The old Pousada de São Brás in the Algarve which was ditched by the Pestana Group due to poor performance is being transformed into a 'time-share' facility by its new Danish owners.

The local Mayor, Victor Guerreiro, explained that families are to purchase vacation time, a type of 'timesharing,' and that development will have 40 accommodation units that will be able to take 200 Danish families throughout the year.

Up to 60 health professionals are wanted in Abu Dhabi to work at the American owned Cleveland Clinic.

The Americans have taken on an international recruitment company which is to present the opportunities and answer questions from interested parties. Recruiters will be at the University of the Algarve in Faro on the 25th of February between 13.00 and 18.00.

Passos Coelho has sprung somewhat of a surprise on his political allies, and the nation, by announcing the return to politics of his friend, the disgraced former minister, Miguel Relvas.

After less than a year out of the limelight the proven liar, Miguel Relvas, is to take the top position in the PSD party, replacing Paulo Rangel as head of the PSD National Council. Rangel conveniently is to become a PSD European candidate. Whether this was his original plan is a state secret.

The lynx breeding centre in the hills to the east of Silves has successfully bred many lynx but so far all those released into the wild have gone to the Spanish region of Andalucia.

This is to change and Portugal one day may have its own lynx population after a meeting at the National Centre for Reproduction of the Iberian Lynx concluded with the news that there was a need "to define an action plan for the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx to Portugal in 2014.”

Spain’s credit rating has been upgraded by ratings agency Moody’s.

Although the rate went up one notch to Baa2 from Baa3, it is clear a step in the right direction for the ailing economy.

Church attendance in the US has fallen rapidly over the last decade, to the point where just 25% of Americans are believed to go to church weekly.

This has left the Republican Religious Right in a quandary. It needs to appeal to an increasingly secular population but at the same time to keep its evangelical base on board.

Cape Cod in Massachusetts might have been named for the local abundance of cod, but now the stock of fish has been so depleted that the fishermen have asked the US government for a bailout.

A combination of overfishing and a seal population keen on eating cod themselves have depleted the stock, driving many fishermen out of business and the industry into a spiral of decline.

Portugal’s farmers' confederation has welcomed the new edict that farmers with less than €1,670 annual income are exempt from registering with Social Security and from filing income tax returns.

The Minister of Agriculture, Assunçao Cristas, has announced that farmers with income or Common Agricultural Policy payments of under €1,670 a year will be exempt.