Operação “Pactum”. PJ faz 75 buscas por suspeitas de corrupção, incluindo no Banco de Portugal

 

No terreno estão empenhados mais de 200 inspetores. Em causa possíveis crimes de corrupção na aquisição de bens e serviços para organismos do Estado na área informática e tecnológica.

A Polícia Judiciária está a levar a cabo na manhã desta quinta-feira uma mega operação com 75 buscas nas áreas da grande Lisboa, Porto e Braga que seguem suspeitas de vários crimes como corrupção na aquisição de bens e serviços para organismos do Estado na área informática e tecnológica. A informação foi avançada pela CNN Portugal e entretanto confirmada pela PJ e pelo Ministério Público.

As buscas, integradas na denominada de Operação “Pactum”, estão a decorrer em domicílios, escritórios de contabilidade, sedes de sociedades, Institutos Públicos e outros serviços do Estado.

Alguns dos alvos das buscas são as instalações do Banco de Portugal, da EPAL, da Casa da Moeda, da secretaria-geral do Ministério da Justiça ou do Instituto dos Registos e Notariado.

"Estão em causa condutas relacionadas com aquisições de serviços na área da Tecnologia de Informação, por várias entidades públicas e por uma entidade privada, entre os anos de 2017 e 2025. No centro da investigação encontra-se um conjunto de indivíduos que, em conjugação de esforços e de forma premeditada, viciaram dezenas de procedimentos de contratação pública e privada, num valor total global não inferior a 17 000 000,00 € (dezassete milhões de euros)", indica um comunicado enviado pela PJ às redações.

O DN sabe que a investigação identificou um conjunto de funcionários em várias entidades publicas e privadas que serviriam de 'Toupeiras' da empresa de tecnologias de informação, fornecendo elementos sobre necessidades e concursos que a favoreciam.

A principal empresa sob suspeita, a empresa "mae' atuava com ligações a várias outras companhias que colocavam as "toupeiras" nas instituições.

De acordo com o comunicado da PJ, as buscas destinam-se à recolha de informação relacionada com funcionários desses serviços e não visam decisores políticos.

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Wall Street stocks drop like a stone... wiping trillions off the value of 401(K)s in minutes

 

US stocks plunged in after-hours trading after President Donald Trump announced broad tariffs starting at 10 percent — with much higher rates for certain countries.

Within minutes of Trump's announcement, futures tracking America's flagship S&P 500 fell two per cent, while the Nasdaq dropped three per cent — the kind of falls not seen since the start of the pandemic. 

The sharp selloff followed Trump's fiery remarks, in which he accused foreign nations of 'ripping off' the United States and vowed to impose tariffs on imports across the globe. The tariffs were higher than expected.

Wall Street fears the move will stifle economic growth, drive up inflation and further rattle global stock markets when trading resumes in Asia and Europe on Thursday.

Most Americans' retirement savings, including 401(K)s, are tied to stock market performance. They are invested in shares and funds that track the major indices. 

At 6.30pm in after-hours trading in New York, futures that track the S&P 500 were down 2.3 percent, while one that is tied to the Nasdaq-100 fund dropped 4.2 percent. A fund that follows the Dow Jones slipped 2.3 percent. 

Stocks of major importers took a hit late Wednesday. Nike plunged 6 percent, and General Motors fell 3 percent. Companies already struggling amid tariff concerns, like Nvidia and Tesla, each lost about 3 percent. Five Below dropped 11 percent, while Gap tumbled 12 percent. 

Although Wall Street's main trading sessions ends at 4pm in New York, traders can continue buying and selling regular stocks until 8pm in after-hours trading.

Beyond that, investors can trade futures contracts around the clock, except for a one-hour break starting at 5pm each day. Futures track the prices of major indexes like the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones, as well as gold and other commodities.

Americans will have already seen their retirement funds take a hit based on after-hours trading and futures. If prices don't recover, they'll face  a bigger blow when markets open at 9.30am in New York on Thursday. 

The US President said his 'liberation day' announcement was a 'declaration of economic independence'.

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Rightwing groups across US push new bans to limit ‘obscene’ books in libraries

 

Rightwing groups around the US are pushing legislation that would place new limits on what books are allowed in school libraries in a move that critics decry as censorship often focused on LGBTQ+ issues or race or imposing conservative social values.

Caught up in the attempts at suppressing books are classics like The Color Purple and Slaughterhouse Five.

Opponents of such bills argue that they would actually hinder individual rights because the proponents would be imposing their beliefs on parents and children who do not share their views. Those campaigning for the restrictions say it would prevent children from being exposed to what they label sexually explicit and obscene content and increase parental rights.

There are at least 112 proposed state bills concerning school – and public – libraries that seek to expand the definition of what is deemed obscene or “harmful to minors” and to limit librarian staff’s ability to determine which books are in their collections, according to the American Library Association.

Judges have already declared some recent laws that banned books unconstitutional and if approved, the other legislation would probably face court challenges.

