A Welsh footballer has been suspended after an abusive message was sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Daniel Thomas, 28, will be the subject of an internal investigation into a tweet sent to Daley, Welsh Premier League Port Talbot Town FC says.
It has been reported a homophobic message was sent to Daley's Twitter page.
Club officials said their player had been the victim of a "misguided prank" after leaving his phone unattended.
The tweet came from the player's account, which has since been deleted.
In a separate incident earlier this week, a 17-year-old was arrested over a malicious tweet relating to Daley's late father and was given a warning.
Police said the teenager was given a harassment warning before being bailed pending an investigation into other communications on his Twitter account.
Daley and his diving partner Pete Waterfield came fourth in the 10m synchronised dive on Monday.
Port Talbot chairman Andrew Edwards confirmed midfielder Thomas had been suspended while officials investigated the incident.
Mr Edwards said he was due to meet the player on Thursday and a further statement would be issued then.
A club spokesman said: "Port Talbot Town Football Club can confirm Daniel Thomas has been suspended from all involvement with the club until we have carried out a full internal investigation.
"We were made aware to an offensive comment appearing on the Twitter feed of one of our players.
"Upon being informed of the matter, we immediately distanced ourselves from any offensive messages whilst investigating the matter further.
"Having spoken at length to the player in question, we believe he regrettably left his phone unattended and was the victim of a very misguided 'prank'."
The club said it and Thomas apologised "unreservedly" and in no way condoned the views in the tweet.
"All footballers at Port Talbot Town will also be briefed on the appropriate use of social media and ensuring it is used securely and responsibly," the spokesman added.


A man accused of a 1998 republican murder has had the charge against him dropped.

Gary Marshall has now been charged with the kidnapping of Kevin Conway, rather than his murder, Craigavon Magistrates Court was told on Friday.
Mr Conway, 30, was found with gunshot wounds at Soldierstown Road, Aghalee, County Antrim. The killing was widely blamed on the IRA.
Mr Marshall, 45, from Ennis Green in Lurgan, was released on continuing bail
Having been kidnapped from his Lurgan home, the body of Mr Conway, a married father of four was found on farmland on 17 February, 1998, his head hooded, hands tied behind his back and shot through the head.
Detectives arrested Mr Marshall in Birmingham last December after carrying out a review of the original RUC murder investigation and the court has previously heard that he could allegedly be connected to the execution by soil and forensic fibre evidence.
A defence solicitor has previously said that Mr Marshall "vehemently denies" any involvement in the murder.
A judge said he would fix a special day for a preliminary investigation into the new charge when the case is next before the court in January next year.


Wayne Rooney has equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 249 goals for Manchester United.

He equalled the record when he scored the first goal in the FA Cup third round tie against Reading.
Sir Bobby Charlton played for Manchester United 758 times between 1956 and 1973.
In that time he won the League title three times, the European Cup and the World Cup with England.
Rooney broke Sir Bobby's goal scoring record for England in 2015 and only needs one more goal to do the same for Manchester United.


Tranmere Rovers defender Michael Ihiekwe has signed a new one-year contract with the National League club.

The 23-year-old has made 82 appearances for Tranmere since joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2014.
Rovers manager Gary Brabin told the club website: "We worked hard with him last season and I think we saw plenty of improvement in his game.
"He is still only 23 and has a lot of potential. I believe there is still more to come from him too."


Bafta Scotland has announced the nominations for this year's British Academy Scotland Awards.

BBC Scotland drama Shetland is leading the field with four nominations and TV series Outlander has three.
The awards, including two Outstanding Contributions, will be presented by Edith Bowman at a ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday.
Bafta Scotland said they recognised the best talent in film, television and games produced in Scotland last year.
Shetland has been nominated in the Actor Television, Director Film/Television, Television Drama and Writer Film/Television categories.
Outlander is up for awards in Actor Television, Actress Television and Television Drama.
Brian Cox joins Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden competing in the Actor Film category. Actress Film sees Kate Dickie, Ruth Negga and Alison Peebles all receive a nomination
A full list of nominations in all categories is available on the Bafta Scotland website.
Bowman, a returning host of the ceremony, said: "Scotland continues to produce world-class talent and is showing no signs of slowing down. I'm so excited to be part of celebrating this.
"The British Academy Scotland Awards is such an important platform to praise these incredible practitioners and, as you can see from this year's nominations, we're set for another incredible ceremony. I can't wait to see who wins on the night."


Flights at Manchester Airport are back to normal after passengers were stuck inside planes "for hours" on Friday waiting for them to be de-iced.

One remaining flight is still waiting to leave after delays and cancellations caused by snow and ice, an airport spokesperson said.
The airport advised passengers to turn up as normal for their flights.
Passengers on a number of flights said firms had not turned up to clear ice from their planes, creating queues.
Manchester Airport said its staff "stepped in to assist" with the "organisation of de-icing" when a backlog formed and "third parties needed assistance".
It said de-icing was the responsibility of airlines and their ground teams.
A Flybe spokesman said in "exceptional circumstances" like Friday's heavy snow "it is ultimately the airport that directs the priority in which the de-icing rigs should service the aircraft".
An Easyjet spokesman said nine flights to and from Manchester Airport had been cancelled and one flight had been diverted to Liverpool.
"While the circumstances are outside of the airline's control, easyJet apologises for any inconvenience caused," he said.


DUP leader Arlene Foster has told the BBC she would like to see the petition of concern scrapped at Stormont.

Mrs Foster said:  "We would like to see the petition of concern got rid of".
Any vote in the assembly can be made dependent on a petition of concern if it is supported by 30 MLAS - meaning the motion will only pass if it has cross-community support.
The purpose is to protect one community from legislation that would favour another.
Mrs Foster added: "I think we need to talk about, maybe after the election, getting rid of the petition of concern altogether."
If a petition of concern is presented to the assembly speaker, any motion or amendment will need cross-community support.
In such cases, a vote on proposed legislation will only pass if supported by a weighted majority (60%) of members voting, including at least 40% of each of the nationalist and unionist designations present and voting.
Effectively this means that, provided enough MLAs from a particular community agree, that community can exercise a veto over the assembly's decisions.
A valid petition requires the signatures of 30 MLAs.
Introduced as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the procedure was originally designed as a way to safeguard minority rights in the assembly.
However, its use has become controversial, and the DUP have been criticised for using the mechanism to stop votes on same-sex marriage being passed, and for preventing motions of no confidence going through.
According to figures compiled by an investigative website, The Detail, over a five-year period from 2011 to 2016  the petition of concern procedure was used 115 times.
The DUP was the only party with more than 30 MLAS so it presented petitions without other party support.
Over the five years, they signed 86 petitions, while the SDLP and Sinn FÃ©in signed 29.
The Green Party endorsed four, Alliance three, and the Ulster Unionists two.
Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster made it clear that she wanted to see change
"We talk a lot about the petition of concern and our opponents talk a lot about the petition of concern," she said.
"We would actually like to see the petition of concern got rid of for everything, but I think our opponents would like to keep it for the things they want to to use the petition of concern for and not allow us to use it."
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has called for reform of the petition of concern.
She said the veto was the main reason developments such as same-sex marriage had not yet been introduced in Northern Ireland.
"We need to get it back to its original intent and away from what it has become, which is used and abused to protect parties' selfish interests," Mrs Long said.


Russia turned its clocks back an hour for the last time on Sunday, to permanently adopt winter hours.

26 October 2014 Last updated at 14:33 GMT
For the last three years Russia has experimented with keeping permanent summer time.
In 2011 the Russians put their clocks forward one hour but did not put them back in winter time.
The move proved to be highly unpopular with many Russians.
Many Russians in the north complained about living in darkness. There are fewer hours of sunlight closer to the Arctic circle.


Fiat Chrysler has started distributing a software patch for millions of vehicles, via a USB stick sent in the post.

In July, two hackers revealed they had been able to take control of a Jeep Cherokee via its internet-connected entertainment system.
The car firm has been criticised by security experts who say posting a USB stick is "not a good idea".
Fiat Chrysler has not yet commented to the BBC.
"This is not a good idea. Now they're out there, letters like this will be easy to imitate," said Pete Bassill, chief executive of UK firm Hedgehog Security.
"Attackers could send out fake USB sticks and go fishing for victims. It's the equivalent of email users clicking a malicious link or opening a bad attachment.
"There should be a method for validating the authenticity of the USB stick to verify it has really come from Fiat Chrysler before it is plugged in."
He said that using a device like this had wider implications.
"Hackers will be able to pull the data off the USB stick and reverse-engineer it. They'll get an insight into how these cars receive their software updates and may even find new vulnerabilities they can exploit," he told the BBC.
In July, security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated that it was possible for hackers to control a Jeep Cherokee remotely, using the car's entertainment system which connected to the mobile data network.
The flaw affected up to 1.4 million vehicles sold in the US.
At the time, Fiat Chrysler issued a voluntary recall so that customers could visit a dealership to have the software updated in affected vehicles. It also made a software update available to download from its website for tech-savvy users.
Fiat Chrysler told technology magazine Wired: "Consumer safety and security is our highest priority. We are committed to improving from this experience and working with the industry and with suppliers to develop best practices to address these risks."


Debate season has arrived, giving fact-checkers plenty of work.

