Portugal's Minister of Finance, Maria Luís Albuquerque, (pictured) has confirmed that the government has decided not to ask for an extension to the bailout programme, preferring to forego the final €2.6 billion of money due under the agreed schedule.

After the Constitutional Court rejected three key government cost saving measures in the 2014 Budget ministers decided not to submit any alternative measures to fill the + €600 million funding gap as these too may be kicked out by the Constitutional Court and time is running out.

A British holidaymaker died of her injuries having fallen down a well in a restricted area at the Arade dam near Silves.

The tourist entered a fenced-off area so as to take a better photograph and stood on a metal well covering which gave way.

Fire raged through the Alferce countryside near Monchique, today engaging 64 firefighters and 17 support vehicles in suppressing the flames which were fanned by a medium strength afternoon breeze.  

The fire started at around 3pm and an hour later a water carrying helicopter was in support of ground teams.

The latest message purporting to come from Portugal’s Tax and Customs Authority in fact install malicious software if opened.

The government authority admits the alert has been sent out in its name inviting people to pay up now to avoid publication in the national List of Debtors, when in fact the email if acted on installs malicious software.

"The country has 202 beds for palliative care; of these, only ten are located in the Algarve. These are at the Palliative Care Unit of the Hospital de Portimão" claimed the Left Bloc today, which in April questioned the Government about plans to close even this one small unit.

In a response released only this week, the government said that the Palliative Care Unit will remain in Portimão, but also admitted that there is a lack of palliative care beds in the Algarve.

People who shop online have been granted new rights by EU law.

The major new set of consumer rights, the Consumer Rights Directive, applies across all of the European Union’s 28 member countries.

GM maize could be planted in England as early as 2015.

After a long spell of applying the brakes, the EU decided that each member country should be given the power to decide on planting two strains of genetically modified maize which is resistant to the industrial weedkiller Roundup.

British prisons have been told to brace themselves for the arrival of more criminals.

The UK’s Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, said “that’s what the public want”.