Montpellier reached their first European Challenge Cup semi-final after inflicting a first home defeat of the season on Sale.

Sharks began the game as the only team in Europe yet to lose at home but that record was ended by the Top 14 side.
Danny Cipriani's boot edged Sale into an 11-10 half-time lead, after Paul Willemse and Tom Brady exchanged tries.
But five Benoit Paillaugue penalties in the second half took Montpellier through, despite Sam James' late try.
The French side arrived at the AJ Bell Stadium on a six-game winning run and sitting second in the Top 14.
And Paillaugue's boot punished Sale indiscipline in the second half as the hosts conceded nine penalties to the visitors' one.
Cipriani kicked Sale into an early lead but Montpellier hit back when Willemse powered his way over from close range.
Fast hands from Cipriani gave Brady the time and space to force his way over as Sale responded, with the fly-half's second penalty giving them the slenderest of leads.
Paillaugue missed a penalty with the last kick of the first half, which would have sent Montpellier into the break in front, but he was deadly from the tee after the restart as Sale were unable to turn possession into points.
With Montpellier lock Thibault Privat in the sin-bin, Cipriani briefly cut the lead to two points, but Sale's Neil Briggs was also shown a yellow card and Paillaugue eased Jake White's side clear.
James scored a stunning solo chip-and-chase try late on to give Sale hope, but Montpellier saw the game through comfortably.
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond: "I thought we coped with their physicality very well, they scored one try which proved our defence was up for it.
"They were given long-range penalties for some very dubious decision-making and a yellow card which was not a yellow card in my opinion.
"They stretched the letter of the law. They were all over us (at the breakdown) and they got the advantage there so fair play to them."
Montpellier coach Jake White: "Montpellier haven't historically got themselves into these sort of situations so I'm very happy that we can take the next step forward.
"It's knockout rugby now. As much as it would have been nice to score a couple more tries, to get the win was the first prize.
"We had a lot to play for. We knew that if we won this game we would get a home semi-final. We haven't got to many semi-finals in the first place so to host one in your own town and have your own supporters there is going to be massive."
Sale Sharks: Haley; Brady, James, Leota, Edwards; Cipriani, Stringer; Harrison, Taylor, Cobilas; Evans, Ostrikov; Neild, Lund (capt), Ioane
Replacements: Briggs, Lewis-Roberts, Mujati, Mills, Seymour, Mitchell, Ford, Jennings
Sin-bin: Briggs (67)
Montpellier: Mogg; Nagusa, Tuitavake, Steyn, Fall; Lucas, Paillaugue; Nariashvili, B du Plessis J du Plessis; Willemse, Privat; Ouedraogo (capt), Liebenberg, Qera
Replacements: Ivaldi, Watremez, Kubriashvili, Watchou, Galletier, Wright, Ebersohn, Floch
Sin-bin: Privat (60)
Ref: John Lacey


A hacker has briefly hijacked more than 150,000 printers accidentally left accessible via the web.

The attacker made the devices print a warning urging their owners to cut off remote access.
Large printers in offices, domestic devices and tiny receipt printers in restaurants were all caught up in the hack.
The attack came soon after a German academic study found vulnerabilities in a wide range of printers.
Over the weekend, a hacker using the alias Stackoverflowin ran an automated program that scoured the internet for printers that did not have basic security controls switched on.
Once it discovered a vulnerable device, the program made them print a page announcing the invasion and telling the owner to close the "port" used to hijack it.
"For the love of God, please close this port, skid [script kiddie, ie novice coder]," said the message.
Early versions of the program also added ASCII art depicting different robots or a computer.
Also included were an email address and a Twitter handle for Stackoverflowin.
Many people posted pictures of the printed messages to social media and asked questions about what was happening on technical support forums and social networks such as Reddit.
Printers made by HP, Brother, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, Minolta and many others were hit by Stackoverflowin's program.
The hacker said he did not intend to abuse the access he had gained to the printers.
"I'm about helping people to fix their problem, but having a bit of fun at the same time," he told the Bleeping Computer tech news website.
"Everyone's been cool about it and thanked me to be honest."
Last week, computer security researchers Jens Muller, Vladislav Mladenov and Juraj Somorovsky, from the Ruhr University, in Germany, released an academic paper summarising work they had done on printer security.
The trio tested 20 separate printers and found that all of them were vulnerable to at least one type of attack.
They found ways to put the printers in to an endless loop so they were never available to users, or to hijack the devices so they could be used as an entry point to the computer networks on which they sat.


The health secretary has accused the doctors' union of misleading junior doctors over changes to their contracts ahead of a rally in London later.

Doctors are expected to march in protest at the changes which they say will lead to a drop in their salaries.
Jeremy Hunt said the proposals would benefit doctors by reducing their maximum weekly working hours.
The BMA denied it had misled its members and said the rally would be a wake-up call for ministers.
The government has indicated it will impose the new contract next year in England. Scotland and Wales have both said they will be sticking to the old contract, while Northern Ireland has yet to make a decision.
Mr Hunt told the BBC: "I think it is incredibly disappointing, the way that the BMA has misrepresented the government's position," he said.
"It's caused a huge amount of anger unnecessarily; we don't want to cut the pay going to junior doctors, we do want to change the pay structures that force hospitals to roster three times less medical cover at weekends as they do in weeks and that means that there's a 15% greater chance of you dying if you are admitted on a Sunday, compared to being admitted on a Wednesday."
He said he was willing to negotiate over safeguards.
Mr Hunt said changes to contracts would improve patient care, which was what doctors wanted.
He added: "This is a good deal for doctors. We are reducing the maximum hours a doctor can be asked to work from 91 to 72 hours, we're stopping doctors being asked to work for five nights in a row."
He called on the British Medical Association (BMA) to go back to the negotiating table.
The BMA is demanding that the government withdraw its threat to impose the new contract in England from next year.
Dr Johann Malawana, chairman of the BMA junior doctors' committee, said Mr Hunt needed to listen not just to the BMA but to junior doctors up and down the country.
"The fact is we want a contract that is safe for doctors in terms of maintaining safe, clinical care and delivers a safe NHS for patients," he said.
Commenting ahead of the rally in central London, Dr Malawana said the gathering would be "a wake-up call for ministers".
"The health secretary has accused junior doctors of misleading the public over the impact of his changes, yet at the same time he continues to conflate junior doctors' legitimate concerns and the government's rhetoric on seven-day services.
"The truth is that the junior doctor contract is in no way a barrier to seven-day services, with the vast majority of junior doctors routinely providing care to patients 24/7."


Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his re-election shows voters reject extremism and want more links with the outside world.

After avoiding a run-off with a 57% outright victory over his main rival, Mr Rouhani said he respected his opponents' right to criticise him.
Mr Rouhani, 68, supports the landmark deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme.
The decisive victory gives him a strong mandate to seek reforms and revive the country's ailing economy, analysts say.
"The Iranian nation has chosen the path of interaction with the world, a path which is distant from extremism and violence," Mr Rouhani said in his first speech after the victory, broadcast on state television.
"The election is now over. I am the president of the nation and need assistance from every single Iranian, even those who oppose me and my policies."
Mr Rouhani also thanked former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, apparently defying a media ban on citing the ex-leader's name.
Turnout in the election was unexpectedly high, at about 70%.
And this is thought to have helped Mr Rouhani, who received close to 23 million votes out of the 40 million that were cast.
His main challenger, former prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi received 38.5%, or 15.7 million votes, which was not enough to take the election to a second round.
On Twitter, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the election had showed the "increasing progress" of the "Iranian nation".
Mr Khamenei said Iran would demonstrate "national dignity" and "wisdom" in relations with other countries. But he did not congratulate Mr Rouhani for his victory.
There were celebrations in the capital, Tehran, with young people singing and dancing in the central Vali Asr Square, despite efforts by police to move them, the AFP news agency reported.
The economy seems to be the number one issue.
Average Iranians say they do not feel the economic benefits after international sanctions were lifted as a result of a nuclear deal signed between Iran, the US and other countries in 2015.
While oil exports have rebounded and inflation is back at single-digits, unemployment remains high, especially among young people.
Mr Rouhani also promised a moderate vision and an outward-looking Iran and, at rallies, openly attacked the conservative-dominated judiciary and security services.
But Mr Rouhani's own powers are limited by those of Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the last say on many crucial and strategic issues.
Another challenge, experts say, comes from abroad, and relations with the new US government under President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump opposes the nuclear deal which eased sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, describing it as the "worst deal ever".
But, despite the objections, the White House renewed the agreement earlier this week.
Iran's hardliners had pulled out all the stops and mobilised all their resources to bring out as many people as possible to grab the last centre of power in Iran that was not under their control, namely the executive branch.
Sensing an effort by the hardliners, supporters of President Rouhani who back his promises to steer the country toward moderation came out in big numbers too. Turnout has been unprecedented. In Tehran, five million people turned out to vote - twice as many as in 2013.
This was a revenge of the people against the hardliners who intimidated them, jailed them, executed them, drove them to exile, pushed them out of their jobs, and discriminated against women.
President Rouhani will now have a bigger mandate to push through his reforms, to put an end to extremism, to build bridges with the outside world, to put the economy back on track.
Iranians have said a resounding Yes to President Rouhani who, in recent years and particularly during the last several weeks of campaigning, promised to expand individual and political freedoms and make all those centres of power, like the Revolutionary Guard, accountable.
The results were announced as Mr Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia, Iran's biggest regional rival, for his first foreign trip as president.
In Riyadh, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he hoped Mr Rouhani would use his new term to "dismantle a network of terrorism and end [its] ballistic missile programme".
But Iran denies any involvement in terrorism and says its missile programme, which has recently been targeted by Mr Trump with new sanctions, does not breach UN resolutions.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir described the election as a "domestic matter", and said Iran was meddling in Arab countries and providing support for the extremist group al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile, the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, congratulated Mr Rouhani for the "strong mandate received" and said that Europe was ready to work for better "engagement" and "regional peace".