Plenty of half-truths (and outright non-truths) were uttered during the Clinton-Trump debate last week, and Tuesday's Kaine-Pence head-to-head saw outright denial of statements that had been made on the record - and on camera.
ABC's Martha Raddatz and CNN's Anderson Cooper, who will moderate the second presidential debate on Sunday, face a sizeable challenge. Will they manage to respond correctly to any lapses in truth-telling by the candidates?
One man has some advice for them.
Joe Navarro estimates that he conducted 13,000 interviews while working for the FBI, during which plenty of people tried to mislead him.
Before his retirement in 2003, he also taught advanced counterterrorism interview techniques for the bureau. The man knows how to weed out the truth: so what does he think?
"The difficult thing about lying is we all do it, and we have all done it from a very early age," Navarro says. "As a species, we are very deceptive - if you want your mother's attention, you might pretend you hurt yourself."
The way a sentence is framed may hint whether a lie is being peddled, but so may the way it is delivered.
"If you ask a question, does it cause some sort of psychological discomfort, and if it does, how does it manifest in the body?
"The body reveals in real time your psychological discomfort. Do they purse their lips? Do they begin to touch their neck? Do they increase their smoking?"
Neither candidate is likely to light up, though - neither smokes, and all buildings at Washington University in St Louis, which is hosting the debate, are no-smoking zones.
"What we tried to do is to start with open questions," says Navarro, now an author and public speaker. "'What's your experience of this?' 'What do you think about this?' You hold back that which you are certain about.
"I would allow them to say whatever they want, and once they have said it, cut them off sharp and say 'No, that is not accurate, that doesn't match up with the truth, and here's why.'
"By cutting them off sharp, what in essence you are doing is putting them at a psychological disadvantage that they, thus far, have not had."
"You don't want to create an atmosphere - but journalists have a responsibility not to tolerate nonsense. At some point, you have to make clear you are not going to tolerate this and that this is a serious session."
One suggestion Navarro has is for the moderators, when presented with a lie, to insist on not moving forward until that fact is clarified. Doing so would shake up the candidates keen to say as much as possible while the clock is ticking.
"Such a dramatic challenge would be revolutionary," he says.
"You have to remember, when you are dealing with high-status individuals there is a lot of narcissism, self-entitlement and being used to not being challenged, putting other people down," Navarro says.
"Even the most favourable ones have some of that. Confront them with the facts. With narcissists, they don't know how to handle that, so they come back with rage. The smart person will try to find another answer.
"But what I have found is that moderators are ill-prepared with the facts to make the challenge, and that they are worried about fighting the clock."
The key, Navarro says, is to not be ruled by emotion - the calmest person is likely to come out on top.
"The moderators will be as much on trial as the candidates themselves. People are wondering what they are going to tolerate."


Former gold miners in South Africa can go ahead with a class action against mining companies over health damage allegedly caused by their work, a court in Johannesburg has ruled.

The high court decision paves the way for what would become the largest class action in South African history.
The ex-miners say they contracted silicosis, an incurable lung disease, after years of working in the mines.
The court said that a class action was "the only realistic option".
Africa Live: The latest BBC African news updates
Judge Phineas Mojapelo's decision could lead to a court case lasting up to 10 years, the BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports from Johannesburg.
But the former miners are still hopeful that the case could help improve their lives as well as those of their families, our reporter says.
Among the defendants in the case are Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.
The companies are now studying the judgement and added, in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency: "It should be noted that the finding does not represent a view on the merits of the cases brought by claimants."
The lawyers representing the miners believe this court ruling marks the first step towards justice.
Most of the miners who allegedly contracted silicosis while working underground have been unable to work for many years, dependent on government grants for a living.
The claims, going back decades, also involve former miners from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho.
One of the companies in this case, Anglo American, reached a $30m (Â£21m) suit with 400 miners in a separate silicosis case.
It is not clear if this class action will be settled out of court, but for the miners who say they have waited for too long, a speedy resolution would be a form of justice.
Silicosis, caused by inhaling the silica dust in gold-bearing rocks, can lead to breathing difficulties, regular coughing and chest pains, and it can also lead to tuberculosis.
Gold mining has played a central role in South Africa's history, with Johannesburg, its largest city, being built on the gold reefs.
But in recent years, its contribution to the economy has declined with the metal contributing 1.7% to GDP in 2013, according to Statistics South Africa,


A second bid to bring a private prosecution against two suspected terrorists to keep them in the UK has been rejected by a district judge.

Anti-extradition campaigner Karl Watkin wanted to prosecute Babar Ahmad and Syed Ahsan for solicitation to murder.
But district judge Howard Riddle, sitting at Westminster Magistrates' Court, refused the application.
He said it was "an abuse of the process of the court" and it was "not in the interests of justice".
Mr Riddle, the chief magistrate, said: "I am satisfied that the purpose of these proposed proceedings is to stop or delay extradition of the two named proposed defendants to the USA.
"The application is made many years after the events complained of. It appears to have the co-operation and support of the proposed defendants themselves. It comes as almost all other ways of resisting extradition have been exhausted."
Patrick O'Connor QC, representing Mr Watkin's legal team, later told the High Court there would be no appeal over this decision.
Separately, Mr Ahmad and Mr Ahsan are among five men asking judges to grant injunctions against their extradition to the US where they are wanted on terror charges.
The High Court bid comes after the European Court of Human Rights last week gave its final approval for their extradition.
The High Court is hearing final legal arguments against extradition on Thursday morning, with a judgement in the case expected on Friday.
Businessman Mr Watkin, who is based in Newcastle and has interests in China and Australia, had already lost a previous bid to privately prosecute Mr Ahmad and his co-accused Mr Ahsan.
His lawyers had asked for Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer's permission for a private prosecution under terrorism laws.
But Mr Starmer turned down the application saying in a statement that the documents provided by Mr Watkin were "very short, lack any meaningful detail and do not provide any real support for a prosecution".
Mr Watkin had said he was calling for a UK trial because the alleged crimes had taken place in the UK and the Crown Prosecution Service had not acted. He said 149,000 people had signed a petition to Parliament about the case.
He said Mr Starmer's decision "smacks of a determined effort to extradite both these men" and said their cases were worlds apart from that of convicted terrorist Abu Hamza al-Masri.
"The public will decry this decision as it supports a trial of British men thousands of miles from Britain, where the alleged crime was committed simply because in the DPP's opinion, the evidence is too weak to prosecute here," he said.
"If that's not outsourcing our criminal justice system, I don't know what is."
Mr Ahmad has been held in a UK prison without trial for eight years after being accused with Mr Ahsan of raising funds for terrorism.
The pair are fighting extradition along with radical cleric Abu Hamza, who is accused of planning a terror training camp in the US and assisting hostage-taking in Yemen, and Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, who are accused of being aides to Osama Bin Laden in London.


There are fears the damage caused by a fire at a Cumbria nature reserve could take years to heal.

Wolsty Banks on the Solway coast is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and home to ground-nesting birds, sand lizards and the rare natterjack toad.
Seven hectares of dune grassland were destroyed in a fire on 20 July caused by a discarded disposable barbecue.
Environmental experts have been assessing the "long-lasting and horrendous" damage to wildlife.
Rose Wolfe, from the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, said: "It is going to take a long time for nature to repair it - up to 10 years in the worst affected areas.
"The heat will have been so severe in some parts of the dunes that the roots of the grasses will have been burnt away and will be unable to re-grow immediately."
She added: "I can't emphasise enough the danger of using barbecues on the dunes.
"I know it's a gorgeous place to sit and picnic, but the risk of fire is just too great."


Joe and Jake, the UK's Eurovision hope this year, are quietly confident their song could do well - despite the UK's recent track record.

