A 101-year-old man accused of child sex offences was described as a "monster" by an alleged victim.

Giving evidence against Ralph Clarke the woman, now in her 50s, said she did not want "to go to my grave knowing that I let him get away with it".
The former lorry driver is alleged to have committed 31 offences against three children, including one as young as seven, between 1974 and 1983.
Mr Clarke, of Holly Lane, Erdington, Birmingham, denies the charges.
The alleged victim told jurors she went to police because she was unable to cope with the "guilt" of not making a complaint.
See more stories from Birmingham and the Black Country here
The witness told the court she had decided to complain to police in August last year after suffering nightmares and flashbacks.
She told Birmingham Crown Court she had hidden abuse she suffered as a young child from school friends.
Responding to questions from Mr Clarke's barrister Darron Whitehead, the alleged victim said: "I hid it from everybody because you feel dirty and ashamed - I felt as if I had done something wrong."
When Mr Whitehead said Mr Clarke denied abusing her, the woman added: "I am not going to my grave knowing that I let him get away with it; I am not taking that guilt to my grave.
"He's a monster. I couldn't cope with it any more."
Mr Clarke denies 17 charges of indecent assault, 12 offences of indecency with a child and two attempted serious sexual offences.
The trial continues.


The company set up to manufacture Europe's next-generation rocket - the Ariane 6 - says it is open to orders.

Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL) expects to introduce the new vehicle in 2020.
This week, member states of the European Space Agency gave their final nod to the project following an extensive review process.
The assessment confirmed the design and performance of the proposed rocket, and the development schedule that will bring it into service.
Esa has earmarked R&D funds of â‚¬2.4bn for the Ariane 6. Twenty-eight percent of that sum was given to ASL in August 2015. The completion of the review, and the member states' acceptance of it, means the balance should now follow.
"Now that we are sure that the development programme will go through to the end, Arianespace will start marketing the Ariane 6," said Alain Charmeau, the CEO of ASL.
"I am sure there will be many commercial satellite customers out there who will want to have Ariane 6 in their order books for 2021," he told BBC News.
ASL is about to take a majority shareholding in Arianespace, the company that has traditionally sold the payload space on Ariane vehicles.
This change in ownership is the last part of a major reorganisation in Europe's rocket industry that seeks to keep it competitive into the future.
The current Ariane 5 vehicle, although remarkably reliable and consistent in its performance, costs substantially more to build and launch than some of its competitors - in particular, the Falcon 9 rocket operated by SpaceX in the US.
The Ariane 6 is Europe's response. It aims to halve the 5's cost-per-kilo for putting satellites in orbit.
Industrially, this requires a transformation of the rocket production process: to use fewer people, more streamlined ways of working, and new fabrication techniques.
The Ariane 6 will come in two versions. One, known as Ariane 62, will loft medium-sized spacecraft into orbit - the kind of platforms that image and study the Earth.
A second version, known as Ariane 64, will put up the heavy telecommunications spacecraft, which sit 36,000km above the equator.
The new rocket leans heavily on its heritage. Indeed, its upper-stage engine, called Vinci, was originally intended for an upgrade of the Ariane 5.
Prototype Vinci test firings have been conducted through the summer.
Although the design for the Ariane 6 is frozen, ASL is already looking to evolutions of the vehicle that could bring down its costs still further.
One proposal is to replace the Vulcain engine at the base of the rocket with an all-new propulsion unit.
The Vulcain, which currently also powers the Ariane 5, is a very complex piece of engineering that hails from a period when Europe thought it would launch astronauts and needed some extra assurance in the technology.
"The Vulcain was designed 30 years ago with the purpose of being the main engine on a man-rated launcher - because Ariane 5 was designed to be man-rated even if those launches never occurred. This is why we believe we can divide the cost by 10 with another engine designed for a different purpose," Mr Charmeau explained.
Prometheus, as it would be called, is likely to burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen. A development programme to explore the possibilities is to be proposed to Esa member states for consideration when their ministers meet in Lucerne in December, Mr Charmeau said.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Lewis Hamilton set the pace ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with an impressive performance in second practice at the Italian Grand Prix.

The world champion was 0.193 seconds quicker than Rosberg around Monza as the two head into the final stages of their title battle.
Hamilton is nine points clear of Rosberg with eight races remaining.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was third but nearly half a second down on a track where margins are always tight.
The Italian team have introduced their last permitted engine development for their home race in an attempt to close the gap to Mercedes and shore up their attempt to recover second place in the constructors' championship from Red Bull.
Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest, 0.3secs down on the German and 0.3secs quicker than Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was a similar margin ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
On race pace, Mercedes appear to be in a league of their own - well over half a second a lap clear of the rest on average, with Ferrari appearing to retain a slight edge over Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso was a surprising seventh fastest for McLaren on a track that he said on Thursday he expected would be the worst for the team all year.
The Spaniard, who achieved his time despite an oversteer moment on the exit of the fast Parabolica corner, was 0.3secs and three places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button, whose future remains a subject of speculation.
The 2009 world champion is out of contract with McLaren at the end of the season and the team are expected to promote their reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, although they insist no final decision has been taken.
Williams' Valtteri Bottas and Haas' Romain Grosjean were the men between the McLaren drivers at the bottom end of the top 10.
"We have decent speed," said Vettel. "The car feels good but we need to make it feel good in every corner. The first impression is positive.
"We have had worse Fridays but Mercedes are looking very strong, similar to last year. They seem to be very competitive around here. We need to focus on ourselves and then I think we can be a lot closer."
Italian Grand Prix second practice results
Italian Grand Prix coverage details


Oxfordshire businessman Stewart Donald believes a deal is close to bring Oxford United's Kassam Stadium home into community ownership.

Eastleigh chairman Donald has joined the committee of supporters trust OxVox, who want to buy the ground from ex-Oxford owner Firoz Kassam.
"The deal isn't a million miles away," Donald told BBC Radio Oxford.
"There's a real opportunity and desire, and I'm certain it's the best opportunity we will get."
OxVox, Kassam and Oxford City Council have been in negotiations over the 12,500-capacity stadium since October.
Oxford United's board of directors admitted their "dismay" earlier this month about the slow progress of talks.
"The reality is, it's not a straightforward deal," Donald said. "There's a few parties to put together.
"There needs to be a little bit of help and a little bit of thought or maybe just a bit of finance to get the thing over the line."


A gas facility in the Algerian desert has been attacked by militants, though no one was hurt, Norwegian oil giant Statoil has said.

The In Salah gas plant in Krechba was hit by explosive munitions from a distance, it said.
The plant is also part-owned by BP and Algerian state company Sonatrach.
The Algerian army is securing the area, officials said. The facility has been closed down, BP said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Fighters from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the so-called Islamic State and other jihadist groups are active in remote parts of Algeria.
Security around energy infrastructure was tightened after Islamist militants seized another gas plant owned by Statoil and BP in 2013.
The army stormed the In Amenas facility after a four-day stand-off. At least 37 hostages were killed.


German police say the bodies of eight babies have been found in a flat in a town in the southern Bavaria state.

The bodies, wrapped in towels and put in plastic bags, were discovered on Thursday after a woman in the town of Wallenfels raised the alarm.
Police said they were yet to interview the previous occupant of the residence, a 45-year-old woman.
Examinations are under way, but with the bodies in poor condition, the results are expected only next week.
It is not clear how long the bodies had been there for or how the babies died.
Earlier on Friday, police reported about seven bodies - but the eighth body was later discovered in the flat.
German media reported that a couple with several children had been living in the property but had recently separated.
The woman sought by police worked at a newspaper kiosk and also as a lifeguard at a swimming pool, unconfirmed reports say.
Wallenfels Mayor Jens Korn told inFranken.de that residents of the town near the Czech border were stunned.
"This incident has occurred in this safe little world and now many people here are touched and sad about it," he said.
Germany has seen several cases of infanticide in recent years.
Last year, a woman was convicted of killing two of her children and hiding their bodies in a freezer, while the bodies of nine new-born babies were discovered hidden in flower pots in a town close to the Polish border in 2005.


Students are being left an average of £240 a year out of pocket because they are afraid to complain or do not know their rights, research suggests.

More than three-quarters (78%), of 1,500 students questioned, had lost money through unfair charges by landlords or utility companies.
Overall they lose £335m a year, says consumer mediator Ombudsman Services.
Students should be able to stand up for their rights, said chief ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith.
Energy, property and telecoms are the most likely culprits, suggests the research, with students reporting being overcharged for gas and electricity, made to pay bills from previous tenants or for damage they or their housemates did not cause.
Some forgot to reclaim their tenancy deposit or paid twice for the same service.
Only a quarter of students who encountered a problem actually complained, according to the survey. Some said they could not be bothered, while others were afraid of intimidation or embarrassed.
A new guide to help students avoid being overcharged contains tips on how to take a meter reading, shopping around to get the best utility deals,  querying high bills and how to report faults, keep records of conversations and complain.
Broadband packages are another minefield, says the guide, so students are advised to check the length of contracts, whether they are transferable, and to be aware of any limits on the amount of data they can download - even with so-called "unlimited" deals.
To avoid losing deposits for damage caused by previous tenants, they are advised to check tenancy agreements and take inventories and photographs when they first move in.
"We want to ensure that all students are able to stand up for their rights and speak out when things go wrong, whether that is being asked to pay for a bill from a previous tenant or paying for damage they did not do," said Mr Shand Smith.
"Students should not be losing money, simply because they don't know their rights or are not making a fuss."


Neil Lennon has been confirmed as the new manager of Hibernian after signing a two-year deal.