The battle over school libraries represents another front in the culture war over how American society deals with race, sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Parents want to be able to have a certain way of making sure that inappropriate, sexually explicit books aren’t being put in school libraries, and if they ever find these books in the school library, that they can easily and smoothly remove those books,” said Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a conservative advocacy group that has tried to ban books that they describe as pornography and has pushed for creationism to be taught alongside evolution.

While there have always been efforts to censor books, there has been a surge in recent years in legislation that concerns material in libraries. In 2014, there were 183 titles targeted for removal from public and school libraries; in 2023, there were 4,240, according to the American Library Association (ALA), which also states that it is not a complete list.

“There has been a coordinated effort by” groups like Moms for Liberty that “because of their personal, political, moral or religious beliefs don’t want young people to be reading certain books, and they want the publicly-funded schools and publicly funded libraries to reflect their views”, said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the library association’s office for intellectual freedom.

In Texas, there are at least 31 bills – the most of any state – that would impair libraries ability to “acquire and provide diverse materials, resources and programming”, according to the library association. During the 2023-24 school year, there were 538 book bans in Texas, which trailed only Florida and Iowa, according to PEN America, a group dedicated to promoting free expression.

Texas state lawmakers are now considering senate bill 13, which would require that local school boards – rather than librarians – approve all books added or removed from school libraries.

They would have to establish a local advisory council, comprised mostly of parents or students in the district, that would recommend which books should be in the school catalog. And they would not be allowed to have “indecent” or “profane” content, including books with “grossly offensive language”.

Christin Bentley, a member of the state Republican executive committee who chairs a subcommittee, stop sexualizing Texas kids, has advocated for the senate bill because she is concerned about “sexually explicit [books] and books that tell kids to go look at porn online”, she said.

“It’s sexually grooming children,” said Bentley, a mother of two who lives near Tyler in the north-eastern part of the state.

Texas districts have also banned books such as Beloved and The Handmaid’s Tale, along with newer novels like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Underground Railroad, according to the Dallas Observer.

Bentley said she was most concerned about books like Blue Is the Warmest Color and A Game of Thrones graphic novel because of their sexually explicit content.

“A lot of the books that are sexually explicit or very indecent and profane, they are part of a genre called young adult, and that’s relatively new,” Bentley said.

While supporters of such legislation argue that parents need greater control over what their children are exposed to in schools, librarians already welcome parent input, according to Lucy Podmore, a librarian and former chair of the Texas Association of School Librarians.

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Trans woman arrested for using women's restroom in what could be a first under a Florida law

 

A transgender woman was arrested after she tried to use a woman’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol building last month, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The incident could prove to be the first arrest under the state’s laws that ban transgender folks from using the restroom and other facilities that align with their gender identity.

Marcy Rheintgen, 20, a resident of Illinois, was taken into custody by Capital police and charged with trespassing after she tried to use a women’s restroom at the State Capitol building. Hoping to use the act as a symbolic protest, the transgender college student notified police and politicians in advance about the act, sent a picture of her photo identification, and identified the specific restroom she intended to use.

“I know that you know in your heart that this law is wrong and unjust,” Rheintgen said in the letter. “I know that you know in your heart that transgender people are human too, and you can’t arrest us away.”

Police met her at the Capitol on March 19 and tried to dissuade her from her plans. Rheintgen instead attempted to use the restroom and was taken into custody by the officers.

The officers initially told Rheintgen they would only issue a notice to appear before the judge and release her. They subsequently declared her unsuitable for release and arrested her after she became “sassy,” and they feared she would try to use the restroom again, according to the arrest affidavit.

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Austrian migrant gang-rape horror: Girl, 12, 'passed around like a "trophy" by more than a dozen boys'

 

A 12-year-old Austrian girl was subjected to a horrifying gang-rape ordeal at the hands of at least a dozen migrant boys who taped their abuse and passed her around like a 'trophy', it has emerged.

Named in local media as Mia, the young girl was reportedly subject to several sex attacks from a number of boys between February and June 2023 in garages, at perpetrators’ apartments and other locations in Vienna.

Austrian police said on March 1, 2024, that they were investigating 17 people, most of them minors, on suspicion of sexually abusing the 12-year-old girl. They included Austrian, Turkish, Syrian, Italian, Bulgarian and Serbian nationals.

Twelve of the suspects were minors between the ages of 14 and 18, one was 19, and two were below the age of criminal responsibility, which is 14 in Austria, and the identities of two others were unknown, said Florian Finda, a senior official with Vienna’s state criminal police office. 

But now, the 18-year-old boyfriend of the girl has become the first perpetrator to be convicted in a case which has shocked the Austrian capital. 

Afghan migrant, Wais S, appeared in Vienna Regional Court on Monday to face trial over the serious sexual abuse of the minor. He was 15-years-old at the time of the gang rape incident which reportedly took place in a hostel room in Vienna.

