The world's highest mountain has claimed four more lives but such tragedies make no dent in the increasing number of people attempting its ascent.

The enormously powerful winds that blast Mount Everest relent for just a few weeks every spring.
They are precious weeks that provide climbers with a chance to claim the greatest mountaineering "scalp" of them all - the world's highest summit.
Those wishing to make the ascent must spend months preparing and thousands of dollars for a permit, even before they start.
Then, on the climb itself, they have to brave all that the mountain can throw at them - bad weather, the effects of altitude, even the sight of the corpses of climbers who have died making the attempt.
Four people died on their way down from the summit last weekend.
Two hundred climbers are expected to make an attempt on the mountain this weekend, which is likely to be the last of this year's season.
What is it about Everest that keeps them coming?
"It is really quite simple - it's the biggest mountain in the world."
Dawa Steven Sherpa runs one of the companies that guides climbers on the mountain.
His words echo those of George Mallory, who summed up the allure of Everest before his fatal attempt to climb it in 1924: "Because it's there".
That phrase has been described as the three most famous words in mountaineering, and the challenge proves irresistible to hundreds of climbers every year.
"On the mountain itself, there are around 1,000 climbers at the moment - but it's a big mountain, and if you compare it with Mont Blanc, say, that's not very many", says Dawa Steven Sherpa, speaking to the BBC from Everest Base Camp.
"The problem is everyone wants to go to the summit on the same day at exactly the same time."
That is because climbers are keen to take advantage of perfect weather conditions, which could disappear at any moment and not reappear for months.
On 23 May 2010, for example, 169 climbers reached the summit in a single day - more than the total number who had conquered the mountain in the 30 years following the first ascent in 1953.
More than 3,000 climbers had reached the summit by the end of the 2010 climbing season.
"We now have more than 50 years' experience of climbing this mountain. We know where to put the ropes, where people should put their feet. It's become a lot easier over the years", says Dawa Steven Sherpa.
And this creates another problem - many of those testing themselves against Everest fail the test.
"I think some people do underestimate it," says Rhys Jones, who in 2006 became the youngest British person to reach the summit.
"There's a price tag on it, and they think, 'why wouldn't I be able to climb it? If I just pay enough, I'll be able to get up it'."
Dawa Steven Sherpa agrees: "Many people do overestimate their abilities. They can be very fit - marathon runners, ultra-marathon runners, iron-man competitors - but they don't understand altitude, and they underestimate the mountain."
For many purist mountaineers, the process of climbing Everest is becoming too commercial, too orchestrated and too reliant on external help.
Reinhold Messner was one of the first people to climb Everest without oxygen, in 1978.
"The route is prepared by hundreds of Sherpas. Extra oxygen is available in all camps, right up to the summit. People will cook for you and lay out your beds. Clients feel safe," he said in a newspaper interview.
But Rhys Jones feels Everest will always be special, and won't ever be "just a treadmill".
"Everyone is aware of the risks", he told the BBC. "They have all read the books, which tend to be about the disasters and the fatalities.
"But actually, risk is part of the attraction - it makes it more of a test, it gives you more to aim for."


A teenage army recruit who was found dead more than 20 years ago may have been sexually exploited by senior ranks, an inquest is told.

Pte Cheryl James was one of four soldiers who died at the Deepcut barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse.
Her family's lawyers want the scope of a new inquest into her death widened.
Pte James, 18, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, was found with a bullet wound to her head in November 1995.
Alison Foster, representing Pte James's family, told a pre-inquest hearing at Woking Coroner's Court they had material suggesting she "may have been sexually coerced or raped the night before, or before the time of her death".
She told the hearing: "There is now a direct allegation that Cheryl might have been ordered to sleep with the person we are calling Witness A by someone superior in rank to her.
"This is not fraternising. This is not an illicit sexual relationship between two young people across the ranks. This is something quite different."
A fresh inquest into the death of Pte James is due to start on 1 February and is expected to last seven weeks.
It was ordered after High Court judges quashed an open verdict recorded in December 1995.
Ptes Sean Benton, James Collinson and Geoff Gray also died from gunshot wounds at Deepcut.


David Bowie, John Peel and Sandy Denny will all receive blue plaques in their honour, thanks to nominations made by BBC local radio listeners.

Forty-seven plaques will be unveiled on BBC Music Day this Thursday, recognising pioneering musicians and music venues around the UK.
Motorhead star Lemmy will be celebrated at Port Vale FC, which has adopted Ace Of Spades as its unofficial anthem.
Superstar tenor Alfie Boe will also receive an award in his hometown.
His plaque will be unveiled at Marine Hall in Fleetwood, where the musician gave his first public performance at the age of 14.
"I can't believe that this is happening," he told the BBC.
"You walk past so many blue plaques on buildings and you never suspect you're going to be one of them. I'm just blown away by it, I really am."
Billy Bragg will unveil a plaque for David Bowie at the site of the Trident Studios in Soho, where the star recorded his multi-million selling albums Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.
Bowie's backing band The Spiders From Mars will also be commemorated at Hull's Paragon Station - from where they took the train to meet the Thin White Duke in the 1970s.
Other notable honourees include:
You can see the full list of recipients on the BBC Music Day website.
Congratulations on being awarded a blue plaque. How does it feel?
I really can't get over it. It's an amazing thing to happen to me, and I'm not taking it lightly. I'm very, very, very honoured.
The plaque will be nailed to the wall of Marine Hall, where you played your first gig. What do you remember of that night?
I was a 14-year-old kid and I was very scared, very nervous. We were doing something called Songs from the Shows, and I was asked to sing Bring Him Home from Les Miserables. I never would have thought that, years later, that would have been a role I would have played on Broadway and in the West End.
Have you been back to the venue since?
I've played there a number of times. It's a place that I hold very close to my heart.  It's a little gem of a theatre.
I even worked there as stage crew and then in the waiting staff for all the banquets and balls they used to have.
I bet they're not putting that on the plaque.
"Alfie Boe stacked chairs here"!
Who are you bringing to the unveiling ceremony?
Obviously my family will be there and lots of old friends from Fleetwood. I think Michael [Ball] is coming and joining me on the day, as well. I can't thank him enough for taking time out and spending the day in my hometown. I'll show him around and we'll get a bag of chips on the seafront.
And when the event's over, you can stack the chairs.
Exactly. Stack the chairs and mop the floor, just like old times.
BBC Music Day is an annual celebration that aims "to unite communities and generations through their love of music".
More than 200 events will take place this Thursday, including a co-ordinated, country-wide bell-ringing performance at 19:00 BST.
Schoolchildren in Bradford and Portsmouth will attempt to break world records in drumming and Tamboo Bamboo, while the indie band The Courteeners will visit Manchester Royal Infirmary to explore the impact of music therapy on patients.
BBC Radio 3 will broadcast five dramatic monologues by new writers about the power of classical music, performed by actors including Liam Neeson and Julie Hesmondhalgh.
And The Charlatans will play an exclusive concert for BBC Radio Scotland and BBC 6 Music.
The blue plaques were awarded by BBC Local Radio and the British Plaque Trust, after audiences were invited to nominate worthy artists earlier this year.
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Twenty-nine people have appeared in court as part of an inquiry into child sex abuse and neglect in Huddersfield.

