Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali both cashed in on some sloppy Pakistan fielding as they led an England recovery on the first day of the fourth Test at The Oval today.
     England were 200 for five at tea, having been 74 for four.
     Bairstow was 55 not out and Ali, dropped twice, 52 not out.
     England's sixth-wicket pair had so far added 90 -- still some way short of their match-turning stand of 152 in a 141-run win in the third Test at Edgbaston -- but significant all the same.
     Recalled paceman Wahab Riaz, who struck twice before lunch as England slumped to 74 for four, dismissed Gary Ballance for Pakistan's lone wicket of a session where England scored 108 runs in 26 overs.
     England, 2-1 up in the four-match series, saw  captain Alastair Cook bat first after winning the toss despite overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch offering the promise of assistance for Pakistan's seamers.
     Pakistan had an early breakthrough when Alex Hales (six) clipped Mohammad Amir off 

Bairstow and Ali punish Pakistan errors

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard at tea on the first day
of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval on today:
     England 1st Innings
     A Cook b Sohail Khan                   35
     A Hales c Yasir Shah b Mohammad Amir    6
     J Root c Sarfraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz    26
     J Vince c Sarfraz Ahmed b Wahab Riaz    1
     G Ballance c Azhar Ali b Wahab Riaz     8
     J Bairstow batting                     55
     M Ali batting                          52
     Extras (b8, lb2, nb7)                  17
     Total (5 wkts, 50 overs)              200
     Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-69, 3-73, 4-74, 5-110
     Bowling: Amir 12-0-52-1; Sohail 14-1-41-1; Riaz 15-0-59-3; Shah 7-0-26-0; Iftikhar 2-0-12-0.

London, Aug 11 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the first day

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said he cares more about the Palestinian people than their leaders do, in his first response to allegations of aid theft by Hamas.
	"I, the prime minister of Israel, care more about Palestinians than their own leaders do," Netanyahu said in a video posted online, which provoked outrage from the Palestinians.
	"Israel cares more about Palestinians than their own leaders do," he added.
	The Israeli leader said his comments were in response to allegations that the militant Islamic Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, stole aid from a major charity and the United Nations.
	An Israeli court on August 4 charged World Vision's Gaza head Mohammed al-Halabi with funding "terror," while a UN engineer was indicted Tuesday on allegations of working with Hamas's military wing.
	"Hamas, the terrorist organisation that runs Gaza, stole millions of dollars from humanitarian organisations like World Vision and the United Nations," said ...

Netanyahu: I care more about Palestinians than their leaders

Canadian police said they thwarted a "potential terrorist threat" after shooting dead an alleged Islamic State sympathizer said to have been armed with an explosive device.
	Media reports said 24-year-old Aaron Driver was shot to death last night during a police raid on a home in Strathroy, Ontario, 220 kilometres southwest of Toronto, where he lived with his sister.
	Driver's father confirmed that his son had been shot and killed, telling the National Post "the police did what they had to do. He would not surrender. I'm sure they gave him ample chances."
	"As sad and shocked as I am, it doesn't surprise me that it has come to this. Aaron was a good kid who went down a dark path and couldn't find the light again," the father, who was not named, was quoted as saying.
	A relative told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that police informed the family that he was shot dead after detonating an explosive device, injuring himself and one other person.
	They said they had to shoot Driver ...

Canada police shoot dead alleged IS sympathiser

European stock markets and Wall Street ventured back into positive territory today, buoyed by upbeat news from global retailers and other corporates.
	European stocks started the day mostly lower as the International Energy Agency (IEA) sent a stark reminder that the world economy is headed for Brexit-created uncertainty and therefore weaker oil demand.
	But investors took heart from the IEA's assertion that an oil production glut is still set to disappear by the end of the year, which prompted a bump in the oil price after earlier losses in Asia.
	This, in turn, boosted energy and commodities stocks, notably in London, where the FTSE 100 index reversed early losses to close 0.7 per cent higher.
	Paris even managed a gain of 1.2 per cent, while Frankfurt rose 0.9 per cent to close at a year-high.
	"European markets have been seeing unusual sessions these past few days," IG France analyst Alexandre Baradez said.
	"Volumes are low, and there are few economic data, but there's still a ...

World stock markets cheer retailers

Press Trust of India

Fresh fighting hit Syria's Aleppo today, the first day of a promised Russian aid window the UN said was insufficient to bring relief for the city's desperate residents.
	Even as Moscow pledged to pause strikes around the divided second city, it carried out raids further east on the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa that a monitor said killed 24 civilians.
	Russia was meanwhile offered the possibility of joint operations against IS by Turkey, which has backed rebel groups against President Bashar al-Assad.
	The offer came one day after crucial talks between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at ending a crisis in ties.
	A longtime ally of Damascus, Russia has provided air cover for pro-government forces for nearly a year, including in the escalating battle for Aleppo.
	The city has been rocked by a recent surge in violence, with residents on both sides of the front line living in fear of being trapped by renewed hostilities.
	The United ...

Clashes in Syria's Aleppo as Russia opens aid 'windows'

Members of the Kennedy family sternly rebuked Donald Trump today for joking about "the possibility of political assassination," joining the relatives of other slain or wounded US leaders in condemning recent rhetoric by the Republican presidential nominee.
	Trump alarmed many in the political world and beyond on Tuesday when he suggested that "Second Amendment people" -- those who support gun rights -- could act against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton or the justices she would appoint to the US Supreme Court if she were president.
	It was beyond the pale for the Kennedys, who wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that Trump's "dark and offensive rhetoric" should disqualify him from the presidency.
	"Political violence is the greatest of all civic sins," wrote William Kennedy Smith and Jean Kennedy Smith, nephew and sister of Democratic president John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and senator Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 as he campaigned for ...

Kennedys join Reagan, King relatives in scolding Trump

Germany today unveiled tough new anti-terror measures after two attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, including a controversial proposal to strip jihadist fighters of their German nationality.
	Deportations of convicted criminal migrants will also be sped up while police resources are to be greatly boosted under the security package drawn up by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
	"Germans who participate in fighting abroad for a terror militia and who have another citizenship should lose their German nationality," de Maiziere said.
	Around 820 people have left Germany to fight alongside jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, according to estimates by German secret services.
	With about one in three fighters having since returned to Germany, fears are running high of the threat they may pose on European soil.
	The security package must still be approved by the country's right-left coalition as well as in the German parliament, and the issue of taking away German citizenship could .

Germany mulls taking away citizenship from jihadists

Canadian police said they thwarted a "potential terrorist threat" after shooting dead an alleged Islamic State sympathizer said to have been armed with an explosive device.
	Media reports said 24-year-old Aaron Driver was shot to death last night during a police raid on a home in Strathroy, Ontario, 220 kilometers southwest of Toronto.
	A relative told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that police informed the family that he was shot dead after detonating an explosive device, injuring himself and one other person, whose condition was unclear.
	They told the family they had to shoot Driver because he had a second device which he was planning to detonate, CBC said.
	Broadcaster CTV, citing internal government documents, said the suspect allegedly had been planning to set off an explosive device in a packed public space in a major city.
	"Earlier today, the RCMP received credible information of a potential terrorist threat. A suspect was identified and the proper course of action has been .

Canada police thwart 'potential terror threat,' suspect killed

Pro-government forces today battled to clear the Islamic State group from its main Libyan stronghold of Sirte, after dealing a major blow to the jihadists by seizing their headquarters.
	IS fighters still control several areas of the Mediterranean city, whose capture in June last year sparked fears that the extremist group would use it as a springboard for attacks on Europe.
	The fall of Sirte would be a huge setback to the jihadists' efforts to expand their self-proclaimed "caliphate" beyond Syria and Iraq where they have also suffered a string of losses.
	Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government made a significant breakthrough yesterday in their nearly three-month-old offensive to retake the city, seizing a conference centre where IS had set up a base.
	"The battle for Sirte has reached its final phase, after the successful offensive by our heroes," a spokesman for the forces, General Mohamad Ghassri, said today in remarks carried by the LANA news agency.
	The rapid ...

