Airbus, which leads the production of Europe's Ariane rocket, has developed a concept that could make future vehicles partially re-usable.

Code-named "Adeline", the system would see a booster's main engines fly themselves back to Earth after a launch.
The returned elements would then be refurbished and put on another mission.
Airbus says it has been working on the concept since 2010 and has even flight-tested small demonstrators.
Reporters were let into the Ariane production centre at Les Mureaux on the outskirts of Paris on Friday to inspect them.
The European aerospace giant is in a fierce multi-billion-dollar battle to defend the market position of Ariane, which has launched roughly half of all the large telecommunication satellites in orbit today.
Competitors such as America's SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are also working towards making their rockets re-usable - an approach that is expected to drive down prices across the industry.
Airbus has recently begun development of its next-generation Ariane, and, in the present design, the recovery of components is not envisaged. But the company says the Adeline concept could be grafted on to this vehicle in due course.
"The current design for Ariane 6 is fixed. For its maiden flight in 2020, it will not change," explained Francois Auque, the head of space systems at Airbus Defence and Space.
"But it is absolutely normal that in parallel we begin to think about what will be the evolution of Ariane 6, because if we don't already pave the way for those evolutions we will not be in a position to implement them somewhere between 2025 and 2030."
The firm's engineers believe the basic Adeline idea could be incorporated into any liquid-fuelled launcher, however big or small.
It takes the form of a winged module that goes on the bottom of the rocket stack.
Inside are the main engines and the avionics - the high-value parts on all rockets.
The module would be integral to the job of lifting the mission off the pad in the normal way, but then detach itself from the upper-stages of the rocket once the propellants in the tanks above it were exhausted.
The Adeline module's next step would be re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. For this, it would have a protective heat shield on its bulbous nose.
At a certain point in the descent, Adeline would pull up using its small winglets, and steer itself towards a runway.
Small deployable propellers would aid control as it essentially operated like a drone to find its way home.
The recovered engines and avionics could then be serviced and readied for the next launch.
Herve Gilibert, a chief technical officer at Airbus Defence and Space, told BBC News that Ariane engines could be re-flown perhaps 10-20 times.
"We have the conviction that we will generate savings for one given launch on the order of 20-30%, which will make us highly competitive."
Naturally, there is a penalty in the performance of the rocket overall because mass is being taken up only to be flown back down again. But Mr Gilibert said this was maybe as little as 10%.
California's SpaceX is currently trialling its rocket recovery system on launches from Florida. Its methodology is slightly different to the Airbus one. It is looking to bring back the entire first-stage booster, propellant tanks and all.
In the past year, SpaceX has got the first-stage of its Falcon 9 rocket very close to making a controlled, vertical return to a floating barge.
ULA is going for an alternate model, too. The Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture, which launches America's military and spy satellites, as well as many Nasa science missions, is working on a new rocket called Vulcan.
This would detach its engines and protect them with a heat shield on re-entry, similar in that sense to Adeline. But ULA's idea is for a helicopter to catch the engines in mid-air as they are parachuted towards the Earth's surface.
Rocket companies have talked for years about making their traditionally expendable rockets wholly or partially re-usable. And people will remember that the space shuttle was designed as a recyclable system. But the complexities of refurbishing the vehicle swamped any savings. The shuttle main engine - an engineering marvel - contained 50,000 parts.
To realise significant economies, all the rocket players - Airbus, SpaceX and ULA - will have to avoid this trap.
They will also have to get satellite operators comfortable with the idea of launching their precious hardware on what would essentially be second-hand systems. These operators will not embrace the developments if they think reliability is being compromised.
Airbus says it has spent perhaps 15m euros so far on its reusable technology programme, and plans now to push ahead with an even bigger demonstrator.
The company is in the process of turning over Ariane manufacturing to a joint venture with French engine maker Safran, and it is this new commercial entity that will determine whether Adeline becomes reality.
The same will be true for other evolutions. Engineers also have an idea for how the upper-part of Ariane 6 could be modified to link up with space tugs that are kept permanently in orbit.
Ariane would deliver satellites and fuel to these tugs, which would then carry out the business of placing the spacecraft in their correct slots on the sky.
The tactic could work to reduce the size of satellites and the rockets needed to get them off the Earth.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new app has been greeted with excitement and humour on Twitter.

The PM launched his "Narendra Modi" app on Wednesday, adding another platform to his "massive" social media presence.
Mr Modi is among the five most popular politicians on Twitter with 12.5 million followers. Others in the top-five club are US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis.
He tweeted about his new app on Wednesday.
Some users welcomed the PM's new initiative.
But others found humour in Mr Modi's app.
Others have made light of Mr Modi's foreign travels.
Mr Modi's also sparked discussions about the kind of app other celebrities are likely to create.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world.  You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


The only airworthy Lancaster bomber in the UK has suffered an engine fire while flying.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) Lancaster - known as Thumper - landed safely at RAF Coningsby after it misfired during a training flight.
The crew evacuated safely and the aircraft will now be assessed by engineers.
Last year, the only other flying Lancaster had an engine fire whilst visiting the UK.
Sqd Ldr Emma Watkins said: "The Lancaster suffered what appears to be an engine fire during a practice run this afternoon.
"The aircraft has landed safely and all the crew are fine."
During a tour in 2014, Vera - owned by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - was hit by an engine fire during a flight in County Durham.
It was due to fly at the Bournemouth Air Festival as well as the Shoreham Air Show and the Gedling Show in Nottinghamshire as part of a two-month UK tour.
Vera was loaned an engine by the BBMF in order for it to return home.


Oldham Roughyeds head coach Scott Naylor is hoping their Challenge Cup run will provide finances to help the club in the long term.

The Championship part-timers won 36-22 at Super League side Hull KR on Saturday to reach the last 16.
In the Challenge Cup, teams split the income that is taken on the gate after the home team has claimed expenses.
"Let's be honest, the Challenge Cup is all about trying to get as much money as we possibly can," said Naylor.
"Do we go for the win [in the next round] or do we go for the financial aspect? I'd love to win the next round and the round after that as I don't like losing games - but let's be realistic."
The Roughyeds have had to move to play at Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold ground this season after promotion from League One, as their Whitebank Stadium did not meet Championship regulations.
"The money will help us massively and that's what we're desperate for," Naylor told BBC Radio Manchester. "That would then kick us on for next season and the season after, and then maybe we can start talking about trying to win things.
"Right now we're a club that needs a few quid and the next round will give us that hopefully."


A man has been arrested in connection with the death of another man after a disturbance in the Parkhead area of Glasgow on Tuesday.

Paul McCaroll, 49, was fatally injured in the overnight incident in Westmuir Street.
Police Scotland said a 45-year-old man had been arrested and was being detained in police custody.
A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. The man is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday.


Jordy Hiwula kept Walsall's League One automatic promotion hopes alive as his late winner downed mid-table Southend.

The on-loan striker headed an 88th-minute corner against the underside of the bar and, although it was cleared, the assistant referee awarded a goal.
Dan Bentley had earlier made fine saves from Romaine Sawyers, Milan Lalkovic and Hiwula to keep the scores level.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge saved Adam Barrett's volley to deny the visitors an injury-time equaliser.
The Saddlers are now within three points of the automatic promotion places after second-placed Burton Albion were held to a 0-0 draw by Barnsley.
With a game in hand and a slightly better goal difference over Burton, automatic promotion from League One is now back in the Saddlers' own hands.
Walsall interim head coach Jon Whitney told BBC WM:
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"If I thought about how it's been over the past six weeks, I would be worn out. But I've got an energy about me. The players enthuse me.
"I always talk about this energy balance and we have to give it back. The players have to be energised and they are doing that.
"I'm just really pleased about the way we won and the way that we ground it out."


French President Francois Hollande has spoken out against an "unbearable" assault on a young couple near Paris which ministers say was anti-Semitic.

The two victims, a woman aged 19 and her boyfriend, 21, were tied up in his family's flat and the woman was raped.
Their lawyer said three men had burst into the flat, telling the boyfriend: "You Jews, you have money."
Two of the alleged attackers have been detained and a suspected accomplice is also being held.
They have been placed under formal investigation and are also suspected of beating up an elderly Jewish man last month.
France has the largest Jewish community in Europe and a recent report said there had been a significant increase in anti-Semitic acts there this year. It is also home to the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and there was a spike in attacks in the summer during Israel's conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza.
A group representing France's Jewish communities, the CRIF, warned that France was suffering from a "cancer" and said the fight against anti-Semitism had become a "national cause".
President Hollande said that, when such "tragedies" took place, it was not merely the family that was wounded and attacked, but "the best of France that finds itself hurt, broken".
The male victim's younger brother told French news channel BFM-TV that the attackers had targeted his family on Monday because they thought that he ran a local clothing store. In reality he was a salesman who had been transferred to another branch in Paris.
First, the men had assumed that he had brought the cash from the tills home with him but also, he said, it was "because we are Jews: and for them that's synonymous with money".
The two suspected attackers are being investigated for rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and extortion.
The victims' lawyer, Severine Benayoun, told French radio that the attack had revived memories of the 2006 murder of Ilan Halimi.
Mr Halimi, who was 23 and Jewish, was kidnapped by a gang and brutally tortured for three weeks before his body was found near railway tracks in a southern suburb of Paris.
Earlier this year, a French jihadist was accused of murdering four people in a gun attack on the Jewish museum in the Belgian capital, Brussels.
Two years ago, three Jewish children and their teacher were among seven people murdered by French Islamist Mohamed Merah in the southern city of Toulouse.


A Greek court has ruled that three Turkish military officers implicated in July's failed coup should be extradited to stand trial in their home country.