The alleged offences took place in the town between 2004 and 2011 and involved girls aged between 11 and 17.
Twenty-seven men appeared before magistrates accused of offences against 18 people, including rape and trafficking. Two women are charged with child neglect.
In all the 29 defendants face a total of more than 170 charges.
Protestors shouted abuse as the defendants arrived at the town's court.
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
One defendant, Amere Singh Dhaliwal, 34, is charged with 54 separate counts, including 21 counts of rape.
Other charges faced by the accused include trafficking with intent to engage in sexual exploitation, sexual activity and supply of drugs.
Most of the defendants came from Huddersfield, but others came from Bradford, Dewsbury, Dudley, Manchester and Sheffield.
They appeared in groups before district Judge Michael Fanning during a lengthy court sitting and are next due to appear at Leeds Crown Court on 11 May.
The defendants:
Amere Singh Dhaliwal, 34, of Holly Road, Huddersfield is charged with 54 offences. He is charged with 21 counts of rape, 14 counts of trafficking, as well as inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault, sexual touching, possession of indecent images of a child, racially aggravated assault and inciting a child into prostitution.
Raj Singh Barsran, 33, of Caldercliffe Road, Huddersfield is charged with sexual touching and rape.
Abdul Rehman, 29, of Darnley Drive, Sheffield is charged with rape, trafficking, supplying drugs, supply of a controlled substance with intent to engage in sexual activity and sexual touching.
Nasarat Hussain, 28, of Upper Mount Street, Huddersfield is charged with three counts of rape, attempted rape and inciting a female to engage in sexual activity.
Irfan Ahmed, 32, of Yews Hill Road, Huddersfield is charged with six counts of trafficking, sexual assault, making indecent images of a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Zubair Ahmed, 30, of Blackmoorfoot Road, Huddersfield is charged with rape and possession of extreme pornography.
Mohammed Riswan Aslam, 29, of Huddersfield Road, Dewsbury is charged with two counts of rape.
Mohammed Kammer, 32, of West View, Huddersfield is charged with two counts of rape.
Mohammad Nahman, 31, of West View, Huddersfield is charged with trafficking, sexual assault, and two counts of rape.
Hamzha Ali Saleem, 37, of Seymour Grove, Old Trafford, Greater Manchester is charged with three counts of trafficking.
Zahid Hassan, 28, of Bland Street, Huddersfield is charged with eight counts of rape, five counts of trafficking, racially aggravated assault, supplying drugs, inciting a child into sexual activity, child abduction and attempted rape.
Mohammad Azeem, 31, of Wrose Road, Bradford is charged with three counts of rape.
Sajid Hussain, 32, of Grasmere Road, Huddersfield is charged with three counts of rape, facilitating the commission of sexual activity on a child and inciting a child into sexual activity.
Mansoor Akhtar, 25, of Blackmoorfoot Road, Huddersfield is charged with rape, attempted rape and two counts of trafficking.
Mohammed Asaf Akram, 31, of Springdale Street, Huddersfield is charged with seven counts of rape, three counts of trafficking, child abduction, supplying drugs, sexual assault and making threats to kill.
Zulwarnain Dogar, 29, of Central Avenue, Huddersfield is charged with sexual touching and trafficking.
Manzoor Hassan, 37, of Bland Street, Huddersfield is charged with supply of a noxious substance with intent to injure, annoy or aggrieve a female, supply of Class A drugs and inciting a child into prostitution.
Mohammad Ifraz, 28, of North Road, Huddersfield is charged with trafficking a female within the UK with a view to her sexual exploitation, rape, false imprisonment, child abduction, taking indecent images of a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Wiqas Mahmud, 36, of Banks Crescent, Huddersfield is charged with three counts of rape.
Faisal Nadeem, 30, of Carr Green, Huddersfield is charged with supplying drugs, rape and possession of extreme pornography.
Niaz Ahmed, 53, of Ned Lane, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield is charged with inciting a child into sexual activity and sexual assault.
Asif Bashir, 32, of Thornton Lodge Road, Huddersfield is charged with four counts of rape and attempted rape.
Mohammad Imran Ibrar, 32, of Manchester Road, Huddersfield is charged with trafficking, facilitating the commission of sexual activity on a child, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and supplying drugs.
Aleem Javaid, 27, of Everard Street, Huddersfield is charged with rape and supplying drugs.
Mohammed Saqib Raheel, 30, of Stourbridge Road, Dudley is charged with trafficking and child abduction.
Usman Khalid, 29, of Brook Street, Huddersfield is charged with sexual assault, child abduction and sexual touching.
Everton La Bastide, 50, of Manchester Road, Huddersfield is charged with two counts of sexual assault.
Two women are also accused of child neglect. They are:
Shahnaz Akhtar Malik, 55, of St Annes Avenue, Huddersfield and Naveeda Habib, 38, of Prince Wood Lane, Huddersfield.


Rex Tillerson is facing his biggest test as secretary of state over the crisis involving the tiny nation of Qatar.

He's not only trying to mediate a solution to a visceral feud among America's Gulf Arab allies which threatens US national security interests. He has also been undermined by President Trump, who has publicly taken a side in the dispute and may even have helped to trigger it.
At issue are the accusations - levelled by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt - that Doha supports terrorists. They've cut diplomatic and travel ties and issued a sweeping set of demands that Qatar claims are so "unrealistic" they're really aimed at forcing it to "surrender its sovereignty".
Mr Trump has delegated the mess to Mr Tillerson, but that didn't stop the president from castigating Qatar at a White House press conference for having funded terrorism "at a very high level".
He made the remark shortly after a visit to Saudi Arabia that so fulsomely embraced Riyadh some regional observers believe it emboldened the kingdom to take radical action on long-standing grievances against Doha.
"We felt that we had Trump by our side," mused a Saudi security expert, "so let's finish this little country that's been bugging us for years."
Qatar has been "bugging" its neighbours with its maverick foreign policy.
They accuse it of harbouring their opponents and giving them a platform on its Al Jazeera satellite channel, especially political Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which is viewed as a particular threat by the absolute monarchies.
The White House has called the tempest a "family issue", but it's not happening in a teapot; with US Mideast military assets spread out among the Gulf States, it can't avoid getting drawn in.
America's al-Udeid air base in Qatar is not only the headquarters for the air war against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but important for its ability to project power into the Indian Ocean.
And the feud has thrown a spanner into the works of US Mideast policy, shattering a unified Arab front aimed at countering terrorism and confronting Iran.
"This is not a local regional thing," says Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute. "This is not a game."
This week Washington was crowded with Gulf foreign ministers making their case, and Mr Tillerson's been in the eye of the storm.
His intensive engagement has the backing of the White House, an administration official insisted.
"What gets the attention are the tweets and public statements," he said, but on the underlying policy, the "White House and State Department are on the same page."
At times, though, it has seemed as if they weren't even reading the same book.
Mr Tillerson was reportedly blind-sided and infuriated by President Trump's Rose Garden denunciation of Qatar, delivered just hours after the secretary of state had called for an end to the blockade.
His aides were apparently convinced that the true author of Mr Trump's statement was the UAE ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, a close friend of Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to Mark Perry of the American Conservative.
Qatari communications, on the other hand, have been channelled entirely through the Department of State, says the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, barring some initial phone calls from White House officials.
Mr Tillerson has levied some sharp words at Qatar's Gulf detractors, suggesting that political disputes were driving their accusations of terrorism, and declaring that some of their demands would be difficult for Qatar to meet.
His approach, though, has been that of a facilitator, focused on helping the Qataris prepare their response to the list of demands. He hopes this can serve as the basis for negotiations, even though the Saudis have said there is nothing to negotiate.
"Zero tolerance" the foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir has declared.
But it is unclear how far the administration is willing to use its considerable leverage to even get everyone around the table, let alone muscle all sides into a resolution.
It's up to Mr Tillerson to make the case for a way forward. But the former oil executive has yet to find a way to turn his business acumen into political nous, translating his apparently strong relationship with the president into a strong policy-making role.
And the public disconnect with the White House has weakened his hand.
"I think he has less authority to speak in the name of the US government than other secretaries of state have had in the past," says Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"It's a very dangerous position for a secretary of state to be in when you can't confidently speak in the name of the president."


Iceland will not feature in the Fifa 17 video game because of a cash row with developers Electronic Arts, says the country's football association (KSI).

The KSI says EA's financial offer of 15,000 US dollars (£11,501) for their inclusion was below their expectations.
Iceland, who knocked England out of Euro 2016 in June, made a counter offer which they say was not accepted by EA.
"They are the ones buying these rights and they almost want it for free," said KSI president Geir Thorsteinsson.
"The performance at the Euros show that we are quite a good team and many would like to play with our team. It's sad for the players - but the criticism should be towards EA Sports."
The fee that EA pays teams included in the game covers the use of trademarks and image rights.
"I really feel if we are giving away rights, or offering rights, it has to be proper negotiations and fair fees." added Thorsteinsson.
"I didn't feel that this was done in a fair and open manner."
The BBC has asked EA for comment.
Iceland, who are ranked 27th in the world, have not featured in previous editions of the game, but were hopeful of getting into latest version after their run to the quarter-finals of the European Championship this summer.
A total of 47 men's international sides, including all of the home nations, will feature.
India, who are 148th in the world, are the lowest ranked national side in the game.
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Transgender baptisms are to be offered for the first time in the UK by a church in Greater Manchester.

The New Chapel Unitarian and Free Christian in Denton, Tameside, agreed the move at its annual general meeting.
Jean Clements, the church's worship leader, proposed the change after meeting a couple who had a transgender child.
The church was moved to make a change in order to help those in the same situation.
Mrs Clements said: "I felt saddened by the fact that this family were being shunned by many mainstream churches.
"However, when the family came to New Chapel, the congregation welcomed them with open arms. "
Mrs Clements described her congregation as "a multi-generational community who are very willing to accept change and progress" and said the Unitarian Movement stands for freedom, reason and tolerance.
New Chapel stressed it is for other Unitarian Chapels within neighbouring districts "to decide for themselves whether they wish to offer similar services".
The church said the transgender services would be "very similar" to an adult baptism.
"While I am being congratulated for our progress on this particular matter, I would like to thank one courageous girl for inspiring me to think carefully about this issue in the first place," Mrs Clements added.
Derek McAuley, the chief officer of the church's General Assembly, said it is "quite possible" other churches would follow suit.
The Unitarian church was the first to allow divorced people to remarry and has been receptive to interfaith marriages.


Nine Welsh products could be awarded protected food status under new government plans.

Welsh laverbread and Carmarthen Ham are among the foods which could receive special designation under European law.
The UK government wants to increase the number of protected British foods from 63 to 200.
Wales' deputy minister for farming and food, Rebecca Evans, said the Welsh government is "proactively supporting" Welsh producers to achieve the status.
They will become part of the EU scheme, which already includes Welsh beef and lamb, Parma ham and champagne.
Chris Rees said his family have handed down the "secret recipe" for Carmarthen Ham for five generations.
He joked that "when the Romans conquered most of Wales, they settled in Carmarthen, pinched our recipe and took it back to Italy where they called it Parma ham".
He first submitted an application for protected status about five years ago.
"If it comes our way we are going to be very proud and it will be great for a small town like ours," he added.
Ashley Jones, manager of Selwyn's Penclawdd Seafoods in Llanmorlais, Swansea, believes protected status for Welsh laverbread "will put Wales on the map".
"I think it's great we can protect the way laverbread has been traditionally cooked and processed in this area," he said.
"It's great for Wales and for the people, who I guess would put it in their top 10 of favourite Welsh things."
Welsh laverbread
Carmarthen Ham
Traditional Welsh Caerphilly cheese
Traditional reared pedigree Welsh Pork
Conwy Mussels
West Wales coracle caught salmon
West Wales coracle caught sewin
Welsh cider
Welsh perry


A renewed appeal to find the men who shot a seven-year-old boy and his mother on their doorstep a year ago has been launched.

