Newport Gwent Dragons three-quarter Adam Hughes feared he would have to retire after suffering concussion during a pre-season match in August.

Hughes was out for five months after what he describes as "a bad knockout".
"At the start, when I was really struggling, the thought does go through your mind and you have to battle against those thoughts if you want to come back," said the 26-year-old.
"But the last four months have been really good."
Hughes returned as a wing replacement in Friday's 34-10 European Challenge Cup win over Siberian side Enisei-STM.
He said the club and their medical team had been "amazing" during his time on the sidelines, adding: "I can't thank them enough. They haven't rushed me, which is key with concussions."
Hughes is in his second spell with the Welsh side after a season at Exeter Chiefs and a loan period at Bristol.
He says he felt the mental and physical effects of the knock against Cardiff Blues for two months.
"I struggled memory-wise, my memory and concentration were really poor," he said.
"But what we've done for five months is build the threshold to exercise.
"At the start I was really struggling and anything [that increased my] heart-rate, my head was starting to go, but you do more and more each week."
Hughes said he was "relieved" to come through a severe test immediately after coming on against the Siberian side.
"There've been a lot of ups and downs, but there's no better way than to have the biggest wing I've ever seen run straight at you, it's a great way of testing you," he said.
"It was only a split-second and I did the thing I promised I wouldn't do - I dived head-first straight at his legs and that was a good confidence-booster for the rest of the 25 minutes."
Hughes is backing attempts by World Rugby to reduce head knocks by tightening up the interpretation of high-tackle laws and the management of head injuries, which came into effect on 3 January 2017.
"I think they're doing the right thing and they're going the right way, but I'm not sure how much these new rules will help with concussion," he said.
"It is going to be a big part of rugby going forward and I think the medical staff are treating it correctly now. You just can't be rushed with concussion.
"The hardest thing is that it's invisible. When you've got it and you try to get people to understand how it works, it's really hard."
The Dragons need to beat Brive on Saturday to reach the Challenge Cup knockout stages for the third consecutive season.
Hughes said: "Last year, one of the highlights of my career was getting through to the semi-final of Europe and the journey was awesome.
"We've done quite well in France over the last few years so we've got to go there with confidence."


President Barack Obama has announced a slowdown in the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying 8,400 soldiers will stay there into next year.

Under initial plans, US troop numbers were to be reduced to 5,500, from a current level of 9,800.
The US ended major combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
The mission of the remaining US troops is to train Afghan forces and support operations against al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
Mr Obama told reporters that the security situation in Afghanistan remained "precarious", with the Taliban still mounting suicide attacks in the capital Kabul and other cities.
"Instead of going down to 5,500 troops by the end of this year, the United States will maintain approximately 8,400 troops in Afghanistan into next year through the end of my administration," Mr Obama said.
"It is in our national security interest, especially after all the blood and treasure we've invested over the years, that we give our partners in Afghanistan the best chance to succeed," he added.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed the US decision. "It shows continued partnership [between] our nations to pursue our common interests," Mr Ghani said in a message posted on Twitter.
The US launched an operation in Afghanistan - then ruled by the Taliban - after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
More than 2,300 US soldiers have been killed in Afghan operations.
Mr Obama reiterated his support for a political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban.


A man charged in connection with the 2012 murder of a Northern Ireland prison officer has appeared in court after his arrest on Thursday.

Damien McLaughlin appeared at the High Court in Dublin, and has been remanded in custody until 20 March.
He was arrested and charged following the shooting dead of David Black in November 2012.
Mr McLaughlin was granted bail in May 2014 but had not been seen by police since last November.
Wearing a grey jumper and blue jeans, Mr McLaughlin, of Glenties Road in Belfast, said nothing during his Dublin High Court appearance.
He was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant by gardai as part of a joint intelligence-led operation with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
A Detective Sergeant from the Garda Special Branch told the court Mr McLaughlin was a "terrorist on the run" who was a flight risk and possibly armed, which justified the use of force as he was detained by police.
Another man, aged 59, and a woman, 47, were also arrested during the operation.
Det Ch Supt Raymond Murray, from PSNI's Serious Crime Branch, said: "The PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana and today's arrests demonstrate the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies.
"As part of the operation a 59-year old man was also arrested in Donegal and a 47-year-old woman was arrested in Belfast."
The PSNI said senior detectives had contacted the Black family today to update them on developments.


Gladiator is the latest film which might be receiving the sequel treatment.

The film, which was directed by Ridley Scott, won the best picture Oscar in 2000.
Before now, many of us thought a sequel was out of the question because Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by the film's star, Russell Crowe, you know, died at the end of the last one.
But by the sound of it, Scott's not going to let such minor details stand in his way.
"I know how to bring him back," he said at South by South West (SXSW) recently.
"Whether it will happen I don't know. Gladiator was 2000, so Russell's changed a little bit. He's doing something right now but I'm trying to get him back down here."
Sequels often make a lot of money at the box office - but aren't always a good idea creatively. Here are just a few of the real turkeys:
Sex And The City 2
Few bigger sequel disasters spring to mind than Sex and the City 2.
The franchise was hugely popular as a TV show, and fans responded well to the first big-screen adaptation.
But SATC2's release in 2010 saw even some of the most diehard fans turn against it.
The film still made money, but fans mostly hated it and the critics were even less enthusiastic.
"An enervated, crass and gruesomely caricatured trip to nowhere [that] seems conceived primarily to find new and more cynical ways to abuse the loyalty of its audience," said The Washington Post.
Speed 2: Cruise Control
Speed was, apart from being a terrific film, something of a surprise hit.
The critics loved it. Audiences loved it. A sequel was duly scheduled.
But 1997's Speed 2: Cruise Control fell at the first hurdle.
Although Sandra Bullock (pictured) came back for a second bite of the cherry, the film's other star, Keanu Reeves, didn't sign up.
Jason Patric took the reins instead and the sequel was given a much bigger budget than its predecessor.
But instead of the speeding buses and underground trains of the first, Speed 2 took place on... a slow-moving boat.
The slightly less exhilarating setting might have contributed to its eight Golden Raspberry nominations (it won in the worst remake or sequel category).
The Jaws sequels
Jaws 2's "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water" was one of the most memorable straplines in movie history.
Unfortunately, it also wasn't safe for fans of the first film to go back in the cinema.
While the original holds a 97% rating on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the follow-up has a much lower 52%.
Its strapline turned out to be the most memorable thing about it - and has far outlived the film itself.
To be fair though, Jaws 2 performed well at the box office and wasn't as bad as what followed.
1983's Jaws 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge, which followed in 1987, were the franchise's real disasterpieces.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
In 1999, The Blair Witch Project went viral long before going viral was even a thing.
The horror film used the internet to build a back story for the movie, posting fake police reports and fictional news articles about the Blair Witch, leaving many confused about whether the film was real or fictional.
The campaign succeeded in building huge levels of hype around the movie, which was a box office phenomenon.
You can guess what's coming next.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 abandoned the shaky first-person camera work in favour of becoming a more conventional horror film. It made a profit, but took about $200m (Â£161m) less than its predecessor.
Its threequel, 2016's Blair Witch, made even less money, but again it made a profit - which is more than a lot of films can say at the moment.
Zoolander 2
You could certainly argue that this one falls more into the Fifty Shakes Darker category.
Which is to say that a film perhaps shouldn't count as a bad sequel if the original film was pretty bad in the first place.
Sequels are the worst when you've built up high expectations from the first film, which is something 2001's Zoolander could hardly claimed to have done.
Cameos from Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry couldn't quite salvage the hot mess that was last year's Zoolander 2.
Interestingly, it was one of three sequels released in 2016 which left a huge gap between films.
It came 15 years after Zoolander, while My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and Bad Santa 2 had gaps of 13 and 14 years respectively.
Honourable mentions
There are so many weakquels and threequels to choose from we couldn't possibly do them all justice here.
Indeed, this feature about sequels may need a sequel.
There's The Matrix Revolutions, Miss Congeniality 2, Legally Blonde 2, Blues Brothers 2000, Dumb and Dumberer and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Just for the pure brilliance of its title, a special mention also go to Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
If the next instalment of The Equalizer isn't called The Sequelizer (and, if there's a third, The Threequelizer) we're going to be bitterly disappointed.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Premier League clubs have recorded a transfer window profit for the first time - despite spending reaching a six-year January high of £215m.

