( Read more... )

Bloomberg reports on the geopolitics of Chinese investment in Portugal's Azores.

Portugal is welcoming non-military Chinese engagement in the Azores to help develop the logistical and research potential of the mid-Atlantic island chain ( Read more... )

Guilherme Leite Gonçalves and Sérgio Costa's Open Democracy essay looks at the changing functions of the port of Rio de Janeiro. In some of its broad outlines, the story that it tells is familiar.

The port district of Rio de Janeiro is one of the areas most affected by urban interventions connected to the August 2016 Olympics. Until very recently ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg looks at Argentina's push for renewable energy, reports on Rosatom's interest in developing South Africa as an entry into the African nuclear market, writes about China's opposition to anything remotely like separatism in Hong Kong, and looks at Poland's demand for an apology for Bill Clinton critical of the new government.
• Bloomberg View ( Read more... )

In July of 2005, I blogged about the little-known fact that there seems to have been a Portuguese colony on Cape Breton Island.

Some scholars think that the Portuguese followed up these voyages with an attempt to found a colony, a theory which is associated with the name of João Alvares Fagundes. A native of the town of Viana, Portugal, Fagundes ( Read more... )

In a brief post at Demography Matters, I linked to Paul Krugman's blog post specilating about demographic debt spirals and to the blog's past speculations on the topic in relation to Portugal.

Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde reports on the start of an initiative to make the Portuguese capital of Lisbon a high-tech startup centre, a European version of San Francisco. Certainly that would hit the city's relatively cost of living, but it might also save the Portuguese economy. If this works, mind.

Picture a city with an iconic golden bridge, ( Read more... )

In a Guardian opinion piece, one Lucia Kula notes the extent to which the Angolan oil boom has transformed the Portuguese-Angolan relationship, but wonders about the durability of this.

In 2011 there were 21,563 Angolans in Portugal, compared to 100,000 Portuguese living in Angola. The attraction is clear, the same reason why people have always ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes that this year, the Canadian National Exhibition will host more high-calorie culinary atrocities.
• Centauri Dreams considers the final pass of Cassini around Saturn's Dione.
• Crooked Timber considers the opportunity costs of war.
• The Dragon's Tales looks at the war in Donbas.
• Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw notes the Chinese-led revival of ( Read more... )

I've some links up at Demography Matters, reporting on some interesting migration-related news articles.