Jailbreak fugitive Joaquim Bitton Matos continues to cause havoc over social media. After posing with an M4 rifle on Facebook and boasting that the authorities could never find him (click here), he has now been conversing with journalists - allegedly telling them that prison guards at Caxias jail, near Lisbon, were complicit in his escape seven weeks ago.

According to reports, Matos has given reporters the names of four prison guards who not only took bribes to look the other way, but smuggled “special material” into cells to enable Matos and two Chileans to make their high-profile escapes.

Portugal’s much-loved and now former political leader famous for what one European newspaper called his “teflon qualities” (“the dirt has never stuck”) is suddenly back in the hotseat, accused by a construction company of using his “influence” to win a €20 million project for the company that currently employs him.

According to the story carried by multiple news sources, Portas allegedly brought pressure to bear on an initial evaluation which favoured Ourém company Tecnorém over eight other bids - including a pitch from engineering giant Mota-Engil.

‘People’s tabloid’ Correio da Manhã has injected a shot of intrigue into plans for a €63 million solar plant to be run by two former EDP directors on a property in Bensafrim, in the western Algarve.

The plans have recently been open for the statutory period of public consultation, which closed last Friday.

Bloco do Esquerda MPs João Vasconcelos and Jorge Costa have already queried the venture, suggesting it will cost taxpayers as much as a €100 million over 20 years (click here).

With the hot weather returning, along with memories of last year’s horrendous forest fires, AMAL - the association of Algarve councils - has decided to get pro-active over the inconvenient truth that less and less young people are coming forwards to train as firefighters.

At their meeting last Friday, the region’s mayors heard that the Algarve urgently needs to attract 300 new ‘bombeiros’ - as quickly as possible.

British low-cost airline Jet2 has launched a new year-round air link from London’s Stansted Airport to Funchal, Madeira.

Flights are on Monday and Friday with prices starting at £35.

Following reports that judicial authorities were “considering the extradition of the vice president of Angola” over corruption allegations, the Attorney General’s office has issued a statement attempting to take the heat out of what has become a gathering diplomatic storm.

Issued through State news agency Lusa, the statement insists that at “no moment was the extradition of Manuel Vicente requested”.

German chancellor Angela Merkel’s official weekly podcast on Saturday came as a welcome ray of sunshine for Portugal’s campaigners fighting government plans for oil and gas exploration.

As Público explains, she “dedicated part of her talk to solar energy in Spain and Portugal”, encouraging both countries to invest more into the sector, and saying that a future in which Europe shared energy depended on links across the Pyrenees being improved.

With the world divided on the what may follow America’s dramatic missiles strike against the Syrian regime last night, foreign affairs minister Augusto Santos Silva has said: “Portugal understands” why President Trump ordered the attack but is essentially waiting for Europe and the United Nations to come to a united position.

With countries like Canada, UK, Jordan, Japan, Israel, Turkey, France and Germany welcoming the US missiles strikes, outgoing French president said they were “exactly what France had wanted after the 2013 chemical weapons attack at Gouta that killed at least 280 people”, says the Telegraph.