OMAN
5 dead, 30 missing in Arabian cyclone
SALALAH — Cyclone Mekunu has been blamed for at least five deaths in Oman and neighboring Yemen, and at least 30 people remain missing on the Yemeni island of Socotra, officials said Saturday. Oman received nearly three years’ worth of rainfall in a single day. Strong winds blew down houses and took out communication lines and water service. Oman declared a three-day holiday for government offices, except for critical services like police and civil defense workers. (AP)
SYRIA
US warns against offensive in Daraa
DARAA — The United States warned it would take ‘‘firm and appropriate measures’’ to protect a cease-fire in southern Syria if President Bashar Assad’s forces move against rebels there. The area is in southwestern Syria, between the border city of Daraa and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The United States, Russia, and Jordan agreed last year to include Daraa in a ‘‘de-escalation zone.’’ But government forces have recently dropped leaflets on rebel-held areas warning of an imminent offensive. (AP)
CHINA
Burkina Faso’s ties with Beijing reopen
BEIJING — The West African nation of Burkina Faso formally resumed diplomatic ties with China on Saturday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which now has just 18 diplomatic allies. Burkina Faso’s decision was the latest blow to Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory and has been seeking to isolate on the global stage. Earlier this month, the Dominican Republic established diplomatic relations with China and severed ties with Taiwan. (AP)
SPAIN
94 migrants saved in Africa crossing
MADRID — Spain’s maritime rescue service saved 94 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from African to European shores. The service said it picked up the migrants from four boats intercepted either in or near the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday night and Saturday morning. The United Nations has said 636 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. (AP)
CHILE
Head of antiabuse commission quits
SANTIAGO — The president of the Chilean Catholic Church’s Commission for the Prevention of Abuses has resigned after acknowledging that he was slow to investigate allegations of misconduct in his diocese. The church’s Episcopal Conference announced Saturday that it had accepted the resignation by Rancagua Bishop Alejandro Goic. He remains bishop of the diocese. Fourteen priests in Goic’s diocese have been temporarily suspended over the past week. All the bishops in the South American country have offered to step down over what Pope Francis said was their negligence in protecting children. (AP)
INDIA
4 militant suspects killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR — At least four suspected militants were killed in a gunbattle with government troops Saturday after crossing into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the disputed territory. Fighting began early Saturday when soldiers intercepted heavily armed insurgents along the militarized de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. (AP)