Jayne Hickey, 30, and her son Christian, now aged eight, were both shot in the leg when two men knocked on their front door in Salford.
Police said both are continuing to recover after numerous operations.
The shootings were linked to armed gang feuds in the city including the murder of Salford's "Mr Big" Paul Massey.
Two men knocked at the door of the Hickey's family home on Gillingham Road in Eccles on October 12 last year and after reportedly asking for the boy's father, they fired shots.
The men were then seen speeding away from nearby Dover Street in a black Audi S3 shortly afterwards.
Det Ch Insp Howard Millington said: "Christian and Jayne are recovering well but what happened to them will affect them for the rest of their lives and we are determined to bring them justice."
He said officers want to speak to a youngster on a motorbike the offenders passed in the Audi on Worsley Road.
The men "drove at high speed" close to the rider, "causing him to pull over".
Officers are also trying to trace the occupants of a small dark-coloured hatchback saloon which had a broad stripe running diagonally from the front door over the wheel arches, that the Audi also passed.
The first offender is around 19 or 20 years old, of a "chunky" build and with a Salford accent, while the second man is only described as white. Both were wearing baseball caps.
So far 18 arrests have been made over the feuds between organised crime gangs in Salford. However, no arrests have been made over the murder of Mr Massey, who was shot dead outside his home last July.


Serena Williams began the defence of her WTA Finals crown with a hard-fought 6-4 6-4 win over world number seven Ana Ivanovic.

It was the 33-year-old's 16th consecutive win in the tournament, although the Serb gave her a stiff test in this latest encounter in Singapore.
Ivanovic, 26, fought back in the opening set from 4-1 to level at 4-4, before Williams broke again.
The world number one broke once more at 5-4 in the second to seal victory.
"I'm really excited with how I played. I couldn't be happier to be playing here in Singapore. I was fighting really hard," said Williams.
The end-of-season competition features the top eight ranked players in the world. Two sets of four players face each other in round-robin matches, before the top two in each group advance to the semi-finals.
Both Williams and Ivanovic are in the Red group alongside Simona Halep, who defeated Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-2 6-3.
The first matches in the White group take place on Tuesday, with world number two Maria Sharapova up against Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova taking on Agnieszka Radwanska.


Graves have been discovered during an archaeological project attempting to map the resting place of King Henry I.

Radar technology used around the Reading Abbey Quarter has located graves behind the high altar of the monastery.
The discovery has been described as a "significant next step" to discovering the remains of the son of William the Conqueror.
The abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII's dissolution of monasteries.
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The ruler's tomb is thought to be in front of the high altar of the abbey, the most recent grave discovery was behind the high altar and discovered using ground-penetrating radar (GPR).
The abbey was established by King Henry I in 1121 and was where the monarch was buried in January 1136 after his death in Normandy.
The area where the former abbey was is home to the now defunct Reading Gaol, the prison car park, land around St James Church, and Forbury Gardens.
Reading Borough councillor Tony Page said: "With these tantalising initial results available, there is now much work to be done.
"This project has the potential to bring huge cultural, historical and economic benefits to the Abbey Quarter."
The Ministry of Justice, which owns Reading Gaol, has given permission for 12 archaeological digs to take place to help ascertain how much of the former abbey is underneath the prison site.
The project complements a £3.1m conservation project around the ruins of Reading Abbey and the abbey gate, which is intended to re-open to the public in 2018.


The mayor of a small town in Honduras has been arrested on suspicion of directing a group of assassins.

He is one of at least 35 mayors or deputy mayors investigated for links with organised crime in since 2015, the authorities say.
Delvin Salgado, the mayor of El Negrito in the north of the country, was detained as part of a countrywide police operation.
He said he had "nothing to do with" the accusations.
Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with 60 for every 100,000 inhabitants annually.
Honduras: Where life is cheap and funerals are free
Prosecutors said Mr Salgado was detained for "assassination and illicit association".
He is accused of committing two murders between 2013 and 2014 as well as maintaining links with local criminal groups.
There were 115 other raids across the country on the same day, with an unspecified number of arrests on suspicion of robbery, cocaine trafficking, marijuana trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, land stealing and being part of assassination groups.
Local media reported that when Mr Salgado was arrested he said: "I swear on my mother and father, who just passed away, that I have nothing to do with this."
The government has attempted a crackdown on criminality in Honduran society. In April this year it started a purge of the police, and 300 high-up police officials have so far been sacked for their part in various crimes. As part of the purge, about 10,000 officers are being investigated.


A convicted murderer has gone on trial accused of historical sex offences against two teenage girls.

William Dunlop, of Billingham, Teesside, was jailed in 2006 over the 1989 killing of Julie Hogg.
It is now alleged he raped one girl and forced himself on to another with the offences said to have taken place in Billingham and at Mr Dunlop's home from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s.
He denies three counts of rape and two charges of indecent assault.
On the opening day of the trial, a jury at Teesside Crown Court heard from one of the complainants who said she was raped on several occasions.
She said she had been left disgusted by what had happened to her and had been unable to tell her parents.
The second alleged victim described having to fight off Mr Dunlop as he tried to kiss her.
Both girls were under the age of 16 at the time.
Mr Dunlop's legal team told the jury the claims had been fabricated and said there were inconsistencies in the timings and dates given.
The trial continues.


Plans to create 20,000 sq ft (1,850 sq m) of retail space in St Helier town centre have been unveiled by de Gruchy.

If approved, the £15m development of the Jersey company's King Street store and creation of a New Street store could be completed by 2017.
The current store, which covers 17,000 sq ft (1,600 sq m), is due to remain open during the work.
Neville Moore, managing director of the firm which employs 200 people, described it as "a very exciting time".
He said agreement had been reached with a leading UK retailer to occupy the development in New Street.
Daphne East, town centre manager, said: "[When] the UK is still seeing a decline in investment... it is heartening to know that Jersey, and St Helier in particular, can still attract development on this scale.
"It is also exciting to see a company that has traded on our high street for the last 200 years making this kind of commitment to the future of retail in Jersey."
The company was founded in 1810 by Abraham de Gruchy and his wife Marie Le Brocq with the original shop located near to St Peter's Church.


A driver who crashed head-on into a car, killing two people, has been jailed for five years.

Mitchell Butler-Eldridge, 28, had been trying to overtake a lorry before a bend on the A10 in Cambridgeshire on 18 February 2015.
He lost control of his Volkswagen Passat and collided with a Mini.
Butler-Eldridge, of Sydney Terrace, King's Lynn, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving at a previous hearing.
The driver of the Mini, Timothy Wildbore, 24, from Victoria Street, Littleport, and his passenger, Andrew Thornewell, 28, from Hollendale Walk, Ely, both died in the crash.
Witnesses described a vehicle overtaking a series of cars and lorries along a five-mile stretch of the 60mph single-carriageway between Littleport and Downham Market.
Prosecutor Sally Hobson told the court that one witness described the driver as being on a "death wish", and another said the motorist was a "bit of a lunatic".
One driver said he and an oncoming motorist were forced to take avoiding action to prevent a crash with the overtaking vehicle in an earlier incident.
Ms Hobson said the car veered back into the oncoming carriageway, smashing head-on into a Mini.
Ian Bridge, mitigating, said Butler-Eldridge was normally a "careful driver". A letter read out in court said: "From the deepest depths of my heart, I'm truly sorry for being the cause of this accident."
Butler-Eldridge was sentenced to five years in prison and disqualified from driving for five years, with the ban to start when he is released from prison.
PC James Thorne, from the Cambridgeshire Road Policing Unit, said: "Butler-Eldridge made a conscious decision to overtake a vehicle when it was clearly dangerous to do so. This incident was clearly avoidable and I welcome the sentence passed."


The Prince of Wales has been in Cumbria meeting people who make a living from some of the most remote parts of the county.

He met shepherds and hill farmers and those who are trying to help find sustainable ways of living high in the fells.
Among them were members of the Herdwick Project - an initiative designed to raise the profile of Herdwick Meat and to encourage wider trade links.
Later he spent more than an hour talking to local employers at the Westmorland County showground and praised the work of the organisers.
He ended the day with a visit to furniture maker Peter Hall and Son in Staveley near Kendal.


Lydia Ko won the Canadian Women's Open to become the youngest tournament winner in LPGA Tour history.

The 15-year-old South Korea-born New Zealander finished with a five-under-par 67 to win by three shots.
She broke the age record of 16, set by Lexi Thompson in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama last September.
Only four other amateurs have ever won on the Tour, and Ko became the first since JoAnne Carner took the 1969 Burdine's Invitational tournament.
In January, Ko won the New South Wales Open in Australia at 14 to become the youngest player to win a professional tour event, a mark broken by 14-year-old Brooke Henderson in June in a Canadian Women's Tour event in Quebec.
Ko also won the US Women's Amateur two weeks ago in Cleveland, Ohio.
Starting the final round at The Vancouver Golf Club one shot clear, she surged away from the field on the backward nine, shooting five birdies in six holes to finish at 13 under.
Inbee Park shot a 69 to finish second on 10 under, while US Women's Open champion Na Yeon Choi, Chella Choi and Jiyai Shin tied for third at eight under.


