Court bans sale of objects removed from the Titanic
oglobo27 August 2026 at 06:30
An American federal judge maintained the ban on the auction of one hundred artifacts recovered from the Titanic, deciding that she has jurisdiction over all objects recovered by the company RMS Titanic Inc., which holds the exclusive salvage rights to the ocean liner that sank in 1912. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, of the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, stated that she will continue evaluating whether the sale of the items should be allowed. The Atlanta-based company had challenged the judge's authority over the 1,800 artifacts recovered during the first expedition in 1987, but the magistrate determined that she can enforce the 2011 agreement to keep all recovered artifacts together from seven expeditions, totaling 5,500 fragile pieces.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, founder of Expresso and SIC, is to have an avenue named after him in Cascais. The "Avenida Francisco Pinto Balsemão" will be located next to the Forte de São Jorge de Oitavos, connecting the Pedro Monjardino Roundabout to Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, and will be inaugurated on September 1st. The Cascais Municipal Council justifies this tribute as recognition for Balsemão's "exceptional contribution" to the consolidation of Portuguese democracy, defense of press freedom and development of the country. Francisco Pinto Balsemão died on November 1, 2025, at the age of 88.
The foreign ministers of Spain, Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands called on Thursday for the reopening of the debate on the use of frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine. This request comes after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy requested an amount to cover the deficit in the country's defense budget.
The number of dead after the devastating flood that hit Nepal has risen to 392, while around 1,400 people remain missing. Among the missing are several foreign citizens, including three Portuguese. Nepalese authorities continue rescue and assistance work for victims affected by the catastrophe.
The new school calendar for 2026/2027 in Portugal determines that the majority of students return to classes between September 11 and 15, but students of scientific-humanistic courses in secondary education — including Sciences and Technologies, Socioeconomic Sciences, Languages and Humanities, and Visual Arts — only start on September 21. This change is contained in Order No. 10430/2026, which modified the previous calendar, and may result in siblings from different educational levels returning to classes more than a week apart.