Both are no stranger to competition, having battled it out on BBC singing show The Voice. Neither of them won, but they did well enough to consider joining forces backstage.
Eurovision, however, will be much, much tougher than The Voice. The UK music industry may be in rude health but our ability to top the Eurovision leaderboard is not.
On the plus side, Great Britain has won Eurovision five times since 1956, but it last won in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves singing Love Shine A Light.
Since then, the UK's track record has been somewhat patchy, with the best result in the last 10 years coming from Jade Ewen, who came a respectable fifth in 2009 with It's My Time.
Here is how the UK has fared since 2006:
Joe and Jake want to break the pattern. Eurovision is a fantastic launchpad for them, with its estimated 180m global viewers plus a new US audience, but they need to put in a performance if they're to capitalise on it.
Spending time with Joe Woolford, 21, and Jake Shakeshaft, 20, it's pretty clear this isn't an engineered partnership - they laugh a lot, are so well acquainted they can recount each other's snoring and burping habits and they love singing. Which is handy.
Their song, You're Not Alone, is described as "an anthemic pop song with a universal message" about love and friendship. It was chosen by the British public in a vote between six acts, on BBC Four's You Decide show.
Graham Norton, who will take his usual spot in the BBC TV commentary box, says "the public did a good job" choosing them, adding: "It is a really credible pop song and the boys deserve to do very well."
Eurovision veteran and BBC Radio 2 commentator Ken Bruce has seen his fair share of nul points. He echoes Norton's view, saying it's a "very good thing" the public chose the song, and "there's no reason why it shouldn't do well".
But how do Joe and Jake rate their chances?
Joe admits a UK triumph is "long overdue". He's also quick to point out their Unique Selling Point - they're the only duo in the competition.
Jake stresses how hard they've been working and says the song has had a "great response", adding:  "I think we've got as good a chance as everybody else."
So they're thinking positive, and behind the scenes they have been putting in a lot of hours.
"We've done a lot of preparation, we've been rehearsing non-stop, we've been practising movement, we've been running in and out of the studio," says Joe.
"We want to get a good result for the UK."
They also have "a big team" helping, including "everyone at Sony" and choreographer Jay Revell, "a very talented guy" who has worked with Ellie Goulding and Ella Eyre.
The singers won't reveal anything about their set or routine, other than to say it will feature lots of selfies.
We already knew this, after their appearance on Graham Norton's chat show recently with Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Keeley Hawes. The duo took a sofa selfie with the other stars for their set - it's not every day you get the chance, after all.
Jake explains: "The most important thing about the selfies is that we really wanted them, because our song is about togetherness and friendship.
"With so many selfies in our set, there are thousands of people on stage with us, metaphorically".
They are now dying to just get on with the show.
Jake admits it will be "nerve-racking" so is looking forward to "seeing that arena for the first time, just doing that first rehearsal and getting as much of a feel for the huge stage and massive crowd as we can".
They joke they have everything covered and can guarantee they won't "fall over or forget the words".
They also won't be led into saying anything controversial, neatly sidestepping any questions on whether the UK debate over Brexit could influence how other countries vote for them.
"A lot of people say the voting can be quite political at Eurovision but we are focusing on the song contest, we're leaving the politics at the door," says Joe.
They also bat back controversial comments made recently by the producer of this year's Eurovision show in Sweden, Christer Bjorkman, who criticised the late Sir Terry Wogan's gentle teasing of Eurovision in his BBC commentary.
Bjorkman told The Mirror: "He did this for 28 years and his Âcommentary always forced the mockery side, and there is a grown-up generation in Britain that doesn't know anything better."
Joe is quick to defend Sir Terry as "an absolute national treasure" and adds: "At the end of the day we're not looking to buy into these things because we're just so focused on ourselves."
And if all else fails, viewers can look forward to the prospect of Belarus's entrant Ivan, who apparently wants to perform naked on stage with a wolf. This would go against plenty of Eurovision regulations, but would perhaps be in keeping with some of the show's more eclectic acts of years gone by.
"There's a debate about the wolf as you're not allowed animals on stage - or clothes it seems - but it's fun isn't it," says Jake.
"It's a celebration," he adds.
The first Eurovision semi-final is on BBC Four on Tuesday 10 May at 20:00 BST. The second semi-final is on BBC Four on Thursday 12 May at 20:00 BST.
The final is on BBC One on Saturday 14 May at 20:00 BST.


Luxury smartphone maker Vertu has launched its first Android-operated handset.

The Vertu Ti costs 7,900 euros (Â£6,994) and is made at the firm's headquarters in Church Crookham, Hampshire.
The device had a titanium frame and sapphire screen but was not 4G-enabled, said its designer Hutch Hutchison.
Until last year the company was owned by Nokia and specialised in highly priced handsets designed for the Symbian operating system.
Vertu had chosen Android over Windows as an operating system because it was more established, chief executive Perry Oosting told the BBC.
"You need to be part of an ecosystem," he said.
"Your device will have to integrate with other devices. I think the Windows phone will have success but it is still a relatively small market share. At the moment it doesn't have the global reach of Android - which is about 60% of the market."
Head of design Mr Hutchison said that Vertu was not interested in being a tech pioneer.
"Vertu will never be at the bleeding edge of technology," he said.
"It has to be about relevant technology and craftsmanship - it's not a disposable product."
The firm is also not focused on the mass market, with just 326,000 Vertu smartphone owners worldwide after 10 years in the industry.
"We don't make massive numbers of phones and the price point is reflective of that," said Mr Oosting.
Each device is assembled by hand. The name and signature of the person who assembled the phone is laser inscribed onto the inside lid of the SIM card holder.
Vertu handsets can only be purchased in 500 retail outlets, 70 of which are the company's own boutiques, around the world.
Each device has a "concierge" button that connects the caller with a global team who can provide localised advice and help with events and restaurant bookings.
Weighing 180g (6oz), the Vertu Ti is heavier than most current generation smartphones - the Samsung Galaxy S3 weighs 118g and the iPhone 5 is 112g.
One reason for this is that it has been designed for intense durability. One handset - and its screen - remained intact and working after being accidentally run over by a delivery truck.
"People think sapphire is just posh glass," said Mr Hutchison.
"But sapphire is to glass what steel is to blancmange. The only thing that scratches it is a diamond."
Vertu does not release figures but says sales have increased every year for the past 10 - with the exception of 2008, when the bank Lehman Brothers collapsed.
It also says China is its biggest market.
Other luxury brands such as Tag Heuer and Goldvish are also now competing in the niche yet lucrative space for handsets costing thousands of pounds.
However some experts believe the wider market is moving towards lower-end smartphones.
Huawei has just launched a budget Windows device in Africa and there are rumours of a cheap version of the iPhone 5.
"We forecast that by 2016, 31% of the global overall handset market will be low-end smartphone," Ian Fogg, principal analyst at IHS, told the BBC last month.


Welshman Brett Johns' Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout against Ian Entwistle at London's O2 Arena has been cancelled.

The UFC have removed the bout from Saturday's UFC Fight Night 107 following medical advice on England's Entwistle.
Johns, 25, is undefeated in his 13 professional MMA fights, including his UFC debut in Belfast in November.
"To say I am devastated is an understatement," Johns said.
"I have been training so hard for the last eight weeks.
"I sensed something was up in the weigh in yesterday. I saw it in his eyes. In the back of my mind I knew something was up.
"I'd come back from having a coffee this morning and my manager was in my room. I knew then he'd pulled out."
"Some people are built for this game, In my opinion he didn't look like he wanted to fight me.
"It's up to UFC now to see what will happen. This has never happened to my in my career."
UFC said in a statement: "Following a trip to the hospital earlier in the day, bantamweight contender Ian Entwistle has been removed from tonight's scheduled bout against Brett Johns per doctors recommendations. "
Around 15,000 people are expected for the first UFC event of 2017 to be held in Europe.


Barclays has posted another set of solid quarterly results, with profits at its core bank more than doubling to Â£1.7bn in the first three months of the year.

The bank's financial strength improved and it added another 1,000 UK jobs. The chief executive, Jes Staley, said there was plenty of reason to be optimistic about Barclays' future.
The same can't be said of his own future.
He has already been seriously reprimanded by his own board and had his pay docked by more than a million pounds for attempting to unmask the identity of a whistleblower who questioned the appointment of a former colleague from JP Morgan.
He is under investigation for the matter by financial regulators, and several big shareholders have privately expressed doubt that he can continue in the glare of an incident that has put Barclays' senior management culture back in an unwelcome spotlight.
One big shareholder advisory group has recommended that voters abstain from re-electing him as a director at the upcoming annual general meeting, and the board may eventually feel that although he is performing well in getting Barclays back on financial track, the distraction and reputational damage the recent episode is doing is not worth it for a bank that is trying to distance itself from the Bob Diamond years.
Bob Diamond was eventually forced to go by the Bank of England, which lost faith with the US boss who ran the bank during a Libor fixing scandal that resulted in criminal convictions for several Barclays traders.
Jes Staley is competent and popular within the bank and was almost universally well regarded by shareholders. But some are beginning to lose belief that he can regain the faith of regulators, who have recently ratcheted up the standards expected of senior managers.
The person who wrote the new code, Charlotte Hogg, fell foul of her own rules. She resigned from her post as the Bank of England's chief operating officer for failing to disclose the role of her own brother at - as chance would have it - Barclays.
Many shareholders are expected to keep faith with him, but he is badly wounded and may not survive in what authorities are keen to portray, and potentially demonstrate, is a new world order in banking culture.
It's not just the boss in the firing line. Although he has admitted he made a mistake, questions will be asked of internal procedures that allowed Mr Staley to incorrectly believe he was at liberty to pursue the identity of the author of an anonymous letter, which he perceived to be more of a character smear than a genuine whistle-blowing incident.
The head of security at Barclays is facing an internal probe, but it seems very likely that external authorities will want to understand how things could have gone so wrong.
The whole incident is overshadowing the fact that Barclays doubled its quarterly profits and hired another 1,000 UK staff. THAT is the problem the board and shareholders are grappling with.


Mike Phillips says he and his Racing 92 team-mates are still in shock after the Paris attacks.

Racing take on Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday in the European Champions Cup.
The French club's opening pool match against Glasgow was postponed following the attacks and 94-cap Wales scrum-half Phillips says the Racing squad has felt the impact of the tragedy.
"I think everyone's still in shock, everyone's been traumatised really," he said.
"People have had people they know who they have lost - friends of friends - and it is tragic.
"I think the message is that we keep on living and moving on with our lives, not stopping what we do and being strong really - keeping together and hopefully this terrible time will stop."
The attacks in Paris left 129 dead with more than 350 people injured.
Phillips started his career in Llanelli before going on to win two Grand Slams with Wales and play in two Test series for the British and Irish Lions.
The 33-year-old former Scarlet, Cardiff Blue and Osprey joined the Paris club two months after being dismissed by Bayonne in October 2013 having been accused of off-field indiscipline.
Wales second row Luke Charteris also plays for Racing, and centre Jamie Roberts was there last season.
"I don't live in the middle of Paris, but the scary thing was when Jamie was here last year we actually visited one of the places that was hit, and that was scary to know that.," Phillips said.
"It's on your doorstep and you are thinking about it but you've just got to live your life and move on. Hopefully this time will pass very soon."
Roberts joined Harlequins following the Rugby World Cup, while Charteris is expected to join Bath before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Phillips is out of contract in June 2016 and says he will consider his own future at Racing soon.
"'l will see how the next couple of months go and see how the movements are the next few games," he added.
"I guess those decisions have to be made over the next couple of weeks."


The controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football Act is to be examined by a senior judge as part of a review of Scotland's hate crime laws.

All four opposition parties at Holyrood want to repeal the football act.
But the Scottish government says it will not do so without a "viable alternative" being put in place.
Lord Bracadale has now been asked by the government to ensure all of the country's hate crime legislation is fit for the 21st century.
His independent review will start on 30 January, and is expected to last up to 12 months - after which the judge will present his recommendations to the Scottish government.
His remit is to consider whether existing laws are the the most effective way of dealing with criminal conduct motivated by hatred, malice, ill-will or prejudice.
It will consider the various hate crime offences currently covered by a range of different laws, including:
Announcing the review in the Scottish Parliament, Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing said Scotland was an "open and inclusive nation", but was not immune from the threat of racism, intolerance and prejudice.
She added: "While we already have robust and comprehensive laws in place, we need to make sure that legislation is up-to-date and able to counter all forms of hate crime.
"This review will help ensure we have the right legislative protection in place to tackle hate crime wherever and whenever it happens. I look forward to Lord Bracadale presenting his findings."
Lord Bracadale has been asked examine whether the scope of existing laws should be adjusted to reflect further aspects of religiously motivated offending.
He was also tasked with looking at whether new categories of hate crime should be created for characteristics such as age and gender, which are not currently covered.
And he will be asked to examine whether the existing laws can be simplified, and whether any "gaps, anomalies and inconsistencies" can be addressed.
Lord Bracadale said: "Hate crime legislation has developed intermittently over many years and it is important to consider whether it currently provides appropriate, effective and consistent protection for Scottish communities".
The review was welcomed by opposition politicians at Holyrood, who handed the Scottish government a symbolic defeat over the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act  in November.
Conservative MSP Douglas Ross accused the Scottish government of "continuing to ignore the will of parliament" by refusing to scrap the act, which opponents claim is poorly written, unnecessary and unfairly targets football fans.
Labour's Claire Baker told Ms Ewing: "We do not share her view that there is no viable alternative and I believe the review will recognise this."
Ms Ewing said the Scottish government recognised the concerns raised over the law but will not repeal it without a "viable alternative", saying: "Such a move would take away protection from some of our most vulnerable communities."
The majority SNP government passed the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act in 2012 as part of attempts to crack down on sectarianism and other anti-social behaviour at football matches.


Lewis Hamilton says he is going to minimise his appearances at news conferences over what he says is a lack of respect from the media.

The move follows criticism he received for his behaviour in a news conference.
In it, Hamilton posted images of himself and a fellow driver on Snapchat with bunny faces and gave minimal answers.
He said it was intended as "a super light-hearted thing" and what was written was "more disrespectful".
As a result, he said: "Unfortunately the decision I will take unfortunately affects those who have been super-supportive, so that is why I am saying it with the utmost respect.
"But I don't really plan on sitting here many more times for these kind of things. So my apologies and I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend."
He then walked out of the news conference.
His remarks came in his usual news conference in the Mercedes area in the paddock at the Japanese Grand Prix after qualifying.
The world champion qualified second for Sunday's race behind team-mate Nico Rosberg, who has a 23-point advantage in the championship with fives races to go and 125 points still available.
Hamilton said: "I'm not here to answer your questions, I've decided. With the utmost respect, there are many of you here who are super-supportive of me and they hopefully know I know who they are.
"There are others unfortunately that often taken advantage of certain things. The other day was a super light-hearted thing, and if I was disrespectful to any of you guys, or if you felt I was disrespectful, it was honestly not the intention. It was just a little bit of fun.
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"But what was more disrespectful was what was then written worldwide."
Hamilton did not specify which particular articles he was offended by, and Mercedes said they did not know. The team did not know Hamilton was planning to make his statement.
In the official race preview news conference on Thursday, he had referred journalists who asked some questions about his remarks following his engine failure while leading the previous race in Malaysia to comments he had published on his social network outlets.
And he criticised the format of the news conference, in which six drivers are brought together to answer questions ahead of a race.
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Asked what he was doing on his phone, before the Snapchat images of himself and Carlos Sainz were widely disseminated, he said: "It's quite funny, just some snaps of us drivers, it's quite funny. That's about it.
"Hey man, we've been doing this a long long time and it's the same each time so got to keep adding new things to it."
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The next Welsh government should set a timetable for the M4 relief road and put an independent body in charge of big infrastructure projects, an industry organisation has said.

CBI Wales said a more "ambitious and effective" approach was needed to deliver the big transport projects to "unleash growth" in Wales.
It also wants the number of councils cut from 22 to no more than eight.
Its manifesto also calls for three development corporations for Wales.
CBI Wales' A Plan For Prosperity has been published ahead of next May's assembly election.
It wants more action to be taken on major transport projects
The business group also warned there had been "little significant infrastructure built over the last decade" because of delays.
It said any decision to postpone or cancel the M4 black route "would have long-term consequences for the government's reputation within the business community - and not just in Wales".
"Within the first 100 days of the new government, a timetable for the construction of the M4 black route should be published to give businesses the confidence needed to invest in Wales."
M4 Relief road 'black route' + 'smart' tolls on Severn crossing
Road Relieve A55 pinch points + targeted A40/A477 improvements in west Wales
Rail South and north Wales electrification + South Wales Metro
It said a "gear change" in investment was needed to upgrade the transport network but little economic infrastructure had been developed over the last decade.
Difficult decisions had been delayed and business was looking to the next government to take them "without delay", it said.
Timetables should also be set within 100 days for the South Wales Metro, rail electrification and targeted improvements for main roads like the A55.
"Despite positive announcements about funding for a new South Wales metro and rail electrification, these still remain warm words rather than tangible outcomes."
It called for an independent infrastructure commission to plan, finance and deliver big projects.
It also called for three dedicated regional development corporations (RDCs) - built around the Cardiff and Swansea Bay city regions with another for north Wales.
"As local devolution in England empowers local authorities to drive forward their own growth, Welsh regions must not be left behind," the report said.
"With a population of just three million, we do not need 25 planning authorities, 22 local authorities and dozens of government organisations delivering separate strategies."
It said the RDCs should be free from local bureaucracy, "outward looking, forging dynamic partnerships with neighbouring English cities and exploring opportunities for UK growth deals".
Other recommendations:


Musician Roy Harper has expressed anger at delays in the legal system after being cleared of sexual abuse allegations dating to the 1970s.

In February the folk-rock singer was acquitted of indecently assaulting a girl aged 16 in 1980, but a jury failed to reach verdicts on other counts relating to a second complainant.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided to drop the remaining charges.
It said it had decided there was not "a realistic prospect of a conviction".
Mr Harper, 74, of Rossmore, County Cork, Ireland, attended Worcester Crown Court to hear that the CPS had decided to offer no evidence against him.
Mr Harper, formerly of Marden, Herefordshire, said he was upset at the length of time it had taken to prove his innocence.
He said he had lost his livelihood after being informed of the allegations in February 2013.
Mr Harper said: "The psychological and personal cost to my wife and myself has been enormous, and in addition to that the financial cost is hugely unfair.
"Despite coming out of this without a blemish on my name, I nonetheless cannot recoup my costs, and that's left me incredibly angry.
"I'm now going to restart my working life where I left off nearly three years ago."
Read updates from this story and more from Herefordshire.
Mr Harper said "at the beginning of this process" that he was "innocent of these allegations".
He said: "This case should never have gone as far as this or taken so long to resolve."
The CPS said in a statement: "We keep all our cases under constant review and in this case it was decided that based on the strength of the evidence there is no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction.
"We will be meeting with the complainant and her family in order to fully explain our decision."


A sharp drop in calories burned off while resting during adolescence could be contributing to the rise in obesity.

A study in the International Journal of Obesity found energy used at rest was 25% lower in 15-year-olds compared with when they were 10 - a fall of 500 calories a day.
This is equivalent to cutting out an hour's strenuous exercise every day.
The study said the findings were unexpected but could help explain why a lot of teenagers put on excess weight.
Most of the energy people burn is just to keep their bodies ticking over - using the brain, heart, liver and kidneys - rather than through physical activity.
In a decade-long study following 279 children, researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School were surprised to find the number of calories the children burned at rest fell sharply during puberty.
This is a period of rapid growth, which usually uses up lots of calories, but it was only around the age of 16 that the number of calories burned at rest started to rise again.
During puberty there was also a noticeable drop in physical exercise, particularly among girls, which could add to weight gain, the researchers said.
About a third of school children aged 10-11 in England are overweight or obese.
Prof Terry Wilkin, from the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "Child obesity and associated diabetes are both among the greatest health challenges of our time.
"Our findings can explain why teenagers gain excess weight in puberty, and it could help target strategies accordingly."
Prof Simon Capewell, vice-president of the Faculty of Public Health, said the findings showed there was an even greater need to improve children's diets and protect them from junk food and sugary drinks.
"Adolescents sitting around using their smartphones and iPads are being bombarded with junk food marketing - while using even fewer calories than we previously thought.
"Last month's government strategy on childhood obesity confirmed the duty on sugary drinks, but was otherwise a disastrous missed opportunity.
"We need much tougher regulation around the marketing of junk food to children - particularly on TV and online."


Average ticket prices across English football's top four divisions have fallen by up to 4.4%, the BBC Sport Price of Football study has found.

