Privately owned Novo Banco is preparing to suck up €726.4 million from the Resolution Fund in 2019, taking full advantage of the soft deal negotiated by the Bank of Portugal that leaves the nation's banks and taxpayers funding the US-owned institution.

Novo Banco is 75% owned by 'vulture fund' Lone Star from Texas and run in Portugal by António Ramalho who has overseen €500 million in problem loan write-offs in the first half of 2018, despite the bank being set up with only the ‘good’ assets of Banco Espírito Santo which went bust in 2014.

MEPs have voted on updated rules on audiovisual media services, better to protect children, with stricter rules on advertising, and 30% European content in video-on-demand.

Following the final vote on this agreement, the revised legislation will apply to broadcasters, but also to video-on-demand and video-sharing platforms, such as Netflix, YouTube or Facebook, as well as to live streaming on video-sharing platforms.

School books used by Portuguese pupils must begin to address Portugal’s violence against the indigenous populations of its former colonies.

The recommendation is based on a report by a Council of Europe committee that, every five years, assesses racism and intolerance.

The summer and winter clock changes are to stay as they are, after a report from the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory (OAL) last August this week was endorsed by the prime minister.

António Costa said in an interview with TVI, "I see no reason to contradict science. I think the good and only criterion is the criterion of science and what has been expressed up to now by the competent authority, which is the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory."

In the past nine years, immigrants taking advantage of the Non-habitual Resident scheme have boosted the Portuguese Treasury and economy by between €9 billion and €11 billion, according to a study published today by estate agents’ association, APEMIP.

The real estate association claims that the effect of immigrants buying properties in Portugal has been a “boost to city centres, employment has been created and tax revenues have increased at the same time.”

Portugal's light-touch administrative regime for solar power companies has led Spanish businesses over the border to avoid taxes and red tape.

Spain's 'sun tax' has brought Irish developer WElink Energy, which has offices in Madrid and Barcelona, to inaugurated Europe’s largest subsidy-free solar plant - in Portugal.

If you thought September was unusually hot, it was - with the weather service agreeing that its figures show it was been the warmest ‘since records began.’

The only September that came near to this year’s average of 23.1°C was in 1985 when Tarzan Boy by Baltimora topped the European singles charts and Dire Straits headed the album charts with Brothers in Arms.

Two earthquakes, measuring 3.9 and 3.3 on the Richter scale, centered in an area about 65 kilometers from Sines were recorded on Monday at seismic stations on the mainland.

The strongest of the two was felt in Lisbon and as far south as Faro.