The Administrative Court of Loulé has upheld an injunction filed last September by Isilda Gomes and others to prevent the "extinction of emergency surgical skills in Portimão Hospital and the transfer of such skills to Faro Hospital.”

This ruling means in practice that the actions taken so far by the Ministry of Health and the Board of Directors of the Algarve Hospitals Group, in particular relating to the transfer of staff and services from Portimão, are halted.

Perhaps there is hope yet for Italy as its new prime minister used eBay to auction off a fleet of executive cars.

Maseratis, Alfa Romeos, Lancias are among the Alfas, Jaguars, BMWs which had been assigned to various ministers and officials in departments, such as justice, interior and defence.

Cheese has caused consternation among Conservative ministers.

Plans to step up the existing “Change4Life” campaign aimed at advising people to reduce their consumption of saturated fats brought two government departments into conflict.

The number of female family doctors in England has outstripped that of male doctors for the first time.

Data from the NHS shows that 51% (20,440) of GPs are women. Men working in general practice number 19,800. These include both full-time and part-time practitioners.

Portugal’s population will decrease by almost two million people by 2060, from the current 10.5 million to 8.6 million, according to a study by Portugal’s respected National Statistics Institute.

In addition to the predicted population decline there will be a steady, strong rise in the number of older residents leading to a situation where fewer and fewer workers are paying for more and more pensioners.

Cavaco Silva, the President of the Republic of Portugal, warned today that Portugal will not find competitiveness by paying low wages and challenged business leaders to seize on the indicators of economic growth in the country and invest by paying employees ‘properly.’

"I have said and I will repeat that Portugal certainly will not find its competitiveness by paying low wages. There are many other countries in Europe and outside Europe with lower wage levels than in Portugal," warned the well-pensioned President.

An impressive performance in the hotel sector saw €609 million flow into the Algarve’s economy last year, up 4% from 2012, according to a report from Algarve Tourism released today.   

Tourism in the region ended 2013 with a rise in the number of guests, overnight stays, income and occupancy rates, reads the quarterly newsletter, misic to the ears of trourism bosses, business owners and the exchequer.

The destruction of long sections of clifftop in Praia da Luz and Porto de Mos, Lagos, 'aims to avoid future landslides,' according to the Portuguese Environmental Agency which is carrying out various ‘controlled collapses’ at the top of the landmark cliffs.

A 'controlled collapse' is agency-speak for using a JCB at the cliff top to scrape away loose areas of rock.