To state the obvious: North Korea is not Iran.

There are crucial differences which make defusing Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions much harder than removing those of the Iranian leadership.
Firstly, North Korea already has the bomb - and dismantling a machine which exists is a lot harder than preventing its creation in the first place.
The genie is out of the bottle.
North Korea has already conducted three tests of devices (detected by seismologists). It boasts of its "nuclear deterrent" in state-run media.
Accordingly, the important question is not about if but when - in particular, when might it be able to make a bomb small enough to put on top of a missile capable of leaving the earth's atmosphere and re-entering to hit distant targets.
South Korea and Japan already feel the threat acutely because North Korea has demonstrated the use of shorter-ranger missiles, and the US fears that a missile capable of reaching the West Coast isn't far away.
The second crucial difference between the Iranian and North Korean situations is that Iranians have some power over their elected leaders through the ballot box, even if they cannot remove the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who recently voiced his concern over any deal on his country's nuclear programme.
However you view the state of democracy in Iran, there is pressure from below to deliver satisfactory economic conditions.
If the people feel government policy is failing them, they can put pressure on that government to a degree unimaginable in despotic North Korea.
This means that sanctions are much more likely to work against Iran than North Korea where the people have to suck up whatever policy Kim Jong-un dishes out.
It is impossible to know from outside exactly where North Korea stands in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. There may be sabre-rattling.
Some experts believe, for example, that fearsome missiles shown off in parades may be fakes for Western eyes.
Intelligence services and politicians in South Korea and the US may have an interest in talking up the threat.
Sympathisers with North Korea may want to talk it down.
So what's our best knowledge?
Here's how Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University, one of the world's acknowledged authorities, put it: "North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has been relentlessly expanding for a decade, and poses a real and deadly threat to the rest of Northeast Asia".
Prof Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, visited North Korean nuclear plants before outsiders were completely barred.
He wrote recently in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: "During my first visit to North Korea in January 2004, North Korean officials were eager to show my Stanford University colleagues and me the plutonium bomb fuel they produced following a diplomatic breakdown with the George W Bush administration.
"Four years ago, during my seventh visit to the country and two years into the Obama administration, they surprised us with a tour through an ultra-modern centrifuge facility, demonstrating that they were capable of producing highly enriched uranium, the alternate route to the bomb".
US:  First nuclear test July 1945
Russia: August 1949
UK: October 1952
France: February 1960
China: October 1964
India: May 1974
Israel: Suspected September 1979
Pakistan: May 1998
North Korea: October 2006
The ability to produce this highly enriched uranium changed the calculation because it meant that North Korea wasn't constrained by the supply of plutonium.
It opened a second route.
Prof Hecker said: "The plutonium produced in the early 1990s had been tied up for almost a decade in spent fuel, which was stored safely with US assistance and kept under international inspection. Today, North Korea may possess a nuclear arsenal of roughly 12 nuclear weapons, half likely fuelled by plutonium and half by highly enriched uranium."
If that's the state of the bomb-making capability, what about the means to deliver it?
North Korea certainly has missiles capable of hitting South Korea, Japan and territories in the Western Pacific but has not demonstrated the ability to send a rocket into space and then to re-enter the earth's atmosphere and hit the continental US (an inter-continental ballistic missile).
Here's how the US Department of Defense assessed the situation two years ago (though clearly North Korean research will have moved on): "North Korea followed its 12 February 2013 nuclear test with a campaign of media releases and authoritative public announcements reaffirming its need to counter perceived US 'hostility' with nuclear-armed ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles).
"North Korea will move closer to this goal, as well as increase the threat it poses to US forces and Allies in the region, if it continues testing and devoting scarce regime resources to these programmes.
"The pace of its progress will depend, in part, on how many resources it can dedicate to these efforts and how often it conducts tests".
Which brings us to the politics.
There are signs that Russia and China wants to get back to the six-party talks (involving them, the US, Japan and the two Koreas) which broke down in 2009 when North Korea pulled out.
And according to China's Xinhua News Agency, North Korea has also indicated it wants to negotiate.
The US does not believe any negotiations would be in good faith because it sees no evidence of what its diplomats call "meaningful steps" to demonstrate a real wish to renounce nuclear weapons.
The rogue card in all this is how much Kim Jong-un needs the outside world if he wants to raise the living standards of his citizens.
Three years into his rule, few can see signs of any softening of the belief that possession of the bomb gives him immense clout.


An Israeli couple have been given suspended jail sentences in Poland for the theft of artefacts from the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, officials say.

The nine items, including spoons and a pair of scissors, were found in their luggage during a routine check as they prepared to board a flight to Israel.
The couple admitted taking the items during a tour of the former concentration camp, now a museum.
They are expected to pay a contribution towards the preservation of the site.
More than a million people - most of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz during World War II.
The 60-year-old man and 57-year-old woman - whose names have not been released - were detained at Krakow airport in southern Poland on Friday as they prepared to board a return flight to Israel, officials said.
The couple told Polish police they had found the items at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site, officials said.
Police took them back there and the couple indicated an area where the Nazis used to keep prisoners' belongings, the chief spokesman for the memorial, Jaroslaw Mensfelt, told AP news agency.
"We can safely assume that the objects they stole were original, from that time," Mr Mensfelt was quoted as saying.
The couple were then charged with stealing culturally important items - an offence that carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence.
"They have voluntarily accepted a two-year suspended jail sentence and agreed to pay a mandatory contribution towards the preservation of monuments," Deputy District Prosecutor Mariusz Slomka was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
He did not specify the amount of the contribution.
The couple will be allowed to return to Israel once the formalities are dealt with, added the deputy district prosecutor.


Joe Esposito, a close friend and aide of Elvis Presley, has died at the age of 78.

Esposito was Presley's professional assistant and a member of his inner circle, known as the "Memphis Mafia".
He was one of two best men at the star's wedding to Priscilla in 1967 and a pallbearer at his funeral in 1977.
Esposito's daughter Cindy Bahr said he had died of natural causes in California on 23 November after suffering from dementia.
The pair met while serving in the Army in 1959. When they completed their service, Esposito became Presley's assistant, a role that saw him acting as road manager when Elvis was on tour.
He was a member of the so-called Memphis Mafia with Red West and Marty Lacker, and appeared in some of Presley's films, including It Happened at the World's Fair.
Esposito was one of those who found Presley's body when he died at Graceland, Memphis, and broke the news of his death to Priscilla and Presley's manager Tom Parker.
He went on to work as a road manager for artists including Michael Jackson and The Bee Gees.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


An investigation has been launched after two prisoners were taken to hospital following an alleged assault at HMP Hewell.

Police were called to the prison in Redditch, Worcestershire, at about 16:30 GMT on Thursday.
West Mercia Police said: "Two prisoners were subsequently taken to hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening."
An investigation is underway and police inquiries are ongoing.
Read more news for Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Police said the men had since returned to the prison.
The alleged assault occurred a day after a meeting between the Prison Officers Association and the government over the rise in violence and suicides in prisons.


Tony Bellew beat Nathan Cleverly in a split decision after a gruelling 12-round fight on Saturday night, avenging his 2011 defeat.

The Liverpool fighter edged the cruiserweight bout in front of his home crowd after moving ahead with a strong ninth round following close early exchanges.
The three judges scored it 114-115 116-112 115-113 to Bellew.
The winner is likely to face reigning WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck.
The British pair, who both weighed in at 14st 3lbs on Friday, both looked exhausted in the latter stages.
"I was getting tagged but I was just walking through it," Bellew told BBC Radio 5 live. "I love the sport and the glory of it - I just can't quit.
"I feel like crying - I'm so happy to get home to my three kids. Winning means so much to me. I was gutted about the split decision, I think I won nine rounds.
"I got him in the corner and roughed him up, it was old school. It was only after seven rounds when I realised I wouldn't get hit with a big shot. I began to creep forward and he was always on the back foot."
Bellew's victory gave him revenge for a majority decision defeat to the Welshman in their WBO light-heavyweight showdown at the same Echo Arena venue three years ago.
Since their first fight both men suffered knockout losses against Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev respectively.
After a cagey first few rounds dominated by jabs from both sides, Bellew stepped up the pace in the seventh, without ever landing a significant blow.
Cleverly spent most of the ninth round with his back against the ropes but Bellew missed too often and, as the fight became ragged, the Welshman clung on, only to lose on a split decision.
Cleverly said: "It shows my character, I have come up a weight. His strength showed in the second half. He was using his strength and made it pay. One-one, maybe we will have third fight."
In response, Bellew said he would "fight anywhere", including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. "Let's do it," he added.
The other fights on the undercard:
Reporthere
Reporthere
"I have to go back to the room and do another nine rounds of pads now. I have to finish off what I started. I don't like to make predictions but I will train to get in peak condition and I reckon I will be able to take Kevin Johnson out next. It will be a good move for me."
Groves: "My coach says it was a 5/10 display. I'll have a look back at it, but I'd probably agree. Fighting a southpaw is a new experience and just what I needed. I had to change my distance and range and find my radar to someone with an opposite style.
"It's good to get a stoppage and now I want to roll on for the next one. I want the quickest route to a world title."
DeGale: "He's never been stopped, Sakio Bika couldn't stop him and I was only getting warmed up. That left hand is my shot at the moment. I hit him and he was stumbling around, he wasn't in a position to carry on.
"I'll come out and watch George Groves but don't worry about him, I am the mandatory for the IBF title - I want to make history.
"I like Carl [Froch] but it feels like he doesn't want to fight me, I respect him but I think he's being a bit of a coward not fighting me - fight me or vacate the title."
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: "The Froch fight is a great fight, the Groves fight is a great fight, but James will fight for a World title in his next fight whomever there is."
Smith said: "My Nan passed away last week and she would've been 80 tonight. It was a tough week but going to the gym and getting away from it all maybe helped.
"He's been to points twice with Bika and Abraham but I hurt him with body shots and that shows I can hurt some good fighters. It's another box ticked with the 12 rounds under the belt."