Southampton and Burnley made late deadline-day deals, while Odion Ighalo moved from Watford to China for £20m.
Saints paid about £14m for Napoli's Manolo Gabbiadini, and the Clarets signed Robbie Brady for up to £13m
However, top-flight sides brought in £40m more than they paid out, according to finance analysts Deloitte.
Premier League teams have spent a record £1.38bn on transfers in the 2016-17 season, after a summer outlay of £1.165bn.
Spending in January 2017 is the second highest - behind the record mark of £225m six years ago - and dwarfs the £35m spent in the first January transfer window in 2003.
While the window is now closed for the major European leagues, there could still be departures as big-spending China has an official deadline of 28 February.
Deadline-day sales were led by Nigeria striker Ighalo, 27, moving to Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai.
Burnley were one of the busier sides, recruiting 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international Brady from Norwich for a club-record fee having earlier snapped up another midfielder, Ashley Westwood, from Aston Villa.
Southampton bolstered their attacking options by bringing in Gabbiadini, 25, while Crystal Palace secured Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho on loan and signed Serbia midfielder Luka Milivojevic from Greek side Olympiakos.
Swansea City signed Aston Villa forward Jordan Ayew in a swap deal that saw Wales defender Neil Taylor go the other way.
Several mooted moves did not go through on a relatively low-key day, with Celtic keeper Craig Gordon and striker Moussa Dembele staying with the Scottish champions despite reported interest from Chelsea.
Sunderland, thwarted in their attempts to sign forward Leonardo Ulloa from Premier League champions Leicester City, had a bid of about £12m rejected by Southampton for forward Jay Rodriguez.
Championship clubs spent a record £40m on deadline day, led by Aston Villa signing forward Scott Hogan from Brentford for a fee that could reach £12m.
Wigan sold winger Yanic Wildschut to Norwich for £7m, but they ended the day with eight new players.
Sheffield Wednesday have to wait until Wednesday to see if their £9.5m move for Middlesbrough striker Jordan Rhodes had gone through in time.
Midfielder Ravel Morrison returned to QPR on a late loan deal from Italian side Lazio, and highly rated West Ham defender Reece Oxford, 18, moved to Reading on loan for the rest of the season.
Striker Matty Taylor caused a stir by leaving Bristol Rovers, where he has scored 19 times this season, for local rivals Bristol City - the first time a player has done so since 1987.
Championship side City wasted no time in winding up their League One foes, with manager Lee Johnson saying: "It'll be a big step up in standard for him."
Meanwhile, Neil Danns' tour of the clubs of the north west beginning with a B saw him tick off Blackpool. The midfielder's loan deal from Bury follows spells at Bolton and Blackburn. He has also squeezed in Birmingham City and Bristol City along the way.
Everton were the Premier League club to spend the most on a single player, paying Manchester United £22m for France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.
However, the biggest fee was the £60m paid to Chelsea by Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG for Brazil attacking midfielder Oscar.
Also departing the Premier League was Dimitri Payet - with West Ham accusing the France forward of lacking "commitment and respect" as he rejoined Marseille for £25m.
The top six sides did not shell out - the only new purchase among the leading sides being Arsenal's surprise signing of left-back Cohen Bramall from non-league Hednesford Town for £40,000. He had just been made redundant from his job in a car factory before a trial with the Gunners.
"The sales of Oscar, Dimitri Payet, Odion Ighalo and Memphis Depay, as well as around £20m worth of sales to Championship clubs, have helped Premier League clubs record net receipts for the first time in a transfer window," said Deloitte spokesman Dan Jones.
"As was the case last year, it is clubs in the bottom half of the table who have driven expenditure this January, investing in their squads in an attempt to secure survival."
Andy Brassell, European football expert
Germany  doesn't really get the last-minute English spirit of deadline day, with the Bundesliga wrapping things up at the civilised hour of 6pm local time as usual. Bayern Munich made a pair of big signings in Hoffenheim's Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy, but they won't arrive until summer.
Borussia Dortmund moved quickly to snap up 17-year-old Sweden striker Alexander Isak and Bayer Leverkusen also spent big on a youngster on deadline day, paying 12m euros (£10.3m) for Jamaican teenager Leon Bailey from Genk.
Thank goodness, then, for Turkey's taste for the grand gesture, with champions Besiktas and surprise title-chasers Baskasehir both going for striking experience in Demba Ba (on loan from Shanghai Shenhua) and Emmanuel Adebayor (free agent) respectively.
It was a quiet window for Serie A in Italy, with Juventus spending big on young talent but parking it for the future; for example, Mattia Caldara, a 15m euro (£12.9m) signing, is staying with his current club Atalanta on loan.
With Barcelona typically quiet and Real Madrid barred from involvement, it was similarly sedate in Spain. Villarreal's sale of Alexandre Pato to Tianjin Quanjian for 18m euros (£15.4m) was comfortably the biggest transfer in La Liga, though Jese's loan move to his hometown club of Las Palmas was a romantic subplot on deadline day.
France was busier than usual this winter, with Julian Draxler (36m euros/£30.8m) and Goncalo Guedes (30m euros/£25.7m) both joining Paris St-Germain for big fees, and Lyon splashing out on Memphis Depay (18m euros/£15m). On deadline day it was Lille, under new ownership, who were busiest, signing no less than six in a frenetic 24 hours, led by winger Anwar El Ghazi from Ajax for 8m euros (£6.9m).
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Championship club Preston have appointed former Norwich and Hamilton boss Alex Neil as their new manager.

The 36-year-old has replaced Simon Grayson, who left North End to join Sunderland on 29 June.
The Scot will take up the role officially on Thursday after being given a one-year rolling contract.
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"It is a really good challenge for me. The club has made progress and I am looking forward to trying to continue that progress," said Neil.
Neil has been out of the game since March, when he was sacked by Norwich after 27 months at Carrow Road.
He led Norwich into the Premier League via the Championship play-offs in 2015, but the Canaries lasted only one season in the top flight before being relegated.
Preston finished 11th in the Championship last season but Neil believes he has a squad with the ability to challenge for a higher position in the table.
"The ultimate aim for any club in the Championship is to try to get promoted at some stage," said Neil.
"The club has been stable in the Championship for the last two years and you never know what is going to happen in the next year or two, but we want to try to build a side and a squad that is capable of competing at the top end of the Championship."
Previously, Neil had spent two years at Hamilton, guiding the club into the Scottish Premiership in his first full season.
He becomes Preston's youngest permanent manager since fellow Scot David Moyes, who was 34 when he took over as player-manager at Deepdale in 1998.
BBC Radio Lancashire's Andy Bayes
Alex Neil joins a club that has enjoyed great stability over the past four years under Simon Grayson.
North End have re-established themselves as a top-half Championship club and the aim must be to maintain that under a manager who already has a promotion to the Premier League on his CV.
Neil inherits a solid squad, a terrific team spirit, but one which needs additions if they are to really challenge for a top-six spot.
Central defenders and a replacement for Aiden McGeady will no doubt be on Neil's shopping list.


The SNP has gained a seat on Argyll and Bute Council following a by-election.

The contest in the Oban North and Lorn constituency was triggered after independent councillor Duncan McIntyre resigned due to ill-health in December.
The SNP's Julie McKenzie won the seat with 1,113 first-preference votes.
Andrew Vennard of the Conservatives came second with 609 first-preference votes, with independent candidate Kieron Green one vote behind in third. Turnout was 33.84%.
The council is controlled by a coalition of independents, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
SNP business convener Derek Mackay hailed a "fantastic result", adding: "This is the latest evidence that the party's extraordinary success continues - marking the 27th win for the SNP in the 30 by-elections that have been held since May 2015."
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said she was pleased to see the Tory vote up by 14.1% in the election.


Severe heart failure can cause the lungs to fill with fluid, leaving people feeling like they are drowning, says a new campaign by the British Heart Foundation.

But a BHF survey suggests that 80% of adults are unaware of its impact on everyday life.
There is no cure for heart failure, which can lead to extreme exhaustion and breathlessness.
Experts say stem cell research could be the key to repairing damaged hearts.
More than 750,000 people in the UK currently live with heart failure, which means that the heart is not pumping blood around the body as well as it used to. It is commonly caused by a heart attack.
While patients with mild heart failure can live a relatively normal life with the help of drugs, those with severe heart failure can suffer prolonged pain and distress because everyday tasks such as having a shower or doing the shopping require enormous amounts of energy and leave them exhausted.
Joanne Ward, from Sheffield, had a heart attack four days after giving birth to her son Tyler in 2005.
Doctors told her she needed a double heart bypass.
"I just thought they were bonkers. I said, 'I've got a baby, don't be ridiculous'."
After the surgery she assumed her heart was fixed - but she's had to learn to live with heart failure.
"I wasn't feeling any better. I was getting out of breath quickly and it got progressively worse over the next five years."
Everyday things like hoovering and pushing a trolley round the supermarket left Joanne feeling exhausted.
Accompanying her sons on school trips meant she was wiped out for a day afterwards.
Two years ago, Joanne was fitted with a pacemaker which has improved her life a little, but she still gets breathless.
"I have to watch my weight, I can't go down the gym. I know my limitations.
"But it's a terrible thing to live with."
Past UK research suggests that around 28% of all heart failure patients face a daily struggle as a result of permanent damage to the heart muscle.
However, the survey of 2,170 adults by the British Heart Foundation suggests that more than three-quarters of respondents are unaware of the effects of severe heart failure on people's lives.
More than a third of those surveyed thought that heart failure meant that the heart stopped working altogether and 33% wrongly believed the heart could repair itself.
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the BHF, say more and more people are surviving heart attacks due to advances in medicine but this creates its own problem.
"People with acute, severe heart failure have a worse prognosis than most cancers. Heart failure has a very significant effect on morbidity. It can be disabling, it can leave people breathless and they can end up chair-bound and bed-bound."
The priority now, he says, is to find out how to repair damage to the heart with the help of the BHF's Mending Broken Hearts Appeal.
"The human heart cell is not able to regenerate, unlike the liver, and we want to understand why in order to improve new treatments for the future.
"We aim to raise money to carry out basic research into regenerative medicine. Stem cells could help by offering therapeutic interventions."
He added that it was possible that a cure for heart failure could be achieved within 10 to 15 years.


The health of the nation's children is the focus of many of Scotland's newspapers, with a series of striking headlines highlighting the concerns of a major new study on the subject.