The 44-year-old former Celtic boss will be assisted by Garry Parker at Easter Road.
The Northern Irishman has been out of work since parting company with Bolton in March.
He succeeds Alan Stubbs, who left for Rotherham United last week after two seasons in charge, culminating in a Scottish Cup final triumph.
"As soon as Neil was identified as the outstanding candidate we were determined to bring him to Easter Road," said Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster.
"He has managed at a very high level, taking Celtic to the last 16 of the Champions League, and we were attracted by his ability to get the most out of players and his driven, winning mentality."
Lennon served Celtic as a midfielder for six-and-a-half years, winning five Scottish titles and six domestic cups to add to the two League Cups he won with Leicester.
After a spell back in English football with Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers, Lennon rejoined Celtic as a coach in 2008, taking over as manager in 2010.
He enjoyed further success at Celtic Park with three successive top-flight titles and two Scottish Cup triumphs before leaving in the summer of 2014.
A move to Bolton followed later that year and, although Wanderers initially improved under Lennon, they were bottom of the Championship by the time he left, with the side eventually relegated.
Hibs have spent the last two seasons in Scotland's second tier and missed out on promotion to the Premiership after a play-off semi-final defeat by Falkirk, having also lost out at the same stage of the play-offs in 2015.
But after ending their 114-year wait to win the Scottish Cup, the Edinburgh club will enter the Europa League qualifying rounds, with their first match on 14 July.
Englishman Parker, 50, was a team-mate of Lennon's at Leicester and was part of his coaching team at both Celtic and Bolton.
Hibs have called a media conference for 14:00 BST on Thursday.


Lewis Carroll's photographs of the girl who inspired Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will go on display alongside images of her as an older woman.

They will be shown in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography.
The Oxford academic photographed his neighbour Alice Liddell, daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, as a girl.
Years later she was photographed by him again, as well as by Julia Margaret Cameron whose work is also featured.
Carroll's fascination with Liddell, who died aged 82 in 1934, has been the subject of speculation.
Phillip Prodger, the show's curator, said: "Much has been written about the relationship between Carroll and Alice.
"We will never know exactly how Carroll himself felt about his subjects, and there is no doubt he developed deep personal attachments with many of his sitters.
"Nevertheless, Carroll nearly always photographed his children with their parents present, and no claims of impropriety were ever made in his lifetime.
"For Victorian artists, children represented the blank slate of humanity - the potential to experience pure thought and feeling before the corruptions of modern life intervened."
The images of Liddell as a girl come from the gallery's own collection, but have only rarely been on display.
The exhibition will also feature portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79), Oscar Rejlander (1813-75) and Lady Clementina Hawarden (1822-65) as well as Carroll (1832-98).
The exhibition runs from 1 March to 20 May, 2018.


An attempt to crowdfund Greece's overdue €1.6 billion ($1.8bn; £1.1bn) debt repayment has passed the €1.5 million mark.

It has taken just over two days and nearly 90,000 donations to generate that amount, which is still less than a thousandth of the sum needed.
It is also a drop in the ocean of Greece's total debt to its creditors, which stands currently at €340 billion.
The campaign was set up by Thom Feeney, a 29-year-old London shoe shop worker.
Mr Feeney, who has no personal connection to Greece, told the BBC on Tuesday that the campaign was "not a joke".
"There was all this waiting around, dithering from European politicians," he said.
"I just thought it would be nice for the people to go, 'Come on we can sort this'."
The 86,848 who had attempted to help him sort it by the time of writing made an average contribution of €17.29.
But they are likely to see their money again - should the campaign fail to reach its goal of €1.6 billion within a week, they will all get a refund.
The campaign has generated a huge amount of media interest but seems unlikely to save Greece's troubled economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - which is owed 10% of Greece's debt - said on Thursday that the country needed an extra €50 billion over the next three years to stabilise its finances.
The IMF also cut its forecast for Greek economic growth from 2.5% to zero.
The people of Greece will vote in a referendum on Sunday on whether to accept or reject the existing terms of the country's bailout.


Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Richie Foran hopes his side are hitting form at the right stage of the season after beating Rangers.

The Highlanders moved off bottom place in the Premiership with a 2-1 win.
"We can go on a run," said Foran. "Maybe it's going to be perfect timing for that run, coming to the end of the season.
"Go and win games, go on your run, go eight, nine unbeaten, we can get in that top six."
Greg Tansey fired Caley Thistle in front against Rangers but Martyn Waghorn's second-half penalty levelled matters.
The hosts were awarded a spot-kick of their own but Iain Vigurs' effort was saved. However, Billy Mckay had the last word with a late overhead kick.
"I thought our moment was gone with missing the penalty," admitted Foran.
"The boys showed big, big character against a really good side. They [Rangers] have been written off, they're getting criticised from every angle. They're a good side with good players and that's a huge result for us.
"I always thought we were a threat in the final third. I knew we'd get a chance again.
"I wasn't sure if we'd get a chance after the penalty but that's why you've got Billy Mckay in your team. He can score out of nothing. If you want to have a successful season, you need a striker like that."
Hamilton Academical now trail Inverness by a point ahead of Accies' trip to Celtic on Saturday.
"The desire to not get beat, we have that now," added Foran, who's side are unbeaten in three league games. "We set the foundations last week against Hearts [in the 1-1 draw] about working back the park, working for each other better than we have been and we definitely worked for each other tonight.
"We've been bottom of the table for a long time. Other players maybe would've folded. They have huge character, huge bravery between them. We kept it positive all the time and knew the results would come. I knew the amount of quality in the dressing room.
"It gets us off the bottom of the table. Let's stay off the bottom now. Obviously, a few results have to go for us tomorrow but it's all in their hands now."


Scotland's Martin Laird missed three late birdie putts before producing a superb one at the 18th to lie one shot off the lead going into the final round of the Phoenix Open.

The 34-year-old had back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 to move to 14 under but squandered opportunities to pick up shots at the next three holes.
But an eight-footer at the last wrapped up a six-under 65 for 15 under overall.
Korea's An Byeong-Hun leads on 16 under after also shooting a 65 on Saturday.
An, who is chasing his first PGA Tour win, picked up five shots over his first 10 holes.
The 25-year-old's progress slowed thereafter but he was never headed, recovering superbly to pick up a shot at the 17th after he had been disturbed off the tee by the boisterous crowds.
Laird's chance of closing the gap appeared to have gone as he struggled somewhat with his putting, but he rallied at the 18th to leave himself well in contention.


Jaime Winstone and Samantha Spiro are both cast as Dame Barbara Windsor in BBC One drama Babs.

Winstone, who will play the EastEnders and Carry On actress in her 20s, said: "I... am so excited to step into her national treasure shoes!"
The biopic will also feature two child actors as the younger Dame Barbara.
After portraying Windsor in the 1998 stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and in TV's Cor Blimey!, Spiro reprises the role of Babs in her 50s.
Spiro said: "It's absolutely thrilling to be playing Barbara again. Tony Jordan has written a beautiful celebration of her life, but it's not your usual biopic, lots of surprises. She is so adored, so I hope we get it right and that Barbara herself loves it."
Babs follows the East End star over a 50-year period from 1943 to 1993, covering her lonely childhood and World War Two evacuation, her complicated relationship with her father, her marriages and her successful career.
Dame Barbara, who will be making a cameo in the drama, added: "I am truly thrilled to know that the BBC have secured two such talented and established actresses to portray me in their new biopic of my life. Sam Spiro has already proved herself playing me on stage and TV to great acclaim, as well as, having her own incredible career.
"Sam will now be playing me at a later time in my life which will be a new challenge for her and one she will undoubtedly achieve. And then to be lucky enough to have one of today's current dynamic actresses playing the younger me fills me with such excitement, especially knowing that it is Jaime Winstone. Boy, am I a lucky lady!"
The one-off 90-minute drama will be broadcast sometime next year.


Russian President Vladimir Putin is hard to predict when a crisis strikes.

He was quick to express fury at Turkey for downing a Russian bomber on 24 November - the latest escalation in the Syria crisis.
But sometimes he bides his time and reacts to difficult situations in quite unexpected ways.
Just hours after the Su-24 bomber was downed Mr Putin said at a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah that it had been a "stab in the back", delivered by the "accomplices of terrorists". He also warned of "serious consequences" for Moscow's relations with Ankara.
Mr Putin's rhetoric was explosive, but delivered with what seemed at times to be conscious restraint.
He is not usually so quick to react to attacks on Russia and its people.
In the wake of bombings that claimed more than 30 lives in the southern city of Volgograd in December 2013, he waited two days before breaking his silence to vow that the "terrorists will be destroyed".
There was a similar delayed reaction to the downing of the Russian Metrojet airliner in Egypt, in which 224 people died.
The tragedy occurred on 31 October, but it was not until 2 November that Mr Putin appeared on TV to express his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
Many social media users were appalled by the delay. "The Russian president's minute's silence has already lasted over a day," one wrote on Twitter.
The official announcement that the Metrojet airliner had been destroyed by a terrorist bomb was subject to very careful media management by Mr Putin and his spin-doctors.
At the G20 summit in Turkey on 16 November reporters asked him to comment on the investigation - and Mr Putin said it was too early to draw conclusions. He appeared calm, relaxed and matter-of-fact.
Hours later though, at a late-night meeting with security officials in the Kremlin at which the cause of the disaster was confirmed, his demeanour had changed completely.
Looking intently into the camera and pausing and sighing between phrases, Mr Putin said that the "criminals" who had carried out the attack on the Metrojet would be hunted down and punished wherever they were. They should understand that "retribution is inevitable", he added with an icy stare.
As the Kremlin website says, the meeting was filmed late at night on 16 November, but it did not make it onto state news channel Rossiya 24 until after 11:00 the next morning.
Contrast that with a statement Mr Putin made a few days after the downing of the Malaysian airliner MH17 over east Ukraine in July 2014. There were already suggestions that Russian weaponry and the Russian-backed separatists were to blame.
Mr Putin appeared out of the blue on Rossiya 24 at 01:30 in the morning to say that no-one had the right to use the "tragedy" for their own "selfish political ends" and that it should not "divide, but unite people".
Uncharacteristically, the Russian president appeared to be feeling the burdens of office. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a waxen pallor. He looked as if he had "not slept for several days, and was clearly nervous and floundering", political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said.
One would certainly not say that about his performance after Turkey's downing of the Russian Su-24.
Commentators attributed the unusual timing of the late-night MH17 broadcast to its being aimed at an international audience. It went out just ahead of prime-time in the United States.
Belkovsky proved to be a very shrewd reader of Mr Putin's psychology over MH17. The president may be in a corner, he said at the time, but this does not mean he will back down.
Mr Putin's demeanour and language in the Su-24 case suggest he is unlikely to back down this time, either.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


London Mayor Sadiq Khan has set out plans to cut costs from a "flabby" Transport for London (TfL) while increasing capacity on the Tube network.

