MPs have questioned the government and require solutions to "solve or minimise the problem of pollution in the Ribeira do Vascão," following news in the media that the water is so polluted that it has been killing farm animals.

In the request sent to the Minister of the Environment, MPs Teresa Caeiro, Patrícia Fonseca and Álvaro Castello-Branco say that complaints have been received from livestock producers about the contamination of the river water that has been killing their livestock.

Portugal's most influential trade union collective has stated ten reasons for raising the minimum wage to €600-a-month

According to the union, updating the minimum wage to €600 is "a duty of the Government and a workers’ right."

The mid-October acquisition of Novo Banco by US vulture fund Lone Star came at the end of the third quarter where losses of €420 million have been announced.

The January to September trading period saw losses climb 8.9% over the same period last year, with 390 staff leaving and 58 branches closing.

Half of Portugal’s State-owned companies have failed to report directors’ salaries for 2016, even though this is a requirement.

Many such companies have failed to send in their reports to the Technical Unit for Monitoring and Monitoring the Public Sector Business which works with the Ministry of Finance.

The head of Portugal’s Order of Nutritionists, Alexandra Bento, said that the food scenario in Portugal "is catastrophic" and that its effects are endangering the long-term ability of the National Health Service to cope with increasing problems caused by poor nutrition.

"We have a prodigious food tradition, Mediterranean food, we have excellent health professionals", namely nutritionists, "but we have a food scenario that is catastrophic and that is jeopardising the sustainability of the National Health Service," said Alexandra Bento.

The Via do Infante Users’ Commission, CUVI, fully supports the Left Bloc proposal to fund the Algarve’s motorway from a regional tourist tax.

Whether the proposal is accepted as part of the 2018 State Budget, or not, the Commission continues to appeal to the Government to fulfill the pre-election promises made by the current prime minster, that the region would be rid of the tolls.

Public Security Police officers have arrested five men in Olhão during a dawn raid and accused them of drug trafficking.

Heroin, cocaine, hashish and cash were discovered after seven search warrants were acted on in properties in the city and one in Lisbon.

The amount of rain that fell in Portugal during the first half of November is around a quarter of the normal average.

This has prolonged the drought across the mainland and has increased the areas now classified as suffering from ‘extreme drought.’