The death toll from fresh US airstrikes on Yemen's capital Sanaa rose to three, with several others wounded, medics and health authorities told.

The airstrikes targeted the Al-Nahdayn area which is surrounded by densely residential neighbourhoods on Wednesday late night.

Shrapnel hit many houses and shattered windows, causing damage and killing three residents. Several wounded civilians have been rushed to hospital.

This was the latest wave of US airstrikes on northern Yemen since the US military resumed airstrikes on the Houthi group on March 15 to deter the group from targeting Israel and US warships in the northern Red Sea.

The airstrikes also targeted several locations across other northern areas late on Wednesday, including the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the Island of Kamaran, where no casualties have been reported so far.

The temporary relief on the US reciprocal tariffs front gives businesses and India vital space to stabilise supply chains and adapt operations, while also providing policymakers an opportunity to work toward more sustainable trade agreements, industry experts said on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump has announced a lower rate of 10 per cent for 90 days in reciprocal tariffs for trading partner countries that have not retaliated with higher levies on American goods — such as India — and further hiked the levy on China to 125 per cent for hitting back.

“President Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs for India and several other countries reflects a tactical recalibration rather than a fundamental policy shift — but it’s a welcome development from both US consumers and global geopolitics perspectives,” said Ashok Chandak, President of SEMI IESA.

While this pause opens the door to reassess global trade dynamics, underlying tensions and uncertainty persist due to the existing 10 per cent baseline tariff on most US imports and what comes after 90 days, he mentioned.

South Korean stocks were trading sharply higher on Thursday as the US administration's temporary pause of reciprocal tariffs on South Korea improved market sentiment. The Korean won was trading sharply higher against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had rallied 126.94 points, or 5.53 percent, to 2,420.64 as of 11:20 a.m., sharply rebounding from the 17-month low the previous day, reports news agency.

With the steep gain, the bourse operator issued a sidecar order at 9:06 a.m., halting program purchasing for five minutes, after the KOSPI 200 futures soared 5 percent for more than one minute.

Overnight, Wall Street posted one of the best days since the global financial crisis in 2008, with the S&P 500 surging 9.5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring 7.87 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite skyrocketing 12.16 percent.

South Korea and the United States signed a new joint wartime operations plan (OPLAN) last year to counter evolving North Korean military threats, the commander of US Forces Korea (USFK) said.

Gen. Xavier Brunson made the remarks in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, as Seoul and Washington have been deepening security coordination to deal with advancing North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threats. He also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) and UN Command (UNC).

"Last year, we took a significant step forward in our combat readiness when the new combined Operations Plan was signed," Brunson said.

"Over the past several years, alliance planners worked diligently to construct and develop this plan, constantly testing and validating its concepts through execution during our bi-annual FS and UFS exercise events," he added, referring to regular South Korea-US exercises, Freedom Shield and Ulchi Freedom Shield.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has raised concern over the lack of clear directives from the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government regarding the parliamentary election date. The party also claimed that the government was deliberately delaying the elections.

BNP alleged that the interim government's failure to provide a roadmap for the upcoming national elections has also created doubt among the public, as local media reported on Thursday.

While the interim government has announced that the election may be held between December 2025 and June 2026, BNP wants the election to be held by December 2025.

Meanwhile, demanding a swift announcement of the election roadmap, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will lead a delegation to meet with Chief Advisor Yunus on April 16, reports.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on Latin America and the Caribbean to act as a "guiding light" for multilateralism in a world increasingly troubled by division and unilateralism.

Petro on Wednesday appealed at the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

"We must decide whether we help each other or retreat into loneliness," Petro said. "We can either face the world alone, as in One Hundred Years of Solitude, or we can act as a united humanity and support one another."

South Korea's former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung declared his presidential bid for the June election on Thursday, vowing to become "the best tool" to serve the people.

Lee considered the front-runner in the June 3 presidential election triggered by the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced his bid a day after he stepped down from the party chairmanship, reports news agency.

"I do not just want a country that only carries the name 'Republic of Korea,' but I want to help build a real Republic of Korea," Lee said in a 10-minute video message. "Such a Korea is created by its people and I hope to become a great tool -- the best tool -- of our great people."

A faulty radio system was one of a host of factors that contributed to a fatal mid-air collision between two helicopters in northern Australia in 2023, an official investigation showed on Wednesday.

Four people were killed and nine more injured when two scenic flight helicopters collided in mid-air on Australia's Gold Coast in the state of Queensland on January 2, 2023.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on Wednesday released its final 200-page report on the incident following a two-year investigation, highlighting a series of safety issues that contributed to the crash.

The incident occurred when one helicopter piloted by Ash Jenkinson was taking off while the other piloted by Michael James was coming in to land. Both helicopters were Eurocopter EC130s operated by the Gold Coast's Sea World theme park.

The death toll from overnight US airstrikes on Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah has risen to eight, including a pregnant woman, with 16 others injured, local health authorities said in a statement early on Wednesday.

The majority of the victims were women and children, according to the statement.

The tragedy occurred when US military warplanes struck homes in the Amin Muqbil residential neighborhood late Tuesday night, according to health authorities and local residents, who also shared video footage on social media following the airstrikes.

Former South Korean Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung will announce his presidential bid via a video message on Wednesday, an aide said.

Kwon Hyuk-ki, a former chief political planner for Lee, told reporters on Wednesday that the 10-minute video will be unveiled at 10 a.m. on Thursday, and will contain his resolve and determination going into the presidential race.

The former DP leader will then hold a press conference at the National Assembly on Friday to present his vision for the nation and announce the members of his election campaign, Kwon said.

Lee stepped down from the party chairmanship earlier in the day to run for president in the June 3 election, triggered by the ouster of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

He is considered the front-runner in the upcoming election.