Sprint star Usain Bolt will not appear in this year's Big Bash Twenty20 League but may consider switching to cricket or football after the 2016 Olympics.

The Jamaican, 26, held talks with Shane Warne's Melbourne Stars in October.
But Bolt's agent Ricky Simms told BBC Sport: "Usain is currently an athlete focused on his preparations for the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
"He may try his hand at cricket or football when he retires from running but that would be after 2016."
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Bolt, who grew up in cricket-mad Jamaica, was sounded out by Melbourne Stars captain Warne in August after cementing his status as an athletics legend by defending his  and  relay crowns at the London 2012 Olympics.
Bolt said at the time that he would "definitely" love to be involved in the Australian tournament, prompting Warne to launch a Twitter campaign to try to bring about the move.
The story resurfaced on Friday when ex-Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy tweeted that a deal between Bolt and the Stars to play in the competition - which runs from 7 December to 9 January - was "hours away".
But Healy's claim was dismissed by Simms, who said: "I met with the Melbourne Stars in October and told them Usain is not available to play cricket this year."
Melbourne Stars media manager Jess Cook told BBC Sport that the team had held "lengthy discussions" with Bolt's representatives over the summer before accepting defeat.
"From our end this has been done and dusted since mid-October," she told BBC Sport.
"We had lengthy discussions with Bolt's management from June to August but his training schedule ahead of the World Championships unfortunately wouldn't allow him to be involved with the Stars this summer.
"We will remain close to Bolt and explore it again next season."
Bolt, who describes himself as an all-rounder, has appeared in charity cricket matches and famously clean bowled then West Indies captain Chris Gayle in 2009.
His first love, however, is football. He was a special guest of Manchester United at the 2011 Champions League final in London and spoke recently of his desire to play professionally in the future.
"I always wanted to try to play soccer," he stated in October. "Maybe at the end of my career. It would be something that I would love to try."
Jamaican sprint rival Yohan Blake, who captured gold at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu when a false start ruled Bolt out of the final, also touts himself as a potential cricketer.
The 23-year-old was a guest of honour at Lord's for the first day of England's final Test with South Africa in August and declared his desire to play in the Big Bash after interest from the Sydney Sixers.
"I bowl around 85-90 mph, which is definitely quicker than Usain," said Blake.
"He would probably get more bouncers than me because he is taller but I am definitely faster than him."
BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra will broadcast live commentary of selected Big Bash matches.


Two explosions at a market in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Gombe have killed at least 49 people and injured dozens of others, officials have said.

The market was crowded with people doing last-minute shopping on the eve of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan.
One witness told the BBC many of the bodies he had seen were of children.
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has stepped up attacks since President Muhammudu Buhari took office in May.
It has not yet commented on the latest attack.
A trader in the market, Ali Nasiru, told the AFP news agency that he saw "people lying lifeless on the ground" and traders and shoppers helped in rescue efforts.
The cause of the blasts was not yet known a shopper in the market told the BBC Hausa service, but reports say it was caused by a bomb planted inside a plastic bag.
The attack comes two days after new military chiefs were appointed by President Buhari, who has promised to stem the violence that has plagued the north-east of the country for the last six years.
Boko Haram has targeted markets and bus stations in Gombe city in the past.
Last year, the group took control of a large area of north-eastern Nigeria and declared a caliphate (a state governed in accordance with Islamic law).
Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory, but in recent weeks there has been an upsurge in suicide attacks.
According to Amnesty International, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Boko Haram launched its uprising in 2009.
The group is still holding many women, girls and children captive, including 219 schoolgirls it kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April last year.
Will new military HQ defeat Boko Haram?
Why Boko Haram remains a threat


USA's Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III won the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina by one shot.

The 51-year-old bookended his tournament with rounds of 64 to finish on 17 under for a 21st PGA Tour title.
Love's six-under-par final round moved him ahead of Jason Gore, who took a two-shot lead into the final day.
England's Paul Casey finished tied third on 15 under, while 14-time major champion Tiger Woods finished a further two shots back in tied 10th position.
"I gave myself a chance. I had all the opportunities in the world to do it and didn't get it done," said Woods.
The 39-year-old, in a quest for his first title since the 2013 WGC Bridgestone, was joint leader at the halfway stage.
Woods started the day two strokes off the lead but did not make a birdie until the ninth hole.
And after Gore missed a long birdie chance at the last to force a play-off, Love secured the title at Sedgefield Country Club and his third in Greensboro.
It comes four months after foot surgery for Love, who is now the third oldest winner of a PGA Tour event.
USA's Scott Brown briefly tied for the lead when he landed a hole-in-one on the 174-yard third during the final round.


Ulster Bank is working to restore payments and direct debits that were delayed by a computer glitch involving the RBS group of banks.

A spokesman for the bank said they were "working flat out to get these payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday".
Its parent company RBS said about 600,000 payments were affected.
It said it had now identified and fixed the underlying problem.
Ulster Bank said concerned customers should "come into a branch or get in touch with our call centres".
"We will ensure no customers are left out of pocket as a result of this issue," a spokesman said.
In 2012, the RBS group was hit by a major IT meltdown that led to a large fine.
RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers were affected in June 2012 after problems with a software upgrade. On that occasion, the IT failure affected more than 6.5 million customers in the UK over several weeks.
The banking group said it had invested hundreds of millions of pounds to improve its computer systems since then.


National League newcomers Sutton made it three wins in a row with a 2-0 victory at home to Macclesfield.

Paul Doswell's men unlocked the Silkmen in the first half. Ross Stearn pounced from close range after goalkeeper Craig Ross could only parry an earlier effort.
Frenchman Bedsente Gomis made it two, rounding off an intricate passing move. The U's were very much on top, and Nicky Bailey also rattled the visitors' crossbar on the stroke of half-time.
After the break, Dean Beckwith again headed against the woodwork as the Gander Green Lane club continued to dominate. And when Andy Halls was given a straight red card for a nasty foul, Macclesfield's race was run.
Report supplied by the Press Association


Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been killed in Malaysia, local police say.

Some South Korean media have reported North Korean agents are responsible. No evidence has yet been provided.
But since Kim Jong-un took power he has had no compunction in executing officials perceived as a threat to his authority - in the most high-profile case, his uncle and senior mentor Chang Song-thaek.
And North Korea has a long history of sending agents overseas to carry out assassinations, attacks and kidnappings.
Here are five examples.
A team of 31 elite, handpicked North Korean commandos were sent to the South with a simple mission: infiltrate the Blue House (South Korea's presidential residence) and assassinate President Park Chung-hee.
While hiding out in the mountains above Seoul they were discovered by a group of civilians but decided that instead of killing them they would teach them about communism and release them with a warning not to tell anyone.
That was a mistake.
Police and the military were notified, but the North Korean assassins managed to evade detection. They entered the capital, donned South Korean army uniforms and marched to the Blue House disguised as the very soldiers that were looking for them.
At a checkpoint 100m away from the presidential residence, they were questioned and a gunfight erupted.
Many of the commandos managed to flee but most were later killed or committed suicide as they tried to get back to the North. One was captured.
More than 90 South Koreans in total were killed, including a large group of civilians who were reportedly on a bus.
Assassination attempts in third countries, if this is indeed what happened in Malaysia, are nothing new.
A bomb hidden at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Rangoon, the capital of Myanmar (then Burma), exploded minutes before then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan arrived to lay a wreath on 9 October.
Seventeen South Korean officials, including four ministers, were killed. Four Burmese nationals also died. Mr Chun's car was delayed in traffic, saving his life.
Three North Korean agents were involved and are said to have detonated one of three bombs early after hearing the sound of a bugle that mistakenly signalled the president's arrival.
They fled the scene but one was later killed and two captured.
North Korea has admitted kidnapping Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies in Japanese customs and language.
Some were snatched from coastal areas in Japan by North Korean agents and others from overseas. The youngest was a 13-year-old girl abducted on her way home from school in 1977.
Pyongyang has returned five of the abductees and says eight more died. Japan does not believe they are dead and says far more people were abducted.
South Koreans have also been abducted too - the most high profile case was of a film director and his actress wife, who were snatched in Hong Kong and taken to North Korea so they could help build its film industry.
There are estimated to be thousands of North Koreans living in Russia and South Korean consular official Choi Duk Keun's job was to monitor those of them in Vladivostok.
He was found bludgeoned in October 1996 and South Korean media reports said he was killed to avenge the deaths of 22 North Korean commandos whose submarine ran aground on a South Korean beach a month earlier.
North Korean defections have also led to assassination attempts. Last year, when North Korea's deputy ambassador to the UK defected, South Korea warned of possible revenge assassinations and kidnappings.
There is precedent. When Hwang Jang-yop, a senior politician, defected to South Korea in 1997, another prominent defector, Yi Han-yong, was shot in the head by suspected North Korean assassins. He was the nephew of Song Hye-rim, who is Kim Jong-nam's mother.
Thirteen years later, two North Korean military officials posing as defectors were jailed in South Korea for an unsuccessful plot to kill Mr Hwang.


Bournemouth came from behind for their first win of the season as they saw off Birmingham and their former boss Harry Redknapp in the EFL Cup second round.

