Democratic Alliance leader must now try to form a government but has vowed not to enter any kind of agreement with far-right Chega party

Portugal’s president has invited Luís Montenegro, the leader of the Democratic Alliance (AD), to try to form a minority government after a long-awaited count of overseas votes confirmed a narrow election victory for the centre-right bloc .

Montenegro was summoned to the presidential palace in Lisbon shortly after midnight on Thursday where President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has spent over a week consulting party leaders, formally nominated him to head the government.

Winger has excelled for Vitória de Guimarães and hopes to follow in Diogo Jota’s footsteps after his first call-up for Portugal

“I can see a bit of myself in Diogo Jota’s style,” Jota Silva says. “He is a great player.” The Vitória de Guimarães winger speaks with humility and deference. He cites Cristiano Ronaldo “as an example” for his generation of Portuguese footballers and there is a sense that after a slow start it is all beginning to come together for Jota.

The 24-year-old was last week called into Portugal’s squad for the first time for friendlies against Sweden on Thursday and Slovenia five days later. Jota has 15 goal contributions (nine goals and six assists) in 25 league games, helping Vitória to fifth in the Primeira Liga. Next month the club have a Taça de Portugal semi-final against Porto, offering another potential route into Europe.

After scapegoating minorities and migrants, the Chega party appears poised to play a prominent role

For years, Evalina Dias has diligently worked to combat racism in Portugal. But just how much remains to be done was brought into sharp relief last Sunday, she says, as the far-right Chega party – led by a politician whose views have been described by one opponent as “often xenophobic, racist” – catapulted into the country’s top echelons of power.

“I couldn’t believe it,” says Dias, a board member with Djass, Portugal’s Association of African Descendants. “We had no idea that there were so many racists in Portugal. It’s like they were hidden.”

Diogo Santos Coelho from Portugal faces a 52-year sentence for alleged cybercrime relating to RaidForums site

A vulnerable man with autism is pleading with the UK government to block his extradition to the US on cybercrime charges where he faces a 52-year sentence for alleged offending that began when he was a child.

Diogo Santos Coelho, who has been assessed as at very high risk of suicide, said he had been groomed and exploited online by adults from the age of 14 into committing the alleged crimes, which relate to the website RaidForums.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie . In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Democratic Alliance finished ahead in Sunday’s ballot but is a long way from forming a government led by Social Democratic party

The dilemma facing Luís Montenegro of Portugal’s Social Democratic party (PSD) will be familiar to a growing number of Europe’s centre-right parties: if the shortest and surest route to power means working with the populist far right, should you take it?

Montenegro’s electoral alliance with two smaller conservative parties finished first in Sunday’s ballot , winning 79 seats: two more than its Socialist party (PS) rival, but a very long way indeed from a majority in the country’s 230-seat parliament.

Sunday’s elections marked the end of voters’ patience with the failed socioeconomic policies of both main parties

If the westernmost nation of mainland Europe was once seen as a paragon of sensible governance, it is now set for months or even years of political instability. Neither Portugal’s outgoing Socialists (PS) nor the centre-right Social Democratic party (PSD) were able to garner a majority in Sunday’s elections, ending the night barely one point apart and with a two-seat difference in the Assembleia da República. All eyes are now on the third force, the far-right party Chega (“Enough”), which quadrupled its parliamentarians from 12 to 48. Here is the real headline: an unprecedented victory for the far right in Portugal’s democratic history.

Snap elections were called last November after the Socialist prime minister, António Costa, resigned after the launch of an investigation into alleged illegalities in his administration’s handling of large green investment projects. (Costa was not accused of any crime, saying that while his conscience was clear, he felt he had no choice but to step down.) After more than eight years of eventful but unwavering leadership, the nation was left adrift. The opposition leader, Luis Montenegro, had been in place for just over a year when the government fell. The Socialists quickly, yet overwhelmingly, elected former infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos to be their new leader.

Joana Ramiro is a freelance journalist based in London and a contributor to the Portuguese news platform Setenta e Quatro

Democratic Alliance will need to form minority government after narrow victory over Socialist party and far-right Chega

• Portugal election: centre-right alliance claims victory, rejects role for far right

The leader of Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance, which won the narrowest of victories over its socialist rivals in Sunday’s snap general election , has called on left and far-right parties not to stand in his way as he attempts to form a minority government.

The Democratic Alliance – an electoral platform made up of the large Social Democratic party (PSD) and two smaller conservative parties – finished first in the election, winning 79 seats in the country’s 230-seat assembly.

Maximum air temperature of 41C on 6 March at Cerro Huacalito in Costa Rica may break country’s record

On Friday night, an area of low pressure moved into the Bay of Biscay from the north Atlantic Ocean. The low shifted southwards, clipping the north coast of the Iberian peninsula before propagating eastwards and into France by Sunday evening. This brought unsettled conditions across southern and western parts of Europe.

Portugal received the brunt of these, with heavy rain, outbreaks of snow and strong winds causing blustery conditions across the country as well as some big waves to the west coast. Waves came from the west and north-west, with wave heights of 6-8 metres (20-26ft) generally observed, and waves of up to 10 metres observed at Praia do Norte, Nazaré, which is known for having waves of such size and larger.

Centre-right parties set to defeat incumbent socialists but fall well short of a majority, exit polls suggest

• Portugal election: centre-right ahead with far-right Chega potentially key, exit polls say – live updates

A coalition of Portuguese centre-right parties is on course to narrowly defeat the incumbent socialists but fall well short of a majority, exit polls have suggested, in a closely fought snap general election in which the far-right Chega party looks set to double its share of the vote and finish third.

Three polls, published shortly after voting ended at 8pm local time, indicate the Democratic Alliance – an electoral platform made up of the large Social Democratic party (PSD) and two smaller conservative parties – is forecast to finish ahead of the Socialist party (PS).