News Porto.

The Biodiversity Gallery - The Live Science Centre hosts as of 17 October "a bit" of the largest "photographic ark" in the world, made of unique images of endangered species. The city of Porto welcomes the International project Photo Ark by photographer Joel Sartore, whose aims is to "connect the right people to commit with biodiversity of our planet and to protect it".

From 10 October to 31 December, the Customs Building in Porto will host the exhibition "The World of Steve McCurry", the multi prized North American photographer, globally-recognized for having photographed Sharbat Gula, "Afghan Girl", which made the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985.

Porto's Stock Exchange Palace (Palácio da Bolsa) plays host to the 1st Portuguese Congress of Entrepreneurship and Franchising, on 9 October. This event is organised by the Portuguese Franchising Association (APF) that also celebrates its 30th anniversary and gathers over 30 guest speakers, both national and international that will approach several issues on the sector.

In the context of a protocol signed between Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (TNSC) and Coliseu Porto, opera will again be on stage at Coliseu Porto. "Turandot", by Giacomo Puccini, is the first opera to reset the operatic tradition on 21 October in this iconic concert hall in the city of Porto.

Manuel Paulo Teixeira, architect who works the configuration of Porto public place, has always approached drawing as a "form of organising ways of thinking and communicating". In "cascata" (Cascade), Manuel tells tales of a much present landscape in our imagery. It is rather cinematographic. It is something that crafts the beauty of Porto at world level. Not many cities allow for this unique panorama view".

The Porta-Jazz headquarters association features concerts every Saturday afternoons and evenings, starting 7 October. Following the "Jazz ao relento" initiative, ("Verão é no Porto" Programme) and "Jazz ao Por do Sol" (Porto Book Fair), the city of Porto resumes jazz concerts happening on the 4th floor of 168, Avenida dos Aliados.

Queer Porto - International Queer Cinema Festival is back. Till Sunday, 8 October, numerous events will be held at various Porto venues, but Rivoli is the centre stage of this festival. This event kicks-off 3 October with the opening of the artistic project Wonders Wander, by media artist Shu Lea Cheang for Madrid Pride 2017, starting at 6 pm at the Wrong Weather Gallery.

Air Canada has announced direct air route between Porto and Toronto as of 8 June. This is one of the five new transatlantic routes, with Europe, announced by the airliner for the 2018 summer.

The fiftieth Edition of MODtissimo starts today, 3 October and it will run until tomorrow, 4 October at the Customs Building. The trade fair gathers both national and international apparel industry of fabric and accessory manufacturers. This year the event is part of Porto Fashion Week 10th edition, which started 28 September.

According to an analysis carried out by the European Commission, concerning the evaluation of Member States' proposals to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Portuguese application meets the necessary requirements. That is to say that Porto is eligible. The decision belongs to the 27 Member-States that start debating the issue next Friday.