Lisbon, Oct. 18, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's leading newspapers offer a range of headlines, but all touch on the announcement by the main opposition Socialist Party (PS) that it will abstain in the vote on the state budget (often referred to as OE) presented by the Democratic Alliance (AD) minority governing coalition of Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader and prime minister, Luís Montenegro.

Expresso:

- "Law leads hundreds of women to have abortions in Spain"

- "PS abstention averts political crisis"

- "PSD Congress: Montenegro wants to change direction"

- Finance minister Joaquim "Miranda Sarmento's freezes [in departmental spending] break record"

- "24,000 [school pupils] still without lessons in a subject"

- "Experts say Benfica risks going down to the district" leagues after criminal charges

- "Banks without total control over defaulting customers"

- "The art of image and dressing well in politics"

- "Sangalhos, the track where champions ride"

- "Obiang cracks down on Lusophone stronghold in Equatorial Guinea"

- "Macron to visit Portugal"

- "Israel kills Hamas leader"

Nascer do Sol: 

- "Golden visas, '“startup version': 50% go to Russians and Iranians" 

- "Luís Aguiar-Conraria, economist and university professor: 'AD should have benefited large companies even more'"

- "The taboo is over: PS will abstain on the Budget"

- "Nuno Palma [researcher]: 'Academia in Portugal is very backward, contrary to merit and mediocre'" 

- "PSP [police force] evaluates complaints of kidnapping and rape in TVDE" - Uber and similar passenger services

- "Security: Luís Neves will continue at the head of the PJ" Judicial Police

- "Nuno Jacinto: 'The SNS [National Health Service] should differentiate itself by having medical careers based on merit'"

- "Immigration: Europe closes doors and Meloni shows the way"

- "Portugal Tomorrow. Finance: Businesses and economists give the Budget the green light in the face of strong uncertainty"

- "Together in the fight against bullying. Actress Ana Sofia Martins and psychologist Luís Fernandes"

- "Positive country. Sustainability - self-storage construction. Azores - nature tourism"

Público: 

- "OE2025: Pedro Nuno Santos announces PS abstention. And so the budget is approved"

- "Hospitals: of the 37 heliports, only five are able to receive medical emergencies"

- "Teresa Veiga: she exists in words, the rest is mystery" - low-profile but prolific author

- "Public guarantee increases the risk of clients defaulting"

- "Artificial intelligence: Google, Amazon and Microsoft bet on nuclear energy"

- "Middle East: Israel claims victory with death of Hamas leader"

Correio da Manhã:

- "Investigation into corruption in football: 'The money came' - in dressing room conversation between player and coach, José Mota is asked if the money 'came'"

- "Pedro Nuno Santos ensures budget will pass" in announcing that PS will abstain

- "Israel slaughters Hamas chief"

- "Portimonense-Sporting. Rúben Amorim ready to continue at Sporting" as head coach of the men's team

- "Paulo Rangel. Minister insults general"

- "Rates. Inflation enables the ECB to cut interest rates by 0.25%"

- "BES case. [José Maria] Ricciardi attacks cousin Ricardo Salgado" in main trial related to 2014 collapse of family-run group

- "Fall from balcony kills One Direction icon"

Jornal de Notícias: 

- "Pedro Nuno [Santos] to let Montenegro's budget pass"

- "Couple of hairdressers were couriers for Porto's biggest drug trafficking network"

- "Education. Only 79 retired teachers have agreed to return" as part of government scheme to boost staffing

- "Town halls. Months waiting for authorisation to clear land"

- "Gaia. Fishermen from Aguda haven't been out to sea for 60 days"

- "Ball-catching. Tactic used in the league is banned abroad"

- Travel section "Evasões. Drinking the autumn"

- "Gaza. Israel slaughters the brains of 7 October"

- "Robert de Niro. Tribeca's biggest star is already shining in Portugal" as irst ever Tribeca Festival Lisboa begins

- "Liam Payne. Hotel called 911 before singer's death"

Diário de Notícias: 

- "General Mendes Ferrão, Chief of Staff of the Army: 'An army without combat capability is not an army'"

- "Pedro Nuno to let OE2025 pass but presses ahead with seven priorities"

- "Health. Doctor treated patients with Covid and had to stop working because of long Covid"

- "BES case. Ricciardi, the father, signed without reading and Ricciardi, the son, wanted to remove Salgado"

- "Rates. ECB interest rates to fall to 3% or less by the end of the year and then even lower"

- "Gillian Anderson reveals the secret files of desire"

Negócios: 

- "Interview with [writer] David Machado: 'Today there is an excess of moral judgement about everything'"

- "PS gives its hand to the government and makes the budget viable"

- "From Lisbon to Dubai, six startups on the hunt for capital"

- "Monetary policy. ECB signals that interest rate cuts are here to stay"

- "Tolls. Discounts on ex-SCUTs [motorways originally designed to be free to users] lead to 50% drop in revenue"

Jornal Económico: 

- "ADSE [civil servants' health insurance scheme] has 117-million profit and continues to lose services"

- "It took a while, but the PS ends up letting the OE2025 pass" in the vote later this month

- "Mercadona [Spanish supermarket chain] takes advantage of legal loophole to sell burgers with reduced VAT"

- "Novobanco discounts 300 million to go ahead with sale"

- "Azul [former part-owner of flag carrier TAP9 only agrees to renegotiate interest on TAP debt"

- "ECB wants to revive dying euro economy" with rate cut

- "KKR opens high-finance doors to Greenvolt" after fund takes control of renewable energy company

- "Golf in the Algarve contributed 100 million euros" to region's output

- "VAT at 6% [in construction] will help solve the housing crisis"

ARO // ARO.

Lusa