INDIA’S Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Pakistan today (24) accusing it of “exporting terrorists” after a deadly attack on an army base that New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
Modi’s comments were the latest in a war of words between the neighbours over escalating tensions in Kashmir, where 18 Indian soldiers were killed last week in the worst attack in the region for over a decade.
“This is the only country that is exporting terrorism in all corners,” Modi said, without directly naming Pakistan, in his first public comments since the attack.
“Wherever there is news of terror, there is news that either the terrorist first went to this country or later, after the incident, like Osama Bin Laden,” he said addressing a rally in Kerala.
Addressing the Pakistani people directly, he added: “We both gained independence in the same year but (today) India exports software and your leaders export terrorists.”
India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and sending rebels across the heavily militarised border that divides Kashmir between the two countries, to launch attacks on its forces. Islamabad denies the claims.
The Indian army has blamed the latest attack on Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which was also implicated in an audacious attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab in January that left seven soldiers dead.
That attack dashed hopes of a revival of peace talks, which have been on ice ever since.
Last Wednesday (21), Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the UN General Assembly that Pakistan wanted peace but New Delhi was an obstacle to talks.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full and have fought two wars over the region.
Last Sunday (18), Modi seemed to appeal for calm among some of his supporters who have called for a muscular response against Pakistan in the wake of the latest attack.
“India is ready for a war, but let us fight a war on poverty, unemployment and let’s see who wins first, India or Pakistan,” he said.
He also noted that the army had foiled 17 infiltration attempts across the border, killing 110 “fidayeen (suicide) terrorists” in the last few months.
Modi warned Islamabad that India would continue to push to make Pakistan a pariah state in the eyes of the international community.
“We will intensify it (our efforts) and force you to be alone all over the world,” he said.
Police officers stand guard during a mass demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, October 4, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)
PRO-PALESTINIAN protests were held across the UK on Saturday despite a call from prime minister Keir Starmer to cancel them, two days after a deadly car-ramming and knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
Four people — two men and two women — remained in custody on suspicion of terrorism-related offences following Thursday’s attack. Police said an 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man who had been held earlier were released without further action.
Two people were killed and three others seriously injured in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The attack took place at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in north Manchester.
Police said they shot dead the assailant, 35-year-old UK citizen of Syrian descent Jihad Al-Shamie, within minutes of the alarm being raised.
The attack has caused concern within Britain’s Jewish community. Police said they were patrolling places of worship across Manchester “with a particular focus on providing a high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities”.
The Manchester synagogue attack was one of the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault in Israel. The Hamas attack killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
The conflict has led to frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in Britain, which some critics allege have fuelled antisemitism.
Around 1,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square in central London on Saturday to show support for the banned group Palestine Action, according to organisers Defend Our Juries.
A spokesperson said the group “stood in solidarity” with the Jewish community over the Manchester attack, adding, “Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.”
A smaller protest organised by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine drew about 100 people in Manchester.
Starmer’s appeal and arrests
Ahead of the demonstrations, Prime Minister Starmer urged protesters not to join the rallies.
“I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain,” he said on X.
Police said 488 people were arrested at the London protest “for supporting a proscribed organisation”. The oldest person arrested was 89.
Four people were detained for other offences. The Met Police said 297 remained in custody while the rest had been bailed.
Supporting the group has been a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 since the government banned it in early July. Hundreds of people have since been arrested at various demonstrations.
“I’m ready to be arrested,” a 21-year-old student who did not want to be named told AFP. “The ban of Palestine Action is undemocratic. It shouldn’t be a terrorist group, they haven’t killed anybody,” he said.
David Cannon, 73, chair of the Jewish Network for Palestine, said the demonstration was “totally separate” from what had happened in Manchester.
“There’s nothing Jewish about genocide, about apartheid, about ethnic cleansing,” he said.
Police shooting investigation
The UK police watchdog said it would investigate the police shooting of attacker Al-Shamie.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said its probe would also look into the deaths of two other people — one of whom died from a gunshot wound — and another person who was shot but survived.
The IOPC said there was no evidence anyone other than police officers had used firearms at the scene, suggesting both victims were accidentally shot by armed officers while they tackled Al-Shamie.
“Our independent investigation will look at circumstances surrounding the fatal police shooting of Jihad Al-Shamie,” the IOPC said. “A post mortem has today (Friday) concluded another man who died at the scene suffered a fatal gunshot wound.”
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Starmer and Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, on November 18, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
Keir Starmer to visit India on October 8-9 for first official trip as prime minister.
Starmer and Modi to review India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and roadmap ‘Vision 2035’.
Leaders to discuss trade, technology, defence, climate, and economic cooperation under CETA.
Visit follows Modi’s July 2025 UK trip where India and UK signed free trade agreement.
