The idiotic law in force that each returned bottle of gas should be weighed and any liquid gas left in the bottle be refunded, may have to be scrapped because nobody involved could be bothered to follow the rules.

The current government has looked at the practicalities and, like the rest of the population, must have wondered how on earth such an unworkable law ever could have been passed in the first place.

The GNR has stumbled across a highly organised international network of thieves after the criminals were tracked down having robbed a villa in Patacão near Faro and taking off in the owner’s car.

Three men were arrested when the car was identified in Almancil and a search of the vehicle, and later at an address in the Alvalade neighborhood of Esteval not far from the new Ikea store, revealed the extent of the criminal activities that had been taking place.

The court building in Monchique reopened on January 4th, 2017 having been closed in 2014 as part of the previous justice minister’s reorganisation of Portugal's justice provision, referred to as her ‘new judicial map’.

Monchique Mayor Rui André was not in favour of the closure of the town’s second biggest employer and set out to lobby Minister, Paula Teixeira da Cruz, for the reopening of the facility - today his wish was granted, despite the €50,000 cost of sorting out the mess left behind when the court was shut down.

The deadline which Portugal generously afforded Iraq in which to lift the diplomatic immunity covering the ambassador's twin sons, or explain why it would not, is Thursday January 5th at midnight.

This deadline comes at the end of a 20 day extension as the Iraqis seem unable to move at even Portugal’s lethargic diplomatic pace.

The government has failed for years to fund the preservation of arguably the Algarve’s finest castle. The council has been struggling with funding issues for years and has managed only essential maintenance but now the European taxpayer is to pay €1.5 million to fix up Silves Castle’s outer walls before more sections fall into the streets below.

Certain pars of the wall are classified as in ‘poor’ condition and others are positively dangerous and at risk of collapse with fallen rubble already a common site in some of the surrounding streets.

Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said that he "could lodge a complaint" against Spain with the European Commission over its intention of building a nuclear waste dump over the border in Almaraz.

Augusto Santos Silva said that the two governments are "in permanent contact" and that "the typical principle of international law, and particularly between countries as close and friendly as Portugal and Spain, is that when there is a dispute, we identify the dispute and the conditions for resolving the dispute."

The former mayor of Olhão, Francisco Leal, along with four of his political crew, has been accused by Évora’s Criminal Investigation and Action Department (DIAP) of corruption over licensing the blatantly illegal construction of a house in Bias do Sul in the Ria Formosa natural park area.

The indictment was lodged on 31 October last year concerning events in 2005, such is the speed of the justice system. In fact, nothing would have happened at all had there not been an official complaint lodged by the association, Somos Olhão, in 2009.

A new route has been forged between China and the UK as the first Beijing to London freight train began its journey on Sunday.

The direct rail freight service to London is the first such link between the two countries.