CYNTHIA ADINA KIRKWOOD

The pink color of greater flamingos comes from their food rich in red-pigmented foods, such as algae and shrimp. However, the imposing Three Flamingos, with their long legs and curved beaks, in the City of Olhão, is made of 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of pinkish trash. The mural of street artist Bordalo II celebrates the wading birds, which can be seen in the Parque Natural de Ria Formosa, in the Algarve, with Olhão as its gateway, reported NiT. Greater flamingos, the largest

Echoing its country's marine patrimony, Portugal's Lusíada constellation, which will open "doors to a new generation of maritime communication services", neared completion with the July 7 launch of three more satellites, according to its developer LusoSpace. The new satellites -- named for stellar Portuguese writers Florbela Espanca, Miguel Torga and Cesário Verde and carrying their poetry -- were launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-17 mission

(Photo by Tiago Petinga/Lusa) The Portuguese Parliament rejected new attempts to legislate on the loss of nationality as an accessory crime penalty, reported Expresso (July 3). Previously, the Constitutional Court had struck down two other versions in May of this year and in December 2025. Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro (PSD), defended a third version of the decree, assuring the Assembleia da República that the measure would be of "rare application" and addr

Aretha Franklin singing My Country, 'Tis of Thee at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009 (Photo by Cecilio Ricardo/U.S. Air Force) FIFA's 2026 World Cup ushers in the strains of national anthems into our living rooms, pubs and restaurants from countries around the world. Surprisingly, some songs have more in common with each other than others. Growing up in New York, I sang America, or My Country,´Tis of Thee, after saying the Pledge of Al

During the day, (especially a cloudy one), the marble is hard and mute. At night, however, when the building is lit from within, it takes on a lantern effect, illuminating the striations in the stone, which are laid out in a symmetrical pattern evoking the grain of a textile. "The marble is quiet during the day when the memorial is at its most active, then it comes on as the city gets dark," the architect designer Joshua Ramus, of REX, a New York architectural firm, told the

Thompson Memorial Chapel, an interfaith sanctuary at Williams College, was completed in 1904 in memory of Frederick Ferris Thompson (1836-1899), who, at the time of his death, had been the most generous benefactor in the College's history, according to the College. At the news of his passing, the school suspended all classes and events for the day, and the community gathered in a chapel to pay tribute to Thompson, who had attended Williams. During the Civil War, Thompson orga

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama blocks tje shot of New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) during the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, in June 10, at Madison Square Garden, in New York. (Photo by Ross D. Franklin/AP) Pure New York grit. Without that do-or-die quality, the Knicks would not have had a hope of winning the fourth finals game against the San Antonio Spurs in Madison Square Garden on June 10. In the first two quarters of the NBA

Ted Turner (November 19, 1938 -- May 6, 2026) (Photo from TCM) As I prepare for my journey to the small elite Williams College -- where I read Plato's Republic -- for my 50th reunion, the insights of titan Ted Turner on his "inspirational" education at the Ivy League Brown University, where he studied the Classics, resonate with me. Robert Edward "Ted" Turner realized his audacious vision of 24-hours news in the creation of CNN (Cable News Network). He sought

Pope Leo XIV greets a family in Rome. (Photo by Vatican Media) "Technology should not be considered, in itself, as a force antagonistic to humanity." However, "technology is never neutral" because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it, Pope Leo XIV highlights in his first encyclical after one year of his pontificate. Pope Leo XIV's 245-paragraph Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial In

Is any poem more of a public institution than The New Colossus? In 1903, it was first displayed on a plaque inside the base of the gift to the United States, La Liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty enlightening the world), from the people of France. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. Emma Lazarus' signature sonnet has become one of the most renowned and quoted poems. It has managed this feat despite its author's low profile during her lifetime and despite having near

