Ireland’s economic recovery is forecast to grow faster than any other European country.

If it does, 2016 will be the third consecutive year where the rate of growth has outstripped its partners.

The twin sons of Iraq’s ambassador to Portugal, involved in an incident last Wednesday which left a 15-year-old Portuguese boy in intensive care, have been interviewed for a SIC TV programme and say they are not going anywhere until an investigation is completed and the legal situation is resolved.

The twins, Haider and Ridha, are alleged to have used an embassy car to run over Rúben Cavaco who then was set upon in the street in Ponte de Sor in the Alentejo after a disagreement in a bar.   

The 2008 law that requires the use of an electronic chip to be inserted into pet cats and dogs has has a marked effect on the number of strays and abandoned animals, according to the Portuguese League of Animal Rights (LPDA).

The president of the association, Maria do Céu Sampaio, says that this "does not mean that everything is OK, but this decrease has been significant" and that "the legislation is much better as people who abandon and mistreat animals are punished."

Monchique council's mayor, Rui André, knows his chimneys. He is the only mayor in the Algarve who has insisted that a countywide register be made of these iconic structures, many of which are over 200 years old.

Most rise above privately owned buildings and the council and the regional culture board have no regional register and are unable to insist on maintenance best practice when chimneys are intefered with during building work.

Being dropped off on a deserted Algarvian beach, inaccessible from land, may be your idea of a blissful afternoon but for one tourist this plan quickly turned into near disaster when he fell seriously ill.

The Ferragudo Lifeboat crew was alerted, located the beach and transported the 52-year-old Portuguese man to the pick-up point at Benagil beach (pictured) from where he was whisked to hospital by a waiting ambulance.

The Ministry of Finance confirmed today that retirement savings plans will not form part of the €50,000 bank balance reporting scheme due to start in 2017.

This exemption covers residents in Portugal and those living abroad with bank accounts in Portugal.

Germany’s first civil defence strategy, to be revealed on Wednesday, is believed to prioritise the of civilian backing of the armed forces in times of disaster or armed attack, increase capacity in the healthcare system and ensure the structual viability of public buildings.

More controversially, however, it advises people to stockpile food for ten days and water for five days, as published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Sunday.

More than eight people out of ten in the UK said they think that EU migrants already living in Britain should be allowed to stay in the country.

The figure comes from a public opinion survey conducted for the think tank British Future which revealed that the 84% who believe resident EU citizens should stay includes a very high proportion of people who supported the Leave campaign (77%).