News 5 November 2026

Four held over cocaine moved out of Lisbon airport, with 117 kg seized

The drugs arrived on flights from South America and the cell's job was to get them out of Humberto Delgado airport. All four suspects have been remanded in custody. It is the second network broken up at the airport in under two months.

Portugal’s criminal police, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), have arrested four people suspected of running a cell that moved cocaine out of Lisbon airport, and seized around 117 kilos of the drug, according to the police statement reported by Lusa on Wednesday. Officers also took three vehicles and about 40,000 euros in cash.

The cocaine came in on flights from South America. The group’s role, the PJ says, was the next step along: getting the drugs out of Humberto Delgado airport and on to the street market, working with criminal organisations inside and outside Portugal.

The investigation, run by the PJ’s national drug-trafficking unit, took about two months. All four suspects appeared before a judge and were remanded in pre-trial detention, the toughest measure available. Lisbon’s public prosecution department (DIAP) is leading the case.

The second in under two months

This is not a one-off. On 11 September the same unit arrested two employees of service companies at the airport, aged 48 and 46, in an operation codenamed Falcão. That time about 110 kilos of cocaine and 200,000 euros were seized, again linked to flights from Latin America.

Put the two operations together and that is roughly 227 kilos stopped at the same airport in less than eight weeks. The PJ has not said whether the cases are connected. Back in July, a separate operation at the airport caught 61 kilos in a different case, where the suspects had flown in from Porto.

What we don’t know yet

The police have not identified the four or said what jobs they did, including whether they worked at the airport. The investigation is still trying to map the size of the network, find other participants and pin down where the drugs were headed.

By Marta Carneiro

Image: Daniel from Glasgow / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

News 4 November 2026

Portugal practises for an earthquake at 11:05 on Thursday. Last year only 12,461 people did it on their own

Civil Protection's A Terra Treme drill asks schools, workplaces and households to drop, cover and hold on for one minute on 5 November. Of 782,288 participants in 2025, 68% came through schools.

At 11:05 on Thursday, 5 November, Portugal's Civil Protection authority wants the country to stop for one minute and act as though the ground is shaking. The drill is called A Terra Treme ("the earth shakes"), the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) runs it every year, and it comes down to three moves: drop, cover, hold on. Why one minute? Because, the organisers say, that is roughly how long an earthquake lasts.

News 4 November 2026

Could your family last 72 hours on its own? The EU wants primary schools teaching it

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News 4 November 2026

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News 3 November 2026

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News 3 November 2026

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News 2 November 2026

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Night-time illustration of a square with colourful tents, one knocked over, and a line of police riot shields lit by blue light beside a column

News 1 November 2026

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Portugal's PSP police cleared the housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto in the early hours of Sunday 1 November, for the third time in two weeks. Thirteen people were arrested, six in Lisbon and seven in Porto, according to the police. The order to take the tents down came at around half past midnight, with a warning that anyone who stayed would be charged with disobedience. Officers moved in at about 4.30am, almost simultaneously in both cities. In…

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News 31 October 2026

Civilians begin leaving occupied Oleshky under a short local truce

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Civilians started leaving Oleshky on Friday. The Russian-occupied town sits on the left bank of the Dnipro, directly across the river from Kherson, and the evacuation is happening under a ceasefire that covers this one town only. It took effect this week and is due to expire late on Sunday. The truce was announced on 23 October in a statement from the Office of the First Lady, which credits Melania Trump, acting through a representative, with brokering…

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News 30 October 2026

Monday's public-sector strike could keep some Portuguese schools shut

The STTS union and the FESINAP federation have called a 24-hour strike for 2 November covering schools, health centres, hospitals, registry offices and Social Security. There are no minimum services in education, so some schools may not open. The Frente Comum has already set a second strike for 20 November.

A large slice of Portugal's public sector walks out on Monday, 2 November. The STTS public-services union and the FESINAP federation have called a 24-hour strike, and schools are already warning parents. One school grouping's own notice to families says outright that the strike "may even close schools". So if you have children in a state school, check before you set off. A quick call or a look at the school's website will save you a wasted trip.

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News 29 October 2026

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who founded Mexico’s PRD, dies at 92

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Dolores Huerta, in a blue T-shirt, speaks at a wooden lectern with her right arm raised, in a school gym in Phoenix

News 28 October 2026

Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers, dies at 96

The labour and civil rights leader who built the UFW with Cesar Chavez and gave it the slogan 'Sí, se puede' died at home on Wednesday 28 October, her family said. Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Dolores Huerta, who helped build the first lasting farmworkers' union in the United States, died on Wednesday at the age of 96. Her family announced her death in a statement shared by the foundation that carries her name, saying she died at home. No cause was given. The union she co-founded, the United Farm Workers, marked her death in a statement from its president, Teresa Romero, which credits her with the movement's famous rallying cry, "Sí, se puede".

Map of the Iberian Peninsula marking Urda, in Toledo province, on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville

News 28 October 2026

Toledo train crash kills 69 as an AVE ploughs into a stationary Iryo

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News 28 October 2026

Saudi Arabia downs Houthi missiles over Riyadh as Egypt votes to back the kingdom

The Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed five ballistic missiles fired from Yemen at Riyadh and the Eastern Province on Tuesday, along with several drones. Debris hit a building, a construction site and a car in Riyadh, with no casualties. The Houthis claim they struck the defence ministry and the Ras Tanura refinery.

Saudi Arabia spent Tuesday shooting down missiles and drones from Yemen. According to the Riyadh-led coalition, five ballistic missiles were destroyed: three aimed at the Eastern Province before dawn and two aimed at the capital in the middle of the afternoon. Explosions were heard over Riyadh. Saudi Civil Defence said debris from two intercepted missiles came down on a building, a construction site and a car. Nobody was killed or hurt.

News 27 October 2026

Lisbon Metro strikes called off, and Friday's CP rail strike is off too

Unions Fectrans and STRUP dropped the partial Metro de Lisboa strikes on 28 and 30 October after an arbitration court set minimum services. The 24-hour strike by CP conductors and ticket staff called by the SFRCI union for the 30th was suspended on 28 October after a meeting with the infrastructure ministry.

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