A desperate search has been launched for a young British mother and her two children who have disappeared from their home in the small town of Boliqueime, Algarve.
Christine Davies, 28, vanished on April 4 with daughters Lily, 18 months, and three-month-old Ruby while father Aaron Rodwell, 29, was out running errands.
Due to many of afpop's members enquiring about their right to vote in the UK Referendum on EU membership, and their subsequent disappointment when they discover that are were not eligible to vote under the '15-years abroad' ban, afpop's CEO Michael Reeve has written on their behalf to the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
The scrapping of the 15-year rule is on the Conservative government's agenda but as things stand will not be made law until after the UK Referendum, no use at all those keen to exercise their democratic right who have found that they are banned from participating in the most important decision about Europe since Britain joined the EEC in the 1973.
The six Algarve business associations that took Ikea to court to try and halt the construction of its retail park near Loulé have decided to drop their claims.
“The Association of Trade and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL) has "dropped the legal action against IKEA, a decision backed by the other business associations in the Algarve involved in the same process.
The Prime Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Portugal at last have agreed on something, albeit a dangerous proposal to lump all of the bad debt in Portugal’s banks into one glorious toxic deposit in a new mega-bank.
The ‘bad bank’ proposal could purge the banking system of toxic assets, an idea floated by the prime minister and enthusiastically approved of by Carlos Costa whose economic grasp is as suspect as ever.
The new law criminalising the mistreatment of domestic animals has not had the desired effect.
This is the conclusion of the People-Animals-Nature party whose lone MP is to take the matter up with the Minister of Justice, Frances Van Dunem.
The government is having a good look at reducing the toll charges on the Via do Infante motorway, according to local socialist MP António Eusébio.
In fact the whole socialist party “is working with the ministry in order to reduce the amount charged" or to put forward other measures such as "discounts for HGVs and during quiet times of the night and day."
A ‘mistake’ by Novo Banco has delighted thousands of Caixa Geral customers who have received unexpected but welcome windfalls.
"It was clearly a mistake," but one that may be hard to reverse as Novo Banco can not simply recall the money it has transferred and must rely on the goodwill of the recipients, or the courts.
Public Private Partnership renegotiations have led to a reduction in charges to the taxpayer of 11.8%, but the deals have been altered to shift road repair liabilities onto the State.
The Technical Unit of Budget Support has warned that there are “costs and potential revenue losses” incurred as a result of the renegotiation of nine PPP road contracts, mostly signed under the Sócrates government as a way of borrowing immense sums of money that did not show up on the government accounts.
