Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali both scored dashing fifties as England wrested the initiative from Pakistan on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston today.
     At stumps, England were 414 for five in their second innings, a lead of 311 runs.
     Bairstow was 82 not out and Ali 60 not out.
     England's sixth-wicket duo had added an unbroken 132 runs inside 27 overs ahead of Monday's final day.
     Pakistan will now have to set a new record for the Birmingham ground if they are to go 2-1 up in the four-match series, as the most any side have made in the fourth innings to win a Test at Edgbaston is South Africa's 283 for five in 2008.
     England had been well-placed at 120 without loss overnight.
     But openers Alastair Cook and Alex Hales both went early on Saturday as Pakistan took two wickets for no runs in nine balls.
     Joe Root (62) and James Vince (42) stopped the rot during a third-wicket stand of 95.
     But their run-rate slowed to barely three an over, albeit .

Bairstow and Ali punish Pakistan in third Test

PTI Automatic

A machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu akbar" wounded two policewomen in southern Belgium today before being shot dead by police, with Europe on edge after a wave of jihadist attacks.
	The attack outside the main police station in the city of Charleroi, around 60 kilometres south of Brussels left one of the policewomen with "deep wounds to the face" while the other was slightly injured, Belga news agency said.
	Charleroi police said the attacker was shot and killed, while the two victims were out of danger.
	Belgium has been on high security alert for months since suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a subway station near the European Union's institutions on March 22, killing 32 people.
	The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in Europe in the last year.
	Belgian Interior Minister Jean Jambon condemned a "disgusting act in Charleroi" on his Twitter ...

Two Belgian police hurt by machete-wielding

Brazilian military carried out a controlled explosion near the Copacabana finish line of Rio Olympics men's road cycling race today, witnesses said.
	Military bomb disposal experts were at the scene of the explosion and kept crowds away with police.
	The explosion stunned crowds gathering for the end of the race. The race leaders were about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away at the time.

Olympics: Controlled explosion at Olympics cycling finish line

US teenager Virginia Thrasher claimed the first Rio Olympics gold medal with her final shot in the shooting on Saturday.
     The 19-year-old won the women's 10m air rifle title at the Deodoro shooting venue, holding her nerve to see off China's Du Li on the final shot.
     She finished with 208 points, one clear of 2004 Athens champion Du. Bronze medal went to China's defending champion Yi Siling.
     Olympic chief Thomas Bach looked on in the crowd as the first of 12 gold medals in play on a crammed opening day was awarded. There are more than 300 titles on offer over the next fortnight at the 2016 Olympics.
     Thrasher claimed gold just 11 hours after Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro lit the Olympic cauldron at the climax of Friday's spectacular opening ceremony.
     An absorbing competition was led briefly by Daria Vdovina, one of the Russian contingent competing in Rio in the shadow of the massive doping scandal that has dogged the Games build-up.
     She ...

American Thrasher hits first Rio gold on Games debut

Police shot a mugger near the stadium where the Rio Olympics opening ceremony took place and a woman was killed close to another Olympic site, police said Saturday.
     The violence on Friday highlighted the task facing an unprecedented force of 85,000 soldiers and police deployed to secure the Olympics.
     Rio police said in a statement that a man was mugging people near the Maracana stadium when he was intercepted by one of the police officers sent from another area of Brazil to Rio as part of the huge reinforcements.
     "The man was carrying out assaults when a military police officer... Shot him," the statement said.
     Hours earlier, an architect was killed while driving by one of the main entrances to the Olympic Boulevard, a redeveloped port area that now hosts the Olympic flame and has become a major tourist attraction.
     The woman, 51, was attacked by three armed muggers, police said. She tried to flee and was shot in the head. The main focus of security is Rio, a ..

