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A prominent US scholar of India who was arrested after allegations of retaining classified documents and meeting Chinese officials is denying the charges against him, his lawyers said Wednesday.Ashley Tellis, 64, who held senior positions under former president George W. Bush and remained an unpaid advisor to the State Department, was arrested Saturday and faces up to 10 years in prison.”Ashley J. Tellis is a widely respected scholar and senior policy advisor,” his lawyers, Deborah Curtis and John Nassikas, said in a statement.”We will be vigorously contesting the allegations brought against him, specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary,” they said.A criminal affidavit made public Tuesday said that Tellis went into the State Department late on September 25 and appeared to print from a secret document on US Air Force techniques.It alleged that Tellis met repeatedly with Chinese officials at a restaurant in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Virginia, and that at one dinner he appeared to leave a manila envelope.The charges announced by the Justice Department relate to improper handling of documents rather than the meetings, with an FBI special agent saying a search found more than 1,000 pages of top-secret or secret documents in his house.Tellis has been a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading Washington think tank, which said Wednesday that he has been put on administrative leave.Tellis, a naturalized American originally from India, helped negotiate the Bush administration’s civil nuclear cooperation deal with India, a landmark step to closer relations between the world’s two largest democracies.But Tellis in recent years has emerged as a leading contrarian in Washington about India, saying that New Delhi’s interests were not aligned on a host of issues including Ukraine.

A 48-hour ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan took hold late Wednesday, officials on both sides said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in fresh cross-border skirmishes earlier in the day.The truce began at 6:00 pm Islamabad time (1300 GMT), shortly after being announced by both countries, each asserting the other had requested it to end the surge in violence.According to Pakistan, the ceasefire was expected to last 48 hours.”During this period, both sides will sincerely strive to find a positive solution to this complex but resolvable issue through constructive dialogue,” the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.In Kabul, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it had ordered the Afghan army to respect the truce, “unless it is violated” by the opposing side, a spokesman said on X.The temporary ceasefire followed a week of violence between the two neighbours.The Taliban had launched an offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.With both countries on edge, plumes of black smoke were seen rising above Kabul after two blasts Wednesday evening, AFP reporters said.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said an oil tanker and a generator had exploded, sparking fires, although he did not explicitly link the blasts to the clashes with Pakistan.At least five people were killed and 35 wounded in Wednesday explosions in Kabul, an Italian NGO which runs a hospital in the Afghan capital said, before the truce entered into effect.”We started receiving ambulances filled with wounded people, and we learned that there had been explosions a few kilometres away from our hospital,” Dejan Panic, EMERGENCY’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.Ambulances raced through Kabul where shattered glass from damaged buildings littered the streets, AFP saw. Taliban forces also cordoned off some city streets.- Surge in attacks -Pakistan’s military earlier accused the Afghan Taliban of attacking two major border posts in the southwest and northwest.It said both assaults were repelled, with about 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched early Wednesday near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the frontier in southern Kandahar province.”Unfortunately the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civil population,” the military said in a statement.It also said about 30 more people were thought to have been killed in overnight clashes along Pakistan’s northwest border.The Afghan Taliban said 15 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes near Spin Boldak and that “two to three” of its fighters were also killed.Taliban spokesman Mujahid said in an earlier statement that 100 civilians were also wounded around Spin Boldak, adding that calm had returned after Pakistani soldiers were killed and weapons seized.Pakistan’s military said these were “outrageous and blatant lies”.Pakistan did not give a toll for its losses in the latest clashes but said last week 23 of its troops had been killed in the opening skirmishes.Sadiq, a resident of Spin Boldak who gave only his first name, said fighting broke out just before dawn.”Houses were fired upon, including my cousin’s. His son and wife were killed, and four of his children were wounded,” he told AFP.All businesses in the area were closed and many residents have fled.In Chaman on the Pakistani side of the border, one resident described the pre-dawn clashes as “total chaos”.”Our children and women were terrified and began screaming,” Raaz Muhammad, 51, said by phone.In a separate incident, a senior security official in Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest said seven frontier troops died in an attack on a checkpoint.The relatively new Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen armed group claimed responsibility.The Taliban government said it had launched the offensive in “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul”.Islamabad then vowed a forceful response Sunday, and dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.In Khost province, Afghan journalist Abdul Ghafoor Abid with state-run television RTA was killed Sunday by Pakistani fire while covering the cross-border fighting, a Taliban official said.

