A man who tried to murder his pregnant girlfriend in a "horrifying" street attack has been jailed for 18 years.

Babur Karamat Raja, 41, repeatedly stabbed Natalie Queiroz in Sutton Coldfield town centre on 4 March.
A court heard the 40-year-old and her child were ultimately saved by the intervention of four passers-by.
Raja carried out the attack, his barrister said, because his mother "literally drove him mad" through her disapproval of the relationship.
Birmingham Crown Court was told that Raja stabbed Ms Queiroz, who was eight months pregnant, after being forced to choose between his conservative Muslim mother's faith and the "love of his life".
The court heard that Ms Queiroz's breast implants "were probably what saved her life" during the frenzied assault.
Prosecuting barrister Benjamin Aina QC also said that had Raja plunged his knife just 2mm further into the abdomen of his helpless victim "it would have killed the (unborn) baby".
The court heard the child was born unharmed and was doing well.
Jane Humphryes QC said in mitigation that Raja's family turmoil "tipped him over the edge", leading to a temporary mental illness or "adjustment disorder", leaving him with little memory of what he had done.
She said: "His mother had not been happy he was in a relationship with a white woman, and told him he must leave her or she would not be in contact."
Ms Humphryes added: "This man of impeccable character is driven literally to distraction, forced by his own mother to choose between her and his chosen partner and their unborn baby."
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Queiroz said: "I am destroyed, I feel deceived and betrayed. I cry every single day.
She said there were "dark days", adding: "I find it difficult not to be in constant fear."
Raja apologised to his victim in a letter to the judge and to those he injured as they tried to help her.
Sentencing Raja for his "merciless" assault on Ms Queiroz, Judge Simon Drew QC said: "Once you chose your mother over your partner and child, you resolved not only to terminate your relationship, but to terminate them."
In a statement released following the sentencing, Ms Queiroz said: "As far as myself, our families and all our friends were concerned, Bobby and I had an exceptionally happy and loving relationship, living together and looking forward to the birth of our child - a child which he very much wanted right from the start of our relationship.
"The attack he committed on me was completely unprovoked and totally unexpected. Luckily I was saved and my baby was born alive.
"I want to take this opportunity to give my heartfelt thanks and pay tribute to the courageous people who came to the aid of myself and my unborn child, along with the West Midlands Police officers who were at the scene, the paramedics, the crew of the Midlands Air Ambulance and the staff at both the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Birmingham Women's Hospital, without all of whom (my child) and I would not have survived."
Raja pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder and also admitted a charge of attempted child destruction, possession of a knife in public and the wounding and assault of two passers-by.


Pep Guardiola's first game in charge of Manchester City ended in defeat at his old club Bayern Munich as a goal from Erdal Ozturk gave Carlo Ancelotti's side victory.

Both sides were missing many first-team players after Euro 2016 and the Copa America, and Guardiola had 12 academy players in his squad.
New signing Oleksandr Zinchenko played in the first half but Ilkay Gundogan and Nolito were not involved.
The only goal came when 20-year-old Ozturk hit a deflected shot past City's substitute goalkeeper Angus Gunn - son of Norwich legend Bryan.
Captain Vincent Kompany, who missed Euro 2016 with a groin injury, was an unused substitute.
City now head to China, with Guardiola's side playing rivals Manchester United on Monday.
The travelling squad will be bolstered by Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Nolito, Raheem Sterling and Joe Hart.
Manchester City first half: Caballero, Maffeo, Adarabioyo, Kolarov, Angelino, Fernando, Fernandinho, Zinchenko, Barker, Iheanacho, Navas
Second half: Gunn, Maffeo, Adarabioyo, Kolarov, Angelino, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Delph, Bony, Navas
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A leading cancer specialist has urged the health minister to introduce a cancer drugs fund in Northern Ireland.

Dr Don Hull, a consultant haematologist at Craigavon Area Hospital, said people living with cancer in Northern Ireland should be given the same treatment as patients in England.
There are 38 cancer drugs available to patients elsewhere in the UK that are not readily available to terminally-ill people in Northern Ireland.
Dr Hull has called for "equal access".
He said: "I think local patients deserve equal access to the funding that is being made available to cancer patients in England.
"I would urge the new minister to take counsel and discuss widely with me colleagues in my profession."
In February, the then-Health Minister Jim Wells proposed the reintroduction of prescription charges to pay for a new specialist drugs fund.
A consultation by the Department of Health (DoH) on how to implement the fund including the possibility of introducing prescription charges to pay for it closed earlier this month.
Cancer charities have said they are awaiting the outcome.
Dr Hull also said that while the number of cancer patients are increasing, so too are advancements in the drugs that can help cure or sustain patients' lives.
He added that while the drugs are not a magic bullet, in some cases they can target the tumour so effectively that all cancer cells are killed.
"I know patients who could avail of these drugs and these drugs are known to be effective," he said.
"They are expensive, but some cancer patients in England and Scotland are accessing them.
"There are many advancements in cancer drugs and there is also a better understanding than ever before of the illness, so we are actually refining our cancer treatments to target particular mutations and abnormalities of the cancer cells that isn't present in normal cells.
"It is good that we can be more specific in our treatment."
Dr Hull was speaking to the BBC against a backdrop of new entertainment stations that have recently been installed in the Macmillan cancer unit at Craigavon Area Hospital.
The Southern Health Trust has spent Â£200,000 on the bedside entertainment scheme, which provides touch screen systems providing access to TV, radio and internet for patients to use during treatments like chemotherapy or blood transfusions.
Staff can also log onto these terminals to access patient records.
For patients like Audrey Fenton, the new screens help pass the time as she receives her chemotherapy three times a week, with each session lasting six hours.
It is gruelling for the former nurse, who refers to chemotherapy as her friend.
"Oh it's definitely a friend because it is part and parcel of getting me well again. I lean on it to help get me through this time," she said.
Audrey is 57 and was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma eight months ago.
She said: "The first thing that goes through your mind on receiving the diagnosis is how long have I got.  No matter what your faith is, your lifestyle - no-one wants to leave their loved ones."
Audrey has no issue with her cancer drugs, but recognises that it is the expertise of her doctors and the advancement of medicine that is keeping her alive.
"There has been a moderate response to the treatment. At the moment the prognosis might be five to seven years, but if the treatment keeps working maybe longer," she said.
"I feel the best I have felt in a long time. I'm staying positive."
Audrey is indeed an extremely positive woman. Her hair perfectly set and her nails painted, Audrey said thinking positive is her mantra.
She added: "I feel I am living with cancer, I am not dying from cancer. I am living with it and the chemotherapy is all part of it.  I will take what they give me to get me well."
With a hearty laugh, Audrey told me that of course she is very scared.
"You couldn't possibly be told you've got a cancer that can't be cured and not be scared," she said.
"I try to look on this time as me time. I have had a busy life and now it's time for me to take time out to get well.
"The chemotherapy is the starting point really of the recovery and I feel you just have to embrace it. The scarier time will be when maybe they tell me it is finished because then you are left on your own, but they will only do that when the results are good enough. "


By 2016 cigarette packages could be plain, with only warnings and the name of the brand on the front.

MPs are going to vote on the plan before the election in May.
Most tobacco advertising was banned in the UK in 2003 and redesigning the packets is seen as another step in making a positive impact on public health, particularly for children.
Historically cigarettes were promoted very differently, using many claims which have since been proved wrong.
For help and information on cigarettes and tobacco, visit BBC Advice
Doctors today say that removing branding from cigarette packaging would save thousands of lives.
But looking at cigarette advertising from the past, this hasn't always been the message from medical professionals.
During the early 1900s doctors were used as smoking advocates and "scientific research" suggested the "benefits" of smoking.
Now it is well known that smoking can cause cancer, heart problems and other ill health.
Back then it was often promoted to doctors and their patients.
One brand, Philip Morris, used the slogan: "When smokers changed to Philip Morris every case of nose or throat - due to smoking - either cleared completely or definitely improved!"
"Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo to a lab technician?" asks this advertisement, before making jokes about the male viewer "staring at her pencils".
Many of the adverts from this era - the 1960s and 1970s - talk about male smokers being more attractive to women, using sex to sell the brand.
More recent advertisements, like this one from the mid-1990s, also played on the idea of cigarettes making you more attractive - but this brand was promoting itself to women.
Needless to say, none of the brands spoke about the ways smoking can affect your appearance - including stained teeth and a more wrinkled face.
Advertisers have always known that most smokers start in their teens (current research suggests between the ages of 13 and 21).
Back in 1928 it was quite usual to target the "younger crowd".
Last year saw the introduction of television advertising for e-cigarettes.
The Committee of Advertising Practice rules state that they cannot be "likely to appeal particularly to people under 18, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture".
A Public Health England report from May 2014 stated: "E-cigarettes are marketed as lifestyle products and are available in a wide range of flavours and in packaging that is likely to appeal to children and young people."
Babies and young children have previously featured heavily in cigarette advertising.
This brand claims to be the "cleanest" on the market.
Nowadays people are advised to keep children away from cigarettes.
Many other promotional campaigns showed brides or people on their wedding day smoking.
The white wedding is linked to purity - an idea which many tobacco brands liked to associate themselves with.
Stanford School of Medicine has collected many of these images and slogans as part of its research into tobacco advertising.
"Between the late 1920s and the early 1950s, tobacco companies used deceptive and often patently false claims in an effort to reassure the public of the safety of their products," they say.
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Scientists are continually seeking new ways of targeting cancer - and the latest is high-tech goggles.

