Selling Novo Banco for under €4.9 billion ‘will not threaten the solvency of any other bank’ according to the Bank of Portugal, preparing the market for a sale of under €4.9 billion.

José Berberan Ramalho, deputy governor of the Bank of Portugal also heads the Resolution Fund and said today that only when we all know the sum raised by selling Novo Banco will we know how much the other banks which paid into the Resolution Fund have lost.

The eurozone may be entering into a “stagnation trap”.

"The euro area as a whole, and in particular the vulnerable countries, seems to be most likely to be affected by persistent stagnation tendencies," a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

A must for those with children or with a sentimental streak, everyone will be able to see live reindeer in Loulé this Saturday, roped in to provide some Christmas cheer to a city fast emerging from recession.

Santa will be in the driving seat of course and subject to his arriving on time from the North Pole will start his sleigh drive at 2.30pm in an event marking the start of the town’s Christmas festivities under the banner, ‘Traditional Trade this Christmas.’

The Magalhães, or ‘Magellan’ computer, one aspect of the Technological Plan flagship of José Socrates’ educational policy, "was a failure, mainly due to its poor integration into school activities," concludes a study by the University Portucalense.

A study into schoolchildren’s portable Magalhães, or 'Magellan' computers, their impact in schools in Matosinhos and their use in education concluded that "there was not an immediate return for schools which only sporadically used this tool within the classroom."

The latest food fad in the UK appears to be almond milk.

Sales of the dairy-free alternative are rocketing at the rate of 70% or more per year in Britain.

Three priests have been arrested in Spain over suspicion of the sexual abuse of children. A layman was also arrested.

The arrests in Granada were announced by the country’s interior minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, who provided no details. A secrecy order has been imposed by a judge.

The Secretary-General of the Communist Party, Jerónimo de Sousa, blamed the recent left and the right wing governments for the "spread of a network of corruption" across the country, and he does seem to have a point.

The seasoned Communist leader argued that there is a deteriorating political and institutional situation from a government without authority or credibility caused by a visible spread of a network of corruption, the proliferation of secret webs, of cronyism, tax fraud and evasion.

Non-alcoholic beer has been growing in popularity in Europe and elsewhere in the world, driving up sales.

Beer with little or no alcohol is on track to increase in global value by 26% from 2013 to 2018, the largest growth of any sector in the beer industry, according to Euromonitor.