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UK international development minister Anneliese Dodds said on Friday she was resigning from the Labour government over cuts to overseas aid ordered by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to boost defence spending.”Ultimately these cuts will remove food and healthcare from desperate people,” Dodds said in a letter to Starmer posted on X.On Tuesday, Starmer pledged to raise UK defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027 but ordered the overseas development budget to be cut from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of gross national income to pay for it.Dodds said while she believed defence spending needed to be increased as “the post-war global order has come crashing down”, she had hoped for a collective discussion on finding the funding.”Instead, the tactical decision was taken for ODA to absorb the entire burden,” she said, referring to overseas development assistance.Starmer admitted in a reply to her letter that cutting aid funding was “a difficult and painful decision”. “However, protecting our national security must always be the first duty of any government,” he added.Starmer later announced that long-time ally Jenny Chapman would now fill the role of international development minister.- Deep cuts -Dodds voiced fears that plans to help the people of Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, as well as support climate change and vaccination programmes, would now fall by the wayside.”It will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cuts,” Dodds warned.And she said it would “likely lead to a UK pull-out from numerous African, Caribbean and Western Balkan nations”.Starmer sought to allay her concerns, saying his government would “continue to protect vital programmes, including in the world’s worst conflict zones”.Dodds is the fourth minister to leave Starmer’s cabinet since his Labour party swept to victory in last year’s elections, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.Earlier this month, the UK leader sacked junior health minister Andrew Gwynne for making anti-Semitic, racist and sexist remarks in a WhatsApp chat.In January, anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq resigned after being named in probes in Bangladesh into graft accusations.And in November, Louise Haigh stepped down as transport secretary after revelations that she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence before becoming a member of parliament.

Australia qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals on Friday after their Group B match against Afghanistan ended without a result in persistent rain in Lahore on Friday.Chasing 274 for victory at Gaddafi Stadium, Australia were 109-1 in 12.5 overs when rain stopped play, giving them four points in their three games.Afghanistan, who have three points from two games, need England to beat South Africa by a big margin in Karachi on Saturday to sneak into the last four on net run-rate.Afghanistan’s -0.99 net run-rate is inferior to South Africa’s 2.14 despite beating former world champions England by eight runs in Lahore on Wednesday.Australia were well placed to chase down the target with opener Travis Head 59 not out.Steve Smith was unbeaten on 19 after Matthew Short was dismissed for 20.Heavy rain stopped play and as water pooled in the outfield, the umpires ended the match at 20:55 local time (1555 GMT).Afghanistan had made 273 all out in 50 overs after winning the toss and batting first. Sediqullah Atal hit 85 and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai 67 as they sought a win to seal a semi-final berth themselves.”It’s a good result, and, that’s what we were after at the start of the tournament,” said Australia captain Smith.”To finish in the top two and heading to the semis. It’s satisfying so far.”Smith said opener Matthew Short was an injury doubt for next week’s semi-final.”I think he (Short) was struggling, wasn’t moving well. I think he’ll be struggling with the short gap between games,” said Smith of Short who suffered a thigh injury and will be assessed.India meet New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday which will decide the semi-final line-up, with the top team in Group A playing the second-placed team in Group B.However, wherever India finish they will play the first semi-final in Dubai on March 4. The second semi-final will be in Lahore a day later.Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said he still hoped England could do his team a favour by thrashing South Africa. “You never know. We still have hopes and we are waiting for that next game, hopefully England win big! Anything can happen in cricket,” said Shahidi.In overcast conditions, Afghanistan lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for nought in the first over to Spencer Johnson.Ibrahim Zadran, hero of Afghanistan’s win over England in the first match with the highest-ever Champions trophy score of 177, added 67 for the second wicket with Atal before he fell for 22 to spinner Adam Zampa.Atal and Shahidi (20) put on 68 for the fourth wicket before Australia fought back with four wickets for just 40 runs.Atal’s 95-ball innings included six fours and three sixes.At 199-7 Afghanistan were in danger of being dismissed for a below-par total, but Omarzai held the innings together, smashing five sixes in a 63-ball knock and adding an invaluable 74 runs with the last three wickets.Rashid Khan chipped in with a 17-ball 19 with two boundaries.Ben Dwarshuis was the best Australian bowler with 3-47. Zampa took 2-48 and Johnson finished with 2-49.

