Top news: British Exchequer Chancellor George Osborne has announced the British government's most severe cuts to public spending cuts since World War II as part of an austerity push to reduce the country's hundreds of billions in deficits. Prime Minister David Cameron's government has ordered more than $130 billion in cuts over the next five years. As many as 500,000 public sector jobs will be lost and the state pension age will be raised to 66 four years earlier than planned. 

Departments will face an average 19 percent budget cut under the plan. One of the hardest hit will be the foreign office, which will face a 24 percent cut, likely leading to the firing of hundreds of London-based diplomats. 

The announcement comes a day after the Ministry of Defense learned its fate -- an 8 percent budget cut. This is less than other departments but will force the British military to sharply reduce troop levels and scrap several developmental aircraft programs. 

The Labour Party had also been planning serious cuts, but maintains that Cameron's measures are too severe. Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused the government of taking an "irresponsible gamble with our economy and, indeed, many of the frontline services people rely on."

Defending the plan, Osborne said, "It is a hard road, but it leads to a better future."

Afghan election: Nearly 1 in 4 ballots from last month's Afghan parliamentary election have been declared invalid.