The Scotsman describes Scotland as "the sick child of Europe" after the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's report found it had one of the worst child health records in western Europe.
The Herald says the situation is a "child health crisis". It reports that the study calls for the ban on smoking in public places to be extended to school grounds, playgrounds and all sports fields.
"We're failing our children", warns the front page headline of the Scottish Daily Mail. It says that the authors of the study believe that the SNP has been in power long enough to be held accountable for the state of children's health in Scotland.
Scotland's children are facing a "health time bomb", according to the i newspaper. It says many Scottish babies are set on a path to ill health even before they're born.
Meanwhile The Scottish Sun reports that six dogs have died after they were walked in a park at an old gasworks, sparking fears that they were poisoned.
A driver who has been involved in three fatal crashes has had his driving ban cut short, according to the Daily Record.
The Scottish edition of The Times looks ahead to Theresa May's meeting with Donald Trump. It reports that she will tell the new US president that Britain and America can "lead together again".
In a striking front page which mocks up an image of a popular Channel 4 quiz show, The National reports that the "countdown" to a second Scottish independence referendum is on.
In contrast, the Scottish Daily Express claims that the SNP's bid for another independence vote has suffered a "serious blow". It says the party have been accused of "ignoring the facts" on the Scottish economy.
A man who stole presents from a family home on Christmas Eve is facing prison, the Dundee edition of The Courier reports.
The Press and Journal leads with a story about a legal battle by two local authorities. If they are successful, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils could claim hundreds of millions of pounds from developers.


Matthew Perry "will not" attend the Friends reunion show due to rehearsals for his West End play.

According to his spokeswoman, "Matthew may tape something" for the tribute to the show's creator James Burrows.
"In other words, this is not the reunion people have been hoping for," Lisa Kasteler told Us Weekly.
His former co-stars, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc are all expected to take part in the special.
It is set to be aired on NBC on 21 February.
Friends ended in 2004 after 10 series. As well as Friends, Burrows worked behind the camera on sitcoms including Cheers and Frasier.
Perry has written and will star in the play The End of Longing... which is set to run in London's West End from 2 February until 14 May. It will be directed by Lindsay Posner.
The dark comedy follows four disparate people approaching middle age, who meet in a bar one night.
It marks Perry's first return to the West End since 2003, when he starred in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago.


Marcus Rashford could make his England debut against Australia on Friday, but manager Roy Hodgson says the striker has little time to make an impact.

Rashford, 18, played his first Manchester United game in February and has scored eight goals in 17 matches.
"The amount of time we're going to have with him is very, very short," Hodgson, 68, said.
Hodgson has until 31 May to name his final 23-man squad for Euro 2016, which starts in France on 10 June.
Rashford scored twice on his Red Devils debut in the Europa League against FC Midtjylland after being drafted into the starting XI following an injury to Anthony Martial.
He also found the net twice in a 3-2 win over Arsenal and became the youngest scorer in a Manchester derby in the Premier League era with his winner against City in March.
England beat Turkey 2-1 on Sunday and have two more friendly matches - against Australia and Portugal on 2 June - before their first Euro 2016 Group B match against Russia on 11 June.
Hodgson added: "There is no doubt I think I made the right decision putting him in this large group because the lad has enormous talent and you will know from my past record that I'm not afraid to give young players a chance. I don't dismiss them on the basis of their age.
"But you will also know full well that where he is playing we actually have a lot of competition for places and there isn't an awful lot of chance for him to stamp his authority on myself and the coaching staff, because there is such a short period of time."
Who do you think should start at Euro 2016? Step into Roy Hodgsons shoes and pick your XI - and then share it with your friends using our brand new team selector.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere played 66 minutes in the victory over Turkey, despite starting just once for Arsenal all season having suffered a broken leg in September.
"With Arsenal I've been playing out wide, which is not me," Wilshere, 24, said.
"I'm not a wide man, but Roy seems to have faith in me in the middle, so I'm happy with that. I like to play anywhere in the middle.
Meanwhile, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy ended the season with a Premier League winners' medal and scored 24 league goals in the club's remarkable campaign.
The 29-year-old scored the winner against Turkey, but will miss the match against Australia because he is getting married on Wednesday.
"It will be a very quiet night on Wednesday," Vardy said. "Obviously I hope all the guests have a good time but I will have a quiet one.
"I've not got a curfew but at the end of the day I'm a professional and understand what has to be done, so I will be making sure I get plenty of sleep ready to come back in."


A man has been arrested in connection with the death of another man found seriously hurt in a Glasgow street.

The injured man was discovered in Elizabeth Street, in the city's Cessnock area, near Ibrox, at about 00:20 on Tuesday.
Emergency services attended but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police Scotland said a 27-year-old man had been detained in connection with the death. He was due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday.


England is to get its first "new" grammar school for five decades after ministers allowed a grammar school to build an "annexe" in another town.

Weald of Kent school in Tonbridge will open a site in Sevenoaks, Kent - side-stepping a ban on new grammar schools.
But Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said this would not "open the floodgates" to more schools being allowed to select by ability.
Labour described the decision as a "hugely backward step".
The decision to allow the new grammar school site, with places for 450 girls, has raised expectations of similar bids in other parts of the country.
But Mrs Morgan said this was a "genuine expansion" of an existing school - describing it as "one school, two sites" - and it "does not reflect a change in this government's position on selective schools".
The education secretary said that the ban on new grammars would remain.
"I don't want to fight the battles of selective and non-selective... This is one particular application with one particular set of circumstances. Why would I deny a good school the right to expand?"
"I don't think this will open any kind of precedent or floodgates."
Any bids from other grammar schools would still face the "statutory prohibition" on new selective schools and would need to "meet the criteria for being a genuine expansion", said the education secretary.
The school in Sevenoaks is due to open in September 2017, after a long campaign by supporters.
Sean Coughlan, BBC education correspondent
This will be seen as a symbolic reversing of the tide, after many decades in which grammar schools were seen as a receding emblem of the educational past, rather than an expanding destination for the future.
While this decision will be warmly welcomed by traditionalists in the Conservatives' ranks, it will be a double-edged sword for the government. Their education reforms, promoting academies and free schools, have made a prime virtue of raising standards for all, rather than focusing on the academically most able. That policy sits uneasily beside a rejuvenated 11-plus exam.
When David Cameron had the shadow education brief for the Conservatives, one of his clearest steps was to distance himself from the ideological trench warfare of the pro and anti-grammar campaigners.
Ministers won't want the return of grammars to drown out their education policy, so they will want to play down suggestions that this decision could open the floodgates to a wave of such satellite selective schools.
Grammar schools: What are they?
Grammar school decision a political risk
The persistent appeal of grammar schools
Labour passed laws in 1998 banning the creation of new grammars - which are selective state schools - but existing schools are allowed to expand if there is sufficient demand.
A previous plan for such an extension of the Weald of Kent Grammar School was turned down, when ministers were not persuaded that it would be a branch of an existing school rather than the creation of a new institution.
Andrew Shilling, of the Sevenoaks Grammar School Campaign, said the decision was a "victory for parent power".
"Today's news is overdue recognition of the fact that a Sevenoaks grammar school is supported by the vast majority of local parents."
In last year's GCSE results, 99% of pupils at the Weald of Kent Grammar School achieved five A*-C grades. The national average for England is 63%.
Local MP Michael Fallon welcomed the announcement as ending the "absurd situation of Sevenoaks being the only area in Kent not to have a grammar school".
"It will also help to ease the growing pressure on school places in west Kent."
But Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw says that while he backs the idea of a "grammar school ethos" such selective schools needed to "make sure they admit children from all backgrounds and particularly poor backgrounds".
"Remember this - for every grammar school you create, you create three secondary moderns and I can't see parents queuing up to send their children to more secondary moderns," said Sir Michael.
There will now be an expectation that others among the 163 remaining grammar schools could seek to open branches in other towns. There are some local authorities, such as Kent and Buckinghamshire, which have retained grammar school systems.
There has been a strong campaign by some Conservative MPs for greater availability of grammar schools, arguing that they drive social mobility by providing high-achieving schools for bright pupils, regardless of where they live or family income.
Grammar school supporters will see this as a symbolic boost for a type of school that was phased out in most parts of England more than 40 years ago.
Grammar schools
But opponents of selective education were highly critical.
Melissa Benn, of Comprehensive Future, said that academic selection at the age of 11 was "unfair, unnecessary and divisive".
Ms Benn said it was "absurd" to suggest that the school would be an annexe, rather than a wholly new school, adding the decision could have "far reaching consequences".
Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee and a prominent campaigner for grammar schools backed the decision.
"This is a small but positive step. It improves choice for parents," said Mr Brady.
The Sutton Trust, which promotes social mobility, highlighted research that less than 3% of pupils in grammar schools were entitled to free meals, compared with an average of 18% in the areas they serve.
Labour's shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said the grammar expansion was a "new school in all but name" - and she called on Mrs Morgan to publish the advice given to her by civil servants.
Ms Powell also accused the grammar school system of being a barrier to social mobility.
"They do not increase equality of opportunity, they make it worse. Tiny numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds pass their tests because they are the preserve of the privately tutored," she said.


The global boom in renewable energy is posing new threats to birds say experts.