The three pilots were among a group of eight who fled to northern Greece by helicopter and sought political asylum.
They intend to appeal, their lawyers said.
Tuesday's ruling came a day after the same appeals court rejected extradition requests for three of the eight Turkish officers.
The BBC's Kostas Kallergis in Athens said the latest ruling puzzled many in court, following Monday's decision.
The remaining two officers are due to appear in court on Thursday.
At Tuesday's hearing, the court rejected extradition for the alleged offence of trying to assassinate the Turkish president, but accepted the requests for charges of trying to dissolve the republic; attempting to dissolve the constitution and for taking the helicopter.
The pilots deny involvement in the coup and say they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey.
In the wake of the coup attempt, tens of thousands of people from every level of Turkish society have been purged from their jobs, including military officers, government officials and schoolteachers.
Critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan say he has used the failed uprising as a way of removing his opponents and tightening his hold on power.


Three men have been jailed for 28 indecent assaults against boys at a school for vulnerable children.

Former care workers Colwyn Baker, 71, David Hennessy, 74, and Nigel Putman, 62, abused youngsters at the now-closed Swaylands School in Penshurst, Kent, between 1963 and 1979.
Baker was sentenced to 20 years in prison for 20 offences.
Hennessy was jailed for 12 years for six offences and Putman sentenced to three years for two offences.
Sentencing the three men at Maidstone Crown Court at the end of a 12-week trial, Judge Philip Statman said: "This is one of the worst possible breaches of trust a court can deal with."
He said to Baker: "You must have thought as you entered your seventh decade you'd got away with it."
Baker, of Craighouse Avenue, Morningside, Edinburgh, had denied 24 indecent assault and three serious sexual assault charges.
Hennessy, of Westfields in Narborough, King's Lynn, Norfolk, had denied 17 indecent assault charges, one of gross indecency with a child and one serious sexual assault.
Putman, 62, of Kings Road, Slough, Berkshire, had denied three indecent assaults.
The three were found not guilty of 15 charges, and the jury was unable to decide on five counts.
One victim said in a statement issued after sentencing: "At the time I didn't realise it was wrong because the abuse was done in a way that made it seem OK.
"I was sent to the school because I needed looking after. I was a little boy and I wasn't looked after. I was made to do things that I shouldn't. This will always affect me."
During the trial, the jury heard that Baker had been convicted in 1994 of four counts of indecent assault on a boy aged under 16 and one count of gross indecency.
It was also disclosed that Hennessy was convicted in December 1993 of four counts of indecent assault on a boy and two sex offences against a pupil.
The judge praised the victims for their "courage, dignity and restraint".
Speaking to the three men he had just jailed, he said: "What those pupils, as they then were, suffered at your hands is seared in their memory banks, in my judgment, for the rest of their lives.
"They remained scarred by what happened to them and it's clear from their victim impact statements of their shame and embarrassment."
Swaylands School, which was run by Barnet council in north London, was a residential facility for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
It was closed at the end of the summer term in 1994, 18 months after the council and Kent Police became aware of allegations of sexual abuse of students at the school by two staff members.
Following the verdicts, the council said it was "truly sorry" that young boys had suffered at the school.


Parents of a 16-year-old who received death threats after he was falsely accused of attacking a pensioner have warned of the dangers of online pranks.

Sue and Joe Davis from County Meath in the Republic of Ireland were so worried they posted their own video to correct the claim.
Their son, Daniel, was wrongly alleged to have broken into the home of an elderly woman on Halloween night.
The teen who posted the prank claim appeared in the video to apologise.
The boy's father also took part in the recording and apologised on his son's behalf.
The video, posted on 2 November, has been viewed more than 350,000 times.
The prank post wrongly alleged that Daniel Davis had been involved in a break-in and the assault of an elderly woman in Kinnegad on Halloween night and asked people to report sightings to Trim Garda (police) station.
No such incident ever occurred, police confirmed.
Speaking to Radio Ulster, Mrs Davis said: "I thought [Daniel] could have got a hiding, you don't know what sort of situation there could be - that he could get murdered, you just don't know."
She said she was optimistic the video would improve the situation.
"I'm a very positive person and I hope it did improve things.
"Obviously it's not going to change everything in life but hopefully it's put that awareness out there."
She said young people carrying out such pranks did not realise the effect they could have on people.
"I just think they shouldn't do it, they don't realise what the impact is, they don't realise that they could be causing someone to get a hiding, get murdered - they're causing a threat to the person that they're putting that out about.
"They're also defaming their character for the rest of their lives, that maybe if they get a job or whatever and somebody looks for them on Google, that might affect them in later life."
Speaking in her follow-up video, a distraught Mrs Davis said: "I just want you to see how severe it is, that a child can be slated in a situation that he didn't actually do anything wrong.
"And just to let you know how worried as a parent I am at the moment, because I'm afraid something is going to happen to him."
She added: "I just want us to get a message out there to people that's actually going to impact the silliness of kids putting up stuff like this."
Her husband said: "It's been shared all over Facebook and I've actually received phone calls with threats on his life, so if anyone else is thinking about putting anything 'funny' on Facebook, just think about it before you put it up."


Stories of survival are continuing to emerge from residents of the worst-affected areas following Wednesday's devastating Italian earthquake.

The towns of Amatrice, Arquata, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto, where many of the 268 dead and 400 injured came from, are just starting to come to terms with the tragedy.
Francesco Di Paolo, 27, from Amatrice - where more than 200 people died - describes the "shocking and traumatic" effect it has had on the close-knit community.
"My family - my mother, my grandmother and I - managed to escaped from our flat, which is in one of the few buildings still standing in Amatrice town centre.
The rest of the town centre is destroyed. The houses on both sides of our home collapsed.
There are five families who live in our building and we all got out, luckily.
After I helped my 60-year-old mother and 90-year-old grandmother to escape, I went back to help the other families. I helped all the families to get out in the dark.
My mother and grandmother were in shock, particularly my mother, who at first wanted to go back to bed.
It was dark when we got outside but when I switched on a torch, what confronted me was simply horrific.
A wall had fallen down on my car and the houses on either side of us had collapsed.
There were three people in one house, a mother, a daughter and her boyfriend. They were all killed in their sleep. They lived in a big, beautiful house with a lovely garden and they were buried under the rubble.
The family on the other side managed to survive, even though they fell from the second floor and their house was destroyed.
We consider ourselves lucky, very lucky.
I remember it was very quiet afterwards. Then after about 10 or 15 minutes people started coming in from the surrounding area to the centre of town looking for people, calling out and using their hands to try to find others under the rubble.
I joined in and tried to help my neighbours. I gave some blankets to people from our building. I was just wearing my T-shirt and underpants - I didn't have time to dress.
I stood on broken glass getting out of our apartment, but I'm ok.
I went back in to get some clothes later and went out again to try and find my friends. One friend lived in a beautiful house, but their house didn't exist any more, it was destroyed. Three of his family died there.
Around 200 people died in Amatrice. We all know each other. It's a small town and a close-kit community, so everybody knows people who died. Cousins, uncles, mothers, fathers. The whole town is affected.
There was a festival in the town the night before the quake struck and I know some people who were there who died, including a young girl who worked there.
I spent the whole of Wednesday helping neighbours and rescuers.
I also managed to collect some things from our home, but we can't enter the building now as it's not safe and the town is now closed off.
Our building will probably have to be destroyed as it is covered in cracks.
We have sent my grandmother to stay with friends on the coast, and my mother and I are now staying in a tented camp set up by the Red Cross.
The police, rescue services, volunteers and Red Cross have all been very good. People are trying to help each other.
I was back here for the week on holiday as I live and work near Rome - and this happened. I'm glad I was here to help my family and we are very fortunate we survived.
There are 200-300 people staying at this camp. The priority has been to find accommodation for people who survived and for the rescue services now to find the missing.
I will probably leave this camp with my mother today and go somewhere else for a couple of days, if  we can.
I haven't slept since the quake and there is a lot of emotion in the camp. People have lost their houses, their friends and their families. We all know people who are dead, injured or missing.
It is a terrible, terrible thing that has happened here. A terrible tragedy.
We are the lucky ones. We are alive."


Scotland moved up to fourth in the world rankings with a fabulous victory over Australia in Sydney.

