National Pantheon Director, Isabel Melo, said that authorisation for the Web Summit organisers to host a dinner at the National Pantheon was given by the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage, so she certainly is not going to resign.

The National Pantheon is the final resting place of Presidents of the Republic Manuel de Arriaga, Teófilo Braga, Sidónio Pais and Óscar Carmona, the writers João de Deus, Almeida Garrett, Guerra Junqueiro, Aquilino Ribeiro and Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, the fado singer Amália Rodrigues, and the footballer Eusébio.

A protest led by relatives of the politicians and activists arrested and being held in jail for organising the Catalonian independence referendum on 1 October, saw a crowd of around 750,000 filling more than 3 kilometres of the Carrer de la Marina in Barcelona.

The demands included safe passage for Carles Puigdemont and former cabinet members in exile in Brussels. All have been charged with sedition and rebellion, and face a maximum 30 years in jail, if found guilty.

A Romanian, out fishing with friends, has drowned in the waters of the Funcho dam in São Bartolomeu de Messines, Silves.

The Sunday fishing trip ended in tragedy after the man decided to go for a swim and simply disappeared from sight.

The coastline of the Alentejo again is under threat from Galp-ENI which has submitted a request for an extension to an exploration licence that expires at the end of December this year.

In October, the consortium sent an application to the National Entity for the Fuel Market (ENMC) to extend the period within which it can drill the first test well off Aljezur.

The orderly exit of the Air Force from its Montijo base which the government wants to be used as Lisbon’s second airport, will costs an estimated €130 million.

The Defence Minister has convinced himself and colleagues that Portugal's civil airports operator, ANA, should foot the entire bill as it will benefit from the Air Force’s exit.

A Liquidation Commission investigating Banco Espírito Santo’s 2014 collapse has pointed the finger at Ricardo Salgado and his entire management team.

The blame lies with 13 people for the collapse of the institution, according to the findings of the Committee whose opinion formally will be evaluated by the Public Prosecution Service within 60 days.

Portugal’s justice minister said that money in the State Budget for 2018 intends to "continue a great cycle" of modernisation of the justice sector, with €79 million allocated for investment.

Justice Minister, Francisca Van Dunem, (pictured) said in parliament that the 2018 State Budget, "reflects the strong investment in modernisation programmes for courts and justice services, in the provision of information and in communication technologies.”

The announcement that new firefighting aircraft were to be ordered was made this morning by the Defence Minister in a parliamentary meeting to discuss the 2018 State Budget.

Azeredo Lopes says that the investment of around €100 million emphasises the government’s commitment to sorting out firefighting responsibilities and providing an effective service.