Portugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres held the lead in the race to be the next UN secretary-general after a second straw poll held today that saw some shifts in support, diplomats said.
	Guterres received 11 "encourage" votes, two "discourage" votes and two "no opinion" during the secret informal vote by the Security Council, a slightly weaker showing than in the first round last month.
	During the closed-door meeting, the 15 members of the council were asked to indicate by ballot whether they "encourage", "discourage" or have "no opinion" of a candidate.
	Serbia's former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic made a surprisingly strong showing, taking the second spot while Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra climbed up the rankings, taking third place and becoming the leading woman in the race.
	Guterres came out on top during the first round with 12 "encourage" votes and three "no opinion".
	Diplomats speculated that one of the two negative votes cast in this round may ...

Portugal's Guterres holds lead in race to be next UN chief

PTI Automatic

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced it will release the last instalment of a USD 6.6 billion economic bailout package to Pakistan, as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hailed an end to the country's reliance on the lender.
	The decision to release the final tranche worth USD 102 million of the three-year programme came after a review of the country's economic performance that found it was meeting most reform indicators but still needed to broaden the tax net.
	IMF delegation head Harald Finger said growth was projected to reach five percent supported by a construction boom linked to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, an ambitious infrastructure upgrade project intended to link China's western Xinjiang region to Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
	"All indicative targets and structural benchmarks (SB) were met, except for the delayed notification of multi-year tariffs for three power distribution companies," Finger said yesterday in Dubai, referring to measures intended to ...

IMF to release final instalment of USD 6.6 bn loan to Pakistan

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev vowed today to send anyone working or studying at schools linked to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey should they be found to have "terror links".
	Erdogan blames the reclusive cleric for orchestrating the July 15 failed attempt to unseat him, and has asked Astana to "take a step" after handing over a list of Gulen-linked schools.
	Erdogan has said there are 33 Gulen-run schools in the Central Asian republic.
	Nazarbayev, who is the first head of state to visit Turkey since the putsch attempt, stopped short of saying he would shut the schools down.
	"If anyone among them is linked with terrorism... We will respond to Turkey's demands," Nazarbayev told reporters during a joint press conference with Erdogan.
	Gulen strongly denies the accusation that he ordered a coup, insisting that the movement he leads promotes peace, education and moderate Islam.
	Nazarbayev said the schools in Kazakhstan "are under state control".
	"We do ..

AKazakh vows to send Gulen-linked terror suspects to Turkey

A Saudi princess told police she was attacked in central Paris and robbed of a million-euro (USD 1.1 million) watch, authorities said today.
	She reported to police she was "violently" robbed yesterday in the French capital's second arrondissement by two men, who then escaped with her high-end Swiss brand Richard Mille watch.
	The woman was not hospitalised, police said.
	A specialist police unit that handles armed robberies is investigating the incident.
	The Saudi embassy could not be immediately reached for comment.

Saudi princess says robbed of million-euro watch in Paris

Donald Trump suffered more blows to his presidential campaign today when a CIA ex-director accused him of being an "unwitting agent" of Russia's Vladimir Putin, and the billionaire acknowledged erring about seeing cash transferred to Iran.
     Trump's drive for the White House showed no signs of stopping the hemorrhaging after a brutal week of setbacks, with a new poll showing him vulnerable in November's election in Georgia, a traditional Republican stronghold.
     Despite the stumbles, including Trump's refusal to back down in a confrontation with the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in action in Iraq, his campaign chairman Paul Manafort told Fox News it has been "an improving week."
     But the latest setback came in the form of harsh criticism by Michael Morell, a 33-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who served presidents of both parties and then helmed the agency in 2011.
     "On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton," he wrote in a New York Times ..

Ex-CIA boss calls Trump 'unwitting agent' of Russia

Islamic leaders in Kuala Lumpur said today that Muslims should avoid playing Pokemon Go because the popular mobile game was harmful and could "lead to gambling."
	Senior religious official Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri said the city's Islamic Legal Consultative Committee had taken into consideration top scholars' opinions on the cartoon creatures.
	"Pokemon Go and all the Pokemon characters should be avoided as it can bring harm," he was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.
	"The game promoted a search for power and deities with certain powers which could lead to gambling."
	Pokemon Go is not yet available officially in Malaysia.
	The Muslim-majority country has long practised a moderate form of Islam but conservative attitudes are rising.
	The viral game uses satellite locations, graphics and camera capabilities to overlay cartoon monsters on real-world settings, challenging players to capture and train the creatures for battles.
	While Pokemon Go has been praised as a ..