Australia qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals on Friday after their Group B match against Afghanistan ended without a result in persistent rain in Lahore on Friday.Chasing 274 for victory at Gaddafi Stadium, Australia were 109-1 in 12.5 overs when rain stopped play, giving them four points in their three games.Afghanistan, who have three points from two games, need England to beat South Africa by a big margin in Karachi on Saturday to sneak into the last four on net run-rate.Afghanistan’s -0.99 net run-rate is inferior to South Africa’s 2.14 despite beating former world champions England by eight runs in Lahore on Wednesday.  Australia were well placed to chase down the target with opener Travis Head not out after a 40-ball 59 not out spiced with nine boundaries and a six.Steve Smith was unbeaten on 19 after Matthew Short was dismissed for 20.Heavy rain stopped play and as water pooled in the stadium the umpires ended the match  at 20:55 (1555 GMT)Afghanistan had totalled 273 all out in 50 overs  after they winning the toss and batting. Sediqullah Atal hit 85 and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai 67 as they sought a win to seal a semi-final berth.In overcast conditions, Afghanistan lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for nought in the first over to Spencer Johnson.Ibrahim Zadran, hero of Afghanistan’s win over England in the first match with the highest-ever Champions trophy score of 177, added 67 for the second wicket with Atal before he fell for 22 to spinner Adam Zampa.Atal and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (20) put on 68 for the fourth wicket before Australia fought back with four wickets for just 40 runs.Atal’s 95-ball innings included six fours and three sixes.At 199-7 Afghanistan were in danger of being dismissed for a below-par total, but Omarzai held the innings together, smashing five sixes in a 63-ball knock and adding an invaluable 74 runs with the last three wickets.Rashid Khan chipped in with a 17-ball 19 with two boundaries.Ben Dwarshuis was the best Australian bowler with 3-47. Zampa took 2-48 and Johnson finished with 2-49.

India will finalise a “mutually beneficial” free trade deal with the European Union by the end of this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday after meeting with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.”We have asked our teams to work out a mutually beneficial bilateral free trade agreement by the end of this year,” Modi said in New Delhi.Von der Leyen, who is on a two-day visit to India with her college of commissioners, is seeking to hedge against her bloc’s souring relations with the United States and said they were “expecting a lot from our trade negotiators”.Deeper access to India’s rapidly expanding market was at the top of the delegation’s agenda, and the EU chief looked visibly pleased after her meeting with Modi and his ministers.The EU is already India’s largest trading partner, accounting for 124 billion euros ($130 billion) worth of trade in goods in 2023 — more than 12 percent of total Indian trade, according to Brussels.The Indian market offers many opportunities for sectors ranging from defence to agriculture, cars and clean energy. Yet, protected by high tariffs, it currently accounts for only 2.2 percent of EU trade in goods.”We have tasked our teams to build on this momentum and finalise our FTA before the end of the year,” von der Leyen said in a statement after the meeting.Standing beside Modi, the EU chief added: “We told them they should surprise us”. The bloc is pushing for a trade deal that lowers entry barriers for its cars, spirits, wines and other products.India meanwhile hopes for higher EU investments in areas such as clean energy, urban infrastructure and water management.New Delhi is also pushing for easier mobility for its skilled workforce and higher investments for ventures in India.Von der Leyen’s visit, billed as the first of its kind to the world’s fifth-largest economy, comes days after US President Donald Trump announced a slew of tariffs against both friends and foes.- ‘Blueprint’ for the future -The EU also hopes to find common ground with India on their shared concerns over China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, building resilient supply chains, and the governance of new technologies including artificial intelligence.”I can announce that we are exploring a future Security and Defence Partnership with India in the mould of the partnerships we have with Japan and South Korea,” von der Leyen said on Friday before meeting Modi. “This will help us step up our work to counter common threats, whether on cross-border terrorism, maritime security threats, cyber-attacks or the new phenomenon we see: attacks on our critical infrastructure.”New Delhi hopes to gain from coordinated efforts towards building resilient supply chains by wooing businesses looking to move out of China with tax breaks, simplified investment laws, better infrastructure and access to its massive domestic market.Creating enough jobs for millions of workers in the world’s most populous country is one of the biggest challenges for Modi’s government.A joint statement late Friday said that the two leaders also discussed international issues, such as the conflict in the Middle-East and the war in Ukraine.”They expressed support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on respect for international law, principles of the UN charter and territorial integrity and sovereignty,” it said. India has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow, its traditional supplier of military hardware, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Indian officials said that the two sides discussed expanding defence exchanges, naval exercises, and cooperating on Indian efforts to diversify and localise its military hardware manufacturing.Their joint statement added that they’d also “further deepen” engagement on semiconductor ecosystems, trusted telecommunications, high-performance computing, recycling of batteries for electric vehicles and marine plastic litter.India and the EU “have a shared view on peace, security, stability and prosperity” of the Asia-Pacific region, Modi said after the meeting.This visit “is unprecedented… and we have taken many important decisions on trade, technology, innovation, green growth, security, skilling, and mobility — a blueprint (for future) has been prepared,” he added. 