A new five year business plan aims to cut waste at TfL and extend the Bakerloo Line into south London.
Mr Khan also reiterated his promise to freeze fares until 2020.
But TfL will have to save more than £3bn through job losses and cheaper ways of working.
Mr Khan said the new plan would deliver a "modern and affordable transport network".
The draft business plan, which will go before the TfL board next week, envisages savings of £800m a year by 2021 from TfL's current £11.5bn annual budget.
The business plan was described as heralding the "biggest ever overhaul in the history of the organisation".
GLA Conservative transport spokesman Keith Prince told BBC Radio London's Vanessa Feltz show the draft plan would increase borrowing at TfL by 46% to £12bn  and "slash reserves to 35% of their current level".
"[This is] typical Labour, arrive with a full larder and when they leave the cupboard is bare" he added.
The Green Party has warned the budget may fail unless new measures to reduce traffic are introduced.
'Vital for success'
"This plan just doesn't add up" Green Party Assembly Member Caroline Russell said.
"With buses having to compete for space with this many cars, the mayor will struggle to attract more bus passengers and get his transport budget to balance."
TfL is already under pressure to make cuts of at least £591m a year by 2018, when it will lose its government operational grant.
Draft budget in figures
Improvements to the Tube network will see the Bakerloo line extended to Lewisham by 2029, two years earlier than expected.
The beleaguered Piccadilly Line will get new trains and signalling to boost capacity by nearly two thirds.
The business plan includes moves already announced to spend £770m on cycling schemes over the next five years and several new east London river crossings including the Silvertown Tunnel.
TfL will investigate whether to extend the Night Tube scheme on to more underground lines.
Mr Khan said by "reorganising a flabby TfL and finding major efficiency savings within the organisation, we're securing this record investment without burdening Londoners with further hikes in TfL fares".
"The greatest city in the world must also have a genuinely world-class transport system, and this is vital for the future success of London's economy. Today sets out the scale of our ambition," he added.


Photographs taken by University of Aberdeen scientists chart a dolphin's recovery from horrific looking sunburn injuries.
The bottlenose dolphin known as Spirtle was stranded out of the water on mudflats for 24 hours last May in the Cromarty Firth.
She was spotted by chance by a couple who had got lost trying to drive to a dolphin-watching spot at the Moray Firth.
Rescuers refloated the dolphin but did think she would survive.
The University of Aberdeen has been monitoring Spirtle's recovery from its Lighthouse Field Station at Cromarty.
Scientists and conservationists hope Spirtle might eventually breed and raise young.
She is part of a group of dolphins that include her mother Porridge, and are usually found in the Moray Firth.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation field officer and wildlife photographer Charlie Phillips has also been helping to document Spirtle's recovery.


Promotion-chasing Raith Rovers beat Queen of the South in one of Tuesday's Scottish Championship fixtures, with games also in Leagues One and Two.

Championship
Dumbarton 3-1 Alloa Athletic
Raith Rovers 2-0 Queen of the South
League One
Airdrieonians 1-1 Forfar Athletic
Ayr United 4-1 Stenhousemuir
Dunfermline Athletic 1-1 Albion Rovers
League Two
Berwick Rangers 3-0 Arbroath
East Stirlingshire 0-3 Clyde
Elgin City 2-1 Stirling Albion


The siege of a gunman suspected of seven killings in southern France is nearing its end, police sources say.

Gunfire was heard near the apartment block in the city of Toulouse, with reports police had met resistance but that the suspect was now dead.
The siege of the building where Mohammed Merah, 23, is holed up has lasted more than a day.
Interior Minister Claude Gueant had said Merah wanted to die "gun in hand" and there was no contact overnight.
It was not certain he was alive, Mr Gueant said.
Agence France-Presse quoted police sources as saying that officers were moving step-by-step through the flat, wary of booby-traps, and as yet there was no sign of Merah.
Mr Gueant earlier told French radio: "We have one priority: to take him alive so that he can surrender to face justice. We hope he is still alive."
However, he said it was "quite strange that he did not react" to the explosions that were set off overnight to intimidate Merah.
"We heard two shots, we don't know what they were," Mr Gueant said.
"Despite redoubled efforts throughout the night, there has been no contact with him."
A number of explosions, beginning late on Wednesday, had prompted deputy mayor Jean-Pierre Havrin to tell local media that "negotiations have finished and the assault has begun".
However, sources from the French interior ministry later said this was only the start of an operation to put pressure on Merah.
"[The blasts] were moves to intimidate the gunman, who seems to have changed his mind and does not want to surrender," interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told Reuters.
Merah had given conflicting messages about surrendering.
Anti-terror chief Francois Molins had said: "He's explained that he's not suicidal, he doesn't have the soul of a martyr and he prefers to kill but to stay alive himself."
Officials said Merah was armed with a Kalashnikov high-velocity rifle, a mini-Uzi 9mm machine pistol, several handguns and possibly grenades.
Street lights were switched off in the vicinity of the building on Wednesday evening.
The five-storey block of flats has been evacuated, and police also moved residents from nearby buildings.
Police had surrounded Merah's building after two officers were shot at when they tried to get into his flat early on Wednesday morning.
Elsewhere in the city, police are hunting for accomplices and have detained several members of Merah's family.
Mr Molins said on Wednesday that Merah had planned to kill again.
"If he's telling the truth, he would have left his house this morning and he would have once again killed any soldier that he came across," he said.
Mr Molins said the suspect had expressed no regret for the killings, but had said he wanted to kill more people and "bring France to its knees".
Merah has said he acted to "avenge Palestinian children".
He claimed to have received al-Qaeda training in Pakistan's Waziristan area, and also said he had been to Afghanistan.
Mr Gueant defended intelligence services for not preventing the attacks, describing Merah as a "lone wolf".
"The domestic intelligence agency tracks a lot of people who are involved in Islamist radicalism. Expressing ideas... is not enough to bring someone before justice," Mr Gueant said.
Christian Etelin, a lawyer who has previously acted for Merah, said his client had violent tendencies.
"There was his religious engagement, an increasing hatred against the values of a democratic society and a desire to impose what he believes is truth," Mr Etelin said.
He also denied earlier reports that Merah had been jailed for explosives offensives in Afghanistan, saying his client was in jail in France for robbery with violence at the time - from December 2007 to September 2009.
The killings took place in and around Toulouse in three separate incidents earlier this month.
On 11 March, a soldier was shot and killed while waiting to see a man about selling his motorcycle.
Days later, two soldiers were shot and killed and a third was wounded while waiting at a cash machine.
Then earlier this week, three children and an adult were shot and killed outside a Jewish school.
The four Jewish victims were buried in an emotional funeral in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy attended a memorial for the three murdered soldiers at a military base in Montauban near Toulouse.


The opening of Baz Luhrmann's Netflix TV musical drama The Get Down has generally disappointed critics, with one calling it "a gigantic hot mess".

The show, about the rise of hip-hop in 1970s New York, is said to be the most expensive ever made, reportedly costing $120m (Â£93m) for 12 episodes.
Reviewers criticised the pilot episode, directed by Luhrmann, as "indulgent".
However most agreed it showed promise in subsequent episodes, which were directed by other people.
The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman said the drama "gets off to a bad start, but improves as it goes along", while Variety's TV critic Sonia Saraiya described it as "both messy and wonderful".
But there was much praise for the show's unknown lead actors - Justice Smith, who plays teen street poet Ezekiel, and Herizen F Guardiola, who stars as aspiring disco singer Mylene.
The first six episodes of the series, which was also produced by hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash, are now available to watch on Netflix, with the second six expected to be released next year.
Luhrmann's 90-minute pilot is LuhrÂmann to the max: Exciting and messy, sublime and cornball. The camera is restless, the editing is frenetic, the music is electric, the emotions are huge.
In a year of indulgence, The Get Down Âultimately suffers by not having enough of it. The show adopts a more conventional, sustainable style as other directors take the show beyond Luhrmann's spirited, gaudy launch.
Read the full review.
This is myth in the making, laced with magic and martial arts and who knows what else. Some will grow bored with the style when the substance falters, but others are likely to be enchanted - particularly those who feel it's time hip-hop finally got its own cinematic celebration.
Read the full review
The Get Down, like a verse crammed with three too many syllables, seems not to have been subjected to editing. It offers some of the more transcendent moments in recent TV memory, but to reach them viewers must slog through some of the dullest.
Subsequent episodes are tighter, but the 90-minute running time of the pilot, which indulges itself in meandering explorations of several blind alleys, should nonetheless be regarded as a harbinger.
Read the full review
The Get Down, chronicling the rise of hip-hop and the downfall of disco in a smouldering, chaotic New York, is a gigantic hot mess from Baz Luhrmann.
It suffers from a 90-minute pilot that will be divisive in its aesthetic choices - think West Side Story, not Spike Lee - but rises again in the next two episodes to give all the crazy a chance at becoming something really good.
Read the full review
The Get Down is narratively messy, frequently caricatured and tonally all over the shop. It is also a work of Class A magic and wonder.
Luhrmann's characteristic blend of spectacular stage business with lovestruck dizziness and hunks of epic cheese has always worked best with young actors, and this entirely non-white line-up, from Smith and Guardiola to smaller parts for Skylan Brooks and Jayden Smith (son of Will), represents his greatest ensemble of actors since his 1997 triumph Romeo + Juliet.
Read the full review
The Get Down takes a few long and meandering hours to reach its own sweet spot. And the first episode, at a bloated 92 minutes, is a terrible introduction to the show.
The indulgently titled Where There Is Ruin, There Is Hope For A Treasure is too long, too confusing, and laboured, rather than dreamlike; it feels and is workshopped to death.
What saves the show - for those willing to invest in a three-to-four episode payoff - is Justice Smith's preternaturally brilliant performance as Zeke.
Read the full review
The Get Down is not just the sum of its much-sampled parts but all about the groove - even if it takes a bit to find it.
Once it gets going, Luhrmann's streaming-service debut has a lot more hits than misses as this version of the Bronx 1977 creatively burns brightly.
Read the full review
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


The Premier League has been criticised by a fans group for considering playing games at 19:45 on Saturdays from 2019.