The Blues went ahead when a corner was headed across goal by Jonathan Grounds and Maikel Kieftenbeld slotted home.
But Ryan Fraser met Adam Smith's low right-wing cross to level for the Premier League side after the break.
Marc Pugh secured the Cherries' place in round three when he drove the ball home after being set up by Lys Mousset.
It means Bournemouth, yet to score in the league this season, have kept up their remarkable record of having never lost at St Andrew's in 10 league and cup visits.
Match ends, Birmingham City 1, Bournemouth 2.
Second Half ends, Birmingham City 1, Bournemouth 2.
Adam Smith (Bournemouth) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
David Davis (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Adam Smith (Bournemouth).
Attempt blocked. Jordon Ibe (Bournemouth) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Maikel Kieftenbeld (Birmingham City).
Marc Pugh (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Tomasz Kuszczak.
Attempt saved. Benik Afobe (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
David Davis (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lewis Cook (Bournemouth).
Attempt missed. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Corner,  Birmingham City. Conceded by Dan Gosling.
Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Brad Smith (Bournemouth).
Substitution, Bournemouth. Jordon Ibe replaces Ryan Fraser.
Foul by Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City).
Steve Cook (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Maikel Kieftenbeld.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Jonathan Grounds.
Substitution, Birmingham City. Paul Robinson replaces Cohen Bramall.
Substitution, Bournemouth. Benik Afobe replaces Lys Mousset because of an injury.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Tomasz Kuszczak.
Attempt saved. Lys Mousset (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Attempt missed. Brad Smith (Bournemouth) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Marc Roberts.
Attempt blocked. Jermain Defoe (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Jacques Maghoma (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Wes Harding (Birmingham City).
Brad Smith (Bournemouth) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Goal!  Birmingham City 1, Bournemouth 2. Marc Pugh (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Lys Mousset.
Wes Harding (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Dan Gosling (Bournemouth).
(Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tyrone Mings (Bournemouth).
Ryan Shotton (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Ryan Shotton (Birmingham City).
Lys Mousset (Bournemouth) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Cohen Bramall (Birmingham City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.


Nearly 300 wild elephants have died in India's Orissa state in the past five years, the state's forest and environment minister has said.

Most of these deaths were caused by accidental electrocution, Bijayshree Routray told Press Trust of India news agency.
Over a third of the elephants were killed by electric shock and hanging electricity wires, he said.
There are around 26,000 wild elephants in India where it is a heritage animal.
"The government has set up a joint committee to monitor elephant deaths," Orissa's Forest and Environment Secretary RK Sharma said.
It will include members from both the forest and environment and energy departments to try and stop the deaths of elephants from accidental electrocutions.
Other causes for the deaths of the jumbos included poaching, poisoning by farmers to prevent them from damaging crops and being run over by trains.
While elephants are worshipped by many in India, shrinking habitat has led to increased conflict with people and the deaths of many of the protected animals.


The US military has started installing a controversial missile defence system at a site in South Korea, amid high tensions over neighbouring North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions.

The Thaad system is designed to protect against threats from North Korea.
Hundreds of local residents protested against the deployment, as vehicles carrying equipment arrived at the site in the south of the country.
China argues Thaad will destabilise security in the region.
The US has in recent days deployed warships and a submarine to the Korean peninsula, amid fears North Korea could be planning further missile or nuclear tests.
The Trump administration, which has been urging China to rein in its ally, North Korea, is due to hold a classified briefing for senators on the situation at the White House later on Wednesday.
The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.
"South Korea and the United States have been working to secure an early operational capability of the Thaad system in response to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threat," South Korea's defence ministry said in a statement.
The system - agreed last year under the Obama administration - is not expected to be operational until the end of 2017, it added.
The development coincides with China launching a new aircraft carrier - the first to be made domestically - in a bid to boost its own military presence in the region.
Television footage showed military trailers carrying what appeared to be defence equipment to a disused golf course some 250km (155 miles) south of the South Korean capital Seoul on Wednesday morning.
Dozens of police lined the road, trying to block hundreds of protesters, some of whom were hurling water bottles at the vehicles.
More than 10 people were injured in the clashes with police, activists said. Many of the protesters were local residents of the two towns closest to the military site.
"We will continue our fight and there's still time for Thaad to be actually up and running so we will fight until equipment is withdrawn from the site and ask South Korea's new government to reconsider the plan," protester Kim Jong-kyung told Reuters news agency.
Police were unable to confirm the casualties.
What impact will S Korea's expanded missile defence system have?
China has expressed "serious concern" over the Thaad deployment and is urging the US and South Korea to withdraw the system, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Wednesday.
The deployment has caused significant tension with China - South Korea's largest trading partner - and coincided with a number of economic measures imposed by China, including a ban on tour groups which saw a 40% drop in the number of Chinese visitors in the past month.
South Korea last month lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization, but China denies its recent moves are related to the Thaad deployment.
With tensions high in the region, North Korea and the US are continuing to exchange heated rhetoric over the scale of Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programme.
US Vice-President Mike Pence warned North Korea not to "test" President Donald Trump, after it conducted a failed ballistic missile test on 16 April.
On Tuesday, a US submarine - the USS Michigan - joined a group of warships in the Korean peninsula led by aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.
US President Donald Trump had earlier vowed to send an "armada" to the region over North Korea's missile tests.
North Korea meanwhile threatened to sink the aircraft carrier and launch a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike" against what it called US aggression.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged "restraint" on North Korea in a telephone call with President Trump on Monday.


I knew I must have achieved something special on Sunday because I got a hug from Ivan Lendl.

It's usually just a handshake but for Wimbledon he makes an exception - and I think he might even have got a bit emotional.
My mum was teasing him about it while we were on our way to the Champions' Ball, because a few people messaged us with Gifs zooming in on Ivan during the final - his eyes definitely looked a bit red and teary!
I asked him: "Did you have a cry?" He said: "No, of course not. I've just got hay fever."
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There was no dancing for me and [ladies' singles champion] Serena Williams at the ball - I think the tradition had finished until Novak Djokovic wanted to do it last year.
It's a nice thing to do but it never really happened this year, and I was just lucky to leave the stage in one piece.
When Serena and I were coming off the stage together a few people were shouting "dance, dance" - and I got distracted and literally fell down the stairs. I had dress shoes on with slippy soles and things almost got a bit ugly.
Fortunately, I got away with it and think a few of my team definitely woke up feeling worse than me.
I had a few drinks, which I would normally only do to calm down if I'm on a bumpy flight, but some of the others pushed it a bit harder.
I got to bed at about 4am and was up at 8am, and I'm happy to report there was no sore head - although maybe a bit of dizziness!
It was a great night though, everyone enjoyed themselves, and those moments after winning something as big as Wimbledon are really special.
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There was no thought of skipping my regular ice bath after the final - I needed it.
I remembered that the last time I won in 2013, I didn't do recovery after the final - and I then sat in a car and went to the ball.
I felt awful that night. Just standing up was trouble, so I thought I'd better do something this time around. I am 29 now, after all.
The nicest thing for me after the match was the time spent in the locker room with some great champions.
Stefan Edberg was there, Boris Becker, Pat Cash, Richard Krajicek, and obviously Ivan - he wasn't a bad player.
We weren't talking about tennis but just chatting about other stuff, like kids and life in general. That was really nice to be a part of.
It just feels surreal chatting to them about other things and having them come to see me play. When I remember watching them as I was growing up - and even now - I still sometimes look at videos of them playing. It's weird.
To see my name go up on the winners' board for a second time is amazing but it's hard to process where I fit in among all those great names right now.
I think maybe that's something for when I finish playing and look back.
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There might have been a bit more pressure going into the final because it was an opportunity, without Novak on the other side of the net, but I think my experience helped in the tight moments.
I would love to now go on and get to number one in the rankings but it will be incredibly difficult as Novak's consistency has been unbelievable.
I'll need to keep up my level of the last couple of months right through until the end of the year to close the gap.
That means more hard work, and there's no doubt that physically it is very demanding, but there are way worse jobs in the world.
I really enjoy training, it's not something I hate. I like practising, I like going to the gym, I like trying to get better physically.
The hardest part for me is when the cameras are on. That's when there's pressure and it's stressful. But I love the rest of the life. I love the travelling, going to new cities, new countries.
The matches are the hard part and everything that goes on around that, and that's why I've got to make sure I enjoy special moments like this.
Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport's Piers Newbery.


Germany's exporters enjoyed another month of growth in February.

The latest figures showed exports were up 1.6% over the month, following a 3.4% increase in January.
German firms had the most success in markets outside the eurozone where they recorded growth of 13.4% compared with the year before.
But the nation's trade surplus shrank to 13.6bn euros ($17.8bn; Â£11.2bn) in February from 15.1bn euros in January as imports grew strongly at 3.9%.
"German exports defied the general February freeze of the economy and increased for the second consecutive month," said Carsten Brzeski an economist at ING Bank.
"Last week's industrial data showed that the German economy is still flirting with a technical recession.
"More and more, the German economy's destiny is in the hands of its trading partners outside the eurozone," he added.
Last week figures showed that German industrial production fell 1.3% in February, compared with the previous month.
The fall was partly blamed on bad weather which hit the construction industry.


Oil and gas company EnQuest is set to cut 45 posts in Aberdeen.

The company expects to shed 25 staff and 20 contractor jobs due to what is described as the "ongoing low oil price environment".
EnQuest's president Neil McCulloch said: "We have inevitably been very focused on cost reduction and on production efficiency.
"In this context, we have today proposed additional changes within our onshore organisation in Aberdeen."
He added: "The latest measures regrettably include an anticipated reduction of up to 25 staff positions and 20 contractor roles.
"We will be working closely with those affected in the coming weeks.
"In so streamlining our operations, we are further strengthening EnQuest's position, taking appropriate action to address its priorities in these market conditions."


