Pressure group SOS Ria Formosa has discovered that the discredited Polis company, set up to develop the Algarve’s Ria Formosa area and deciding instead to rid its islands of people’s homes,  is preparing to make a pre-Christmas onslaught on numerous properties on its list that have not yet been demolished.

Polis works under the instruction of the Ministry of the Environment and is being wound up at the end of 2015 but remains intent, despite court orders preventing its demolition contractors from advancing on homes on Farol and Hangares islands, in demolishing any property where is has spotted a legal weakness.

Portugal again has won at the World Golf Awards 2015 with the accolade of the Best Golf Destination 2015 in a ceremony held at the Conrad Algarve on Saturday.

The Best Portuguese Golf Course was not in the Algarve as The Royal Obidos won the category but the Pine Cliffs Resort won the award for the Best Hotel in Portuguese Golf 2015.

A Spanish doctor who was declared dead in 2010 has been discovered living in a makeshift shelter in a thickly wooded part of Italy.

Carlos Sánchez Ortiz de Salazar was 28 when he vanished from his home in Seville in 1996 while he was suffering from severe depression.

Super discounters Aldi and Lidl have been recognised for the simple, clear and hassle-free shopping experience they provide.

The two have been named the world’s top brands by the Global Brand Simplicity Index.

Portugal’s new political alliance of left-of-centre parties is presenting a united front as policies hammered out over the past weeks now are set.

One of the agreements is for the cancellation of the TAP privatisation, or, if the current government signs off the deal in the next 24 hours, the reversal of the sale of TAP to successful bidder, Gateway.

Following the drowning last Saturday afternoon of an Irish tourist in the sea off Peneco beach in Albufeira, a Portuguese national, resident in Holland, drowned in the sea off the idyllic Albandeira beach in the Lagoa area.

The 37-year-old man and a group of his friends were hit by a huge wave on Sunday afternoon. The wave was estimated by survivors as being 3 metres high.

Germany’s secret service has systematically been spying on its allies and organisations worldwide, according to a report in the German weekly, Der Spiegel.

"The BND (German external intelligence agency) spied systematically on its 'friends' around the world, including the US Department of the Interior and governments including those in Poland, Austria, Denmark and Croatia," according to the newspaper.

The Left Bloc has finished its negotiations with the Socialist Party and a left wing alliance now can go ahead as planned to force the Passos Coelho government from office next week.

The political committee of the Left Bloc has given the green light to a working agreement with the Socialist Party which marks the end of the often tense negotiations.