In an abrupt change of plan, Portugal’s Prime Minister has decided that he can not do without his trusted Finance Minister and has sent a party suit to Brussels instead of the sainted Maria Luis Albuquerque to become the new European Commissioner for Portugal in Brussels.

Exit one Carlos Moedas who was until today close to invisible. He currently has the job title of Assistant Secretary of State of the Prime Minister, a role created almost with a single objective: to monitor the work of the Troika, a task that had ended since the completion of the adjustment programme.

The Secretary of State for the Environment has issued a ‘favourable’ verdict on the Environmental Impact Statement for the commercial complex project and IKEA store at Caliços-Esteval near Loulé.

There are some conditions but nothing for the developer to worry about unduly. The Secretary of State calls for a review of “stormwater drainage, intervention in the river system and basin flood flows” and some mitigation measures and light monitoring.

With the rapid rise of British property prices, about 25% of all house purchasers have to pay stamp duty of 3% or more.

Ten years ago, only 10% fell into this category.

The quarry which delivers Italy’s exquisite Carrara marble is now in the control of Osama bin Laden’s family.

A subsidiary company in the Bin Laden business empire acquired a 50% stake in Marmi Carrara.

People in Poland have begun to eat more apples than ever before thanks to Russian President Putin.

Russia has banned imports of some Polish fruit and vegetables, citing unacceptable levels of pesticide residues and nitrates. Russia is a key importer of Polish produce.

Poland’s transports the majority of its apples to Russia, its largest market.

At the beginning of July the management of Portugal's Viana do Castelo Shipyard thought it had secured a €13 million winning bid for the 'Atlântida’ from the Greek company ‘Thesarco Shipping.’

The shipyard administration had launched an international public tender in March 2013 for the sale of the ship which had been commissioned and subsequently rejected by the regional government of the Açores claiming that the ship was 1 knot slower than the specification.

Cork industry magnate and serial investor Américo Amorim (pictured) again takes the top place in the ranking of Portugal’s rich.

Amorim’s assets are valued at €3.3 billion but the octogenarian businessman who chairs the Amorim Group and also is the main shareholder of Galp saw his fortune reduce by over €1 billion in the year due to problems at Banco Popular in Spain and negative results from banks in Mozambique and Brazil.

Never before has a Portuguese company lost so much value on the stock exchange in one day.

BES shares today opened in Lisbon and collapsed in value by 45% in reaction to yesterday’s announcement that the country’s third largest bank had managed to lose €3.577 billion in six months.