On January 22, 1889, Guilherme Pinto Basto (4), a great-grandson of Vista Alegre's founder, organized the first formal football game in Portugal, pitting a Portuguese team against a British team at Campo Pequeno, Lisbon, according to Football Club, Vista Alegre. The Portuguese won 2-1. (Photo from Vista Alegre) Some of the players in the British team came from the cable station at Carcavelos and Graham's Textile and General Trading firm based in Lisbon at Braça da Pra

Judges at the 19th century Ratton Palace, in Lisbon, which housed the Constitutional Court after the State acquired it in 1982 (Photo by Gerardo Santos) The Constitutional Court again has struck down unanimously a proposed Penal Code amendment, which stipulates the penalty of loss of Portuguese naturalization for those who commit particular crimes with sentences of more than five years within 15 years of attaining citizenship. The 11-judge court based its decision on t

A cork oak is harvested after about 25 years. It grows a thin layer of bark every year. After the bark is removed, it takes about nine years for it to become thick enough to harvest again. Each tree is marked with the last digit of the year in which the harvest was carried out. Over the course of a cork oak's 150- to 200-year-lifespan, it can be harvested about 15 times. (Photo from Associação Portuguesa da Cortiça) News that Iran is evaluating the United States' peace

António José Seguro was elected President of the Portuguese Republic on February 8 in the second round of elections, against Chega leader André Ventura, with a record number of more than 3.5 million votes, or 66.84 percent of the cast votes. He has undertaken Open Presidencies, in which he visits areas outside of the capital, addressing particular challenges. In the photo above, he visited Alcácer do Sal Municipality, in Setúbal District, where he talked with displaced reside

(Photo from Diário as Beiras) On May 7th, a bell will ring 1,620 times in the village of Benfeita, Arganil Municipality. There is one toll for each day of the Second World War in this 81-year ritual. On the same date in 1945, a telephone call announced the end of the bloody conflict in which Portugal maintained neutrality.The bell of the new tower rang out the news of Germany unconditionally surrendering its military forces to the Allies. Since then, the Portuguese community

The author with her old machine in the Beira Alta of Portugal. She now uses a black twisted cord, not the smooth green or yellow, because it is tougher. (Photo by Betsy Steel) My old Kawasaki 2-stroke and I were entangled in a trap akin to a bad marriage. I knew that things were not good, but I also knew how to get along in it. My new roçadora (brush-cutter) is dependable, starting after I pull the recoil cord once, gentle on me and quieter than its predecessor.

The photo promoted an Embassy of Portugal in Italy concert in 2014 of the Symphony Orchestra of the Province of Bari conducted by Maestro Álvaro Cassuto. Of the four pieces on the program, three were Portuguese -- Joly Braga Santos ( Symphonic Overture n. 3 ), Federico de Freitas ( Medieval Suite ) and Àlvaro Cassuto ( Return to the Future ), while the fourth was Italian -- Gioacchino Rossini ( Barber of Seville , overture). Besides leading an ensemble in interpreting a scor

Newly elected President of the Republic António José Seguro kept his promise and returned, on March 10, to Mourísia, Arganil, which had suffered greatly in last summer's wildfires, reported Diário de Notícias . According to the president of Arganil Municipality, promised government support of about 4 million euros still was outstanding. "It is important that these promises are fulfilled, " said Seguro, who said that Parliament also had approved a law to create an Independent

Sister Maamalifar M. Poreku, Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, said, according to Vatican News , that integral ecology requires not only compassion but systemic transformation. The path forward is "to align faith and economic choices", she said, referring to "martyred territories" sacrificed for profit. Inspired by the late Pope Francis' environmental encyclical , the Catholic Church initiated a divestment platform in global mining, which violates human rights and dest

"My grandfather, my father and my uncle were moliceiros. My son's passion is to have a moliceiro boat. My son started to ride with me in the regattas when he was very young. This boat is for him so that he too can participate in the regattas. With the help of master José Rito, I built my first moliceiro to fulfill my childhood dream. That's why my moliceiro was called Um Sonho (A Dream)," said José Rebelo. The flat-bottomed pine moliceiros of Aveiro are a cultural treasure, w