Several of Britain's biggest tea brands, including PG Tips, Tetleys and Twinings, have said they will work to improve the tea estates they buy from in India after a BBC investigation found dangerous and degrading living and working conditions.

Harrods has stopped selling some tea products in response, and Rainforest Alliance, the ethical certification organisation, has conceded the investigation has revealed flaws in its audit process.
The joint investigation by Radio 4's File on Four and BBC News in Assam, north-east India, found workers living in broken houses with terrible sanitation.  Many families have no toilets and say they have no choice but to defecate amongst the tea bushes.
Living and working conditions are so bad, and wages so low, that tea workers and their families are left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses.
There was also a disregard for health and safety, with workers spraying chemicals without protection, and on some estates, child labour being used.
Plantation owners in India are obliged by law to provide and maintain "adequate" houses, and sanitary toilets for workers.
Yet homes on the tea estates were in terrible disrepair, with leaking roofs and damp and cracked walls.  Many toilets are blocked or broken.
Workers said their homes were not repaired despite repeated requests to management, often over many years.
The drains are open and unlined and many clogged with effluent.  In some cases, cesspits are overflowing into the living areas of people's homes.
Many homes have no electricity, and on one estate workers had to drink rainwater piped from a stream.
A manager on an estate owned by the world's biggest tea producer, McLeod Russel, admitted there is "a huge backlog of repairs".
McLeod Russel's Assam estates supply tea to the companies that own PG Tips, Liptons, Tetley and Twinings.
The manager described conditions for some workers as "not acceptable" and said the estate has just 464 toilets to serve 740 homes.
Find out more: Hear the full story on File on 4 at 8pm on Tuesday 8 September on BBC Radio 4.
The head of the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association, which represents tea producers in India, also accepted that conditions appeared to be well below standard.
"Let me be clear," Sandip Ghosh told the BBC, "cesspools and open defecation are not acceptable to me or the association.  These issues need to be addressed."
Many Indians live in dismal housing, but Indian law says decent housing and sanitation are part of a tea worker's pay.
This is the justification plantation owners give for the extremely low wages in the industry. Tea workers in Assam earn 115 rupees a day, just over Â£1 ($1.50) , significantly below the minimum wage (177 rupees in Assam).
This combination of appalling conditions and low pay on tea plantations can be deadly.
Studies have confirmed levels of malnutrition on tea estates are very high, even by India's woeful standards.
Nine out of 10 patients from tea plantations are malnourished, according to the medical director of Assam Medical College, one of the main general hospitals serving the tea region.
Professor AK Das says malnutrition makes tea workers and their families vulnerable to diseases caused by their unhygienic living conditions.
"Diseases of poverty" are common, he says, with lots of patients coming in with diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, skin lesions and serious infections like TB and meningitis.
He describes a tragic cycle: children come in so weak from malnutrition they struggle to recover from curable illnesses, and then quickly relapse after they are released from hospital.
As a result, Prof Das says, tea workers' children - and their parents - are significantly more likely to die of their illnesses than other patients at the hospital.
And the BBC found other abuses.
One girl who said she was 14, was picking tea at the prestigious Doomur Dullung estate.  She said she had been working full time for two months.
Doomur Dullung is owned by one of the oldest tea companies in the world, Assam Company, and supplies Twinings, Yorkshire Tea, Harrods and Fortnum and Mason.
Two other children said they had been employed full time on estates owned by Assam Company since they were in their early teens.
The UN rules on child labour say no child under 15 should work full time.
There was also a disregard for health and safety on some tea estates.
On one estate owned by Assam Company workers were spraying pesticides without the protective equipment required by law.
These workers said although protective equipment was given out once a year, it would wear out within a couple of months and was not replaced.
They reported side effects including breathing difficulties, numbness of the hands and face, a burning sensation on the skin and profound loss of appetite.
On one McLeod Russel estate, workers were spraying chemicals with overalls but no other protection.
Professor Das said he regularly sees patients suffering serious side effects from pesticide exposure.
Assam Company has called the BBC's allegations "baseless and false".
McLeod Russel said the safety and living conditions of workers is the company's priority. It said protective equipment is provided free to workers, they are trained in its use and that regular spot checks are conducted to ensure compliance.
Tea estates also police access to the workers' living areas very tightly, despite access being guaranteed by law.
Tea workers are vulnerable to exploitation because the plantations control so many aspects of their lives. The right of public access is supposed to enable people to visit them to check on their welfare.
Yet the BBC was denied entry to the workers' living area of one of McLeod Russel's estates, and were even imprisoned briefly within the factory compound.
The fact that there is a very serious issue with living and working conditions on tea plantations in Assam is well known.
In January last year Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute published a major study into conditions on estates part-owned Tata, the giant Indian industrial conglomerate that also owns Tetley Tea.
The report said the "inhumane" and "abusive" conditions it found were endemic throughout the industry.
Tata told the BBC it is addressing "a number of serious social issues" on its estates and says it is working hard to improve living and working conditions.
In response to the BBC's other findings, Tata said it is committed to the "fair and ethical treatment" of people across its supply chain and said its membership of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) demonstrated its commitment to improving conditions in the tea industry.
The Ethical Tea Partnership is an organisation set up by UK tea companies to improve the lives of those who make tea.  Its executive director, Sarah Roberts - also speaking on behalf of Twinings - acknowledged its members are "very aware of the challenges" in tea-growing regions.
She said the Ethical Tea Partnership is working with the industry to make positive improvements to the lives of those who produce tea.  The focus is to improve conditions in the industry, Ms Roberts said, "so everyone, whether in India or anywhere else, has a good life".
The welfare of workers is of "utmost importance", according to Fortnum and Mason, which pointed out all its teas are sourced in conjunction with the Ethical Tea Partnership.
Unilever, which owns PG Tips and Liptons, says it takes the issues the BBC has raised seriously, but that progress has been made.  However, the company recognises "there is still more to be done to raise standards" and says it is "working with our suppliers to achieve responsible and sustainable practices".
Harrods says it has removed Doomur Dullung tea from its shelves in response to the BBC investigation, but noted it hasn't bought any tea from the garden this year.
Meanwhile Taylors of Harrogate, which owns the Yorkshire Tea brand, told the BBC the company was "extremely concerned" by the BBC's findings and said it was "investigating as a matter of urgency".
All the estates the BBC visited have been certified by the Rainforest Alliance and awarded its "frog seal", displayed on the packaging of many leading tea brands.
Rainforest Alliance is an NGO that claims to work to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods.  It says its frog seal signals that businesses are managed according to "rigorous criteria" designed to "protect workers, their families and local communities".
Stephen Ekka, an activist with the local NGO PAJHRA, is campaigning to improve conditions on the tea estates.  He told the BBC he believes the Rainforest Alliance's frog logo "is more about selling tea than about empowering workers".
Rainforest Alliance acknowledged issues with the certification process. "Clearly an auditing process, because it rests on an annual inspection, is not going to be perfect," its director Edward Millard said.
He admitted housing was a "systemic problem" in Assam and said "a really serious and long term upgrading of housing conditions" was necessary.
If its auditors had found any evidence of child labour or workers using pesticides without protective equipment, he told the BBC, then the plantations in question would have been decertified.
BBC World News will show The Real Cost of A Cuppa on Friday 11th September at 23:30 GMT and on Saturday 12th September at 11:30 GMT, 16:30 GMT & 22:30 GMT and on Sunday 13th September at 04:30 GMT & 17:30 GMT.


Englishmen Danny Willett and Justin Rose finished in a four-way tie for sixth at the Open Championship, to end as the top Britons at St Andrews.

Willett, who played the final round with new Open champion Zach Johnson, beat his previous best of a tie for 15th at Muirfield in 2013.
Rose recorded his best Open finish as a professional, but picked up just three birdies in a two-under final day 70.
"I needed another gear that I couldn't quite get today," Rose told BBC Sport.
He has still never done better than the fourth place he achieved as an amateur at Royal Birkdale in 1998, when he memorably holed his pitch on the last.
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Rose, Willett, Spain's Sergio Garcia and American amateur Jordan Niebrugge finished on 11-under - four shots outside the four-hole three-man play-off between Johnson, 2010 St Andrews champion Louis Oosthuizen and Australian outsider Marc Leishman.
"It was one of those days when everybody else was making birdies but I just didn't feel that easy on the front nine," added 37-year-old Rose, who had gambled on a change of putter. "It felt hard to get the ball closer than 15 or 20 feet.
"It's still a special place to be on the final day of an Open. It's an amazing finishing hole. I said to my caddie Fooch (Mark Fulcher) walking over the Swilcan Bridge 'This is as good as it gets'.
"Obviously we were playing just for places and pride, but it still gets the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up and your heart rate going one or two beats faster."
Yorkshireman Willett, 27, told BBC Radio Sheffield: "My game felt good this week and it felt great to perform.
"I'd loved to have won but I'm very pleased for Zach. I've played with him a few times and he's a great guy. We kept each other relatively calm on a very tricky day.
"The wedge game he put on today was almost perfect. Anything inside 100 yards and he was lethal. And, as for that last putt of his on 18, I gave him a bit of a read on that, so I'll be expecting a bit of a present in the post."
Of the other home contenders, 40-year-old Londoner Anthony Wall and Shropshire amateur Ashley Chester both flirted with the lead after dazzling front nines.
They ended up in a tie for 12th on nine under alongside Ryder Cup player Luke Donald, who once again enjoyed a good final round at an Open.
The Hemel Hempstead-born former Bucks/Berks & Oxfordshire amateur shot a closing 68 - to match the score he shot on day one - lifting him four places back up the Official World Golf Rankings to 60th.
Oxfordshire's Eddie Pepperell, who began the final day four shots back, fell away with a 76.


Politicians in the Welsh assembly are "out of touch" with voters, the man in charge of UKIP policy for the 2016 election campaign has claimed.