Scotland marked Gregor Townsend's first match in charge with a five-try victory over Italy in Singapore.

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Ali Price and Tim Visser crossed as the Scots built up a 15-3 half-time lead.
Ross Ford went over twice early in the second period before Damien Hoyland dived in for his first Scotland try, emulating Price's feat.
Michele Campagnaro and Angelo Esposito claimed second-half tries for Italy, who also had Dean Budd and Abraham Steyn sin-binned.
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Townsend's side, which featured a late change as Ryan Wilson started at open-side flanker instead of the injured John Hardie, continue their tour against Australia in Sydney next Saturday.
Fiji in Suva are Scotland's final opponents in a summer series that allows new coach Townsend to assess his pool of players.
Scotland were in control of the game for large parts but it took the former Glasgow coach's new side until just before half-time to kick on and build a game-winning lead.
Finn Russell and Tommaso Allan had exchanged penalties in a match that was rendered brutally hard by the much-mentioned humidity in Singapore.
There was never any doubt Scotland would seize the game by the throat sooner or later, with captain John Barclay doing more than most to make that happen.
Barclay was excellent and had some important men around him, with Ben Toolis enjoying a pleasing first start and Hoyland making a promising reappearance after a year in the wilderness.
Scotland had all the ball and whatever creativity existed in the Test for the first half hour belonged to them.
It did not amount to points but it drained Italy - shorn of Sergio Parisse and the class he brings - of energy and hope.
Conor O'Shea's team were one-dimensional and well beaten, with both of their tries coming when the game was a dead duck.
Italy's discipline was poor at the start and it got steadily worse. They conceded nine penalties in the opening half, the end of which saw Scotland hit them with two blows that had them reeling.
First, Allan Dell spilled the ball backwards in the tackle only for it to land in Price's hands and the scrum-half whipped around the outside to score.
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On the stroke of the break, Visser stretched the lead after fine work in the air by Hoyland and a delicious dink over the top by Russell.
The Harlequins wing ran on to get Scotland's second try and in Russell's brief absence with a blood injury, the versatile Duncan Taylor banged over the conversion.
Scotland's lead at the break was 12 points and a couple of minutes into the new half it was 19 when Ford mauled his way over from close range.
Russell converted and then Italy were made to pay for further wretched discipline when debutant Budd, the second row, was binned.
In a relative blink, Ford scored again, with Russell's ambition at the heart of it. The fly-half linked nicely with the hooker and Ford had no trouble eluding a jaded Italian defence.
Having started his evening with two tries in 108 caps across 13 years, he had now doubled his total in six minutes.
With the game now won at 27-3, Townsend emptied his bench bit by bit, saving some of his key men for Sydney.
Italy got a consolation score when one of those Scottish replacements, Magnus Bradbury, spilled the ball into the hands of the Italy back-row Maxime Mbanda, who offloaded to Campagnaro to score the try.
Their respite was brief. They lost another man to the bin in 71 minutes, replacement Steyn walking for dumping Henry Pyrgos illegally, and that made them increasingly vulnerable.
Within two minutes, Taylor sent Hoyland clear up the right wing and he went over for a first Test try, which Peter Horne converted.
The last act belonged to Italy and a try from their right-wing Esposito - a disappointing end to the game for Townsend and his team on an otherwise decent start to his reign.
Italy: E Padovani, A Esposito, M Campagnaro, T Boni, L Sarto, T Allan, E Gori (capt); A Lovotti, L Bigi, S Ferrari, M Fuser, D Budd, F Minto, M Mbanda, R Barbieri.
Replacements: O Gega, F Zani, P Ceccarelli, A Van Schalkwyk, A Steyn, M Violi, C Canna, T Benvenuti.
Scotland: D Taylor, D Hoyland, M Scott, A Dunbar, T Visser, F Russell, A Price; A Dell, R Ford, WP Nel, T Swinson, B Toolis, J Barclay (capt), R Wilson, J Strauss.
Replacements: F Brown, G Reid, Z Fagerson, R Harley, M Bradbury, H Pyrgos, P Horne.


The director of BBC Cymru Wales, Rhodri Talfan Davies, says the corporation is not trying to threaten Welsh language musicians in a dispute over royalties.

The BBC wants a copyright tribunal to resolve the row with collection agency Eos after its members broke away from the Performing Right Society (PRS).
Eos claimed they were being short-changed and the group has accused the BBC of conducting "sham" negotiations.
Mr Davies says he wants an agreement, and the row could not go on endlessly.
Mr Davies said: "There is goodwill and I would rather come to an agreement without having to go to a tribunal hearing and that's what we're working towards."
A tribunal will ensure all the arguments are heard and that a "fair and transparent" agreement is reached if the two sides cannot find a solution, he said.
"It's not a threat," he told Radio Cymru's Post Cyntaf programme.
"The tribunal is an institution for solving this kind of dispute so if we can't come to a settlement through negotiation then this is where this kind of dispute goes."
He added: "I want to avoid going to law. I want to reach an agreement on this without having to go to a tribunal, but we cannot allow this dispute to continue endlessly."
Talks between Eos and the BBC have been underway for months, but they failed to reach an agreement 1 January when Eos officially took control of the rights of its members' music.
As a result, more than 300 composers and publishers withdrew the right to play their music on the BBC, denying Radio Cymru rights to play about 30,000 songs.
Mr Davies said there was a "significant gap" between what Eos was seeking and what the BBC was offering.
The BBC has offered to contribute to the group's legal costs.
However, its chief executive, Dafydd Roberts, said the latest development was "disappointing".
"It appears that the discussions were a sham and in the meantime the BBC has been preparing documents and evidence for the tribunal," he said.
Mr Roberts has said that Eos will consider allowing Radio Cymru to play its members' music while the royalties dispute is sorted out.


Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted for the sixth month in a row in January - and hit its lowest level since 2012.

According to the government's latest factory survey, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a reading of 49.4 for the month compared to December's reading of 49.7.
Expectations were for a reading of 49.6 for the month.
A figure below 50 indicates that factory activity contracted.
Analysts said the numbers confirmed that momentum in Chinese economic activity had continued to weaken into 2016.
"It is quite concerning that the significant monetary and fiscal stimulus in 2015 has only managed to slow the rate of decline in China's industrial activity," IG Markets' Angus Nicholson told the BBC.
The first three months of activity is considered the weakest in China due to the seasonal disruption of Chinese New Year, Mr Nicholson explained.
"The big question is how much of this first quarter weakness in China will carry over to the second quarter. It is looking like it will be quite a struggle for China to even hit its lowered growth target of 6.5% for 2016."
China's economy grew by 6.9% in 2015, compared with 7.3% a year earlier, marking its slowest growth in a quarter of a century. Beijing had set an official growth target for the year of "about 7%".
China's slowing growth is a major concern for investors around the world, as the country has been a key driver of the global economy.


Vern Cotter has called on his players to use the nightmare of Twickenham as a motivational force in Scotland's final game of the Six Nations.

Cotter's men face Italy on Saturday after losing 61-21 to England.
It will also be the New Zealander's last match in charge after taking over in the summer of 2014.
But he has discouraged his team from talking too much about his departure. "They're not allowed to," the 55-year-old said.
"They've plenty of other things to think about, like playing for themselves and for the people who support them.
"We'd like to see them put in a great performance against Italy that they can be proud of.
"You can turn frustration from Twickenham into a positive, that's the key thing. Nobody was happy with that and this is an opportunity. Let's see what we can do."
Scotland could yet finish second in the Six Nations table, which would be a first since the championship was expanded in 2000 to include Italy. They would need a bonus-point victory at Murrayfield and also England to beat Ireland and Wales to beat France in Paris without a bonus point.
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Despite the trauma of last Saturday, Scotland are also just two tries away from a record try haul in the Six Nations and five points away from a record points tally. This time three years ago - after the last Six Nations before Cotter's arrival - Scotland had a world ranking of 10th. Currently, they are fifth in the world.
Cotter declined the chance to talk about his reign, saying that it was not yet time. He will wait until after Saturday's game for the grand overview of his time in charge. For now, the focus is purely on beating Italy, a team he describes as "improving" and "innovative".
Italy held half-time leads in their games against Wales and England and only trailed France by five points at the break, but they have lost all four games so far by an average of 30 points.
For them, the real damage has been done in the second half of all these matches. They have conceded 70% of their total points in the second half - that figure has risen from 62% last season - and have conceded an average of 20 points - up from 16 points last season - in the last 20 minutes of the second half.
"We know that you can't get a result in five minutes," said Cotter. "So, we'll have to roll our sleeves up and work hard through the whole 80 minutes if we want that win."
Cotter paid tribute to the medical and strength and conditioning staff for getting all the walking wounded fit again after the debacle at Twickenham.
There were injury doubts, of varying degrees, over six players but all six have made it. The only change in the starting line-up is tactical - Ross Ford coming in for Fraser Brown at hooker. Matt Scott takes over from the injured Mark Bennett on the bench.
The Kiwi says he will be involved in club rugby and coach development for the remaining months of contract before heading off to a new life as coach of Montpellier. "I'll just to try to make myself useful," he added.
It was also announced that Cotter will coach the Barbarians for two games against, England at Twickenham on 28 May and against Ulster in Belfast on 1 June. That's exhibition stuff. Saturday will a different animal entirely.


Rotherham became the first side in the top six tiers of English football to be relegated this season as a home Championship defeat by Fulham condemned them to the drop.

