Nick Kyrgios is touting his long-awaited grand slam comeback in season's opening major Australian Open, tournament director Craig Titley said.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist has only competed in one event in the past two years – a straight-sets defeat to China’s Wu Yibing in Stuttgart 16 months ago – because of knee and wrist injuries that sidelined him.

Kyrgios' injury-plagued season comes following a standout year in 2022 when he reached the Wimbledon final and won the ATP 500 event in Washington D.C.

"The one we're keeping an eye on will be Nick Kyrgios – Nick will be back. Well, like every other player, we'd love to have Nick back. He brings a big game and bigger energy to the AO – he’s truly an excitement machine – and we can’t wait to see him back," Titely told Channel 9 News.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a "vital" site in Eilat, Israel's southern port city.

The group said in a statement on Wednesday night that the attack was conducted "in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon," pledging to continue targeting "the enemy's strongholds."

The statement did not provide further details about the targeted site or report any casualties, news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility for four drone attacks on four "vital" sites in Israel.

Excessive screen time, trauma and violence can cause behavioural issues in children, said experts on Thursday, on World Mental Health day.

World Mental Health day is observed every year on October 10, to raise awareness and fight against stigma

Behavioural problems like aggressiveness, anger, coupled with depression and anxiety disorders have been significantly rising in the recent past.

“Excessive screen time, trauma and violence can induce behavioural changes in kids. They will throw tantrums, become aggressive, anxious, will be unable to sleep and will get depressed,” Dr Shorouq Motwani, Psychiatrist, Lilavati Hospital Mumbai, told.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has issued an orange alert for 11 districts in Tamil Nadu from October 12-15.

The districts, where the orange alert was issued, were Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Myladuthurai, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi.

A low-pressure area between Lakshadweep and adjoining areas of the Arabian Sea was likely to move and intensify into a depression, the weather office said in a statement.

It has predicted heavy rainfall for Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, the ghat areas of Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tiruchi, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Villupuram, Theni and Dindigul areas of Tamil Nadu.

Israel's military said its warplanes launched an airstrike in southwestern Syria, killing a Hezbollah operative.

In a statement on Wednesday, the military claimed that Adham Jahout, a militant with Hezbollah's "Golan Terrorist Network" in Syria, was killed in the airstrike in the area of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, reports news agency.

"As part of his role, Jahout relayed information from Syrian sources to Hezbollah and transmitted intelligence gathered on the Syrian front to facilitate operations against Israel in the Golan Heights," the military said.

Syrian state television reported earlier that a policeman was killed in the attack, the latest in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the region, which, according to Israel, are aimed at Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

In a major blow to illegal arms smuggling into Punjab from Madhya Pradesh, Amritsar Rural Police, in 2 separate operations has apprehended 3 persons for smuggling illegal weapons. The arrested persons were providing logistical assistance to criminal gangs. This was disclosed by DGP Gaurav Yadav in a tweet.

Recovery: 8 pistols along with 17 live cartridges and 4 magazines.

He said Punjab Police will take stern action against organised crime & illegal weapon smuggling networks and is working to uncover the entire network, following both forward and backward linkages.

At least 15 people were killed and 10 others injured in a collision between a bus loaded with passengers and a truck in Cameroon's South region.

Prefect of Dja and Lobo division, Damien Owono, said the accident happened when the bus collided head-on with the truck coming from the opposite direction in the Kombe locality of the region on Wednesday.

"We woke up this early morning with this shocking news. There were 22 passengers and the driver on the bus. The ten injured people are being taken care of in hospital. We ask the families to remain calm. It was an accident. Investigations are ongoing and the authorities will establish the responsibility. We ask road users to be more careful," Owono told reporters after visiting the scene of the tragedy, news agency reported.

Top eight listed real estate developers in India have reduced their net debt by over 54 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal (FY25) from the previous peak in FY19, a report showed on Thursday.

The net debt of these companies collectively reduced to about Rs 20,808 crore in Q1 FY25, from over Rs 44,817 crore in Q4 FY2019 when the overall debt of these listed players was at its peak, according to data by Anarock Group.

With residential sales creating a new peak across the top seven cities in the last one year, buyer demand is heavily in favour of branded developers. In Q1 FY25 alone, the booking value of these eight listed developers stands at Rs 26,832 crore.

Two separate wildfires burning in the US state of Wyoming scorched over 130,000 acres (526.1 square kilometres) combined, according to InciWeb, an interagency all-risk incident web information management system provided by the United States Forest Service.

The latest information update by the agency said that the Elk Fire in Bighorn National Forest, which has been burning for almost two weeks, spread to 75,969 acres (307.4 square kilometres) with 16 per cent contained as of Wednesday morning, reports news agency.

Meanwhile, the Pack Trail Fire in Bridger-Teton National Forest burned down 60,676 acres (245.6 square kilometres) with zero containment as of Wednesday morning.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the European Union (EU) needs to change if the bloc wants to be able to face its challenges.

Orban, whose country currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency, made the remarks at a European Parliament session on Wednesday in Strasbourg, France.

He highlighted competitiveness as a key issue for the country's presidency. Orban criticised the EU's green transition plan, noting that moving away from Russian fossil fuels has hurt the EU's GDP growth, according to news agency.