The president of Ghana was given polite applause by MSPs despite controversy over the country's human rights record.

John Dramani Mahama attended First Minister's Questions at Holyrood as part of a trip to Scotland to promote trade links.
Mr Mahama was due to meet the first minister and the presiding officer at the Scottish Parliament.
But a scheduled meet and greet with opposition leaders was cancelled ahead of his visit.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who applauded Mr Mahama, who was sitting in the VIP gallery with his wife Lordina, when he was introduced to the chamber, but some other MSPs did not.
The president and his entourage left before the end of the weekly session to prepare for an address to MSPs shortly afterwards, where he pointed to Ghana's six consecutive elections as evidence of how "Africa is emerging" and building a base of democracy.
Amnesty International has criticised Ghana's record on torture, gay rights and violence against women.
Vigilante groups are said to be targeting gay people in the West African country, where anyone convicted of homosexuality faces up to three years in jail.
Amnesty has also said that the police and intelligence services use torture and other ill-treatment against Ghanaian citizens, and it has recorded several cases of excessive force.
Naomi McAuliffe of Amnesty said: "Although President Mahama's visit is primarily about trade, we urge the Scottish government and MSPs meeting him to be aware of these human rights abuses and take the opportunity to raise the issues."
But gay rights charity Stonewall said it had "seen some promising statements from President Mahama criticising violence against LGBT communities".
Mr Mahama's visit to Scotland will also see the president receive an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen on Friday.
He was welcomed to the Scottish Parliament by presiding officer Tricia Marwick, who said it would be her "great pleasure" to "extend the hand of friendship and seek to strengthen the economic and democratic ties between our two countries."
A Scottish Parliament spokesman said the presiding officer's role was "always of political impartiality and neutrality" and it would therefore not be for her to "raise political matters during a courtesy call."
Responding to calls from opposition leaders, a Scottish government spokeswoman said the first minister would "share her strong view that the Commonwealth values of humanity, equality and tolerance are universal values" during Mr Mahama's visit.
Independent MSP John Finnie has lodged a motion at Holyrood claiming that the president has given his "full support" to "discriminatory laws and relentless persecution" of LGBT people in Ghana.
And the Scottish Human Rights Commission said it expected the Scottish government and parliament to "show leadership protecting and promoting international human rights standards."
Stonewall said Ghana was one of 75 countries in the world where it was still illegal to be gay.
A spokesman said: "While we've seen some promising statements from President Mahama criticising violence against LGBT communities, we believe that the Scottish government has an important responsibility to help advance the protection of LGBT rights across the world."
A University of Aberdeen spokesman said the decision to confer an honorary doctorate on Mr Mahama took into account "his work on child poverty and children's rights, the role he has played in the fight against Ebola, and our large Ghanaian student and graduate population."
It comes at a time when offshore oil production is helping to fuel Ghana's fast-growing economy, with Mr Mahama's visit said to "offer an opportunity to forge stronger links with Scotland's industrial and engineering expertise."
It was the second time a Ghanaian president has visited the Scottish Parliament.
In 2000, President Jerry Rawlings addressed MSPs at the Mound, the parliament's previous location.
Mr Mahama was sworn in as the president of Ghana following the death of John Atta Mills in 2012, before winning an election later in the same year.
He is generally regarded as a champion of the underprivileged, and also has a keen interest in the environment, particularly the problem of plastic pollution in Africa.
Ghana is seen as being one of the more stable countries in West Africa since its transition to multi-party democracy in 1992.
But in February last year, celebrities took to social media to condemn the beating of a suspected gay man.
The incident opened a rare window for debate on homosexuality in the country.


A blind Shropshire man has been told he should clear up his dog's mess.

8 December 2015 Last updated at 15:51 GMT
Hodnet Parish Council has suggested Brian Wood takes a companion with him, to help pick it up.
But Mr Wood said that would affect his independence.


Prosecutors are expected to announce on Wednesday whether Conservative politicians or officials will face charges for breaches of expenses rules.

The CPS is considering files sent by police following investigations in up to 27 constituencies.
It relates to claims some campaigning costs in the 2015 general election were wrongly recorded.
The Conservative Party has insisted administrative errors were to blame rather than any intention to deceive.
And it has said some of the spending was correctly declared.
It is alleged the Conservatives spent tens of thousands of pounds on local campaigns - including on "battle bus" visits by activists - which were either not declared or were wrongly registered as national spending.
The allegations came to light following an investigation by Channel 4 News.
Under complex election spending rules, parties must disclose national spending separately from money used to promote each candidate, and separate national and local limits apply.
Up to 16 police forces across England have submitted files to be considered by prosecutors.
The CPS will consider whether there is sufficient evidence of a breach in the law, and whether a prosecution is "in the public interest".
If general election candidates are prosecuted the Conservative Party will have to decide whether to suspend them and replace them as nominees.
The last date for candidates to register for the election is 11 May.
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Leicestershire stepped up their bid for a place in the T20 Blast quarter-finals as they beat Yorkshire by four wickets at Grace Road in the North Group.

New Zealand international Luke Ronchi's spectacular 19-ball half-century helped the Foxes reach 183-6 as they won with two balls to spare.
Ronchi made 57, backed up by Colin Ackermann's unbeaten 58, off 47 balls.
In the South Group, Kent maintained their own quarter-final hopes with a six-wicket win against Somerset.
Leicestershire earned their first home win in this season's competition to claim a second North Group victory inside 24 hours.
Their previous five wins had come away from Leicester - but going into their final two games, the three-times T20 winners are now one of four clubs on 13 points.
They include third-placed Yorkshire, who were powered by half-centuries by Tom Kohler-Cadmore (75 from 40 balls - his best T20 score since arriving from Worcestershire) and Australian Shaun Marsh (60).
But the Tykes, lifted by beating rivals Lancashire at Headingley the previous evening, have just one group game left, at home to second-placed Northants on Thursday, and they must win to stand any chance of qualifying.
Derbyshire and the Birmingham Bears are the other three sides on 13 points, two behind group leaders Notts Outlaws, who are a point ahead of Northants.
Kent's New Zealand paceman Adam Milne claimed a county-best 5-11 as the bottom-of-the-table Spitfires caused an upset in the South Group, beating Somerset by six wickets at Taunton.
Milne sent down 15 dot balls from 23 deliveries as the hosts were dismissed for 149 in 18.5 overs.
England one-day international Sam Billings then battered an unbeaten 56 from 36 balls as the visitors reached their target with nine deliveries to spare, to inflict Somerset's first home defeat in this year's competition.
"We have a really good record here at Taunton," Billings told BBC Radio Bristol. "The guys love playing on this square. That's eight wins on the trot for us here.
"The dismissal of James Hildreth was a key moment and Adam Milne weighed into the tail after that. He was outstanding."
Somerset captain Jim Allenby, whose side face Glamorgan at Taunton on Sunday, said: "We had a poor day at the office with the bat. But we are still fourth in the table, having played poorly in a few games, so it's not all doom and gloom."
Kent are now up to sixth on 11 points, four points behind group leaders Hampshire, who are ahead of second-placed Glamorgan by a point, followed by three sides on 12 points - Sussex, Somerset and Gloucestershire.


The final moments of the Goce satellite were caught on camera as it blazed across the sky above the South Atlantic.

Falkland Islander Bill Chater managed to record the scene as he returned from a day's outing to see penguins.
“We saw what we first thought was a shooting star,” Bill told me.
“It soon became obvious it was the satellite we had heard about on BBC Radio News an hour before.
“It left a long trail of smoke which was bright white in the dark sky, presumably lit by the Sun which we could no longer see.”
Goce's fall to Earth on Sunday night made it the first European Space Agency (Esa) mission to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere in more than 25 years.
Esa has looked at the pictures acquired on East Falkland and says they represent - "in all likelihood" - the destructive end of its one-tonne probe.
Dubbed the "Ferrari of space" because of its sleek Italian design, Goce had spent the past four years making precise maps of Earth's gravity.
Its plunge through the atmosphere on Sunday became inevitable once the electric engine it had employed to stay in orbit ran out of fuel.
Tracking systems were deployed to monitor the rapid descent, with a final estimate for the location of the re-entry put close to the tip of South America, just east of Tierra Del Fuego.
American military data timed this event to have occurred at 00:16 GMT, or 21:16 local Falkland time - just as Bill, his wife Vicky, and dad, Tony Chater, were making their way home after spending the day with King Penguins.
“We were returning home from Volunteer Point,” says Bill.
“It was just getting dark following a long, spectacular sunset and as we came over Wall Mountain, heading south, we saw what we first thought was a shooting star.
“It was leaving a thick white trail of smoke and split into a couple of bits, before again breaking up into several smaller parts which all flew over our heads and disappeared northwards over Wall Mountain behind us.”
The description of the event fits, as does the location and timing. The direction of the fireballs – moving south to north – also matches what would have been Goce’s death trajectory.
Bill says he has video of the event but cannot share it because of the islands’ slow internet connection.
Goce started its descent from an operational altitude of 224km, and took a total of three weeks to fall to Earth.
The thermal and mechanical stresses that ultimately tore the satellite apart would have begun to take hold while it was still 80km from the Earth's surface.  Experts had suggested some 200-250kg could have survived all the way down. If they did, these twisted and charred materials are now at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
It was a violent end for one of the most delicate and sensitive space instruments ever built.
Goce’s data lives on, however.
Its exquisite maps of the subtle variations in gravity across the surface of the Earth will influence a diverse array of disciplines - from ocean and climate research to geology and civil engineering.


Three more US states held primary elections on 22 March, including a Republican winner-takes-all delegates contest in Arizona, and democratic caucuses in Idaho.

