The deadline which Portugal generously afforded Iraq in which to lift the diplomatic immunity covering the ambassador's twin sons, or explain why it would not, is Thursday January 5th at midnight.
This deadline comes at the end of a 20 day extension as the Iraqis seem unable to move at even Portugal’s lethargic diplomatic pace.
The government has failed for years to fund the preservation of arguably the Algarve’s finest castle. The council has been struggling with funding issues for years and has managed only essential maintenance but now the European taxpayer is to pay €1.5 million to fix up Silves Castle’s outer walls before more sections fall into the streets below.
Certain pars of the wall are classified as in ‘poor’ condition and others are positively dangerous and at risk of collapse with fallen rubble already a common site in some of the surrounding streets.
Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said that he "could lodge a complaint" against Spain with the European Commission over its intention of building a nuclear waste dump over the border in Almaraz.
Augusto Santos Silva said that the two governments are "in permanent contact" and that "the typical principle of international law, and particularly between countries as close and friendly as Portugal and Spain, is that when there is a dispute, we identify the dispute and the conditions for resolving the dispute."
The former mayor of Olhão, Francisco Leal, along with four of his political crew, has been accused by Évora’s Criminal Investigation and Action Department (DIAP) of corruption over licensing the blatantly illegal construction of a house in Bias do Sul in the Ria Formosa natural park area.
The indictment was lodged on 31 October last year concerning events in 2005, such is the speed of the justice system. In fact, nothing would have happened at all had there not been an official complaint lodged by the association, Somos Olhão, in 2009.
A new route has been forged between China and the UK as the first Beijing to London freight train began its journey on Sunday.
The direct rail freight service to London is the first such link between the two countries.
China’s Minsheng is out of the race to buy Novo Banco, according to Jornal de Negócios today, as it has not been able to show that it has sufficient funds to make the purchase.
Minsheng was selected by the Bank of Portugal before Christmas but the Bank of Portugal has blundered in its initial choice and now will have to choose between Lone Star and the Apollo-Centerbridge consortium which the Portuguese group Violas wants to join - at the 11th hour.
Loulé’s mayor wants to increase the land available for construction in many of the council area’s villages to help stop communities fading away.
"You have to create jobs and housing to stop the depopulation of rural areas," says Vítor Aleixo, who is convinced that an essential part of the solution is to increase the building zone around villages by reviewing and altering the hallowed Municipal Master Plan (PDM).
The big debate was held in São Brás de Alportel on Jan 2nd with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Luís Capoulas Santos and 200 delegates participating in a long-overdue and welcomed 'public discussion on forest reform.'
The government's new plans were presented by the Minister of Agriculture and the Secretary of State for Forestry and Rural Development, Amandio Torres.