The inquiry into historical child abuse in the UK will continue its work for now - despite the resignation of the second person appointed to chair it.

Commons leader William Hague told the BBC that the inquiry panel would "go on with its work" while the government searched for another chairman.
Fiona Woolf quit amid concerns about her links to establishment figures.
Labour's Yvette Cooper said the new chair must have the confidence of victims' groups.
Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile told Sky News it should not be a parliamentarian, and the government should look "north of Watford" for someone with experience dealing with child abuse and child protection who was not part of the "Westminster Village".
Home Secretary Theresa May will make a statement to Parliament on Monday about how the inquiry will proceed following Mrs Woolf's resignation on Friday.
Mr Hague told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show:  "We are determined that this inquiry will happen and will be able to do its work. There are so many deeply disturbing things for it to look into.
"Clearly some terrible things have happened over many years. We have got to find out the truth about that. So we have to somehow maintain and restore the momentum of this work."
The inquiry will look at whether public bodies and other institutions did enough to protect children from sexual abuse, from 1970 to the present day.
It follows claims over many years about paedophiles in powerful places and alleged establishment attempts to cover up their actions.
It was announced in July, but the first person appointed to chair it,  Baroness Butler-Sloss, stepped down shortly afterwards when concerns were raised about the fact that her late brother was attorney general during the 1980s.
On Friday her replacement, Mrs Woolf, quit after weeks of reports about her social connections with Leon Brittan, who was home secretary in 1984 when ministers were handed a dossier on alleged high-profile paedophiles.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News: "The most important thing is that we can rebuild the credibility of this inquiry. We have had four months of chaos and confusion."
She said the inquiry must "get going" and must have the confidence of abuse survivors: "That is something the home secretary has failed to do."
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May is "considering the findings" of the Wanless review, the BBC has learned.
In July, NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless was tasked with examining a 2013 Home Office report about how papers containing claims of child sex abuse by politicians were handled.
That report found  there were no records of specific claims of abuse by prominent figures. It had been triggered by claims that allegations made by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens were ignored.
However, it was discovered that 114 files could no longer be located.
Mr Wanless was also tasked with looking at how the police and prosecution authorities handled any material that was handed to them at the time.


The £232,000-a-year chief executive of two health trusts claimed up to £30,000 in hotel and transport expenses over the past 16 months, it has emerged.

The BBC has obtained records of 92 hotel stays by West Midlands and East of England ambulance services chief Anthony Marsh.
They included 20 nights at a four-star hotel that cost the taxpayer £4,514.
The ambulance services said Mr Marsh's combined role actually saved £130,000 in public money.
Mr Marsh, chief executive of the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), took on the part-time role as head of the troubled East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) in January this year.
He works three days a week for EEAS and two days for WMAS.
The combined role brought a salary increase of £50,000.
His new role was criticised earlier this month by health minister Dr Dan Poulter, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, who described the salary package as "unacceptably high" and said it sent a "very bad message" to front-line staff.
A Freedom of Information request has found Mr Marsh's expenses included 20 nights at the £215-a-night Pullman St Pancras.
This forms part of the more than £13,000 in expenses Mr Marsh has claimed for hotels between July 2013 and now.
He has also claimed more than £10,000 in taxi and car costs and more than £6,000 on train fares.
An ambulance services spokesman said: "Like every ambulance service chief executive in England, Mr Marsh spends time in London meeting MPs, other stakeholders, officials from NHS England and working on national projects through the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives.
"As he is currently representing two ambulance services, this work is being delivered more effectively and efficiently for the taxpayer.
"Mr Marsh is currently running two ambulance trusts; he does not receive the salary of two chief executives saving the taxpayer approximately £130,000 on the cost of having a substantive chief executive in each ambulance trust.  By comparison, within the same two areas, there are 11 chief fire officers and 10 chief constables.
"As Mr Marsh works several days a week in the East of England each week, it would not make sense to have him travel down on a daily basis and therefore requires accommodation. This is governed by NHS guidelines. The lowest cost is always sought for his overnight accommodation such as using standard government negotiated rates."


A £9.6m, five-year building project to strengthen Hartlepool Headland's sea defences against erosion has begun.

New concrete block facing and rock armour will be installed on the existing sea wall between the Heugh Gun Battery and Marine Drive.
The work can only be done between March and September so as to not disrupt winter birds.
Hartlepool Council said the additions would last 100 years and protect more than 500 homes.
There will also be extra protection to the sea wall from the Pilot Pier to the Heugh Breakwater.
Concrete blocks will be placed at the base of the wall in a stepped formation, to absorb the impact of the waves.
The coastal defences have been designed by Hartlepool Council's engineers and funded by the authority and Environment Agency.
The work will continue in phases until 2020.
Marjorie James, chair of the council's neighbourhood services committee, said: "Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are a serious threat along Britain's coastline and ensuring Hartlepool is properly protected, is a key priority for the council.
"These sea defences have been designed to withstand the most severe storms and to last for over 100 years.
"They will safeguard more than 500 homes as well as a number of business premises."


A £3m fund to invest in flood prevention and resilience schemes in Calderdale has been approved by councillors.

Almost 2,000 homes and more than 1,000 businesses in the area were affected by flooding over Christmas last year.
The new scheme is in addition to almost £10m awarded from central government to support flood recovery in the area.
The council funding will also be used to improve flood incident management systems.
Read more about this and other stories from across West Yorkshire
More than £60m has already been made available by the government for major flood defence schemes in the Calder Valley, which are currently being examined by the Environment Agency.
The council's scheme will look at how it can deliver other low cost flood prevention work and develop projects for natural flood management.
It will also offer support for businesses with hardship grants and in helping companies in making their properties more flood resilient.
The council also plans to hire additional staff to speed up grant processing for homeowners and to increase the size of the council's flood team.


A secret recording that implicates the Bank of England in Libor rigging has been uncovered by BBC Panorama.

The 2008 recording adds to evidence the central bank repeatedly pressured commercial banks during the financial crisis to push their Libor rates down.
Libor is the rate that banks lend to each other and it sets a benchmark for mortgages and loans for ordinary customers.
The Bank of England said Libor was not regulated in the UK at the time.
Banks setting artificially low Libor rates is called lowballing.
The recording calls into question evidence given in 2012 to the Treasury select committee by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond and Paul Tucker, the man who went on to become the deputy governor of the Bank of England.
Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate, tracks how much it costs banks to borrow money from each other. As such it is a big influence on the cost of mortgages and other loans.
In the recording, a senior Barclays manager, Mark Dearlove, instructs Libor submitter Peter Johnson, to lower his Libor rates.
He tells him: "The bottom line is you're going to absolutely hate this... but we've had some very serious pressure from the UK government and the Bank of England about pushing our Libors lower."
Mr Johnson objects, saying that this would mean breaking the rules for setting Libor, which required him to put in rates based only on the cost of borrowing cash.
Mr Johnson says: "So I'll push them below a realistic level of where I think I can get money?"
His boss Mr Dearlove replies: "The fact of the matter is we've got the Bank of England, all sorts of people involved in the whole thing... I am as reluctant as you are... these guys have just turned around and said just do it."
Mr Dearlove declined to answer questions from BBC Panorama.
Until recently a member of staff at each of the biggest banks, the Libor submitter, would say what interest rate they thought the bank would have to pay to borrow money. An average would be taken to arrive at Libor.
Banks have been fined more than Â£6bn for allowing submitters to be influenced by requests from traders or bosses to take into account the bank's commercial interests, such as trading positions.
The phone call between Mr Dearlove and Mr Johnson took place on 29 October 2008, the same day that Mr Tucker, who was at that time an executive director of the Bank of England, phoned Barclays boss Mr Diamond. Barclays' Libor rate was discussed.
Mr Diamond and Mr Tucker were called to give evidence before the Treasury select committee in 2012. Both said that they had only recently become aware of lowballing.
Panorama played the October 2008 recording to Chris Philp MP, who sits on the Treasury committee.
He told the programme: "It sounds to me like those people giving evidence, particularly Bob Diamond and Paul Tucker were misleading parliament, that is a contempt of parliament, it's a very serious matter and I think we need to urgently summon those individuals back before parliament to explain why it is they appear to have misled MPs. It's extremely serious."
Mr Diamond told the BBC: "I never misled parliament andâ€¦ I stand by everything I have said previously." Mr Tucker did not respond to our questions.
Peter Johnson, the Barclays Libor submitter, was jailed last summer after pleading guilty to accepting trader requests to manipulate Libor.
Two traders who made requests for Mr Johnson to move Libors up or down, Jay Merchant and Alex Pabon, were found guilty last June of conspiracy to defraud along with another submitter, Jonathan Mathew.
However, the jury could not reach a verdict on two other traders then on trial, Ryan Reich and Stelios Contogoulas. The Serious Fraud Office requested a retrial which concluded last week. Both Mr Reich and Mr Contogoulas were unanimously acquitted.
Panorama also played Mr Contogoulas the October 2008 recording. He said he believed that if it had been played during the criminal trials it might have affected the outcomes.
He said: "That's the thing, you know in these trials that we went through they separated everything, separated trading requests and lowballing. So anything that has to do with this they don't go in. So you're asking me do I think that if all this was in would it make a difference? Probably, is the answer."
The Serious Fraud Office which brought the Barclays prosecutions told Panorama that evidence of lowballing was provided to the defence.
They also say they are still investigating lowballing and that they follow the evidence "as high as it goes and aim to charge the most senior people wherever there is a realistic prospect of conviction".
The Bank of England said: "Libor and other global benchmarks were not regulated in the UK or elsewhere during the period in question.
"Nonetheless, the Bank of England has been assisting the SFO's criminal investigations into Libor manipulation by employees at commercial banks and brokers by providing, on a voluntary basis, documents and records requested by the SFO."
Panorama: The Big Bank Fix will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 10 April at 20.30.


Two teenage boys have been charged with the theft of £10,000 worth of bikes in Edinburgh.

Between 20 September and 10 October, 15 bikes in a storage area in Bainfield Place and surrounding business premises in the Fountainbridge area were stolen.
The teenagers, aged 15 and 18, have been charged with a total of 18 offences.
PC Simon Wotton, of Police Scotland, said: "Three bikes worth around £1,000 each have been recovered so far."


A castle dating back to King Henry VIII's reign has been targeted by thieves.

About 20ft (6m) of lead drain pipework was stolen from the Black Barge Beach side of Portland Castle in Dorset.
It is unclear when the offenders struck as the theft was only discovered on Friday evening, police said.
English Heritage, which manages the attraction, said the seaside fort was built in the early 1540s to protect against French and Spanish invasion.


A successful racing pigeon owner has said he is considering giving up the sport he loves after thieves stole about 50 of his most valuable birds.

Harry McCloy told the BBC he has lost several all-Ireland champion racing pigeons in the weekend theft from his loft in Cullybackey, County Antrim.
He said the thieves "knew exactly what they were looking for" as they took all his champion racers and left others.
Police said the stolen birds are estimated to be worth about Â£8,000.
The theft took place from outside the father-of-three's home sometime between Friday and Saturday, while the family were away on a weekend break.
Mr McCloy took up the sport in 2006 but his relatives have been involved in pigeon racing for at least three generations.
His uncles were founding members of the pigeon club in Cullybackey and he still races under their team name, Reid Brothers and McCloy.
His own birds have won several prizes in the all-island Irish National Flying Club championship over the last few years.
Mr McCloy said he gets up at about 05:30 every day to care for his pigeons as "you need to spend time with them to do it right".
He said he has spent years trying to build up his racing stock and feels "gutted" that someone came to his family home to steal his birds.
"My racing season is over," Mr McCloy told the BBC, saying all his candidates for upcoming races in France had been taken in the burglary.
He said he suspects other pigeon fanciers may be responsible and that they must have come prepared, with baskets or carriers to transport the birds.
There was no evidence of damage to the loft or any of the birds.
Thirty-eight of the 50 birds stolen were racing pigeons, but Mr Mc Cloy said the thieves had also taken stock birds, which were even more valuable.
About 30 less expensive pigeons were left behind by the thieves.
Mr McCloy said if any of his birds manage to escape from the thieves they will instinctively fly home to him, but he appealed to anyone who knew anything about the theft to contact police.
In 2010, 18 prize pigeons were stolen from a loft at Woodtown Road in Ballymena, County Antrim.


A man has been jailed for smuggling drugs, a knife and a McMuffin sandwich into Wormwood Scrubs prison.

2 November 2015 Last updated at 18:51 GMT
Karl Jensen, 27, who was outside the jail, tied the goods to a fishing line that was pulled into a cell.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.


In Wednesday's Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond will announce £400m ($500m) funding for a new Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund.

Private investors will be asked to match the amount.
The money will be aimed at fibre broadband providers who are looking to expand.
Mr Hammond will also commit £740m to the development of 5G and the further rollout of fibre connections.
There is no launch date for the 5G service yet.
The UK must move towards providing "fibre-to-the-property" broadband, rather than fibre to the roadside cabinet, the Chancellor will say.
Currently only 2% of the UK has access to this "full-fibre" connection, offering download speeds of up to one gigabit per second, according to government figures,
That is 35 times faster than the 28.9Mbps average UK speed internet connection according to Ofcom.
Full-fibre provision is already offered by some independent broadband providers such as Hyperoptic, Gigaclear and B4rn, but to thousands rather than millions of customers.
BT chairman Sir Mike Rake said the firm had developed an interim technology to get more full-fibre broadband to the property.
"We are committed to getting fibre to the premise ultimately, which is the long-term game, because it's much more reliable," he told the Today programme.
Until that is rolled out, BT will "substantially enhance" speeds for 95% of the country, he said.
Twelve million homes would also have broadband speeds in excess of 300Mbps by 2020 as part of a £6bn investment package, he added.
Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms expert from the website cable.co.uk said the government's funding of superfast broadband was "absurd" at a time when so many people struggle to get reasonable speeds.
"The government should be spending this money where it matters most, along with putting in place firm restrictions as to exactly where this new network provision can be applied - prioritising those who need it most," he said.
Fibre infrastructure provider CityFibre said it welcomed the announcement.
"Britain's industrial strategy needs a digital backbone, and it is essential that we move quickly to plug the UK's 'fibre gap' and empower our service-based economy," said chief executive Greg Mesch.
You've heard of superfast, and maybe ultrafast but now the government has come up with a new term - gold standard full-fibre broadband.
What is interesting about this announcement - which by the way was first trailed in last year's Autumn Statement - is an acknowledgement that the UK's broadband strategy may have been on the wrong track.
So far most of the public money invested in broadband infrastructure has gone to BT, whose strategy has been to roll out fibre to the roadside cabinet, not to the home.
As the Treasury says in its press release, that has made the UK look good in terms of "superfast" coverage - although some would quibble at the definition of superfast.
But as for that gold standard full-fibre broadband piped right into the home - well, the government admits we're falling behind, with only 2% of  premises currently having access to it.
The new money the government is promising will go to small operators rather than BT - and even if it does get to two million homes and businesses as promised, the UK is likely to remain a laggard in the full-fibre race.
It will still be mainly up to BT to give the country the future-proof infrastructure it needs - and the government will be hoping that increased competition makes it up its game.


Derek McInnes insists the credit for Aberdeen's second-half revival against Ross County goes to his players.

The Dons were jeered off at the interval after trailing from Craig Curran's early strike.
Goals from Adam Rooney, Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn turned the game in the host's favour as they won 3-1.
"The players did that themselves as they showed real responsibility in the second half and real determination to get the result," said McInnes.
The suspicion was the manager had given them the sort of dressing down on the club's Retro Day that used to be the preserve of Sir Alex Ferguson.
They certainly came blasting back out like a team transformed after the break and, within eight minutes, goals from Adam Rooney and Jonny Hayes had them ahead.
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Niall McGinn capped a fine individual display with a late third to take Aberdeen back into second place.
"I couldn't have been more pleased with how they played from the first whistle in that second half," McInnes told BBC Scotland.
"It was relentless, thoughtful, intense, intelligent and some real quality play as well.
"The first half was more nervy than it should have been because of the poor goal we lost, but we still had time to put it right and the players did that.
"They deserve all the credit. It's not about what anyone said to them."
Aberdeen have now gone three games undefeated as they begin to find the form that had them top of the table and moved above Hearts and cut the gap on leaders Celtic to four points.
"We recognise we play for ourselves and nobody is going to do us any favours so we have to deal with difficult situations and that's what we did," said the Dons manager.
"There is an intensity and challenge when you play for Aberdeen to win games all the time and our supporters are used to see us winning.
"We have only lost once at home this season. Now we are back in to second place so as things are we are doing alright."
Ross County manager Jim McIntyre was as stunned as his players at their reversal of fortune after the break and believes his side need to be more streetwise to pick up points on the road.
They have won just once away from home in the league this season and that was at Kilmarnock back in August, but McInytre said they blew the chance to end that statistic.
"We dominated the first half and should have been more goals ahead at half time and it came back to bite us when we didn't," he said.
"When things like that happen, it is sore to take, but we produced enough good things to have got something.
"The goals we gave away were really disappointing as we can defend better than that and Aberdeen won the battles in the second half as we didn't match them.
"I can take a lot from the way we played first half and it was much better than the last time when we were thumped 4-0 here, so there has been progress."


