The Administrative and Fiscal Court in Loulé has dismissed the injunction lodged by four business associations that aimed to halt the IKEA development near Loulé.

The plaintiffs, the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve (AHETA), the Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE/Algarve), the Traders Association of the Algarve Region (ACRAL) and the Business Association of Quarteira and Vilamoura - as well as some individuals, have decided to go to the Court of Appeal on environmental grounds.

The socialist party in Lagoa has accused the Government of inaction on carrying out its health policies, referring to the worrysome plight of Lagoa residents, many oif whom are without a family doctor, and things are set to get worse as the summertime increase in population will add 200,000 tourists and part time residents to the list.

According to estimates used by the socialists to highlight the plight of the local population, "there are already about 6,000 users without medical cover in Ferragudo, Carvoeiro, Estômbar, Parchal and Porches, with only 56.8% of users on the civil register having medical cover from a doctor, therefore there are around 12,000 users without a doctor."

Vacancies, are being advertised, plenty of them, but Portugal’s doctors are avoiding the Algarve by taking jobs in the big cities or moving away from the country.

The head of urology at Faro Hospital said that the lack of anaesthetists is generating a reduction of 40% in scheduled operations in this area. In Portimão for those patients waiting for operations the excuse is always the same – no doctors.

Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte has denounced the commercial behaviour of airports operator ANA in its dealings with car rental companies.

Norte, an Algarve PSD MP, said today that the "predatory practices" of ANA against rent-a-car companies constitute an "abuse of its dominance."

A lawyer who fought for a family following a crash in Portugal says the incident turned their lives upside down.

Mark Lee, from law firm Penningtons Manches, spoke after June Vann, 60, and her family won their fight to prove a driver was solely responsible for the crash.

Faro council has called for urgent intervention over the demolition of part of a tower attached to Faro’s city wall. Faro council has been following the situation for some time and finally has called for "the urgent reconstruction of the tower.”

According to Faro’s socialist councillors, part of the wall, "a kind of internal turret,” was demolished by the owners of two dilapidated buildings in Faro old town, to whom the council granted a license for cleaning and removal of debris.

Criminal gangs are using kidnap and torture to prey upon African immigrants in the UK.

Organised gangsters are demanding up to £20,000 from some immigrants to release relatives they have taken hostage in the immigrant’s country of origin, according to the European crime intelligence agency Europol.

The concerned chairman of Portugal’s Medical Council, José Manuel Silva, has voiced his concern at the "growing emigration" of young medical specialists, including Doctors.

"There are more and more doctors emigrating. Doctors are graduating in Portugal and then migrating to central and northern Europe," said Silva as he chatted to press after a meeting with the Head of State.