Portugal is leading telehealth developments across the world with the newly introduced National Strategic Telehealth Plan (PENTS).

The Faro dock and surrounding areas, the two shelter ports in the city of Olhão, and part of the Riverfront of Fuzeta are a handful areas whose transition from Docapesca management to the municipal authority will be negotiated, within the framework of a transfer process that began today.

Laboratory tests taken of water in streams around expanding avocado plantations in the western Algarve have shown glyphosate readings – the pesticide linked to cancers in humans – 50 times greater than levels recommended by the EU.

At the beginning of the month news came out revealing that Ryanair had refused to give an employee his holiday pay after being fired. Today, after the employee pursued legal action against the airline, Ryanair will have to pay the holiday and Christmas allowances to the former employee who was “fired without cause”.

Portuguese authorities said on Monday they had started investigating media reports concerning Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, while a small bank closely associated with Africa’s richest woman, Eurobic, said it had decided to put an end to commercial relationships with entities she controls.

In Portugal's parliamentary election last October, Romualda Fernandes, Beatriz Gomes Dias, and Joacine Katar Moreira made history by becoming the first women of African descent to be elected to Parliament. Dias, Gomes and Moreira all represent different political parties - the Socialist Party, Left Bloc and Livre, respectively - but their critiques of racism in Portuguese society have been credited with catalysing a debate that many see as long overdue.

Portugal’s foreign minister has rejected the idea that the country is developing a problematic reliance on China, as Chinese companies are expected to bid to invest in a strategic port project. Augusto Santos Silva rebuked this speculation by telling press that “a myth has been created that Portugal is some kind of a special friend of China in Europe. That makes no sense at all.”

After a brief moment of conflict between the two entities earlier this month after a series of misunderstandings surrounding a public Q&A session with the Mayor in December, PAN Algarve have met with the municipality of Olhão to discuss animal protection, and to reconcile their differences.