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will make his first official visit to India on October 8-9 at the invitation of prime minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday.
The MEA said that on October 9 in Mumbai, the two prime ministers will review progress in various areas of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with ‘Vision 2035’.
The 10-year roadmap focuses on key areas including trade and investment, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate and energy, health, education, and people-to-people relations.
Both leaders will also meet business and industry representatives to discuss opportunities under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), described by MEA as a central pillar of the future India-UK economic partnership. The ministry said Starmer and Modi “will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance.”
The two prime ministers will attend the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and deliver keynote addresses. They will also engage with industry experts, policymakers, and innovators.
The visit will build on the momentum generated by Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK on July 23-24, 2025, and will provide an opportunity to reaffirm the shared vision of India and the United Kingdom to build a forward-looking partnership, according to MEA.
Britain and India signed a free trade agreement in July during Modi’s visit to the UK.
The deal, signed in the presence of Modi and Starmer, aims to reduce tariffs on goods such as textiles, whisky, and cars, and expand market access for businesses.
The agreement was officially signed by India’s minister of commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, and the UK secretary of state for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds, India's Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying said in a release.
CETA provides zero-duty access on 99 per cent of tariff lines and opens up several key service sectors.
For the marine sector, the agreement removes import tariffs on a range of seafood products, enhancing the competitiveness of Indian exporters in the UK market.
The agreement is expected to benefit exports of shrimp, frozen fish, and value-added marine products, along with labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, and gems and jewellery.
India’s main seafood exports to the UK include Vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), frozen squid, lobsters, frozen pomfret, and black tiger shrimp. These products are expected to gain further market share under CETA’s duty-free access.
Under the agreement, all fish and fisheries commodities listed under the UK tariff schedule categories marked ‘A’ now enjoy 100 per cent duty-free access from the date the agreement comes into force.
(With inputs from agencies)
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The probability of paid employment was significantly reduced for five years after the birth of a first child (Photo for representation: iStock)
WOMEN in England experience a sharp and long-term fall in earnings and employment following motherhood, with the biggest drop occurring after the birth of a first child, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The study published on Friday (3) tracked changes in monthly pay and the likelihood of being in paid work before and after childbirth from April 2014 to December 2022.
It found that five years after having their first child, women’s average monthly earnings were 42 per cent lower – around £1,051 less – compared with the year before birth. Over a five-year period, this loss amounted to an average of £65,618.
The pattern was similar but smaller for subsequent children. After a second child, mothers saw an average total loss of £26,317 over five years, while after a third child, the loss reached £32,456.
These figures are based on average monthly pay and include women who were both in and out of employment during the analysis period. The drop in earnings was also mirrored in reduced chances of being in paid work.
For mothers after their first child, the likelihood of employment fell by as much as 15 per cent one and a half years after birth, and remained 11.2 per cent lower than pre-birth levels five years later. For the second and third births, the maximum drop in employment probability was 10.5 per cent, around two years after the second birth and two and a half years after the third – with reductions of 5.7 and 7.8 per cent still evident after five years.
The biggest earnings fall came in the first year after childbirth, a period when many women take parental leave. In this first year, monthly pay fell by £1,553 after a first birth, £965 after a second, and £665 after a third, compared with the year before.
Once the initial year had passed, earnings tended to stabilise, but at a lower level than before childbirth. For first births, the post-leave earnings reduction ranged between £948 and £1,051 per month in the period from one to five years afterwards, equal to a relative monthly loss of between 37.9 per cent and 42 per cent.
After the second birth, monthly losses averaged £348, or 17.9 per cent, over the same period. For third births, the reduction widened over time, rising from £365 per month in the second year to £689 per month after five years, representing losses equivalent to 19 to 35.8 per cent.
The study also looked at profits for those who remained in paid employment. It showed these women still faced consistent losses, indicating that the earnings gap was not only a result of leaving work but also reflected lower pay among those who stayed.
All findings are based on data from women aged 18 to 60 who gave birth between 2014 and 2022 and were residents in England.
The ONS said the results may not fully reflect patterns for more recent births due to changing economic and policy conditions, and the data do not distinguish between reduced hours, non-regular pay, or maternity pay.
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Britain's prime minister Keir Starmer (R) and India's prime minister Narendra Modi (L) speak as they walk in the gardens of Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, on July 24, 2025. (Photo by KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A RESEARCH partnership between Imperial College London and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay is in the spotlight ahead of British prime minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Mumbai next week.
The project aims to use quantum computing and biotechnology to help farmers grow stronger, more climate-resilient crops.
According to a statement, it builds on quantum computing as a central component of the India–UK Technology Security Initiative (TSI), which seeks to cultivate healthier soil microbes and develop innovative strategies to protect crops in arid and climate-vulnerable regions.
