Unionised workers at Hyundai Motor in South Korea have decided to refuse to work overtime on Saturdays from July 6, as they failed to narrow differences with the company in wage talks, the union said on Wednesday.

The 43,000-strong union has made the decision to put pressure on the company while planning to participate in the ninth round of wage talks on Thursday, a union spokesman said over the phone.

Hyundai Motor’s union has recently obtained the rights to go on strike if necessary after nearly 90 per cent of its members voted on Tuesday for the industrial action to demand higher wages, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The union demanded an increase of 159,000 won ($114) in basic monthly salary per worker, 30 per cent of net profit earned in 2023 in performance-based pay, cash bonuses equivalent to nine months of salaries, the adoption of a four-hour working system on Fridays, and the extension of the retirement age from 60 to 64.

But the company suggested an increase of 101,000 won in basic salary, 3 1/2 months of salaries plus 4.5 million won in performance pay, one month of salary in incentives, and 20 Hyundai stocks.

Hyundai workers may stage a strike unless the company comes up with revised proposals, the spokesman said. AGENCIES

A US serviceman in Japan’s island prefecture of Okinawa has been indicted for allegedly kidnapping a girl under the age of 16 in December and committing nonconsensual sexual intercourse, local media reported.

The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office filed charges against Brennon Washington, 25, on March 27, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing local authorities, with this latest incident involving military personnel likely to further ignite the local opposition towards the US military presence.

According to the indictment, the US Air Force member allegedly invited the girl to speak to him in his car at a park in Yomitan on December 24, 2023, and drove her to his residence before committing indecent acts such as kissing and touching the lower half of the girl’s body with the knowledge that she was under 16, reports Xinhua news agency.

A person related to the girl reported the incident to police on the day it occurred. After investigating the case, the police sent papers on the suspect to prosecutors on March 11, the report said.

The case’s first hearing is set for July 12 at the Naha District Court, it added.

Naha prosecutors have not revealed whether the defendant has admitted to the charges.

Okinawa hosts 70 per cent of all the US military bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 per cent of the country’s total land area. Crimes committed by US service members and nonmilitary personnel have been a constant source of grievance for locals.

The rape of a 12-year-old Okinawa schoolgirl by three US servicemen in 1995 prompted a wave of public outrage. Other cases include the rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in 2016 by a former US base worker who was later sentenced to life in prison, according to Kyodo News. AGENCIES

 A US federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, on Wednesday ordered that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who pleaded guilty to a single felony count of violating the Espionage Act, should be released immediately. He will leave the court as ‘a free man’, Judge Ramona Manglona said.

The judge said that it is fair to accept the 62 months, which he has already spent in a cell in the UK, as his sentence. “You will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man,” judge Manglona said.

Earlier, Assange pleaded guilty in court as part of a deal with the US Justice Department to avoid further prison time and end the years-long legal saga.

The Wikileaks founder on Wednesday morning arrived in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean, after being freed from the UK prison, where he spent five years.

Australia’s ambassador to the US and former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith were also present in the court.Assange will now fly home to Australia’s capital, Canberra. AGENCIES

India has advised its citizens in Kenya to exercise utmost caution and restrict non-essential movement amid violent protests in the East African nation against the government’s proposed tax hikes. “In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up,” the Indian consulate in Kenya said in an advisory posted on social media platform X.

“Please follow local news and Mission’s website and social media handles for updates,” it added.

At least five protestors were shot dead and more than 150 others injured in Nairobi as police used tear gas and live rounds after thousands stormed into Kenya’s Parliament and set part of it on fire. AGENCIES

 Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed responsibility for launching a missile attack against an “Israeli” ship in the Arabian Sea.

“The (Houthi) naval forces carried out a qualitative military operation targeting the Israeli ship, MSC SARAH V, in the Arabian Sea, and the hit was accurate and direct,” Yahya Sarea, the Houthi military spokesman, said in a statement aired on Tuesday by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

The attack was carried out with “a new ballistic missile” deployed after successful experimental operations, Sarea said, adding that the missile showcased its ability to hit targets accurately and over long distances, Xinhua news agency reported.The Houthi group would “continue to develop their military capabilities … to support the Palestinian resistance militarily and to defend Yemen in the face of the American-British aggression,” he said.

The Houthi operations will not stop until the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the enclave is lifted, said the spokesman, who declined to provide details about the timing of the latest attack.

The Houthi television said footage of the strike would be aired later.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Monday that a vessel operating in waters southeast of Yemen’s Nishtun port had been attacked.

According to the UKMTO statement, the ship’s captain reported an explosion in the vicinity of the merchant vessel.

“The crew is reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call,” the UKMTO added.

Since last November, the Houthi group has been launching ballistic missiles and drones targeting what it said were Israeli-linked ships, to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. AGENCIES

Pakistan’s Karachi, hit by extremely hot weather is grappling with an unforeseen crisis even as locals battle waves of heat strokes in the past two days, leading to a spike in the number of deaths.The largest city of Pakistan is witnessing a concerning and disturbing trend — the discovery of unidentified bodies, which has now swelled to 36 in number. This has sent alarm bells ringing for the officials as neither the bodies have been claimed by anyone nor any reason identified for the unexplained deaths.

The Sindh provincial government has set up at least 77 heat wave relief centres across Karachi after the discovery of unidentified dead bodies. In the last three consecutive days, at least 36 people are reported to have perished in the intense heat wave.