Malaysian Islamic leaders say no to Pokemon Go

Forty Chinese and Taiwanese nationals held in custody since December 2014 were acquitted of running a cybercrime cell from an upmarket Nairobi suburb today and will be deported.
	The 35 Chinese and five Taiwanese were accused of running a hacking operation and mysterious "command centre" from upmarket houses in the Kenyan capital, and were denied bail for 18 months on the grounds they were a flight risk.
	But magistrate Joyce Gondani ruled the prosecution had failed to prove the group was involved in running an unlicenced telecommunication system and was engaged in organised crime, charges they had denied.
	Police raided the properties after investigating a house fire apparently caused by a computer that left one Chinese national dead. Police found people living in "military-style dormitories."
	Several mobile phones, laptops, routers were found in the house.
	According to local police at the time, the group was "preparing to raid the country's communication systems" and had equipment 

Kenya acquits Chinese, Taiwanese cybercrime suspects

Armed with a spray gun and lugging buckets of flour, water, and pigment, a French artist has overcome storms and burrowing moles to turn a hectare of Swiss hillside into what is believed to be the world's largest painting on grass.
	It took five days for Guillaume Legros, better known as Saype, to paint a pipe-smoking shepherd onto 10,000 square metres (12,000 square yards) of grass near Leysin in the Alpine canton of Vaud.
	Keen to protect the environment, Saype, 27, used only natural products for his artwork, which will gradually fade as the grass grows and as rain falls.
	Altitude and the sheer scale of the project were challenges for the artist.
	"If I forgot a bucket of paint down the hill, it would take me half an hour to go and fetch it," he told the 24 Heures newspaper.
	Saype had to make several emergency repairs to the painting, filling in the burrows made by moles, before its official launch on tomorrow.
	"I painted an immense man. But he is nothing compared to the ...

French artist eyes record with giant hillside portrait

Scoreboard at tea on the third
day of the third Test between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston on Friday:
        England 1st Innings 297
        Pakistan 1st Innings (overnight: 257-3)
	   Mohammad Hafeez c Ballance b Anderson        0
	   Sami Aslam run out (Vince)                  82
	   Azhar Ali c Cook b Woakes                  139
	   Younis Khan c Bairstow b Woakes             31
	   Misbah-ul-Haq b Anderson                    56
	   Asad Shafiq b Broad                          0
	   Sarfraz Ahmed not out                       46
	   Yasir Shah run out (Woakes/Bairstow)         7
	   Mohammad Amir lbw b Woakes                   1
	   Sohail Khan lbw b Broad                      7
	   Rahat Ali c Root b Broad                     4
	   Extras (b5, lb21, nb1)                      27
	   Total (all out, 136 overs, 622 mins)       400
	   Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hafeez), 2-181 (Aslam), 3-257 (Azhar), 4-274 (Younis), 5-296 (Shafiq), 6-358 (Misbah), 7-367 (Shah), 8-368 (Amir), 9-386 ...

Birmingham, Aug 5 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the third

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq's measured fifty and Sarfraz Ahmed's 46 not out left Pakistan in a strong position at tea on the third day of the third Test against England at Edgbaston on Friday.
	   Pakistan were bowled out for 400 in reply to England's first innings 297, a significant lead of 103 runs.
	   The tourists kept England in the field for nearly 10-and-a-half hours in total.
	   England's cause was hampered when James Anderson, their all-time leading Test wicket-taker, was barred from bowling again in the innings after receiving a third warning for running on the pitch from the umpires, with Pakistan then on 368 for eight.
	   Chris Woakes, in the all-rounder's first Test match on his Warwickshire home ground, led England's attack with three for 79, while fellow paceman Stuart Broad took three for 83.
	   With the four-Test series all square at 1-1, Pakistan resumed on 257 for three after Azhar Ali had been dismissed for 139 off the last ball of Thursday's play, following .

