Staff at the European Council on Foreign Relations couldn't find any countries in favour of Britain leaving the EU.

The question: Dan asks BBC Radio 4's PM programme "Have any countries, trading blocs or other such entities publicly stated they are in favour of Britain leaving the EU?"
Reality Check verdict:  A handful of politicians have said their countries would do trade deals with the UK should it vote to leave the EU, but we can't find any that have called for the UK to leave.
"We looked pretty hard and we couldn't find a single government that supported a Brexit," Mark Leonard, its director, said.
Vote Leave, the pro-Brexit campaign group, didn't come up with any either.
It pointed out senior politicians from New Zealand, Iceland and Mexico had said their countries would seek a trade deal with the UK should it leave the EU. But none of them said they wanted the UK to leave the EU so they could increase trade.
It also cited Jason Keeney, a Canadian MP, who said Britain would already have a trade deal with Canada if it was outside the EU, although Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, has only said he wants "a strong and united EU".
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, said Britain would be better off outside the EU.
The UK has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 1995 and will remain so whatever the outcome. It isn't clear what other existing trade organisations the UK could join should it vote to leave.
The World Trade Organisation hasn't commented on the referendum but Pascal Lamy, its former director general, has said Brexit would be "very bad news" for the UK.
The most significant interventions have all come from those who want the UK to stay in the EU.
President Obama said the UK would be at the "back of the queue" for a trade deal with the US if it left the EU. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping of China have both suggested the UK should remain in too.
Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate


Like many a BBC reporter before, I come to you with news of a coup, and perhaps the most significant transition of power you’ll read about this weekend.

Cats on the internet are over. Done. "Cheezburgers" are off the menu. Play yourself out, Keyboard Cat.
While in years past we’ve perhaps welcomed the charming cynicism of the likes of Grumpy Cat, it seems people of the internet are now, in stranger times, longing instead for the unconditional and unwavering love of dogs - and I have the highly subjective data to prove it.
Trending
Let’s start with Reddit. The top three posts of all time on its r/aww subreddit, the section for all things cuddly, are all about dogs.
"But wait!" you might say. "The fourth one is a cat!". Ah, but is it? It begins with a cat, but watch closely as it climbs out of its cage and into the one next to it. What does the cat find? A dog! That should be all the proof you need.
If it isn’t, here’s something a bit more concrete.
Socialbakers is a company that monitors social media for trends and stats relating to things that are most popular. I got in touch with them about this, and within hours they came back to me with the goods.
For starters, the runaway champion of most popular animal on Facebook is a dog named Boo. He’s got more than 17.5m likes, more than double that of his closest competitor, Grumpy Cat.
In third place, Nyan Cat - who isn’t even a real cat, for crying out loud.
On Instagram, fine, I’ll admit, the top celebrity is a cat. But 2nd, 3rd and 4th place? All dogs. All good dogs.
When it comes to searches on Google, dogs .
But more significant was the historic moment on 3 January 2016, when, for the first time, the term "cute dogs" overtook "funny cats" in global searches.
I think I’ve proved my point.
Puppers
Like any viral phenomena, there’s a new vocabulary to get your head around if you are to be a part of this new term of internet governance.
Dogs aren’t just dogs. They’re doggos. Puppies are puppers. And while not all puppers can be considered doggos, all doggos are most certainly puppers. Or woofers. Woofers that bork. If you want, you can boop a doggo’s snoot. That is - to lightly bop on one’s nose.
When in mild distress, or sometimes just for emphasis, their chosen curse word is the ferociously aggressive "heckin".
Oh, and if a dog sticks his or her tongue out a little bit? That's a blep.
Like any new language, the best way to learn is to engross yourself in the culture - and one fine place that speaks fluent doggo is the happiest corner of the internet, Facebook’s Cool Dog Group (CDG).
Here you’ll find the likes of Igor, who, let me tell you folks, is a born superstar, believe me.
Igor’s just one of hundreds of puppers posted every week, a most welcome addition to news feeds that would otherwise be clogged up with baby pictures and wedding photos. You’re welcome.
‘They’re good dogs, Brent.’
It’s the grassroots of doggo appreciation that has the movement set to make huge strides in 2017.
It’s being spearheaded by Matt Nelson, a 20-year-old who studies golf course management in North Carolina, and a man described by serious newspaper Washington Post as "the internet’s most famous dog rater".
Nelson runs the WeRateDogs account on Twitter. People submit dogs to be rated, and Nelson will consider the merits of said dog and provide a score out of 10.
Recent scores: 12/10 for Hercules, 13/10 for Duchess and 14/10 for Sundance who, in a short clip, plays the drums.
Late last year this generous but fair system was brought into disrepute by the user Brant, who questioned why all the dogs got such unfathomably high ratings.
"They’re good dogs, Brent," replied Nelson - an era-defining retort which you can now buy on a hoodie. Or a mug.
Since then, popularity has exploded. He now has over a million followers.
"We started up an e-commerce store," Matt tells me. "We have a book deal. So many things I thought you could never do with just a Twitter account."
Therapy dogs
You could say there’s plenty of data out there to suggest that I’m wrong, and that cats are still very much in control. And you’d be right - I found plenty evidence which completely disproves the theory I’ve outlined here, but I’ve left it out as I don’t care.
There was one piece from Gizmodo in 2015 that suggested there were scientific reasons to why cat memes were more popular online - but to that I say WRONG. Fake meows.
Because the web is just different now. Looking at cat pictures was a way to waste time by mucking about on the internet.
Now, like the therapy dogs of the real world, internet doggos are supplying a much needed diversion from the humourless drudgery that makes up much of the modern social web.
"Dogs are just a pure innocent thing," Matt Nelson says. "They are the embodiment of unconditional love, and that’s what people want now.
"I see my account as this refuge of something bright on the internet."
And so that’s it. Sorry cats. You had a good run.
Before publishing, my editor told me I was brave to write to this piece.
"No no," I said. "Brave is allowing people to leave comments…"
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook


The PSNI is seeking fresh information about the dissident republican gunmen who targeted a police officer on a garage forecourt in Belfast.

The appeal was broadcast on BBC Crimewatch on Monday night.
It included dramatic CCTV footage of the shooting that happened in Belfast on 22 January.
The officer who was injured said he thought he was "going to die" during the attack by a group known as the new IRA.
The officer was hit at least twice in his right arm, and it is thought a bulletproof vest may have saved his life.
It is believed at least two people were involved in the attack.
The new IRA was formed in 2012 after a number of dissident republican organisations said they were unifying under one leadership.
It is believed to be the largest organisation of its kind.
Supt Kevin Geddes, from the PSNI, told Good Morning Ulster that the Crimewatch appeal had already generated a good response from the public, but more information was needed.
"It's too early to say exactly what (information) we've had but it's been good so far," he said.
"I would hope we would get some information from the local community in relation to the new IRA, in particular around the individuals involved in that shooting and also maybe some information on where this gun might be."
He added: "The new IRA has no support other than from what they get through fear, and we enjoy some really good support in north and west Belfast.
"I need people to actively work against them (the new IRA) and to say what they saw that night and what they know about the individuals involved."
The new IRA is believed to have been responsible for a number of attacks since its formation, including the murders of prison officers David Black and Adrian Ismay.
Supt Geddes also appealed for information around a red Audi car that police have linked to the attack.
It was later found burned out at Culmore Gardens, Andersonstown, in west Belfast.
"I know the movements of that car in December, but in January I believe that car was being driven around north and west Belfast.
"It was quite distinctive, it's a red Audi estate, only has one headlight, there's not many of them and it's about 15 years old."


A charity has called for greater efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C (HCV) from Scotland.

There are about 37,000 people living with the virus - but campaigners say as many again are undiagnosed.
A meeting in Edinburgh on Tuesday will call on the NHS to alter its focus so Scotland can be free of the disease by 2030.
The Scottish government published a new policy on sexual health and blood borne virus treatment in 2016.
Scotland has a good record on tackling Hepatitis C, a disease affecting the liver, and often associated with drug injecting.
A greater proportion of those affected have been treated here than any other UK nation.
But the charity Waverley Care said Scotland also has the highest prevalence of the virus in the UK and 1,800 new cases are diagnosed each year, which meant a different approach should now be adopted.
It said an "informal inquiry" has been established into the eventual elimination of the disease, which chief executive Grant Sugden said was achievable as new treatment options mean Hepatitis C is now curable.
He said: "The NHS in Scotland is only treating the most severe cases at the moment.
"But we must work with those who have presented with the virus, but whose symptoms are not severe at the moment and crucially we must do more to diagnose those living with HCV, but who have not been diagnosed."
The Scottish government said it had long been at the forefront of addressing Hepatitis C and was committed to playing its part in helping achieve the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating the virus as a public health threat by 2030.
Ivan McKee, SNP MSP for Provan, who will chair the meeting in Edinburgh said: "To succeed, we need to support and encourage a flexible approach to help NHS Scotland and health boards to drive forward elimination by developing new models of care and improving access to screening, diagnosis and treatment.
"This will help to ensure Scotland's ongoing commitment to addressing HCV in a robust and sustainable way and support those with HCV to clear the virus and move on positively with their lives."
Waverley Care has launched a scheme focusing on prisoners - it is estimated that one in five of those in Scottish jails are living with HCV.
Operating at Scotland's largest prison, Barlinnie, it aims to support those released at the end of their sentence with services for housing, education and healthcare and help them access treatment for HCV.
Billy Davidson, Waverley Care's prison link worker at Barlinnie, said prisoners who were HCV positive could easily obtain treatment while serving their sentence.
But he added: "One of the biggest challenges is them falling out of the healthcare system once released.
"Often it's because they don't have support with practical issues, like finding somewhere to live or getting a job.
"By working with prisoners to plan for their release, we can make sure the right support is in place and help them to access the treatment that will allow them to clear their Hepatitis C."


More than 1,000 cases relating to child sexual abuse within football clubs in the UK have been reported to police.

Updated figures released by the National Police Chiefs' Council also show that 184 potential suspects have been identified.
The 526 potential victims ranged in age from four to 20.
There are 248 clubs impacted by investigations - but that total refers to the number of clubs referenced when people came forward.
The number of cases referred to Operation Hydrant, the over-arching inquiry into historical child abuse allegations, has now reached 1,016.
The NPCC's lead for child protection, chief constable Simon Bailey, said the number of referrals was beginning to decrease but he continued to urge people to report allegations by dialling 101 or contacting the NSPCC helpline.
"Allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse are complex, and often require specialist skills and knowledge, and can take time to progress.
"However, all allegations and information received by police forces across the country are being acted upon," he added.
"When allegations are reported it enables police to assess whether there are current safeguarding risks and ensure that appropriate action is being taken to prevent children being abused today."
The scandal came to light after a number of former footballers came forward publicly to tell their stories.
526
potential victims
184
potential suspects
1,016 referrals to Operation Hydrant from police forces and NSPCC helpline
248 football clubs impacted from Premier League to amateur
4 to 20 years age range of victims at the time of alleged abuse
98% of potential victims are male
Most referrals to Operation Hydrant have related to football but there have been 22 related to sports outside of football.
These have included rugby, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis, wrestling, golf, sailing, athletics, cricket, and swimming.


A Liverpool supporter who saw a fellow fan "turning blue" in the Hillsborough stadium crush said he "didn't think what was happening was real".

Andrew Kirby told the new inquests into the disaster that he tried to speak to Martin Wild, 29, who was fatally injured, but could get no response.
The jury, sitting in Warrington, has been told no living relatives of Mr Wild have been traced
Ninety-six Liverpool fans died after the disaster on 15 April 1989.
The crush took place during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium.
Mr Kirby and the other two fans went into pen three - a fenced enclosure on the Leppings Lane terraces - where the pressure inside was "continuous", Mr Kirby told the court.
He said Mr Wild was "three feet to his left" and began to look "not comfortable".
In a statement written in 1989, Mr Kirby described seeing Mr Wild's face "turning blue and that he was obviously in difficulty".
After the pressure subsided, Mr Kirby said he went over towards where he had seen Mr Wild and found him lying among other casualties.
"He was lifeless," Mr Kirby told the court.
He said he did not check for a pulse or for signs of breathing. "I was scared myself. You know, I didn't know what were going off. I didn't think what was happening was real."
Mr Wild was carried out of the pen and into a concourse area at the back of the West Stand.
The jury has already heard from two police officers who may have tried to resuscitate him.
The inquests in Warrington, Cheshire, were told that Liverpool fan Steven Edwards had helped to carry Colin Wafer, 19, who was among the fans who died, across the pitch.
Part of his statement written in 1989 was read to the court.
Mr Edwards described seeing two St John Ambulance medics trying to revive Mr Wafer but without success.
He then offered to help carry the 19-year-old on a makeshift stretcher.
He and the other stretcher bearers then asked police officers about where they could take Mr Wafer.
Mr Edwards wrote: "I said: 'He's dead, the St John Ambulance have already tried.' But the policeman said abruptly: 'Put him down, we know what we're doing'.
"I said: 'We just need to know where to take him, he's dead.' The policeman snapped: 'Put him down' and we did."
The inquests in Warrington, Cheshire, will continue on Wednesday.
BBC News: Profiles of all those who died


A spectacular light show is taking place in China.

4 February 2016 Last updated at 09:04 GMT
It's to welcome the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Twenty thousand lights were used here to represent joy and prosperity.


Plans to build a so-called "super sewer" in London should be reviewed, an inquiry has concluded.

Thames Water said the sewer would stop millions of tonnes of sewage leaking into the River Thames every year.
But the Thames Tunnel Commission favours a shorter tunnel with "greener" options for preventing rain water entering the sewage system
Thames Water said it would study the findings of the commission which was sponsored by five London councils.
The inquiry was commissioned amid concerns that water bills would have to rise to finance the project and fears over the loss of green space and regeneration sites.
The Thames Tunnel Commission (TTC) examined whether the 20-mile (32km) tunnel from west to east London was the best solution to the problem of raw sewage entering the Thames.
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Download the reader here
Lord Selborne, who led the team that scrutinised the plans, said: "Our forensic analysis shows there is a substantial body of evidence pointing to the fact that there is a smarter way to make the River Thames cleaner.
"A shorter tunnel, combined with green infrastructure solutions that are built up incrementally in the medium to long term, would be both compliant with EU directives and less costly and disruptive to Londoners.
"These alternatives require further study."
The report recommended the primary reason for rejecting a short tunnel that costs less than half the current "super sewer" estimate "should be revisited as a matter of urgency".
It also found complimentary environmentally friendly solutions that minimise the amount of fresh rain water entering the sewerage system should be considered.
A Thames Water spokesman said: "To be a viable proposition, any alternative to the Thames Tunnel would need to provide a more economical way of meeting the environmental objectives set by the Environment Agency for the health of the river, within the time scale required by the government."
He said it would be a "valuable contribution" to a second consultation into the scheme which starts on Friday.
At the same time as the report was being published, Thames Tunnel Now, a coalition of 15 environmental charities, including the Angling Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, WWF-UK, and the London Wildlife Trust, said it backed the sewer plan.
A spokesman for the coalition said: "It is completely unacceptable for people to be faced with raw sewage in one of the most sophisticated cities in the world, and for tens of thousands of fish to die from suffocation every time it rains heavily in the summer."


A woman has been charged with the attempted murder of an eight-year-old girl at a house in Edinburgh.

The girl remains in a "critical condition" in hospital after the incident at a house in Danube Street, in the Stockbridge area, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The 48-year-old woman appeared in private at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with attempted murder.
She made no plea or declaration and was detained under an assessment order.
Det Insp Paul Grainger said the eight-year-old was recovering well in hospital.
"I want to take this opportunity to commend staff at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children for their tremendous medical efforts so far," he said.
"Thankfully, the girl is now described as being in a stable condition and specialist detectives continue to support her family.
Det Insp Grainger added: "A 48-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with this incident and we're not looking for anyone else as part of our enquiries.
"Our thoughts remain with the young girl and her family, who have asked that their privacy is respected at this incredibly difficult time."


A lot has been made of the rise of counter attacking as a tactic in the Premier League this season, but there is nothing particularly new about it.

It is not as if more teams are doing it than before, but it is being highlighted because the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Crystal Palace have had notable successes playing that way.
What I think has changed is that more managers understand the need for pace.
That has always been important, of course, but I've noticed a difference in recruitment recently in that a lot of our top-flight clubs now see it as the top priority when they look for signings.
Most teams play a way that suits their players, and if lesser clubs now have more players with speed who can get up the other end of the pitch quickly then that alone gives them a great chance to excel on the counter attack, so no wonder they are doing it.
Counter attacking is often associated with the away team or the underdog because your obvious tactic in that situation is to protect what you have got.
That is in contrast to the philosophy of playing at home, where the expectancy of your fans creates a need for your team to attack and press high up the pitch. At the bigger clubs, their supporters expect their team to dominate possession too.
So playing on the counter attack is often forced on the away team. I can also remember it just happening subconsciously, rather than as a deliberate tactic.
Whatever the circumstances, in my 15 years playing in the Premier League, the lesser clubs would generally always set up to play that way when they went away from home, especially to a bigger team.
When I was at Fulham, for example, very rarely would we go to a big team and go hell for leather and try to match them.
Instead we would try to keep a good shape and break when we could, something that seems to be working for a lot of teams at the moment.
So far this season, there has been a far greater percentage of away wins than in any of the previous 10 campaigns - 37% in 2015-16 compared to an average of 28% between 2005-06 and 2014-15 - and far fewer home wins - 34% compared to 47%.
It is fascinating to see there have been more away wins (26) than home wins (24) in the 70 Premier League games played so far in 2015-16 but that could be misleading because of how the fixtures have fallen so far.
Media playback is not supported on this device
A better way of showing that away teams are doing much better this season is to compare the games played so far with the corresponding fixtures from last season, replacing relegated teams with promoted ones and seeing how the results match up.
When you do that, 47% of the same fixtures last season ended in home wins, and only 27% saw away successes, meaning both figures are almost identical to the 10-year averages.
The increase in away wins is not just down to teams counter attacking, but it has been highlighted because West Ham, Leicester and Palace all play that way and they have produced some brilliant performances on the road.
As well as pace in attack, you need to be well organised defensively and stay patient and focused if you want to be successful playing on the break.
Look at West Ham, who have done exactly that three times to win at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The Hammers' back four, and the midfielders shielding them, were awesome in the way they stayed disciplined deep in their own half and held their positions. They were not getting the ball for long periods, which made it even harder.
That does not just happen by accident - it comes from work on the training pitch, as does fitness, which is another important factor.
It is a risky way of playing because if you do concede the first goal you obviously have to change your approach but that relies on more than just reacting with a change of tactics.
Leicester have shown with the way they have come back from a goal or more down so many times this season that their energy and fitness levels are really high.
It means that in the second half of games they can keep up the same tempo of play in defence and attack when the opposition is getting tired.
There are statistics for sprints and ground covered but none for the mental strength you need to play this way too.
Some attack-minded players want to express themselves and this is not a style of play for them - if two or three players in your team are not on board then it will not work.
Again, when I was with Fulham, we knew as a team and as a collective the way we were going to play and, even though we had our critics for being a bit negative, we knew it worked - even at home.
We made Craven Cottage a bit of a fortress under Roy Hodgson, even though if you sat in the stand we would often look like we were the away team.
We played deep because we did not have great pace in our centre-halves but we screened them well and we broke quickly, using the pace of Andy Johnson and Damien Duff and with Bobby Zamora to aim at as an out-ball.
I remember lots of games where I was back helping out our back four on the edge of the area and Andy would be next to me chipping in in the right-back area because we were hanging on to a 1-0 lead.
It worked for us, ultimately because of our results. If you win games playing that way, then your belief just grows and grows.
You can see that has happened with Leicester, even though they changed managers over the summer. Because of the way they finished last season they realised the way they were playing suited them, and they have carried that over.
One of the things about counter-attacking football is that it is not always pretty.
West Ham, Palace and Leicester are all near the bottom of the Premier League rankings for number of passes, passing accuracy and possession in 2015-16.
Does that matter? No, not if the results are good because then their fans will not care one bit. If anything, they will love it.
The important thing is that when they do attack, they do so with numbers and do it effectively, and all three of those teams can do that.
Yes, ideally you would like your possession ratios to be nearer 50-50 in games in order to be more competitive but when you look at the quality of the opposition that, say, West Ham have faced then you can understand why they had to sacrifice that.
Those statistics show why this style of play does not work for every club, though.
When I was at Liverpool, our passing, passing accuracy and possession was important to the way we played and part of the identity of the club.
There is no way we would have just played on the break at home, because our fans would not have accepted it.
They expected us to go after teams and, in contrast to when I was at Fulham, we would expect to dominate possession because, in most matches, we had the better players.
It is the same anywhere in Europe - you will never ever get the top teams with the best players going to a lesser team and putting men behind the ball, sitting back voluntarily and waiting to counter.
They will have the ability to do it but, unless they are up against someone like Barcelona, it will never be a game plan in the same way you see Palace, West Ham or Leicester do it.
Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.


Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack when the overall dangers to the individual and society are considered, according to a study in the Lancet.

The report is co-authored by Professor David Nutt, the former government chief drugs adviser who was sacked in 2009.
It ranked 20 drugs on 16 measures of harm to users and to wider society.
Heroin, crack and crystal meth were deemed worst for individuals, with alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine worst for society, and alcohol worst overall.
The study by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs also said tobacco and cocaine were judged to be equally harmful, while ecstasy and LSD were among the least damaging.
Professor Nutt refused to leave the drugs debate when he was sacked from his official post by the former Labour Home Secretary, Alan Johnson.
He went on to form the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, which says it aims to investigate the drug issue without any political interference.
One of its other members is Dr Les King, another former government adviser who quit over Prof Nutt's treatment.
Members of the group, joined by two other experts, scored each drug for harms including mental and physical damage, addiction, crime and costs to the economy and communities.
The study involved 16 criteria, including a drug's affects on users' physical and mental health, social harms including crime, "family adversities" and environmental damage, economic costs and "international damage".
The findings run contrary to the government's long-established drug classification system, but the paper's authors argue that their system - based on the consensus of experts - provides an accurate assessment of harm for policy makers.
"Our findings lend support to previous work in the UK and the Netherlands, confirming that the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm," the paper says.
"They also accord with the conclusions of previous expert reports that aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy."
In 2007, Prof Nutt and colleagues undertook a limited attempt to create a harm ranking system, sparking controversy over the criteria and the findings.
The new, more complex, system ranked alcohol as three times more harmful than cocaine or tobacco. Ecstasy was ranked as causing one-eighth the harm of alcohol.
It also contradicted the Home Office's decision to make the so-called legal high mephedrone a Class B drug, saying that alcohol was five times more harmful.
The rankings have been published to coincide with a conference on drugs policy, organised by Prof Nutt's committee.
Prof Nutt told the BBC: "Overall, alcohol is the most harmful drug because it's so widely used.
"Crack cocaine is more addictive than alcohol but because alcohol is so widely used there are hundreds of thousands of people who crave alcohol every day, and those people will go to extraordinary lengths to get it."
He said it was important to separate harm to individuals and harm to society.
The Lancet paper written by Prof Nutt, Dr King and Dr Lawrence Phillips, does not examine the harm caused to users by taking more than one drug at a time.
Gavin Partington, of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said alcohol abuse affected "a minority"  who needed "education, treatment and enforcement".
Mr Partington, who is the spokesman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said millions of people enjoyed alcohol "as part of a regular and enjoyable social drink".
"Clearly alcohol misuse is a problem in the country and our real fear is that, by talking in such extreme terms, Professor Nutt and his colleagues risk switching people off from considering the real issues and the real action that is needed to tackle alcohol misuse," he said.
"We are talking about a minority. We need to focus policy around that minority, which is to do with education, treatment and enforcement."
A Home Office spokesman said: "Our priorities are clear - we want to reduce drug use, crack down on drug-related crime and disorder and help addicts come off drugs for good."


Sierra Leone international Alhaji Kamara, who was diagnosed with a serious heart condition in 2015, is joining Saudi Arabian top flight league club Al-Taawoun FC in a bid to gain regular football.

The 23-year-old forward signed a two-year deal with the Saudi outfit from US Major League Soccer (MLS) club DC United for an undisclosed fee on Friday.
"I'm delighted to join Al-Taawoun FC as I believe I have taken a good decision for my career," Kamara told BBC Sport.
I'm fit to play as I successfully went through a medical check-up
"I decided to move because I want to be playing regularly," Kamara said.
Kamara was sent on loan to United States second tier league side Richmond Kickers as he struggled for playing time at DC United.
He scored only one goal for DC United in nine appearances.
Kamara, whose football career was halted in 2015 after he was diagnosed with a serious condition, says he successfully underwent a medical check-up in Portugal before his deal with Al-Taawoun went through.
"I'm fit to play as I successfully went through a medical check-up," Kamara confirmed.
Medical experts from European football's governing body Uefa advised Kamara to stop playing football after he was diagnosed with the problem.
The condition was detected after he had scored six goals to help Norrkoping win the 2015 Swedish league.
However Kamara decided to go the United States for further medical tests and specialists there gave him the green light to sign for DC United.
He was surprisingly picked for Sierra Leone's opening 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Kenya which they won 2-1 two weeks ago in Freetown.
But Kamara did not feature in the match as he did not travel to Freetown because of a demand by his then club DC United that a defibrillator be at the stadium during the game.
He now joins a list of Sierra Leonean internationals that have signed for Saudi Arabian clubs.
They include former Leone Stars captain John Sama, David Simbo and ex-Inter Milan and Monaco forward Mohamed Kallon who won the Asia Champions League with Al-Itihad in 2005.


The French government is "completely committed" to constructing the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, the French economy minister has told the BBC.

Emmanuel Macron told the Andrew Marr Show the Â£18bn project in Somerset was "very important" for France and EDF, which is 85% owned by the French state.
Mr Macron said work still needed to be finalised but he hoped something would be signed with UK officials this week.
Greenpeace said alternatives to Hinkley Point were "increasingly attractive".
EDF has yet to outline how it will fund the project.
In October last year, it agreed a deal under which China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) would pay a third of the cost of the project, in exchange for a 33.5% stake.
But EDF has been struggling to find the cash for its remaining 66.5% stake and the cost of the Hinkley Point project now exceeds EDF's market value.
All you need to know about Hinkley Point
Nuclear power: The future or the past?
Hinkley Point: Pressure grows at EDF
The company's financial director resigned over the cost  in March and last week the French Energy Minister SÃ©golÃ¨ne Royale said it should be delayed.
But Mr Macron told the BBC: "We back Hinkley Point project, it's very important for France, it's very important for the nuclear sector and EDF.
"Now we have to finalise the work, and especially the technical and industrial work, very closely with EDF, with the British government, to be in a situation to sign in the coming week or more."
Asked whether he thought the deal would go ahead, Mr Macron added: "That's my view, and that's our perspective, because I think it's very important for our commitment to nuclear energy."
John Sauven, director of environmental pressure group Greenpeace, said: "The French economy minister Emmanuel Macron says one thing to a UK audience and another to the French.
"He has made it abundantly clear in French that no decision has been made.
"The reasons are clear: the costs are rising, the problems are mounting, and the opposition in France is growing.
"The alternatives are looking increasingly attractive no matter which language you speak."
UK Energy Secretary Amber Rudd said: "Hinkley Point will power nearly six million homes, boosting our long-term energy security and create over 25,000 jobs, meaning financial security for working people and their families."
The Andrew Marr Show, which includes the full interview with Mr Macron, is available on BBC iPlayer.


Bydd Caerdydd yn croesawu Gareth Bale a Real Madrid i'r brifddinas mewn llai na mis wedi iddyn nhw sicrhau eu lle yn rownd derfynol Cynghrair y Pencampwyr.

Yr Eidalwyr, Juventus oedd y tîm cyntaf i sicrhau eu lle yn y ffeinal ar ôl curo Monaco o 4-1 ar gyfanswm goliau ddydd Mawrth.
Fe wnaeth Real drechu clwb arall o brifddinas Sbaen, Atlético Madrid o 4-2 ar gyfanswm goliau nos Fercher.
Bydd y rownd derfynol - digwyddiad chwaraeon mwyaf y byd yn 2017 - yn cael ei chynnal yng Nghaerdydd ar 3 Mehefin.
Mae'r trefnwyr eisoes wedi rhybuddio y bydd y brifddinas "yn brysurach nag erioed" ar ddiwrnod y gêm, gyda disgwyl i hyd at 170,000 o gefnogwyr deithio i'r ddinas.
Stadiwm Principality, fydd wedi'i ailenwi yn Stadiwm Cenedlaethol Cymru oherwydd noddwyr, fydd yn cynnal y digwyddiad.
Bydd ffeinal y merched hefyd yn cael ei chynnal yn y brifddinas, yn Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd ar ddydd Iau, 1 Mehefin
Dau dîm o Ffrainc - Lyon a Paris Saint-Germain - sydd yn y rownd derfynol.


Two cousins of the Manchester bomber say they had no idea he was planning to carry out his attack.

Isaac and Abz Forjani were arrested by police after the attack - and were questioned for a week - but have since been released without charge.
They say they did not know about his extremist views - adding that he may have been radicalised abroad.
Sixteen people have been arrested in connection with the bombing and 10 remain in custody.
Separately, Greater Manchester Police have released new CCTV images of Salman Abedi before he killed 22 people at the Manchester Arena on 22 May.
The Forjani brothers were arrested in Fallowfield, south Manchester, the day after the attack.
Isaac, 24, said: "It's not easy being connected to 22 lost, innocent lives.
"The fact that the person that did this is related to us by blood is something that's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.
"My thoughts are with the families of the victims. I really do feel for them.
"We went in, we could come out, we can try and move on with our lives. They've lost their loved ones."
The two brothers said they last saw Abedi three months before the attack, when he got his hair trimmed at Abz Forjani's barber shop.
Abz, 21, says he had a "pretty close relationship" with Abedi. He said his cousin was not part of "a big network".
He said: "I believe it was all done by one man, (who) developed some sort of thoughts in the past few years which he kept to himself, secretly to himself.
"He never shared it with any members of the family - if he would of, we could have done something to stop that happening."
He added: "He (Abedi) never admitted extremist views - it was just political opinions, so it wasn't focused or aimed at a particular group.
"The thought was he was just a religious man taking it way too far, becoming judgmental maybe.
"There's never been a hint of extremism."
The brothers also insisted they share the same British values as everyone else.
"We're Mancunians ourselves," said Isaac.
The pair's younger brother Alharth, 19, is still in custody.


A new plan of action to tackle major weaknesses in child care services in Dumfries and Galloway has been endorsed by councillors.

The strategy has been developed following a critical report from the Care Inspectorate.
It concluded that youngsters were not being adequately protected.
Former chief constable, Pat Shearer, who is interim chairman of the child protection committee, said no time was being wasted in making improvements.
Inspectors warned earlier this year that they were "not confident" that vulnerable children and young people in Dumfries and Galloway were being kept safe.
Their report called for urgent action to ensure that they were protected and their needs met.
Mr Shearer said: "We have reviewed every plan for every child on the child protection register and we are going deeper than that.
"Modifications are taking place every day in that respect.
"We are clear about the key issues."
He said it was important that the initial process when a concern came in worked as well as possible.
Mr Shearer said the NHS, police and social services had to work together to ensure they had a "proper picture" of each situation.
He said that process was now working.
"That said, we have got to continually focus it and make sure it is working right," he said.
"Because if you don't start off properly then you are always challenged in the future."


A commemorative £20 coin featuring the Welsh dragon has been revealed by the Royal Mint in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The Royal Mint, based in Llantrisant, said the silver coin was designed to be a collectable.
It has been created to celebrate "the Welsh spirit", it added.
The coin has been designed by sculptor Norman Sillman, who received his first commission from the Royal Mint back in 1958.
Director of commemorative coin, Anne Jessopp, said: "This Welsh Dragon £20 coin portrays the Welsh spirit and the excellence and craftsmanship of our workforce - something of which we are all so proud."
The organisation opened its new "Royal Mint Experience" to visitors in May.


The first average speed cameras used in Scotland are being updated - 11 years after they were introduced and hailed for cutting road deaths.

A new generation of digital cameras will be operational by the end of June along a 32-mile stretch of the A77, between Monkton and south of Girvan.
The number of cameras will stay the same but some will be repositioned.
Transport Scotland said the cameras had cut deaths and serious injuries by 75% since they were introduced in 2005.
Transport Scotland's head of network operations, Stewart Leggett, said: "Safety is an absolute priority and the investment in camera upgrades are central to ensuring that we continue to positively influence driver behaviour on the A77.
"The latest available figures for the A77 show that in the last three years there have been 77% fewer deaths and 74% fewer serious injuries compared to the 2005 baseline.
"We expect the new and improved cameras will continue to support this reduction in casualties."


If there's one thing Sienna Miller has in common with the character she plays in exploration epic Lost City of Z, it's that she's not afraid to air her views, loud and clear.

So much so that she altered a script when she thought Nina Fawcett was appearing as too much of a stereotypical "wife" - with the director framing the scrawled-on piece of paper.
The film - based on a true story - is about explorer Percy Fawcett, played by Charlie Hunnam, and his quest to find a mysterious lost city in the heart of the Amazon.
His first mission in 1906, accompanied by surveying partner Henry Costin (played by Robert Pattinson), sees them return with apparent evidence that this previously undiscovered community exists.
Percy is drawn to return again and again, while his wife supports him and raises their family.
But one of Nina's first lines sees her complain about how restrictive a corset is - and her inability to be contained and constrained by society is a running theme.
"In the script, I was adamant that she wasn't just a wife - because she's a suffragette and she's a mother, and she was incredibly brave, self-sacrificing and stoic," says Miller.
"She was a huge part of the engine that ran this entire discovery; she found the piece of paper that proved there was a Z. She was just tireless in her support and her love.
"I can't imagine what it would have been like to be a woman then, and I wanted to represent the frustrations of how that would have felt, and not ask for pity, which I think is an easy trap to fall into when you're playing someone who's raising children and is left behind.
"She was very defiant and I loved that about her."
The star of High Rise says Nina "wasn't your typical early 20th Century housewife", and that she and Percy - who were both Buddhists - were "forward-thinking, progressive people".
She says: "What film can do is give you a sense of what something would have felt like and the empathy that comes from that, and acknowledging how far we've come and how much further we have to go.
"I hope it's thought-provoking, and I hope it's emotive. That's all you can hope for when you make a piece of work."
Miller says she doesn't think the film would have portrayed Nina as anything other than "just a wife" if it had been made even just 10 years ago.
"On paper, initially I did read it as sort of a wife part," she says. "Both James [Gray, the director] and I were aware of that and worked really, really hard to ensure that wasn't the case.
"We were doing a script read-through and I was sitting next to James and there was a page that still felt very 'wifey'. I wrote in the middle of the read-through, in black letters, 'This. Needs. Work.' - like that, while people were reading, and underlined it.
"He's framed that piece of paper now.
"I was just pioneering for her and he was as well. He's a feminist man. Ten years ago, or in the hands of the wrong director, she would have been a complete afterthought.
"But he's a good man with daughters and a great wife and he understands that women should be appreciated and heard."
Gray says of Miller's role: "Sienna's an actress who brings great resources emotionally to the role of Nina. It was always refreshing to be on set and watch her do things you knew she was capable of but hadn't yet shown to the world."
And Hunnam says Nina was "fearless and sassy", adding: "Percy was obviously a real badass of the time, but so was Nina."
Nina ages from 20 to 60 in the film - and Miller says she is grateful to the prosthetics department.
"For me, it was just heaven, because you've an arc and you've something to map," she says. "What's this experience done to her? Is she brittled? There are so many knocks in her life, and I just wanted her to hold on to that hope.
"You can represent a life, basically, so it was really interesting. Left alone in the prop cupboard, I would have one eye and a hunchback, so I'm all up for prosthetics. And, it was interesting to play this older lady. I loved it."
One of Miller's next roles is Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at London's Young Vic, opposite Jack O'Connell.
She's previously taken on West End roles in As You Like It at Wyndham's and Flare Path, but said of the production of the Tennessee Williams play: "It's amazing, but hugely demanding - with a lot of dialogue."
But, she adds with a smile: "I'm so excited about it - slash absolutely terrified."
Lost City of Z is out in UK cinemas on 24 April.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


The world's largest tourism group, Tui, has given an optimistic outlook for its business, despite the terror attacks seen this year.

The owner of the Thomson and First Choice brands said it expected underlying profit growth of at least 10% in the current financial year.
Tui reported a 32% rise in net profit to €577.5m ($634.2m; £418.2m) for the year to the end of September.
In June, 33 of the 38 tourists killed in Tunisia were on Tui holidays.
More recently, flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh were suspended by many countries following an attack on a Russian tourist flight.
However, Tui said its upbeat outlook "demonstrates the resilience of our business model, against the backdrop of the tragic events in Tunisia in June 2015 and geopolitical turbulence in some of our other destinations".
It added that it had seen a good start to trading for its summer 2016 programme, with bookings from Britain up 11%.
Tui's latest update on how much the Tunisia attack had cost it was €52m.
Of that, about €26m came from the impact of events there during the year, with another €17m provision against advanced payments the group had made for accommodation in the area that would now not be used.


With Halloween approaching, the pursuit of pumpkin carving is receiving a topical twist in the US.

Orange likenesses of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are being lovingly produced and shared with glee on social media.
The small but growing craft community has invented the term "Trumpkin" to describe their vegetable homages to the Republican nominee. No such snappy term has yet been coined for pumpkins depicting his rival.
Kelsey Kruzel, from Chicago, made a carving of Mrs Clinton, and her friend produced a Trumpkin to go alongside it.
"When my friends and I carve pumpkins, we try and make them fun and relevant," she told the BBC. "With all the madness surrounding the election, we wanted to add a little humour to the mix. And Trumpkin just has a certain ring to it."
Brenda Stemwell, a Trump supporter, tweeted a Trumpkin painted by her brother Charles Adams. "Every year is different TRUMP 2016," she wrote.
Mazel Tuff shared her Trumpkin on Instagram. When asked why she decided to make one she replied it was the "scariest thing I could think of."
Hugh McMahon has been carving pumpkins for 40 years. He always carves a pumpkin of each presidential candidate come election time:
"I did McCain and Obama eight years ago and the images of those were shown all over the world." Mr McMahon told the BBC.
"I did Trump many years ago for Madison Square Gardens and Hillary when she was First Lady. In fact my pumpkin carving of Bill Clinton was brought to the White House."
Mr McMahon says he has carved "five or six" of Mr Trump since he first stood for nomination, and when asked which candidate he preferred to carve, he admitted: "I think Trump as he is already orange, making him the better subject to carve".
By Patrick Evans, BBC social news and user-generated content hub


The John Radcliffe Hospital has cancelled all non-urgent operations because of "significant pressures" on its emergency department.

The cancellations affect admissions for Friday and Monday.
Oxford University Hospital's chief nurse Catherine Stoddart said it was so "patients with the most urgent needs can be treated more quickly".
Patients have been notified of the decision and urgent admissions will go ahead as planned.
Ms Stoddart said: "We have taken this decision to improve the flow of patients through the hospital so we can ensure that we can continue to see patients in our Emergency Department in a timely way."
She said because of increased demand "we would like to remind people across Oxfordshire to stop and consider all the options available to them before deciding to go to an Emergency Department".
She added: "Oxford University Hospitals' performance is in line with most other trusts in the current climate.
"We are continuing to work hard with colleagues in social care and our own supported discharge services to discharge patients who no longer need our care in order that patients who do need to be admitted can be seen within the appropriate timescales."
The hospital is currently at Escalation Level 3, which means there are "major pressures compromising patient flow" and "further urgent actions are now required".
Data leaked to the BBC earlier this week suggested 66 out of 152 hospital trusts raised the alarm as mounting bed shortages led to large numbers of patients experiencing trolley waits and delays in A&E in the first week of the year.
Over four in 10 hospitals in England declared a major alert as they encountered unprecedented pressures.


Cambridge University will remain affiliated to the National Union of Students after a referendum of students rejected a motion to leave.

Cambridge is one of several universities to hold disaffiliation votes after Malia Bouattia, who has been accused of anti-semitism, was elected as NUS president.
Just over half of the 6,178 students who voted rejected the motion.
A vote at Oxford University is scheduled for next week.
NUS vice-president Richard Brooks said he was delighted at the result "which comes at a crucial time for students".
Mr Brooks said the union was planning changes to its democratic model.
"It means that Cambridge students will continue to be part of our national voice."
Cambridge University Student Union President Priscilla Mensah, who campaigned against disaffiliation, said she was "pleased that Cambridge students will continue to have a voice in shaping and changing NUS for the better".
The Yes to Disaffiliation Campaign described themselves as disappointed.
In votes earlier this month, student unions at Newcastle, Lincoln and Hull voted to disaffiliate, while Exeter, Warwick and Surrey opted to remain.
Disaffiliation votes at Loughborough and Worcester universities were ruled inquorate as too few students took part.
Ms Mensah said the high levels of engagement in the referendum meant the vote was "definitive".
She said it would provide the student union team with a "strong mandate to take forward the clear and legitimate concerns that Cambridge students have raised during this referendum".
"I have been explicit as a campaigner that NUS is far from perfect," she added.
She said they would collaborate with "students' unions across the country to ensure NUS becomes the inclusive and effective organisation students deserve".
Adam Crafton and Jack May, who co-founded the Yes to Disaffiliation campaign, said they were proud of having "awoken the Cambridge student community to the challenges facing Jewish students on British campuses in 2016".
They congratulated the Remain campaign but said their concerns persisted.
"It is vital that the NUS do not see this vote as a legitimisation of the direction their organisation is taking but instead see it as a mandate from a very prestigious university to be allowed one last chance to secure the reforms that Jewish students deserve."
Elected last month, Ms Bouattia, 28, is the first black Muslim to hold the post of NUS president.
She arrived in the UK aged seven and in her election speech, she said her family had been forced to flee their home in Algeria after "terrorists rained gunfire" on her school.
She attended the University of Birmingham from 2006 to 2014 and has held the post of NUS Black Students Officer since 2014.
Ms Bouattia's campaigns have included Why Is My Curriculum White? and she has opposed the government's Prevent counter-extremism strategy.
In 2011, she co-wrote a blog for a Friends of Palestine campaign group saying that "the University of Birmingham is something of a Zionist outpost in British Higher Education".
In 2014 she made comments about what she said were "mainstream Zionist-led media outlets".
She has since said she is "extremely uncomfortable with insinuations of anti-semitism", adding: "For me to take issue with Zionist politics is not me taking issue with being Jewish".
She has also been accused of not supporting a motion condemning so-called Islamic State.
But the NUS says this was because she disputed the wording of the motion and not the principle.
Other student unions planning disaffiliation votes include York and Bath Spa Universities.


Swansea cinema-goers could be forgiven if a new release seems a tad familiar.

The city's Guildhall is the backdrop to new film trailer Their Finest, starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Clafin, Bill Nighy and Jeremy Irons, due for release in April.
Set in the early 1940s, it tells the story of filmmakers trying to make a patriotic film about Dunkirk, to boost British morale during the Blitz.
It is not the first time the building has featured on the big screen.
In 2014, Elijah Wood graced the Guildhall in Set Fire to the Stars - a story of Dylan Thomas' New York years.
It also featured in many scenes in The Collection, a TV series on Amazon Prime, set in a post-war Paris fashion house.
Based on a 2009 novel by Lissa Evans, the cast and crew in Their Finest spent several weeks filming at the Guildhall last autumn.
Councillor Robert Francis-Davies, cabinet member for enterprise, development and regeneration, said TV and movie filming was "very positive news for the city".
"It raises Swansea's profile, helps attract tourism and offers direct economic benefit," he added.
Other sites around the city to appear in the film include Glamorgan Street and areas of Brynmill, close to Rhyddings Park Road.


Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a 12-year-old football fan who died after he was struck by fencing during a game.

Spectator Olly Croker was watching his brother play in a match in Devon on 12 September when two players collided with a safety fence, said witnesses.
A post embedded itself in Olly's head in what was called a "freak accident" by host club Bradninch.
Shops, businesses and schools closed early for the funeral in Bampton.
More than 500 people joined a cortege to St Michael and All Angels Church in Bampton.
Vicar, the Reverend Kevin Chandra, said: "So many groups of people have come together to give their best to the family, to support them and give them courage on a really terrible day."
The funeral cortege was led by an Aston Martin sports car, with Olly's twin brother Billy in the passenger seat.
The circumstances of Olly's death are being investigated by police and local authorities.
The Tiverton High School pupil was watching a game between Bradninch and Bampton when he was struck. He was taken to hospital but died two days later.
Writing on Facebook after his death, his mother Pippa described him as a "gorgeous boy", and said he had "given life to 5 other children" through organ donation.
Head teacher Andrew Lovett described the schoolboy as a "larger-than-life character" and expressed his "great sadness" at Olly's death.


Monday's League Two game between AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

A pitch inspection at 09:15 BST found the surface to be in an unplayable condition following heavy overnight rain.
No new date has been set for the rearranged fixture.


Police officers should be allowed to have tattoos on their hands, neck and even faces, the Police Federation of England and Wales says.

It believes a ban on visible tattoos imposed by many forces may hamper the recruitment of promising candidates.
The Met Police has banned officers from having tattoos visible on their hands or face since 2012.
But Ch Insp Vicki Martin, of the federation, says there should be a "sensible conversation" about tattoos.
She told BBC 5 live: "There's a lot of women are now having very small tattoos on their neck, and if you've got a woman that's got a small heart tattooed behind her ear, it's something that you probably wouldn't even notice.
"So why are we just saying that we're not even going to look at your application, because that might be a very talented individual that we would want in the service."
The Home Office's guidance on tattoos says candidates with visible tattoos or facial piercings "may be eligible for appointment" and that each case must be considered on its merits.
Ch Insp Martin added that the Home Office's guidance "appears on face value to be quite sensible".
"The issue we've got is a number of forces are interpreting it differently and some are becoming very strict and I think it's actually becoming a bar to some really good people joining the service."
She also pointed out that modern-day role models often have tattoos, including Samantha Cameron, wife of former Prime Minister David Cameron, who has a small tattoo which was visible when she attended official functions.
"People sometimes have tattoos and don't think about the consequences of them in the future. That's why it's time we actually ask the public what they think and make sure that we haven't got policies in place based on what we think the public think, rather than what they actually do think."
The federation is conducting research on the attitudes of the police service and the public towards officers with tattoos. Its results are expected by the end of September.
Aside from its ban on new recruits having tattoos on the hands and face, the Met Police also insists all other tattoos must be covered.
The federation says it wants "national standardisation, rather than local interpretation".
It added: "We are calling for a modern, consistent national approach to tattoos to be adopted across the police service. [The federation] believes that if the police service truly wants to embrace diversity and widen the talent pool it recruits from, then forces need to be more open-minded, so communities have a police service that reflects today's society."
But Byron Davies, Conservative MP for Gower who served in the Metropolitan Police for more than 30 years, said he was against allowing officers to have visible tattoos.
Some people might say tattoos devalue the uniform itself, he added.
"The whole point of having a uniform is it's a distinctive set of clothing. If you start adding to it with tattoos on arms, or particularly on the hand or neck, where people can see the ex-wife or the husband's details, then some people might find that offensive."
A Met Police spokesman said: "We expect our officers and staff to maintain a high standard of personal appearance and dress that reflects the role being performed.
"This supports the reputation of the Metropolitan Police Service as a professional and globally respected policing service with Londoners, visitors to London and tourists.
"Where officers or staff have tattoos that cannot be covered by everyday clothing (i.e. on the face, above a collar line and on the hands) it is a requirement that they register such tattoos as a formal written declaration to their line manager."
Failure to register an existing visible tattoo can mean disciplinary action, he added.


A French court in Nice has upheld the ban on burkinis imposed by the mayor of Cannes.

The court said the ruling was legal but many religious groups were outraged.
The Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) said it would appeal against the decision in France's highest administrative court.
Authorities in Cannes and nearby villages voted to ban full-body swimsuits or burkinis from the end of July.
The court said the ban was legal under a law which prohibits people neglecting common rules on "relations between public authorities and private individuals" on the basis of religion.
The judge noted the ban came "in the context of the state of emergency and recent Islamist attacks, notably in Nice a month ago".
But CCIF lawyer Sefen Guez Guez, said he would lodge an appeal with the Council of State, the highest administrative body in France.
"This decision opens the door to a ban on all religious symbols in the public space," he added.
France is on high alert following a series of incidents including July's truck attack in nearby Nice.
Anyone caught breaking the new rule could face a fine of €38 (£33). They will first be asked to change into another swimming costume or leave the beach.
Nobody has been apprehended for wearing a burkini in Cannes since the edict came into force at the end of July.
This is not the first time that women's clothing has been restricted in France. In 2011 it became the first country in Europe to ban the full-face Islamic veil, known as the burka, as well as the partial face covering, the niqab.
Earlier this week a private waterpark near Marseille cancelled a burkini-only day after being subjected to criticism.


Guernsey FC have signed Bristol City forward Jake Andrews and defender Kodi Lyons-Foster on month-long youth loans.

The duo are the first Robins players to agree to join Guernsey FC since the clubs agreed a partnership deal earlier this week.
They are in Guernsey's squad for the trip to Herne Bay in Isthmian League Division One South.
If the pair play they will become the first non-Guernsey players to feature for the Green Lions.
"We're delighted to help Guernsey by sending Jake and Kodi to them for a month," Bristol City director of youth recruitment Brian Tinnion told the Guernsey FC website.
"This forms part of our plans for a bigger partnership with Guernsey. Working with their manager Tony Vance, we're looking to only extend this over time.
"We're already looking at the possibility of a pre-season friendly in Guernsey, potentially with the first team, or a Select XI including our under-23s."


A 26-year-old man has pleaded guilty to one count of computer hacking as part of a group known as Lulzsec.

Ryan Ackroyd, from South Yorkshire, admitted to being part of the group, whose targets included the NHS and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
He will not face trial on another count of operating a "denial of service attack" (DDoS), which will lie on file.
He and three others on similar charges will be sentenced next month.
Mustafa Al-Bassam, 18, from Peckham, south London, and Jake Davis, 20, from Lerwick, Shetland, have also now pleaded guilty to hacking and launching cyber-attacks.
Ryan Cleary, 21, of Essex, pleaded guilty in June last year to six counts, including hacking into US air force agency computers at the Pentagon.
Ackroyd was due to stand trial charged with taking part in a string of cyber-attacks, but today pleaded guilty to one charge of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Lulzsec emerged as a splinter-group of the Anonymous hacking collective in May 2011.
The name stood for Lulz Security - in which "Lulz" is derived from the popular internet term "lol", meaning "laugh out loud".
The group's members employed techniques to flood websites with high traffic - known as DDoS attacks - in order to render them unusable.
Lulzsec claimed to have attacked News International, owner of the Sun newspaper website, on which a false story was planted suggesting that the newspaper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, had died.
In the US, the group was credited with attacking the website of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Lulzsec had previously posted a story on American broadcaster PBS's website, suggesting that deceased rapper Tupac Shakur was in fact alive.


Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett says he "understands" the latest flurry of speculation linking him with a job elsewhere in the Championship, this time at one of his former clubs Derby.

"We've been linked with seven or eight jobs this season," Rowett told BBC WM.
"This is all testament to how well the team has been playing and the feelgood factor round the club right now."
Paul Clement was sacked by the Rams on Monday, with Darren Wassall placed in charge for the rest of the season.
"I understand the link," said Rowett, 41, who made 120 appearances during three years with the Rams. "I live in Derby and my lad goes to the games. It's always a difficult one to hear, but you can write down the list of every team I've played for in my career.
"What if the Charlton job becomes available, or Cambridge United or Everton? Am I going to get linked with them too?"
"I read an article the other day which had the headline 'We don't want another month of speculation'," said Rowett. "But, if you're going to write headlines like that, all that's going to happen is another month of speculation.
"Like I've said many times before we're incredibly focused on what we're doing here. And, after losing our last game, all we're focused on is to try and win the next one and continue this play-off charge."
After losing to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day, Blues' play-off push had been progressing nicely with a six-match unbeaten league run.
But then two late Gary Hooper goals in as many minutes last Saturday saw them slump to a 2-1 defeat in the return game with the Owls, dropping Blues back to eighth in the table.
They travel to the New York Stadium on Saturday to meet a struggling Rotherham United side now under new management following the appointment of the vastly-experienced Neil Warnock.
Gary Rowett was talking to BBC WM's Adam Bridge.


A convicted rapist who scarred a prison officer for life by slashing him with a razor blade has been jailed for a further 12 years.

David McMillan's assault at HMP Glenochil left officer Neil Cumming requiring 53 stitches to a face wound.
McMillan, 39, was found guilty of serious assault in his absence after being removed from the courtroom due to his disruptive behaviour.
He had originally defended himself in court.
McMillan was captured on CCTV carrying out the attack at the prison in Clackmannanshire on 29 October, 2014.
The left side of Mr Cumming's forehead was left paralysed following the assault.
Mr Cumming told the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh: "I see it in the mirror every morning and people looking at me can see it.
"I think they maybe wonder how did he get that, what kind of bother has he been in?"
The trial heard that Mr Cumming was off work for five months following the attack.
McMillan is currently held in jail under an order for lifelong restriction imposed on him in 2008.
Trial judge Lord Uist said: "This was a premeditated assault as the accused must have extracted the razor blade from its holder within a safety razor.
"He calmly walked up to the prison officer, lunged at him three times and slashed him on the left side of his face.
"This was a calculated, unprovoked and motiveless attack on a prison officer in the course of his duty."


Brazil mining company Samarco has agreed to pay at least 1bn reais (Â£170m; $260m) in compensation for the collapse of two dams it used to hold waste water from iron ore.

The breaches caused rivers of mud to descend on nearby villages in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais.
Eleven people were killed and 12 are missing, presumed dead.
Samarco is owned by mining giants Vale, from Brazil, and Anglo-Australian company BHP Billiton.
Vale and BHP Billiton "made all possible effort to prioritise the needs of the people who were in the accident area" on 5 November when the dams burst, it said in a statement.
Samarco says the "preliminary commitment" it signed will guarantee payment for "preventive emergency, mitigation, repair or compensation measures".
The authorities acknowledge that the amount agreed will not be enough to cover the damage to the environment and to the local population.
"This is only a first instalment," state prosecutor Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Pinto told O Estado de Minas newspaper.
Last week, Brazilian environmental agency Ibama fined Samarco 250m reais (Â£43.6m; $66.3m).
Ibama described the dam bursts as "the worst mining accident in Brazil's history".
The village of Bento Rodrigues was totally destroyed. More than 500 people lost their homes there.
Samarco could face even higher fines from environmental regulators for water pollution and damage to local areas.
The mud is being tested for potential toxins from the mine.
The cause of the dam breaches has not yet been determined, but one of the structures was being extended as part of an expansion project at the time.


After two years of near silence, it was big news this week when the first of the missing Chibok schoolgirls was rescued by army-backed vigilantes.

In the past, the Nigerian military has claimed to have found some of the girls, before backtracking.
After their kidnapping by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in 2014, the then-Chief of Defense Staff, Alex Badeh, famously insisted the army knew where the girls were and would bring them back soon.
That of course did not happen. Western allies also reportedly complained that Nigeria did not act on intelligence they had provided.
All this criticism might explain why the army would want to show how their operations had resulted in the freedom of one of the group.
Official statements said the freed Chibok Girl had been rescued in a military operation.
But a source told the BBC she said she was found by a vigilante group in a village where she had sought refuge from Boko Haram.
It was from there she was taken into army custody, and the Nigerian government sprung into action.
After being reunited with her family, the girl was handed over to the Borno State government and then flown to the capital, Abuja, to meet President Muhammadu Buhari and appear before the world's media.
By this time, photos were circulating of her with her four-month-old baby and a man who claimed to be her husband.
Some critics were outraged that she could have found love with a man who could have been one of her captors.
She says the man was a captive who was forced to fight for Boko Haram and was made her husband before he absconded and escaped with her.
Others also questioned why the spotlight needed to be shone on her so soon after her ordeal.
Chibok rescue revives Twitter campaign
Inside Mbalala, the town that lost its girls
Chibok abductions: What we know
On patrol in the Sambisa forest
Torment of a freed Boko Haram 'bride'
The conversations were soon interrupted by a further announcement from the army - that it had found another Chibok girl.
Coming so soon after the news of the first one, there was seemingly little room to doubt the story.
The army named her and released a photo as proof. But questions soon arose.
The army said she was in her first year of secondary school at the time of her abduction, but it was well known that the girls who had inspired the Bring Back Our Girls campaign had all been final year students.
Representatives of the missing girls' parents said they did not recognise her and that she was not on their missing list.
They said she was indeed a student at the same school, but Boko Haram seized her at a different time and location.
This raised more questions still because. while 97 women and children were also rescued, it was she who immediately shot into the limelight.
She will most likely now fade into obscurity. The others who were saved remain faceless and will possibly end up in a camp for displaced people.
It appears that despite the progress the military has made in fighting Boko Haram, they realised the world was more interested in the Chibok Girls.
The media has made little of army reports that troops had rescued almost 12,000 abductees from Boko Haram between February and April, including a group of 10,000 refugees stranded near the border with Cameroon.
Those people had no-one to campaign for them.


The 33 atolls that make up Kiribati - the former Gilbert Islands - occupy a vast area in the equatorial Pacific - nearly 4,000 km from east to west and more than 2,000 km from north to south.

Kiribati - pronounced Kiribas - won independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Home to the South Pacific's largest marine reserve, many of the atolls are inhabited; most of them are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels as a result of global warming.
With the Fijian government's permission, Kiribati has bought land in Fiji for food security and as a possible refuge.
Kiribati's economy is weak and is largely dependent on exports of copra and coconuts. Fishing licences, foreign aid and remittances from workers abroad also contribute, as does a trust fund set up with revenues from phosphate mines on the island of Banaba, whose depletion in 1980 hit Kiribati hard.
See more country profiles - Profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
Population 103,000 (UN, 2011)
Area 810 sq km (313 sq miles)
Major language English, Gilbertese
Major religion Christianity
Life expectancy 59 years (men), 63 years (women) (UN)
Currency Australian dollar
President: Taneti Mamau
Taneti Mamau was elected as president in March 2016.
He succeeded Anote Tong who served three successive terms, the maximum allowed by the constitution.
Freedom of speech and of the media is generally respected. The government-run radio station and newspaper offer diverse views.
Protestant and Catholic churches publish newsletters and periodicals; these are important sources of information. There is no domestic TV service.
11th-14th centuries - Samoans migrate to the islands, Fijians and Tongans follow.
1820 - Named the Gilbert Islands, after British naval captain Thomas Gilbert, who visited on several of them when sailing from Australia to China in 1788.
1892 - Britain declares a protectorate over the Gilbert Islands and the neighbouring Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu), turning them both into The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1916.
1943 - Japanese invade during World War Two. The Tarawa Atoll sees some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific.
1945 - Environmental damage caused by phosphate mining forces many residents of Banaba island to leave and settle on Rabi Island in Fiji.
1975 - The colony is divided into two separate territories, the Gilbert Islands and the Ellice Islands.
1979 - The Gilbert Islands become an independent republic within the Commonwealth under the name of Kiribati.


A 237,000-signature petition calling for the last surviving British Dambuster to be knighted has been handed in to 10 Downing Street.

George "Johnny" Johnson was 22 when he took part in the 1943 air raid using experimental bouncing bombs in Germany.
Carol Vorderman and Gulf War veteran John Nichol walked to No 10 from the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park.
The TV personality said she believed the support showed showed the "depth of respect for Johnny".
"Johnny said he would accept the honour on behalf of 55,573 men who died as part of Bomber Command," Vorderman said.
"That's why it's important we're standing here in front of this magnificent statue which represents the seven crew of a Lancashire Bomber.
"Johnny says he is overwhelmed by the support but happy about it because it has brought to the attention of the public the service and the lives that were given by the men he fought with.
The Cabinet Office said it could not comment on nominations.
An ambassador for the RAF Air Cadets for the past two years, Vorderman launched the petition at the beginning of January.
It follows a petition by campaigner Paul Walmsley who also wanted the recognition for the former airman, who retired as a squadron leader.
Mr Johnson, from Bristol, is the last surviving member of the Bomber Command crews who used Barnes Wallis's revolutionary bouncing bombs.


A crowd of migrants has broken down a barbed-wire fence on the Macedonia-Greece border using a steel pole as a battering ram.

TV footage showed migrants pushing against the fence at Idomeni, ripping away barbed wire, as Macedonian police let off tear gas to force them away.
A section of fence was smashed open with a metal signpost. It is not clear whether any migrants got through.
Many of those trying to reach northern Europe are Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
About 7,000 people are stuck on the Greek side of the border, as Macedonia is letting very few in. Many have been camping in squalid conditions for a week or more, with little food or medical help.
The chaos on Monday erupted as hundreds of people pushed their way past Greek police to reach the gate used to let trains through at the border crossing.
The protesters shouted "Open the border!" and threw stones at Macedonian riot police, while one group rammed the gate with the metal sign. Police responded by firing rounds of tear gas to force them back, before reinforcing the barrier.
Macedonia and some other Balkan countries have erected fences in an attempt to reduce the influx of migrants, after more than a million reached Germany last year.
Greece is angry with Austria for having imposed a cap on migrant numbers. The crisis has left Greece shouldering much of the burden of housing migrants arriving in the EU from Turkey.
Many are refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, while others are escaping human rights abuses in Afghanistan, Eritrea and other conflict zones.
In other developments on Monday:
On Sunday German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Europe to help Greece in the current migrant crisis.
In a TV interview she said: "Do you seriously believe that all the euro states that last year fought all the way to keep Greece in the eurozone, and we were the strictest, can one year later allow Greece to, in a way, plunge into chaos?"
She defended her decision last year to allow migrants in without a cap on numbers, saying she had no "Plan B".
She has insisted that Germany can cope with the influx - and has a humanitarian duty to look after war refugees.
But her stance has been strongly criticised by some EU neighbours and some politicians in her ruling conservative CDU-CSU bloc.
Greece, under intense pressure from anxious EU partners, has erected extra reception centres on the Greek islands near Turkey, where thousands of migrants have been arriving daily.
Austria and Hungary have adopted a tougher stance than Germany. Hungary has fenced off its southern border and refuses to take in any non-EU migrants.


Monday morning's suicide bombing of a military parade is the biggest single attack on Yemeni government forces since President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi took office in February.

It appears to be a well-planned retaliation by al-Qaeda for the losses it is suffering in the southern province of Abyan.
Witnesses in the capital Sanaa are still stunned as to how a lone bomber, dressed as a soldier, was able to kill nearly 100 troops with an explosive belt hidden under his uniform.
The soldiers, handpicked by their commanders, had just finished rehearsing for Tuesday's planned parade to celebrate the anniversary of Yemen's unification.
The head of national security, a nephew of the previous president, was immediately replaced by presidential decree after the attack.
Tom Finn, a British journalist living in Yemen, described what he saw at the scene.
"When I arrived, I immediately saw blood that was splattered on the tarmac, pieces of flesh and also hats and shoes of soldiers which had just been blown to pieces. This debris was scattered 40-50m away from where the explosion went off."
A British military explosives expert who asked not to be named said it would appear to be a classic al-Qaeda-type suicide attack by an improvised explosive device.
He said the group has often used a combination of plastic explosives and ball bearings to lethal effect when detonated in a crowded space.
But Yemen, although no stranger to violence, has been largely spared such carnage in its capital in recent months.
Instead, the fighting between government forces, backed by US military advisors, and Islamist militants has centred around the southern province of Abyan, just east of the port of Aden.
Since 12 May, more than 200 people have reportedly been killed. Largely unseen by the rest of the world, artillery shells are crashing into mountainsides, gunmen are firing out of their AK-47s in the sweltering heat of the open desert, while Yemeni air force warplanes carry out air strikes.
Further to the east, in the craggy valleys of the province of Hadramout, a missile fired from a CIA unmanned aerial drone recently killed three militants believed to be linked to al-Qaeda.
So why, three months after its long-serving and unpopular president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, stepped down in the wake of protests triggered by the Arab Spring, is Yemen still at war?
Yemen is complicated.
The country has profound problems that have nothing to do with al-Qaeda - dwindling oil, dwindling water, rising food prices, soaring unemployment, a Shia insurrection in the north, a separatist movement in the south. Corruption and tribal feuds are rife.
But Yemen is also home to what many consider to be al-Qaeda's most dangerous branch - al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) - which, together with its allied tribal militants, has managed to take significant ground from the government in Abyan province, profiting from the chaos engendered by last year's protests, including looting abandoned warehouses full of weapons.
While the rest of the world has only limited interest in AQAP's bid to take and hold ground inside Yemen, it does worry about the group's global ambitions, especially its expertise in bomb-making.
Starting in August 2009, AQAP has now sent several concealed body bombs outside Yemen borders, with only timely intelligence work by the Saudis and others averting mid-air detonations on planes bound for the US.
Al-Qaeda's master bomb-maker, in hiding in Yemen, has long been identified as a Saudi national, Ibrahim al-Asiri, a jihadist so fanatical he sent his own brother Abdullah on a suicide mission to Jeddah with a device intended to assassinate the Saudi head of counter-terrorism, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.
The device worked, blowing the bomber in half, but it only very lightly injured the prince.
Osama Bin Laden, the former leader of al-Qaeda who was killed in Pakistan a year ago, had mixed views about what the organisation should be doing in Yemen.
The electronic files seized from his compound in Abbottabad reveal he believed Yemen "should be peaceful and kept as a military reserve for the ummah", the global Muslim community.
But Bin Laden was also keen for it to be used as a springboard for further attacks on the US mainland.
In the files, he exhorts his associates to "concentrate on the Yemeni emigrants who come back to visit Yemen and have American visas or citizenship, and would be able to conduct operations inside America, as long as they have not given their promises not to harm America.
"We need to extend and develop our operations in America and not keep it limited to blowing up airplanes."
His words appear to have been only partly heeded, with a small but determined core of mainly Saudi operatives in AQAP working on ways to attack the US.
This is why the US is now exerting great efforts to support and encourage Yemeni government forces in their efforts to dislodge al-Qaeda from Abyan province and its capital, Zinjibar.
The controversial CIA drone strikes, which are deeply unpopular with Yemen's tribes, and which human rights groups charge are tantamount to extrajudicial killings, have already killed several AQAP operatives, as well as its charismatic and influential ideologue, Anwar al-Awlaki.
The US is now in something of a race to find and eliminate the master bomb-maker before he can train up any more like him.
Even in the remote wildernesses of Yemen's Shabwah, Marib and Abyan provinces, where al-Qaeda has established a scattered presence, a fugitive can only hide for so long before somebody, somewhere, phones in a tip-off.
Today's bombing will likely make Washington and Sanaa redouble their efforts to eliminate al-Qaeda from Yemen. It will not be easy.


Thousands of charities in the UK may have to rethink the way they raise money from the public, because of new EU regulations.

The rules will limit the way charities can contact people for donations and that could affect how much money they can raise.
The EU's new data protection regulations that come into force in May 2018 say charities, along with other organisations, must have the "express consent" of members of the public before contacting them.
This could mean that charities will have to ask everyone on their databases who has donated in the past whether they want to receive future requests for funds.
It could also mean an end to widely used methods like cold calling and mass mailings.
"There are charities who are worried about how restrictive the rules might be," says Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the Institute of Fundraising, a body which advises charities on how to raise revenue.
"We have charities saying: 'If this gets too restrictive we will lose contact with people. We won't be able to ask for money and our services will lose money.'"
The first charity in Britain to take action to comply with the new rules is the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, or RNLI.
Based in Poole in Dorset, it runs lifeboats and volunteer crews around Britain's coastline and has an annual income of about £190m.
This year it contacted 900,000 people on its database asking if they still want the RNLI to send them requests for donations. About 400,000 said yes, so from 1 January it will approach only these people to raise funds.
"Historically, the way charities have raised income is to go to the general public, to write to them to ask for income," says Tim Willett, the RNLI's head of fundraising.
"In the future, we will only be able to do that with people who have actively opted in to the RNLI's communications strategy. That reduces the number of people quite dramatically who we have the ability to speak to.
"We think that's opened up a gap in our income streams over the next five years of £36.5m."
For the RNLI, this means a loss of income of 5% a year. Smaller charities with a smaller number of past donors could be hit much harder.
But the rules could also mean the donor and not the charity must make the first approach.
"The rules are slightly grey in that area," says Daniel Fluskey. "The main thing is that whenever you are giving charities data, you have to be informed how it will be used.
"If you haven't been given a choice on how your information will be used - and given them your options - then you shouldn't be called."
The Information Commissioner is due to issue guidance in the new year on how the new rules should be interpreted.
The EU's regulations come in the wake of a series of media reports that some UK charity fundraisers had been buying up people's personal data, gleaned from the internet by specialist data-mining companies, and that they had focused particularly on elderly people who seemed to have large amounts of savings.
Some people have been pestered with requests from dozens or even hundreds of charities.
Parliament passed a new law in 2016 making charities more responsible for the methods used by their fundraising agents, and several are looking for new ways of raising money.
The RNLI has been trialling a contactless charity box, so that people who may not have any cash on them can tap their debit cards on it to make a donation.
Blue Cross, a charity for abandoned animals, has been raising contactless payments using a pet Labrador called Smudge, who has a contactless card reader in a coat on his body.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has developed virtual reality versions of its films showing its relief work in war-torn Syria.
"We began noticing in 2014 a drop-off in interest in Syria," says Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International's crisis and tactical campaigns manager.
"We wanted to find a new way of communicating the horrors on the ground. With the virtual reality experience you are getting an immersive feel of what it is like, and it has a more emotional impact.
"For people under 25 virtual reality is not strange, it's normal. They see it as the logical next step in communicating."
"I think charities know the direction things are going in," says the Institute of Fundraising's Daniel Fluskey.
"There has been a culture shift in fundraising. People are not just doing things because they've worked in the past, but making sure they are ethical and working to the values of their organisation."
The new EU regulations - combined with a shift to using new technologies - could mean that in the future we could be getting fewer cold calls and letters from charities dropping on the doormat.


Doctors from Scotland's medical profession have told MSPs that GP recruitment problems are starting to affect patients.

The British Medical Association's Dr Alan McDevitt told members of Holyrood's health committee that "crisis is now manifest".
And Dr Miles Mack from the Royal College of General Practitioners said "the truth" needed to be told.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said she recognised the "challenging situation".
Latest figures show the number of GPs working in Scotland has fallen.
The Primary Care Workforce Survey also revealed that one in five practices had at least one vacancy.
Dr McDevitt and Dr Mack were giving evidence alongside Gerry Lawrie, deputy director of workforce, NHS Grampian and Lesley McLay, chief executive of NHS Tayside.
The panel were challenged by committee members on the use of the word "crisis" to describe the current recruitment issues.
Dr Mack said being a general practitioner was "a fantastic job" and he regretted having to talk about his profession in "negative terms", but he added "we have to tell the truth".
MSPs heard that;
Dr McDevitt said: "We are getting clear evidence now of a major recruitment problem.
"In addition to that practices can't obtain locums when they go on holiday, for sickness and maternity - so we have very clear evidence now of a recruitment problem to general practice.
"In terms of determining what the problems are, we are now seeing them very real and they are actually beginning, I think, to affect patients and I think that is when it becomes a crisis when patient care begins to be affected by the numbers of general practitioners we have.
"The crisis, the shortage of of GPs, is now manifest and we are working very hard to change the fundamental nature of general practice to make it attractive for both doctors to stay in and to come into as a future career."
The minister, Ms Robison, also gave evidence to the committee.
She was asked by Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton whether the GP profession was facing a crisis.
Ms Robison said: "It is a challenging situation, without a doubt, and I have never shied away from saying so which is why I have spent a lot of my time, in fact since becoming cabinet secretary, I have probably spent more time looking at the issue of the future of primary care, and its importance for helping us to develop a sustainable NHS, then probably any other issue."
She told the committee that the more important issue was what to do about the challenges.
Ms Robison believed it was important to focus on the future.
She went on to outline her plan, which included;
In her evidence to Tuesday's health committee, NHS Grampian's Ms Lawrie said that the trainee GPs coming through now were not like the trainees "when I started in the NHS".
She explained that their expectations and career aspirations were very different.
Ms Lawrie identified an increase in the female workforce and evidence that male GPs were choosing to work part-time.
She added: "The image of a GP, I don't think, is particularly positive.
"When we think how it is portrayed in the media and on the television in particular, in soaps, it is a very negative image and and we don't create an attractive opportunity for people to choose to become a GP."
Dr Mack said the current state of general practice needed to be made clear.
He explained: "These doctors are training to be GPs and if they hear from my college that everything is rosy and there is enough money and the future is sound - yet they are seeing with their own eyes that doctors working 10 or 12 hour days who feel that their ability to work, their ability to provide safe patient care, is being compromised by the level of the workforce - it gives me no credibility.
"It give the college no credibility and it gives none of the solutions that we have come up with the credibility that we have."
Dr Mack believed it was "crucial" to look at the issues and take the right steps.


Boeing has shown off its "space bins" that can hold 50% more luggage than existing designs.

The company says the new overhead compartments will allow passengers to store more hand luggage on its side.
The bins will be fitted to some 737 aircraft from the end of this year, the company said.
The new design will mean a 2in (5cm) reduction in headspace for passengers, it said, but air vent and light controls will be easier to reach.
The loss of headroom may be of some concern to taller passengers, some of whom already struggle with the amount of legroom in economy seating.
The new bins can be retrofitted to any of the "Next-Generation" 737s, of which 5,000 are currently in service.
Boeing says the balance of the bins has been shifted so they close without the need for a catch or the "bin assist mechanism" currently in use.
Travel writer Simon Calder told the BBC: "For the long-suffering passenger, this is mostly good news. By charging for luggage, the low-cost airlines have incentivised us to take everything on board.
"And guess what? There isn't enough room, so we've had to check in stuff at the gate.
"So this should help with that problem."
Boeing said the bins should speed up boarding and that "passengers will benefit from decreased anxiety about finding space for their carry-on bag when boarding a flight".
Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Airlines are the first two operators to place orders for the bins for their 737 fleets.