The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Environment to appoint  M. M. D. J. Senarathne, who is the senior most officer in Grade I of Sri Lanka Scientific Service se

Harmanpreet Kaur, who led India to their first women’s global title at last year’s ODI World Cup, has stepped down as captain from all three international formats. She announced her decision via an Instagram post on Tuesday morning. Having given up the captaincy and left the team in a “good place”, she has said she’s now “ready to play for the love of the game again”.

Harmanpreet, 37, led India in five Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is. Her last act as captain was leading India to their second successive Asian Games gold medal, in Nisshin last month.

The decision came a day after Harmanpreet, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Amol Muzumdar met BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia in Guwahati to discuss the roadmap of the women’s team going forward.

“This is not an easy decision,” Harmanpreet wrote. “It carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women’s cricket – my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first.

“As a captain, I have had to make difficult decisions. Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost. But every decision I made was with one intention – to make this TEAM better and to give other players the opportunity to grow, believe in themselves and become the best versions of themselves.”

Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under a mutual defence pact and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.

The decision was announced on Monday after the three countries’ defence and foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Riyadh. It marked the first time the alliance – known as the Mecca Alliance for Defence – has been invoked since it was signed on August 7.

The agreement declares that an attack on any of the three nations will be treated as an attack on all, mirroring a central provision of NATO’s founding treaty.

“The committee agreed to activate collective deterrence measures, within the framework of the Alliance, in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them,” Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, said in a social media post.

He said the alliance had “reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries, in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom, and holy sites”.

A separate joint statement published by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the three countries would “provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment” to Saudi Arabia.

The commitments, the joint statement said, would be carried out under “approved arrangements” and in accordance with each country’s laws.

The announcements came hours after forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government launched a counteroffensive to retake territory the Iran-aligned Houthis captured last month. The Yemeni forces, who are backed by Saudi Arabia, said they have retaken the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea and are now in control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed its participation in the Yemeni government offensive, saying 100 of its fighter jets are providing air support.

The Houthis, meanwhile, claimed an attack on the King Khalid International airport in Riyadh and the Aramco refinery in coastal Rabigh.

The group also said it hit a series of sites, including an airport, an airbase and other critical locations.

There was no confirmation from Riyadh on the Houthi claim.

The Mecca Defence Alliance emerged as a response to intensifying conflicts in the region, triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

The defence pact was signed in August, shortly before the Houthis launched their offensive in Yemen, which has included attacks against Saudi targets.

The three members of the alliance combined have nearly  1.4 million active troops, about 3,400 military aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets, according to the 2026 Global Firepower Index.

The agreement initially offered few details about each country’s military obligations, though steps to formalise the alliance followed.

After the Houthis fired a barrage of missiles towards Saudi Arabia in early September, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said an attack on the kingdom could set the pact in motion.

“If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” Asif told Geo News, a Pakistani outlet.

Until Monday, however, the alliance had taken no action. Analysts had said that Pakistan and Turkiye were reluctant to abandon their roles as mediators in the US-Israel war on Iran.

Abdulaziz Alghashian, a senior non-resident fellow at the Gulf International Forum, said the decision to activate the Mecca defence pact will have a major impact on security in the region.

“The Houthi attacks and provocations in recent weeks and months really hastened the Mecca alliance, inspired it, even,” Alghashian told Al Jazeera. They “helped” push forward its structure, he said.

Alghashian said the episode also offered a glimpse of a regional security architecture taking shape.

“A lot of the times we keep talking about regional security architecture, it’s one of these very fancy words,” he said. “A lot of the times, it’s hollow, and not many people know what it means in detail. But I think now, we’re beginning to see how this is fleshed out. It’s a critical juncture in the history of the region.”

[Aljazeera]