Mark Reckless said the "Cardiff Bay establishment" saw more devolution as a way to boost its power and importance.
He said he did not understand why a consensus was emerging in support of income tax powers without a referendum.
Labour said UKIP's values were "not shared by the vast majority in Wales".
UKIP got more than 200,000 votes in Wales at the general election - more than both Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats - but did not win any seats.
The party is likely to pick up several assembly seats next May as the election has an element of proportional representation.
Former Tory MP Mr Reckless, now UKIP's head of policy development, said the party would campaign for directly elected health boards, the return of grammar schools, and more powers being devolved to councils.
He claimed "most people in Wales" did not want to see more powers devolved along the lines of the Scottish model.
"There seems to be a distance from what I describe as the Cardiff Bay establishment and just people I speak to on the doorstep in Wales," said Mr Reckless.
"They're out of touch with voters.  And I think part of that is the Cardiff Bay establishment sees devolution as something that's about them and about their powers and their importance."
Mr Reckless said UKIP accepted devolution and wanted to "make it work", but rejected the idea of Welsh powers over income tax without public approval in a referendum.
"We don't want to see taxes raised and I don't think there's any burning desire from people in Wales to be paying yet more tax than people in England," he said.
"I don't understand why there's such a consensus in the Cardiff Bay establishment that that's the way to go, having promised that that wouldn't happen back in 2011," he added, referring to the last devolution referendum in Wales.
Political commentator Daran Hill said UKIP's description of a "Cardiff Bay establishment" could be effective.
"I think UKIP can capitalise with people who don't want the assembly at all," he said.
"They can also capitalise with people who are disillusioned with the assembly.
"I think there might be a market where people might just be fed up of hearing about talk of more powers, tax-raising powers, law-making powers."
A spokesman for Welsh Labour said: "UKIP's values are not ones shared by the vast majority in Wales.
"That they have sent a right-wing former Tory MP from Kent to Wales to tell people what they should think shows how poorly they understand Wales."
The spokesman added that First Minister Carwyn Jones had never ruled out a referendum on income tax, but noted other parts of the UK were getting more powers without such a poll.
The Welsh Conservatives said UKIP were "out of touch" on devolution, and said they wanted people to "have a say" on income tax powers through a referendum.
Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats both said they believed income tax powers should be devolved without a referendum.


In an unusual development, three foreigners were appointed to Ukraine's new government this week.

US-born Natalie Jaresko became finance minister, Lithuania's Aivaras Abromavicius economy minister and Aleksandre Kvitashvili - from Georgia - health minister. Hours before the vote in the parliament that installed them, all three were granted Ukrainian citizenship by President Petro Poroshenko.
The move is part of a fresh anti-corruption drive in Kiev. Politicians and other officials supportive of the idea say outsiders in the cabinet will have fewer vested interests, or links to local lobbyists. President Poroshenko also said Ukraine should make use of "the best international experience".
But his opponents argue that Ukrainians should run their own country. Nationality is politically sensitive, as pro-Russian rebels in the east refuse to recognise the Kiev leadership.
Appointing foreigners as cabinet ministers is rare, but not unprecedented in the former Soviet Union.
In Georgia, French-born Salome Zurabishvili - ethnically Georgian - served as foreign minister in ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili's pro-Western government in 2004-05.
In 2012 in Ukraine, former Russian citizen Dmitriy Salamatin was appointed defence minister under President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in the wake of massive pro-EU demonstrations two years later.
Natalie Jaresko has more than two decades of experience in investment, finance and business strategy. She was born in the US, but is ethnically Ukrainian. Ms Jaresko received a masters degree in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 1989, then served in various economic positions at the US Department of State.
Shortly after Ukraine gained independence in 1992, she relocated to Kiev, where she joined the economic section of the newly-opened US embassy. In 1995, she joined the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, a private equity firm which distributed US government funds, and rose to be its CEO. In 2004, she co-founded the Horizon Capital investment fund in Kiev and worked as its CEO.
Ms Jaresko won high praise from two former Ukrainian presidents, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko. In 2003, Mr Kuchma awarded her the Order of Princess Olha for her contribution to the Ukrainian economy. In 2005-10, she served in Mr Yushchenko's Foreign Investors Advisory Council.
Aivaras Abromavicius is a Lithuanian-born specialist in emerging markets investment. He graduated from Concordia University in Wisconsin, USA, with a BA in international business.
In 1996, Mr Abromavicius started his career at Hansabank, a major bank operating in the Baltic states, which then became part of the Swedbank group, where he was appointed head of equities in 1998. He then worked for three years as head of trading at Brunswick Emerging Markets, a consultancy.
In 2002, he joined East Capital, a global investment fund which specialises in emerging markets. There, he was part of a portfolio management team for Eastern Europe.
Aleksandre Kvitashvili is an experienced health official from Georgia. He studied history at Tbilisi State University and in 1993 received a masters degree in public management from the Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in New York. After briefly working in the US, he returned to Georgia. There, he worked for the UN Development Programme and several healthcare-related organisations.
In 2008-10, he was minister of labour, health and social protection under President Saakashvili. In August 2010, Mr Kvitashvili resigned to become rector of Tbilisi State University, a post which he held until August 2013.
"I've been working on reforms in Ukraine for the past three months, but my love for this country has a much longer history," he said after his appointment on 2 December.
The appointments caused a stir in the Ukrainian media. "The authorities seem to say that there is a dearth of professionals in our country - this is not the case," said Den, an analytical daily.
Speaking to the paper, political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko questioned the new ministers' suitability for their roles. "The downside is that these people do not have any experience of how our government system works, and yet they will have to quickly decide how to reform it," he said.
Another commentator, Vadym Karasyov, called the three ministers "pigs in a poke", in an interview with Segodnya daily.
But Ukrayinska Pravda, a popular news website, welcomed the appointment of foreign professionals to the Ukrainian cabinet. "It is not clear why this should insult the national pride of some commentators," it said. "To implement reforms, we need the best professionals we can find, and their nationality does not matter."
To pro-Kremlin commentators on Russian TV, the ministers' appointment was yet more proof that Ukraine was run by "outsiders" controlled by the West. Much was made of the fact that Natalie Jaresko used to work for the US Department of State. One commentator, Mikhail Pogrebinskiy, told state-controlled Channel One that she was likely to have "dual loyalty".
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Inmates at Bolivia's biggest prison have said they are protesting against government plans to close the jail.

They said they should instead be helped to integrate back into society.
Bolivia's prison service said shutting down San Pedro prison in La Paz would put an end to "cocaine trafficking and other abuses" carried out by prisoners.
The decision follows allegations that a 12-year-old girl became pregnant inside the jail after being repeatedly raped by her imprisoned father and other men.
But a spokesman for the prisoners, Ever Quilche, denied the rape and said the girl was "fine".
"There is no proof that the girl was raped, mistreated or touched," he told the BBC.
"We are waiting for medical tests so that we can deny the allegation."
The girl, who ha been taken into care, was among several hundred children with no alternative but to live in the San Pedro jail while their relatives serve their sentences.
The minors share living space with violent criminals including murderers, rapists, gang members and drug dealers.
"We have been abandoned and we don't know what to do if the jail closes," Mr Quilche complained.
"We need jobs and education so that we can be reintegrated into society."
But the head of the prison service, Ramiro Llanos, said the alleged rape was "the straw that broke the camel's back".
"We have had enough of abuses being committed inside the jail," he told the BBC.
"We cannot control the police. They have orders to stop drugs and alcohol from entering the prison, but to no avail.
"So we will close down the prison altogether."
Mr Llanos explained that no more criminals will be imprisoned there from 18 July, and those already inside will be relocated or released in the next few years.
Originally intended to house around 600 inmates, San Pedro prison now has more than 2,400 prisoners.
Correspondents say the operation of the jail, in central La Paz, has been the subject of constant criticism for its poor infrastructure and overcrowding.


Two men have been charged with assault after a man was attacked in Peel.

The 25-year-old was taken to hospital at about 10:35 BST on Saturday with "serious but non-life-threatening" injuries after an incident outside the House of Manannan, police said.
Liam Lewis, 20 and from Carmane Close, and 18-year-old Anthony Leonard, of Kerroo Coar, are charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Appearing at Douglas Court House, they were remanded in custody until 4 July.


Detectives investigating a suspected telephone fraud - a recording of which was broadcast by BBC News on Saturday - have made an arrest.

The victim, 65-year-old Nargess Sadjady, from West London, told the BBC that she was tricked into transferring Â£12,000 from her bank account.
The recording - of three separate calls - was broadcast on Moneybox on Radio 4.
The BBC understands one suspect has been arrested and interviewed, although no charges have yet been made.
Further enquiries are now being conducted, but it is thought the enquiry may take some time.
Mrs Sadjady later received her money back, after both Santander and the Halifax admitted errors in the way they handled the matter.
Initially Mrs Sadjady was told that there was not enough evidence for the police to conduct an enquiry.
However, after the BBC handed the recordings over, detectives agreed to re-examine the case.


England fell to a five-wicket defeat in an absorbing final Test as West Indies tied the three-match series at 1-1.