Sone Aluko poked home the only goal of the game to lift the Cottagers into the play-off places.
The scrambled finish ended Rotherham's three-season stay in the second-tier.
Fulham keeper David Button had earlier denied Lee Frecklington and Jon Taylor, while Danny Ward also went close.
Ward wasted the best chance of the first half, sending a free header wide, while Taylor was foiled moments after Chris Martin wasted Fulham's first real chance.
The goal which inflicted an eighth straight defeat on Rotherham, and sent them down, was an untidy one, with defender Darnell Fisher and goalkeeper Lewis Price initially blocking efforts before Aluko finished from close range.
Fulham's first win in three games was enough to move them above Sheffield Wednesday after the Owls were held to a 1-1 draw against Barnsley earlier in the day.
Since a 2-1 defeat by Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield on 27 September, Rotherham have been bottom of the Championship.
In total, the Millers have spent just 26 days of the 239 this season outside the relegation places.
Caretaker boss Paul Warne was the man to oversee relegation, having taken charge of the club in November after Kenny Jackett -  who succeeded Alan Stubbs - resigned after just 39 days at the helm.
Rotherham interim boss Paul Warne: "There's a little bit of embarrassment. I took the reins a few months ago and I haven't been good enough to get the results to keep us up and that is on my head.
"The performances have been okay at times but we haven't got that strength in depth. But that's my fault, it's not anyone else's.
"I don't think anyone thought before today that we would stay up, we weren't going to win eight on the spin. So to have relegated next to our name isn't too much of a shock."
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic: "It is a great step for us towards where we want to be.
"It was a very tough game. I am pleased because I have missed some 1-0 wins, so to get the goal and then finish with a clean sheet is pleasing and it is important news for us.
"We tried to be focused on our job and thinking about what we can do.
"We weren't thinking about Sheffield Wednesday or about other teams. Our focus is on us in this crucial part of the competition and getting as many points as is possible for us."
Match ends, Rotherham United 0, Fulham 1.
Second Half ends, Rotherham United 0, Fulham 1.
Substitution, Fulham. Tim Ream replaces Scott Malone.
Attempt missed. Aimen Belaid (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Semi Ajayi.
Attempt missed. Danny Ward (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
Substitution, Fulham. Ryan Sessegnon replaces Sone Aluko.
Foul by Chris Martin (Fulham).
Ben Purrington (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Stefan Johansen (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Stefan Johansen (Fulham).
Anthony Forde (Rotherham United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Ryan Fredericks (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jon Taylor (Rotherham United).
Foul by Floyd Ayité (Fulham).
Aimen Belaid (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Chris Martin (Fulham) header from the left side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Floyd Ayité with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Fulham. Conceded by Semi Ajayi.
Kevin McDonald (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Richard Smallwood (Rotherham United).
Ben Purrington (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Sone Aluko (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Ben Purrington (Rotherham United).
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Ryan Fredericks.
Attempt blocked. Danny Ward (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Danny Ward (Rotherham United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jerry Yates.
Foul by Chris Martin (Fulham).
Ben Purrington (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Rotherham United. Anthony Forde replaces Lee Frecklington.
Delay in match Lee Frecklington (Rotherham United) because of an injury.
Foul by Floyd Ayité (Fulham).
Ben Purrington (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Lee Frecklington (Rotherham United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jon Taylor.
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Kevin McDonald.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Rotherham United. Ben Purrington replaces Darnell Fisher because of an injury.
Delay in match Michael Madl (Fulham) because of an injury.
Delay in match Darnell Fisher (Rotherham United) because of an injury.
Chris Martin (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Aimen Belaid (Rotherham United).


Pop star Taylor Swift's lawsuit against ex-radio DJ David Mueller, who she alleges groped her, has raised awareness about sexual assault, and the questioning victims face when they take legal action.

Perhaps inevitably, given her high profile and her legions of fans, it's also sparked a debate about the art of court sketches.
Many have criticised the court art, arguing that the drawings look nothing like Taylor Swift - or joking that the artist must be a fan of her rival, Katy Perry.
End of Twitter post  by @KVJShow
And it's not the first time court sketches have been mocked online - sketches of pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli and NFL player Tom Brady have also seen their fair share of memes and comments.
End of Twitter post  by @MarcSnetiker
End of Twitter post  by @Local12
But actually, court sketches play an important role in modern trials - and the artists say there's a lot more to the job than just sketching a likeness.
It's often the only way we can get a visual insight into how a trial looks.
While cameras are allowed in many US courts (and some trials are even televised), cameras are banned from federal courts.
Instead, court artists are used to capture key moments of the trial - including a speaker's expressions, emotions and body language.
Watch: The art of the court trial
Artist William Hennessy Jr, who has covered high-profile trials including those of Chris Brown and Mike Tyson, says it's a challenge because "nobody's there to pose for you".
Celebrity court cases are particularly tough because "the more people know the individual, the more critical they're likely to be - so the pressure is on for you to get the likeness accurate".
He likens the job to being a court reporter.
"You want to think journalistically - you're providing a visual for a story," he tells the BBC. "You want to do it in context and provide a feeling of what a courtroom is like."
Jane Rosenberg was behind the 2015 sketches of Tom Brady that went viral.
After they sparked dozens of memes online, she apologised for "not making him as good-looking as he is" and said she had been "under a lot of pressure to work very quickly".
She did try again - and people were pretty happy with her follow up effort - with one newspaper saying she had nailed it.
Sketch of US footballer goes viral
Christine Cornell, a court artist who sketched the Bill Cosby trial, agrees the job involves "hideous deadlines".
"You have to get it down very fast - essentially [the moment] the hearing's over is when they want the drawing," she tells the BBC.
She says the least amount of time she's had to do a sketch is about half an hour, although "an hour is more typical".
As if the time pressure isn't bad enough - sometimes courtrooms are so crowded the artists can hardly see the person they're meant to be drawing.
"The best hearings are without a jury, when the judge may allow the artist to sit in the jury box - then you're actually looking at the faces of the people you're drawing," Ms Cornell says.
"However, if you're coming in for a hearing you're going to be put in the public area - in which case you're looking at the back of everyone's heads.
In those cases, she says, court artists need to be good at capturing a person's face from quick glances.
"He may turn to speak to his attorney before the judge comes in, for 30 seconds - you may see his face when he walks in through the door and turns to face the front - those are the moments you wait for so you can capture their likeness."
In the case of the Bill Cosby trial, she was designated a seat behind a pillar - which she describes as "drawing under the very worst of circumstances".
Luckily, she had practised drawing him during the pre-trial hearings where she was allowed in the jury box - "so I could draw him very well with just brief glimpses".
If you think US court artists have a tough job, spare a thought for their cousins across the pond.
In the UK, most courtrooms ban cameras - and artists are prohibited from sketching people in court as part of the 1925 criminal justice act.
The artists have to make notes during the hearings - and then draw their impressions from memory.
Julia Quenzler, a court artist in the UK, told the BBC in a previous interview that she would write brief notes about the hair, facial features, clothing and body language of the main players, before scuttling off to the press room to commit the image to paper.
Many judges are against the idea, arguing that that it will change how people behave in court, intimidate witnesses, and make judges and lawyers more likely to perform for the cameras.
Others though argue that cameras would allow more transparency - and give the public a better insight into how the judiciary operates.
A day in the life of a court artist
When can you take notes in court?
Ms Cornell argues that "photos are very unfair in the courtroom, where there's supposed to be a presumption of innocence".
Sketches are less intrusive, and capture "a combination of moments rather than one moment", whereas a photo or still of someone's expression can be taken out of context, she says.
Court sketches are like "drawing with your heart - and a camera doesn't have a heart".
For journalists, there's one other benefit of knowing a courtroom artist.
When the White House banned cameras from some of its press briefings, CNN sent Mr Hennessy there instead.
His sketches of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer attracted a fair amount of media attention, and he said a lot of journalists "kind of got a kick out of seeing me" in a room where cameras weren't allowed.
So it's fair to say that even though some court sketches go viral for all the wrong reasons, journalists will keep sending artists to places where cameras are forbidden.


Sri Lanka has long been known as a manufacturing location for the international garment industry.

But the island is changing, according to the first Sri Lankan to present her own design at London Fashion Week's Esthetica - the hub of London's ethical fashion industry - into a fashion destination in its own right.
"I personally see a massive change in the industry in Sri Lanka," Charini Suriyage told the BBC Sinhala service.
"At one point Sri Lanka was only a manufacturing destination, but I see a lot of fashion schools and universities coming up and also I see most of the companies having a design section."
Ms Suriyage, winner of the Sri Lanka Design Festival 2010 Ethical Fashion Designer for lingerie, is launching her own lingerie collection at the event.
The collection is described as "luxury,Â hand-crafted, timeless, vintage design with a contemporary twist" - a far cry from any sweatshop image many might have of Sri Lankan apparel.
"It is great to take part in London Fashion Week," she says.
"It has given me such a great opportunity to be amongst all those international brands who have made their name in the industry.
"It has also given me so much exposure in terms of press and it has been amazing the kind of response so far from all those international buyers."
Ms Suriyage is a graduate of the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka and currently studies at London College of Fashion.
She has undergone an intensive mentoring programme on ethical fashion, designing under international designers Orsola de Castro, Filippo Ricci, Elizabeth Laskar and Claire Hamer.
She was also inspired, she says, by the work of the late Alexander McQueen and Issey Miyake.
"An ethical designer should be aware of the environment as well as the planet," she says.
"But it is a broader concept, where you think of the wellbeing of the people who are involved in the manufacturing process, the sorting process or the people who wear your product."
Ms Suriyage's aim is to promote Sri Lanka's cotton and hand-woven silk production - crochet as well as traditional handlooms, such as the Beeralu lace-making industries - to international markets.
She also eliminates all plastic and metal components while designing her garments.
"My products are 100% sourced and manufactured in Sri Lanka, as I'm very patriotic," she says.
"For instance, I work with some people on handloom products - as we all know there are a lot of handloom cottons in Sri Lanka, but hardly any handloom silk.
"I had to encourage the weavers so they can increase their potential as well in the international market, by experimenting with something different and something that is more marketable."
Small industries that rely mainly upon other major industries must take risks and try to become less dependent if they are to progress and face challenges in the globalised economy, Ms Suriyage believes.
"Take the Beeralu industry, for instance," she says.  "They sustain on tourism. I don't think they have enough motivation to continue with the craft because they are not getting continuous orders.
"I want to promote Sri Lankan craft in the international market and also to help these communities sustain what they are doing so that we can sustain our traditional craft as well."
London Fashion Week 16-20 September 2011.


