Wildfires in Saskatchewan burned out of control, with one blaze more than five times the size of the province's largest city, Saskatoon, officials said. Fires also raged in British Columbia and Alberta. The western Canada wildfires have forced thousands of people to evacuate, and air advisories have been issued across central and western Canada, as well as parts of the western U.S., due to the thick smoke over the region. About 200 fires burned Friday in British Columbia, fire information office

With a crucial shareholder meeting for a proposed merger with its sister firm a week away, Samsung C&T Corp., Samsung Group's construction and trading arm, is ratcheting up its efforts to win more pro-merger shareholders, particularly minority stakeholders, industry sources said Saturday.Although the country's state pension fund, the National Pension Service, has decided to back the high-profile merger between Samsung C&T with Cheil Industries Inc., the group's de facto holding firm., it is stil

North Korea's sole-operating oil refinery has been up and running despite a series of media reports that China halted crude exports to the impoverished communist neighbor amid strained relations last year, a U.S. expert said Friday.Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., chief analytics officer of AllSource Analysis, said in a report carried by the website 38 North of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies that the North's Ponghwa Chemical Factory would not have been running if Beijing had h

South Korea reported no additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Saturday, with the death toll from the disease rising by one to 36.The number of people diagnosed with the viral disease has remained unchanged since Sunday at 186, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Ministry officials said the country may be able to declare an end to the MERS outbreak if it continues to see no new infection cases.However, 513 people still remain in isolation as suspected cases follo

South Korean stocks will likely experience fluctuations next week on lingering concerns about Greek debts talks and the choppy Chinese market with bleak second-quarter earnings outlooks, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,031.17 on Friday, down 3.48 percent from a week earlier due mainly to downbeat news from Greece and China.The index plunged 2.4 percent on Monday, the largest fall in three years, after more than 60 percent of Greek voters rejected

U.S. employers added a solid 223,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent, a seven-year low. The numbers reflect a job market moving close to full health and raise expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates as early as September.    The Labor Department said Thursday that the unemployment rate dropped from 5.5 percent in May. The rate fell mostly because many people out of work gave up on their job searches and were no longer counted as unemplo

Senior South Korean diplomats stationed in China began an annual meeting in Beijing on Thursday, during which they are expected to discuss measures to minimize fallout from the outbreak of MERS in South Korea.     The meeting comes as South Korea's tourism industry has been hit hard as many foreign tourists, mostly Chinese, have canceled their trips to South Korea since it reported its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on May 20.     Speaking to the meeting, the South Korean Ambassa

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, a devout Christian, pledged Thursday to make efforts to forge national reconciliation as he reached out to Buddhists.   Hwang made the commitment during his meeting with top officials of the Jogye Order at Jogyesa, the chief temple of South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, in central Seoul.   He said South Korea has had little religious friction, though there are sectarian strifes in other parts of the world.   His visit came three weeks after the Jogye Order pressed

Suh Kyung-bae, chief of South Korea's top cosmetics maker AmorePacific Group, has become the country's richest man in stock value, overtaking former No. 1 Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, market data showed Thursday.Stocks owned by Suh were valued at 12.8 trillion won (US$11.4 billion) as of Thursday, while Samsung's Lee held stakes worth 11.8 trillion won, according to the data compiled by corporate tracker Chaebul.com.Suh's stock assets nearly doubled from 6.7 trillion won in the beginning

South Korea defeated Australia 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 20-23, 15-9) to open the men's volleyball tournament at the Summer Universiade Thursday.Down 7-5 in the decisive fifth set, South Korea reeled off eight consecutive points to take control. Australia fought back with a couple of points but committed an error to concede the match-clinching point at Yeomju Gymnasium in Gwangju.Jung Ji-seok led South Korea with 21 points and Jeong Dong-geun chipped in 17 points.Max Staples had 22 for Australia