Battle for IS bastion in Libya in 'final phase'

The EU today launched an investigation into the merger of US agri-chemicals giants Dow Chemical and DuPont to see if one of the world's largest tie-ups will reduce competition and harm customers.
	"The livelihood of farmers depends on access to seeds and crop protection at competitive prices. We need to make sure that the proposed merger does not lead to higher prices or less innovation for these products," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
	Dow Chemical and DuPont, two of the oldest US companies, announced the tie-up in December to create the world's biggest chemical and materials group valued at USD 130 billion.
	The European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union, said it had opened the "in-depth probe" to determine if the deal was in line with the bloc's merger regulations.
	"The Commission will investigate further whether the deal may reduce competition in areas such as crop protection, seeds and certain petrochemicals," ...

EU to probe Dow Chemical, DuPont merger

Ukraine today placed its forces around Crimea on high alert as tensions soared after Moscow accused Kiev of attempting armed incursions into the disputed peninsula.
	Russia's FSB security service said yesterday it had thwarted "terrorist attacks" in Crimea this week by Ukrainian military intelligence and beaten back armed assaults, but Kiev fiercely denied the claims.
	The allegations ratcheted up the heat in a feud sparked by Moscow's 2014 seizure of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine and raised fears of possible wider conflict.
	The UN Security Council was to discuss the growing tensions later today at the request of Ukraine, a non-permanent council member.
	Ukraine's pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko met his top brass and ordered forces along the frontier with Crimea and across the conflict-wracked east onto "high-alert level".
	Russian President Vladimir Putin also held a meeting with security chiefs to discuss "additional measures for ensuring security for citizens and ...

Ukraine forces on 'high alert' over Crimea tensions

France today expressed alarm at reports of a deadly chemical attack in the Syrian battleground city of Aleppo.
	Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement he was "concerned by reports of a new chemical attack... That is said to have claimed four lives people and left dozens injured."
	He added, "I strongly condemn all attacks on the civilian population, particularly those in which chemical weapons are used."
	Asked about the reported attack today during a news conference in Geneva, the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said it was not in his remit to verify such reports but that "there is a lot of evidence that it actually did take place".
	"If it did take place, it is a war crime and as such it would require everyone... To address it immediately," he added.
	In the past two years there have been numerous allegations of chemical weapons being used against civilians, both by President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the rebels trying to oust him.
	The United Nations and ..

France 'concerned' by Syria chemical attack reports

After suffering historic losses in South Africa's recent municipal elections, the top brass of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) gathered for talks today over the party's declining support.
	The party of Nelson Mandela last week saw its worst poll results since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, losing majority control of the largest metropolitan areas, including the capital Pretoria and business hub Johannesburg.
	The ANC garnered less than 54 per cent of ballots cast nationally -- an eight percentage point drop from the last local poll in 2011.
	The election results highlighted the declining popularity of the party that led South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle.
	"We want to do thorough analysis of the elections," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told reporters just before the planned four days of talks got under way at a hotel in Pretoria.
	"The essence of the meeting is to say how do we interpret (the loss of support) and to seek ways on how we arrest the ...

S Africa's ANC top brass meet after poor vote showing

Demand for gold soared in the second quarter as investors sheltered from global turmoil including Brexit, the World Gold Council said today.
	Total gold demand stood at 1,050 tonnes in April-June period, an increase of 15 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2015.
	That took first-half demand to 2,335 tonnes -- which was the second highest level for that period and not far from the record 2,371.5 tonnes seen in 2013.
	"Investors sought risk diversification and a safe store of value in the face of continued political, economic and social instability," the London-based WGC added.
	Investment demand surged 141 per cent to 448 tonnes in the second quarter.
	Jewellery demand sank 14 per cent to 444 tonnes -- with heavy falls in key markets China and India -- and central bank purchases also slid.
	But over the course of the first half, investment demand leapt to a record 1,064 tonnes, stimulated by soaring prices.
	Gold is widely regarded by investors as a safe store of value in ...

