A South Korea's Seoul court said on Friday that it will hold a hearing next week to determine whether to extend the arrest of former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law.

The Seoul Central District Court said the hearing will be held at 2:30 pm Monday before deciding whether to issue a new arrest warrant for Kim, who has been in custody since December and standing trial on charges of insurrection in connection with the martial law attempt, news agency reported.

A new warrant was requested by independent counsel Cho Eun-suk earlier this week as the current six-month detention period for Kim is set to expire next Thursday, granting him unconditional release.

As the same charges cannot be used to justify continued detention, Cho said he has indicted Kim on new charges of obstruction of official duties and abetting the destruction of evidence.

A day after a farmer was shot at in Manipur's Bishnupur district, the state government on Friday announced to provide security to the farmers in the vulnerable areas, officials said.

A senior police official said that adequate security would be provided to ensure the safety of farmers in the fields and prevent incidents involving the farmers.

A woman was killed and a farmer shot at in separate incidents in Manipur's Churachandpur and Bishnupur district respectively on Thursday.

The official said that one Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in his left arm by an unknown armed miscreant while working in his paddy field at Phubala Maning in Bishnupur district.

Three thieves were arrested and six stolen mobile phones were recovered along with a dummy pistol and a scooter used in multiple crimes by the Tilak Marg Police in Delhi, an official said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Arbaz (22) of Sarai Kale Khan, Pankaj Mourya (22) of Jungpura, and Rahul Bagh (26) of Chirag Delhi.

“Six stolen mobile phones, one dummy pistol and a scooter used in the crime were recovered from the accused,” said Delhi Police in a statement.

The official said that the arrested accused had been selling stolen mobile phones on e-commerce platforms using fake Aadhaar cards and forged invoices.

The breakthrough in the case came after a complaint was filed by a Blinkit delivery boy, who reported the theft of his mobile phone, stating that it was stolen while he was delivering an order on Pandara Road.

The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday stated that its air defences shot down 61 Ukrainian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) over several Russian regions overnight.

“On-duty air defences intercepted and destroyed 61 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles between 8 pm and 7 am. Moscow time, 22 over the Oryol Region, 14 over the Kursk Region, seven over the Belgorod Region, five over the Voronezh Region, three over the Volgograd Region, three over the Rostov Region, three over the Tula Region, three over the Bryansk Region and one over the Moscow Region,” read the statement.

The Voronezh Region Governor, Alexander Gusev mentioned on Telegram that the drones had been destroyed over the city of Voronezh and on the region’s border, adding that there were no casualties or damage as per the preliminary reports.

Bryansk Region Governor Alexander Bogomaz stated that there were no casualties or damage in the region. “Response teams are working on the ground,” Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

Unprecedented heat wave has gripped Kashmir as temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius have prevailed for the past few days.

Srinagar city recorded 35.2 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature on Thursday, the highest June temperature ever during the last two decades. Jammu city recorded 36.5 as the maximum, bringing down the gap between the maximum temperatures in Jammu and Srinagar cities to just 1.3 degrees Celsius.

An unprecedented heat wave has caused a sharp drop in the water level of the Jhelum River, which is the main water body of the Valley starting from Verinag Spring in Anantnag district and passing over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) through the Uri town of Baramulla district.

Since perennial water reservoirs in the mountains, which sustain the Valley during the hot summer months, have already been depleted because of lesser snowfall in winter, water level in mountain streams, springs, rivers, lakes and wells has also alarmingly fallen.

India’s economic indicators are becoming more supportive of growth, according to the report released by Motilal Oswal Private Wealth (MOPW) on Friday.

The report highlights that several positive trends are emerging on the domestic front, including higher GDP growth, easing inflation, and strong tax collections.

India’s GDP grew by 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY25, which is the highest reading in the last four quarters.

Inflation has remained below 4 per cent for four consecutive months, and GST collections have been rising steadily.

These signs indicate strong demand and stable activity in the formal sector of the economy.

The report also notes that India’s policy environment is now moving in a unified direction. Fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies are all aimed at maintaining growth momentum.

Shares of Sun TV Network Limited dropped over 5 per cent on Friday morning after a legal dispute emerged between the Maran brothers — Dayanidhi Maran and Kalanithi Maran.

Dayanidhi Maran, a DMK MP and former telecom minister, has sent a legal notice to his elder brother and Sun TV’s Chairman and Managing Director, Kalanithi Maran, over alleged financial irregularities.

In the notice, Dayanidhi Maran has accused Kalanithi of committing 'fraudulent practices' and 'misgovernance' during the takeover of Sun TV.

He has alleged that his brother was involved in a series of "calculated and coordinated financial crimes" including cheating and money laundering.

Bangladesh is facing a vaccine crisis to fight against the newly detected sub-variants of the Omicron strain of COVID-19. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the country stressed that only 3.2 million doses of older vaccines are available, which are due to expire in a few months, local media reported.

According to a report by Bangladeshi media outlet UNB, COVID-19 infection rates have surged nationwide over the past month. According to the data from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Dhaka, 134 cases tested positive out of 1,409 samples in May, a sharp rise in the infection rate at 9.51 per cent, the highest recorded in Bangladesh from January to May 2023.

“In total, there are around 3.2 million doses of vaccines. No new vaccines for the sub-variants have arrived so far. However, the process of procurement is ongoing. A vaccine committee will be formed soon to make a prompt decision,” said Halimur Rashid, Line Director of the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) unit at the DGHS.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not expected to visit Russia in the near future, a Russian news agency reported, citing a Kremlin spokesperson on Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded "No" when asked by reporters whether Kim would visit Russia soon, including during the Eastern Economic Forum, scheduled for September in Vladivostok near the border with North Korea, Ria Novosti reported.

As North Korea and Russia marked the first anniversary this month of the signing of a mutual defence treaty between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin, speculation has emerged that the North Korean leader may travel to Russia for a summit with Putin.

While visiting Pyongyang for the signing last year, Putin extended an invitation to Kim to visit Russia for talks.

Russia's annual Eastern Economic Forum, slated for September 3-6, has been speculated on as a possible occasion for Kim's trip to Russia and a summit with Putin.

Nine people, all from Jharkhand, were killed in a horrific road accident in Purulia district of West Bengal on Friday morning.

The accident took place after the passenger vehicle in which the nine passengers were travelling had a head-on collision with a trailer-truck coming from the opposite direction.

The mishap took place on the Purulia-Jamshedpur National Highway Number 18.

It is learnt that the nine people, all residents of Jharkhand, came by that passenger vehicle to Barabazar area in Purulia district of West Bengal to attend a marriage function on Thursday.

On Friday morning they were heading back to their residence at Nimdih in Jharkhand.