Currently doctors treating cancer have two main approaches - bombard the tumour with drugs and radiotherapy or cut it out.
The second option is very common but not always successful - because it is often also impossible to tell where the tumour ends and healthy tissue begins.
To try and combat this surgeons often remove tissue surrounding the tumour, but cancerous cells often remain, necessitating further surgery.
But a new goggle technology being developed in the US lets surgeons "see" which cells are cancerous and which are healthy, increasing the chances that they will be able remove all cancer cells in one operation.
"The technology is quite amazing - almost like having a microscope to guide your surgery in the operating room," says Dr Ryan Fields, a surgeon involved in a pilot study of the device.
In the study, patients are being injected with a dye before their surgery. The dye has a peptide - a small protein - attached to it that allows it to seek out and bind specifically to cancer cells.
The dyed cancer cells emit light at a wavelength that cannot be seen by the human eye, but can be detected by a sensor in the goggles worn by the surgeons.
"The sensor captures the fluorescence from the dye lodged in cancer tissue and projects the image into the surgeon's [field of] view," explained Dr Achilefu.
"This creates an augmented reality that allows the surgeons to see cancer cells glowing, providing real-time guidance during surgery.
It's early days but surgeons think that this technology is promising.
"It has the potential to reduce the size of operations, when safe, and guide us to take out more tissue, when required," said Dr Ryan Fields, a surgeon at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
It is estimated that up to 40% of breast cancer patients in the US, and just under 20% in the UK, require secondary surgery.
Being able to take a more strategic, precise approach to removing tumours could reduce the need for patients to undergo further stressful procedures.
So far this new goggle technology has only been trialled on patients suffering from skin and breast cancer.
But Dr Achilefu is confident it can be used for different types of cancer. The dye has been shown to bind to breast, prostate, lung, colon pancreatic cancers, among others. It has even been shown to detect pre-cancerous cells.
These goggles are bringing instant tumour imaging to the operating room. But they aren't the only technology that is helping to improve the accuracy of tumour removal.
Elsewhere, other researchers have modified a surgical knife that uses heat to cut through tissue so it can instantly analyse whether the tissue the surgeon is cutting through is cancerous or healthy.
Smoke released when the heated blade cuts through tissue is sucked into a device that 'sniffs' it, analysing whether it is cancerous or healthy - allowing the surgeons to find the edges of the tumour and remove it with greater precision.
The true test of Dr Achilefu's goggles will be a large trial involving many hospitals.
"This type of technology certainly shows promise,' said Mr Tim Underwood, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Surgeon at University of Southampton, UK.
But he also cautions that, "All of these [new] technologies need much larger trials to prove their worth before they can be considered for routine use."


Gloucester forward Gareth Evans has signed a new two-year contract with the Premiership club.

The 25-year-old back row has played six games this season after injury problems and scored a try in December's 28-24 loss to Harlequins at Twickenham.
"I haven't been able to give as much on the field as I'd have liked in the last season and a bit," Evans said.
Meanwhile, Scotland Under-20 scrum-half Ben Vellacott has signed his first professional deal with the club.
Vellacott, aged 21, is a product of the Cherry and Whites' academy, like Evans - who joined the first-team squad in 2013.
Evans told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: "For the club to say they still see me as part of the squad is a big vote of confidence from them.
"In the back of your mind when it's contract year, and you're not quite sure what's happening before negotiations start - it plays on your mind a bit.
"To have it all sorted is great. It gives you peace of mind and gives you to focus and knuckle down to some hard work."


The average household in the UK now owes a record amount of £12,887, even before mortgages are taken into account, according to the TUC.

Its research was based on figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the three months to the end of September 2016.
According to the ONS, total unsecured debt hit an all-time high of £349bn at that point.
The TUC divided that number by the total number of households in the UK.
However, its figures are inflated by the inclusion of student loans, which have increased rapidly over the last couple of years.
Last week's figures from the Bank of England, which exclude student loans, put the total at £192bn up until the end of November 2016.
That is the highest figure since December 2008, but not a record.
Nevertheless, officials at the Bank have indicated they are not that worried about debt levels at the moment.
"Interest rates are still very low, and are expected to remain so for the foreseeable future, so there are fewer concerns on debt servicing than there were in the past," said Andy Haldane, the Bank's chief economist, last week.
"There are reasons not to be too alarmed about it ticking up, but it is absolutely something we will watch carefully," he said.
But others believe many households could run into financial difficulties this year.
"The majority of borrowers will currently be able to cope with this extra debt," said Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust.
"However, if the economy does indeed suffer in 2017, this borrowing could become more difficult to repay - and some households risk finding themselves exposed to sudden changes in financial circumstances."
The TUC said that unsecured debt as a percentage of household income had now reached 27.4%, the highest figure for eight years.
And it claimed that weak growth in wages had left more families reliant on borrowing.
"These increases in household debt are a warning that families are struggling to get by on their pay alone," said Frances O'Grady, the TUC's general secretary.
"Unless the government does more for working people, they could end the New Year poorer than they start it."
The exclusion of student debt from the figures makes a significant difference to the total amount of unsecured debt, which refers to borrowing through credit cards and loans, including finance for new cars.
Students who began studying in England in 2012 are expected to leave university with debts of almost £40,000, according to a House of Commons Library paper published last month.


This week's preview of next week's parliamentary action comes with a massive health warning: in the event of a victory for Leave in the EU referendum, much of what follows will probably be cancelled or rescheduled to make room for a series of statements and debates on the process for and ramifications of Brexit.