At the UN climate conference in Bonn, researchers said wind turbines and power lines were a particular problem for migratory soaring birds.
Shutting down wind farms on demand is one of the methods being tested to protect these birds from collisions.
Other ideas being tried include placing highly visible deflectors every 20m on power lines.
The Rift Valley and Red Sea flyways in Egypt are among the world's busiest corridors with huge numbers of migrating birds travelling between Europe and Africa twice a year.
Around 1.2 million birds of prey, 500,000 white storks and 66,000 white pelican migrate each year along this particular flyway. Some will cover 10,000km on their journey.
Unfortunately this area is also where Egypt is developing new, large scale wind farms. At one wind park, El Zayt, over 290,000 migratory birds flew through it in 2014.
Concerned about the impact the twirling blades may have on the species flying over, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency in collaboration with the wind farm developers and bird experts set out to test a new shut down on demand protection system.
In Spring 2016 they set up two radar units, with field ornithologists on site located at vantage points 2.5-5km from the wind farm and less than 5km apart.
When birds were detected the turbines could be shut down within four minutes. Details of the trial are still being assessed but according to those who presented details of it at this meeting, it was a success.
"We are still awaiting the monitoring information," said Aida Kowalska from Birdlife International. "The project went really well, and it's a great success we've managed to pilot guidelines that actually work on a wind farm site."
The researchers say that they are fine tuning the system, increasing the number of birds that trigger the shutdown from 10 to 50. It could be used with other wind farms they say, but it is not a one size fits all solution to the issues of birds and renewable energy.
"It's a model that could be applied elsewhere but it is particularly useful in the context of migration," said Edward Perry, also from Birdlife International.
"This is one of many measures you can take, but the first step should be identifying the best site to reduce the impact in the first place."
The delegates also heard about efforts in Germany to reduce collisions between birds and electricity cables.
The country's rapid uptake of renewables particularly wind have seen a speedy growth in the number of pylons and wires being used to carry power from the north where it is generated to the south and west where it is mainly consumed.
According to Eric Neuling from conservation campaigners Nabu, more than 1.5 million birds smash into electric wires every year.
Grid operators were very initially very sceptical about bird protection but since the 1990s there have been many mutually benefitting projects, according to Eric.
"The protectors are put up on the ground wire which is the very thin wire on the top of the power lines themselves," he told BBC News.
"The one that works best is a black and white contrasting moving deflector around 50cm high, that gets attached every 25 metres. Because it moves, in most cases the birds see it and fly over and don't collide."
Similar systems are being tested in the Netherlands and in Hungary and other locations - but don't expect to see them soon on every power line.
"There's a cost factor, they won't put them up everywhere, but it is not really necessary," said Eric Neuling
"It has to apply to the most effective and most important places."
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A father and son have been found guilty of attempting to murder a man using a spade, axe, mallet, bat and knife.

Stephen Sangster senior and his son Stephen junior carried out the attack on Fraser Winton, 41, at a house in Bathgate, West Lothian.
Mr Winton suffered a fractured skull, vertebra and forearm and multiple wounds during the assault.
Prosecutors at the High Court in Edinburgh described it as "a ferocious and sustained attack".
Sangster senior and junior had denied attempting to murder Mr Winton at an address in Owen Stone Street on 31 August 2014, but were convicted by a jury.
The assault began when three men, including the Sangsters, rushed into the flat armed with weapons and the father struck the victim on the head with the sledgehammer.
The court heard that Mr Winton was repeatedly struck and slashed and suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.
As he was being attacked, a woman threw herself over the top of Mr Winton and pleaded: "Don't kill him. Please don't kill him."
During the attack the older Sangster said: "Let's go. We have done him. We have done him."
But his 24-year-old son took the Stanley knife from an accomplice and ground the weapon into his victim, shouting at his father: "He has to die. He has to die. He knows too much."
The victim told the court that Sangster junior had been grinding the knife into the back of his legs.
Advocate depute Alan Mackay told the court: "This was a ferocious and sustained attack carried out on an unarmed man by three individuals, two of whom were the accused.
"The three who took part arrived armed with weapons. They arrived together and went away together.
"This has all the hallmarks of an organised and concerted assault by these men."
Mr Mackay pointed out that the victim had known the pair "for some years". He said Mr Winton had suffered "a very, very serious attack on that evening".
The Sangsters, from Armadale, West Lothian, were later identified as the perpetrators by a witness at an identification parade.
After the verdict, the court heard that both father and son had previous convictions for assault and possession of weapons.
The pair had been on bail but the trial judge, Lord Glennie, remanded them in custody following the jury's decision and called for background reports ahead of sentencing next month.


Arsenal and Manchester United have become the latest Premier League clubs to freeze season ticket prices.

It will be the fifth successive year that the Old Trafford club have capped the cost of attending games.
Swansea are among the other teams to retain season ticket costs, while West Ham will lower season ticket prices for their move to the Olympic Stadium.
Last February the Premier League sold TV rights to its games from next season for a record £5.136bn, a 70% increase.
In October, the BBC's Price of Football study found the cost of watching football in the UK has dropped or remained the same for the majority of fans.
The lowest price standard match-day ticket at Manchester United for 2016-17 will remain at £28 for adults, and the highest £50. Junior tickets remain £10 per match. It is the sixth time in seven years that prices have stayed the same.
It is a similar scenario at the Emirates Stadium, where it will be the seventh time in 11 seasons that admission charges have been held.
The most recent Price of Football survey showed the cheapest Arsenal match-day ticket is 12% below the league average, but their most expensive - £97 - is the highest in the league.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said: "We have incredible home support with sell-out crowds for every game. This decision reflects our ongoing aim to maintain a fair and balanced approach to our ticket pricing."
Click here to play with the Price of Football calculator and see what your support is costing you.


Lewis Hamilton says he wants to win the British Grand Prix for the 140,000 fans who are expected at Silverstone for the race on Sunday.

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The world champion starts from pole after beating Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in qualifying.
It is the eighth pole in nine races this season for Hamilton, who has a 10-point championship lead over Rosberg.
"Today hopefully I did them proud and I am going to do everything I can to make them even happier tomorrow," he said.
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Hamilton beat Rosberg by 0.113 seconds to huge cheers from the crowd of 105,000 on Saturday.
A victory on Sunday would be his fifth this season and his third at his home race after previous triumphs in 2008 and 2014.
"Every year I have come here it has always been special," Hamilton said.
"What's really encouraging is you see such a large group of people and so much support and you realise no matter whatever negative comment or opinion there may be at a particular point during the year, these fans are avid racing fans and they are here no matter what.
"That is great to see. I am so grateful to see the sheer support there is here for the Brits."
Hamilton took pole despite a difficult weekend. He struggled in Friday practice but Mercedes found some problems with the set-up of his car overnight and he was much happier on Saturday morning.
However, Rosberg out-paced him in final practice and in the first two parts of qualifying before Hamilton put a lap together at the start of the top 10 shoot-out that beat the German by 0.113secs.
"This is a very tough circuit to really pinpoint to get it right," Hamilton said.
"For example, yesterday second practice was a wasted session because the car wasn't right settings-wise.
"My long run was a second off Nico's and then we find there were problems and fix them and this morning it was fine.
"That takes a step out of your stride. But I guess if it was easy, and it was just P1, P1, P1, it wouldn't be exciting.
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"I like trying to rectify things and trying to improve and naturally it makes the day even more satisfying when you pull out that good lap."
Rosberg said that he thought he had done enough on his first lap in final qualifying to beat Hamilton.
The British Grand Prix has been won from pole position only three times in the last 17 years and Rosberg joked that he took solace from that statistic.
He added, with a smile: "That's incredible and that's why I was quite happy not to be on pole today because I know those statistics and the chances are much bigger to win the race from second!
"This week was one of the biggest differences on long-run pace. Lewis was struggling quite a lot so that's another hope I have, although his set-up has changed quite a lot since. Lewis has two laps on the tyres he is starting the race with and that is another small thing that can help."
The race starts at 1300 BST, with build-up on BBC One from 1215 BST.


Brazilian President Michel Temer has revoked a decree that deployed troops in the capital, Brasilia, to defend government buildings against protests.

The decree was made on Wednesday when the government said police could not contain anti-government demonstrations.
However, the move was strongly criticised by city authorities and the opposition.
Protesters want the resignation of President Temer, fresh elections, and the withdrawal of economic reforms.
The decree was issued as an estimated 35,000 people marched in the capital on Wednesday.
Demonstrations began peacefully but clashes with police then erupted. Protesters started a fire inside the ministry of agriculture and damaged several other ministerial buildings.
Government workers were said to be "terrified", the defence ministry said, according to Brazil's Globo newspaper.
Police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas.
The decree, known as the law-and-order guarantee, is permitted under Brazil's constitution when police forces are overwhelmed.
However, the government of Brasilia complained that it had not been consulted and that the measure was unnecessary. Criticism also came from the opposition and from some of his allies.
Mr Temer has been under intense pressure since last week when the country's supreme court released testimony alleging he had taken millions of dollars in bribes since 2010.
The plea-bargain testimony came from bosses of a giant meat-packing firm.
Mr Temer has vowed to prove his innocence and says he will not stand down.
On Saturday, he filed a petition to have the investigation suspended, but reversed that decision on Tuesday.
Mr Temer took office a year ago after his predecessor, President Dilma Rousseff, was impeached.


(Open): The UK market opened little changed as the latest comments from a Federal Reserve member calmed fears of an early US rate rise.

Lael Brainard, a member of the Fed's Open Market Committee, said that there was no rush to raise interest rates.
Earlier comments from other Fed members had been seen as raising the likelihood of a US rate increase this month.
Having fallen by more than 1% on Monday, the FTSE 100 index was up 2.25 points at 6,703.15.
Shares in Associated British Foods fell a further 3%. Its shares had sunk 11% on Monday after it disclosed a £200m pension deficit and said sales at its Primark chain had been affected by unseasonable weather.
In the FTSE 250, JD Sports shares rose 3.8% after it reported a 73% jump in half-year profits to £77.4m.
Ocado shares dived 10% after the online grocer said its profit margins had been hit by the intense competition in the sector.
"As the market remains very competitive, we are seeing sustained and continuing margin pressure and there is nothing to suggest that this will change in the short term," said chief executive Tim Steiner.


Put yourself in the referee's shoes: how would you approach cup final day?

Bobby Madden, and his assistants, are preparing for Saturday's Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Aberdeen at Hampden.
BBC Sport Scotland caught up with the whistler ahead of the game at the National Stadium to ask him about life on and off the pitch.
Has this been your best year as a referee?
Absolutely. We get independent observers who watch us in every match. My marks would dictate that it's been my most successful season. It's gone very well and I think that's partly down to the fact that I'm totally focused on refereeing.
How do you prepare for a cup final?
I'm training as normal and going through the same training programme that I would for every match. Before every match, I also look at teams' tactics: how they set up at set-pieces and corner kicks. I think 28% of goals are scored from set-pieces so it's important that referees are aware of any potential tactics or scenarios teams may run through to try to gain any advantage. So, I'm putting a lot of attention into the way both teams are set up in recent matches and matches against each other this season.
Do you identify players from both sides who can help you manage the game?
We're under pressure but so are the players. Some players deal with that differently but some who you deal with are always the same and you can talk to them. There are players in both teams that I know I can talk to on Saturday if there's anything I want to address or get a message to a particular player, who I think is under more pressure.
How do you get on with both managers?
Great, I think both of them are good guys. First and foremost, they're very good coaches and I have had several discussions with Derek over the years. Brendan's come in this year and I've been involved in [Celtic] matches and as a fourth official, so, the managers are definitely good for our game.
Additional assistants at the game. How do you feel about that?
We only operate with them in Scotland in the semi-finals and final of the Scottish Cup, but in Europe we use them in the group stages of the Europa League and Champions League. So, I've got a lot of experience [with them], and the additional assistants we're using on Saturday - Steven McLean and Nick Walsh - have also got good experience. So, they obviously help deal with those important key match incidents in and around the penalty area. That extra bit of support gives me confidence to referee other areas of the field of play.
Should video technology be used more?
Additional [assistants] are a major benefit and I think video assistant refereeing could be another benefit. It's been trialled in other countries and at the Under-20 World Cup; we're seeing good results through that. Anything that can see the referee team reach the correct decision on the field of play would be accepted readily by officials, players, spectators and everyone.
Any nerves before a final?
I'm okay just now. The only difference is coming to Hampden today [Thursday] to do media, which I wouldn't do for any other match; other than that I'll prepare as normal and try to stay as calm as possible. It ramps up every time you put the TV on and read the newspapers, so it's probably trying to remove yourself from that a little and treat it as best you can as a normal match. The cup final is about the stories, the players, the managers, the tactics and the goals. I think every referee and official hopes that, the evening after the cup final, that the talking point isn't the referee.
Pre-match ritual?
I don't have any rituals as such. Every evening before a match I'll have pasta for dinner - it's fairly standard. It's the referee's meal of choice. In the changing room, everyone has their own music that they put on. I'll have a playlist and probably add some songs in the coming days. You usually add songs that mean something to you or are more uplifting.
Towards kick-off you start putting on some of the old skool dance tunes that I would've listened to growing up in about 1992/93. I've invited songs from the [referee] team but I'll have the final say as to what gets played. There are a few shocking suggestions, someone, who I won't identify, mentioned Adele. But I think I'll stick mostly to my music.
Last thing you will say to assistants before heading on to pitch?
Try to relax. First and foremost: enjoy walking out and take in the occasion. Then it's relax as much as you can and ensure we communicate as a team. Really focus on getting those big decisions correct…
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Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has dismissed recent battlefield reverses as just part of the ups and downs of a long-term war involving thousands of battles, and says victory remains inevitable.

His Lebanese ally Hezbollah, led by Hassan Nasrallah, whose fighters are playing a key role alongside Syrian government forces fighting the rebels, agrees that losing one round does not mean losing the war.
He too dismisses speculation about the future of the regime as tendentious psychological warfare.
But the outlook for the embattled Syrian leader undoubtedly looks grimmer now than at any time over the past two years.
Some of his adversaries and critics believe he is already gasping on the ropes and that there could be a sudden dramatic collapse at almost any moment.
Even some of his core constituents - and many ordinary citizens in Damascus and elsewhere - were deeply unsettled by recent regime losses, especially in the north-western province of Idlib, where the regional capital fell at the end of March to a rebel alliance, followed shortly by the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour.
The regime had fought hard to retain those assets. Dismay at their loss became so widespread that Mr Assad clearly felt the need, for the first time since the war began four years ago, to say something publicly to acknowledge the setbacks and shore up morale.
It had been badly shaken by a widely-viewed leaked video showing a popular commander at Jisr al-Shughour, Col Suheil Hassan, known as "The Tiger", begging his superiors on his mobile phone to send ammunition and help.
There were fears that the losses in Idlib province could open the way for a rebel thrust into Latakia province, the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority community to which the president and his family belong.
Setbacks in the south, including the rebel's capture of the main crossing-point on the Jordanian border at Nassib, compounded the feeling that the balance had tilted dangerously.
Some military analysts believe the regime, crippled by manpower shortages too severe for Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed Shia forces to compensate, is already preparing to shorten its defence lines by pulling out of the south and other areas deemed non-core, which could even include the government-controlled half of Aleppo in the north.
There are signs that pressure is building up within the regime.
"It's coming apart at the seams," said one diplomat. "They are starting to turn on each other like hungry wolves."
Indeed, Rustum Ghazali head of the Political Security Directorate (PSD), was reported to have died in hospital last month after being beaten up by the bodyguards (apparently including Hezbollah operatives) of a rival general, Military Intelligence chief Rafiq Shahada after a row over Iranian penetration in the country.
Another top security figure, Gen Ali Mamluk, director of the National Security Bureau (NSB), also dropped out of public view for months, amidst reports that he had been sidelined or even put under house arrest for similar reasons.
But he later appeared in official photos alongside President Assad receiving a visiting Iranian delegation, countering rumours about his downfall.
Towards the end of 2012, the fall of Damascus - and the regime - seemed imminent and inevitable.
But it didn't happen. The situation turned around quite rapidly, and it wasn't long before a motley jumble of rebel groups were being pushed back on various fronts.
Could another such turnaround happen again now?
Anything is possible. But some of the givens in the equation have changed, ominously from the regime's point of view, in a way that convinces many observers that the situation has changed and a new phase is under way.
Major rebel factions, and their outside backers, have for the past several months been pulling together rather than fractiously competing as before.
This was translated fairly rapidly into the advances at Idlib and elsewhere.
The mainly Islamist but non-"Islamic State" rebel groups welded themselves together into a "Victory Army" for the Idlib operations. They have set up a similar front in the Qalamoun area, and also for Aleppo.
Lying behind this is a triangular rapprochement between the main regional powers backing the rebel factions: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, who had long been working at cross purposes.
The Saudis in particular seem to have taken on a new sense of purpose after the accession of King Salman in January, taking a tougher and more proactive role against what they see as Iranian encroachment in the Arab arena, notably in Yemen and Syria.
If that cohesion and drive can be maintained and developed by the rebels' outside backers, it would be seriously bad news for Mr Assad.
When the tide seemed to be coming in about him two-and-a-half years ago, he managed to turn things around by going to Moscow and Tehran and persuading his allies there to give him what he needed to stay in business.
The Russians provided arms and diplomatic support. The Iranians opened the financial sluices to the tune of billions of dollars a year; financed, armed and trained local National Defence Forces militia; and provided huge military support, both directly through advisers and by organising the involvement of Hezbollah from Lebanon and other Shia fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
But those cards have been played, and seem to be fraying.
Hezbollah made a huge difference, but it cannot be everywhere and fight all the regime's battles for it, as Idlib showed.
Nor is Iranian bounty endless. Tehran is heavily squeezed by sanctions and low oil prices, hence its willingness to seek a deal with the Americans and others over its nuclear ambitions.
"It's all about pressure on Iran," said a Western diplomat closely following Syrian affairs. "The message is: 'You're out of money, and you can't win the war.'"
The absence of further rabbits to pull out of the hat is why some diplomats are cautiously hopeful that the low-key peace consultations launched in Geneva by the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, might just bear fruit.
He is hoping to report progress back to the UN Security Council around the end of June - the same date set for the Iranian nuclear negotiations to produce a final detailed agreement.
The Saudis and their Gulf partners fear that if such an accord is sealed, it will give Iran the leeway and finances to intensify its regional ambitions.
But some others believe it is - or could be - implicitly linked to a prospective easing of tensions over Syria, Yemen and the regional Sunni-Shia rift, speculating that US President Barack Obama - who holds unusual talks with the Gulf Co-operation Council leaders in Washington this week - may want to engineer a "Grand Deal" as his legacy achievement.
Under that rosy scenario, the Iranians would take on the task of removing Mr Assad and his top security circle and assuring a smooth transition to someone who could negotiate a settlement on behalf of what is left of the regime.
If the balance on the ground in Syria really has shifted, both Tehran and Washington might see that as in their interest. Neither wants to see a regime collapse and a sudden rush of more or less extremist Sunni Islamist elements to fill the vacuum.
By using their unique influence and penetration in Damascus to engineer the removal of Mr Assad and a transition to a figure acceptable as an interlocutor to the rebels and their regional backers, for whom the demise of the hated ruler is a must, the Iranians could at least hope to secure the "useful" parts of Syria rather than lose everything.
The Americans have just launched a programme to train and and equip 15,000 carefully-vetted "moderate" rebel fighters over the next three years - but with the war against Islamic State much more in mind that confronting the regime.
So far, a mere 90 recruits have been approved to embark on the project, which is widely regarded as belated, misplaced and doomed. It certainly risks being outpaced by events.
The Americans have never wanted the rebels to overthrow Mr Assad and win the war. Their aim has been to use rebel pressure to induce the ruler to step aside and make way for a stable political settlement and transition.
If Iran has drawn the conclusion that that would be the only way to save its investment and its corridor to its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon, there could be a convergence of interests, as has happened against Islamic State in Iraq.
Any ceasefire would leave Syria effectively divided into five zones of influence or control, some overlapping: areas held by government forces; "moderate" rebel forces; the Islamist al-Nusra Front and its allies; the extremist Islamic State; and the Kurds.
If the removal of President Assad and his circle somehow paved the way for a truce between rebels and a regime under new management, all four of the non-IS forces could be motivated to go after the militants.
The only major city in Syria controlled by IS is Raqqa, its headquarters. Analysts believe that if the other forces banded together under a joint operations room with US-led coalition air support, it would not take more than a few months to clear the militants out.
That may seem like extreme fantasy now, but steadily-building pressures are likely to produce scenarios that are hard to predict.
All the major powers involved in Syria, including the US, Russia and Iran, are heavily focused on defeating "terrorism" and the Sunni militants of IS.
But one increasingly crucial question is whether the Saudis and their allies would go along with that scenario, or whether they are determined to keep pushing to bring about a Sunni Islamist regime in Damascus as part of a broader strategy to confront Iranian penetration in the Arab world, as in Yemen.
The US and its Saudi-led Sunni GCC allies seem to have fundamentally different strategic perceptions of Iranian influence in the region.
American strategy seems confused, half-heartedly supporting the Saudi bombing of Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen while themselves bombing IS on the same side as Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.
In Lebanon and Iraq, and tacitly in Syria, Western policy in general tends to see Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies as holding the line against the more virulent virus of IS-style Sunni extremism.
But for the Saudis and their allies, Iranian "outreach" and IS extremism are two sides of the same coin, each playing off the other.
"The GCC countries do not want the agreement on the first bomb [the nuclear issue] to be considered a certificate of good conduct enabling Iran to get the necessary tools to protect and enlarge the second bomb [Iranian regional ambitions]," as the Saudi-owned paper al-Hayat put it.
If no political breakthrough occurs to change the course of events, the prospect seems likely to be one of continued attrition of regime and allied forces, falling increasingly back on Damascus, Homs, Hama and the Latakia coast, with internal pressures mounting explosively, unless Bashar al-Assad can somehow pull off another coup by persuading his Iranian and Russian supporters to step up their transfusions.
But most analysts rule out an outright collapse of the Alawite-dominated regime.
As one put it: "They have nowhere to collapse to."