Gold demand jumps amid global turmoil: industry body

Patients long paralysed from spinal cord injuries showed unprecedented gains in mobility and feeling -- and in some cases a renewed sex life -- through virtual-reality training and the use of brain-controlled robotics, scientists said today.
	Six men and two women who had completely lost the use of their lower limbs all made significant progress, the researchers reported in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports.
	In four cases, doctors were able to upgrade their status to "partial paralysis," an unheard-of level of improvement using non-invasive techniques.
	One of them -- a 32-year-old woman paralysed for more than a decade -- may have experienced the most dramatic transformation.
	At the outset of the trial, undertaken at a clinic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she was unable to stand, even with the help of braces.
	Within 13 months, she could walk with the help of braces and a therapist, and could produce a walking motion while suspended from a harness.
	"We couldn't have predicted ..

Breakthrough for paraplegics in regained mobility: study

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba saw revenues leap 59 per cent year-on-year for the quarter ended in June, it said today, its strongest growth since it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.
	Revenue for the company, seen as a proxy for China's increasingly crucial consumer sector, reached 32.15 billion yuan (USD 4.83 billion) in the June quarter, it said in a statement.
	The total was well ahead of the 30.2 billion-yuan average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.
	Alibaba is China's dominant player in online commerce, with its Taobao platform estimated to hold more than 90 percent of the consumer-to-consumer market, and its Tmall platform is believed to have over half of business-to-consumer transactions.
	But according to the company net income plunged 77 percent year-on-year to USD 1.08 billion in the latest quarter -- the first of its financial year.
	Still, Alibaba's chief financial officer Maggie Wu described the results as "excellent".
	"The 59 percent revenue ...

China's Alibaba Q1 revenue leaps 59 pc, best since IPO

Australia will block the sale of the $7.7-billion electricity network in its most populous state to two companies from mainland China and Hong Kong, it said on Thursday, citing national security.

Australia to block Chinese bid for power grid

Two Turkish military attaches posted in Greece fled to Italy at the weekend following last month's failed coup, Turkey's top diplomat said today, saying Ankara was working to track them down.
	Speaking to NTV television, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said colonels Halis Tunc and Ilhan Yasitli left on August 6, taking the car ferry across the Adriatic Sea to Italy.
	"We are working to bring both these traitors back to Turkey," he said, without detailing the allegations against them.
	"The Greek authorities recorded this. Tunc's brother lives in Holland. We are working with both the Netherlands and Italy," he said.
	Earlier this week, media reports said the pair had gone missing. Yasitli is reported to be the overall military attache and Tunc the naval attache but their accreditation with Athens has been cancelled.
	Turkey has embarked on a wholescale purge of the military in the wake of the coup which was blamed on followers of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
	In a separate .

Turkey attaches in Greece 'fled to Italy' after coup

Turkey today called on Russia to carry out joint operations against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, after crucial talks between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at ending a crisis in ties.
	The comments by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu came as a Turkish delegation was in Russia for talks aimed at coordinating actions on Syria and other bilateral issues.
	"We will discuss all the details. We have always called on Russia to carry out anti-Daesh (IS) operations together," Cavusoglu said in a live interview with the private NTV television, adding that the proposal was still "on the table".
	Cavusoglu urged Russia to fight against the "common enemy" of IS jihadists in Syria.
	"Let's fight against the terrorist group together, so that we can clear it out as soon as possible," the minister said, warning otherwise that the group would keep on expanding and spread into other countries.
	Erdogan visited Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg on ...

Turkey offers Russia joint operations against IS in Syria

The International Monetary Fund has reached an initial agreement with Egypt for a USD 12 billion loan over three years, the fund said today.
	The Egyptian government hopes the loan will provide a lifeline amid a dollar shortage, dwindling foreign reserves and an economy battered by years of unrest.
	The agreement, which will have to be ratified by the IMF and Egyptian authorities, will require Cairo to undertake economic reforms.
	IMF delegation head Chris Jarvis said in a press conference that the fund was looking to Egypt's parliament to pass a value added tax law.
	Analysts have said the IMF also pushed for a more flexible exchange rate for the Egyptian pound, which the government has been propping up amid capital controls.
	The shortage has affected imports and created a flourishing black market trade that the government fought unsuccessfully.
	Jarvis said the goal was to have no foreign currency shortage and to create a "balance between supply and demand."
	President Abdel Fattah 

AFP

AFP

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