The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has described himself as an “ex-politician” although he is still serving as an MP.

Mr Brown has been MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath area since 1983.

More protests have taken place in Rome as demonstrators against austerity clashed with the police.

At least 16 people, including four officers, were injured and eight protesters were arrested, as traffic ground to a standstill and people fled the tear gas.

A study by GFK indicates that the Portuguese have begun to believe that the end of the crisis is approaching.

The economic sentiment indicator for September is at the highest level since April 2010.

Algarve is a top destination for families with modest budgets, according to the publisher of the Lonely Planet travel guides, who have picked Portugal as one of its top holiday destinations for 2014 -  with Albufeira the place to be as a family on a modest budget.

"Every year the British Post Office analyses the prices of holiday resorts across Europe. The latest report refers to Albufeira in the Algarve as the cheapest option for a summer vacation for a family."

Portugal’s Prime Minister said today that his government wants to reduce the tax burden permanently and argued that this goal depends on political consensus with the opposition and the long-term reduction of expenditure.

On the opening day of the first debate on the proposed State Budget for 2014 the prime minister’s introduction contained warnings that everyone had to agree with him or the whole system would collapse (and it would not be his fault.) On the budget’s increasingly harsh cuts he commented, "We want lower taxes permanently. However, this is only possible if we do not deviate from the path of reducing and controlling expenditure."

The unemployment rate in Portugal fell to 16.3% in September, the lowest rate in a year, according to the data released today by Eurostat.

In January the rate was 17.7% but since then unemployment has fallen slightly and is still below the rates in other striken european countries such as Greece (27.6 %) and Spain (26.6 %), positioning Portugal at number 5 on the list of countries with the highest unemployment rates, against an EU average of 11%.

A suspect in the Madeleine McCann case died in a tractor accident before having been questioned by police. The former employee of the Ocean Club has cropped up on a list of suspects that have been selected for questioning due to phone records analysed by police.

The man, whose name the police have yet to release, died in the accident in 2009. He was sacked by the Ocean Club’s management and a motive of revenge against the hotel is being proposed by Portuguese media as a reason for Madeleine’s disappearance.

The investigation into the Attorney General of the Republic of Angola, João Maria de Sousa, was in fact shelved in July, a full two months before the controversial apology from Portugal’s Foreign Minister Rui Machete. Had this been known, Portugal and Angola would not now be in a conflict that may yet hurt Portugal’s trade with the oil-rich African country.

Portugal decided to inform Angola that there was no case to answer in a communication sent out this month by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP) as agreed by the Attorney General 's Office in Lisbon.