The working group - led by Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham supporters' trusts - said the kick-off time would cause "travel problems".
In a statement, the Premier League said it is required to show more matches in the 2019-20 season and is in talks with clubs about how that could work.
It said Sunday morning games are "not on the agenda", contrary to reports.
The Premier League is required, by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom, to show 190 games in the UK during the 2019-20 season - an increase from the 168 currently televised. It is expected to make a decision about the proposed kick-off times later this year.
The working group - set up under the auspices of the Football Supporters' Federation - have been meeting broadcasters and the Premier League in an attempt to secure a better deal for away fans.
The group also voiced its disapproval over an increase in Premier League fixtures between 25 November 2017 and 1 January 2018, when each club will play 10 matches - three more than two years ago.
It said Newcastle United supporters travelling to all five away games in that period will face three trips to London "and travel a total of 2,484 miles".
The 2017-18 season will finish on 13 May, a week earlier than the 2016-17 campaign ended, to allow players extra preparation time for next summer's World Cup in Russia.
Asked by BBC Sport about concerns over the busier winter schedule, the Premier League pointed to an article on its website explaining how fixtures are compiled.
It reads: "You can't satisfy everyone. It's a compromise across all clubs; you can't do anything to favour any one club.
"There are 2,036 matches, across the Premier League and Football League over a nine-month period, and the ideal solution is to ensure that those matches can all be played when scheduled."


Gatwick Airport has described the Airports Commission's choice of a new runway at Heathrow as "unfair".

Airport chairman Sir Roy McNulty said its predicted passenger figures for Gatwick were "10 years out".
In his first detailed response since the commission's report, he said that meant the economic case was "flawed".
He also told the BBC that "we have not considered a judicial review at this stage", but he did not rule out legal action in the future.
The report said that Heathrow would make a lot more money for the economy.
The Gatwick chairman said he had been raising objections for the past two years, but the final report, published earlier this month, had still ignored them.
In a statement, Gatwick said the report by the independent commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, was "flawed".
Out of three possible choices on the table, the commission backed the idea of building a new third runway at Heathrow, at a cost of Â£18.6bn.
An expansion of Gatwick was also on the table, at a cost of Â£9.3bn.
Sir Roy said: "The many strengths of Gatwick and the many challenges of Heathrow are underplayed, leading to a conclusion which we believe is flawed.
"We are confident that when they [the government] do make their decision, they will choose Gatwick as the best option for the economy and the environment, and - most importantly - after decades of delay, the option that is actually deliverable."
In June, Gatwick reported that it had the busiest year in its history, while Heathrow reported its busiest June on record.
Heathrow also stated: "The commission found that Heathrow's new plan for expansion can be delivered while reducing local and environmental impacts and that expansion at Heathrow is the only solution which can help British businesses compete for global growth, and support a truly national recovery built on exports, skills and investment."
The government should make a final decision before Christmas.
It's obvious that Gatwick won't be happy with the Airports Commission report, because in the end, it recommended their rival.
But the chair, Sir Roy McNulty, told me this isn't just a case of sour grapes, it's based on measurable economic facts.
His biggest bugbear is the Commission's predictions on passenger numbers. It forecasts Gatwick at 40 million passengers by 2024. But the airport says it'll hit that number this year.
Why is that so important? Well, the more people going through your airport, the more money you make for the economy. And that is a critical factor in where you build your new runway.
Sir Roy also told me they weren't considering a legal challenge. Not yet. But he wouldn't rule it out either.


Glentoran midfielder Richard Clarke has moved to Crusaders on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Clarke, 28, has not been a regular in the Glens line-up this season and Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter has been tracking the player for some time.
The Tyrone man will not be available for Saturday's League Cup final as he is cup-tied.
Clarke moved to Glentoran from Newry City in May 2009 and he made 160 appearances for the Oval club.


Construction of the first whisky distillery on the tiny Isle of Raasay has started.

R&B Distillers is turning Borodale House, a derelict Victorian hotel, into a distillery and visitor centre.
The production of the first whisky at the site could begin in April next year.
The distillery would be one of the largest employers on an island with a population of about 120 people. Raasay lies off the Isle of Skye.
R&B stands for Raasay and Borders. Co-founder Alasdair Day's great grandfather, Allan MacDonald, was from the Hebrides while his other great grandfather, Richard Day, was a master-blender in the Borders in the early 19th Century.
The company secured planning permission for the project from Highland Council in February this year.
Borodale House has been empty since 2006 and once the work converting it is completed it will be the first legal distilling operation on an island where illicit making of whisky was once rife.
The site will have a bat boxes and a "bat hotel", providing a nesting space for the mammals in the roof of the distillery.
These are required to accommodate the UK's most north-westerly population of brown long eared bats, which were found in the vacant hotel during an environmental impact study.


Nenthead Mine, considered one of Europe's best preserved former lead mines, is being given a £250,000 make over.

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15 September 2014 Last updated at 21:26 BST
It used to employ thousands of people but is now run as a historical education centre.
BBC reporter Mark McAlindon has been to have a look around.


The National Trust for Scotland is trying to raise £2.5m to protect one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's finest buildings from the weather.

Hill House in Helensburgh faces a significant threat from longstanding issues with "excessive water ingress", the trust said.
The house, built for publisher Walter Blackie in 1902, is regarded as the architect's finest domestic building.
Mackintosh also designed nearly everything inside the house.
NTS, the heritage body which has cared for the building for more than 30 years, said Mackintosh made use of "innovative" building techniques to create the beautiful, minimalist exterior design.
Because he did not use "traditional weathering details", however, there had been "excessive water ingress" into the 113-year-old building.
Director of Conservation Terry Levinthal said the NTS had agreed a strategy for repairing the building and was now beginning a fundraising drive, with an appeal to international donors as well as UK benefactors and grants.
He said: "The Hill House is clearly a place of the highest cultural significance, and must be well looked after.
"Caring for our heritage can be very complex and this project is a prime example of that.
"The trust has been exploring how best to resolve the longstanding issues of water ingress. We have now concluded what our repair strategy is going to be, after considerable research investigation and consultation with stakeholders.
"This is time-consuming and, of course, the costs are significant too.
"We are in the early stages of fundraising in support of this major project to protect the Hill House, Mackintosh's finest example of domestic design, for future generations."


Hackers have started to release gigabytes of secret documents stolen from an Italian cybercrime unit.

The 8GB of files has allegedly been taken from the network of the Italian CNAIPIC which oversees the country's critical IT infrastructure.
In a message announcing the release, the Anonymous hacker group said it received the files from a "source".
The attack on CNAIPIC is thought to be in retaliation for arrests of Italian members of Anonymous.
Links to the first few confidential files purportedly stolen from CNAIPIC were placed on the Pastebin website. Anonymous claims the files were taken from the evidence servers of CNAIPIC (National Computer Crime Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection).
The documents include information about government offices such as Australia's Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Agriculture as well as data about private firms Gazprom, Exxon Mobil and many others.
Preview images also shared by Anonymous reveal the management structure of CNAIPIC, pictures of staff and a long list of all the documents that have been taken.
CNAIPIC has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Officers from Italy's cybercrime division carried out a series of raids on homes of suspected Anonymous members in early July. Three people were arrested as a result.


Substitute striker Jack Marriott scored twice for Luton as they cruised to a win at Hartlepool.

Marriott replaced injured Craig Mackail-Smith in the first half as Jonathan Smith put Luton ahead after Luke Guttridge's effort was saved.
Rakish Bingham wasted two good chances for the hosts before Billy Paynter's diving header levelled it up.
Marriot scored twice in four minutes to extend the Hatters lead and Ollie Lee curled in from 25 yards in injury-time.
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Luton assistant boss Terry Harris told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"It's been a long week, a fair few miles, but a fantastic week.
"If somebody had said take six points and score seven goals, you'd have snapped their hands off.
"Jack's come on and taken his opportunity, we're absolutely delighted for him."


A 20-year-old man has confessed to killing four men who went missing a week ago, after a body was found on his parents' Pennsylvania farm.