The Indian city of Ahmedabad is in prime position to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, the Executive Board of Commonwealth Sport announced on Wednesday.The choice of Ahmedabad, also known as Amdavad, will be put forward to the full Commonwealth Sport membership, with a final decision to be taken at the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow on November 26.”The Executive Board of Commonwealth Sport has today confirmed that it will recommend Amdavad, India, as the proposed host city for the 2030 Centenary Commonwealth Games,” the Executive Board said in a statement.Ahmedabad is the key city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, home to a 130,000-seater arena which is the world’s biggest cricket stadium. The venue is named after the premier.India has its eyes on a bigger prize, having submitted a formal letter of intent last year to the International Olympic Committee to host the 2036 Summer Olympics.Ahmedabad got the nod over the Nigerian capital Abuja.India’s Home Minister Amit Shah described the announcement as “a day of immense joy and pride for India”.”Heartiest congratulations to every citizen of India on Commonwealth Association’s approval of India’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games 2030 in Ahmedabad.”  The future existence of the Commonwealth Games was in doubt last year when the movement struggled to find a replacement host for 2026 after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew for cost reasons.The Scottish city of Glasgow stepped in and will stage a slimmed-down version of the multi-sport format, meaning Britain will have hosted two editions in a row, after Birmingham in 2022.The 2030 Games will mark the centenary of the inaugural event held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930. 

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali was South Africa’s chief tormentor as Pakistan won a gripping first Test by 93 runs in Lahore on Wednesday.Set a daunting 277-run target for victory, the visitors and World Test champions were bowled out for 183 in the afternoon session on day four.Man of the match Noman finished with 4-79 and 10-191 in the match for his third haul of ten wickets or more in Tests.With the weary Gaddafi Stadium pitch taking sharp turn and low bounce, the 39-year-old exploited the conditions well despite a stubborn 73-run stand between Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton in the morning. In all, spinners from both sides took 34 wickets, with just six going to fast bowlers.South African left-armer Senuran Muthusamy took 11-174 in the match.Pakistan made 378 in their first innings, with South Africa scoring 269 in reply.On a deteriorating surface, the hosts collapsed in their second-innings 167 but it proved enough.”We won the Test match and it’s gone exactly to plan,” said Shan Masood, who now has four wins in 13 Tests as captain, with nine losses.On Wednesday, with the tourists 137-6 at lunch the writing was very much on the wall, then Sajid Khan dismissed Muthusamy for six soon after the break.Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Kyle Verreynne (19), Prenelan Subrayen (eight) and Kagiso Rabada (nought) to finish with 4-33.The victory gives Pakistan an ideal start to the World Test Championship (WTC), having come last in the previous edition.The second and final Test starts in Rawalpindi from Monday.”The spinners came into play, reverse swing helped the bowlers do their job today and the batters did well enough, but we still have a lot of challenges in the middle order,” said Masood.”We lost 11-37 over the course of two innings, which is not good, we must overcome that.”- South Africa proud in defeat -The defeat broke South Africa’s sequence of ten straight Test wins, culminating in the WTC title in June this year when they beat Australia at Lord’s.Skipper Aiden Markram said the first-innings deficit of 109 was crucial. “They (Pakistan) had a really good partnership in the first innings when we had them five wickets down,” he said Markram of a Mohammad Rizwan-Salman Agha stand of 163 runs for the sixth wicket.”We probably could have scored a few more runs in the first innings but I am proud of the way we fought.”But we need to clean up our game and come back better in the next match.”Brevis took the fight to the Pakistan spinners in the morning and had reached an aggressive career-best 54, with six fours and two sixes, when Noman bowled him with a sharply turning delivery.Pakistan had struck in the first over of the day through fast bowler Shaheen, who trapped Tony de Zorzi for 16 without any addition to the overnight total of 51-2.Tristan Stubbs struggled to cope with the sharp turn and was on two when a premeditated reverse sweep off Noman safely landed in Salman Agha’s hands.Brevis reached his second Test half-century with a six off Noman before becoming the spinner’s fourth victim.Opener Rickleton’s dogged resistance was broken by Sajid just before lunch for a gritty 45.

