World Notes PORTUGAL

The disaster was one of the worst to strike Lisbon in centuries. A ruinous fire last week swept through the Chiado, the capital's historic central shopping district, gutting dozens of buildings and sending shocked residents into mourning for a charred heritage. The conflagration left one dead, 41 injured, 300 homeless and 2,000 shopworkers unemployed. Portuguese officials promised that rebuilding of the Chiado would begin as soon as possible, but for now Lisbon must live with a disfiguring wound.