Tennis star Jamie Murray is among the Scots being honoured in the Queens Birthday Honours list.

Murray, who won the men's doubles at the Australian Open, is made an OBE.
Along with with brother Andy - a former recipient - he also helped the British team win the Davis Cup for the first time in almost eight decades.
Singer Rod Stewart has been given a knighthood, while Prof Sue Black, a world-leading expert in forensic anthropology, becomes a dame.
Prof Black, 55, originally from Inverness, has helped secure convictions in several high-profile criminal cases, including one of Britain's worst paedophiles Richard Huckle, who was given 23 life sentences earlier this week for abusing up to 200 children.
She also helped to convict Scotland's largest paedophile ring in 2009. She was previously awarded an OBE for her work in exhuming mass graves in Kosovo.
The Dundee University professor said she was "deeply honoured" by the recognition, "if a little embarrassed".
Rod Stewart, 71, who is famous for songs such as Maggie May and Sailing, was born in London, to an English mother and a Scottish father.
The famous Celtic supporter receives his knighthood for services to music and charity.
Lord Smith of Kelvin, the man tasked by the prime minister with chairing the cross-party commission on Scottish devolution in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum, is being made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, which is "conferred on persons for having done conspicuous national service".
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour - Lord Smith of Kelvin (for public service, particularly in Scotland).
Knighthoods - Rod Stewart (for services to music and charity), Labour MP David Hamilton (for political and parliamentary service), Alex Fergusson (For services to politics, Scottish Parliamentary process and public life).
Damehoods - Sue Black (For services to forensic anthropology) Dr Denise Coia (for services to mental health and the NHS), Prof Anna Dominiczak (for services to cardiovascular and medical science).
Read the full honours list here.
The Smith Commission produced a package of recommendations which has led to new tax and welfare powers being devolved to Holyrood.
Lord Smith also had a key role in delivering the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Labour MP David Hamilton, a former miner who spent two months in jail on remand during the miner's strike in the 1980s before being cleared, is given a knighthood for political and parliamentary service.
Alex Fergusson, former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament is also given a knighthood for services to politics. He has now retired as a Conservative MSP.
Dr Denise Coia, is being given a damehood for services to mental health and the NHS while Prof Anna Dominiczak is being given the same honour for services to cardiovascular and medical science.
Another tennis star being recognised this year is Glasgow-born Leon Smith, captain of the successful Davis Cup team, who also receives an OBE.
Award-winning composer John McLeod, from Edinburgh, is honoured with a CBE for his services to music.
Born in Aberdeen, he is said to be one of the UK's busiest and most prolific composers, although he initially studied the clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music in London before later changing direction to take up composition.
Dr Brian Lang, who stepped down as chairman of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) in 2015, also receives a CBE.
The honour comes after his seven years in the post saw audience figures rise to the highest in a generation.
Steven Torrie, former HM Chief Inspector of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, is awarded a CBE for services to fire and rescue in Scotland.
Shirley Spear, a well-known figure in the food-and-drink industry is being awarded on OBE. She is the founder and former head chef of the Michelin-star winning Three Chimneys restaurant on Skye.
Businessman Sir Ian Wood, who was knighted in 1994, has been appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire for services to the oil and gas industry.
Many local people who have contributed to Scottish life were also honoured by the Queen with MBE's and British Empire Medals.


Police have used CS spray while dealing with disturbances involving about 20 young people in Lurgan, County Armagh.

Police responded to reports of young people drinking and throwing stones and bottles at passing cars on the Portadown Road on Friday at about 20:30 BST.
They said bottles were thrown at them and they were threatened with a large pipe.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with disorderly behaviour.
He is due to appear in court on 20 May.


Police investigating the disappearance of a baby born in north London in 2004 have arrested a man in Hertfordshire.

The 38 year old was arrested on Friday on suspicion of preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice.
The Met said the child had not been seen in the 11 years since its disappearance was first reported.
A woman, 31, previously charged in connection with the investigation, appeared in court in July.
Victoria Gayle, 31, previously of West Hendon, north London, was charged after police discovered the remains of another baby at a home in West Hendon in June.
A post-mortem examination at Great Ormond Street Hospital was unable to determine the cause of the child's death.
Ms Gayle is due to appear in court again in later this month.
A 50-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man remain on bail.


With Chelsea playing West Ham on Monday, second-placed Tottenham took the opportunity to close the gap on the leaders to seven points with a 3-2 win over Everton.

Manchester City recorded a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over struggling Sunderland to move up to third. Liverpool are fourth after defeating Champions League rivals Arsenal 3-1, and Manchester United slipped up in the chase for a top-four spot as they only managed a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Bournemouth.
At the other end, Crystal Palace moved out of the bottom three with a 2-0 win at in-form West Brom, but there were defeats for fellow relegation-threatened sides Hull and Middlesbrough.
Pick your XI from our list and share with your friends.
Do you agree with my team of the week or would you go for a different team? Why not pick your very own team of the week from the shortlist selected by BBC Sport journalists and share it with your friends?
What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago I was castigating Artur Boruc for misjudging a cross which resulted in West Brom winning the match. This week he is the hero in a 10-man performance in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Apart from making some superb point-blank saves in this explosive encounter, his penalty stop from Zlatan Ibrahimovic was quite remarkable under the circumstances. The elbow from Ibrahimovic on Tyrone Mings was a sending-off offence if ever I saw one - as was the stamp by Mings on Ibrahimovic - but I don't think it was deliberate. To what extent either incident was intentional only the players can really confirm. The fact that both men have played down the incident has restored my faith in players who mete out punishment in the heat of battle, but then don't whinge when retribution is delivered.
Mings knows precisely why Ibrahimovic would have reacted the way he did. In fact, he would have been disappointed if he hadn't - top players take care of business. Bournemouth, like Boruc, were magnificent on the day and their players (Mings included) conducted themselves with dignity and good grace after the game. What the Football Association will make of the unseemly affair is a matter for them.
It was a touch of magic from Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson that provided the opening for Martin Olsson to score Swansea's second in the 3-2 win over Burnley. Once the full-back got in the position to finish the move, he did it with great confidence.
It's the second time this season that Olsson has made my team of the week, and both selections have come under Swansea's recent revival. It never ceases to amaze me how some players, when they move from one club to another, see their game transform into something quite significant.
Olsson was having little effect with Norwich City in the Championship, but in the Premier League his quality appears to be better suited to the game and certainly appreciated by the players around him. Norwich might have lost their way, but Olsson is looking like a player again.
It wasn't an easy finish, but the defender steered the ball into the back of the net like a striker against Bournemouth. Marcos Rojo is experiencing a very good run in the United side these days and looking very comfortable at centre-back.
Much of this game was spent with the home side playing against 10 men and trying to work out how to do it. Bournemouth, on the other hand, looked more comfortable with 10 men than United did with 11. However, this was a game when United will do well to remember that points, like goals, don't come easy. And while this was a game they should have won, given their chances in the first half, they are some way off emulating the Alex Ferguson years.
They might have won a trophy or two, as Jose Mourinho insists on counting the Community Shield as well as the League Cup. But that tells you all you need to know about his state of mind. The Community Shield?
Palace manager Sam Allardyce is starting to weave his magic. I thought he had come back to work too soon after his England debacle, but he told us, in no uncertain terms on BBC's Football Focus recently, what he thought of that idea.
Since his return to league football, Allardyce has made two magnificent signings - both of which have initiated Palace's revival. Full-back Patrick van Aanholt and, most significantly, central defender Mamadou Sakho, seem to have done the trick. Less than a year ago, Sakho had acquired cult status at Anfield only to be unceremoniously shown the door by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after a disagreement between the two men. Bust-ups between highly strung characters were commonplace in my day, so why it should signal the departure of this totally committed defender, I don't understand.
Nevertheless, what has become surplus to requirements for Liverpool has been warmly greeted (on loan) by Crystal Palace. The defender was magnificent against West Brom, as was Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha. Both wide men are unlucky not to be in my team of the week. However, it is Sakho who continues to put his body on the line for Palace in the same way he did for Liverpool. How the Reds can dispense with the services of Sakho with the defence they have is worth a debate all by itself.
How this lad has grown since his arrival from Norwich City. I stated earlier in this column that the Canaries failed to get the best out of Martin Olsson and the same is certainly true of Nathan Redmond.
Identifying players is one thing, but what's the point if you can't make them into top-class performers? It was former Norwich boss Chris Hughton who took Redmond from Birmingham to Carrow Road and gently nurtured his career through the stages. However, since Redmond's arrival at Southampton, an injection of belief from another manager has catapulted this talent into a top player. The question for Nathan is can he make the transition from U21 international to the senior squad?
National team manager Gareth Southgate will know all about Redmond from his time with 'Young England', but I believe the time is right to let the player loose into the full international scene. It's the only route left for Redmond to progress.
This was a much better performance from Manchester City than I have seen for some time. However, we have to put it into perspective. Manchester City are in the last 16 of the Champions League and currently second in the Premier League table and playing a Sunderland side who are bottom of the league with 19 points.
So let's be clear here shall we - City should be beating 'the Sunderlands' of this world. That said, they controlled the game for long periods and David Silva practically ran the show from start to finish. There is no doubt that when Silva and Yaya Toure are playing well at the same time City look impressive. This victory over Sunderland keeps City in touch with the leaders, and manager Pep Guardiola is familiar with what it takes to win one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
This season has been a steep learning curve for Guardiola - Silva and Toure are now getting time on the pitch together. Guardiola needs to prepare now for their exit and have players in line to replace them if he's serious about winning trophies in this country. Both will take some replacing.
Swansea's win over Burnley had everything. Wonderful quality, notably from Leroy Fer and Gylfi Sigurdsson for Swansea - but the star of the show was Tom Carroll. Thank goodness that Carroll produced the moment that presented referee Anthony Taylor with a 'get-out clause'. The referee made a horrendous decision when he awarded a penalty kick to Burnley for handball when it should have been a free-kick to Swansea. What a miscarriage of justice that would have been had Burnley come away with all three points.
What I don't understand is why referee Taylor appeared to me to have guessed. The last thing a referee should do is try to calculate what has taken place. An official cannot give what he does not see and he certainly doesn't guess either. Fortunately, Carroll's persistence, enthusiasm and moment of magic - his cross for the winner - provided Swansea with the only acceptable result and it saved Taylor from any further embarrassment.
It's taken some time for Adam Lallana to become the star performer for Liverpool he was at Southampton. Perhaps he was a little intimidated by ex-midfielder Steven Gerrard's presence when he first arrived at Liverpool? Or perhaps it took more time to come to terms with Philippe Coutinho's dominance in the team?
Well, whatever it was, he seems to have shed his concerns and is playing football with a confidence I haven't seen since his days at St Mary's. Against Arsenal, he helped make Sadio Mane's goal and was superb in prising the opening that led to Georginio Wijnaldum's slick finish.
But what was Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger thinking leaving Alexis Sanchez out of his starting line-up, and leave attackers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck unaccompanied to face Liverpool at Anfield? These youngsters might have the legs but where was the knowhow? Liverpool have struggled recently, but if a team needed a lift then leaving Sanchez out of the starting 11 was certainly it. It took 49 minutes for the Gunners to have a worthy effort on goal and it wasn't until Sanchez came on to the pitch that the visitors looked anything like dangerous. I'm sad to say this, but Arsene is starting to look tired.
The game in the Premier League is as relentless as it is demanding, and after 20 years why wouldn't he put his feet up? Better that than have his feet taken from under him by an exasperated Arsenal board.
Tottenham's win over Everton was not a classic, although the 3-2 scoreline might suggest otherwise. The Toffees gifted Spurs two of their goals and striker Harry Kane accepted both gifts with enormous gratitude.
Everton's defence seemed to retreat the moment Kane picked up the ball - as if they were almost in awe of the England striker - before he launched it from 25 yards to beat Joel Robles in goal. It seemed to take Robles an age to move his feet to the right in order to try to stop the shot from entering the net. If the first goal was partly Robles' fault, the second goal was completely the fault of the Everton keeper. The Spaniard, having seen all the options, decided to give team-mate Morgan Schneiderlin no options at all with a pass out from goal which left Kane the chance to take advantage of the confusion.
Spurs are looking good at the moment, but a top-four spot is by no means guaranteed. There are six teams competing for four places and one spot has already gone to Chelsea, in my opinion. I expect Manchester City to win a Champions League place which leaves Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United looking to join the elite. Spurs are developing nicely, but Kane needs to continue with this form if they intend to compete with the best Europe have to offer next season. Anything short of a top-four place would be disastrous for the team and would badly hinder their progress.
He could have scored a hat-trick against Burnley. Had he done so the only person that would have complained would have been Clarets boss Sean Dyche.  The feature of this game was the quality of the crosses.
A striker is nothing if chances are not created, and I must say that the quality of the crossing was sensational. The cross, which resulted in Fernando Llorente's first goal and produced by Leroy Fer, was simply world class - only matched by Llorente's headed goal. The Swans have a knack of finding goalscorers, who not only capture the imagination of their fans but give them real hope.
Ex-players like Wilfried Bony, Bafetimbi Gomis, Michu and Andre Ayew have all played their part in keeping the Swans afloat over the years,. Llorente, however, is an old-style centre-forward with a touch of class who, with the right service into the box, suddenly becomes a defender's nightmare.
The lad is back in business. I haven't seen Jamie Vardy look so menacing for months, or midfield team-mate Riyad Mahrez for that matter.
The hysterical nonsense that accompanied manager Claudio Ranieri's departure from certain pundits, who frankly should have known better, was alarming to say the least. Leicester's triumph's last season was a monumental 'team effort' and not Ranieri's victory. Nothing destabilises a dressing room quicker than when players detect that the manager has suddenly become 'big time' and starts to 'tinker' with the magical ingredients that created the success in the first place. Managers are nothing without players - a feature that will not be lost on Ranieri as he sits and watches the team produce the goods again, post his departure.
Vardy was devastating against Liverpool in midweek and the team was just as impressive in the 3-1 win against Hull. With Ranieri gone, they now look certain to stay in the Premier League and they can now also afford to gamble in the Champions League.  That's because Leicester have finally got their priorities right. The Premier League is what it's all about, and if it took players like Vardy and others to make that case to the club board, then good on them.