A US government contractor has been arrested on suspicion of leaking top-secret information to a news outlet.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, allegedly removed classified material from a federal site in the state of Georgia.
The charges were announced shortly after news website The Intercept published a National Security Agency briefing about alleged Russian meddling in last year's election.
The Trump administration has been seeking to fight leaks to the media.
Ms Winner was arrested on 3 June, the justice department said.
She is a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation and had been employed at an NSA facility in Georgia since February.
The accused faces a count of "gathering, transmitting or losing defence information".
Ms Winner was vocal in her opposition to President Trump on social media, using the hashtag #NeverMyPresident in one post and an expletive in reference to his plans for a border wall.
The Intercept's leaked document alleges that Moscow's military intelligence services attempted cyber-attacks on at least one US voting software supplier days before last November's US presidential election.
It also accuses the Russians of sending spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials.
However, there is no suggestion in the document that the hackers were successful.
Ms Winner, who graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in 2011, was caught after investigators noticed that the leaked document appeared to have been folded or creased.
That suggested it had been "printed and then carried out of a secured space", according to an FBI affidavit in support of the arrest warrant.
Investigators determined that Ms Winner was one of only six people to have printed the document.
Examination of her email on her desk computer further revealed that she had exchanged emails with the news outlet, the indictment said.
When confronted, Ms Winner admitted printing the report despite not possessing a "need-to-know" about its content and said she was aware that the information "could be used to the injury of the US and to the advantage of a foreign nation", the affidavit says.
The NSA file in question was apparently marked for declassification not before May 2042.
American intelligence agencies have accused the Kremlin of trying to interfere in the election to ensure Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton.
Several congressional committees and the FBI are investigating the matter.
The president has repeatedly dismissed the story as "fake news", arguing that the real scandal is how the allegations are being leaked to the media.


Belgian authorities have charged three men with terrorism offences, including attempting to commit murder, following a huge overnight operation.

Nine other people who had also been arrested have been released by the investigating judge, the federal prosecutor's office said.
Searches were conducted overnight in 16 municipalities, mainly around Brussels, with checks on 152 lock-up garages.
PM Charles Michel said security would be stepped up at public events.
He tweeted (in French) after a meeting of the Belgian security council to say events would go ahead as planned, urging the public to remain calm.
Belgian media had earlier reported that militant Islamists may have been planning to attack the football fan zone in Brussels, where Belgium's games in the Euro 2016 tournament in France are screened.
On 22 March, bombs killed 32 people at a Brussels airport and a metro station.
The three men charged on Saturday were named as Samir C, aged 27; Moustapha B, 40; and Jawad B, 29.
The charges they face include attempting to commit murder through terrorism and participating in a terrorist group.
No arms or explosives were found during the searches, which passed off without incident, the federal prosecutor said in an earlier statement.
Forty people were initially taken in for questioning.
Among the areas where searches took place was Molenbeek, a Brussels district which has become notorious because of its associations with jihadists.
Officials said the operation had been launched after investigations which  "necessitated an immediate intervention".
The country is under a level three terror alert, one below maximum.
There were several warnings of further attacks in recent days.
On Friday evening, four federal ministers including Mr Michel were placed under heightened police protection along with their families, Belgian media report.
Belgian police are said to have recently received a warning that a group of militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group had left Syria en route for Europe, planning new attacks in Belgium and France.
An unnamed security source was quoted by Belgian newspaper DH  (in French) on Wednesday as saying the group had "left Syria about a week-and-a-half ago aiming to reach Europe via Turkey and Greece by boat without passports".
Meanwhile, a Belgian national named as Youssef EA was arrested on Friday and charged on suspicion of terrorist activities in connection with the March attacks, which were claimed by IS.
Belgian media report that he is the eighth person to have been charged over the attacks, which were carried out by three suicide bombers.
Investigators have established connections between the Brussels bombers and the IS attacks on Paris on 13 November, in which 130 people were killed.
Several of the Paris bombers came from Belgium and some of the bombs were made in a flat in Brussels.


Barcelona forward Neymar said he was not aware of the racist chanting allegedly aimed at him during Saturday's derby at Espanyol.

Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta told Spanish media after the 0-0 draw that the 23-year-old Brazilian was subjected to abuse from a supporter.
Neymar is reported to have told TV station La Sexta: "I did not hear anything.
"It is difficult for things to bother me, I just play football."
Espanyol president Joan Collet said: "I was there, just like 30,000 people and nothing happened.
"The whole thing blows up for one shout, but there was nothing generalised, it's a lie."


A woman has been arrested by detectives investigating dissident republican activity after a security alert in west Belfast.

Suspicious items were found during a house search in Broom Close in Twinbrook on Sunday morning.
The items were examined by army bomb experts and have been removed for forensic examination.
The woman, 57, was arrested in connection with the search and remains in custody.
Police remain in the area, but the security alert has ended.
The PSNI have refused to comment on a Sinn FÃ©in claim that a significant amount of explosives and munitions were found.


Hundreds of workers at a bakery that supplies food to leading high street stores have gone on strike in a dispute over pay.

Staff at Gunstones Bakery in Dronfield near Sheffield are taking part in the first of two 48-hour strikes.
Many of the 700-strong workforce at the site on Stubley Lane, Dronfield, are members of the bakers' union.
Gunstones said it was in talks with union representatives and wanted to minimise the impact of the strike.
John Higgins, of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU), said: "We're talking about people on the lower end of the pay scale and yet (the company) want to start negotiating to take away some of the terms and conditions such as shift payments, overtime payments.
"These are the things that actually make it feasible for people to live from January to December."
In a statement Gunstones, which is part of the 2 Sisters Food Group, said: "We are keen to continue meaningful talks with colleagues and their union representatives so that we can reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
"We will work with our customers to create contingency plans which will minimise the effects of action."


England opener Haseeb Hameed retired hurt with a hand injury during his maiden first-class outing of the season for Lancashire against Cambridge MCCU.

The 20-year-old withdrew after facing 23 balls and will undergo a scan.
"Hameed has retired hurt with Lancashire 17-0," the Red Rose outfit posted on social media.
Hameed made his England debut in India last year and scored 219 runs in three Tests before a finger injury forced him out of the final match of the series.
He missed the Champion County match in Abu Dhabi in March following sinus surgery.


Scott Brash won showjumping's biggest individual prize of 1m Euros (£735,000) by becoming the first rider to win the sport's grand slam.

The 29-year-old Briton had already made history with back-to-back Grands Prix successes in Geneva and Aachen.
He added to those by claiming the Calgary Grand Prix in Canada on Sunday riding Hello Sanctos.
"Words can't describe it. It is the best feeling I've ever had," said Scottish-born Brash.
Brash was the only competitor to ride the second round cleanly and inside the time limit as he claimed victory and the Rolex Grand Slam.
"I didn't think it could be done. It means everything," he said.
Brash has been ranked world number one since November 2013 and the West Sussex-based rider won team gold at the London Olympics in 2012.
"What can I say about Sanctos, he is the horse of a lifetime," he added.
"He was unbelievable in the second round and he tried his heart out."


A man caught speeding at 154mph (247km/h) has been banned from driving for 56 days.

Louie Howlett, 21, from Lakenheath, was clocked on the A11 at Icklingham in Suffolk in April.
He was driving a Seat Leon Cupra when he was stopped by police. Officers said they believed it to be the highest recorded speed on a Suffolk road.
Appearing at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court, Howlett was also ordered to pay Â£365.
Suffolk police said the sentence was "disappointing".
Inspector David Giles, from the roads policing unit, said: "I don't think it is enough at all. I'm really disappointed frankly.
"It's not a real incentive to stick within the speed limit, in my opinion."
Reaction to this story and more on the BBC Suffolk Live page
Lakenheath mechanic Howlett, who lives with his disabled mother and has been driving for four years, pleaded guilty to the offence by letter.
He told magistrates he was "sorry" and "had learnt his lesson".
Gary Rae, campaigns and communications director for the road safety charity Brake, said stronger deterrents were needed.
He said: "Drivers who recklessly speed put not only their own lives, but those of other road users, at severe risk.
"Breaking the speed limit by such a shocking amount shows an appalling disregard for the safety of innocent road users.
"We are disappointed to see such a lenient sentence in this case - drivers who selfishly flout the law need to be punished accordingly."


Last season's Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Djakadam sealed an impressive win in the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One John Durkan Memorial Chase.

The six-year-old jumped well throughout and a bold leap at the final fence before the home turn opened a gap.
Stable companion Valseur Lido gave chase in the straight, but Ruby Walsh's mount won commandingly by 12 lengths.
Meanwhile, Al Ferof, a candidate for the King George on Boxing Day, won at Huntingdon by two-and-a-half lengths.
It was a successful debut for Nick Skelton in the Peterborough Chase at the Cambridgeshire track.
Last year's winner Wishfull Thinking set off at a rapid pace under Richard Johnson and put in some spectacular leaps, but Al Ferof and Ptit Zig cruised past the leader, whose run had come to an end with three furlongs to run.
When Ptit Zig took a tired fall at the last, Al Ferof was well on top and the 9-4 chance came home a long way clear of Pepite Rose.
Willie Mullins-trained Djakadam was the 7-4 favourite at Punchestown and, after briefly tracking 2012 winner Flemenstar, he was soon in control.
"Henrietta Knight said he will win the Gold Cup, so I'll quote her," Mullins said.
"I wasn't happy with him during the week and was nearly not going to run, but to run like that after the way he was, I'm absolutely delighted with him."


A Newport school will take all its inset days in the same week so parents can save money on family holidays.

Parents at Eveswell Primary School have been told the five days will be taken in one block and added on to the end of Whitsun half term in June 2016.
Schools traditionally spread the teacher training days across the year.
Head teacher Catherine Barnett said she hoped it would discourage parents from taking children out of school for holidays during term time.
"There will be five training days for staff where the school is closed to pupils," Mrs Barnett said.
"It has been decided to take these as one whole week with the hope that cheaper holidays can be booked and therefore holidays will not affect attendance at other times in the year."
It comes as councils have started fining parents for their children's unauthorised absences.
Parent Gemma Thomas said of the move: "If every school did this but chose a different week to other council areas it would be completely fantastic for families."
Fellow parent Kirsty Powles said: "I was very happy to see this in a letter this week - I think it's a fab idea."


Police Scotland has been accused of throwing communications "out of the window" in Dumfries and Galloway.

It comes after a BBC Scotland Freedom of Information request found it had failed to reveal details of scores of crimes.
MSP Elaine Murray said she feared the incidents were not being made public as it was the "easiest thing to do".
Police said further work was being carried out to improve links between police officers and the media.
The crime reports coincided with three weeks leave booked by Police Scotland's Dumfries-based press officer.
In his absence, the force failed to publicise the crimes and many went unreported in the local media, including BBC Scotland.
More than 300 crimes were recorded by police in the south-west of Scotland between 26 August and 13 September.
Four rapes, 21 sex assaults and seven drug supply offences were among the incidents reported to the force.
The BBC in Dumfries received just one press release from Police Scotland during that time - on a fatal road accident at Gretna.
It is no secret that many of the crimes that make the headlines in Dumfries and Galloway rarely trouble even the inside pages of the national news media.
But it is important that Police Scotland maintains a year-round relationship with local newspapers, radio stations and websites.
Reports of road accidents, break-ins, and thefts are the backbone of the regional press.
As well as helping officers solve crime, they promote a relationship of trust between the police and public.
In the face of centralisation claims following the closure of the police control room in Dumfries, many believe that relationship should be their top priority.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said the sex crimes were "non-recent crimes" and they would not have been publicised in any event.
He added: "Likewise with the drugs figures, which were for minor possession charges, shopliftings and many of the common thefts, are ones where no media release would have been issued due to persons being arrested/reported at the time."
In a statement, he said arrangements had been made to circulate "incidents of note" and "public appeals" by local community officers with local press outlets.
He added: "Over the specified period a number of releases and appeals were made through these local contacts, however it is apparent that the local BBC office was not made aware.
"Further work to establish local direct links with community officers with all media outlets is being explored in order to provide resilience in the absence of the local communications officer for any reason.
"Local officers are encouraged to promote the work carried out in their community through local media."
Dumfriesshire MSP Elaine Murray said it was vital that channels of communication between police and public remain open.
She said: "Communication between Police Scotland and local people is not only an effective way to tackle and prevent crime, but also key for building trust.
"That's why I'm astonished that because of a lack of basic organisation, Police Scotland have thrown communication in the local area out of the window simply because it was the easiest thing to do.
"I hope they'll learn from these mistakes and implement more suitable procedures in the future."


A Chinese shopping mall and the manufacturers of one of its escalators were to blame for the death of a young mother, investigators say.

The woman narrowly managed to push her son to safety before she fell into the still moving escalator on Sunday.
Investigators concluded that store staff lacked training and should have shut the machinery down earlier.
The incident in Jingzhou, in Hubei province, has sparked widespread anger at the department store.
Xiang Liujuan, 30, was travelling on an upward escalator with her son, and as she stepped onto a metal panel at the top of the escalator, it gave way, catching her and dragging her down.
CCTV footage caught her just managing to save her son before disappearing into the still rolling escalator at the Anliang department store.
Five minutes before the accident, staff members noticed that a panel had become loose, but no proper instructions were given and nobody stopped the escalator, noted the preliminary report.
"The company lacks adequate training of staff on how to deal with emergency escalator situations, and lacks practice, which led to the escalator not being shut down (before the accident)," it said.
The manufacturer, Shenlong Elevator Ltd, was criticised for the design of its product's metal panels, which investigators said could easily work their way loose.
CCTV footage reveals that as the young mother travelled on the escalator from the 6th floor to the 7th floor with her son, two staff members were standing at the top of the escalator on the 7th floor, joined by another staff member.
It's not clear if they knew that there was a problem with the escalator or not or if they gave any warnings.
According to the husband of the victim, there were no signs or any warning at the bottom of the escalator, and only when the mother and son were already reaching the top did the women shout to her about the danger, but it was too late, and his wife was dragged down before they could finish the sentence.
The victim's son is reported to have witnessed how his mother was "swallowed" by the escalator, and was telling the relatives to save her while the rescue was going on.
The death of Xiang Liujuan on what should have been an ordinary shopping trip has sparked outrage, anger and concern on social media.
Many express disbelief at what they see as a totally incompetent response to the emergency situation by the shopping centre, with one netizen asking "what's happening to China? What are the maintenance staff doing in the shopping mall"?
Others question why these accidents seem to be happening frequently, and lament the avoidable loss of life.
According to a Xinhua report, in July alone, there have been several serious incidents involving lifts and escalators across the country, causing several deaths and serious injuries.
What many find quite shocking is that since the death in Jingzhou, there have been two reported serious incidents.
On 27 July, a one-year-old boy had his left arm caught in the handrail of an escalator in Sun Square, in Guangxi's Wuzhou City. Reports say the boy might lose his arm.
On the same day, a young woman was killed when she got stuck in the gap between the floor and a goods elevator, in the southern city of Wuxi.
These incidents have put the safety of elevators and escalators once again under the spotlight. Experts point to a variety of concerns, including manufacturing defaults, over use, lack of maintenance and poor inspections.
Now Hubei quality control authorities have issued an urgent instruction to suspend the use of escalators produced by Shen Long Ltd until further notice. They have also ordered a thorough inspection of all the elevators and escalators in service.
As for the victim's relatives, they say they will not talk about compensation before they get the final results of the investigation and know who is responsible.
The Anliang Department Store and Shenlong Elevator Ltd have yet to respond publicly to the investigation.


Plans have been lodged for a 12-turbine wind farm development on uplands to the south of Hawick.

Energiekontor UK had originally been looking at building 15 turbines as part of the Pines Burn project.
It has scaled down its proposals following a series of public exhibitions in the area.
The company has estimated that the development could meet the annual energy needs of more than 22,000 homes if it goes ahead.


More than 20,000 people are expected to attend a weekend of events taking place in Inverness.

The Inverness Highland Games will be held on Saturday and the Inverness Gala and a Bryan Adams concert on Sunday.
The weekend will be one of the busiest of the year for the city and will involve a number of road closures.
It will see heavies' events such as tossing the caber and hammer throwing as well as shinty competitions and music from pipe bands.
Crowds will return the following weekend for a concert by singer Olly Murs.


The Italian parliament has approved a government plan for a possible €20bn (£16.8bn) bailout of the country's banks.

The Italian Treasury will probably have to rescue Italy's third largest lender, Monte dei Paschi, by the end of next week.
The rescue fund will be used to prop up other banks as well.
Earlier, Monte dei Paschi revealed that it could run out of funds by next April, using up nearly €11bn (£9.2bn).
Previously it had said it had the funds to stay afloat for 11 months.
It added that by next May, it could burn through even more - €15bn (£12.6bn) in total.
Founded in 1472, Monte dei Paschi is said to be the oldest surviving bank in the world.
The bank suspended trading in its shares on Wednesday morning, when they fell to their lowest level since the bank's stock market flotation in 1999.
After a resumption in trading, they were suspended again in the afternoon, after reports emerged that the bank's own plan to raise extra funds was on the verge of falling through, less than 24 hours before its deadline.
The bank has been trying to raise €5bn (£4.2bn) in fresh capital to stage its own rescue, but so far it has raised only €500m (£420m).
If the bank cannot arrange a successful private sector bailout, the Italian government will almost certainly step in.
Monte dei Paschi failed a European Union stress test in July because it has billions of euros of risky loans on its books, made to clients who cannot afford to repay them.
The situation has worsened since then.
The new Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, has vowed not to let the bank fail, for fear that its collapse could topple the rest of Italy's heavily indebted banking sector.
Failure of the bank would threaten the savings of thousands of Italian citizens.
The funds for the impending government bailout have been approved by both the lower and upper houses of the Italian parliament.
The parliamentary measure said that the government could borrow the required money to provide "an adequate level of liquidity into the banking system" and that the government could support a lender's finances by "underwriting new shares".
The Italian finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, said the impact on savers of a state bail-out would be "minimal or non-existent".
The European Commission said it had "noted" the Italian government's request to the Italian parliament for authorisation to change some public finances targets.
"The Commission is in close and constructive contact with the Italian government," it added.


Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter and winger Gavin Whyte have been named Manager and Player of the Month by the NI Football Writers' Association.

After exiting the Irish Cup at the start of April, the Crues recovered with five straight league wins to retain the Irish Premiership title.
Whyte scored in decisive victories over Linfield and Cliftonvillle.
Baxter said Whyte was "unplayable and his displays were a welcome lift in the final stages of the campaign".
The Crusaders manager praised the spirit of his side, commending their mean defence which kept 20 clean sheets in 38 matches throughout the season.
On picking up his award, Whyte admitted that "it's true when they say your second year is the hardest and at one point my confidence was low, but getting games and getting goals certainly raised it".


Hull City manager Steve Bruce has said there are "no excuses" for a poor performance in the Championship play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday.

Hull stuttered in their play-off second leg as they lost 2-0 at Derby County, but went through 3-2 on aggregate.
"If we do get to the heights then it takes a very, very good team to beat us," Bruce told BBC Radio Humberside.
"It's a really difficult league but we've given ourselves an outstanding chance of getting promoted."
He continued: "We have none of the excuses, now we've had 10 days to prepare and a whole week to build up to face a good Sheffield side.
"We are capable of putting in an awful performance, which usually happens in the second or the third game in a short period of time, but we know we can perform."
In an 18-year managerial career, Saturday will be Bruce's first trip to Wembley to watch his team compete in a play-off final.
City are likely to be without first-choice goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who has kept 18 clean sheets in 44 appearances this season.
McGregor missed both legs against Derby because of a back injury, with Eldin Jakupovic deputising.
Hull and The Owls drew both of their meetings in the Championship this season, with Bruce's side finishing nine points above sixth-placed Wednesday.
"It's easy practising on a training ground; it's like practising penalties, every one of them smashes into a top corner, no problem," added Bruce.
"That goal shrinks a little bit when you are in front of 100,000 and what's at stake. It's about handling the occasion."


Google has been accused of bypassing the privacy settings of users of the Safari web-browser.

The Wall Street Journal said Google and other companies had worked around privacy settings designed to restrict cookies.
Cookies are small text files stored by browsers which can record information about online activity, and help some online services work.
However Google says the story "mischaracterises" what happened.
Advertisers can use cookies to track online behaviour, helping them to target the commercials they show to internet users.
Some think this use of cookies erodes online privacy. In May, European Union laws are due to come into force which will restrict the use of advertising cookies.
But cookies are also essential to some web services like those Google offers.
The Safari browser is produced by Apple, and is the browser used by the iPhone.
By default Safari only allows cookies to be stored by the web page a user is visiting, not from third parties such as advertisers.
However, Stanford University researcher Jonathan Mayer found that advertisers were still able to store cookies on the computers of internet users browsing with Safari.
It was his discovery that formed the basis of the Wall Street Journal's story.
Many Google services use cookies, for example to remember when someone is signed in to a service, but they are also used by the firm to help personalise advertising.
It was when Google attempted to find a way to enable some of its services and personalised advertising to work on Safari  that, Google says, it inadvertently stored cookies.
In a statement, senior vice president Rachel Whetstone said that last year the company had decided to "enable features for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalised ads and other content".
She added: "To enable these features, we created a temporary communication link between Safari browsers and Google's servers, so that we could ascertain whether Safari users were also signed into Google, and had opted for this type of personalisation."
Ms Whetsone said the company had created new systems to make sure the information it collected was anonymous, but this had led to unintended consequences:
"The Safari browser contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser.
"We didn't anticipate that this would happen, and we have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers.  It's important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Google "disabled the code after being contacted by the paper".
Google declined to provide further comment to the BBC.
Online privacy advocates were highly critical of Google's actions.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote: "It's time for Google to acknowledge that it can do a better job of respecting the privacy of web users."
Although much of the criticism has been directed at the search giant, the Wall Street Journal said that in addition to Google, a number of advertising companies had been using the work-around which had been known about for some time.
An Apple spokesman said in a statement: "We are aware that some third parties are circumventing Safari's privacy features and we are working to put a stop to it."


It would be "preferable" for only one candidate to take on Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour Party leadership, ex-shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn has said.

It is understood Angela Eagle and Owen Smith have agreed only one of them will challenge Mr Corbyn in the final round.
Mr Benn said the party should wait to see how many nominations - which close on Wednesday - each candidate gets.
Mr Benn, who is backing Ms Eagle, said it was time for a female leader. But he said Mr Smith would also be "great".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he "trusts" Labour Party members will make the "right decision", and not back Mr Corbyn.
The winner of the contest - sparked after Mr Corbyn lost a vote of no confidence from his MPs - will be announced at a special conference on 24 September.
Meanwhile, the Labour leader - who has vowed to fight any challengers in the contest - has taken out an advert in the Guardian newspaper defending his record and stating his desire to carry on in the role.
"I'd rather be fighting the Tories," the advert states.
Mr Benn told Today: "Yesterday Angela and Owen Smith met. They had very productive and useful discussions and we will wait and see what the nominations that Labour MPs make produces."
On the question of a "unity" candidate to take on Mr Corbyn, he said there was a "strong view" in the parliamentary party in favour of that.
"I think that would be preferable," he told Today but he said "we don't yet know what the outcome of the nominations will be".
An initial list of which MPs are backing which candidate is to be published on Tuesday evening.
Mr Benn - who was sacked from the shadow cabinet after telling Mr Corbyn he did not have confidence in his leadership - said he was backing Ms Eagle because she had "great integrity", "a lot of experience". He also said he thought it was time for a woman to lead the party.
But he added: "I will give my full support to whoever is elected if someone other than Jeremy is chosen by the members in September."
The former foreign secretary - whose sacking was followed by mass resignations from the Labour top team - said Ms Eagle and Mr Smith would "both make great leaders" and added that Mr Corbyn "can't continue" as Labour leader.
"If we're not going to be a party that aspires to be in government then none of the ideas - whether they are ideas held and argued for by Jeremy, Angela or Owen - can come to pass because we'll have a Conservative government in this country."
But he insisted the party "is not going to split" despite the "very difficult and unhappy situation" it is in.
In his newspaper advert, Mr Corbyn said that under his leadership Labour had "rolled the Tory government back" on "many punitive, right-wing proposals", such as tax credit cuts, disability benefits cuts and plans to relax Sunday trading laws.
"I want to continue to lead a party providing such effective opposition, especially now that Brexit puts at risk jobs and workers' rights," he added.
The Labour leadership challengers took part in a hustings in front of Labour MPs on Monday.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Eagle said the debate had gone "very well".
One of her supporters told BBC political correspondent Iain Watson she had shown "more substance" while an MP backing Mr Smith said only he could unite the Labour Party.
As challengers, Mr Smith and Ms Eagle need nominations from 51 MPs and MEPs to get on the ballot paper while, as the incumbent leader, Mr Corbyn is automatically entitled to stand.
During his leadership launch on Sunday, Mr Smith said the contender with the most backing should become the unity candidate to take on Mr Corbyn - a view shared by senior colleagues.
Mr Corbyn has vowed to fight the challengers, but in the latest in a string of rows over the vote he has said he thinks rules which exclude recently signed-up Labour members from voting in the contest are "not very fair".
He said he wants the party's National Executive Committee to change the restrictions, adding that he believes the Â£25 fee for registered supporters to vote in the contest is too high.


It is only a matter of time before someone dies as a result of attacks with laser pens, the head of safety for the National Police Air Service warns.

David Taylor, from Llandudno, says laser attacks on planes and helicopters in England and Wales have almost doubled in five year.
There were 746 incidents in 2009 and 1,442 last year.
NPAS now operate most of the UK's police helicopters, including those serving north and south Wales.
At the same time as the rise in attacks, the severity of the incidents has also increased as ever more powerful lasers become available.
Several pilots have suffered damage to their sight which may prove irreversible.
Mr Taylor represents NPAS on the multi-agency UK government's laser working group, which is pushing for stronger legislation around the purchase and use of laser devices.
It wants to bring Britain in line with countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the USA where laser attacks are federal offences and attract stiff penalties.
Mr Taylor believes that the increase in the strength of lasers available online has dramatically worsened the situation.
"Fifteen years ago laser pens were 1 milliwatt - roughly the power you'd need for a pointer in a classroom - but today it's extremely easy to pick up lasers on the internet of 5 to 7 watts; over five thousand times stronger, and easily enough to burn your name into a wall at close range," he said.
"Aside from a handful of highly specialised uses, there's absolutely no legitimate reason anyone could have for wanting such a powerful laser.
1,142
attacks on aircraft in the last year
746 incidents reported in 2009
97 attacks made on NPAS helicopters in 2014
2-4 attacks per year (average) on Dyfed-Powys police helicopter
NPAS are currently trialling protective goggles for pilots, however Mr Taylor wants attacks to be prevented in the first place.
"Much better would be to mount a massive public-awareness campaign to make people realise that these things can be every bit as dangerous as knives, and to make their use as antisocial as smoking or drink-driving," he said.
"It's not just pilots, train drivers and motorists are being targeted, and given that, if we don't tackle this now it really is a matter of time until someone dies."
Police helicopters attacked
NPAS helicopters were attacked 97 times in 2014, and whilst specifically Welsh figures have only just begun to be collated this year, Mr Taylor believes they will be "in high single figures or low tens" for both the north and south Wales areas - which includes the Gwent Police area.
The Dyfed-Powys force said their helicopter is subjected to an average of two to four attacks per year.
However, Mr Taylor warned that these numbers are likely to be the tip of the iceberg, as many attacks go unreported.


A trial which has seen firefighters across north-east England deal with medical emergencies is to be extended.

Since January four fire services have worked with the North East Ambulance Service to respond to life-threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrests.
During the trial, firefighters attended 2,904 patients - more than 1,800 in the Durham and Darlington area.
Ambulance service bosses have now agreed to extend the trial until at least February 2017.
Fire crews have been equipped with a medical kit with the aim of helping to improve survival rates when they are first on the scene.
Ambulance service operations manager Gareth Campbell said: "Demand on the ambulance service has increased by nearly 20% since 2007, meaning we receive a new 999 call every 65 seconds.
"Over the last six months, fire crews have been able to reach the scene of many incidents and deliver lifesaving care in those first critical minutes until an ambulance clinician has arrived, thereby improving the survival rates of our patients. "
He said the programme would continue to be monitored closely.


Scientists are asking for people's help to spot orcas across the UK.

13 June 2017 Last updated at 06:48 BST
Every year pods of orcas make a journey from Iceland to Orkney and John O'Groats in Scotland.
The underwater mammals migrate every year for food and it gives people the chance to spot them up close.
Scientists want people to look out for the orcas, as they want to learn more about their migration patterns.
Kathy James from the Sea Watch Foundation explains: "It's relatively easy to see land animals and the habitats they're using, but it's more difficult to see animals that live under the sea. The only way we can see where they are and what they're doing is if people report that to us."
Ayshah went to meet some young whale watchers at a special event called Orca Watch to see what she could spot.


Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has attacked "nimbyism" as he called for a million new homes to be built by 2020.

While everyone agreed on the need for new homes, "too many" opposed them in their own community, Mr Javid told the Conservative Party conference.
While there were valid reasons for stopping developments, on grounds of size and taste, he said the UK couldn't afford to build so few homes.
He announced the "largest state-backed" housing programme since the 1970s.
Addressing activists in Birmingham, Mr Javid said there had been "massive progress" since 2010 but there was still a "long, long way to go" and the simple fact was that too many people were priced out of housing market and had little chance of owning their home.
The 170,000 homes built in England last year, he said, was simply not enough to keep up with demand.
Pledging to tackle the obstacles to new schemes, he called on developers to "release their stranglehold" over land and stop building up so-called land banks.
And targeting 'nimbyism' (which stands for 'not in my backyard') he said local communities had to reflect on the UK's national priorities not just their own.
"Everyone agrees we need more homes, but too many object to them being next to us," he said.
"We have got to change that attitude. Of course there are sometimes some valid reasons for opposing some local planning applications - if they are in the wrong place, if there is not enough infrastructure or if they are just plain ugly, but all of us we have a duty to think of the long-term consequences of every decision we make.
"We have a responsibility to build more houses, a responsibility not just to our constituents but to the next generation."
Unveiling what he described as "unprecedented" plans to "open up the market", he said the government would borrow Â£2bn to support the "Accelerated Construction" scheme, which aims to get houses built on publicly-owned "brownfield" land available for swift development. Mr Javid said the cash would encourage new developers to build up to 15,000 homes by 2021.
There would also be a Â£3bn Home Building Fund to provide loans to stimulate projects, which he said would build more than 25,000 homes by 2020, with a long-term goal to build more than 200,000.
"This is just the beginning," he added. "We will publish a housing white paper later this year with further significant measures all helping us towards our ambitions of a million new homes by 2020."
The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, said more attention must be given to tackling the "growing backlog" in developments which had received planning permission but which had yet to get under way.
"Councils are approving nine in 10 planning applications yet our recent analysis also shows there are hundreds of thousands of homes with planning permission which are still waiting to be built," said its chair Lord Porter. "Councils need more powers to encourage developers to build homes more quickly."
The Green Party said the plans failed to tackle the "underlying causes" of the housing crisis, such as the sale of council homes and "tax breaks" for buy-to-let investors, while the Liberal Democrats dismissed the announcements as a "drop in the ocean".
"If the government wants to solve our country's housing crisis they will have to do much, much more than the level of investment announced today," said its leader Tim Farron.
"Experts say we need to be building 300,000 homes a year- double what we currently build. There is a huge task ahead and this announcement is a drop in the ocean."


Firefighters in the US are trying to control raging wildfires which have spread to the famous Yosemite National Park in California and now cover nearly 200 square miles.

Tourists visiting the area in its busiest season have been told to leave and homes nearby have been evacuated.
The fire's been burning for a week and has tripled in size in the last twenty-four hours.
A state of emergency has been declared around the area.
The fires have not yet reached Yosemite and park officials say it's still open.
But the blaze has forced part of a motorway that leads to a park entrance, to shut.
In the state of Wyoming, wildfires have been burning near Yellowstone National Park.


The TUV has proposed bringing back "British ministers" to replace the Stormont executive as part of its new plan for government.

The party says the new ministers would be accountable to the assembly and not to Westminster.
TUV leader Jim Allister set out his "Plan B" as he launched the party's manifesto on Wednesday for the assembly election next month.
The party is standing 15 candidates in 14 constituencies.
Mr Allister described the current structures at Stormont as "a shambles" and insisted voluntary coalition with an opposition was the only way to make government work.
"There must, there has to be surgical change, root and branch change, to the abysmal failure of the present arrangements," he said.
"We can't go on as we are, we need to abandon mandatory coalition and move to voluntary coalition with a real opposition."
But Mr Allister said if the parties could not agree on voluntary coalition, then his plan B would prevent the collapse of the Assembly.
"Executive functions would be exercised by British ministers under the scrutiny of the Assembly," he said.
"Then when our politicians grow up and agree to voluntary coalition, they could then replace the British ministers and in that way we build durable and workable devolution."
The TUV leader said his party had "shone the bright light" into the corners of Stormont and exposed squander and failure.
He also hit back at those who claim he is a one man party.
The TUV's 43 page manifesto called "Straight Talking, Principled Politics" set out how it would tackle problems in the health, education and housing sectors.
It also outlined how it would turn the economy around.


Pet owners are being warned to be vigilant after a series of possible dog poisonings.

At least two have been treated for symptoms of poisoning after being walked near a cricket pitch in Fordham Heath, Colchester, the RSPCA said.
The charity has received another report of poisoning and said it was aware of a number of other owners who said their pets had also been ill.
The RSPCA has advised dog walkers to avoid the area "until we know more".
The dogs which were treated, both suffered "severe sickness" after being walked in a field near Eight Ash Green Cricket Club in Spring Lane, the animal charity said.
More on this and other news from Essex
Their owner, who did not want to be named, said: "My dog was constantly licking his feet...then he started burning up, he was sweating and had a temperature.
"He was having trouble breathing, his tongue and mouth were blistered and he collapsed. It was very awful."
The dogs were taken ill last week, although one had suffered similar symptoms after being walked in the area in May.
Their owner has so far faced vets bills of more than Â£1,000.
"I've spoken to other owners whose dogs have been sick and collapsed too, after walking around the field near the cricket pitch," she added.
In a statement Eight Ash Green Cricket Club said it was aware of reports of suspected poisonings and "wishes to confirm that it does not use any chemicals that will prove harmful to animals or wildlife".
The RSPCA said an inspector was investigating whether anything toxic had been accidentally or deliberately left in the area near the club.
The charity said dog owners should contact their vet immediately if their pet showed signs of poisoning, which included vomiting, appearing drunk and uncoordinated, seizures and difficulty breathing.


Plans to build more than 1,000 homes a year in York over the next 15 years have been criticised  by opposition councillors.

The city's Labour council unveiled the proposal as part of the city's new development plan.
The report said the new homes are needed to cope with a predicted increase in the city's population of 40,000 people by 2030.
A Lib Dem councillor described the figures as "unrealistic".
The document identifies 62 sites across the city that could be used for housing, including Holme Hill which could see 5,580 properties built and Clifton Gate which the report said has potential for 4,020 new homes.
Some of the proposed new homes would be built on greenbelt land.
Councillor James Alexander, Labour leader of City of York Council, said the biggest challenge facing the city was the need for affordable housing.
He said: "We've taken the tough decision to allocate 1.8% of draft greenbelt land for development in order to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city and deliver key developments such as York Central, and to deliver jobs, homes and protect York's unique built environment for future generations."
Councillor Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for planning and sustainability, claimed that the city's population had only grown at 1% per year over the last decade, a figure which only required 400 new homes each year.
She said the target of 1,090 new homes a year had been "plucked from nowhere".
Ms Reid said: "What we do know is that growth on this scale would radically alter the character of York and put a strain on existing infrastructure."
The plan is to be out to public consultation.


Andy Murray will seek medical guidance on the Zika virus before travelling to Rio for the Olympics.

The 29-year-old British defending champion said he had been influenced by recent reports of scientists saying it was "unethical" for the summer Olympics and Paralympics to go ahead.
"I will speak to a couple of doctors about it and see what their advice is," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I plan on playing for sure but don't know the exact situation there now."
He added: "I need to get a little bit more information first before making a decision."
The International Olympic Committee has said it sees no reason to delay or move the Games because of the mosquito-borne virus, which is linked to serious birth defects.
The outbreak began in Brazil a year ago, but now more than 60 countries and territories have continuing transmission.
A number of potential competitors, across a range of sports, have voiced their concern about the Zika situation in Rio and their possible participation in the Games.
Golfers Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett and Shane Lowry are among them, with Fiji's Vijay Singh and Australians Adam Scott and Marc Leishman already having pulled out.
World number one men's tennis player Novak Djokovic said cancelling the Games would be "unthinkable".
The 29-year-old Serb added: "For the moment I'm planning to play. Nothing is changing. But let's see what happens."
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Saint-Etienne's Ligue 1 draw with Rennes was interrupted after fans sneaked into the stadium when the match was being played behind closed doors.

