AVELAR, Portugal (AP) -- Raging forest fires in central Portugal killed at least 58 people, many of them trapped in their cars as flames swept over a road, in what the prime minister on Sunday called "the biggest tragedy of human life that we have known in years." Nearly 60 other people were injured, including four firefighters and a seriously injured minor, Interior Ministry official Jorge Gomes told state broadcaster RTP. A lightning strike is believed to have sparked the blaze in the Pedrogao

PARIS (AP) -- French voters are casting ballots Sunday in the final round of parliamentary elections that could clinch President Emmanuel Macron's hold on power, as his fledgling party appears set to rout mainstream rivals and turn politics as usual on its head. Pollsters say that after its dominant performance in last week's first-round vote, Macron's Republic on the Move! party could win up to 450 seats Sunday in the 577-seat National Assembly, the powerful lower chamber. If the steamroller ef

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain begins historic talks Monday on leaving the European Union while still mourning the victims of a devastating fire and reeling from an election that has badly weakened the government.Brexit minister David Davis will travel to Brussels to meet Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, to kick off hugely complex withdrawal negotiations that are expected to conclude within two years.Worried by immigration and loss of sovereignty, Britain last year voted to end its decades-ol

Efforts to end a two-week-old crisis in the Persian Gulf shifted to the US, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson canceling a trip to Mexico to try to end a Saudi-led coalition’s isolation of Qatar.The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the coalition, affirmed a need for a strong Western role in resolving the dispute, telling the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. that any agreement would have to be overseen by "Western allies."Kuwait and Turkey have been trying to mediat

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's foreign minister says there may now be a chance of a "soft" British exit from the European Union that keeps the U.K. in the bloc's single market, but is warning that Britain couldn't pick and choose its conditions. Brexit negotiations start on Monday, with question marks over Britain's approach after Prime Minister Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority in an election meant to strengthen her hand in the talks. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Sunday's Wel

PARIS (AFP) -- French voters went to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election set to hand a landslide victory to the centrist party of President Emmanuel Macron which would complete his stunning reset of national politics.The new assembly is due to be transformed with a new generation of lawmakers -- younger, more female and more ethnically diverse -- winning seats in the afterglow of Macron's success in last month's presidential election.The scale of the change is forecast to be so large

Pakistan has revoked the visa of a South Korean national and launched an investigation into him in connection with two Chinese citizens who were recently abducted and killed by the Islamic State, according to local and foreign media reports. The South Korean, only identified as Su, runs a language school in Pakistan where the two Chinese in their 20s are believed to have worked until they were abducted, according to local daily Dawn and other media. Su, who has stayed in Pakistan since 2011 on a

On May 26, the Moon Jae-in government gave its first green light to a civic group’s application to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea, indicating a shift in Seoul’s approach toward the issue. The decision paved the way for the Seoul-based Korean Sharing Movement to help curb the spread of malaria in not only the epidemic-susceptible North but border regions in the South, for the first time in four years. The approval prompted more than 50 other civic groups to rush to file applications for

An American college student who was recently released from North Korea has suffered severe brain damage, his doctors said Thursday, adding to growing calls in the US for a travel ban to the reclusive nation amid souring public sentiment and safety concerns. Otto Warmbier (AP-Yonhap)Otto Warmbier, 22, returned home to Ohio on Tuesday after being jailed in the communist state for more than 17 months following months of covert diplomacy led by Joseph Yun, a special representative for North Korea po

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he would pursue talks with North Korea if it halts nuclear and missile tests, heralding a sweeping turnaround in Seoul’s policy that has long centered on sanctions and pressure. Marking the 17th anniversary for a watershed inter-Korean peace declaration in 2000, Moon made a first dialogue offer for the first time since taking office just about a month ago. He even displayed his willingness to hold parallel negotiations on denuclearization and a peace treaty --

The Eugene Bell Foundation, which provides tuberculosis treatment to North Korea, on Thursday called for Seoul to allow humanitarian aid apart from political consideration.South Korea has in recent years been reluctant to grant relief groups’ proposals for humanitarian assistance in the face of the North‘s relentless weapons development and provocations. The government’s attitude has posed a substantial obstacle to the foundation‘s efforts to save ailing patients, prompting it to mull moving its

Seventeen years after a peace declaration between the leaders, inter-Korean relations face grim prospects amid the North’s evolving nuclear threats and perpetual tension that have even made sheer friendship events far-fetched. Thursday marks the anniversary of a watershed summit and joint declaration of then-President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.The event sowed the seed of cross-border rapprochement through humanitarian and economic cooperation such as reunions of fa

Despite controversy over Seoul’s halt of the deployment of missile defense launchers, the US remains committed to the program and further discussions to iron out any differences, a top Washington official said Wednesday. US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon is visiting Seoul and held talks with Seoul’s Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, chiefly to discuss a summit between presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump on June 29-30 in Washington. The meeting came amid growi

Unification Minister nominee Cho Myoung-gyun on Tuesday called for a restart of an inter-Korean factory park that was shuttered last year in punishment for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile test, despite controversy over its potential breach of sanctions. “The Kaesong Industrial Complex must be reopened,” Cho told reporters at the Office of the Inter-Korean Dialogue in downtown Seoul shortly after the announcement of his nomination. “I will speak after looking thoroughly into the details.” Cho Myo

Experts on Tuesday called for the Moon Jae-in government to formulate a more practical foreign and unification policy in order to boost its voice on North Korea issues amid a drawn-out nuclear deadlock. Dozens of former policymakers and leading scholars gathered to navigate the new administration’s North Korea and unification policy at a symposium hosted by the Peace Foundation in Seoul. (Yonhap)Cho Han-bum, a senior analyst at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, stressed the

Cho Myoung-gyon, the first Unification Ministry insider to be tapped to take its helm in its near 70-year history, boasts ample experience in negotiations with North Korea. Until his retirement in 2008, he worked at the ministry for 28 years, taking up core posts including head of the Kaesong industrial park business support team, policy coordinator for the office of planning for the North Korean light water reactor project and director-general for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.  Cho Myo

Punching back a day after his fired FBI director's damaging testimony, President Donald Trump on Friday accused James Comey of lying to Congress and said he was "100 percent" willing to testify under oath about their conversations.  Trump cryptically refused to say whether those private exchanges were taped _ a matter at the heart of the conflicting accounts of what passed between them at a time when Comey was leading an FBI investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election a

One month into his presidency, President Moon Jae-in faces a critical early test as the diplomat in chief with his upcoming first summit with his US counterpart Donald Trump which would set the tone for the alliance over the next few years.Amid concerns over a drawn-out vacuum, Moon set out to kick-start summit diplomacy immediately after taking office, speaking with Trump and other world leaders on the phone, dispatching special envoys to key partner states and arranging early summits. (Yonhap)

A South Korean civic group said Friday its plan to hold a joint event in Pyongyang in celebration of a historic inter-Korean peace declaration has virtually fallen apart, with North Korea being aloof and Seoul remaining cautious. The June 15 South Korean Committee, which has been pushing for the plan, said it did not receive a response from its North Korean counterpart. (Yonhap)During a meeting last February in China, the sides agreed to hold a joint event in Pyongyang to mark a landmark summit

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday issued a stern warning after North Korea’s new missile test, saying he will never “stand back or compromise” on national security and people’s safety. Pyongyang fired multiple surface-to-ship cruise missiles from its east coast early in the day, in its fifth round of provocation since Moon was sworn in about a month ago, prompting him to preside over a meeting of the National Security Council for the first time.  President Moon Jae-in presides over a plenary mee