The demolition of houses on the Ria Formosa islands is to continue in the coming weeks despite some long-overdue opposition from Faro's mayor.

U-turn specialist, mayor Rogério Bacalhau, weakly has suggested that the demolition programme be suspended until a new government has been formed, as the Socialist Party, the Left Bloc and allied left-wing parties are against the demolition of properties and, if the left-wing alliance ends up in government, the controversial island clearances will be scrapped.

The Spanish high court has asked to be informed if the Israeli prime minister should arrive in Spain.

The court earlier this year archived an investigation into an incident in 2010 which left ten dead after an aid flotilla bound for Gaza was raided by Israeli commandos.

Albufeira business owners and residents whose properties were flooded out in the November 1st downpour, have suffered €14 million of damage and losses so far, according to the Portuguese Association of Insurers.

Those that were uninsured can access special emergency fund announced by the Council of Ministers amid criticism that Lisbon was largely ignoring the severe blow that the Algarve’s busiest tourist resort had suffered.

A severed finger led to the identity of one of the Paris bombing terrorists, Ismaïl Omar Mostefai whose father is an Algerian trucker and whose mother is Portuguese.

The assertion that the mother was Portuguese was hotly denied by the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities after checking records at the Portuguese consulate in Paris and at the Civil Registry.

Consumer watchdog Deco has looked at investing €2,500 in each of 20 of Portugal’s banks and concludes that the sensible option is not to bother.

Many of the deposit interest rates on offer at Portugal’s high street banks will return negligible amounts and and in ten banks it was preferable to ‘put it under the mattress,’ according to an analysis published in the Protest Investse magazine.

The sale of TAP went through last Thursday despite calls from the Socialist Party to have the sale frozen due to Portugal’s government currently being in a state of suspended animation.

TAP staff today received an email showing who now was steering the company after Gateway successfully took over 61% of TAP’s shares from public ownership.

Abdelrahman Bakkali Kasmi, Imam of King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Mosque in Gibraltar, has condemned the terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris.

In a statement to this newspaper, he called on Muslims to stand united in the face of violence and work towards peace, security and stability.

The former Minister for Internal Affairs, Miguel Macedo has been accused of malfeasance, prevarication (giving false statements) and influence peddling when in charge of the Golden Visa scheme which all but collapsed amid investigations and arrests that saw top civil servants and public figures arrested and held in jail.

The charges, which if proved should end Macedo's political career, have been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution.