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Pakistan and several African nations called for more protections for migrants at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday following the shipwreck off the Greek coast.

At least 82 people died and hundreds more are feared dead in the June 12-13 shipwreck along the world's most deadly migration route from Libya to Italy.

Pakistan, which had 350 of its nationals aboard the ship that capsized and sank, said the incident was a "grim reminder of the protection gaps".

"The human cost of such a status quo is unacceptable," Pakistan's deputy permanent ambassador, Zaman Mehdi, told the 47-member council in unusually frank comments. "Gaps in responsibility sharing, arrangements for the safe and timely search and rescue, disembarkation of all people rescued at sea and accountability must be plugged in the spirit of solidarity."

The envoy for Gambia, a country from which many migrants depart on perilous journeys towards Europe, said that the issue required "urgent attention".

Felipe Gonzalez Morales, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Migration, called on states to end the criminalisation of irregular migrants and find regular pathways for them.

He also reiterated a call made by hundreds of NGOs for the rights body to create a new international investigative body looking at human rights abuses committed against migrants. The idea is being discussed as part of the ongoing council session in Geneva. (Reuters)

The Philippines on Monday said it had signed four loan agreements with the World Bank totalling $1.14 billion, including $750 million of budgetary support for policy reforms to boost environmental protection and climate resilience.

The agreements also include $276 million of funding support for two projects aimed at developing the agriculture and fisheries sectors, and $110 million financing for improving education quality, according to the Philippines' finance department.

The Southeast Asian country is looking to transform its long-neglected farm sector into an engine of growth.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is also the agriculture minister, has vowed to undertake reforms to improve productivity of the sector, which in recent years accounted for about a tenth of gross domestic product. (Reuters)

South Korea's government unveiled plans on Monday aimed at curbing the country's burgeoning spending on private education, which has been blamed for being a major factor behind the country's declining fertility rate.

The move comes as President Yoon Suk Yeol this month criticised college entrance tests that incorporate questions not in the curriculum at public schools, including some that have been dubbed "killer questions" because of their complexity.

"We will cut the vicious cycle of killer questions in exams, which leads to excessive competition among students and parents in private education," education minister Lee Ju-ho told a briefing.

The ministry also vowed to crack down on private education "cartels" by ramping up efforts to monitor what it termed false and exaggerated advertising by private schools targeting exam preparations.

Local media have reported on alleged connections between the private education industry and government education officials in drawing up college entrance exams that require private tutoring to master.

South Koreans spent a record 26 trillion won ($19.97 billion) on private education last year, despite a declining student population, a joint report by the education ministry and the government statistics bureau showed.

Nearly eight in 10 students use in private education products such as cram schools, known as "hagwons", according to the report.

This heavy reliance on private education has helped result in South Korea's having the world's highest cost of raising a child, according to a report last year, and the world's lowest birth rate.

Killer questions are typically drawn from material not covered in public school curriculum, opening the door for "hagwons" to promote their ability to teach students how to solve them.

Proponents of such questions say they help colleges select candidates in a competitive environment, but Yoon cited the issue of fairness, noting not every family could afford to pay for extracurricular classes.

Shin So-young, an activist at civic group The World Without Worry About Private Education, said the planned changes may not be enough to contain the competition.

"The government needs to come up with a broader plan that addresses the question of how to alleviate this excessive competition to get into a few of the best universities," Shin said.

Last year, nearly 450,000 high school seniors across the country and graduates taking the test again sat for the exam in November. The all-day event suspends airline flights during the listening comprehension portion of the English test.

Shares of education-linked companies in South Korea fell on concerns over changes in policies.

Woongjin Thinkbig (095720.KS) closed down 1.44% for Monday while MegaStudyEdu (215200.KQ) was down 2.11%. (Reuters)

Pakistan's army has sacked three senior officers, including a lieutenant general, for failing to prevent violent attacks on military assets by ex-prime minister Imran Khan's supporters protesting his arrest, the army's spokesperson said on Monday.

It was a rare public announcement by the army of an internal inquiry and its outcome.

At least 102 people are on trial in military courts over last month's violence, Major General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Chaudhry gave no details regarding how many of them were civilians or military officials. He also declined to name the senior officers who had been fired.

Human rights groups have raised concerns about military trials of civilians in Pakistan that they say cannot ensure a fair defence. The trials have also been challenged in Pakistan's Supreme Court in three petitions, including one by Khan's party.

In May, thousands of Khan's supporters rampaged through military installations across the country and vandalised them, including an air base, several military garrisons, the house of a general and the army's headquarters. Over 5,000 of them were arrested, though most were later released.

"We had to determine why security was breached at army installations. We had to find out what had gone wrong," Chaudhry said.

He said two departmental inquiries were conducted, headed by major generals, and punishments were given according to their recommendations.

Strict departmental action had also been taken against another 15 army officers, including three major generals and seven brigadiers, Chaudhry said, as part of internal accountability in the military. He did not specify what action had been taken.

Chaudhry added that several relatives, including women, of senior army officers were also facing trials for allegedly being facilitators of the violence.

The army has said the arson was pre-planned by leaders of Khan's party, and have named him in at least two criminal cases as abetting the violence. [He denies wrongdoing?]

Khan, 70, a former international cricket hero turned politician, has faced a slew of cases since he was ousted from power in a vote of no confidence last year, which he blames on the military's generals, a charge the army denies.

Khan's party has been subjected to a massive security crackdown since the May 9 violence. (Reuters)