One in five litres of water collected, processed and piped to the consumer simply is lost along the way, never reaching the tap, according to Portugal’s Regulatory Authority for Water and Waste Services (ERSAR).

The consumer is still paying for this leakage despite not receiving the supply with 66% of councils recording losses exceeding 19%. Over 100 councils waste more than 30% of the water and 45 councils lose more than 40%.

April 2012 and the future looked assured for the insolvent Alisuper chain of food stores as the then Minister for the Economy, Álvaro Santos Pereira, said the purchase of the business by the Nogueira Group was sending a clear message to other potential investors that "the Algarve remains a secure investment."

Pereira's statement was nonsense then and remains so now as the Nogueira Group, led by José Nogueira, is struggling to cope with seasonal trading and an unremitting level of fixed costs at its Alisuper subsidiary.

Britain’s ever-evolving shopping basket now contains more health and speciality foods.

The ONS updates the national basket every year to represent changing shopping habits in an effort to track the cost of living.

Left Bloc spokesperson Catarina Martins accused Portugal’s Minister of Finance of repeating 'fascist propaganda" when asserting that Portugal has "filled its coffers," as the country in fact is hugely in debt and littered with the victims of austerity.

Catarina Martins was speaking at a rally "United against Austerity" which included representatives from Spain and Greece in the form of Rafael Mayoral and Costas Zachariadis.

Maria José Costeira has been appointed as the new president of the Trade Union Association of Judges, her priority is for better courts and more judges.

Costeria now represents all of the country’s judges and is the first woman to hold this position.

The poor quality of housing stock in the UK was responsible for “more respiratory illness in England than Sweden”.

In the last past five years hospital admissions for chronic lower respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis and emphysema, have been 40% higher per 100,000 of population in England than in Sweden, according to an analysis by Friends of the Earth (FoE).

Reinventing itself as a coffee shop has caused Brits to flock to Greggs, preferring it over Starbucks.

The bakery chain ranked highest for value in a national poll of 4,500 people, coming second on friendliness of staff, speed of service and store cleanliness.

The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, John Tully, is concerned about the Operation Grange investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but, contrary to press reports, he has not called for the investigation to be closed.

What is in question is the scale of the operation in the light of severe budget cuts and other demands on the Met. But there is no indication that the investigation is to be terminated.