Imperial College London’s President, Professor Hugh Brady, will be part of the prime ministerial delegation on Starmer’s first official visit to India as UK prime minister.
While further collaborations between Imperial and Indian institutions are anticipated, a team led by Dr Po-Heng (Henry) Lee of Imperial and Dr Indrajit Chakraborty of IIT Bombay is already leveraging quantum computing to model the complex interactions between plants and soil bacteria.
“This collaboration brings together IIT Bombay’s expertise in microbial ecology and genomics with Imperial’s strengths in bioinformatics and quantum computing simulation,” said Dr Lee. “The project paves the way for quantum technologies to address urgent challenges in global food security and climate resilience.”
By understanding how plants and beneficial bacteria communicate, researchers hope to enhance natural processes that make crops grow more robustly and withstand drought and extreme weather.
Traditional computing cannot fully capture the intricacy of these interactions, but quantum simulations of gene regulation and microbial signalling could lead to new ways of improving soil health and crop yields, particularly in dry regions.
“Through our shared expertise, we are opening new frontiers in sustainable agriculture. This partnership not only deepens our knowledge of plant–microbe interactions but also exemplifies how international collaboration can drive innovative solutions to the climate challenges faced by communities worldwide,” said Dr Chakraborty.
The research centres on a plant compound called strigolactone, which acts as a messenger enabling plants and bacteria to share information. Scientists are also studying the benefits of biochar – a charcoal-like soil additive – in strengthening these symbiotic relationships.
Experimental work at IIT Bombay is exploring how synthetic strigolactones affect plant growth and microbial behaviour, while Imperial’s team is developing quantum circuit models to simulate microbial communication.
The project is funded by the India Connect Fund, a key initiative under Imperial’s new Bengaluru-based science hub, Imperial Global India. The fund supports up to 25 joint research projects annually between Imperial and Indian institutions in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum science, biotechnology, and clean energy.
Imperial College London, ranked second globally, established its Bengaluru hub to further strengthen scientific and innovation partnerships between the UK and India.
(PTI)
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A person crouches next to floral tributes left near the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur, in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A MAN who launched a car-ramming and stabbing attack on a British synagogue on Yom Kippur may have been inspired by Islamist extremism, police said, as emotions ran high after the atrocity.
In Thursday's (2) attack two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed after a British man of Syrian descent drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing people outside Manchester's Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
But police said one of the dead may have been inadvertently shot by armed officers. One of the wounded was also shot in the emergency response. The suspect, Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, who was wearing a fake explosives vest, was also killed by police.
In a statement on Friday (3) evening, Greater Manchester Police head of counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said Shamie did not appear to have been on their radar but had been arrested and bailed previously on suspicion of rape.
"At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology," he added. "Establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time."
Six people -- three men and three women -- have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism-linked offences, police said.
Thursday's attack was one of the worst antisemitic attacks to happen in Europe since the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which sparked the war in Gaza.
That conflict has inflamed passions in Britain, with frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in cities criticised by some for stoking antisemitism and fear in Jewish communities.
The police admission that their officers shot two came as deputy prime minister David Lammy was booed at a vigil for the victims.
People could be heard chanting "shame on you" as Lammy was introduced.
"This was a dreadful attack, a terrorist attack to inflict fear, attacking Jews because they are Jews," prime minister Keir Starmer told a group of emergency responders in the city in northwest England.
GMP chief constable Stephen Watson said earlier that an interior ministry pathologist had "provisionally determined that one of the deceased victims would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury".
Noting the attacker was not believed to have had a gun, and that "the only shots fired were from... authorised firearms officers", Watson said the injury "may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence" of officers responding to the attack.
He added that the condition of the victim who was wounded by gunshot was not life-threatening.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog said it is investigating "a fatal police shooting" to establish what had happened.
Watson said both gunshot victims "were close together behind the synagogue door, as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry".
The targeted synagogue's leaders said Friday "it is hard to find the words to convey the depth of our community's grief".
Their statement added "the greatest tribute" to the victims "would be for communities right across the country to come together in peace and solidarity, to challenge the evil of antisemitism".
Daulby's family described him as a "hero" whose courage "prevented the attacker from gaining access to the premises".
Manchester United football club was to hold a minute's silence in honour of the victims at a game on Saturday.
A "global movement for Gaza UK" protest went ahead in London late Thursday, with police making 40 arrests.
London's Metropolitan Police requested organisers delay another planned demonstration backing the banned Palestine Action group on Saturday, but have so far been rebuffed.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said Thursday's rallies were "dishonourable" and criticised the weekend plans.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Friday echoed criticism of the UK government, saying on LBC radio it appeared to tolerate "this very brutal, aggressive and violent behaviour on the streets".
Ahead of visiting Manchester on Friday, Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the attack was the "tragic result of Jew hatred".
"For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere," he said on X.