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It showed prices in four main categories have reduced for 2013-14.
The annual study - the biggest in British football - includes the prices of 164 clubs in the top 10 divisions.
"It is good news for fans but it does come after a long period of incremental rises year on year," Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told the BBC.
How much do you spend following your team every year? Try our calculator to work out your costs, then share your results with your friends. This page also contains the full study findings.
"The key thing is that it is replicated in years to come. I think clubs are beginning to understand what fans are going through and to adjust their prices accordingly."
Five leagues in England, four in Scotland and the Women's Super League were consulted.
Last year's study showed the average price of the cheapest ticket in English football had gone up by 11% - four times the rate of inflation.
But this year, average prices for the cheapest and most expensive match-day and season tickets were all down - as clubs in the Football League face up to an average 5% drop in attendances, from 9,949 in 2011-12 to 9,481 in 2012-13.
In the top four divisions of English football, the biggest fall was 4.4% for the cheapest adult season ticket category, down from £344.63 in 2012 to £329.59 in 2013.
The average for the most expensive adult season ticket fell 2.4% - from £546.30 in 2012 to £524.52 in 2013. The average for the cheapest adult match-day ticket is down 3.1% - from £21.24 to £20.58. The average for the most expensive adult match-day ticket dropped around 3.5% - from £34.11 to £32.91
In Scotland, the average price of the top flight's cheapest season tickets was 1% down. However, the average cost of the cheapest match-day tickets rose by more than 3%.
As well as the most expensive and cheapest season and adult match-day tickets, we recorded the cost of a cup of tea, a pie and a programme. Just two clubs, Lincoln and Rangers, failed to respond.
The study also found:
Dave Whelan, chairman of FA Cup winners Wigan, said it was "difficult" for clubs to put prices up amid the current financial climate in Britain.
"Money is so tight and our area is running at 8-9% unemployed and it's impossible to ask anyone to pay any more to watch football," he said.
Football League chairman Greg Clarke said three-quarters of Football League clubs had either reduced their ticket prices or kept them at the same level as last season.
"I think this is a case of clubs responding sensibly to declining living standards in what has been a challenging economic period," he said.
While the overall picture across English football was lower ticket prices, the Premier League saw a 4.3% rise in the average price of the cheapest season tickets.
Alton Towers: £35.10
Blackpool Tower: £45
Edinburgh Castle: £16
Madame Tussauds, London: £22.50
One Direction, Etihad Stadium: £66
Malcolm Clarke, chair of the Football Supporters' Federation, said there was "no justification" for any increases in the top flight given a new television deal that is bringing in an extra £600m across the division.
He had called for the extra cash to be used to cut admission prices drastically, but during the transfer window clubs spent a record £630m on players.
Clarke said: "It is disappointing that the average price of the cheapest season ticket has still gone up despite the extra income and despite the very difficult economic circumstances many supporters are in.
"There is plenty of scope to do much more than they have already done. If all that happens is that most of that money is being used to go into players and agents, then there is a danger that there will be a real kickback from fans."
Despite the concerns, the average Premier League attendance in 2012-13 was 35,975 - up from 34,646 the season before. In addition, there were record season-ticket sales of 476,776.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said these figures were helped by the "fact that so many clubs are working so hard to ensure that Premier League football remains as accessible and affordable to as many people as possible.
"That sets a high bar - one that both we and the clubs are determined to maintain," he said. "That is why clubs are looking at a range of innovative and inclusive offers to encourage high-attendance, particularly for younger fans and away supporters.
"It is great to see the continued high levels of support for top-flight football in this country. The passion and commitment of the fans is an integral part of the Premier League's success and English football culture and we want to make sure that is intact this season, the next and for many to come."
Professor Tom Cannon, a football finance expert from Liverpool University, said top-flight clubs were under pressure to produce greater revenues.
"The truth is, we are in a situation where the cost of talent, at the top in particular, continues to soar, not just because of that pressure but because of regulatory pressure like Financial Fair Play, which means they have to generate more and more income," he said.
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"This means on the one hand you have a bonanza of TV income but you also have a bonanza in expenditure and potentially the gap has to be filled by gate income and that puts the pressure on the fans."
Last year, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling for ticket prices to be cut as a result of the Price of Football 2012.
In response to this year's study, he said: "The cost of watching football is still huge. There are some signs that clubs are making serious efforts to try and make sure that not just season tickets but match-day tickets are very affordable.
"There have been early steps made in the right direction, but there are still many of the large clubs who are appearing to be totally and utterly inconsiderate towards the fact that many people are being priced out of being able to watch their team."
Some of the above figures have been amended since the publication of the survey due to additional information being received from clubs.


A man from Oxford is in the running to win an international competition as a Vincent Van Gogh lookalike.

14 July 2016 Last updated at 07:49 BST
Steve Monk-Chipman is the topped rank British entry in the I Am Vincent competition.
With nearly 3,500 votes, the content designer is currently in ninth place with more than 900 entries already submitted.
The winner gets â‚¬5,000 (Â£4,181) and will have a bronze bust of themselves as Van Gogh cast and put on display.


A plan to kidnap teenager Becky Watts, whose dismembered body was found in a shed, was "bone headed, extreme and frankly absurd", a court heard.

Nathan Matthews, 28, has admitted killing and dismembering Becky, his stepsister, but denies murder.
Defence barrister Adam Vaitilingam QC told a jury at Bristol Crown Court that Mr Matthews treated her body with "a lack of compassion and humanity".
His girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, also denies murdering the 16-year-old.
In his closing speech, Mr Vaitilingam said Mr Matthews admitted he planned to kidnap his stepsister and claimed it had gone wrong, but denied he had done it with his girlfriend.
The barrister said the idea that the kidnap plot was sexually motivated was not the explanation "that fits best with the evidence".
"He did what he did and you have to judge what was in his mind at the time he did it," he told jurors.
He said Mr Matthews was "a man who has shown himself to be capable of killing a 16-year-old and then treating her body with such a lack of compassion and humanity".
"I do not ask for sympathy for Nathan Matthews. He deserves none," he said.
"I ask that you approach his case in the same fair way you would approach any defendant charged with any crime.
"His right to a fair trial... hasn't disappeared because of what he has done."
Shauna Hoare's barrister, Andrew Langdon QC, suggested Ms Hoare was unaware of Becky's death and Mr Matthews would have wanted to "keep it a secret" and to "stay in control" of the situation.
The court heard that Ms Hoare had searched online for a parody song entitled Do You Want To Hide A Body? when Becky's body was in the bathroom.
Mr Langdon said: "If she knew what had happened and what Nathan Matthews was doing, would she think it was time for a joke and a laugh?
"Shauna is not a murderess. She wouldn't be guilty of murder unless the prosecution had made you sure that she... intended that Becky be killed or caused really serious injury by Nathan Matthews."
Mr Matthews, of Hazelbury Drive, Warmley, South Gloucestershire, admits perverting the course of justice, preventing lawful burial and possessing a prohibited weapon. He denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap.
Ms Hoare, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap, a weapons charge, perverting the course of justice and preventing a burial.
Two other men, Donovan Demetrius, 29, and James Ireland, 23, deny assisting an offender.
The trial continues.


David Cameron says launching UK air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria will "make us safer".

The prime minister denied claims it would make the UK a bigger target for terror attacks, as he made the case for military action, in the Commons.
He told MPs the UK was already a target for IS and could not "outsource our security to allies".
Labour is split, with some shadow ministers backing bombing but leader Jeremy Corbyn opposing action.
David Cameron says he will hold a Commons vote on Syria air strikes if he thinks he can win it, possibly as early as next week.
He told MPs there was strong legal justification for extending the current military action in Iraq, on grounds of self-defence and the recent UN Security Council resolution.
He needs to persuade the backbench Conservative MPs who thwarted his first attempt launch air strikes in Syria in 2013, under very different circumstances, to change their minds and get enough Labour MPs on board to offset any rebellion on his own side.
Labour has yet to agree an official position, with leader Jeremy Corbyn against air strikes, but half of his frontbench speaking in favour of them at a shadow cabinet meeting, according to sources.
In the Commons debate, Mr Corbyn sought assurances the UK would not be dragged into a ground war and asked the PM whether UK air strikes would make any military difference.
He said there was "no doubt" the "so-called Islamic State group has imposed a reign of terror on millions in Iraq, Syria and Libya" and that it "poses a threat to our own people".
But he added: "The question must now be whether extending the UK bombing from Iraq to Syria is likely to reduce, or increase, that threat and whether it will counter, or spread, the terror campaign Isis is waging in the Middle East."
Mr Corbyn stated his opposition to air strikes at shadow cabinet meeting following the Commons debate but he is under pressure to offer his MPs a free vote, although he is hoping his shadow cabinet can come to a "collective view" on the issue, when they meet again on Monday.
After the shadow cabinet meeting Shadow Foreign Secretary Hillary Benn told BBC News the arguments put in favour of action by the PM were "compelling".
But just over an hour later Mr Corbyn wrote a letter to all Labour MPs saying he cannot support the prime minister's proposals and was not convinced by his arguments.
Mr Cameron answered questions from 103 MPs during a marathon two hours and forty minutes debate as he sought to persuade them to back air strikes.
He told MPs "we face a fundamental threat to our security" and could not wait for a political solution, and that doing nothing "could make the UK more of a target for Isil attacks".
"That bomb in Paris, that could have been London. If they had their way, it would be London," said Mr Cameron.
"I can't stand here and say we are safe from all these threats. We are not. I can't stand here either and say we will remove the threat through the action that we take.
"But do I stand here with advice behind me that taking action will reduce and degrade that threat over time? Absolutely and I have examined my conscience and that's what it is telling me."
He added that taking action as part of a coalition would "help make us safer".
The prime minister sets out his case in detail in a 32 page response to a recent Foreign Affairs Committee report on the tests for military intervention.
The committee's Conservative chairman, Crispin Blunt, who had previously opposed military action, said he had now changed his mind, saying the "UK should play a full role in the coalition, to best support and shape the politics, thus enabling the earliest military and eventual ideological defeat of Isil".
If the prime minister gets his way and Parliament does give the go-ahead for Britain to join in air strikes against IS in Syria then there are a number of facts people should know.
This will not lead to the immediate or even imminent demise of so-called Islamic State.
It will simply add to the incremental damage being done over time to this proscribed terrorist group by other air forces already bombing in Syria.
IS's centre of gravity is around Raqqa, in Syria. Britain is already at war with IS next door in Iraq, where the RAF has been hitting their positions for more than a year.
So Britain is already a target for IS-inspired terrorist attacks, including some of the seven thwarted in the UK in the last year.
But IS will be acutely aware of this very public debate and will very likely look to "punish" Britain in the way it has already targeted France.
So in the short to medium term this would increase - but not initiate - the terrorist threat to UK.
Mr Cameron ruled out British "boots on the ground" - and insisted the RAF had specialist bombing capabilities that were needed by its allies.
He also addressed concerns about the downing of a Russian jet, insisting procedures were in place to reduce the risk of a similar incident.
He stressed that IS could not be defeated by air strikes alone, but they were a key part of a wider "comprehensive" strategy to deal with the threat, including the removal of President Assad and supporting the Free Syrian Army.
The prime minister said there would not be a vote in the Commons unless there was a majority for action "because we will not hand a publicity coup to Isil".
Some Labour frontbenchers want to see the text of any motion before deciding, the BBC understands, while others want more details about the 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters, who are not part of extremist groups, that Mr Cameron referred to.
The SNP, which has 54 Westminster MPs, has said it will not back military intervention without a specific authorisation from the United Nations. The party's leader at Westminster Angus Robertson said he was not satisfied with the PM's response to the foreign affairs committee report.
The party's foreign affairs spokesman and former leader Alex Salmond, who missed the debate, has been criticised for attending the unveiling of a new portrait of him in Edinburgh.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which has eight MPs, has suggested it could be open to backing air strikes - in 2013 five of its MPs voted against the government.
DUP leader Nigel Dodds launched a strongly-worded attack on Jeremy Corbyn, saying his "petulant" opposition to action was the response of the "irresponsible revolutionary bedsit".
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said he was still considering the case for air strikes.