Rescuers were racing against time to search for more than 20 construction workers missing after an avalanche in India’s Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Friday following heavy snowfall, the army said.Disaster relief teams dug for hours through heavy snow after the avalanche hit a construction camp in Chamoli district, burying the workers under snow and debris. “The avalanche rescue operation of the Army continues unabated despite harsh weather conditions and continuing snow,” the Indian Army said in a statement on X.Fifty-seven workers were initially trapped, but 22 managed to escape to the nearby temple town of Badrinath while 10 were rescued, it said, leaving 25 still unaccounted for. Army doctors at the site performed life-saving surgeries on those critically injured in the incident, the army added. But the bad weather was hampering the rescue operations, Deepam Seth, the state’s top police officer, said.”It has been snowing with strong winds… The roads are completely blocked. We have deployed snow cutters to open the road,” he told broadcaster NDTV.Ridhim Agarwal of the state disaster relief force said high-altitude rescue teams will be deployed by helicopter to the scene once the weather conditions improve.Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was “saddened” by the incident and was monitoring the rescue operations.Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season.Scientists have said that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.The increased pace of development in the fragile Himalayan regions has also heightened fears about the fallout from deforestation and construction.In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand after a huge glacier chunk fell into a river, triggering flash floods.And devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people and led to calls for a review of development projects in the state.

A suicide attack at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan known as the “University of Jihad” — where key Taliban leaders have studied — killed six people on Friday, police said. Among those who died was Hamid ul Haq Haqqani, the head of the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania school, in Akora Khattak, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Peshawar.”Initial reports suggest the blast occurred after Friday prayers as people were gathering to greet Hamid ul Haq. It appears to be a suicide attack,” Abdul Rasheed, the district police chief, told AFP.The explosion left six dead including the suicide bomber and 16 injured, three of whom are in a critical condition, Rasheed said, adding that an Afghan national is among the dead.Rasheed said that Haqqani, the head of a local rightwing Islamist party, appeared to be the target of the bomber.He was the son of Sami ul Haq Haqqani, who was assassinated in 2018 and known as the “father of the Taliban” for teaching the insurgent group’s founder Mullah Omar at the same religious school.The explosion happened as people gathered for weekly Friday prayers, the most important day of the week.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the incident as a “terrorist” act. The sprawling campus in Pakistan’s Akora Khattak is home to roughly 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free.It became known as the “University of Jihad” for its fiery ideology and the number of Taliban fighters it has produced.Omar, who led an insurgency against the United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan before his death in 2013, graduated from the school along with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the feared Haqqani network which took its name from the school. The Haqqani network is responsible for some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan.Jalaluddin Haqqani was the father of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, himself also a graduate of the school.Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman for the interior ministry in Kabul, said the government “strongly condemn the attack” and blamed it on the jihadist Islamic State group. IS, a rival of the Taliban movement but with which it shares a similar hardline Islamic ideology, has been responsible for several attacks against the Taliban government since it retook power in 2021.No group has yet claimed the bombing. – Incubators for militancy -The school has sat at the crossroads of regional militant violence for years, educating many Pakistanis and Afghan refugees — some of whom returned home to wage war against the Russians and Americans or preach jihad.For decades, Pakistani ‘madrassas’ have served as incubators for militancy, indoctrinating tens of thousands of refugees who have few other options for education than the fiery lectures from hardline clerics. Rather than crack down on the institutions, successive governments in Islamabad — which rely on the support of Islamist parties in coalition governments — have largely given the schools a free hand.The Taliban surged back to power in Kabul in August 2021 after foreign forces withdrew and the former government collapsed. Militancy has since rebounded in the border regions with Afghanistan.Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies.Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.

