The Minister of the Economy, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, explained today the government’s latest plan to offer degraded national monuments to private businesses on 30-50 year leases to be run as tourism businesses.

In addition to allowing the private sector to get its hands on some of Portugal's most important monuments, the government has set aside a fund of €150 million which successful bidders can access to renovate these buildings and turn them into tourist attractions.

A larger number of Italians opted to leave their country last year than the year before, increasing by more than 6%.

The data showed that 107,529 Italians emigrated in 2015. The majority, 37%, were aged between 18 and 34.

EasyJet has said that it will suffer its first fall in annual profit since 2009 caused by a year of “extraordinary events”.

The airline says its pre-tax profit for the year is likely to be around £490m, according to a trading update. This would be a drop of 28% compared to last year’s figure of £686m.

Spanish fighter jets were scrambled when it was learned that two Russian bomber aircraft were skirting Spanish airspace off the coast of Bilbao in the northeast, it has emerged.

The F-18s were dispatched to see off two Russian Blackjack bombers.

Portugal's former Prime Minister, António Guterres, is set to become next United Nations chief at the beginning of 2017.

The United Nations Security Council has voted Guterres as its unanimous choice to take over from Ban Ki-moon. The former Portuguese PM led the field as none of the five Security Council veto-wielding countries voted against him in the sixth secret ballot on Wednesday, October 5th.

At long last Portimão council is to get the first of many big cheques to enable it to pay off long-suffering creditors.

The Court of Auditors has given the go-ahead to the Municipal Aid Fund (FAM) to send the first €30 million which will free up money previously spent on interest payments of up to 7%.

An average of two pets a day have been reported as victims of ill-treatment, according to a GNR statement released to coincide with World Animal Day 2016 on October 4th.

In the first eight months of the year, the GNR recorded 494 crimes against animals in Portugal, an average of about 62 per month, reads the statement.

At his trial in Spain on corruption charges, the former head of the IMF said his personal use of the funds of the banks he lead had been lawful.

From the dock, Rodrigo Rato, also a former economy minister in Spain, said: “It was completely legal”.