US presidential front-runners, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, have continued their winning streaks, taking Arizona.
Keeping his campaign in the race, Democrat Bernie Sanders decisively won caucuses in two smaller states, Idaho and Utah. Ted Cruz continued his efforts to force Mr Trump to a contested convention with a win in Utah.
Click or tap on the links below for full results, provided by the Associated Press.
Arizona
Idaho Democratic caucuses
Utah
Winning delegates, the people who endorse a candidate at the party conventions in July, is key to securing the nomination.
The Democratic totals include the delegates won per state, as well as so-called "unpledged" or "super delegates". Hillary Clinton has a huge lead among the party leaders and elected officials who each get a vote at the convention.
AP conducts surveys of these super delegates, and adds them to a candidate's totals if they indicate their support.  But super delegates can - and do - change their minds during the course of the campaign, so the figures may shift as the race unfolds.
The delegate tracker is updated automatically. There may be a short delay between the delegates being assigned and the totals changing.


Chelsea's £23.3m signing of winger Juan Cuadrado was the biggest deal completed on transfer deadline day as Premier League spending in the January window matched last year's £130m.

Media playback is not supported on this device
That figure fell well short of the record £225m spent in 2011.
Crystal Palace were the busiest top-flight club on deadline day, signing four players including Wilfried Zaha.
Hull announced the latest transfer, with Lokomotiv Moscow striker Dame N'Doye's move confirmed at 00:10 GMT.
There were 13 Premier League signings on deadline day, and 35 across the window.
A record summer of spending saw an outlay of £835m, which topped the £760m spent across the whole of last season. This window's spending takes the total for 2014-15 to £965m.
Dan Jones, partner in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: "Given the record level of spending seen in the summer, it is not entirely surprising that we haven't seen a new record for the January window.
"However, with all Premier League clubs recording record revenues, we might have expected one or two more major deals."
Some of the key findings from Deloitte's analysis of the January 2015 transfer window include:
The most surprising transfer of deadline day saw Manchester United sign 21-year-old Bolton defender Andy Kellett on loan.
There were five inter-Premier League transfers with Darren Fletcher moving from Manchester United to West Brom on a free transfer, Chelsea selling Ryan Bertrand to Southampton, Tottenham loaning Aaron Lennon to Everton, Robert Huth going from Stoke to Leicester on loan and Manchester United selling Zaha to Palace.
The Eagles also signed Bolton midfielder Lee Chung-yong and teenagers Andreas Breimyr and Keshi Anderson.
Tottenham signed MK Dons midfielder Dele Alli for a fee in the region of £5m and loaned him back to the League One club.
Despite being the biggest spenders, Chelsea made a profit on the day, selling Andre Schurrle to Wolfsburg for £22m and Bertrand for an undisclosed fee, as well as loaning Mohamed Salah to Fiorentina as part of the deal to sign Cuadrado.
Midfielder Filip Djuricic joined Bertrand at Southampton, moving to the club on loan from Benfica.
Manchester City had already done their recruitment, with striker Wilfried Bony joining from Swansea for a fee that could reach £28m. Arsenal did likewise in signing Villarreal defender Gabriel Paulista for £11m.
Leicester broke their club record earlier in the window to sign Croatia striker Andrej Kramaric for more than £9m.
In Scotland, Celtic spent more than £2m on Dundee United midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven while Rangers signed five players on loan from Newcastle.
It was a quiet day across Europe - Schurrle's move apart - with Spain's transfer window having closed on Friday.


A 50ft (15m) lorry became wedged in a small village street after being directed there by a sat-nav, its driver said.

The village was blocked for several hours after the vehicle became stuck in Walkern High Street, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police tweeted: "Question, what is 50 feet long and unlikely to fit through the narrow streets of Walkern#satnavfail."
The lorry was removed later.
For more on this and other stories visit BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks Live
A spokesman from Manea-based haulage company D&R Hankins said the driver had been to a farm in Walkern and was on his way back to its Cambridgeshire base.
The driver's sat nav had taken him through the narrow village streets, he confirmed.
There was "minimal damage" to the lorry and a recovery vehicle was sent to "manoeuvre" it out of its predicament, he added.


A gunman has been killed after he shot a state trooper at a Greyhound bus station in the US state of Virginia.

The state trooper is in a critical condition and two others were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The Virginia State Police did not identify the male suspect.
Officers were conducting a training exercise when the gunman approached the trooper and shot him in the chest.
State troopers then fired back and killed the gunman. The troopers were in uniform at the time.
Najee Wilson, 18, of New Jersey was waiting for a bus when he heard gunshots.
"We heard a lot of people screaming," Mr Wilson told the Associated Press. "It definitely was a scary experience."
The Greyhound station in Richmond is just west of the city's downtown area.
Greyhound issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying the Richmond bus station would be closed "until further notice".
Police officers from multiple agencies flooded the area after the shooting. The gunman's weapon was recovered, police said.
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said law enforcement officers have become targets.
"It's unfortunate these are the days we're living in, where folks want to harm law enforcement," Mr Durham said.


Sean Anstee has been chosen as the Conservative Party candidate for the first mayoral elections in Greater Manchester next year.

The Trafford Council leader was selected ahead of Stephen Woods, chairman of Wythenshawe & Sale East Conservatives, on Thursday.
The 29-year-old tweeted he was "so proud", adding: "Our city is on the verge of something special".
All the main parties have chosen their candidates for the 4 May election.
Mr Anstee is the youngest council leader in the region. He was elected as a councillor for Bowdon in 2008, and became Trafford Council leader in 2014.
Leigh MP and former shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham was chosen as Labour's candidate last August, while Trafford councillor Jane Brophy will represent the Liberal Democrats.
Deyika Nzeribe is the Green Party candidate and Shneur Odze will represent UKIP.


New Zealand fly-half Aaron Cruden said it was a "tough pill to swallow" after learning he could miss the Rugby World Cup through injury.

The 26-year-old, capped 37 times, tore cruciate ligaments in his left knee while playing for Waikato Chiefs.
He will have a knee reconstruction and is expected to be out for six months.
New Zealand's first match at the World Cup - against Argentina at Wembley - will be played on 20 September, with the final on 31 October.
"I wasn't too sure what it was when it happened," said Cruden, who told the All Blacks website he had not given up hope of playing at the World Cup.
"It was hard to believe when I heard what it was. There was no swelling around the knee and it still feels reasonably strong.
"It felt like I had been struck down by a sniper."
Cruden, who has scored 280 points for the All Blacks, made his most recent international appearance in the 24-21 win over England in November.
He was the starting fly-half for New Zealand's 2011 World Cup final triumph after Dan Carter and Colin Slade sustained injuries.
Cruden went off in the first half of the 8-7 win over France with a knee injury, leaving Stephen Donald - who had been on a fishing holiday at the start of the tournament - to kick the decisive penalty.


Sydney Roosters captain Mitchell Pearce says he has "a problem with alcohol" after footage emerged of him apparently committing lewd and drunken acts.

Pearce has been stood down from training, the club are investigating and they have informed the NRL.
The 26-year-old half-back said he had to address his alcohol issues and added: "It is not an excuse but a realisation that I finally need help."
The incident is said to have happened at a house party on Australia Day.
In the video, Pearce appears to try to kiss a woman, who accuses him of wetting himself after rejecting his advances, before he allegedly simulated a sex act on a dog.
"Together with the club I'm working on a solution for me to address these issues that will come out in the next couple of days," said Pearce.
The club issued the following statement:
In 2014, Pearce was fined £9,800 and suspended after an incident in which he was arrested and ejected from a Sydney nightclub.
He will not return to training with the Roosters until the club "concludes its internal investigation".
Pearce, the son of rugby league legend and NRL commissioner Wayne Pearce, looks certain to miss the trip to England for the World Club Series game against St Helens at Langtree Park on 19 February.
"I'd like to unreservedly apologise to everyone for my actions over the past couple of days," added Pearce.
"My behaviour was unacceptable. I'm embarrassed and take full responsibility for my actions."


Do you know the difference between a clothesline and a Bank Statement?

9 May 2017 Last updated at 16:05 BST
No, we don't mean how you hang your washing up or the letters your parents get through the post. We're talking about the WWE wrestling moves!
Ayshah went to Liverpool to find out if she's got what it takes to become a WWE Superstar.
Watch her get some help from Finn Balor, Enzo Amore, Big Cass and Bayley!
Pictures courtesy of WWE Network


Leyton Orient manager Danny Webb says the club's off-field problems are weighing on him heavily after they slipped to the bottom of League Two.

The O's lost 5-0 at Accrington on Tuesday, six days before a winding-up petition is due to be heard.
"It was a very hurtful night - certainly my lowest night in football," Webb, 33, told BBC London.
"I'm trying to take on a lot, carry a lot of things on my shoulders. It's hard."
Newport's win at Morecambe on Tuesday saw Webb's side go bottom of the fourth tier for the first time this season.
Orient have lost five of their last six games and are seven points from safety with nine matches remaining.
Webb, who is in his first management job, added: "I'm trying to reassure players about winding-up orders, and reassure myself really because I haven't got a clue what's going on either.
"The whole thing's testing, but really all we should be worrying about is setting the team up to try and win a football game.
"Unfortunately, your heart sinks when it goes to 2-0 because then it really is game over when you're down the bottom."
Orient will present a "funding plan" at the High Court to stave off Monday's winding-up petition, according to the English Football League.
The club met with EFL officials and said they would be able to clear the debt, believed to be around £250,000, owed to HM Revenue and Customs.
"We were advised that a funding plan is in place to clear the petition debt and to complete their remaining nine league fixtures," an EFL statement said.
"We remain in regular dialogue with the club and, as the competition organiser, the EFL will continue to offer whatever practical assistance is available to us as the club continues to navigate itself away from their current position.
"The issue of the ownership of the club is not a matter for the EFL, as long as our regulations are met and any sale of the club is a matter for its shareholders, at this stage."
President Francesco Becchetti said last month he would consider selling Orient, but it is understood a number of potential offers have not been considered sufficiently financially attractive.


