Winter fuel payments made last year to expats in Europe jumped nearly 60% on the year before to reach a record £ 21.4 million.

Iain Duncan Smith, secretary of state for work and pensions, blamed the rise on an EU judgement which last year meant anyone able to prove a "genuine and sufficient link to the UK" could qualify for the benefit, even non-Britons who had worked or lived in the UK for most of their life.

Mr Duncan Smith called the ruling “ridiculous”. “The winter fuel payment is designed to help British pensioners with heating costs,” he said, possibly unaware that most of the expat recipients are indeed British pensioners.

When the Prestige oil tanker sank off the coast of Galicia in 2002, it left a vast oil slick which was one of Europe’s worse environmental disasters.

Eleven years to the day after the first distress call from the vessel, a court in Spain has decided that no one was responsible.

The three people blamed for the sinking were acquitted. They were the Captain of the tanker, the chief engineer and the Spanish maritime chief who ordered the tanker out to sea.

Malta is to sell citizenship to people from outside the EU.

The price tag is €650,000 for a passport, which will give people the right to work and to reside in any of the EU’s 28 member states.

The initiative has been approved by the Maltese parliament in a bid to attract wealthy residents who might invest in the island and to garner funds for its coffers.

The new mayor of Silves, Rosa Palma, said today that she may have to resort to an external audit of various aspects of the council’s fiscal past, including the disastrous Viga d'Ouro contract which left the council deeply indebted to the banks.

According Palma, who took office less than a month ago, the municipality is trying to renegotiate the Viga d’Ouro debt, but if the result is not conclusive the mayor says she will order an external audit.

Palma said the council is facing various court actions but could discuss only the Viga d'Ouro case where the council now owes the bank about €8 million.

The anniversary of Armistice Day was marked in Loulé as the local branch of the League of Combatants paid tribute to the fallen, and "the sacrifice of their lives in the line of duty, and in the service of Portugal when they fell on the field of battle."

The 1918 Armistice marked the surrender of Germany and an end to World War I. The document was signed at 11.00am on November 11th 1918 in Rethondes in the forest of Compiègne in northern France.

Many are unaware of Portugal’s role in the Great War but Portugal, initially neutral, sent troops to fight between March 1916 and November 1918 aiding Britain, France, Russia and its allies.

Portimão councillors have unanimously approved a motion demanding the abolition of tolls on the Via do Infante motorway.

The proposal was put forward by councillor João Vasconcellos of the Left Bloc, a well know figure and major force behind the Committee of Users of the Via do Infante protest movement.

Besides requiring the government to "scrap this ruinous Public Private Partnership and proceed to the immediate suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante," the council, now led by socialist Isilda Gomes, called on "AMAL, mayors, business associations, trade unions, civic and other forces in the Algarve to constitute and support a broad platform in the Algarve for the immediate suspension of tolls."

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) announced today that it identified fifty illegal foreigners working in Vilamoura, mostly women who worked in dubious premises.

The SEF said its surveillance operation to combat illegal immigration was undertaken with the Loulé GNR and focussed on two nightlife establishments in Vilamoura.

During the raids the SEF also nabbed the landlords for using foreign nationals illegally, the fine for this alone is between €2,000 and €10,000.

Three countries joined forces with the UK in voting against the 2014 budget of the EU.

Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK were opposed to the compromise reached on the budget which saw cuts of about 6% compared to 2013. The four countries are said to have wanted to slash the budget further.

After hard negotiating, the approved budget totals €135.5 billion. Greater funding will be directed to economic growth, jobs, and humanitarian aid.