Sweden is leading the way as the most cash-free economy on the planet.

All manner of businesses and even individuals have switched to accepting cards rather than cold, hard cash.

The financial sector in Portugal uses its political connections to influence public decision-making, especially around the government’s privatisation plans, without any restrictions or oversight, said Transparency International Portugal in the first comprehensive report on lobbying in the country.

In the report “Lifting the lid on lobbying: The influence market in Portugal”, Transparency International Portugal calls for more transparency as well as regulation of lobbying so that the public can access information on which companies or organisations are lobbying Portuguese decision-makers, how and why.

Italy was rocked by violent protests on Friday, as demonstrations were met by riot police and strikes hit the beleaguered economy.

The uproar was fuelled by pent-up rage over the unabated economic crisis and entrenched unemployment which has ensnared 42% of the country’s young people.

The Attorney General's Office has confirmed that the National Director of the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) Manuel Jarmela Palos, has been arrested on corruption charges related to the 'golden visa' scheme. His new nick-name is 'Mr 10%' which, according to Correio da Manhã, was the commission level for certain visa applications that he authorised or fast-tracked.

Sending shockwaves through Portugal's murky and corrupt corridors of power, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Maria Antónia Anes, suffered the indignity of being arrested in the Ministry of Justice building and taken away by police for questioning.

In a bold, if unconventional move, the Algarve’s council bosses have decided that they ought to buy the fibre optic system installed by Globalgarve, now that they successfully have driven the company into receivership.

The mayors have even come up with a price for the network which is substantially below the price that they wanted to charge a third party in a desperate attempt to keep the service running.

Industrial output picked up in the eurozone during September, growing by an average 0.6% over August this year.

But this was not the case for Portugal where industrial production suffered a drop of -4.1%. This was the greatest decrease in all of the eurozone countries.

Petrofer workers in the Algarve have voted to 'suspend their contracts' so they at least can apply for unemployment benefits after months of impasse.

The employees of Petrofer’s filling stations got together today to discuss their options, one of which is formally to suspend their own contracts due to wage arrears and the other was the continuing problem that they have no fuel or goods to sell.

Eurostar has launched a new state-of-the-art train capable of travelling at 320 kilometres an hour.

The Channel Tunnel train, Siemens e320, will enter service next year, allowing passengers to make the 306-mile trip from Paris to London in just two hours.