Pakistan on Wednesday reacted to the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district that left more than a dozen tourists dead and several others wounded.

The brutal assault unfolded on Tuesday in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, where heavily armed terrorists reportedly emerged from the surrounding dense forests and opened indiscriminate fire on a group of tourists. The attack has been described as one of the most horrific in the region in recent memory.

Responding to media queries, Pakistan's Foreign Office issued a brief statement, saying, "We are concerned at the loss of tourists' lives in an attack in Anantnag district. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery."

Three contenders of the Democratic Party (DP) for South Korean presidential elections are set to hold their second public debate on Wednesday, four days before the party plans to pick its candidate for the June 3 presidential election.

The debate will bring together former DP leader Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon and Kim Kyung-soo, a former South Gyeongsang Province governor.

During the 90-minute debate, the candidates will present their visions in key areas, including politics, the economy, diplomacy, security and social policy.

Lee, who declared his presidential bid earlier this month and is leading opinion polls for the presidential election, recently won two regional primaries by a large margin, news agency reported.

Early voting began in Australia's general election on Tuesday, with about half of the country's 18 million registered voters expected to cast their ballots before election day on May 3.

Hundreds of early voting centres across Australia opened their doors from 8:30 a.m. local time as the election campaign entered its final stretch.

The proportion of Australians choosing to vote early, either in person or by post, has steadily increased at recent federal elections from under 20 per cent in 2004 to almost 50 per cent in 2022.

Voting in elections is mandatory for over 18 million citizens aged 18 and over who are enrolled to do so with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). According to the AEC, eligible voter enrollment for the May 3 election is a record-high 98.2 per cent, news agency reported.

Three people were killed as heavy storms hit the central US state of Oklahoma over the weekend, authorities said.

A 12-year-old boy and his mother died in Moore, about 10 miles (about 16 km) south of Oklahoma City, on Sunday after floodwaters washed away their vehicle, said local police.

"This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city," Moore police said in a statement.

Another person was killed on Saturday night after a tornado hit Spaulding, a town in Hughes County, the county wrote on Facebook, news agency reported.

Several homes and structures were destroyed, and there were "numerous washouts" of county roads, it said.

On April 20, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings across several states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana. According to AccuWeather, regions of Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois faced a high risk of severe thunderstorms.

The death toll from US air strikes on Yemen's fuel port of Ras Isa has risen to 80, with 150 other people wounded, Houthi-run health authorities reported on Saturday.

The strikes took place Thursday night, targeting the port and several concrete tanks used for storing imported fuel.

The victims are workers of the port, including five paramedics,news agency reported.

The port, northwest of Yemen's Red Sea city of Hodeidah, has been a main lifeline for importing fuel into the areas seized by the Houthi group.

Hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephonic conversation with the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US President Donald Trump said that he expects to get Russia's response on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine over the weekend.

"We're going to be hearing from them this week, very shortly, actually. I think we're getting close, but we'll let you know very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's readiness to continue collaborative efforts with American counterparts to comprehensively address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.

Most of the estimated 400,000 people fleeing the Zamzam displacement camp bombardment sought shelter in another Sudanese refuge camp, only for it to be shelled too, the UN humanitarian agency said.

"Access to Zamzam remains completely blocked," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

"Local authorities and partners' reports indicate that armed groups continue to shell El Fasher and surrounding areas, including Abu Shouk camp, which is obviously placing all of the civilians there at immense risk."

The majority of the 400,000 people fleeing the Zamzam camp bombardment fled to the towns of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and Tawila, where host communities are already under immense strain.

The death toll from US overnight airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa has increased to 38, with 102 others wounded, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported on Friday, citing Houthi-controlled local health authorities.

According to al-Masirah, the casualties include five paramedics who were killed upon arriving at the scene, when the US military launched another wave of airstrikes on the port just minutes after the first on Thursday night.

More than 14 airstrikes on the fuel port were reported during the two waves, igniting massive fires in tanks storing imported fuel. The fires were extinguished within hours, said the report.

The US Central Command said earlier in a statement that it struck and destroyed the Ras Isa port on Thursday to "eliminate this source of fuel for" and "degrade the economic source of power of" the Houthis, news agency reported.

In mid-March, US President Donald Trump ordered "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthis after the group announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, citing Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as the reason.

Former South Korean Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung has a strong lead among potential candidates for the June 3 presidential election, a survey showed on Friday.

In the poll conducted by Gallup Korea on 1,000 adults from Tuesday to Thursday, Lee garnered 38 per cent support, marking his highest rating in Gallup polls this year.

Trailing behind at 7 per cent were former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), as well as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who currently serves as the acting president.

Han has not declared his candidacy despite ongoing speculation about his possible bid.

Israel's military has said in a statement that it killed a Hezbollah commander in a drone strike in southern Lebanon.

The strike targeted the area of Blida, killing Ali Ibar al-Nabi Khadi, who was identified by the military as the deputy head of Hezbollah's military outpost in the Mhaibib area, news agency reported.

Meanwhile, an unnamed Lebanese security source confirmed to news agency that an Israeli drone strike killed an individual in southern Lebanon on Thursday, identifying the deceased as a Hezbollah member named Ali Abdel Nabi Hijazi, who came from the village of Blida.

The person was hit while riding a motorcycle in the village of Aitaroun, Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Centre and security sources said as reported by news agency.