A hospital has suspended most of its services after being identified as the source of almost half the cases in the South Korean outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

The president of the Samsung Medical Center in the capital Seoul issued a public apology on Sunday.
Health officials have reported seven new cases bringing the total to 145. Fifteen people are known to have died.
Meanwhile, a South Korean man in Slovakia is being tested for the virus.
The man reportedly works for a subcontractor of South Korean car maker Kia.
Samsung Medical Center president Song Jae-hoon told reporters that the hospital would stop treating outpatients and admitting new patients to prevent further infections among patients and medical staff.
He said no visitors would be allowed, and non-urgent surgery was being stopped.
"We apologise for causing great concern as Samsung Medical Center became the centre of the spread of Mers," he said.
"This is entirely our responsibility and failing, as we did not properly manage emergency-room staff."
Mr Song said he would review the suspension on services on 24 June.
More than 70 cases have been traced back to the hospital, authorities say.
Among them was an emergency ward orderly who worked for days after developing symptoms and came into contact with more than 200 people, officials said.
It is believed the orderly picked up the virus from an infected person who waited for days in various parts of the emergency ward, potentially exposing the virus to an estimated 900 staff, patients and visitors.
South Korea reported seven new cases on Sunday and the 15th victim died in the city of Busan.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the outbreak is "large and complex" with further cases expected, although it does not expect the outbreak to spread among the wider community.
The outbreak is the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first identified in humans in 2012.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers)
Mers: The new coronavirus explained
How South Korea is coping with outbreak


A West Midlands MP is calling for a independent group to be set up to investigate reports of hate crimes.

Khalid Mahmood says the existence of a specialist group might encourage people to report hate crimes formally instead of on social media.
The group would include representatives from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council.
Police have stressed there has been no rise in hate crime in the region since the EU referendum.
Mr Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said: "We need to work properly to be able to ensure all the community is safe.
"By setting up this group people can report directly to the police instead of going through other social media avenues."
While some areas of the country have seen a sharp rise in reports of hate crime in the wake of the referendum, West Midlands Police says there has been no obvious rise in incidents.
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire presenter Trish Adudu revealed she had been racially abused in the street by a man who told her to "go home".
An arson attack on a Walsall halal butchers was found not to be a racial hate crime after initial investigations.


The Conservatives have mostly held off the challenge of UKIP in Essex, but Douglas Carswell has retained Clacton for the anti-European Union party.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage launched his party's manifesto on Canvey Island in the Castle Point constituency in Essex.
But Rebecca Harris retained the seat with 23,112 votes - an increase of more than 3,000 votes from 2010.
Mr Carswell held Clacton, but his majority was cut by 9,000 votes compared with last year's by-election.
The Conservative candidate Giles Watling came second in Clacton again, but his vote increased from 8,709 to 16,205.
Mr Carswell, whose defection from the Conservatives sparked the by-election, saw his vote drop from 21,113 to 19,642.
Following his victory, he criticised the first-past-the-post voting system for UKIP's failure to take more seats.
"I hope that those vying to get their hands on the levers of power will have the modesty to remember that there are many people who feel under-represented," he said.
"Here, in our part of Essex, people voted UKIP and they got UKIP, yet across the country about five million people will have either voted for UKIP or for the Green Party.
"That failure to translate those five million votes into seats is less a reflection of how my party or the Green Party campaigned; rather it tells us how dysfunctional our political system is."
In Castle Point, UKIP's Jamie Huntman was second with 14,178 votes, while the Liberal Democrats' Sereena Davey managed just 80 votes.
UKIP was third in its target seat of Thurrock as second-placed Labour narrowly lost to the Conservative Jackie Doyle-Price by just 536 votes.
The Conservatives have also held Basildon & Billericay, Basildon South & Thurrock East, Brentwood & Ongar, Chelmsford, Epping Forest, Harlow, Rayleigh & Wickford, Rochford & Southend East, Southend West.
The Liberal Democrats' Sir Bob Russell saw his 7,000 majority in Colchester wiped out as Will Quince reclaimed the seat for the Tories for the first time since 1997.
Follow the latest from the counts via the BBC's election live service constituency by constituency.


A prisoner has handed himself in at a police station after escaping from a hospital where he was being treated.

Thomas Quinn, 30, fled from Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool, where he had been taken for routine treatment for a hand injury, police said.
Mr Quinn, of Hall Lane, Wythenshawe, handed himself in to a police station in Cheshire on Saturday morning.
Prison officers had taken him to hospital on Wednesday and reported him missing at about 00:30 BST on Thursday.
He was awaiting a court appearance for robbery offences.


It's every parent's nightmare - but thanks to the quick thinking of a two-year-old child there was a happy ending.

In footage that has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, two young twin boys from Utah, US, can be seen climbing on a chest of drawers in their bedroom, playing happily.
Moments later, the chest of drawers falls, trapping one of the boys, Brock, underneath the upended dresser.
As he struggles under the weight of the furniture, his brother Bowdy weighs up how to free him. Fortunately, after some deliberation, he is able to push the chest of drawers off his twin.
The boys' parents, Ricky and Kayli Shoff, say they were hesitant about sharing the video, but did so "in order to spread awareness to other families".
And they say that all parents should be alerted to the dangers of unsecured furniture.
Speaking to CBS News, Kayli and Ricky Shoff said they did not hear the furniture falling and only realised the full extent of the situation when they saw footage from the video camera in their sons' room.
"My heart sank," Kayli said. "I felt like the worst mom in the world."
The chest of drawers has now been bolted to the wall and the handles removed from the drawers to prevent the boys from climbing on them.
"I think physically, you can't child-proof your house a hundred percent," Kayli told CBS News.
"I can do this one thing to make my home a little more safe for my children."
This is not the first time that the dangers posed to children by unsecured furniture have been highlighted.
Last year, Ikea agreed to pay $50m (Â£40m) to the families of three toddlers killed by falling chests of drawers in the US. Millions of chests of drawers were recalled by the Swedish firm.
Produced by the UGC and Social News team


Police in Northern Ireland have issued a warning to people playing Pokemon Go.