Some of them might even take place on a special Saturday sitting of the Commons, (the first since the Falklands War) if the prime minister so decides.
In the event of a Remain vote, most of what is below will probably take place, although it may be that there is some kind of statement on the result on Monday.
If the week's scheduled business does go ahead, look out for preliminary skirmishing in the Lords over the Buses Bill and the Investigatory Powers Bill, and keep an eye on an interesting attempt by the members of the Public Accounts Committee to amend the Finance Bill - another example of the hot new Westminster trend for select committees to try to push their recommendations into law.
Here's my rundown of the week ahead:
MPs return from their referendum recess at 2.30pm - when the first business will be Defence questions. It is highly likely that this will be followed by one or more ministerial statements or urgent questions, and somewhere in the mix, the newest MP, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who defended Sadiq Kahn's Tooting constituency for Labour, will take her seat.
Then - if the powers that be stick to the published agenda, the Commons will move on to the detail of the Finance Bill - the measure which enacts the Budget.
This will be the first of two days of committee stage  - there are Labour amendments to give more favourable tax treatment for low emissions vehicles and to review the tax treatment of workers employed through intermediaries - agency staff.
The SNP's Roger Mullin has an amendment calling for a review of the remuneration of investment fund managers, aimed at ensuring no element of their pay can be taxed as a capital gain.
But the most interesting may be the cross-party amendment signed by, among others, the Public Accounts Committee Chair, Meg Hillier, on tax transparency for multinational companies. The amendment, which I'm told is the brainchild of Labour ex-minister Caroline Flint, comes out of the PAC's hearings on the Google tax affair and the release of the Panama Papers. On the argument that sunlight is the best preventative measure, they want an official register requiring multinationals to disclose where they do business, the money they make and the tax they pay. The clever bit is that the amendment contains a "sunrise clause" so it would not pre-empt attempts to negotiate an EU version of the proposed register, and would only come into force if no euro-register was in place by 2020.
With a considerable cross-party coalition behind it, the amendment is highly likely to be called by the Speaker, who has a track record of ensuring that proposals by select committees are debated.
In the Lords (from 2.30pm) questions to ministers cover countering anti-Semitism on university campuses; clearer use of language to combat the threat of terrorism and improving air quality in Britain.
Then peers turn to the second reading debate on the Investigatory Powers Bill. This was passed by the Commons with a considerable majority - but a number of issues are in play. The biggest is that David Anderson QC's review of the operational case for the proposed bulk data-gathering powers is due to emerge before detailed committee stage scrutiny begins, and his recommendations could force the government to concede some major changes.
Ministers have also promised to bring forward amendments on a variety of issues - and there is likely to be further debate on the issue of keeping internet connection records and the level of access to them.
The Liberal Democrats, with a phalanx of 108 peers, are pledged to try to strike down what they regard as the most intrusive parts of the bill - but it is worth noting that Labour backed it at third reading in the Commons, and that the ranks of Labour peers include some pretty hard line former home secretaries, which suggests they will need some pretty serious provocation to attempt to defeat the government - and as ever the mathematics of the House of Lords makes a government defeat next to impossible, if the official opposition does not come out to play.
The Commons opens (11.30am) with Business, Innovation and Skills questions - followed by day two of detailed committee stage debate on the Finance Bill.
In Westminster Hall, the subjects for debate are human rights in Iran (9.30am-11am); conduct of the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset police force (11am-11.30am); independent advocates for trafficked children (2.30pm- 4pm) - this is former Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart, who has a long track record of anti-slavery campaigning; the current situation in Bangladesh (4pm- 4.30pm) and guidelines on alcohol consumption from Byron Davies (4.30pm - 5.30pm).
Bills and Legislation
In the Lords (2.30pm) ministers face questions on ensuring open access to transcripts of proceedings in open court, the decision to deny funding to the proposed memorial for enslaved Africans in Hyde Park, and the effects of the charitable status of private education on equality of opportunity in Britain.
Then peers move on to the detail of the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill  - the bill which (finally) enshrines the 1954 Hague Convention on the protection of cultural property in war zones into UK law. This is a bill with huge implications for the art trade in London and there are a number of amendments down to require auctioneers and traders to assume that an item originating from a war zone has been unlawfully exported, and to provide buyers of cultural property - including antiques - with the information they need to make a decision as to whether the item has been unlawfully exported.
There will also be a short debate on renewable energy and UK energy infrastructure.
MPs meets at 11.30 am for International Development questions, followed at noon by Prime Minister's Questions.
After question time - and any ministerial statements or urgent questions - the moment will arrive for the 20 MPs who won the private members' bills ballot to present the measures they have decided to put up for debate - the second reading debates in these bills will begin (rather later than usual) in October.
The day's main debate will be on an Opposition motion on a subject to be announced, and that will be followed by a Backbench Business debate marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, which saw more than a million men killed or wounded. (The casualties included Raymond Asquith, son of the then prime minister, who was killed on 15 September 1916.)
In Westminster Hall, the debates include dog fighting (9.30am-11am) - led by the SNP's Dr Lisa Cameron, who says there must be action to combat this inhumane practice; UK security and entry clearance procedures (11am-11.30am); football hooliganism (2.30pm-4pm); future of the UK cane refining sector (4pm-4.30pm); and automatic registration in UK elections (4.30pm-5.30pm).
The SNP's Owen Thompson has called on the UK government to introduce automatic registration for elections following problems with the voter registration website for the referendum. A member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation he says in many democracies around the world, automatic registration is used to avoid a last minute administrative collapse.
In the Lords (3pm) questions to ministers cover HM Revenue and Customs call waiting times, first corporate parenting principles ensuring that care-leavers have the best life chances possible and preventing the underlying causes of poverty in the UK.
Then peers turn to the first day of detailed committee stage scrutiny of the Bus Services Bill - the first major legislation on buses since the deregulation of the 1980s. Normally this stage of debate is devoted to probing and manoeuvre, setting up serious attempts to amend the bill at report stage, but the addition of highly-controversial proposals in Clause 21, that local authorities should be prevented awarding a bus contract to a municipal operator, might lead to a change in tactics. There will also be pressure for stronger provision to cater for people with disabilities and for requirements for buses to use cleaner energy.
That will be followed by a short debate on the effect of zero-hours contracts peoples' chances of full time employment and on the UK economy.
The Commons opens (9.30am) with Transport questions, followed at 10.30am by the weekly Business Statement from the Leader of the House, Chris Grayling, setting out the next week's Commons agenda.
Thursday also marks the deadline for MPs to give notice of ten minute rule and presentation bills - they have to be handed into the Public Bill Office by 10am - so the usual crowd of hard-core enthusiasts may sleep overnight in the rather stuffy office above the Commons Chamber, in order to guarantee a first place in the queue...
Those determined folk then have a chance of putting their chosen measure before the House on some distant Friday, probably in January.
The day's two Backbench Business Committee debates are on the proposed privatisation of the Land Registry - will any Conservative opponents break cover? And, second a debate on a motion on bank branch closures.
In Westminster Hall there's a call to reform the law of homicide: the Conservative Alex Chalk and others want the offence of murder split into first degree murder (for those who intend to kill) and second degree murder (for those who intend harm falling short of intent to kill).
"At the moment a defendant who takes a cricket bat and strikes the victim intending to break his toes will be guilty of murder if the victim falls over and dies," Mr Chalk said. "I think that should be second degree murder. Equally, the thug who punches someone in the nightclub queue will only be convicted of manslaughter if the victim cracks his head on the pavement and dies. He too should be convicted of second degree murder in my view."
Then Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick will lead a general debate on NHS England's Action Plan on Hearing Loss and the adult hearing service commissioning framework.
In the Lords (11am), question time ranges across the implications of the High Court's ruling in R (Fox) v Secretary of State for Education - the Lib Dem Lord Taverne will be asking about the implications of the case in which three parents took the Department for Education to court over the wording of a paragraph in the new subject content for the Religious Studies GCSE, claiming that it "gave unlawful priority to the teaching of religious views as compared to non-religious views, including those of humanism".
On 25 November, Mr Justice Warby said in his judgment that the paragraph was indeed a "false and misleading statement of law, which encourages others to act unlawfully". He said the paragraph written by the DfE unlawfully suggested that schools could meet their legal duty to provide RE by just teaching the GCSE - which it might not if non-religious views were not included. The parents were supported by the British Humanist Association which hailed the judgment as a "stunning" victory.
There are also questions on ticket touting - the Independent Review of Consumer Protection Measures concerning online secondary ticketing facilities, and on ensuring that people with diabetes have adequate support to tackle obesity
The main debates are on subjects raised by backbench peers.
First is the Conservative Lord Lexden, on introducing statutory guidelines for the investigation of historical child sex abuse - in March, he said the Church of England authorities "failed to give an adequate account of the process which led them to accept last October the veracity of a single uncorroborated complaint of child sexual abuse made against one of our greatest, most venerated bishops, George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, who died in 1958."
Lord Lexden regards his case as "a central example of the immense damage that can be done if flawed or unsatisfactory procedures are followed". He will also express deep concern over the lasting damage that child sex abuse can do, and underline the need for full investigation.
And he hopes the debate will provide an opportunity for improvements to existing arrangements to be canvassed, drawing on the advice of legal and academic experts.
Next there is a debate on openness and transparency in reinforcing confidence in public institutions led by the Conservative, Lord Fairfax of Cameron.
Neither House sits on Friday 1 July


A grouping of Gulf states has presented Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh with a new proposal in an attempt to end the country's political crisis.

The plan from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) would see Mr Saleh quit within a month of signing the agreement and hand over to his vice-president.
Mr Saleh's ruling party has said it will respond within 24 hours.
At least 120 people have died in weeks of protests demanding the end of Mr Saleh's 32-year rule.
The GCC previously offered Mr Saleh a proposal in which he was asked to stand down, but which did not outline a timetable. The proposal was rejected.
The revised plan also suggests Mr Saleh appoint an opposition leader to run a new cabinet that would prepare for presidential elections two months later.
Under the plan, half the members of a new unity cabinet would belong to the ruling party, while 40% would be from the opposition party. The other 10% would be from other political groups.
It also offers immunity from prosecution to Mr Saleh, his family and aides.
Aides to Mr Saleh said he seemed poised to accept the initiative, according to Reuters news agency.
"We welcome this new initiative and we will deal with it positively," an official said, after Mr Saleh met GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani on Thursday.
But the opposition rejected the plan, saying they did not trust the government to keep to the conditions, and reiterated their demand for the president to leave immediately.
"This speech is to raise spirits, but it's no longer logical because the people have had their say - they say an immediate departure is necessary," said Sultan al-Atwani, the leader of the Nasserist party, which is part of the opposition coalition.
Meanwhile, clashes took place between troops and gunmen in the southern province of Lahj, a security source told Reuters.
On Wednesday, UN Security Council members called for restraint and dialogue between protesters and authorities in Yemen, but talks on the crisis ended without agreement.
The Yemeni leader, who has been in power for more than three decades, has said he is willing to hand over power but only to "safe hands".
Mr Saleh's weak central government already has little control beyond the capital.
In recent years it has struggled to confront an armed rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.


The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has now claimed more than 4,000 lives.

While emergency response teams, medical charities and non-governmental organisations struggle to contain the virus, could big data analytics help?
A growing number of data scientists believe so.
Mobile mapping
Mobile phones, widely owned in even the poorest countries in Africa, are proving to be a rich source of data in a region where other reliable sources are sorely lacking.
Orange Telecom in Senegal handed over anonymised voice and text data from 150,000 mobile phones to Flowminder, a Swedish non-profit organisation, which was then able to draw up detailed maps of typical population movements in the region.
Authorities could then see where the best places were to set up treatment centres, and more controversially, the most effective ways to restrict travel in an attempt to contain the disease.
The drawback with this data was that it was historic, when authorities really need to be able to map movements in real time. People's movements tend to change during an epidemic.
This is why the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also collecting mobile phone mast activity data from mobile operators and mapping where calls to helplines are mostly coming from.
A sharp increase in calls to a helpline from one particular area would suggest an outbreak and alert authorities to direct more resources there.
Mapping software company Esri is helping CDC to visualise this data and overlay other existing sources of data from censuses to build up a richer picture.
The level of activity at each mobile phone mast also gives a kind of heatmap of where people are and crucially, where and how far they are moving.
Can big data really revolutionise our world? We explore how the explosion of information and analysis will impact our lives and our privacy.
Power of big data
"We've never had this large-scale, anonymised mobile phone data before as a species," says Nuria Oliver, a scientific director at mobile phone company Telefonica.
"The most positive impact we can have is to help emergency relief organisations and governments anticipate how a disease is likely to spread.
"Until now they had to rely on anecdotal information, on-the-ground surveys, police and hospital reports."
Mobile phones are also proving to be a useful ideal way to convey health messages.
This kind of phone data analysis has already been successfully applied to other health crises.
For example, in 2010, after the Haiti earthquake, a joint research team from Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Columbia University in the US analysed calling data from two million mobile phones on the Digicel Haiti network.
This enabled the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to understand population movements during the relief operations and during the subsequent cholera outbreak, meaning they could allocate resources more efficiently and identify areas at increased risk of new cholera outbreaks.
Analysis of the data from 15 million phones is also being used to map and predict the spread of malaria in Kenya.
But Ms Oliver admits: "This mobile data can only ever give us a partial picture of what is going on."
To get a fuller picture, we need more sources of data and the ability to analyse them quickly, experts say.
"Big data analytics is about bringing together many different data sources and mining them to find patterns," says Frances Dare, managing director of Accenture Health.
"We have health clinic and physician reports, media reports, comment on social media, information from public health workers on the ground, transactional data from retailers and pharmacies, travel ticket purchases, helpline data, as well as geo-spatial tracking."
Such analysis can also be used to measure whether containment policies, education campaigns and treatments are working, argues Peder Jungck, chief technology officer for BAE Systems' intelligence and security division.
"For example, doctors can see what percentage of a population is taking the proper precautions to minimise the spread of the disease and what percentage is disregarding that notice by analysing big data sets such as social media amongst high-risk populations," he says.
"In the case of Ebola, analysts studying big data sets could also analyse potential sanitation challenges and whether regional environmental factors such as weather could impact the rate at which the disease is spread."
In the age of international travel it is much easier for diseases to spread abroad, particularly when they have an incubation period of up to 21 days, like Ebola.
Europe and the US are consequently on high alert and implementing screening at some airports.
But at least in the digital age, tracking the movement of potentially infected people is a lot easier.
"Port, train and flight data, as well as number plate recognition, can all help track potentially infected people and identify who they may have come into contact with," says David Bolton, head of healthcare at big data analytics company Qlik, which has developed an Ebola-tracking app.
Analysts are also getting better at spotting trends from social media and search engine activity.
While Google Flu Trends, which tries to predict likely flu outbreaks based on how often people use key search terms, has been shown to be inaccurate at times, other methods that make use of a much wider range of data sets, are enjoying more success.
For example, business consultancy Accenture, big data specialist SAS and the US University of North Carolina say they predicted the US 2012-13 flu season three months before CDC issued its official warning.
"By analysing social media, such as blogs, online forums and Twitter, we can find early warning signs of health events," says Accenture's Frances Dare.
"We narrowed down the number of key words indicating flu symptoms to 152, mapped where these words were being used, and predicted a flu outbreak about two months before the official data in 2013."
Tim Gamble, principal consultant at Datamonitor Healthcare, believes big data analytics will also prove essential to understanding the genetics of the virus, why some strains are more deadly, and why some people seem to be more resistant to it than others.
He used to work for US pharmaceutical company Pfizer specialising in infectious diseases.
"Anti-retroviral treatment for HIV didn't really take off until many people started to die from AIDS. I worked on Pfizer's HIV product and we found that some populations in Scandinavia had more resistance to the disease than others.
"We were then able to develop a drug that mimicked the way those people resisted the disease," he says.
The same approach could be applied to the Ebola virus, he believes.
In short, big data analytics is being brought to bear at all levels to combat the spread of Ebola.
But as Qlik's David Bolton admits: "We're learning all this from scratch - we've never had this level of data before.
"So it's probably too early to say whether big data analytics is having a meaningful impact on the rate and spread of the disease, but at least it is helping us decide where to allocate our resources."
BBC Special report: Ebola outbreak


