Jose Socrates

(Newser) - Portugal pleaded for a bailout , and now it's got one. The hard-up nation has negotiated a bailout from the EU and IMF worth about $116 billion. The three-year loan is a "good agreement that defends Portugal," according to caretaker PM Jose Socrates, who added that Portugal would...

(Newser) - Portugal is biting the bullet and admitting that it desperately needs a massive bailout from its European Union partners to stay afloat. Caretaker prime minister Jose Socrates told the nation that the decision to seek a bailout was "a last resort" as interest rates on its short-term debt skyrocket,...

(Newser) - Today promises to be a tumultuous day in Portugal, with all signs pointing to the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates and the collapse of his minority Socialist administration. The country’s parliament is expected to vote down Socrates’ austerity plan, a move the prime minister contends will force the...

(Newser) - Portugal banned smoking in public places five months ago but the country's prime minister appears to have forgotten the rule his own government enacted. Jose Socrates—known to be a smoker in private—stunned passengers and triggered an uproar when he blithely lit up in the first-class cabin of a...