The US Supreme Court has heard arguments in a case that turns on whether for-profit companies can exercise religious beliefs.

Two companies are challenging a provision of a 2010 healthcare overhaul that requires employers to cover the cost of workers' birth control.
Their owners say that violates their Christian beliefs. The government says an exemption would undermine the law.
A ruling in the closely watched case is expected in June.
The craft store Hobby Lobby and the cabinetmaker Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp are challenging the measure in the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul, which is known to its detractors as "Obamacare".
The companies are owned by people who say their religious faith puts them in opposition to four methods of contraception included as preventative care in the law. The law requires them to offer birth control coverage in their company health insurance plans or pay a tax.
The companies are suing the federal department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the implementation of the healthcare law.
The arguments on Tuesday were something of a re-match for US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama administration in defence of the law, and lawyer Paul Clement, who represented the companies.
The men faced off in front of the Supreme Court in 2012 to argue the legality of the ACA, which sought to vastly increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and to regulate the quality of insurance they received.
The law passed without a single vote from Republican lawmakers. It has been a divisive topic in Washington ever since.
Though the court upheld the law's overall constitutionality in 2012, individual sections of the ACA have been under attack from both Republicans in Congress and some in the private sector.
In this particular challenge, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga argue the contraception mandate creates an undue burden on the religious beliefs of a corporation. But neither Congress nor US courts have ever established clearly that corporations can have religious beliefs in the first place.
In oral arguments on Tuesday, the nine-member court's more liberal judges worried about the precedent it would set should this case do just that.
"There are quite a number of medical treatments that different religious groups object to," said Justice Elena Kagan, who was appointed by Mr Obama.
"So one religious group could opt out of this and another religious group could opt out of that and everything would be piecemeal and nothing would be uniform."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, also an Obama appointee, noted that blood transfusions, vaccines and medical procedures using pig tissue could all be opposed on religious grounds.
But to deny that companies could not take religious objections to government regulations would cause other problems, said conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who was appointed by President George W Bush.
"What about the implications of saying that no for-profit corporation can raise any sort of free exercise claim at all and nobody associated with the for-profit corporation can raise any sort of free exercise claim at all?"
He cited a recent ruling in Denmark that required all animals to be stunned before slaughter, effectively banning kosher and halal meat preparations.
"Suppose Congress enacted something like that here. What would a corporation that is a kosher or halal slaughterhouse do?" he asked.
"They would have no recourse whatsoever. They couldn't even get a day in court."
Much will depend on how the justices interpret the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which made it easier for individuals and groups to apply for religious exemptions from laws.
It was passed in response to a Supreme Court ruling against two drug counsellors who lost their jobs after using peyote, an illegal drug, in a Native American religious ritual.
On Tuesday, Mr Verrilli argued that the RFRA was meant to protect individuals, not to hold employees hostage to their employers' religious beliefs.
He said that allowing companies to opt out of federal laws on religious grounds would enable them to cite their faith to oppose civil rights, disability access, or other civil protections ensured by the government - especially as it is impractical to debate the sincerity of any religious belief.
But Mr Clement argued that Congress intended for the law to be expansive.
He noted that churches and non-profits were already exempt from the contraception mandate and asked why for-profit companies could not be extended the same protection.
Outside the court, protesters on both sides held placards and chanted as snow fell around them. The contraception mandate's supporters greatly outnumbered Hobby Lobby's supporters.
"Employees have an obligation to provide basic healthcare services and can't pick and choose what those services are," said Beth Parker, general counsel for Planned Parenthood of California, a women's health organisation.
But Hadley Heath, health policy director of the conservative Independent Women's Foundation, said women employees could purchase contraception on their own and companies should be free to choose not to offer it.
"These cases illustrate the inevitable conflicts that result from too much government involvement in healthcare," she said in a statement.


(Close): Wall Street's Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes closed higher for the fifth day running, in their longest winning streak since last October.

It came as a surge in commodity prices saw Brent crude oil rise above $40 a barrel for the first time this year.
The Dow Jones closed up 67.18 points at 17,073.95, while the broader S&P 500 rose 1.77 points to 2,001.76.
However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fared less well, falling 8.77 points to 4,708.25.
Oil firms led the Dow higher, with Chevron adding 3.1% and Exxon gaining 2.6%.


The White House has released a picture of Barack Obama skeet-shooting - seemingly to settle a row over whether the president had fired a gun before.

Mr Obama recently told the The New Republic magazine: "Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time."
The photo, dated 4 August 2012, shows Mr Obama standing in jeans, polo shirt, sunglasses and ear defenders, aiming a shotgun that has a smoking barrel.
He is due in Minneapolis on Monday to discuss his gun-control proposals.
Asked this week why more had not been said about Mr Obama's shooting habits before, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: "Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs."
The photograph apparently shows Mr Obama shooting clay targets on the range at the Maryland retreat.
The New Republic interview, carried in the magazine's 11 February issue, quotes Mr Obama as saying he has great respect for US hunting traditions, while advising gun-control advocates to be better listeners in the firearms debate.
"I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations," he is quoted as saying. "And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake. Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas.
"And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that."
"So it's trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months. And that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes," Obama said.
President Barack Obama last month proposed sweeping measures on guns, including a renewed ban on assault rifles and wider background checks on buyers.
The announcement came a month after the 14 December killings of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut.


Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips expects Warren Gatland to see out his contract as Wales coach.

But he says he would be prepared to release the New Zealander from his contract if he wanted to leave.
Gatland is due to return to his Wales role after the British and Irish Lions tour and has been tipped as a potential future All Blacks coach.
Phillips said: "I don't think he'd do it, a huge value for him is loyalty so I don't think it would happen.
"But having said that, if he did, the people you need on your team have got to want to be there."
Gatland leads the Lions into a winner-takes-all third Test against New Zealand in Auckland on 8 July.
Following the tourists' 24-21 win over the All Blacks in Wellington, Sir Graham Henry tipped Gatland as a possible future All Blacks coach.
Steve Hansen has signed a contract to take New Zealand to the 2019 World Cup, which is when Gatland' deal with Wales is due to end.
"The job is so critical to Wales. I wouldn't want somebody doing it who doesn't want to be there," added Phillips.
"So if he wanted to go, he could go."
Gatland is Wales' longest-serving coach, having taken over following the 2007 World Cup.
Wales have won two Six Nations and Grand Slams and another championship title during his tenure, and reached the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.
He has twice been released from his Wales duties to coach the Lions - for the victorious tour of Australia in 2013 and the current New Zealand tour.
Phillips has praised Gatland's handling of this Lions on the current trip after intense criticism he has received.
He was portrayed as a clown on the front of the New Zealand Herald following the first Test after accusing the All Blacks of targeting Lions scrum-half Conor Murray.
He was also criticised for calling up Wales quartet Cory Hill, Gareth Davies, Tomas Francis and Kristian Dacey and Scottish pair Alan Dell and Finn Russell and only using them as injury cover.
The Welsh four players were unused replacements in two matches.
"It's his third tour so he knows what to expect, it's probably the toughest coaching job in rugby," Phillips added.
"He's had the discipline to stay above the criticism, not be drawn into it.
"He has the strong character and has retained his discipline to keep his eye on the prize of winning the Test series.
"You have to stay focused, back yourself and stay true to your instincts."
Phillips also defended the WRU's decision to allow Gatland and his Wales assistants Rob Howley and Neil Jenkins to tour with the Lions, leaving Robin McBryde to lead the national team in their two summer Test matches against Samoa and Tonga.
Wales won both their games and handed out 12 new caps while the Lions have a chance of winning a first Test series in New Zealand since 1971.
So did the WRU and Phillips get it right?
"It's not about being personally vindicated," said Phillips.
"Sometimes you get it right and sometimes get it wrong.
"I'm just pleased for everyone. I am pleased for the Welsh youngsters who got the wins against Samoa and Tonga.
"Jamie Roberts led them well on the pitch and they are good ambassadors for Welsh rugby."
Phillips does not believe the future of the Lions is in danger, despite calls to shorten future tours.
He believes the trips should have a special place in the calendar.
"It's a little bit like the Olympics for rugby, it's the crown jewels," said Phillips.
"We know the players put it almost above their country jersey sometimes and coaches want to coach the Lions.
"I definitely don't think we should subscribe to one-off games or breaking something as powerful a brand as this is.
"As a Lions board we have always said the brand is stronger if you can win a series."
English clubs have indicated they want the 10-match tour to be reduced to eight games but Phillips has indicated the Lions might need more time to win a series.
"The fixture congestion is an ongoing debate and we are having the conversation about the global season," he said.
"When it comes to Lions tours, it's the Test series that counts.
"It's a brilliant brand so you are probably looking at more preparation time, looking at what's a sensible run of games into a Test series."


Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the upcoming three-Test series against West Indies with a broken foot.

Starc suffered a stress fracture during the third Test against New Zealand.
Wearing a protective boot, he told reporters: "I'll be in this boot for three or four weeks."
The West Indies series begins on 9 December in Hobart, and Starc could also miss the return series against the Black Caps in New Zealand in February.
"There's no point putting a time stamp on it yet until the bone heals," he said.
Starc was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the series against the Kiwis - won 2-0 by Australia - with 13.
But his injury further depletes their pace bowling resources following the retirement of fellow left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson midway through the New Zealand series.


Homes in West Lothian have been flooded for the second time in four days, after the same water main burst again.

Residents said that at the height of the flood, about 3ft (1m) of water was lying in parts of the Wester Inch estate, Bathgate.
About 20 homes are thought to have been affected.
A senior Scottish Water official later told 150 local residents at a public meeting that the water main was "absolutely not" fit for purpose.
Chief operating officer Peter Farrer also gave an "unreserved apology" for the incidents.
At the time of the flooding, some of the residents were at a local hotel having a meal paid for by Scottish Water following the previous incident.
The flooding affected homes in Meikle Inch Lane, and supplies to parts of Bathgate, Blackburn and Livingston were disrupted.
The first incident happened on Wednesday when "extensive flooding" closed Meikle Inch Lane and Leyland Road for seven hours. A total of 17 properties were affected.
Resident Mark Snedden told BBC Scotland there was a sense of panic when the rising water was seen.
"We ran out of the house to move our cars to safety based on how high the water had got on Wednesday," he said.
"We then rushed to some of our neighbours' homes, neighbours that had been flooded, to let them know that the water had returned because they were actually walking in their flood-damaged homes."
Scottish Water apologised unreservedly for any inconvenience caused and said it wanted to reassure customers that the company was "committed to gaining a full understanding as to why these bursts have occurred".
A statement said: "We have teams on site in the Meikle Inch Lane area that have isolated the burst and introduced backfeeds into our network.
"This has enabled us to restore normal supplies to the majority of customers who were affected in some parts of Bathgate, Blackburn and Livingston. Water tankers are also available if needed to support the network.
"We have staff on site in the area to help support affected customers and we are liaising with other agencies such as West Lothian Council and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service."
The statement said incident teams had been working through the night.
"Our main priority is to do everything that we can to help customers affected by flooding and loss of water supply, for some, the second time this week, and to provide the necessary support they require," it added.
"We will also investigate whether we can isolate this section of main whilst maintaining supplies to ensure that there is no repeat of this burst."
Scottish Water representatives addressed a public meeting at Simpson Primary School.


China's Shanshan Feng carded a six-under-par 66 to lead the US Women's Open by one shot, after the first round was delayed by bad weather.

Play was suspended for two hours because of lightning at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey and then eventually stopped for bad light.
That left 39 players having to complete their first round on Friday morning.
Korea's Amy Yang is five under, a shot ahead of Lydia Ko, with Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Georgia Hall at one under.
Former champion Michelle Wie has withdrawn from the event with a neck injury.
The American withdrew on the 11th hole, her second hole of the day, in a rainy start to the second round.
"Based on the short turnaround from last night's round to this morning, I haven't been able to recover enough to play to my full potential today, " Wie tweeted on Friday.
"I am confident with continued treatment, I will be at 100% by the Scottish and British Open."
Scotland's Catriona Matthew and England's Charley Hull are at level par, while Bronte Law is three over and Carly Booth six over.
Further storms are forecast for Friday.


The Duke of Cambridge has flown his first active rescue mission as a co-pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA).

Prince William flew to an incident in Garboldisham in Norfolk on Tuesday. "Patient confidentiality" prevented the EAAA giving details of the mission.
The duke's first shift began at Cambridge Airport on Monday morning.
Later that day what would have been his first active mission to a road accident in St Albans was stood down, EAAA said.
Prince William completed a civilian pilot course in September before taking dedicated 999-response training in order to take up his role with the air ambulance service.
The former RAF helicopter pilot's duties will cover incidents in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
On Monday the prince admitted to "feeling the nerves" as he began his first nine-and-a-half hour shift as co-pilot alongside medical staff.
However, within three hours he was called on to fly a helicopter to an incident in Hertfordshire, as reported in the Cambridge News.
An EAAA spokeswoman confirmed to the BBC the prince and the rest of the crew were called back to base when it was realised the air ambulance was not required.
Now it has emerged Prince William piloted his first EAAA rescue mission the next day, landing his helicopter in Garboldisham.
"We are unable to confirm any more details of this incident because of patient confidentiality," an EAAA spokeswoman said.
Prince William's shift pattern is expected to be four days on, four days off, but will take into account his official royal duties.
Bond Air Services operates the air ambulance on behalf of the charity and the prince will be paid a salary which he is donating to charity.


An ancient Egyptian city believed to be Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos people who ruled 3,500 years ago, has been located by radar, Egypt's culture ministry says.

A team of Austrian archaeologists used radar imaging to find the underground outlines of the city in the Nile Delta, a now densely populated area.
The Hyksos were foreign occupiers from Asia who ruled Egypt for a century.
Avaris was their summer capital, near what is now the town of Tal al-Dabaa.
The radar images show the outlines of streets and houses underneath the green farm fields and modern towns in Egypt's Delta.
Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said in a statement that the area could be part of Avaris, the summer capital of the Hyksos who ruled Egypt from 1664-1569 BC, during the 15th Dynasty.
"The pictures taken using radar [imaging] show an underground city complete with streets, houses and tombs which gives a general overview of the urban planning of the city," Dr Hawass said in a statement.
Irene Mueller, who heads the Austrian team, said the main purpose of the project had been to determine how far the underground city extended.
"The aim of the geophysical survey was to identify the size of the ancient city and the mission managed to identify a large number of houses and streets and a port inside the city," she said.
"The mission also identified one of the Nile river tributaries that passed through the city, as well as two islands," she was quoted as saying in the statement.


The Archbishop of Canterbury has said the Church of England accepting gay marriage could be "catastrophic" for Christians in other parts of the world.

The Most Rev Justin Welby told LBC that hundreds of Christians in Africa had been killed by people who associated Christianity with homosexuality.
He warned the same could happen if the Church of England backed gay unions.
Same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales last week, but is not supported by the Church.
On his first live phone-in on LBC Radio, Archbishop Welby spoke about a trip to Africa, and recalled visiting a grave where 369 people had been buried.
He said the victims had been killed because local people believed allowing a Christian community to exist would mean "we would all be made to become homosexual".
"That burns itself into your soul", he said. "As does the suffering of gay people in this country."
He also spoke of visiting a group of Christians in Africa who had been attacked because of policies of churches in America.
And he said religious figures in South Sudan had pleaded with him not to change Church policy because it would mean they could no longer accept help from England.
Archbishop Welby acknowledged that homophobic behaviour causes "enormous suffering".
But he said there is a "danger" in looking for "simple solutions".
He added: "The impact of that on Christians in countries far from here, like South Sudan, like Pakistan, Nigeria and other places would be absolutely catastrophic - and we have to love them as much as the people who are here."
Rev Bob Callaghan, the National Coordinator of Inclusive Church, which wants the church to be "open to all", said violence against Christians abroad was a risk.
He said the Church in England would need to consider the impact of a change in its stance "on a global scale".
But he added: "The debate is not happening and that is part of the problem".
Update 5 April 2014: An earlier reference in the story to a grave's location has been removed as it was incorrect.


Conservative MP James Cleverly, who served in the Army alongside PC Keith Palmer, has paid tribute in the Commons.

23 March 2017 Last updated at 11:39 GMT
PC Palmer, a 48-year-old father and husband, was stabbed and killed during the attack on Parliament.
More stories on the attack and aftermath


A woman who deliberately ploughed into a cyclist after being confronted about using her mobile phone behind the wheel has been jailed for three years.

Justine Henshaw-Bryan chased Damien Doughty through Stoke Newington, north London, sending him flying into a tree.
Henshaw-Bryan, who is due to give birth in November, said her then boyfriend told her to follow the cyclist, but the judge rejected her claim.
Mr Doughty, 38, was badly hurt, spending three days in intensive care.
Sentencing 25-year-old Henshaw-Bryan at Wood Green Crown Court, Judge Gregory Perrins said her actions could have killed Mr Doughty.
"This was a calculated attempt to run him over and use your car as a weapon," the judge said.
"It would have been obvious that to do so would have carried significant risk of injury."
The court heard how the pair nearly collided on Stoke Newington High Street on 10 February 2016, when Henshaw-Bryan pulled out in front of the cycle courier while using her mobile.
Mr Doughty confronted the driver over her use of the phone, at which point she shouted at him, the court heard.
Angered by the exchange, he kicked her wing mirror when they met at the next set of lights.
He was then chased down Victorian Grove and hit by Henshaw-Bryan's car.
Mr Doughty was left with a number of serious injuries, the court was told.
Henshaw-Bryan, from Hackney, who was driving with her then boyfriend in the car, claimed it was he who grabbed the wheel and aimed the car at Mr Doughty.
She alleged she had been a victim of domestic violence while in the relationship, but Judge Perrins said he did not accept she had been frightened of her boyfriend.
Henshaw-Bryan, who was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, was also banned from driving for four-and-a-half years.
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Australia's transport minister has said the search for flight MH370 could resume in the future, but only if "credible new evidence" emerges.

