Japan's weather agency on Saturday issued its highest-level alert for heavy rain in parts of Ishikawa Prefecture, which was severely hit by the New Year's Day earthquake.

The emergency warning, the highest level of alert on the agency's scale of one to five, covers the cities of Wajima, Suzu and the town of Noto, which were being hit particularly hard by the rains, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Weather officials urged people in the affected areas, which are still recovering from the powerful quake earlier this year, to exercise maximum caution as flooding and mudslides are very likely to have occurred.

A man has been arrested in Italy over the 1977 murders of two women in Melbourne, Australian Police have confirmed.

Police in the state of Victoria on Saturday said the 65-year-old man, a Greek-Australian dual citizen, who was the subject of an arrest warrant, was apprehended at a Rome airport on Thursday.

Victoria Police said in a statement that they will seek an extradition order for his return to Melbourne as part of the decade-long investigation into the murders of housemates Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, who were found dead at their home in inner city Melbourne on January 13, 1977, news agency reported.

Both women, who were last seen alive on January 10, had been stabbed multiple times.

Investors from smaller cities in India are embracing mutual funds like never before and the share of such investors in cities beyond the top 15 have risen significantly in the last four years, a new report showed on Saturday.

While Mumbai and Delhi continue to hold their place with most number of investors, accounting for 39 per cent investors as of June 2024, other cities have steadily contributed over 30 per cent of investors since March 2021, according to a Franklin Templeton report.

Mumbai and Delhi also contributed over 40 per cent investors till December 2023 but the contribution of these metros slipped to 39 per cent in March this year, the report mentioned.

Also, the assets under management (AUM) of investors in below 30 cities outpaced the top growth in the AUM of the top 30 cities in the country.

British tennis star Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from the Korea Open quarterfinal against top-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia due to a persistent foot injury.

The 21-year-old, who had shown signs of discomfort in her previous match against Yue Yuan, struggled from the outset against the World No. 13.

Raducanu required a medical timeout after the fifth game of the first set but despite her efforts to continue she ultimately made the decision to retire after losing the opening set 6-1. The injury proved too much to overcome, cutting short her campaign in Seoul.

In her last match, Raducanu secured a straight sets victory over China's Yue Yuan. Ranked 70th in the world, the Briton gained momentum by winning six consecutive games to claim the first set and take control of the second. She eventually converted her seventh match point to win 6-4, 6-3, advancing to the quarterfinals in Seoul.

Mahdi al-Mashat, Head of Yemen's Houthi supreme political council, said his group is ready for peace with the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition.

"The only solution to achieve peace is ... paying the salaries of Yemenis, opening Yemen's airports and ports, and releasing all prisoners," said al-Mashat in a televised speech on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Houthi's takeover of the capital Sanaa on Friday.

"Among the requirements of peace are also the payment of compensation, redress for damages, and the complete withdrawal from the Republic of Yemen by all foreign powers," he said.

"We warn against the consequences of miscalculations and some people's betting on the possibility of maintaining the state of no peace, no war, and the continuation of hostile tendencies against our people," he said.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned aggressive buyers this week with infusing Rs 14,064 crore in the cash market as Indian markets remained resilient amid robust economy performance, data showed on Saturday.

Total FII investment till September 20 stood at Rs 33,699 crore, taking the total FII investment in the country to Rs 76,585 crore this year to date, as per NSDL data.

Market watchers said that the trend of FII buying is likely to continue in the coming days.

Manoj Purohit from BDO India said the US Federal Reserve made the first interest rate cut in the last four years, by a larger than anticipated margin of 50 bps and the foreign portfolio investors (FPI) fraternity has been conscious about this move and reacted passively.

A new study projected a dramatic increase in deaths related to extreme temperatures across the United States by the mid-21st century, with specific populations bearing a disproportionate impact burden.

The study, published on Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association website, found that about 8,250 deaths per year are currently associated with extreme heat and cold.

Researchers estimated that extreme temperature-related deaths in the contiguous United States could more than double or even triple by 2036 to 2065, depending on future greenhouse gas emissions, news agency reported.

Boosting its international presence, Indian hospitality major Oyo’s parent company Oravel Stays is acquiring Motel 6 and Studio 6 chain with about 1,500 facilities across the US and Canada from the investment company Blackstone in a $525 million cash deal, the US firm said on Friday.

With the acquisition of G6 Hospitality, parent company of the two budget lodging chains, Oyo will become a major player in the US and Canadian hospitality industry, which is already dominated by Indian Americans.

Blackstone said that Motel 6’s franchise network produces gross room revenues of $1.7 billion.

Many parts of Japan recorded the highest-ever temperatures for September, as Japan experienced levels of heat that were dangerous and unusual for this time of the year.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Friday said that at 39 observation points including Shizuoka City in Japan, temperatures soared as high as or higher than the record for September.

The mercury shot up to 39.2 degrees Celsius in Shizuoka City, the highest temperature recorded in September since statistics started being compiled in 1940, while Obama City in Fukui Prefecture and Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture saw temperatures rose to dangerous highs of 38 degrees Celsius, reports news agency, quoting JMA.

India U20 head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri on Saturday announced a 23-member squad for the 2025 AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Laos from September 25 to 29.

The Blue Colts are placed in Group G along with Iran, Mongolia and the hosts Laos.