Sri Lanka bowed out of the Women's World Twenty20 with a 10-run win over South Africa, with both teams already eliminated from semi-final contention.

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Captain Chamari Atapattu hit a crucial 52 as Sri Lanka stuttered to 114-7.
South Africa looked to be coasting in Bangalore as Dane van Niekerk (24) and Trisha Chetty (26) put on 50 for the first wicket inside nine overs.
But from there the Proteas collapsed, losing five wickets for 24 runs, and they fell short, finishing on 104-7.
Neither team advances from Group A, with New Zealand and Australia going through to the semi-finals where they will play West Indies and England respectively.


Three senior North Korean officials are in South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games - a visit seen as a rare opportunity for high-level talks.

The North Korean team is led by Hwang Pyong-so, who is considered to be the second most important official after leader Kim Jong-un.
Mr Hwang is expected to meet South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and a senior security adviser.
The visit comes as speculation continues about the health of Mr Kim.
He has not been seen in public since 3 September. A recent official documentary showed him limping and being overweight.
The three North Korean officials arrived in the city of Incheon - the venue of the Asian Games.
They will take part in the closing ceremony of the major sporting event later on Saturday.
They are also expected to hold talks over lunch with Mr Ryoo and Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin before returning home.
Mr Hwang is the top political officer at the Korean People's Army. The other two officials are Choe Ryong-hae and Kim Yang-gon - key members of the ruling Workers' Party.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says the seniority of the team underlines the importance of the visit.
Despite that harsh rhetoric of recent years, the visit indicates a desire for economically-pressed North Korea to have closer relations with the South, our correspondent adds.
The visit has also caused speculation about Kim Jong-un, who has been absent from public view for a month.
What the closest members of his inner circle tell the South Korean government will be analysed to try to discern the health and views of their leader back in Pyongyang, our correspondent adds.
North Korea has been conducting missile and nuclear tests since six-party talks on its nuclear programme broke down in 2008.
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 war that ended in truce.


The generosity of the British public in helping Pakistan's flood victims is "shaming politicians around the world", the head of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has said.

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the DEC, said the UK public was leading the way in donations, but that further funds were urgently needed.
The DEC's Pakistan Floods Appeal has now raised more than £30m.
Critics say the world community has been too slow to respond to the crisis.
Mr Gormley said that while the response of the UK government was to be respected, other nations had been slow to react to the situation in Pakistan that was continuing to affect more than 20 million people.
He told a press conference in central London that for the first time in DEC's history, more money was donated in the second week of an appeal campaign than the first.
Mr Gormley said this fact was "hugely moving" and a response to the situation on the ground in Pakistan continuing to develop.
He added that £5m had been donated over the past weekend alone.
Jane Cocking, humanitarian director at Oxfam, said the Pakistan appeal was not just for one disaster.
"It is an appeal for a catastrophe made up of multiple single disasters," she said.
"But if we put all of this together, what we have is a single, long event that has the scale of the [Asian] tsunami, the devastation of Haiti, and the complexity of the Middle East."
Ms Cocking, who recently returned from Pakistan, said the scenes were the worst she had seen in more than two decades of humanitarian work.
About 25% of affected people had yet to receive any "significant" aid, she added, and echoed Mr Gormley's appeal to the British people to continue donating.
"I know that times are hard for a lot of people in the UK, but honestly, if people can give a little bit more, it really will go to the people who desperately need it," she said.
Mr Gormley's criticism of the international community's response comes after a senior United Nations official called the lack of global support "quite extraordinary".
"Right now, our level of needs in terms of funding is huge compared to what we've been receiving, even though this is the largest, by far, humanitarian crisis we've seen in decades," said Louis-George Arsenault, director of emergency operations for Unicef.
The DEC is an umbrella organisation of 13 UK humanitarian aid agencies - ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Care International, Cafod, Christian Aid, Concern, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.
If you would like to make a donation to help people affected by the floods in Pakistan, you can do so through the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee at www.dec.org.uk or by telephone on 0370 60 60 900.


A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man who was left in critical condition.

West Mercia Police said a man in his twenties was attacked just before 19:00 GMT on Monday in Bromsgrove.
Detectives believe the victim knew the teenager and another man involved in the attack in the Charford area of the town.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent and was being held in police custody.
The offender approached two men from the direction of Villiers Road and an altercation then took place on Crossley Walk.
The victim suffered injuries to his back, police said.
He is being treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.


A trial of free overnight parking has started at some tram stops in Greater Manchester.

The three-month trial will operate at weekends at 15 Metrolink stops on Fridays and Saturday nights.
The trial is being introduced at car parks with 30 or more spaces so customers can still find a space at smaller car parks, Transport for Greater Manchester said.
At the moment, drivers face a Â£60 fine if they park overnight.
Motorists will have to pick up their cars before noon the following day.


A Dundee care home has been told to make "urgent improvements" in the care provided to its vulnerable residents.

The Care Inspectorate said an inspection of Brae Cottage Residential Home in Broughty Ferry raised "serious concerns."
The regulator has served the home with a formal improvement notice listing five areas requiring immediate attention.
These include staffing levels and restraint of residents.
A Care Inspectorate spokesman said: "Our inspection raised serious concerns and we will report on that inspection in full in due course.
"The improvement notice we have issued clearly lays out the improvements we must see so that the care provided to residents improves quickly.
"We will visit this care home again soon to check on progress and if we are not satisfied that the matters raised are being addressed urgently we will not hesitate to take further action."
The home's manager has been given until the end of April to ensure there are sufficient numbers of staff "appropriate to the health, welfare and safety of service users."
A system to ensure no resident is subject to restraint "unless it is the only practicable way of securing their welfare and safety" must be in place by 30 March.
The service must also carry out full assessments on all environmental issues which may cause harm to people in the home.
The notice also said that radiators in the home must be fitted with covers by the end of February to protect residents from the risk of burns.


Decades after foot-binding was outlawed in China, a British photographer has met some of the last women subjected to the practice.

It was with a sense of pride that Su Xi Rong revealed her feet to British photographer Jo Farrell.
Her feet, bound from the age of seven, were so small that she had been renowned for their beauty.
The 75-year-old is among the last remaining women in China to bear the effects of foot-binding, a practice first banned in 1912.
Farrell met more than 50 of them over an eight-year period, and says she was surprised to find stories of pride and empowerment. Her book about the women is being launched at the British Council in Hong Kong on Monday.
Foot-binding was believed to create a more beautiful foot and promote obedience.
Despite a ban, it carried on in many rural areas until the Cultural Revolution began in 1966.
Travelling in Shandong and Yunnan provinces, Farrell found grandmothers who were happy to show the effects created by years of strapping their toes under their feet.
"I feel so many people talk about how barbaric the tradition was, but it was also a tradition that empowered women," Farrell says.
"It gave them a better life. They were doing the best for themselves."
Because of feudal traditions, women with large feet were not likely to get married.
Matchmakers picked women who had bound feet because it showed they could "tolerate" pain and "she would not complain as a wife," explains Farrell.
"I think one of the most important things that came across was that they have a pride in what happened to them.
"Most of them told me or showed me how their feet had been much smaller before," she said.
Su Xi Rong recalled how her grandmother would catch her trying to remove the strappings from her feet as a child and punish her by slicing flesh off her toes.
But when Farrell arrived with her Hasselblad camera Su Xi Rong was proud to pose for photos.
"She was happy to show me her feet because she was known as the woman with the most beautiful feet in the village."
Most of the women are in their eighties and nineties, and several have passed away since they were photographed.
"It feels good to get their stories down before they disappear," says Farrell.
Not all women had an adult forcing the binding on them.
"I would say about 40% of the women bound their own feet, which I found quite surprising," says Farrell.
"They wanted to be like other girls. Some women said they knew how to do it because they had seen their mothers do it."
Over a period of time, the small bones in the toes would break beneath the weight and the foot arch would lift so that a woman's heel would almost touch the metatarsals.
Jo found those who felt resentful did so because they had had to work in the fields.
"It would have been much easier to do if they hadn't had bound feet," she said.
She says a lot of the women confided they would not bind their feet if they could "have their time again".
From 1949, when the Communist Party came to power, the women found their feet, the products of imperial sensibilities, were now the focus of scorn.
"These women went through a very hard time," says the photographer.
"Originally they were praised for their bound feet but then by 1949 it became something that they were embarrassed about and ashamed of. To go through both of those things in one lifetime is incredible."
Today, she says the elderly women she found were "spritely", and says she was surprised by their mobility.
"On a few occasions I had to search the village for the ladies. They were visiting other ladies or looking after grandchildren.
Most of her subjects she found through word of mouth.
The first woman she photographed, Zhang Yun Ying, was the mother of a taxi driver.
Farrell also became adept at spotting the gait of women with bound feet, once stopping a taxi and getting out because she spotted a woman walking in the street.
"They tend to walk on their heels," Farrell says.
She found in a lot of cases younger relatives had never asked their grandmothers about their bound feet, or seen them naked.
Some young people were reluctant to let China be shown "in a bad light".
She said the project taught her a lot about old age and how the women seemed to be "invisible". Often they appreciated someone coming to see them to find out their stories.
Interviewing 87-year-old Cao Mei Ying, Farrell said she could not understand what the lady was saying to her - but that she held onto her tightly.
She asked her translator, who said: "She doesn't want you to leave."
Cao Mei Ying died in 2013.
"I made her feel special and remembered," recalls Farrell. "That her path in this life had meant something."
Jo Farrell's Living History project


Track cyclist Jess Varnish has not given up hope of resuming her career, according to her lawyer.

Varnish, 26, was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme last April, after which former technical director Shane Sutton was found to have used sexist language towards her.
Sutton was later cleared of eight of nine allegations.
However, lawyer Simon Fenton told BBC Sport that Varnish now "wants the possibility of winning gold medals".
He also described Varnish's attempts to discover why she was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme as "incredibly frustrating".
And he was critical of British Cycling, saying the governing body had been "anything but open".
"It's been incredibly frustrating," said Fenton. "We've had so much back from them late and heavily redacted.
"We wanted to know why she was hoofed off the Olympic podium programme and they're claiming confidentiality as a reason for not telling us.
"If we want to force disclosure we now have to take legal proceedings, but British Cycling's pockets are a lot deeper than Jess'.
"We believe the information is in there somewhere which says that she was not taken off the programme for performance reasons, but because she spoke out."
In December, Varnish demanded the release of her personal data to try to understand why an internal review had reached their decisions about her case.
British Cycling had found that Sutton had used the word "bitches" to Varnish, but the rest of her allegations - including a claim that he told her to "go and have a baby" - were not upheld.
Varnish said she was "shocked and upset" by British Cycling's decision on the majority of her complaints.
Under the Data Protection Act, she requested access to text messages and British Cycling's report into Sutton's conduct.
In a statement given to BBC Sport, British Cycling said they had "complied" with that request.
They added: "The board put on record its sincere regret that this happened and are committed to ensuring the findings of the investigation will help the development of the organisation alongside the independent review into the culture of the World Class Programme."
Varnish raced alongside Victoria Pendleton in the team sprint at London 2012, but failed to qualify for Rio 2016.
The World Championships medallist said that bosses at cycling's governing body were to blame for her and Katy Marchant not securing a team sprint spot at the Games. She added that their chances had been compromised by decisions over selection.
She was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme in April with Sutton telling the Daily Telegraph at the time that "there  is no point carrying on and wasting UK Sport's money on someone who is not going to medal going forward".
Sutton resigned in April last year, after being suspended pending the investigation, but has always denied wrongdoing.
"From reading what we have been sent, we have the impression that there were not sufficient performance reasons to remove her and that to other riders it was a surprise and looked like a political removal," added Fenton.
"Normally when people are taken off the programme, it's done in a structured way. This looked rushed.
"She wants to make sure no-one else goes through what she went through without any due process or warning."
Fenton's comments come as British Cycling prepares to brief riders and staff about an 'action plan' of reforms following concerns over the culture at its performance programme.
After Varnish's claims of a 'culture of fear' were supported by other former riders, British Rowing chair Annamarie Phelps was asked to lead an independent investigation into claims of bullying, favouritism and sexism.
Her report - described by one senior source as "explosive" - is due to be published in the next month.
On 21 February, the head of UK Sport, Liz Nicholl, accused British Cycling of watering down the full findings of an internal review conducted after the 2012 Games.
UK Sport has faced questions over why it did not act on a report that is known to include allegations of bullying.


League One side Fleetwood Town have re-signed striker Wes Burns from Bristol City for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year deal.

The 22-year-old was recalled by City on Monday from his loan spell at Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen.
The Wales Under-21 international spent three months on loan with the Cod Army last season where he scored five goals.
"It's been a long process on getting the deal done and over the line," he told the club website.
"It's good to be able to concentrate on this and hopefully reach the form I showed last season."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here.


Roof tiles with built-in solar panels have been unveiled by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

The tiles, made from glass, are intended to be a more attractive way to add solar panels to homes, compared with currently-used solar technology.
The launch took place in Universal Studios, Los Angeles, on what used to be the set for the television show Desperate Housewives.
It comes with Tesla due to take over struggling energy firm Solar City.
Some of the electric carmaker's investors have expressed concern over the takeover, suggesting it is a Tesla-funded bail-out of a company Mr Musk has a vested interest in as its biggest shareholder.
Solar City’s chief executive is Mr Musk’s cousin.
Bringing the solar tiles to the Desperate Housewives set was a way of displaying the idea’s key selling point: it looks far better than solar panelling. Mr Musk jokingly described it as a “sweet roof!”.
No price was given for the tiles, which come in a variety of colours and styles, though Mr Musk did say it would be cheaper than fitting a traditional roof and then adding solar on top.
Also part of the launch was Powerwall 2, Tesla’s home battery product. The primary function of the Powerwall is to store any surplus energy from the solar panels. It will cost $5,500 (£4,511), Mr Musk said.
Tesla posted a surprise profit in its last quarterly earnings - its first in three years.
The $2.6bn acquisition of Solar City seems set to see the company plunge back into the red, but Mr Musk insisted on Friday that the deal made sense as having separate companies would “slow things down”.
Tesla shareholders vote on the acquisition on 17 November.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook


A member of Iraq's Yazidi religious minority, Khalil, trapped with thousands of others on a mountain as Islamist militants advance, described their plight in an interview on Wednesday with the BBC's Hadya Alalawi.

We're hiding inside caves. We have nothing - no food and no water.
We've been under siege for four days. We eat once a day - either in the morning or at night.
We've managed to get some basic food supplies from neighbouring areas, but three children died today because of starvation. Seven women and children have died since yesterday because of dehydration.
A lot of the people here have disabilities or suffer from serious illnesses like diabetes. It's 50C here and we're being bombarded indiscriminately.
We need help. Until now, no humanitarian aid has been delivered and no help provided by aid organisations - not the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, or even the United Nations. The Iraqi government and the Iraqi president have not helped. Nothing at all.
There are clashes going on between the Islamic State [IS] and the Yazidis. But we don't have weapons so what are we supposed to do?
When IS fighters arrived in Sinjar, they said there was no place for us in the area and that we had to leave. But where can we go? When they attacked Mosul, many people fled to Sinjar.
The Peshmerga [Kurdish fighters] have not helped us at all. We haven't seen any of their soldiers. When they found out that IS was coming to shell Sinjar, they all left for Kurdistan.
On top of all the persecution and humiliation we have suffered, IS fighters now want to kill us. They want to slaughter us.
Yazidis under fire
Iraq: The minorities of Nineveh


The number of suicides at prisons in England in Wales in 2013 was the highest for six years, the Howard League for Penal Reform has said.

In total, 199 deaths were reported, 70 of which were self-inflicted.
Howard League chief executive Frances Crook said almost all deaths in custody were "preventable".
The Prison Service said it was committed to safety and each death was investigated by police and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
The Howard League statistics are based on notifications from the Ministry of Justice.
Ms Crook said: "Each death in custody is a tragedy and almost all of them are preventable.
"The responsibility for an increase in the number of people who take their own lives in prison lies squarely with those who advocate putting behind bars more and more people who do not need to be there."
The Howard League said there were four murders or suspected murders in prisons in 2012, the highest for 15 years.
Last year inmates at HMP Hewell and HMP Long Lartin, both in Worcestershire, were murdered.
Two murder cases, one at HMP Lincoln and another at South Yorkshire's Lindholme Prison, are still going through the courts.
More than 100 prisoners died of natural causes, and a further 22 deaths are yet to be classified by prison authorities, the charity said.
Ms Crook added: "This is the consequence of a policy that squanders a scarce resource, meaning that these institutions cannot keep people safe."
The Prison Service said it was "applying strenuous efforts to learn from each [death]".
Five suicides were recorded at Wormwood Scrubs in London, while there were four at Woodhill, near Milton Keynes.
A further six prisons each recorded three self-inflicted deaths during the year.
They were Hewell, Birmingham, Dovegate, Norwich and Chelmsford.
There were 50 prisons where no death was recorded and 19 where all the deaths were by natural causes.


A Highland Games in a north-east village had to be abandoned after a "mini tornado" swept through the site.

Villagers in Cornhill, near Banff, had been enjoying the annual event at the playing fields on Saturday afternoon.
After a spell of "beautiful" sunshine, the storm blew in, wreaking havoc on the park and lifting the first aid tent over a marquee and into the arena.
No-one was seriously hurt, but the games secretary Shona Hay said the noise was terrifying.
"Ten minutes before this we had a beautiful sunny day," she said.
"It was just torrential. Everybody ran for cover and a wind seemed to appear from nowhere and lifted our first aid tent and some of the stall holders' tents.
"And then the noise was just terrifying - the noise of the wind and the folks screaming."
She added: "The wind just swept through the park tearing up the tents, just clearing the arena and everything in its path. It swept through the village and five minutes later it was flat calm again."


Former Wales internationals Nicky Robinson and Richie Rees have joined the Cardiff Blues coaching team.

The duo made a combined 232 appearances for the Blues as players.
Rees joins from the Dragons as a backs coach, while Robinson will work as a kicking coach.
"I'm delighted to welcome Nicky and Richie to Cardiff Blues," coach Danny Wilson said. "They bring a wealth of experience and have a strong association with the region."
"I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Dragons but when the opportunity arose to come back to Cardiff Blues it was one I simply could not turn down as I have such a big connection with the region," Rees said. "It is great to be back and I'm really excited about this role."
"I really enjoyed my involvement on the coaching side last year and this is a great opportunity for me," Robinson added.
Robinson and Rees will work with the academy and first team squad.


The Congolese government has blamed attacks on government buildings in the capital, Brazzaville, on the Ninja militia group.

Security forces were deployed on Monday morning and heavy gunfire was heard in the streets
The Ninjas were a major anti-government force in the 1997-99 civil war.
The violence comes weeks after Denis Sassou Nguesso won a third presidential term in a poll that the opposition said was marred by "massive fraud".
At least one police station and a government building were attacked in the Makelekele district.
The Ninjas were loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas, the father of Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who stood in the presidential election in March and got 15% of the vote.
Mr Sassou Nguesso, in power for more than 30 years, won the election with 60% of the vote.
Reuters news agency reports that on Monday morning young opposition supporters were chanting "Sassou, leave!" in Makelekele , which is in the south of the capital city.


Joe Marchant scored two tries as Harlequins narrowly beat Gloucester in front of 77,567 at Twickenham.

Marchant's first helped Quins to an 11-3 half-time lead and Jack Clifford extended the advantage while Gloucester wing Jonny May was in the sin-bin.
Gareth Evans barged his way over from close range to give Gloucester hope.
Centre Marchant added his second try to make it 28-10 in Quins' favour, before Gloucester scores from James Hook and Motu Matu'u set up a tense finish.
Quins ended the match with 14 men after Clifford was shown a yellow card and Gloucester pressed for a match-winning try, but the home side held on to move into the Premiership's top six.
The game began in cagey fashion and was scoreless until Marchant found himself with plenty of room to finish with ease on 27 minutes.
But, as a contest, it was completely different in the second half as Gloucester crossed three times and could easily have scored another.
Before eventually scoring after combining well with May, Hook thought he had another try following a mistake from Marland Yarde, who dropped a simple catch beyond the try line allowing Hook to pounce, but the officials found that Hook had been offside.
The closing moments also offered drama and Gloucester were aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty with seconds remaining, as replays showed Quins captain Danny Care intercepted from an offside position.
But the visitors had to settle for a losing bonus point that lifted them above Newcastle into eighth.
Harlequins: Brown; Yarde, Marchant, Roberts, Visser; Jackson, Care; Marler, Buchanan, Sinckler, Merrick, Matthews, J Chisholm, Wallace, Clifford.
Replacements: Ward, O Evans, Collier, South, Naoupu, Dickson, Swiel, Alofa.
Gloucester: Hook; Sharples, Scott, Twelvetrees, May; Burns, Laidlaw; McAllister, Hibbard, Hohneck, Savage, Galarza, Moriarty, Rowan, G Evans.
Replacements: Matu'u, Y. Thomas, Ma'afu, Thrush, Kvesic, Heinz, Symons, Purdy.
Referee: JP Doyle.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.


Actress Carol Lee Scott, who was best known as Grotbags the witch, has died at the age of 74.

She appeared in children's programmes in the 1980s and early 1990s, including ITV's Rod Hull's Emu's World.
Her family confirmed the news on social media, with her niece Gina Mear writing on Facebook on Wednesday that the actress had "lost her brave fight against cancer".
"To many of you she was Grotbags - a legend!" she said.
"To me she was just aunty Carol. I shall miss her hugely, rest in peace Carol."
The actress was warmly remembered by comic and performer Rufus Hound, who described her as "an icon for folk of my generation".
Hull's son Toby added his voice to the tributes, tweeting: "Sending our thoughts to the family of Carol Lee Scott, what great memories we have of her. Xx"
David Lee, from Pantoni Pantomimes, told the BBC: "I was saddened to receive news of Carol's passing. She appeared in two pantomimes for me; Aladdin in Canterbury in 1984 and Aston Under Lyne with the late Ken Goodwin.
"She was a real trooper and in the time honoured tradition of showbiz, 'the show must go on!'. During the Canterbury panto run we had agreed she could take a cabaret appearance on Xmas Day near London.
"That day she badly injured her ankle but she was back on stage on Boxing Day and completed the run pushed around in a wheelchair by her sidekick in the show who played a Dragon.
"She was also a tremendous cabaret artist and great rock and roll performer. Thanks for some fabulous memories. RIP Carol."
Her character Grotbags was a dastardly pantomime witch, with a bright green wig and face to match. She famously hated "brats" and did her best to spoil the fun of children, using her "Bazazzer" - a pointy stick with a gold hand on the end of it.
Fans of the show flooded Twitter with comments, with Gary Dewar writing: "Daleks. Zelda. Skeletor. Nothing - NOTHING - terrified me quite like Grotbags. Bravo!"
Noob added: "Rest in peace Grotbags. You made my early years awesome. I was so scared of you!"
Lee Scott, who was born in Somerset, began her career with cabaret performances touring clubs in the north of England, as well as stints as a London pub singer and as a Pontins Blue Coat.
She worked for the holiday park for 19 years before she began collaborating with Hull on a series of children's 1980s TV shows. They created the character Grotbags during a summer season in Cleethorpes and stayed friends until his death in 1999.
Grotbags first appeared in Emu's World before going on to get her own eponymous show, which ran on ITV for three series between 1991 and 1993.
It featured Lee Scott alongside characters including Colin the Bat, Doris the Dodo and Grumble the cauldron.
The show, set in the Gloomy Fortress, also starred puppeteer Richard Coombs.
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A rare fungus has been discovered for the first time in Scotland, near a former war hospital in Edinburgh.

The fungi Clavulinopsis cinereoides is rarely seen in Europe.
Ecologist Abbie Patterson made the discovery on a lawn at Napier University's Craiglockhart Campus.
He was working on a contract to catalogue biodiversity amongst plants, birds, mammals, lichens and invertebrates for the university.
He told BBC Scotland he had come up with a "quirky theory" that soldiers' boots may have picked up spores while tramping the fields of Flanders.
During World War One the university campus site served as a military hospital where the war poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon were famously treated.
Mr Patterson said: "Looking at an old photograph of First World War officers standing on the grass banking where I found the fungi, my thoughts turned to the question of how the species arrived here at all.
"I thought of the soldiers' boots trampling the devastated fields of Flanders and perhaps picking up spores of C cinereoides and then depositing them on that grassy bank below the old Hydropathic."
However, he told the Good Morning Scotland radio programme his theory was not backed up by scientific evidence.
Head of the university contract, Jamie Pearson, said: "This discovery was most unexpected.
"The fungus has now been accepted and entered into the records as a first for Scotland and the specimen is now with the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Garden Herbarium and is the only specimen they have of this species."


Three astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) have returned to Earth, after the loss of a spacecraft delayed an earlier return attempt.

The trio handed control of the ISS over to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, after nearly 200 days in space.
Among them is Italian Samantha Cristoforetti, who has set the record for the most time in space on a single mission by a female astronaut.
Their Soyuz spacecraft landed safely on Thursday in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
"It was a textbook homecoming for the Expedition 43 crew," said a NASA presenter after the landing.
The commander of the expedition, Terry Virts, and his crewmates Anton Shkaplerov and Ms Cristoforetti have spent almost seven months on board the ISS carrying out scientific research and technology demonstrations.
All three were carried out of the spacecraft and checked over by medical workers. "Everything worked by the second, step by step, the guys were great," said Mr Shkaplerov.
According to a Nasa press release, the team has travelled more than 84 million miles since their launch into space on 24 November.
They were originally due to leave a month ago, but their departure was delayed after the failure of a supply spaceship. The out-of-control unmanned Progress M-27M burnt up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
The delay meant that on 6 June Ms Cristoforetti set a new world record for the most time spent in space by a woman on a single mission after clocking up more than 194 days.
The 38-year-old has gained an active following on Twitter during her time on the ISS by posting videos showing how to do simple everyday tasks in space such as making a meal.
She also famously introduced an espresso machine, which was specially adapted to work in space.
Expedition 44 is led by Mr Padalka, alongside fellow crew members US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko.
Mr Kelly and Mr Kornienko are two-and-a-half months into a year-long tour of duty on the ISS, the longest continuous stay anyone will have had on board the 400km-high (250 mile) orbiting platform.
Three more astronauts are due to join them in July.


Tourism in the UK will "hold up well" in 2016 after the Brexit vote but fewer jobs than expected will be created in the longer term, executives have said.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is predicting growth in the sector of 3.6% in the UK over the year.
This is higher than predicted global growth in the sector of 3.1%.
It said falling domestic spending would be offset by international visitors loosening the purse strings owing to a more favourable exchange rate.
The WTTC said that, despite the initial solidity of the sector in the UK, there would be some added pressures in the next few years owing to the UK's vote to leave the EU.
It said that the benefit in terms of overseas visitors' spending from a weaker pound would wear off in 2018 to 2020.
General economic growth in the UK would be weaker and that would affect the industry.
"By 2020, we now expect that the UK travel and tourism sector will support 1.88 million direct jobs, which is approximately 75,000 fewer jobs than forecast in the annual update at the start of the year," it said in its latest economic update.
Earlier this month, travel researcher ForwardKeys said Brexit had had an "immediate, positive impact" on tourism to the UK. It said flight bookings to the UK jumped since June, driven by the sharp fall in the pound, with 4.3% more flights booked to the UK in the 28 days following the vote than last year.


Scotland captain Darren Fletcher says Friday's World Cup qualifier against England is not a "must-win" game.

After a draw with Lithuania and defeat by Slovakia, the Scots can ill-afford a loss at Wembley, but Fletcher believes a draw would be a good result.
"Even with a couple of disappointing results, we are by no means out of it. We can't be get drawn into these "must win" games.
"A point would be a decent result for us," Fletcher said.
"We are [not] playing for a draw [but] if we can get a result, we are still involved in the group with big games coming up in 2017."
Fletcher says the prospect of facing their oldest rivals will give Scotland added motivation going into the Group F clash.
"It doesn't get much bigger than this - there will be a little more fire in the belly, it being England v Scotland," the West Brom midfielder explained.
"Every time you lead your country out it is important but there is no bigger stage than Wembley in front of 90,000 fans.
"We went out to the stadium and had a look around. It's a great excitement. It will be a great occasion and hopefully we can get the result to remember it by."
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Fletcher will lead the team out at Wembley - if selected - despite the return from a brief international retirement of Celtic midfielder Scott Brown.
He welcomed the personal and playing qualities that his fellow midfielder adds to the squad now that he is back, and admitted the prospect of such a significant competitive fixture against old rivals England is inspiring.
Fletcher warned, though, that the passion of the Scottish players and fans will be matched by their opponents, who will be expected to prevail at Wembley - where they haven't lost a competitive game since 2007.
"It will be a bit of a derby game," Fletcher said. "It is a big game for England as well, let's not forget.
"They are at home, they are under pressure to perform in front of their own fans. Wembley is not the easiest place to play when there is expectancy on you, especially with 90,000 people there.
"It will be difficult for them but the passion will not call come from the Scotland side, English players have plenty passion. I [saw] that at Celtic Park in the friendly [in 2014], they came out all guns blazing, it meant so much to them, [and] that was a friendly match.
"Every time you represent your country and lead your country out it is massive there is no bigger place to do it as a Scotsman, to walk out at Wembley in front of 90,000 fans and 10 teammates behind you, desperate to get a result and create a bit of history. It is a monumental moment and one I am relishing.
"We are not going in here with fear or on a real low, we get disappointed after results but it gives you a bit of steel and determination to go out there and try to put it right.
"It is an occasion I am going to try to enjoy. I looked around the stadium and it is exciting, a great arena to play football in. I am sure there will be many more than 14,000 fellow Scotsman cheering us on and hopefully we can get the result we can remember it by."


Adebayo Akinfenwa netted his 17th goal of the campaign as Wycombe closed the gap on the League Two play-off places with victory at Hartlepool.

The veteran striker's effort was added to by a late strike from substitute Paris Cowan-Hall, whose stoppage-time dismissal did not prevent Wanderers securing a deserved win that moved them to within three points of the top seven.
Akinfenwa displayed all his class to put Wycombe ahead, showing great control before playing a one-two with Dayle Southwell and finding the bottom corner.
The hosts' frustration ratcheted up a notch soon after as referee David Webb missed a clear handball against Max Muller in the Wycombe box.
Wanderers continued to look the more dangerous side, Pools goalkeeper Joe Fryer producing fine saves to deny Myles Weston, Southwell and Dominic Gape.
However, he was helpless in the 89th minute when Cowan-Hall coolly slotted into the corner.
The winger's joy proved short-lived as he was shown a second yellow card for an altercation with Scott Harrison, although that did not stop Wycombe extending their unbeaten run to five games.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Hartlepool United 0, Wycombe Wanderers 2.
Second Half ends, Hartlepool United 0, Wycombe Wanderers 2.
Nicky Deverdics (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Luke O'Nien (Wycombe Wanderers).
Foul by Padraig Amond (Hartlepool United).
Luke O'Nien (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United).
Dayle Southwell (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United) is shown the yellow card.
Second yellow card to Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers).
Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Michael Harriman (Wycombe Wanderers).
Goal!  Hartlepool United 0, Wycombe Wanderers 2. Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Dominic Gape.
Corner,  Wycombe Wanderers. Conceded by Kenton Richardson.
Attempt blocked. Myles Weston (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Hand ball by Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers).
Attempt missed. Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Substitution, Wycombe Wanderers. Garry Thompson replaces Dayle Southwell.
Foul by Louis Rooney (Hartlepool United).
Dominic Gape (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers) is shown the yellow card for hand ball.
Hand ball by Paris Cowan-Hall (Wycombe Wanderers).
Louis Rooney (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Max Müller (Wycombe Wanderers).
Brad Walker (Hartlepool United) hits the bar with a header from the left side of the box following a corner.
Corner,  Hartlepool United. Conceded by Jamal Blackman.
Attempt saved. Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Louis Rooney replaces Lewis Hawkins.
Corner,  Hartlepool United. Conceded by Will De Havilland.
Attempt missed. Max Müller (Wycombe Wanderers) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left following a corner.
Corner,  Wycombe Wanderers. Conceded by Joe Fryer.
Attempt saved. Dominic Gape (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Sam Saunders (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nicky Featherstone (Hartlepool United).
Corner,  Wycombe Wanderers. Conceded by Joe Fryer.
Attempt saved. Dayle Southwell (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Lewis Hawkins (Hartlepool United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Luke O'Nien (Wycombe Wanderers) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Wycombe Wanderers. Paris Cowan-Hall replaces Adebayo Akinfenwa.
Attempt saved. Myles Weston (Wycombe Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.


A 17-year-old boy has been found guilty of the false imprisonment of former Irish deputy prime minister Joan Burton and her adviser Karen O'Connell.

He has been given a conditional discharge meaning that he will not be given a criminal conviction as long as he does not reoffend and is of good behaviour for nine months.
The case related to a protest against water charges in Jobstown in Tallaght, Dublin, two years ago.
The boy was 15-year-old at the time.
Judge John King said the personal liberty of Ms Burton and Ms O'Connell was restricted, without their consent.
He said the boy had witnessed what was going on and instead of disassociating himself, he was an active participant.
The judge told the Children's Court in Dublin that the boy was present as Ms Burton and her adviser walked to the church from the local An Cosán centre in Jobstown until the Garda (Irish police) vehicle, in which she was a passenger, managed to make its way slowly out of the area.
He said the assembly of people was not peaceful and the behaviour of the protesters was contrary to public order and morality.
Accordingly, he said the protest did not attract protection under the constitution or the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said the State had a positive obligation to intervene, for public safety, to prevent disorder and crime and to protect the rights of others, particularly, Ms Burton and Ms O'Connell.
He rejected the defence submission that the boy had no case to answer and he said he was satisfied the State had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and he was entitled to convict the boy.
The boy's lawyers told the court he had been in hospital for the last number of days with a number of issues and was disclosed on Wednesday.
They were concerned stress was a factor in the medical problems he had been suffering.


A an has been convicted of taking part in an armed raid on a post office on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

Steven McIvor, 32, was one of two knife-wielding thieves who robbed the Letterbox Bistro in Balerno Main Street.
They stole Â£2,000 and 5,300 euros on 26 February 2016.
McIvor, from Edinburgh, had denied taking part in the robbery during a trial at the High Court in the city but was found guilty.
His co-accused Eddie Moffat, 27, was acquitted of the robbery charge on a not proven verdict, and admonished for a dangerous driving offence he admitted after spending almost 11 months in prison on remand. He was banned from driving for three years.
The owner of the post office/bistro business Steven Carlyle, 55, said he had been talking to his son when he became aware of two men entering the premises.
He told the court: "Then the language got worse and they demanded money. They were demanding all the money from the till and the euros."
The thieves had scarves over their mouths and each was armed with a knife.
Mr Carlyle said he pressed an alarm that was supposedly inaudible but turned out to be audible. He said: "That's when they started getting very agitated."
One of the intruders became very aggressive and a knife was thrust through a gap in a Perspex screen.
Mr Carlyle said: "They were swearing all the time, telling us to 'hurry up, get the money, get the cash'."
The trial judge, Lord Kinclaven, deferred sentence on unemployed McIvor, who has previous convictions for theft, for the preparation of a background report. He was remanded in custody.


The Russian authorities have opened a new museum in Moscow dedicated to the millions who were persecuted in Soviet labour camps in 1930-1950 - in the so-called Gulag system.

The opening coincided with a national day of remembrance for the victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Earlier, thousands of victims' names were read out near the Lubyanka, the former base of the KGB secret police.
The new Gulag museum is bigger than a previous one founded in 2001.
Under President Vladimir Putin's rule Russian officials have tended to downplay Stalin's crimes, focusing more on Stalin's role in the Soviet World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.
Portraits of Stalin have reappeared in public - yet they were taboo for decades after his death and the 1956 denunciation of Stalinism by his Communist successor Nikita Khrushchev.
The new five-storey museum shows personal effects of Gulag prisoners, the dimensions of prison cells, and original doors from camps in remote Magadan, Anadyr and Vorkuta.
Up to 170 prisoners were crammed into one cell.
There are also grim discoveries from execution pits - bullets and casings, and wire used to tie up victims.
An estimated 20 million people died during Stalin's reign of terror. At the height of the terror, in the 1930s, victims accused of plotting against Soviet power were executed en masse.
On entering the museum visitors hear the chilling clank of cell doors being shut and loud footsteps in prison corridors.
"I want visitors to be able to touch the doors and immerse themselves in this theme, to feel it," said museum director Roman Romanov, quoted by the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
A huge map of Russia shows the camp locations - described in detail in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's chronicle The Gulag Archipelago, which was banned by the Soviet authorities.
And visitors can also read about the experiences and suffering of individual prisoners.
By focusing on the Stalin period the museum does not however include the persecution of dissidents that went on after Stalin's death.


A total of 792,808 voters took part in an unofficial referendum on universal suffrage in Hong Kong, organisers said.