The popular smartphone game, released in the UK on Thursday, involves catching digital characters at real-life locations.
"We too are loving trying to catch 'em all, but please folks - be careful!" Police from Craigavon, County Armagh, said.
They have warned that people playing the game could find themselves breaking the law - whether intentionally or not.
One officer posted on Facebook: "I've come across groups of kids out in the dark, cars parked up in weird and wonderful places and, the most frightening, someone cruising slowly about in the car because her sister wanted to catch some Pokemon."
They said the game is not designed to be played from a moving vehicle and reminded players that cruising around at 15mph is dangerous for themselves and other drivers.
They also warned people to watch where they're going, especially near roads, and not to put phones down or leave them unattended.
"Finally, 'But there's a Zubat in there' is NOT an excuse for breaking into someone's house, or even wandering round their property", they said.
"Make sure you have permission from any property owner before you go hunting.
"Have fun, catch as many as you can, and get out and enjoy the good weather while it lasts.
".... And if anyone can tell me where there's a Pikachu.... It'd be much appreciated."


More than 2,000 leaked reports detail widespread abuse and trauma among children and women at Australia's offshore detention centre for asylum seekers on the Pacific island of Nauru.

The "incident reports", published by the Guardian, reveal that self-harm and violence are commonplace at the centre.
Numerous reports relate to sexual assault and coercion of women at the centre.
The Australian government said many reports were "unconfirmed allegations".
"The Australian Government continues to support the Nauruan Government to provide for the health, welfare and safety of all transferees and refugees," a spokesperson for the immigration department said.
"All alleged incidents within the regional processing centre are reported and where appropriate referred to the Nauru Police Force (NPF) for investigation."
Australia outsources the processing of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat to two privately run facilities - one on Nauru and another on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
The companies that run the facilities, security and services at the centres are contractually required to report incidents of various kinds within specified time frames.
The incident reports were written by employees - including guards, caseworkers and teachers - and range in date from May 2013 to October 2015.
The secretiveness of the Australian and Nauruan governments about conditions at the centre has led to complaints from the media and human rights groups.
A large number of the reports concern children, either describing alleged abuse or disturbing and unusual behaviour brought on by trauma.
One report alleges that a security guard shone a torch on a young girl's genitals as she tried to urinate.
Others detail children suffering nightmares of "blood and death" and wishing for suicide.
Twenty-three of the reports describe sexual assaults, particularly against young women.
One report quotes a woman saying a bus driver had tried to take photos of another women in order to masturbate later.
Others describe refugee girls being harassed and touched at school by other pupils, and detainees being asked for and granting sexual favours in return for cigarettes and marijuana.
Hundreds of incidents of threatened and actual self-harm are described in the documents.
In one incident, a minor had sewn a heart shape into his hand using a needle. When asked why, he answered "I don't know".
Another report described a woman carving her husband's name in her chest with a knife after she could not get a tattoo. Her husband is living in Australia.
A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said: "It's important to note many of these incident reports reflect unconfirmed allegations."
"They are evidence of the robustness of reporting procedures under which any alleged incident must be recorded, reported and where necessary investigated.
"Many of the specific examples and cases quoted in the reports have been the subject of extensive previous media coverage and reporting by the department.
"The department is seeking urgent advice from its service providers today to confirm all of these matters have been previously and appropriately reported to it, consistent with the policies and procedures covering such matters."
Shadow Defence Minister Richard Marles criticised the government for a lack of transparency and independent oversight at the centre.
"The government could be talking to Nauru actively to arrange systems of independent oversight for the facility, now it's not clear to me that those conversations have ever occurred between the Australian government and the Nauruan government," he told Sky News.
Read more: Why are asylum seekers so controversial in Australia?


A Croatian court has annulled the 1946 treason conviction of a Catholic cardinal, ruling that he did not receive a fair trial.

Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who died in 1960, initially supported the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime during World War Two, when he was Archbishop of Zagreb.
Critics say he should have done more to stop the Ustasha regime killing Jews, Serbs and Roma. In a 1942 mass he did however denounce racist attacks.
Catholics want him declared a saint.
The Zagreb County Court overturned the 1946 verdict on Friday, with Judge Ivan Turudic saying it had violated the right to a fair trial, prohibition of forced labour and the right to appeal. He said the goal had been "revenge against Stepinac".
The ruling is likely to fuel tensions with neighbouring Serbia.
In 1998 the late Pope John Paul II controversially beatified Stepinac - putting him on the road to sainthood - during a visit to Croatia, where many Catholics see Stepinac as a hero who resisted communism.
After the communist partisans won the war in Yugoslavia they put Stepinac on trial in 1946 and sentenced him to 16 years in jail as a collaborator. He was also given forced labour. He died of thrombosis, under house arrest, aged 61.
The Ustasha puppet regime murdered tens of thousands in concentration camps - mainly Jews, Serbs and Roma. Serbia strongly objects to Croatia's moves to get Stepinac canonised.
History records that, in 1941, while Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac supported Croatia's Nazi-backed government.
But by the following year, he was making speeches against the regime's genocidal policies, which led to the deaths of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and Croat opponents.
Critics say his condemnation was not public enough or strong enough. In 1946, he fell foul of the communist rulers of the new Yugoslavia - of which Croatia was a part.
In a trial that Catholics have long maintained was a farce, he was convicted of collaborating with the Nazis.
He was still under house arrest 14 years later, when he died. Mystery continues to surround his death, with many Croatian Catholics believing he was murdered.


Shrewsbury Town midfielder Antoni Sarcevic has left the club by mutual consent after agreeing to cancel his contract.

The 24-year-old former Fleetwood Town player, who began his career at Crewe before a spell at Chester, joined Shrewsbury this summer.
He made seven League One starts this term for the third tier's bottom club.
Sarcevic previously spent three seasons of his career at Fleetwood, where he made 105 league starts.


The headlines earlier this week that a baby had been born using DNA from three people got the world very excited - no more so than in Mexico, where the technique was carried out.

The boy was born five months ago. His Jordanian parents travelled to the New Hope Fertility Center in New York.
Two of their children had previously died from Leigh Syndrome which is a disorder passed on through genetic defects in mitochondria carried by the mother.
The doctors used a method that takes all the vital DNA from the mother's egg plus healthy mitochondria from a donor egg to create a new egg that's then fertilised with the father's sperm.
While the little boy isn't the first baby to be created by combining DNA from three people, the method used is a new and significant one that experts say could help families with rare genetic conditions to conceive healthy babies.
'Three person baby' born by new method
But it's not such an easy solution. While specialists are calling it breakthrough technology, critics of assisted reproductive technology (ART) warn doctors about playing God.
The US team at New Hope Fertility Clinic in New York, led by Dr John Zhang, had to travel to their Mexico clinic in Guadalajara to carry out the procedure, which is effectively banned in the United States.
Dr Alejandro Chavez-Badiola heads up the Mexico clinic and worked with Dr Zhang on the procedure.
He says the procedure has been misrepresented in the media since the story broke.
"This is not three-parent IVF, it's very sophisticated technology that's aiming to save lives, not to tailor-make babies," he told the BBC. "It doesn't make you who you are. It doesn't give you your temperament, your height, your skin colour, whether you have curly hair."
He suggests people look at it in a different way.
"Imagine you received a liver transplant," he says. "You don't have the DNA from three people, you have your own DNA, you just have another structure within your body and that's the liver. So imagine this more like a transplant rather than messing with genetic information."
In February 2015, the UK passed laws to allow the creation of babies from three people. In Mexico, there is no legal framework for it, but there are no laws prohibiting it.
Some critics accuse the doctors of being irresponsible for choosing to carry out the procedure there because of the lack of regulations.
But that paints an unjust picture of Mexico's medical environment, according to Dr Chavez-Badiola. He says they followed all the regulations that applied to them.
Mexico has plenty of rules and regulations that oversee medical practices, clinics and hospitals "particularly if they are dealing with tissues, anaesthesia, patients and interventions," says Sandra Gonzalez Santos, a specialist in assisted reproduction in Mexico and an external researcher for the University Bioethics Programme at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
But when it comes to federal regulation governing assisted reproductive technology, Mexico has nothing.
This is not for a lack of trying.
"Since 1999 there have been twenty-plus efforts to try and regulate this in a variety of ways and in a variety of combinations of different political parties," Ms Santos says.
"They haven't been fully passed. We don't have a fully-functional comprehensive specific law because it's a difficult thing and there are a lot of debates going on and a lot of interests going on too."
But Dr Jesus Lujan Irastorza, a gynaecologist and specialist in reproductive biology at the Bite Medica hospital in Mexico City, sees regulation as the next logical step.
He doesn't think the new technology is something that can be fought or banned.
"When someone dares to do something like this, demonstrating you can have a healthy baby, it's a process that's inevitable, you can't stop it," he says.
Regulations will be implemented, he adds, but "it's all a matter of time".


Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have pushed their way into the port of Novoazovsk, threatening to open up a new front in the war.