Alex McLeish admits he would find it difficult to turn down Rangers should he be asked to become manager at Ibrox for a second time.

The Scottish Premiership club parted company with Mark Warburton on Friday.
McLeish, who was manager for five years until 2006, insisted there has been no contact with his former club.
But the 58-year-old told Sky Sports: "When you get asked to come to a club like Rangers then its for sure a decision to turn that down."
McLeish, who was sacked by Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek in May, has emerged as the bookmakers' favourite.
And he was a television guest as Rangers, with caretaker Graeme Murty in charge, defeated Greenock Morton 2-1 to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
Asked if he was likely to be the new manager, McLeish replied: "You never know. It is purely coincidence that I'm here today.
"You called me a couple of weeks ago to come and do this game and I then find there's been some events happening at Ibrox the last couple of days."
McLeish was also asked if Rangers had been in touch since Warburton departed on Friday.
"No," he said. "Obviously there's a lot of speculation, but at the moment there's nothing I can update you on apart form the fact that I'm here and it looks more than a coincidence, but it is a coincidence."
McLeish won two Scottish titles as Rangers manager and the Glasgow club also won five knock-out trophies during his tenure - the Scottish Cup twice and League Cup three times.
The man who has also managed Motherwell, Hibernian, Scotland, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Genk hinted that a return to Ibrox would be an attractive prospect.
"I am a Rangers man, so you obviously have to keep that in consideration," he added.
Rangers chairman Dave King has claimed that the club accepted Warburton's resignation after the manager's representative had talks with Nottingham Forest, while the Englishman denies he resigned.
The Glasgow side lie third in the Scottish Premiership, 27 points adrift of city rivals and holders Celtic, and King said Warburton's team had not reached the targets expected of them.
Former Rangers players Gordon Smith and Barry and Derek Ferguson have described McLeish as the ideal candidate to take over.


A revival of Brian Friel's Faith Healer at the Donmar Warehouse is a "celebration" of the playwright's life, actress Gina McKee said as the play opened to five star reviews.

The play is made up of four monologues - with the three characters only coming together at the end to take their bow, on the stark set designed by Es Devlin.
Shambolic faith healer Frank, played by Stephen Dillane, has been touring the villages of Wales, Ireland and Scotland for years with his wife Grace (McKee) and his manager Teddy (Ron Cook, returning to a role he last played 26 years ago), with limited success and funds.
Most of the time no actual healing takes place - but what actually has entailed depends on whose version of events you believe, with each character weaving a slightly different tale from the threads of their memory.
One critic even declared it as the "ideal post-Brexit play", because of its "themes of miracle cures, bitter exile and fallible memory".
"The brilliant thing about seeing any piece of work is how you bring your own interpretation of it," said McKee.
"One of the things which initially hooked me is how Brian explores how we use memory - how we use it to validate ourselves in the present, and to protect ourselves. That theme is something that really interested me."
Donmar Warehouse executive producer Kate Pakenham said Friel had approached director Lyndsey Turner back in 2014 to direct Faith Healer. It makes it the third play by the writer - who died in October - she has directed at the Donmar.
"It was a gift to Lyndsey and to the Donmar and so it was very special," Pakenham said.
"It's been very special to take on the responsibility of that gift and try to give a new production for a new generation."
She said it was "not a memorial performance", but a celebratory one, adding "there will be many other performances of Brian Friel's great works".
McKee added: "It's a celebration, pure and simple."
Cook said of reprising the role of Cockney Teddy, who provides some welcome moments of comedy in what is, at times, a heart-breaking play: "In my whole career, it's the only part which I've ever pursued and wanted to do again. And I wanted to do that because this is a great, great play."
The Guardian's Michael Billington gave it five stars, saying it "contradicts our theatre's trend towards ever greater visual sophistication by asserting the power of the word".
He said McKee was "unforgettable" as Grace, adding: "More than ever, the play struck me as a masterpiece: One in which Friel wrestles with the artist's dependence on the unpredictability of inspiration."
Mark Shenton, in The Stage, also awarded Faith Healer five stars.
"Action is all described, not shown; but the poetic grace and feeling of Friel's script is achingly inhabited in the spellbinding intensity of the narrators," he said. "It becomes like three of the best one-person plays I've ever seen, performed back-to-back."
The Daily Mail's Quentin Letts, complained the pace was "treacly", Dillane's delivery was "gluey" and McKee was "a bore" as Grace. He praised Cook however, and awarded it three stars.
The Arts Desk said it was "brilliantly acted" and "utterly compelling". Aleks Sierz said: "This revival is verbally hypnotic, emotionally intense and compellingly ambiguous. Plays rarely tell us so directly what it feels like to be human - this one does. And then some."


A compulsory purchase order to make residents of a London council estate sell their flats ahead of a regeneration scheme has been blocked.

The government told Southwark Council it had not done enough to protect Aylesbury Estate residents.
Minister Sajid Javid found the orders breached the human rights of residents as they would not be able to afford to stay on the estate or live nearby.
Southwark Council said they would seek a judicial review.
It called on Mr Javid to reconsider his decision, claiming the report was based on a former leaseholder policy which had been updated in December 2015.
Council leader Peter John said the government had "jeopardised plans for 800 new homes for Londoners" and pointed out each of the remaining resident leaseholders has been offered a new home in the same area, rent-free, and with a shared equity arrangement to protect money they had saved and invested.
Homeowners on the estate told the BBC in recent weeks the council had priced their properties below market rates.
Resident Beverley Robinson, who bought her flat more than 10 years ago, claims the council valued her property at £117,000.
However, two independent valuers priced it at about £300,000.
"You can't buy a home in London for under £140,000 which means I will have to start again - finding a mortgage - and at my age that's not an option. I will be turned down by the banks," she said.
They would be forced to move away, with an impact on family life, the education of affected children and "dislocation from their cultural heritage" for some residents, the government said.
Agnes Kabuto, who lives on the same estate, said the council had offered her £145,000 for her three-bedroom home while similar-sized properties in the area were going for about £385,000.
The Aylesbury Estate in Elephant and Castle was the largest social housing estate in Europe, but it is to be demolished to make way for a £1.5bn regeneration scheme.


You hear it on stages, like when Marc Benioff, chief executive and co-founder of Salesforce, urged 90,000 attendees at the firm's Dreamforce conference to fill in the visionary hole that Steve Jobs left.
You hear it at cocktail parties. At one by Morgenthaler Ventures, for instance, Apple team members who worked on Siri talked about how they missed Steve Jobs yelling at people.
You hear it on the streets. While standing in line for the newest iPhone - which included one of eBay's top search experts, Andy Edmonds - people noted that the industry was a bit more boring without Jobs.
It's a year after Steve Jobs died. So, what has changed?
After Jobs' death last year I wrote that Apple would be fine.
I still think it'll be fine. Great companies don't just disappear and Apple is still benefiting from momentum put in place by Jobs and his teams.
What are Apple's still existing advantages?
What is missing now that Jobs is gone?
Silicon Valley still hasn't recovered from this loss.
Yeah, it's trying. Larry Page and Sergey Brin over at Google are building self-driving cars and fantastic new wearable computers, but I'm left wondering how Jobs would look at those efforts and find a way to improve them.
Yes, I do wonder if Apple would have released its maps feature in such an early state.
Or, if he had released it, would he have explained to us why he is doing his own maps in a much better way than Mr Cook did. There are good reasons, after all, for Apple to head its own way and build its own mapping technology.
See, Apple and Google are on a collision course around contextual applications and operating systems.
Siri today is a bit stupid. She gives you the same answer she gives me. That's not contextual, or, personalised.
In the future Siri will give us answers based on who we are, the experiences we've had with our devices and the world of the internet, and, even what we're doing.
Our wearable computers, in the future, will be able to know that we're walking, driving, skiing, or shopping. Siri, in the future, will be contextual.
Why do we know that? Because Jobs told the team just that as he convinced them to bring Siri to Apple.
It is here that we are missing Steve Jobs's instincts.
We know a new contextual age is coming where our mobile devices will serve us, but we don't have someone like Jobs who is telling us how we'll get over the uncomfortable feeling that we're being stalked by the technology we're carrying around.
Jobs would have found a way. I'm not so sure that Page and Brin can do the same.
That is why Silicon Valley continues to miss Jobs and it'll be interesting to see if someone or - as Benioff urged - a group of people can fill those shoes.
That continues to be Silicon Valley and Apple's biggest question a year later.
Robert Scoble has been repeatedly listed as one of the world's most influential technology bloggers for his articles on his site Scobleizer. He is also start-up liaison officer at the cloud computing service provider Rackspace.


Four "reckless" youths who tied a metal ladder to railway tracks in West Lothian are being hunted by police.

Officers said the consequences could have been "catastrophic" when an Edinburgh train ploughed through it at Livingston North station.
The Scotrail driver spotted the ladder and applied the brakes, but was unable to stop in time.
The youths were witnessed tethering the ladder to the tracks.
They remained at the scene to watch as it was hit by the train.
British Transport Police tweeted an image of the crushed ladder in a bid to trace those behind the incident which happened earlier this month.
PC Craig Wilson said: "The ladder could have easily been propelled onto the platform and struck a member of the public. Not to mention the fact that this train could have been derailed.
"It might have seemed like fun but the consequences could have been catastrophic."


Chesterfield have signed Stockport County striker Kristian Dennis on a free transfer.

Dennis, 26, spent this season on loan at National League side Macclesfield, scoring 23 goals in 39 appearances.
He told the club website: "I'm buzzing and hopefully I can repay the faith shown in me. I believe in my ability and anything can happen if someone believes in you."
The League One side have not disclosed the length of the player's deal.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Three lawyers accused of improperly pursuing murder and torture claims against British troops in Iraq have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Martyn Day, co-founder of law firm Leigh Day, and colleagues Sapna Malik and Anna Crowther, were cleared at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal of a series of misconduct charges.
The hearing related to their handling of claims made against the MoD.
Mr Day said the decision allowed them to return to "the work we love".
The hearing followed the Â£31m Al Sweady public inquiry examining that claims British soldiers tortured and murdered Iraqi detainees taken into custody following the battle of Danny Boy, north of Basra, in 2004.
It concluded that the allegations were "wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility".
But it also found that nine Iraqi detainees had been mistreated.
The main tribunal charge concerned Leigh Day's failure to disclose a document identifying the Iraqi detainees as insurgents and members of a militia that had attacked British forces.
Other charges alleged the firm continued to seek damages for its clients when it was improper to do so, and authorised prohibited payments for cases to be referred to it.
Leigh Day had previously acknowledged its failure to disclose the document was a human error, but denied any professional wrongdoing.
This ruling will be a considerable blow to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) which prosecuted this case. The SRA is funded by the solicitors' profession and members will want to know why millions of pounds of their money was spent in a failed prosecution involving 20 charges of professional misconduct.
In February, the government welcomed the SRA's successful prosecution of the controversial solicitor Phil Shiner who was found guilty of 22 charges of misconduct including dishonesty and a lack of integrity. He was struck off.
His firm, Public Interest Lawyers, which had worked closely with Leigh Day in bringing claims by Iraqis against the Ministry of Defence, closed in August after being stripped of legal aid funding for breaching contractual requirements.
Leigh Day always acknowledged some human error, but denied professional wrongdoing, stressing the difference between the two things. The SRA had to prove misconduct to the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
At a pre-trial hearing, the firm suggested the SRA had been leaned on by the government to pursue the case. The SRA categorically denied the suggestion, but there will be some solicitors who believe politics played a role in the case against Leigh Day.
Mr Day and Ms Malik were each cleared of 16 misconduct charges, Ms Crowther was cleared of four, including an allegation of destroying a key document, and the firm was cleared of 11 counts.
Following the 22-day hearing, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal panel chairman Simon Tinkler said they had found that none of the allegations made had been proved.
A full judgement is due in August.
In a statement, Mr Day said: "We are pleased that the tribunal has cleared us of all the charges, and confirmed our view that we did not act improperly or dishonestly in these legal claims.
"For nearly 40 years I have battled on behalf of the ordinary man and woman in this country and abroad to ensure they get access to justice not least when they face the might of British multinationals or government.
"I am very pleased that I and my colleagues can now get back to doing the work we love."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We have noted today's decision and are disappointed that, unlike in the case of Phil Shiner's Public Interest Lawyers, the tribunal has not agreed with the concerns we have raised.
"We will continue to both vigorously defend any opportunistic claims when we believe they are false or exaggerated, and to bring any evidence of wrongdoing to the attention of supervising bodies."


A car with a toddler and baby on board has been clocked at 122mph on a Greater Manchester motorway, police said.

The Volkswagen was stopped by officers in the early hours of Friday morning after it was spotted on a wet and unlit stretch of the M56 near Manchester Airport.
The children were aged 20 months and six months, Altrincham Today reported.
The driver is accused of speeding, driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance.
PC Rob Hughes, of Greater Manchester Police's road policing unit, said: "I was appalled that anyone would drive at these speeds on an unlit section of motorway on a wet road surface.
"I have never seen such a blatant disregard for the safety of the children."


An oil spill of about 95 tonnes from a platform off Shetland is heading away from land, BP has said.

The energy giant said oil had been observed on the sea surface, and seemed to be moving north.
The oil was released into the water from the Clair platform on Sunday.
BP said: "At present, we believe the most appropriate response is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action are being prepared."
The company added: "The most likely volume of oil to sea has been calculated from platform data as 95 tonnes.
"Both direct observation from surveillance flights and oil spill modelling continue to show the oil moving in a northerly direction away from land.
"The most recent surveillance flight already indicates significant dispersal of the oil at the surface."
The Clair platform is 75km (46 miles) west of Shetland.
It was shut down after the leak.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "I am closely monitoring the situation, which I understand to be the result of the rig discharging 'produced water' containing a much larger than usual amount of oil.
"The oil residue is moving away from the shore and, as such, there is a low risk to bird species at this time of year. The nearby Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt Marine Protected Area is home to deep-water sponges 400-600m below the sea surface.
"Marine Scotland have advised that allowing the oil to weather naturally is the least harmful option for this internationally important marine habitat."
Mick Borwell, the health, safety and environment policy director at industry body Oil and Gas UK, said: "We will await the findings of the investigation and will see if there are any findings that can be shared with industry.
"However the UK oil and gas industry does it utmost to prevent accidental releases by investing heavily in a wide range of physical barriers as well as developing training and procedures that influence human behaviours.
"Every operator has emergency response plans in place and use a wide range of response techniques to monitor, contain and recover accidental releases.
"Industry takes its responsibilities towards safety and the environment extremely seriously in all its operations."
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said:  "In the interests of protecting their staff and the marine environment, serious questions need asked about how this spill occurred. Until those questions are answered the platform should remain out of operation."


A family farm provoked controversy when it posted a video of guinea pigs eating Brussels sprouts.

Finkley Down Farm, in Hampshire, posted a video of the hungry rodents munching on the Christmas dinner accompaniment.
The clip, which garnered 6m views in four days, prompted criticism from some who were concerned the vegetables could cause "fatal" bloating.
However, the farm and the RSPCA and Blue Cross animal charities said they were safe "in moderation".
Facebook user Bob Hammer commented : "These animals are doomed from bloat as a result of being able to eat this many Brussels, Finkley Down Farm you need to be taken to task!!"
Another user, Katie Jacqueline Crossingham, said: "Please be aware: Sprouts can cause bloat in guinea pigs, which can often lead to a nasty, painful death."
The farm, which posted the video as a festive message to its followers, said the welfare of its animals was "paramount" and added it had "expert livestock staff" to deal with the needs of individual animals.
"Here at Finkley we have a large herd of guinea pigs nearly 50 in total - the sprouts in the video are equivalent to one per guinea pig," the farm added.
"We are aware that Brussels sprouts can be difficult for guinea pigs to digest, however, these are safe for them to eat in moderation - something we keep a close eye on to ensure they aren't getting carried away."
An RSPCA spokeswoman described the video as "adorable".
"Sprouts can make a nice Christmas treat for guinea pigs and offering them as occasional treats in moderation can add variety and interest to their diet," she added.
Katie Stiles, animal welfare assistant at Blue Cross, said: "As part of a balanced diet they are absolutely fine.
"Guinea pigs need a mix of vegetables, as sprouts and cabbages can cause bloating - though this is more of an issue with rabbits - but they also need vegetables rich in vitamin C, such as peppers, as they are unable to produce it themselves."


Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend multilateral talks on finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria in Vienna this week, a government spokeswoman has said.

It will be the first time Iran - an ally of President Bashar al-Assad - has attended such a summit with the US.
Representatives of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will also attend the talks.
Earlier, the US said an invitation had been extended to Iran - a move Syria's Western-backed opposition questioned.
Meanwhile, Russia said its aircraft had struck 118 "terrorist" targets in Syria over a 24-hour period - a new record - as a result of what its defence ministry said was new intelligence.
The main round of talks on Syria is expected to take place on Friday, but diplomats say some preparatory meetings could happen on Thursday evening.
Aside from inviting Iran to attend the talks in Vienna, the US has also said it could live with a political transition in Syria that would leave Mr Assad temporarily in power, potentially removing an obstacle to building international consensus.
For some time, Iran has been pushing a four-point plan for Syria that calls for a ceasefire, followed by the formation of a national unity government, constitutional reforms and, finally, free elections. The plan could now, conceivably, be used as a basis for further discussions.
But perhaps more surprising than the change in US policy, has been Saudi Arabia's acquiescence to Iran's involvement in the talks in Vienna.
Many in the region see the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia as being at the heart of the deepening conflicts in the Middle East.
And, in addition to potentially ending the destructive and bloody war in Syria, the talks in Vienna might therefore offer a way to calm that rivalry.
Iran now seen as part of solution to Syria conflict
Washington struggles for clear line on Syria
"We have reviewed the invitation, and it was decided that the foreign minister would attend the talks," Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.
Egypt and Iraq also confirmed they had accepted invitations to the meeting.
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says that while the US is certainly not welcoming Iran to the Syria talks, it will now tolerate Tehran's involvement.
Iran's Fars news agency said Mr Zarif had discussed participation in the Vienna talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone on Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that Russia wanted a "widening of the dialogue" on Syria.
Iran is believed to have spent billions of dollars over the past four years propping up President Assad's government, providing military advisers and subsidising weapons.
However, Syria's political opposition has warned that Iran's involvement will only complicate the meeting in Vienna.
Both Iran and Russia - another ally of President Assad - have recently stepped up their military role in the Syrian conflict.
Iran has long acknowledged sending military advisers to Syria, but has denied the presence of any ground forces.
Despite that, unconfirmed reports earlier this month said that hundreds of Iranian troops had arrived in Syria.
They were reported to be joining government forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah, in assaults on rebel positions in northern and central Syria.
Russia began its military intervention in Syria at the end of last month, launching air strikes in support of President Assad.
Russia and Iran have insisted that Mr Assad must be part of any transition government and that the Syrian people must be allowed to decide who governs them.
The US has indicated it could only tolerate President Assad during a short transition period, after which he should step down.
Why is there a war in Syria?
Anti-government protests developed into a civil war that, four years on, has ground to a stalemate, with the Assad government, Islamic State, an array of Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters all holding territory.
Who is fighting whom?
Government forces concentrated in Damascus and the centre and west of Syria are fighting the jihadists of Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, as well as less numerous so-called "moderate" rebel groups, who are strongest in the north and east. These groups are also battling each other.
What's the human cost?
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and a million injured. Some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad - including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.
How has the world reacted?
Iran, Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement are propping up the Alawite-led Assad government, while Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar back the more moderate Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France. Hezbollah and Iran are believed to have troops and officers on the ground, while a Western-led coalition and Russia are carrying out air strikes.
Iran's growing role in Syria's war
Syria crisis: Where key countries stand


More than 30 firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a scrapyard in the West Midlands.

