The Iraqis left it until the last minute before responding to official questions from the Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister on whether the Iraqi ambassador's twin boys will have their diplomatic immunity lifted so that a full investigation can take place into the brutal assault on Rúben Cavaco in Ponte de Sor, last August.

Instead of making a statement, the Iraqi’s have delayed matters further by asking a series of legal questions concerning the case. This is a tactic that Portugal's Foreign Affairs Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, has swallowed, as he has given the Iraqis a further week to lift immunity, or say why not.

Portugal's Banco Português de Investimento (BPI) bank on Thursday ceded control of Angola's biggest bank to the Unitel telecoms company run by Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the country's president.

After pressure from the European Central Bank to give up its majority stake, BPI sold 2% of Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) to Unitel to bring its stake down to 48.1%.
Unitel now holds a controlling stake of 51.9% of the leading bank in Angola.

Exports of Norwegian salmon struck a record high during 2016.

An increase of nearly 30% was responsible for overall export value of NOK 61.4 billion (€6.7 billion), the highest export value ever recorded, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

The unemployment rate in Spain edged down by the close of the year, giving relief to a great many.

On Wednesday the employment ministry said the number of people without paid work fell by nearly 400,000 during the course of 2016, bringing the total to 3.7 million by the end.

One of the main defendants of Monte Branco investigation has died while waiting for trial

Francisco Canas, aka Zé das Medalhas (medals) was suspected of helping rich clients move money to Switzerland using his network of contacts and bank accounts used in his metals trading business.

Work has been completed on upgrading the three old routes near Bordeira, out west in the Aljezur council area.

The Aromas Trail, the Tides Trail and the Hills Trail, (Trilho dos Aromas, Trilhos das Marés and Trilho dos Montes) add 42.5 kilometres of hiking opportunities for the increasing numbers of outdoors folk who travel to the western Algarve for leisure pursuits and holidays.

Workers at SUCH (Serviço de Utilização Comum dos Hospitais) who provide maintenance, hygiene and food services at the Algarve’s public hospitals have gone on strike to demand better working conditions.

These workers demand the hiring of additional workers, a 4% increase in their salaries (with a minimum of €40 per month), 25 days holiday, a reduction in working hours to 35 per week as well as re-categorising staff according to the tasks they actually perform.

The Bank of Portugal announced late on Wednesday night that it has failed to choose a winner of the race to control Novo Banco but has suggested that Lone Star might perhaps be the best placed company to complete the deal but that there are still others who might come up with a better offer.

The Lone Star bid contains elements that, if accepted, would harm the public accounts as the Americans are not stupid and want some guarantees that what they are buying won’t suddenly fold beneath them - Portugal's banking sector is not known for its truthfullness, after all.