Switzerland is out of contention at the European Soccer Championship Euro 2008 and faces Portugal in its final tournament match looking for a decent farewell.

Losers on the opening day four years ago, Portugal made a sure-footed start to UEFA EURO 2008 as second-half strikes from Pepe and substitute Raul Meireles secured all three points against Turkey at the Stade de Genève.

Commission signs Contract of Confidence with Portugal to reinforce joint responsibility for control of Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund
Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy, and, Mr Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, Portuguese Minister of Finance, today sign a Contract of Confidence which guarantees the quality of the Portuguese authorities' audit work on Structural Fund programmes for 2000-2006. The signing will take place in the margins of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels.

The situation in Kosovo was high on the agenda when President George Bush met Monday with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Luiz Felipe Scolari may end his career thanks to another bad result and an ill-considered left jab. Tempers flared after the Portuguese were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbia on Wednesday in a European Championship qualifier, the team's second straight draw in Lisbon which put the World Cup semifinalist's qualification in doubt.

Portuguese police prepared documents to hand to prosecutors on Monday outlining the case in the disappearance of 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, as her parents awaited the outcome at the family home.

Figures don't lie; especially statistics. And statistics show that the interest in Portugal is rising in Europe.

Armenia and Portugal played 1-1 in UEFA qualifying games in Yerevan's Republican Soccer Stadium.

A law legalising abortion in Portugal has come into force, putting the traditionally Catholic country on a par with most European countries that allow the practice. The law will allow pregnant women to abort in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Portugal, which assumed the European Union's rotating Presidency on July 1, believes the bloc has become too preoccupied with Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Portugal must play just like a World Cup semifinalist on Saturday if it wants to make the Euro 2008 finals. But without Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal is second in top-heavy Group A, but a loss against Belgium at King Baudouin Stadium would leave it with a real struggle.