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Added on the 02/01/2015 16:00:21 - Copyright : Reuters EN
The euro sank to a 12 year low against the dollar as the ECB's bond-buying programme began to have an impact. It won't help Greece which continues to struggle with delfation. And as Grace Pascoe reports there's another mixed bag of economic data from the euro zone.
Lisbon, Sep 18 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The pandemic has not only caused infections and deaths in Portugal but it has also lead to poverty. Thousands of workers with stable jobs who overnight they stopped earning money and now have to turn to charity to survive.According to data from the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, in July there were 407,000 people registered in the unemployment centres, 37% more than a year ago, although the figure is highly questioned by economists, unions and politicians who point out that the real unemployment rate is even higher.FOOTAGE OF FOOD BANK IN LISBON AND FAMOES PARISH IN ODIVELAS. SOUNDBITES OF:-ISABEL JONET, PRESIDENT OF THE Portuguese Federation of Food Banks: "In two months we received more than 60,000 people asking for help. It is a huge increase, incredibly huge. It happened overnight. We started to receive requests and more requests. There were days when we received 2,000 help requests. It was very distressing because we did not see that entities were able to respond to all these people.""They are people who had never experienced poverty and suddenly, from one moment to another, they were left with nothing. They had no money, not even a euro because they had nowhere to work. Their workplaces were closed. For example, we are talking about hairdressers, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists, beauticians, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, Uber drivers ... "."A fifth of the population lives in a situation of poverty. This kind of poverty was traditionally more linked to age, people with low retirement pensions. A set of measures was implemented, such as the solidarity supplement for the elderly or the increase in lower pensions, but we still have people with pensions below 180 euros a month."-SOFIA MARTINS, COORDINATOR OF THE FOOD BANK AT THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Before the pandemic, until March, the food bank helped 48 families from Pontinha and Famões. Nowadays, in August, they are about 140 families. There was a fairly significant increase due to the pandemic ".-PAULO PINHEIRO, DIRECTOR OF THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Poverty is not only visible, but it is always a kind of iceberg. There is a type of poverty outside, visible, and people take the initiative and turn to help. But there is also a group of families to whom it is very difficult to help because it is ashamed poverty, they are not used to it or they do not want to say publicly that they are overcoming (financial) difficulties."-ANA PAULA, NEIGHBOR WHO HAS TURNED TO THE FOOD BANK:"My husband and my baby tested positive and I had to stay at home to take care of them. I was laid-off at work and during the pandemic, I could not leave home since I had to self-isolate after tested positive. I sought help by calling the City Council and the community center."
Lisbon, Sep 18 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The pandemic has not only caused infections and deaths in Portugal but it has also lead to poverty. Thousands of workers with stable jobs who overnight they stopped earning money and now have to turn to charity to survive.According to data from the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, in July there were 407,000 people registered in the unemployment centres, 37% more than a year ago, although the figure is highly questioned by economists, unions and politicians who point out that the real unemployment rate is even higher.FOOTAGE OF FOOD BANK IN LISBON AND FAMOES PARISH IN ODIVELAS. SOUNDBITES OF:-ISABEL JONET, PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE FEDERATION OF FOOD BANKS: "In two months we received more than 60,000 people asking for help. It is a huge increase, incredibly huge. It happened overnight. We started to receive requests and more requests. There were days when we received 2,000 help requests. It was very distressing because we did not see that entities were able to respond to all these people.""They are people who had never experienced poverty and suddenly, from one moment to another, they were left with nothing. They had no money, not even a euro because they had nowhere to work. Their workplaces were closed. For example, we are talking about hairdressers, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists, beauticians, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, Uber drivers ... "."A fifth of the population lives in a situation of poverty. This kind of poverty was traditionally more linked to age, people with low retirement pensions. A set of measures was implemented, such as the solidarity supplement for the elderly or the increase in lower pensions, but we still have people with pensions below 180 euros a month."-SOFIA MARTINS, COORDINATOR OF THE FOOD BANK AT THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Before the pandemic, until March, the food bank helped 48 families from Pontinha and Famões. Nowadays, in August, they are about 140 families. There was a fairly significant increase due to the pandemic."-PAULO PINHEIRO, DIRECTOR OF THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Poverty is not only visible, but it is always a kind of iceberg. There is a type of poverty outside, visible, and people take the initiative and turn to help. But there is also a group of families to whom it is very difficult to help because it is ashamed poverty, they are not used to it or they do not want to say publicly that they are overcoming (financial) difficulties."-ANA PAULA, NEIGHBOUR WHO HAS TURNED TO THE FOOD BANK:"My husband and my baby tested positive and I had to stay at home to take care of them. I was laid-off at work and during the pandemic, I could not leave home since I had to self-isolate after tested positive. I sought help by calling the City Council and the community centre."
Euro zone business activity expanded at its weakest rate since the start of 2015 this month as growth paths diverged. But on the plus side, there was an unexpected surge from France. David Pollard reports.
The euro has extended losses into a sixth straight day to trade near a nine-year low as investors bet the ECB was getting closer to adopting quantitative easing to ward off deflation. As Sonia Legg reports a slump in German industrial orders and concerns over Greece reinforced bearish views of the single currency.
The price of US housing in the third quarter of 2020 saw the biggest year-over-year jump since 2013. Markets Insider reports the median price for a single-family home rose 12%, mainly fueled by record-low mortgage interest rates. But there's a downside: Not every American is benefitting from the rally. In fact, Q3 saw the proportion of first-time homebuyers drop to just 31%. That's the lowest share in over 30 years. As home prices significantly outpace median family income growth, more Americans have been pushed out of the housing market and have had to delay homeownership.
Hong Kong, Sep 21 (EFE/EPA).- Shares of British banking giant HSBC, listed at the Hong Kong stock exchange, on Monday closed at their lowest level since 1995 after multiple media outlets published reports about an investigation that revealed that the bank allowed millions of dollars to be transferred in fraudulent transactions. The bank's share price closed at HK$ 29.3 ($3.78) on Monday, a 52 percent slump compared to the beginning of the year and 81 percent lower than its highest level reached in 2007, just before the global financial crisis. The Hong Kong exchange witnessed HSBC shares lose 5.33 percent of their value within Monday. (Camera: JEROME FAVRE).SHOT LIST: GENERAL VIEW OF A HONG KONG AND SHANGHAI BANK (HSBC) BRANCH IN HONG KONG.
"Volvo Cars’ XC40 adds another accolade as it receives five stars and top ratings in its 2018 Euro NCAP tests. This means the XC40 joins its larger siblings in the 60 and 90 series as one of the safest cars on the roads. The 2018 Euro NCAP testing was the toughest ever with new and more demanding challenges on safety technology, including cyclist-detection with auto-brake and emergency lane keeping systems. Overall, the new XC40 received the highest safety score among all cars tested under the new regime.“The new XC40 is one of the safest cars on the market,” said Malin Ekholm, head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “It comes standard with the largest offering of safety technology of any small SUVs, helping drivers detect and avoid collisions, remain safely in their lane and reduce the impact of accidentally running off the road.” All tested Volvo cars on sale today have received five stars in their respective Euro NCAP assessments. Last year, the XC60 was crowned the overall best-performing large off-roader and the best overall performer in the prestigious Euro NCAP 2017 Best in Class safety awards. The XC90 received the same accolade in 2015. In March, the XC40 was named 2018 European Car of the Year, the first Volvo to win the prestigious award, and it has since been one of Volvo’s top sellers. The company announced in May that it would expand production in its manufacturing facilities in both Europe and China to meet the overwhelming demand for the car."
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