A pile of scrap, mainly about 30 cars, was involved in the "severe fire" at Bilston Road, Monmore Green, Wolverhampton, the fire service said.
The blaze at the metal recycling yard started at about 19:55 BST.
Two fire engines from Wolverhampton and one from Dudley, Bloxwich, Fallings Park and Bilston were deployed to the scene.


Blackburn Rovers have signed left-back Stephen Hendrie on a season-long loan from West Ham United.

The Scotland Under-21 international has yet to feature for the Premier League side's first team since a £1m move from Hamilton last summer.
Hendrie, 21, spent the second half of last season on loan at League One side Southend, making five appearances.
"He's not the finished article because he's a young kid, but he has scope for development," said manager Owen Coyle.
"I know West Ham have got high hopes for him to play in the Premier League in future years."
He told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I do expect to still announce another couple of signings this week - it's something I'm working very hard at."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


More than 60 firefighters tackled a "significant" fire at a disused mill in County Tyrone.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) received a report of a blaze at Herdman's Mill in Sion Mills at about 14:00 BST on Sunday.
The fire quickly spread over the entire ground floor of the building.
Crews contained the fire and remained at the site into the evening to prevent it from spreading, the NIFRS said.
Nine pumping appliances and specialist high-reach and high-volume pumps were sent to the scene.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
There have been no reports of injuries.


West Indies held on to beat India by one run in a thrilling Twenty20 that saw a record 489 runs and 32 sixes.

Evin Lewis smashed a 48-ball century and Johnson Charles scored 79 off 33 deliveries in West Indies' 245-6 in the series opener in Lauderhill, Florida.
KL Rahul led India's reply with an unbeaten 110 - his 46-ball hundred was the joint second fastest in T20s.
But Dwayne Bravo had MS Dhoni caught at short third man off the final ball of the match to seal a remarkable victory.
Lewis, the 24-year-old left-handed opener playing only his second international match, took 32 off a Stuart Binny over, the joint second most expensive over in T20s.
West Indies hit 21 sixes - a record in a T20 international innings - while their total was the third highest in history. India's response sits fourth on the list.
The final game of the series takes place at the same venue on Sunday. India won the four-Test series 2-0.


A lamb born without its own wool coat is being kept warm in a borrowed fluffy fleece.

The lamb, nicknamed Skippy because "he looks like a kangaroo", was born on a farm at Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire.
Described as a "freak of nature" by farm hand Sally-Ann Fisher, Skippy was "completely abandoned" by his mother and is now being hand-reared.
Ms Fisher said: "We've made a little jacket for him to wear out of an old jumper to keep him warm at night."
Ms Fisher, who farms with her partner near Ramsbury, said the lamb had been born 10 days ago but they were "not aware" that its lack of wool was a condition or a "health problem".
"He's just unlucky, but he's doing great," she said.
Hannah Park, from the National Sheep Association, said the condition was "not common".
"Some breeds with less wool might be susceptible but it is extremely unusual and not something we would see," she said.


Former world number four Robin Soderling has retired from tennis after suffering glandular fever since 2011.

The 31-year-old Swede, who became the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2009, has not recovered sufficiently to return to the sport.
Soderling reached the French Open finals of 2009 and 2010.
"I've realised that I will not be healthy enough to be able to play tennis at the level I demand of myself," Soderling told tennis.se.
"For that reason I have decided to end my career as a professional tennis player."
The Swede, who also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, had hoped to return to competitive action but has finally admitted defeat.
"A few weeks before the Swedish Open in Bastad in 2011 I became ill with glandular fever," added Soderling.
"Since I was not aware of the seriousness of this, I made the mistake of continuing to train and compete with the virus in my body, which resulted in a sharp overtraining syndrome. I have since struggled to recover completely from this.
"With the disease it has been impossible for me to train 100% and I was forced to rest after any physical effort. In some periods I felt so bad that I was completely bed-ridden.
"This past year, however, my health improved and I have been able to increase my exercise levels, but my recovery after exercise is unfortunately still not as I would like."
Soderling played his final match in July, 2011, beating Spain's David Ferrer to win the Swedish Open in Bastad.


BBC One's big-budget drama Dickensian has been cancelled after one series.

The 20-part series, based on the books of Charles Dickens, started on Boxing Day with five million viewers but it fell to an average of two million.
The brainchild of former EastEnders' writer Tony Jordan, the drama brought together characters from books such as Oliver Twist, Bleak House and Great Expectations.
A BBC spokeswoman said the cancellation had been a "difficult" decision.
"We are incredibly proud of Dickensian and would like to thank all those involved in such an ambitious series.
"We sometimes have to make difficult decisions to make room for new shows and it won't be returning for a second series."
The show starred Stephen Rea as Inspector Bucket from Bleak House trying to solve the murder of Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol, played by Peter Firth.
The cast also included Tuppence Middleton as a young Miss Havisham from Great Expectations and Caroline Quentin as Mrs Bumble from Oliver Twist.
But viewers complained about the lack of a fixed time slot in the schedules for the programme.
Before the series aired Jordan said he had already scripted 60 episodes and was banking on the BBC commissioning more, pointing out that Dickens created in excess of 2,000 characters and he had only used 30.
Jordan, managing director of Red Planet Pictures who made the drama, admitted he was "disappointed" that they would not be making a second series.
"We are hugely proud of what we achieved in the first series of Dickensian and would like to thank everyone who helped us create a truly special and unique drama."


The parents of Cambridge University student Giulio Regeni who was murdered in Cairo, have questioned whether the European Union should continue to regard Egypt as "a friend".

The body of Italian Giulio Regeni, which showed signs of torture, was found dumped near Cairo on 3 February.
His parents addressed a human rights committee in Brussels on Wednesday.
They called for sanctions against Egypt which they said was not co-operating fully to solve their son's murder.
The 28-year-old student had been researching trade unions, a politically sensitive subject in Egypt, when he went missing in Cairo on 25 January.
His body was found by a roadside nine days later.
No-one has been arrested over Mr Regeni's death, although in March Egyptian authorities claimed to have found a criminal gang responsible for his kidnapping and murder.
All the gang members were killed in a shoot-out, they said.
The claims have been branded "implausible" by academics who have criticised the Egyptian authorities.
His parents Paola and Claudio Regeni have joined calls for the Egyptian authorities to co-operate more fully with the Italian government.
In March the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Egypt to provide the Italian authorities with information to "enable a swift, transparent and impartial joint investigation".
It also condemned the "torture and assassination under suspicious circumstances of EU citizen Giulio Regeni".
At a human rights sub-committee meeting on Wednesday the Regeni family called for Europe to impose sanctions on Egypt.
Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner, a supporter of the "justice for Giulio" campaign, met the student's parents in Brussels and offered his condolences from the people of Cambridge, where Giulio had lived and studied for 10 years.
He described the couple as inspiring, and said: "Giulio's father Claudio outlined a range of measures he would like to see adopted, including embassies offering sanctuary to witnesses who are currently afraid to speak out."
Mr Zeichner said he would raise this issue with the UK Foreign Office.
"The sense I got was that Britain could be applying more pressure. There have been plenty of warm words but no action and I don't think Egypt will react to warm words.
"Giulio Regeni's parents do not believe the Egyptian authorities are doing all they can or that they are co-operating," he said.
"But I am left with Giulio's mother's question to both the Italian and British governments over whether Egypt can continue to be treated as a friend - 'Do friends kill each other's children?'"
In April the Foreign Office condemned "the brutal manner of [Giulio Regeni's] killing" and admitted it was "disappointed by the limited progress made in the case".


Ukraine is to remove the names of three BBC journalists from a sanctions list that has been criticised as "absurd" by one rights group.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on Wednesday, naming almost 400 people and 90 legal entities as security threats.
Mr Poroshenko's press secretary and the UK ambassador to Ukraine tweeted that the three names would now be removed.
Journalists from Spain and Germany were also taken off the list.
The UK ambassador, Judith Gough, said it was a "welcome move". She had visited Mr Poroshenko earlier in the day.
The AP news agency said two of the Spanish journalists had disappeared in Syria in July and were believed to have been kidnapped by the Islamic State group.
All those on the list, including the Moscow-based BBC staff, were subject to sanctions related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine that started last year.
The Reporters Without Borders group said the decision was "an absurd, counter-productive breach of freedom of information".
The Committee to Protect Journalists, who said there were 41 journalists and bloggers on the list, said: "While the government may not like or agree with the coverage, labelling journalists a potential threat to national security is not an appropriate response."
Mr Poroshenko had stressed that the sanctions decision was taken "in co-ordination with our partners from the European Union, the United States of America and other countries".
Almost 8,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, a month after Russia annexed the southern Crimea peninsula.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of arming the separatists and also sending its regular troops in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow denies this, but admits that Russian "volunteers" fight alongside the rebels.
A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been holding in the last two weeks, although there have been reports of occasional shelling.


Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has been sidelined after spraining his right ankle in Sunday's 4-0 win at Eibar.

