MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSA

Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego has died at the age of 87.

Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party has won a third straight general election, returning it to power as the country prepares to deploy billions of euros (dollars) of European Union aid for the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Portuguese voters go to the polls Sunday, two years earlier than scheduled.

The official two-week campaigning period for Portugal’s Jan. 30 general election is kicking off.

Authorities in Portugal are wrestling with a conundrum: how to hold a general election scheduled for Jan. 30 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that is confining hundreds of thousands of potential voters to their homes.

Portugal is to hold a snap election for a new parliament and government on Jan. 30.

Portugal’s parliament has rejected the minority Socialist government’s proposed state budget for 2022.

Portugal has paid official homage to a Portuguese diplomat who during World War II helped save thousands of people from Nazi persecution.

Jorge Sampaio, a former two-term president of Portugal and one of the most prominent political figures of his generation, has died.

A doctor performs an ultrasound scan on a patient in a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at the Curry Cabral hospital in Lisbon, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. A January surge of cases in Portugal has ebbed amid a lockdown, but deaths and pressure on hospitals remain high. The seven-day average of daily deaths in Portugal is the highest in the world, at 2.05 per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University. Also Thursday, Portugal started inoculating firefighters against COVID-19, as the January surge of cases ebbed but deaths and pressure on hospitals remained high. Portuguese firefighters, who number about 15,000, commonly operate ambulances, and they are to be vaccinated over a two-week period.

In January, Portugal recorded more than 5,000 death — close to half of its official pandemic total so far. Over the month, hospitalizations grew by 136% and patients in intenstive care units by 78%, pushing the public health system close to collapse. The intense pressure on Portuguese hospitals is unlikely to ease soon, however, because of a time-lag between new cases and hospitalizations. But the Portuguese public found out about that from a detailed statement by German authorities. Health Minister Marta Temido says Portugal ranks seventh in the European Union for the number of people vaccinated in relation to population.

India’s total positive cases since the start of the epidemic have reached 10.6 million, the second highest after the United States with 25.43 million cases. India started inoculating health workers on Jan. 16 in what is likely the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The FDA said Tuesday there have been reports of hospitalizations and death linked to the sanitizers reported to U.S. poison control centers and state health departments. The state’s health agency on Tuesday said third-party administrators would take over ordering and distributing vaccine doses with a new state secretary in charge of logistics. On Tuesday, the CDC reported just over half of the 41 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms.

Incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa delivers a speech following the results of Portugal's presidential election, in Lisbon, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who had been widely expected to win, captured 61% of the vote. Rebelo de Sousa, a center-right moderate and former leader of Portugal’s Social Democratic Party, will serve a 5-year term that will be his last due to term limits. “Everything starts with the battle against the pandemic," Rebelo de Sousa said. Every Portuguese president since 1976, when universal suffrage was introduced following the departure of a dictatorship, has been returned for a second term.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announces that he will be running for reelection in the Jan. 24 presidential election, in Lisbon, Portugal, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Portugal holds a presidential election on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021 and the moderate incumbent candidate is widely seen as the sure winner. (Manuel de Almeida/Pool via AP)LISBON – Portugal will hold a presidential election Sunday, choosing a head of state to serve a five-year term as the country suffers through a national lockdown and a worsening coronavirus outbreak. The incumbent, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is widely expected to be returned for a second and final term. Charming and affable, the 72-year-old Rebelo de Sousa’s willingness to pose for selfies spawned a Portuguese Facebook page called “Selfies com Marcelo” (Selfies with Marcelo).

FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday June 17, 2020, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after addressing the media at the Belem presidential palace in Lisbon. The office of the Portuguese president said Tuesday Jan. 12, 2021, that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested positive for coronavirus although the veteran politician has no symptoms for the COVID-19 disease. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, FILE)LISBON – Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested negative for the coronavirus in results of two consecutive tests disclosed Tuesday, a day after a single positive result. The president then took two more PCR tests, one on Monday evening and another one on Tuesday, and both of them were negative. False positive results in PCR tests, although rare, can occur.

Two women hold hands and carry face masks in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Czech Republic is returning to mandatory mask wearing in interior spaces amid a steep rise in new coronavirus cases. Starting Thursday, people across the country need to cover their face in all public places, including stores, shopping malls, post offices and others but also in private companies where employees cannot keep a distance of 2 meters from one another. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Two women hold hands and carry face masks in downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Czech Republic is returning to mandatory mask wearing in interior spaces amid a steep rise in new coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)BUDAPEST – The number of new confirmed coronavirus cases spiked Friday in parts of eastern Europe, with Hungary and the Czech Republic registering all-time daily highs. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his government was drafting a “war plan” to defend against the second wave of the pandemic. One possible reason for Poland's overall decline in reported cases since last month is that the government has implemented a new strategy which focuses primarily on testing symptomatic patients.

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo, students wear protective masks as they arrive for classes at the Immaculate Conception School while observing COVID-19 prevention protocols, in the Bronx borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

From left to right: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Spain's King Felipe VI during a ceremony to mark the reopening of the Portugal/Spain border in Badajoz, Spain, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The border was closed for three and a half months due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

From U.S. President Donald Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, global decision-makers have frequently set bad examples, whether it's refusing to wear masks or breaking confinement rules aimed at protecting their citizens from COVID-19. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said normally she would fire Clark but that the country couldnt afford massive disruption in its health sector while it was fighting the virus. He and others didnt wear masks during those meetings, and Putin also didnt cover his face for events marking Nazi Germanys defeat in World War II. The prime minister has respected all guidelines, according to a statement read by a spokesman. And as such the prime minister was with her during her last night."