When the IRA bombed a Kent pub - a local for the military - 40 years ago, it was only the quick thinking of one soldier that prevented any deaths.

The Hare and Hounds pub in Maidstone - close to the Royal Engineers barracks - was a known target, but then landlord Brian Wooster never thought anything would happen.
However, on 25 September 1975, a bomb was placed outside the pub.
Only by chance did 19-year-old Sapper David Campbell see the device enabling him to raise the alarm.
In the minutes before the explosion, police were called, the pub was cleared, nearby homes were evacuated and roads were sealed off.
Residents then heard "an almighty boom".
Seconds later, Mr Wooster saw glass, wood and debris everywhere, with his destroyed car against the neighbouring prison wall.
He remembers a scene of "absolute devastation".
But, despite a series of false alarms in the months beforehand, Mr Wooster was not unduly alarmed.
"We were scared, of course we were scared. But, being a little pub we only had one door open and we knew all the customers," he said.
"So, if anyone came in we would be on them straight away, especially if they were carrying a bag or anything.
"We felt quite happy that no-one was going to come in here and do anything, but as it turned out they didn't have to."
Because of Mr Campbell's actions, no-one was killed, but two police officers were injured.
One of them, Mick Gray, was going to warn a driver and a pedestrian when the bomb went off.
"I just had this voice in my head say 'run'," he explained.
"I was facing that way and I just ran and I'd only gone a few yards when I was picked up and blown over and all this stuff came at me at the same time."
The uniform he wore that night is covered in holes where shrapnel penetrated his body. A notebook in his top pocket was the only thing that stopped a shard of metal entering his chest.
There were about 20 people in the pub that night.
Mr Campbell said it was pure chance he spotted the device, having gone outside to look for someone who had left their coat in the pub.
Having served in Northern Ireland, his suspicions were immediately raised on seeing a bag next to the landlord's car.
As the area was cleared, police officers shone torches through the gap at the end of the holdall zip and saw batteries, a clock and wires.
The bombers were eventually caught after a tip-off, which led to an armed siege in Balcombe Street, London.
They served more than 20 years in prison before being released under the Good Friday agreement.
The Hare and Hounds still stands on the same site in Maidstone.
Watch a full report on BBC Inside Out South East - BBC One on Monday 28 September 19:30 GMT.


A man who was found with stab wounds and extensive burns at the scene of a house fire in the Republic of Ireland is critically ill in hospital.

Police found the 24-year-old outside the house in Rhode, County Offaly, at 01:50 local time on Monday after a neighbour raised the alarm.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ said the man was stabbed up to 16 times and sustained severe burns to 90% of his body.
It said police were treating the attack as attempted murder.
The victim was initially taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore, County Offally, but has since been transferred to St James's Hospital in Dublin.
Officers have been carrying out house-to-house inquiries and have set up an incident room at Tullamore police [Garda] station.


Comedy show Still Game is to go back on stage in a series of live shows, just months after returning to television.

Creators Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill said they decided to revive the TV show after the success of their shows at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow in 2014.
The TV show It will return to the BBC next week after a nine-year absence.
Their second stage show at the Hydro will run for 10 nights from Saturday 4 February. Tickets will go on sale on 7 October.
Filming for the new TV series took place at a purpose-built set at BBC Scotland's Dumbarton Studios and around Glasgow.
Still Game follows the antics of pensioners Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade and ran for six series between 2002 and 2007.


Germany's all-time leading goalscorer Miroslav Klose has retired from football.

The former Bayern Munich striker, 38, helped his country win the World Cup in 2014, becoming the record scorer in the tournament's history with 16.
Klose, a two-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern, was without a club after his Lazio contract expired last season.
He now plans to join Germany's coaching staff after an invitation from manager Joachim Low.
"We're looking forward to Miro,'' said Low, who this week extended his contract through to the 2020 European Championship.
"I am sure that we coaches, just like the players, will benefit very much from his presence and involvement.
"He will not just be with us on the training field, but also contribute his views to preparing for opponents and to game and video analysis."
Poland-born Klose made the first of his 137 international appearances in 2001 and broke Gerd Muller's 40-year-old record of 68 goals in June 2014.
He retired from international football after helping Germany win the World Cup two years ago. He scored 71 goals for his country.


Britain's Johanna Konta suffered a shock first-round defeat against unseeded Serb Aleksandra Krunic at the US Open.

Konta, seeded seventh, was among the favourites for the title and one of eight women who could have ended the tournament as world number one.
However, a first-serve percentage of just 45% allowed the clean-hitting Krunic to attack off the return, and the world number 78 fought back for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory.
Britons Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie had earlier claimed first-round victories in the men's singles, but Heather Watson was beaten in the women's singles.
Coming two days after Andy Murray's withdrawal with a hip injury, Konta's defeat means neither British number one player survived beyond the first afternoon.
Asked how she would deal with the defeat, she said: "I think not to catastrophise is important.
"It is a tennis match. It's a sport. I think to have a healthy perspective on that, in general, goes a long way."
Konta, 26, looked in command when she moved 4-1 clear in the opening set on a quiet Grandstand Court that had just seen home hope Steve Johnson win.
Within an hour, the stands had begun to fill and the atmosphere intensified as Krunic began to seriously threaten an unconvincing Konta.
The Briton's first serve deserted her, slipping from 41% in the first set to a desperate 39% in the second.
Krunic dominated the final three games of the second to level at one set all and looked the more likely as Konta grimly clung on in the third.
The seventh seed screamed "come on" after holding in a lengthy service game for 3-2, but Krunic would break at the next opportunity and serve out the match brilliantly.
Konta sent a backhand wide on match point and was off the court within seconds, ending her Grand Slam year in disappointment.
"I don't think I necessarily played my best tennis, but my opponent also had something to say about that," she said.
"She played very freely, I felt, and she moved incredibly well. She made it very tough for me to be able to get any easier points.
"I don't take anything for granted. I think it would be quite obnoxious of me to come in here expecting I have a right to be in the second week."
Krunic last made waves at a Grand Slam when she came through qualifying to reach the fourth round at the 2014 US Open.
Her third-round win over then world number four Petra Kvitova was her last top-10 victory - until now.
At 5ft 4in tall, the Serb relied on the same speed of foot against Konta to set up 18 forehand winners, while her total of 36 unforced errors was six short of her surprisingly wayward opponent.
"Three years ago everything worked out well in that week," said Krunic, who faces Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.
"Before and after that I was not a hard worker, this year I have been working really hard and I try and cool myself down on the court - I am not sure if it is obvious, it is hard.
"I am now winning more matches and that is what matters."
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent at Flushing Meadows
This is the biggest disappointment Konta has endured since her breakthrough Grand Slam run here in New York two years ago.
Her serving was a long way from its best, but it was also the pressure exerted by Krunic which contributed to Konta's erratic performance.
The Serb went for her shots, and was aggressive at times despite an obvious lack of power. She also varied the pace very cleverly and dragged Konta in towards the net - and out of her comfort zone.
The next target for Konta is the end-of-season WTA Championships in Singapore. She may find herself outside the eight qualifying positions by the end of the US Open, so the lucrative WTA events in Wuhan and Beijing in the autumn are likely to prove decisive.


The governor of Indiana has said that he wants state lawmakers to "fix" a religious freedom law that has created a national outcry.

Critics of the law say it could be used to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
Governor Mike Pence said he wanted state lawmakers to add language to the law that clarifies its intentions, by the end of the week.
"This is a clarification, but it's also a fix," he said.
He stressed that the controversy was the result of a "perception problem" not lawmakers' desire to discriminate.
Under the law, the state can only infringe on a person's religious beliefs when it has a compelling interest, but it must do so in the least intrusive way possible. It defines "person" to included religious institutions, businesses and associations.
The governor, who signed the bill into law last week, went on the attack after a number of famous names, corporations and sporting institutions warned that business owners now had a licence to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
Mr Pence said he "was proud to sign" the bill, but that he believes "it would be appropriate to make it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone".
"I don't support discrimination against gays or lesbians or anyone else. I abhor discrimination," he said.
"I could have handled it better," said Governor Pence after what he admitted had been a "tough week".
But with the humility came the insistence, time and again, that the backlash he had faced was because the media had misrepresented him and the law.
He insists that he did the right thing in signing the Religious Freedoms Act.
Those we have been speaking to on the streets of Indianapolis appeared to feel very differently, invariably saying they did not see the need for the bill and that they were embarrassed by the negative attention it had brought to the state and the damage it had done to Indiana's reputation.
Gay rights groups are calling on Indiana lawmakers to update their civil rights laws to specifically include protections for gay and transgender people.
Mr Pence said he doesn't support the extra protections and insisted that they are a separate issue.
"Fair-minded people across his state are demanding that those protections get on his agenda, immediately," Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said.
Critics believe it provides a way for opponents of gay marriage, which became legal in Indiana last year, to continue their opposition by other means.
A chorus of criticism has been growing for nearly a week, and the backlash has made allies of Hillary Clinton and Miley Cyrus, and Angie's List and Apple.
In recent days the governors of Connecticut, Washington state, and New York have banned state-funded travel to Indiana and other states that simultaneously have RFRA measures and no balancing law to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.
"When it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck," Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy told MSNBC's Morning Joe programme explaining his decision. "They knew what they were doing and what they were doing was deciding that they were going to make it legal to refuse to serve gay men and women."
On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Star ran a full, front page editorial calling on state leaders to enact protections for gays and transgendered people.
Many businesses across the state have posted placards and stickers saying they serve everyone, and the official tourism site for Indianapolis - the state's capital - features a rainbow graphic and a "LGBT guide to Indy".
Over the weekend, Mr Pence repeatedly refused to answer direct questions about how the law might be used against gay people in a nationally televised interview.
Referring to that interview Mr Pence said on Tuesday, "I could have handled that better this weekend."
Despite the national outcry, Arkansas is set enact a similar measure as early as Tuesday. Unlike leaders in Indiana, Arkansas lawmakers said they will not modify their bill.


A pathologist is under investigation after a series of mistakes were made in cervical tests.

Bertrand Denarie worked at hospitals in Bristol, Salford and Gateshead from 2013 until early 2015.
An investigation by North Bristol NHS Trust found mistakes in 106 cases, including two that led to a delayed diagnosis of cancer.
An NHS spokesman said "immediate action" was being taken, with patients "now receiving appropriate care".
The results were all follow-up examinations where initial cervical screening tests had shown abnormal results and were collected in colposcopy clinics.
The trust said it had contacted all the patients involved.
A "final letter" with the findings of the investigation would be sent out to those involved soon.
"We are aware that errors may have occurred in relation to the laboratory testing of cervical biopsies at four trusts," the NHS added.
"These were discovered as a result of routine audit and are being investigated by the trusts concerned and NHS England, with the support of Public Health England."
Of the 106 mistakes found in the Bristol cases, 87 of those led to "no harm" with 11 needing extra testing and two having delays in cancer diagnosis.
Dr Denarie worked in Bristol at Southmead Hospital in two periods in from January to April 2014 and then later that year from May to July. He also reviewed cases from St Michaels Hospital in Bristol during those periods.
Before Bristol, he worked at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead for nine months in 2013 and worked at Salford Royal Hospital for about four months at the end of 2014.
A spokesman for NHS England said investigations at these two hospitals were at a much earlier stage.
Salford Royal Hospital said it had identified three errors with the pathologist's cervical biopsy work, which "had the potential to lead to minor harm for the patients concerned".
"We've been in contact with those three patients to apologise, explain the outcome of our review and discuss any changes we need to make to their treatment plan," said Dr Pete Turkington, medical director for standards and performance.
"It's important for me to emphasise that we are confident no patient has experienced significant harm. However, we apologise unreservedly for any stress or inconvenience that this has caused."
The General Medical Council confirmed they were investigating Dr Denarie and that a number of conditions had been placed on his licence.
One of those specified he "must not report on any cervical biopsy specimens".


Welsh tearooms are somewhat of a phenomenon in parts of Patagonia, Argentina.

During the 19th and early 20th Century, emigrants from Wales settled here, hoping to create a haven for their language, culture and faith.
Today, the town of Gaiman in the east is where the link with Wales is at its most visible. Homes and businesses have Welsh names and display Welsh flags. And it's here you'll find the highest concentration of Welsh speakers in the region.
Ana Chiabrando Rees's family started the first Welsh tearoom in the town in 1944.
Mountains of bread and butter and cakes are served alongside large pots of tea.
"Tearooms are very important here," she says, "Everyone in the country knows about them."
"I love Welsh history and I love telling people about it."
The tearooms are an example of the commercial value of the Welsh connection in Patagonia.
Gaiman attracts tourists in their thousands every year, mainly from Argentina but also "from all across the world", Ana explains.
"If they know about Wales they come and say 'oh, wow this is like Wales!'  If not they like it here because it's different," she says.
Anna's ancestors were Welsh settlers. She has learnt Welsh and describes it as "the language of my heart".
It was 150 years ago on 28 July when about 160 Welsh emigrants arrived in Argentina aboard the Mimosa tea-clipper.
But not everyone who runs a traditional Welsh tearoom here has links with Wales. They are running successful businesses in a place where 'Welshness' sells.
Gaiman's mayor, Gabriel Restucha, a Welsh speaker himself, says the town's economy owes a great deal to its heritage.
"Of course the tourist side of things helps us a lot," he said.
"That's why we've been fixing an historic tunnel, doing something with the old railway.
"If I'm elected mayor again next year I want to keep on strengthening the links with Wales and our history."


Ant and Dec have picked up another two Baftas, but awards are nothing new for the presenting duo.

They've won more than 100 big awards over the last 20 years for their shows and their presenting.
But what's the story of their success?
It all began when Ant and Dec met on the set of CBBC show, Byker Grove, when they were just 13 years old.
Their characters, PJ and Duncan, were mates in the show and Ant and Dec soon became friends in real life.
From acting to singing - in 1993 the series led to the guys signing a record contract and over the course of four years they had 14 top 20 hits.
And from singing to presenting - in 1996 they got a taste of Bafta glory when the Ant and Dec Show, which used to be on the BBC, won an award.
In 1998 they launched SM:TV Live and CD:UK, mixing music, comedy and cartoons. The show was co-hosted with Cat Deeley - a British presenter who now hosts So You Think You Can Dance in America.
The pair have hosted lots of other programmes and game shows over the years and among the many awards they've won, they've picked up 14 at the National Television Awards in the category of most popular entertainment presenter. They won it for the first time in 2001 and have kept winning every year since!
Among the well-known shows they present are I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, which they've hosted since it started in 2002, and Britain's Got Talent, which launched in 2007.


Scotland's Six Nations record offers little ammunition to those who believe Vern Cotter's men can mount a serious challenge this year.