Two shot dead at Rio Olympic sites

Huge crowds of villagers following a wild elephant stranded in Bangladesh for more than a month by floods are hampering efforts to rescue it, forest officials said today.
	Severe floods in the northeastern Indian state of Assam separated the four-ton female elephant from its herd as strong currents in the Brahmaputra river washed it across the border to northern Bangladesh late June.
	This week Indian wildlife officials travelled to Bangladesh to join local forest rangers and vets to rescue the animal, which is now struggling to stand on its feet after a journey of more than 100 kilometres (60 miles).
	"It's now standing in a five-feet flood water in Jamalpur district. It is extremely weak. There are more than 10,000 people watching her from a close distance," Bangladeshi vet Sayed Hossain told AFP.
	Hossain said the crowd was hampering its efforts to reach higher ground as "thousands of villagers have been constantly following the animal," even at night.
	Forest official Tapan Kumar .

Mammoth effort to save flood-stranded Indian elephant

Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day of the third cricket Test between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston today:
     England 1st Innings: 297
	Pakistan 1st Innings: 400
	England 2nd Innings (overnight 120-0):
	A Cook c Yasir Shah b Sohail Khan          66
	A Hales c Younis Khan b Mohammad Amir      54
	J Root c Mohammad Hafeez b Yasir Shah      62
	J Vince c Younis Khan b Mohammad Amir      42
	G Ballance not out                         21
	J Bairstow not out                          2
	Extras: (B-3, LB-5, W-1, NB-6)             15
	Total: (for 4 wkts in 89 overs)           262
	Fall of wickets: 1-126, 2-126, 3-221, 4-257
	Bowling: Amir 24-7-48-2; Sohail 21-2-80-1; Rahat 17-8-40-0; Shah 27-3-86-1.

Birmingham, Aug 6 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day of the third cricket Test between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston today:

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) suffered a historic defeat in the country's capital to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in local elections, the electoral commission said today.
	In Tshwane, the metropolitan area that includes Pretoria, DA won 43.1 percent of the vote over the ANC's 41.2 per cent, according to final results in elections highlighting the declining popularity of the party that led the anti-apartheid struggle.
	The loss of Pretoria comes on top of the ANC conceding defeat yesterday in Port Elizabeth, a key battleground of Wednesday's municipal election.
	Defeat in Port Elizabeth by a margin of 46.7 to 40 percent was a humiliating blow for the ANC as the municipality is officially known as "Nelson Mandela Bay" in tribute to its past as a hotbed of anti-apartheid activism.
	The showings have prompted speculation over their long-term impact on President Jacob Zuma.
	At the national level ANC remains the nation's top party. However, the party ...

ANC suffers major poll defeat in S.African capital

Two Belgian police hurt by machete-wielding assailant

Pakistan's Yasir Shah took the key wicket of Joe Root as England found runs hard to come by on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston on Saturday.
     At tea, England were 262 for four in their second innings -- a lead of 159 runs -- after losing both Root (62) and James Vince (42).
     Root's Yorkshire team-mates Gary Ballance (21 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (two not out) were unbeaten after a session where England managed just 79 runs in 26 overs. With the four-match series all square at 1-1, England resumed on 120 without loss, 17 runs in front.
     Alastair Cook, the England captain, was 64 not out and Alex Hales 50 not out after they had erased a first-innings deficit of 103 with their maiden century stand in 18 innings as a Test-match opening pair.
     But Pakistan removed both batsmen inside Saturday's first five overs during a dramatic burst of two wickets for no runs in nine balls.
     Left-hander Cook (66) pushed out to Sohail Khan and a diving Shah held an ...

Shah strikes as England lose Root

More than 500 rebels and government forces have been killed in one week of fierce fighting to control the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, a monitor said today.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not give a specific toll, but said the majority of those killed since July 31 were rebels and jihadists "because of the aerial superiority of the regime and intense Russian air strikes".
	Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said at least 130 civilians had also been killed since Sunday, most in rebel shelling of government-controlled districts.
	He said at least seven civilians were killed today in rebel shelling of the regime-held neighbourhood of Hamdaniyeh.
	Regime forces today struggled to push back a powerful assault on military positions south of the battleground city.
	The offensive has brought together rebels, Islamists and jihadists in an attempt to cut off a regime route into Aleppo and break the government siege of eastern districts.
	Abdel Rahman said the advance left ...