Australia, Malaysia and China ended the Indian Ocean hunt on Tuesday, almost three years after the jet went missing.
Darren Chester on Wednesday said Australia did not rule out another search, but he stressed he did not want to provide false hope.
He also defended the suspension following criticism from relatives.
The plane carrying 239 people vanished on 8 March 2014 while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
More than 120,000 sq km (46,300 miles) of the Indian Ocean has been searched. Pieces of debris have been found as far away as Madagascar.
MH370: What we know
Is it likely MH370 will ever be found?
The passengers on board MH370
Relatives' anger at 'ignored' debris
MH370: The key pieces of debris
But only seven of the fragments have been identified as definitely or highly likely to be from the Boeing 777.
There were 14 nationalities among the 227 passengers and 12 crew on board the plane. The majority - 153 people - were Chinese.
"I don't rule out a future underwater search by any stretch," Mr Chester told reporters in Melbourne, stressing that the hunt was "not a closed book".
But he said he did not want to provide false hope to the victims' families.
"We need to have credible new evidence leading to a specific location before we would be reasonably considering future search efforts," he said.
The minister said analysis of satellite imagery and the drifting of plane debris in the ocean would continue into February while Australia remained open to help Malaysia on future requests including the examination of other aircraft fragments that may be found.
He defended the choice of the search zone, which was called into question after new analysis in December concluded MH370 was not in the area and might be further north.
"We need to understand the very limited amount of actual data our experts were dealing with... it has been the edge of science and technological endeavour in terms of pursuing this search effort," he said.
"In future, whether through better analysis of data, if new technology becomes available or through improved equipment or something of that nature, we may have a breakthrough."
Relatives of the victims on Tuesday criticised the decision to halt the search as "irresponsible".
Voice370, a family support group, said finding the Malaysian airliner was "an inescapable duty owed to the flying public".
It said the search must continue and be extended to include an area of some 25,000 sq km north of the current one, recommended by the report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in December.
"Stopping at this stage is nothing short of irresponsible, and betrays a shocking lack of faith in the data, tools and recommendations of an array of official experts assembled by the authorities themselves."
A report in November 2016 said the plane probably made a "high and increasing rate of descent" into the Indian Ocean.


Ben Hooper, from Cheltenham, is attempting to become the first person to officially swim the Atlantic.

13 November 2016 Last updated at 16:53 GMT
The 38-year-old has set off from Dakar in Senegal to swim to Natal in Brazil. He's hoping to raise Â£1m for charity and to finish the challenge in March.
Other people have attempted the swim but were not ratified by Guinness World Records.


In World War II, the Allies employed all kinds of sneaky tricks to deceive their enemies into thinking they had more troops and weapons at their disposal than they actually had.

The camouflage techniques of one unit active in North Africa, which on one occasion consulted a stage magician about the way he fooled audiences, proved decisive in several key battles. And the biggest deception of all was Operation Fortitude which fooled the Nazis about where the D-Day landings would actually take place.
The same principles of deception and misdirection, albeit on a much smaller scale, are now starting to be used by some organisations to thwart malicious hackers keen to establish a bridgehead on internal networks.
"It's a classic idea of warfare to prevent the adversary from having a real understanding of your reality," said Ori Bach from deception technology firm Trapx. "It's just like the Allies in WWII. They made fake tanks, fake air bases, fake everything."
And just like those ersatz weapons of war, the fakes implanted on a network look just like the real thing.
"We create a shadow network that is mimicking the real network and is constantly changing," he said.
The use of so-called deception technology has grown out of a realisation that no organisation can mount perfect digital defences. At some point, the attackers are going to worm their way in.
Given that, said Mr Bach, it was worth preparing for their arrival by setting up targets that are simply too juicy for the malicious hackers to ignore once they land and start looking around.
"We want our shadow network to be more attractive to the hackers than the real stuff," he said.
Deception technology has grown out of work on another useful cyber-thief tracking technology known as honey pots, said Joe Stewart of deception firm Cymmetria.
A honey pot is a computer that resembles a typical corporate server to the automated tools that many hackers use to scour the net for targets. Many large security firms set up lots of individual honey pots, he said, to gather intelligence about those tools and the malware being used to subvert them.
But, said Mr Stewart, the problem with honey pots is that they are passive and only involve a few separate servers.
By contrast, deception technology is generally used on quite a grand scale so any attacker that turns up has little clue about what is real and what is fake.
Cyber-hacks season:
Typically, said Mr Stewart, the spoofed network will be made to look more attractive to hackers by seeding the real network with "breadcrumbs" of information that lead to the fake network.
These tantalising chunks of data hint at all kinds of goodies that hackers are keen to steal, such as payment data, customer details, login credentials or intellectual property. But, instead of leading attackers to data they can sell, it leads them down a deep confusing hole that gets them no closer to that elusive, valuable data they crave.
He added that as soon as they start following the crumbs and interacting with that fake network, everything they do is recorded. That intelligence can be hugely useful, said Mr Stewart, because it involves what attackers do after their automated tools have got them a toehold on a network.
"The initial intrusion was probably done with something that was just spammed out," he said and, as such, would be spotted and logged by many different defence systems.
"What's much more interesting is the second stage persistence tools."
Organisations rarely get a look at these, he said, because once an attacker has compromised a network they usually take steps to erase any evidence of what they did, where they went and what software helped them do that.
Organisations do not have to commit huge amounts of resources to deception systems to slow down and thwart hacker gangs, said Kelly Shortridge from the security arm of defence firm BAE.
Instead, she said, more straightforward techniques can also help to divert attackers and waste their time.
For instance, she said, a lot of malware is now able to detect when it is being run inside a sandbox - a virtual container that helps to ensure that malicious code does not reach real world systems. Many firms use systems that quarantine suspicious files into sandboxes so if they do have malign intent they can do no harm.
Often, said Ms Shortridge, malware will not detonate if it believes it has been put into such a sandbox.
By mimicking the characteristics of sandboxes more widely it can be possible to trick malware so it never fires, she said.
Other tricks include seeding a network with the text and words that attackers look for when they are seeking a way in. Making them chase false leads can help frustrate attackers and prompt them to seek easier targets, she said.
"It's all about making reconnaissance the hardest step."
It is not just the gathering of information about attacks that makes deception systems so useful, said Mr Bach from Trapx.
"By engaging them and providing them with targets they are expending their most valuable resource, which is time," he said.
Instead of spending time cranking through a real network, any attacker diverted on to the shadow system is, by definition, wasting their time.
In addition, he said, because the shadow system resembles real world desktops and servers, attackers will sometimes use their own valuable assets in a bid to worm their way deep into what they think is a corporate network.
Some of the most valuable assets that cyber-thieves possess are the never-before-seen software vulnerabilities that they have bought on dark web markets.
"If they have spent a lot of money acquiring a vulnerability and they have used it to attack a decoy then that's a huge win for the defenders," he said. This is because using it reveals information about a previously unknown vulnerability that defenders will then share with others so they can properly patch and prepare for it.
Finding and buying software vulnerabilities is a time-consuming and expensive process, said Mr Bach, and undermining it can have long-term consequences for the malicious hacker groups.
"Cyber-thieves are financial operations," he said. "They spend money on R&D and on intelligence on the dark net. If they do not get more money back as a return then that criminal enterprise will ultimately fail."
This week BBC News is taking a close look at all aspects of cyber-security. The coverage is timed to coincide with the two biggest shows in the security calendar - Black Hat and Def Con.
Follow all our coverage via this link


UN health experts have recommended cutting the standard dose of yellow fever vaccine by 80% in emergencies, amid a global vaccine shortage.

A smaller dose would provide immunity for at least 12 months, they said.
Emergency stocks have been depleted by a mass immunisation programme in Angola, where the disease has killed more than 300 people since December.
A surge of cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has raised fears of a crisis situation.
The current outbreak of the disease has seen 18 million vaccine doses distributed in Angola, DR Congo and Uganda.
The global stockpile of the vaccine has already been depleted twice since February.
In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned that so-called "fractional dosing" would only be used as a short-term measure in emergency situations where a shortage exists.
A regular dose of the vaccine provides immunity for life. The WHO said it remained unclear whether fractional doses would work for young children.
It said that current vaccine stocks were adequate but an outbreak in DR Congo's populous capital, Kinshasa, meant the strategy was being seriously considered "to prevent transmission through large-scale vaccination campaigns".
DR Congo has reported 1,044 suspected cases of yellow fever since March, including 71 deaths, according to the WHO.
Of 61 confirmed cases, 53 were linked to travel to Angola.
Angola has reported 3,137 suspected cases since December, with 345 deaths reported.
Studies have shown that even vaccine doses of one 10th the regular amount can produce an immune response in healthy adults, Jacqueline Weyer of South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases told the BBC.
"The fear is that yellow fever outbreaks may occur in other locations, or continue to spread, with the consequent need for more vaccine, which cannot be produced in good time," she said.
Source: WHO