A low bridge in Banbridge, County Down, has been hit by a vehicle for the fourth time in less than a year.

It happened as the lorry drove under a 19th Century stone bridge in the town centre, known as The Cut, at about 21:25 BST on Tuesday.
The lorry appears to have some damage to its roof. The road under The Cut - Bridge Street - was closed for a short time, but no injuries were reported.
Lorries also hit the same bridge in May and twice within two days in November.
After the third strike, police officers began keeping score and posted a photo of the damage on the PSNI Banbridge Twitter account.
"The Cut 3, Lorries 0', officers declared, adding:  "Looks like we are going to need a bigger sign."
At the time, they advised drivers of high-sided vehicles to know the height and dimensions of their lorries before passing under bridges.
In November 2016, a prison service van lost its roof when it hit the bridge.
The following day, a second lorry became stuck under the bridge.
There are a number of signs warning motorists about the height of The Cut, some of which also advise lorry drivers to take an alternative route, said Michael Ferran, who teaches lorry drivers about safety.
However, he said that if high-sided vehicles make a mistake and approach the bridge, there is little space on Bridge Street for them to turn back.
Mr Ferran added that generally speaking, haulage companies and lorry drivers are often under a lot of pressure to meet deadlines.
"It's all rush, rush, rush," said Mr Ferran, who runs the Banbridge-based firm, Transport Consulting Company.
The photograph of the latest incident was taken shortly after Tuesday's collision by Mr Ferran's wife.


An Indian athlete has described how she was tied up and severely beaten after being branded a witch in her village in the north-eastern state of Assam.

Debjani Bora, a  javelin thrower who has won several gold medals, fears her injuries may prevent her representing India in a forthcoming Asian contest.
One woman has been arrested for inciting a crowd to attack Ms Bora.
Witch hunts targeting women are common in parts of India and a number of those accused are killed every year.
Experts say superstitious beliefs are behind some of these attacks, but there are occasions when people - especially widows - are targeted for their land and property.
The latest incident took place earlier this week in Ms Bora's home village in the remote hill district of Karbi Anglong, where she also makes a  living as a farm worker and lives with her husband and three children.
She was blamed in the wake of the the deaths of four people in the village, including one man who took his own life.
Police said villagers dragged her to a community prayer hall to face a "public trial on charges of being a witch".
Ms Bora recounted her experience to journalists on Wednesday.
"Instead of finding out why all the deaths occurred, some village elders suspected a witch was driving the people to death and organised a prayer. As the villagers were chanting hymns, one elderly woman identified me as the witch and shouted that I should be punished," she said.
"I was blamed for all these deaths in the village, wrapped up in fishing nets and beaten up severely."
She was taken to a local clinic, where she regained consciousness on Wednesday.
Karbi Anglong police chief Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta said one woman was arrested on Thursday after Ms Bora's family filed a complaint with the police.
"We suspect that she may have targeted Ms Bora for personal reasons," Mr Mahanta said.
Branding women as witches is particularly prevalent among tribal communities and tea plantation workers in Assam.
Nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after  such accusations over the last five years, police say.


Belfast International is now the fifth busiest airport in the United Kingdom for domestic passenger traffic.

Its new ranking emerged in a Civil Aviation Authority report on airport and passenger activity for 2016.
In the league table of 47 UK airports, Belfast International comes in behind Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow in terms of passenger flow.
Overall, the airport grew by more than 17% last year with over 5.1 million passengers through the facility.
That figure is expected to grow further in 2017, despite the decision by United Airlines to end its trans-Atlantic service months after a Â£9m rescue deal.
Managing Director Graham Keddie said it was "an outstanding result" for the airport.
"Passengers are voting with their wallets. They want value for money and frequent services at the best times of the day," said Mr Keddie.
"Small to medium businesses are doing more business in GB and we're able to get them to their target markets at competitive rates with easyJet and Ryanair.
Mr Keddie said the airport could do "much more with the right supports".
"Air passenger duty is a considerable disadvantage, not only to our airports, but to Northern Ireland as a region," he said.
"If it disappeared, we could transform inbound tourism, leading to further significant investment along with the creation of thousands of jobs. Getting rid of this impediment is, in my view, a no-brainer."
Speaking about the end of the United Airlines service, he said: "We're working closely with government to deliver a major long-haul project that would open up attractive additional and badly-needed connections."


Full-back Seamus Conneely has extended his contract with Accrington Stanley until 2018.

He joined the League Two side from Sligo Rovers last year  on an initial 18-month deal and has started every league game this season.
The 27-year-old started his career at Galway and moved to Sheffield United in 2011, but did not make a first-team appearance for the Blades.
"I'm very pleased to get this sorted early" he told the club website.


The really important stuff on economic and fiscal devolution to Scotland is yet to be decided.

In saying that, you may think I've gone mad - given that the Smith Commission has apparently made some huge decisions.
Here is what stands out for me from today's announcement.
1) The Scottish parliament will have total control over income tax rates and the thresholds at which they kick in (but Westminster will still set the tax-free allowance).
2) Revenue raised from the first 10 percentage points of VAT on Scottish spending will be allotted to the Scottish government.
3) The Scottish parliament will have power both to create new benefits and vary some planned and existing benefits - including the housing cost element of Universal Credit, benefits for carers and the disabled, and cold weather related payments.
There are lots of other important new powers being transferred to Holyrood, including the ability to lower the voting age, change speed limits, license frackers, influence the new BBC Charter, and - possibly - change abortion rules.
But it is the transfer of big tax and spending powers that creates significant fiscal and economic uncertainties - whose resolution may have serious political consequences.
The lynchpin of all this is what the Commission calls the fiscal framework for the new devolution, which includes a number of principles.
Perhaps the most important is that at the precise moment that the new powers are devolved, Scotland's budget and the UK's budget should neither be bigger or smaller as a result of this transfer to Holyrood of new spending and taxing powers.
Or to put it another way, the block grant paid to Scotland under the Barnett formula should be reduced to account for taxes devolved to Scotland and increased to account for spending transferred to Scotland - and future payments under the new Barnett formula should be indexed to protect their real value.
Or to put it another way, neither Scots taxpayers or those in the rest of the UK should suffer detriment as a direct result of the new devolution.
Which is all very well to say, but my goodness it will be hard for Westminster and Holyrood to agree and implement.
The point is that income tax receipts and benefit payments vary considerably with the economic cycle. So determining at any point in time precisely what revenues and costs Holyrood is assuming will be pretty tricky.
And it is not just adjusting for the economic cycle that will be difficult.
Right now, for example, the British government's take from income tax is well below what it expected it would be, given the apparent buoyancy of the economy.
So what if the new grant formula was set on the basis of the current depressed income tax revenues, and then a few weeks later tax revenues suddenly and unexpectedly surged back to past trends?
If that were to happen the Scots would enjoy a terrific permanent windfall - and taxpayers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would presumably feel pretty miffed.
Similarly the Smith Commission says Scotland should have new powers to borrow, because otherwise it could find itself running out of money in an economic downturn that reduced its tax revenues and increased its benefit payments.
But that opens quite a can of worms.
No Chancellor of the Exchequer would want to give a Scottish finance minister complete discretion to borrow, because it is almost impossible to conceive of how Scottish sovereign debt would not be guaranteed in theory or practice by Westminster: the chancellor would be terrified of what Holyrood would do it if had his credit card.
But setting rules for how much Holyrood can borrow will be very challenging. What is more, any uncertainty about what tax revenues are available to service either Scottish debt or whole-UK debt would presumably make investors more wary of buying the debt of either.
All of which may sound a bit technical and dull. But it boils down to something pretty simple and important - which is the perceived and actual fairness of the fiscal settlement for Scots and for those south of the border.
And right now it is impossible to judge whether the settlement is fair.


