilian safe zones.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains critical and could deteriorate further, warns the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).
Speaking to Euronews in Brussels, UNRWA Director in Gaza, Scott Anderson, called on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of safe places for civilians.
“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Including the safe zones. And unfortunately, all parties to the conflict are not respecting the sanctity of sites that should be safe for civilians, including hospitals and schools.” said Anderson.
He stressed that both UNRWA facilities and Palestinian schools have been targeted, appealing to all sides to uphold the protection of these locations so civilians can find safety for themselves and their families.
Too cosy with Hamas?
Anderson also responded to past allegations that his agency was too lenient with Hamas, which the EU designates as a terrorist organisation.
He underlined that UNRWA took swift action after discovering that some of its employees were linked to the group.
When asked if he could confidently say that UNRWA had removed all Hamas operatives, Anderson was frank in his reply:
“No, I don’t think anybody can say anything with certainty about their workforce anywhere. We have over 13,000 people. We do take ‘neutrality’ very seriously, as shown by the commissioner general’s very swift action. But no, I can’t with certainty say that’s done,” he said.
Anderson also reiterated that they don’t have any evidence of employing Hamas members, and if they did, the necessary actions would have already been taken.
You can watch the full interview on the situation in Gaza on Thursday and online at euronews.com.
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