Cosmo DiNardo's lawyer said his "very emotional" client is ready to plead guilty to first-degree murder.
Prosecutors have agreed not to seek the death penalty in return for Mr DiNardo's co-operation, he said.
Mr DiNardo was arrested on Wednesday after trying to sell a car belonging to one of the men.
Investigators found the body of Dean Finocchiaro, 19, who disappeared last Friday, in a "common grave" on the 90-acre farm in Solebury Township, Philadelphia.
Other human remains were found in the same deep pit.
It is now feared they belong to Mark Sturgis, 22, and Tom Meo, 21, who also vanished on 7 July, and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, who went missing two days earlier.
At least three of the men knew each other.
Mr DiNardo drew suspicion after trying to sell Mr Meo's 1996 Nissan Maxima for $500 (Â£390), a day after its owner was last seen.
A "life-saving" diabetic kit that Mr Meo requires was still inside the car, investigators said.
Officials described the suspect as dangerous and said he has schizophrenia.
District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told a press conference early on Thursday morning: "There are additional human remains inside that grave.
"So this painstaking process will go on. We're not done yet.
"This is a homicide, make no mistake about it. We just don't know how many homicides, we have yet to know the answer to that question," the District Attorney said.
He added: "We had cadaver dogs, and I don't understand the science behind it, but those dogs could smell these poor boys twelve-and-a-half feet below the ground."
The relationship between the four missing men is not clear.
Mr Sturgis' father told the Associated Press he employs his son and Mr Meo, a talented wrestler, in construction, and that Mr Finocchiaro is a mutual friend of theirs.
Mr Patrick and Mr DiNardo both attended the same high school, a year apart, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.


A County Durham teacher has been killed while on holiday in Mexico.

Alix Bussey, 23, was hit by a car on 9 April, while making her way back to a hotel in the resort of Riviera Maya. The Foreign Office is investigating.
The Bowburn Infants School teacher was nearing the end of a 10-night break with her boyfriend, Durham Police said.
Miss Bussey's parents Colin and Penny described her as a "devoted teacher" who had wanted to work with children from the age of seven.
The school's head teacher, Christine Ormerod, said staff and students were "deeply saddened".
"Alix was an excellent teacher, enthusiastic and committed to all of the children she taught," she said.
"She will be very much missed by everyone within the school community."
A spokesman for Durham Police said: "Although few details of the incident have been confirmed, it appears Alix was struck by a vehicle as she and her boyfriend made their way back to their hotel after a night out."
Mr Bussey, 50, said "We're absolutely devastated by what has happened and waiting to be given more information by the Foreign Office.
"Alix adored being a teacher, it was all she wanted to do from the age of seven and she was devoted to the education and welfare of the children she taught.
"She lived life to the full, loved to party and she and her boyfriend Jonathan Boyle were besotted with each other.
"Although they had been away on several occasions this was their first holiday abroad and they had been having a great experience."


A UK financial trader accused of contributing to the 2010 Wall Street "flash crash" has been remanded in custody and granted a second week to raise £5.05m in bail.

Navinder Singh Sarao first appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court last Wednesday,
He failed to make bail last week. He will appear in court again on 6 May.
Mr Sarao, who wore a grey sweater and tracksuit trousers in court, has said he will oppose extradition to the US.
He spoke only to confirm his date of birth and address.
Mr Sarao has been charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) with wire fraud, commodities fraud and market manipulation.
A review date of the case remains as 26 May, but the date for a full extradition hearing has been pushed back from August to 24-25 September.
To secure his release, Mr Sarao must pay £5m and his parents must pay £50,000.
Mr Sarao's bail conditions state that he must stay at his parents' address in Hounslow, west London, each night, and cannot travel internationally or use the internet.
The DoJ claims that Mr Sarao and his firm, Nav Sarao Futures, made £26m ($40m) illegally over five years.
He has been accused of using an "automated trading program" to manipulate markets, and contributing to the flash crash of 6 May 2010. On that day, the Dow Jones index lost 700 points in a matter of minutes - wiping about $800bn off the value of US shares - before recovering just as quickly.
Regulators blamed high-frequency traders placing multiple sell orders for the crash.
High-speed trading is where share dealers use computer algorithms to buy and sell stocks in milliseconds.
The DoJ said last week that "Sarao's alleged manipulation earned him significant profits and contributed to a major drop in the US stock market on May 6, 2010".
Its statement continued: "By allegedly placing multiple, simultaneous, large-volume sell orders at different price points - a technique known as 'layering' - Sarao created the appearance of substantial supply in the market."
Mr Sarao was then able to buy and sell futures contracts tied to the value of the share indexes, it is alleged.


Crewe Alexandra have made their second signing of the summer by bringing in much-travelled striker Chris Dagnall.

The 30-year-old will form a new strike partnership with 37-year-old veteran Ryan Lowe, who returned to the club for a third time earlier this summer.
"We're getting another forward with a proven record, who has scored at this level and above," Crewe boss Steve Davis told BBC Radio Stoke.
"Him and Lowey will have scored more than 320 goals between them."
Dagnall, who began his career at Tranmere Rovers, has also played for Rochdale, Scunthorpe United, Barnsley and Leyton Orient.
Dagnall left Orient to play in the Indian Super League for Kerala Blasters, deep in the south of India, before finishing last season in Scotland in Edinburgh at Hibernian, where he failed to score in 15 appearances, mostly from the bench.
His Football League career has so far brought him 98 goals in 396 appearances, almost a quarter of which have been as a substitute.
Having let 11 players go at the end of last season after his predominantly young side's relegation back to League Two, Crewe boss Davis emphasised the need to bring in more experience at Gresty Road.
He has so far brought in just Lowe and Dagnall, as well as extending 29-year-old former Leicester City defender Zoumana Bakayogo's contract.
"We lost out on a midfield player," added Davis. "He has signed for a League One club. That happens. It wasn't as much a financial decision with this one, more the fact that he has been promised game time in League One."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Katie Archibald won her third gold medal on the final day of the National Track Championships in Manchester.

The Olympic team pursuit champion added the points title to previous victories in scratch and individual pursuit, as well as her silver in the keirin.
Daniel Bigham also completed a hat-trick with gold in the team pursuit.
"I couldn't ask for more. I could only hold out for the three days; tomorrow I'll be in bed all day," Scotland's Archibald, 22, told BBC Sport.
Archibald fractured her wrist in November at the Glasgow World Cup and returned to competition only recently.
"I don't think the wrist injury has set me back too much, so I'm back on track now," she said.
Despite her progress, she said she would not travel to Los Angeles for the forthcoming UCI World Cup.
She added: "I don't think I'm going out [to LA]. I want to get back in the gym and recuperate the training block that I've missed without too much travelling and hopefully on to the World Championships in April."
Bigham, 25, who earlier in the meet won the individual pursuit and kilometre time trial, took the team pursuit title with Jacob Tipper, Charlie Tanfield and Jonathan Wale.
Other final-day winners at the National Cycling Centre included Dani Khan in the women's 500m time trial and Jack Carlin, Ryan Owens and Jack Truman in the men's team sprint.
Sophie Capewell and Lauren Bate-Lowe took gold in the women's team sprint and Ethan Hayter won the men's scratch race.


League Two side Cambridge United have signed forward Jacob Blyth on a one-month loan deal from Leicester City.

The 23-year-old has had previous loan spells with Burton Albion, Notts County and Northampton Town.
He contributed five goals to Burton's League Two title win during a six-month loan spell in 2014-15.
Blyth, who has yet to play a first-team game for Leicester, is U's manager Richard Money's 12th signing of the summer transfer window.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Tent cities have sprung up for those displaced by the earthquake in Nepal, which is now reported to have killed some 2,500 people.

Many residents of the capital, Kathmandu, lost their homes as a result of the tremor.
And others are afraid to return to their homes - especially after strong aftershocks hit the region on Sunday.
It is thought hundreds of thousands of people in central Nepal have been spending a second night outdoors.
The tremor also unleashed avalanches on Mount Everest, which killed at least 17 people and injured 61 others.
Efforts to dig victims out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu have been continuing.
Rescue missions and aid have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.
The situation is still unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access.
The 7.8-magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara early on Saturday.
Renewed panic
A powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.
The 6.7-magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.
It brought down some houses that had been damaged in the initial quake.
The Nepali Times said that some people who had ventured back to their homes had  decided to spend another night in tents.
People were using any available open spaces, it said, including school playgrounds and courtyards, and even traffic islands.
At hospitals rattled by the aftershocks, staff moved sick and injured patients outside.
Doctors at Kathmandu Medical College set up an operating theatre inside a tent, Reuters news agency said.
"Both private and government hospitals have run out of space and are treating patients outside, in the open," Nepal's envoy to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, was quoted as saying.
"We have launched a massive rescue and rehabilitation action plan and lots needs to be done,"  Nepal's Information and Broadcasting Minister Minendra Rijal said.
"Our country is in a moment of crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid."
Mr Rijal said helicopters were being used to get teams into remote areas to get a better picture of casualties.
The official response was becoming more of a relief operation than a rescue mission, he said.
Offers of help have come in from around the world. Some foreign teams have already arrived and are helping with search and rescue efforts.
The UN children's agency says nearly one million children in Nepal urgently need humanitarian assistance as they were particularly vulnerable.
Heavy rain has further worsened conditions.
Nepalese officials have warned that the number of casualties could rise as rescue teams reach remote mountainous areas of western Nepal.
Eyewitness reports suggest that some mountain villages may have been virtually destroyed.
A man evacuated by helicopter to Pokhara, 200 km from Kathmandu, said almost every home in his village of more than 1,000 houses had been destroyed, charity worker Matt Darvas of World Vision told the BBC.
In Dhading district, 80 km west of Kathmandu, people were camped in the open, the hospital was overflowing, the power was off and shops were closed,  Reuters news agency reported.
British Red Cross spokeswoman Penny Sims said it was hard to get an accurate picture of what is going on.
"A lot of the roads are blocked, there's rubble, there's been landslides as well... So that is going to make the aid effort very difficult," she told the BBC.
Foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides around Mt Everest were caught by the tremors and a huge avalanche that buried part of the base camp in snow.
Pemba Sherpa, who was among the first group of survivors were flown to Kathmandu on Sunday, said he was resting in his tent when the quake hit.
"I heard a big noise and the next thing I know I was swept away by the snow. I must have been swept almost 200 metres. I lost consciousness," he told AP news agency.
He said  many people are still missing on the mountain as several tents were buried by the snow or blown away.
Separately rescue workers have told the BBC that climbers stranded on Everest have been unable to get down because climbing ropes and ladders have been swept away by a series of avalanches.
Tourism Minister Deepak Chanda Amatya told the BBC that more than 50 climbers had been rescued.
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The US healthcare system is to blame for declines in the country's life expectancy ranking, a study suggests.

