Passos Coelho has sprung somewhat of a surprise on his political allies, and the nation, by announcing the return to politics of his friend, the disgraced former minister, Miguel Relvas.

After less than a year out of the limelight the proven liar, Miguel Relvas, is to take the top position in the PSD party, replacing Paulo Rangel as head of the PSD National Council. Rangel conveniently is to become a PSD European candidate. Whether this was his original plan is a state secret.

The lynx breeding centre in the hills to the east of Silves has successfully bred many lynx but so far all those released into the wild have gone to the Spanish region of Andalucia.

This is to change and Portugal one day may have its own lynx population after a meeting at the National Centre for Reproduction of the Iberian Lynx concluded with the news that there was a need "to define an action plan for the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx to Portugal in 2014.”

Spain’s credit rating has been upgraded by ratings agency Moody’s.

Although the rate went up one notch to Baa2 from Baa3, it is clear a step in the right direction for the ailing economy.

Church attendance in the US has fallen rapidly over the last decade, to the point where just 25% of Americans are believed to go to church weekly.

This has left the Republican Religious Right in a quandary. It needs to appeal to an increasingly secular population but at the same time to keep its evangelical base on board.

Cape Cod in Massachusetts might have been named for the local abundance of cod, but now the stock of fish has been so depleted that the fishermen have asked the US government for a bailout.

A combination of overfishing and a seal population keen on eating cod themselves have depleted the stock, driving many fishermen out of business and the industry into a spiral of decline.

Portugal’s farmers' confederation has welcomed the new edict that farmers with less than €1,670 annual income are exempt from registering with Social Security and from filing income tax returns.

The Minister of Agriculture, Assunçao Cristas, has announced that farmers with income or Common Agricultural Policy payments of under €1,670 a year will be exempt.

The number of Portugal’s households with an income of under €10,000 has soared to 33% in under 2 years.

The 2010 figures were bad enough with 2.28 million families earning less than €715 gross per month, taking a year to have 14 payment months, but in 2012 there were 3.04 million families struggling by with low incomes and ever rising domestic bills, topped by VAT increases.

Hundreds of well-to-do non-Europeans are said to have already applied for a Maltese passport.

The passport entitles the holder to full EU citizenship with the right to live and work in any EU nation. Additionally, Maltese citizens can enter the US and 160 other countries without a visa.