Guernsey's public services minister has described an 8% drop in black bag waste during kerbside recycling trials as "a success".

According to the latest States figures on kerbside recycling, the amount of black bag waste sent to Mont Cuet has dropped by 950 tonnes.
This is in comparison to when the trial started in March last year.
Deputy Scott Ogier said the plan to deal with the island's waste was heading in the right direction.
Mr Ogier said: "In just over 10 years, the proportion of household material being recycled has gone from less than 20% to more than 45%. That is something that we can all be very proud of."
Nearly 470 tonnes of additional materials have been recycled in the first full year of kerbside collections, the States of Guernsey reported.


A 19-year-old woman has been cautioned for wasting police time after lying about being raped.

On 1 October, the woman reported a sexual assault which she said happened near Ashbourne Road in Derby.
Following an extensive investigation, police confirmed the attack had never taken place.
Det Ch Insp Sam Slack from Derbyshire Police said all reports of rape or assault were thoroughly investigated by the force.
"It is always disappointing when a large amount of police time is wasted on reports such as this," said Det Ch Insp Slack.
"But this case should not deter anyone from reporting any type of offence immediately so that full inquiries can be made."


Liberal Democrat activists have backed calls for the proposed new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point to be stopped.

Members approved a motion at the party conference urging the Â£18bn scheme, the first in a generation, to be scrapped.
Duncan Brack told members Hinkley was "spectacularly poor value for money" and breached party policy on subsidies.
But ex-energy secretary Ed Davey, who helped negotiate the original deal during the coalition, said nuclear had a role to play in a low-carbon economy.
Prime Minister Theresa May last week gave the final go-ahead to a new nuclear plant in Somerset - which would be financed by the French and Chinese governments - after imposing "significant new safeguards" to protect national security.
But critics say the proposed Hinkley Point C plant still represents a bad deal for taxpayers and the technology being proposed is unproven.
During an emergency debate on the issue in Brighton, Mr Brack - a former member of the party's powerful Federal Policy Committee - said the Lib Dems' existing policy was to oppose any future nuclear generation in receipt of public subsidies and Hinkley would get at least Â£2bn in government loan guarantees.
"We are against subsidy for nuclear and Hinkley is subsidy," he said. "It does not deserve subsidy. It is spectacularly poor value for money."
Renewable energy offered better value for money, Mr Brack said, with the cost of solar and offshore wind set to "plummet" by the time Hinkley was eventually built.
"The argument you need nuclear for baseload electricity is a total fallacy," he added.
"Nuclear stations are not on all the time. They have faults, they go off-line which means you have to build an equivalent amount of back-up to support them."
But Mr Davey, who helped negotiate the "strike price" agreement determining how much the UK would pay for energy generated by Hinkley during the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, said the UK should not be dismissing any sources of low-carbon energy.
Urging members to vote against the motion, he said any current forecasts about the ultimate cost of the deal were a "mug's game" as people would need to know what the cost of energy and carbon would be between 2025 and 2060.
"We should not be taking nuclear off the table because of the risks posed to our children and their children by climate change," he said.
"We know we have to prepare our country and our world for the dangers of climate change and turn that around and Hinkley Point C plays a small part in that."


North Korea has attempted to fire a ballistic missile off its east coast but the launch appears to have failed, South Korean military officials say.

It is unclear what type of missile it was, but it follows three failed tests of the medium-range "Musudan" missile in April.
The North is banned by the UN from using any ballistic missile technology.
Tensions have run high in the region after Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and numerous missile tests.
Also on Tuesday, the newly promoted vice-chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers Party, Ri Su-yong, arrived in China for what South Korean media said was an unannounced official visit.
China is North Korea's closest ally and trading partner, but ties have been strained by the nuclear test and weapons activity.
It is the first visit since the Worker's Party congress earlier this month in North Korea, the first in 36 years.
Mr Ri, who was travelling with a large entourage, would likely be briefing China on other major developments at the congress, in an attempt to rebuild the relationship, said Yonhap.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the attempted launch happened at 05:20 local time (20:50 GMT Monday) off the North's east coast, near the city of Wonson.
A report in the Yonhap news agency quoted sources saying this fourth failed test may also have been of a Musudan missile.
A Musudan missile, in theory, has the range to reach Japan and the US territory of Guam, however the North has never successfully tested one.
During the party congress, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un extended an offer of military dialogue to the South. But Seoul dismissed the proposal as insincere.
At the same meeting, Mr Kim also vowed to continue with the nuclear weapons programme.
Pyongyang has claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in recent months, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile, that experts have treated with scepticism.


China says Interpol has issued a notice for the arrest of a billionaire who has criticised the government in Beijing.

Property tycoon Guo Wengui is currently thought to be in the US.
Authorities did not give a reason for the notice, but state media outlets have claimed that Mr Guo bribed a vice-minister, which he has denied.
Mr Guo has recently made allegations regarding top Chinese officials and their families' businesses in interviews with overseas media.
On Wednesday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Interpol had issued a "red notice" for Mr Guo, which seeks the arrest of a wanted person globally.
Asked about Mr Guo, Interpol said it did not "comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned".
Chinese news outlets said Mr Guo bribed the former vice-minister of state security, Ma Jian, with 60m yuan (Â£6.8m, $8.7m). Mr Ma has since been arrested and is being prosecuted for corruption.
But Mr Guo has denied such allegations and suggested that the notice for his arrest was politically motivated.
The tycoon, who says he is no longer a Chinese citizen, said in a tweet (in Chinese) on Wednesday that the move was initiated by "corrupt officials who are terrified that their criminal behaviour would be unmasked by me".
Mr Guo has recently given interviews to foreign Chinese-language media outlets, including Voice of America, making allegations regarding certain Chinese officials and their families who control business empires.
VOA said its journalists had been approached earlier by Chinese officials asking them to cancel their interview. The live broadcast on Wednesday was cut short, which VOA said was due to a "miscommunication".
The South China Morning Post noted that Mr Guo's interviews have coincided with what it called an "international publicity war" launched by China against him.


Iraqi government forces have regained control of a remote western town from the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says.

Mr Abadi announced that counter-terrorism troops, backed by tribesmen and US-led coalition air strikes, had raised the Iraqi flag in central Rutba.
Coalition spokesman Col Steve Warren said the small town, on the road to Jordan, had "outsized strategic value".
Some 200 militants who were based there put up little resistance, he added.
"A lot of the enemy, frankly, ran away when they saw this force coming."
Col Warren said the fall of Rutba will have an impact on the economies of both Iraq and Jordan, and also deny IS "a critical support zone".
The town, which is also near a key IS-controlled border crossing with Syria, was used by militants to stage operations further north and east in Iraq.
The recapture of Rutba, 360km (225 miles) west of the capital Baghdad, is the latest victory for Iraqi government forces in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar.
Troops and allied Sunni tribal fighters last month retook the town of Hit and in February declared that the provincial capital Ramadi had been fully liberated.
The coalition estimates that IS has now lost between 30% and 35% of the territory it once held across Iraq and Syria two years ago.
Iraqi and coalition officials believe the setbacks have prompted IS to turn increasingly to bombing civilian areas.
A wave of attacks in and around Baghdad in the past week has left some 200 people dead, including 69 on Tuesday.
"They appear to have chosen to revert to some of their terrorist roots," Col Warren said. "This is an enemy who has not found success in some time, so what they are trying to do is find a way to throw a punch that actually can land."
The coalition spokesman also announced that a US air strike in Iraq had killed two "high-value" IS militants known as Abu Hamza and Abu Safiya.
Abu Hamza was a former member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a precursor to IS, who had led attacks against US forces after the 2003 invasion, he said.
Abu Safiya had been "responsible for staging chemical attacks in the Euphrates river valley", Col Warren added. IS has been accused of using the blister agent sulphur mustard in attacks against Kurdish Peshmerga forces last year.


Police are appealing for information after jewellery thieves targeted a Dumfries home in "broad daylight".

Goods including diamond rings and a pendant were taken from the house in Troqueer Road some time between 08:00 and 17:00 on Tuesday.
The total value of the items taken has been estimated at around Â£5,000.
PC Alison Burke appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time of the theft to contact them.


Watford have sold Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai for £20m.

Ighalo, 27, joined the Hornets in 2014 from Italian side Udinese and helped Watford win promotion to the Premier League in the 2014-15 campaign.
He scored 15 top-flight goals in 2015-16, but has only one Premier League goal this season and has gone 15 games without scoring in all competitions.
Watford are 14th in the Premier League, eight points above the relegation zone.
During his time with the Hornets, Ighalo played 100 times in all competitions and scored 39 goals.
In the calendar year of 2015, he scored 30 goals in 38 games. He has netted six times since.
This month, Watford have signed two attacking players - AC Milan striker M'Baye Niang, 22, on loan until the end of the season and Argentine forward Mauro Zarate, 29, on a permanent deal from Fiorentina.
Walter Mazzarri's Watford side were shock 2-1 away winners at Arsenal in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here.


China has passed controversial new anti-terrorism laws, saying they are needed to combat growing threats.