Seven people have suffered minor injuries on the popular tourist island of Koh Samui in Thailand after a vehicle exploded, local media say.

The explosion happened at about 23:30 local time (16:30 GMT) in the Central Festival shopping mall.
Six Thais and a 12-year-old Italian girl suffered injuries.
Local officials believe the vehicle may have been brought to Koh Samui from one of three southern Thai provinces where Islamist militants operate.
However, officials say the exact provenance of the vehicle has yet to be established.
"The authorities are still investigating the scene to find out more details before linking it to any insurgency groups,'' said the island's disaster prevention chief Poonsak Sophonpathumrak told the Associated Press.
There were reports of other fires starting nearby at a shopping centre and convenience shop at the same time as the explosion.
The Samui Times said those injured have been treated for shrapnel wounds and shock.
Poonsak Sophonpathumrak said the bomb went off after a fashion show in the basement of the mall near the popular Chaweng beach.
He said a number of vehicles had been damaged.
Koh Samui is in Surat Thani province, further north from the three provinces which have seen repeated Islamist violence since 2004.
More than 5,000 people have been killed since the Islamic insurgency began, seeking more autonomy for the ethnically-Malay region.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered security in the capital, Bangkok, to be ramped up in February after two bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping centre injured one person.
Koh Samui, one of the country's top island destinations for tourists, has not been a target of militant attacks in the past.


An agreement to partly reopen a Kent steel works which closed in 2012 with the loss of more than 350 jobs, could be signed by the end of October.

Talks on the Thamesteel site in Sheerness have been taking place for "many months", said Gordon Henderson MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey.
He said the new plans for the plant could see the creation of up to 120 jobs.
The new plant would be a rolling mill and would not produce any steel.
Mr Henderson said: "We have some fantastic steel workers remaining on Sheppey, and the company involved knows that there is a strong workforce available to them.
"The negotiations are taking place and if they are successful they will not result in an opening of the steel mill itself," he said.
"Steel will not be produced on Sheppey. This is all about reopening the rolling mill which would entail importing steel billets, rolling them and then shipping them back out again.
"It will still involve creating 100 to 120 jobs which are jobs which we desperately need."
Thamesteel was first bought by the Al-Tuwairqi Group (ATG) in 2002 when its previous owners went into liquidation.
ATG bought back the plant in June 2012, six months after it closed.


Scotland's first minister has united with her four living predecessors to back a vote for the UK to remain in the EU.

The country goes to the polls on Thursday to decide the future of the UK's European Union membership.
The five first ministers released a statement saying the EU is "vital for jobs and investment in Scotland".
But the Leave campaign said the only way to protect Scotland from EU integration was to quit the union.
A Scottish Vote Leave spokesman said the first ministers were "out of touch" with ordinary voters over "uncontrolled EU migration".
Polls have suggested a tight contest in Thursday's referendum, although Remain has had the advantage north of the border in most surveys.
Serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon came together with her predecessors Alex Salmond, Jack McConnell, Henry McLeish and Jim Wallace - who filled the role on a caretaker basis following the illness and then death of Donald Dewar and the resignation of Mr McLeish - to call for a Remain vote.
The group released a joint statement saying they were "proud to come together to urge our fellow Scots to vote Remain, in this unprecedented display of unity in the history of the Scottish Parliament".
They continued: "The stakes could hardly be higher. Staying in the European Union and its single market is vital for jobs and investment in Scotland, and also enshrines key protections for workers and consumers.
"We must vote to keep our EU rights, and by maximising the Remain vote in Scotland we could make the difference in keeping the UK in the EU.
"Our message to the people of Scotland is to unite as a nation, turn out on Thursday and vote Remain."
Ms Sturgeon later told BBC Scotland that if the UK votes to leave the EU but Scotland votes to remain, it would be "vital" for "Scotland's voice to be heard directly and for Scotland to be talking directly to our European partners about how we protect our place in Europe and in the single market".
Meanwhile, the leaders of all five Holyrood parties also united to call for a Remain vote.
Ms Sturgeon put her name to a joint statement with Labour's Kezia Dugdale, Tory Ruth Davidson, Lib Dem Willie Rennie and Green Patrick Harvie, saying the referendum issue "transcends party politics".
The Leave campaign are also planning campaigning across the country for the final day before the referendum.
A Scottish Vote Leave spokesman said: "The former first ministers are out of touch with ordinary voters by saying we shouldn't worry about uncontrolled EU migration.
"Yet for for millions of Scots that is the real concern. Uncontrolled EU migration depresses wages, pushes up rents and puts pressure on our NHS.
"In this referendum we are being asked to give away our ability to influence decisions and govern our country.
"Outside the EU we will have control over our borders, we will have more powers for our Parliament and more money to spend on our public services."
The joint message from Holyrood's party leaders describes the EU as "Project Peace", calling peace in Europe "a precious legacy and a powerful example to the rest of the world".
Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, Scottish Vote Leave campaigner Tom Harris dismissed this idea.
He said: "This idea that the EU or its predecessors has managed to keep the peace in Europe, I'm sorry, but there's just no evidence that that's the case.
"What stops wars is if you democratise countries. Germany hasn't gone to war since 1939 because it's a democracy, and democracies tend not to go to war with each other.
"What kept the peace in Europe after the end of the second world war was the Cold War and the role played by NATO.
"I'm not one of these people who will say everything about the EU is bad, I think they have done a very valuable job in bringing closer to democracy the former Communist block countries of Eastern Europe, and I think that's a very good and positive thing, but I do think that's a role that Britain doesn't need to be involved in.
"Our time with the EU, whether its been productive or not, I think is past now. The EU is past its sell-by date, it's not necessary any more."


Welsh NHS charities with links to Africa have said some people they invite to Wales are being humiliated by the way the Home Office handles their visitor visa applications.

Experts with advice for the health service are among those who have had applications refused, they said.
The Welsh Government launched the Wales For Africa programme in 2006.
The Home Office said all UK visa applications were considered on their individual merits.
It added this was in line with UK immigration rules and guidance.
Pontypridd GP Geoff Lloyd said while more than 100 Ugandans have visited the town over the last 10 years through the charity Pont, some were now being refused entry.
He said: "Most problematic of all, is that we started finding that the vast majority of visas were being denied and they were being denied at the last moment, which turned our plans to bring visitors of Uganda over into total chaos and left a lot of very frustrated people both in Wales and Uganda."
Duncan Cameron, a recently retired consultant paediatrician at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire, said it had charitable links with a hospital in Ethiopia and last year it invited two senior clinicians to visit.
But he said their visas were turned down because the Border Agency was not sufficiently reassured the Africans would return home.
Former First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who died in May, set up the Wales for Africa programme.
His wife, Labour AM Julie Morgan, said Wales learnt a lot from the projects and vice versa, and called the problems "deeply disturbing".
"Some of the visitors who have come here have been treated very badly at the borders, like dirt really," she said.
"They have been suspected of coming here to stay. These highly qualified professional people who have so much to give to our health service, they are suspected of coming to Wales and wanting to stay.
"They are treated as though they are trying to get something out of our country rather than give something."
Dr Tony Jewell, Wales's former chief medical officer, told a Wales for Africa conference in Cardiff he had taken the matter up with MPs.
He said: "I think people do recognise this is a problem, and sometimes this is hard to understand.
"These are either deans of medical schools in Africa or leading politicians in their own country and they'll come to give a talk and they'll go back. They aren't subversive economic migrants."
Dr Grace Kodindo, a consultant obstetrician in Chad, was refused a visa but the Home Office reversed that decision after the Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan raised the matter in parliament.
She was, however, kept waiting at Heathrow Airport for several hours before being let through.
"I felt like I was nobody. A criminal. A no-good person. I was not expecting at all this treatment, especially as in 2007 I was invited to the House of Commons. I gave a talk there. So that was not my first time," she said.
Dr Kodindo was invited to Wales by Angela Gorman, a paediatric nurse in Cardiff who had seen a BBC Panorama programme about her work.
It inspired Ms Gorman to found the charity Life for African Mothers and she said she believes the difficulties with visas are undermining charities' work.
"It's just this frustration and anger at this attitude that everyone who comes to the UK wants to stay here and that's not the case," she said.
The Welsh Government said health secretary Vaughan Gething has written to the Home Office to make representations on behalf of those wanting to come to the UK as part of the Wales for Africa programme.