Two Russian divers were found dead, one in the jaws of a shark, after a strong current separated them from their group in a popular Philippine scuba spot, a coast guard official said Friday.Four Russians — 57-year-old Eduart Perigudin, his two sons Timofy and Ilya aged 18 and 29, and another man — were diving near the Batangas resort area on the main island of Luzon Thursday afternoon when they and their dive master were pulled apart by an underwater current, district coast guard chief Airland Lapitan told AFP.Ilya Perigudin was missing both arms when he was pulled dead from waters in which multiple sharks were seen, according to a coast guard statement.”His remains were found floating near the shoreline… with both arms missing due to an apparent shark attack. Multiple sharks were observed in the vicinity during the recovery,” the statement said.Lapitan had earlier told AFP the 29-year-old “was being pulled by a shark” when rescuers located him around 4:00-5:30 pm (0800-0930 GMT Thursday).But it was unclear if he had been killed by a shark or was already dead, Lapitan said, adding that the bodies had been turned over to family members without an autopsy.The second victim, identified as M. Melekhov in a Russian embassy statement confirming the two deaths, was found about an hour earlier and declared dead on arrival after being transported to a local hospital.Eduart Perigudin, his younger son Timofy and their dive master were able to surface and make it back to the boat, Lapitan said.Shark attacks in the waters around the Philippines are exceedingly rare, with none recorded in at least a year, according to a global database.

More than 40 construction workers were missing after an avalanche in India’s Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Friday following heavy snowfall, officials said.Rescue teams dug for hours through heavy snow, Ridhim Agarwal of the state disaster relief force said in a statement, adding: “So far, 15 workers are safe while 42 are missing.”The avalanche hit a construction camp in Chamoli district, burying the workers under snow and debris. As soon as the weather conditions improve, high-altitude rescue teams will be deployed by helicopter to the scene, she added.Deepam Seth, the state’s top police officer, said the bad weather was hampering the rescue operations.”It has been snowing with strong winds… The roads are completely blocked. We have deployed snow cutters to open the road,” he told broadcaster NDTV.Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was “saddened” by the incident and was monitoring the rescue operations.Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season.Scientists have shown that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.The increased pace of development in the fragile Himalayan regions has also heightened fears about the fallout from deforestation and construction.In 2021, nearly 100 people died in Uttarakhand after a huge glacier chunk fell into a river, triggering flash floods.And devastating monsoon floods and landslides in 2013 killed 6,000 people and led to calls for a review of development projects in the state.