The new laws, passed on Sunday by China's legislature, create a new anti-terror agency and security forces with significant powers.
Critics say the laws are too broad and can be used against dissidents and religious minorities.
China has blamed Muslim Uighur separatists from Xinjiang for several public attacks in recent years.
Last week several Western governments issued warnings for foreigners in Beijing's Sanlitun neighbourhood citing intelligence of a possible threat there.
Under the new law, China will have a single counter-terrorism body which the country's public security ministry says "will be in charge of identifying terrorist activities and personnel, and coordinate nationwide anti-terrorist work".
The official Chinese media cited a knife attack which left 29 people dead at a train station in 2014 as giving greater urgency to the the legislation.
The attack by four assailants was widely attributed to a Uighur group, the mainly-Muslim minority in the western Xinjiang province.
The Chinese government is keen that the undoubtedly tough measures it takes there are viewed as "counter-terrorism" (similar to measures taken by Western countries) rather than as the oppression of an ethnic minority.
The law will also give the authorities greater rights to monitor private communications. Just like in other countries, the government says this will not infringe liberty.
Read more: Why is there tension between China and the Uighurs?
Human rights groups say the laws are too broad and sweeping, and could be used to crack down on dissidents as well as religious minorities.
Amnesty International said in March, while the laws were still being drafted, that they have no safeguard to prevent those practicing their religion or criticise the government from being "persecuted on broad charges related to 'terrorism' or 'extremism."
Human Rights Watch also said the laws are not in line with international standards, and pointed out that the new agencies would have "enormous discretionary powers".
Prominent Chinese dissident Hu Jia tweeted on Monday of the new laws: "What it is used for is not terrorism, but rather in the name of combating terrorism, it attacks all kinds of protests, particularly group and street protests. It creates all kinds of emergency situations where it can monitor and severely restrict citizens and groups."
China has repeatedly said that it faces legitimate terror threats and that the laws are needed to combat them. It has also denied repressing Uighurs and other minorities.
Li Shouwei, a spokesman for China's legislature, told reporters on Sunday that the laws do not target any specific region, ethnicity or religion.
Chinese commentators have long accused the West of double standards, saying that the West has refused to acknowledge the public attacks as terrorism by characterising them as human rights conflicts.
But many of the public attacks, particularly those in Xinjiang, have been difficult for news media to independently verify as China severely restricts foreigners' travel into such areas and the flow of information during such incidents.
China has also said that its new laws would not impinge on internet freedom and intellectual property rights.


Ten employers in Wales who failed to pay workers the minimum wage have been publicly named by the UK government.

Each firm neglected to pay one worker the required amount and collectively owed staff £7,587.
The employers, who have all now repaid the outstanding wages, ranged from petrol stations and hairdressers to couriers and travel firms.
In 2013, the government revised rules allowing it to publicly name companies found to have breached wage laws.
On 1 October, the national minimum wage rose to by 20p to £6.70 per hour.
It stands at £6.70 per hour for adults, £5.30 per hour for 18 to 20-year-olds and £3.87 per hour for 16 to 17-year-olds. Apprentices are entitled to the minimum wage for their age group.
Those who do not pay the correct rates face fines of up to £20,000, as well as criminal prosecution.
The 10 employers who underpaid workers were:


Police are investigating a complaint about a mural at an Edinburgh primary school which features a golliwog.

The scene from Alice in Wonderland in Wardie Primary's assembly hall dates back to 1936 and was recently restored with a Heritage Lottery Fund.
A mother has lodged a complaint about the image describing it as racist.
Edinburgh City Council said it understands the offensiveness of the image but said it does not reflect the attitudes of the school.
An Edinburgh City Council spokesman said: "The Alice in Wonderland mural at Wardie Primary School was painted in 1936 and is of both historical and artistic importance as evidenced by the fact it recently received full Heritage Lottery Funding support to restore the work.
"While we understand the offensiveness of the image, it is in no way indicative of the attitudes of either the school or the council.
"Our equalities policies and approaches are robustly multi-cultural and anti-racist, promoting diversity and good relationships among pupils."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Police in Edinburgh have received a complaint in relation to a mural at a primary school in the Trinity area.
"Officers are now liaising with Edinburgh City Council education department with regards to this matter.
"Police Scotland treats all reports relating to hate incidents extremely seriously and will thoroughly investigate whenever a report of this nature is made."


Changes to speed limits in part of Guernsey are to come into force on 5 January, road bosses say.

The changes in the Vale will see the limit drop from 35mph to 25mph.
The Environment Department recommended cutting the limit in a number of roads in the area in response to two fatalities, including one near a school.
The changes will initially be on a 12-month trial, the States said.
Roads affected include Route des Coutures, Summerfield Road, North Quay and some connecting roads.
One of the fatalities which prompted the change was the death of seven-year-old Vale Junior School pupil Mai-Lea Falla.
She died after she was hit in Summerfield Road in November 2012.


The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is expected to open next month in Zhangjiajie.

10 June 2016 Last updated at 00:00 BST
BBC Click's Dan Simmons was challenged to smash his way through one of the panels used to form the skywalk.
More at BBC.com/Click and @BBCClick.


The opening of a bridge damaged in flooding last December has been delayed until January.

Elland Bridge in West Yorkshire partially collapsed in the 2015 floods.
The "complex" project to rebuild Grade II-listed structure should finish in January, said Calderdale Council
Originally it was hoped to open it before the end of the year but moving services from a temporary bridge to the new one had delayed work, said the council.
Council leader Tim Swift said: "I can reassure people that we're in the final stages of the work to complete the bridge and are doing all we can to reopen it as quickly as possible."
Floodwater washed out the foundations of the 1811 bridge and caused severe structural damage and a crack in the road surface on 29 December.
It is being rebuilt, along with nearby Crowther Bridge, using Â£5.5 million from flood-recovery funding.
After utility cables have been installed in the new bridge the final tasks include work on the parapets, masonry and road surface.
A temporary bridge for pedestrians was installed in February and the Calder and Hebble Navigation canal under the bridge was opened in July.


A former north Wales police chief has been found guilty of historical child sex offences.

Gordon Anglesea, 79, from Old Colwyn, was convicted of one charge of indecent assault against one boy, and three indecent assaults against another.
Addressing Anglesea at Mold Crown Court Judge Geraint Walters said "there can only be one sentence and that is a prison sentence".
North Wales Police's assistant chief constable apologised after the trial.
"The victims in this case have waited a long time for justice and I am pleased that today they have seen this done," said ACC Richard Debicki.
"It has not been an easy journey from them, it has taken courage to stand  by their convictions, but I hope that they will now take some solace from  seeing their abuser brought to justice."
"I  would like to apologise on behalf of the force to those whose lives he so  traumatically affected."
Anglesea, a former superintendent in the Wrexham area, had denied the charges, with his defence funded by the Police Federation.
He was also found not guilty of an alternative charge of a serious sexual assault, and granted bail until 4 November when he will be sentenced.
Ed Beltrami, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service Wales, said Anglesea had been in "a position of power and authority in order to prey on very young and vulnerable victims" and praised those who gave evidence for helping to secure his conviction.
"I hope that it will also prove to be a meaningful step in the recovery process of his victims, who have had to live with what happened for a long time before seeing their abuser brought before the court," he added.
Anglesea was arrested in 2013 as part of the National Crime Agency's Operation Pallial investigation into historical abuse across north Wales.
The offences took place between 1982 and 1987, when both boys were aged 14 or 15.
One boy was abused in the showers of a Home Office attendance centre in Wrexham run by Anglesea, who was a police inspector at the time.
The court heard how he subjected juvenile offenders to a military-style, "short, sharp shock" regime of physical exercise, drill parades and woodwork classes on Saturday afternoons.
Anglesea was "answerable to no-one" at the centre and would "inspect" the parade, make the youngsters do naked sit-ups and squat thrusts, then loiter around the showers "with a smirk on his face".
His second victim was initially sexually assaulted by convicted paedophile John Allen, while living at the Bryn Alyn children's home in Wrexham and the abuse sometimes involved other adults who used him "like a toy".
On one occasion, at a house in Mold, he said Anglesea "grabbed him by the hair" and indecently assaulted him, calling him "scum" and telling him he had the "power to send him away".
The prosecution said both victims had been left "damaged" by the abuse and led "chaotic" lives of crime and drug and alcohol addiction.
During the trial, Anglesea was questioned about links to other paedophiles, including Gary Cooke, who is currently serving 14 years in prison, and Peter Howarth, former deputy head of the Bryn Estyn children's home, who died in prison in 1997.
In 1994, Anglesea was awarded Â£375,000 in libel damages after media organisations ran stories about his links to abuse at children's homes in north Wales.
One report, published in 1991, detailed how Bryn Estyn residents claimed he was a regular visitor to the home.
Anglesea has always maintained the allegations at the heart of the libel case were false but said in court that even after the libel trial, the issue "never went away".
One of those publications sued by Anglesea was the satirical magazine Private Eye.
In a statement, its high-profile editor Ian Hislop, described that action as "one of the darkest periods of my editorship".
"During the libel trial Anglesea said that he had never assaulted any teenage boys. We now know that this was a lie, that he was indeed a paedophile, that in truth he had no reputation to defend.
"I take a certain grim satisfaction in this verdict today and in the fact that justice has eventually been done."
But Mr Hislop said he did not intend to revisit the libel case.
"Private Eye will not be looking to get our money back from the libel damages. Others have paid a far higher price," he said.


Rangers should consider Billy Davies to replace departed manager Mark Warburton, says the club's former striker Kris Boyd.