The mayor of the town on the Sea of Azov confirmed rebels had entered, as jubilant rebel supporters shared photos of advancing tanks on social media.
Ukrainian forces said they were still in "total control" of the town.
The rebels have been trying for weeks to break out of a near-encirclement further north in Donetsk.
Russia denies it is covertly supporting them on the ground.
The fighting came hours after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised a "roadmap" for peace in the east.
He was speaking in Belarus late on Tuesday after holding his first direct talks on the crisis since June with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin said Russia, which denies supplying the rebels with weapons and covert forces, would assist with a dialogue, but he insisted that stopping the fighting was a matter for Ukraine alone.
In other developments
In phone calls, mayor Oleg Sidorkin told AP news agency the rebels had penetrated into Novoazovsk. He was quoted as saying he had seen "dozens" of tanks and armoured vehicles roll in.
Earlier on Wednesday, rebel forces fired at least ten shells into Novoazovsk, a town of 12,700 people, AP reported from the scene.
Four people were wounded in shelling on Tuesday, according to the mayor. The New York Times reported that day that some Ukrainian forces were making a "full, chaotic retreat" from the town.
Heavy weapons are routinely used by both sides in the fighting which has raged since mid-April, when Kiev sent in security forces to put down the rebellions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Insisting that they still controlled Novoazovsk, officials in Kiev confirmed that seven villages to the north of the town had been captured by the separatists.
Novoazovsk lies far to the south of Donetsk region, near the port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian security forces dislodged rebels in June.
Closer to the city of Donetsk itself on Wednesday, Ukrainian security forces said a column of 100 vehicles had been seen travelling in a southerly direction from Starobesheve to Telmanove.
These vehicles, which included tanks, armoured troop carriers, Grad multiple and rocket launchers systems, were marked only with "white circles or triangles", the Anti-Terrorist Operation press centre said.
An unnamed Ukrainian defence source told AFP news agency that the vehicles had to be Russian.
Seeking to verify the report, an AFP journalist found traces of caterpillar tracks pointing south on the road between Starobesheve and Telmanove.
The journalist also heard explosions in the area and was told by a local resident that there had been fighting at Starobesheve overnight.
Rebel commanders in Donetsk told Russian media that 129 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered at Starobesheve on Wednesday, in a claim that could not be verified independently.
According to the rebels, a further 94 soldiers surrendered to them on Wednesday further east, in the town of Kuteinykove.
Meanwhile, the two sides are still battling for control of the town of Ilovaisk, amid claim and counter-claim over its capture and the number of casualties.
Accusations that Russia is sending both weapons and men into eastern Ukraine gathered force this week when 10 Russian paratroopers were captured on Ukrainian territory, near the Russian border.
President Putin sought to play down the incident when he spoke to reporters in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Wednesday, where he met Mr Poroshenko.
"From what I have heard, they were patrolling the border and could have ended up on Ukrainian territory," he said.
However, liberal Russian business newspaper Vedomosti raised concern on Wednesday that Russia was waging a covert war on the rebel side in eastern Ukraine.
In an editorial (in Russian) headlined, "Are we fighting?", it pointed to the case of the captured paratroopers as well as mysterious funerals for Russian soldiers, some of whom were said officially to have died on training exercises.


An Iraqi Kurdish journalist has been released after 131 days in a Turkish prison, his employer Vice News says.

Mohammed Rasool was detained along with two British colleagues in August and held on terror charges.
Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury were freed in September but Mr Rasool was kept in a high-security prison. His detention drew international criticism.
Under the terms of his release, he cannot leave Turkey and he must report to a police station twice a week.
"Rasool is now looking forward to being reunited with his family, friends and colleagues, who ask for his privacy to be respected during this time," Vice News said.
Mr Rasool, who turned 25 while he was detained, was working as a news assistant and translator for Vice when the three were detained in the city of Diyarbakir on 27 August.
The three journalists had travelled to towns along Turkey's border with Iraq, the centre of renewed violence between Kurdish militants and government forces.
Mr Hanrahan and Mr Pendlebury were released after 11 days and deported.
Mr Rasool's detention came amid a spike in prosecutions of journalists in Turkey, many charged with anti-terrorism offences.
His imprisonment was criticised by Vice and by a number of media advocacy groups.
An Iraqi citizen, Mr Rasool previously worked as a news assistant for the Associated Press news agency and other media organisations.


Three rural maternity units in Shropshire will close for up to six months from 1 July.

Maternity units in Ludlow, Oswestry and Bridgnorth are being closed due to staffing challenges at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH).
The decision was made as a report was published reviewing stillbirth and infant deaths at the trust, which found they were still "too high".
Expectant mothers will be offered an alternative location for their births.
See more stories from Shropshire here
Staff sickness combined with a drop in the number of midwives prepared to work overtime has led to "significant challenges in our ability to fully staff teams", SaTH said in a statement.
This has meant a number of services have had to be suspended at Midwife-Led Units (MLUs) at short notice.
Simon Wright, chief executive of Shropshire's hospitals said suspending services for a length of time would be better because "then the mums have certainty".
In the meantime, women due to give birth at Ludlow, Oswestry or Bridgnorth be offered appropriate alternatives either at home or hospitals in Shrewsbury, Telford, Hereford or Wrexham.
The announcement of the closures comes on the same day as a review into the trust's maternity services.
It is one of three reports following deaths of babies caused by errors in labour, with another commissioned by Jeremy Hunt.
It stated that while perinatal mortality - stillbirths and deaths in the first week of a child's life - has fallen, it is "still too high and requires additional action".
However, it concludes that "safety in maternity is protected by the efforts of staff".
This review set out to ask two main questions of the trust - are maternity services safe and did we learn from previous mistakes?
This badly written report uses lots of words to say very little. Neither question is clearly answered.
Talk of a "high degree of energy to provide safe maternity services" doesn't say services are safe.
As to the second question, there is a clear insinuation that major cultural problems within the maternity service has not resulted in learning from avoidable deaths.
Curiously, the person who many blame for the setting that culture, the long-term former head of midwifery, Cathy Smith, has been promoted to lead cultural improvements across the trust.
Many of the recommendations have been made previously - some, years ago - and why they haven't been implemented raises continuing serious questions of the trust.
This quick, six-week review will not take any pressure off the trust as it fails to answer the fundamental questions both bereaved parents and the wider public have raised.
Mr Wright said: "It is important that all women who are currently using our services or who are about to access them, as well as their partners, are reassured about the safety of those services.
"However, we know that we can still continue to improve.
"We have made a determined effort to improve monitoring of babies' heartbeats, including regular training and investment in equipment to promote safer use and better interpretation of results."


The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool is to get its own resident company of actors for the first time in 25 years.

The new company will start in January and will stage a series of shows for six months each year.
The theatre is famous for launching the careers of stars such as Bill Nighy, Julie Walters, Jonathan Pryce and Pete Postlethwaite, who were part of the celebrated 1974 Everyman company.
The theatre reopened in 2014 after a three-year rebuild at a cost of Â£27m.
Described as a "pioneering" new structure, the aim of the company will be to "genuinely embrace its community", welcoming people from all backgrounds and will work closely with the Young Everyman Playhouse.
The gender balanced company will be made up of around 14 actors and will work with artistic director Gemma Bodinetz and associate director Nick Bagnall.
The first line-up of plays will be announced later in the year and auditions will be held for the company in a few months time.
Everyman said the productions "will aim to speak to the city-region and create a powerful bond with audiences".
Bodinetz said the vision of the company was "about creating relationships" with the aim "to surprise, dazzle and invigorate everyone that encounters us".
Bagnall added he saw the return of the company to the theatre as "a fantastic opportunity... to tell great stories that matter to the people of this city".


Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has paid his respects to Muslim victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, four months after being attacked by a stone-throwing mob there.

He laid a wreath of white roses at Srebrenica's memorial, alongside Bosniak leader Bakir Izetbegovic.
It was his first visit to the town since he was forced to flee in July.
About 8,000 Muslims were killed in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnian war.
Security measures were tight around the memorial and cemetery, just outside Srebrenica, as Mr Vucic paid his respects on Wednesday.
Mr Vucic was also set to speak at an economic conference during his visit.
Srebrenica's Muslim mayor, Camil Durakovic, who joined Mr Vucic at the memorial, said he respected him for returning to the town, according to Serbian media.
He said he was a "brave man" whose visit signified a more positive future for the town.
Mr Vucic fled a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre on 11 July after people threw water bottles and stones at him.
Speaking in Belgrade afterwards, Mr Vucic said his glasses had been smashed in the incident but he was otherwise unhurt.
Ahead of his latest visit, he called for improved ties between Serbs and Muslims, and announced that Serbia would invest in development projects in Srebrenica.
The Serbian and Bosnian governments held their first joint session in Sarajevo on 4 November.
The Bosnian War saw Bosnian Serb forces, backed by Serbia, fighting the Muslim-led Bosnian government.
In July 1995, thousands seeking shelter in what was supposed to be a UN refuge in Srebrenica were shot dead. It was Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.
The ethnic Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) are descended from Bosnian Slavs who adopted Islam under Ottoman Turkish rule in the Middle Ages.
Mr Vucic is a former radical Serb nationalist who served under Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the late 1990s.
He is now a pro-Western politician seeking to steer Serbia into the European Union.
His government managed to secure support from its ally Russia to veto a UN resolution calling the events in Srebrenica a genocide in July.


The funeral has taken place for Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly convicted of the 1974 Guildford IRA pub bombings in Surrey, England.

