World briefs

CHINA-VIETNAM  Two Chinese aircraft landed on reefs disputed by Vietnam, and Beijing’s coast guard reportedly blocked a Filipino boat from a contested shoal, in acts of defiance after a landmark ruling found China’s vast claims in the South China Sea legally baseless. Vietnam protested yesterday that the recent Chinese actions seriously violated Vietnamese sovereignty. More on p11

AUSTRALIA With the dust still not settled from one of Australia’s closest-ever elections, competing political factions have begun issuing demands — from banning Muslim immigration, scrapping a trade deal with China to imposing curbs on gambling — in return for supporting government legislation in the next Senate.

PAKISTAN The founder of Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba warned that violence in Indian-ruled Kashmir will escalate. Hafiz Saeed also said he will lead nationwide demonstrations in Pakistan to force its government to sever ties with the United States if Washington does not intervene in the Kashmir dispute.

UK The Bank of England kept interest rates on hold and refrained from injecting more money into the British economy yesterday, despite some clear evidence of the initial economic damage caused by the country’s decision last month to leave the European Union.

AFGHANISTAN has no plans to revive a peace process aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table after a four-nation effort earlier this year produced no results, Afghan officials said yesterday. The remarks reflect the Kabul administration’s disappointment over what it has described as half-hearted efforts by neighboring Pakistan to jumpstart the peace process.

KUWAIT has set a minimum monthly wage for maids working in the country. A notice published on the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry’s website yesterday listed the minimum salary as 60 Kuwaiti dinars (USD198) a month. The notice comes after Kuwait’s parliament approved a law in 2015 giving domestic workers rights such as a weekly day off, 30 days of annual paid leave and a 12-hour working day with rest.

ZIMBABWE A court on Wednesday freed a pastor who organized the largest nationwide strike against the government in nearly a decade, ruling that police violated his rights. Mawarire was charged with inciting violence when he was arrested on Tuesday, but prosecutors then changed it to more serious charges of attempting to overthrow a constitutionally elected government.

NETHERLANDS A Dutch court has sentenced a 44-year-old man to 30 days imprisonment for calling the country’s king a “murderer, rapist and thief,” in a rare use of a law against insulting the monarch.