Misbah and Ahmed strengthen Pakistan's grip on third Test

A dinosaur print purse designed by an autistic teenage boy has completely sold out after photographs of the Singaporean prime minister's wife wearing it at the White House went viral.
	Sales of the USD 11 blue purse with a white dinosaur motif have soared since Ho Ching was photographed carrying it during husband Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's official visit to the United States earlier this week.
	Ho bought the purse last weekend at a fundraising event for the Autism Resource Centre (ARC) in Singapore, for which she is an advisor.
	The dinosaurs were drawn by See Toh Sheng Jie, 19, who attends the Pathlight school for students with autism run by the ARC.
	Photos of Ho holding the purse on the White House lawn went viral, spurring massive demand for the accessory, with Pathlight saying its stock of 200 sold out within a day and it was now on backorder with a two-month wait.
	The school said that it usually took months to sell this many purses.
	The purse was part of a series curated 

S'pore PM wife sparks dino purse frenzy after US visit

Japan's foreign ministry today summoned China's ambassador to protest what it said were intrusions into its territorial waters by Chinese coast guard and fishing vessels.
	The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
	Japanese vice foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama called in Cheng Yonghua, Beijing's ambassador to Tokyo, the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.
	Sugiyama "strongly protested" to Cheng that the incursions were a "violation of Japan's sovereignty", the ministry said.
	Japan also issued separate protests to other officials at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo as well as through its own embassy in Beijing to China's foreign ministry, the statement said.
	The Japan Coast Guard, meanwhile, said in a statement that two coast guard vessels from China's State Oceanic Administration entered territorial waters near the Senkaku islands during the afternoon ...

Japan summons Chinese ambassador over ships

Martina Hingis has retired twice and been hit with a doping suspension since she last played the Olympics in 1996 as a precocious 15-year-old.
	   But after waiting 20 years to return to the Games, the Swiss star almost had her Rio dream snatched away -- not once but twice.
	   First, Roger Federer, her scheduled partner in the mixed doubles, withdrew with injury and a day later Belinda Bencic, her doubles teammate, also pulled out.
	   In a last-minute solution, where Vitorija Golubic dropped out of the team, Hingis was paired with Timea Bacsinszky.
	   "When Roger agreed to play with me I was very excited but in our sport you never know what's going to happen next week," said Hingis who only arrived in Rio on Thursday afternoon.
	   "Of course, when the phone call came I was little prepared as it's never easy to say no to something you have looked forward to.
	   "But we were both equally disappointed that we couldn't compete in the Olympic Games together. I was looking forward to ..

Hingis feels like a junior after 20-year Games absence

Japanese Emperor Akihito will address the nation next week, the palace said today, following reports that the octogenarian wants to abdicate the throne of one of the world's oldest monarchies.
	An Imperial Household Agency spokesman said Akihito's address, via video, would be broadcast at 3:00 PM (0600 GMT) on Monday.
	The 82-year-old, who has been suffering from health problems for years, was not expected to announce explicit plans to step down, as he is constitutionally barred from making political statements.
	"The emperor will express his feelings regarding his duties as a symbol" of the nation, the spokesman told AFP.
	But Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, have widely reported that Akihito would likely hint at his desire to abdicate the Chrysanthemum Throne.
	Major media said last month that Akihito expressed to close advisors that he wanted to pass the throne to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, to succeed him in the next few years.
	The reports came as a ...

Japan emperor to address nation amid abdication reports

Sri Lanka took three late wickets as they tightened the screws on Australia in the second Test in Galle Friday after setting the tourists a daunting target of 413 to save the series.
     At the end of an action-packed second day, which saw 21 wickets tumble and a hat-trick from Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath, Australia were 25 for three in their second innings -- still 388 runs short of their target.
     David Warner was unbeaten on 22 while skipper Steve Smith will resume on Saturday on one as the tourists face an uphill struggle to avoid an embarrassing loss within three days at the Galle International Stadium.
     Although Mitchell Starc took six wickets as Australia restricted Sri Lanka to 237 in their second innings, the tourists were effectively undone in the first session of the day when they were skittled out for 106.
     It was their lowest total in 28 Tests against Sri Lanka who are on a high after winning last week's first Test in Pallekele. Victory in Galle would ensure ...

Sri Lanka sniff series win after Herath hat-trick

Scoreboard at stumps on Day 2 of the
second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle on Friday:
     Sri Lanka 1st innings 281 all out
     Australia 1st innings (overnight 54 for two)
     J. Burns c Perera b Fernando           0
     D. Warner c Mathews b Dilruwan Perera 42
     U. Khawaja b Dilruwan Perera          11
     S. Smith b Herath                      5
     A. Voges c Karunaratne b Herath        8
     M. Marsh c Karunaratne b Sandakan     27
     P. Nevill lbw b Herath                 0
     M. Starc lbw b Herath                  0
     N. Lyon c Mendis b Perera              4
     J. Hazlewood c Mathews b Perera        3
     J. Holland not out                     0
     Extras (b5, lb1)                       6
     Total (all out in 33.2 overs)        106
     Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Burns), 2-54 (Warner), 3-59 (Khawaja), 4-59 (Smith), 5-80 (Voges), 6-80 (Nevill), 7-80 (Starc), 8-85 (Lyon), 9-89 (Hazlewood), 10-106 (Marsh)
     Bowling: Fernando 2-0-16-1, Herath ...

