The president of security company Prosegur believes that there has not been an increase in crime due to the economic crisis, and that Portugal remains “a very safe country.”  

João Gaspar da Silva commented that the crisis has seen the end of many companies, a large rise unemployment, emigration, and often despair but as for crime, he believes that "Portugal is, in the context of the world and of Europe, still a very safe country."

Members of the agricultural fraternity 'oop north have in protest decided to pay their new Social Security obligations in potatoes and vegetables.

All Portugal’s farmers that sell anything at all are now required to register that they are economically active, no matter what size turnover they expect, and therefore will have to make social security payments, often in excess of their incomes.

Anyone still holding old £50 British banknotes is advised to exchange them for new ones before the end of April.

The old note features Sir John Houblon, the first governor of the Bank of England, and was first issued in 1994.

Portugal is in the top ten countries which have the healthiest diet, according to a survey issued by Oxfam.

The Netherlands was shown to be the best place for a good diet, followed by France, Switzerland and Denmark.

Portugal was ranked in 10th position out of the 125 countries reviewed, outstripping the UK which was number 13 in the survey.

Scientists in Australia, worried about the decline in the honey bee population, have attached ‘backpacks’ onto 5,000 honey bees to seek clues.

Honey bee pollination is vital to crop growth, with as much as one-third of the world’s food relying on pollination.

Australia has escaped the ‘colony collapse disorder’ and the Varroa mite plague hitting other countries and the research hopes to discover why these conditions have been avoided.

The parliamentary group of the Communist Party has submitted a request urgently to hear from the Parliamentary Health Committee,  the bosses of the Algarve’s regional health administration (ARS), and from the Algarve hospitals group (CHA), and also from the doctors working in the Algarve’s hospitals.

At issue is the now-famous petition signed by 182 medics from the 230 that work at Faro and Portimão hospitals.

According to the Communist Party, the situations and shortages outlined in the letter released last week, “are extremely serious and can not be ignored."

The driver of a white Renault car that ran into and killed an elderly bicyclist on the EN 120 near Aljezur has been identified. The driver did not stop, triggering a police investigation that successfully has located the man.

The GNR said in a statement that the car involved in the accident was found in a Portimão workshop being repaired and that the 47-year old driver has been arrested and accused of failing to stop after an accident. He has to inform police of any changes of address, but may remain free until his trial.

A manuscript from the 16th century could indicate that Portuguese explorers were in Australia before the first recorded European landing in 1606.

The document contains the drawing of what appears to be a small kangaroo or a wallaby placed into the letter “D”.