According to German newspaper Bild, Wais knew that the young girl, who has been given the name Mia by local media, was under the age of 14 at the time of the attack in 2023, and had impregnated her.

'I plead partially guilty,' the defendant testified during the trial. 'I thought if she was 12 and I was 15, it was allowed.' 

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Patrões querem que o Governo arranje casas para os imigrantes...

 

Na cerimónia de assinatura da "via verde" para a imigração, em Lisboa, patrões sustentam que “não foi por falta de aviso” que o Estado falhou na integração de imigrantes e sublinham que não há desculpa para o incumprimento do novo protocolo. 

Pelo menos sete ministros e dezenas de convidados ouviram esta terça-feira, no Palácio das Necessidades, as críticas das confederações patronais sobre as falhas da administração pública no acolhimento de imigrantes e a promessa do primeiro-ministro de uma "nova etapa".

Criticando o que considerou ser a "irresponsabilidade" da anterior política de imigração, Luís Montenegro referiu-se à chamada "via verde" para imigração - assinada no Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros por quatro entidades públicas e cinco confederações patronais - como uma "nova etapa que conjuga um equilíbrio entre a regulação e o humanismo".

"Pode-se interpretar que estamos a ter uma visão exclusivamente utilitária dos imigrantes", disse. "A nossa visão não é assim tão limitada", indicou. "Essas pessoas são pessoas que acolhemos de braços abertos".

Sublinhando que o protocolo assinado esta terça-feira prevê garantias ao nível da legalidade dos contratos de trabalho, da formação profissional ou da habitação – embora no último caso com compromissos genéricos que levantam dúvidas  – o primeiro-ministro sublinhou que as "condições relativamente consensuais" não devem ser aplicadas "nem de forma facilitista nem de forma absolutamente restritiva".

"Para que funcione tem de haver contrato de trabalho válido, um plano de formação profissional e garantia de existência de alojamento do país", disse. Condições que "são, portanto, a expressão da regulação e do humanismo".

Patrões pedem "virar de página" para o que "funcionou menos bem"

Num discurso bastante crítico feito em nome das confederações patronais, o embaixador Álvaro Mendonça e Moura, presidente da Confederação dos Agricultores (CAP), começou por sublinhar a importância da imigração para os níveis de crescimento económico.

"Teria sido impossível que tivéssemos tido em Portugal os níveis de crescimento que tivemos desde 2014 sem os trabalhadores estrangeiros".

Apesar disso, criticou, o Estado "não conseguiu antever esta realidade" nem adequar os recursos humanos nos consulados, da mesma forma que não criou "programas de habitação adequados à entrada das novas populações em território nacional". (*)

Referindo-se às dificuldades "funcionais, burocráticas e legais", Álvaro Mendonça e Moura referiu a "demora significativa" reportada quer pelos requerentes de vistos de estada temporária quer pelas empresas e acrescentou que "não foi por falta de aviso" que tal sucedeu. "Muitas vezes os próprios serviços do Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros alertaram para o problema".

Sublinhando que as confederações patronais depositam "enorme" expectativa neste acordo, o presidente da CAP disse que espera que o protocolo seja um "virar de página" para "o que até agora funcionou menos bem".

"Não poderá haver desculpas para o seu incumprimento. Nem mesmo a falta de trabalhadores da administração pública", concluiu.

 

 

U.S. Stocks Post Worst Quarter Since 2022 on Threat of Trade War

 

 

Worries about tariffs and the economy sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to their worst quarters since 2022, a setback that is pushing some investors overseas. 

The Trump administration’s whipsaw rollout of a tariff fight with America’s biggest trading partners has analysts trimming forecasts for economic growth and lifting estimates for inflation. The tech trade that carried indexes to new highs is fizzling. Investors big and small have been shifting bets to Europe—where new spending plans could jolt a lethargic economy—and beyond. 

Monday’s action highlighted the volatility pummeling markets in recent weeks. U.S. stocks opened sharply lower following a global selloff overnight, before an afternoon rally carried the broad index to its largest intraday recovery in more than two years. 

“For the first time in a while, you can have a conversation about: Might European equities be the best place to be for the next two or three years?” said John Porter, chief investment officer at Newton Investment Management, which has been buying European stocks in many of its strategies in recent months. “You can have that conversation for reasons other than they’re cheap.”

The S&P 500 is struggling to claw its way out of a correction after falling 10% from its February record. The tumultuous quarter has left the U.S. stock benchmark down 4.6%, far behind the gains of indexes overseas. The dollar has weakened, leaving investors wondering if the pullback from investing in U.S. assets heralds the start of a long-term regime.

It is a far cry from the end of 2024, when the S&P 500 capped a second consecutive year of more than 20% gains. Cooling inflation had allowed the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates three times in a row. Election Day victories by President Trump and congressional Republicans seemed to presage tax cuts, deregulation and boom times ahead.

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The future of Europe