His coffin was carried into St Peter's Cathedral in west Belfast by four members of the Birmingham Six.
Mr Conlon died at home in west Belfast on 21 June, after an illness. He was 60-years-old.
He was one of the Guildford Four, who spent 15 years in prison before their convictions were quashed in 1989.
His memoirs, Proved Innocent, were used as a basis for the Hollywood film In the Name of the Father, in which his part was played by Daniel Day-Lewis.
Irish deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore was among a number of politicians who attended the funeral, as did the high-profile lawyer Gareth Peirce, who represented both the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six.
In a statement issued through Ms Peirce, Mr Conlon's family said: "He brought life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest hours.
"We thank him for his life and we thank all his many friends for their love."
Ms Pierce, who became a close friend of Mr Conlon after his release, paid a personal tribute to him at the ceremony.
She told mourners: "When he shouted out 'I'm an innocent man, my father was innocent, the Maguires are innocent and the Birmingham Six', he set something in motion that forced the rest of us, the rest of the world, Britain, to hold a mirror up to ourselves and see precisely who we were and what we had done."
The Guildford Four were convicted amid the backdrop of an IRA bombing campaign targeting pubs in England.
Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson were jailed for life in 1975 for an attack on the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford which killed four soldiers and a civilian, as well as injuring scores more.
All those involved vigorously protested their innocence.
The Court of Appeal quashed their sentences in October 1989, amid doubts raised about the police evidence against them.
Mr Conlon's father Giuseppe, who was also jailed as part of a discredited investigation into a supposed bomb making family - the Maguire Seven - died in prison.
In his homily at Gerry Conlon's funeral, Father Ciaran Dallat said he always carried a burden of guilt, feeling he was responsible for the death of his father.
"In the master's house, the place that Jesus has prepared in heaven, we trust that Giuseppe and Sarah are there and he will truly be at peace at last because Giuseppe will reassure him, as his mother tried so often, that it wasn't his fault - it wasn't his fault, other people got it wrong."
An investigation into the case by Avon and Somerset Police found serious flaws in the way Surrey Police handled the investigation.
It is considered to be one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Britain.
The perpetrators of the Guildford bomb attack have never been brought to justice.
Gerry Conlon was buried at Milltown cemetery.


An Arab Spring activist says his Twitter account was suspended after administrators mistook him for the leader of the so-called Islamic State.

Iyad El-Baghdadi said  his account was suspended for about half an hour.
Mr El-Baghdadi had been misidentified as IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Indonesian newspaper Republika and the New York Post.
He has more than 70,000 Twitter followers and frequently mocks IS. Twitter has made no comment.
Twitter recently updated its rules on "abusive behaviour and hateful conduct" in a bid to better protect users. It has been criticised for not doing enough to stop IS using the platform for propaganda purposes.
The company says users are not allowed to threaten or promote terrorism.
Mr El Baghdadi told the BBC he received a message from Twitter saying he had "violated" its rules but not specifying the offence. He has accused Twitter of being racist.
"I don't think a single Arab country exists that doesn't have a family with the surname El-Baghdadi," he tweeted.
The activist, who also researches radicalisation, said the alleged incident raised questions about Twitter's security processes. He said the company needed to be "more transparent" about why and how people are suspended.
Twitter should "engage power users who deal with trolls regularly", he added.
The company does not comment on individual users' cases for privacy reasons.


England have one of the toughest assignments in world cricket ahead of them between now and Christmas.

They will play five Tests against India - the world's number one ranked team - in hot, stifling conditions and on pitches which are sure to suit the home side's spin bowlers.
It's been suggested by some that England face a 5-0 whitewash. That's an easy thing to say but there's no doubt they will have it tough.
Hopefully they will show enough to change the opinion of the doomsayers. For that to happen, however, they need a number of factors to go their way...
England's top order must produce and find a way of scoring first-innings runs, which didn't happen in Bangladesh.
Debutant Haseeb Hameed will open the batting and Ben Duckett move to four in place of Gary Ballance, who has been dropped.
Ballance averaged just six in the two Tests in Bangladesh and, such is the importance of the number four spot in the team, England need somebody who is contributing.
This tour is a notch up from the previous one to Bangladesh, and it's going to be harder.
Only those who can find their own way through it are going to survive. Those who can't do it will fall by the wayside.
James Anderson is back with the squad after recovering from injury, but he will not play in the first Test.
Instead, England will probably play three seamers (Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes) and three spinners (Moeen, Adil Rashid and Gareth Batty).
I had my first look at the pitch on Monday and it had more grass than I expected. It's a fresh pitch which hasn't been used before, and it's not as worn as I expected either.
Everything about the stadium in Rajkot is impressive - the nets and facilities are outstanding.
However it's 15 miles out of town and that will mean people won't come to watch it - how are they supposed to get out here? That aside, it's a well-appointed stadium.
I hope it will host a pitch which is typical of this part of the world, but one which will last five days.
If that's the case, England's bowling attack must bowl with control. Both the spinners and seamers must bowl maidens and build pressure.
That would help England take advantage of any complacency and mistakes by the Indian batsmen, who may try to make a statement by going after Moeen or Rashid.
The toss is very important and, unfortunately for England, Alastair Cook doesn't have a great record of winning them. By contrast, India captain Virat Kohli seems to win them all.
That isn't really something England can control, however. It makes no difference to the fact England must score runs in their first innings.
They have to go out there and fight harder than they've ever done before for each and every session.
There are some things which England can point to as positives: the fact India are missing one or two players through injury, that the hosts are not as experienced in Test cricket as you might expect, and that it might take them time to get used to using the Decision Review System (DRS) effectively.
But India are determined to cement their place as number one in the world and desperately want the ranking points England hold by virtue of their success in the last series played between the two sides.
Broad will play in his 100th Test here, which is a phenomenal achievement for a man who only started bowling fast when he was 17.
I have known Stuart for a long time and, on a personal note, I am chuffed for him and his family.
As he showed in the first Test in Bangladesh, he still produces incredible spells of bowling - whether it's because his dander is up, because he's cross, or purely because he is needed to stand up by the team. He just knows how to find that extra gear.
He also knows how to have a joke with the travelling press corps.
Stuart was one of the England team who revelled in Alastair Cook catching me having a pedicure.
I had only nipped in for a haircut so my heart sank when I saw Cook coming through the door. The players have enjoyed a good laugh at my expense but that's all part of the fun of touring.
I've yet to catch any of the players having a pedicure, but Stuart would be near the top of my list if I had to predict!
Media playback is not supported on this device
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Marc Higginson.


Mae undeb myfyrwyr wedi beirniadu bonws o dros £100,000 gafodd ei dalu i Is-Ganghellor ar ôl iddi adael ei swydd llynedd.

Bu April McMahon yn Is-Ganghellor ar Brifysgol Aberystwyth am bum mlynedd rhwng 2011 a 2016.
Ond yn ystod ei chyfnod wrth y llyw fe ddisgynnodd y brifysgol yn y tablau perfformiad, gyda niferoedd y myfyrwyr hefyd yn gostwng, a honiadau o forâl isel ymysg staff.
Dywed y brifysgol eu bod wedi dilyn "cyfraith cyflogaeth" wrth osod bonws gadael yr Athro McMahon, ac nad oedd "taliadau o'r fath yn anghyffredin" yn y sector addysg uwch.
Cafodd yr Athro McMahon gyflog o £247,000 gan gynnwys cyfraniadau pensiwn yn 2014/15, cynnydd o £4,000 ar y flwyddyn gynt.
Ond bu pryderon ynglŷn â chwymp Aberystwyth yn y tablau prifysgol, honiadau o fwlio staff a gwahardd gweithwyr, a phrotestiadau dros gau Neuadd Pantycelyn yn ystod ei chyfnod wrth y llyw.
Llynedd fe wnaeth y cyn Is-Ganghellor Derec Llwyd Morgan feirniadu penderfyniad y brifysgol i wario arian ar agor campws ym Mauritius, wedi iddi ddod i'r amlwg mai dim ond 40 o fyfyrwyr oedd wedi cofrestru yno.
Cyhoeddodd yr Athro McMahon ym mis Rhagfyr 2015 y byddai hi'n camu o'r neilltu ar ddiwedd ei chyfnod o bum mlynedd, ac fe gafodd yr Athro John Grattan ei benodi i'r rôl dros dro.
Ym mis Rhagfyr 2016 fe gyhoeddodd y brifysgol bod yr Athro Elizabeth Treasure wedi ei phenodi fel yr Is-Ganghellor newydd.
Mynnodd y brifysgol eu bod wedi "gweithredu ar sail tryloywder" ac y byddai gwybodaeth am gyflogau staff yn cael ei gyhoeddi'n flynyddol.
"Er nad ydym yn trafod manylion achosion unigol yn gyhoeddus, nid yw taliadau o'r fath yn anghyffredin yn y sector ar adeg ymadawiad Is-Ganghellor, ac mae unrhyw daliadau ynghlwm ag ymadawiad Is-Ganghellor yn cyd-fynd â gofynion cyfraith cyflogaeth," meddai llefarydd.
Ond dywedodd Llywydd Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Aberystwyth, Rhun Dafydd fod y bonws o £102,489 gafodd ei dalu i'r Athro McMahon ar ddiwedd ei chyfnod yn "anfoesol".
"Mewn cyfnod lle mae llawer o brosiectau a datblygiadau sydd er budd y myfyrwyr yn y fantol oherwydd arbedion ariannol y brifysgol, dyw hi ddim yn gwneud llawer o synnwyr gwario swm anferthol ar fonws unigolyn sydd bellach wedi gadael," meddai.
"Mae'n fy siomi gan feddwl lle all y brifysgol fod wedi buddsoddi'r arian yma mewn agweddau fyddai wedi bod er lles y myfyrwyr ar gymuned leol."


League Two side Cambridge United have parted company with four players, including winger Ryan Donaldson.

The 25-year-old made 33 appearances for the U's this season, but has struggled with injury throughout the campaign.
Goalkeepers Chris Dunn and Sam Beasant have also been released, while forward Robbie Simpson leaves by mutual consent after 36 games this term.
Centre-back Josh Coulson, 27, and midfielder James Dunne, 26, have been offered new contracts.
The club have also confirmed they are in talks with 24-year-old striker Jimmy Spencer after he scored six goals in 18 matches since joining in January on a six-month deal.
Midfielder Dylan Williams, 18, has been offered a one-year professional deal, while loan players Darnell Furlong, Ryan Haynes, Shane O'Neill, Ryan Ledson, Max Clark and Zeli Ismail have returned to their parent clubs.


