The UK has pledged to provide more than £200m to work against the rapid loss of forests in poor countries.
The UK was supported by more than 30 other countries who signed the New York Declaration on Forests, a major UN initiative to stem the tide of climate change by cutting the rate of deforestation around the world in half by 2020.
The European Union has mounted its biggest crackdown on organised crime which resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.
All kinds of crimes came under the microscope, from drug and people trafficking to tax fraud and counterfeiting of goods and currency.
The economy of the eastern parts of Germany formerly under communist rule has still not caught up with that enjoyed by the west of the country.
GDP in the former east is still 30% lower than in the west, despite the demise of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and subsequent unification of the country.
The Secretary of State for Agriculture, José Diogo Albuquerque, announced today that the first grants under the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme will ready to be processed as from 15 November this year.
The Government already has agreed flagship measures with the European Commissioner for investment in projects by young farmers and new agribusiness initiatives.
The development of a Quarteira to Vilamoura beachfront link will forcibly unite the two currently distinct tourist resorts and already has been commissioned by the two local councils with a completion date of less than a year.
The budget for the work is €3.67 million including VAT for work covering 17.7 hectares of beachfront, dune, parks, areas for pedestrians and cyclists, leisure facilities and an area for parking.
British Airways is to resumes operations to and from Madeira next year from its base at Gatwick.
The airline today announced three new sunshine routes to Seville, Funchal in Madeira and Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, all from Gatwick.
While about 675,000 people took to the streets in cities around the world prior to the United Nations climate change summit meeting, relatively few ventured forth in Portugal, suggesting that climate change is not something the Portuguese much worry about.
Well over 300,000 protesters turned out in New York, 40,000 in London, 30,000 in Melbourne and 15,000 in Berlin. Even Bogota in Colombia drummed up a throng of some 5,000. Organisers said marches took place in more that 2,000 other cities to demand action.
Fosun, China's biggest privately-owned company, has joined the bidding war for Espírito Santo Saude which owns and operates hospitals, clinics and old peoples’ homes across Portugal.
Fosun has put €451 million on the table to buy the business that is 51% owned by the Espírito Santo family - and goodness knows they need the money.