A suicide attack at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan known as the “University of Jihad” — where key Taliban leaders have studied — killed four people on Friday, police said. Among those who died was Hamid ul Haq Haqqani, the head of the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania school, in Akora Khattak, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of Peshawar.”Initial reports suggest the blast occurred after Friday prayers as people were gathering to greet Hamid ul Haq. It appears to be a suicide attack,” Abdul Rasheed, the district police chief, told AFP, adding that four people were killed and 13 wounded in the blast.Rasheed said that Haqqani, the head of a local rightwing Islamist party, appeared to be the target of the bomber.He was the son of Sami ul Haq Haqqani, who was assassinated in 2018 and known as the “father of the Taliban” for teaching the insurgent group’s founder Mullah Omar at the same religious school.The explosion happened as people gathered for weekly Friday prayers, the most important day of the week.The sprawling campus in Pakistan’s Akora Khattak is home to roughly 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free.It became known as the “University of Jihad” for its fiery ideology and the number of Taliban fighters it has produced.Omar, who led an insurgency against the United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan before his death in 2013, graduated from the school along with Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the feared Haqqani network which took its name from the school. The Haqqani network is responsible for some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan.Jalaluddin Haqqani was the father of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, himself also a student of the school.Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman for the interior ministry in Kabul, said the government “strongly condemn the attack” and blamed it on the jihadist Islamic State group. IS, a rival of the Taliban movement but with which it shares a similar hardline Islamic ideology, has been responsible for several attacks against the Taliban government since it retook power in 2021.No group has yet claimed the bombing. – Incubators for militancy -The school has sat at the crossroads of regional militant violence for years, educating many Pakistanis and Afghan refugees — some of whom returned home to wage war against the Russians and Americans or preach jihad.For decades, Pakistani madrassas have served as incubators for militancy, indoctrinating tens of thousands of refugees who have few other options for education than the fire-breathing lectures from hardline clerics. Rather than crack down on the institutions, successive governments in Islamabad — which rely on the support of Islamist parties in coalition governments — have largely given the madrassas a free hand.The Taliban surged back to power in Kabul in August 2021 after foreign forces withdrew and the former government collapsed. Militancy has since rebounded in the border regions with Afghanistan.Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies.Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.

The United States issued a security alert to its citizens in Thailand on Friday, warning of the possible risk of reprisal attacks after the kingdom deported dozens of Uyghurs to China.The Thai government has suffered intense criticism from around the world for its decision to hand over at least 40 Uyghurs, who were flown by special plane to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region on Thursday.Beijing is accused of committing human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including the incarceration of around one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. It denies the allegations.The bulletin from the US embassy in Bangkok noted that the last deportation of Uyghurs from Thailand in 2015 was followed by a bomb attack on a shrine in the Thai capital that killed at least 20 people.US citizens should “exercise increased caution and vigilance, especially in crowded locations frequented by tourists due to the potential for increased collateral risk”, the warning said.”Similar deportations have prompted violent retaliatory attacks in the past,” it added.The Uyghurs had spent years languishing in Thai detention facilities after fleeing China more than a decade ago.Thailand, which forcibly deported 109 Uyghurs to China in 2015, had repeatedly denied the existence of plans for a new round of deportations.But rights groups warned in recent weeks that Bangkok was preparing to deport a group of 48, and early on Thursday they were put onto a flight to Kashgar.The exact number returned is not clear. China said 40, the US embassy statement said 45 and rights groups have given a figure of 48.- Condemnation -US Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed Thailand — a longstanding ally — on Thursday “in the strongest possible terms”.Germany, Britain, the United Nations and the European Union all joined the international chorus of disapproval.But Thailand has defended its decision, saying China assured that the Uyghurs would be well treated.Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who recently held talks in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, insisted the Uyghurs’ return was not part of any trade bargain.”There have been no trade talks related to the repatriation of Uyghurs at all. There are none. These issues are unrelated,” she told reporters on Friday.”I had confidence that once they were returned, China would take good care of this group of people.”Rights groups and Uyghurs overseas allege that China has detained more than a million Muslims, mostly Uyghurs, in a network of facilities in Xinjiang that are rife with violence, torture, forced labour, political indoctrination and other abuses.China vehemently denies the accusations, saying its policies in Xinjiang have eradicated extremism and boosted development, and that the facilities were voluntarily attended training centres that closed years ago after attendees “graduated”.