Two men have been treated in hospital for stab wounds after an attack in Belfast on Saturday.

The men, aged 23 and 27, were on a bridge between Durham Street and Cullingtree Road in the Westlink area of the city when they were attacked by an armed man at about 07:00 GMT.
Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Police have asked for anyone with information about the attack to contact them on the emergency number 101.


Ilkeston chairman Nigel Harrop insists a pending takeover could yet save the Northern League club from liquidation.

Harrop plans to appeal against a High Court winding-up order, issued on Monday, to push ahead with a deal with All Eight Sports Management.
"If this is enforced and A8 pull out, creditors stand no chance of getting their money," he told BBC Radio Derby.
However, Ilkeston FC Supporters Group has indicated it will try to set up a new club.
An hour before the hearing at the High Court in Liverpool began, Harrop announced an "agreement in principle" had been reached with All Eight Sports Management.
However, his plea for more time to settle a £14,438 debt owed to an office equipment hire firm was rejected by the court.
"Should this [the takeover] go through, all the creditors will get sorted out," Harrop said after the ruling.
"I tried to make the judge see that but the barrister from the other side argued that if a judgement wasn't made, it wouldn't get sorted out.
"I think it's a case of the proposed new owners of the club making some representation to the other side's lawyers."
Harrop, who bought the Robins in March 2015, believes the current club can avoid a similar fate to predecessors Ilkeston Town, who were liquidated in 2010.
"The new owners have realised the creditors out there need to be satisfied and that actually is the cost of the club to them," he added.
"They clearly stated that as soon as they take over they will meet the existing creditors and come to an arrangement with them."
Duncan Payne, chairman of the Ilkeston FC Supporters Group, told BBC Radio Derby they would discuss taking over the lease of the New Manor Ground.
He said: "We believe passionately that, given what has happened twice in the past seven years, the football club is best left in the hands of people who really care about Ilkeston, the community and its football.
"Any town of this size, with the supporter base that we've got and the facilities the New Manor Ground has, is going to attract a lot of interest.
"The future is, in my opinion, going to be bright."


France has stepped up security in schools as the country continues to enforce its anti-terrorism system, Vigipirate.

Schools will follow a series of measures introduced by the country's ministry of education.
Two different versions - one for schools within the Ile-de-France region around Paris and another for those outside - have been implemented.
They include introducing special "smoking areas" within school grounds.
The ministry says it has placed "special attention" on areas immediately outside establishments, to avoid crowds "detrimental to school safety".
It added that special outdoor spaces will be arranged within secondary schools to prevent students leaving the premises - especially for smoking.
Other measures include bag checks and a ban on parking outside schools.
In Ile-de-France, school trips within the region will be banned until 29 November. Trips outside the region - including those abroad - must be reported to authorities, which may choose to forbid them.
Schools must also carry out two safety drills by the Christmas holidays - a fire drill and shelter evacuation.
Suzanne, a 17-year-old student from Paris, said: "I don't have to be left terrorised because I don't want to play the terrorists' game. But I am not relaxed. Not in school, not outside. The measures are useful but symbolic."


Hearts' Billy King has joined Rangers on loan until the end of the season.

King, 21, had a medical in Glasgow on Thursday and Hearts are keen for the player to get first-team games as he continues his recovery from injury.
The winger has made over 90 appearances, including 20 this season, for the Tynecastle side since 2013.
He helped Hearts win the Championship last season - the division Rangers currently lead - and the Edinburgh outfit sit third in the Premiership.
The Ibrox side host Falkirk on Saturday, when Scotland Under-21 cap King could make his Rangers debut.
Rangers have had bids rejected for St Johnstone forward Michael O'Halloran during the January transfer window.
And Hearts have so far been unsuccessful in their attempts to sign Dundee United central defender and midfielder John Souttar.
For all the latest transfers check out our transfer deals page.


Hamilton Academical boss Martin Canning believes Lennard Sowah's humility helps make him a "good fit" for club.

The 24-year-old German left-back previously tasted life in the English Premier League and the Bundesliga but has joined Accies until January.
"A lot of people who play at that level and come down the way have trouble adjusting and still see themselves as a big player," Canning told BBC Scotland.
"But Lennard's a good boy and his attitude is a different class."
Sowah, whose parents are from Ghana, made his full Portsmouth debut in 2010 and in doing so became the first player born after the launch of English Premier League in 1992 to start a match in it.
Since leaving Portsmouth the former Arsenal youth player has spent most of his time in Hamburg's first and second teams.
"He is a talented player and you don't play at the level he's played at if you don't have talent," said Canning.
"The most important thing for me with guys like Lennard that are coming from those types of clubs is that their attitude is right. That they don't see themselves as a big player, they see themselves as where they are now and work hard to get back to that level.
"He gets forward well and reads the game very well. He's very quick; a good athlete and strong with good use of the ball."
Hamilton, in ninth place, visit bottom side Partick Thistle - who are two points behind them - on Saturday, with both sides looking for their second league victory of the season.
Accies beat Ross County 1-0 on 27 August and Thistle got the better of Inverness on the opening day of the season.
"Every game is a hard game," added Canning. "There is so little between six, seven or maybe eight teams with such fine margins.
"We know that if we approach it properly and perform the way we can, we know we can get the three points and it's something we've got to start doing.
"I read a statistic the other day that we've lost 14 points from a winning position this season, which is a lot of points. Games like Kilmarnock here, Dundee away and Inverness here we were 1-0 up with good opportunities to score a second and have not taken it.
"There's not a whole lot wrong with what we're doing on the pitch, but maybe just being a little bit more ruthless to go and get the second goal that puts the game to bed."


The age at which women in Scotland are asked to attend their first screening test for the signs of cervical cancer is to increase from Monday.

Currently, women are requested to attend for a smear test every three years when they reach 20, but this will change to 25.
The tests currently stop at age 60 but will now continue to 64.
The Scottish government said the changes followed recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee.
The committee has said testing under-25s is not effective at preventing cervical cancer, but the over-60s remain at risk of developing the condition.
Women over 50 years old will be invited for screening every five years.
Chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood said the changes brought Scotland into line with the rest of the UK.
She said: "The previous age range was 20 to 60 years, however we now know that cervical screening in young women is more likely to pick up normal cell changes which may result in unnecessary treatment while not changing the number of cases of cancer.
"Meanwhile, older women remain at risk of cervical cancer beyond the age of 60 when screening previously stopped."
Ms Calderwood added that cervical screening saved about 5,000 lives in the UK every year. The UK government raised the screening age from 20 to 25 in 2004.
Robert Music, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, said: "Screening saves lives, yet the number of women attending this test in Scotland is falling year on year and in 2014/15 only 70.4% of eligible women took up their invitation.
"This downward trend is extremely concerning as cervical cancer is one of the only cancers that can be prevented.
"We urge all women aged 25-64 to join the cervical screening programme when invited. It is a five minute test that could quite simply save a life."


You know that moment on an aircraft where there are three choices of main meal, and you've chosen the chicken and tomato pasta bake.

But by the time the cabin services person gets to your seat, you are told the bake has gone and all you can have is the tasteless salmon and dill or the irradiated, overcooked beef.
Yes, you're disappointed. But you are also immediately in a new mindset. The choice is no longer about what do I want the most. It's what do I mind the least.
The Republican Party establishment finds itself in that position now on the eve of the Iowa caucus.
The palatable, easy-to-digest candidates - a Marco Rubio, a Jeb Bush, even a John Kasich or Chris Christie - are not on the menu.
There is only so long that you can look at the polls and say one of them will break through to challenge the two insurgents, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
As things stand, rather than the "moderates" getting together and trying to work out which of them has the best chance to face down Trump or Cruz, they seem to have formed themselves into a circular firing squad and are busy spraying each other with gunfire.
So it's hard to overstate the significance of what has been unfolding over the past few days. It is the grudging acceptance by significant parts of the Republican establishment that not only is Mr Trump the least worst option - he is virtually unstoppable in the race to be their candidate.
The conclusion they've reached is they can live with Mr Trump but they can't with Mr Cruz. Mr Trump will cut deals and compromise; Mr Cruz won't. Mr Trump is biddable; Mr Cruz is not.
Let me say that again. Unless there is a seismic shift in polling, Donald Trump stands to be nominated as the Republican candidate for the 2016 general election. Potentially the first ever president who has never held elected office or been in the military.
But let me go back to the assertion about the Republican establishment starting to cosy up to Trump. What's the evidence to support that?
As wise old owls, they don't come much wiser than Senator Bob Dole. The 92-year-old, decorated World War Two veteran and former presidential candidate has been there, seen it and done it all. And this week he said that Mr Cruz, a senator from Texas, would be "cataclysmic" as the candidate.
"If he's the nominee, we're going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures," said Mr Dole, who amassed 35 years' service in the House and Senate.
Meanwhile one of the senators who today epitomises the "establishment" is Orrin Hatch. He says he's "coming round" to Mr Trump. It turns out that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, has also had conversations with Mr Trump.
Also, highly unusually, the serving governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, weighed in. When asked directly whether he wanted to see Ted Cruz defeated, he didn't equivocate . "Yes," he said.
At one of the first Republican debates, Cruz tried to make light of how people saw him: "If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy," he quipped. At the time it seemed like self-effacing modesty, but - wow - do the Republican high command loathe him. The ABC strategy seems to be Anyone But Cruz.
And so, faced with no chicken, tomato and pasta bake, they are swinging decisively against the slippery fish, and going for the leathery, old spray-tanned beef, with a heavy heart.
Because these are the very grandees who commissioned the exhaustive research after the 2012 defeat about how the GOP needed to connect with the ethnic minorities, women and disadvantaged. All groups that - it could be argued - that Mr Trump has been alienating with his rhetoric.
But what he's tapped into is something bigger, which is the profound and visceral anger felt by so many towards that amorphous thing in Washington, "the establishment".
It was brilliantly put by Edward Luce when writing in the FT about Mr Trump's appearance in Iowa earlier this week with Sarah Palin, someone cut from similar cloth: "The more tongue-tied Mrs Palin seemed, the more intently her supporters backed her. The more the media mocked her, the more her fan base exulted. Mr Trump has elevated that approach into an art form. In an age when knowledge is a mark of elitism, ignorance is power. It is also great marketing."
So can he be stopped? Well, if after Iowa and New Hampshire - the first two states to vote - the circular firing squad of moderate/establishment candidates got together and agreed that there can only be one of them to take on Mr Trump, then maybe. The shortest word in that last sentence was "if", but it is a HUGE if.
The primary process is long and protracted and, as I said earlier, Iowa and New Hampshire are not the pulse of the nation. A lot can happen, a lot can change. Primary history is littered with political mayflies whose wings flutter brightly at the start but live for a very short time. The polls may also be wrong; and the people who profess their greatest support for Mr Trump might not be the people who bother to go and vote. But, but, but.
The polls currently have Trump around 20% ahead of the nearest establishment candidate, with support in the mid-30s - and nothing that has happened along the way these last six months has left a mark on him.
Furthermore, you would have to guess that if Mr Trump's nearest rival, Mr Cruz, pulls out of the race, most of his support will switch to the real-estate mogul.
All of which can only lead to one conclusion - Mr Trump is now going to be extremely difficult to stop.
This might help explain why Republican grandees are starting to make their first tentative moves towards Mr Trump.
And it helps explain why - as often happens on a flight - you end up saying - I'm going to get something to eat when I land.


As Italy struggles to cope with the Mediterranean migration crisis, its Alpine region of South Tyrol is facing an increasing stream of migrants who try to get to Germany or Scandinavia, through Austria.

As the Venice to Munich express pulled in at Bolzano station, the Italian police were there to meet it.
Bolzano is the last major stop in Italy before the Austrian border.
The police had been tipped off about a large group of migrants who were hoping to go to Germany. The migrants didn't have the correct documents to cross the border so, one by one, they were quietly escorted off the train.
Lindsay, a language student from Australia, was on board and told me what happened.
"Some officials came on, they were obviously checking for passports or papers. There were six or seven Africans who stood up and raced down the other end of the train."
Next to Lindsay was a family of Syrians, travelling with babies and small children.
"They were asked for papers. They produced some passports, which looked very brand new. The official leafed through the passports and there was not a single stamp in them. And then he asked the family to stand up and herded them off the train.
"I did feel sorry for the people and even more sorry for the children, who had no idea what was going on, but they knew something was wrong," Lindsay said.
Scenes like this are becoming commonplace in Bolzano.
A little while later, I approached the Syrians, as they stood on the platform.
One of them, Ahmad from Aleppo, told me they had crossed the Mediterranean in a small boat from Libya to Sicily.
But now, after the police check in Bolzano, his family had been separated. His brother and several other relatives had been allowed to stay on the train to Munich.
Ahmad and the rest of the family were now stranded - with little money and nowhere to go.
With tears in his eyes, Ahmad said: "We want to get to Germany."
Ahmad and his family were given food and some basic legal advice by a local charity, Voluntarius, which works at the station.
The charity has helped thousands of people here over the last few months, but more people are arriving every day.
Waltraud Kranebitter, who works as a volunteer, said she has heard some terrible stories about "how people are suffering in their own country". She said she understands why some people risk their lives to get to Europe.
She told me that the EU needs to work harder to make sure that people stay in their own countries, but "once they are here, they are here".
"You can't push them back," she added.
Under European Union law migrants or refugees should be processed in the country in which they first arrive.
The governor of South Tyrol, Arno Kompatcher, admits that "it may sometimes be true" that the Italian authorities turn a blind eye for migrants hoping to travel over the border to northern Europe.
The migrants keep trying "three or four times till they get to Austria," he said.
But he says the rest of the EU has to help share the burden.
"It is a question of solidarity. We should work altogether, all the European countries, to solve these problems. Italy cannot deal alone with all these people coming from Africa and the Middle East," he said.
Back at the station, Ahmad and his family decided to try again to reach Munich, to be reunited with their relatives.
They boarded the next train heading north, to Innsbruck in Austria.
I followed them. It was a nervous journey.
No one stopped them as they crossed into Austria. At Innsbruck station there was a long wait for the next train for Munich.
Once in Germany, they hoped to apply for asylum.
But before that, they had another border to cross.


League Two side Cambridge United have signed former Partick Thistle winger David Amoo on a one-year contract.

The 26-year-old made 71 appearances for the Scottish Premiership side over two seasons, but was released at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.
Former Liverpool youngster Amoo moved to Scotland after playing 70 league matches for Carlisle United.
"I'm looking forward to moving back to England and showing my stuff here," said Amoo.
"I know how competitive this level is with a lot of games to be played, so I want to chip in with as much as I can to help the team.
"They finished just outside the play-offs last season and it's clear there is a strong group of talented players, who I am keen to get to work with."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Former Partick Thistle defender Jordan McMillan has been banned from all sport for two years by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad).

The 26-year-old tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, after Thistle's Premiership match against Celtic on 3 December last year.
He was banned for two years in April by the National Anti-Doping Panel.
Following an appeal by McMillan, the NADP reconvened in Glasgow in July and upheld the original decision.
McMillan's suspension runs from 18 December 2014 to 17 December 2016.
The player does not deny the validity of the test but has always said he consumed the cocaine without knowing he had done so.
McMillan says that, while at the home of his partner's parents, he drank from the wrong glass, not realising the drink had been mixed with cocaine by a friend of his partner's family, who had tried to hide his drug consumption.
McMillan's agent, Tony Asghar, told Ukad: "He was oblivious to the fact that it contained any other substance [than alcohol] and thought nothing of it."
Ukad chief executive Nicole Sapstead stressed the importance to all athletes of "strict liability".
She said: "They are solely responsible for any banned substance that is found in their system, regardless of how it got there or whether there was an intention to cheat or not.
"The principle of strict liability can be challenging for athletes. They have to ensure that they understand the anti-doping rules and that their family, friends, coaches and athlete support personnel understand them too.
"They need to be aware of the risks their career faces if they test positive, and ensure they manage that risk at all times."
McMillan began his career at Rangers and had loan spells at Hamilton, Queen of the South and Wrexham before joining Dunfermline in January 2012.
He joined Partick Thistle the following March and was sacked by the Jags on 28 February this year following an investigation by the club.


In 2011, cyclist Mark Cavendish was crowned Sports Personality of the Year.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Cavendish had a terrific year on the bike, winning five stages of the Tour de France to take the green jersey, which is worn by the leader in the points competition.
He followed that by being crowned world road race champion after a dominant performance in Copenhagen.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 is broadcast live from Belfast on Sunday, 20 December from 19:00 GMT on BBC One. Further coverage on BBC Sport's online platforms and Radio 5 live.


Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said there was nothing emotional about Frank Lampard's goal against the Blues, and insisted the "love story" finished when the midfielder joined Manchester City.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The 36-year-old former England international, who left Chelsea in the summer, came off the bench to equalise in the 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"Frank Lampard is a Man City player," Mourinho told Sky Sports.
"When he decided to go to a direct competitor then love stories are over."
The Portuguese coach added: "I don't believe in stories of passion and heart, maybe I am too pragmatic in football. He did his job as a professional."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Lampard's goal came on his home debut for City, having joined the club on loan from Major League Soccer side New York City.
It cancelled out Andre Schurrle's opener for Chelsea, which had come minutes after the hosts had Pablo Zabaleta sent off for a second bookable offence after fouling Diego Costa.
The equaliser denied Chelsea the chance to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
"I feel that when a player leaves another club and plays for a direct opponent, he is not going there for a holiday, he is going there to try and beat his club - the one everyone considers the club of his heart, but not any more," Mourinho told BBC Sport.
"Maybe again [Chelsea will be in his heart] when he leaves City, but while at City he wants to beat Chelsea. That is the nature of football."
Lampard was applauded by both Manchester City and Chelsea fans when he came on with 12 minutes remaining.
"The reception I got when I came on was amazing, I can't speak highly enough of the fans," he said.
"I came here to do a job and it was a special and weird day. It was a difficult day for me at the end because what do you do? You're caught in the middle.
"What was a win for me today? Maybe a draw and keeping the Premier League close and a reception from both sets of fans that I won't forget."


The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been punched hard in the head as he campaigned in his home town in north-west Spain.

Mr Rajoy appeared bruised after the attack on Wednesday, and lost his glasses.
The incident would not put him off campaigning on the streets, he said.
"I am drawing no political conclusions from the incident yesterday and ask that nobody does," Mr Rajoy tweeted, adding that he was fine.
Spaniards are voting in a general election on Sunday. The attacker was a 17-year-old youth, Spanish media report.
While Mr Rajoy's injuries do not appear to be severe, all politicians have to balance their desire to get out and about and meet voters with the possible risk to their personal safety.
And as elections near, the job of a sitting prime minister's security detail becomes increasingly challenging.
The then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was attacked at a political rally in Milan in December 2009 by a man wielding a model of the city's cathedral.
The veteran politician's nose was broken and he had to spend time in hospital.
Berlusconi nose broken in attack
The New Zealand Prime Minister John Key - already recovering from a broken arm - was "quite shocked" after two protesters at a Maori memorial at Waitangi in February 2009 grabbed him.
The two men were later charged with assault.
Protesters attack New Zealand PM
The then UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott famously hit back after a protester threw an egg at him in 2001.
The site of the incident in the north Wales town of Rhyl is now marked with a plaque.
Prescott election fracas spot marked
The above incidents - while unpleasant for those involved - were not life-threatening, and some of them have even caused outbreaks of humour.
But let's not forget the real risks that people in public life face around the world.
Numerous sitting prime ministers and presidents have been assassinated in the last few decades, including Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, Swedish PM Olof Palme in 1986, and the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.
So what's the actual risk to a senior politician of a deadly attack?
Economists Benjamin F. Jones and Benjamin A. Olken examined 298 assassination attempts on world leaders from 1875 to 2004 for a paper published in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics in 2007.
They found that the probability of a given leader being assassinated in a given year is currently below 0.3%. That may sound quite high, but it is down from a peak in the 1910s, when it was close to 1%.


Anti-Trump delegates have failed in their final push to block Donald Trump's nomination at the party's convention in Cleveland.

A vote that would allow delegates to back a candidate of their choice was quashed when three states reportedly backed out.
Some said the RNC sabotaged their efforts on purpose.
The push was the last gasp for those who hope to see a different Republican candidate get the nomination.
The nomination of Mr Trump has been a source of conflict in the party.
It may have been a last gasp. It may have been a death rattle. But the #NeverTrump forces demonstrated on Monday afternoon that there was still some life left in them.
While it's clear that the eventual adoption of the pro-Trump rules was never really in doubt, a roll-call vote would have been an embarrassing show of dissent from the delegates - something Trump's team wanted to avoid at all costs.
Despite their best efforts, however, cracks in the Republican foundation were quite visible at the start of a week in which the party is desperate to put its best foot forward.
Read more: Republican unity frays as convention opens
The long-simmering tensions between Trump and anti-Trump factions in the party broke into open warfare earlier on Monday.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told ABC News "the Republican party has been awfully good to the Bushes and they're showing remarkably little gratitude".
The two former presidents, George HW Bush and George W Bush, have refused to endorse Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has criticised the younger Bush over the Iraq War and the 9/11 attacks, and constantly mocked Florida Governor Jeb Bush during his unsuccessful candidacy.
His top aide Paul Manafort launched a stinging attack on the governor of the state hosting the convention, the popular John Kasich, describing his decision to stay away as an "embarrassment".
Former nominee Mitt Romney has also refused to attend, voicing concerns over Mr Trump's tone and extreme stance on immigration.
Among the speakers due to appear on Monday evening are Mr Trump's wife Melania and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, on a theme of Make America Safe Again.
The convention begins amid high tensions, a day after a man killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, prompting Mr Trump to say the country was falling apart - a claim strongly disputed by President Barack Obama.
People are not allowed to take guns into Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, which is hosting the four-day event, or within a secure zone outside.
But some people were photographed openly wearing guns nearby.
Cleveland police have asked Ohio's governor to suspend open-carry gun rights during the convention but he said he did not have the power to.
Thousands of federal and state law enforcement officers have descended on the city over the past week in preparation for the convention, ramping up security protocols as delegates, attendees and demonstrators pour into Cleveland.
About 50,000 people are expected to travel to Cleveland during the four-day event, with protests and rallies expected to take place throughout the week.
1. What's the point? Each party formally nominates its candidates for president and vice president, and the party unveils its party platform, or manifesto.
2. Who is going? There are 2,472 delegates attending, selected at state and congressional district conventions, and representing each US state and territory. Plus 15,000 journalists and thousands of other party grandees, lawmakers and guests.
3. Who isn't going? Some senior figures who don't like Donald Trump have stayed away, including two ex-presidents named Bush, former nominee Mitt Romney and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
4. What's the schedule?


Paris St-Germain saw their 16-match winning run end in a 0-0 draw with struggling Lille but still remain unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season.

Laurent Blanc's side failed to win for only the second time in 22 games.
Paris were without top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and rested a number of other players ahead of their midweek Champions League tie with Chelsea.
They lacked a cutting edge as Lille became the second team to avoid a league defeat in Paris this season.


Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie has risked upsetting one of the club's main sponsors after saying he "hopes one day the dairy industry can be shut down".

Gillespie, who is a vegan, made the comments in an interview with the Yorkshire Post.
Wensleydale Creamery signed a two-year extension to its sponsorship of the Headingley side in April.
"I hope one day the dairy industry can be shut down. I think it's disgusting and wrong on so many levels," he said.
The former Australia pace bowler added: "It's out of my control, just like the fact that cricket balls are made of leather.
"I'll have it out with people, I don't care. There's nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in."
A spokesman for the sponsor said it would seek more clarity on Gillespie's comments.
"That's a very bold statement, and I need to understand a bit more about what he's actually trying to say there," he said.
"We are very proud sponsors. Our milk comes from over 40 local farms with very high standards of welfare."


UK service sector growth slowed to its weakest rate for more than two years in August, a survey has indicated.

The latest Markit/CIPS service sector purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 55.6 last month from 57.4 in July.
Although the figure remained above 50, indicating expansion, it was the weakest reading since May 2013.
Markit estimated the UK economy would grow by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2015, down from growth of 0.7% in the previous three months.
Earlier this week, a survey of the manufacturing sector also found growth slowing, although the construction sector recorded a slight pick-up in activity.
"Even after allowing for usual seasonal influences, August saw an unexpectedly sharp slowing in the pace of economic growth," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"The services PMI came in well below even the most pessimistic of economists' forecasts and follows disappointing news of a stagnation in the manufacturing sector earlier in the week."
The Markit survey said the slowdown in the sector was mainly due to the slowest increase in new business since April 2013.
Employment growth picked up from July, but it was still the second weakest reading since March 2014.
The survey found little evidence of price pressures in the sector, and Mr Williamson said this "suggests the inflation outlook is benign and is therefore likely to help tip the argument towards postponing any rate hikes until the wider global economic picture becomes clearer".
The data comes a week before the latest meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets UK interest rates.
UK CPI inflation was 0.1% in July and looks unlikely to rise in the foreseeable future, which has led some economists to push back their expectations for a rate rise to the middle of next year.
Surveys published earlier this week also indicated the weakest growth for more than two years at Chinese and US factories, as well as a softening in China's services sector.
Separately, the Bank of England said net lending to small businesses by banks and building societies taking part in its Funding for Lending scheme reached £490m in the three months to the end of June, compared with £400m a year earlier.
Launched in 2012, the scheme is designed to provide lenders with cheap access to finance to improve lending in the wider economy. They have drawn down £61.4bn of funding from the scheme since it launched.
The biggest net lenders to small businesses during the period were Lloyds Banking Group, which lent £527m, and Aldermore, which lent £127m.
The Bank said the improvement in net lending reflected a relaxation of credit conditions and growing confidence in the economy.


A London NHS hospital trust has teamed up with tech giant Google to share patient data so it can save more lives.

Doctors at the Royal Free say partnering with the artificial intelligence arm of Google - DeepMind - could free up over half a million hours per year, currently spent on paperwork, towards direct patient care.
Medical staff will get 'breaking news' style alerts about their patients.
Privacy campaigners are concerned about data breaches.
Information on more than 1.6 million patients a year will be shared with a subsidiary of Google.
Under a five-year agreement, DeepMind will collaborate with Barnet, Chase Farm and Royal Free Hospitals using a mobile app called Streams, which will initially alert clinicians to patients with signs of acute kidney injury at its earliest stages.
All data will be encrypted, and will not be shared with Google, despite its ownership of DeepMind.
The app will be rolled out from early next year, and if successful will also be used to detect other life-threatening illnesses like sepsis and organ failure.
Whereas doctors and nurses at the Royal Free currently have to leaf through patient notes to build a picture of a patient's blood results over time, they will now be able to access years of data at their fingertips.
When any results are unusual, an alert will sound.
David Sloman, chief executive of the Royal Free London, said: "Doctors and nurses currently spend far too much time on paperwork, and we believe this technology could substantially reduce this burden, enabling doctors and nurses to spend more time on what they do best - treating patients."
DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman said: "Our nurses and doctors are still wrestling with pagers and paper-based systems to save lives.
"We're working with the Royal Free to give clinicians the information they need at their fingertips, saving time and alerting them to patients in need in seconds not hours.
"Privacy and trust are paramount, and we're holding ourselves to an unprecedented level of oversight."
DeepMind has appointed nine independent governors to oversee their work, and say they aim to be transparent, and prove the benefit to patients' health.
Patients can opt out of any data-sharing system by emailing their NHS Trust's data protection officer.
While DeepMind is not set to make any money out of the Streams app collaboration with the Royal Free, Suleyman acknowledged the company would look to monetize the technology once it was proven.
He said: "In order to scale up, we'll need to build a sustainable business model around that kind of software, and that's what we'll be looking to do."
A spokesman from Med Confidential said: "Our concern is that Google gets data on every patient who has attended the hospital in the last 5 years and they're getting a big monthly report of data on every patient who was in the hospital."
Professor Jane Dacre, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "It is encouraging to see the NHS harnessing technology to make a difference at the bedside and the clear focus on delivering real differences to patients' lives and health.
"Whenever we develop new ways of using patient data, it is essential that safeguards are in place for appropriateness and confidentiality, but with these we should embrace the opportunity to improve healthcare quality and reduce the burdens of bureaucracy on clinicians so they can focus on their patients."


Twenty-three people have died in Northern Ireland from "one-punch attacks" since 2004, police have said.

On Tuesday, a 34-year-old former kick boxer from Londonderry was jailed for 16 months after an incident which left a man with serious head injuries.
Ch Insp Alan Hutton told the BBC that the number of deaths is alarming.
"That figure does not even include the people who have been injured as a result of an attack and survived," he said.
"As soon as you strike somebody, you don't know what the impact is going to be, either that physical strike could cause injury in itself or the very nature of a fall, against a piece of furniture or the kerb or the road."
The number of people who died from such attacks in 2011 was 18.
Ch Insp Hutton was raising awareness following the conviction of Andrew McLaughlin at Londonderry Magistrates' Court.
The father-of-two, from Shanreagh Park, admitted punching a man during a row at a birthday party earlier this year.
His victim hit his head on a table and suffered a fractured skull. He is still under the care of the brain injury unit at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.
"The vast majority of the cases we see are simply people reacting to something," Ch Insp Hutton said.
"I don't think many people go out with the intention of causing such injuries.
"Whether fuelled by alcohol, other substances, aggression or anger, whenever you strike someone there is a real potential for that happening."


Paralympic sailing champion Helena Lucas has been named as the first member of the Great Britain team for Rio 2016.

The Southampton sailor, who turns 40 on Wednesday, is the first confirmed athlete on either the Olympic or Paralympic team.
It will be a third Games for Lucas, who competes in the one-person 2.4mR keelboat event.
"It's amazing that I'm the first athlete to be selected," she said.
Lucas, who was born without thumbs and has limited movement in her arms, beat Megan Pascoe to the sole GB slot in the class.
In 2012, she won gold in London to become the first GB sailor to win a Paralympic medal since the sport became a full part of the Games programme in 2000.
"It's a massive relief to know I'm going to Rio and have the opportunity to defend my gold medal," she added.
"It's a huge privilege, but also it means we can really focus on preparing for Rio and the specifics of the venue.
"London was an amazing experience but no sailor has yet managed to defend their Paralympic title. It would be amazing to be the first sailor to be able to do that, so that's the drive and the goal for Rio."
Lucas has been in superb form this year and is the only GB athlete in her class to have secured podium places in the Royal Yachting Association's (RYA) four qualification events, including silver at the 2014 IFDS World Championships and bronze in the 2.4mR Open World Championships.
Her selection comes with sailing missing out on being part of the programme for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Sailing team leader and RYA Olympic manager Stephen Park said: "By selecting at this early stage it allows us to focus our attentions on optimising Helena's performance and the specific challenges of Rio itself, which is a very difficult venue in sailing terms, while at the same time harnessing Megan's undoubted talent to aid the British team's medal-winning prospects across the Paralympic classes."
GB has qualified a further five slots for athletes to compete in the Skud-18 and the Sonar class in Rio and competition for places in those classes will continue over the coming months.


A Chinese court has handed a suspended death sentence to the head of a chemical factory for his role in blasts that killed 173 people last year.

Ruihai Logistics chairman Yu Xuewei was also fined more than 700,000 yuan (about $100,000) over the disaster in the eastern port city of Tianjin.
He is among 49 staff and government officials jailed for their role in the firm's illegal operations.
Most of the dead were firefighters and police. Eight bodies were never found.
173
People dead or missing
304 buildings damaged
12,428 cars destroyed
$1.1bn in economic losses
The explosion was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Chinese history and caused more than $1bn in estimated economic losses.
The Ruihai Logistics chairman was found guilty of paying bribes allowing his company to sidestep safety regulations when storing sodium cyanide and other dangerous chemicals.
Deadly disaster marked one year on
Others sentenced were found guilty on charges ranging from abuse of power to storing dangerous substances illegally.
An investigation found that stocks of flammable nitrocellulose  - a chemical used in nail polish - had caught fire and spread to illegal stores of the fertiliser ammonium nitrate.
The blasts that were triggered ripped through an industrial port area in the city, destroying buildings, shipping containers and thousands of new cars.


The governor of Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture has revoked a permit allowing the controversial move of a US military base.

The permit, given by his predecessor, allowed a coastal area to be reclaimed for the Futenma airbase relocation.
But a central government spokesman said there is "no change" in plans to proceed.
Tokyo has been engaged in a long-running stand-off with local authorities on the issue.
The government wants to move the Futenma airbase, which is in a densely populated area, to a more remote area of Okinawa on reclaimed land.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that the regional bureau of the defence ministry is expected to file a legal challenge against Gov Takeshi Onaga's decision.
Many Okinawans want the US base moved away permanently from the island.
They believe the relocation will damage the environment and associate US bases with accidents and crime.
In March, Gov Onaga had also issued a stop-work order on the relocation, which the central government overruled.


The National Rugby League is being investigated by Australian police over allegations of match-fixing.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported the investigation concerns two games involving the north Sydney-based Manly Sea Eagles last year.
It said the games were against South Sydney Rabbitohs and Parramatta Eels.
"The organised crime squad is in the early stage of examining information relating to alleged match-fixing in the NRL," said New South Wales police.
Manly's media department was unavailable for comment, while the NRL said it was co-operating with authorities.
"The possibility of the existence of match-fixing within our sport cuts to the core of our sport and our values," said NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.
"We will take any action necessary to protect the integrity of the game."
In 2011, Ryan Tandy was banned for life after being convicted of match-fixing while playing for Canterbury Bulldogs against North Queensland in 2010.
Tandy lost an appeal against the charge in 2014. He died the same year, aged 32.


Harlequins hooker Dave Ward has signed a new contract with the Premiership club.

The 30-year-old, who has also featured at open-side flanker this season, has made 73 appearances for the club since joining from Cornish Pirates in 2012.
"Some of the performances he has put in at open-side for us this year show what a brilliant athlete he is," said director of rugby Conor O'Shea.
"He is a bundle of energy and his best years are still to come."
Harlequins have not disclosed the length of Ward's new contract at the Twickenham Stoop.
Ward is the latest player to sign a new deal with Quins, with Nick Evans, Adam Jones, Charlie Matthews and Sam Twomey also all extending their contracts in recent weeks.


A businessmen who introduced Dominic Chappell to Sir Philip Green said he "never thought in a million years" that he would end up running BHS.

Paul Sutton said that Mr Chappell, who bought BHS from Sir Philip's retail empire, had initially been his driver.
Mr Sutton had been interested in buying BHS, but abandoned the plan after a dossier was passed to Sir Philip.
Mr Sutton told MPs investigating the BHS collapse the material was part of an alleged attempt to blackmail him.
He said a campaign was being waged against him, and agreed to stand down from the BHS deal.
Mr Chappell then emerged as a potential buyer, and bought BHS last year for Â£1. The business collapsed this year with the loss of up to 11,000 jobs and a big hole the pension fund.
Mr Sutton said he did not know who had recommended to Sir Philip that Mr Chappell take the purchase forward.
"It certainly wasn't me", Mr Sutton said. "It baffles me... I just don't know."
Mr Sutton claimed that Mr Chappell had owed him Â£160,000 from a failed property development on the Isle of Wight.
As to why he got involved with Mr Chappell some years later, Mr Sutton said he had received a call from Mr Chappell who appeared to be "down on his uppers" and he decided to give him some work, initially as a driver and paid on an ad hoc basis.
"Involving him was the only way I could get my money back," Mr Sutton told MPs.
He said he was completely unaware of what Mr Chappell was doing behind the scenes, as he had hired his own team of advisers to complete the deal.
The BHS pension scheme, and who would take on the liabilities, is a big part of the MPs' investigation.
Mr Sutton said that Sir Philip told him that he would take care of the pension and that there had never been any plan to offload it as part of the sale.
MPs asked if Mr Sutton would have bought BHS without the pension deficit? "Yes", he replied.
He never had a chance to discuss things with the BHS Pension Trustees and the Pensions Regulator as his attempt to buy the business didn't get that far down the road, he said.


Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso took victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix to become the ninth different race winner in MotoGP this season.

Dovizioso, 30, started from pole after the race in Sepang had been delayed by rain, but dropped to third early on.
He overhauled fellow Italian Valentino Rossi for the lead with five laps left after Rossi ran wide and pushed home his advantage.
It was only his second MotoGP victory in 159 races.
"It's really nice to come to this moment," said Dovizioso. "In these conditions I struggled a lot in the race and had some problems, but I really wanted it."
Rossi finished second ahead of Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo to secure runners-up spot in the championship, while Spanish world champion Marc Marquez, who had been hampered by illness over the past few days, crashed out of fourth place during the race and eventually finished 11th.
Malaysian Grand Prix result
1.  Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 42 minutes 27.333 seconds
2.  Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha  42:30.448
3.  Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha    42:39.257
4.  Hector Barbera (Spa) Ducati   42:47.249
5.  Loris Baz (Fra) Ducati       42:48.686
6.  Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki 42:50.265
7.  Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 42:53.162
8.  Jack Miller (Aus) Honda   43:00.079
9.  Pol Espargaro (Spa) Yamaha    43:01.037
10. Danilo Petrucci (Ita) Ducati  43:01.613
Championship standings
1.  Marc Marquez (Spa) Honda       278
2.  Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha   236
3.  Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha     208
4.  Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki  191
5.  Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati  162


A former British soldier has denied firing shots or hitting Iraqi detainees while questioning them after they were captured by troops in 2004.

The soldier told the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry he "categorically denied" hitting or physically threatening any of the nine detainees he interrogated.
The inquiry is investigating claims detainees were mistreated and killed at a British base after a battle.
The Ministry of Defence denies the allegations.
The soldier, who can only be identified as M004, told the inquiry that he did use a 1ft-long (30cm) pointed metal tent peg to bang on a table top and would shout and scream at detainees as part of his "tactical questioning" technique in Iraq.
The witness said he did not see this as excessive, although he was now aware from other public inquiries that it was unlikely that using a tent peg in this way would be "viewed as permissible".
The inquiry has heard claims from several Iraqi detainees that M004 had a pistol with him and fired two shots into the ground while they were being questioned in a tent at the British army camp.
There were also allegations by a detainee that the interrogator beat him with a metal pipe.
But M004 said there was "no feasible way" that a shot could be fired in the tent without someone hearing it and it being reported.
It was likely the tent peg was on a table and a detainee could see that, but it was never used to strike a detainee, he said.
He agreed the use of the tent peg fell within the category of a "harsh" approach and he that he was trying to scare the detainees by making a sudden loud noise while the prisoner was blindfolded.
Banging the tent peg on the table behind the prisoner made a "horrendous racket" and would have been heard outside the interrogation tent and probably in the prisoner cell block, he said.
Some of the prisoners had physically jumped when he did it, he said.  He agreed that the tent peg could be seen as a weapon.
He was not taught to use the tent peg in this way on a course he attended, M004 said, but he did not see it as outside his remit as a tactical questioner.
But he told counsel for the inquiry: "I believe nowadays that there is very little you could physically do without ending up sat in an inquiry".
The witness told the inquiry that when the Iraqi detainees arrived for questioning he would first walk behind them and blow on the back of their neck - a tactic he had been taught on a course.
Blowing on the detainee's neck allowed the interrogator to get inside the prisoner's personal space so that he could feel the questioner's presence, something which was "remarkably effective" he said.
M004 agreed that there was a pattern in his questioning of walking behind the detainee, blowing on the back of their neck, banging the tent peg down on the table and then screaming and shouting over their left shoulder and into their ear.
He had not been taught to consider that shouting at a man close up or striking a table with a tent peg so as to induce fear was violence.
The witness agreed that anything that fell short of physical contact or violence which made the prisoner feel uncomfortable was acceptable.
M004 said he would never threaten a prisoner with any form of beating or assault, but he might have told a detainee he would never see their family again.
"And they would probably have believed you?"asked counsel. "Yes sir, "said M004.
Set up in 2010, the inquiry is named after one of the Iraqi men, 19-year-old Hamid al-Sweady, who is alleged to have been unlawfully killed while being held after the so-called Battle of Danny Boy.
Lawyers acting for several Iraqi clients claim some were taken alive following the battle and mistreated or unlawfully killed at the nearby Camp Abu Naj (CAN) base.
The inquiry continues.


The Conservatives are "running our country down in every way", Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

He made the claim at his party's local election campaign launch ahead of polls in English councils on 4 May.
"Labour councils are making a difference... stepping up where the government fails to act," he said.
The Labour leader is facing a battle to hold on to council seats with the party lower in the polls than when these councils were last contested.
In his speech at Newark in Nottinghamshire, Mr Corbyn said: "How can you not be angry and demand major change when life expectancy projections have fallen in Britain for pensioners?
"We are a rich country - the sixth richest in the world. We are not at war - there is no epidemic sweeping our land.
"But whether the Conservative Party chair can face the facts or not, life expectancy has actually fallen - by a year for 65-year-old women, and six months for 65-year-old men - since 2013.
"The truth is that the Tories are running our country down."
However, Number 10 rejected Mr Corbyn's claims and pointed to figures published by the Office of National Statistics, which suggest that life expectancy at age 65 years increased between 1991/1993 and 2012/2014, with the increase greater in England than in Wales.
Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin MP said: "Labour can't even get their basic facts right - there's no way they would run your council or our country properly. They are out of touch, divided and would leave ordinary working people worse off with their incompetence.
"Across councils and in government it is the Conservative Party that is standing up for ordinary working people - building a stronger, fairer country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home."
In his speech, Mr Corbyn also claimed that home ownership, opportunities for children, wages and conditions at work, the NHS and care for the elderly were "all going backwards, run down by a Conservative government that looks after those at the top and manages decline for the rest of us".
He said Labour was standing up for people "in every community across the country", by giving examples of his party's successes in local government.
He said Labour-controlled Birmingham City Council had delivered 30% of all new homes in the city, while Lancashire County Council has formed a joint venture to buy 800 affordable homes for sale and social rent.
"This election is your chance to send a message to the Tories that you won't accept our NHS in crisis, your children's future betrayed, a deepening housing crisis, damaging cuts to the police and insecure jobs that don't make ends meet," he said.
Local elections will be held in 35 councils in England, all 32 councils in Scotland and all 22 councils in Wales on 4 May 2017.
The latest Guardian/ICM poll suggests Labour support is at 25%, their lowest support in these polls since the 2015 general election and joint equal to their worst performance, in 1983.
Six areas in England are voting for newly-created "combined local authority mayors".
These mayors will mostly be responsible for economic development in their regions, but some will have powers over transport and housing.
Doncaster and North Tyneside are also electing local authority mayors, who are elected leaders of their respective councils.
The Manchester Gorton parliamentary by-election triggered by the death of Labour MP Gerald Kaufman will also take place on 4 May.


Jimmy Carr has said the furore over his tax affairs in 2012 could have ended his career.

The comedian hit headlines over his involvement in a tax avoidance scheme which the former prime minister, David Cameron, called "morally wrong".
"When you're in the middle of that [it's] like, 'could this be a career-ender?'" he told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
"I guess with something like that, that's the worst case scenario."
He added: "Even worst case scenario, I've had a pretty good run in showbiz terms. I've been at the same level for probably 12 years now - that's very lucky to have a long, sustained career in showbiz.
"So it's going to disappear at some point."
The star was widely condemned for taking part in the K2 tax avoidance scheme - something he said was "a terrible error of judgement".
At the time, Mr Cameron was attending the G20 summit when he broke off from discussions to comment on the affair.
"If the prime minister breaks off from the G20 summit in Mexico - in a meeting with the 19 most important people in the world - and he comes out and makes a press statement about your tax affairs, that is going to need dealing with," Carr said.
"You've got to get out in front of it, and also you need to own it.
"Sometimes when footballers are involved in these things, people go: 'Well he probably didn't know what was going on and he got advice'.
"I don't think anybody was buying that line with me, I think people thought: 'He probably knew what he was doing'."
Carr said a financial adviser had told him of the scheme: "If someone comes to you and says, 'Do you want to pay less tax? It's totally legal, you can do this thing, and if it ever comes up you just have to pay them' - you go, 'yeah, fine, great'.
"In the end you make good and say: 'Right I'll pay every penny of tax I ever owed.'"
The comedian said the whole incident taught him that "when you have a friend in trouble, call".
"That was the big lesson.
"If you have a friend and they're in the paper or they're having a problem with something and you don't know what to say, or someone's just died or someone's been diagnosed with something, call them."
Carr was thought to be one of more than 1,000 beneficiaries who sheltered some Â£168m from the taxman each year through the K2 scheme. He has since paid all the tax.
Desert Island Discs is on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, 5 March at 11:15GMT.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


University tuition fees in England have become a political battleground - with renewed calls that they should be scrapped.

When they were increased a few years ago to £9,000 they became a literal battleground, with activists clashing with police on the streets around Westminster.
Now they are going to rise again. But what has the impact of higher fees been? Have they cut student numbers? And are they worth the money?
Students in England leave university with higher debts than almost anywhere else in the developed world, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this week.
Charging £9,250 for an undergraduate degree makes England a real outlier by international standards.
It's even an outlier in the UK, where Scotland has no fees for Scottish students, and fees in Wales and Northern Ireland are much lower.
Much of Europe still sticks with low fees or no fees - and Germany, which used to charge fees, has scrapped them.
There are also lower costs in many European countries where many more students live at home.
The only country with comparable fees is the United States.
But the US is not a straightforward comparison because courses are four years rather than three and any "average" covers a hugely diverse market.
Top private colleges can charge more than £30,000 per year while state colleges can charge local students less than fees in England.
The University of Washington has lower annual fees than the University of Wolverhampton and until the pound's value slipped, fees would have been cheaper at UCLA in California than UCLAN in Preston.
In New York state, with a population bigger than many European countries, fees are being scrapped for families earning less than about £100,000.
But there is another very important aspect to all this - England's system requires no money up front and repayment depends on earning at least £21,000.
Not in the long term.
Student numbers have increased relentlessly, regardless of funding changes, fees and economic ups and downs. It represents a huge aspirational demand for higher education.
It's easy to forget what a massive change this represents.
In 1980, there were only 68,000 people starting university - this autumn there will be more than 500,000. Twice as many people are now getting a degree as were getting five O-levels in the early 1980s.
Applications have dipped only three times - on each occasion when fees were introduced or increased - but they have always recovered.
And one of the main arguments in favour of fees has been that such wide access is unsustainable unless students make a contribution to the cost.
In the early 1980s only about one in six young people could expect to go to university - now, for girls at least, it's over half.
Students from all backgrounds are more likely to go to university than ever before - including the poorest.
There are different ways of identifying disadvantaged students - either living in areas where few people go to university, having been eligible for free meals at school or under measures of multiple deprivation.
And they all show the same pattern - more of these youngsters are going to university, with the numbers rising through the years of fee increases.
But there is another important dimension to this. Poorer youngsters are still much less likely to go to university than their better-off classmates.
There is a brutal economic symmetry to this. Each upward notch in affluence is linked to a higher entry rate into university.
There are also significant cross-currents of gender and geography. Women are 35% more likely to go to university than men, and youngsters in London are more likely to go to university than anywhere else in the UK.
There are ethnic differences too, with poor white men, in places such as north-east England, the least likely to get university places.
Fees are going up to £9,250 and interest rates on loans are rising to 6.1%, which will push up average student debt on graduation to more than £50,000, including maintenance loans.
The clock on interest charges starts ticking as soon as students begin their course - and it means that they will have run up £5,800 in interest charges before they have even left university.
£50,800
Average student debt at graduation
£5,800 Average interest accrued before graduation
£57,000 Average amount owed by poorer students after grants cut
£21,000 Repayment threshold frozen until 2021
A high-earning graduate could pay back £40,000 in interest charges, on top of repaying the amount they have borrowed.
These figures could go even higher. Interest rates are linked to inflation and if that begins to rise, then so will the amount charged for repayments.
The rapid increase in tuition fees - trebling in 2006 and then trebling again in 2012 - means that the amount of outstanding debt has soared.
The figures from the Student Loans Company show the debt level has almost doubled in four years and will continue to climb if fee levels and interest rates rise further.
But about three-quarters of students will not repay their debts in full before the 30-year limit when the loans are written off.
The government wants to sell off student debt to private investors and has begun looking for a buyer for pre-2012 loans.
If this is achieved it will mean another big step away from the idea of universities receiving direct public funding.
At most universities, no matter what course you are following, the level of fee is likely to be the same flat rate of £9,000 (soon to be £9,250).
But the cost of delivering costs is going to vary widely.
Science courses need more expensive equipment and courses such as medicine are going to get much more teaching time and personal instruction.
As the chart shows, subjects such as history will have significantly fewer classroom hours. But there is no recognition of this in the fees system.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, raising fees to £9,000 brought universities 25% more funding per student. But for arts and humanities, they made an extra 47% on each student.
A lack of teaching hours - and a lack of information about how tuition fees are spent - are among the factors that have seen a plunging level of students thinking they're getting value for money.
The chart shows an annual tracking of student attitudes, which in recent years has seen a steady fall in satisfied customers and a rising level of discontent.
Five years ago, 53% of students across the UK thought university was "good" or "very good" value - but this has now slumped to its lowest level of 35%.
Students getting more hours and with expectations of high future earnings, such as medicine, were most likely to think they were getting good value for money.
Least convinced about the value were business and social studies students.
The Higher Education Policy Institute, which carried out the survey, says the quality of teaching is a key factor in perceptions of value.
Everyone has heard a story about someone getting a degree and then ending up in a job that didn't need such qualifications. And there are stories of millionaires who never bothered with college.
But all the evidence suggests a relentless link between level of qualifications and future earnings.
As the chart shows, that is the case at every level of education.
According to the OECD, there is no sign that the increase in graduates will take away the financial advantage. Having a degree means better pay and a lower likelihood of being unemployed.
And the stories about maverick billionaires who never went to college are the exception rather than the rule, as an analysis of billionaires' education showed that they are usually highly educated and more likely to have two degrees than no degree.
The question of "value" from a degree isn't just about a monetary return. There's a much wider social and cultural dimension.
But even in narrow financial terms, the relationship between the cost of fees and earnings is not straightforward.
For example, there are big differences in the future average earnings between people who studied for medicine and those who took media degrees, even though the annual fee might have been the same.
Degrees from top-ranking universities can also convert into greater earning power and class of degree is another factor.
And any calculation of financial return on fees will be a combination of factors - what you studied, where you studied and the current demand in the jobs market.
The political attention over tuition fees has focused on the impact on young people taking undergraduate, full-time degrees.
But the biggest change, often overlooked, has been the collapse in part-time students.
These were often adults with other responsibilities who were more sensitive to increased costs.
And the recession saw a big reduction in firms willing to pay for their staff to take qualifications.
There have been repeated warnings from industry about a skills gap, but there are few signs of any recovery in part-time student numbers.
Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning
Data research by Eleanor Lawrie and Catherine Bean


British pair Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre won silver at the 470 World Championships in Greece.

Mills - who won Olympic gold at Rio 2016 with the now-retired Saskia Clark - and McIntyre went into Saturday's final 16 points off the lead.
But Poland's Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Irmina Mrozek Gliszczynska held on to their lead for gold as the Britons missed out on becoming world champions.
Another British pair, Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter, finished eighth.
Cardiff-born Mills only returned to competition in May, having experienced concussion symptoms following a training collision in January, and stomach problems in March.
She partnered Winchester-born McIntyre for the first time in June as they took gold in the World Cup Series Final.


A man has been jailed for 11 years after a con which saw vulnerable people sign over ownership of their homes.

Edwin McLaren, 52, was convicted last month of property fraud totalling Â£1.6m after what is believed to be the longest trial in UK criminal history.
The trial, which started in September 2015 at the High Court in Glasgow, heard 320 days of evidence
McLaren, from Quarriers Village in Inverclyde, was convicted of 29 charges and his wife Lorraine of two.
She was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
During the trial, Edwin McLaren was described as the "brains behind the scheme".
Two found guilty of fraud after UK's longest criminal trial
The frauds, which took place between April 2008 and November 2012, came to light when a woman in Fife claimed she had not been paid the full amount that she was promised for the sale of her house in Cowdenbeath.
During a two-year police inquiry, 48 properties were investigated under a property fraud scheme where the owner's title deeds were transferred without their knowledge.
Twenty-nine cases made it on to the indictment in court, involving properties throughout Scotland.
The case was described by police "one of the largest, most complicated property fraud investigations ever carried out in Scotland".
The operation was run by Edwin McLaren who targeted people under financial pressure, often after placing adverts in newspapers for two companies - Property Solutions and Homesale Solutions.
McLaren, who would often use a false name, would tell his victims he would sort out their financial difficulties, usually in the form of a loan or leaseback agreement.
They thought they were releasing equity from their homes but McLaren had them sign paperwork which transferred full ownership of their property.
Police said his clients were usually completely unaware they had signed away their houses until they were approached by officers.
The property was never transferred to him - instead he used family members and friends.
He also raised mortgages against the properties.
Some witnesses said they were not only in financial difficulty but also unwell or bereaved.
In the case of one couple McLaren turned up at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow to get a document signed.
The homeowner said he was so weakened by his cancer treatment he did not even know what the document was.
It turned out that he and his wife were signing over their house.
Lorraine McLaren told the court it was her husband who ran that side of their property business and that she signed the documents when he asked her to.
No lawyers who were involved in the transactions were prosecuted as they were used as witnesses in the trial.
The details of the trial of Edwin and Lorraine McLaren are remarkable.
Over the course of 20 months, the jury was reduced from the original 15 for a Scottish criminal trial to 12, the lowest number it can operate on.
There were concerns that if they had lost another juror the case would have collapsed.
The jurors had to listen to 320 days of evidence, sparking critics to question whether juries should be used in complex fraud cases.
The cost of the trial is thought to have been about Â£7.5m, with more than Â£2.4m in legal aid paid for defence lawyers.
During the trial the court had to halt for three weeks after one juror got married, while others were off sick or took holidays.
It was also the first time in Scotland that evidence was led from the house of a witness who was too ill to attend court.
The house was set up as a court with all the legal trappings needed for her to give evidence.
In an unusual step, judge Lord Stewart used a computer slideshow presentation to sum up the case for the jury.
The judge officially retired from the bench on his 70th birthday in December 2016 but was able to continue hearing the case under the provisions of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.


Libya's opposing governments have committed to a conditional ceasefire following talks in France.

UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, the rival military commander who controls the east, met in Paris on Tuesday.
They are aiming to end the conflict which has engulfed the country since Col Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the rivals could soon be seen as symbols of Libya's reconciliation.
"We commit to a ceasefire and to refrain from any use of armed force for any purpose that does not strictly constitute counter-terrorism," they said in a joint, 10-point statement.
The document also pledged to move towards holding elections - which could take place as early as 2018 - and "building the rule of law" in a country struggling to control the armed groups which have stepped into the power vacuum left by the Gaddafi regime.
Mr Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA), which is backed by the UN and based in the capital Tripoli, has tried to win the support of the various militias and politicians since coming to power in 2016.
But Gen Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), based in Tobruk, 1,000km (620 miles) to the east, refuses to recognise the GNA. Gen Haftar is leading the battle against Islamist militants, and recently declared victory in Benghazi, the country's second city.
Talks earlier this year failed to result in a joint statement. However, the two men shook each others' hands following this latest round, which was chaired by the UN's envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame.
"The cause of peace has made a lot of progress today," Mr Macron told reporters gathered at the chateau outside of Paris, praising the leaders' "historic courage". "The Mediterranean [region] needs this peace."
Mr Macron and other European leaders had been hoping for some sort of agreement today, as Libya has become a key route for migrants making their way to Europe.
Tens of thousands of people have set off from its coast in hope of reaching Europe this year alone, with many men, women and children drowning in the attempt.
Mr Macron said he hoped this agreement would be a blow to the human traffickers who work in the region.


In stark contrast to the upbeat statements of Saudi officials concerning US President Donald Trump's visit to the kingdom on 20 May, many Arab Twitter users have taken a more sceptical view of the trip.

At one point on Saturday, though, the term "Trump's daughter" in Arabic was the top-trending topic worldwide on Twitter.
Many have taken to satire, posting images referencing negative comments by Mr Trump about Islam and Muslims. Their reaction comes ahead of his much-anticipated speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh on Sunday.
Twitter users have circulated a screen shot of an earlier tweet (posted in May, but now deleted) by Saudi cleric Saad Bin Ghoneim.
It said: "Oh Allah, Trump is one of your servants, his fate is in your hands. Command him, whether or not he wishes, to serve the best interests of the Muslims and to ease their oppression. Save us from his evil and guide him to your path."
Mr Bin Ghoneim told the Saudi online newspaper Sabq that he had posted the tweet after "positive statements from US President Trump towards our country following a successful visit" from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to the US.
He said his tweet included a prayer for Muslims to be saved from the "evil" of Mr Trump.
One popular Trump meme doing the rounds on social media is by @mazn1161. It features a doctored image of Mr Trump's face as a bearded Saudi cleric. The picture appears next to two smaller ones - of the cleric Mr Bin Ghoneim and of Mr Trump surrounded by scantily-clad women.
The headline across the images reads: "Saudi cleric issues fatwa: Trump is a messenger of Allah and to obey him is to obey Allah!" Next to the image, @mazn1161 writes: "Coming soon, Sunday sermon by the cleric #Trump."
One cartoon retweeted 71 times places Mr Trump and the Saudi rulers at the centre of the Yemeni conflict.
The cartoon shows the Saudi monarch and his son accompanied by Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi submissively welcoming Mr Trump as he exits his jet.
On one side of the red carpet are bodies of dead Yemenis. On the other side, a man stands over a kneeling woman in a burka with a sword, apparently about to behead her.
The cartoon was tweeted by @753_yamen_87  who sneered at Arab leaders and commented: "After Trump prohibited Muslim citizens from seven Arab countries from entering America, the Saudi Arab Death ["mahlaka", a play on the Arabic word for kingdom, "mamlaka"] responds by gathering 17 Muslim leaders to welcome him. #Age_of_decadence."
@1Shmia tweeted a doctored image of Donald Trump appearing to show disdain to the Saudi rulers as he shouts down at smaller images of King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.
The caption reads: "All you have is money and you wouldn't exist without us. Why don't you pay us?"
Twitter users are also using the occasion of Trump's visit to highlight the case of Saudi student Khaled al-Dawsari, who is serving a life sentence in the US for the attempted use of explosives on American targets.
Twitter account @5haledaldosari, which describes itself as the official account for the Khalid al-Dawsari campaign, posted a picture of Mr Trump and Saudi King Salman side by side. The caption read: "O nation, one of your sons is buried away in prison but now is the time to seek victory for him."
The tweet called for Twitter users to post with the Arabic hashtag #the_summit_is_a_demand_for_Khaled's_freedom. The tweet from 18 May has been retweeted more than 790 times.
For some Twitter users such as @alsuiadi, however, the visit is a source of pride. He said: "The whole world has its eyes on Riyadh and is following its events and is looking forward to the outcomes of the bilateral summit meeting. Looking forward to a bright future."


The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth has become part of a new sound archive network.

It will become one of 10 "sound preservation centres" that will work with the British Library to protect rare and unique recordings as part of a £18.8m project.
In Wales alone, 5,000 items will be digitised.
Lona Mason, visual images librarian at the library, said it was "a race against time" to save the recordings.
"They're all on various formats, from old wax cylinder recordings, vinyl, tape recordings and cassettes, and they're vulnerable because they're decaying," she told the  Newyddion 9 programme.
"Also, we don't have the machines to play these type of formats anymore."
The Welsh material will include interviews with Welsh migrants to North America and Patagonia, dialect recordings, interviews with industry workers, their families and the community, archives of Welsh traditional music and political speeches by national politicians.
Linda Tomos, The National Library of Wales' chief executive, said: "This is great news for sound collections in Wales. The National Library is delighted to be part of this important project and is grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their support in making this project possible.
"This project will significantly contribute towards developing skills, providing training and preserving our sound heritage."
The British Library estimates that 500,000 recordings in total could be saved via the project, called Unlocking Our Sound Heritage.


The age at which pupils enter secondary school in a part of Sussex may be changed under plans being considered.

West Sussex County Council has proposed changing the entry age for several schools in the Storrington area.
Currently students in the area leave primary at 10 then transfer to a middle school until they are 13, before joining a secondary school.
The council may bring the schools in line with the rest of the county where pupils start secondary school at 11.
Jeremy Hunt, the council's cabinet member for education, said: "Ofsted advised us some time ago that we needed to develop a consistent approach to education across the whole county.
"The aim of this is to ensure children are given the best opportunities to learn and prepare for adult life, while at the same time retaining the first-class system of education in the area."
The consultation will be opened on Monday, with a view to any changes being implemented in September 2017.


Swansea coach Alan Curtis expects Alfie Mawson to be the last player the club sign before the transfer window closes.

The Barnsley defender is close to a switch to the Liberty Stadium.
"I don't think there will be more new signings. Obviously the plan was to bring another centre back in," Curtis told BBC Wales Sport.
"If there was a bonus of getting another forward, great, but as far as I know, that is all of the deals concluded."
Mawson will have big shoes to fill after Swansea reluctantly sold captain Ashley Williams to Everton after eight years with the club.
However, Curtis thinks the 22-year old can be an instant success for the Swans despite never having played in the top flight.
"What he lacks is the experience of playing in the Premier League, but he has all the attributes and qualities to suggest he can make the step up," he said.
"Alfie came come in now during the international break and get his feet under the table, so to speak."
Curtis offered no excuses for the Swans after they were defeated 2-1 at Leicester City and like boss Francesco Guidolin conceded that the Premier League champions deserved their victory.
"It was 2-1, we could have got something at the end, but we certainly wouldn't have deserved it," Curtis explained.
"All credit to Leicester, for the way they played, they didn't allow us to play at all and they bossed the game in many ways.
"No complaints from us, Leicester deserved to win and we were fortunate maybe to come out with a 2-1 result."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.


The Royal Family has defended the refurbishment of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Kensington Palace apartment, following reports it will cost the taxpayer about £4m.

Extensive work, including construction of a new roof, will be carried out.
The total cost has yet to be be confirmed by the royal household but it will be published next week.
A spokeswoman said there had previously been no running water and the couple had paid for all internal furnishings.
She added asbestos was removed and an overhaul of the electrics was carried out.
Prince William and Catherine's London apartment was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the home of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.
The princess remained there after their divorce and lived there until her death in 2002.
The living space was last refurbished in 1963.
A spokeswoman for the couple said: "This is the duke and duchess's one and only official residence. It is here that they plan to stay for many, many years to come.
"We also had to take into account the fact that Kensington Palace is a scheduled ancient monument, and all elements of the refurbishment had to be agreed with English Heritage.
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid privately for all the internal furnishings, including carpets and curtains.
"They were also at pains to ensure that the specification is not extravagant."


At least seven female students have died after a fire at a boarding school hostel near the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Sunday night, officials say.

Most of the deaths resulted from a stampede as hundreds of students rushed to escape the blaze through two exits, the Kano state officials said.
Twenty-five others were injured in the fire which broke out as students were sleeping at the government-run girls school in Jogana village, they added.
It is not being treated as suspicious.
Fire-fighters spent seven hours trying to put out the blaze, an eyewitness told the BBC's Hausa service.
The government has closed the boarding school and ordered a full investigation into the fire.


The author of an independent review into the planned Swansea Bay tidal lagoon said he remains hopeful the UK government will back the scheme.

It is now six months since ex-energy minister Charles Hendry's report was published, concluding that the £1.3bn lagoon would be a "no regrets" option.
The UK government is yet to respond to his findings but said it needed time to assess the lagoon's merits.
Investors have warned it risks stalling unless a green light is given soon.
The latest state of play with the project is:
Though ministers are yet to set out where they stand, Mr Hendry told BBC Wales he believed their message had been "consistent".
"They say they are carefully considering the scheme. The election has delayed that process and there may be other factors too," he said.
"But now with Greg Clark back in place as business secretary I'm hopeful of a definitive answer soon."
Mr Hendry added that he had been "very enthused" by the degree of cross-party support for the world-first power generation project.
The proposal for a 320MW lagoon off Swansea Bay, involving a 9.5km seawall embedded with 16 turbines, is being developed by Tidal Lagoon Power (TLP).
The project was included in the Conservatives' 2015 manifesto and was granted planning permissions by then Energy Secretary Amber Rudd that same year.
However government support seemed to wane as discussions continued over the so-called strike price, a guarantee to subsidise the cost of electricity from the scheme.
The latest proposal by TLP involved a price of £89.90 per megawatt hour, guaranteed for 90 years.
By comparison, the price agreed for the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C in Somerset was £92.50 per megawatt hour for 35 years.
An independent review was commissioned in February 2016 to look into the viability of tidal lagoon schemes and it reported almost a year later.
Tidal lagoon: The economic arguments
The environmental arguments
How tidal energy could transform the coastline
Mr Hendry concluded that moving ahead with the prototype lagoon in Swansea Bay was in the national interest.
The developers had argued that it would kick-start a new industry and that a "fleet" of larger, more cost-effective lagoons across the UK coastline could follow.
TLP is based in Gloucester and the city's Conservative MP Richard Graham is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Marine Energy and Tidal Lagoons.
He told BBC Wales he had met with Greg Clark this week and had "a good discussion".
"I think he absolutely gets it that we cannot prevaricate as a government indefinitely on this - and a decision should be made as soon as possible," he said.
Mr Graham said he had consistently made the point to Mr Clark that the tidal lagoon was "probably the most popular energy project of our lifetimes."
He added: "If we want a government that's got an industrial strategy, that's going to do innovative things, this is the project, this is the time - let's go for it."
What could the delay mean?
Richard Howard, head of energy for the Policy Exchange think-tank told BBC Wales the delay in responding to the review showed that TLP was yet to "put together a proposition to government that is sufficiently compelling".
"In the time in which this project has been developed we've seen massive, radical reductions in the cost of solar energy, offshore and onshore wind and that will continue," he said.
"So actually locking yourself into a tidal lagoon for 90 years might not actually be the right option."
As the wait for a go-ahead goes on, money is drying up for TLP with the scheme's backers now refusing to release further funds, the Financial Times reported.
David Clubb, director of Renewable UK Cymru said he was concerned that private investment that was "strongly needed" in south Wales would go elsewhere.
"Clearly every new project of this scale suggests risks - and it is right that the government should consider those risks."
"But the Hendry Review was a very in-depth, comprehensive study which took account of all of those risks and it still came to the conclusion that this was a no regrets option."
"So we would say to the government, let's act now - these sorts of opportunities don't come along very often."
A decision is needed this summer, TLP says, for work to start on the lagoon in 2019.
New evidence on the impact on fish
Another hurdle remains in Wales, which is the issuing of a marine licence by the environmental regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
The process started in 2014, with TLP and NRW saying they have been in "exhaustive discussions" about the impact on fish.
In December 2016, NRW published figures suggesting the lagoon would mean 21% of salmon and 25% of sea trout dying each year, as they migrate to and from local rivers.
The developers strongly refuted that analysis which they claimed had "no scientific basis", branding the figures "grossly misleading".
Now they have submitted what they claim is a "finalised projection" of the development's likely impact on the marine environment, having agreed a new modelling method with NRW.
Andy Schofield, TLP's head of fisheries said the work had been "particularly challenging" as this was a world-first scheme and there was little research already available about fish behaviour in the Bristol channel.
He said the developers had looked for other examples across the world and spoken to leading experts in the field.
"The results we are now presenting show that the lagoon will have a very low impact on fish."
"The other reassurance is that when the lagoon is constructed we will have an adaptive environmental management plan in place and we will be constantly monitoring for any impact."
"We believe that these figures will now enable NRW to grant us a marine license and we hope that they will be able to do that in early 2018."
NRW will now launch a fresh consultation on the marine licence application in light of the new evidence submitted by TLP.
Ceri Davies, executive director of evidence policy and permitting for NRW, said: "We support the development of sustainable renewable energy. This development is a world-first, and the scale and the technology involved makes determining the marine licence complex."
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the UK government was considering the recommendations and the issues which arise from a broader programme.
"We will require time to assess the merits of such a programme and determine what is in the best interest of the UK energy consumer and taxpayer in the long term and will publish its response to the Hendry Review in due course," he said.


A woman has been given the go-ahead to challenge a new law making it illegal for men to pay for sex in Northern Ireland

Sex worker Laura Lee was granted leave to seek a judicial review of the Stormont legislation.
A date for a full hearing of the unprecedented legal action will be set later this year.
Northern Ireland is currently the only UK region to make the purchase of sex a criminal offence.
A judge ruled she has established an arguable case that amendments to the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act breach her human rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination.
The amended law was introduced last year after a private member's bill brought before the assembly by the Democratic Unionist Party MLA Lord Morrow.
Although the law shifts the burden from sex workers to their clients, workers believe it could leave them more vulnerable to violence.
They fear it will drive the trade underground and expose them to increased danger by making it increasingly difficult to screen customers who may use fake names and disposable phones.
Ms Lee's legal challenge is directed against the Department of Justice - even though former Minister David Ford opposed the new legislative clause.
However, Northern Ireland's Attorney General, John Larkin, representing the First and Deputy First Ministers, claimed proceedings should be thrown out at the first stage.
He insisted no unlawful act had been identified, and suggested the Act brought in by Lord Morrow provided Ms Lee, 38,  with greater protection from any abusive behaviour.
Mr Larkin also submitted that protections under the European Convention on Human Rights do not cover sex for hire.
Ruling on the application for leave to seek a judicial review, the judge acknowledged the Attorney General's points had "considerable force".
But he held that the arguments advanced by Ms Lee's legal team were strong enough to meet the "modest threshold" of securing the right to progress their case.
The judge stressed his verdict was no indication that she will ultimately succeed.


A campaign group in Egypt has joined the fight over the £15.76m sale of a 4,000-year-old statue by Northampton Borough Council.

Save Sekhmeka Group Egypt said the statue of a court official was a symbol of its ancient civilisation, and "belongs to the Egyptian people".
The group wants the Egyptian government to step in and claim the statue.
Spencer Compton, the second Marquis of Northampton, acquired the figure during a trip to Egypt in 1850.
The statue was presented to Northampton museum by his son some years later.
The statue was sold by Christie's of London in July last year to an unknown buyer. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) then imposed an export bar which expires on 29 July.
A DCMS spokesman said: "The temporary export bar may be extended to 29 March 2016 if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase the statue is made.
"Anyone interested should contact the Arts Council before the current deferral period expires."
Northampton Borough Council said any challenge to the export was a matter between the government department and the buyer as it had received the money for the sale.
The group in Egypt said: "Selling a statue owned by the Egyptian people is a crime against all international norms and standards.
"The British government need to act fast and abide by international law. We call on... David Cameron to intervene to reserve (retain) Sekhemka in the UK and to extend the deadline of release so that the Egyptian government can recover the statue."
Christie's said that any challenge to the sale was "a matter between the owner and the export licence committee".


Valentino Rossi beat rival Marc Marquez to claim a thrilling MotoGP victory in the Grand Prix of Catalunya.

The pair, along with third-placed Dani Pedrosa, wore T-shirts that read "always in our hearts" on the podium in memory of Moto2 rider Luis Salom, who died during practice on Friday.
Marquez moved into the championship lead on 125 points, 10 ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who did not finish.
Rossi is now third on 103 points after seven rounds.
The Yamaha rider started fifth and dropped to seventh before taking the lead on lap seven.
Rossi traded first place with Honda's Marquez in the closing stages but made a move with two laps to go for his second win of the season.
"It's a great victory, one of the best of my career," said the 37-year-old.
Rossi accused Marquez of "making me lose the championship" last season but the pair shook hands after the race.
"The important thing is that we had a great battle with Valentino and I think the people enjoyed it," said Marquez.
Lorenzo came off his Yamaha bike after a clash with Ducati's Andrea Iannone, who he will replace next year, on lap 17.
"I am appalled by Iannone's move," said Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis.
"He hasn't learned his lesson from what he did earlier this season where he took out his own team mate.
"This do-or-die suicide move on Lorenzo is impossible. - it's not acceptable to do this sort of thing."


Swindon's half marathon could still be saved for the long-term by reducing its cost, the borough council has said.

Former organiser The British Heart Foundation announced last week it was pulling out due to the Â£40,000 event no longer being viable.
However the council says it is "pulling out the stops" to ensure the fundraiser goes ahead as planned on 11 October.
The Save the Children charity has also announced it could "take up the baton", but only with financial support.
The council was working to reduce the cost through options such as changing the route or moving it to a completely different venue, such as Lydiard Park.
Last year, the race attracted more than 1,500 runners.


Salford Red Devils have appointed former club captain Ian Blease as their new chief executive.

The 51-year-old former forward spent eight years as a player at Salford.
Owner Marwan Koukash had taken on the role of chief executive following the departure of Martin Vickers last year.
"Ian has had a long and illustrious career in both rugby and business management. Not only is he a well respected businessman, he is a born and raised Salfordian," said Koukash.
"Starting from today we will actively be working to increase our profile and the brand of Salford, not only within the community but, across the north west region."


The number of bus routes on London's Oxford Street has been cut by 40% ahead of its potential pedestrianisation.

Transport for London (TfL) said 23 London bus routes along Europe's busiest shopping street will cut or re-routed.
TfL said the changes would reduce congestion and improve reliability.
But it also admitted some customers would need to change buses to complete their journeys.
The changes to the routes followed a wide-ranging consultation to ensure services were more closely matched to changing demand.
Buses will be re-routed away from Oxford Street, with some terminating at Park Lane, Trafalgar Square and Tottenham Court Road.
Other bus routes will be extended to maintain connections.
The bus routes affected include the numbers: 3, 6, 8, 15, 22, 23, 25, 46, 73, 137, 172, 242, 332, 390, 425, 452, C2, N2, N3, N8, N15, N22 and N73.
Tfl said it would start to implement the changes to these routes in the summer.
In his election manifesto last year, London Mayor Sadiq Khan promised to remove traffic from Oxford Street by 2020.
A further consultation, likely to include plans to pedestrianise the road, will launch later this month.
Leon Daniels, TfL's director of surface transport, said: "As our city changes around us, we need to ensure the bus network changes too.
"Making sure we have the right level of buses in central London is key to keeping our city moving."
Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, added: "We welcome Transport for London's proposal to reduce the number of buses across the West End, which will greatly help reduce congestion and improve air quality in London's retail heartland."