England resumed in Barbados 107 ahead at 39-5 but, despite an unbeaten 35 from Jos Buttler, were all out for 123.
It left the hosts with a target of 192 and they were 80-4 before Darren Bravo and Jermaine Blackwood shared 108.
Left-hander Bravo struck three sixes in a magnificent 82 and Blackwood was 47 not out as the hosts beat England for only the second time in 29 Tests.
The match had fluctuated for much of the three days but the Windies were able to regain a share of the Wisden Trophy with relative ease as the England side tired.
A key moment proved to be a fumbled stumping by Buttler with 105 needed, the wicketkeeper unable to gather a sharply turning ball down the leg-side when Blackwood was way out of his ground having danced down the pitch to Joe Root.
After a wretched World Cup campaign, when failed to progress beyond the initial group stages, defeat at the Kensington Oval is likely to leave the England coaching staff with some difficult questions to answer from the hierarchy at the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves said before the start of the series that there would be "some enquiries" if they failed to win in the Caribbean, and he takes up his post on 15 May.
Yet having scrambled for runs in frantic style at the end of a remarkable second day on which 18 wickets fell, England calmly added 23 on the third morning.
The introduction of slow left-armer Veerasammy Permaul soon saw Gary Ballance caught at slip, but Ben Stokes played in positive fashion, unleashing some effective reverse sweeps to add 33 with Buttler, who got off the mark in fine style with a six off Permaul.
However, Stokes skewed the spinner to cover and tall seamer Jason Holder struck with successive balls.
The destructive Buttler blazed four fours and a six from the next seven balls he faced but the number eight was again left not out at the other end when last man James Anderson was lbw after a review.
The home team's reply began one over before lunch and the afternoon soon appeared ominous for England when, for once, Anderson was unable to trouble the batsmen.
Debutant Shai Hope was dropped by Root at third slip off Stuart Broad, with star catcher Chris Jordan inexplicably positioned in the outfield, and both reviews were wasted within the opening 11 overs.
But Jordan trapped Hope lbw with a full delivery angling in, upheld after a review, and then produced another astonishing reflex catch at slip in the next over to snaffle Kraigg Brathwaite off the spin of Moeen Ali.
The Windies added 35 and appeared to be in command again, but England restricted the scoring and Broad nipped one back to rattle through the defence of Marlon Samuels.
Things changed once again after tea, as Bravo launched the first ball of the session from Root for six.
But in the next over the veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul chopped Anderson on to his stumps, ending a disappointing series for the 40-year-old, who averaged only 15 from his six innings.
With all results still possible, a fourth day seemed likely but Bravo and Blackwood mixed defence and attack with great assurance.
Bravo edged Anderson through a vacant second slip area and, though he was well caught by Broad at mid-off with only four needed, the acceleration had been decisive and the Windies, who had lost their previous two series in England, soon completed a famous victory under the floodlights.
Listen to Geoffrey Boycott's review of the third Test on the Test Match Special podcast


A man on trial for the murder of his partner's two-year-old boy kicked and punched the toddler while his mother was at the shops, a court has heard.

Joseph Eke, 22, is accused of attacking Harry House at the family home in Broadmayne, Dorset, on 26 May 2016.
He is also accused of causing a wound that scarred the little boy's face two months earlier and fracturing his ribs two weeks before his death.
Mr Eke denies murder, wounding, actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Winchester Crown Court heard Harry's mother, Lauren O'Neill, had nipped to a shop at 09:27 BST to get washing powder from a store about 100m from her home.
Prosecutor Adam Feest QC said, when she came back, she asked Mr Eke to check whether Harry had tidied his room.
When Mr Eke returned, he told Ms O'Neill that Harry looked like he was going to be sick, before turning "very white", his lips started turning blue and he became "very droopy", the court heard.
Mr Feest said paramedics tried to save Harry but he died in hospital in Dorchester at 11:00 BST.
A post-mortem examination showed he had a "potentially fatal" fractured skull.
Jurors heard Harry died as a result of a blunt-force impact to the abdomen that split his pancreas in two.
The court was told, Mr Eke, of St Lawrence Road, Upwey, Weymouth, had helped with Harry's childcare but feared his ability to cope because he had been beaten as a child.
He allegedly told Ms O'Neill Harry cut his face falling on a plate while she was in the store on another occasion on Easter Sunday.
The court heard the toddler told his great-grandmother that Mr Eke had pushed him that day creating a slit from his lips to his ear.
The trial continues.


Indonesia's government has cut a huge fuel subsidy after months of political haggling, causing petrol prices to rise by 44% and diesel by 22%.

Thousands of motorists rushed to fill up before midnight, after the measure was announced late on Friday.
The announcement sparked clashes in the capital, Jakarta, where protesters blocked roads and fought with police.
Indonesians had been demonstrating on the streets of many major cities all week in anticipation of the rise.
The measure was agreed by parliament on Monday, but MPs did not say when the new prices would come into effect.
Late on Friday, Energy Minister Jero Wacik announced that there would be new prices from midnight on Friday.
"The new price for Premium fuel is 6,500 rupiah ($0.66; Â£0.42) per litre, up from 4,500 rupiah, and Solar diesel will cost 5,500 rupiah per litre, also up from 4,500 rupiah per litre," he said in a statement.
The subsidies are estimated to cost about $20bn a year, equivalent to almost 3% of Indonesia's total economic output.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had been trying to reform the subsidies since early last year.
But previous attempts were derailed by violent protests.
Indonesia has not implemented a major fuel price rise since 2008, and has some of the lowest prices in the world even after the rise.
Analysts say Mr Yudhoyono's failure was threatening the credibility of his government and putting severe pressure on the economy.
Economists and international investors have applauded the move, but most Indonesians have been unimpressed.
Police clashed with students in Surabaya and Yogyakarta during the week, making several arrests.
Muslim groups held protests in Jakarta and Makassar.
And local media reported violent clashes in Jakarta late on Friday, with protesters blocking roads and throwing petrol bombs.
The police made a number of arrests and several protesters suffered minor injuries.
The authorities deployed extra police throughout major cities on Saturday, but most protests passed off peacefully.


Harry Hall says he wants to be one of the top amateur golfers in the world before deciding to turn professional.

The 19-year-old, from Cornwall, narrowly missed out on qualifying for this month's Open Championship.
He is studying for a degree at the University of Nevada and is inside the top 80 of the amateur rankings.
"I want to be in the top 10, and definitely want to be world number one amateur. In two years time that could be possible," Hall told BBC Cornwall.
Find out how to get into golf with our special guide.
"I've had a few options recently about turning pro, but I want to turn pro when I'm one of the top amateurs in the world."
Hall represented Europe in June at the Arnold Palmer Cup, which pits the top 10 university players from the continent against America's best college golfers.
He finished in a tie for seventh place at an Open qualifying event in Kent on 3-4 July, just one shot from reaching a play-off to reach the major tournament.
"There's always next year," he added. "My game hasn't been great this summer, but just to pull something out of the bag a couple days ago and be in contention was really nice.
"I'm getting a degree [in Nevada] and my plan is to finish the two years I have left, walk out with a degree and hopefully I'll play the Walker Cup and then turn professional."


The authorities in El Salvador have announced a series of raids against one of the country's most powerful street gangs, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Five leaders of the gang have been arrested, the attorney general said, including the finance chief.
Police detained 120 people in total and seized weapons, money, drugs and other assets.
El Salvador has been plagued by gang violence and has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Many of the deaths have been caused by the rivalry between the MS-13 and another gang, the Barrio 18.
A temporary truce between the two in 2012 saw the murder rate drop by 40%.
The raids against MS-13 began on Wednesday night.
Hotels, bars, restaurants, brothels, homes and transport connected to the gang were all targeted.
Millions of dollars were seized and several bank accounts frozen, authorities said.
Justice and Security Minister Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said it was the first time the government had disrupted the gang's financing by identifying how they were investing illicit earnings, the Associated Press reports.
Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 have their roots in the 1980s in southern California.
They were created in Los Angeles and its suburbs by poor, mostly illegal, immigrants who had escaped civil wars in Central America.
When the conflicts ended there, many gang members were deported from the US, exporting LA's gang culture with them.
There are an estimated 70,000 active gang members in El Salvador.


BBC Wales has unveiled its coverage plans for the Welsh Assembly election campaign with TV and radio shows set to head on the road.

The broadcaster will measure the temperature among constituents in a series of events during April.
BBC One Wales, S4C, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru will offer comprehensive coverage led by a team of expert presenters and correspondents.
Digital coverage will also be provided online and on mobile.
Mark O'Callaghan, BBC Wales' head of news and current affairs, said: "In the run-up to 5 May, our teams will be on the road, bringing all kinds of people together with the election hopefuls to spark some real scrutiny and in-depth debate."
Dates and locations for the tour's BBC tent, open from 07:00 BST, are as follows:
There will be an opportunity for audiences to visit the tent to meet BBC Wales presenters and have their say on local and national issues.
On 27 April, Huw Edwards will present the BBC Wales Leaders' Debate from St David's Hall in Cardiff. The programme will be shown live on BBC One Wales and the BBC News Channel at 20:30 BST.
Leaders of Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives, the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, UKIP Wales and the Wales Green Party have been invited to take part.
Party leaders will also face questions from the public in a series of debates broadcast by BBC One Wales. Pawb a'i Farn on S4C will also host three election debates.
Bethan Rhys Roberts and BBC Wales political editor Nick Servini will present the BBC One Wales' results programme on 5 May and 6 May.
Dewi Llwyd and BBC Wales Welsh affairs editor Vaughan Roderick will host results on S4C.


A manhunt is under way for three "dangerous" inmates who escaped from a maximum security jail in California.

The men, who may be armed, crawled through plumbing tunnels and climbed down the building using bed sheets for ropes.
Authorities are determining whether the men had help from anyone inside or outside the Orange County Men's Jail when they made their escape on Friday.
All three men were set to go on trial separately for violent crimes.
"Each of the escapees should be considered dangerous," said Lt Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43 and Hossein Nayeri, 37, used tools to cut through the wall of their dormitory.
Clambering through the plumbing system, they made it to the roof and then abseiled to the ground.
Sixteen hours passed before the jail staff noticed. They suspect the escape was a long time in the planning.
"We're talking about breaching, in some places, significant amounts of steel, rebar and metal," said sheriff's lieutenant Jeff Hallock.
"We're going to take a look at everybody who may have been assigned there. What I can assure you is that the compromises in security have been shored up.''
This is the first escape from this jail in 20 years, officials said.
Tieu had been held on murder charges since 2013, Bac Duong was being held on attempted murder charges and Nayeri was being held on kidnapping and torture charges, among others.
There is a $50,000 (Â£35,100) reward for information leading to their recapture.
"There are people out there that know who these people are, who may have seen them. We're asking for phone calls, whether it's any piece of information you may have,'' Mr Hallock said.
Last summer, New York state inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat used tools that allowed them to break through the walls of their cells to freedom, setting off three weeks of searching.
Matt was later shot and killed by authorities while Sweat was captured.
A prison aide was found to have provided the tools and will serve a prison term.