A remote group of British islands is about to run out of money for the day-to-day running of the community.

The Council of the Isles of Scilly says it has been told it will need to borrow up to £3.5m to cover costs until April.
Debts have been building up for several years and the council says it only has £500,000 in the bank.
The authority governing about 2,200 inhabitants said it underestimated its income and was also hit by new environmental laws.
More on the Scilly finances story, plus more Devon and Cornwall news
The council has been issued with a Section 24 notice by its external auditors Grant Thornton under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 saying its had "inadequate financial controls".
The council has said it will need to review its financial strategy for the next few years.
The authority has also voted to take out a loan of up to £3.5m because council tax is collected for only the first 10 months of the year, with no income for the last two.
The authority expects to have overspent this year by nearly £500,000 and may have just over £40,000 left in the bank at the end of this financial year, it said.
Steve Sims, the council's vice chairman and chair of the finance, audit and scrutiny committee, said the council had been running at a deficit of about £400,000 "for about four years" and "it has hit us now".
"We have made £500,000 of savings," he said.
"But we underestimated the income we were going to get."
Debts have been mounting since 2013 because the council "has to be compliant with environmental laws which we've ignored before," Mr Sims added.
He also blamed a "pretty creaking software system of finance" which it was working with Cornwall Council to improve.


Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock is out of action for up to six weeks after breaking a bone in her left leg.

The 29-year-old fractured a tibia in Seattle Reign's match against Boston Breakers on 24 April.
The injury means Fishlock could be a doubt for Wales' European Championship qualifier against Norway at home on 7 June.
"Our first fears with Jess's injury were that she could be out longer," said Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey.
"We know she is fighter and will be back on the pitch as soon as she can. She is a true professional and will be working 24/7 to get herself back fit and healthy."


Four-time champion John Higgins has built a 5-3 lead over Barry Hawkins in their World Championship semi-final.

World number six Higgins punished a sloppy start by England's Hawkins, 38, making three breaks of 50-plus on his way to a 4-0 mid-session lead.
Hawkins, in his fourth Crucible semi-final in five years, rattled in breaks of 62 and 71 to get back to 4-2.
Scot Higgins, 41, won the seventh frame but missed a blue in the eighth and Hawkins capitalised with a 74 break.
Hawkins had said before the tie that if he didn't raise his game after an unconvincing quarter-final victory over Stephen Maguire, he would get his bum "smacked" by Higgins.
But that is exactly what happened in a miserable first mini-session.
The world number seven did not manage a break of more than 20 as he slipped 3-0 behind against the 28-time ranking event winner.
Higgins, playing in the semi-finals for the first time since his last Crucible success in 2011, missed a frame ball in the fourth and the Kent-based Londoner appeared to be poised to take full advantage only to run out of position and then miss a tricky pink while using the rest.
But Higgins was off target with several easy balls in the next two frames and Hawkins was able to cut the gap.
Higgins took a scrappy seventh frame and seemed set to lead by four overnight only to let in his grateful opponent.
Hawkins' fourth 50-plus break of the match ensured only a two-frame deficit and was greeted with a relieved puff of the cheeks as he walked off.
The first-to-17 tie resumes on Friday afternoon.
John Parrott, 1991 world champion:
Barry was scrapping all through the first session and he ended up in an awkward position on things.
To lose the fourth frame was a big kick in the teeth. He had done all the hard work and the break was brilliant until he missed the pink.
But having Terry Griffiths in his corner is a huge help to Barry. He has been there and done it and knows all about the emotions you go through.
To come back from 4-0 down will be a big relief and, looking at John sitting in the chair, he looked a little bit tired around the eyes.
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Tributes have been paid to the Orange Prize-winning writer Helen Dunmore, who has died of cancer at the age of 64.

Author Philip Pullman remembered her as "a warm and generous human being", while Tracy Chevalier said she was "a graceful, elegant writer and person."
Dunmore won the first Orange Prize for women's fiction in 1996 for her novel A Spell of Winter.
Publisher Penguin Random House said it was "devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors".
Bloodaxe Books, which published Dunmore's first poetry collection, The Apple Fall in 1983, said it was "immensely saddened" by her passing.
Born in the Yorkshire town of Beverley in 1952, Dunmore also wrote books for children, short stories and translations.
Her most recent novel, Birdcage Walk, was published in March.
Dunmore was diagnosed with cancer while writing her final novel and wrote movingly about her illness earlier this year.
"The ground beneath my feet has never been more uncertain," she wrote in The Guardian. "But what is sure is... there is no vagueness about my mortality.
"I may be ill but I'm also warm and sheltered, surrounded by family and friends."
Dunmore also spoke about her illness on Radio 4's Open Book, saying she hoped her work would be read by her loved ones after her death.
"One of the things that does please me is that my grandchildren will be able to get to know me... through reading my books," she told Mariella Frostrup.
Penguin Random House, who announced Dunmore's death, said she was "an inspirational and generous author" known for "championing emerging voices and other established authors."
Her editor, Selina Walker, remembered her as "an exceptional person and an exceptional novelist [with] a legacy of exceptional novels".
Dunmore leaves behind her husband, Francis Charnley, three children/stepchildren and three grandchildren.
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Targets for the number of new trainee teachers in England have been missed for the third year running, prompting concerns of an intensified recruitment crisis in schools.

This year, 28,148 graduates began initial teacher training courses, representing 94% of the target figure.
At secondary level, where population increases are set to hit schools next year, just 82% of the target was met.
Ministers said they had redoubled their efforts to attract top graduates.
But head teachers and academics say there is no doubt the existing recruitment crisis is going to intensify in the next academic year.
Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Brian Lightman said: "We continue to be immensely concerned about the teacher recruitment crisis which is affecting schools all over the country."
Education recruitment expert and honorary research fellow at Oxford University John Howson said: "There is clearly going to be a crisis for the 2016-17 academic year in some parts of the country."
Because of the high numbers of teachers needed in England's schools and the high level of staff turnover - about 7-8% of the workforce -  between 35,000 and 40,000 newly trained teachers are needed every year, experts say.
This is equivalent to half of the UK's standing army or roughly the whole of the Royal Navy.
This year, a large increase in the need for secondary schools for teacher trainees was factored in to the government estimate, known as the Teacher Supply Model.
This is because a population bulge is due to begin hitting secondary schools from autumn 2016. It is estimated that there will be an extra 800,000 pupils in secondary schools by 2022.
However, the recruitment of trainee secondary school teachers is the sector that has fared worst in terms of missing its target.
Government statisticians estimated that 18,451 new secondary trainees would be needed for the next academic year. Just 15,114 were recruited on to courses for secondary subjects.
The government stresses that not all teachers who newly enter the state sector are coming directly from teacher training courses.
It says about half tend to be returners to the profession or those new to the state sector - ie those from private schools, abroad or trained teachers, who have never taken up a teaching post before. These are accounted for in a separate part of teacher supply calculations.
Mr Lightman said: "This means that there are more than 3,400 fewer secondary trainees entering the profession this year than are needed.
"There are serious shortfalls in the core subjects of maths and science, and also in languages and geography, both of which are also English Baccalaureate subjects.
"The government wants 90% of pupils to sit GCSEs in the English Baccalaureate subjects. How will this be possible when there will clearly not be enough teachers for them?"
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the figures highlight what most in education already know: that teacher recruitment levels are at a critically low point, particularly in subjects such as physics, RE and design and technology.
"What the figures don't capture is that even in subjects where recruitment appears to be close to target, those trainees might not be where they're most needed once they're qualified. They also don't capture the ever-increasing workload and a growing gap between private and public wages in a context of high rents and mortgages, which are driving many excellent teachers out of what can be a deeply rewarding profession."
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "With the economy improving, we have redoubled our efforts to attract top graduates.
"Today's figures show that teaching is still a hugely popular profession, with over 1,000 more graduates training to teach secondary subjects - including record levels of trainees holding a first-class degree.
"I'm delighted that for the first time the majority of teachers are being trained on school-led routes in the classroom from day one and learning from the best teachers. This is a testament to the popularity of Teach First and School Direct."
There has been a deliberate shift to a more school-led approach to teacher training in the past few years. But all teacher training courses include substantial amounts of time for trainees based in schools.