The 28-year-old, who has played 27 of Barcelona's 32 games this season, left the pitch on a stretcher in the eighth minute of the match following a challenge from Nicolas Escalante.
The club did not give a timeframe for the Spain international's return.
Barcelona are already without injured midfielder Andres Iniesta.
They host Real Sociedad on Thursday in the Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg, holding a 1-0 advantage from the first-leg.
Barcelona, who are third in La Liga, travel to Real Betis on Sunday and face Paris St-Germain on 14 February in the Champions League last 16.


Burnley recorded the fifth highest net profit by a European club in the financial year of 2015, ahead of the likes of Bayern Munich, Porto and Ajax.

The Clarets, who made a net profit of 40m euros in the year they were relegated from the Premier League, were one of four English teams joined in the top five by Real Madrid.
"This is a club that has to be run properly," said manager Sean Dyche.
Burnley's operating profit of 54m euros was the 10th best on the continent.
The figures were revealed in Uefa's Club Licensing Benchmarking Report for 2015.
Manchester United returned the highest operating profit - their 143m euros beating the 135m Real Madrid brought in in 2011.
Premier League rivals Liverpool, having sold striker Luis Suarez to Barcelona, had the best net profit - 75m euros.
Newcastle (43m), Real Madrid (42m) and Leicester (40m) completed the top five teams.
Uefa's report showed Queens Park Rangers produced the third highest net loss (60m euros), behind Inter Milan (140m) and AC Milan (89m).


Ed Sheeran is putting up signs asking motorists to drive safely, after one of his lyrics prompted a safety warning from police.

The singer, who lives near Framlingham in Suffolk, was pulled up by a roads sergeant on Twitter after singing about "driving at 90" in Castle on the Hill.
Sheeran said the blue signs, saying "drive safe", would be placed around parts of his home county.
He said: "I'm not encouraging speeding at all, I'm just singing it in a song."
Read more on this story and others from Suffolk
Castle on the Hill, described as a "love song for Suffolk", was released in January and has remained towards the top of the chart since - being kept off the top spot by his other release, Shape of You.
Sgt Chris Harris, from Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing, posted a plea on Twitter for people to "slow down on Suffolk roads" in response to the line "driving at 90 down those country lanes".
"I don't think it specifically says miles per hour," Sheeran told the BBC. "It could be kilometres per hour."
The singer's decision to erect the signs coincides with the release of his third album, Ã·.
"We have a marketing spend for this album and I wanted to do some sort of billboards in Suffolk," Sheeran said. "We thought it would be quite funny instead of having billboards saying the album is out, just having a blue sign that says 'drive safe'."
The singer also said he was not too disappointed that Castle on the Hill failed to swap places with Shape of You in the chart, as he hoped it eventually would.
"For me it's all about the live show, having songs that react well, and having a song that's been in the top five for eight weeks will definitely go down well at a live show," he said.


US regulators have taken a first step towards overhauling a key piece of regulation brought in to protect the economy after the financial crisis.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it was seeking views on revising the Volcker Rule, which stops banks trading with their own money.
The Trump administration has called for "significant changes" to the rule, which they say hampers banks' growth.
But critics say diluting it would make the financial system less safe.
The acting Comptroller of the Currency, Keith Noreika, said voices from across the political spectrum had called for the law to be made clearer.
"A bipartisan consensus has emerged that the Volcker Rule needs clarification and recalibration to eliminate burden on banks that do not engage in covered activities and do not present systemic risks," he said.
Since its introduction, big banks have criticised the Volcker Rule, arguing that it is impossible for regulators to work out what type of trading should be barred.
And in June, the US Treasury recommended changes to the current rule, including exempting banks with less than $10bn in assets and easing compliance requirements.
Supporters say that curbing risky trading by banks is critical to preventing a rerun of the financial crisis.
But some, such as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, have said they are open to improving the legislation.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has not been joined by the other four US regulators charged with writing and enforcing the Volcker Rule.
Any changes would need to be approved by all five under current law.


Shares in Mitsubishi Motors have risen on media reports the Japanese car maker will compensate customers after it admitted falsifying fuel efficiency data.

Mitsubishi Motors' shares have lost some 50% of their value since the scandal. On Tuesday shares rose 1.9%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 2.2% higher at 16,565.19 points.
Takata shares shed 7.4% on reports of an additional seven million recalls of its faulty airbags.
On Monday, Takata had also said it was expecting a loss instead of a profit for the fiscal year until March due to the soaring costs of their global airbag recall.
In China, markets were reacting to fresh inflation data showing April's price increases steady from the previous year.
The consumer price index (CPI) was up by 2.3% on the same month the previous year.
The Shanghai Composite index was flat at 2,832.59 points at the close of Tuesday's session. Meanwhile Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed higher by 0.4% at 20,242.68.
Australia's ASX/200 finished trading 0.4% higher at 5,342.80, despite the country's commodity giants suffering from lower iron ore prices.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both lost around 3%.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index closed 0.8% up at 1,982.50 points.


An Islamic watchdog is calling for the reform of madrassas following the latest conviction of a teacher for child cruelty.

The Mosque and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) recognises the problem of abuse in the after school classes.
Ahmed Beg, from the board, said: "We are working to raise standards and want the teachers to be qualified."
Irfan Patel, 33, was found guilty on Friday of cruelty against children at a Lancashire mosque.
A Lancashire mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, was horrified to discover her son's madrassa teacher had been hitting and abusing him.
"I never sent him to be beaten - I sent him to learn the Koran," she said.
He was not the only one to suffer at the hands of a teacher at a madrassa, an after school class where children learn about their faith.
In the last year, three teachers from madrassas in Lancashire have been convicted of beating children, the latest case involving Patel.
In August Kurram Hussain, also from Blackburn, was found guilty of what magistrates called "gratuitous degradation" in beating two boys aged 10 and 11.
That followed Ibrahim Yusuf's conviction while teaching at an Accrington madrassa in 2011.
The mother said police had told her that her son's teacher had punched him in the stomach and "slapped his face, and hit his hands with a pencil".
"And he made him stand like a chicken. If he fell down, after five minutes my boy said he made him do another five minutes."
The stress position her son was forced to adopt is a torture tactic used in war zones.
Corporal punishment has been banned in mainstream schools since the 1980s.
However, madrassas are classed as supplementary schools where it is still legal in religious settings as long as it does not exceed "reasonable chastisement".
The schools are unregulated and teachers often have no training.
Nazir Afzal, the chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, handled all three prosecutions. He thinks abuse is far more widespread.
"When we talk about three successful prosecutions in the last year in the North West and probably a dozen nationally, we're talking about literally the tip of the iceberg," he said.
"In order to meet the demand, schools are being set up left right and centre.
"There is no Ofsted, no inspection regime, they're reliant entirely on a particular committee enforcing standards, ensuring discipline is correctly maintained.
"And if they are not up to the job, there's nothing to prevent children being harmed pretty much on a daily basis."
One school leading the way in the reform is Jamia Ghosia Academy in Blackburn.
It has become more like mainstream schools and is seen as a model of good practice by teachers at madrasssas in other parts of the country.
Classes are small and interactive, staff are checked for criminal records, CCTV is in place to protect pupils and corporal punishment is banned.
Head teacher Ustad Muhammad said: "In terms of corporal punishment, I'm not going to accept that in any form or any way because no child learns with that.
"You have to be patient. Children can be rowdy, can shout, can do certain things but that's the whole idea of having teacher training and learning certain types of skills."


Jockey Michelle Payne has been ruled out of the Shergar Cup team event at Ascot on 6 August after a serious fall.

Payne, who became the first female rider to win the Melbourne Cup in November, is recovering in hospital after abdomen surgery.
The 30-year-old had already been ruled out of a Royal Ascot debut in May.
Des O'Keeffe, general manager of the Australian Jockeys' Association, said Payne "had her heart set" on riding at Royal Ascot and in the Shergar Cup.
He told BBC Sport: "There's always 2017 and hopefully she'll be lucky enough to be invited again then."
Payne is described as being in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after suffering internal injuries when she was dislodged from her horse Dutch Courage at Mildura Racceourse.
Payne was scheduled to be part of a team of female jockeys looking to retain the Shergar Cup, competing against male riders representing Great Britain and Ireland, Europe and the Rest of the World.


Head coach Willie Kirk wants Bristol City Women to play more games at Ashton Gate, after playing there on Saturday for their first league match of 2017 in a rare double header with City's men.

Kirk's Vixens lost 3-1 to Reading in Women's Super League One, kicking off an hour after the end of Bristol City and Barnsley's Championship meeting.
The WSL side had played at Ashton Gate previously, for Champions League games.
"I'd love to play all our home games here," Kirk told BBC Radio Bristol.
"I enjoy playing at the college [Stoke Gifford Stadium] but to play our home games here would be brilliant. It suits us.
"It is a nice, big, flat pitch in unbelievable condition to play football on. The girls really enjoyed it so it would be great to be back here sooner rather than later."
A crowd of 1,127 was recorded for Saturday's loss to Reading, in what was the Vixens' first game back in the top flight after promotion in 2016, but the former Hibernian Ladies boss admitted he had hoped for more.
"To be honest, I'm a little bit disappointed with the attendance," Kirk added.
"Maybe that's me being greedy, but I think more Bristol City fans can get behind us and can come out. More can stay after the men's game.
"We were competing with Chelsea against Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final, which is tough, but actually being in this stadium and playing was fantastic."


Everton's draw with Tottenham at Goodison Park may not have brought a winner - but it will have given a warm glow to England manager Roy Hodgson.

