Liverpool made it three wins on the bounce as Darwin's lone goal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over a tenacious RB Leipzig side in the third round.

Leipzig came into the game highly motivated and put Liverpool on the back foot as Amadou Haidara tested goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, while Benjamin Sesko's dangerous curled shot went just wide in the opening stages.

It took Liverpool some time to get going, but they shocked the home side with their first chance in the 27th minute when Darwin tapped home Mo Salah's header from close range, reports.

Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was forced to tip promising headers from Darwin and Virgil van Dijk over the bar as the visitors gained momentum.

The Indian stock market opened flat on Thursday as buying was seen in auto, IT, PSU bank, financial services and pharma sectors during the early trade.

The Sensex was trading at 80,194.93 after rising 112.95 points or 0.14 per cent and the Nifty was trading at 24,465.30 after rising 29.80 points or 0.12 per cent.

The market trend remained mixed. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 679 stocks were trading in green, while 854 stocks were trading in red.

The Nifty Bank was at 51,456.95 after rising 217.95 points or 0.43 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 56,454.40 after slipping 79.15 points or 0.14 per cent. At the same time, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,317.95 after rising 31.75 points or 0.17 per cent.

HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, BEL and Adani Ports were the top gainers in the Sensex pack. At the same time, Hindalco, Hindustan Unilever Limited, SBI Life and Nestle India were the top losers.

South Korea and the US kicked off a combined large-scale air exercise earlier this week, the South's Air Force said Thursday, amid joint efforts to bolster readiness against North Korean threats.

The 12-day Freedom Flag exercise got underway across various air bases in South Korea on Monday, mobilizing some 110 aircraft, including the South's F-35A stealth fighters and F-15Ks, as well as US F-35Bs, F-16s and MQ-9 drones, news agency reported.

The Royal Australian Air Force will also join the drills with a KC-30A multi-role tanker transport aircraft.

This week, the exercise will focus on aircraft deployment and tactics planning before next week's flight drills, which will include training on defensive counter-air manoeuvres and close air support, according to the Air Force.

An encounter broke out between police and weapon smugglers on Thursday morning. Gunshots were fired by both sides, injuring one of the smugglers. The injured smuggler has been admitted to the hospital. The encounter took place near New Amritsar.

Later both drug smugglers were arrested and weapons were seized. Police have seized 2 pistols and one magazine from the possession of smugglers.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for five drone strikes on vital Israeli targets.

According to its statements, the group's fighters launched two drone attacks on sites in the port city of Eilat in southern Israel, two other attacks on sites in the occupied Golan Heights in northern Israel, and one drone attack on a site in Israel, news agency reported.

The group said the strikes were carried out "in solidarity with our people in Palestine and Lebanon," pledging to continue targeting "the enemy's strongholds at an escalating pace."

Samsung Biologics Co on Wednesday said its third-quarter net profit increased 10 per cent from a year earlier, driven by record sales.

Net profit for the July-September period came to 264.5 billion won ($191.3 million), compared with 240.4 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing, news agency reported.

Its operating income rose 6.3 per cent on-year to 338.6 billion won and sales jumped 14.8 per cent to a record high of 1.18 trillion won for the third quarter.

Samsung Biologics attributed its strong performance to new contract development and manufacturing organisation deals with global biopharmaceutical firms.

So far this year, the Korean company has secured nine deals worth a combined 4.36 trillion won with global big pharma, including the latest $1.24 billion deal with an Asia-based company.

Cambodia attracted 4.8 million foreign visitors in the first nine months of 2024, up 22 per cent from 3.92 million over the same period last year, said a Ministry of Tourism's report released on Wednesday.

"The number has reached 99.7 per cent of that in the first nine months of 2019, the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era," the report said.

Thailand still topped the chart of international tourist arrivals to the Southeast Asian country during the January-September period this year, followed by Vietnam, China, Laos and the United States.

Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Top Sopheak said that Cambodia is a cultural and ecological tourism destination, news agency reported.

The Gurugram Traffic Police have issued 189 challans for ‘silencer blast’, mostly by Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles and pressure horns in the previous month.

‘Silencer Blast’, technically an offence called ‘Silencer making noise’ under Sections 120 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules and 190(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, is usually performed by switching the engine off and suddenly on again when the motorcycle is at a high speed.

A sound like that of a firecracker is produced. It is usually done in very heavy-engine motorcycles like the Bullet.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said a special campaign was launched by Gurugram Police in the previous month to curb traffic violations by using silencer blasts and pressure horns.

The Indian stock market closed marginally low on Wednesday as selling was seen in auto, pharma and metal sectors.

The Sensex closed at 80,081.98 after falling 138.74 points or 0.17 per cent. At the same time, Nifty closed at 24,435.50 after falling 36.60 points or 0.15 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 56,533.55 after rising 359.50 points or 0.64 per cent at the end of trading. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,286.20 after rising 225.20 points or 1.25 per cent. Nifty Bank closed at 51,239.00 after falling 18.15 points or 0.04 per cent.

Selling was seen in the auto, pharma, metal, realty, energy, private bank, infra, and commodities sectors of Nifty. At the same time, buying was seen in IT, PSU bank, financial services, FMCG sector and media.

The Nepali government has banned plastic bottles at four-star and above hotels, an official said on Wednesday.

"The ban applies to all four-star, five-star, five-star deluxe and deluxe and luxury hotels and resorts," said Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general at the Department of Tourism.

The agency issued a directive on Tuesday instructing high-end hotels and resorts to discontinue serving water in plastic bottles but in glass bottles and metal utensils.

"Considering the potential health hazards and environmental concerns, the directive was issued," news agency reported.