World briefs

VIETNAM is deploying a 10,000-member military cyber warfare unit to combat what the government sees as a growing threat of “wrongful views” proliferating on the internet, according to local media. 

MALAYSIA An Australian woman was found not guilty yesterday of trafficking 1.5 kilograms of crystal meth at Kuala Lumpur’s airport three years ago, avoiding a possible death sentence.

CHINA-N. KOREA China’s foreign ministry has defended its enforcement of U.N. sanctions against North Korea following reports Chinese ships improperly transferred oil to North Korean vessels at sea.

RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin has submitted his endorsement papers with election authorities. Putin is running for his fourth term in office as an independent candidate. The law requires all independents to secure an endorsement from at least 500 people.

PAKISTAN said that Indian forces killed three of its soldiers near the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region. 

GULF STATES Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have long lured foreign workers with the promise of a tax-free lifestyle, plan to impose a 5 percent tax next year on most goods and services to boost revenue after oil prices collapsed three years ago. 

EGYPT A presidential hopeful is proposing a new election law aimed at ensuring a free and transparent vote next year. Rights lawyer Khaled Ali told a packed news conference that a free election requires “real guarantees that include lifting the emergency state” imposed since April.

LIBERIA’s National Elections Commission is beginning to release provisional results from the West African nation’s presidential runoff. State radio correspondents reported unofficial results overnight indicating that former international soccer star George Weah led in several counties.

GERMANY A tourist ship struck a highway bridge on the Rhine river in western Germany and 25 people were injured, police said yesterday.

MEXICO’s central bank said it will seek to bolster the peso amid concerns that the U.S. tax overhaul could reduce investment flows to Mexico.

BRAZIL-VENEZUELA Authorities in Brazil say they are stripping Venezuela’s top diplomat of his credentials and kicking him out in a dispute between the neighboring South American countries. Brazil’s ministry of foreign affairs said it considers Venezuelan chargé d’affaires Gerardo Antonio Delgado Maldonado a persona non grata.