As the year starts and the countdown to Euro 2016 begins, the young talent at Hodgson's disposal was glittering in the Merseyside deluge and brought rich praise from respective managers Roberto Martinez and Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino.
The £5m Tottenham paid MK Dons to secure a teenager who made his Premier League debut at Manchester United looks more of a bargain with every passing day.
Alli has already won full England recognition and at Goodison on Sunday, the 6ft 2ins-youngster showed his versatility as well as his physical and footballing capability.
He has played in a variety of midfield roles for Spurs this season, such as further forward from anchor Eric Dier, but here he was pushed into the number 10 role with Mousa Dembele out injured.
Alli was willing to mix it in the physical exchanges. He showed his eye for a goal with brilliant control and a fine finish from Toby Alderweireld's pass for Spurs' equaliser on half-time.
He also showed he is forming a natural partnership with Harry Kane, which will be of great interest to Hodgson as he formulates his plans for France.
Spurs boss Pochettino has no fears about a heavy programme taking its toll on Alli, saying: "From the beginning we have taken care of him and if he keeps playing well there is no reason why it will be a strain for him."
Alli looks a certainty for England's squad and his midfield adaptability and rapid development, as well as an eye for goal that has already brought him five in the league this season, will make him a prize asset for club and country.
Everton may have underachieved this season but Barkley continues to develop as one of his club's and England's most exciting talents.
Barkley's form dipped last season after the World Cup but, rested and rejuvenated, he was still going strong at the final whistle at Goodison Park, emerging with Romelu Lukaku as Everton's best hope for a winner.
He has struggled with decision making in the past but there is more measure in his play this season. As well as scoring six Premier League goals, he could yet emerge as the number 10 in England's plans for France.
Barkley is also becoming more of a team player and more reliable with his passing, while still retaining his eye for the unexpected, which will please Hodgson who has occasionally taken him to task for his wastefulness.
Everton boss Martinez has no complaints, saying: "This was Ross Barkley's most mature performance in three years. It was a really good game between two teams not afraid to invest in young players. Ross now fits into a structure - he plays in different roles and masters them."
Martinez occasionally errs on the side of hyperbole but there is no doubt that if Hodgson can find a way to harness Barkley's talent into his England side - and trust his game management against international sides of the highest class - he will increase his chances of success at Euro 2016.
The sight of John Stones gesturing to Everton fans gathered at the Park End to calm down demonstrated the youngster's confidence. It came after a heart-stopping dribble in and out of his own six-yard area while pursued by Spurs attackers in the closing moments.
It may occasionally be his downfall, and he might have done better when Alli collected a raking long pass from Alderweireld, but here Everton and England have a defender containing the perfect profile for modern 21st century football.
Stones not only went into battle with England colleague Kane but he was also prepared to step in and bring the ball out of defence in both halves - there is never a hurried clearance when the option to find a team-mate is on.
He has missed the influence of injured Everton captain Phil Jagielka, although this is no slight on Argentine Ramiro Funes Mori who played well against Spurs, and this has been a testing period as Martinez's side have leaked badly in conceding 29 goals this season.
Martinez said: "I thought John and Ramiro delivered a strong partnership and our defensive intensity was much better because we have been conceding too many goals at home."
Stones showed the class and composure that makes him England's most coveted defender and why Chelsea were prepared to pay up to £38m in the summer - and his importance to Everton means he will be going nowhere in January.
The Euros will provide the perfect showcase, although no-one should assume Everton will be tempted into a sale any more next summer than they were this summer, and he should be a certain England starter in France.
Not one of Kane's more fruitful days but he still rattled the post with a superb 25-yard angled effort early on, and it took a couple of desperate last-ditch tackles to deny him in the second half.
Kane never gives up the fight and has such a natural goalscorers' instinct that barely a game goes by without him getting a chance, hence 11 Premier League goals in 20 appearances this season.
With Wayne Rooney's days as a spearhead striker looking numbered and the fitness of Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge completely unreliable, Kane has every chance to carve a permanent place in Hodgson's Euro 2016 plans as well as help Spurs to at least a place in the top four.
Kane is part of the talented group Martinez believes can help England to make a real impact in the Euros.
Martinez said: "I think there is now such a good young group of players such as Ross Barkley, John Stones, Dele Alli and Harry Kane and they all offer something that is very, very different.
"It is important they play in games like this one. They can develop and it can be a learning experience. The talent is certainly there for England as they look ahead to the Euros."
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Some consultants are making more than £100,000 a year in overtime payments from the NHS, the BBC has learnt.

The sums - paid on top of basic salaries and bonuses - have been criticised at a time when the health service is trying to save money.
Consultants have been accused of playing the system, but doctors said poor planning by managers was to blame.
Overtime rates vary, but are often about £600 for four hours - treble what senior medics get for contracted work.
Basic pay for consultants stands at just under £90,000 a year on average. For full-time consultants, this pays for 10 separate four-hour blocks a week.
Consultants who do private work are also obliged to do an extra four-hour session paid at their basic rate if their NHS trust needs them.
Any extra work beyond that is then done at a higher rate under a system known as waiting list initiative payments (WLIs).
These are negotiated individually by each trust so there are no figures for how much is spent nationally.
The Department of Health stressed the need for the efficient use of money in the current climate.
However, the BBC has learnt that many trusts pay between £500 and £700 for the four-hour sessions.
Depending on what speciality they are in, consultants can earn tens of thousands of pounds on top of their basic pay.
Figures seen by the BBC show that, in some cases, consultants are making more than £100,000 a year.
Consultants involved in common forms of surgery, such as ear, nose and throat and hip and knees, tend to do the most overtime alongside anaesthetists. Others, working in areas such as geriatrics, are likely to get very little.
At Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, one ear, nose and throat specialist made more than £105,000 in 2009-2010 in overtime. Another three consultants from other areas made in excess of £80,000.
Similar figures were also seen in the previous years.
Ed Burns, from Newton Europe, a consultancy which has carried out work for NHS trusts to improve productivity, said figures in excess of £60,000, including those above £100,000, would not be seen in every trust but were "not unusual" either.
He said poor job planning was the most common cause of high overtime payments, but added sometimes consultants fought against giving them up by employing tactics such as under-booking theatre sessions to make sure there was a need for overtime.
Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust is finding itself paying more and more to consultants in overtime.
The total bill for the waiting list initiative payments has nearly doubled in two years to £2.35m in 2009-10 for the trust, which runs two major hospitals for a population of over 1m in the West Midlands.
And despite attempts to curb the amount being spent this year, latest figures suggest it will rise again.
Like many NHS trusts, consultants are offered up to £600 for a four-hour session. Some are only too happy to accept.
One ear, nose and throat consultant made more than £105,000 in overtime payments last year. Another three from other specialities got in excess of £80,000.
Not everyone gets the extra work. In total, 123 consultants out of a total of 350 did overtime.
A spokeswoman for the trust said such payments were unavoidable to ensure patients received "timely" care. She added the trust always sought to use resources "as responsibly as possible".
"Consultants work hard to provide the best possible patient care, and by volunteering for WLIs they help keep waiting times down. However, for a few, WLI payments can serve as a disincentive to working more efficiently because they face a loss of earnings."
His claims are supported by the experience of some NHS trusts.
Managers at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust tried to reduce the rate for overtime for orthopaedic surgeons from £1,000 to £500 for a four-hour session. But minutes from official meetings showed consultants would be "downing tools" if they did so. In the end, managers had to compromise on a fee of £750.
Paul Flynn, from the British Medical Association, admitted some of the higher sums "sounded unhealthy", but pointed out research by the union also suggested consultants were doing six hours a week extra for free.
He also rejected suggestions that consultants were blocking moves to make hospitals more productive.
"WLI is a quick fix and consultants certainly would not want to come to rely on the payments as they are unpredictable."
He said hospitals could reduce the reliance on overtime by easing the load on consultants by recruiting extra staff or giving admin tasks and duties such as routine follow-ups to other staff.
But Professor Alan Maynard, an expert in health policy from York University and former chairman of a hospital, said NHS trusts often faced a "challenge" managing consultants.
"They don't always keep to their job plans and then get to do the overtime. I think there needs to be much more transparency about consultants' pay.
"The public are just not aware of the sums they can earn. If the data was published it would put pressure on them and reduce some of the figures we are seeing."
News of the overtime payments comes after the BBC reported at the end of last year that doctors were getting bonuses of up to £75,000 a year.
It means overall pay, once basic salary, bonus and overtime are totted up, can be well in excess of £200,000 a year.
The Department of Health said it did not want to comment on individual payments.
But a spokeswoman said: "We expect the NHS to increase productivity and improve health outcomes - this includes making effective use of consultants' time.
"Consultants and managers should work together to ensure that clinicians' time is planned cost effectively whilst delivering high quality patient care."


Keith Bennett is remembered as the "lost" victim of the Moors Murders - the third victim of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley and the only one of the five children they killed never to have been found.

