A study on the economic impact of the introduction of tolls on the Via do Infante will be released shortly. It has been funded by the Junta de Andalucia, the government of the neighbouring Spanish region, and complied by respected journalist Carlos Castellanos.

A study has been promised by the Portuguese government since the tolls were unilaterally imposed on the Algarve region in 2011 yet interested and affected parties wait in vain for this promise to be carried out.

Portugal has grabbed the top award amid stiff competition for the best golfing destination in the world at the World Travel Award 2013

The Algarve, which already had been voted the 'Best Golf Destination in Europe’ in September 2013, has now won the worldwide accolade, becoming the world’s best golf destination 2013.

The Namibian police confirmed this morning that an Air Mozambique aircraft flying from Maputo to Luanda, missing since Friday afternoon, had indeed crashed. There are no survivors among the 34 occupants of the aircraft, five of the passengers were Portuguese nationals.

The wreckage was found in Bwabwata National Park near the border of Angola and Botswana.

"The plane burned completely and there are no survivors," said the security forces responsible for the area.

The Netherlands has suffered the loss of its AAA credit rating after a downgrade from Standard & Poor’s.

The Dutch finance minister said it was “disappointing” but not surprising.

According to S&P, growth prospects for the Netherlands have declined and that it is not performing as well as its peers.

"The Board of Directors of Banco de Portugal agreed on November 27th to authorise the establishment of a Post Office Bank," reads an addendum to the privatisation prospectus released today to the stock exchange authorities.

The new bank is aimed at using the wide geographic coverage of CTT outlets and the existing skilled workforce to create the new Post Office Bank.  The project will affect the economic and financial forecasts for CTT which itself is being sold this year.

The Co-operative bank in Guernsey is getting rid of its offshore customers.

People with fixed-rate savings bonds with Co-operative Bank's Guernsey branch are now having their accounts closed and their money returned.

In August, the bank said it was to close its branch in Guernsey as part of a programme to “simplify the business”.

Thirty seven nations have agreed to provide the UK Treasury with the details of offshore bank accounts held by British citizens.

The initiative, led in large part by the UK, is to clamp down on tax evasion and recoup unpaid UK tax on money held abroad.

In one of the more bizarre police actions of 2013 a shipment of young eels has been stopped from entering Spain where the slippery cargo would have been worth upwards of €28,000.

In Spain the tasty tapas are a highly appreciated delicacy and the interception of the illicit cargo at the Guadiana bridge will bring tears to many an Andalucian gourmand.