Following his impassioned speech on Tuesday declaring Portugal will “not accept to be condemned to live in poverty, a country of low salaries”, prime minister António Costa has let it be revealed that if push comes to shove, the PS government will increase IVA by two percentage points, from the current 23% to 25%.

This way, the “billion euro” haircut being demanded by Brussels will bypass the need to touch salaries or pensions, explains national tabloid Correio da Manhã.

April’s pay packet for public sector workers who earn more than €1500 is being paid from today (Thursday) and sees another increase in the progressive reversal of austerity measures brought in during 2011.

Algarve’s hoteliers association (AHETA) vows it will do “whatever it takes, even go to court”, to stop Vila Real de Santo António’s plans to bring in a tourist tax, charging holidaymakers €1 for every night they spend in the borough.

“It is unacceptable,” Elidérico Viegas, the head of AHETA, told Correio da Manhã newspaper.

A former cleaning lady who scooped 51 million euros in the Euromillions lottery is back in the news today for a less than edifying contretemps at the wheel of her powerful €200,000 Maserati Quattroporte.

The fashion-conscious millionairess - who shed 50 kilos after being swept to sudden wealth - came unstuck overtaking a heavily laden lorry in Ariz (Marco de Canaveses).

A car coming in the opposite direction caused her to hit the lorry and demolish a stone wall.

Portuguese pharmaceutical company Bial has heard that an expert panel tasked with investigating the cause of a clinical trial death in France three months ago has found that the volunteer died “as a result of the drug’s toxicity”.

In a report published earlier this week by the French agency for the Safety of Health Products, experts said the incident “seemed clearly linked” to the “molecule” being tested , rather than possible mistakes in how the drug was administered, or its dosage.

Two underage lovebirds ran away from home, telling their parents: “We love you. See you when we’re grown up.” Fourteen-year-old Juliana Ribeiro and her 16-year-old sweetheart Marco Santos went missing last Friday.

Their notes to their parents said: “We have work, we’re not going to be hungry, don’t call the police”, and Marco is understood to have written: “Don’t sell my scooter, or my things. Sorry for what we’ve done, but we love you.”

With the heartbreaking bid for the freedom to be together splashed over the nation’s best-read tabloid, it wasn’t long before the duo was located.

UK weekly newspaper The Economist has launched an interactive poll tracker that features voting intentions for Britain’s upcoming EU referendum.

“Readers can use this to find what a weighted average of the main polls reveals about public opinion towards Brexit, overall or by region, age, sex, class and political party,” the paper explains.

TAP airline is reported to have opened an inquiry into the “very serious” case of a long-haul pilot found driving with a blood alcohol level of 3.34g/l - “almost six times over the limit”. Ordered to appear in court the next day, the pilot told police he would not be showing up as he would be flying. The airline has refuted this, saying the pilot is on sick leave.