The German government has announced that cannabis will be legalised for medicinal purposes some time in early 2017.

 "Our goal is that seriously ill patients are treated in the best possible way," said health minister Hermann Groehe.

Portugal’s border control force, the SEF, "will look into" an alleged security breach at Faro airport that allowed a British traveller to fly home using his brother’s passport.

Steve Wilson accidentally picked up his brother Carl's passport and passed through a number of identity checks at Faro airport and at Liverpool’s John Lennon airport on his return.

The ECB vice president Vítor Constâncio says he has no intention at all in taking part in the Banif inquiry.

In a two page written apologia, Constâncio, a former Portuguese Finance Minister, said he only has to answer questions put to him by the European Parliament so he will not be available to explain the crucial role which the ECB played in Banif’s demise.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is poised to reveal the second list of names, accounts, companies and trusts from the Panama Papers database.

The first 'Panama Papers' revelations caused panic among many high profile and wealthy people who have been using offshore accounts and financial structures to conceal their wealth and evade taxes.

The new Ikea shopping centre near Loulé, which the promoters wish us to refer to as MAR Shopping Algarve, has announced a pre-launch occupation rate of 70%.

Names include Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Zara Home, Pull & Bear, Oysho, Massimo Dutti, Primark, Mango, C & A, Punt Roma, Sfera, Tiffosi, Aromas and Sephora are some of signings.

Malta should place a temporary ban on shooting down turtledoves which are facing extinction due to hunting and other pressures, said the EU’s environment commissioner.

In October, turtledoves were put on the Red List of species threatened with extinction held by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The agency blames a 30% decrease in turtledove populations across Europe on hunting, agricultural intensification and disease, and says that more research is needed.

Respite could be on the way for the people of Corsica as one of the island’s main militant groups has vowed to end “military operations” in October.

The National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) has been seeking independence from France since 1976.  This group laid down its weapons two years ago.

The founder a far-right pressure group has been convicted for inciting hatred.

Lutz Bachmann, the head of the anti-Islamic Pediga group, was found guilty of a court in Dresden on Tuesday. Dresden is the home of the group whose name stands for “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West”.