The Scots have won only one of their last 12 matches in the tournament, that victory coming thanks to a late Duncan Weir drop goal against Italy in Rome in 2014.
Having finished rock bottom last season, they are on a seven-match losing run in the competition and have only once won more than two matches in a single campaign.
And yet, as ever, there is optimism that Scotland can make their mark.
The performances at the World Cup - where the Scots were a whisker away from a semi-final place after a heroic effort against Australia - gave Scottish fans hope that this team are growing into a force to be reckoned with.
There appear to be players of genuine quality sprinkled around the pitch, something that has not always been evident in recent years.
So can Scotland finally challenge at the top end of the Six Nations table? They open their campaign against England at Murrayfield on Saturday.
BBC Sport spoke to former Scotland internationals Chris Paterson,John Beattie and Peter Wright to get their thoughts.
Beattie: "I think we have had a succession of pretty average coaches and now we've got a good coach. He's bolstered the side with project signings. He's got the big team he wants.
"There was enough in the World Cup to make you think that players such as John Hardie, WP Nel, Josh Strauss... that all these lads have made a difference and Scotland are going the right way."
Paterson: "Almost everyone who was involved in the World Cup is in the extended squad and will look to build on the successes they had there.
"There's probably a little bit more expectation on us than on England. I hope they'll be able to deal with that expectation and deliver on the field."
Wright:"We hope this is the start, particularly in the Six Nations, of better times. We've had a bit of a fallow time in the last few years. Two or three times over the last few years we've thought this is us ready to go, we've got a team.
"The key is getting that form back from the World Cup."
Beattie:"Let's not listen to history. Forget all the guff that comes with the fixture. Forget that Scottish teams, in theory, aren't as good.
"I think they should just treat it like any other game. This season depends on this first game. If Scotland beat England, it could be an incredible ride from then on in. Opening up with a win is vital."
Paterson: "It's really important to get off to a good start. Scotland have won only one opening game since the inception of the Six Nations, so the stats are against us there.
"What is key to us getting a win is concentrating on ourselves. Get your own game right."
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Wright: "It's maybe the best time to get England with a new coach and some new players. If they're not up to speed then Scotland, who pretty much have a settled side, could take advantage of that.
"If we lose on Saturday, it could be a long Six Nations."
Beattie:"I think not finishing in the bottom two is success. I think Scotland in the Six Nations would want to be second, third or fourth. Logic tells you that that's where Scotland's status is.
Paterson: "Hopefully we'll get some wins in this Six Nations. We would love to get a couple of victories at least, but it's so, so hard.
"The results are determined by such fine margins and I suppose too often we've just been on the wrong side of them."
Wright:"If we could win our home games and beat Italy away, I think you would be pretty happy with that.
"The home games are England and France, both pretty tough teams, but with both you're not quite sure what they're going to bring to the Six Nations.
"You would probably argue that the Scotland squad is more settled. That has to be an advantage."
Paterson: Jonny Gray - "We've got one of the hardest working, most impressive forwards in the Six Nations in Jonny Gray. He's a phenomenal player who just delivers every time.
"It would be really good to see him do what he's always done but get the reward for Scotland with some wins and hopefully Jonny can be at the forefront of that."
Wright: Finn Russell - "That management of the game is going to be crucial to Scotland. Where they play on the pitch is going to be really important. The teams who do well have a 10 who is a threat and I thought at the World Cup he was.
"He's maturing every week into a player who is potentially world class. He could be crucial to any success Scotland have."
Beattie: WP Nel - "I think the most important player in any rugby team is the tighthead prop. If Scotland get mullered by opposition looseheads and the scrum goes back, you lose matches. You just can't win matches.
"If you can get your scrum ball easy, and your lineout easy, you are halfway to winning."


A waterpark near the French city of Marseille has cancelled a day booked by Muslim women to wear "burkinis", the all-over swimming garment.

A statement made by the waterpark said the decision had been taken to preserve public order which was being endangered by "extreme ideological positions".
The "burkini day" was intended only for women wanting to wear the garment.
But it was criticised by conservative politicians who argued it contravened legally-enshrined secular values.
Event Organisers Smile 13 had said that the event, scheduled for 10 September, was for women wearing an all-over body suit that covered from the chest to the knees. The group had made clear that two-piece swimming costumes would not be allowed.
Smile 13 says that, since announcing its plans earlier this month, it has received revolver bullets delivered by courier. In a Facebook post (in French), the group condemned what it called "the Islamophobic polemic" to which it was subjected.
The Islamic veil across Europe
Smile 13 said on its Facebook account that it viewed "with astonishment and regret the extent of the controversy" surrounding the planned event.
Although the initiative was legal, it nevertheless caused uproar among local officials and some right-of-centre politicians.
They denounced what they said was a new expression of "communalism" and "violation of the dignity of women".
The planned event was also attacked by Stephane Ravier, a mayor of two Marseille districts with the far-right National Front (FN).
The Speedwater Park near Marseille announced on Tuesday that it had finally decided not to go ahead with Smile 13's reservation, which had not been confirmed or paid for.
"Neither SpeedWater Park [n]or the [commune] of Pennes-Mirabeau want to... disturb public order caused by issues beyond their territories," the statement said.
France was the first European country to ban the full-face Islamic veil in public places, but it is legal to wear Islamic dress.
The country has about five million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe, but it is thought only about 2,000 women wear full veils.
Islamic headscarves were also banned in French schools in 2004.
The plan was for boys under the age of 10, but no men, to be allowed to attend the "burkini" day.


Road closures will be in place as thousands of people visit Wrexham for an Olly Murs concert.

Gates open for the singer's show at the Racecourse Ground at 17:00 BST on Saturday, with the event ending at 22:00.
Wrexham council urged people to be aware of road and parking arrangements.
Arriva Trains Wales said services would be busy. It will be operating a queuing system at Wrexham General Station after the concert.
Councillor Hugh Jones said the local authority wanted to ensure it "remains safe and causes as little disruption as possible".
The Mold Road outside the Racecourse will be one-way from 15:00 to 21:45, with all inbound traffic to be diverted along alternative routes.
The road will be one-way between the B&Q roundabout and Station Approach.
It will then be fully closed from 21:45 while the stadium is emptied, with access for residents controlled by traffic operatives.
Those attending the event are advised to park at Glyndwr University, with prepaid parking also available on Crispin Lane and pay-on-the-day parking at nearby Plas Coch School.
A paid-for park-and-ride service will also be at the council's Ruthin Road offices from 16:00 until midnight.
Fans are advised to leave plenty of time to arrive at the venue with bag and security checks in place on entrance to the stadium.
Mr Jones, lead member for communities, partnerships public protection and community safety, said: "We want to advise people of those roads likely to be busy on the day, and advise them to seek alternate routes if they're not attending the gig."


Pakistan has ordered the charity Save the Children to leave the country, with an official accusing the NGO of "anti-Pakistan" activities.

Police have sealed off their offices in Islamabad and foreign staff given 15 days to leave the country.
Save the Children said it "strongly objected" to the action.
Pakistan has previously linked the charity to the fake vaccination programme used by the CIA to track down Osama Bin Laden.
The charity has always denied being involved with the CIA or Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who carried out the programme.
The charity has had no foreign staff in the country for the past 18 months in response to the accusations.
It now has 1,200 Pakistani staff working on projects in health, education and food.
Speaking after the charity was shut, Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan said that NGO's were operating beyond their remit with backing from US, Israel and India.
"Local NGOs that use foreign help and foreign funding to implement a foreign agenda in Pakistan should be scared. We will not allow them to work here whatever connections they enjoy, regardless of the outcry," he said in a live television broadcast.
Save the Children, which has operations all over the world, has worked in Pakistan for more than 30 years.
The Pakistani government has not given a formal announcement explaining the decision.
But one official told the AFP news agency: "Their activities were being monitored since a long time. They were doing something which was against Pakistan's interest."
A police official said that the charity's phone calls and offices had been placed under surveillance. Speaking to the Reuters news agency, he added that the charity's activities were "very suspicious".
Condemning the move, Save the Children said it was "raising our serious concerns at the highest levels", adding that its workers were all Pakistani nationals.
A Save the Children official told Reuters that the Pakistan government had been stopping aid shipments entering the country, "blocking aid to millions of children and their families".
It comes after the Pakistani government announced it was tightening the rules for NGOs, revoking several of their licences.
The BBC understands that one of those NGO's, the Norwegian Refugee Council, has ceased all operations in Pakistan as its licence has not yet been renewed.


A ferry boat firm in Bristol is claiming a new timetable "imposed" by the council favours its rival.

Number Seven Boat Trips and Bristol Ferry Boats both operate services in the city's harbour. Number Seven Boat Trips said the changes were "unjust".
Bristol Ferry Boats disagreed and said the new timetable was "fairer than the previous one".
The city council said it was introduced "following feedback from customers".
Both companies operate the same route between Temple Meads and Hotwells, at staggered times.
Previously, the two boats collected people every 10 minutes in a 20 minute slot - and then one boat picked up passengers over the next 40 minutes.
Changes now mean ferries collect at regular 20-minute intervals and passengers can now stay on the same boat for the whole trip, instead of changing in the city centre.
Richard Rankin, of Number Seven Boat Trips, said: "We're told to move from our timetable on the Hotwells route - which we've run for 15 years - 10 minutes earlier.
"What it does then is, by running two boats close together it maximises the potential for what passengers there are to get on the other side's boats.
"That strikes me as being very unjust."
But Philippa Bungard, from Bristol Ferry Boats, said feedback indicated the service was "better for everybody".
"[It] is much fairer than the previous timetable and everyone so far seems very happy," she added.
In a statement, the council said the changes were made to manage journeys in the "most effective way".
"The changes have been made following feedback from customers using the services, to ensure timings between the two do not overlap and deliver the best experience for visitors," they explained.


Wales defender Neil Taylor is expected to miss the rest of the season after fracturing an ankle in Swansea City's 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday.

Taylor, 23, underwent surgery on multiple fractures, but the club's head physotherapist Kate Rees says he is expected to make a full recovery.
Rees said: "The surgeons worked hard on Neil's injury... and did a very good job.
"He is comfortable and the surgeons are happy with the operations."
She added: "While he should make a full recovery, the extent of the injury means Neil is likely to miss the rest of the season.''
Taylor was injured after falling awkwardly in the first half at the Liberty Stadium.
His foot was trapped underneath him as he fell to the ground, taking the full weight of Sunderland's Craig Gardner on the way down.
Taylor immediately summoned the Swansea medical staff as he held his left ankle in agony after just 15 minutes of the match.
"When you have injuries like that it is normally very violent, but this was not violent," said manager Michael Laudrup.
"It was even a free-kick against us.
"Sometimes these injuries happen in strange ways, you don't think anything is wrong and then there is ligament damage or something like that, it is very sad.
"But you see things that are much more violent than that - this was not violent, it was unlucky.
"He was very unlucky to fall in a bad way, you can't blame the Sunderland player for that."
As well as missing a significant part of Swansea's season, Taylor will be unavilable for most of Wales' 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts against Belgium on Friday.
Taylor impressed for Team GB at the 2012 London Olympic Games and was expected to play a big part in Wales boss Chris Coleman's plans.
Teenager Ben Davies was Taylor's replacement for Swansea, making an assured Premier League debut as Laudrup's side twice hit back to secure a draw.