Briefly

INDIA

16 die as train plows into migrant workers

An Indian train ran over migrant workers sleeping on the track on Friday, killing at least 16 people who were on their way to their home villages, media said. Tens of thousands of people have been walking home from India's big cities after losing their jobs because of a lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus since late March. The driver tried to stop the freight train when he saw the laborers on the tracks in Maharashtra, the railway ministry said, adding it had ordered an inquiry.

SAUDI ARABIA

US pulling Patriot missile batteries

The United States is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a US Defense Department official said on Thursday. Two of the antimissile batteries deployed following the September attacks on Saudi oil installations "are now leaving", the official said on condition of anonymity. The batteries' return will also mark the withdrawal of the 300 US personnel who operate them.

KOREAN PENINSULA

DPRK lashes out at ROK military drill

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea lashed out at a military exercise carried out by the Republic of Korea on Wednesday in the "West Sea of Korea", calling it a "reckless move" and "grave provocation", the Korean Central News Agency said on Friday. Such a move does not help the efforts to defuse tension on the peninsula, the KCNA said, adding that "everything is now going back to the starting point before the north-south summit in 2018".

Agencies - Xinhua