The Indian Embassy in Berlin organised a solemn event to honour the memory of the victims of the brutal terror attack that took place on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack, which claimed 26 innocent lives, was carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The commemorative gathering, held on Friday, saw participation from over 100 attendees, including senior officials from various ministries of the Federal Government of Germany, members of the diplomatic corps, and the Indian diaspora in Germany.

India's Ambassador to Germany, Ajit Gupte, paid heartfelt tributes to the victims and shared Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong remarks condemning the terror attack.

Ambassador Gupte also drew attention to the perpetrators' intent to derail the peace and normalcy that Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed in recent years, particularly with the surge in tourism in the region.

The Security Council has “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pahalgam terrorist attack and urged all countries to cooperate in bringing all those involved in the massacre, to justice.

The members of the Security Council “stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard”, Council President Jerome Bonnafont said in a Press statement on Friday.

A front organisation of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Laskhar-e-Tayiba has owned responsibility for the attack.

The statement issued by France’s Permanent Representative Bonnafont who is the Council president for this month, took a broad view of those involved in the massacre by including the financiers and sponsors.

Ambassadors of Israel, Egypt, Argentina, and Nepal met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Friday, expressing solidarity with India in its fight against terrorism following the heinous terror attack in Pahalgam.

Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand currently visiting India, also called on EAM at his office to express solidarity on the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

"Good to meet former PM of New Zealand Helen Clark this evening. Appreciate her support and solidarity on the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Discussed cooperation in health and development," EAM Jaishankar posted on X after meeting the Kiwi leader.

Jaishankar also held a conversation over phone with Faisal bin Farhan, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday's terrorist attack in which 26 innocent civilians lost their lives and several others were injured.

"Had a telecon with Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia. Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack and its cross-border linkages," the External Affairs Minister said.

The Nepal Medical Association(NMA) on Friday announced a nationwide boycott of all medical services, except for emergency and intensive care at private and government hospitals, medical colleges, and clinics across the country.

The strike will affect tens of thousands of sick people in Nepal, depriving them of medical treatment, according to local media reports.

The association took the step in solidarity with resident doctors pursuing MD/MS degrees in private colleges, who had been demanding allowances equal to those of government-owned colleges.

Several local media reported that the medical practitioners staged a demonstration on Thursday at Maitighar in Kathmandu, cordoning off the district administration offices.

Pakistan's Standing Committee on Interior has been informed that over 12,000 Afghan nationals were caught with fake Pakistani passports while travelling to Saudi Arabia in the past five years, raising serious concerns over tens of thousands more such cases of Afghan nationals being able to get fake Pakistani passports and using them to travel to different countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The revelation was done during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which was briefed about the ongoing repatriation process and ongoing campaign to nab illegal Afghan nationals, along with the law and order situation in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

"At least 12,000 people reached Saudi Arabia on fake Pakistani passports. Of them, 3,000 had photo-swapped passports, while 6,000 passports were issued by tampering with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) data," informed Director General Passports, Mustafa Jamal Qazi.

South Korean stocks finished nearly 1 per cent higher on Friday, as investors assessed the outcome of the first round of tariff talks between Seoul and Washington. The local currency fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 23.97 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 2,546.3.

Trade volume was thin at 386.27 million shares worth 8.2 trillion won ($5.78 billion), with winners beating losers 645 to 238, reports news agency.

Institutions and foreign investors combined purchased a net 721.5 billion won worth of stocks, while individuals sold a net 773 billion won worth of shares.

During the first round of tariff talks held in Washington on Thursday, South Korea and the United States agreed to pursue a tariff deal before the pause on the implementation of reciprocal tariffs is lifted in early July.

A small police plane crashed near the shore of Thailand's resort town of Hua Hin on Friday morning, killing six people, the Thai police said.

The Thai national police said on its social media page that the aircraft of the police aviation division crashed into the sea off Cha-am District, Phetchaburi Province shortly after taking off from the nearby Hua Hin airport, with all six on board killed.

The police said the accident took place when the plane was conducting a test flight for parachute training. All six people on board were police officers. Five died at the scene and one died later at a hospital, news agency reported.

Video footage showed the plane nosedive into the sea. Initial investigations suggest that the engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff. The police said the cause of the accident will be investigated.

South Korea and the United States concurred on joint efforts to craft a "package" agreement on new U.S. tariffs, and economic and industrial cooperation issues by early July, Seoul's finance minister said, as the allies held high-level trade talks in Washington, DC.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok told reporters that the two sides agreed to pursue the deal by July 8 -- when U.S. President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs ends -- through talks focusing on four categories -- tariff- and non-tariff measures; economic security; investment cooperation; and currency policies, reports news agency.

Toward that end, Seoul's industry ministry and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) plan to start working-level talks next week, while USTR Jamieson Greer is set to visit South Korea for high-level talks on the margins of the ministerial Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation talks slated to kick off on May 15.

A high school student entered a school in western France's Nantes with a knife and stabbed at least four students, local media reported, citing the police.

One of the victims died from injuries, according to BFMTV on Thursday, citing multiple sources.

Teachers stopped the attacker before police arrived, BFMTV said, adding that the attacker, a second-year high school student, has been detained, news agency reported.

The youth -- whose identity has not been revealed but who had expressed an admiration for Adolf Hitler -- was overcome by teachers after staging attacks in several classrooms, witnesses said.

He was detained by police but hospitalised after a psychiatric examination.

Lee Jae-myung, former leader of South Korea's Democratic Party, kept a wide lead in approval ratings among presidential hopefuls for the June 3 election, a survey showed on Thursday.

According to the National Barometer Survey (NBS), Lee led the poll with 41 per cent, marking the first time the figure surpassed the 40 per cent mark in an NBS poll.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) came next with 10 per cent, followed by former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon with 8 per cent.

In the same survey, 39 per cent of the respondents favoured the PPP holding on to power, while 50 per cent voted for a regime change.