The 10-day poll was held by protest group Occupy Central.
Campaigners want the public to be able to elect Hong Kong's leader, the chief executive. The Hong Kong government says the vote has no legal standing.
About 42% of voters backed a proposal allowing the public, a nominating committee, and political parties to name candidates for the top job.
Beijing has pledged that the Hong Kong public can directly choose its chief executive in the 2017 election, but only from a list of candidates selected by a nominating committee.
Activists fear China will use the committee to screen out candidates it disapproves of.
Occupy Central organised the vote for the public to decide which of three proposals - all of which involve allowing citizens to directly nominate candidates - to present to the Beijing government.
The winning proposal, put forth by the Alliance for True Democracy, allows candidates to be nominated by 35,000 registered voters, or by any political party which secured at least 5% of the vote in the last election for Hong Kong's legislative committee.
The proposal also allows a nominating committee to name candidates, and the formation of this committee should be "as democratic as it can be", reported the South China Morning Post.
The other two proposals in the referendum allowed only the public and a nominating committee to name candidates.
The voting, in polling stations or on the popvote.hk website, began on 20 June. The deadline was originally set for 22 June, but was later extended after what organisers claimed were several cyber attacks on the website.
Popvote.hk was designed by the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to measure support for Occupy Central's campaign.
Chan Kin-man, sociology professor at the University of Hong Kong and one of the founders of Occupy Central, praised the turnout and declared the referendum a success.
"It is very unexpected. It is a very encouraging sign," he said.
"I believe that people feel that our autonomy has been threatened and is going to be threatened even more by Beijing. People feel outrageous [sic outraged] and so they want to make their voice heard."
The BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong says the large turnout - about one in five registered voters - sends a strong message that a significant part of the Hong Kong public is unhappy with the Chinese government's plans for reform.
Pro-Beijing groups have opposed the referendum, with one group marching through the Causeway Bay district with orange balloons urging people not to vote and handing a petition with 30,000 signatures to police.
The vote is seen as a prelude to a campaign of dissent that could shut down Hong Kong's financial district, our correspondent adds.
Prof Chan said the protests could turn violent.
"We have been witnessing more and more physical confrontation during protests and I believe that more young people are willing to go to jail or even to confront the police and the government with their own bodies," he said.
"As a professor, as a parent we want to protect our young generation, that's why we believe we are now in a very critical juncture of our history."
Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 following a 1984 agreement between China and Britain.
China agreed to govern Hong Kong under the principle of "one country, two systems", where the city would enjoy "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years.
As a result, Hong Kong has its own legal system, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech are protected.


Two NHS trusts have launched takeover bids of another trust which was given three months to improve.

The Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, which runs the King's Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, was placed into special measures in 2013.
Last year the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there were still "serious problems" with death rates and care standards.
The trust said a merger would help make "necessary sustainable improvements".
Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are both in talks with the trust about possible takeovers.
Interim chief executive Peter Herring said: "Whilst we are already making good progress in addressing the concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission's report, we believe we could make more rapid progress and improvements by formally combining with another NHS organisation.
More news on this story and updates from Nottingham
"A long-term partnership will allow our hospitals to benefit from a stable leadership team and their strong working practices.
"The partnership will also improve our ability to recruit into key medical and nursing posts."
Peter Homa, chief executive of the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, said it had been providing support since October and considered it its "duty to share good practice".
"We enter this exercise with the single objective of doing what is best for patients in Nottinghamshire and securing a sustainable health and social care system for the local community in the future."
The preferred partner will be announced next month.


The first minister has criticised President Donald Trump's decision to institute a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Carwyn Jones said it would "diminish not just the United States in the eyes of the world, but the west as a whole".
Mr Trump's executive order also halted the entire US refugee programme.
Mr Jones said the impact on "law-abiding citizens" is "beyond any rational defence".
"Those of us who believe in the solemn duty of helping and protecting refugees must now work harder to show that help is still available and that we still care," he added.
Mr Trump has said it is part of new measures to "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US".
Mr Jones also criticised Prime Minister Theresa May's response to Mr Trump's executive order.
Mrs May initially said the USA's immigration policies were a matter for them, not her, before Downing Street said she "does not agree" with the entry ban.
"If the special relationship means anything, it must mean honestly calling one another to account. Silence and evasion are not the hallmarks of leadership," Mr Jones added.
He said he would be raising the matter with Mrs May when they meet on Monday for the Joint Ministerial Committee.
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said the policy risked "fuelling grievances of those already marginalised in our communities, giving rise to further alienation and undermining security".
She added: "Trump's actions have rightly been met with anger around the world and should be condemned without reservation by us all."


An SDLP leader will speak at the Ulster Unionist conference for the first time on Saturday.

The parties are now in opposition together at Stormont.
Since going into opposition after the assembly election in May, the effectiveness of the arrangement between the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP has been constantly questioned.
The decision to invite Colum Eatwood to address the UUP conference can be seen as the response to that criticism.
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said there was a lot of joined up work going on between the parties but he and Mr Eastwood were conscious people want to see tangible signs of co-operation.
Rather than dwell on what divides them, he said, they were focused on common ground, importantly the fact both want Northern Ireland to work.
Mr Eastwood said it was a demonstration of what genuine co-operation looks like - two leaders of parties with different views coming together in the interests of people who deserved better from the current Executive.
"It's the principle of partnership, ingrained in our institutions by the SDLP and UUP and degraded by the current government, that brings us together on issues of common cause where we can make a positive difference to the lives of the people we represent," he said.
Mr Nesbitt said that while there was a lot of co-operation between the UUP and SDLP behind the scenes, he was conscious that people wanted to see tangible signs of it.
"We will not agree on everything, but rather than dwell on what divides us, I am focused on the common ground, and importantly, the fact that Colum and I both want Northern Ireland to work, which opens huge possibilities for cooperating on the bread and butter issues of the economy, education, housing and the health of all our people," he said.


The AA is set to launch a new insurance policy which uses sat-nav technology to track driver performance.

The firm said the system would allow its better drivers to receive cheaper premiums.
It follows similar efforts by smaller insurers. Larger rival Direct Line has told the BBC it is also piloting its own "black box" scheme.
Critics of the technology said that data should not be used as a reliable measure of a driver's ability.
The system involves the installation of a small black box into the driver's car which records how they drive.
The measures include monitoring speed, braking severity, cornering and the types of roads used during certain times of day.
This information is transmitted remotely to the insurers, and can also be accessed by users via a website which gives information on overall performance, warning them if they are likely to be moved to a higher premium.
"The reports are pretty detailed," AA spokesman Ian Crowder told the BBC ahead of Wednesday's formal announcement.
"The point is that these sorts of devices firmly put in the hands of the driver a responsibility for driving safely. It makes you think."
The information could be used to prove who was at fault in accidents, Mr Crowder added, but such detailed information would only be disclosed with a court order.
He added that the system could also detect sudden hard braking so assistance could be sent.
Extreme speeds would be greeted with "a stern email" to the driver.
He said the "pay-how-you-drive" system, which is aimed primarily at young drivers, could save customers up to Â£850 per year.
"All the anecdotal evidence suggests that people who have installed the system have about a 30% better claims experience - in other words, less crashes - than those who don't," he added.
The technology, known as "telematics" or "black box insurance" has for several months been utilised by smaller insurance firms such as Co-Op and Coverbox.
Welsh insurance firm Motaquote has just launched a partnership with leading sat-nav manufacturer TomTom to offer real-time feedback on driver performance.
Other major insurers are expected to launch policies soon. Direct Line told the BBC it had begun a pilot using its own technology - called Tracker - which it hoped to implement by the end of the year.
Elsewhere, car hire firm Avis said telematics is "one to watch", and said it might consider using the technology in its vehicles.
Malcolm Tarling, from the Association of British Insurers, said it is an approach which is likely to become commonplace.
"It's particularly important for young drivers who have high premiums," he said.
"You may say you don't want a 'spy in the car' as some call them, but others may say that if this is one way of making my premiums reflect my safety on the road, this will be of interest."
But Keith Peat, a spokesman for the Association for British Drivers, told the BBC he was worried that drivers who did not want to allow telematics in their vehicle would face higher costs.
"Providing the drivers give their consent it is OK," he said.
"But what we are totally against is people who don't give their consent being penalised."


Speaker John Bercow has praised SNP MPs for their "solidarity" - a day after rebuking them for clapping.

The SNP benches have been packed as its 50 new MPs pour into the House of Commons for each maiden speech.
Mr Bercow praised the practice after Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard's first remarks to the Commons.
He had previously told the MPs to "show some respect" after they broke Commons tradition by clapping their Westminster leader Angus Robertson.
The Speaker said: "I know I'll be joined by a great many colleagues in admiring the spirit of solidarity which motivates large numbers of members of one party to turn up at the same time.
"I say that in a spirit of genuine respect and so thank you for what you have said."
The SNP won a record 56 of Scotland's 59 seats at the general election.
During the first day of the Queen's Speech debate on Wednesday, Mr Bercow scolded the SNP group for clapping Mr Robertson.
He urged the delegation to respect the long-held ban on clapping in the Commons chamber - despite the rule sometimes being ignored.
In his maiden speech, Mr Sheppard offered an explanation for the incident.
He said: "Mr Speaker, you gave us a gentle rebuke yesterday for the applause we gave in this chamber.
"We take that with good grace. We know, of course, it is not traditional practice in the chamber but we didn't know just how unacceptable it might be found. We will refrain from doing that again.
"It will take us time to learn the processes that work here, it will take us time to get our feet under the table and it will take you time to get used to us. But I hope we will be able to do that in the weeks and months ahead."
The SNP group has begun calling "hear hear", as is traditional in the Commons.


The mother of a schoolboy who has been missing for five weeks has pleaded with him to get in touch.

