World briefs

CHINA’s coast guard launched live-firing exercises in the Tonkin Gulf yesterday, the latest in a series of military drills that come amid renewed tensions among disputants to territory in the South China Sea.

MALAYSIA An ethnic Chinese rapper in Malaysia has been detained for allegedly insulting Islam in his latest music video. Wee Meng Chee, popularly known as Namewee, was detained on Sunday at Kuala Lumpur’s airport as he returned from abroad, on suspicion of “defiling a place of worship with intention to insult religion.”

NORTH KOREA Despite claiming only two gold medals in Rio, North Korea is as determined as ever to fulfill one of leader Kim Jong Un’s primary goals: to become an international sports superpower. North Korea’s small Olympic team won its two golds in weightlifting and gymnastics, and three silver and two bronze medals in other categories.

JAPAN has protested to Moscow over the detention of a Japanese man visiting one of the disputed islands between the two countries. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday, however, the man’s situation would not affect a planned meeting in September between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

PAKISTAN officials say protesters have attacked TV stations and clashed with police in the southern city of Karachi, leaving one person dead and eight others wounded, including three media workers.

YEMEN Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis marched on Saturday in support of Shiite Houthi rebels and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The march in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, was in support of a new combined governing council the rebels and Saleh announced late last month, but which was immediately rejected by the United Nations.

ROMANIA Rescue teams are working to free nine people trapped by a flash flood in a huge bat cave in western Romania. A spokeswoman for the local emergency services said that two of the nine stranded in the cave by the flood that came after torrential rain yesterday were experienced speleologists, or those who study caves.

EU The leaders of Italy, France and Germany headed yesterday to one of the birthplaces of European unity in a symbolic bid to relaunch the European project following Britain’s decision to leave the EU.