Security forces have discovered a huge weapon cache containing a variety of arms and ammunition, including anti-aircraft guns, in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, said an army statement on Thursday.

The weaponry, which includes two anti-aircraft guns, dozens of AK-47 assault rifles, thousands of bullets, and many more military equipment, was recovered from the Kamdish district recently, the statement added without providing more details, reports news agency.

Afghan caretaker government has collected thousands of pieces of weapons, including battle tanks, since assuming power in August 2021 following the US-led forces' withdrawal from Afghanistan. Since then, no one outside the security organs has been allowed to carry arms illegally.

An attack on an armoured van occurred this Thursday morning in the heart of Grenoble, the capital of the Isere department in southeastern France, causing three injuries, the Prefect of Isere confirmed on its official X account.

The van, having departed from the Bank of France, was intercepted by two vehicles. Armed with automatic weapons, the attackers fired, prompting the security guards from the cash transport company to fire back, reports news agency, quoting local media BFMTV.

One of the suspects was injured in the exchange of fire, according to a police source cited by BFMTV.

The attackers managed to flee the scene in a vehicle.

Indonesia has established two new Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to boost investment, an official said in a statement on Thursday.

The inauguration of the two new SEZs, located in the provinces of Banten and Riau Islands, was signed by President Joko Widodo on Monday, reports news agency.

The new SEZ in Banten will focus on research, the digital economy, and educational, health, and creative industries. Meanwhile, the new SEZ in Riau Islands will concentrate on international health tourism.

"Each SEZ has a specific development focus and is expected to have a significant impact on the economy, create jobs, and attract investment. This move reflects the government's efforts to increase the competitiveness of the national economy through the development of strategic sectors," said Secretary-General of the National Council for SEZ Rizal Edwin Manansang.

Monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) numbers in India surged to Rs 24,508.73 crore in the month of September, up from Rs 23,547.34 crore in August, which is a 4 per cent increase, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data showed on Thursday.

The SIP contributions crossed the Rs 24,000 crore mark for the first time.

According to the monthly data released by the AMFI, the number of new SIPs registered in September stood at 6,638,857. The assets under management (AUM) of SIP reached an all-time high of Rs 13.81 lakh crore.

At least eight people from two families, including four children, were killed as a car veered off a road in Bangladesh's Pirojpur district, 185 km southwest of Dhaka, early on Thursday, a police official said.

"The accident left eight people dead on the spot," Md Mukit Hasan Khan, additional superintendent of police in Pirojpur, told journalists.

He said the car went off the road and ended up in a canal at about 3 a.m. local time, reports news agency.

A pilot who was killed when he crashed a helicopter into an Australian hotel during an unauthorised flight was under the influence of alcohol at the time, an investigation has found.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on Thursday finalised its investigation into the crash in the early hours of August 12, concluding that 23-year-old pilot Blake Wilson took the helicopter from an airport hangar for an unnecessary and unauthorised flight while affected by alcohol.

Wilson died when the Robinson R44 helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in the far northeastern city of Cairns at approximately 2 a.m. (local time) on August 12. The crash triggered the evacuation of about 400 hotel guests.

The ATSB found that Wilson, a ground staff employee of the charter company that owned the helicopter, did not have the appropriate experience or licenses for the flight.

Indian frontline indices closed with marginal gains on Thursday ahead of the Q2 results of the country's largest IT services firm, TCS, to be released later in the day.

Inflation data from the US after market hours will also be a key monitorable.

At closing, Sensex was up 144 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 81,611 and Nifty was at 24,998, up 16 points, or 0.07 per cent.

Nifty Bank closed at 51,530 with a rise of 523 points, or 1.03 per cent, due to a rise in banking stocks.

In the Sensex pack, Kotak Mahindra Bank, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Axis Bank, M&M, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, ITC, Bajaj Finance, and Tata Steel were the top gainers.

Two policemen were killed and three others injured when militants attacked their vehicle in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday morning, police sources said.

The incident happened at about 8:50 a.m. (local time) in the Tank district of the province, where unknown assailants opened fire on the vehicle before fleeing the scene, sources from the district police told news agency.

The vehicle was conducting routine patrols when it came under the attack, the sources added.

The injured policemen were rushed to a nearby hospital, where one of them is in critical condition.

The Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police arrested four trainees in the 2021 SI Recruitment Exam paper leak case, said officials here on Thursday.

The SOG will produce all four accused in the court and take them on remand.

Those arrested include sub-inspectors Monica, Renu Kumari Chauhan, Surjeet Singh Yadav and Neeraj Kumar Yadav who will be produced in the court and taken on remand by the SoG.

Officials said that the SIs will be quizzed in detail. Information has to be gathered about the source of money, which they gave to the accused. Also, to whom else did they give the SI papers? Many such questions will be asked of these trainee SIs during remand.

A US military helicopter made an emergency landing on Thursday at a beach in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo, with no reports of injuries or damage to the aircraft, local media reported.

According to the US Navy, the helicopter, with three crew onboard, made the landing at around 11:05 a.m. (local time) as a precautionary measure after detecting irregularities, reports.

The helicopter resumed flight at about 3:05 p.m. (local time), the report said.

The US Navy did not provide further details, including the cause of the irregularities, saying the incident is "still under investigation," it added.