Davies, 52, has been out of coaching for almost three years since he was sacked 13 months into his second spell at Nottingham Forest.
Boyd spent time on loan at Forest during Davies' first stint and told BBC Scotland: "He'll do anything to win.
"It's a results-driven world and, for me, there's not a better man."
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Boyd, 33, moved to the City Ground in March 2011, scoring six goals in 10 league games for Forest, where Davies had been since December 2008 after time in charge at Derby, Preston and Motherwell.
Davies was sacked by the two-time European Cup winners at the end of that season - but recruited again in early 2013.
"He's a winner," added Boyd, who was a prolific finisher at Ibrox from 2006 to 2010 and had a second, less successful, spell in the Championship campaign of 2014-15 before returning to Kilmarnock for a third time.
"When you see some of the runs he's been on at clubs, the records he's broken, he has something that can bring out the best in people.
"He got me back scoring goals inside a week after a difficult few months not playing at Middlesbrough. That didn't happen by coincidence.
"It wasn't just me. There were three or four others at Forest who were lacking a bit of fitness and he had us out on bike runs at seven in the morning.
"A lot of the good work he's done in England has gone unnoticed up here.
"And if you go back as far as Motherwell, they were fighting relegation when he took over. He kept them up and then they were challenging for Europe.
"When you look at the stats, I don't think there's much comes near him."
Rangers announced Warburton's departure on Friday, along with assistant David Weir and head of recruitment Frank McParland, while youth coach Graeme Murty oversaw Sunday's 2-1 Scottish Cup win over Morton.
Former Ibrox captain Barry Ferguson says Rangers will look for "a short-term solution" and reckons Alex McLeish fits the bill.
The 58-year-old, who was manager for five years until 2006, has said it would be difficult to turn down the opportunity to make a return.
"He knows what the club is all about, he knows the traditions and what is expected," said Ferguson, who played under McLeish for Scotland, Rangers and Birmingham.
"I saw his interview and it looked to me like he would take it in a minute. If he got offered it, I think he'd be a good choice.
"He assembled a good team at Rangers and we had a real togetherness.
"He wanted us to work hard and play attacking football. In training, as well as matches, he demanded that you outwork whoever you were up against.
"He has more experience now - and if they are looking for someone to take over until the end of the season he's a serious contender."


By most accounts  the new biopic of Steve Jobs is an accurate portrayal of a man who shouted down colleagues at meetings, was visibly impatient and dismissive of others' contributions... and yet he is lauded as perhaps the most successful entrepreneur of his generation.

So does being rude, ruthless and self-absorbed give you an advantage when it comes to getting ahead in business?
Quite the reverse, according to Professor Christine Porath, at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University.
"I wouldn't recommend people try to emulate Steve Jobs' style," she says.
In her research, stretching back more than 20 years, respondents told her they worked less hard if managers were rude to them. In lab studies students given the brush-off by a professor were subsequently less successful at word puzzles.
She says uncivil behaviour from bosses and colleagues affects sickness rate and mental health, stifles creativity and above all affects staff retention. None of which reflects well on those in charge.
"The thing I hear a lot is - 'if I yell at them, doesn't it light a fire under them and I'll get more short term results?'
"But it robs people of focus and they don't perform. Cognitively you don't gain anything and you might lose out."
And she points out that even Steve Jobs mellowed when he returned for his second, and more successful, stint at Apple.
David Rawlinson, is founder of Restaurant Property, which manages sales and leases of restaurant sites in London.
The general atmosphere in his office is very positive, he says, when it comes to the nine people who work for him he's aware of the importance of getting the balance right between being friendly and being firm.
"It is difficult when you are working in the same room with people day in, day out, to be bad cop sometimes. But you have to. You can't just be nice all the time.
"Certainly I would like to be nice all the time. The reality is you just can't sometimes. If people aren't doing their job properly, or if you think people are taking liberties with sickness or something like that you, have to lay the law down.
"Mostly I start out with explaining things in a cool calm way. But, you know, losing your temper is a very powerful motivator sometimes, and that is something I have had to do in past. I don't enjoy doing it, and it's something I think you should use as final straw."
He says unlike in the old days when the mentality at some companies was to rule with a fist of iron, nowadays it's much more about looking after your staff.
He takes all his staff on a big night out once a month, so that the team can bond and he can get to know them better.
But showing off your cut-throat style - for example table-pounding at a meeting or a strategically-timed temper tantrum - won't always be the wrong choice, at least according to some.
Serial entrepreneur and now venture capitalist, Luke Johnson has overseen vast numbers of small and medium-sized businesses since he sold on his first successful enterprise, Pizza Express, in 1999.
"My observation, from my direct experience, is that to get ahead people have to have a glint of steel about them."
He says in his experience at the coal-face he has met plenty of successful entrepreneurs who aren't particularly polite but it's usually a symptom of the pressure they're under.
"I think all of us should respect basic social niceties and all of us who fail to do that - and I'm as guilty as the next man  - deserve to be ticked off."
Sarah [a pseudonym] works for an international law firm. She says in corporate law it pays to be tough.
"This industry is one where being very self-centred is a help rather than a hindrance. In terms of charming your colleagues, it's a bonus rather than something that's necessarily important.
"The nature of the work is such that it really rewards hard-charging, it's not exactly aggressive but there are certainly very opinionated loud people, people who make their presence felt. That being the nature of the work, you don't see people progressing who don't conform to that."
"I definitely try and be one of the boys at the office lots of joking discussion with other people and I certainly have a slightly hard edge."
"But business is a serious affair and if you take on the mantle of  running a company, the responsibility of employees and meeting that payroll at the end of the month and all the rest of it, you can't afford to spend all your time stopping at every desk and asking people how their weekend went.
"So probably there's a risk that you come across as uninterested or abrupt or impatient."
He says it is generally the egotists, those who like to take command, even to the point of arrogance, who succeed.
"Leadership is often about not caring whether you make friends or people like you, but doing the right thing.
"Putting people's feelings first and the right decision second is not what I call leadership."
Ben Dattner, executive coach and  author of management book, The Blame Game, agrees.
"Even in the days of Machiavelli he said it's better for a leader to be feared than loved.
"If your ethics and integrity allow you to go the 'I want to be feared' route perhaps that can work in certain contexts. It might not get you any love [but] it's about achieving objectives.
He advises his clients to stick to their natural style but just adapt it where necessary.
"The aggressive, contentious approach might help you achieve certain things in the short term, but over the long term, if people don't want to work for you, you might pay a price for having that kind of style."
But just as bad, he says, is making yourself very popular but struggling to get things done.
Mr Dattner says different leadership styles may serve better depending on whether you are facing the tough decisions involved in shrinking an organisation, or building creativity and innovation in a growing business.
The bad news is that both strategies, nice and nasty, carry an extra risk if you're a woman. Highly collaborative women are frequently viewed as ineffective leaders.
But as Mr Dattner also admits: "It's easier for a woman to be perceived as bitchy than it is for a man to be perceived as an ass."
Behaviours best avoided
source: Professor Christine Porath


A beloved cat who became a familiar face at a train station after making himself at home there for 10 years is to have a permanent memorial.

Alfie, who lived at Rushden Transport Museum and Railway in Northamptonshire, died last month.
A crowdfunding page was set up to pay vet bills and money from other events will now be used to pay for a memorial.
A headstone and a bench with a plaque are planned to remember Alfie, the Northamptonshire Telegraph reported.
More news from Northamptonshire
Alfie mysteriously turned up at volunteer-run Rushden Station about 10 years ago shortly after the previous station cat had died.
He made the station his home for a decade but when he contracted a virus in June, fans of the ginger tom rallied round to donate to a JustGiving page, raising more than Â£900.
After his death, fundraising events raised more money from "the best friends a cat could have", and volunteers have now confirmed they are arranging for a headstone to be made for Alfie.
They are also planning to install a bench and memorial plaque in a prominent position at the station.


Until the age of 16, my dream was to become a housewife.

