PS European candidate Francisco Assis visted the Algarve today and criticised the "triumphalist tone" of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s Sunday evening announcement that Portugal would leave the bailout programme with a clean break.

"The news was nothing that surprised me, we knew long ago that this was going to happen. What I would like to emphasise was the triumphalist tone of the Prime Minister which was at variance with the reality of national life," said Assis, who today visited the market of Olhão and local factories in a pre-campaign walkabout for the European elections May 25th.

Barclays is reported to be considering ending its presence in continental Europe.

This would involve the sale of its business in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.

Gran Canaria has been plagued by a variety of king snake which is decimating some of the island’s natural wild life.

The albino California king snake came to the island as pets. It seems that some were set loose or escaped decades ago. But more recently the population in the wild has exploded. Over the last eight years, more than 2,000 have been captured but thousands are believed to remain living underground.

A ban on cheese imports from the UK has been put in place by authorities in China, following an inspection at a UK dairy.

The food inspectors reportedly complained about maintenance, raw milk transport temperatures, chemical storage and air sanitisation.

Passos Coelho will not "resort to any security programme" and said this solution has the support of Portugal’s European partners .

"It is the right choice at the right time” said Portugal's Prime Minister, flanked by smiling members of his team, but he made it clear that "there is a long way to go." "It's not overnight that we will enjoy all the benefits of being totally autonomous."

The difficulties formally reported by the group of 182 Doctors working in the Central Algarve Hospitals region are all over, according to the Ministry of Helath.

The problems caused by the merger of Faro and the Barlavento hospital in Portimo led to cancelled surgeries, but that is all in the past as the Ministry assures everyone that all is now running smoothly.

Iberia airlines is reported to be operating healthily again, coming back to life after losing money at the rate of €1.7m every day back in 2011.

That was the year when Spain’s carrier merged with British Airways to form International Airlines Group headed up by Willie Walsh.

The Federation of Hunters of the Algarve, with help from hunting clubs and associations, and hunting tourism companies, are scouring the countryside today to clear up any rubbish left by hunters and walkers in preparation for the annual slaughter of wildlife.

The traditional walkabout to tidy up hunting zones in the region’s farms and forests has the full support of Parish Councils who are to benefit from the proceeds of the sale of any scrap metal collected. Any money thus raised will go to local charitable causes and needy citizens.