Two of the five people who went missing amid torrential rain that hit Zhaotong, a mountainous city in southwest China's Yunnan Province, have been confirmed dead as of 6:40 p.m. Thursday, according to local authorities.

Search and rescue operations remain underway for the remaining three people who are still missing.

Yemen's Houthi military spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday that the group had launched a ballistic missile towards Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, which was reportedly intercepted by Israel's defence systems earlier in the day.

The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV that the attack "has achieved its goal."

The strike was in response to the ongoing Israeli war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Sarea said, vowing the group would continue launching ballistic missile attacks towards Israel and Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea until what he said "the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted."

The death toll from a passenger ship sinking in Indonesia's Bali Strait has risen to 15 as of Thursday, while search continued for 20 people still missing, a local official said.

Two bodies were found this morning and another on Wednesday evening, bringing the total death toll to 15, said Novita Nirmala, a senior official from the East Java Search and Rescue Office, news agency.

A wooden ship was en route from Ketapang seaport in Banyuwangi regency, East Java province, to Gilimanuk seaport in Jembrana regency, Bali Island, when it sank before midnight on July 2.

The Indonesian rescue authorities had launched a joint Search and Rescue (SAR) operation following the sinking of the KM Tunu Pratama Jaya ferry which was carrying 53 passengers, 12 crew members, and 22 vehicles when it went down in the waters between Java and Bali islands.

Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology issued a flood alert on Thursday, warning of elevated water levels in the small rivers across several districts.

Although major rivers like Koshi, Narayani, Karnali, Mahakali, Kamala, Bagmati, and Rapti in Nepal are presently below critical levels, the threat of localised flooding persists, the local media reported.

The districts, including Doti, Dadeldhura, Kanchanpur, Kailali, and nearby regions, are reportedly at risk of sudden floods due to a rise in water levels.

As torrential monsoon rain continues to lash Pakistan, flash floods, landslides, and lightning strikes have claimed at least 11 more lives on Thursday, bringing the nationwide death toll since June 26 to over 79, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Beijing issued a 'blue alert' for rainstorms on early Thursday morning and initiated a Level-IV flood control emergency response across the city.

Heavy rainfall had already hit Beijing by the night of Wednesday. The Beijing meteorological observatory issued a blue rainstorm warning at 6.33 a.m. (local time) on Thursday, news agency reported.

According to data released by the municipal meteorological department at around 7 a.m., on Thursday morning, most areas of the city are expected to experience intense precipitation with an hourly rainfall exceeding 30 mm and a six-hour accumulation surpassing 50 mm.

Mountainous and hilly regions face potential secondary disasters such as flash floods, mudslides, and landslides triggered by the downpour, while low-lying areas may suffer from waterlogging.

Beijing activated a citywide Level-IV flood control emergency response at 7 a.m. Thursday.

A South Korean court hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk Yeol over charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law ended Wednesday after nearly seven hours.

The hearing at the Seoul Central District Court ran from about 2:20 p.m. to 9 p.m., during which a special counsel team argued for the warrant's issuance, while Yoon's defence contested it.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it completed "targeted operations" in southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure sites and weapons depots.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a court hearing Wednesday on his potential arrest over charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law.

The hearing at the Seoul Central District Court came after special counsel Cho Eun-suk requested a warrant to arrest Yoon over five key charges, including alleged illegalities in calling select Cabinet members to a meeting held shortly before he declared martial law on December 3.

South Korea on Wednesday repatriated six North Koreans via the maritime border in the East Sea, months after they had drifted into southern waters and were rescued.

A wooden boat carrying them, all fishermen, crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, at around 8:56 am, according to an official at South Korea's unification ministry.

The boat headed on its own toward two North Korea ships, including a patrol vessel, waiting on the other side of the NLL, and the three ships subsequently moved northward together, the official said.

In May, South Korea rescued four North Koreans aboard a ship that had drifted into the South Korean side of the East Sea, following a similar case in March in which two North Koreans were rescued in the Yellow Sea. All of them expressed a wish to go back to the North.