How two ambulances managed to get involved in a serious accident in Castro Marim on the IC27 remains to be explained but the five vehicle crash left at least five people injured and blocked the road for hours.

One of the victims was said to be seriously injured as four light vehicles including two ambulances, and a heavy goods vehicle collided at around noon today on the IC27 in the Azinhal area.

The Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Marques, certainly has a way with words but few in the Algarve have any further patience with his vague assurances that the EN125 roadworks will recommence “within a few weeks, a month maybe...”

Adding insult to drivers’ intelligence, Pedro Marques said on Antenna 1 today that the renegotiations of the Baixo Alentejo and Algarve Litoral Public Private Partnerships, talks that are being blamed for the latest delays in the Algarve, "are already more advanced than they were before."

Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra and Oporto councils are among 20 municipalities following the lead set by Olhão as each is to raise local property rates bills by 300% for unoccupied or derelict buildings in their areas.

The 300% IMI rise is the maximum allowable under new laws and these councils are working with local Finanças offices to send out rates notices showing the higher figures.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has been found guilty of negligence but no penalty was meted out.

Christine Lagarde, 60, was judged guilty of negligence when, as France’s finance minister, she approved an enormous payout of taxpayer’s money to a controversial French businessman.

Of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who reached Germany in the last two years, only 34,000 have found employment so far.

Of these, 22% are on temporary contracts, according to Germany’s Institute for Labour Research.

People in charge of flying drones who break the rules currently are liable to fines of up to €2,500, a fugure that needs to be revised upwards, according to the National Civil Aviation Authority.

Luís Riberio commented that failing to observe the regulations constitutes an aeronautical infraction open to fines of between €250 and €2,500 but that the "the fines must be updated in the future."

The drone of aircraft engines again will be heard over the airfield at Portimão as from December 21st until January 4th next year as hundreds of parachutists gather for their ‘Christmas Boogie 2016’ festival.

The event, run by Skydive Algarve, will see around 600 skydivers from 25 different countries converge on the airfield while hoping for clear skies and a low wind.

Paris is battling to quell its millions-strong population of rats which have become so bold that many have been spotted in daylight hours.

Authorities have had to put at least nine of its famous parks off bounds to visitors for a number of weeks while the battle ensues.  Rat catching patrols are the only ones allowed in to bait traps laced with toxins and the block sewer exits.