It is the search for his body that propels Brady into the spotlight every time a clue is revealed that might bring to an end the 48-year mystery.
And it is because Keith, who vanished aged 12, has not been found that he has become one of the most well known victims.
His family have campaigned tirelessly for answers and his mother Winnie Johnson has pleaded for the chance to offer her son the last thing she can give him -  a decent burial.
Adding fresh impetus to the search, in 2011 Mrs Johnson revealed she has cancer and appealed to Brady on a DVD as she feared she had months to live.
Later that year Mrs Johnson said she would attend a public hearing which would decide if Brady could be returned to prison from hospital, but later decided it would be "too traumatic".
In the past she has described this fight as a nightmare, a life in limbo as she holds on to her hope that she will live long enough to see her son's body found.
Speaking in 2009 when Greater Manchester Police (GMP) announced they had called off the hunt for his body on Saddleworth Moor, she said: "I want Keith found before anything happens to me because I want to give him a decent burial."
At the time she pleaded publicly for Brady to reveal the location where her son's body is hidden.
With the arrest of mental health advocate Jackie Powell, and the possibility of a letter finally revealing the location of Keith's body, Mrs Johnson may finally get the answer she has waited so long for.
A search of Saddleworth Moor in 2008 tried to match up photos taken by Hindley and Brady with aerial shots of the moor in an attempt to find him.
The investigation into the boy's disappearance was classified as dormant by GMP with the force stating only a major scientific breakthrough or fresh evidence would see the hunt for his body restart.
His mother had to wait 23 years before her son's killers admitted his murder.
Claims are being investigated that a letter by Brady could end Mrs Johnson's wait for an answer
They were originally convicted of three murders but two more victims could not be found.
In 1987 Hindley and Brady confessed to killing Keith and Pauline Reade, aged 16.
Police managed to locate the remains of Pauline but, despite many weeks of digging, they were unable to find Keith's body.
Scientists believe that, due to the nature of the soil on the moors, it would be likely that some of the 12-year-old's remains would still be preserved.
And it is this hope of finding her son that prompted Mrs Johnson to launch a fund and website in 2009 to arrange additional searches of the moors.
The website is now managed by Keith's brother Alan who has also appealed for the location of his brother's body to be revealed.
Alan was eight when his brother was snatched by Brady and Hindley on 16 June 1964, after he left his home in Longsight to go to his grandmother's house nearby.
On the website Alan describes a happy home life with his brother Keith, with whom he shared a bedroom, his two sisters, another brother and a stepsister as well as his mother and stepfather.
He described Keith as having "little time for anything but laughter and nature" a boy who loved animals and summer flowers but who also excelled at swimming.
In March 2010 Winnie Johnson spoke at a memorial service held at Manchester Cathedral in lieu of a funeral.
She said she would "fight forever" to get her son back.
Later that month a privately funded search was carried out on the moors but nothing was found.
Brady has been on hunger strike since 1999 and wants to escape "the powers of compulsory treatment".
A tribunal to hear his plea to be transferred to a regular prison was delayed after a judge ruled he was too ill to attend.


Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant has told a court hearing the Stairway to Heaven copyright dispute that he has a dim memory of the time it was written.

He said he could not remember meeting the band Spirit, who claim the band stole their guitar riff for Stairway to Heaven in the 1970s.
"I don't have a recollection of almost anyone I've hung out with," Plant said, causing roars of laughter in the court.
The case was brought on behalf of Spirit's late guitarist, Randy Wolfe.
His estate claims the opening riff of the 1968 song Taurus is fundamentally the same as the iconic opening bars of Stairway to Heaven. Defence lawyers argue the chord progression in question is very common and has been in use for more than 300 years.
The prosecution has argued Led Zeppelin became familiar with Spirit's song after the two bands played on the same bill in Plant's hometown at the Birmingham club Mother's in 1970.
Spirit's bassist Mark Andes testified last week he met Plant at the show and played snooker with him afterward.
Plant insisted he had no memory of that night, saying that in all the "hubbub and chaos" it would be hard to remember a one-off meeting 40 years ago.
"I can't actually recall Spirit or anyone playing there with the passing of time," he said.
Plant partially attributed his lack of memory to a bad car crash on his way home from the club. Both he and his wife suffered head injuries in the accident, he told the court, after the windshield of his Jaguar was left "buried" in his face.
The singer-songwriter also spoke at length about the creation of Stairway to Heaven.
He reiterated the assertions made by his bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones that the song began at the country estate Headley Grange and not the Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur, contradicting decades of Led Zeppelin mythology.
"One evening, Jimmy Page and I sat by the fire going over bits and pieces," Plant testified, explaining the band had worked on several other songs that night, including Misty Mountain Hop and Battle of Evermore.
He recalled when guitarist Jimmy Page played the introduction to the song, things had started "rolling pretty fast".
"It was quite a thing," Plant said, to "see it develop into something I couldn't imagine".
He retired to another room to work on the lyrics, inspired by the "pastoral areas of Britain I love", and initially came up with a "little couplet" to open the song.
When asked what the couplet was, Plant replied "Oh, gosh" before half-singing, half-speaking the lyrics: "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold and she's buying a stairway to heaven."
Plant's lawyer, Peter Anderson, also asked the vocalist whether he could read or write music. "I haven't learned yet," he replied laughing - the insinuation being that, even if he had wanted to copy Taurus, he could not have transcribed the guitar riff and given it to Jimmy Page.
Page later took the stand himself, and spoke further about the creation of Stairway, which he described as "an ambitious piece".
Jurors listened to demo recordings of the song, and heard Page describe how he worked to create a song that built from the gentle acoustic opening to a thrilling electric guitar solo.
The tapes showed how the song developed, including a guitar part that Page later discarded. The lyrics were not fully formed, with Plant's hook, "it makes me wonder" notably absent.
The song was also in a different key - and Plant screwed up his face when the court heard a strained, poorly-pitched note in the final tape.
After playing the nascent recordings, Anderson aired the full, finished, eight-minute version of Stairway to Heaven for the jury.
Afterwards he asked Page one simple question: Is this Stairway to Heaven, as written by Page and Plant? "Yes, it is," Page answered. With that, the defence rested their case.
The jury is expected to start their deliberations on Wednesday.
Lawyers for Page and Plant had previously asked Judge R Gary Klausner to rule on the case without sending it to the jury, but he refused the request.


The United Nations has voted to extend staff benefits to same-sex couples working for the UN, defeating Russian-led opposition to the measure.

The UN Budget Committee recognised gay spouses, regardless of whether or not gay marriage is legal in their country of origin.
Previously, the UN followed national legislation on the issue.
The vote went 80 to 43 against Russia's resolution, which had backing from China, India and Muslim countries.
EU member states and the US lobbied hard against the resolution and for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's plan to include gay couples in the staff benefits scheme.
Speaking after the vote, US Ambassador Samantha Power said: "We must speak plainly about what Russia tried to do today: diminish the authority of the UN secretary general and export to the UN its domestic hostility to LGBT rights" - referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Earlier, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev said the UN should return to how the issue was previously regulated, calling it "an example of how the United Nations respects cultural differences, the sovereign right of each and every state to determine its norms".
Russia drew international criticism in 2013 when it banned the spreading of gay "propaganda" among teenagers.
Conservative national traditions are already recognised under UN staff rules, as UN diplomats from countries where polygamy is legal receive spouse benefits for up to four wives.


Host nation Brazil are still searching for their opening win of the Rio 2016 men's football competition after an embarrassing 0-0 draw against Iraq.

Led by Barcelona forward Neymar, Brazil could not find a way past their stubborn Group A rivals in Brasilia.
It is their second goalless draw of the tournament after another blank against South Africa on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Germany drew 3-3 with South Korea thanks to an injury-time free-kick from Arsenal's Serge Gnabry.
Brazil may have won the World Cup on a record five occasions, but the football-mad nation is desperate to finally claim the one prize that has so far eluded them - Olympic gold.
However, they were jeered by an impatient home crowd of more than 60,000 after failing to beat Iraq.
Brazil had 20 shots at goal, but only managed six on target as the Asian side held on.
"We need to apologise to the fans, to the people," said Brazil coach Rogerio Micale. "As the time passes and we can't score, the anxiety increases, and in this situation it's easier to make mistakes."
Iraq coach Abdulghani Alghazali said: "It's a historic day for Iraq to be able to draw against Brazil at its home. It's a great achievement for Iraqi football."
Denmark top the group with four points after Robert Skov's 69th-minute winner gave them a 1-0 victory over South Africa.
Defending Olympic champions Mexico recorded a 5-1 win over bottom side Fiji, who conceded eight against South Korea in their opening game.
Erick Gutierrez scored four second-half goals as the Mexicans came from behind to beat the minnows in Salvador.
Fiji held a shock half-time lead thanks to Roy Krishna's header. But Mexico, who drew 2-2 with Germany last time out, were impressive in the second half, particularly Gutierrez.
Mexico are second in Group C, level on four points with South Korea after they were pegged back by Gnabry's late equaliser.
There were seconds remaining when the 21-year-old winger fired in his second of the game via a deflection.
Germany are third in the table on two points.
In Group D, Portugal continued their 100% start with a 2-1 win over Honduras in Rio.
Alberth Elis gave Honduras a first-minute lead before goals by Tobias Figueiredo and Goncalo Paciencia earned Portugal the points.
They beat Argentina 2-0 in their opening game.
Argentina knocked Algeria out of the Olympic football competition with a 2-1 win over the north African team.
Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa scored and set up Jonathan Calleri's winner. Both teams finished the game with 10 men after Argentina captain Victor Cuesta and Ayoub Abdellaoui were sent off.
Nigeria became the first team to secure a spot in the quarter-finals by beating Sweden 1-0 in Group B.
Sadiq Umar scored a first-half winner for the African side, who have six points from two games.
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A substantial amount of prescription medication, believed to be stolen, has been recovered by police in County Armagh.

About 40,000 high-strength painkillers were recovered in Craigavon at one of three locations searched by police on Wednesday.
Two men have been arrested.
A police spokeswoman said it was dangerous to take such drugs without a prescription.
Officers were "relieved that such a significant quantity has been removed from circulation", she added.


Thousands of people have tried out the latest installation by conceptual artist Christo - a 3km (1.9 mile) walkway on water in northern Italy.

Queues built up to get on the Floating Piers, made from more than 200,000 interlocking cubes wrapped in yellow nylon, as it opened on Lake Iseo.
Christo has warned the experience will be like walking on water - or on the back of a whale.
The Bulgarian-born artist once wrapped the German parliament in silver fabric.
Work has been going on since November to assemble and anchor the cubes to concrete slabs on the  floor of Lake Iseo.
It is the artist's 23rd large-scale installation.