The local administration was shocked at the discovery of at least 10, 15 and 11 bodies on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday respectively. The bodies were discovered by welfare organizations, whose ambulances kept shifting the bodies to hospitals.

According to an Edhi Foundation representative, most of the dead bodies were of people, who were under the influence of drugs, which, he said becomes a deadly combination with the heat wave.

“Many of the deceased individuals were reportedly under the influence of drugs at the time of the demise. It’s a lethal combination of intense heat and substance abuse”, said Azeem Khan, representative of Edhi Foundation.

Another welfare organization, whose ambulances recovered the bodies from different parts of Karachi, confirmed that some of the deceased individuals were drug addicts.

“Three of the deceased appeared to be victims of drug addictions”, said a volunteer of the Chhipa Welfare Association.

Concerns still remain around the identity of the majority of the deceased individuals, as no family member has come to claim the bodies, nor has their identity been established yet.

The alarming surge in the recovery of unidentified dead bodies in the past three days has prompted the Sindh government to take immediate steps and set up heat wave relief centres across the city.

The move also comes amid a serious warning issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), predicting extreme temperatures for southern regions of the country.

Hospitals across Karachi continue to receive a massive amount of patients every day, putting pressure on the city’s medical resources.

As per sources in Jinnah Hospital Karachi, doctors are attending to hundreds of patients every day with medical issues related to heat wave.

“Many of the patients are treated and discharged after initial medical aid. But the number is increasing every day”, said a duty doctor in Jinnah Hospital, Karachi.

It is believed that their family members disowned the deceased victims of drug abuse and heat waves, as no one has come forward to claim the bodies. Moreover, the identity of the deceased has also become an issue for the authorities, as most of the deceased did not have their identity cards in their possession.

Hospitals across Karachi and the Sindh province have been put on alert while the government is trying to mitigate the flow of patients to hospitals through its 77 heat wave relief centres set up across the city. AGENCIES

 The number of babies born in South Korea marked on-year growth for the first time in 19 months in April, data showed on Wednesday, as the country is struggling to boost its ultra-low birth rate.

According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, a total of 19,049 babies were born in April 2024, up 2.8 per cent from a year earlier, Yonhap news agency reported.

It was the first time since September 2022 that the figure logged on-year growth.

“The growth came as the number of newly married couples rose over the past couple of years after the Covid-19 pandemic, though it remains to be seen if such an uptrend could continue,” an agency official said.

The rebound was also partly attributable to a high base effect, as the number of newborns hit an all-time low of 18,528 in April 2023, falling 12.5 per cent on-year.

During the first four months of 2024, however, the number of newborns reached a record low of 79,523.

The total fertility rate, which means the average number of expected births from a woman in her lifetime, also hit a record yearly low of 0.72, which came far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

In the first quarter of 2024, the fertility rate came to 0.76, falling 0.06 on-year.

The number of deaths rose 4 per cent on-year to 28,659 in April 2024, and the population, accordingly, declined by 9,610.

Deaths outpaced that of newborns since November 2019.

The number of couples getting married surged 24.6 per cent on-year to 18,039 in April, following a 5.5 per cent fall the previous month.

The number of couples getting divorced went up 5.7 per cent on-year to 7,701, the data showed.

South Korea is experiencing grim demographic changes, as many young people opt to postpone or give up on getting married or having babies in line with changing social norms and lifestyles.

Many have also pointed to high home prices and a tough job market as major reasons.

South Korea is expected to be a highly aged country by 2072 as the median age will increase from 44.9 in 2022 to 63.4 in 2072, and the population will tumble to around 36.22 million in 2072 from last year’s 51 million. AGENCIES

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Afghan caretaker government, will lead a delegation to the third round of UN-convened talks on Afghanistan, an official said.

The conference is scheduled for Sunday and Monday in the Qatari capital of Doha, reports Xinhua news agency.

A series of issues, including sanctions on Afghanistan, restrictions on financial activities and the banking system, and details about the Doha meeting, were discussed at a foreign ministry meeting on Tuesday, a spokesman of the administration’s foreign ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said on its X account.

It marks the first time the caretaker government will participate in the UN-led meeting. The government was not invited to the first meeting last May and rejected the second in February. AGENCIES

One person was killed and seven others injured when a train rammed into a bus at a railway crossing in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, police have confirmed.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the police said the accident happened around 4:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

“A bus with 66 passengers on board was hit by a train after the bus driver failed to stop at the railway crossing. Subsequently, one person died on the spot, and seven others were injured,” the police added.

The accident happened just over a week after nine passengers were killed on a bus which caught fire just outside the small town of Rusape in Manicaland Province, reports Xinhua news agency.

Road traffic accidents involving passenger transport vehicles are common in Zimbabwe, prompting the government to engage operators to minimise them. AGENCIES

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $150 million in financing for Sri Lanka to improve the quality and utilisation of its primary healthcare services, according to a statement.

The World Bank on Monday said the project would help improve the quality of care and increase the use of primary medical care institutions, which provide essential health services to local communities, reports Xinhua news agency.

Capacity challenges and the absence of a formal referral mechanism have led to the underutilisation of primary healthcare facilities and overcrowding in tertiary care facilities in Sri Lanka, according to the statement.

The previous World Bank-supported project already enhanced 550 Primary Medical Care Institutions with essential equipment, medicines, health workers and basic laboratory testing facilities.

The new project will scale up these efforts to cover 100 per cent of Primary Medical Care Institutions across all districts of Sri Lanka, expanding to over 1,000 facilities with a more comprehensive service package and improved quality of care, it said. AGENCIES