Portugese police today arrested a man wanted in Britain for attempted rape.

Paul Buchanan was one of the targets of Operation Captura which aims to track down suspects hiding in expat communities, mostly in Spain.

The French economy stalled in the three months to June, showing zero growth.

Slackened domestic spending in particular was the cause while business investment also went down, according to the French statistics office.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron, currently on holiday in Monchique with his family, inadvertently highlighted the current nurses strike yesterday as he availed himself of the services of Portugal national health service.

The strikes seem to have affected the Algarve’s hospitals more than its outlying health centres where only five were affected. Cameron, who was suffering from a painful case of ‘politician’s ear’ found a fully staffed local clinic in Mochique where his complaint successfully was treated.

Ricardo Salgado, the disgraced former president of Banco Espírito Santo, currently under house arrest as part of investigations into the collapse of the BES and Grupo Espírito Santo, issued a categorical denial of the accusation printed today in the Sol newspaper.

According to Salgado, the content highlighted on the front page of the weekly is a false and the result of “well-known motives.” In addition to confused facts, the report is nothing but "pure falsehood and fantasy."

The Algarve’s appalling death rate as a result of road accidents has risen by 80% in the first seven months of the year compared to 2014.

Portugal’s National Road Safety Authority reports that road accident deaths across the region have gone from 15 to 25, another two can be added as a result of the head on collision last Sunday in Lagoa.

French drinking habits have changed so considerably that the majority of the population order an alcoholic drink less than once a week.

A survey showed that only 44% admitted to ordering a drink in a bar, café or restaurant once a week. When they do, they often chose an expensive drink, going for quality instead of quantity. French drink experts have termed this “premiumisation”.

The Prime Minister was followed by media as he strolled as naturally as possible at the start of his annual break in the Algarve.

Pedro Passos Coelho has left behind the high life of Lisbon, the cut and thrust of modern politics and is hoping to enjoy a holiday break with his family in the seaside resort of Manta Rota, Vila Real de Santo António.

Portugal’s Tax and Customs Authority has been granted authorisation to inspect, check and asses rough diamonds in a further attempt by international authorities to crack down on the illegal trade in ‘blood diamonds’.

On August 7th "Portugal became part of the secure chain implementing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for the international trade in rough diamonds in order to counter the trade in blood diamonds," read a statement from Paulo Núncio, the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs.