Ross Ford is poised to become Scotland's record cap holder after being named in the side to face Fiji.

The Edinburgh hooker, 33, will win his 110th cap in Suva on Saturday in the final match of the Scots' summer tour.
Glasgow's New Zealand-born centre Nick Grigg comes in for his debut in one of 12 changes as coach Gregor Townsend seeks to make it three wins from three.
Scotland beat Italy 34-13 in Singapore and followed that a week later with a 24-19 win over Australia in Sydney.
Ruaridh Jackson, at full-back, and Alex Allan, at loosehead prop, see their first action of the series.
Peter Horne deputises for Finn Russell at stand-off and there is a return from an injury-hit eight months for John Hardie at openside.
Townsend's selection means that of the large squad he brought with him, three players will not see any game-time: Edinburgh hooker George Turner, Glasgow prop D'Arcy Rae and Edinburgh scrum-half Sean Kennedy.
At the team announcement overlooking Lami Bay in Suva, Townsend saluted Ford's contribution.
"It's deserved, he's played really well on tour, he's trained well and he's worked very well at driving the standards," he said.
"I definitely think Ross will be able to play for the next two or three seasons at least if he carries on what we've seen from him."
John Barclay continues as captain in Greig Laidlaw's absence with the Lions.
"Greig was going to be captain for this tour," said Townsend.
"He's been an excellent leader for Scotland for the last couple of seasons. John has grown into the captaincy brilliantly. He did it very well in the Six Nations and he's looking more and more comfortable on this tour.
"It's a brilliant position to be in. We've now got two clear leaders that have captained their team to success and we'll see what comes round in November."
Townsend believes Fiji are "the best in the world in terms of individual line-breaking ability, in terms of offloading".
"A lot of it is around their number five, Leone Nakarawa, who we know very well," said Townsend of a man he coached at Glasgow Warriors.
"You've got to make sure you defend well against them, you've got to make sure you have a line that is uniform and that you get your tackles in. When they get unstructured play and the line isn't uniform, that's when they come alive
"Their set-piece has improved a lot over the last few seasons. They're very well coached and they are playing at home. They had a win against Italy last weekend. Italy tried to slow down the tempo at times but that's not something we are looking to do. We'll try to match the pace they will aim to play at.
"They've got some brilliant players. Patrick Osborne plays for the Highlanders and Josua Tuisova plays very well for Toulon.
"They do produce some of the best backs in the world and I believe the best second row in the world in Leone. And the more we are in Fiji we see the reasons why. There's probably no country in the world where rugby is so important to the culture."
Scotland's head coach has "great memories" of trips to Fiji in the 1990s, adding: "I'm sure what the players experienced today, visiting schools and seeing the kids and the welcome they got and the joy for life and joy for rugby, will live long in the memory.
"We've have had a fantastic week, but we're here for a reason and we have to make sure we do well on Saturday."
Teams
Fiji: K Murimurivalu; J Tuisova, A Vulivuli, J Vatubua, P Osborne; B Volavola, S Vularika; P Ravai, S Koto, K Tawake, T Cavubati; L Nakarawa, D Waqaniburotu; P Yato, A Qera (capt).
Replacements: T Talemaitoga, J Veitayaki, M Ducivaki, S Nabou, N Dawai, H Seniloli, J Stewart, B Masilevu.
Scotland: R Jackson; D Hoyland, N Grigg, D Taylor, T Visser; P Horne, H Pyrgos; A Allan, R Ford, WP Nel; T Swinson, J Gray; J Barclay (capt), J Hardie, J Strauss.
Replacements: F Brown, G Reid, Z Fagerson, B Toolis, H Watson, R Wilson, A Price, G Tonks.


US stocks saw their largest losses since May on Thursday, as tensions mounted between North Korea and the US.

Pyongyang, which has threatened to fire missiles toward the US Pacific island territory of Guam, gave more details of its plans.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric, saying North Korea should be "very, very nervous" if it does anything to the US.
The Dow Jones fell 0.9% to 21,844.01 and S&P 500 fell 1.5% to 2,438.21.
The Nasdaq lost 2.1% to 6,216.87.
Markets had been bracing for a correction after weeks of trading in record territory, as strong corporate earnings fuelled optimism.
The sell-off on Thursday in the US was widespread, with the financial and consumer sectors leading the share price declines.
Investors bought up safe-haven assets such as gold, helping the precious metal touch a two-month high, and the Japanese Yen rose.
But Thursday's decline fell short of the drops seen on 17 May, when political outcry mounted over Mr Trump's dismissal of FBI director James Comey, who was investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Richard C Marston, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of business, told the BBC: "If the North Korean situation worsens ... I would expect the stock market to react negatively.
"Corporate earnings can be easily overshadowed if there is a real threat of a conflict."
Other world stock markets also saw losses, triggered by tensions between the US and North Korea.
The Euro Stoxx 50, which includes Europe's biggest companies, fell 1% while London's FTSE 100 closed down 1.4%.


A nine-year-old boy has died after being struck by a car on the A92 at Glenrothes in Fife on Tuesday evening.

Police and the emergency services were called to the scene near Cadham at about 17:40.
The boy, who was hit by a black Vauxhall Corsa, was taken to the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy but he died later from his injuries.
The road was closed while officers carried out crash investigations. The police are appealing for witnesses.
Insp Brenda Sinclair, of Police Scotland, said:  "Tragically this collision has resulted in the loss of a young boy's life and our thoughts are with his family at this harrowing time.
"We are appealing for any drivers or pedestrians who may have been on the A92 at the time of the collision to come forward and help establish the full circumstances of the incident."


A man took the plunge and proposed to his girlfriend while they were swimming with sharks.

Rebecca May Cressey thought they were just going diving for her birthday, but Steven Purdiew had enlisted Skegness Aquarium staff to help him propose.
Miss Cressey saw a board asking "Will you marry me?" then put her thumbs up to say she would.
The couple, from Somercotes in Derbyshire, now plan to get married in a year or two.
Miss Cressey, who turned 23 on Monday, said: "I suspected something when I saw that my mum and dad were there because I knew they weren't supposed to be there and then I saw them through the glass window.
"I just wanted to cry but I thought I'd best not cry because I was concentrating too much on breathing you see, it's quite difficult."
Mr Purdiew, 30, thanked the aquarium staff for helping him propose on Saturday.
"The staff had a board made for us with a question on it because obviously you can't talk very well under the water," he said.
"I thought Rebecca would have said yes because I think she's been hinting for a long enough time."
Neither had scuba dived before, although Mr Purdiew previously rescued a 15-year-old boy from the River Derwent in Derby when he was 18.
Stacy Adams from Skegness Aquarium said: "We were all very excited for them and wish them 'best fishes' for the future."


The father of missing airman Corrie Mckeague, who is camping near a landfill site as police search for a body, said it is "heartbreaking" to think his son is buried there.

Police have been searching the site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, for five weeks.
Despite a high-profile missing persons campaign, it is thought by police he ended up in a bin lorry.
Mr Mckeague's father Martin said it was "breathtaking" to see how much waste officers have combed through.
LIVE: Updates on this story and other Suffolk news
He has been to the site five times and is staying in a nearby campsite with his wife Trish.
"It's heartbreaking to think when you are there Corrie could be under foot," he said.
"Everything leads to Corrie being there and when I'm looking at and watching these guys rake through, I know the police wouldn't be here going through all these tonnes of rubbish if they didn't expect Corrie to be there."
Mr Mckeague, from Dunfermline in Fife, vanished while on a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 24 September.
He was last seen on CCTV at about 03:25 BST.
A bin lorry collected refuse a short time later from the area the RAF Honington gunner was last seen.
Suffolk Police said officers were trawling through 60 tonnes a day at the site in Milton, near Cambridge.
The search is now in its fifth week and is expected to take up to 10.


Few decisions can have been so long in gestation, so crawled over by civil servants, as the expansion of one Kent grammar school.

A carefully calculated political risk is being taken, to allow an "annexe" in a separate town to go ahead despite the law in place since 1998 preventing any new school based on selection.
It can only unleash calls for more easing of the interpretation of the law to allow similar expansions elsewhere.
Home Secretary Theresa May has already said she would support a grammar school opening an outpost in Maidenhead in her constituency, if there was parental demand.
So there will be accusations this represents a signal that selection is back in business, and as a result legal challenges are likely.
With so much at stake, it's not hard to see why the proposals for the Weald of Kent girls' school to open a second site have been reworked, reframed and resubmitted over several years.
About 5% of state-educated pupils in England go to grammar schools, down from 38% just after the war.
There are 163 existing grammar schools, with more than 60 in Northern Ireland.
Little might have changed if pupil numbers remained flat, as the political cost of either creating new grammar schools or of trying to remove the system in the parts of England where it remains would be too high.
The problem in Kent, as elsewhere, is that pupil numbers are rising.
So they've argued that either the funnel gets narrower, with more pupils competing for the same number of grammar places, or more capacity needs to be created.
Of course this can be done in more than one way.
A free school with a strong Christian ethos has opened on the same site, right next to the planned Weald of Kent extension. It's in temporary classrooms while a new building is completed.
So this is also about a local political commitment to the existing selective system, with many girls travelling out of Sevenoaks to other grammar schools around the county.
Grammar schools, supporters argue, remain popular as an idea.
Polling carried out by ComRes for the National Grammar School Association just before the election found 51% supported allowing new grammar schools to open, with just 10% opposing.
Almost as many, 48%, thought grammars were good for mobility.
Rebecca Allen, director of research think tank Education Datalab, says the evidence shows otherwise.
"A child receiving free school meals is half as likely to get a grammar place as a child who doesn't, even when their ability is the same at the end of primary school as measured in national tests," she says.
She accepts that children in grammar schools tend to do better.
"If we think of typical child taking eight GCSEs, we think you do one grade better in about four of those GCSEs," she says.
"Now whether you think that's big or not depends on your perspective. For me it's a modestly big impact."
But as she points out, for the majority of children who go to the non-selective schools there is also an effect, which they estimate at dropping about one grade in one of their GCSEs.
Support for grammar schools rests largely on the optimistic belief of many parents that their child will succeed in gaining a place, despite the odds being against them.
The OECD, an increasingly powerful voice in education research, says the most successful systems combine equity with high quality.
Against this background a decision to allow Weald of Kent to open on another site can only be politically high stakes.
It will have a ripple effect, and not just on schools in Sevenoaks.
National picture
24.5% of grammar pupils travel from another local authority area each day
21% had attended primary school in another local authority
15% had not attended a state-funded primary school
Kent
7% of grammar pupils travelled from another local authority area each day
7% went to a primary school in another local authority
13% had not attended a state-funded primary school
Source: Education Datalab analysis of Year 11 pupils, 2013/14
This is a decision which respects the local politics of Kent.
But it also risks opening a Pandora's box - a debate about selection for some, or a push for excellence for all.


The wife of a journalist attacked outside a Tube station has been told to take his recovery "an hour at a time".

Gary Carter, who was in London to cover the England v New Zealand rugby league match, was found with head injuries in Bethnal Green early on Friday.
His wife Gemma said: "He's heavily sedated because they're waiting for the swelling on his brain to go down."
James Flanagan 35, of Marsden Street, Kentish Town, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm.
Scotland Yard said it was called to an altercation between two men outside Bethnal Green station at about 01:00 GMT and found 36-year-old Mr Carter, from Greater Manchester, with head injuries.
Mrs Carter, who has been married to Gary for four years, said: "I'm trying to stay calm and keep positive and draw on all the support that I'm getting from social media and the family to stay strong for Gaz.
"I've just replied to a tweet from Alan Shearer and I'm getting them from lots of rugby league players and managers. They're coming from all over the world. It's amazing and it really lifts us. It just goes to show how well-respected he is."
Former Newcastle United and England footballer Shearer tweeted: "Best wishes to @garyCarter_1979 for a full recovery after suffering an awful attack last week."
Mr Carter was admitted to the Royal London Hospital on Friday and immediately taken to surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain.
The freelance sports journalist had travelled from Manchester to London on Thursday to report on Saturday's England's v New Zealand game game at the Olympic Stadium.
Mrs Carter said she had last spoken to him after he had arrived in the capital.
She said: "He texted me a picture and apologised for having to work away all the time and that was the last I heard from him.
"A police woman knocked on the door at about 02:20 and she said he had been involved in an incident. We drove straight down and I was saying prayers repeatedly. "
Mr Carter, a journalist since leaving school, often works for The Sun.
His wife said: "He absolutely loves his job and rugby league with a passion. I'm hoping next week I'll be able to play the radio and some commentary to him."
Following England's defeat national coach Steve McNamara said: "The England team sends its best wishes to him and his family and hope he makes a full and speedy recovery."
England and Wigan Warriors player Sam Tomkins also tweeted: "He's a good guy who Iv[e] always enjoyed working with. We're all supporting him."
A 22-year-old man was also arrested in connection with the incident on suspicion of affray towards attending paramedics. He has been bailed.


Actor George Cole, best known for playing Arthur Daley in TV's Minder, has died aged 90.

Cole played the Cockney wheeler dealer Daley for 16 years, between 1979 and 1994.
He also starred in a number of St Trinian's films as shady businessman Flash Harry.
Agent Derek Webster said Cole had died at the Royal Berkshire hospital following a short illness, surrounded by his family.
Cole played opposite Dennis Waterman's Terry McCann, an affable bodyguard, in ITV's Minder for more than a decade.
Waterman said he had "the privilege of spending Tuesday afternoon with him and Penny and, although very frail, his wit was as evident as ever".
"I am so sad to hear of George's death. His family must be devastated, and I am absolutely certain that anybody who ever knew him, will feel the same.
"I'm so grateful to have been a friend of this wonderful man. We worked together for many years and my boast is that we laughed all day every day.
"He was an amazing man, a wonderful actor and besotted with his family. Farewell old friend."
Waterman, who sang the Minder theme tune, left the show to be replaced by Gary Webster for the final two series.
Talking to BBC News, Webster called Cole a "comic genius" who "made you realise there's an Arthur Daley in every family".
"He was one of those characters you never thought you are going to be without, both as an actor and a character," he added.
"He was a great guy to work with and a real genuine gentleman."
Arthur Daley became a TV legend as a small-time crook who was always dreaming of bigger things, with the series regularly drawing in audiences of 17 million.
Cole also played Flash Harry, a remarkably similar character, in four St Trinian's films between 1954-66, starring alongside the likes of Terry Thomas, Joyce Grenfell and Sid James in the boarding school comedies.
It also allowed him to work with Alistair Sim, who had become his mentor after taking him into his home at the age of 15 alongside his adoptive mother.
They had such a close relationship that eventually Cole opted to build and live in a house next door to Sim and his wife, continuing to appear in a number of films together.
Cole began acting in the early 1940s, appearing with Lawrence Olivier in The Demi-Paradise, and taking a small role in Olivier's star-studded Henry V.
He joined the war effort in 1944, joining the Royal Air Force, before resuming his acting career when the conflict ended.
He found himself consistently in work, on stage, television film and radio.
As well as the St Trinian's films, he also starred opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra, and gothic horror The Vampire Lovers.
Cole was 70 when Minder finished but he still worked regularly, with guest roles in the likes of Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat and New Tricks, which also starred Waterman.
Cole, who was made an OBE in 1992, married his second wife Penny in 1967.


A Birmingham schoolboy, who fled Syria as a nine-year-old refugee, has said his dreams of becoming a scientist can finally become a reality living in the West Midlands.

Rony, from Balaam Wood School, in Frankley, described how his life has changed since leaving the city of Qamishli in his homeland.
The 12-year-old has grasped the English language after initially finding it challenging to communicate, and now has lots of friends.
Rony, who lives with his parents, sister and brother, said that because of the war in Syria he had not thought his dream of becoming a scientist was achievable.
But moving and adapting to life in England has helped him realise his dreams are possible.
Here BBC News School Reporters from John Henry Newman Catholic College, in Chelmsley Wood, asked Rony about his life and spoke to his school mates and teacher.
What dreams do you have and how did being in Syria affect them?
"I wanted to be a scientist but if I was in my country there wouldn't be any dreams or any future for me. I want to be a chemistry or physics scientist and I believe I can achieve those dreams in England."
What did you leave behind and how hard was it?
"I had to leave behind clothes and my house. It was hard because other members of my family are still there. I left behind my friends as well and that was hard because I thought I wouldn't have any friends. Life in Syria was a lot harder because of the war."
What's it like being in Birmingham and what was it like to learn a new language?
"I have a good feeling here, I like the people and how they respect other people. Not a lot of people know different languages but I know three now - Arabic, Kurdish and English."
What was the experience of your first day in an English school?
"It was embarrassing because I couldn't speak English. Now I can speak with anyone I want. It's better in England because the education is better."
What new friends have you made?
"My new best friend is a boy called Dominic and we've been friends since I started at Balaam Wood School. We became partners in art lessons, started talking and became friends. We always talk about Xbox and games. My favourite game is Fifa and I play as Manchester United. I like them because they've won a lot of leagues and my favourite player is Zlatan Ibrahimovic."
What did you think of Rony when you first met him?
Sean, aged 12, from Balaam Wood School: "He was really shy but over time he grew really confident. Then we moved to secondary school and he was just a normal kid and it was just like nothing had ever happened to him."
What have you learned from Rony?
Aliza, aged 12, from Balaam Wood School: "Any obstacle in life, anything that happens to you, there's always an end and something that can make you happy.
"Rony easily settled in to a different atmosphere, he's just a person you can put anywhere and he's happy."
What did you do to make him feel welcome?
Sean: "I was kind to him. He came into my primary school and he didn't know anything so I helped him out, became his friend and he made different friends."
How difficult was it to understand Rony when he first got here?
Sean: "It was difficult because he didn't know any English so it was hard to communicate with him. But over time he's learned English and we got to learn about him and what he liked."
Where did you think Rony was from?
Aliza: "I didn't exactly know where Rony was from, but I knew he was from a different country.... I could tell from his accent but I think he's done really well to learn English."
What experience do you have with children like Rony?
Teacher Deborah Mole: "More and more children at schools in Birmingham are coming from overseas. It's important that we help them fit in and share our experiences. Doing this School Report project with him has been really powerful and I think it's helping children learn about each other, and not just in a classroom situation."
What have teachers and pupils learned from having Rony in you school?
"The most lovely thing is that kids are kids wherever they're from and they all deserve the same chances. When you see Rony with his friends doing their dancing, they're just like normal children. You can learn so much about the world from meeting people - you don't have to actually get on a plane to go anywhere. Having Rony talk about his experiences in Syria is really valuable."
How do you think Rony is making progress?
"I think he's doing amazingly. Three years ago he couldn't speak English and now he sounds like a Brummie."


Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson said defensive errors meant his side lost their four-match unbeaten run.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Neilson's side were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by St Johnstone at Tynecastle, with Murray Davidson scoring twice from corners.
"We just didn't get ourselves going in the game," Neilson told BBC Scotland.
"We had four clean sheets in a row and we're looking good defensively but we lose two really bad goals from set plays which is disappointing."
The head coach felt the performance was a rare blip in an otherwise impressive Premiership campaign thus far.
Neilson brought on Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker in the second half, in an attempt to inject some attacking incision, but Hearts created little.
Darnell Fisher scored a late third as the hosts were caught on the counterattack.
"We tried to change the formation and the personnel to try and give us a lift," he said. "But we just couldn't get that final pass.
"We had a lot of possession but we weren't delivering the ball into the box. I just felt it was a poor performance but we haven't had many this season."
Saints boss Tommy Wright said the win was the perfect tonic after missing the midweek draw with Ross County with a stomach bug.
Wright feels his players are now approaching the type of form they showed earlier in the season.
"We are back on track," he said. "There is a lot of criticism given out, even from our own quarters, but I tend just to look at the next game.
"I know the squad of players I have got and I think know where we could be at the end of the season."
The win lifts St Johnstone into fourth place in the table but Wright says there is still work to be done to secure their top-six status for the season run-in.
"I think maybe Hamilton dropped out of it today [losing to Partick Thistle]," said the manager.
"While 42 or 43 points normally gets you in, at the moment it doesn't, so we have to make sure in our next two games we do enough. With performances like that we should be okay."


Polling stations have closed across Northern Ireland for the 2017 Assembly election.

The Electoral Office believe that turnout will be up on last year's figure which was 55%. Officials said their staff had been busy in all areas.
Two hundred and twenty-eight candidates are competing for 90 seats across 18 constituencies.
It is the second time the electorate had to choose a government in the space of 10 months.
Notices posted up at the entrance to polling stations at 21:00 GMT varied between a low of 46% in one district of Lagan Valley to a high of nearly 80% in one area of Mid Ulster.
The ballot boxes were taken to eight counting centres across Northern Ireland after the polls closed.
The count will get under way at 08:00 GMT on Friday with the final results not expected to be confirmed until Saturday afternoon.
The polls opened at 07:00 GMT on Thursday and closed at 22:00 GMT.
The leaders of Northern Ireland's five main parties got out early to cast their votes.
The 2017 Assembly Election was called after the resignation of former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
This assembly election has seen one significant change from previous ones.
There will be a reduction in assembly members from 108 to 90.
Northern Ireland's 18 constituencies will return five MLAs each, not six as was the case beforehand.
The number of MLAs has been cut in order to reduce the cost of politics.
Forty-eight fewer candidates stood in this election than in May last year.
In Northern Ireland, the government must be run by Irish nationalists and unionists together.
When all of the 90 seats have been filled, the two biggest unionist and nationalist parties will get together to try to form a new government.
Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly use a form of proportional representation called the Single Transferable Vote (STV).
Voters rank candidates in numerical preference.
Candidates are then elected according to the share of the vote they receive. You can read an in-depth guide to the system here.
A total of 1,254,709 people were eligible to vote.
The BBC News NI website will carry the latest election results and analysis on Friday and throughout the weekend.
There will also be special election programmes running on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC NI television.


Angela Merkel has said she sees no obstacles in the way of beginning Brexit talks as scheduled after Theresa May failed to win a majority in Thursday's UK election.

The German chancellor said she believed Britain would stick to the timetable, adding the European Union was "ready".
Mrs Merkel added she hoped Britain would remain a good partner following the talks, due to begin on 19 June.
It is her first comment since Mrs May's Conservative party lost 13 seats.
The loss left the Conservatives eight MPs short of a majority in parliament, plunging negotiations into uncertainty. Mrs May called the snap election in order to secure a clear mandate for her vision of Brexit.
A spokesman for Mrs Merkel had previously refused to be drawn on the issue out of "politeness and respect" while the process of forming a new UK government was under way.
Mrs May says she will form a government with the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland, which won 10 seats.
Mrs Merkel, who is meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to discuss trade, told reporters gathered in Mexico City on Friday: "I assume that Britain, from what I heard from the prime minister today, wants to stick to its negotiating plan.
"We want to negotiate quickly, we want to stick to the time plan, and so at this point I don't think there is anything to suggest these negotiations cannot start as was agreed."
Mrs Merkel, the EU's most powerful politician, went on to say she hoped the UK would remain a good partner.
"Britain is part of Europe, even if it will no longer be part of the European Union."
However, she added the EU countries would be "asserting the interests of the 27 member states that will make up the European Union in future" during negotiations.
Meanwhile, Michael Fuchs, senior economic adviser to the German chancellor, told the BBC the result meant it was time for Mrs May "to face realities" and soften her approach.
"Her wish and will was not really too much accepted by the British people," he said. "I have the feeling, because otherwise they would have given her a better vote.
"Maybe, this is a chance that we can come up to a more reasonable Brexit negotiations because in the last time (recently) I really had the feeling that everything was just being very tough and it doesn't make sense to be tough.
"We want to have a fair deal with Britain and we want to have a fair final Brexit negotiations."
Other EU leaders have expressed concerns the failure to win a majority may make negotiations even more difficult.
Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who is president of the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, had caustic words for Mrs May.
"Yet another own goal, after Cameron now May, will make already complex negotiations even more complicated," he tweeted.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, said he wanted discussions to proceed without delay, while Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, said "negotiations should start when UK is ready".
European Council President Donald Tusk alluded to the March 2019 deadline for Brexit talks.
"We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'," he wrote.


Bury have signed defender Leon Barnett on a two-year deal after his release by Wigan Athletic.

The 30-year-old joined the Latics from Norwich City in 2013 and helped them win the League One title last season.
Barnett started his career with Luton Town before moving to West Bromwich Albion in 2007, where he won promotion to the Premier League in 2008.
He also won promotion to the top flight with Norwich in 2011 and with Cardiff during a loan spell in 2013.


Dozens of pupils are absent from a primary school in Cumbria due to an outbreak of norovirus.

About 70 of the 284 pupils at Dearham Primary School in Maryport are off sick after contracting the winter vomiting bug over the weekend.
A spokesman said they were following protocol and those affected have been asked to stay away from school for 48 hours until they are symptom-free.
Public Health England said it was investigating an outbreak among pupils.
Norovirus is one of the most common stomach bugs in the UK and causes diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.


The mayor of an east London borough accused of electoral fraud has told a special hearing in the High Court he had a "lot of respect for checks and balances".

Lutfur Rahman, independent mayor of Tower Hamlets, was giving evidence at an election court trial in London.
Mr Rahman, who denies any wrongdoing, said he made himself available for scrutiny.
Four voters have taken legal action against the mayor.
They have mounted a challenge under the provisions of the Representation Of The People Act.
They want Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey, who is sitting as a judge at the trial, to declare void the result of the May 2014 mayoral election, which saw Mr Rahman elected for a second term, and order a re-run.
Mr Rahman, who is the leader of the Tower Hamlets First party, told the court: "I have a lot of respect for checks and balances. I have a lot of respect for scrutiny.
"I make myself available for scrutiny to members of the public and to my fellow members in the council."
Lawyers for the group of voters have made a series of allegations, including "personation" in postal voting and at polling stations, and ballot paper tampering.
Mr Rahman says there is "little, if any" evidence of wrongdoing against him.
His lawyers have described the group of four's claims as invention, exaggeration and "in some cases downright deliberately false allegations".
Mr Rahman told the court he was advised by the council's chief legal officer that his human rights might be breached if he answered questions in council meetings about his "responsibilities".
He said he was given the advice after he was pressured to answer questions.
Mr Rahman, who was a solicitor who specialised in family cases, said he had not sought the advice but wanted to follow "correct procedure".
Mr Mawrey suggested such advice was "slightly surprising".
The trial started earlier this month and is expected to end in March.


A Lamborghini was left damaged after a crash in the West Midlands, the fire service said.

Fire crews from Ward End attended the scene in Garrison Lane, Birmingham, at about 13:20 BST on Monday.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said a sports car was in collision with another car and then hit a lamppost.
A spokesman said the 25-year-old driver hurt his nose but refused hospital treatment and was discharged at the scene.


Former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has described St George's Park as "boring".

Gerrard says the Football Association's £105m national football centre needs to be more player friendly.
The 35-year-old also says that his slip against Chelsea, as Liverpool missed out on the 2013-14 Premier League title "kills" him, in a BT Sport interview.
And he admits being left out against Real Madrid in last season's Champions League hastened his Liverpool exit.
Media playback is not supported on this device
The 330-acre St George's Park site in Burton, Staffordshire, opened in 2012 as a base for all 24 England teams at various levels. It includes a replica of the Wembley surface and an altitude chamber to mimic a variety of playing conditions.
But in an interview with Rio Ferdinand for a BT Sport programme, Gerrard said he thinks the complex needs a golf course to help overcome the "shyness" in the England squad.
St George's Park managing director Julie Harrington has since told BBC Sport that a nine-hole golf course is planned for the centre.
"It's an unbelievable site but they need to be a bit more realistic around it," he said. "They need to make it a little bit friendlier for the players.
"It's a top place to train and prepare but away from the training pitch and the games, it can be boring. We need to create that atmosphere where England players are desperate to get away and do well."
"When you get to England, you want to have your lunch and go to bed and keep away from everyone because there's a shyness. There needs to be an England atmosphere when you turn up and you know each other, you want to be with each other."
Gerrard announced in January he was leaving Liverpool after 17 years to join MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy.
But he has revealed it was during a 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in November that he made his mind up about leaving Liverpool.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers chose to start with Gerrard on the bench for the match at the Bernabeu.
Gerrard said: "When I was told I wasn't playing for the sake of the team, because of my relationship with Brendan, I took it and I accepted it.
"But I sat on that bench devastated because I wanted to play. It pushed me into making a decision to move on and try something different."
In 2014 Liverpool were top of the Premier League with three games to go when they hosted second-placed Chelsea at Anfield.
But a slip by Gerrard allowed Demba Ba to score Chelsea's first goal and Jose Mourinho's side went on to win 2-0 as Liverpool's title challenge fell apart.
Gerrard has criticised Liverpool's tactics in the game and said they "lost their way" and went "gung-ho instead of being controlled" - but refused to blame Rodgers.
He said: "The inexperience showed from myself having not been in many title races and the inexperience of the team.
"The slip happened at a bad time, it was cruel for me personally.
"I'm not scared of any criticism or cruelty. I understand it and the impact it had - it kills me, don't get me wrong. Inside it kills me and it will do for a long time. I think to myself: 'If I'd have got that league, it would have been the icing on the cake'.
"That one moment will always hurt me until the day I go because I'd have achieved every dream with Liverpool. It hurts."


At least seven people are reported to have been killed in two bomb explosions in a busy area of Pakistan's southern city of Karachi.

At least 18 people were injured in the predominantly Shia area of Ancholi, local media report.
Angry crowds gathered at the scene, denouncing the attacks.
The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were placed on motorcycles parked near cafes and stalls, police said. No group has said it carried out the attack.
Local police official Javed Odho told AFP news agency that the IEDS had gone off "with a big bang".
He said it was difficult to say immediately whether Shia were the target because Sunnis also lived in the vicinity of the blasts.
Women and children were reported to be among those injured.
The blasts damaged shops and power transmitters, causing a complete blackout in the area.  The power was later restored.
Security forces have now been put on high alert across the city.
Sindh province Information Minister Sharjeel Memon condemned the attacks, describing them as a cowardly act.
Shia groups have also denounced them. A day of mourning has been announced for Saturday.
Tensions remain high in Pakistan following recent sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims that led the government to impose curfews and block mobile phone networks.
Earlier on Friday, Sunni parties observed a largely peaceful day of protest against last week's sectarian clashes in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The violence erupted in the city, near the capital Islamabad, as Shia Muslims staged a procession marking the religious festival of Ashura.
Eight people died and dozens were injured.


Reading goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi expects his former side Wigan Athletic to pose a threat despite being on the verge of Championship relegation.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Al Habsi will be in goal against the Latics on Saturday, who must win their last two games to avoid the drop.
Reading need a draw themselves to secure a play-off place in manager Jaap Stam's first season in charge.
"Wigan are fighting to stay up and any team you face in their position at this stage are difficult," Al Habsi said.
The Oman international, 35, admitted he will be in "a difficult position" as he lines-up against his former employers.
"To see my former club where they are is hard," he told BBC Radio Berkshire. "I had a fantastic five years there and really enjoyed it.
"But for us, we know we need to do the job.
"Last weekend against Nottingham Forest, another team in a similar position, we didn't show ourselves for 90 minutes and got punished for our mistakes.
"We've been in the top six for most of the season and we can't let it drop know."


An opera has had its world premiere on a sleeper train between Aberdeen and London.

Belongings, inspired by items of luggage carried by railway passengers, was performed for the first time on Monday night.
It is the first time an opera has been staged on board a Caledonian Sleeper service.
The piece was performed in the lounge car of the train by cellist Zosia Jagodzinska and tenor Robert Lewis.
Music was by Samual Bordoli and libretto by Bankes-Jones.
The event came as part of a collaboration between soundfestival, based in the north-east of Scotland, and London's Tete a Tete: The Opera Festival.
Bill Bankes-Jones, director of Tete a Tete, said: "Our performances on the sleeper was designed to welcome audiences from two of the countries' most creative cities to sample new music and works."
Fiona Robertson, director of soundfestival, added: "We were delighted to be able to take this initiative forward with special performances on the sleeper.
"We hope hearing this opera will encourage people to come and enjoy more performances both at Tete a Tete and soundfestival."
There will be another chance to experience the opera on the sleeper overnight on 9-10 November.
The piece will also be performed as a pop-up work at King's Cross station throughout the Tete a Tete festival, which runs until 13 August, and in Deeside at soundfestival later in the year.


Britain's Tom Bishop finished second in the opening race of the 2017 World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi, as Javier Gomez of Spain won.

Media playback is not supported on this device
It is the first time Bishop, 25, has been on the podium in the World Series.
Fellow Britons Marc Austin and Adam Bowden were 14th and 20th respectively, while Grant Sheldon did not finish.
Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, who is training for the World Half Ironman Championships, and injured brother Jonny did not compete.
Third place went to France's Vincent Luis, while reigning champion Mario Mola of Spain was back in eighth.
Bishop, whose previous best at this level was fifth in Edmonton in Canada last year, said if he could be anywhere near as successful as the Brownlees then he was "doing a good job".
"I can't quite believe it to be honest but I had a plan. I had a feeling that it might all come together," Bishop said.
"I wasn't sure how it was going to go as it's the first race of the season, but when I found myself in the front group and there was a bit of a gap I was trying to work as hard as I could.
"It was tough. Some of the guys out there were riding really strong and I just did what I could to keep the group going.
"I got to the run and my back was pretty sore so I had to warm myself into it but luckily I had Gomez to pace me through. I thought he's a good act to follow and I tried to hang on to him as long as I could, and that dragged me into second."
In Friday's women's race, Britain's Jodie Stimpson was narrowly beaten into second place.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Watch highlights of the men's and women's races on BBC Two on Sunday from 13:00-14:30 GMT.


Campaigners calling for major upgrades to mortuary facilities across Scotland have handed over a petition to NHS Grampian and Police Scotland.

It was started by the family of Frank Whyte - who died in May aged 69 in a boating accident - as they were left distraught by the state of Spynie Mortuary in Elgin, Moray.
Hundreds of signatures have been collected.
The facility at Spynie is no longer being used for family viewings.
Mr Whyte, from Forres in Moray, died after a boating accident in Findhorn Bay.
His widow, Maryan Whyte, hopes the mortuary situation can be improved.
After the petition handover, NHS Grampian said in a statement: "We welcomed the opportunity to meet with Mrs Whyte today and accept her petition.
"Following Mrs Whyte and her family's distressing experience, permanent alternative arrangements have been put in place in Moray.
"There is now planning under way to address the long-term requirements for Moray, and Mrs Whyte is involved in this process."


A 15-year-old boy from Northern Ireland arrested in connection with the TalkTalk hacking attack has settled his claim for damages against Twitter.

The County Antrim boy's privacy action was resolved on confidential terms, with no admission of liability by Twitter.
Meanwhile, his lawyers are seeking High Court permission to serve proceedings on Google at its headquarters in the United States.
Google is resisting the move.
It is believed to involve a world-first attempt to sue it for negligence.
An application for leave to issue a writ out of the jurisdiction has been adjourned until March.
Separate lawsuits are also continuing against three national newspapers over the publicity surrounding the teenager's arrest.
The three newspapers defending the action, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Sun, have all given undertakings aimed at protecting his identity pending the outcome of the case.
The boy was arrested last October. He was later released on bail.
An order prohibiting the publication of any material that could lead to the boy being identified remains in place.


An artificially intelligent fighter pilot system has defeated two attacking jets in a combat simulation.

The AI, known as Alpha, used four virtual jets to successfully defend a coastline against two attacking aircraft - and did not suffer any losses.
Alpha, which was developed by a US team, also triumphed in simulation against a retired human fighter pilot.
One military aviation expert said the results were promising.
In the simulation described in the study, both attacking jets - the blue team - had more capable weapons systems.
But Alpha's red team was able to dispatch the enemy planes after performing evasive manoeuvres.
In their paper, researchers from the University of Cincinnati and defence company Psibernetix describe Alpha as "a deadly opponent".
Reporting on simulated assaults against retired US Air Force colonel Gene Lee, the researchers wrote: "Not only could he not score a kill against it, he was shot out of the air by the reds every time after protracted engagements."
Alpha uses a form of artificial intelligence based on the concept of "fuzzy logic" - in which a computer considers a wide range of options before making a decision.
Because a simulated fighter jet produces so much data for interpretation, it is not always obvious which manoeuvre is most advantageous or, indeed, at what point a weapon should be fired.
Fuzzy logic systems can weigh up the significance of these individual pieces of data before making a broader decision.
The researchers' key achievement here was to do this in real-time with computational efficiency.
"Here, you've got an AI system that seems to be able to deal with the air-to-air environment, which is extraordinarily dynamic, has an extraordinary number of parameters and, in the paper, more than holds its own against a skilled and capable, experienced combat pilot," said Doug Barrie, a military aerospace analyst at think tank IISS.
"It's like a chess master losing out to a computer."
But Mr Barrie also told the BBC  it might not be easy or appropriate to translate the system to real-world combat environments.
If such a system were ever used in a live setting and decided to attack a non-military target, the results could be dire, he said.
"The public furore about that would be immense," he said.
However, at the very least, Mr Barrie said, Alpha had potential as a simulation tool or as a device to help develop better systems for assisting human pilots in the air.


Many people in Africa buy second-hand clothes sent from Europe and the US.

But East African countries could ban imports of used clothes and second-hand cars in the next three years, putting an end to a lucrative trade in the region.
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda could all ban second-hand clothes and leather.
They make up the East Africa Community (EAC).
The EAC directed member countries to buy their textiles and shoes from within the region with a view to phasing out imports by 2019.
Before the meeting on Wednesday, the EAC also proposed a reduction in imports of used cars.
The EAC suggested phasing out imports in the next three years.
However, the newspaper The East African reports that it depends on the five countries' heads of states all agreeing to a common industrialisation policy.
It adds that the proposal suggests a ban would only come in after an increase in local textile production.
The idea is to give a boost to local manufacturing, and help the economy.
One argument is that the imported clothes are so cheap that the local textiles factories and self-employed tailors can't compete, so they either close down or don't do as well as they could.
A release from a previous EAC manufacturing and business summit says the leather and textile industries are "crucial for employment creation, poverty reduction and advancement in technological capability" in the region.
Second-hand underwear has been called unhygienic.
The EAC urged governments to make sure that used-clothes imports complied with sanitary standards.
instead urging East African governments to make sure that used-clothes imports complied with sanitary standards.
Used knickers were banned in Ghana in 2011 and a Ugandan bill also proposed a ban in the country last year.
Second-hand cars have also been blamed for causing accidents.
BBC Swahili analyst Alex Mureithi explains that, to avoid paying taxes, people pay bribes at ports to import cars.
Those cars then do not go through any safety checks.
To give some idea of the extent of smuggled imports, it emerged in December that over 2,700 shipping containers had disappeared at Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania.
In Uganda, second-hand garments account for 81% of all clothing purchases, Andrew Brooks says in his book Clothing Poverty.
According to UN figures from 2013, South Korea and Canada combined exported $59m worth of used clothes to Tanzania while the UK alone exported $42m worth of used clothes to Kenya.
People in countries like the UK donate used clothes to charity.
Mr Brooks' research explains that demand for the clothes sold in charity shops is low compared to supply.
He estimates that more than 70% of all UK reused clothing goes overseas, where they are sold.
Mr Brooks says people believe that their clothes will be given to those in need or sold in High Street charity shops to raise funds and don't realise that their donations will be traded abroad for profit.


Somerset chief executive Guy Lavender is to leave the county at the end of the season to take up the same role with the MCC.

Lavender replaced Richard Gould when he joined Somerset in 2011.
"Being the CEO at Somerset has been an immense privilege and enormously enjoyable," Lavender said.
"We have a very busy season ahead and I am determined to make sure that this is a great one for the club in all respects."


The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance which belies its size.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War. Most of the Syrian Arab inhabitants fled the area during the conflict.
An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control. Almost immediately Israel began to settle the Golan.
Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Middle East war. Despite inflicting heavy losses on Israeli forces, the surprise assault was thwarted. Both countries signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place on the ceasefire line since 1974.
Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The move was not recognised internationally.
There are more than 30 Jewish settlements on the heights, with an estimated 20,000 settlers. There are some 20,000 Syrians in the area, most of them members of the Druze sect.
Southern Syria and the capital Damascus, about 60 km (40 miles) north, are clearly visible from the top of the Heights while Syrian artillery regularly shelled the whole of northern Israel from 1948 to 1967 when Syria controlled the Heights.
The heights give Israel an excellent vantage point for monitoring Syrian movements. The topography provides a natural buffer against any military thrust from Syria.
The area is also a key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River. The area provides a third of Israel's water supply.
The land is fertile, with the volcanic soil being used to cultivate vineyards and orchards and to raise cattle. The Golan is also home to Israel's only ski resort.
Syria wants to secure the return of the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal. In late 2003, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to revive peace talks with Israel.
In Israel, the principle of returning the territory in return for peace is already established. During US-brokered peace talks in 1999-2000, then Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak had offered to return most of the Golan to Syria.
But the main sticking point during the 1999 talks is also likely to bedevil any future discussions. Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border. This would give Damascus control of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee - Israel's main source of fresh water.
Israel wishes to retain control of Galilee and says the border is located a few hundred metres to the east of the shore.
A deal with Syria would also involve the dismantling of Jewish settlements in the territory.
Public opinion in Israel appears not to favour withdrawal. Opponents say the heights are too strategically important to be returned.
Indirect talks between Israel and Syria resumed in 2008, through Turkish government intermediaries, but were suspended following the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over a corruption inquiry.
The Israeli government under Binyamin Netanyahu elected in February 2009 indicated that it was determined to take a tougher line over the Golan, and in June 2009, the Syrian leader said there was no partner for talks on the Israeli side.
The US administration of President Barack Obama - who took up office in January 2009 - declared the restarting of talks between Israel and Syria to be one of its main foreign policy goals, but the advent of civil war in Syria in 2011 put paid to any progress.
Syrian fighting reached the Golan ceasefire lines in 2013, when Israel returned fire after rebel shells landed in Golan. Israeli and Syrian Army troops exchanged fire across their lines in May.


The UK is a nation of shoppers unfazed by the EU referendum result when spending on plastic, says a trade body representing the major banks.

Credit card use for purchases in shops has been highlighted by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) as the key to rising borrowing on cards.
There were 168 million purchases on credit cards in July - the first full month since the Brexit vote.
This was higher than in June and the average of the previous six months.
However, there was a drop in the number of mortgages approved for house purchases.
"This month's statistics are the first set of borrowing figures gathered since the EU referendum. The data does not currently suggest borrowing patterns have been significantly affected by the Brexit vote, but it is still early days. Many borrowing decisions will also have been taken before the referendum," said Rebecca Harding, chief economist at the BBA.
"We are also clearly still a nation of shoppers and the Brexit vote has done nothing to change the fact that we use credit cards for short-term purchases. Strong retail sales figures appear closely associated with strong consumer credit growth."
Many economists have predicted that the UK economy will grow slower than previously expected as a result of the UK's decision to leave the EU.
This, in part, led to the Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates to a new record low of 0.25% in August. Part of the theory of an interest rate cut is to encourage consumers to spend rather than save.
The BBA figures cover a period that pre-dates this rate cut, but the organisation suggests that people were still willing to buy in the shops on credit cards, before quickly repaying nearly all of this borrowing shortly afterwards.
Borrowing by consumers, excluding mortgage borrowing, rose by 6% in July compared with the same month a year earlier.
The BBA also said gross mortgage borrowing hit Â£12.6bn in July, 6% higher than a year earlier.
However, the total of 37,662 mortgages approved for house purchases in July was down 5% on the previous month, and 12% lower than the average of the previous six months.
This could suggest that those planning to buy a home may have taken a wait-and-see approach with home loan applications during the referendum campaign.
Figures from HM Revenue and Customs, published on Thursday, showed that property sales had remained relatively steady in July.


Two Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt for broadcasting false news have been freed after receiving pardons from President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.

Mohammed Fahmy, a Canadian, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, were among 100 prisoners whose release was ordered.
State media said a third person from the case was also pardoned. It is not clear if this is the Australian Peter Greste, who was deported in February.
They were sentenced to three years in prison last month after a retrial.
Prosecutors accused them of collaborating with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013.
The journalists denied the allegation and said they were simply reporting the news. Legal experts said the charges were unfounded and politically motivated.
A statement from President Sisi's office issued on Wednesday said Fahmy and Mohamed were named on a decree pardoning 100 young people "who had received final court sentences, having been convicted on the grounds of violating the anti-protest law and assaulting police forces".
"Other prisoners were pardoned due to their health conditions and on humanitarian grounds," it added.
Also named were the prominent activists Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif, who were jailed in 2014 for taking part in an "illegal protest".
After their release, the two journalists were dropped off in a Cairo suburb still wearing their prison uniforms.
"The whole nightmare is over," said Mr Mohamed.
"We're going to travel the world, we're going to celebrate, we're going to party," said Mr Fahmy. "I will continue fighting for press freedom."
Al Jazeera said in a report on its website that it "continues to demand all charges and sentences against its journalists are dropped", noting that Greste and six other employees had been convicted in absentia.
The pardons were issued by Mr Sisi ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha and a day before he travels to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
He had said he would be willing to pardon the Al Jazeera journalists once the judicial process had ended.
Fahmy, who renounced his Egyptian citizenship to qualify for deportation in February, is expected to leave for Canada following his release.
The case against the journalists began in December 2013, when they were arrested at a hotel used by Al Jazeera English to report from Cairo after its bureau was raided by police.
The journalists were initially convicted in June 2014 after a trial that was widely condemned. Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mohamed was given a 10-year sentence after also being found guilty of possessing a spent bullet casing.
In January, Egypt's Court of Cassation ordered a retrial after ruling that the original court had been "hasty in pronouncing its verdict".
Their convictions at retrial on 29 August were described as an "outrage" and an embarrassment for President Sisi by Amal Clooney, one of Fahmy's lawyers.


One of the world's oldest golf clubs in Edinburgh is set to undergo a £1m revamp.

Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society, which dates back to 1761, is making a series of improvements to its course in Barnton.
The bunkers are to be redesigned and repositioned to reflect the distances club golfers are now striking the ball.
Golf course architects Mackenzie and Ebert have been commissioned to carry out the work.
The course will be restored to a par 71 by extending the current par 4 13th hole to create a par 5 and introducing a new signature par 3 16th hole to replace the existing par 3 12th.
The project is due to get under way later this year.


World number one Mark Selby displayed all his renowned battling qualities to overcome Marco Fu 17-15 and book his place in the World Championship final against Ding Junhui.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The 2014 winner struggled throughout, but seemed buoyed for the evening session after winning the longest frame in Crucible history to tie at 12-12.
Selby never again trailed after an epic frame lasting 76 minutes 11 seconds.
And he held his nerve in an error-strewn finale to reach Sunday's final.
Ding had earlier completed an impressive 17-11 win over fellow qualifier Alan McManus to become the first Asian player to reach snooker's showpiece event.
However, Fu's failure to capitalise on Selby's struggles during the opening three sessions ultimately cost him the chance of making the best-of-35 frame final an all-Asian affair.
The titanic 24th frame, which beat the previous record of 74 minutes and 58 seconds set by Mark King and Stephen Maguire in 2009, finally seemed to spark both men into life.
Thankfully the dreary and bumbling nature of the morning session gave way to much-improved evening fare.
Selby led three times, scoring a half-century and a ton on the way, while Fu hit three half-centuries and his fourth ton of the match to stay in touch and then draw level at 15-15.
The main talking point up until then was not the impressive break-building, but an incident in which Fu seemed to brush a red ball with his hand when bridging to strike the cue ball.
The world number 14 did not declare a foul and referee Brendan Moore did not see it, but it remained an issue on social media where it divided opinion.
"I haven't got a clue what shot you are talking about it. Obviously I did [touch it] but I honestly can't feel it," said Fu.
Selby, who is now in his third Crucible final, went on to win the frame with a break of 63, and he clinched victory in frame 32 - another hour-plus tactical epic - thanks to a brilliant snooker on the final brown.
"For three sessions I was really poor and more or less hanging on to Marco's coat-tails," said Selby.
"When Marco was in, it looked like an art - and when I was in, it was more like a scribble.
"I need to play better than that."
Media playback is not supported on this device
China's Ding Junhui created history in the other semi-final when he became the first Asian player to reach the final.
The qualifier took three of the four frames played on Saturday to beat Scotland's Alan McManus 17-11. His seven century breaks was a record for the most centuries in a Crucible match.
McManus, 45, was the oldest player to reach a semi-final since Ray Reardon in 1985.
The Scot could not match his opponent's ruthless form as Ding, watched by 27.1% of China's national TV audience, wrapped up his seventh win since beginning his qualifying campaign against Greg Casey on 9 April.
Ding will be the first qualifier to contest the final since Judd Trump was beaten by John Higgins in 2011.
"I would probably put Ding as a slight favourite," said Fu. "All the Asian snooker fans will support him and it would be great if he won it. He can handle the pressure."


British director John Guillermin, whose films included The Towering Inferno and Death on the Nile, has died aged 89.

The Towering Inferno, released in 1974, won three Oscars and starred Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden and Faye Dunaway.
Guillermin's action-packed 1976 version of King Kong, starred Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange.
He died on Sunday at his home in the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, his friend Nick Redman confirmed.
In a statement, Guillermin's wife Mary called him "sensitive and passionate, full of a fierce rapture himself."
Born in London to French parents, Guillermin attended the University of Cambridge before joining the Royal Air Force.
His career directing began in France with documentary film-making. In 1950, he moved to Hollywood to study film-making methods.
Following the success of disaster films such as Airport and The Poseidon Adventure, Guillermin assembled a star-studded cast for The Towering Inferno.
The movie, still regarded as a classic of the genre, about a fire that breaks out on the 81st floor of a shoddily-built skyscraper starred McQueen and Newman - two of the biggest film stars of the day.
Known for his big budget adventures, Guillermin also had a reputation of being a difficult man to work with. In his memoirs, film editor Ralph E Winters, described an incident he witnessed when he worked with Guillermin on King Kong.
In the screening room, Winters said a frustrated Guillermin kicked the seat in front until it broke. He received  an apologetic phone call the next day.
In his 1995 autobiography, Charlton Heston, who worked with the director on 1972's Skyjacked, described him as having an "irascible streak".
For 1978's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, Guillermin assembled a cast of top acting talent.
Peter Ustinov played the legendary sleuth Hercule Poirot alongside David Niven, George Kennedy and Angela Lansbury.
He won the Evening Standard British Film Award in 1980 for the movie.
His final film was the Kong sequel King Kong Lives in 1986.


The case of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has been a complex one since the day he was indicted on 270 counts of murder in November 1991.

Ten years later he was found guilty of killing the people who died when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
Megrahi, who has always proclaimed his innocence, unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction. But he was subsequently allowed to return home after it emerged that he had terminal cancer, and he died in 2012.
Here are some of the key moments in the story of the bombing.
Scottish prosecutors request permission from the Libyan authorities to interview two suspects over the Lockerbie bombing.
Scottish judges rule that relatives of the victims should not be allowed to pursue an appeal on Megrahi's behalf.
Families argued they should have the right to carry forward the miscarriage of justice appeal for Megrahi.
Scotland's top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, reaffirms his belief that Megrahi is guilty of the Lockerbie bombing and says no Crown Office investigator or prosecutor ever raised concerns about the evidence used to convict him.
He also pledges to continue tracking down Megrahi's accomplices.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies at his home in Tripoli, aged 60.
Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is overthrown by an uprising in Libya, and is killed by rebels.
Megrahi falls into a coma at his Tripoli home with CNN reporting he appeared to be "at death's door".
The Scottish Parliament is recalled to discuss the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill faces questioning over his decision from MSPs but says he stands by his decision and will "live with the consequences".
The Scottish government releases Megrahi on compassionate grounds. He returns home to Libya aboard a jet belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Judges accept an application by the Lockerbie bomber to drop his second appeal against conviction.
The permission of the High Court in Edinburgh was required before the proceedings could be formally abandoned.
Megrahi asks to be released from jail on compassionate grounds due to his illness.
Relatives of the 270 people killed in the Lockerbie bombing mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.
A court rules that Megrahi, will remain in jail while he appeals against his conviction.
The father of one of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing reiterates his call for Megrahi to be released.
Jim Swire, whose daughter was killed, criticised the slow appeal process faced by the man convicted of the attack and said the question of whether Megrahi should be released was one of "common humanity".
Megrahi's lawyer reveals the 56-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent has been diagnosed with "advanced stage" prostate cancer.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has been investigating the case since 2003, recommends Megrahi is granted a second appeal against his conviction.
Megrahi is told he must serve at least 27 years in jail.
His sentence was increased after a change in the law meant he had to again come before the Scottish courts so that the punishment period could be set.
Lawyers acting for families of the Lockerbie bombing victims say they have reached agreement with Libya on the payment of compensation.
The deal to set up a $2.7bn (Â£1.7bn) fund was struck with Libyan officials after negotiations in London.
Megrahi spends his first night at a prison in Glasgow after being flown by helicopter to HMP Barlinnie.
Megrahi loses his appeal against the conviction.
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is found guilty of murder after the historic trial under Scottish law in the Netherlands.
The judges recommend a minimum of 20 years "in view of the horrendous nature of this crime".
Megrahi's co-accused, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, is found not guilty and told he is free to return home.
The trial of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 48, and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, 44, opens at Camp Zeist, a specially convened Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.
Both of the accused deny murder.
The suspects are taken into Dutch custody after flying from Tripoli to an airbase near the Hague and are formally charged with the bombing.
UN sanctions against Libya are suspended as agreed.
Britain and the United States propose trying the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on air travel and arms sales over Libya's refusal to hand the suspects over for trial in a Scottish court.
US and British investigators indict Libyans Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah on 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and violating Britain's 1982 Aviation Security Act.
The men were accused of being Libyan intelligence agents.
Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, 38 minutes after take-off from London.
The 259 people on board the Boeing 747 are killed, along with 11 people on the ground.


Ugandan gay activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera has been given the prestigious Martin Ennals rights award.

The 10 organisations which make up the award jury said she was courageous and faced harassment because of her work.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, and can be punished by long jail terms.
In January, her colleague David Kato was murdered not long after suing a paper that outed them both as gay. Police denied the killing was because of his sexuality.
Three months before the murder, Uganda's Rolling Stone newspaper published the photographs of several people it said were gay, including activist Mr Kato, with the headline "Hang them."
The name of Ms Nabagesera, the founder of gay rights organisation Freedom and Roam Uganda, also appeared on the list.
The Geneva-based award jury said Ms Nabagesera had appeared on national television and issued press statements on behalf of Uganda's gay community.
However, because of threats and harassment she now shifted "from house to house, afraid to stay long in the same place", their statement said.
"[She is] an exceptional woman of a rare courage, fighting under death threat for human dignity and the rights of homosexuals and marginalised people in Africa," jury chairman Hans Thoolen said.
In October 2009, an MP introduced a bill that proposed increasing the penalties in Uganda for homosexual acts from 14 years in prison to life.
It also proposed the death penalty for a new offence of "aggravated homosexuality" - defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a "serial offender".
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill is yet to be formally debated by the Ugandan parliament.
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders is named after the late British lawyer who became the first head of the human rights organisation Amnesty International.


Head coach Gregor Townsend has signed a contract extension to remain at Glasgow Warriors until June 2017.

The former Scotland fly-half, 42, has been in charge at Scotstoun since 2012 and led the club to their maiden Pro12 title success last season.
"I'm very excited to be able to continue my role with the Warriors," said Townsend.
"Being offered the job in 2012 was a huge honour and I've thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone at the club."
Glasgow reached the Pro12 semi-finals in Townsend's first campaign and were runners-up the following term, going on to lift the trophy in May with a 31-13 victory over Munster in the final in Belfast.
"I firmly believe that there is a lot more to come from this group of players - their work ethic and desire to improve has me very optimistic about the future," he added.
Capped 82 times for Scotland, Townsend's club career included spells in Australia, South Africa and France, and he also featured for Northampton Saints and Border Reivers.
Prior to his Warriors appointment, he coached with Scotland from 2009, working under Frank Hadden and Andy Robinson.
"He has created a consistent winning culture at Scotsoun and that is benefitting both the club and the players he works with," said Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson.
"After Glasgow Warriors became the first Scottish team in the professional era to win a major trophy it was only natural Gregor's talents would be of interest to other clubs.
"We maintain a constant dialogue with our coaches and believe he remains the right person to take the Warriors forward and consolidate their recent success."
Townsend, whose contract was set to expire next summer, has been instrumental in developing young Scottish talent like Stuart Hogg, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Finn Russell, Adam Ashe and new club skipper Jonny Gray.
Warriors provided a record 21 players competing at this year's World Cup in England, 17 of which were in the Scotland squad.


Terminally ill five-year-old Bradley Lowery led out the England team at Wembley for Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.

The young Sunderland fan was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2013, and developed a new tumour in February.
Although Joe Hart was captain, he swapped places with Jermain Defoe in the tunnel so he and Bradley could lead the teams out.
Bradley covered his ears as he walked out to loud cheers at Wembley.
Bradley was also mascot for Everton against Chelsea, but he has found a hero and "best mate" in Defoe after walking out alongside him as mascot for his beloved Sunderland against Chelsea. The 34-year-old striker has gone on to visit him in hospital.
It was an emotional day at Wembley as tributes were paid to the victims of the Westminster attack in central London on Wednesday, as well as former England manager Graham Taylor who died in January.


A morning caffeine dose is something that so many of us find irresistible, and according to research, foraging bees seek a similar buzz.

Many plants produce caffeine, primarily as a naturally bitter deterrent against plant-devouring insects, like caterpillars.
But an experiment with caffeinated nectar has now shown bees are attracted to and even "drugged" by the compound.
The research is published in the journal Current Biology.
Prof Francis Ratnieks from the University of Sussex, a senior member of the research team explained that previous research had shown that caffeine boosted bees' memories of the location of a flower.
"So people [already] thought it would affect their perception of nectar," he told BBC News.
To find out if this was the case, the research team set up two artificial flowers for bees to feed from - one containing sugary nectar without caffeine, and another with a concentration of the compound similar to that found in many plants.
So they could record each individual bee's behaviour, the team glued tiny identification numbers to the insects' backs.
The bees would return to the caffeinated nectar more quickly - making slightly more foraging trips, but the most striking finding was that caffeine "made the bees dance" much more.
After a visit to the caffeinated nectar, honeybees were much more likely to perform their waggle dance - a series of movements that communicate the location of a nectar source to their nest-mates.
By dancing, explained Prof Ratnieks, "they're communicating - hey, I've found some good food".
"The vast majority of bees don't waggle dance -  they only do it to communicate a particularly good location."
So the caffeine had an effect on the insects that was "akin to drugging" - causing them to behave as though the nectar source was of higher quality, and richer in sugar.
"And it's presumably cheaper for the plant to produce a small amount of caffeine than a large amount more sugar."
Dr Margaret Couvillon, who led the study, said the "post-exposure" effects on the bees were also very surprising.
"The bees that had been foraging on the caffeine kept revisiting the feeder [for many days] once it was empty," she told BBC News.
"So the effects of this one three hour experience (of caffeine) lasted for many days."
Dr Couvillon explained that, while the classic image of pollination was a "warm, mutualistic relationship," where the pollinator receives a reward from the plant, this showed a conflict.
She said: "We're showing a way that the plant gets the upper hand on the bee, through an action that's akin to drugging."
Follow Victoria on Twitter


The BBC's Arctic Live brought the tundra to our television screens, with an insight into the life and wildlife of the frozen North.

Eric McFarland is originally from Plumbridge, County Tyrone and has been at the heart of the production.
Mr McFarland usually gets to hide behind the camera, but one piece of footage featuring him was too good to go unseen.
Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland from the Canadian Arctic, Mr McFarland said: "We found ourselves with a flat battery, windows that weren't fully up and two bears circling us.
"So a little bit tense!" he laughed.  "But we stayed calm and we used a bit of good old-fashioned Heath Robinson ingenuity - one electricity cable, four crocodile clips and we were on our way again, no problem."
No problem perhaps, but polar bears are the only animal that will actively hunt human beings.
"We've got a bear guard just over here who's got a gun and a dog who is always looking out for us, making sure that we're safe," he said.
"They've got a really amazing force here, the polar bear cops, the Manitoba Conservation people and they make sure that the town is safe.
"But it is extraordinary living somewhere where you can have encounters with such amazing animals.
Close encounters with man-hunting polar bears aside, working on the programme is a career highlight for the man from Plumbridge.
"It's a dream come true to come to this kind of environment, to see the Northern Lights which we saw last night, to see these bears," he said.
"And to be able to do it for work and to see these bears day after day is something I think I'll never forget.  It's going to be very hard to top this!"


Smaller parties and independent candidates have been a feature of Welsh Assembly elections over the last 17 years.

The first assembly member to be elected from outside the four parties was John Marek, who won the Wrexham constituency in 2003.
He had been deselected as Labour candidate for a seat he had represented as an MP or AM for 20 years following a series of disputes with party colleagues in Cardiff Bay and Wrexham.
Dr Marek stood against another Labour AM for the post of assembly deputy presiding officer and won.
He was also accused of undermining his party in a private letter to an official of the Communication Workers Union, recommending the union stopped donating to Labour until the government improved its attitude towards public services.
Standing for the John Marek Independent Party, he won with a majority of 973 over the Labour candidate Lesley Griffiths.
He later formed a new political party called Forward Wales, a party that recruited former Labour Welsh Secretary Ron Davies to its ranks.
Dr Marek ran for re-election in 2007, but this time lost to Ms Griffiths by over 1,200 votes.
In 2005 another Labour AM - Peter Law from Blaenau Gwent - cut his ties with the party he had represented at the assembly since 1999.
He left the party in protest at its policy of all-woman shortlists at the 2005 general election, stood for the Westminster seat as an independent and won.
Mr Law died in 2006 aged 58, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
His widow Trish Law won the seat in the Assembly by-election that followed, with a majority of over 4,400 under the banner of Blaenau Gwent People's Voice.
Mrs Law said: "This is a victory for Blaenau Gwent: a victory for honesty and integrity".
She promised to be a "voice for our communities" and to "ensure that never again will the area be taken for granted".
Mrs Law held on to the seat in the 2007 election, increasing her majority to over 5,300.
But in September 2010, she announced that she would not seek re-election in 2011.
"Having achieved what I know Peter would have wanted me to achieve and having given my all to the constituency and its people I care so much about for the past few years I have decided to stand down in May and put my family first," she said.
The Green Party has never had any assembly members, but the regional list system does give them some hope of gaining seats at the Senedd.
In 2011 they polled over 32,500 votes - 3.4% - on the regional list across Wales, just below their 2007 result of 33,800 votes (3.5%).
The British National Party's best performance came in 2007, winning 42,197 votes on the regional lists or 4.3% of the vote. Four years later in 2011 their support had fallen to 22,600 votes or 2.4%.
The Socialist Labour Party saw their best result in 2011 when they won just over 23,000 votes on the lists across Wales, representing 2.4% of those who voted.


A total of 85 countries, including the UK, have submitted films for the 2017 best foreign language film Oscar.

Among them is Yemen, whose entry - I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced - marks the first time it has been in contention.
Afterimage - the final film of Polish director Andrzej Wajda, who died earlier this week at the age of 90 - is Poland's official entrant.
The UK is represented by Under the Shadow, a ghost film set in Tehran in which all the dialogue is Farsi.
The debut feature from British-Iranian director Babak Anvari was produced by London-based film company Wigwam.
Spain's Pedro Almodovar and Dutch director Paul Verhoeven are among the well-known directors to have their latest films submitted.
The latter's film Elle, a provocative drama starring Isabelle Huppert, is France's official entrant for next year's award.
Jonas Cuaron, son of Oscar-winning Gravity director Alfonso, is at the helm of Desierto, Mexico's official submission.
A longlist of nine films will be selected from the 85 submissions in December, out of which five will be shortlisted.
The UK have only been shortlisted on two occasions - 1993 and 1999. Both times were for films in Welsh.
The selected five will be announced on 24 January ahead of the awards ceremony on 26 February.
Last year's foreign film Oscar was won by the Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


The Ministry of Defence has unveiled its prototype unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).

Taranis is a concept design for a long-range strike plane that has taken over three million man hours to produce.
Defence Minister Gerald Howarth said it was a "truly trailblazing project" and featured "the best of our nation's advanced design and technology".
The aircraft is due to begin flight trials early next year.
Named after the Celtic god of thunder, Taranis is the first step in the development of unmanned strike aircraft, capable of penetrating enemy territory.
Unmanned aircraft carrying weapons are already used in service, such as the MQ-1 Predator which carries Hellfire missiles, although these are only suitable for use where the airspace is under allied control.
"This is the next generation of combat aircraft and flight trials will begin next year," Sqn Ldr Bruno Wood told BBC News.
"It's a technology demonstrator that could be used as a testbed which may form further potential solutions to the RAF," he added.
The issue of "writing the pilot" out of the aircraft equation has long been a controversial topic, more so since the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) went into active service.
It is accepted that the most vulnerable part of a plane is the pilot. While the airframe is capable of pulling multiple Gs - the gravitational force exerted on a body when standing on the Earth at sea level - the maximum safe level for a pilot, even when wearing a protective G-suit, is 8 or 9, above which they will lose consciousness.
Also, many anti-aircraft missiles are designed to explode near the cockpit, showering the vulnerable pilot with high-speed shrapnel that can cause death or injury.
Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, told BBC News that the development of UAVs paralleled the development of the first manned aircraft during World War I.
"First they were used for reconnaissance, then they were armed for bombing and ground attack missions and they eventually became air-to-air combat craft," he said.
"This is the first step for the UK. This isn't an aircraft that will go into service, it's a tech demo, but it will prove technologies, demonstrate capabilities and inform the direction we [the UK] are going in."
However, Mr Felstead stressed that while we would see greater development of ground attack UAVs, there would always be the need for a pilot with a "Mk I eyeball" when it came to air-to-air combat.
"If you have, say, an airliner that is reportedly hijacked, you are going to need that human factor to evaluate just what's going on with the plane, what he can see through the windows and everything else. That's not something, for now, that can be done remotely."
The MoD also stressed that all weaponised UAVs were under human control.
"Should such systems enter into service, they will at all times be under the control of highly trained military crews on the ground," it said in a statement.


A Northern Ireland Health trust is targeting medical professionals from abroad as it struggles to cope with a shortage of qualified staff.

The Western Trust recruitment drive targets Spain, Holland, Greece and Poland.
It aims to address the "huge challenge" of recruiting staff.
In the last financial year, the trust spent almost Â£13m on medical and dental locum and agency staff.
The Department of Health said all trusts in Northern Ireland were "facing challenges in securing appropriately qualified medical professionals".
Currently, there are 95 "hard to fill vacancies" in the Western Trust area which spans the counties of Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh.
A Department of Health spokesperson said efforts to fill medical vacancies focusing beyond Ireland and Britain had filled 26 posts since 2014.
Almost Â£230,000 has been spent since then on advertising costs and agency finders fees.
The spokesperson said:" "In addition to the Trust recruitment process, they have engaged with an agency to target the international market and have had some success to date, recruiting to the following areas: Radiology, Palliative Medicine and Oncology.
"Additionally the Trust has recently made offers to applicants in the following areas: Gastroenterology, Clinical Oncology and Diabetes & Endocrinology."
The trust is also employing retired consultants on a part-time basis to fill gaps, while further measures include relocation and expenses packages for consultants who remain in post for an agreed period.
In a statement the Western Trust said there was a "clear plan of action which has been set in motion and are making steady progress in addressing the issues".


Details have emerged of a meeting between First Minister Peter Robinson and a potential buyer of Nama's Northern Ireland loan book in 2013.

They are contained in correspondence between US firm PIMCO and the finance committee at Stormont.
The committee is investigating the £1.2bn sale by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) - the Irish bad bank - amid claims of fixer fees.
The meeting took place at Stormont on 22 May, 2013.
It was also attended by then finance minister Sammy Wilson, Frank Cushnahan - who was at the time a Nama adviser - and solicitor Ian Coulter.
Nama: The key figures and background you need to know
Timeline of Nama's NI property deal
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had previously stated that its leader Mr Robinson met with PIMCO, but few details were provided.
In its letter, PIMCO states an unsolicited approach was made to it by US law firm Brown Rudnick, which introduced it to "two other parties which it appeared to be working with".
It does not name the other parties.
It goes on to state it "was advised by these parties that the Northern Ireland government was concerned to ensure that there would not be a fire sale of homes and businesses".
Instead, it wanted "a longer term approach to investment and development of the assets" by a purchaser.
PIMCO states having expressed an interest, "it was explained the Northern Ireland Executive wanted to meet".
It said it attended the Stormont meeting "so that an assessment could be made as to PIMCO's suitability".
The letter adds: "It is our understanding PIMCO was not the only firm invited to meet with the representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive at that time."
The Irish government was made aware of buyer interest in the Nama portfolio the following month.
Mr Cushnahan resigned as a Nama adviser in November 2013 and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The Sinn Féin chairman of the Finance Committee, Daithí McKay, described details of the meeting as "a very significant development".
He said PIMCO "mistakenly believed" the meeting was "taking place under the auspices of the executive."
Mr McKay added: "It is the first time that any of the players in the sale of Nama's northern portfolio have put anything on the record about this secret meeting.
"This letter raises further questions about the Nama sale and I will be asking why no record of this meeting has been made available to date by the Department of Finance."


Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal was handed a shock second-round defeat by world number 100 Lukas Rosol in a five-set thriller.

Nadal could not contain a barrage of relentless, brutal groundstrokes from the Czech, 26, on his Wimbledon debut.
Rosol moved into a two-one lead but Nadal fought back to win the fourth.
Play was suspended while the roof was closed and it was Rosol who settled first to win the final set and the match 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4.
The result now opens up the draw for Britain's world number four Andy Murray, who was seeded to meet the Spaniard in the semi-final and beat Ivo Karlovic in four sets earlier in the day.
Rosol, who is making his main draw debut at Wimbledon after losing in the first round of qualifying for the last five years, will play Philipp Kohlschreiber next after the German beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.
It was the first time Nadal had lost before the third round of a Grand Slam since he was beaten by Gilles Mueller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005.
Nadal, who won the Wimbledon title in 2008 and 2010, arrived at the All England Club in good form having sealed his seventh French Open title.
Rosol, meanwhile, has never got past the third round of a Grand Slam and has remained a relative unknown since turning pro in 2004, although he was ranked as high as 65 last year.
"I don't know what to say," Rosol told BBC Sport. "I'm not just surprised but it's like a miracle. I never expected something like this. There are so many emotions - I don't know what to say.
"[Nadal] is a superstar and I'm very sorry for him. I played unbelievably today. I hope I can play another match like this.
"I'm very happy for my support. Before the match I was thinking to play three good sets so I don't lose 3-0.
"I know Nadal is only human. Nadal played a good match but I think I was a little bit better."
"These great championships have produced huge, huge upsets, but this is one of the greatest in history. How typical of Nadal. At one of his lowest moments, he is still signing autographs. It's a mark of the gentleman he is and the sportsman he is. But he wasn't good enough on the day. And for Lukas Rosol to be ranked 100 in the world is a joke."
Nadal, who had to overcome a slow start to beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round, struggled with his groundstrokes in the first set but managed to steal the tie-break 11-9 with a blistering forehand winner.
Undeterred, Rosol continued to go for his shots, breaking Nadal in the first game and holding on to win the set 6-4 with some tremendous hitting.
The Czech seemed oblivious to the enormity of the situation as he continued his ferocious hitting from all over the court to take an early break and then the set to lead 2-1.
However, mistakes began to creep into the 26-year-old Rosol's game and 11-time Grand Slam winner Nadal pounced, breaking twice to force a decider.
With the light deteriorating, officials decided to halt the match and close the roof to allow the match to reach a conclusion.
The players returned 43 minutes later, with Rosol breaking Nadal immediately and then holding on to secure a famous victory on Centre Court just after 22:00 BST.
Afterwards, the Spaniard said: "I played a great fourth set. He came back [after the delay to close the roof] and played unbelievable in the fifth.
"The only thing I can do is go back home and rest, and I need and deserve it."
He added: "I'm very, very disappointed [but] it's not a tragedy, it's only a tennis match."
Elsewhere, fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame a first-set blip to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-1 6-3 to set up a tie with Lukas Lacko.
Three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick progressed to the last 32 with with a comprehensive 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over Bjorn Phau of Germany.
The American has struggled for form this year but won his fifth grass-court title with victory at Eastbourne last week as a wildcard.
The 30th seed, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, hit 13 aces and only lost his serve once to progress to the third round round of a Grand Slam for the first time this year.
He will now play Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer who also went through in straight sets, beating France's Kenny De Schepper 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 6-4.
Marin Cilic, the 16th seed who won the Aegon Championships at the Queen's Club this month after David Nalbandian was disqualified, beat Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-1 to set up a third-round tie against either Sam Querrey or Milos Raonic.
The winner of that clash faces a potential match-up with Murray in the fourth round.
Thirteenth seed Gilles Simon, who has found himself in the headlines this week by saying men should be paid more than women because their events are more popular, lost 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to Xavier Malisse of Belgium.


Police are investigating the use of smoke bombs at the start of the Irn Bru Cup clash between Queen of the South and Linfield in Dumfries on Sunday.

Six canisters were set off in a section of the West Stand of Palmerston Park which housed visiting fans.
Ch Insp Stuart Davidson, the match commander, said inquiries were ongoing and CCTV footage was being reviewed.
The official match attendance was 2,358 - with about half made up of away fans of the side from Northern Ireland.
Police said there had been no arrests and only one person was ejected from the ground by stewards.


National League side Southport have appointed interim boss Andy Bishop as manager on a full-time basis.

The 33-year-old took charge of the Sandgrounders in March after former manager Dino Maamria left the club for "family and travel reasons".
Southport have lost just once in seven games under player-manager Bishop to climb from 17th in the table to 15th.
"I've played a lot at this level so I know what it takes," he told the club website.
"I've really enjoyed every aspect of management so far. My target is to improve on this season and let's see where it takes us."


A man has appeared in court charged with eight terrorism offences.

Abdulrahman Alcharbati is accused of seven counts of disseminating terrorist publications and one offence contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The 31-year-old, of Westholme Gardens, Newcastle, entered no plea at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 20 July.