A haul of champagne, which had lain at the bottom of the sea for more than 170 years, has finally been analysed.

But the chemist behind the work, Philippe Jeandet, admitted he had been allowed to taste less than a meagre thimbleful.

Portugal’s Economy Minister, António Pires de Lima, is not backing down in the pitched battle with airline TAP pilots union and fully expects the union members to reconsider their planned strike action scheduled for May 1st.

Speaking to reporters after a Brazil-Portugal Business Forum, which included among the guests the Vice President of Brazil Michel Temer, Pires de Lima said that we have to hope that the union will 'better understand the situation' and understand the impact that the pre-announcement of the strike is having on public opinion.

Portugal’s construction sector continues to wither.

While there was a drop in construction, both building construction and civil engineering across the euro region of -1.8% for the month of February, in Portugal the fall was -2.2%.

The Spanish former economy minister and IMF boss briefly arrested last Thursday is now under investigation on suspicion of concealing his wealth and for tax evasion.

Rodrigo Rato is believed to have been concealing a personal fortune of at least €27 million through the use of dozen of front companies in relatives’ names, according to information leaked to the Spanish media by court sources.

Portugal’s petrol retailers have criticised the new ‘low-cost fuel’ laws imposed by the government on a formerly free market, saying that the rules are a ‘step backwards’ and are detrimental to motorists and to the environment.

The Portuguese Association of Oil Companies, APETRO, which speaks for the ‘big four’- Galp, Repsol, Cepsa and BP claims that there are no winners, some losers and losses have been incurred to implement the legislation.

Another fatality on the EN125, this time on the hill between Algarve Shopping and the roundabout at Guia.

The toll was one dead, a 48-year-old man (see reader's comment below for details) and two seriously injured who were rushed to Faro hospital.

Kayakweru was one of six Iberian lynx released into the wild from the Silves Lynx Centre since December 2014 despite concerns from animal welfare and nature organisations that there were not sufficient rabbits for the lynx to catch and eat.

The female survived for less than a month after her release on February 25th this year and was found dead in a forested area on March 12th near Mertola in the Alentejo.

Ricardo Salgado has been accused of keeping two sets of books for Espírito Santo International using a simple Excel sheet on a computer in his office on the 15th floor of the BES headquarters in Lisbon.

The revelation was made by an accounts manager at the Espírito Santo Group, being questioned by members of the commission of inquiry looking into BES and its collapse.