Serious debt has become such a problem in the UK that now one in every five people are struggling to pay their bills.
Worst affected areas are the North of England and Northern Ireland, where as many as 40% of adults in some areas are not able to keep up with payments.
Dishwashing tablets are threatening the home of British fishing, the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire.
The chalk streams which feed into the two rivers, famed for fly fishing, are showing dangerous levels of phosphorus.
Portugal’s Deputy Prime Minister today was trying his utmost to convince investors and entrepreneurs that Portugal is "a good destination to travel to, or invest in."
"This is the time to look carefully at Portugal," said Paulo Portas addressing the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, who arrived in Portugal with a delegation of more than 800 businessmen from around the world.
The Jerónimo Martins Group today announced plans to open 30 more Pingo Doce supermarkets in Portugal by 2016.
The announcement was made today as part of an explanation to investors of the overall business plan for the next three years.
The Portuguese Navy has rescued a Hungarian kayak team drifting and slowly sinking south of Vila Real de Santo António.
The two Hungarian kayakers were found 40 kilometres south of Vila Real de Santo António and were saved by the help of swift action from the Coordination Centre for Maritime Search and Rescue in Lisbon linked in to the VRSA port authority.
The rich list for Portugal, complied by Exame magazine, is again led by businessman Américo Amorim who was pushed into second place in 2012 by Alexandre Soares dos Santos who now is running second.
Américo Amorim has been at the top of the pile in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
His fortune is now estimated at €4,500 million and had risen by a surge in the share price of Galp Energia, Banco Popular and Ceibo Amorim.
Patrick Monteiro de Barros confessed to "shame" at Portugal’s €485 minimum wage, "one of the lowest in all of Europe," also accusing politicians of an unwillingness to fight this injustice.
"I am ashamed," he said at the 'Business in Box' conference in Lisbon today.
Patrick Monteiro de Barros is one of the richest men in Portugal, a keen Olympic yachtsman with a handful of surprising and risky business ventures under his belt which earned him the financial status he enjoys today.
Portuguese purchasing power is still €3,000 below the European average. Portugal occupies the 20th place in terms of per capita purchasing power in Europe, lying in the middle of the list of 42 countries surveyed by research firm GfK.
Each inhabitant has an annual purchasing power average of €10,018, about three thousand euros below the European average of €12,890.