Duncan Taylor and Finn Russell scored first-half tries for the visitors, with Israel Folau replying twice.
The hosts nudged ahead when Will Genia found a gap in the stout Scottish defence.
But Scotland responded with a wonderful try finished off by Hamish Watson to make it two wins from two for new head coach Gregor Townsend.
It was a second successive Scottish win on Australian soil following their 2012 success in Newcastle and revenge for one-point defeats at Murrayfield last year and at the 2015 World Cup.
Scotland's fantasy start began with a long-range Greig Tonks penalty after the Wallabies were done on the floor. Their mood went up another notch when Bernard Foley, the goal-kicking machine who has haunted them in recent times, missed an easy chance to level it.
Spirits soared ever higher when a three-point lead became 10 after quarter of an hour. The score was a catastrophe for the Australians and a delicious piece of poaching for the Scots.
Under pressure, Genia lobbed an awful pass to Tatafu Polota-Nau who, under even more pressure, attempted a decidedly unwise pop pass which was gobbled up by Taylor.
The centre ran away to score a gift of a try and when Russell converted Scotland, improbably, led 10-0.
Australia hit back when Scotland got their defensive alignment all wrong; Foley flinging a long pass to Folau who motored through a giant gap to touch down at the posts. Foley's extras narrowed the gap further.
It was an intriguing game already and it got even more interesting when Russell galloped downfield on his lonesome, only to be taken out by Foley who got binned as a consequence. While he was away, Scotland once again fed off another colossal Wallaby blunder.
Trying to clean his ground from a scrum, Genia failed to spot Russell tearing up on him. Russell blocked the kick, gathered and then ran around to score behind the posts. His conversion was a formality.
Australia managed to get hands on the ball and dominate for a spell after Russell's sucker-punch. They piled on the pressure and in the midst of the heat, Ryan Wilson sacrificed himself at a breakdown, saving a potential try but getting binned for his troubles. Scotland's penalty count was rising alarmingly as was the threat to their line.
Eventually, they broke when Foley picked out Folau with a cross-field kick, the full-back springing a mile in the air above Tonks to score. Foley, again, missed a straightforward kick.
Scotland battled tremendously to survive the rest of Wilson's binning without scoring. The bench then appeared and on came Ross Ford for his record-equalling 109th cap. There was a siege on the visitors' line going on when Ford entered the match and it continued awhile.
Camped inside the Scottish 22, Foley had a blast but was repelled, Michael Hooper had a go but was halted, Tevita Kuridrani went for it but he was stopped, too.
It couldn't last. Genia finally went over, Foley converted and Australia led for the first time.
You wouldn't have given Scotland much of a chance at that point. All the momentum belonged to the Wallabies, all the match was being played in Scotland's half. They were hanging on, hanging on, hanging on, then they were breaking free.
Watson's try was a thing of wonder, a breakaway of skill, composure and lethal finishing. Tonks, Lee Jones and Taylor cut their way through and it was Taylor who drew Australia's last man and popped it to Watson. With the conversion, banged over brilliantly by Russell, their cushion was five points.
An epic. Who would have thought it. Scotland were pushed onto the back foot again. Some of the defence was last-ditch and magnificent. It wasn't about systems now, it was about heart.
Matt Scott pulled off a try-saver, so did Russell. Scotland escaped, cleared their lines and within seconds the traffic started heading one way again.
Australia had a 5m line-out with five minutes left. They coughed it up. They got it back and attacked right and left and right and left, Scotland staying with them all the way. The scale of the Scottish defence was vast, a monumental effort.
The Wallabies had one last chance. Scotland were done at the breakdown as the Allianz Stadium erupted. They went for touch and rumbled. Foley went, then Kuridrani, then Hooper. No way through, not this time. No sweep of Foley's boot, no late heartbreaker. This was Scotland's day. And what a day.
Australia: Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Tevita Kuridrani, Karmichael Hunt, Eto Nabuli; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Tom Robertson, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Allan Alaalatoa; Sam Carter, Adam Coleman; Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (capt), Scott Higginbotham.
Replacements: Stephen Moore, Scott Sio, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Richard Hardwick, Joe Powell, Quade Cooper, Reece Hodge.
Scotland: Greig Tonks; Lee Jones, Alex Dunbar, Duncan Taylor, Rory Hughes; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Gordon Reid, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson; Ben Toolis, Jonny Gray; John Barclay (capt), Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.
Replacements: Ross Ford, Allan Dell, WP Nel, Tim Swinson, Josh Strauss, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Matt Scott.


Former Australia captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84.

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A pioneering leg-spin bowler, Benaud played in 63 Tests, 28 as captain, before retiring in 1964 to pursue a career in journalism and broadcasting.
His final commentary in England came during the 2005 Ashes series, but he continued to work for Channel Nine in Australia until 2013.
In November, he revealed he was being treated for skin cancer.
Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards said Benaud was "the iconic voice of our summer", while the Australian government has offered to hold a state funeral.
Benaud enjoyed a long association with the BBC following his first radio appearance for the corporation in 1960.
"Richie was not just a great cricket commentator, he was one of the finest sports commentators of his generation," said Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport.
"He was an integral part of the BBC team for decades and will be sorely missed by everyone who had the pleasure of working with him."
Benaud built his reputation as a commentator following an outstanding playing career in which he took 945 wickets in 259 first-class matches and made 11,719 first-class runs, scoring 23 centuries at an average of 36.50.
Tributes have been pouring in from around the world following the news of Benaud's death.
Shane Warne, Australia's record wicket-taker, made a particularly heartfelt contribution.
"Dear Richie, you were a legend on all levels and rightly so too," said Warne. "As a cricketer, commentator and as a person, you were the best there's ever been and, to top it off, an absolute gentleman."
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Benaud's passing was "a sad day for Australia", adding: "We have lost a cricketing champion and Australian icon. What an innings. RIP Richie Benaud."
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott said: "Farewell Richie Benaud. Wonderful cricketer, great captain, a master craftsman commentator and top man. Will always be remembered and admired."
Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara added: "So sad to hear about the passing of Richie Benaud. The great voice of cricket is no more. He defined an era with conviction and sincerity."
England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said cricket had "lost perhaps its greatest advocate and someone who was a true giant of the modern game".
Benaud was the first man to achieve 2,000 runs and 200 wickets at Test level. He was also a highly regarded tactician and never lost a Test series as Australia captain, winning five and drawing two.
After such an impressive playing career, he became even better known as a prolific author, columnist and commentator on cricket.
After the 1956 Ashes tour in England, he completed a BBC training course while still a player, marking the beginning of a 40-year association with the corporation.
His first BBC radio commentary came in 1960, followed by his first television appearance three years later.
With his mellifluous, light delivery, enthusiastically imitated by comedians and cricket fans alike, Benaud also became the lead commentator on Australian television's Channel Nine from 1977.
At the age of 83, he crushed two vertebrae when his 1963 Sunbeam vintage sports car hit a brick wall near his home in Coogee, Sydney.
BBC Radio 5 live pays tribute to Richie Benaud
Benaud often spoke of a return to commentary but, to the great sadness of his legions of admirers, it did not materialise.
Benaud, who was appointed OBE in 1961 for services to cricket, leaves a wife of 48 years, Daphne, and two children from his first marriage.
Listen to impressionist Rory Bremner paying tribute to Richie Benaud.


A "green commission" set up in Sheffield is to hold its first public meeting.

The group, made up of representatives from the business, economic, environmental, academic and health sectors, aims to ensure environmental issues are given a greater prominence.
They will come up with a series of short and long-term recommendations to the council.
Some places are available to the public for the meeting on 2 December.
The 19 commissioners will sit over several months and collect evidence, both oral and written, as well as holding debates and hearing from expert witnesses in areas such as health, fuel poverty, sustainability and transport.
Frances Wells, one of the commissioners, said: "This is the start of a public conversation about a sustainable future for Sheffield.
"It will help us understand more about the ideas, know how and initiatives that will be good for a sustainable economy and business, good for our environment and good for local people's health and well-being."


Laura Muir is relishing the prospect of cementing her status as one of British athletics' new stars at this summer's World Championships in London.

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The Scot says she is just "starting out" despite a host of recent records.
She aims to win her first major medals at the European Indoor Championships from 3-5 March before switching her attention to her main target this year.
"A home World Championships is big. I saw what London 2012 did for a lot of the athletes," she told BBC Scotland.
"It made a lot of big names and this is 'round two' as it were.
"I was a bit young to be racing at London (2012 Olympic Games) so this is my first chance to do something on home soil. I would love to make my mark there."
The 23-year-old from Kinross-shire will begin the final year of her five-year veterinary studies a week after the Championships from 4-13 August, continuing to combine them with her running career.
She maintained her scintillating form on Saturday by taking a second off Dame Kelly Holmes' British indoor 1,000m mark, also setting a new European record with the second fastest run of all time.
That followed her European 3,000m indoor record and the British 5,000m indoor record, after beating Holmes' British outdoor 1500m mark last summer.
"If you had told me a few years ago that I would be running these times, I don't think I would have believed you," Muir said.
"So I am chuffed my running has come on so much. I just love the sport for what it is. It is just an added bonus that I am running these times and winning these races.
"I am very much at the starting stage - I am not Mo Farah yet. It is nice to hear people say nice things about you, it is really good support. "
Muir will head to Belgrade for the European Indoor Championships in two weeks, with strong medal chances in the 1500m and 3,000m.
"I've never won a senior international medal yet, so I would love to get a medal, hopefully in the two events, and preferably as close to gold in both," she added.  "It would be amazing if I could get on the podium.
"[My goal] is just to be the best athlete I can be. You can't control what other athletes do and how they perform. I just want to race as best I can every single time I go out there.
"As long as I come off the track feeling like I have delivered the best I can, then I will be happy. Hopefully that will mean being on the podium, and hopefully on top of the podium sometimes too."
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Shares in Centrica and SSE closed down by more than 1% after a promise by the Conservatives of a price cap for energy bills if they win the election.

Earlier British Gas owner Centrica was down 4% and SSE by 2%.
The other Big Six are not listed on the London market. Npower owner RWE and E.on are German, Scottish Power owner Iberdrola Spanish and EdF French.
The FTSE 100 share index made modest gains, up 41.35 points at 7,342.21.
Shares in Micro Focus International were down nearly 6% after the software firm said revenues at Hewlett Packard Enterprise's software business, which it is taking over, had fallen by 10%.
Mining giant Glencore was up 2% after news it had started the sale process for its Tahmoor coking coal mine.
It plans to stop mining there next year. Other major miners joined the party with Anglo American and BHP Billiton both higher.
The pound was flat against the dollar at $1.2944 but up 0.35% against the euro at 1.1887 euros.
Brent crude prices were 0.55% lower at $48.79 per barrel.


A unique drive-thru Ash Wednesday service at an Irish church has been described as "beautiful and overwhelmingly respectful".

St Patrick's Church in Glenamaddy, County Galway, offered people the traditional blessing from the comfort of their cars on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds availed of the service over an hour and a half.
Parish secretary Breda Keaveney said the unique event was "very peaceful and so dignified".
"The weather stayed dry, the sun was shining down on us and the mood was overwhelmingly respectful - it was a beautiful event," said Ms Keaveney.
Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, a season of reflection and preparation before Easter.
Catholics traditionally attend a Mass at which their foreheads are marked with ash in the shape of a cross.
The Galway church's modern approach was designed to appeal to those who do not have time to attend Mass.
St Patrick's conveniently has a lane that leads right up to its front door.
Locals drove to the door, received their ashes and drove off on their way to work, school or the shops.
"We had people with hospital appointments, people going to work, parents, farmers, school children, bus loads of people," said Ms Keaveney.
"We just couldn't have anticipated how popular it would be - thankfully there were four of us on hand because we had hundreds to get through, but everyone was very patient.
"The response was so positive, everyone was very complimentary and encouraging. At the end of the day, we're in changing times and you have to move with them and not be judgemental.
"We're lucky that we have a very lively, youthful parish who are open to new ideas."
The idea, which was first reported last week, was agreed by the church's pastoral council and parish priest Fr Paddy Mooney.
"We looked at the situation on the ground. People and families are on the move all the time," he told the Irish Catholic.
"It's about meeting people where they are."
The church also set up a Lenten petition box in its grounds that allows people to submit prayer requests during Lent without having to leave their car.
"We're just putting it in front of people to help them think of Lent, as a reminder of it," said the priest.
By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days.
The period of reflection is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.


The average price of the cheapest tickets across English football has risen at almost twice the rate of the cost of living since 2011.

BBC Sport's Price of Football study analysed how much fans are charged at 207 clubs.
The average price of the cheapest match-day ticket from the Premier League to League Two is now £21.49.
It has increased 13% since 2011, compared to a 6.8% rise in the cost of living.
Year-on-year it is up 4.4%, more than treble the 1.2% rate of inflation.
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Critics of the price hikes said clubs had lost touch with fans and argued that the recent £3.1bn windfall from television rights should have resulted in a drop in ticket prices for supporters.
But some clubs, particularly those in the Premier League, point to packed-out stadiums as proof they have got pricing right.
The Price of Football is in its fourth year and is the largest study of its kind in Britain, covering 176 clubs across 11 division in British football and 31 clubs from 10 different leagues in Europe.
As well as ticket prices, information was gathered about the price of replica shirts, pies, programmes and a cup of tea. For the first time this year Price of Football worked out the cost to supporters for each home goal their team scored.
Here are some key findings:
Visit the Price of Football calculator to see how much you spend supporting your team.
Premier League transfer spending hit a record £835m during the summer window, up from £630m the previous year, boosted by the bumper television deal, which was 70% higher than the previous package.
This summer financial analysts Deloitte said Premier League clubs now spend 71p on wages for every £1 generated, the first time the 70p mark had been broken. Match-day revenue increased by 6% in the Premier League last season to £585m.
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Yet as well as the cheapest match-day ticket rise, the average price of the cheapest Premier League season ticket has increased 8.7% since 2012, from £467.95 to £508.55.
Shadow sports minister Clive Efford MP said the "inflation-busting" increases "just cannot be acceptable", while business leader Justin King, former chief executive of Sainsbury's, believes clubs need to ensure they are providing value for money to fans if they want to be sustainable.
"Any business that thinks it can simply rely upon the loyalty of its customers, regardless of how they treat them, in the end will fail. It's an absolute fact," he said.
"Therefore I would be asking clubs, 'are your fans happier today than they were five years ago with the experience that they get, the value for money that they feel they're getting?'"
The Football Supporters' Federation had called for clubs to use the TV deal to cut ticket prices, saying they could knock about £30 off each ticket and still generate the same revenue.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the group, said there was "no excuse at all" for the continuing rises.
"Three times the rate of inflation is completely unacceptable from an industry that's got megabucks going in at the top," he said.
Despite the ticket price rises, Premier League attendances are on the increase. The average last season was 36,695.
"For the Premier League and our clubs, keeping the grounds as full as possible is our top priority," said Cathy Long, the Premier League's head of supporter services.
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"The attendances so far this season are very encouraging, with more than 95% of seats sold and average crowds tracking with last season's, which were the highest in English top-flight football since 1949-50."
BBC Sport asked Arsenal for an interview but they declined. Instead, they sent us a statement that read: "Work is continually undertaken to offer tickets at various prices, with the highest match ticket only applicable for five Premier League fixtures in a season.
"Across the course of a campaign, we offer up to 300,000 reduced price tickets to adult and junior supporters, from £5 and £10."
Queen's Park Rangers chief executive Philip Beard added: "Our pricing structure is very fair and I've never had any significant complaints from any fans."
In the Football League, the average cost of the cheapest match-day ticket increased 31.7% in League One and 19% in League Two. In the Championship, the average price fell 3.2%.
Crowds in the Football League increased by 136,000 last season. The Championship had a total audience of more than 9.1m fans, at an average of over 16,500 per match. Only the Premier League (13.9m), Germany's Bundesliga (13.1m) and Spain's La Liga (10m) can boast more fans through the turnstiles in Europe.
Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "Season ticket holders are making up an ever greater proportion of the supporter base and account for 10 million of the 15 million admissions to Football League matches each season.
"As the study also suggests, a consequence of providing greater value to the majority of fans at one end of the spectrum is that those fans at the other end of the spectrum, those adults paying on the day for a single match, may now find themselves paying a bit more at some clubs."
BBC Sport contacted clubs in 10 other European countries to find out how prices in Britain compare with those in the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga.
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While some of those clubs sell very cheap match-day tickets, with French side Lille offering one for only £5.87, many charge more than £100 for their most expensive.
It is a similar story for season tickets, with AC Milan charging about £163 for their cheapest but almost £3,600 for their most expensive.
The Serie A side also have a match ticket that costs about £298.
The Bundesliga is often held up as a league that puts fans first by keeping ticket prices low.
The four clubs we contacted - Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke - all charge less than £13 for their cheapest match-day ticket.
Dortmund's commercial director said Arsenal's match-day revenues were impressive but insisted his club would not entertain the idea of charging such large amounts for tickets.
"If we were to ask for prices like this, we would lose the people," Carsten Cramer told BBC Sport. "The people are one of the most important assets for our club. We have to care for them."


The possibility of a multi-party Northern Ireland Executive being formed is lessening, the Alliance Party Naomi Long leader has said.

Political parties have until Monday to strike a deal and form a new power-sharing coalition at Stormont.
Mrs Long said: "The nearer we get to that deadline, the harder it will be to sustain anything more than a two-party coalition."
She added that there has not been enough momentum in the talks process.
The parties returned to the talks table at Stormont on Friday after the funeral of former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.
The Sinn Féin figurehead was buried on Thursday, when former US President Bill Clinton urged people to finish the work of peace.
The parties have until 16:00 on Monday to resolve issues that divide them - if they fail, another snap Northern Ireland Assembly election could be called, just weeks after a poll held at the start of this month.
A major sticking point for the parties has been to find a way of dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.
On Friday, Sinn Féin accused the government of "kicking this can down the road" and denying "access to justice" to families of those killed in the Troubles.
But Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said there was a "duty" to deliver for them.
There are areas, he said, "where I see common ground and where I firmly believe that resolution can be achieved".
Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said a "clear picture" as to the likelihood of an agreement could soon be revealed.
He said he expected more agreement as talks enter a "critical phase" over the weekend.
But there appears to be a gulf between the government and Sinn Féin on Troubles legacy matters.
Republicans have disagreed with unionists and the government over funding for outstanding inquests into numerous high-profile Troubles murders.
Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said it was victims' families, not political parties, who needed a resolution to the issue.
"There are families out there waiting 45 years for access to justice," he said.
"The British government cannot continue to deny them access to justice."
Mr Murphy also said his party's position had not changed on the future of Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster.
His party has insisted it will not enter an executive that she is a part of until an inquiry into an energy scandal that could cost taxpayers £490m is completed.
The Ulster Unionist Party's (UUP) Steve Aiken said there are a "lot of issues that need to be worked through".
His party spent the last assembly mandate in opposition, but appears to be willing to re-enter an executive.
But he said that the UUP would "need to make sure that it's a fully inclusive government" before that would be considered.


Work to completely revamp a north Wales seaside town's leisure centre has passed its first major milestone.

Construction teams at Prestatyn's Nova centre in Denbighshire have completed steel structural work and are moving into the second phase of redevelopment.
The centre has been shut for nearly a year-and-a-half after the trust running it on behalf of the council folded.
The Nova is expected to reopen its doors in the autumn after the council agreed to invest £4.4m in the centre.
Denbighshire council's cabinet member for community development, Huw Jones, said: "The redevelopment of the Nova is an important piece of the jigsaw in our vision to develop the leisure offer on the coast, as well as the creation of a brand new destination for visitors to the region."


A 12-year-old girl has died after being hit by a rugby ball during a PE lesson at a school in Essex.

Leonie Nice was at Woodlands Comprehensive School, Takely End, in Basildon, when the incident happened at about 12:30 GMT.
Essex Police said the "girl was taken ill after being hit by a ball".
Police said despite the efforts of school staff, paramedics and hospital staff, the girl died a short time later at Basildon Hospital.
Andy White, head teacher at the school, said: "Leonie Nice, a year seven pupil, was catching a rugby ball in a PE lesson when she was hit in the chest by the ball.
"Leonie keeled over and appeared to go into a fit. Our trained first-aiders gave CPR at the scene and the ambulance arrived quickly.
"Leonie was taken by ambulance to Basildon Hospital where despite everyone's best efforts, Leonie was pronounced dead."
Mr White said pupils and parents had been informed of her death.
Students who require support are being looked after by school staff and specialist staff from Essex County Council's Support Team, he added.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time," he said.
"Leonie was a promising, delightful and kind girl who will be greatly missed by all the staff and pupils of Woodlands School."