Over 500 fighters killed in a week in Aleppo battle: monitor

Jihadists and rebels captured strategic military positions on the edges of Syria's second city Aleppo today, turning the tables on Russian-backed regime forces besieging the city.
	To the northeast, a Western-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters scored a major victory against the Islamic State group in the town of Manbij after a fierce two-month battle.
	The developments have rocked the key northern province of Aleppo, a microcosm of Syria's topsy-turvy, multi-front war that has killed more than 280,000 people.
	Rebel and regime forces have fought for control of the provincial capital of the same name since mid-2012, transforming the former economic powerhouse into a divided, bombed-out city.
	Today, opposition fighters and allied jihadists captured territory south of Aleppo in a bid to cut off regime forces and open up a new route into besieged rebel-held districts.
	"The Army of Conquest... Took control of the armament school, where there is a large amount of ammunitions, ...

Rebels turn tables on regime as IS loses Syria bastion

The leader of a self-proclaimed separatist republic in eastern Ukraine was injured in a suspected car bombing today, local media reported.
	Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the Lugansk People's Republic, "was wounded this morning as a result of a powerful explosion that occurred near his car," the official pro- Russian rebels' news agency said.
	Plotnitsky, 52, was being treated at a local hospital along with several other people who suffered injuries in the blast in the city of Lugansk, the report said.
	The rebels' news agency claimed the explosion was an "attempt on the life" of their leader.
	A senior rebel official later told Russia's Interfax news agency that the explosion was a "a terrorist act" but did not go as far as to point the finger of blame at any individual or group.
	Plotnitsky did not sustain any life-threatening injuries in the blast and his condition remains stable, the rebel official said.
	Ukrainian authorities have already dismissed claims that they could have been .

Ukraine rebel leader injured in car blast: reports

Opening batsman Tom Latham closed in on his second consecutive century in Zimbabwe as New Zealand made a dominant start to the second Test in Bulawayo on Saturday.
	   Latham was unbeaten on 78 as New Zealand went to tea on the opening day on 206 for one after they won the toss and elected to bat.
	   The left-hander scored 105 in the first Test, which New Zealand won by an innings and 117 runs, and continued that good form on the first day of the second and final Test.
	   With Zimbabwe's pace-shy seamers failing to threaten on a placid pitch, Latham put on an opening partnership of 169 with Martin Guptill, who made 87.
	   The hosts finally made a breakthrough in the hour before tea, when Donald Tiripano snuck a delivery through Guptill's defences to trap him lbw.
	   The only other drama on the opening day saw Zimbabwe's fans stage a peaceful protest against President Robert Mugabe's government when they rose as one at the end of the 36th over to sing the national anthem.
	   The ..

New Zealand dominate Zimbabwe

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the third Test between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston.
	   England 1st Innings 297
	   Pakistan 1st Innings 400
	   England 2nd Innings (overnight 120-0)
	   A Cook c Yasir Shah b Sohail Khan          66
	   A Hales c Younis Khan b Mohammad Amir      54
	   J Root not out                             34
	   J Vince not out                            20
	   Extras (b-l, lb-4, nb-4)                    9
	   Total (For 2 wkts, 63 overs, 278 mins)     183
	   Fall of wickets: 1-126, 2-126
	   Bowling: Amir 18-4-44-1; Sohail 14-1-62-1 (4nb); Rahat 12-5-27-0; Shah 19-3-45-0.

Birmingham, Aug 6 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth day of the third Test between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston.

France has expelled a Malian believed to pose a "serious threat" to public order "for belonging to a pro-jihadist Islamist movement," the interior ministry said today.
	"Malian national Moussa Keita was expelled to his homeland yesterday bringing to 81 the number of expulsion measures taken since 2012," the ministry said.
	The ministry said Keita was expelled yesterday on his release from jail after serving "a heavy sentence for common law offences", the ministry said. Those included armed robbery, according to a source close to the case.
	The source also said Keita had indicated interest in joining the jihad in Syria and Iraq.
	On Thursday, France had expelled Algerian Abdelkrim Mostefai on suspicion of links to jihadist networks, according to a police source.