A World War II torpedo has been blown up in the sea off the Isle of Wight after being dragged up from the seabed in Portsmouth Harbour.

The device was towed by a Navy bomb disposal team to a detonation site in the Solent, where a controlled explosion was carried out at 08:45 BST.
Some trains were halted and early ferries were delayed, following the find on Friday afternoon.
Wightlink Ferries said services were now back on schedule.
The train line between Portsmouth and Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour has also re-opened.
A spokesman for Portsmouth's Queen's Harbour Master said: "We worked very hard to make sure the harbour was not closed.
"There were restrictions put in place for public safety and there was a certain amount of disruption to vessels earlier while the torpedo was towed out."
Dredging work is being carried out in Portsmouth harbour to allow the the navy's new 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers to dock.
Three million cubic metres of sea bed is being removed to deepen and widen a 4 mile (7km) channel.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to be handed over to the MoD in 2016 ahead of being put into service in 2020.


Engineering students from Queen's University Belfast have set a new world record with a 100ft footbridge made from Meccano.

The temporary Meccano bridge has been built across Belfast's Clarendon Dock.
It was unveiled at a free public event on Saturday.
Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to confirm it has set a record for the world's largest ever Meccano construction.
The bridge was designed and built by a group of third year civil engineering students and school children.
The year-long project is part of the university's outreach programme to encourage more children to think about careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Around 11,000 pieces of Meccano were used to build the bridge, which weighs 600kg (about 1,300lbs).
Dr Danny McPolin from the school of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, who led the project, said: "If you count all the nuts and bolts and washers, there's approximately 70,000.
"In terms of the longer pieces, if they're all laid out end-to-end I think it would be about 3.8kms - approximately 10,000 or 11,000 pieces.
"So it's a lot of Meccano."
He added: "We see this event not only as an opportunity to celebrate the students' and staff's incredible work over the past year, but also a chance to give local children an insight into the exciting courses on offer at Queen's.
"We hope to welcome as many youngsters as possible on the day and cement their interest in studying civil engineering and other STEM subjects at university level."
The project has received funding from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, AECOM, Meccano and Queen's Annual Fund.


Blackpool's early-season troubles continued as they suffered a shock Capital One Cup first-round exit at the hands of League Two Shrewsbury.

The Seasiders could only name six substitutes - once again failing to fill their full allocation as they did in Saturday's Championship opener.
Striker Scott Vernon's 34th-minute strike settled matters when he netted after good work from Ashley Vincent.
Tomasz Cywka came closest for Blackpool when he hit the post after 43 minutes.
Ishmael Miller made his Seasiders debut as a second-half substitute, while new arrivals Joel Dielna and Jeffrey Rentmeister both featured as manager Jose Riga continues to make up for lost time and mould his squad for the new campaign.
Blackpool had just eight players registered with less than two weeks to go before the start of the season and just four on the bench for their opening league game at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which they lost 2-0.
Shrewsbury manager Micky Mellon told BBC Radio Shropshire:
"From minute one, we were so composed. We passed the ball well, and we had a lot of real scoring opportunities.
"The goal itself was a terrific goal, and we could've had a few more. Two, three or four wouldn't have flattered us.
"We're obviously very pleased to beat a Championship side, but what I'm more pleased about is the performance.
"This club's fighting back now, and this result will go some way towards its recovery."
Blackpool manager Jose Riga told BBC Radio Lancashire:
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"First of all, the best team won. I knew already that this game, three days after the other one, would be difficult for us and it was difficult, not only the contents of the game but also the physical side.
"We had many problems in this game. If the pre-season preparation was not necessary, why do all the teams do that preparation?
"It's difficult, but I knew it would be difficult. We have to find a solution for the next step, and that is about the squad, the team and even the staff - to be able to bring in a fitness coach or some other help that a normal team has already for many weeks."


The "elimination" of Oxfordshire's nine community hospitals is being considered by health bosses, according to the Green Party.

It said the move was part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said community services were being "reviewed".
It added: "What this means for community hospitals needs more work".
In a motion to Oxford City Council, the Green Party said the community hospitals could be replaced by four hubs including one at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
The party's spokesperson for health, Larry Sanders, said: "This is not a decision, this is part of the process, but it does look like they may be in for the chop.
"One of the problems is they [Oxfordshire CCG] are not giving us a lot of information. We do fear that it's going to happen because the size of the cuts are enormous."
In November it was revealed, the part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan affecting community hospitals will be outlined after next May.
Oxfordshire CCG said: "We will be engaging clinicians, patients, and the public as we develop these plans and proposed changes to services will be subject to consultation."
The CCG has estimated it will face a funding gap of Â£200m in 2020 unless action is taken.
Mark Dayan, from the Nuffield Trust, said funding pressures across the NHS meant "very tough decisions are going to have to be made in nearly every area of the country."


The Jersey and Guernsey credit ratings have been downgraded for the first time from AA+ to AA by the US financial services authority Standard and Poor's.

The agency blamed rising regulatory complexity and greater focus on low tax regimes by the G10 on the drop.
It also said the outlook was negative due to the risk to the finance industry if the UK voted to leave the EU.
In November Standard and Poor's reversed a decision to downgrade Guernsey's rating after an appeal.
The appeal had been made then by Guernsey Treasury and Resources.
Jersey was given its first credit rating - of AA+ in 2014 - so it could borrow money to build more social housing.
Jersey and Guernsey have confirmed that they have no intention of appealing this decision which is based on a revised approach by Standard and Poor's as to how they now assess future risks for small sovereign states compared to larger countries.
Jersey treasury minister Senator Alan Maclean said the rating change did not reflect any decline in the economy which is performing better now than at anytime since the financial crisis began in 2008.
He said: "We are clearly disappointed that Jersey and Guernsey and other small sovereign states are all now being assessed in a different way by Standard and Poor's and that this recalibration has resulted in all the credit ratings being lowered. The UK also had its rating revised to negative in June 2015 to reflect the possible impact of it leaving the EU.


New posters of President Bashar al-Assad hang from the centre of soaring archways that welcome you into Syria and replace the once-fading images all along this route from the border with Lebanon.
You notice it on the main highway, the strategic artery that runs to the city of Homs and on to the Mediterranean coast. Military checkpoints have been bolstered and brightened by fresh coats of paint in the black white and red tricolour of Syria's flag.
And you sense it in the comments of President Assad's supporters - the new signs of confidence.
"The problem is not with the Syrian government," insists presidential adviser Dr Bouthaina Shaaban when I ask about the new international diplomacy gathering pace to find a negotiated way out of this war.
"The problem is with those who are truly targeting Syria. "
Nearly five years into a devastating conflict that has shattered large parts of Syria into a patchwork of rebel strongholds, there's an atmosphere of greater certainty in political and military circles in Damascus.
Never mind that the economy is bad, and getting worse, that a spent Syrian army's accelerated recruitment drive is causing many young men to flee, and that a growing number of middle class professionals have left or are thinking of it.
"We're glad the Russians are here," is a phrase I heard time and again in the corridors of power.
The September surprise of Russia's sudden entry into the air campaign against the so-called Islamic State (IS), followed by the continuing despatch of advanced weaponry and Russian forces described as military advisors, have started to ease some of the pressure on Syria's army on key front lines.
It's been clear from the pattern of Russia's airstrikes that its definition of "targeting terrorists" extends beyond IS to other groups threatening President's Assad's position in strategic areas, including around Damascus.
"What kind of weaponry have they given you?' I ask an official in the Ministry of Defence.
"Everything," he says with a big broad smile, which underlines that the biggest gift of all was the very public signal that Russia is standing with them.
"They are more confident at the moment because they see the situation unfolding to their advantage," remarks a European diplomat who visits Damascus.
He points to Turkey's downing of a Russian military plane as another element that strengthens their narrative.
But the political price tag for Russia's extensive and expensive military backing remains unclear.
Much attention has focused on President Assad's very rare foreign visit which took him to Moscow in October - every photograph has been scrutinised for telltale signs of the nature of this increasingly critical relationship.
"He was told 'Don't say no to everything'," a Western official involved in the new diplomatic moves tells me.
"Putin made it clear there had to be a more constructive approach because military support was not endless."
Syrian officials have a different take on a meeting Western and Arab diplomats describe as a "summoning".
"He came back very pleased," is how a Syrian with close ties to the president's inner circle put it.
What seems clear is Moscow does not want its Syrian engagement to become "another Afghanistan" - the kind of long costly engagement after its 1979 Afghan invasion.
But among the lessons there is that once Moscow visibly withdrew backing for its ally President Najibullah, the system began to crumble from within, pressure mounted from outside and Kabul collapsed.
Avoiding precipitous collapse in Damascus, in a region already fraught with all too much chaos and crisis, is the only goal that now unites many sides in this conflict.
It has created small shifts in the position of Western and Arab states whose firm stance has long been simply "Assad must go".
"The political process can start with Assad but must end without him," is the new phrase I heard on a recent visit to Riyadh. But Saudi Arabia wants concrete proof that this is how any negotiations will finish, before they begin. For the opposition, it's the Syrian leader's presence that's fuelling this war, including the rise of IS.
But in Damascus, the narrative hasn't shifted.
"We don't care what the West says," declares Minister of Information Omran Zoubi who calls those demanding President Assad's departure "delusional".
Even officials who don't speak publicly for the president say in private his exit is not on the cards.
"He's the cement holding all the security and intelligence agencies together," says one well-connected businessman. "It's in everyone's interest that he stays."
The looming question is still who or what will replace him at a time when minds in many capitals are focused on the growing threat from IS.
A senior Russian official told me last month that, in an effort to move this long deadlocked process forward, the word "transition" was being downplayed, as well as the president's future role.
That is what emerged from the second round of the "Vienna process" which brings together all the main outside players - both enemies and allies of President Assad - around the same table for the first time.
Last week's opposition meeting in Riyadh was part of new efforts to forge a more cohesive leadership to attend Syria talks set to take place as early as he first week of January.
But the inclusion of Islamist forces such as Ahrar al-Sham only sharpened the derisory reply from Damascus. President Assad immediately retorted that he would not "negotiate with terrorists".  That riposte resonates in Russia, which is calling for a clearer delineation of who is who in the opposition.
There's talk in Damascus of more military offensives, now backed to the hilt by its allies. There's a focus on local ceasefires, such as the one in the last rebel-held district of Homs last week, which are closer to surrenders on the government's own terms. And there are many opposition groups who also still vow to fight to the end.
"How can anyone be blamed for scepticism?" a UN official asks. "But the alternative is another five years of destructive war."
There is some real progress in the political process. But unless and until it moves into the difficult detail of a real transition, the confidence in Damascus will remain undiminished.


Out-of-work manager Paul Lambert says that finding a new job will be "quite seamless" for him.

Lambert, 46, left Blackburn in May and is looking for his seventh managerial job since 2005.
"I'll wait and see. I want to get into it again. I don't find it hard at all to get another job," the former Aston Villa and Norwich boss told BBC Sport.
Lambert, a former Celtic and Borussia Dortmund midfielder, said clubs must "pick up the phone" to hire him.
"It's quite seamless for myself," said Lambert about the process of finding another club. "I can only speak for myself, but I find it no bother at all. There are already one or two things I've looked at."
There were 70 managerial changes across England's top four divisions this season, with a record 56 dismissals - exceeding the previous high of 53 in 2001-02.
League Managers Association chief Richard Bevan descried the figures as "embarrassing".
Lambert - who led Norwich to two consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League in 2010 and 2011 - says he is looking for another challenge.
He said: "I've worked at some great clubs, but you move on and try to find somewhere else to start a project."
"I don't have any issues of going into a dressing room or taking a club on."
Lambert, who won the Champions League with Dortmund in 1997, thinks his European experience will help him find work in the UK or overseas.
"I'm lucky that I can pick up the phone and have a look at things abroad," said the Scot.
"It depends when someone wants me. They've got to pick up the phone. I want to get into management again."


South African jazz legend Ray Phiri has died at the age of 70 after a two-month battle with lung cancer.

The guitarist, producer and vocalist rose to fame when he featured on Paul Simon's Graceland album in 1986.
He was admitted to hospital two weeks ago and died in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Family spokesperson Paul Nkanyane says he was surrounded by friends and relatives at the clinic, in the north-eastern city of Nelspruit.
Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories
Mr Phiri's condition became public this week when a friend and fellow musician started a crowdfunding initiative to help pay for his medical bills.
In an interview with The Sowetan newspaper earlier this month, Phiri said: "Let me suffer [in peace with my] pain, on my own with my dignity."
Tributes have been pouring in for Phiri on Twitter, with people using the hashtag #RIPRayPhiri:
Before reaching international fame with Graceland, Phiri was already an established musician in South Africa and lead singer of 1970s band Stimela.
The group's afro-fusion sounds combined jazz with mbaqanga - a Zulu musical style with rural roots.


New cash incentives will be offered to doctors who train and work as GPs in Wales in a bid to tackle an issue with recruitment.

Junior doctors will get £20,000, providing they stay for at least one year after completing their training.
Those who train as GPs will also get a one-off payment of £2,000 to cover the cost of their final exams.
It is part of a Welsh Government campaign to get doctors to train and work here in a bid to combat shortages.
Incentives will be in place in time for the August 2017 intake and BBC Wales understands this is the first scheme of its kind in the UK.
In another UK first, a new contract will be offered to all trainee doctors in Wales regardless of their specialism - which will guarantee protected time for learning.
Some trainees previously raised concerns their time to study was limited because they had to spend longer looking after patients due to increasing pressures on frontline services.
More than a quarter of GPs in Wales surveyed by the British Medical Association said they were considering leaving the profession, with concerns over workload and understaffing.
A group of GPs in Rhondda - where up to half of family doctors are over 55 - created their own website aimed at tackling recruitment issues.
It follows on from long-term concerns about doctors retiring and some practices being handed back to health boards.
The new contract, being introduced by the Welsh Government, health boards and the Wales Deanery - the body responsible for training junior doctors - includes study time written into the working week.
Specialist training in general practice takes three years to complete.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: "Financial incentives are only part of the picture. So part of the offer will be about saying in these different parts of Wales, these are all the things you can do with your whole family if you buy into being part of the life and fabric of Wales.
"It's an uniquely Welsh offer."
This week, the Royal College of General Practitioners in Wales warned chronic under-investment meant GPs were facing a "perfect storm" of increased demand, heavier workloads and a shrinking workforce.
Under the new campaign, being run in the UK and abroad, there will also be telephone and online support for doctors interested in returning to Wales.
"I won't pretend to you or any GP that this is a magic wand that will suddenly take away all of that pressure and difficulty," said Mr Gething.
"We need to make sure people still love their job and that we do something about how busy they are and how effective they get to use their time.
"That's why other healthcare professionals are absolutely part of the solution."
Gwyndaf Williams, from north Wales, has been a doctor in Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taff, for four years and trained in the valleys.
Unusually, he is working with four other people in the practice aged under 40.
"Being a GP can be a very isolating job, it's important you work in an understanding team and help each other out for longevity," he said.
"It can get very intense. We're now entering the winter months and we're seeing respiratory tract illnesses, coughs and colds and we do find the access to appointments getting harder and we're seeing more patients.
"Personally, I think it's about improving the day-to-day life of general practice, just making the days easier, making the workload less, that in itself will attract people to take permanent positions."


Wasps are hoping Kurtley Beale will be fit for the Premiership final, in what would be his last game for the club before he returns to Australia.

Beale, 28, limped out of Saturday's dramatic 21-20 semi-final win over Leicester with a hamstring injury.
"It doesn't look like it's disastrous but it is a tight turnaround," Wasps director of rugby Dai Young said.
"We're hoping he's going to be right for next week because it'd be fitting for Kurtley to run out at Twickenham."
Australia international Beale only made his Wasps debut in December after spending seven months out with a serious knee injury.
However, he is leaving the club at the end of his one-year deal after being advised to return home if he wants to feature in the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Wasps secured their place in the Twickenham showpiece thanks to Josh Bassett's late try against Tigers.
Their opponents will be Exeter, who stunned Saracens 18-16 in the other semi-final, and Young said his table-toppers would not underestimate the Chiefs.
He said: "We've got huge respect for Exeter, they're a fantastically-coached team.
"We're all really looking forward to what is going to be a fantastic occasion for everybody at Wasps down at Twickenham next week."


Council cuts to care in England are so severe there is a real risk families may take legal action, experts say.

In a joint plea to ministers, the Nuffield Trust, King's Fund and Health Foundation said the sector was facing a major funding shortage.
The think tanks said cuts were so deep, councils may no longer be meeting their duties to the elderly and disabled.
The government says it is investing in the care system with £5bn set aside for the NHS to work with the care system.
An additional £1.5bn is being added to that by 2019, while councils have been allowed to increase council tax by 2% a year to invest in care services.
The latest warning about care services comes ahead of Chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement later this month on government spending.
Councils are complaining they have not been given enough cash. and last month, the regulator, the Care Quality Commission, said council care cuts were one of the major factors behind the growing demands on A&E units.
The three think tanks, which are making a joint submission to ministers ahead of that announcement, highlighted figures showing how councils had started reducing the amount of support they provided to older people.
Richard Humphries, from the King's Fund, said it was clear councils were struggling to meet their statutory duties under the Care Act, including promoting well-being and providing high quality care to elderly and disabled people.
He said while he was not aware of any legal action yet, he pointed to rising numbers of complaints about care being made to the the Local Government Ombudsman and a rise in the number being upheld as a sign that could change.
"That shows that councils are struggling. It is a warning sign. We could start seeing people taking legal action," he added.
You stay in your own home while getting help with everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and eating.
average amount of care provided per week, by your council
average paid per hour by your council, 2014-15
average paid per hour in your region if you pay for your own care, 2016
You live in a care home that provides round-the-clock support with everyday tasks.
TBC pay for their own care
You live in a care home which provides round-the-clock support for everyday tasks and nursing care. Depending on your medical needs, the NHS may contribute to your costs.
TBC pay for their own care
Savings, investments and income are assessed, along with the value of your home - unless you or a close relative live there.
Councillor Izzi Seccombe, of the Local Government Association, said: "Unless social care is properly funded, there is a real risk to the quality and safety of care and being able to meet basic needs such as ensuring people are washed and dressed or helped out of bed.
"The government must use the Autumn Statement to provide councils with the funding to ensure we have a fair care system which keeps people out of hospital and living independent, dignified lives at home and in the community."


Forward David Wheeler says the contrast in Exeter City's fortunes this season is "poetic" after reaching the League Two play-off final.

The Devon club went bottom of the table after a last-gasp 3-2 loss at Carlisle in November, 17 games into the season.
But they beat the same opponents by the same score in similar circumstances to seal a trip to Wembley on 28 May.
"To come back the way we have and get to within a game of going up to League One is just incredible," Wheeler said.
"When it was Carlisle away in November - probably our darkest time - we were trying to get back into things, get out of the relegation zone, and then we lost at the death.
"To contrast that feeling to this is poetic."
Exeter spent 59 days of the regular season in the bottom two - more than relegated Hartlepool - with only Newport and Leyton Orient spending longer in the drop zone.
"We had 15 games at the start of the season where we could hardly put a team out and there was discontent everywhere - people were questioning me and the squad," manager Paul Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon.
"We've had an incredible year of upset and, I suppose, lack of belief in the players from outside the dressing room - now we've got an opportunity to finish it off with a success."
Blackpool will be Exeter's opponents in the final - the team they met on the very first day of the campaign in August.
"It's been a long season, it's a long story," added Tisdale. "It's two bookends at the end of a long story - let's finish it off with an Exeter City success."


A man who killed a commuter and injured three others in a knife attack at a railway station near Munich suffered from psychological problems and drug addiction, state officials say.

The man attacked four people shortly before 05:00 (03:00 GMT) on Tuesday at Grafing station. One of the victims died of his wounds in hospital.
A 27-year-old German man was eventually overpowered by police and arrested.
Some witnesses said he shouted "Allahu akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic).
But a spokesman for Bavaria state's interior ministry said that "so far we have no evidence for an Islamist motive".
"We have found the man had psychological and drug problems," Oliver Platzer told AFP news agency. He said the investigation was continuing.
The suspect has been identified as a German national, apparently from the Hessen area of central Germany.
Earlier, an Upper Bavaria police spokesperson said that a "political motive" had not been ruled out.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann described it as a terrible attack and said a second victim had suffered life-threatening injuries.
He said there were no indications that the man was from a migrant background, adding: "So far there are no findings that are relevant for state security."
Footage from the scene showed bloody footprints on a train and the station platform in Grafing, a Bavarian town 40km (25 miles) east of Munich.
The police spokesman said one of the victims had been stabbed on the train and others at the station or outside the building.
The mayor of Grafing, Angelika Obermayr, expressed shock at the attack.
"The idea that people get on an S-Bahn train on a beautiful morning or do their paper round and then become victims of a maniac is terrible," she was quoted as saying.
One of the platforms at Grafing station has been cordoned off and commuter trains have been hit by delays.


A banned driver who knocked down a pedestrian in Cardiff city centre has been jailed for three years.

Mohammad Yousuf Arshad, 23, hit John Dare on 26 July and the train driver said he was "lucky to be alive".
Cardiff Crown Court heard how Arshad, of Cathays, Cardiff, had been trying to escape from police and reached speeds of up to 58mph in 30mph zones.
He admitted five driving offences including causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said Arshad took a BMW from a friend's house - but was spotted by police.
"The officer illuminated his blue lights and sirens signalling for the BMW to stop," he told the court.
"As the officer opened the driver's door Arshad accelerated away at speed."
He drove in a bus lane on Westgate Street and "squeezed" between other vehicles in an attempt to escape, Mr Gobir said.
Analysts who viewed CCTV footage said that Arshad reached speeds of up to 58mph in 30mph zones close to Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
He drove over a pavement and struck Mr Dare, who was about to cross Wood Street on a pedestrian crossing, when driving on the wrong side of the road.
Mr Dare suffered serious injuries, including a fractured arm and multiple lacerations, and spent a week in hospital.
Mr Gobir said: "Mr Dare was knocked onto the bonnet of the car before sliding down onto the road.
"The BMW broke to a slow stop after the collision, then after a second drove around him and sped off."
Arshad admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified, failing to stop after a road traffic collision and using a vehicle without insurance.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Dare said he was "lucky to be alive".
"The driver did not stop after hitting me, which I find horrendous. Why did he not stop to help me?"
Recorder of Cardiff Eleri Rees said: "Mr Dare didn't have a hope or moment to take any evasive action.
"Instead of stopping to see his injuries, your first thought was for yourself."
Leighton Mawer, of the Crown Prosecution Service Cymru-Wales, said: "At the time of the collision Arshad was driving on the wrong side of the road.
"Despite colliding with a pedestrian, who was then thrown from the vehicle's bonnet, Arshad carried on driving in an attempt to evade the police.
"Arshad shouldn't have been on the road at all that day but chose to ignore the previous court order banning him from driving. That decision had terrible consequences for Mr Dare, to whom we wish a speedy recovery."


Irish Cup holders Glenavon scored a controversial first goal as they beat Championship side Armagh City 2-0 in Saturday's sixth round.

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James Gray's first-half score was allowed despite Armagh keeper John Connolly having the ball knocked out his grasp by Glenavon's Rhys Marshall.
Greg Moorhouse's penalty made it 2-0 to the Premiership side.
"The referee has admitted he got it wrong. It is hard to take, but what can you do," said keeper Connolly.
"We were well in the game - it was close.
"For a game like that to be changed in that way, well I have to be careful about what I say, but it was shocking."
Former Northern Ireland Under-21 striker Gray, who recently joined Glenavon club from Southport, said he had expected referee Arnold Hunter to stop play.
"I saw the ball rolling out to me and was going to knock it back to the keeper," said Gray.
"But the referee did not blow so I did when every striker would do - you put the ball in the net and ask questions later."
The seven Premiership teams in the last 16 all made it through to the quarter-finals.
League Cup finalists Ballymena United went behind away to Championship opposition when David Rainey fired H&W Welders into the lead.
But United debutant Kevin Braniff's equaliser forced extra-time and David Jeffrey's men took the lead through Tony Kane with Braniff making it 3-1 with his second goal.
Portadown, bottom of the Premiership, were trailing to an early goal scored by Loughgall's Peter Campbell but Shea McGerrigan and Tiernan Mulvenna clinched a 2-1 win for Niall Currie's visitors.
Second-half goals by David Cushley and Jordan Forsythe saw Premiership leaders Crusaders win 2-0 against Championship side PSNI who had keeper Jordan Williamson sent off late in the game.
Linfield, who have won the cup a record 42 times, progressed to the last eight by beating Institute, Cameron Stewart and Andrew Waterworth getting the goals at Drumahoe.
Institute's Aaron Harkin was sent-off as he picked up a second yellow for dissent after referee Ian McNab controversially disallowed a Mark Scoltock header which would have made it 1-1.
Jamie McGonigle's early goal was enough to give Coleraine a 1-0 home win over Tobermore United.
There will be one non-Premiership side in the quarter-finals as Championship leaders saw off Crewe United 5-0.
Conor McMenamin, Stephen Murray, Philip Donnelly, Liam McKenna and Curtis Dempster scored for Matt Tipton's side.


Livingston manager David Hopkin urged his players to keep faith in the club's survival fight after defeating Falkirk.

The 2-1 victory means a win over Alloa Athletic next weekend would consign their opponents to relegation, leaving Livingston and Dumbarton battling to avoid the play-off spot.
"There's real belief and team spirit," Hopkin told BBC Scotland.
"We need to make sure we keep that going until the end of the season."
Hopkin's side has won three of their last five games but remain second-bottom, two points behind Dumbarton.
The win over Falkirk - the Bairns' first home league defeat in five months - was based on a very well-organised defensive display that denied the home side's attackers the space and time to operate.
Livingston scored twice in the game's final 15 minutes through Jordan White and Sam Stanton, before Will Vaulks pulled a late goal back, and in a thrilling finale, Marc McCallum saved John Baird's penalty with virtually the last kick to deny Falkirk a point.
"We had a game plan and it worked really well, but at 2-0 up we switched off," said Hopkin.
"We've got fantastic energy in the team. We've got a young team, and we're trying to build something here.
"It's about us getting in on the Monday and starting to prepare for the Alloa game. We've not done anything yet, hopefully we can just keep going and keep everybody fit."
Falkirk boss Houston was "frustrated" with the display of his team, particularly since their previous game had seen them recover from falling 2-0 behind to Championship leaders Rangers to win 3-2.
Falkirk remain in second place, albeit Hibernian are six points behind them with three games in hand, and Houston wants his players to learn from this defeat.
"Livingston came and did a job on us, and you've got to give them credit for that," he said.
"Our tempo was really low and poor, we wanted to play the perfect pass and get in behind, but they flooded the area. The quality wasn't good enough.
"It's a lesson for us that if we want to get second place we can't go about games in the tempo we did in the first half. It was too lethargic."


A piece of abstract art made from a student's rejection letter from Oxford University has gone viral on Twitter.

Claudia Vulliamy, from London, applied to study classics in September at Wadham College.
But when the 18-year-old received her rejection letter, she "thought it would be funny" to use it to create a piece of artwork.
A picture of the piece published on Twitter has been retweeted 48,000 times.
Her mother Louisa Saunders said: "Between that time [she told me she had been rejected] and when I got back from work, she had made this artwork.
"I thought it was very funny and very spirited, and obviously I was glad she wasn't feeling to sad about it."
The picture has been liked on Twitter 153,000 times and has sparked a lot of reactions from students who were rejected from Oxbridge.
Miss Vulliamy said there wasn't a message behind the artwork initially.
She added: "I just thought I had this letter, it's not often that you get a letter dedicated to you from Oxford.
"It's very meaningful, so I thought it would be funny if I made it into something."
Ms Saunders said some people on social media were comparing the painting to works by Piet Mondrian.
The student, who has been accepted to Durham University, said: "In retrospect I quite like how it is interpreted as Oxbridge doesn't determine everything, I like that it's cheered people up.
"I hadn't set my heart on Oxford I'm happy I got an offer from Durham."


A train hit a piece of construction equipment on the railway line near Lisburn, County Antrim, a Translink spokesperson has said.

Emergency services were called to the scene close to Knockmore industrial estate at about 06:45 GMT on Thursday.
No one was hurt. The train was evacuated and passengers were transferred to buses.
Translink and the Health and Safety Executive have begun investigations and the line will remain closed all day.
The transport firm's spokeswoman said: "We would hope to be in a position to resume a full train service from tomorrow [Friday] morning."
On Thursday afternoon, rail passengers were advised that a bus substitution will operate between Moira and Lisbun until 18:30 GMT to "accommodate peak time commuter traffic".
After the rush hour, a bus substitution will operate between Portadown and Lisburn and cross-border passengers will be bussed between Belfast and Newry for the rest of the day.
Translink's statement added: "Safety is our top priority and an investigation is currently ongoing.
"We are now taking steps to get the line cleared; our engineers have been on site and will be working throughout the night in order to get services back to normal for our customers."
The firm said it will be working with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) during the investigations.
Translink has apologised to their customers for the inconvenience.
The Knockmore Road, which was closed between the Moira Road and Ballinderry Road, has now reopened.


Senegal is to send 2,100 troops to support the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, its foreign minister says.

Mankeur Ndiaye said Senegal was responding to a Saudi request to help secure the kingdom's border with Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister said his country was considering temporary truces to allow for aid to be delivered in specific areas.
A Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels, who seized the capital, Sanaa.
President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi fled and the declared aim of the Saudi-led campaign is to restore him.
Foreign Minister Ndiaye told Senegal's parliament that the coalition was "aiming to protect and secure the holy sites of Islam, Medina and Mecca", Reuters reported.
Why is Senegal sending troops to Saudi Arabia?
Senegal is a majority Sunni Muslim country that has received aid from Saudi Arabia. But there was swift criticism of the announcement in Senegal.
"Saudi Arabia isn't threatened and neither are Islam's holy sites. There is nothing to justify a military intervention by Senegal," opposition politician Modou Diagne was quoted as saying.
The coalition includes eight Arab states. The US, the UK and France are providing logistical support.
More than 1,200 people have been killed and 300,000 have fled their homes in the past six weeks, according to the UN. It has warned repeatedly that Yemen faces a severe humanitarian crisis.
On Monday air strikes were reported at the airports in Sanaa, in Hodeida in the west, and in the southern city of Aden, prompting criticism from the UN.
"I strongly urge the coalition to stop targeting Sanaa international airport and to preserve this important lifeline - and all other airports and seaports - so that humanitarians can reach all those affected by the armed conflict in Yemen," said humanitarian co-ordinator Johannes Van Der Klaauw.
Fighting on the ground between rebels and allies of Mr Hadi is continuing.


David Cameron has said there is an "economic, moral and practical" case for lower taxes as he set out his central election pledges on taxation.

The prime minister said, under his plans, no-one would pay tax on the first £12,500 of their income by 2020.
In a speech in Hampshire, he said the government had a track record of taking the lowest-paid out of tax altogether.
But Nick Clegg said it was a "brazen attempt" by the Conservatives to take credit for a Liberal Democrat policy.
The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has increased the point at which people start paying income tax - known as the annual personal allowance - from £6,475 in 2010-2011 to £10,600 in 2015-6 - meaning from April those earning less than £100,000 will pay no tax on the first £10,600 of income.
Both parties have pledged to lift this threshold to £12,500 during the next Parliament although they are at odds over who has spearheaded the policy, with both seeking to take the credit.
In the third of a series of speeches setting out the Conservatives' main electoral themes, the prime minister said his party was on the side of taxpayers, who he acknowledged have endured a "difficult time" since the 2008 recession.
"We should start from the proposition that it is people's money not government's money and we should leave them with as much to spend as we can rather than frittering it away on wasteful government projects," he said.
Under Conservative plans, he said no-one on the minimum wage working 30 hours a week would pay income tax by 2020, effectively taking one million people out of tax completely.
"This is not just a vague promise," he said. "We have a record."
Changes to the personal allowance since 2010, he said, had delivered a £700 tax cut for 24 million people and three million people were no longer paying income tax as a result.
Mr Cameron also repeated the party's pledge - first made at its autumn conference - to help middle earners by raising the income threshold at which people start paying 40% tax from £41,900 at the moment to £50,000 by 2020, saying this "backed aspiration".
"Those who can afford to" would continue to "pay the most in tax", he added.
"We make these commitments on the basis of the fact that we have turned round the economic performance of this country," he said.
The Conservatives have said they can eliminate the structural deficit and return the UK's public finances to the black over the next five years without raising taxes.
Asked whether the tax cuts were principally designed to shore up Conservative support in southern England in the face of the threat from UKIP, he said "on their own they are never enough" and "what you need is an economic plan that people can see is working".
The Lib Dems, who have pledged to raise the personal allowance to £11,000 in 2016 if they remain in government, said they had had to fight for incremental increases in the tax threshold at every Budget since 2010.
"Within government it has always been rightly seen, because it is on the front of our manifesto not the Conservatives, as a Lib Dem priority," Mr Clegg said.
"I think this is a pretty brazen attempt by the Conservatives which everyone will see through to take credit for a very important policy, which has only been delivered in government because of the Lib Dems.
"I remember very well before the last election, David Cameron said it wasn't affordable and we couldn't deliver these huge tax changes."
Labour have accused the Conservatives of making £7bn of unfunded tax promises and said they broke a 2010 election promise by raising VAT shortly after the election.
Chris Leslie MP, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "David Cameron and Nick Clegg should be judged on their record of raising tax on ordinary families while giving millionaires a huge tax cut. They have put a privileged few over hard working people."
The opposition say their own plans to raise the top level of tax from 45p to 50p are part of a fairer approach to ensuring a budget surplus by 2020.
UKIP said Mr Cameron had done little to help "Middle Britain" while in power.
"UKIP will keep pressing for income tax cuts and the scrapping of inheritance tax too in order to give the British people a fairer deal," MEP Patrick O'Flynn, the party's economics spokesman said.
The Taxpayers Alliance campaign group said Mr Cameron's tax commitments were welcome but were "not as generous as they first seem".
"He is not planning to raise the 40p threshold quickly enough to keep pace with inflation and he has said nothing about what he would do with national insurance which is a second income tax in all but name," said its director Jonathan Isaby.


Noise from the Ineos petrochemical site in Grangemouth caused "significant disturbance" to the public on Tuesday night, according to Sepa.

The environmental watchdog said it received a large number of complaints to its pollution hotline after a fault caused high-pressure steam venting.
The noise stopped when the fault, which took several hours to investigate, was fixed at about 23.00.
Sepa said its inspectors would be following up the incident with Ineos.
Scott Cumming, 42, who lives in Linlithgow, about seven miles away from the site, said: "It was a bit like the noise from an aircraft landing or taking off.
"It went on for literally hours. I wrote an email to Ineos asking if they could give an explanation but I haven't had a reply from them."
A post on the Sepa Facebook page read: "We're aware of a very loud noise in Grangemouth last night, which caused significant disturbance and public complaints in the wider area.
"This was caused by high pressure steam venting from the Ineos Power Station at Grangemouth, due to a fault.
"It took a numbers of hours to investigate and correct. The noise ceased when it was corrected at 11pm.
"We'll be following the incident up with Ineos."


Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for misconduct.

Tsang led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and is the most senior official in the territory ever to stand trial for corruption.
He was found guilty last week of misconduct in public office, in a case related to a luxury flat in China.
In sentencing, Judge Andrew Chan said: "Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fall from so high."
A number of senior former officials in Hong Kong had written letters to the court in defence of Tsang's character.
The judge said he took Tsang's reputation and long public service into account in sentencing, taking 10 months off what would have been a 30-month sentence. The maximum penalty could have been seven years.
Tsang was cleared last week of a second count of misconduct, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of accepting an advantage. He is expected to be retried on that charge in September.
After sentencing, he was taken from court in handcuffs to the hospital where he has been staying since experiencing chest pain on Monday.
When the presiding judge asked Mr Tsang to stand for sentencing, the former chief executive took a sip of water and closed his eyes. He kept his eyes closed during most of the sentencing speech and appeared to calm himself with a rhythmic breathing exercise.
Five years of investigations and weeks of trial had culminated in this humiliating moment.
It was an ignominious end for a man who used to be the pride of Hong Kong - someone who had overcome a humble start in life to hold three of the city's top jobs.
Mr Tsang's legacy and reputation are in tatters and the judge acknowledged it, saying he had never before seen a man fall so far, so fast.
The case has worried a territory that prides itself on its relatively clean reputation.
The trial related to events which took place near the end of his term, between 2010 and 2012.
Prosecutors accused Mr Tsang of inappropriate and undeclared conflicts of interest, including renting a luxury flat in mainland China from the shareholder of a broadcast company whose licence applications he approved. They also alleged the flat was redecorated free of charge and that he later nominated the interior designer for an honour.
The jury found him guilty of misconduct over his failure to disclose the lease of the flat, but dismissed the charge related to the designer and did not reach a verdict on whether he accepted a bribe in the form of the refurbishment.
A career civil servant, Tsang rose through the ranks to become Hong Kong's second chief executive, following Tung Chee-hwa.
His deputy, former Chief Secretary Rafael Hui, was jailed for accepting bribes from a property tycoon in 2014.


Gemma Arterton is to star in a West End musical version of 2010 film Made in Dagenham.

The former Bond girl will take the lead role of Rita O'Grady, a part played on the big screen by Sally Hawkins.
The show, about women who battled for equal rights at a Ford factory in Essex in 1968, is billed as a musical comedy.
Richard Bean, who wrote One Man, Two Guvnors, is writing the script for the show, which opens at the Adelphi theatre in London on 5 November.
In a statement, Arterton said she was "beyond thrilled" to be starring in the show.
"It's an important story that I'm passionate about telling, and we intend to tell it with wit, warmth and, of course, a lot of singing and dancing in this production."
Hawkins, Oscar-nominated this year for her work in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, said she was "really pleased" the film was being adapted for the stage.
"I'm very proud of the film and I can't wait to see it," she told the BBC. "If they need me, I'm here."
Arterton has just finished playing the lead role in The Duchess of Malfi at the new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London.
She has previously appeared in the plays The Little Dog Laughed and The Master Builder as well as such films as Tamara Drewe and 2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace.
Made in Dagenham will be directed by Rupert Goold, who is known for masterminding such shows as Enron and the recent American Psycho musical starring Doctor Who's Matt Smith.
He said Made in Dagenham had an "engaging, relatable and vital story" and that he would create a "big-hitting, big-hearted musical".
"From my first watch of Made in Dagenham, I knew it was a piece I wanted to be involved in bringing to the stage," he said.
The show will also star Adrian Der Gregorian, as Rita's husband Eddie, and feature music by James Bond composer David Arnold and lyrics by Richard Thomas of Jerry Springer: The Opera fame.
The first previews will take place on 9 October, with an official opening night scheduled for 5 November.


Scientists will take to the stage in Cardiff pubs to tell people about their research.

It is part of a world festival of public science talks, which is coming to Wales for the first time.
The three-day Pint of Science event will see 24 scientists giving demonstrations, live experiments and talks in the city's pubs from Monday.
Events also take place in more than 100 other cities across 12 countries and also include quizzes and puzzles.
Festival co-ordinator Michael Motskin said: "Science can often get lost in translation, leading to the spread of pseudo-science and myths.
"The best way to overcome this is for people to be able to talk to scientists directly in a familiar environment, such as in a pub over a pint."


Six teenagers have been locked up after a woman was blinded in one eye.

Karen Hodgkinson was hit by a full beer can thrown by one of the "feral gang" outside her home in Mold, Flintshire.
Seven teenagers, aged 13 to 19, admitted violent disorder and one of them, a 17-year-old who threw the can, admitted wounding.
They were detained for periods ranging from six months to 12 months while the 13-year-old got a rehabilitation order at Mold Crown Court on Monday.
Mrs Hodgkinson needed a metal plate inserting during surgery to repair her fractured eye socket, but lost the sight in her left eye following the attack on Halloween.
Judge Geraint Walters said the gang turned up at her home, some wearing Halloween masks, in a move orchestrated by a gang of feral youths "who believe that they are beyond the reach of the law."
The Hodgkinsons were subjected to abuse before they were punched and the can was thrown.
"No decent people in any town centre should ever have to witness that kind of Wild West scene in which each of you played your part," said Mr Walters.
The judge also made a five-year restraining order, banning them from approaching the victims or entering Elm Drive in Mold.
Prosecutor David Mainstone said the family had been plagued by anti-social behaviour by youths who congregated outside the parade of shops opposite their home.
He alleged the seven defendants were part of a group which had been making their lives a misery, subjecting them to verbal abuse, violence and damaging their property.
Simon Killeen, for Rogers, said he was a family man who had acted out of character.
Andrew Green for the 16-year-old said he was a follower rather than a leader.
Philip Clemo, for Gentile, said he had not thrown any missiles or punches.
The court heard the 13-year-old had shown "genuine remorse" while Dodd had not thrown anything.
Mr Green, for the boy who threw the can, said he had clearly not intended such an injury and had shown remorse.
The other 17-year-old wanted to stop using cannabis and cut down on how much alcohol he drank, the court heard.


Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has alleged that "large scale voter fraud" is occurring in the US, but is it possible to rig the US election?

The Trump campaign has made claims of "election rigging" for months, blaming the "dishonest and distorted media" and the "Clinton machine" for the Republican's slide in battleground states in the polls.
But now the rhetoric has reached new heights, with Mr Trump launching a twitterstorm to hammer home his allegations and declining to say, in his third debate, that he would accept the result if he loses.
So what are the claims, and how do they stack up?
Mr Trump's assertion that "large scale voter fraud" is happening is arguably Donald Trump's most serious allegation.
He's not alone in this sentiment. Only a third of Republicans say they have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence that votes will be counted fairly, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
However, studies suggest voter fraud isn't a widespread problem in the US.
In 2014, Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, found 31 known cases of impersonation fraud in one billion votes cast in all US elections between 2000 and 2014.
And in 2012, News21 analysis of 2,068 alleged election-fraud cases since 2000 turned up 10 cases of voter impersonation.
The idea that the US election will be rigged is "ludicrous", and "certainly not stolen in the way that Trump has alleged," according to Professor Richard Hasen, an expert in election law.
"We cannot have thousands of people voting 5, 10, or 15 times as he's suggested without it being detected," he says.
Commentators point out the US election administration is highly de-centralised, with each state setting its own rules and local officials administering them. In most states, observers keep tabs on poll workers too.
Voter ID requirements and voting machines also have huge variations, so widespread rigging would be hard to co-ordinate.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Donald Trump supporter, told CNN: "I can reassure Donald Trump, I am in charge of elections in Ohio and they're not going to be rigged.
"It's bipartisan, it's transparent, and there's just no justification for concern about widespread voter fraud."
On Sunday, Donald Trump's adviser Rudy Giuliani told CNN he'd have to be a "moron" to say he thought the Philadelphia and Chicago elections would be fair, suggesting American cities, controlled by Democrats, are hotbeds of voter fraud.
He also said he recalled 720 dead people voting in the 1982 election in Chicago, and "dead people generally vote for Democrats instead of Republicans".
Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, says every election cycle sees a handful of allegations that people voted in the name of a dead person, but "the numbers are very, very small".
Philadelphia came under scrutiny in 2012 after it emerged Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney didn't receive a single vote in 59 voting divisions in the city.
The Republican Party looked into the allegations and found nothing irregular. It also transpired there were precincts in Utah that only voted for Mitt Romney.
One Philadelphia elections inspector didn't take kindly to the allegations resurfacing on Fox News recently - refuting the claims in a tweetstorm of 23 tweets.
Mr Giuliani also said some people voted eight or 10 times when he ran for the mayor of New York City in 1989, because of "bussing people in from Camden".
It is common for voting rights groups and political campaigns to provide transport to take people to the polls.
Buses often target areas where residents are more likely to support a particular candidate or political party.
Mayer says although there are sometimes allegations  people are bussed to multiple polling stations in order to vote multiple times, he is not aware of any significant number of prosecutions or convictions for voter fraud based on such tactics.
Former House Speaker and Republican Newt Gingrich harked all the way back to the Richard Nixon versus JFK 1960 election this weekend, saying no "serious historian doubts that Illinois and Texas were stolen".
His comments refer to allegations that JFK's operatives - allegedly with the collusion of public officials  - fixed tallies in Texas and Illinois, giving him 51 electoral votes, and ultimately winning him the closely contested election.
Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University, told CNN it's still "undetermined issue" among historians.
"There were actually recounts in Illinois in 1960. And they didn't find that there was enough fraud to throw the election," he said. "In Texas it's also unclear that it threw the election."
Voter suppression has gone on throughout history, notably in the South in the 1950s and 60s, says Brinkley, but Trump's claim of election rigging now is "bogus and anti-historical".
Professor Mayer says the ability of law enforcement authorities, political parties, and the media to monitor such activities in 2016 is "much, much greater", so a repeat of "such 'stealing' of a presidential election, even if it occurred, would be impossible".
The irony with the Trump campaign's remarks about election rigging is most of them suggest there will be in-person voter impersonation on election day, which studies show is the rarest form of voter fraud, according to Professor Mayer.
He says the most common forms of voter fraud are election official fraud - either in the form of stuffing ballot boxes, or "losing" ballots - and absentee ballot fraud.
But even these are becoming increasingly rare, largely because jurisdictions have adopted relatively easy ways to combat them, he adds.


The temporary chief constable of Staffordshire Police, Jane Sawyers, will not face misconduct charges over the fatal shooting of an alleged drug dealer, the force's commissioner has said.

Kevin Nunes was shot dead in September 2002 but five men jailed for his murder were freed on appeal.
Police and crime commissioner (PCC) Matthew Ellis said Mrs Sawyers had "no case to answer on misconduct or gross misconduct" relating to the case.
Ms Sawyers welcomed the decision.
Police believe Mr Nunes was a drug dealer who was shot in an execution-style killing in Pattingham after straying into another gang's territory.
But the men jailed for his murder were freed after it emerged concerns over the credibility of witnesses were not disclosed to the defence.
This prompted an investigation into the police's handling of a key witness and how disclosure was dealt with afterwards.
In January 2014, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it would be submitting files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the case for prosecuting senior officers, including Mrs Sawyers, for either attempting to pervert the course of justice or criminal misconduct.
However, the CPS said there was not enough evidence to proceed.
Publishing his response, Mr Ellis said while it was clear "something went wrong in relation to the investigation of the murder", Mrs Sawyers was not guilty of misconduct.
"My conclusion is that, whilst there were undoubtedly different actions and decisions that should have been taken at the time, the IPCC report does not produce evidence Mrs Sawyers has a case to answer in respect of misconduct or gross misconduct," he said.
"I have been clear, however, Jane Sawyers could have been more intrusive and sceptical about the actions of others at the time."
Mrs Sawyers said: "I welcome the determination the police and crime commissioner has reached."
The IPCC said it was waiting for all of the forces involved, including West Midlands Police, to respond to its report.


The police ombudsman in the Republic of Ireland has said it is investigating a crash which left two men dead in County Donegal.

The men have been named locally as 28-year-old Barney McGinley and Dermot Boyle who was 19.
It is understood their car was travelling the wrong way on a dual carriageway outside Letterkenny when it was in collision with a van.
The driver of the van is in a serious condition in hospital.
His injuries are not believed to be life threatening but have been described as "life changing".
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) said it was investigating after reports "that there had been some interaction between gardaí and the vehicle in which the two young men were travelling prior to the collision".
The head-on collision happened at about 04:45 local time on Wednesday on the N13 at Trimragh.
Insp Michael Harrison told the BBC on Wednesday that he believed both men were from the Letterkenny area.
"The collision occurred on the inbound lane and it was between a grey Mitsubishi Carisma hatchback and a yellow Renault master van.
"It's a tragic day, to lose two young men in one incident is very sad," he said.