Permanent non-dom tax status will be abolished from April 2017, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.

The reform does not eliminate the tax status, but individuals who have lived in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will lose the right to claim it.
The non-domicile rule allows some wealthy UK residents to limit the tax paid on earnings outside the country.
The chancellor said changes to the non-dom rules would bring in an additional Â£1.5bn in annual tax revenue.
The changes to the non-dom system would also mean that, from April 2017, somebody who is born in the UK to UK-domiciled parents would no longer be able to claim non-dom status if they moved away from the UK but then returned and took up residency in the UK.
The government also announced that from April 2017, new rules would be introduced so that everyone who owns UK residential property and would otherwise pay inheritance tax on the property cannot avoid the tax by holding it in an offshore company. It said this would limit "abuses" of the rule by some who have non-dom status.
"It is not fair that non-doms with residential property here in the UK can put it in an offshore company and avoid inheritance tax. From now on they will pay the same tax as everyone else," said Mr Osborne.
The chancellor said he had decided not to abolish the non-dom tax status completely because it "would cost the country money", adding many individuals that took advantage of the tax status "make a considerable contribution to public life".
But he added: "It is not fair that people live in this country for very long periods of their lives, benefit from our public services, and yet operate under different tax rules from everyone else."
Separately, the chancellor said HM Revenue & Customs would also receive an extra Â£750m to pursue tax evasion.
Mr Osborne said the additional funding would help HMRC officials raise Â£7.2bn in extra tax by 2020.
July 2015 Budget full BBC online coverage
BBC Budget Live
HM Treasury link to Budget documents


Wales' players can prove a major point to Lions coach Warren Gatland in the final two Six Nations games, says Sir Gareth Edwards.

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Gatland, on a sabbatical from Wales to lead the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, will be at Friday's penultimate game against Ireland.
After two defeats, Edwards says Wales' players will want to make amends.
"They've got two games left and they can prove a point," ex-Wales and Lions scrum-half Edwards said
"That should be another incentive for the Welsh players to prove a point to Warren Gatland that some of the previous results they've had really don't matter.
"They might, just about might, surprise Ireland."
Rob Howley's side travel to France for their final game of the Championship on Saturday, 18 March.
Fourth-placed Wales, who are out of title contention after back-to-back defeats by England and Scotland, have named an unchanged side for the game at the Principality Stadium.
Edwards believes Friday's game sees the two top contenders going head to head for the number nine jersey he famously wore in the victorious tour of New Zealand in 1971.
"Conor Murray and Rhys Webb are vying for the Lions position," Edwards told S4C's Y Clwb Rygbi.
"Although there are others in the market there is no doubt this will be a real tough encounter.
"I'm expecting Rhys Webb to really show his capability but I've got great respect for both of them. It will be very interesting to see who comes out on top."
Ireland can set up a title decider with England in Dublin on 18 March with victory in Cardiff and Edwards is expecting a tough match for Howley's unchanged side.
"Whenever you play Ireland you know what you're going to get," Edwards added.
"It might not be fine skills; it will be all about heart and who wants it more than anybody else.
"I'm expecting nothing different from the Irish and I'm looking forward to it immensely."
Watch the full interview with Sir Gareth Edwards on S4C's Y Clwb Rygbi ahead of this Friday's game between Wales and Ireland from 19.15 GMT.


It is a story with some of the qualities of a Greek tragedy.

A brave warrior rallies his countrymen to try to oust an unjust king.
For years they struggle, enduring great hardship and showing true courage.
Then one day the king - also weakened by the fight - offers a truce, and invites his enemy to join him in his palace.
Warily, the warrior joins forces with his nemesis.
As the years go by the warrior begins to enjoy palace life.
When he finally makes another move to oust the king, he discovers that many of his own supporters have abandoned him. He is cast out of the palace.
Soon afterwards, the warrior's closest aides - those who had always warned him against the alliance - draw their knives and stab him.
Welcome - with a little artistic license and apologies to Sophocles - to the troubled world of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and its veteran leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who was turfed out of his position last week amid allegations of corruption, abuse of office, and weak leadership.
"Mr Tsvangirai has been suspended," one of those wielding the knife, Elton Mangoma, told me by phone.
"I think he'll come to his senses and realise it's futile to carry on. He has nowhere else to go," said Mr Mangoma, who implied that Mr Tsvangirai's taste for "big man politics" and his reluctance to step down, had turned him into a copy of the man he's fought so long against - President Mugabe.
But Mr Tsvangirai is not going quietly.
In language that would appear to rule out all future compromise , he has now accused his old allies - including the formidable Tendai Biti, who was also beaten and charged with treason by Mr Mugabe's forces - of working with Zanu-PF to "betray the people".
Mr Tsvangirai described Mr Biti as a treacherous hypocrite and an opportunist who "believes in nothing" and would now be dismissed from the party with eight other rebels.
How did things get this nasty?
Few would question Mr Tsvangirai's courage as an opposition leader in the bruising years before his controversial alliance with Mr Mugabe.
But the 2008 deal that saw the MDC brought into a power-sharing government, following an election campaign violently disrupted by Zanu-PF, was always going to be a risky move.
Mr Tsvangirai tried to sell it as a Mandela-esque gesture towards national reconciliation.
It was a much grubbier affair than that.
The deal did help revive Zimbabwe's crumbling economy - thanks to Mr Biti's role as finance minister - and put an end to the bloodshed, but Mr Tsvangirai himself soon became a largely symbolic figure, mocked for his colourful private life, his expensive house, and his golfing; and consistently outmanoeuvred by Mr Mugabe.
Then came last year's election.
While the MDC and most western nations believed Mr Mugabe rigged the results to win once again, it was also clear that the opposition had lost headway.
"There's no point in pretending you are strong when you are very weak," said Mr Mangoma, arguing that the party needed fresh blood and fresh ideas in order to prepare itself "to remove the Zanu-PF dictatorship" at the next election in 2018.
This is not the first time that the MDC has split.
MP David Coltart joined a 2005 breakaway group, and still bemoans "the deeply rootedâ€¦ cultureâ€¦ whereby a party starts to reflect the traits of the tyranny it opposes".
Mr Coltart, now a member of the MDC-M faction, blames a lot of the problems on the "enormous pressures brought to bear on leaders" during the fight against Mr Mugabe.
"The sheer nervous stress caused by a struggle like that causes people to fall apart, never mind political parties."
There is little doubt that the new split will only benefit President Mugabe, now aged 90, and his Zanu-PF, who are involved in their own succession battles.
Mr Coltart says he has "no doubt" that the MDC's troubles have been fuelled, once again, by state security operatives.
But his chief concern is that Zimbabwe's two main parties are now preoccupied with internal wrangling at a time when the country faces huge new pressures - with business confidence eroded, factories closing, tax revenues down, and a deflationary spiral choking the economy.
"I was hoping Morgan Tsvangirai would play the role of a political 'grandfather' and use his influence to facilitate the emergence of a more inclusive alliance of democratic forces," said Mr Coltart.
That seems unlikely now.


The FBI is seeking two men pictured with a suitcase that allegedly contained a bomb which failed to explode in New York on Saturday.

The pair appeared to remove the explosive device from the luggage before taking the bag with them.
Authorities are looking to question the two men and recover the suitcase.
The device was allegedly planted by Ahmad Rahami, an Afghan-born, New Jersey resident who is facing charges in connection to twin blasts.
An FBI "seeking information" poster says the two men "allegedly located a piece of luggage on the sidewalk, removed an improvised explosive device from the luggage, and then left the vicinity leaving the device behind but taking the luggage".
Investigators have said the suitcase was left at West 27th Street in Manhattan by 28-year-old Mr Rahami.
The 27th Street bomb never exploded.
But at around the same time another explosive device detonated on West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighbourhood, injuring 31 people.
Police had earlier said they believed the two men did not appear to be related to the plot.
But in Wednesday's poster it said agents are "interested in speaking to these individuals and recovering the luggage".
Mr Rahami has been charged in relation to the New York explosion and another device that exploded harmlessly hours earlier near a race in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
A 'very friendly guy'
Will blasts affect race for White House?
He was arrested on Monday after being found sleeping in a pub doorway in Linden, New Jersey.
Mr Rahami was subsequently arrested after a shootout with police. He remains in hospital.
A handwritten journal found on Mr Rahami at the time of his arrest revealed that he had planned a suicide attack and hoped to be martyred rather than caught, according to a federal court complaint filed on Tuesday.
Journal entries from the bloodied book showed his disdain for the US government and included references to Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Muslim cleric who was killed in a 2011 drone strike, the Boston Marathon bombings, the 2009 Fort Hood shootings in Texas and Osama bin Laden.
Mr Rahami wrote: "The sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets."
"Death to your oppression," a final message read.
The entries did not appear to make any reference to the so-called Islamic State.
Authorities also said Mr Rahami ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a business where he worked in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on 12 September.
A recording on a relative's mobile phone showed Mr Rahami testing out the material in a backyard just two days before the attacks.
After his arrest, federal authorities admitted that they had looked into Mr Rahami in 2014, when his father expressed concern after a domestic dispute involving his son.
"The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism," the FBI said in a statement.
Investigators are looking into whether Mr Rahami was radicalised during previous trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan.


Three years ago, I hired a fake girlfriend.

