SYRIA

Group claims 60,000 prisoners have died

At least 60,000 people have died from torture and other maltreatment in Syrian detention since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad broke out five years ago, a monitoring group said Saturday, quoting sources in the country’s security forces.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the figure of 60,000 deaths came from reliable sources, primarily in the air force intelligence and state security agencies and at the Sednaya prison near Damascus.

The Britain-based group said that using other sources, it had documented the deaths of 14,456 detainees, including 110 children. The Syrian opposition has pushed for the release of detainees.

The observatory called on the United Nations to pressure the Syrian government for the release of what it said were more than 200,000 remaining detainees. U.N. investigators in February charged that the Syrian government was carrying out an extermination policy against prisoners. The investigators cited testimony from witnesses who recounted inmates dying from “torture, disease, and appalling prison conditions,” and then being buried in mass graves.

— Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Family reported killed by coalition airstrike

A suspected U.S.-led coalition airstrike on the village of Arshaf, in northern Syria, killed seven members of one family, activists said Saturday. Among the victims were five women and a child, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing accounts from local observers. The planes responsible for the strikes were seen to cross into Syrian airspace from Turkey.

Arshaf, held by Islamic State militants, lies near the front lines of the war between the extremist group and U.S.-backed Syrian rebels.

Recent advances by the rebels, backed by coalition airstrikes, have eaten away at ISIS territory near the Turkish border.

— Associated Press

Mandatory evacuation lifted in Canadian wildfire zone: Officials on Saturday lifted mandatory evacuation orders in some areas north of Fort McMurray, where a raging wildfire has forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 people and the closure of oil sands operations. The blaze, which began May 1, has covered 1,930 square miles, including areas that are still burning and others where the fire has been extinguished. An estimated 1,921 structures were destroyed in Fort McMurray, but 90 percent of the city is intact, including essential infrastructure such as the hospital, water treatment plant and the airport.

Protests in Chile turn violent as president pushes reforms: Violent protests broke out Saturday in Valparaiso, Chile, as President Michelle Bachelet presented a state-of-the-nation report to Congress. The protests began as a peaceful march but turned rough as some in the crowds threw rocks at police and gasoline bombs at buildings. Officers responded with tear gas and high-pressure blasts of water. Bachelet emphasized achievements and called her reforms a process from which “there is no turning back.”

Bangladesh cyclone forces tens of thousands from homes: A cyclone unleashed heavy rain and strong winds on Bangladesh’s southern coastal region Saturday, killing at least 11 people and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes. The meteorological office said in a statement that dozens of villages had been submerged by floodwaters. Mohammed Ali Hossain, a government administrator, said about 100,000 people were forced from their homes on Moheshkhali Island in Cox’s Bazar.

Indonesia volcano spews deadly ash cloud: A volcano in western Indonesia unleashed hot clouds of ash Saturday, killing three villagers and injuring four, an official said. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as two miles. The 8,530-foot-high mountain had been dormant for four centuries before bursting to life in August 2010, killing two people and forcing 30,000 to flee. An eruption in February 2014 killed 16 people.

Lions killed after man strips naked, jumps into zoo pit: Zookeepers in Chile had to kill two lions on Saturday to save the life of a man who stripped naked and entered their enclosure in an apparent attempt at suicide. Director Alejandra Montalba of Santiago’s Metropolitan Zoo told local news media that the park was crowded with visitors at the time. The 20-year-old man broke into the enclosure, took off his clothes and jumped into the middle, where the lions began to maul him, horrifying visitors who witnessed the attack. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was said to be in grave condition.

— From news services