Japan now has more electric car charge points than petrol stations.

A recent survey counted more than 40,000 charging stops nationwide compared to fewer than 35,000 petrol filling stations.

Victory can be celebrated for the Algarve’s drivers as the 10 kilometre cut on the EN125 between Maritenda and the Fontainhas traffic lights is not going ahead today as was planned nor will roadworks be started any time this summer.

Infraestrutura de Portugal (IP) of course has tried to blame the sub-contractor for the proposed road closure announced on Friday evening and due to start on Monday morning continuing at least until mid-July.

The EuroState’s insistent snooping into private citizens’ affairs continues with the directive that any bank account in Portugal containing €219,000 or more will be reported.

The directive now is being discussed by Portugal's Council of Ministers but before it finally is approved, the opinion of the National Data Protection Commission will be sought, not that this will halt progress of this C20 initiative.

Italians are feeling more restive about EU membership than many of their fellow Europeans.

Nearly 50% said they would vote to leave the EU if they had the chance while 58% said they would like to have a referendum on the matter.

The number of migrants arriving in Germany declined steeply in April following the closure of a much-used route through the Balkans.

About 16,000 migrants entered Germany in April, according to official figures. This was nearly 25% under the 20,000 recorded in March and a far cry from the 120,000 new arrivals who reached Germany in December.

The municipal kennel in Lagos again is offering free sterilisation for dogs and cats in order to "control the growth of the animal population."

The campaign, for both male and female animals, started today and runs until May 13th.

Hotels and other registered tourism properties in the Algarve registered a rise in income this April compared with the same month last year.

"The turnover increased by 6.9% over the same month of 2015," reports the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve (AHETA) in its monthly activity report.

Lisbon's Santa Casa da Misericordia has signed a deal to bail out the Ricardo Espírito Santo Foundation whose Museum of Decorative Arts in Lisbon suffered a catastrophic fall in income and loss of security when Grupo Espírito Santo went under in 2014.

Pedro Santana Lopes, the head of Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa, commented, "Now we are looking towards the future."