The hosts had been sanctioned for crowd trouble during a derby against Lyon in February.
Referee Ruddy Buquet sent the players to the dressing room in the 16th minute, with the fans finally leaving the stadium quietly after 15 minutes.
Robert Beric put the hosts ahead when the match resumed, but Mexer levelled.
Match ends, St Etienne 1, Rennes 1.
Second Half ends, St Etienne 1, Rennes 1.
Attempt missed. Digbo Maiga (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.
Attempt blocked. Digbo Maiga (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Benoit Costil.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Mexer.
Attempt missed. Lamine Ghezali (St Etienne) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Jordan Veretout with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Mexer.
Offside, St Etienne. Ole Selnaes tries a through ball, but Loic Perrin is caught offside.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Pedro Mendes.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Ramy Bensebaini.
Substitution, St Etienne. Lamine Ghezali replaces Robert Beric.
Substitution, St Etienne. Arnaud Nordin replaces Benjamin Corgnet.
Giovanni Sio (Rennes) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kévin Théophile-Catherine (St Etienne).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Firmin Ndombe Mubele (Rennes) because of an injury.
Kevin Malcuit (St Etienne) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Yoann Gourcuff (Rennes) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Kevin Malcuit (St Etienne).
Substitution, St Etienne. Digbo Maiga replaces Ronael Pierre Gabriel.
Foul by Pedro Mendes (Rennes).
Ronael Pierre Gabriel (St Etienne) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Benjamin André (Rennes) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Benjamin Corgnet (St Etienne).
Substitution, Rennes. Wesley Said replaces Joris Gnagnon because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Joris Gnagnon (Rennes) because of an injury.
Substitution, Rennes. Gelson Fernandes replaces Sanjin Prcic.
Benjamin André (Rennes) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Benjamin Corgnet (St Etienne).
Attempt blocked. Ole Selnaes (St Etienne) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jordan Veretout.
Foul by Giovanni Sio (Rennes).
Kevin Malcuit (St Etienne) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Yoann Gourcuff (Rennes) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ole Selnaes (St Etienne).
Corner,  Rennes. Conceded by Loic Perrin.
Attempt blocked. Firmin Ndombe Mubele (Rennes) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Pedro Mendes.
Giovanni Sio (Rennes) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kévin Théophile-Catherine (St Etienne).


Two robbers stormed into a man's office and snatched a gold Rolex from his wrist in a shocking attack which left him unconscious.

18 February 2016 Last updated at 14:22 GMT
The 46-year-old victim was in the office of his van hire shop on Court Road in Greenwich on 10 February when the men burst in.
They choked him until he lost consciousness during the raid.
Grabbing the gold Rolex Yacht Master watch - worth £15,000 -  they ran off to a waiting black Peugeot 206 in Middle Park Avenue, where a man and woman were sitting.
Police describe the first suspect as a 25-30 year-old white male, with a goatee beard.
The second is described as a 38-40 year-old white male with a scarred complexion.


A top-performing officer cadet at Sandhurst has thanked the Army for putting him on the right track.

Officer cadet Kidane Cousland, who grew up on a housing estate in Tottenham, says had he not signed up as a 16-year-old he would be dead or in prison.
Now 24, he served in Afghanistan in 2011 with 29 Commando, Royal Artillery.
He is among only a handful of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) cadets to be awarded the "sword of honour" for coming top of his intake.
Known as Danny to his Army colleagues, Officer Cadet Cousland will be presented with the accolade during Friday's graduation passing out ceremony at the military academy in Surrey.
It has been nine years since the last black officer cadet, Charlie Mulira, who is currently serving with the Irish Guards, received the award.
Officer cadet Cousland left school at 15 without being able to read but he has excelled in the academic challenges at Sandhurst, where he was among the May 2015 intake.
He did better than Oxbridge graduates in his war studies essay and hopes to complete a Bachelor's degree in the subject before doing a Master's.
"I went to school, I was completely disconnected, I didn't get on, I didn't do very well, I wasn't motivated... I was in a bad way really," he said.
"But something I always wanted to do since I was a child was join the Army."
He was brought up by a single mother who initially refused to sign his application form because of her perception of the Army as a "predominantly white organisation" and no place for her mixed-race son.
However, Officer Cadet Cousland said: "I either did that or my anger issues and frustration would actually see me move in a different direction, and probably end up killing me or I'd be in prison."
He came top of both the Army selection board when he applied and his Commando course, aged 18.  He served as a bombardier in Afghanistan and was later recommended for officer training.
The Ministry of Defence says about 2.5% of Army officers and 4% of all recruits are currently from BAME backgrounds.  It says it is on track to meet a target of 10% of all recruits being from BAME backgrounds.
But the Army insists officer cadet Cousland's award is not about tokenism. He beat 200 fellow recruits to the sword of honour.
Officer Cadet Cousland does not believe the Army is racist as an institution but admitted he had experienced some problems from individuals.
"As I learned from when I was a kid, my response to racism is just to prove them wrong by being the best I can be, every day," he said.


Phil Mustard's unbeaten 90 helped Gloucestershire draw against Sussex to close the Division Two season.

Mustard put on 135 for the sixth wicket alongside Hamish Marshall, making his final appearance for the hosts.
Marshall passed 1,000 Championship runs for 2016 before being caught off Danny Briggs for 77 as a draw was called with Gloucestershire 131 ahead on 337-7.
Briggs (5-93) got his second five-for of 2016 as Sussex ended the season unbeaten away in the Championship.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Australian batsman Cameron Bancroft is set to return to Gloucestershire in 2017.
Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown told BBC Radio Bristol: "He played red ball cricket for us at the beginning of the season as a replacement for Michael Klinger and he's going to play red ball cricket for us for all of next season.
"He'll be here for the whole season, with the option to play white-ball cricket as well if we should need him or if the opportunity arises for him."


The European Commission has said it is likely to approve France and Italy's 2015 budgets after both countries made adjustments to their first proposals, submitted earlier this month.

France had initially disregarded the Commission's calls for further budgetary cuts.
Since the financial crisis, the Commission has gained greater powers to ensure members meet deficit targets.
France's original budget forecast a deficit of 4.3%, above the 3% target.
The 3% target would not have been met until 2017, under this first proposal.
The budget deficit is the amount a government spends over and above its annual income, expressed as a percentage of total economic output, or GDP.
"After taking into account all of the further information and improvements... I cannot immediately identify cases of particularly serious non-compliance which would oblige us [to reject the plans]", said EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Jyrki Katainen.
France and Italy have been negotiating with the Commission since they submitted their budgets on 15 October.
On Tuesday, France's Finance Minister Michel Sapin said he would cut a further â‚¬3.6-3.7bn ($4.6bn; Â£2.8bn) from the 2015 budget to meet the EU rules.
He said he had found the money because of lower-than-expected costs on interest payments, as well as lower contributions to the EU's budget.


Apple is the latest tech firm to publish details of data requests from the US authorities.

The firm said it received requests for information linked to between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts or devices between December and the end of May.
It said the demands included "national security matters" among other information. Microsoft and Facebook published similar numbers last week.
But Google and Twitter have said that such disclosures are not helpful.
"We have always believed that it's important to differentiate between different types of government requests," said a statement by Google published on Saturday.
"Lumping the two categories together would be a step back for users."
A tweet from Twitter's legal director, Benjamin Lee, added: "We agree... it's important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests - including Fisa [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] disclosures - separately."
Tech firms have been under pressure to disclose information about data passed to the National Security Agency since The Guardian and Washington Post revealed the existence of Prism - a programme giving the NSA access to user data held on the servers of tech firms including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, and Apple.
The NSA later confirmed the existence of the surveillance scheme as well as a separate phone records programme which it said had helped it thwart terrorist plots in the US and more than 20 other countries.
US spy chief James Clapper has also stated that the NSA's communications-collection efforts were designed to help acquire information about "non-US persons located outside the United States" and the agency could not "intentionally target any US citizen, any other US person, or anyone located within the United States".
However, privacy activists and some politicians have raised concerns that the agency's actions still went beyond what was intended under powers granted by the Patriot Act following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks.
Following the revelations, several of the tech firms involved said they had asked the US government to allow them to disclose information which would help them address concern about the scale of information that had been handed over.
On Friday, Facebook and Microsoft announced they had been given permission to reveal the number of data requests from US officials in aggregate, and Apple has now followed with its own statement.
"We first heard of the government's 'Prism' program when news organisations asked us about it on June 6," it said.
"We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer content must get a court order."
The firm added that between 1 December 2012 and 31 May 2013 it received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from US law enforcement for customer data, involving between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts or devices. It did not say with how many it had complied.
It said the "common form of request" came from police who were investigating crimes such as robberies, trying to find missing children and patients with Alzheimer's disease, or hoping to prevent suicides.
It noted that it would not have been able to decode encrypted conversations which took place over its iMessage or Facetime chat software on behalf of the authorities, nor did it store "identifiable" data related to Apple Map searches or requests made to its voice-controlled Siri service.
"Regardless of the circumstances, our legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities," it added.
Apple's disclosure covers a different period from that disclosed by Facebook and Microsoft, which both published data for the last six months of 2012.
Microsoft said it received between 6,000 and 7,000 requests from US government agencies affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 customer accounts.
Facebook said it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests covering between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.
Google has said that over the course of 2012 it received between zero and 999 National Security Letters - foreign intelligence-related requests from the FBI involving US citizens which are distinct from the agency's investigations into other criminal, civil or administrative matters.
However, these do not include other types of national security requests including those involving Fisa.
Google said that on 11 June it wrote to the Department of Justice and FBI asking to be allowed to provide a break-out number for all types of national security requests and details about their scope.
In the meantime it has decided not to conflate the numbers with the data it already published on other search warrants and subpoenas it received from US authorities.