World briefs

U.S.-CHINA With a 10-minute phone call and two tweets, Donald Trump inspired banner headlines and renewed hopes across Taiwan for a stronger partnership with the United States, while also inflaming the complex relationship between the U.S. and mainland China.

MALAYSIA’s prime minister leads a protest rally against what he calls a “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims as he calls on the world to step up the pressure on Myanmar.

PHILIPPINES The vice president says she will resign her Cabinet post, citing “major differences in principles and values” with President Rodrigo Duterte and an unspecified plot to remove her from the vice presidency. Leni Robredo said yesterday that she will resign today as housing secretary, an appointment made by Duterte, but will stay on in her elected post as vice president.

INDONESIA Tens of thousands of Indonesians rally in Jakarta, calling for tolerance and unity after massive protests by conservative Muslims against the city’s minority Christian governor. 

MADAGASCAR Relatives of some of the 239 people who were on a Malaysia Airlines plane that vanished in 2014 arrived in Madagascar on Saturday to ask for help in the search for debris from the missing aircraft that may have drifted across the Indian Ocean.

U.S. A fatal fire Friday night at a party in a converted warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area has claimed the lives of at least nine people. More than two dozen are still unaccounted for. Fire officials say the roof collapsed during a music event.

CUBA Fidel Castro’s ashes were interred in a private ceremony yesterday, ending nine days of mourning for the man who ruled Cuba for nearly half a century. 

BRAZIL Thousands of protesters are crowding Rio de Janeiro’s beachfront to express disgust with public corruption and to support the judges and prosecutors pursuing those crimes.

AUSTRIAN right-wing candidate Norbert Hofer has conceded to his left-leaning rival in the country’s presidential election. Hofer says in a Facebook post that he is “endlessly sad” about his loss, adding, “I would have been happy to take care of our Austria.” Hofer conceded as preliminary results showed Alexander Van der Bellen ahead with 53.3 percent of the vote compared to Hofer’s 46.7 percent.