Sophia, as she called herself, charged $5 (Â£3.50) a week to be in a relationship with me on Facebook.
She'd leave messages, laugh at my hilarious status updates and, most important of all, change her relationship status to say we were an item.
As an experiment, I tried to see if my friends would be duped by this arrangement, one which I could describe only as a form of escorting - although strictly online only.
After a long week, I came clean to both my friends and Sophia.
I told them it was all a joke, and I nervously told her I was a journalist.
Thankfully, she was up for a chat.
"The whole Sophia thing is just my marketing username," she said.
"Nothing on that Facebook profile is real. My photos on there are really me, but nothing else is."
She said she was doing it to save money so she could go away and study.
But that was 2013, and this is now. Has fake girlfriend tech moved on?
While browsing Product Hunt, a great site that highlights new apps and ideas, I recently spotted an intriguing service called Invisible Girlfriend.
It promised me the chance to sign up and create my perfect girlfriend, and soon I'd start getting text messages from her so I could impress all of my friends.
"My cofounder had the idea for years," said Kyle Tabor, the site's chief executive, in an email.
"He mainly needed a fake girlfriend to get his parents off his back after he was divorced."
It works like this. You pick from one of six broad personality types - because there are only six types of women in the world, you understand. Rejecting "saucy and sarcastic" I went with "lovingly nerdy".
Faced with a stock photo library of about 30 people, I picked out a picture of a pretty brunette. I should, apparently, save it to my phone to show my friends later.
After a selecting a few standard interests - "lower league English football" wasn't available - I was then given help concocting a convincing back story. We met at an office party, and she's the girl of my dreams.
Her name? That was left to a name generator.
Mum, Dad... meet Alma Doris Brakus.
I guessed I'd have to get used to it.
Time to get down to some serious pro-flirting via text.
Feel free to take notes.
"Hi Alma, what are you up to?" I offered, sultrily.
A few minutes later, she replied: "Not much, early day at work so I'm home already. What about you?"
Bored already? Me too. But that's what makes this service more interesting than I'd first assumed.
I thought this would essentially be a sex line. So if I said: "What are you up to?", the answer would be an attempt at sexiness, like: "Ooh, I'm all alone ;);)" and so forth.
Yet the service seems to strive to be somewhat unsexy, almost mundane - like real life. I half expected her to ask me to pick up some milk on the way home.
That authenticity is helped by the fact that the texts are written by real people, a team of "real anonymous humans" replying to every message.
My cagey attempts to inject a bit of rudeness fell flat. The raunchiest exchange being: "What's the sexiest thing you could wear?" met with: "My skin lol. Or a skirt".
"Can you send me a pic of yourself?" I asked, only to get "O->-<" in return. That's an emoticon of a person lying down, in case you can't tell.
I'd have pushed it further, but the thought of some "real anonymous" bloke texting me back made me feel strange.
To sum up: a ludicrous, pathetic idea, that no-one would possibly take seriously. Or so I thought.
"We have had thousands of users pay for the service," Mr Tabor told me.
"It's about 50/50 between the text only and the full suite."
You read that right. People pay for this (according to Mr Tabor at least).
If you just want text messages, it costs $15 a month. The full suite is $25, and you get voicemails and all sorts for that.
The service isn't just for fake girlfriends, either. The site also lets women, or gay men, sign up and have a fake boyfriend. And what Mr Tabor said next surprised me the most.
"Actually, over 60% of our accounts choose boyfriends."
Consider me baffled. Why would anyone want or need this?
"Several reasons," Mr Tabor said.
"Get parents off your back, get a co-worker to stop hitting on you, make an ex jealous, or maybe just to practice flirting."
His team takes the illusion responsibility seriously.
I wanted to use the image of my beloved Alma Doris in this article, but Mr Tabor politely asked that I didn't, on the off-chance it might blow someone else's cover story.
An extensive how-to guide contains tips such as how to talk about your girlfriend/boyfriend, what questions to expect from pushy friends, and common mistakes people make when lying through their teeth about an imaginary human. There's even a live chat function to ask for advice from the site's staff.
But in the end, I had to break up with Alma Doris.
"I'm moving to Yemen," I said. She didn't understand.
If this service seems sad to you, then don't laugh. Just be thankful. Many users, Mr Tabor said, used the service for companionship. Someone to text for a chat now and then.
Like Sophia in 2013, Invisible Girlfriend and Boyfriend is satisfying a need, and a harmless one at that.
If people are prepared to pay for a service, and others are prepared to provide it - then fine.
And for the record, the woman behind Sophia did go on to save enough to study. Late last year, she certified as a fully qualified dietician.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook


The distributors of Buckfast are taking legal action against Strathclyde Police in a bid to stop the force adding its own anti-crime labels to bottles of the tonic wine.

By Glenn CampbellBBC Scotland news
If whisky is Scotland's national alcoholic drink, Buckfast must be the most notorious tipple consumed here.
It's produced by Benedictine monks in Devon but is regularly linked to the crime and anti-social behaviour of  drunks in Scotland.
In 2010, Strathclyde Police said it had been mentioned in more than 5,000 crime reports in the previous three years.
Buckfast's distributor, J Chandler & Co, says it's not the drink that is irresponsible but those drinkers who consume it to excess.
It argues that "buckie", as it's known, is unfairly stigmatised by politicians and the police.
Ministers from Helen Liddell, when she was Scottish secretary, to the current justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, have highlighted Buckfast as a problem drink.
Strathclyde Police issues special stickers to some off-licences. These are attached to bottles of Buckfast and some other brands.
The police marks are used to trace bottles used in crime, or found with underage drinkers, back to the stores from which they were bought.
J Chandler & Co says this is hurting its brand and its sales, although Buckfast appears to be bucking economic trends, recording record sales worth more than £39m in 2011/12.
The company is now asking the courts to intervene to stop bottle marking. Buckfast's legal battle with the police promises to be a fascinating case.
J Chandler & Co wants a judge to stop bottle marking because the company says the practice stigmatises the brand.
The firm is due to lodge a case at the court of session on Friday.
Strathclyde Police said it was unable to comment before receiving a court summons.
In 2010, the force said the tonic wine had been mentioned in more than 5,000 crime reports over the previous three years.
It asks some retailers to attach police stickers to bottles of Buckfast and some other alcoholic drinks.
This allows officers to trace bottles associated with crime back to the store from which they were purchased.
However, Buckfast's distributor believes the practice is illegal and discriminates against its brand.
Lawyers for J Chandler & Co will ask a judge to find that Strathclyde Police has unlawfully encouraged retailers to label bottles of Buckfast or withdraw the product from sale.
It is not clear what evidence they will present in court.
If the case is deemed competent by a judge, the police will be summoned to respond.
The force said: "We haven't received any summons yet and as such we are unable to comment."


France coach Didier Deschamps has got some big decisions to make about who he is going to play in Thursday's Euro 2016 semi-final against Germany and how he is going to approach the match.

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It is no coincidence that Antoine Griezmann played so well in their 5-2 quarter-final win over Iceland because he was in his favoured position, behind the striker, rather than out wide on the right.
He plays centrally for his club side Atletico Madrid and he is much more productive there. Even his body language looks much better, because he clearly doesn't want to be tracking back and chasing full-backs into his own half - all of his energy should be used for the creative side he is so good at.
But to play Griezmann in that number 10 role, Deschamps will have to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation he used against Iceland - rather than the 4-3-3 he had favoured previously in this tournament.
To do that, he will have to leave out one of his holding midfielders - N'Golo Kante, who was suspended last time out, Paul Pogba or Blaise Matuidi.
With France up against Germany, I think that Kante has to play in this game. He would actually be my first choice ahead of Pogba or Matuidi.
His ability to break up play and cover his back four will be crucial against Germany because Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil will always look to get in those pockets of space behind the France midfield and in front of their defence.
Kante's awareness, speed and work-rate means he will be excellent at dealing with that. For me, he should play whatever selection and shape Deschamps decides upon.
I have a feeling he will go back to 4-3-3, which will be more solid, and only go to a more attacking shape when they need to - most managers would do this.
Most managers would do that, but I would personally be tempted to pick Kante and Pogba and leave Matuidi out because, although he is very effective at what he does, he is the least gifted of the three.
That way Deschamps can play 4-2-3-1 and use Griezmann centrally, and really play on the front foot.
If France let Germany have too much of the ball and dictate play then we have seen what they can do, but if they have a go at them then there are definitely areas where they can hurt the world champions.
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Germany changed their shape to play Italy, going with three centre-halves to match the Italians' formation.
I would imagine they will go back to playing four across the back in Marseille, because the French play that way and Germany prefer it anyway.
Mats Hummels is suspended but I don't think that is too big a blow because they have Shkodran Mustafi to come in alongside Jerome Boateng at the back. The Valencia defender played instead of Hummels in their opening game against Ukraine - when Hummels was also suspended - and scored.
Their manager Joachim Low is not exactly struggling in midfield either, even without Sami Khedira.
But, up front, Mario Gomez is a big miss. They have definitely been better at this tournament when he has been on the pitch because he is a physical presence and a focal point for them.
Gomez is a big powerful striker and, when he plays, they do not have to play their way through - they can knock balls up to him and he can feed their runners into the box.
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In Olivier Giroud, France have got a striker who performs that Gomez role and does just as much for his team.
Yes he has spells where he struggles in front of goal, but overall his contribution is always positive. He has his critics, for Arsenal and his national side, but he is very good at ignoring them and just cracking on.
His best quality is his perseverance. He never hides, he just keeps trying to do the right things in the right areas and, when he is used correctly he is perfect because he knows exactly how to play his role - stay high up the pitch, occupy the two centre-halves and be strong on the ball.
In terms of build-up play and giving you the right options I always thought that, as a midfielder, I would really enjoy playing with him.
I understand why Arsenal fans want a striker who will get you 25 goals a season instead, but he is not that prolific a player.
Judge him for what he gives the team instead, and the fact he always gives his all and is reliable. If France are to beat Germany, he will play a big part even if he does not get on the scoresheet.
If I was to pick a winner then Gomez's absence certainly swings the momentum to France, but it is going to be such a close game.
Germany's quarter-final against Italy went to penalties and could have gone either way, which will give the French encouragement because they have got more flair and creativity than the Italians.
Deschamps and his players have also got belief and a spring in their step after the way they defeated Iceland but they remain vulnerable defensively and Germany are patient, strong and methodical.
The world champions have looked full of confidence since the tournament started - they always do - and they have improved as it has gone on.
My football brain still thinks France should beat them but the way Germany are makes it impossible to bet against them.
Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan in France.