Arthur Heeler-Frood, 15, of Axminster, Devon, failed to arrive at school on 6 September and has not been seen since.
His mother Caroline said she and his father, Jeremy, were missing him "terribly".
She said: "We don't know that you are safe or what situation you're in. I don't think you realise how hard it is for us. Please make contact."
Devon and Cornwall Police has urged anyone with information to get in touch.
Supt Sam de Reya said: "We are appealing to business owners, likely to be restaurateurs, hoteliers and cafe owners, who may have had a young man work for them in the last four to five weeks or anyone who may have provided accommodation to him in that time period."
Arthur is described as white, 5ft 4ins-tall, of slight build with short, light brown hair which may be short or shaven.


It will take more than a car crash to put the Republic of Ireland management team off their preparations for this Saturday's crunch Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland.

A minor bump on the M50 outside Dublin for Martin O'Neill, Roy Keane and their coaching team seemed not to have perturbed them if training on Wednesday morning was anything to go by.
And indeed O'Neill was in a relaxed mood as he addressed the media following what was a first full training session for the squad since Sunday's goalless draw with England.
He brushed off questions about the incident itself, preferring to speak about how his players are shaping up for a game that could define their qualifying campaign.
O'Neill told me "nothing was impossible" when I asked on Monday whether failing to beat Scotland would end their hopes of automatic qualification. But he acknowledged on Wednesday that allowing the gap between themselves and their rivals for the top two places to increase would make life extremely difficult.
"Eventually in the group, you come to crunch matches," he told reporters.
"This is very important because we don't want Scotland to get too far ahead of us.
"We don't want to give ourselves an absolute mountain to climb for the last four matches, so it would be important, if we can win the game, we're right there and obviously if we lose, the gap becomes difficult.
"But I mentioned earlier, there'll be a few twists and turns along the way."
Following a terrific start to Group D, including a win in Georgia and a phenomenal point away to Germany, O'Neill recognises that much of that solid work will be rendered meaningless if Saturday's match does not go in their favour.
With Poland at home to Georgia and Germany taking on group minnows Gibraltar, the top two should each add another three points to their respective tallies.
And a Scotland victory would mean Republic of Ireland would trail both the Scots and Germany by five points and Poland by six with just 12 points still available.
If O'Neill is reluctant to actually use the dreaded 'must-win' tag, there is a general acceptance here that that is an accurate description.
"I think it is a game we have to win," RTE's football correspondent Tony O'Donoghue told me at the team's training ground on the outskirts of Malahide, to the north of the capital.
"If we lose any more ground on Scotland, Poland had such a good start and we all expect Germany to finish at a canter and if home advantage is to mean anything, we really have to pick up the three points.
"There's going to be more difficult games - the last time Germany were in Dublin they beat us 6-1 so we would expect them to come here and win.
"So if we don't pick up the maximum against Scotland, I think we're out of contention."
Scotland's victory over the Irish in November has changed the complexion of the group, certainly, but O'Neill is quick to underline his own team's credentials.
"They [Scotland] are pretty confident within themselves," he said. "Scotland now have got a bit of momentum but I think we've only lost one in the last seven or eight games, so we've got a bit of momentum ourselves.
Much of the focus from the local media is on the role of Robbie Keane in the team.
Left out of the starting line-up by O'Neill for the game in Glasgow, the LA Galaxy striker arrived this week, having been excused the 0-0 friendly draw with England to play for his club.
Keane, despite now falling into the veteran category, remains a talismanic figure, but O'Neill will not be drawn on whether the 34-year-old will start Saturday's match.
"I've an idea about the team but there's plenty of time between now and Saturday," the manager added in typically coy style.
Whatever team he picks, though, needs a positive result to keep their hopes of a top-two finish alive. Anything less and surely the best they can hope for is third and a play-off.


Cycling's governing body has condemned E3 Harelbeke organisers for a controversial billboard poster that promotes this year's race in Belgium.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) said it was "extremely unhappy" with the poster which shows a hand moving towards a girl's backside.
"We have reminded the organiser of its responsibility," said a UCI statement.
The poster mimics the antics of 2014 winner Peter Sagan who pinched a podium girl at the 2013 Tour of Flanders.
Although the UCI press release states that organisers have agreed to remove the poster, which also carries the tagline, 'Who squeezes them in Harelbeke?', it is still being used to promote the event on social media.
In 2014 UCI president Brian Cookson described a cycling team's kit as "unacceptable by any standards" after it appeared to make the female riders look naked.
Photos of the Colombian team's outfit for the Giro della Toscana in Italy showed what seemed to be a skin-coloured fabric around their waist and hips and caused controversy on social media.
The E3 Harelbeke, which is on 27 March this year, starts and finishes in Harelbeke and covers 210kms of the Flanders region.
The race is part of the UCI World Tour and is regarded as a preparation for the  seven Spring Classics which include the Tour of Flanders..


Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing apologised to fans who travelled to see the 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth that pushed Boro closer to relegation.

They were 2-0 down after 16 minutes and played for 70 minutes with 10 men after Gaston Ramirez was sent off.
The Teessiders are nine points off safety with five matches left and could be relegated as early as next Sunday.
"We can only blame ourselves and nobody else. It's hard to take," said former England player Downing.
"Sorry to the fans, they've travelled a long way. They've been first class all season."
Boro had started the day six points from safety, knowing victory at the Vitality Stadium would leave them with a fighting chance of staying up.
However, fellow strugglers Swansea and Hull both won to leave Middlesbrough in grave danger of returning to the Championship a year after winning promotion.
Boro are without a league win in 16 attempts and have scored only 23 goals in 33 matches. Indeed, Bournemouth striker Joshua King has scored five goals more than Middlesbrough in the Premier League in 2017.
They conceded after just 96 seconds at Bournemouth, leaving head coach Steve Agnew to accuse his side of "naive defending".
"In a way, we lost the game in the first 10 minutes. That's not like us - it was really poor defending. Playing short passes on the edge of the area is why we've been conceding.
"It was naive defending. We made mistakes, got punished and it made it a very difficult afternoon. There's angry and disappointed players in there but we'll all be in tomorrow morning and address the situation."
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Former Liverpool and Wales striker Dean Saunders on Final Score: "Middlesbrough, at the start of the season, would have been happy to finish the season fourth from bottom.
"But their tactic from the first game was counter-attacking, and if you barely create chances in multiple matches your forwards lose confidence. That then resulted in [sacked manager] Aitor Karanka trying to change tactics, and they have never settled on a successful formula."
Swansea are two points from safety with four games left after a 2-0 win over Stoke ended a three-match losing run.
Swans boss Paul Clement admitted he had one ear on the match involving relegation rivals Hull, who beat Watford 2-0.
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"I knew at half-time it was 0-0 at Hull and they were down to 10 men. It is a terrific result for them," he added. "I did feel it would be a game they would win. We have to concentrate on our jobs.
"Hull are in the driving seat but we will chase them down until the last moment. Nothing changed between us and Hull but what has changed is we have got momentum now."
Hull have a two-point cushion over their chasers with four games to go following a gutsy 2-0 win over Watford - despite playing 65 minutes with 10 men.
Although the Tigers have now won 19 points out of a possible 21 at home under Marco Silva, the Portuguese boss has yet to win away from home.
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"I want too much to win away because it's really important," said Silva. "It was a really important win. I'm really happy when our club fighting the way we have and we will continue to fight to keep our club in the Premier League."
Bournemouth went into their home game with Middlesbrough on the back of a four-match winless run, raising fears they could be dragged into the battle for survival.
Yet Eddie Howe's men moved four places up the table to 12th, seven points above the relegation zone with four games to play, after a comprehensive win.
Only a disastrous finish will prevent the Cherries from playing in the top flight for a third successive season.
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"We've still got more points to get but we're looking upwards to see where we can finish," said Howe.
"We've always said we want to surpass last season's total of 42 points and we're closing in on that [they now have 38]. If we can play as we did today, we'll be fine."
Former Liverpool and Wales striker Dean Saunders on Final Score: "Credit to Bournemouth, because for some clubs who are all but safe at this stage of the season it's tempting to put the sunglasses on. Bournemouth haven't."
Bottom club Sunderland did not play on Saturday but they are 12 points off safety with six matches remaining and could be relegated next weekend.
They face local rivals and fellow relegation candidates Middlesbrough on Wednesday and may finally be put out of their misery by Bournemouth next Saturday. Even if the Black Cats do manage to avoid the drop for another week or so, their last two games of the season are away to Arsenal and Chelsea respectively on 16 and 21 May.


SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson has confirmed he is standing for the party's deputy leadership.

Current deputy Stewart Hosie is stepping down from the post at the next party conference later in the year.
Mr Robertson, the MP for Moray, said he was running for the job because he wanted to protect Scotland's place in Europe.
Party sources told the BBC earlier this week that he had the backing of some other SNP MPs.
Mr Robertson wrote on Twitter: "Big job to protect Scotland's place in Europe, which is why I am running for the deputy leadership of @theSNP."
Christopher McEleny, leader of the SNP group on Inverclyde Council, is so far the only other person to have declared as a candidate.
However, MEP Alyn Smith and MP for Edinburgh East Tommy Sheppard are reported to be considering whether to run for the post.
Mr Hosie announced he would step down following headlines about his personal life, amid reports that he had an affair with a political journalist.
The MP recently split from his wife Shona Robison, who is an MSP and the Scottish government's health secretary.
First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Hosie had made the right decision to step down.
Nominations for the role of deputy leader are open until August, with an election for the post at the party's autumn conference.