The Columbia University report rejects claims that factors such as obesity have shortened life-spans for Americans relative to other wealthy nations.
The study blames reliance on costly and fragmented specialised care, and calls for systemic reform.
Its release comes as President Barack Obama's healthcare reform remains a key issue in upcoming mid-term elections.
The study notes that in 1950, the US ranked fifth among leading industrialised nations for female life expectancy at birth, but only 46th in 2008.
It finds that US healthcare spending increased at nearly twice the rate of that in other wealthy nations between 1970 and 2002, with the increased spending corresponding with worsening survival rates relative to the other countries studied.
"In most cases, the relative US performance deteriorated from decade to decade," wrote authors Peter Muennig and Sherry Glied of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
They note the countries to which the US is compared - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK - all have systems of universal healthcare coverage.
Factors such as differing obesity, smoking, road accident and murder rates were taken into account in the study.
The US spends far more on healthcare than any other country as a percentage of gross domestic product, the study finds.
"We speculate that the nature of our health care system - specifically, its reliance on unregulated fee-for-service and specialty care - may explain both the increased spending and the relative deterioration in survival that we observed," the authors wrote.
"If so, meaningful reform may not only save money over the long term, it may also save lives."
The authors said those aspects of the US health system contributed to unnecessary medical procedures, poor communication between doctors and higher rates of medical errors.


Cyprus' national carrier has ceased operations after an EU decision it must repay over 65m euros (£50m) in illegal state aid.

The EU Commission said the Cypriot government had breached rules on support for struggling companies.
Cyprus Airways has repeatedly received aid between 2007 and 2013.
The government, which owns 93% of Cyprus Airways, had searched unsuccessfully for outside investors.
"The company has ceased being a viable entity, and cannot continue to operate," said finance minister Harris Georgiades.
He said there would be alternative arrangements covering Cyprus Airways flights from Saturday.
'Not viable'
The Commission undertook an in-depth investigation after the government in Nicosia approved repeated state aid packages to the airline.
Publishing the investigation's results, the Commission was highly critical of Cyprus Airways' restructuring plans. It said they were based on "unrealistic assumptions", failed to address the cause of the airline's difficulties and were taking longer to implement than EU rules permitted.
Under EU rules, struggling companies can be given aid under what the Commission terms the "one time, last time" principle.
Governments may grant a one-off tranche of aid to support a restructuring process once within a period of 10 years. The rule is intended to prevent companies becoming reliant on government support and gaining unfair advantage over rivals.
"Cyprus Airways has received large quantities of public money since 2007 but was unable to restructure and become viable without continued state support... injecting additional public money would only have prolonged the struggle without achieving a turn-around," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.


A man who admitted "shocking" fraud, assault and slavery offences involving a 27-year-old victim has been jailed.

Paul Joyce, 33, was imprisoned for 34 months having pleaded guilty at an Oxford Crown Court hearing earlier this year.
Three co-defendants, Helen Cash, Michael Joyce and Ifran Iqbal, were also sentenced after admitting offences in connection with the case.
Prosecutors said it involved "serious mistreatment of a vulnerable man".
The offences took place in Oxford and Hemel Hempstead between 6 January 2012 and 29 November 2013.
Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the victim was "trapped by his personal circumstances".
He said: "They used intimidation, threats of violence and actual violence to prevent the victim leaving them or from alerting the authorities to their mistreatment.
"It is shocking to hear that offences such as these can occur in modern times."
The victim was forced to work long hours without being paid, had his bank card stolen and benefits were claimed on his behalf, Mr Foster added.
Paul Joyce, of Old Abingdon Road, Oxford, admitted three counts of fraud, one count of common assault and two counts of substantive forced labour.
Cash, aged 31, of the same address, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two of substantive labour.
She was given a two-year suspended sentence and an 18-month supervision order.
Michael Joyce, 25, also of the same address, pleaded guilty to one count of substantive forced labour.
He was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.
Ifran Iqbal, aged 29, of Millfield Walk, Hemel Hempstead, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one count of substantive labour and was given a one-year community service order.


When the auctioneer's hammer came down, classic car dealer John Collins was looking at a bill of £518,000.

But it was not a rare Ferrari that he had bought. It was a number plate.
The registration plate "25 O" is the most expensive ever bought at a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) auction.
Even so, Mr Collins, who owns classic Ferrari dealer Talacrest, says he would have bid more at the auction for the plate which matches the 250 model.
"It was a question of holding one's nerve until the very end," he says, glancing at the plate on the vehicle which itself has an estimated value of millions of pounds.
"I'm glad it stopped where it stopped - £520,000. You could buy a couple of nice cars with that.
"I hate to say it but it could have been the first £1m number plate. I'm glad it wasn't, but I hope one day it will be."
He is not the only motor enthusiast buying a personalised plate as an investment, according to brokers. Despite sometimes being seen as a tacky accessory for the rich and famous, the popularity and value of some plates have been rising.
"25 O" - £518,000 in November 2014
"1 D" - £352,000 in March 2009
"51 NGH" - £254,000 in April 2006
"1 RH" - £247,000 in November 2008
"K1 NGS" - £231,000 in December 1993
Mr Collins bought his record-breaking number plate at a DVLA auction. The Agency hosts five physical auctions and four online auctions each year, but there are also 30 million registrations available to buy on its website.
Prices start from £250. Some 4.2 million have been sold since the DVLA began selling them in 1989, with more than £2bn raised for the Treasury in that time.
Jody Davies, auction manager at DVLA Personalised Registrations, says that the typical price for those that go under the hammer at auction is about £2,000.
Their popularity, she says has "never really waned" but the reasons for purchases are many and varied, as are the prices paid.
Some drivers buy them as a gift for a loved one, others use them to promote their business, and some are keen to cover up the age of their vehicle with a personalised plate.
But they are unlikely to get their hands on a rude registration. The DVLA has a steering group that assesses potential plates for propriety. That assessment may change as new collections of letters can take on new meanings, such as in text message language.
There are, of course, new editions to regular registration plates released twice a year. The new series, carrying the number "15" to designate the year, have been on the roads since the start of March.
When the DVLA issues these plates, it holds some back that could be considered as personalised and sold. None of the personalised plates it sells have been on any vehicle before.
It does not trade in existing plates. That is done in a parallel market, primarily by brokers such as Regtransfers, based in Bedfordshire.
Stock purchase manager John Doherty says that buyers - certainly among their celebrity clients - are most likely to search for their initials, but they can come in at a high price.
The cost falls by adding in extra letters, and numbers, and hoping that such a combination is available.
Ultimately, he argues, it is an investment that allows motorists some enjoyment along the way.
"It is something they can use every single day of the week, and it does not depreciate in value, unlike a car," he says.
"Hopefully when it comes to selling it, you should get a good return."
The cost of getting a personalised number plate does not necessarily end at an auction or with a broker.
There is the cost of getting the number plate made up. Drivers doing so will probably have to take a certificate of entitlement - a V750 - to prove that the number can be used.
This certificate needs to be renewed for a charge of £25 but, from Monday, this only needs to be done every 10 years.
There may also be a charge to assign the registration number to the vehicle of their choice. All the rules are outlined on the government's website.
Insurers should also be informed of any change of registration. Matt Oliver, of price comparison website GoCompare, says that a personalised number plate should not add to the cost of a premium.
However, should something happen to the vehicle, there could be implications for the number plate.
Mr Oliver suggests that owners get a letter of non-interest from an insurer in order to keep the entitlement to the number if the vehicle is scrapped. If it is stolen, then an owner should tell their insurer they want to keep their entitlement as soon as possible.


Spirits group Edrington has reported a fall in profits as sales faltered for two of its best-known brands - The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.

Pre-tax profits, before exceptional items, fell by 13.2% to £146.4m in the year to 31 March.
Overall sales held steady at just under £575m, but output fell by eight million standard bottles to below 100 million.
Edrington said it had been hit by "fiercely competitive" markets in Asia and in blended Scotch across Europe.
Profits after tax, but before exceptional items, were down by £7m to £72.7m.
The Glasgow-based distiller's Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark blends suffered double-digit declines in sales, but there was growth for Edrington's single malts, The Macallan and Highland Park.
Analysis by Douglas Fraser, Scotland business/economy editor
Edrington is a rare beast in the Scotch whisky industry - it is big and Scottish-based, and it hands profit to worthy causes through its main shareholder, the Robertson Trust.
But it's not unusual in the problems it has been facing, as the rapid growth in Scotch exports has hit turbulent trade winds in more recent years.
Its blends, led by Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark, remain market leaders but have seen a significant fall-off in demand, while its single malts - led by The Macallan and Highland Park - are growing.
Across the industry, the overall volume of whisky exports fell by 2.4% during 2015, to £3.9bn. The previous year, it fell 7%.
But while blends declined (the industry slower, it seems, than Edrington's fall) the value of single malts has now hit 25% of the export total.
It is clear from Edrington's strategy that it sees the prospects for further growth are from more differentiated and premium bottlings of single malt, with the five-year strategy set out last year focused heavily on the few brands and on innovative marketing.
It has identified cities as the key to the high end whisky drinker, and sees the younger millennial demographic as a target for imaginative social media marketing and sales.
Growth in the Americas remains its best prospect, while Asia is going to be of increasing importance though growth will be slow, while its European markets remain flat.
The distiller said The Macallan achieved growth in both volume and value, despite "a setback in Taiwan, where intense competitive activity dented volume and market share".
However the brand performed "particularly strongly" in China, Russia and the USA.
Edrington also reported that Highland Park continued to show "good momentum" across its major markets in Europe, the USA and Canada.
There was a marginal decline in the sales of Brugal rum, but Edrington said there were signs that the brand had "arrested the significant decline of prior years".
Last year the company announced a £239m writedown for the brand after facing "tough economic and competitive conditions" in the key markets of Spain and The Dominican Republic.
A year ago, Edrington set out its 2020 strategy which included plans to develop super premium brands, "perfect The Macallan" and "accelerate Highland Park".
Chief executive Ian Curle said: "A year on from the launch of Edrington's new strategy, we see evidence that we have put the right strategy into effect, and that it is delivering results.
"During this year of transition we have faced challenging economic and trading conditions with strong performances in key markets and shortfalls in others.
"In combination with the influence of currency, this has adversely affected our results."


