Antonio Costa

At least 62 people have been killed in a number of forest fires in central Portugal, as temperatures pass 40C.

The Portuguese government said many of the victims died in their cars as flames swept over a road.

The head of the eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said on Friday he did not intend to resign before his mandate ends in January, his latest attempt to put down calls for him to quit.

Eurozone chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem came under increasing pressure Wednesday to step down for what many see as derogatory comments about southern debt-ridden nations that have sought outside help to emerge from financial crisis.

BELGRADE/LISBON - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, who is on a two-day state visit to Portugal, met on Thursday with the country's PM Antonio Costa, presenting to him the numerous advantages Serbia was offering to investors.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic was received in Lisbon on Wednesday with state honors by his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Nikolic will also meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Parliament Speaker Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, RTS is reporting.

Leaders of the EU's southern countries taking part in an Athens summit on Friday sought to forge a common strategy ahead of next weeks informal gathering of European leaders in Bratislava to discuss the bloc's future in the aftermath of Brexit.

Portugal's ruling centre-right coalition won a general election Oct.4 seen as a referendum on its austerity policies, although it may not hold onto its absolute majority in parliament, near-complete results showed.

The ruling centre-right coalition, composed of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS-PP), won the general elections held in Portugal on Sunday.

With almost all votes counted, the centre-right coalition leads with 37 % of the votes, followed by the Socialists with 32 %.