US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects India to strike the first trade deal with Washington because the issues are simpler, making an agreement "much easier."

He said on Wednesday that trade talks were "very close" to reaching a deal.

India has "fewer non-tariff trade barriers, obviously, no currency manipulation, very, very little government subsidies, so that reaching a deal with the Indians is much easier," he told a group of journalists at a restricted meeting in Washington on the sidelines of the Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The trade issues with India were mostly about high tariffs, he said, according to reports by participants in the meeting.

The South Korean economy posted negative growth from three months earlier in the first quarter, the first on-quarter contraction in nine months, central bank data showed on Thursday, amid a domestic political crisis and uncertainties stemming from the Donald Trump administration's sweeping tariff scheme.

The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) -- a key measure of economic growth -- contracted 0.2 percent in the January-March period from a quarter earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

On a year-on-year basis, the economy contracted 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 1.2 percent on-year expansion in the previous quarter, the data showed, reports news agency.

A total of 154 aftershocks have hit Myanmar since a devastating earthquake struck the country on March 28, according to the country's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology on Wednesday.

These tremors ranged in magnitude from 2.8 to 7.5, according to the department,news agency reported.

As of Tuesday, the earthquake has claimed 3,759 lives and injured 5,107 others, with 114 people still reported missing nationwide, official data showed.

On April 17, India, under Operation Brahma, had sent an additional consignment of relief material that was handed over by Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Abhay Thakur to Mandalay Chief Minister Myo Aung in the presence of diaspora leaders of Mandalay and Sagaing.

South Korea will discuss ways to bolster the country's cooperation with the United States in the shipbuilding and energy sectors at the upcoming bilateral "2+2 trade consultations," Seoul's top trade official said on Wednesday.

Seoul has highlighted such cooperation as a way of addressing the trade imbalance between the allies, which has prompted Washington to impose hefty import tariffs on South Korea under its broader tariff scheme affecting all its major trading partners, reports News Agency.

"We plan to discuss the trade imbalance issue, as well as industrial cooperation in the shipbuilding and energy sectors," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun told reporters as he headed to Washington for the high-level talks with the U.S. that will also be attended by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.

The two South Korean ministers are scheduled to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer for the "2+2" talks on Thursday (US time).

Prime Minister of Nepal K P Sharma Oli called PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday to strongly condemn the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district and extend his condolences on the loss of precious lives.

Oli termed the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir as "heinous" and spoke in detail with Prime Minister Modi on the issue.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), PM Modi also conveyed his condolences on the death of a young Nepali national in the terror attack, and underlined that India remains committed to bringing the perpetrators of the brutal terror attack to justice.

"India and Nepal stand together in the fight against terrorism," the MEA stated.

Both leaders had recently met on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok with Oli describing the meeting as "extremely fruitful and positive" discussions.

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.