An 18-year-old man has been raped in a street attack.

The teenager was walking in the Moorgate Street area of Rotherham on 22 June when he was attacked shortly after midnight.
South Yorkshire Police has released a CCTV image of a man it thinks "may hold important information about what happened".
He is described as white, tall and of stocky build, aged between 25 and 30.
He has short brown hair, which was shaved at the back and longer on top, and a short cropped beard.
PC Dawn Murray said the victim had been walking along Church Street and High Street before the attack.
She said officers had been reviewing CCTV footage to track the victim's movements and appealed for anyone who saw "anything suspicious late on Wednesday evening and into the early hours of Thursday morning" to contact the force.
"If you are the man pictured, of if you recognise him, please get in touch with us," she added.


Microsoft has announced a share buyback worth $40bn and will raise its dividend payout to shareholders by 22%.

The new share buyback replaces a previous scheme to repurchase shares which was launched in 2008 and expires this month.
The company's shares rose 1.4% after the announcement.
The buyback and raised dividend are a reward for shareholders who have seen a lacklustre performance by Microsoft's stock over recent years.
Since the beginning of 2010 shares have risen just 8%.
In a statement Microsoft said the quarterly dividend would be raised by 5 cents a share to $0.28 and the new share buyback will be open-ended, unlike the previous scheme which was launched in 2008 and expires this month.
"These actions reflect a continued commitment to returning cash to our shareholders," said Amy Hood, chief financial officer of Microsoft.
The announcement comes ahead of a meeting Microsoft is holding for financial analysts on Thursday.
Share buybacks are usually good for existing investors as they reduce the number of shares on the open market which should boost the value of available shares.
It has been an eventful few months for the software maker. It is looking for a new chief executive, after Steve Ballmer announced plans to step down, and earlier this month it paid $7.2bn to buy Nokia's mobile phone business.


Former Celtic striker Harald Brattbakk believes the goalless draw between his two former clubs presents Rosenborg with a "good opportunity".

Celtic could not take a first-leg advantage to Norway in the Champions League third qualifying round tie.
The two meet again at the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim on Wednesday.
"I thought Celtic would win it - it's more open than I thought," former Norway striker Brattbakk told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.
"I still think Celtic are stronger but Rosenborg have always been strong at home.
"This is a good opportunity for Rosenborg. They don't have to attack in the first minute or the 30th minute, they can wait until a good chance comes in the second half.
"The goalless draw has made it a more exciting game than I was hoping for.
"Both teams know that it's a matter of not conceding a goal, so I think we will see two cautious teams at the beginning of the match. But I don't think either of the teams will aim for extra-time because that will be even harder. There will be chances in the 90 minutes."
Brattbakk had three spells with Rosenborg and was involved in many famous European nights with goals against Real Madrid and AC Milan.
He also famously scored twice against Celtic shortly after ending his two-year spell in Glasgow as Rosenborg defeated them 2-0 in a Champions League tie in 2001.
The 46-year-old says some of his fellow Norwegians were surprised at the result in the first leg as Rosenborg, who are already 17 games into their domestic season, have been criticised for their performances.
"They haven't actually played as well as people would expect," explained Brattbakk. "It surprised a lot of people they came away with such a good result, but also the way they came away with that good result.
"It wasn't a fluke, it was hard work."
Brattbakk is best known in Scotland for his goal in a 2-0 over St Johnstone that helped seal the league title for Celtic in 1998, which in turn stopped Rangers claiming 10 league titles in a row.
Nineteen years on the Norwegian says he feels "humbled" to have been part of that achievement.
"Obviously it meant a lot to the club," he added. "I was so happy to be a part of it.
"Now that Celtic have won six in a row they can be the team that wins that [10 in a row], and being part of preventing Rangers from getting 10 in a row is something that will obviously stick in supporters' minds."


There are growing demands from India's military for a robust riposte to Pakistan, after Sunday's dawn attack by four gunmen which saw 17 soldiers killed at the army's Uri cantonment in Indian-administered Kashmir.

"I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared just hours after the strike.
Mr Modi did not name Pakistan, but his response to the attack has boosted those who would like to see a tactical comeback by the Indian army against Pakistan's military, which is being blamed by senior leaders in Delhi for helping launch the attack.
Pakistan has denied such allegations, dismissing it as a knee-jerk response by India and no group has said it carried out the killings.
But the army is itching to respond to the Uri attack, seeking to kill more than the 17 soldiers it lost, to vindicate its "izzat", or honour, in a move guaranteed to escalate tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Defence planners in Delhi have long believed, erroneously, that although the Pakistani army controls the nuclear button, India can successfully execute swift punitive strikes against Pakistan without crossing the nuclear threshold. That is without provoking a nuclear strike from the other side.
Indian security officials are of the view that the nuclear escalatory ladder provides 'ample opportunity' for Delhi to undertake 'swift' military strikes for tactical and political gain, by which time the international community would intervene to prevent an all-out nuclear exchange.
But this method of action is predicated to speedy action, which almost 24 hours after Sunday's attack, appears distant.
The recent unrest in Kashmir explained
What's behind Kashmir's deadliest militant raid in years?
Viewpoint: Living in the shadow of Kashmir
Viewpoint: Why mass funerals spark violence in Kashmir
Why July's Kashmir Killings could have been avoided
Concern over Kashmir police's pellet guns
Kashmiri Hindus: Driven out and insignificant
Kashmir profile
Meanwhile, security insiders are of the view that the army's "aggressive school" is being encouraged by Mr Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's muscular approach in dealing with Pakistan - but that this  approach is not mindful of the broader potential consequences.
"It's time we snatched the tactical advantage away from Pakistan by countering such an attack and showed them what the Indian army is capable of doing," said military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Vijay Kapoor.
"We have kept our peace for too long and cannot allow terrorist proxies run by the Pakistan army to prevail time and again by attacking us," he added.
"The reaction to the Uri attack must be swift," said former army deputy chief of staff Lt Gen Raj Kadiyan.
"This sort of situation in which we keep getting hit cannot go on indefinitely."
Senior army officers, however, are agreed that a calculated response at a time and place of India's choosing should be  dramatic and in direct proportion to the publicity it would generate to appease public and official sentiment over the Uri strike.
They would prefer to duplicate the special forces raid conducted against two Naga insurgent camps deep inside Myanmar in June 2015, to avenge the killing of 18 soldiers whose convoy was ambushed in Manipur's Chandel district a few days earlier.
At the time, the army, in connivance with the federal security establishment, even encouraged some special forces personnel on the raid to give media interviews, providing classified operational details in an attempt to vindicate the army's izzat.
But, as has been pointed out innumerable times since then, such an option is simply not possible with regard to Pakistan.
Besides, military experts argue that any retaliation to the Uri attack would need to be quick, as diplomatic pressure from countries like the US were already kicking in to preclude such an option, leaving little time to manoeuvre or possibilities to pursue.
Options too are circumscribed.
The most obvious one is selective firing across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border, but that would in effect mean ending the November 2003 bilateral ceasefire agreement.
The second and possibly only other prospect would be a "selective fire assault" across the LoC near Uri, through which the militants infiltrated, to strike at a Pakistani forward base or headquarters. That has, no doubt, been gamed earlier.
But for this to succeed time would be of the essence, as counter-measures would already be in place on the Pakistani side, so many feel it would already be too late for any such attempt.
But other analysts and military officers differ.
They believe that despite severe provocation, India, intimidated by Pakistan's trigger-happy nuclear tsars, is incapable of responding militarily to Islamabad, seeking instead the largely ineffective diplomatic and political route to try and chastise it.
"Over decades, including during the Kargil war, India has always looked to the US and other countries to discipline Pakistan, as there is little it is capable of doing itself," said former Major Gen Sheru Thapliyal. Robust, meaningful reaction is certainly not an option it can pursue, he added.
The attack comes just ahead of the UN session in New York in which Pakistan aims to highlight atrocities it alleges have been committed by the Indian security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir.
It recently dispatched 22 of its senior leaders and officials across the world to highlight the Kashmir situation.
India, for its part plans to retaliate by raising human rights issues in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province promising a diplomatic stand-off between the neighbours.
In the meantime, the din of the militant attack has somewhat masked the lax security in the Uri cantonment along the LoC, that enabled the strike.
An inquiry has been launched into it, and will no doubt apportion responsibility and punish those responsible, but many senior officers believe the army is too deeply deployed on internal security operations to remain constantly alert.
This is reminiscent of the sloppiness in security that resulted in the ambush of an army convoy in Manipur last year.
Little, it seems, has been learned.


Six New Orleans police officers have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of civilians on a bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Four officers are alleged to have opened fire on unarmed people on the city's Danziger Bridge. Two died and four were hurt in the 2005 incident.
Two supervisors are accused of joining the four officers in attempting a cover-up in subsequent investigations.
The six accused have so far not responded to the charges.
According to the US justice department indictment, police officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso opened fire on a family on the east side of the bridge on 4 September 2005, killing a 17-year-old boy and injuring three other people.
Minutes later, officers were involved in a second shooting on the west side of the bridge, resulting in the death of Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man with learning difficulties, the indictment says.
If convicted over the deaths of civilians, the four could face the death penalty.
They also face charges related to a conspiracy to cover up what happened on the bridge and a conspiracy to file charges against two of those injured in the incident, claiming that they had fired at police.
Sgts Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue are accused alongside the four officers with trying to cover up what happened.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement: "As our investigation of the Danziger bridge incident shows, the Justice Department will vigorously pursue anyone who allegedly violated the law.
"Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who have sworn to protect the public."
Five former New Orleans police officers have already pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shootings on the bridge.
The incident came in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as the authorities vowed to restore security in the city following a breakdown of law and order.
Four days before the shooting, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had ordered 1,500 police officers to leave search-and-rescue missions and return to the streets of the city as looting was turning increasingly hostile.
The chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans
Extra National Guard units were also brought in to tackle the lawlessness, with reports of shootings, carjackings, rapes and attacks on police officers.
However, some officers from a police department with a history of corruption turned to crime themselves.
The Danziger Bridge case is one of several incidents of alleged misconduct of New Orleans police in the aftermath of the storm.
Last month, five officers were charged in the shooting death of a 31-year-old man.
Dozens of officers were fired or suspended for abandoning their posts during the crisis.
The New Orleans' new mayor has since replaced the head of police and called in a team from the Justice Department to overhaul the city's police department.


