World briefs

INDONESIA A High Court yesterday upheld an 18-month prison sentence for a woman convicted of blasphemy in Indonesia after complaining about the volume of a mosque’s loudspeakers.

MALAYSIA Former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his ex-treasury chief were jointly charged yesterday with criminal breach of trust involving 6.64 billion ringgit (USD1.6 billion), while his ex-spy agency head was charged with misappropriating $12.1 million. 

PAKISTAN Police say gunmen have killed a policeman in a drive-by shooting in the southwestern city of Quetta. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the killing.

YEMEN A Saudi-led coalition airstrike at a fruit-and-vegetable market near Yemen’s flashpoint Red Sea port of Hodeida killed at least 21 civilians, including children, the U.N. humanitarian aid agency said yesterday.

SAUDI ARABIA A defiant message delivered by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to investors gathered in Riyadh may not be enough to repair the damage inflicted to his global standing as he faces continued international pressure over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More on p15

NATO-RUSSIA NATO’s biggest military maneuvers since the Cold War kicked off yesterday in Norway in a hypothetical scenario that involves restoring the Scandinavian country’s sovereignty after an attack by a “fictitious aggressor.”

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Police say three officers and three migrants have been hurt in skirmishes on the border with Croatia, where dozens of people have been trying to cross into the European Union country.

BELGIUM A dead fin whale has been pulled ashore on Belgium’s North Sea coast, drawing onlookers undaunted by the putrid smell. It has been two decades since a similar whale has hit the Belgian beaches.

BRAZIL’s biggest newspaper said that it has asked federal police to investigate threats against a journalist whose story alleged backers of the front-running presidential candidate bankrolled a fake news campaign.

US Residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands braced Thursday for months without electricity or running water after the islands were slammed with the strongest storm to hit any part of the U.S. this year.