Galle, Aug 5 (AFP) Scoreboard at stumps on Day 2 of the

The US economy continued robust job creation in July, adding 255,000 jobs, largely surpassing analyst expectations, according to data released today by the Labour Department.
	The unemployment rate remained unchanged from the month before at 4.9 per cent.
	Analysts had forecast that non-farm payrolls would be far more modest, rising by only 185,000 jobs.
	The new numbers were also accompanied by upward revisions for the months of May and June in a sign that the job markets were healthier than previously thought.
	Private businesses and government agencies added 292,000 jobs in June, not the 287,000 first reported, and 24,000 jobs in May, not the low revised figure of 11,000.
	The closely watched figures help fill out a complex economic picture for market observers eager for signs of whether the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this year.
	They were also unlikely to add turbulence to the US presidential campaigns, denying Republican candidate Donald Trump fodder for ..

US adds 255,000 jobs in July, surpassing expectations

Two men campaigning for fathers' rights to see their children staged a protest today on the roof of British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's London house.
	Activist Bobby Smith, a father of two girls, posted a video on Twitter of himself and a fellow protester sitting on the roof, and showing police deployed in the road below.
	"Both of us would rather be home with our children right now, on the summer holidays, but we're not -- we have no choice but to do this," Smith told LBC radio, adding that they had food and water to stay all day.
	He said he wanted Corbyn, who was due at a rally in Wales today, to "hold the government to account" to improve the rights of fathers in the family courts.
	A police spokesman confirmed the protest, saying: "Officers are in attendance and the road is currently closed to traffic."
	Photos on Smith's website show previous protests on the roof of a building in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and at the home of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, ...

Fathers' rights activists protest on UK Labour leader's roof

Online giant Amazon unveiled its first branded airplane today, part of what is expected to be a fleet of "Prime Air" cargo planes.
	Amazon over the past year began working with aircraft leasing firms and cargo operators to reduce its dependence on commercial carriers, but today's announcement is the first to show its own branded aircraft.
	The company was set to unveil the plane, Amazon One, at the Seafair Air Show in its hometown of Seattle, Washington.
	The Boeing 767-300 was to participate in a flight demonstration as part of the air show.
	"Creating an air transportation network is expanding our capacity to ensure great delivery speeds for our Prime members for years to come," said Dave Clark , Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations.
	"I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate the inaugural flight than in our hometown at Seafair alongside Amazon employees and Seattle residents."
	With the Amazon Prime logo painted on the fuselage, Amazon One is one of 40 planes ...

Amazon 'Prime' plane takes flight

Turkey's top diplomat escalated today a war of words with Austria, calling it the "capital of radical racism" after Vienna urged an end to Ankara's EU membership talks.
	"Racism is an enemy of human rights and humanitarian values and the Austrian chancellor should first look at his own country," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told TGRT news channel.
	"Austria is the capital of radical racism," he said.
	Cavusoglu was reacting to comments made by Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern who said Turkey was unfit to join the European Union in the aftermath of the July 15 attempted coup by a rogue faction within the military.
	"We have to face reality: the membership negotiations are currently no more than fiction," Kern told the Die Presse newspaper in comments published on Thursday.
	Cavusoglu blasted Kern's "ugly" comments.
	Turkey has already faced much criticism and delay in its bid to join the EU which could face further issues after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's suggestion last ...

Turkey's FM accuses Austria of being capital of radical racism

A former top CIA official emphatically endorsed Hillary Clinton for president today, calling Donald Trump an "unwitting agent" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
	   "Mr. Putin played upon Mr. Trump's vulnerabilities by complimenting him," wrote former CIA deputy director Michael Morell in a New York Times op-ed. "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr.Putin had recruited Mr Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
	A self-identified nonpartisan who has worked under both Republican and Democratic governments, Morell called Clinton "highly qualified" to lead the US, having worked with the Democratic nominee when she served as secretary of state.
	"Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief," Morell wrote. "I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president - keeping our nation safe."
	"Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security."
	The ex-intelligence chief also said ..

AFP

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