A £5.5bn waterfront development which could put Liverpool's World Heritage Site status at risk has been approved.

City councillors backed the scheme at a meeting earlier. It will now go before the secretary of state.
English Heritage said the city council had "significantly downplayed the adverse impacts of the development on Liverpool's outstanding heritage".
Unesco inspectors had warned approval could lead to the removal of the city from its list of World Heritage Sites.
TheLiverpool Waters planning applicationincludes a cruise liner terminal, thousands of apartments and the tallest UK building outside London.
Bidders Peel Developments said the scheme could create up to 20,000 jobs.
By Leanne HarperBBC Merseyside Political Reporter
The number of people at today's planning meeting was, perhaps unsurprisingly, higher than such proceedings usually attract - although those numbers were swelled by the large media representation and a visiting delegation from Shanghai.
During the meeting Peel again set out its vision of how the waterfront could look in 30 years' time - with most of those who addressed the committee giving their backing to the plans. But still some remain unconvinced.
The few who did express their objections all stated they're not against the idea of regeneration, but don't feel the scheme currently on offer is appropriate.
Those disagreements are likely to continue. But one thing that will unite both those for and against is the wait to see if the scheme will now go to a public inquiry.
Joe Anderson, leader of Labour-run Liverpool City Council, said the decision was "one of the most significant and far-reaching made in Liverpool's recent history" and "a vote of confidence in a new beginning of a great city".
The application will now be referred to the secretary of state for communities and local government who will decide if it requires a public inquiry.
Lindsey Ashworth, Peel development director, said: "The scheme that we've put forward is the result of all the discussions we've had with English Heritage.
"Unless we move on with the scheme we've got now, we'd be talking for the next 10 years.
"Of course I'm bothered about it [World Heritage status], I just don't believe it will ever be lost.
"The reasons I made the changes to the scheme was to make sure we preserved the World Heritage Status.
"This is as far as I want to go and I want the government on-side. I think the government will say this is fine."
Liverpool was awarded World Heritage status in 2004, ranking the city alongside the Taj Mahal and Stonehenge.
A report by Unesco inspectors, who visited the city in November to investigate the impact of the development, suggested it would leave the area "irreversibly damaged" and cause a "serious loss of historical authenticity".
In a statement, English Heritage said: "If the scheme in its current form goes ahead, in our view the setting of some of Liverpool's most significant historic buildings will be severely compromised, the archaeological remains of parts of the historic docks are at risk of destruction and the city's historic urban landscape will be permanently unbalanced."
Richard Kemp, deputy leader of Liverpool Liberal Democrats, said: "Liverpool must now act swiftly to mediate between Peel and Unesco.
"Liverpool needs both the new development and heritage status."
Mr Anderson said the council had put in safeguards which could see the development "living comfortably alongside the World Heritage Site".
He continued: "If this application had been rejected then we would have been left with huge stretches of derelict dockland cheek-by-jowl with our World Heritage site.
"Instead we now have the prospect of one of the most ambitious schemes ever seen in this country taking shape - it is one that will transform Liverpool's fortunes for future generations."


Doctors have issued a warning about the potential harms of undertaking a radical new year detox.

They highlight the case of a woman they treated last year who became critically ill after taking herbal remedies and drinking too much water.
The 47-year-old needed intensive care at Milton Keynes hospital.
She recovered with treatment, but her story is a reminder of the dangers of drastic detoxing, the medics say.
While it may be tempting to cleanse yourself of the excesses of Christmas, the concept is not necessarily healthy and is not backed by medical science, they report in the British Medical Journal Case Reports.
The woman they treated had taken a cocktail of herbs and alternative remedies including:
Her partner said she had also been drinking lots of water, green tea and sage tea over the few days before she became ill.
Shortly before being admitted to hospital, the woman collapsed and had a seizure.
Medical tests revealed she had dangerously low levels of salt (sodium) in her body.
Researching the herbal remedies used by the patient, her doctors discovered the case of a man with a history of anxiety who had had seizures due to a low sodium level.
His symptoms developed after consuming a large amount of a herbal remedy that contained:
"The complementary medicine market is very popular in the UK and the concept of the new-year 'detox' with all-natural products is appealing to those less concerned with evidence-based medicine and more with complementary medicine," say the medics in their write-up.
"Excessive water intake as a way of 'purifying and cleansing' the body is also a popular regime with the belief that harmful waste products can thus be washed from the body."
However, they warn that "despite marketing suggesting otherwise, all-natural products are not without side-effects".
The British Dietetic Association says the whole idea of detoxing is nonsense.
"There are no pills or specific drinks, patches or lotions that can do a magic job," a representative said
"The body has numerous organs, such as the skin, gut, liver and kidney, that continually 'detoxify' the body from head to toe.
"Being well-hydrated is a sensible strategy, but drinking too much water can be as dangerous as not drinking enough.
"It sounds predictable, but for the vast majority of people, a sensible diet and regular physical activity really are the only ways to properly maintain and maximise your health."


The Wales Bill, rewriting the devolution settlement, has become law.

Commons speaker John Bercow told MPs the Queen had given Royal Assent to what is now the Wales Act 2017.
The legislation devolves to Wales extra powers over transport, energy, electoral arrangements and an element of control over income tax levels.
It also defines what is under the control of Westminster, with everything else assumed to rest with the assembly - known as the "reserved powers" model.
The current system specifies what is under assembly control, with everything else assumed to lie with Westminster.
The UK government has said the new law "brings clarity to the settlement and accountability for Welsh Government".
But critics, including Welsh ministers, have complained that it imposes too many restrictions.
Earlier in January, First Minister Carwyn Jones said the legislation could be better but it "takes Wales forward".
The date when many of the act's provisions, including the reserved powers system, has not yet been decided.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns will consult the Welsh Government and the assembly's Presiding Officer, Elin Jones, on the timescale.


MSPs have been taking evidence on new legislation to tackle human trafficking in Scotland.

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill aims to clarify and strengthen the law.
It will introduce a new single offence and increase the maximum penalty for offenders to life imprisonment.
Holyrood's justice committee heard from Barnardo's Scotland, the Scottish Refugee Council, Abolition Scotland and Victim Support Scotland.
In 2013 there were 55 trafficking victims identified in Scotland.
Home Office research has suggested there could be between 10,000 and 13,000 victims of slavery, forced labour and human trafficking in the UK.
In March last year, the Scottish government announced that it was bringing forward a new bill to combat trafficking and exploitation.
If passed, the new bill will also seek to enhance the rights of victims of trafficking, with access to immediate help and support based on their individual needs.
It will give prosecutors the discretion not to punish victims forced to commit crime against their will - including those trafficked into the country and then forced into cannabis factories.
Scottish Ministers will also be required to work with other bodies to publish and keep under review a Scottish Anti-Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy.


The anti-establishment forces that have roiled the Republican Party over the past few months have claimed a big prize.

