China appears to be on path of overtaking the US which holds the rank of world´s largest economy.

Spending by consumers in China could propel the country into the top position as early as 2024, according to the economic monitor IHS.

With only 58% of vacancies filled in the 1st round of applications, Portugal’s polytechnics and universities are facing a serious lack of students.

The government is acting fast by offering additional grants to fund students who want to go to a university or polytechnic outside the major popular urban centres of Lisbon, Faro, Coimbra and Oporto.

August seemed to expats and seasoned locals to have been a tad cooler than in previous years, and they are right.

The August average temperature this year was the lowest for 14 years.

The average occupancy of hotels in the Algarve during August reached 92.1%, a rise of 1.2% over August 2013, with the volume of business increasing 3%.
 
Provisional data released this Friday by the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve (AHETA), shows that an increase in nights spent by British, Irish and Portuguese visitors carried the overall result to this impressive level.

Nuno Godinho Matos, a former non-executive director of Banco Espírito Santo, admitted today that he did not know what was going on at BES up until its emergency bailout by the Bank of Portugal.

Matos said that the non-executive directors "had nothing to do with the daily life of the bank."

“TAP can not and must not be privatised under pressure," according to Minister for the Economy, Pires de Lima, who added that there have been several expressions of interest in buying the national airline.

"There are various good indications of interest. This is welcome, particularly from Dr. Miguel Pais do Amaral, but fortunately there is more than one expression of interest," said the minister at the" Shape Europe 2014" in Lisbon.

Barclays has said will be cutting out the use of PIN numbers and passwords because it is introducing finger scans instead.

Customers will be able to access their online bank accounts by placing a finger in a portable device capable of verifying the finger’s unique vein patterns.

A trader using the eBay website to sell goods has been jailed for two years for not paying tax on the income he made.

Other traders have been urged to declare and pay tax on goods sold or run the risk of being prosecuted.