Portugal

Rodrigo Koxa tackled the goliath last November, but it wasn't until Saturday, upon winning biggest wave of the year, that his record was confirmed. Check out the ride and other Big Wave Award winners.

Investigation into what ignited the wildfires, and why they proved so deadly, is just beginning. Some people want a ban on plantings of eucalyptus: a common tree that is extremely flammable.

More than 60 people died as the blaze swept through central Portugal. The prime minister called the fire, which was one of several Saturday, "the biggest tragedy of human life we have known in years."

Portugal's economy has rebounded dramatically since its European Union bailout in 2011. Wages are up and unemployment down. What's surprising is that this happened only as austerity was canceled.

Since 2001, possession or use of any drug has been treated as a health issue in Portugal. The country's drug-induced death rate has plummeted to five times lower than the European Union average.

Descendants of Jews who escaped Nazi-occupied France recently gathered to honor Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who issued some 30,000 visas to Jews and others before he was recalled.

Twelve years after losing to Greece in their last final appearance, Portugal raises the Euro Cup. The win came with a late strike from substitute Éder and with no Cristiano Ronaldo, due to injury.

A man tried to climb up on a statue at Lisbon's Rossio train station for a picture, causing the figure of King Sebastian to fall and shatter. The national monument was more than 120 years old.

Forget the cathedrals and wine houses that have made Porto, Portugal, famous. A new guided tour takes visitors to back alleys and boarded-up businesses — the effects of Europe's economic crisis.

Portugal's Jews were expelled, burned at the stake or forcibly converted to Christianity 500 years ago. The government says it wants to right a wrong. Spain approved a similar law last year.