Briefly

PAKISTAN

Bus carrying pilgrims overturns, killing 20

A speeding bus carrying pilgrims overturned on a highway and fell into a ravine in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan before dawn on Friday, killing at least 20 people and injuring 50 others, police and officials said. The accident happened in Khuzdar, a district in Baluchistan Province, police official Hafeez Ullah Mengal said. Road accidents are quite frequent in Pakistan due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and unprofessional driving.

INDIA

Bihar state death count from COVID up by 70%

The Indian state of Bihar has increased its COVID-19 death toll after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases, raising concerns that many more fatalities were not officially recorded. The health department in Bihar on Thursday revised its COVID-19 fatality count to more than 9,429 from 5,424－a jump of more than 70 percent. Officials said the 3,951 unreported fatalities had occurred in May and reflect "deaths reported at private hospitals, in transit to health facilities, under home isolation and those dying of post COVID-19 complications".

MALAYSIA

Migrant workers win suit against Goodyear

A court on Thursday ruled in favor of 65 migrant workers who sued US tiremaker Goodyear for underpaying them, their lawyer said, calling it a victory for foreign employees. Chandrasegaran Rajandran said the Industrial Court agreed the workers from Nepal, India and Myanmar were entitled to benefits under a collective labor agreement that include shift allowances, annual bonuses and pay increases. The company argued the foreigners were not represented by the labor union. In total, the workers are claiming more than 5 million ringgit ($1.2 million) in unpaid wages.

JAPAN

Detained fishermen return from Russia

All 14 crew from a fishing boat seized by Russia last month have returned to a port in northern Japan, a government spokesman said on Friday, again insisting the ship was operating legally. Moscow said earlier the Eiho Maru No 172 was operating in Russia's economic waters. Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Kato on Thursday said authorities would investigate reports the crew paid fines of six million Russian rubles ($83,600) to return to Japan. Japan and Russia have a dispute over four islands controlled by Moscow, which refers to them as the southern Kurils. Tokyo calls them the Northern Territories.

Agencies - Xinhua