Japan, South Korea, and the United States on Tuesday jointly condemned North Korea's launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, citing serious threats to regional and global security.

In a high-level Japan-US-South Korea phone conference, Japanese Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director-General Okochi Akihiro, South Korea's Korean Peninsula Policy Director Lee Jun-il and the US Director for Korea and Mongolia Affairs Seth Bailey strongly criticised the North Korean actions.

According to a statement released by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials reaffirmed that these launches are a "direct violation" of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. They "strongly condemned" the act, calling it "a threat to regional peace and security" and reaffirmed close coordination among the three countries.

Seven "terrorists" were killed and three others injured in separate operations by the Pakistani military across the country.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan's military, said one incident happened in the North Waziristan tribal district where a "terrorist" was killed in an intelligence-based operation.

The second incident took place in the neighbouring South Waziristan district where troops intercepted "terrorists" trying to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, news agency reported

The incident triggered an exchange of fire, in which five "terrorists" were killed, while three others got injured.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it approved a loan of $311 million to modernise electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in Nepal.

The ADB said the project will finance 290 km of power transmission lines in Nepal, promising to expand, reinforce, and rehabilitate electricity distribution infrastructure in relevant areas, news agency reported.

The project is also expected to help the Nepal Electricity Authority upgrade its training centre, expand the smart meter rollout program, establish a data recovery centre, and implement a supervisory control and data acquisition network.

The ADB will also provide an additional $30 million in grants from its Asian Development Fund, which offers grants to ADB's poorest and most vulnerable developing members

Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic announced that he will step down, following the collapse of a roof structure at the Novi Sad railway station.

The collapse left 14 people dead and three others injured on Friday, as reported by news agency.

In a statement released on Monday evening, Vesic expressed condolences to the victims.

"I offered my resignation on the day of the accident. Tomorrow morning, I will formally submit my resignation to the Prime Minister," Vesic said.

The Iranian and Azerbaijani naval forces staged a joint rescue and relief drill in the Caspian Sea, Iran's official news agency reported.

The exercise, dubbed "AZIREX2024," was hosted by Iran's Navy and themed "Cooperation for Peace and Friendship," reports news agency, quoting IRNA on Monday.

It added the drill involved the Iranian army's maritime and aerial units, including homegrown Deylaman destroyer, Peykan (Arrow), Separ (Shield), Joshan (Armor) guided-missile cruisers, a Bell 212 helicopter, and watercraft belonging to other Iranian armed forces, as well as Azerbaijan's rescue and relief vessels.

Mohsen Razzaqi, spokesman of the exercise, said the two countries' vessels successfully carried out rescue and relief operations, having transferred passengers from a burning watercraft to the coast and extinguished the fire.

The region of Catalonia in the north-east of Spain was hit by flooding, as rescue work continues in the neighbouring region of Valencia in the wake of the floods that claimed 217 lives six days previously.

Spain's Minister for Transport, Oscar Puente, on Monday, confirmed that local rail services in the region had been cancelled after the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued a red alert for torrential rain for the provinces of Castellon, Tarragona and Barcelona, reports news agency.

"Do not travel unless strictly necessary," informed Puente.

Barcelona's El Prat airport was badly hit by rainfall, estimated to be around 150 litres per square metre, with over 80 flights cancelled or delayed and numerous arrivals diverted to other airports.

South Korea's foreign reserves fell in October, snapping three consecutive months of rise due to the decreased value of non-US dollar assets amid a strong US dollar and decreased deposits, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

The country's foreign reserves came to $415.69 billion as of end-October, down $4.28 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The central bank attributed the fall to a decline in the converted value of non-dollar assets amid the strong greenback and a decline in deposits, reports news agency.

The dollar index that gauges the greenback's value against major peers rose 3.6 percent last month, shedding the converted value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said.

Afghan security personnel have rescued two abducted children from kidnappers in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, provincial police spokesman Mullah Asadullah Jamshidi said on Monday.

The children, aged 9 and 12, were on their way home from school before being kidnapped in Police District 6, Kandahar city, the capital of the province, a fortnight ago, reports news agency, quoting Jamshidi.

Without giving details on whether anyone was arrested on the charge of the case, the official added that the kidnappers initially demanded $100,000, then again 30,000 dollars in ransom for the children's release.

Three "terrorists" were killed and two others arrested in a joint operation by the police, security forces and the counter-terrorism department (CTD) in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, an official statement has said.

The incident happened on Sunday in the Musakhel district of the province, where the law enforcement agencies conducted the operation after receiving a tip-off regarding the possible movement of the "terrorists" by the roadside, the CTD said in the statement.

The operation led to a gun battle when the law enforcers came across 10 to 12 "terrorists" of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army, the statement said, adding that five "terrorists" were killed and arrested, while the remaining fled the scene, reports news agency.

Ten people have been confirmed to have been killed after Mount Lewotobi erupted late Sunday in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, according to national disaster management agency BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari on Monday.

"It is confirmed that 10 people have died. Nine bodies have been recovered, while one remains trapped under the rubble," Muhari said at a press conference.

The volcanic eruption prompted mass evacuations, with most of the more than 10,000 affected residents from seven villages heading to evacuation centres, reports news agency, quoting Muhari.

Muhari noted that residents are prohibited from entering a 7-kilometre danger zone around the crater, adding that search operations are underway for any missing individuals, but he did not specify a number.