Eight presidents left the Iberian American Summit in San Salvador before it closed Friday, in a mass escape that made the gathering's last day lacklustre.

A group of British doctors who were dining out with Kate and Gerry McCann when their daughter Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal were Thursday granted 375,000 pounds (646,000 dollars) in libel damages by tabloid newspapers in Britain.

Portugal's main skinhead leader was Friday sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison, judicial sources said.

Portugal is preparing to recognize the independence of Kosovo, media reported Friday.

A day of strikes against precarious labour conditions affected hospitals, schools, railways and garbage disposal in Portugal on Wednesday, trade unions said.

Unions said 75 per cent of their members followed the strike call, but government officials estimated the figure at 11 per cent.

Three missing Belgian children have been found in northern Portugal, where their father was detained, police sources said Tuesday.

The girls aged 7, 10 and 14 years went missing in January in Amberes, Belgium.

Gently rolling hills stretch to the horizon. The soil is yellow and brown. A scattering of cork oaks and olive groves punctuates the wheat fields and bull pastures. This is Alentejo, Portugal's largest and most sparsely populated region, with about a third of the country's area but only 5 per cent of its population.

Portuguese woman Maria de Jesus, Europe's oldest person and the world's second oldest, celebrated her 115th birthday on Wednesday, the daily Diario de Noticias reported.