Tolls imposed by the Portuguese government on Portugal’s formerly free road network are illegal and should be removed. The European Commission has threatened to take Portugal to the European Court of Justice unless the tolls system is scrapped forthwith.

The tolls infringe community law and expert opinion in the test case brought by Aveiro council had concluded that the ruling is valid for all SCUT roads, including the Via do Infante across the Algarve.

Internet users have been warned to print out copies of important documents and photographs before they are lost forever.

Google’s vice president and internet pioneer, Vint Cerf, said it was time to preserve digital data.

The hotel and tourism workers union management said today that it was deeply concerned about the financial situation at the hotels in the Tivoli group whose management has applied for relief under a Special Revitalisation Process.

It does not help the general mood that the hotel company’s sole shareholder, the Espírito Santo subsidiary, Rioforte Investments, is itself bankrupt.

EU leaders believe that stricter border controls need to be imposed in the Shengen area.

At a meeting in Brussels on Thursday they agreed to tighten measures to "disrupt terrorist travel".

The European Union is to provide €288 million in a move to foster cross-border cooperation between Portugal and Spain.

The European Commission claimed today that the money will be made available through the latest phase of the interregional cooperation programme (Interreg), which, including some national funds, will bring the total available to €382.5 million.

"Bye-bye, Miss American Pie/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry."

"The jester sang for the king and queen/In a coat he borrowed from James Dean" and "while Lennon read a book on Marx/The quartet practiced in the park".

Consumers likely will be paying more than the 10 cents tax on plastic bags from this coming Sunday when the new Green Tax rules come into force.

As from the 15th of February plastic bags will need to be charged for in order to cover the 10 cent additional cost payable by the retailer. It is unlikely that retailers will be covering the extra 10 cents and the cost of the bag.

Bank boss José de Matos has admitted that past 'over enthusiasm' at the bank has so far cost the bank’s shareholders a cool €1 billion, €348 million of it in the last financial year.

The 2104 figure was 40% down on the year before as write-offs bit deep into the banks trading figures and the president of the bank said that the biggest mistake last year was loans to companies in the Espírito Santo Group, but he did not quantify this mistake.