A man was crushed to death by a stack of aeroplane parts after warnings about dangerous working conditions were ignored by bosses, a court heard.

Paul Bowers, 47, died when several tonnes of metal fell on him in January 2013 while working at the warehouse of CAV Cambridge at Cambridge Airport.
The Old Bailey trial heard the components were stacked too high.
Parent company CAV Aerospace, from County Durham, has pleaded not guilty to corporate manslaughter.
Mr Bowers, of Peverel Close, Cambridge, died of severe multiple injuries on 26 January 2013, an inquest heard.
Cambridgeshire Police charged the aerospace firm following evidence from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Consett-based CAV Aerospace, which owns five sites in the UK and four abroad, was responsible for ordering stock and maintaining health and safety at the warehouse run by a subsidiary company.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the court Cav Aerospace had been warned that piles of components were "dangerously high".
Mr Bowers died when an unstable stack of metal components toppled on to him as he made his way down a "designated safe walkway", trapping him up to his chest and crushing him.
The components had not been stacked safely and there was too much stock in the hangar, Mr Atkinson said.
"Only the senior management team of CAV Aerospace Ltd... had the power to resolve this problem before such an accident occurred.
"Despite the repeated and explicit warnings they received, they failed to do so by 26 January 2013."
He alleged CAV Aerospace Ltd was "guilty of negligent acts and omissions" and breached its duty of care to workers in the hangar.
The trial continues.


Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri says N'Golo Kante's future is "in his hands" after he was offered a new contract.

Kante, 25, starred as the Foxes won the Premier League last season, and represented France at Euro 2016.
However, the defensive midfielder has been heavily tipped to leave the King Power Stadium, with Chelsea reported to have made a £27m bid.
Ranieri said: "We offered Kante a new deal before the Euros. Now I know there are a lot of big teams interested."
Kante was named on the six-man shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award last season - which was won by team-mate Riyad Mahrez.
Leicester kept striker Jamie Vardy earlier this summer after he rejected a move to Arsenal and signed a new deal.
Ranieri said that he was "very happy" that Vardy had stayed at the club, and said that Leicester are "ready" to defend their title.
"Doing it again is not possible, but we proved last season that everything is possible," he said.
"There is no pressure on us, we're the champions. The new champions will have to fight against us - not just the new champions but everybody.
"We know it will not be the same but we are ready."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


The battle for control of a council ended with the drawing of straws after a dead heat in the crucial final ward.

And the Conservative Party was denied overall control of Northumberland County Council after losing the unusual decider to the Liberal Democrats.
The South Blyth ward result followed two recounts and left the Conservatives with 33 of the 67 seats available.
Liberal Democrat candidate Lesley Rickerby described her defeat of Tory Daniel Carr as "very traumatic".
Ms Rickerby said: "It's unbelievable that, when you consider we have a democratic service, that we end up having to draw straws.
"I certainly would have preferred it to be a majority, but the way our system works, after a couple of recounts, we had no choice."
In addition to the 33 seats won by the Conservative party, Labour won 24, the Lib Dems three and Independents seven.
Ms Rickerby added: "The returning officer decides if we would flip a coin or draw straws and he went with straws.
"I certainly don't want to do that again in a hurry - it really was the last straw."
In another result, Labour retained control of Durham County Council despite losing 20 seats.
The party won 94 seats in the 2013 election and that has now fallen to 74. Independent candidates have the second highest number of seats (28) followed by Liberal Democrats (14) and Conservatives (10).
Council leader Simon Henig said he was "very pleased" to have retained a majority in a "challenging" election.
In North Tyneside, Labour's Norma Redfearn was re-elected as the area's directly-elected mayor with 56% of the vote.
Results for seats on Durham County Council are due to be announced later.


Animal lovers are calling for a boycott of a family movie amid accusations of animal cruelty on set.

Leaked video from the Winnipeg, Canada, production of A Dog's Purpose shows a German Shepherd struggling to stay out of a pool of churning water.
The footage was posted on the TMZ website. The director and an actor said they are "disturbed" by the video.
But the film's producer and distributor deny the dog was mishandled and say it is "happy and healthy".
A Dog's Purpose, starring Dennis Quaid, is billed as "a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs".
But the minute-long 2015 video from the Winnipeg movie set posted online appears to show a dog in distress.
In the video, a man can be overheard saying: "Don't worry, it's warm water at least. He ain't going to calm down until he goes in the water. Just got to throw him in."
The dog, a German Shepherd called Hercules, appears terrified and is seen struggling and clawing the side of the pool as his handler pushes him into the water.
Animal rights groups have expressed outrage.
One organisation, Animal Justice, is alleging violations of federal and provincial laws.
It has filed cruelty complaints with the Winnipeg Humane Society, the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Police.
The Winnipeg Humane Society says it was consulted for two scenes in the film.
"This dog was fearful and not properly trained for this experience," the organisation's chief executive said in a statement.
"Training for a scene like this should take place weeks - if not months - in advance to help a dog get comfortable with not only being in water of that depth, but also the turbulence."
American Humane, the organisation that oversees animal safety during filming, said it was investigating the incident and had suspended its representative who was on the set.
The film's producer, Amblin Entertainment, and distributor, Universal Pictures, said Hercules was properly treated on set.
In a joint statement released late on Wednesday, they say that "great care and concern" was shown for the German Shepherd and other dogs featured in the film.
They also suggested that the TMZ footage was edited, saying there was several days of rehearsals for the water scenes to ensure the dog was comfortable with the shoot.
"On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot," the statement said.
The film's director Lasse Hallstrom, who is known for What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat, expressed concern over the footage on Twitter.
"I am very disturbed by the video released today from the set of my film A Dog's Purpose," he said, denying TMZ's report that he had witnessed the incident.
"I have been promised that a thorough investigation into this situation is underway and that any wrongdoing will be reported and punished."
Actor Josh Gad, who voices the dog in the film, said he was "shaken and sad" after seeing the video.


Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths has pleaded not guilty to accusations he took part in offensive chanting at a pub in Edinburgh last year.

The 24-year-old is alleged to have sung an offensive song while in a pub in Roseburn Terrace ahead of the Hearts - Hibs derby on 30 March last year.
The player is charged under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act.
He made his plea to Edinburgh Sheriff Court by letter.
The case was continued until September, with Griffiths due to stand trial in October.
It is alleged the former Hibs player, who is also a supporter of the club, sang a song with offensive lyrics which was likely to incite public disorder.


The cast of characters who have played a part in the demise of BHS is arguably worthy of a mini-series.

The larger than life billionaire retail tycoon, his Monaco-based wife, a former racing driver and bankrupt, surrounded by advisers and regulators, all help to weave a tale that affects 160 high streets and 31,000 mere mortals.
(That's 11,000 workers and 20,000 pension scheme members).
The parliamentary inquiry into the sorry tale begins in earnest on Monday.
Sir Philip Green, the former owner of BHS, has agreed in principle to appear before the inquiry in June.
With so many fingerprints on this scandal it's difficult to figure out how to apportion blame for a collapse that almost everyone in the industry seemed to predict but no-one seemed able to prevent.
Let's take a look at when some of the main players made their exits and their entrances:
No wonder the Serious Fraud Office, Pensions Regulator, Insolvency Service and two Commons select committees are queuing up to ask questions.
The biggest question is why no-one seemed to want to know BEFORE it happened.


Two-time TT winner Gary Johnson has said he is "excited" after announcing a return to Triumph machinery at the 2016 event.

The Lincolnshire racer will ride a Triumph Daytona 675 for Team T3 Racing -  the same bike his last TT win came on in 2014 for Smiths Racing.
Johnson will represent the three time British Supersport Cup Champions in both 600cc races.
"It's great to be back on a Triumph 675," the 35-year-old said.
"I have a wealth of knowledge on the bike and I hope to replicate the success of 2014 this year.
"I'm eager to get going as we have a busy testing schedule ahead to be fully prepared for first practice in June".


Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond has been sentenced to four months in jail for a bar fight during which a man was stabbed.

Diamond - who played Screech in the TV show - was convicted earlier this month of two charges of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct.
The 38-year-old actor had said he was defending his fiancee and had not intended to stab anyone.
He has been ordered to report to jail on Sunday to start his sentence.
Diamond left the courtroom in Wisconsin without commenting.
The fight happened on 25 December in Port Washington, Wisconsin, while Diamond was with partner Amanda Schutz.
Diamond said a group in the bar wanted to pose for pictures but others were badgering him and Schutz, and he tried to help her by brandishing his pocketknife to deter the group.
The man who was stabbed was not seriously injured.
As well as his role in the 90s high school-set sitcom, Diamond appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK in 2013.


Ex-army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to to tackle "terrorism" and bring security, after being sworn in as Egypt's new president.