Dozens of troops and civilians were killed in a fresh round of border skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, as clashes entered their second week.Violence between the two neighbours has flared since explosions in Afghanistan last week, including two in the capital Kabul, that were blamed on Pakistan.The Taliban government in Kabul launched an offensive along parts of its southern border in retaliation, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Pakistani Taliban Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.In the latest violence, Pakistan’s military accused the Afghan Taliban of attacking two major border posts in the southwest and northwest.It said both assaults were repelled, with about 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the frontier in southern Kandahar province early on Wednesday.”Unfortunately the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civil population,” the military said in a statement.It also said about 30 more were thought to have been killed in overnight clashes along Pakistan’s northwest border.The Afghan Taliban said 15 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes near Spin Boldak and that “two to three” of its fighters were also killed.Ali Mohammad Haqmal, an Afghan spokesman for the information department in the Spin Boldak region, said civilians were killed by mortar fire.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistani forces of “once again” carrying out attacks “with light and heavy weapons” in the district.Mujahid said in a statement that 100 civilians were also wounded, adding that calm had returned to the area after Pakistani soldiers were killed and posts and weapons seized.The Pakistan military said these were “outrageous and blatant lies”.Pakistan did not give a toll for its losses in the latest clashes but said last week 23 of its troops had been killed in the opening skirmishes.- Surge in attacks -Sadiq, a resident of Spin Boldak who gave only his first name, said fighting broke out at around 4:00 am (2330 GMT Tuesday).”Houses were fired upon, including my cousin’s. His son and wife were killed, and four of his children were wounded,” he told AFP.All businesses in the area were closed and many residents have fled, an AFP correspondent reported.In Chaman on the Pakistani side of the border, one resident described the pre-dawn clashes as “total chaos”.”Our children and women were terrified and began screaming… we had no idea what was happening,” Raaz Muhammad, 51, told AFP by phone.In a separate incident to the border clashes, a senior security official in Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwha province said seven frontier troops had been killed in an attack on a checkpoint.The relatively new Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen armed group claimed responsibility for the attack.Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament last week that several attempts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop supporting the TTP had failed.Islamabad accuses the TTP — which was combat-trained in Afghanistan and claims to share the ideology of the Taliban there — of killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.Last week’s explosions in Afghanistan took place while the Taliban’s top diplomat was making an unprecedented visit to Pakistan’s arch-rival India. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.Clashes erupted on Saturday evening when Kabul launched an operation in at least five provinces along the border.The Taliban government said it attacked Pakistani security forces in “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul”.Islamabad then vowed a forceful response on Sunday, and dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.str-ash-mak-la-zz/pbt

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali was South Africa’s chief tormentor as Pakistan won a gripping first Test by 93 runs in Lahore on Wednesday.Set a daunting 277-run target for victory, the visitors and World Test champions were bowled out for 183 on day four.Man of the match Noman finished with 4-79 and 10-191 in the match for his third haul of ten wickets or more in Tests.With the weary Gaddafi Stadium pitch taking sharp turn and low bounce, the 39-year-old Noman exploited the conditions well despite a stubborn 73-run stand between Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton in the morning. In all, spinners from both sides took 34 wickets, with just six going to fast bowlers.South African left-armer Senuran Muthusamy took 11-174 in the match.Pakistan made 378 in their first innings, with South Africa scoring 269 in reply.On a deteriorating surface, the hosts collapsed in their second-innings 167 but it proved enough.On Wednesday, with the tourists 137-6 at lunch the writing was very much on the wall, then Sajid Khan dismissed Muthusamy for six soon after the break.Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Kyle Verreynne (19), Prenelan Subrayen (eight) and Kagiso Rabada (nought) to finish with 4-33.The victory gives Pakistan an ideal start to the World Test Championship, having come last in the previous edition.The second and final Test starts in Rawalpindi from Monday.In the morning, Brevis took the fight to the Pakistan spinners and had reached an aggressive career-best 54, with six fours and two sixes, when Noman bowled him with a sharply turning delivery.Opener Rickleton’s dogged resistance was broken by Sajid just before lunch for a gritty 45.Pakistan struck in the first over of the day through fast bowler Shaheen, who trapped Tony de Zorzi for 16 without any addition to the overnight total of 51-2.Tristan Stubbs struggled to cope with the sharp turn and was on two when a premeditated reverse sweep off Noman safely landed in Salman Agha’s hands.Brevis reached his second Test half-century with a six off Noman before becoming the spinner’s fourth victim.

India’s top court on Wednesday permitted the use of some firecrackers in New Delhi during the Diwali festival, easing a blanket ban even as the capital battles unhealthy winter air pollution.The Supreme Court said the controlled use of the less-polluting “green firecrackers” — developed by federal research institutes to reduce particulate and gas emission — would be allowed for limited periods between Saturday and Tuesday.During Diwali, a major Hindu festival of lights, widespread bursting of firecrackers adds to the already high pollution levels in Delhi.The city, home to some 30 million people, routinely ranks among the world’s most polluted capitals, with thick smog shrouding the city each winter.During the peak pollution period, concentrations of PM2.5 — tiny airborne particles that penetrate deep into the lungs — regularly surge to more than 60 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit.A ban on the use of firecrackers during Diwali has been widely ignored in past years.In an effort to balance cultural celebrations with urgent environmental concerns, the court said only licensed manufacturers can produce certified “green” crackers.Sales will be limited to designated outlets, with each product bearing a QR code listing its chemical contents.Online sales remain banned.Police have been instructed to form patrol teams to ensure compliance and take action against violators, while pollution control agencies have been ordered to monitor and report air quality levels during the festive period.Environmental activists have in the past expressed strong scepticism about the actual efficacy of less-polluting crackers, arguing that they still pose significant risks to public health and the environment.On Wednesday, harmful PM 2.5 particles surged to 75 on the air quality index, three times the WHO’s daily recommended maximum exposure, according to international monitoring company IQAir.

