Faro council has rejected a €2 million offer for a single item of African art housed at its municipal museum.

Entwistle, the UK-based dealers in African artifacts, made the offer for ‘Nkisi Nkondi', a Congolese figure.

Desidério Silva’s exhibition team will be at the ‘Expo Abreu - Winter Travel Market’ event next weekend, 22 and 23rd October, at the Lisbon Exhibition Hall.

The head of the Algarve’s regional tourist board will be there as an ample figurehead to promote the Algarve as a top off-season destination.

Italy’s prime minister has been given a warm welcome on his visit to the White House.

US President Obama gave strong backing to Matteo Renzi’s attempts to streamline Italy’s political system and boost its economy.

Contracts worth £150 million have been awarded to a Spanish shipyard by Scottish Power to build the steel parts necessary for the foundations of a wind farm off the coast of East Anglia.

Scottish Power is owned by the Spanish utility giant Iberdrola and it is expected that the Scottish Power will benefit from large subsidies for the development.

Another restaurant in Spain has captured the crown of best in the world and this time it is in the Basque region.

The pronouncement of restaurant winners for 2016 comes from travel review company Trip Advisor.

"It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it," - that 'somebody' is António Domingues who as the new Chairman of Caixa Geral de Depósitos will struggle by on €423,000 a year - or €30,000 a month for 14 months each year, with ample vacation and a bonus of up to 50% of his fixed salary.

The remuneration package funded by the taxpayer-owned bank is, according to the Finance Minister, about right compared to others in the banking sector, a sector already noted for its fat-cat, callous and often incompetent directors, a sector that has seen big brand names such as BES and Banif collapse leaving shareholders and investors high and dry.

It was the Communist Party MPs today that demanded of the government some sort of explanation on the continued holdup with the roadworks on the Algarve’s EN125.

‘Resuming soon’ was meant to mean September 1st after the roadworks were suspended before the summer crowds descended in July. No work yet has restarted and a mysterious veil of silence has descended.

A serious forest fire on two fronts was fought by up to 93 firemen on the slopes of Picota, Monchique this afternoon.

The fire started at 1:30, sending a tower of smoke into an almost windless sky with ground crews struggling across difficult rocky terrain.