He said his election after a landslide win in May was "a historic moment", and pledged no reconciliation with those who had "committed violence".
The retired field marshal overthrew President Mohammed Morsi last July.
He has since been pursuing a crackdown on Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which urged a boycott of the elections.
Liberal and secular activists, including the 6 April youth movement which was prominent in the 2011 revolution that ousted long-serving President Hosni Mubarak, also shunned the 26-28 May poll in protest at the curtailing of civil rights.
Mr Sisi, 59, made no mention directly of the Muslim Brotherhood in a speech at a Cairo presidential palace late on Sunday.
But he said there would be no reconciliation with anyone who had "blood on their hands".
He said: "Defeating terrorism and achieving security is the top priority in our coming phase.
"There will be no acquiescence or laxity shown to those who resorted to violence."
Mr Sisi was earlier sworn in for a four-year term at a ceremony shown live on television.
He said: "Throughout its extended history over thousands of years, our country has never witnessed a democratic peaceful handover of power."
Mr Sisi's victory came almost a year after he ousted Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi, following mass protests against his rule.
At the swearing-in, the Supreme Constitutional Court deputy head, Maher Sami, said the ousting was not a coup, and that Mr Sisi had responded to the will of the people.
Who is Egypt's new president?
Profile: Abdul Fattah al-Sisi
In the May elections, Mr Sisi secured 96.9% of the vote and his sole challenger, left-winger Hamdeen Sabahi, received only 3.1%. Turnout was less than 50%.
Mr Sisi inherits a nation that is divided and weary, the BBC's Orla Guerin in the Egyptian capital reports.
Experts warn that if he cannot deliver in the next year or two he could also face a mass revolt.
One student, Israa Youssef, told Reuters: "Sisi has to do something in his first 100 days, people will watch closely and there might be another revolution. That's what people are like in this country."
Mr Sisi faces an array of challenges, including fixing the economy, preventing further political crises and easing poverty.
More than a quarter of Egyptians live below the poverty line. Mr Sisi has pledged to build 26 new tourist resorts, eight new airports and 22 industrial estates.
He has promised to restore security in a country where attacks by Islamist militants have left hundreds of security personnel dead over the past 11 months.
The militants have stepped up attacks in response to the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, in which more than 1,400 people have been killed and 16,000 detained.
Mr Morsi and other senior leaders of the Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist organisation, are standing trial on a series of charges. They strongly deny any wrongdoing.
Critics fear Mr Sisi will continue to show little tolerance for dissent.


A primary school forced to close after a toxic chemical was discovered has reopened.

Flash Ley School in Stafford was closed in October 2015 when high levels of formaldehyde were discovered.
The colourless gas - found in materials used in plywood, carpeting and foam insulation - has a pungent odour and can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, mouth and throat.
Tests showed the problem occurred after work on the school's floor ducts.
More on this and other stories from Stoke and Staffordshire
About 20 pupils at the school reported feeling ill when the smell was first discovered.
Throughout its closure, pupils were based at nearby schools including the Chetwynd Centre, Tillington Manor Primary and Stafford Manor High School.
Staffordshire County Council said remedial work had now finished and continued testing confirmed the air was safe for pupils and staff.
The buildings, on Hawksmoor Road, have undergone a deep clean and the substance believed to be behind the presence of formaldehyde in the air has been removed.
Head teachers Karan Williams and Kerri Fenton said: "This is the news we've all been waiting for.
"Our journey is in its final stages and we are really excited about the new year and continuing our successful future back at Flash Ley.
"We want to express our upmost thanks to everyone; our dedicated staff, the resilient children, loyal parents, the local community and county for supporting us in what has been a unique situation."


Two pilots have set a new record height for his Scottish gliding club.

Nick Norman and Moritz Korn members of Cairngorm Gliding Club at Feshiebridge, reached 28,500ft during a flight over the Cairngorms at the weekend.
The British Gliding Association (BGA) said that while it was not a new UK record, it was the highest gain to be achieved for several years.
Mr Norman and Mr Korn sought permission from air traffic control before making his climb to 28,500ft.
The pilots took advantage of a climatic condition known as a mountain wave.
They had earlier flown to Aboyne in Aberdeenshire and was returning to Feshiebridge via Corgarff when he encountered the weather condition.
The long-standing UK record height for a glider is more than 30,000ft.
Cairngorm Gliding Club made headlines in 2011 when it was used for filming a scene in Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.
Stuntmen and a film crew made parachute jumps over the airstrip at Feshie Bridge for a scene involving an elaborate escape from a jet aircraft.


Kevin Pietersen is not guaranteed a return to international cricket because of Paul Downton's departure from the England and Wales Cricket Board - but he will definitely see it as another stumbling block cleared out of the way.

When I worked with Pietersen in commentary at the World Cup he was very focused indeed. He is absolutely determined to win back his England place, and I am sure Pietersen sees this decision as an extra incentive for him to work on his comeback and what he will see as an even more realistic opportunity now.
The Kevin Pietersen issue has been such a massive part of this year, and one that that was handled badly by the ECB board since they decided to sack him shortly after the 2013-14 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0.
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There was no need to sack Pietersen. They could merely have decided to move on and not pick him again without a big song and dance. But that is the way they chose to go. It has created such a massive reaction and they only have themselves to blame for that really.
Does the decision to sack Downton from his role as managing director mean Pietersen will definitely come back? There is more to it than Downton just losing his job.
For a start, KP has not faced a red ball in 18 months and there are a lot of things that still need to happen - not least Pietersen scoring some runs in the domestic game having rejoined Surrey - before we see him striding out to the middle in an England shirt again.
The ECB have created a new director of England cricket following Downton's departure and I see my Test Match Special colleague, and ex-England captain, Michael Vaughan has been touted as a possible man for the job.
I will be interested to see if Vaughan can commit himself completely to this job because he would have to give up a lot of other things.
Vaughan would be a great candidate but he loves his media work and he has a lot of other interests that take up his time.
There is no way you could have an England director of cricket doing anything else but focusing on this role 100%.
It has got to be someone who is really in touch with the modern game and the direction cricket is going.
Whoever is appointed needs to have retained an involvement with cricket, and someone who comes into the job with fresh ideas and with a resolve to make specific improvements.
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Two of the names mentioned for the England director role - Alec Stewart and Andrew Strauss -  could have a major say in the next instalment of what happens with Pietersen of course.
Strauss, given his history with KP, will probably take a lot of convincing that he should return to the fold. With Stewart, his coach at Surrey, it might be a bit more straightforward.
We have not seen the job description for the position, but you can imagine it needs someone who is in touch with the game.
It needs to be someone who has been out of it just long enough to avoid being too personally involved with the current players.
Downton, who took over from Hugh Morris, was not in a position as MD in which he was solely dealing with the England team; there was much to the role.
Downton had a difficult time of it. He was briefed that his first job must be to get rid of Pietersen. He took responsibility for that, but it was not 100% his call - it was a broader decision.
So perhaps he was an easy person to target with regards to KP. He has taken a lot of flak for that. And likewise he was not directly hands-on with the England team.
You have to question how much responsibility he actually had on England team matters.
The new job, however, is going to be more targeted to the England team. It must be. The new role is probably going to be much more focused on that.
The change to key elements of the administration - the chairman and the chief executive - made it likely that something had to change after England's dismal World Cup campaign and someone be shown the door.
It could have been the coach Peter Moores, it could have the man responsible for selection of the team in James Whitaker.
But instead what they have decided to do is reassess the role Downton has occupied which encompasses many different aspects of English cricket; from everything that is done at Loughborough all the way up to the top of the game and the England team.
However, he was only marginally responsible for the England team itself.
This new director of England role. Will he be a selector? Might he be a cricket supremo and we go back to the days of Raymond Illingworth with a selection committee of captain, coach and the director - for me that looks favourite at the moment.
But if that is the case, James Whitaker would not have a job in the near future either. From the way that it sounds that is where they are going. It all depends on how hands-on this new director of England cricket will be.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Timothy Abraham.


Former British and Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan says the 2017 tourists "need all six games" in the build-up to the first Test in New Zealand.

The Lions' 10-game tour begins on 3 June with the first Test on 24 June in Auckland.
"I know there's talk at the moment of shortening a Lions tour, but that's from people who've never done it," McGeechan told 5 live's rugby podcast.
"The six-game preparation is so important to collective understanding."
The Lions opening fixture takes place just days after the squad arrives in New Zealand.
And the 10-match schedule has been described as "ludicrous" by leading figures in the English game.
But former centre McGeechan - who played on the Lions' successful 1974 tour to South Africa and the 1977 loss to New Zealand before leading four tours as head coach - believes the warm-up games are crucial to Test success.
"A player has to put on a Lions jersey and start with a number on his back in the first three games. He can't sit on the bench or not be involved," he said.
"You have to wear the number on your back and then you're a Lion. You're there in the position you were chosen for.
"There's the combinations that you need to put together but there's also that defining element of giving the player the opportunity, and you need all six games."
In 1974 the Lions travelled to South Africa looking for their first victory over the Springboks in 78 years.
A 27-year-old McGeechan was embarking on his first Lions tour, as a squad of amateurs led by Ireland's Willie John McBride left home for almost four months.
The tourists played 22 matches between 15 May and 27 July, and won all but the last game, which was a controversial draw - they used just 17 players in the four Tests.
"I always remember when we won the third Test, having won the series in South Africa, Willie John took us all straight to where the mid-weekers were sitting and applauded them."
"That's what came over in 1974, the time and effort that was put in by the 13 players who didn't play Test match rugby over four months."
You can listen to BBC Radio 5 live's rugby union weekly at 21:00 GMT on Monday, 29 May or download the podcast here.