France expels Malian on suspected jihadist links

Joe Root led England's recovery after Pakistan took two early wickets on the fourth day of the third Test at Edgbaston on Saturday.
     At lunch, England were 183 for two in their second innings -- a lead of 80 runs -- after losing openers Alastair Cook and Alex Hales.
     Root dropped on 25 and struggling with a longstanding back problem, was 34 not out, with James Vince 20 not out in an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 57.
     With the four-match series all square at 1-1, England resumed on 120 without loss, 17 runs in front. Cook, the England captain, was 64 not out and Hales 50 not out after they had erased a first-innings deficit of 103 with their maiden century stand in 18 innings as a Test-match opening pair.
     But Pakistan removed both batsmen in a dramatic burst of two wickets for no runs in nine balls. Left-hander Cook (66) pushed out to Sohail Khan and a diving Yasir Shah held an excellent catch at point.
     Sohail had bowled a lacklustre spell Friday after ...

Root holds firm after Pakistan's double strike

A former Los Angeles county sheriff was indicted here on charges that could result in a 20-year prison sentence for his role in obstructing a probe into abuses at the county jail.
	A federal grand jury indicted Lee Baca, 74, on federal charges "alleging that he conspired to obstruct justice, obstructed justice, and lied to the federal government," read a statement yesterday from the US Department of Justice.
	The case against Baca (sheriff 1998-2014) is one of several cases "resulting from an investigation into corruption and civil rights abuses at county jail facilities in downtown Los Angeles."
	As a result, "20 current or former members of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department were convicted of federal charges."
	Baca, who is in the early stages of Alzheimers disease, had reached a plea deal in which he would admit to one charge - lying to the FBI - and be sentenced to six months in prison.
	A federal judge however rejected the deal, saying it was insufficient punishment.
	Baca on ..

Former US sheriff indicted for cover-up in abuse probe

Hundreds gathered in Hong Kong to live out their childhood dream of catching Pokemon in the wild in what was billed as the city's first Pokemon Go walk today.
	The gaming app landed in late July in Hong Kong and saw residents more glued to their phones than ever, searching for the cyber creatures in locations ranging from public parks to the government headquarters.
	The app, which uses satellite locations, graphics and camera capabilities to overlay cartoon monsters on real-world settings, has prompted warnings from governmental departments and even from the Chinese People's Liberation Army garrisoned in the city.
	But this did not stop hundreds of Pokemon faithful from gathering in the financial district of Central today to catch the cyber creatures en masse.
	"We grew up with Pokemon and this has been something in our lives since we were very young," Vince Siu co-founder of Press Start, which organised what is billed as the city's first "PokeWalk", told AFP.
	Another player also ...

Hundreds hit streets in Hong Kong's first 'PokeWalk'

The US' ambassador to Turkey has again denied allegations his country was involved in last month's failed coup attempt, Turkish media reported today.
	"I just want to say again, as I've said before and as we've said from Washington, the United States government did not plan, direct, support or have any advance knowledge of any of the illegal activities that occurred the night of July 15 and into July 16. Full stop," US ambassador John Bass said in remarks published in English daily Hurriyet Daily News.
	He added that he was "deeply disturbed and offended by the accusations" targeting his country.
	The July 15 military action blamed by Ankara on US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen has rattled Turkey's relations with the United States and the European Union.
	President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the West of supporting the plotters and warned Washington that relations will suffer if it fails to extradite Pennyslvania-based Gulen.
	Erdogan has also accused the US of hiding and ...

US not involved in Turkey coup attempt, says envoy

A kayaker left stranded for days on a small Australian island after his craft was attacked by a crocodile was rescued by helicopter today, authorities said.
	The intrepid man was about three kilometres from Townshend Island, north of Rockhampton in Queensland, when the animal lunged at him on Wednesday.
	He paddled furiously to land at the island, but was then stranded there by a combination of bad weather and tidal problems.
	"He was very fortunate," a spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which coordinated the rescue, told AFP.
	"It didn't pierce the kayak. He said he was running on adrenalin (to get to the island)."
	The man remained on the island until today when he reluctantly activated his personal locator beacon, alerting authorities to his location, after he ran out of provisions.
	Saltwater crocodiles have become more common in northern Australia since they were declared a protected species in 1971. They are estimated to kill an average of two people each 

AFP

AFP

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