Ricardo Salgado, the "Dono Disto Tudo" of the Espírito Santo clan and former president of Banco Espírito Santo is now allowed out and about.

Today his terms of detention were eased from house arrest to the same degree of freedom as former Prime Minister José Sócrates; they may leave their houses, travel within Portugal but are not allowed to go abroad, or talk to or contact in any way those involved in their cases.

Portugal has a few days in which to submit its 2016 State Budget or face proceedings from Brussels.

The European Commission will act, according to the European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Valdis Dombrovskis, who said that Portugal needs to submit its budget to avoid breaking the rules.

The most serious attempt to begin impeachment against Brazil’s unpopular president has begun.

Lawyers for the opposition have filed a petition to Congress seeking impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff for allegedly doctoring government accounts in 2014.

A company owned by the defunct Banco Espírito Santo and members of ‘the clan’ including Ricardo Salgado, successfully promoted tax evasion schemes to many client companies.

The public prosecutor’s indictment against Empresa de Serviços e Consultoria S. A. (ESGER) names several managers and customers as part of Operation Furaçao.

Both Starbucks and Fiat have been ordered to pay between €20 million and €30 million in tax.

A probe by the European Commission found that Starbucks and Fiat had had “unduly reduced” tax bills and “unfair competitive advantage” in the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively, the competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

With fewer rollovers leading to enormous jackpots in the EuroMillions lottery, British punters have shown less interest.

Camelot UK said that ticket sales fell in the six months to the end of September, bringing in £717 million for the period.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale shuddered across the mid-western Algarve this morning causing the evacuation of an elementary school in Silves.
 
The Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere reported that the earthquake was recorded at 09:39 hrs with an epicenter about five kilometres west-northwest of the city of Silves.

Two policemen were arrested last week for accepting bribes from drivers of vehicles which then were guaranteed to pass the annual safety inspection.

For €75 euros per car, the policemen arranged for the cars to pass the roadworthiness test and furthermore guaranteed that the driver would not be stopped at subsequent roadside police inspections.