Southport were relegated from the National League after a dismal trip to Dover saw the home side prevail 3-0 and Ricky Modeste net twice.

Andy Preece's men were late to arrive due to traffic problems, and matters worsened for the Sandgrounders once they took to the Crabble Athletic Ground pitch.
Modeste put the hosts ahead on the half-hour, scoring on the rebound after Chris Cheetham had saved his initial effort.
Thirty-five goal man Ricky Miller was quiet until the last 20 minutes, but burst into life when he slammed home after getting on the end of a Moses Emmanuel chip.
Modeste notched another seconds later with a fine lob as Southport got that sinking feeling again.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Dover Athletic 3, Southport 0.
Second Half ends, Dover Athletic 3, Southport 0.
Substitution, Southport. Kevin Monteiro replaces Richard Brodie.
Richard Brodie (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Southport. Jean-Charles Coly replaces Jamie Allen.
Rory McKeown (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Dover Athletic. Ross Lafayette replaces Ricky Miller.
Goal!  Dover Athletic 3, Southport 0. Ricky Modeste (Dover Athletic).
Goal!  Dover Athletic 2, Southport 0. Ricky Miller (Dover Athletic).
Substitution, Dover Athletic. Chris Kinnear replaces James Hurst.
Neil Ashton (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Andrai Jones (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Dover Athletic. Aswad Thomas replaces Richard Orlu.
Second Half begins Dover Athletic 1, Southport 0.
First Half ends, Dover Athletic 1, Southport 0.
Goal!  Dover Athletic 1, Southport 0. Ricky Modeste (Dover Athletic).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


The General Secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, will be the only candidate for the post at a party congress, state media report.

It means his main rival - reformist PM Nguyen Tan Dung - has little chance of taking the leadership role, they say.
But complicated voting procedures mean another candidate could still be named before the congress ends on Wednesday.
Conservatives, led by Mr Trong, are concerned that Vietnam is abandoning its socialist past under Mr Dung.
During his 10 years in office Mr Dung has driven the reforms which have seen Vietnam grow quickly as it has been integrated into the global trading economy, reports the BBC's Jonathan Head from the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
However, he adds, the speed of the reforms and rising corruption have been criticised by the conservative camp.
The Communist Party congress - which is held every five year in the one-party state - is meeting in Hanoi.
Behind closed doors, the 1,510 members will nominate the party's general secretary and the next president and prime minister.
Mr Dung is seen as modern, and friendly towards the US. He has also gained popularity domestically with strong anti-China rhetoric when it comes to disputed territory in the South China Sea.
Mr Trong is seen to be more friendly towards China - Vietnam's largest trading partner.


The days of the three-hour, five-bottle City lunch appear to be well and truly over after Lloyd's of London introduced a booze ban.

The insurance market has told its 800 employees that they are not allowed to drink alcohol between 09:00 and 17:00.
Lloyd's said it had been considering the move for some time to bring it into line with "industry norms".
The ban applies to Lloyd's staff, not brokers and underwriters doing business in the historic insurance market.
But angry staff have called the new measures "heavy-handed".
Workers took to Lloyd's intranet to air their grievances, with one asking: "Will we be asked to go to bed earlier soon?"
According to the London Evening Standard, another asked: "Did I just wake up from my drunken induced slumber to find we are now living in Orwell's 1984?"
The boozy lunch had long been a staple of City life when deals were done and contacts made.
A spokesman for Lloyd's said: "There is no denying that it has traditionally been part and parcel of this type of business."
In an internal memo to staff, Lloyd's said an examination of grievance and disciplinary cases over the last two years found that about half were related to alcohol.
A Lloyd's spokesman said that the market had changed and that Lloyd's wanted to attract younger people to the industry.
He added that Lloyd's wanted to bring its employee guide into line with other companies, such as QBE, which advises staff not to drink as opposed to an outright ban.
He said that if someone was found to have broken the rule, their manager will decide on the best course of action to take.


A man accused of posting a threatening message on an MP's Facebook page days after the killing of politician Jo Cox has had the case against him dropped.

Mark Verier, 28, had pleaded not guilty to sending offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing communications.
The post on South Thanet Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay's page on 18 June included gun and knife emojis and the message: "Another MP that needs..."
It happened two days after Mrs Cox was attacked in her constituency.
Margate magistrates were told the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) concluded the Facebook comment did not meet the bar of being grossly offensive.
The court heard Mr Verier, of Ramsgate High Street, Kent, told police the post was a joke, albeit a sick one.
The CPS said the decision to charge Mr Verier was based on a file of evidence received from Kent Police.
"As with all cases, it was subject to further review and the decision was taken that it did not meet the high threshold for prosecuting such offences," it said in a statement.
"Therefore, the case was discontinued."
Mr Mackinlay said he was grateful to Kent Police for handling the matter with the seriousness.
"I am continuing to upgrade security for my staff and family who face the brunt of [cyber] attacks," he added.
Labour MP Mrs Cox, 41, died after being shot and stabbed in the West Yorkshire village of Birstall.
A man has been charged with her murder.


The Madame Tussauds waxwork museum is due to unveil its latest Bollywood superstar - Katrina Kaif.

The museum is marking 15 years since its first Bollywood statue was created.
Kaif, the daughter of a British mother and a Kashmiri father, will be at the museum in London on Saturday for the unveiling, Madame Tussauds said.
Kaif made her debut in Bollywood in 2003 with Boom and has become one of the most sought after actresses in India, correspondents say.
For the wax statue, a team of about 20 sculptors and artists worked with the actress over four months - hundreds of measurements were taken and the museum said the statue cost Â£150,000 ($222,297).
In the wax model, Kaif will be in a dancing pose and dressed in a sequined outfit, BBC Hindi's Vandana, who uses only one name, reports.
Madame Tussauds unveiled its first Bollywood figure of superstar Amitabh Bachchan in 2000 when it asked the public to vote for an Indian actor who deserved a place in the museum.
Voted superstar of the millennium in a BBC Poll in 1999, Bachchan is worshipped by millions of fans in India and abroad.
Former Miss World and now Bollywood screen goddess Aishwarya Rai is often counted among the most beautiful women in the world.
Rai has worked in dozens of hit films and won several awards for her performances. She also starred in English-language films Pride and Prejudice and Pink Panther.
Her sari-clad wax model was unveiled in 2004.
Superstar Shahrukh Khan attended the unveiling of his model in 2007 and posed next to it.
Khan appeared pleased with the likeness and told the BBC: "What I like most are my eyes."
Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan's wax figure was unveiled in 2011 and soon became among the most kissed statues at Madame Tussauds, according to reports.
The star of hit films like Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Dhoom2, Krrish and Jodha Akbar visited the statue along with his wife and children.
Award-winning actress Madhuri Dixit's likeness was unveiled in 2012.
The museum said they commissioned her statue as they were "constantly inundated with requests" to feature her by her fans around the world.


Previously unseen official papers have revealed mistakes in a Cold War spy operation in Portsmouth in which a Navy frogman died.

Lionel "Buster" Crabb disappeared while spying on a Russian warship in Portsmouth harbour in 1956.
A year after he vanished a headless, handless body washed up in Chichester.
Government documents released by the National Archives at Kew describe the operation as bordering on "criminal folly".
Cdr Crabb disappeared on 19 April 1956 in Portsmouth harbour while spying on the Ordzhonikidze, which had brought Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin to the UK.
The incident was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond adventure Thunderball.
Mark Dunton, records specialist at the the National Archives in Kew, said: "While the files don't solve the mystery of exactly how Cdr Crabb met his death, they lay bare all of the blunders surrounding that operation in its entirety for the first time."
The files show Secretary to the Treasury Sir Edward Bridges' report in to the incident concluded it was a "thoroughly bad and unplanned" operation.
"No serious steps seemed to have been taken to conceal the movements of the participants or to plan any cover story," it said.
After he failed to emerge Whitehall officials thought he had either been spotted by the Russians and taken aboard alive, that he had been destroyed by Russian "counter measures", or that he had suffered a "natural mishap".
Prime Minister Anthony Eden "had made it clear that adventures of a similar nature were forbidden" but the frogman operation went ahead anyway.
MI6 had mistakenly thought a Foreign Office advisor had authorised the activity.
The files show the efforts of the security services to spy on the visiting Russians and that they considered hiding microphones in Claridges.
They also reveal Bernard Smith, the MI6 agent handling Crabb, had used both of their full names and addresses in the registration book of a Portsmouth hotel before the mission.
A local police officer made the "regrettable" decision to rip out the relevant pages, fuelling interest in the case from the press.
There was also concern that the Russians could have used Crabb's body for propaganda purposes.
As they cobbled together a hasty cover-up and a plan to keep the story secret, mandarins discussed the ramifications of an inquest, including efforts they could be forced into to find a body.
A secret draft paper for ministers said: "Any thorough search, involving diving and dredging would be an extensive and expensive operation... but a search by divers along the face of the jetty could be done in a week (cost about £60). This could not be kept secret."
Records of meetings also show there was "consternation" at the highest levels of government at the debacle.
The case has sparked widespread interest and theories as in 2007 a retired Russian diver claimed he cut Cdr Crabb's throat in an underwater fight after catching him attaching a mine to the warship.
A theory the frogman had defected gained ground when some of his associates in MI5 and MI6 turned out to be double agents.
They included Sir Anthony Blunt, who was unmasked as a Soviet Spy in 1979.