From November 1st, those Algarve council workers who had been forced to work a 40-hour week can relax back into their traditional 35-hours.

The Algarve mayors’ group, AMAL, made the announcement following the government’s failure at the Constitutional Court to have the 40-hour week imposed on all public sector workers.

The meetings are over and Pedro Passsos Coelho says that he will not be blackmailed by the socialist party leader and that there is no way he will govern alongside the socialists.

Passos Coelho said he refused to subject the country to "political blackmail" and it was the coalition which won the election, not the socialists.

People on board a flight from Madeira to Birmingham were given a fright when their Monarch airplane was intercepted in mid-air by a French fighter jet.

The incident took place on Monday 12 October. Flight ZB983 from Madeira departed at 10.40.

A wealthy businessman, who died in mysterious circumstances on a golfing break in the Algarve, is the subject of an inquest in the UK.

Charles Raper, 34, died 10 years ago on an Algarve holiday with 17 friends who used Vilamoura as their base.

The head of Portugal’s emergency medical service, the INEM, (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica), has been suspended from duty by the Health Minister.

Minister Paulo Macedo has called for disciplinary proceedings to be taken involving Paulo Campos who is accused of behaviour and actions "contrary to general principles of ethics and good management."

The latest Credit Suisse wealth report shows that over the last 10 years the average wealth in Portugal has risen by 35%. On the down-side, the country appears to have 'lost' 25,000 wealthy nationals in just one year.

The conclusion that Portugal has fewer wealthy people, but generally people are better off, is contained in the ‘Global Wealth Report’ from Credit Suisse, which looks at trends across the world.

A working group has been set up to report on the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Portugal's Minister for the Economy, António Pires de Lima, has until November 2nd to report the group's findings to government.

The group will look at the Volkswagen crisis as it affects Portugal in terms of the environment, tax, consumer rights and safeguarding the interests of the State.

A consumer trends study in Portugal shows that 11% of those companies surveyed already use Uber, the controversial app that has caused Portugal’s taxi drivers to protest en masse.

The study showed also that "49% of companies surveyed consider they would use Uber.”