Citing the need to prevent "irreparable harm" to the institution of Congress and avoid a leadership struggle, Speaker of the House John Boehner announced on Friday he was resigning at the end of October.
This was far from the first time Mr Boehner has faced challenges to his authority as the top Republican in the House of Representatives. Over his five years as speaker he's faced withering criticism from the right wing of his party as he balances the necessity of passing essential legislation to keep the US government operating with calls to be more forceful in advancing conservative priorities.
But this time, it seems, was different. Although Mr Boehner asserted that he would once again defeat those who wanted to remove him from office, he wasn't going to wage the pitched political battle that would require.
This time around, Mr Boehner faced a different kind of adversary. Where before the challenges to his authority came from within the halls of Congress, now calls were reverberating across the nation, inspired and egged on by Republican presidential candidates who were campaigning against the Republican leadership in Congress with the kind of vehemence that was traditionally the province of Democrats.
Real estate mogul Donald Trump has shot to the front of the Republican field with his pox-on-both-houses condemnation of business as usual in Washington. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, long a thorn in the side of Republican congressional leadership, regularly garners his biggest cheers when he bashes Mr Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell by name.
"We win elections, and then the people we elect don't do what they say," he told a grass-roots conservative audience in Atlanta in July. "Our team is playing for the other side."
As it so happened, the news of Boehner's impending resignation broke as many Republican hopefuls were gathering at a Washington, DC, hotel for a conference of evangelical conservative activists called the Values Voter Summit.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio was the man who broke the news to a packed ballroom, and the crowd celebrated the announcement with a standing ovation.
"I'm not here today to bash anyone," the senator said. "But the time has come to turn the page and allow a new generation of leadership in this country."
Other candidates taking the stage that day were less circumspect. Mr Cruz, during his speech, pointed to the audience and said Mr Boehner's resignation was evidence that grass-roots conservatives like them "terrify Washington".
He followed it up by warning that if Mr Boehner negotiated an agreement with Democrats over the budget that funds Planned Parenthood and Obamacare on his way to a cushy private-sector job, "that is not the behaviour one would expect of a Republican speaker of the House".
Mr Trump said that while some people may like Mr Boehner on a "personal basis", he ended up just like all the other politicians who get elected promising change.
"They're full of vim and vigour," he said. "Then they come down to these magnificent vaulted ceilings that you see all over Washington. And what happens? They become different people."
Notably missing from the parade of presidential contenders at the Washington gathering were former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Ohio Governor John Kasich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, none of whom is much loved by the type of conservative true believers in attendance.
Perhaps not surprisingly, then, the three candidates who are perceived to be vying for support from the party's establishment praised the speaker.
"Ohio and America are stronger today because of John Boehner," Mr Kasich said. "He leaves a legacy of unparalleled integrity and steady, mature leadership during difficult times that will be a model for future speakers and anyone interested in public service."
Mr Bush tweeted that Mr Boehner "dedicated his life to public service" and praised his part in bringing Pope Francis to the Capitol on Thursday.
Such kind words were a marked contrast from the views expressed by the Values Voter Summit attendees as they filed out of the event hall for lunch. Candidates like Mr Bush should be concerned that the anti-establishment tide that felled Mr Boehner may signal trouble ahead for their presidential aspirations.
"I been working for three or four years trying to get that man," Carl Jernigan of Shoal Creek, Alabama, said of Mr Boehner. "He's a big part of the leadership which has failed us over and over again, giving Obama everything he wants."
He added that he has more disdain for Republicans like the speaker than he does Democrats.
"Boehner is just the first step," he said. "We've got to clean up the whole mess."
Larry Farnes of Missoula, Montana, noted Mr Boehner's propensity for tears and said Republicans need "a leader who rallies the troops and rallies Congress".
"It's time for change," he concluded.
The initial front-runner to replace Mr Boehner as speaker is his second in command, Kevin McCarthy of California. Given that he's part of the same Republican leadership team, however, he's already being targeted by some of the same grass-roots conservatives who celebrated Mr Boehner's impending departure.
"McCarthy is a non-starter for conservatives, and the bad blood will continue," writes Erick Erickson of the conservative RedState blog.
Daniel Webster, a junior congressman from Florida, has already announced his candidacy for the speakership, indicating that the protracted House leadership fight that Mr Boehner had hoped to avoid may happen anyway.
Outside the hotel where the Values Voter Summit was being held, Dean James stood on a corner, hold two large placards condemning Planned Parenthood and illustrated with photographs of dismembered foetuses.
For him, the current abortion fight in Congress is the central political issue facing the US, but he was far from heartened upon hearing the news that Mr Boehner was heading for the exit.
"Have they done anything?" he asked. "Until they act, I haven't seen anything. It's just business as usual in Washington."
Washington business may be about to change, however.


Thousands of children in poor parts of Venezuela in South America are being taught yoga to help improve the quality of their lives.

11 October 2015 Last updated at 11:36 BST
People living there have to deal with lots of problems such as poverty and crime.
But it's hoped practising yoga can help reduce their stress and increase their happiness.
Watch Martin's report to hear how yoga has been helping the children...


Twitter will start sharing advertising revenue generated by videos made by individual users with their creators.

The platform has only shared revenue from videos with corporate partners such as the National Football League and CBS until now.
Twitter has been pushing to feature more video as it battles social media competitors such as Facebook and Snapchat.
The revenue sharing will only be available for Twitter users in the US.
On the company's corporate blog Twitter said the move would allow all video creators to "generate revenue at scale".
It did not reveal how much of the revenue it would share with video creators.
Technology news site ReCode reported that Twitter planned to share up to 70% of the revenues.
According to Twitter's blog, approved US creators will have the option to check a box when they upload their video granting permission to play commercials before the video runs.
It recently increased the maximum length of videos that can be tweeted from 30 seconds to 140 seconds.
Twitter is also expanding the number of livestreaming video events across entertainment, news, and sports.
Shares in Twitter fell 0.6% to $18.35 - bringing the fall over the past 12 months to 31%.
Last month it said revenue for the second quarter rose 20% to $602m - far slower than a 61% increase in the same period last year.


Britain's Andy Murray had a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over Steve Johnson in his opening Shanghai Masters match.

The world number two dropped serve in the first game of the match but was rarely troubled by the American in his first outing since GB's Davis Cup semi-final victory over Australia on 20 September.
Murray, 28, said: "I played well, moved well and it was a good start for me."
He will face another American, John Isner, in the third round.
Isner's 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory over Belgian David Goffin prevented a dress-rehearsal meeting between the world number 16 and Murray before next month's Davis Cup final.
World number one Novak Djokovic also reached round three, beating Slovakia's Martin Klizan 6-2 6-1.
Rafael Nadal also made it through but had a much tougher time.
It took Nadal two hours and 43 minutes to overcome Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4).
Looking ahead to facing Isner, Murray told Sky Sports: "I think he quite likes the conditions here because it's quick and he's a tough guy to play against."
After starting slowly against Johnson, Murray broke the American's serve three times to claim the first set.
The Scot encountered greater resistance in the second set and two double faults in a row helped gift Johnson two break points at 3-3. But a precise drop volley allowed Murray to see off the danger.
With Johnson serving at 4-5, a lob set up three match points and Murray clinched it at the second opportunity when the American sent a forehand long after one hour and 16 minutes.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios could be facing another fine after being given his second code violation of the tournament.
The Australian smashed away a loose ball and nearly hit a linesman after losing the second set in a 1-6 6-4 6-4 defeat by Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Kyrgios, 20, was fined $1,500 (£984) on Tuesday after calling the tournament a "circus" and complaining about the ball kids during his win over Andreas Haider-Maurer.
He could trigger a 28-day ban if he incurs $5,000 (£3,256) in fines before February - a penalty stemming from the suspended ban he received for a sexual comment about Stan Wawrinka's girlfriend during a match in August.


Former party leaders Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband have both announced they are to stand for re-election.

Ex-deputy prime minister Mr Clegg confirmed he would defend his Sheffield Hallam seat for the Liberal Democrats, while Mr Miliband is to run for Labour in Doncaster North.
Prime Minister Theresa May called for a general election on 8 June, which has been backed by the House of Commons.
Mr Clegg called her announcement a "grubby political calculation".
"I will be re-standing as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Sheffield Hallam - a constituency I have had the immense privilege to represent in Parliament for 12 years - because I vehemently oppose the direction that Theresa May wishes to drag our wonderful country," he said.
"This general election is unlike any I've ever known in my political lifetime.
"Basically, the prime minister has opportunistically triggered this general election in order to secure a landslide victory so that she can impose a hard Brexit on the country, a hard Brexit which I believe is bad for my constituents here in south-west Sheffield and bad for the country as a whole."
More stories from across Yorkshire
The Labour Party has confirmed to the BBC that its former leader Mr Miliband is standing, although he is not commenting further at present.
Earlier, MPs voted in favour of Mrs May's motion by 522 to 13 in the House of Commons.
Mrs May has argued that an early general election will help the UK make a success of Brexit and provide long-term certainty.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier, she said "no politician wanted to hold an election for the sake of it" and there were risks involved in doing so.
The next general election had been set for 2020, but the Fixed Term Parliaments Act allows for one to be held earlier if two-thirds of MPs back the move.


Ronnie O'Sullivan won his fifth World Championship crown with an 18-12 victory over a game Barry Hawkins.

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Defending champion O'Sullivan played magnificently, compiling a new record of six centuries in a Crucible final.
But world number 14 Hawkins, who many thought would be blown away, played his part with some quality snooker himself.
O'Sullivan is only the third man to retain the title at the venue and his victory will go down as one of the great sporting comebacks.
"That is the hardest anyone has pushed me," he said in paying tribute to a "brilliant tournament" from Hawkins. "I just couldn't get rid of him but I hung in there. It was a brilliant final and it was just good to be part of it."
The 37-year-old had played one competitive match - last September - after taking some time away from the game following his fourth world title last year.
Asked beforehand what chance Kent left-hander Hawkins had of beating O'Sullivan, seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry said: "None."
But Hawkins, an 80-1 shot before the tournament started, was not overawed on Sunday, playing his part in two high-quality sessions.
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O'Sullivan, however, played some of his most fluent snooker of the tournament, making four century breaks to surpass Hendry's previous record of 127 at the Crucible and take a 10-7 overnight lead.
Hawkins, 34, nicked the first frame on Monday but, as has been the case throughout the tournament, O'Sullivan immediately responded, rattling in a break of 76 to make it 11-8.
The next frame was key, a superb clearance of 55 putting O'Sullivan 12-8 up, although Hawkins rallied with a break of 90 to make it 12-9.
A run of 133 in the next frame saw O'Sullivan become only the fourth player, after Hendry (1997), John Higgins (1998) and Matthew Stevens (2000), to make five tons in a Crucible final.
And when O'Sullivan won frame 23 to go 14-9 ahead it appeared that Hawkins's resolve was wilting.
But Hawkins, who had never been beyond the second round before this year, made it 14-10 courtesy of a break of 67, only for O'Sullivan to hit back with a record-breaking clearance of 124.
Hawkins mustered a classy run of 127 to bring the total of centuries in the final to a record-equalling eight, making it 15-11 before following up with a break of 66 for 15-12.
But once again O'Sullivan found another gear, pouncing on a missed red along the cushion by Hawkins and knocking in a break of 77 for 16-12.
A break of 88 left O'Sullivan needing one more frame to win the match and he took it with a run of 86 to finish in style.
"He is unbelievable," said Hawkins. "The way he makes it look so easy is frightening for most players, so I am glad I made a game of it and pushed him a bit.
"I tried my hardest but I just made a few more mistakes than Ronnie and you cannot afford to do that against him.
"It is a shame I lost, but Ronnie is by far the best player in the world."