My mother was one and so were my grandmothers. I also didn't have many friends whose mothers worked. It was the most obvious choice.
Now that I have become a mother myself, I realise it is much harder work than I'd expected. But as a teenager, supporting a hardworking husband by doing all the housework, and raising a child or two felt like a perfect fairy tale.
I wasn't alone in wanting to pursue what is known in Japan as "permanent employment", and many of my friends have become stay-at-home wives or mums.
We are in our early 30s, however, and I expected the younger generation to be different. So I was surprised to see the result of a recent survey - by Japanese advertising and public relations company Hakuhodo - which showed that more than one-third of single women in their 20s want to become a housewife.
Even more surprisingly, the number of married women in their 20s who think women should stay at home and focus on housework has risen from 35.7% in 2003 to 41.6% in 2013. That's according to the National Survey on Family by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Two thirds of them think mothers shouldn't be back at work until the children are three years old, and about the same percentage of women give up their jobs after having their first child.
"Japan is a nation of housewives," says journalist and lecturer Touko Shirakawa who writes about women. "There are certainly more career women today than before but it's still not the norm."
The government wants to change this.
As part of its economic policy known as Abenomics, it is trying to make it easier for women to continue working after giving birth. For example, it is tackling the shortage of childcare facilities, albeit slowly.
Sagawa Express is a parcel delivery company, and has been hiring more women as its courier drivers. This traditionally male-dominated industry is known for long working hours, but the firm is allowing women to work part-time and take on flexible hours to make it easier for them to juggle work with family life.
"We have more deliveries to individual homes thanks to online shopping, which means our drivers don't have to carry parcels that are too heavy,"  Shozo Hayashi explains. "Our female customers also feel safer if the items are delivered by women, so it has been very popular."
But these part-time drivers earn less than 1 million Japanese yen ($8274; Â£5498) a year, which means in the eyes of the taxman they remain dependents of their husband and don't pay tax on their incomes.
And while there are now more households with double incomes than single, the majority of wives work part-time.
What the government wants to encourage is women in full-time employment. But mothers who continue to pursue their careers are still far and few between.
"Women who don't want to quit their jobs tend not to, or at least delay the marriage until they meet Mr Perfect because there are so few jobs which you can juggle with housework," says Ms Shirakawa who also teaches at a girls-only university.
And in most Japanese families, the housework falls on women. The government's National Survey on Family revealed that almost half (46%) of husbands do less than 10% of housework even if their wives work full time.
If more women choose not to get married or have children to focus on their career, however, it affects Japan's demographic problem. The Japanese population has been shrinking annually for the last four years. Last year, the country welcomed just over one million newborns, and that is a record low.
So is it possible for Japan to achieve the ambitious target set by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to almost triple the proportion of female managers to 30% by 2020?
Satoko Ubukata is the general manager of the advertising department at chemicals business Toray Industries, and she says she hasn't faced much sexism as she climbed up the corporate ladder.
"I graduated from university in 1986 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Law had just passed, so there were 77 female new hires at Toray," she says. "Thirteen of them are still with the firm, nine of whom in management."
At Toray Industries, 4.2% of the management is female, which is the highest in the chemical industry.
"Comparing numbers might be handy, but I personally don't think setting a particular target is a good idea," adds Ms Ubukata.
"Women shouldn't have to receive special treatment to be promoted, but it seems like in Japan, you need the government to set the target in order for companies to act."
When Ms Ubukata joined Toray, pouring tea and cleaning ashtrays were the duties of female staff.
"We thought that was what we were meant to do so we didn't think much about it," she says, adding that the custom gradually ended in the late 1990s.
"I don't think the opposition came from the female staff, but the societal attitude started to change so it was natural for the company to stop, too."
Despite the government's efforts to get more women to rejoin the workforce, Ms Ubukata thinks Japan's problem is more fundamental.
"Regardless of your gender, it is difficult to get a full-time job after taking a long break, and it is more common for women to leave the corporate world for a few years to raise a child or look after the old," she says.
The government is tackling the issue by creating job centres that are specifically for women with a nursery. But when I visited one in Osaka, the societal attitude remains a hurdle.
"I feel that the employers definitely prefer candidates without kids," says Miyoko Takahashi who came in with her one-year-old daughter.
"I understand why because I as a mother cannot work long hours. If I was on the other side of the table, maybe I'd choose someone without kids, too," she adds.
I feel that I have done my part by giving birth and juggling motherhood with a full-time job as a reporter. But if I was working for a Japanese company and if I was married to a Japanese man, it would have been much harder.
"The government wants me to give birth, raise a child properly and work full time? Are they trying to kill me?" is a comment that Touko Shirakawa heard from some of her female students.
For Japan to fully utilise its female workforce, it will take more than just policy changes and it may take a generation or more to change the society's attitude.


The Olivier Awards ceremony is under way, with illustrious names such as Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench among the nominees.

Nicole Kidman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gemma Arterton and Adrian Lester are also up for awards.
Musical Gypsy leads the pack with eight nominations, and Kinky Boots has seven.
The awards, now in their 40th year, are being given out at London's Royal Opera House in a ceremony hosted by Michael Ball.
Nominations in full
Rylance, recognised for Farinelli and the King at Duke of York's Theatre, learned of his nomination just hours after winning a best supporting actor Oscar for Bridge of Spies in February.
The play, about a castrato opera star and staged at Shakespeare's Globe, was written by Rylance's wife, Claire van Kampen.
Her play received six nominations in total. It goes up against The Father, Hangmen and People, Places and Things for the title of best new play.
Cumberbatch is up for his sold-out performance of Hamlet, while Sir Kenneth Branagh is nominated for A Winter's Tale, which he co-directed. Scottish Kenneth Cranham is nominated for The Father.
Dame Judi Dench's turn in A Winter's Tale sees her nominated in the best supporting actress category.
The nominees for best actress are Arterton, Denise Gough, Janet McTeer, Lia Williams and Kidman, who returned to the West End in Photograph 51.
In the new musical category, Kinky Boots goes up against Bend It Like Beckham, In the Heights and Mrs Henderson Presents.
The musical revival shortlist includes Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Bugsy Malone and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Theatre fans have had the opportunity to vote for their favourite production for the Magic Radio Audience Award, the only award chosen by the public.
The contenders are Jersey Boys, Les Miserables, Matilda and The Phantom of the Opera.


Scientists have transformed the humble spinach plant into a bomb detector.

By embedding tiny tubes in the plants' leaves, they can be made to pick up chemicals called nitro-aromatics, which are found in landmines and other buried munitions.
Real-time information can then be wirelessly relayed to a handheld device.
The MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) work is published in the journal Nature Materials.
The scientists implanted nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes (tiny cylinders of carbon) into the leaves of the spinach plant.
They then delivered the nitro-aromatics into the water taken up by the roots and directly to the leaves in droplets. It takes about 10 minutes for the spinach to take up the water via the roots into the leaves.
To read the signal, the researchers shine a laser onto the leaf, prompting the embedded nanotubes to emit near-infrared fluorescent light.
This can be detected with a small infrared camera connected to a small, cheap Raspberry Pi computer. The signal can also be detected with a smartphone by removing the infrared filter most have.
Co-author Prof Michael Strano, from MIT in Cambridge, US, said the work was an important proof of principle.
"Our paper outlines how one could engineer plants like this to detect virtually anything," he told the BBC News website.
Prof Strano's lab has previously developed carbon nanotubes that can be used as sensors to detect hydrogen peroxide, TNT, and the nerve gas sarin.
When the target molecule binds to a polymer material wrapped around the nanotube, it changes the way it glows.
"The plants could be use for defence applications, but also to monitor public spaces for terrorism related activities, since we show both water and airborne detection," said Prof Strano.
"Such plants could be used to monitor groundwater seepage from buried munitions or waste that contains nitro-aromatics."
Using the set-up described in the paper, the researchers can pick up a signal from about 1m away from the plant, and they are now working on increasing that distance.
Follow Paul on Twitter.


Tranmere Rovers briefly went top of the National League with victory in the early kick-off at Wrexham.

Mickey Mellon's side secured their fourth consecutive league win courtesy of young defender Olly Marx's first half own goal.
Rovers' win saw them replace Lincoln as leaders, although the Imps beat Bromley later in the day to return to the top.
Dean Keates' Wrexham have gone five successive league games without a win.
Jeff Hughes had gone close with a free-kick for Rovers before the visitors went ahead when 18-year-old Marx turned Lee Vaughan's shot into his own net on his home debut.
Tranmere were in control and home keeper Chris Dunn denied Vaughan and former Wrexham midfielder Jay Harris.
Ex-Dragon Connor Jennings' header was cleared off the line by Marx in between Rob Evans and Jordan White both firing over the crossbar for the hosts.
Heavy rain made conditions difficult in the second half, but Cole Stockton and James Norwood had chances to extend Tranmere's lead while Dunn saved from Liam Ridehalgh.
Wrexham pushed for an equaliser, but substitute Izale McLeod's scuffed close range effort and Ollie Shenton's shot over the bar summed up the home side's afternoon.
Wrexham manager Dean Keates told BBC Radio Wales: "On another day I think we could have nicked a draw.
"In the last 20 minutes we grew into it and obviously the same in the second half when in the last 20 minutes e pushed them right back and had a good go at them.
"But in the first 25 minutes of both halves we didn't ask enough questions."
Match ends, Wrexham 0, Tranmere Rovers 1.
Second Half ends, Wrexham 0, Tranmere Rovers 1.
Substitution, Wrexham. Leo Smith replaces Antony Barry.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Andy Cook replaces Cole Stockton.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Andy Mangan replaces James Norwood.
Jay Harris (Tranmere Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Wrexham. Izale McLeod replaces Jordan White.
Substitution, Wrexham. Iffy Allen replaces Paul Rutherford.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Adam Mekki replaces Connor Jennings.
Second Half begins Wrexham 0, Tranmere Rovers 1.
First Half ends, Wrexham 0, Tranmere Rovers 1.
Own Goal by Oliver Marx, Wrexham.  Wrexham 0, Tranmere Rovers 1.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


Canada's largest province is experimenting with giving poor people a basic income with no strings attached.

The three-year study will test whether this basic income is better than current social welfare programmes.
Randomly selected participants living in three communities in Ontario will be given at least C$16,989 ($12,600, Â£9,850) a year to live on.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said it is time to be "bold" in figuring out how to help society's most vulnerable.
"This is no time to retreat, this is no time for government to cling to the status quo," she said when the pilot was announced on Monday.
Ontario is not the only one trying this policy out.
Finland recently launched its own trial in January, and the Scottish government has expressed interest.
The idea is popular with both progressives and libertarians alike because it has the potential to reduce poverty and cut out red tape.
Ontario's pilot project will roll out in Hamilton and Thunder Bay this spring, and Lindsay this fall.
The program will cost C$50m a year, and will include 4,000 households from across those three communities. Participants must have lived in one of the areas for over a year, be between 18-64 and be living on a lower income.
Single adults will be given a yearly income of C$16,989, while couples will earn C$24,027, minus 50% of any income earned from a job.
By allowing people to keep part of their earnings, the government hopes people will be encouraged to work and not rely solely on assistance.
"It's not an extravagant sum by any means," Wynne said, noting that many people who are struggling in the province are employed part-time and need additional assistance to make ends meet.


Preston North End midfielder Alan Browne has signed a new contract with the Championship club.

The 22-year-old has made 116 appearances since joining from League of Ireland Premier Division side Cork City in January 2014.
"It is good to get the contract signed and out of the way now and hopefully I can kick on even more," said Browne.
"I have come a long way since I joined, there've been ups and downs and it's been great to progress like I have."
In his second season with North End, Browne won promotion as they beat Swindon 4-0 in the 2015 League One play-off final.
He made his first appearance for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-1 friendly defeat by Mexico last month.