[02:23.98]Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon.
[02:26.35]In his brief statement to the nation,
[02:28.80]Pedro Passos Coelho said he had not accept the foreign minister’s resignation
[02:33.21]but the idea that the minister Paulo Portas who also leads the smaller of the two parties in the coalition
[02:39.34]might stay on after all was filled with skepticism by political commentators
[02:44.30]who said it seemed more like an attempt to ensure Mr. Portas’ bored blame for any political crisis.
[02:49.71]The prime minister said he would now talk to officials from Mr. Portas’ party to establish whether the coalition could continue.
[02:56.50]World News from the BBC
[02:58.86]Canadian police have charged a man and a woman in British-Colombia in connection with a plot said to involve pressure cooker devices similar to those used in the Boston marathon bombings in April.
[03:10.40]It’s alleged the couple intended to detonate three bombs in the city of Victoria on Monday during the country’s Canada Day celebrations.
[03:17.97]Sixteen members of Nelson Mandela’s family have pleaded criminal complaint against the eldest grandson of the former president.
[03:25.51]A South African police spokesman told the BBC that Mandla Mandela was being investigated for allegedly illegally tampering with gravesides two years ago.