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali broke a stubborn 73-run stand between Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton to push Pakistan four wickets from victory on day four of the first Test against South Africa in Lahore on Wednesday.Brevis was taking the fight to the Pakistan spinners and had reached an aggressive career-best 54, with six fours and two sixes, when Noman bowled him with a sharply turning delivery.After opener Rickleton’s dogged resistance was broken by spinner Sajid Khan just before lunch for a gritty 45, South Africa reached the break teetering at 137-6, still needing 140 more runs for victory.Kyle Verreynne and Senuran Muthusamy were both on three not out. Noman had figures of 4-69.Pakistan struck in the first over of the day through fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi who trapped Tony de Zorzi for 16 without any addition to the overnight total of 51-2.Tristan Stubbs struggled to cope with the sharp turn and was on two when a premeditated reverse sweep off Noman safely landed in Salman Agha’s hands.Brevis reached his second Test half-century with a six off Noman before becoming the spinner’s fourth victim.

India’s wild elephant population estimates have dropped sharply by a quarter, a government survey incorporating a new DNA system has found, marking the most accurate but sobering count yet.India is home to the majority of the world’s remaining wild Asian elephants, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and increasingly threatened by shrinking habitat.The Wildlife Institute of India’s new All-India Elephant Estimation report released this week puts the wild elephant population at 22,446 — down from nearly 29,964 estimated in 2017, a fall of 25 percent.The survey drew on genetic analysis of more than 21,000 dung samples, alongside a vast network of camera traps and 667,000 kilometres (414,400 miles) of foot surveys.But researchers said the methodological overhaul meant the results were “not comparable to past figures and may be treated as a new monitoring baseline”.- ‘Gentle giants’ -But the report also warned that the figures reflect deepening pressures on one of India’s most iconic animals.”The present distribution of elephants in India represents a mere fraction of their historical range,” it said, estimating they now occupy only about 3.5 percent of the area they once roamed.Habitat loss, fragmentation, and increasing human-elephant conflict are driving the decline.”Electrocution and railway collisions cause a significant number of elephant fatalities, while mining and highway construction disrupt habitats, intensifying man-wildlife conflicts,” the report added.The Western Ghats, lush southern highlands stretching through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, remain a key stronghold with nearly 12,00 elephants.But even there, populations are increasingly cut off from one another by commercial plantations, farmland fencing, and human encroachment.Another major population centre lies in India’s northeast, including Assam and the Brahmaputra floodplains, which host more than 6,500 elephants.”Strengthening corridors and connectivity, restoring habitat, improving protection, and mitigating the impact of development projects are the need of the hour to ensure the well-being of these gentle giants,” the report said.

A well-known US scholar on India who advised the US government was charged with retaining classified information and allegedly met Chinese officials, prosecutors said Tuesday.Ashley Tellis, 64, who has worked in or advised the US government for more than two decades, was found to have kept more than 1,000 pages of top-secret or secret documents in his home, a criminal affidavit said.Late in the evening of September 25, Tellis entered the State Department, where he served as an unpaid advisor, and appeared to print from a secret document on US Air Force techniques, the affidavit said.It said Tellis met multiple times with Chinese government officials at a restaurant in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Virginia. At one dinner, Tellis entered with a manila envelope but did not appear to leave with it, and on two occasions the Chinese officials presented him a gift bag, the affidavit said.Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the charges of unlawfully holding documents, the Justice Department said. “The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,” said Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for Virginia’s eastern district who has become known for pursuing charges against critics of President Donald Trump.The State Department confirmed that Tellis was arrested Saturday — the same day the affidavit said he was due to fly to Rome — but declined further comment due to the ongoing investigation.Tellis, a naturalized US citizen originally from India, is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served in senior positions under former president George W. Bush. He helped negotiate the Bush administration’s civil nuclear deal with India that was seen as a landmark in building ties between the world’s two largest democracies.But in recent years, Tellis has become known as one of the most outspoken contrarians in Washington on the US courtship of India.In a recent essay in Foreign Affairs, Tellis said India was often pursuing policies at odds with the United States, pointing to its relations with Russia and Iran, and doubted that India would match China’s strength anytime soon.Trump in August slapped major tariffs on India over its purchases of oil from Russia.Lawyers for Tellis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.