The death of a mother who was struck by a motorcycle "has robbed us of a light and plunged us into darkness", mourners at her funeral have heard.

Valerie Armstrong died last Wednesday night after she was hit by the scrambler bike in a forest park in west Belfast the previous evening.
A requiem Mass was held for Mrs Armstrong in the Church of the Nativity in Poleglass on Monday.
Father Pat Sheehan said the days since her death were "hard and harrowing".
Mrs Armstrong was walking her dog along a path near Mila's Lake in Colin Glen Forest Park on Tuesday when she was struck.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and having no insurance.
Fr Sheehan said Mrs Armstrong's "terrible" death "could have been avoided and should have been avoided".
He added that the hearts of those who knew Mrs Armstrong "have been heavy and our grief has been intense".
"When I think of Valerie Armstrong, I think of a cheerful and positive person - a person of faith and hope," he told mourners.
"Valerie loved life, she loved her husband Seamus, and she was committed to their three wonderful children, Dylan, Lucy and Sophie."
He said her death "has shocked us, angered us and left us broken-hearted".
He warned that people "need to think about what they are doing" when buying motorcycles for "young people living in built-up areas".
"These choices can and have devastating consequences even though that was never intended.
"These choices are destroying lives - both the lives of people like Valerie and the lives of young people responsible."
He added: "Would it bring people to their senses if they had to face the heartbreak that has been caused?
"What if they had to listen to Seamus' heartbreak; a young man who has lost a wonderful wife?
"What if they had to they answer the questions of three young children who wonder why this terrible thing has happened to their mother?
"What if they had to explain to Valerie's broken-hearted parents that it was meant to be just fun?"


Formula 1 is the most technologically advanced sport on the planet, and the latest radical rule changes have imposed a whole new set of challenges on the teams.

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The BBC dropped in on the Lotus F1 Team in Enstone, Oxfordshire, to see how it is preparing for the 2014 race season, due to start in Melbourne, Australia, on 16 March.
With a budget less than half that of the top F1 teams and other problems to grapple with, Lotus needs all the help technology can give it.
It is coping with the recent loss of its team principal, Eric Boullier, to McLaren and a new boss trying to deal with last year's Â£140m hole in the company's finances that led to the defection of star driver Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari.
As every tenth of a second counts in F1 racing, the way technology is optimised can ultimately make tens of millions of dollars' difference to a team's annual revenue, says chief executive Matthew Carter, parachuted in by owners Genii Capital to try to stabilise the business.
"We are operating on half the budget of some of the big boys, so we have to think of different ways of making that work and being competitive," he says.
That means making better use of technology in every part of the business.
The latest rule changes - involving a smaller turbo-charged engine with a more powerful electric battery and energy recovery system, as well as a narrower front wing and lower chassis to reduce downforce - have necessitated thousands of new drawings, parts and tests.
"They're the biggest rule changes I've seen in 20 years of working in the sport," says Nick Chester, chief technical director for Lotus F1 Team. "We had to start developing this car two and a  half years ago."
To help improve efficiency, the team has jettisoned its piecemeal approach to software - different packages doing different jobs - and entered into a Â£4m, four-year contract to use Microsoft's Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) software across the whole organisation, says Mr Chester.
The nature of the Microsoft partnership - although not exclusive to Lotus - allows the team to tailor the software to suit its needs and gain access to the technology giant's research and development team in Redmond, Washington, he says.
The ERP helps plan and manage the highly complex process by which computer-aided designs, informed by computational fluid dynamics, eventually end up as wind-tunnel-honed carbon-fibre speed machines hurtling round a track.
"It helped us cope with an increase from 12,000 to 14,000 drawings that the new car required," he says. "It also enables us to run parallel design programmes and allocate resources accordingly."
During a season, a car might receive 200 to 250 aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades, he says, requiring an additional 6,000 drawings, all of which need to be planned for, resourced and delivered to the tracks on schedule.
Development costs have been reduced by the introduction of laser 3D printing, which can turn designs into prototype parts far more quickly and cheaply than before.
Better technology also helps reduce time wasted on basic administration by automating common processes, according to IT director Michael Taylor.
"If you can free up an aerodynamicist's time by just one minute a day, over the course of the year that's a significant amount of time. And if you can extend the design lifecycle, in theory, you create a better design," he says.
And when a part fails, the team needs to identify exactly what caused the problem and at what stage the weakness occurred, from the moment the purchase order for the materials was placed right up to the second it broke.
"We need a single source of truth," says Mr Taylor.
Data is a huge part of the sport - the car's on-board computer and the many sensors that wirelessly communicate with the team will generate up to 50 gigabytes of data per race, all of which needs to be analysed immediately.
While the car is zooming round the track at up to 200mph in Abu Dhabi, say, the team back in Enstone is monitoring the real-time data flow remotely using VMware's virtual desktop technology.
All this commercially sensitive data is stored in two concrete bunkers at the Oxfordshire site - external cloud storage services are not trusted enough yet, although Mr Taylor does envisage such a move in the future.
Top-secret files are shared securely between partners, such as engine provider Renault, using EMC's Syncplicity software. "It's like a commercial version of Dropbox," he says.
"IT enables everything inside this business. And the be-all and end-all of our IT strategy is to give us a competitive edge," says Mr Taylor.
In-season testing on track, in wind tunnels and simulators has been restricted by the sport's governing body, the FIA, in an attempt to cut costs and allow the smaller teams to survive.
While these restrictions were "absolutely essential", according to boss Matthew Carter, it puts far more emphasis on IT to plug the gap.
"The lack of testing in F1 means we have to do an awful lot of work back here, making sure there's a real good correlation between the information we get from the simulator and wind-tunnel testing and what happens on the track, so that we can continue punching above our weight," he says.
"If you stop investing in technology and stand still, others overtake you very rapidly in this sport."


Former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, whose new Amazon show launches later this month, says he still hopes to "appear on the BBC all the time".

Clarkson left the BBC's popular Top Gear show under a cloud in 2015 after punching producer Oisin Tymon.
He said: "I was never sacked from the BBC, they just didn't renew my contract on Top Gear."
Speaking to the Radio Times, he added: "I haven't left. I've just done QI and Have I Got News for You."
But he said he was enjoying one aspect of working with Amazon on new show The Grand Tour that he didn't experience at the BBC.
"The really big difference between Amazon and the BBC is when we finish a film on The Grand Tour, Amazon ring us up and squeak, 'It's brilliant, we love it!'... You never got that from the BBC."
However, in a separate interview, Clarkson praised the BBC for the way it nurtured talent.
He said it is a "brilliant organisation for letting you grow".
"Everything I know about making television I learnt from the BBC," he said.
"How long were we bumbling around on BBC Two? Three or four years I suppose? Awful. (We made) terrible mistakes and nobody was really watching and then after Richard Hammond went upside down, everybody started to watch.
"By then the show had got quite good. So (the BBC) is very good at letting a show develop and grow, until it becomes the masterpiece that is Autumnwatch now."
He added: "The Beeb was tremendous. They were bloody good people."
He also defended the corporation over talent salaries.
He described the new Royal Charter as "disgusting" for demanding all BBC employees who earn more than Â£150,000 must reveal their salaries.
"Nobody talks about their earnings. You just don't do it," said Clarkson.
"I think if you're going to put somebody in a management position running the BBC, for example, Tony Hall, you would assume and hope he is capable of deciding who gets paid what, and he doesn't have to explain it to every single Tom, Dick and Harry in the country."
The Grand Tour reunites Clarkson with his ex-Top Gear colleagues James May, Richard Hammond and producer Andy Wilman.
It launches on 18 November on Amazon Prime.
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Islamist militants in the Philippines have released a Norwegian man taken hostage along with two Canadians who the group beheaded, officials say.

The Abu Sayyaf jihadists freed Kjartan Sekkingstad in southern Sulu province on Saturday. Unconfirmed reports say a large ransom was paid.
The group of four hostages was seized from a resort a year ago. A Filipina woman was freed in June.
Abu Sayyaf is fighting for an independent Islamic state.
It often attempts to raise money from ransom payments.
Mr Sekkingstad was freed in the town of Patikul on Jolo island. He was handed over to rebels of the Moro National Liberation Front group, which has signed a peace deal with the government and helped negotiate the release.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had suggested in August that a large ransom had already been paid but that the jihadists were still holding Mr Sekkingstad.
The army said on Saturday Mr Sekkingstad had been freed because of its relentless attacks on the militants.
The four hostages had been taken from an upmarket resort on Samal island in Davao.
In April, the militants killed Canadian John Ridsdel after a ransom deadline expired, then a week later beheaded Robert Hall.
Mr Hall's partner, Marites Flor, was freed in June.
A fractured network of militants. Some of its factions have sworn allegiance to so-called Islamic State.
It is one of the smallest but most radical of Islamist separatist groups in the southern Philippines. Its name means "bearer of the sword" in Arabic.
It split from the larger Moro National Liberation Front in 1991. Membership is said to number in the low hundreds.
The group has been agitating for the creation of an independent Islamic state in predominantly Catholic Philippines, and uses tactics such as hostage-taking and bombings to pressure the government.
Numerous Filipino and foreign civilians have been kidnapped in the southern Philippines and parts of neighbouring Malaysia and used as hostages to extract ransoms.
Though some have been released after negotiations or attacks by Philippine forces, others have been murdered when demands were not met.
Abu Sayyaf has also said it carried out bombings in cities in the south and a ferry bombing in 2004 in Manila Bay that killed more than 100 people, considered one of the worst terror attacks in the Philippines.
Islamic State threat in Southeast Asia