A messy Brexit could have “significant consequences” and is the biggest short-term risk to the British economy, Christine Lagarde said to Portugal’s state council, the Portuguese president’s highest consultative body.

“All likely Brexit outcomes will involve net costs for the UK economy. But the higher the impediments that arise in the new relationship with Europe, the higher the cost,” added the IMF chief.

The Resolution Fund needs €300 million of its own money, plus a taxpayer loan of €850 million, to hand over Novo Banco, controlled by the US vulture fund, Lone Star.

The shocking call for yet more cash to cover property write downs, as agreed by the Bank of Portugal’s governor, Carlos Costa, is €1.15 billion.

The United Kingdom was the largest foreign investor in Portugal in 2018, according to a delighted Secretary of State for Internationalisation who claims that this is an indication that Portugal is working well in attracting foreign money.

Eurico Brilhante Dias, interviewed on Antenna 1, said that Portugal has captured investment due to the uncertainty generated by Brexit and that €900 million originated from the UK, more than from the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the financial centres that normally top the ranking.

BIC bank has announced that it will suspend debt recovery action against the former workers of Alicoop and is suspending all planned court actions. The 90-day cease fire should allow a 'clarification' of thesituation.

BIC management met three workers’ representatives, Paulo Martins, Luís Alves and Sérgio Catarino, and a compromise, of sorts, was announced.

The GNR’s Nature and Environmental Protection Service has accused a man and a woman, aged 62 and 66, on suspicion of the falsification of animal vaccination documents while pretending they were vets.

According to a statement from the GNR, "the suspects ran a clandestine clinic in their home, forging animal vaccination reports with a stamp that is unknown to the Veterinary Medical Association in Portugal and Spain. They bred and sold dogs of various breeds, always with signed vaccination bulletins with fake stamps."

Dredging at Faro's leisure dock started on Monday after years of delay but will only remove decades of silt and rubbish from half of the area.

The three month project will dredge the eastern side of the dock only, which is controlled by Docapesca, as the western half of the area is the responsibility of the Ginásio Clube Naval de Faro which holds the concession and presumably does not have the funds to have its area dredged.

Brussels has highlighted several shortcomings in Portugal’s much publicised ‘fight against corruption’ and cites the situation where just four magistrates have to analyse around 4,000 asset declarations each, submitted by politicians.

The European Commission has asked that Portugal applies "more effort and resources" to root out corruption but the State seems happy with the status quo, where it can point to high profile cases while allowing lower grade corruption to continue as it always has.

An earthquake struck western Portugal and Morocco on February 28th, 1969, at 02:40 - the early hours of the morning.

Originating off Sagres, the earthquake registered a magnitude of 7.8 and the maximum felt intensity was VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale.