Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said comments by Sweden's foreign minister on Scottish independence were "very foolish".

Carl Bildt suggested a "Yes" vote would lead to the "Balkanisation of the British Isles" and set off "unforeseen chain reactions".
Mr Salmond said the use of the word "Balkanisation" was insulting to the democratic process in Scotland.
But a spokesman for Mr Bildt said the politician stood by his comments.
The people of Scotland go to the polls on 18 September when they will be asked the "Yes/No" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
Mr Salmond said the Swede's remarks, made in the Financial Times newspaper, were not only insulting to Scotland but to the Balkan countries that had joined the EU.
Both Croatia and Slovenia have become EU member states since the bloody wars that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s.
Mr Bildt is a former prime minister of Sweden who also served as the UN's special envoy to the Balkans between 1999 and 2001.
The FT quoted him saying that Scottish independence would have "more profound implications than people think".
He added in the piece: "The Balkanisation of the British Isles is something we are not looking forward to. It opens up a lot, primarily in Scotland but also in the UK.
"What are the implications for the Irish question?" he asked. "What happens in Ulster?"
In a BBC interview, the Mr Salmond took exception to these remarks.
He said: "I think the term Balkanisation was very foolish.
"Insulting to this democratic process in Scotland but also insulting to the new European member states from the Balkans who are now part of the democracy of the European Union."
Slovenia has been in the EU for 10 years and Croatia became the newest member state last year.
Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia are all candidates for EU membership.
UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, was in Sweden for talks on the future of the EU with other centre-right leaders.
At a news conference with Mr Cameron, Swedish Prime Minister, Fredric Reinfeldt, chose not to echo his foreign minister's remarks.
He said: "We also have a lot of experiences in referendums throughout Europe and we have learned to respect the results and not to speculate in advance."
Sweden's shadow foreign minister, Urban Ahlin, said "unfortunately we have a foreign minister with a specialty in insulting other nations.
"I think he's insulting the people of Scotland by comparing a democratic referendum with 'Balkanisation'."
However, Mr Bildt is said to be standing by his remarks.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Willie Rennie, said the comments reflected wider international concern.
He explained: "Balkanisation is not a term that I would use but it's quite clear that leaders across the world are expressing concern about the United Kingdom because the UK is a force for good across the globe."
The SNP often draws inspiration from Scandinavian countries - including Sweden - for its vision of what an independent Scotland could achieve.
Mr Bildt is not the only international figure to have commented on Scotland's future in recent days.
Last Thursday, the US president Barack Obama said that America had a "great interest" in ensuring that the UK remained "united".
He also stressed that the decision on independence was for Scottish voters.
In his BBC interview, the first minister said the remarks were "low level" on the Richter scale of presidential interventions.
But he appeared to suggest that they could still be counter productive.
Mr Salmond said: "I'm not sure if President Obama is familiar with the Scottish word 'thrawn'.
"It means more than stubborn. It means people don't appreciate being told what to do, I think."
Mr Salmond said the president's comments had come as "a surprise" because the US had declared itself "neutral" in the referendum campaign.
He also noted that the US had previously acknowledged the democratic nature of the Scottish debate.
The vote on Scotland's future on September 18th was agreed between the UK and Scottish governments.


Moving in time to a steady beat is closely linked to better language skills, a study suggests.

People who performed better on rhythmic tests also showed enhanced neural responses to speech sounds.
The researchers suggest that practising music could improve other skills, particularly reading.
In the Journal of Neuroscience, the authors argue that rhythm is an integral part of language.
"We know that moving to a steady beat is a fundamental skill not only for music performance but one that has been linked to language skills," said Nina Kraus, of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in Illinois.
More than 100 teenagers were asked to tap their fingers along to a beat. Their accuracy was measured by how closely their responses matched the timing of a metronome.
Next, in order to understand the biological basis of rhythmic ability, the team also measured the brainwaves of their participants with electrodes, a technique called electroencephalography. This was to observe the electrical activity in the brain in response to sound.
Using this biological approach, the researchers found that those who had better musical training also had enhanced neural responses to speech sounds. In poorer readers this response was diminished.
"It turns out that kids who are poor readers have a lot of difficulty doing this motor task and following the beat. In both speech and music, rhythm provides a temporal map with signposts to the most likely locations of meaningful input," Prof Kraus told BBC News.
The brainwaves recorded matched the soundwaves, she said. "You can even take the recorded brainwave and play it back through your speaker and it will sound like the soundwave.
"It seems that the same ingredients that are important for reading are strengthened with musical experience. Musicians have highly consistent auditory-neural responses.
"It may be that musical training - with its emphasis on rhythmic skills - can exercise the auditory-system, leading to less neural jitter and stronger sound-to-meaning associations that are so essential for learning to read," added Prof Kraus
John Iversen of the University of California in San Diego studies how the brain processes music. He was not involved with the research but agreed that musical training could have important impacts on the brain.
"This study adds another piece to the puzzle in the emerging story suggesting that musical-rhythmic abilities are correlated with improved performance in non-music areas, particularly language," he said.


Four secondary ticket-selling websites have agreed to be more transparent, following pressure from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The sites re-sell tickets to music, theatre or sporting events which have previously been bought by somebody else.
They have been criticised for charging high prices, and not always showing the original cost of the tickets.
But the sites have now promised to give consumers clearer information.
Stubhub, Seatwave, Viagogo and Get Me In said they would make the changes demanded by the CMA.
As a result consumers will be able to see:
Some high profile artists, including the Arctic Monkeys, Iron Maiden and the management of One Direction, had called for even tighter rules.
They, and many sporting bodies too, had wanted consumers to be given the names of the original ticket-buyers.
Viagogo, which is based in Switzerland, promised it would abide by the new restrictions.
"We are always happy to listen to recommendations about the way we display information on our website, and we will be making these changes in due course," said a spokeswoman.
Ticketmaster, which owns Get Me In and Seatwave, said it would also become more transparent, even though it says its websites were already "a safe and secure place for fans to buy and resell tickets".
The changes come ahead of new legal restrictions that will be placed on ticket-selling websites.
Under the Consumer Rights Bill, ticket sites which break the law could face fines of up to Â£5,000.
They will be required to report criminal activity, and to give all necessary information to ticket-buyers.
The bill was passed by parliament last month, but has not yet received royal assent.
In the meantime, the CMA said ticket-buyers will have much better information to help them.
"We also advise buyers to check carefully before they buy and only use those platforms which give them the information they need," said Nisha Arora, CMA senior director.


A former Milwaukee police officer has been acquitted of first-degree reckless homicide in the shooting of a black man last year.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown shot and killed Sylville Smith, 23, last August after he fled from police. The death sparked two days of riots in Milwaukee.
Mr Smith was armed with a pistol, but threw it over a fence before his death.
The case is one of several involving the police shooting of black men that has sparked protests nationwide.
Attorneys for Mr Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, argued that the former officer was forced to make a quick decision during a foot chase with an armed man.
But prosecutors contended that police body camera footage allegedly showed the officer shooting Mr Smith in the chest as he lay on the ground.
Mr Heaggan-Brown shot Mr Smith on his right arm as he threw his gun away and again, in the chest, 1.69 second later, according to investigators.
A review of the body camera footage showed "that at the time of the second shot, Smith was unarmed and had his hands near his head".
Mr Heaggan-Brown had already been fired from the police force due to a separate investigation accusing him of sexual assault.
He faces a jury trial in August in that case, in which he is accused of raping a man with whom he had been drinking.
He is also accused of offering two other men money for sex and faces one charge of capturing an intimate representation of a person without consent.


Former chancellor George Osborne made more than £320,000 over 31 days for giving speeches, records show.

Mr Osborne declared payments for six speeches between 27 September and 27 October, including to a US bank and a university.
The Tatton MP was sacked by Theresa May when she became prime minister. He is now a backbencher.
His largest fee was £81,174 from JP Morgan for a speech on 4 October, the register of MPs' interests shows.
A total of seven hours' work was listed for this and another speech for which he was paid £60,578 from JP Morgan.
Mr Osborne signed up to the Washington Speakers' Bureau, from where he is due to be paid £80,240 from a company called Palmex Derivatives for a speech in New York he gave on 27 October - which he recorded as a total of two hours' work.
He also expects to be paid £69,992 by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in return for speaking on 27 September and 18 October, and £28,454 from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University for a speech on 17 October, listed as three hours' work.
Under Parliamentary rules, MPs have to register within 28 days any interest which could be seen as influencing their actions or words.
The latest edition of the register also reveals former justice secretary and Conservative leadership candidate Michael Gove expects to be paid £150,000 a year for writing for The Times, which is listed as taking eight hours a week.
He also received a £17,500 advance payment for a book.


Detectives investigating the supply of controlled drugs into Northern Ireland have arrested two men.

The men, aged 23 and 24, were arrested in Manchester on Wednesday and are being brought back to Northern Ireland for questioning.
They have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class B drugs and being concerned in the supply of class B drugs.
Seventeen people have already been charged as part of the investigation.
Det Insp Tom McClure said: "The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation into an organised crime group which has been involved in bringing controlled drugs into Northern Ireland.
"Over the past year we have made a number of major drugs seizures in Northern Ireland amounting to more than Â£2m."


Network Rail has been fined £800,000 for an accident which left a track worker with multiple serious injuries.

The man was hit by a Brighton to London express train travelling at 80mph on 24 June 2014.
He was leading a team of 12 repairing cracks in the track when he was stuck on the right shoulder and thrown down an embankment near Redhill, Surrey.
Network Rail pleaded guilty to two breaches of health and safety law.
Rail inspector Tom Wake said: "Network Rail's planning of track maintenance work fell below legal standards, placing workers in unnecessary danger and causing an employee to suffer life-changing injuries."
Network Rail said it had since banned working while trains are running on that stretch of railway.
Its south east managing director, John Halsall, said: "Safety is our absolute priority and it is clear that we fell short in this instance."


The killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is a huge blow to the organisation but as guest columnist Ahmed Rashid reports, its decentralised nature means it has the potential to carry out attacks on any number of targets.

There have been cheers and jubilation in the US and elsewhere in the West, but capital cities around the world are already bracing for the repercussions of Bin Laden's killing.
Hundreds of dedicated and would-be jihadis will be mourning and swearing to give their lives in revenge for his death at the hands of US special forces in the city of Abbottabad.
There is little doubt that the death of Bin Laden is a huge blow to al-Qaeda.
But at the same time the network has moved over the years from a highly centralised hierarchy - with recruiting, training and orders all scrutinised by its top leaders - to something much more loose and amorphous.
Today al-Qaeda's philosophy is one man, one bomb. It does not need another 9/11 to make its mark.
One bomb in Times Square in New York placed by a dedicated suicide bomber or a bomb in a New York subway - both attacks were attempted in in recent years -  are big enough indicators that al-Qaeda is alive and kicking.
Al-Qaeda has been a franchise for many years.
Anyone can join it by planting a bomb somewhere. Almost anyone can come to Pakistan or Afghanistan and be offered training with key al-Qaeda allies such as the Pakistani Taliban or the Afghan group headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani.
The facilitator in Pakistan's cities has been Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) - a banned militant group which previously fought in Kashmir but now attacks many different targets and helps al-Qaeda.
After 9/11 it helped hide many senior al-Qaeda figures and it may well have played a major role in hiding Bin Laden.
Pakistan has refused to go up against al-Qaeda allies like Haqqani because they were operating in Afghanistan not Pakistan.
Likewise, allies like LeT are close to Pakistan's intelligence services because their main target is Kashmir and India.
Thus the threat is there.
Before 9/11 there were no known al-Qaeda cells in Europe except for the one in Hamburg which launched those attacks.
However, today every single European country has an al-Qaeda cell. Hundreds of Muslims with European passports have travelled to Pakistan's tribal areas for training and returned to Europe.
After the arrest of three Moroccans in Germany last week for planning to plant bombs in public places, German authorities admit that over 200 German citizens have had training in the tribal areas and many of them have returned to Germany.
The same is the case in Britain, Scandinavia, France, Spain and Italy.
The fear now of random suicide bombings in subway or train stations in the US or Europe is particularly high.
So is the threat of plane hijackings and bombings of Western military targets and embassies in the Middle East, where they are already a frequent target.
There is also the possibility of the amateur jihadi placing a bomb in a supermarket.
Other kinds of attacks are also likely.
Some may be carried out by dedicated long-term jihadis who have been placed amid Western societies and who now may spring into action with a plot and target that they have been working on for years.
Such lone attackers have been found in the US before, with individuals travelling to the tribal areas for training and then returning to a major US city and trying to carry out an attack.
These have usually been foiled by law enforcement agencies at the last moment.
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are also particularly at risk from more organised attacks.
In the former, the al-Qaeda influence among dedicated jihadis like the Haqqani group is still strong.
Pakistan is also extremely vulnerable to attack. Despite a constant spate of denials from the Pakistani authorities - which have now been proven wrong - al-Qaeda recently had its base in Pakistan.
Al-Qaeda and its affiliated Pakistani groups will be determined to launch a bombing campaign in Pakistan in memory of Bin Laden. This will heighten tensions in a country that is already beset with power shortages and an economic crisis.
Finally al-Qaeda and its allies may find this the right moment to create major divisions between India and Pakistan by launching another Mumbai-style attack on Indian territory.
This would aim to take the heat off the hunt for al-Qaeda members in Pakistan.
The Middle East also remains a big vacuum for al-Qaeda because of the ongoing Arab revolt.
It is still a prime target for al-Qaeda as it seeks to gain influence and clout among the new generation of leaders who have emerged in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and the Gulf states. But this task will be much more difficult after Bin Laden's death.
Clearly Bin Laden's death will give intelligence agencies around the world many clues and leads to catch other leaders, but al-Qaeda will not disappear overnight.
Ahmed Rashid's book, Taliban, was updated and reissued recently on the 10th anniversary of its publication. His latest book is Descent into Chaos - The US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.


Filmic is the word that sprang to my mind when watching the Grand Tour.

The scale of the production, the quality of the cameras, the epic sweeping shots and the pastiches of old movies - it seemed the show was aimed at the big screen, not the telly. Or a mobile phone, which is how I imagine a lot of people will view it.
It opens with a scene so over-the-top and opulent you'd think that the Prince Regent was behind the camera. Think Mad Max meets Easy Rider as we see the three presenters drive across the Californian desert, making their way through a sea of cars all barrelling along to a massive stage that has risen from the sand like a pyramid.
They look out of their car windows and smile a cheesy smile at each other. We know what's coming next. Richard Hammond will spin his motor while not paying attention, or James May will be shunted from behind by a guffawing Jeremy Clarkson, or all three will come unstuck and end up in a smoking pile of bent metal.
Critics praise Clarkson's Grand Tour
Clarkson's show to be judged 'on Twitter'
Whatever the device, an amusing comeuppance is seconds away. We know the drill.
Except we don't. Because the payoff never comes. The cheesy smiles are not a set up to a joke, but a precursor to them taking to the stage in the manner of rock stars on tour. A huge crowd of cheering fans has amassed at their feet. There is no irony. It feels uncomfortably hubristic.
Cut to a large tent with a huge picture window looking out onto the desert, in front of which is a more modest wooden stage, set with a small table. This is their new home, a peripatetic studio that appears in whichever country the show happens to be based that week.
Hammond and May sit at the table while Clarkson introduces the show, joshes with the audience about them being American, and uses a TV screen to go through a PowerPoint-type presentation of images about which the three presenters joke. Normal service has been resumed.
They go to Portugal to race three fast cars around a racetrack, which petrolheads will no doubt enjoy, but their many fans who are more interested in horseplay than horsepower might find goes on a bit.
We're introduced - at length - to a new "home" track with a "not straight", a grumpy American Nascar driver who takes The Stig's place, and a new format for a celebrity interview - the guest appears to "die" before a word is spoken.
As ever with these three, the best bits are the banter. Hammond, in particular, stands out. His energy, eagerness to please, and ability to crack genuinely funny off-the-cuff jokes (beyond those that are scripted) are a boon for the viewer, and, one would have thought, Clarkson, on whose shoulders and talent the show rests.
May seems more out of sorts. Clarkson has repeatedly said during his round of interviews to promote the programme how much he hates his co-presenters. The assumption that this is a tongue-in-cheek comment, adding a dynamic to the sitcom feel the show has of three middle-aged male characters haplessly going about their business as car journalists. But the screen chemistry between him and May suggests there's a ring of truth about Clarkson's claim, which is not much fun to watch.
In future episodes, the cars take a back seat to give the presenters a chance to do what they excel at: being very silly. A trip to Jordan to play in an army training centre is good. There are a lot of laughs, plenty of slapstick, and more film allusions to enjoy. Perhaps this is what they should focus on in the future.
Maybe the small screen is too small for them, and their next step should be away from the internet and into the cinema. It seemed to me that Grand Tour is a TV show that wants to be - and quite possibly should be - a movie.


House builder Barratt has announced plans to create 1,420 homes at 14 new sites across Scotland this year.

They include developments in Edinburgh, Haddington, Strathaven, Glasgow, Linwood, Aberdeen and Newmachar.
Last year, Barratt built 1,390 new homes in Scotland, nearly half of which were constructed on brownfield land.
The company said its building programme reflected "a continued recovery in Scotland's economy" and the health of the new-build housing market.
Barratt said the new sites would "underpin" more than 300 extra local jobs.
Douglas McLeod, regional director for Barratt Developments in Scotland, said: "We have seen demand for new homes across Scotland remain high and our new sites will provide more choice for buyers looking to purchase in some of Scotland's most sought-after residential locations.
"It's also good news for the Scottish economy not just in terms of supporting local construction jobs, but also through the generation of local revenue from new residents spending in local shops and on local services.
"We know the positive social and economic impacts that our developments can make and we'll be working closely with all the communities in which we're building, to make sure we maximise those impacts as we progress."


The Treasury Select Committee has criticised both sides in the EU Referendum campaign for peddling "misleading" figures and "implausible assumptions".

The Claim: The two sides in the EU referendum campaign have been accused of peddling "misleading" figures and "implausible assumptions" by a committee of MPs.
Reality Check verdict: There is growing acceptance that both sides could be clearer about the figures they're using to support their arguments.
Its chair, Andrew Tyrie, told BBC News: "What we really need is an end to the arms race of ever more lurid claims and counter-claims made by both sides."
The Reality Check team has been keeping an eye on how both sides have been using numbers throughout the campaign. Here are a few from each side.
Andrew Tyrie cited the claim that the UK sends £350m a week to Brussels and it could be spent on the NHS instead as particularly problematic.
The claim ignores the rebate, which means that amount of money is not sent to Brussels each week. Also, some of the money is returned to the UK to be spent on things like farming subsidies and regional development, and Leave campaigners have not suggested these payments should stop.
The claim, which appears on the Vote Leave bus, has also been criticised repeatedly by the UK Statistics Authority. Its chair, Sir Andrew Dilnot, said on Friday he was "disappointed" the figure was still being used.
You can read the full Reality Check on the £350m claim here. And there is a discussion of why all the money could not be spent on the NHS here.
Another claim criticised was the government's suggestion that leaving the EU could cost your family £4,300.
The committee pointed out that this was confusing GDP per household with household income and expressed disappointment that so much emphasis had been placed on this figure.
You can read Reality Check's take on the £4,300 claim here.
The committee's report also said: "It is misleading to claim, as some campaign groups continue to do, that three million jobs are dependent on EU membership.
The Reality Check team covered the Prime Minister saying this, and also David Milliband using a variation on it.
You can read about Mr Milliband's assertion that 100,000 jobs in the North East are dependent on the EU here.
The committee criticised the claim that the Common Agricultural Policy costs £400 per household per year as being based on out-of-date research.
It also questioned how much of that money could be saved by leaving the EU.
You'll find discussion of the figure as part of this selection of claims made by Boris Johnson.
The committee criticised the Treasury's failure to get its analysis on the short-term consequences of leaving the EU to it in time to include it as part of the report.
It described the delays as "highly unsatisfactory" and inconsistent with commitments made to the committee by the Chancellor.
You can read the Reality Check assessment of the year-long recession claim made by the Treasury here.
The Vote Leave claim that the cost of EU regulations was £33.3bn a year or £600m a week was described in the report as a "tendentious representation of the research on which it is based".
The figure, which came from Open Europe, was an assessment of the cost of complying with the 100 most "burdensome" regulations.
You can read more about the £600m claim on regulation here.
Andrew Tyrie told BBC News that the report had been accepted unanimously by the committee, despite it containing prominent figures from both sides of the debate.
"This is unanimous - they accepted what's in the report," he said.
Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate


The only problem with writing a debut novel that sells 20 million copies and spawns a Hollywood film is - your follow-up has a lot to live up to.

Paula Hawkins' 2015 debut The Girl on the Train was a publishing phenomenon, and the first reviews for her new book Into The Water are in.
And most critics are not impressed.
Reviewing it for The Guardian, crime author Val McDermid predicted Hawkins' sales would be "massive" but "her readers' enjoyment may be less so".
McDermid was puzzled by the 11 narrative voices used in Into The Water, which is released in the UK next week.
She wrote: "These characters are so similar in tone and register - even when some are in first person and others in third - that they are almost impossible to tell apart, which ends up being both monotonous and confusing."
She added: "Hawkins had a mountain to climb after the success of The Girl on the Train and no doubt the sales of her second thriller will be massive. I suspect her readers' enjoyment may be less so."
Slate's Laura Miller declared that Into the Water "isn't an impressive book".
She wrote: "Its tone is uniformly lugubrious and maudlin, and Hawkins' characters seldom rise to the level of two dimensions, let alone three."
But Miller pointed out: "None of this will necessarily prevent Into the Water from triumphing at the cash register. The book surely will become a best-seller, if only on the strength of residual name recognition for The Girl on the Train."
Janet Maslin wasn't much more enthusiastic in The New York Times.
"If The Girl on the Train seemed overplotted and confusing to some readers, it is a model of clarity next to this latest effort.
"Her goal may be to build suspense, but all she achieves is confusion. Into the Water is jam-packed with minor characters and stories that go nowhere."
She asks: "What happened to the Paula Hawkins who structured The Girl on the Train so ingeniously?"
However, The New Statesman's Leo Robson defended the book, writing: "Most of the time, the novel is plausible and grimly gripping.
"Into the Water follows its predecessor in applying laser scrutiny to a small patch, but there are signs of growth and greater ambition."
He described Hawkins's writing as "addictive", adding that the novel "is on a par with The Girl on a Train".
The Evening Standard's David Sexton wrote: "Unfortunately, Into the Water turns out to be hard work."
"There's a ridiculous multiplication of narrators from the start, some first-person, others third, so that on first reading it is almost impossible to keep track of who's who and what relation they have to one another... several of the stories never really cohere."
Marcel Berlins in The Times said: "This novel has its intriguing attributes.
"It does not follow the usual samey fashionable pattern of 'domestic noir' and psychological thrillers. For that Hawkins ought to be commended, even if the result is not a full success.
"She is let down by her overambitious structure and a lack of sufficient tension. Hawkins does not quite pass the second-book test."
Of course, reviews of any kind are unlikely to deter the millions who enjoyed The Girl on the Train.
After all, critics didn't much like the film adaptation of her previous book, starring Emily Blunt, but that didn't stop it being a box office success.
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BBC One's new show Let It Shine narrowly beat ITV's The Voice UK on Saturday night, attracting an average of 6.3 million viewers.

The Voice UK drew an average of 5.9 million. The shows overlapped by half an hour, with Let It Shine starting an hour earlier at 19:00 GMT.
The Voice UK moved from the BBC to ITV after the last series. Both shows peaked with 6.9 million viewers.
Let It Shine aims to find cast members for a new Take That musical.
The Voice UK saw the return of Sir Tom Jones, who was dropped by the BBC from its version of the show in 2015.
He was joined by fellow coaches will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson and Gavin Rossdale as they listened to contestants hoping to win a record contract.
The Let It Shine judges, alongside Barlow, are Dannii Minogue and Martin Kemp.
They were joined for the auditions by guest judge and former Glee actress Amber Riley, who is currently starring in the West End stage show of Dreamgirls.
Other guest judges on the show, presented by former Great British Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc and comedian Graham Norton, will include pop veteran Lulu.
Barlow has previously said the success of his new show should not be judged on TV ratings because they are less relevant than they used to be.
The Voice UK gave a boost to ITV's Saturday night viewing figures, with only 3.2 million tuning in during the same slot on the channel last year.
But the opener was slightly down on the debut show for the last BBC series, which attracted an average of 7.1m viewers on 9 January last year.
However, the latter had its smallest ever audience for a final last April, with 4.5 million watching, compared with 6.3 million the previous year.
Audiences for TV singing contests have been in decline for a number of years. December's The X Factor final was the least watched in the show's history and lost out in the ratings to BBC One's Planet Earth II, which was shown at the same time.
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St Helens coach Justin Holbrook says the Super League club want to sign Ben Barba, who could face a 12-match drugs ban on his return to rugby league.

Ex-Cronulla Sharks full-back Barba, 27, recently left rugby union club Toulon - a side he joined in a controversial code switch to avoid suspension.
The Rugby Football League says the NRL's sanction will apply, but clarity is needed to determine if the ban is applicable outside that competition.
"I hope we can sort it," said Holbrook.
"To get him playing for St Helens would be fantastic."
There is uncertainty about the terms of Barba's suspension after he tested positive for cocaine, as Australia's NRL said it would not begin until "he has completed any overseas sporting commitments".
When first explaining the ban in November 2016, an NRL statement read: "Given Barba has been released from his current contract, the suspension will apply if he returns to the NRL in the future."
If Barba was to join the Super League club in the coming week and the ban did apply in the northern hemisphere competition, he will miss the entirety of the regular season and would only be available for four of their fixtures following the Supers 8s split.
Barba watched from the St James' Park stands in Newcastle as Holbrook guided Saints to victory over Hull FC in his first game in charge.
The full-back's switch to French Top 14 rugby union came after he was sacked by NRL premiers Cronulla. And, while he then agreed a new deal with the Australian club in December, the contract was not ratified by the NRL.
A move to Saints would see Barba, the former Dally M Medal winner as the NRL's player of the year, reunited with Holbrook, who previously coached the player at Canterbury Bulldogs.
"He has done a couple of things wrong, but he is ready to go," Holbrook told BBC Radio Merseyside. "He is a terrific player and it would be great to see him in this competition.
"He was a massive hit in the NRL - people want to see those types of guys play."


Street prostitution in Nottingham has decreased by 80% over the past decade, according to Nottinghamshire Police.

The number of prostitutes on streets in the city has dropped from 250 to about 50, the police figures showed.
Police said the fall was caused by "improved drop-in centres and outreach" and "effective one-day courses" had cut reoffending by men using prostitutes.
But charity group Prostitute Outreach Workers said prostitution had not disappeared but moved off the streets.
Sgt Neil Radford of the force's street prostitution section said since 2004 more than 840 men in Nottingham had taken part in the "Change" course, which was designed to tackle kerb-crawling. Only 2.5% of those men are know to have reoffended, he said.
The rehabilitation programme is offered to men who have been caught buying sex from prostitutes. They are not charged but are given a police caution.
Sgt Radford said he believed it was possible to "eradicate" prostitution from Nottingham streets.
But Daniella Scotece, a Prostitute Outreach Workers project manager in the city, said: "The complex issues of drug addiction and mental health do not disappear.
"They work from a crack house and are not roaming the street - others issues such as mental health problems and homelessness are still there."
She said often the women used mobile phones and computers to arrange custom.
Ms Scotece said an increase in the number of anti-social behaviour orders (asbos) handed out to prostitutes meant they were less visible on the streets but were working from other locations.


Munich station has become the destination for tens of thousands of people taking the migrant route from the Balkans, and Germany has re-imposed border controls in an attempt to slow the influx down.

Many of those arriving are children who have travelled long distances without their families.
One was Ali, a 15-year-old unaccompanied Afghan boy from Kabul, who got off the train in Munich, at the end of an arduous journey by land and sea.
He had come with a group of young friends from Afghanistan, all of them apparently without their families.
They had travelled overland to Turkey, then by boat to Greece, across the Western Balkans to Austria, finally reaching Germany.
Tired and hungry, he went to the bathroom, but when he came out, his friends were nowhere to be seen in the chaos and milling crowds in the station.
Suddenly, he found himself completely alone, unable to speak German, or any other language that officials could understand.
Eventually he gathered up the courage to approach police guarding tents set up by the German Medical Disaster Relief Agency.
The police began looking for a Farsi speaker, and this was where I became involved.
Ali was given a basic medical check-up and offered food and water.
He was still shaking. Staff and volunteers wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and tried to calm him down.
"I am scared of the police, I am scared they will send me back to Afghanistan," he said, crying.
Fear and fatigue were clearly visible in his eyes.
Who does the EU send back?
Munich migrant welcome puts rest of Europe to shame
Migrants risk lives on journey from Turkey
Soon, a social worker from the youth welfare office arrived and drove Ali to Haus 7, a refugee reception centre dedicated to unaccompanied minors.
More than 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children live in Germany, many of them from Afghanistan and Syria.
On the way to Haus 7, Ali gradually became calmer, and listened with fascination to the social worker talking to the Iranian taxi driver in German.
"This language sounds so strange and different," he said.
"I would love to be able to speak it one day."
When the social worker told him he would be given German lessons, a smile appeared on Ali's face for the first time since his arrival in Munich.
The refugee centre is in a former army barracks. Trees line the leafy green lanes around it and, as the car pulled in, boys were playing basketball on a court nearby.
As he entered Haus 7, Ali was greeted by a Kurdish care-worker, in his mid-twenties, who assured him that there were many other Afghan boys there and that he would soon make friends.
Ali's next step was registration and further basic medical examination, to check for possible bullet wounds or contagious diseases.
At some stage his age will also be determined. German officials say many young asylum seekers lie about how old they are, as minors are guaranteed refugee status.
Ali will spend a few nights at Haus 7, until he is allocated temporary accommodation, where he will spend three months in a "clearing programme" to determine his needs: what kind of education or vocational training he should have, and whether he needs psychological counselling.
Many children experience such pain and hardship during their journey that they resort to self-harm.
His days will be structured and he will be given lessons in basic German. And after three months, a permanent place will be found for him to live.
Germany was the main EU destination for Afghan asylum seekers last year, and nearly 70% of those applicants were granted permission to stay, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) reported.


England began the World Rugby Under-20 Championship with a comfortable 48-10 bonus point win over Italy.

England ran in six tries in Manchester, with Northampton's Harry Mallinder scoring 12 points.
Sale's George Nott opened the scoring for England before Harlequins' Sam Aspland-Robinson helped the hosts to a 17-3 half-time lead.
Quins' Joe Marchant, Worcester's Jack Singleton, Bath's Zach Mercer and a penalty try saw England home.
In the final game of three during the day at Manchester City Academy Stadium, Leonardo Mantelli's drop-goal was the Italians' only points until they crossed in the final minutes through Lorenzo Masselli.
England, who won this tournament in 2013 and 2014, next face Scotland at the same venue on Saturday, followed by Australia on Wednesday, 15 June.
Earlier in the day, Wales scored three tries inside the first 20 minutes that looked to have set the platform for a win over Ireland, but it was only 17-15 at the break to the men in red.
Two more tries in the second half saw Ireland home 26-25, despite a late try from Wales' Keelan Giles, his second of the game, but the touchline conversion to win the match was missed.
At the AJ Bell Stadium, the other venue for the three-week tournament, Scotland opened with a hugely impressive 15-10 win over Australia. Adam Hastings, son of Scottish legend Gavin, kicked a penalty and a conversion.
At the same venue, reigning champions New Zealand started the defence of the title they have won five times in eight tournaments, by running in nine tries in a 55-0 win over Georgia.
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A memorial plaque for murdered MP Jo Cox is to be unveiled in the House of Commons.

The plaque will feature a coat of arms that her children Cuillin, six and Lejla, four, helped create.
The design features the motto "More in Common", inspired by Mrs Cox's maiden Commons speech in 2015.
Mrs Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was murdered outside her constituency office in Birstall, West Yorkshire, by Thomas Mair in June 2016.
The plaque design will include representations of her support for women in politics and the Cox family's love of the water and mountains.
It is due to be unveiled on 20 May as part of a "family day" in Parliament, when MPs and staff will be invited to bring their children into the Commons chamber.
Speaker John Bercow will answer questions from children and then host a party - the first of the "Great Get Together" events the Jo Cox Foundation is backing to mark the anniversary of her death.
Mr Bercow said: "Jo Cox was recognised, both inside the House and by all who had the privilege to know her, for her empathy, conviction and her passion for what she believed in.
"It will be an honour to host the first of the Great Get Togethers in her memory. Jo's life and legacy will not be forgotten."
Plans to host thousands of street parties across the UK under the banner The Great Get Together were revealed in February by Mrs Cox's widower Brendan.
Events will be held from 16-18 June, with members of the public encouraged to host gatherings such as street parties, picnics and coffee mornings.


A former soldier who lost both legs and an arm in Afghanistan has paid £90,000 for an operation in Australia so he can walk down the aisle at his wedding.

Dave Watson, from Worcestershire, was badly hurt when he stepped on a roadside bomb in 2010.
He had the surgery to avoid having to wear sockets with his prosthetic legs.
Clive Smith, another Afghanistan veteran, said he will remortgage his home to pay for the operation, despite an NHS trial starting in April.
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement the trial - known as Direct Skeletal Fixation or osseo-integration - would be funded by money collected from banking fines, with 20 veterans set to benefit.
The operations will be carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, with rehabilitation continuing at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court.
Despite the upcoming trial, Mr Watson, from Romsley, said he had "no doubts" about paying for the procedure because the sockets for his prosthetics were causing him too much pain.
"It got to the stage where I couldn't wear them anymore," he said.
"They were breaking my scar tissue down, I was stuck in a chair for a year, and I just needed something so I could get out and make myself my own person."
Mr Watson said his life had "changed completely" since having the operation, and he is now able to hold his daughter without pain.
He is now looking forward to marrying his fiancee on New Year's Eve without being in a wheelchair or suffering pain from his old sockets.
Clive Smith, from Pelsall, Walsall, in the West Midlands, also lost his legs after stepping on an explosive in Afghanistan five years ago.
He had surgery in June, and has been wheelchair-bound while waiting for new prosthetics.
Despite the osseo-integration trial starting next year, he said he is prepared to pay about £85,000 to have his operation earlier, and has booked his flights to Australia for next month.
"My standpoint is that I feel vindicated we've managed to get a trial happening, but unfortunately for myself it's too long a timescale to keep my life on hold," Mr Smith, who is originally from Cannock, Staffordshire, said.
"I've been confined to a wheelchair for about 12 months, this trial runs for over two-and-a-half years, and there's no guarantee I would be selected, so I didn't want to take a chance."


An expert commission set up to look at Northern Ireland's mental health services has said there is a serious lack of crisis specialist facilities.

The panel said that includes provision for people with eating disorders.
It said there must be funding parity between mental and physical health.
It recommends significant changes to the way mental health services are organised, including the introduction of a maximum four-hour waiting time for admission to an acute psychiatric ward.
The independent commission was led by Lord Nigel Crisp and supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland.
Lord Crisp said he and his team had travelled the length and breadth of Northern Ireland looking at inpatient service "finding much to like but still not enough being done".
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said there was much to build on.
The report is highly critical about the shortage of facilities in spite of Northern Ireland having the highest rates of suicide and mental illness in the UK.
Set up last year to examine the issues facing patients requiring emergency hospital care, the panel also confirmed that the shortage of crisis home treatment teams is serious.
It reinforces calls from charities over the years that there are too few specialist psychiatric services for men and women with eating and personality disorders.
There was criticism about the level of support for women with mental health issues both before and after birth.
Dr Gerry Lynch, the Northern Ireland chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, welcomed the report.
"Mental health can be just as serious as cancer, or someone being diagnosed with a stroke or a heart condition," he said.
"Those with mental health problems die 20 years sooner than those with good health.
"We need the funding in Northern Ireland to match the demand for mental health services.
"There must be parity between mental and physical health."
He added: "This gives us an opportunity to take forward the Bamford vision and local health professionals are also demanding that overseas treatment for patients comes to an end."
For decades, mental health provision in Northern Ireland has been referred to as the "Cinderella service" with demand for assistance far out stripping supply.
According to several charities, their calls over the years have fallen on deaf ears.
It is hoped now that those in the Department of Health will listen to their concerns.


Guernsey's Policy Council has drafted a code of practice on access to public information and has come out against introducing a statutory law.

Chief Minister Peter Harwood said: "A sensible balance needs to be struck between the desire for information and the cost of producing it."
The UK already has a freedom of information law, while Jersey and the Isle of Man are developing legislation.
States members will debate the proposed code at their meeting on 30 July.
Deputy Harwood said the Policy Council had "weighed up the costs and benefits of each approach" and had decided a code of practice represented a "more appropriate way of delivering an effective and efficient policy".
The first guiding principle of the code, if approved, will be to disclose information unless there are reasons to withhold it.
Possible justifications for non-disclosure would include security, legal or external affairs considerations.
The proposals, signed by all 11 members of the Policy Council, also cite as an exception: "Information whose disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion, including proceedings of the Policy Council and boards of the departments".
A 2011 report, commissioned by the States and authored by a former senior civil servant at the UK's Ministry of Justice, had recommended islanders be allowed to attend department meetings.
"Confidential communications between departments" are also amongst the list of 15 types of exception, along with "vexatious" or "voluminous" information requests.
The Policy Council said the target for responding to simple requests would be 20 days.
Complaints over a refusal to comply will need to be made to the relevant department's chief officer and then, if necessary, its political board.
A new policy on the use of confidentiality clauses in contracts and agreements will also be debated, as part of the same Policy Council report.
The use of such clauses has been heavily criticised in Guernsey in recent years.
In March, the Scrutiny Committee criticised the Home Department's refusal to reveal how much compensation had been paid to a legal firm, whose offices were illegally raided by police.
In 2011, Guernsey fishermen complained the details of a compensation settlement with UK fishermen were withheld, after a fishing licence regime was deemed unlawful.


There was a rise in the number of children suspended from primary schools in England in the last academic year.

Fixed-term exclusions rose to 45,010 in 2013-14 from 37,870 the previous year. Government statisticians described this rise as "considerable".
They said it was driven by more assaults against pupils and adults, and more persistent disruptive behaviour.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said heads now had greater clarity over exclusions and this was improving behaviour.
He added: "Today's figures show a slight increase in the number of fixed-period and permanent exclusions, although overall, they are lower than in 2010.
"Now we are going further by appointing behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review group to ensure teachers are fully trained in dealing with disruptive children."
The number of primary pupils suspended, or given fixed-term exclusions for up to a period of 45 days, for assaulting an adult in school has risen by around a quarter.
Pupils aged five to 11 were suspended 11,420 times for physical assault against an adult in state-funded primary schools in 2013-14 - up from 9,080 the previous year.
The total number of permanent exclusions across primary, secondary and special schools also increased slightly compared with 2012-13, despite a general decline since 2004-05.
The figures from the Department for Education also revealed a 10% rise in suspension for assault against adults for pupils aged five to 16.  Suspension for racist abuse in primary schools increased by 15.6%.
General secretary of the NASUWT teaching union Chris Keates said the increase in the number of pupils suspended due to assaulting adults in schools is extremely worrying.
"These figures underline the findings of a recent NASUWT survey in which 16% of teachers said they had been physically assaulted in the last 12 months by a pupil, an increase of 7% on the same survey in 2014.
"The increase in suspensions shows that, quite rightly, schools are not accepting violence against staff. However, there needs to be deeper analysis of why levels of violence are increasing."
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "An increase in the number of fixed-period exclusions in primary schools, with exclusion rates at their highest since 2007-08 shows the day-to-day challenges school leaders face.
"It's a challenging time for families who use and need public services facing cuts. This sometimes manifests as behaviour problems at younger ages than we might expect. Heads have a duty to protect the education of all children in their school and exclusions are a necessary tool in that duty."
Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Schools ability to manage  particularly difficult cases has been adversely affected by cuts to local authority budgets, in particular Behaviour Support Services, and the fragmentation of the school system into academy and free schools."


The sister of a football fan who is in a coma after being attacked by up to 15 people following a match has praised rival supporters for their concern.

Cambridge United supporter Simon Dobbin, 42, of Mildenhall, Suffolk, was brutally assaulted after his team played at Southend United on 21 March.
He suffered a head injury and is critically ill in hospital.
His sister Victoria Forsythe said she and her family were "not in any way upset or angry" at Southend fans.
She said that in fact, they felt "much the opposite" as Southend supporters had "supported us through this tough time and continue to do so".
"As a family, we are hopeful and are holding on to the miracle that Simon will wake up."
The grandfather remains in a medically-induced coma at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
He also sustained a broken hip and broken nose during the attack in the Essex town's East Street.
Police said Mr Dobbin and his friends had left the Blue Boar pub when they were assaulted by a group of men who had come out of another pub.
The fight was broken up by police using CS spray.
Det Ch Insp Martin Pasmore said: "He is a decent family man who was simply enjoying a day out.
"It is my intention to identify everyone involved in this sickening attack and bring them to justice."
A fundraising appeal has made nearly Â£10,500 to help Mr Dobbin's family.
Four men, aged 19 to 33 and all from Essex, have been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and released on bail.


Engineers have spent the day working to fix an electrical fault on a lifting bridge after it was stuck in the upright position for several hours.

The bridge in Poole, which links the port with Hamworthy, had to close to traffic after becoming stuck.
It was eventually brought into the closed position to allow vehicles to cross, but engineers remained on the bridge dealing with the fault.
The bridge returned to normal operation by the evening rush hour.
Users had been advised to use the Twin Sails bridge while the lifting bridge was out of action.
An estimated 20,000 vehicles use the bridges, which lift every half hour, to cross the harbour each day.


The Maldives Supreme Court has annulled results from the first round of voting in presidential elections, and called a fresh ballot by 20 October.

The Court had postponed the second round of voting amid allegations of electoral fraud.
Mohammed Nasheed, who was forced from office in an alleged coup last year, won 45% of the vote, falling short of the total needed to avoid a run-off.
Mr Nasheed came to power in 2008 in the country's first free elections.
The country's highest court annulled the 7 September result by a majority decision of 4-3, an official told reporters outside the courthouse.
Any run-off vote should be held before 4 November so that a new president can take office by the 11 November deadline, the official said.
Qasim Ibrahim, who came in third in the first round of voting, had asked the court last month to void the results citing electoral fraud.
Local and international observers had described the first round of voting as free and fair.
Mr Nasheed had needed more than 50% to avoid a run-off against his nearest rival, Abdulla Yameen, who won 25% of the vote.
Mr Yameen is the half-brother of the Maldives' former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who led the country for 30 years.
Just hours before the court ruling on Monday, masked men set fire to the studios of pro-opposition television station Raajje TV, which is known to support Mr Nasheed.


The strike at the National Museum could damage some of Wales' other national institutions, according to the new president of the National Library.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas warned that the Welsh Government could "penalise those who have been successful" in resolving workers' disputes.
He said the library dealt with the issue of weekend working 12 years ago.
The National Museum said they are "still seeking a solution" to the strike.
The comments came as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) strike enters its second month.
Mr Thomas, a former heritage minister, told BBC Wales' Newyddion 9 programme: "Where's the money going to come from?
"Is the Welsh Government going to reward failure and penalise those who have been successful? It raises a number of issues, but ultimately the Welsh Government have to have a strategy in terms of national institutions."
The strike has affected museum sites across Wales. The wool museum at Drefach Felindre and the slate museum in Llanberis have been the most consistent to close.
Since indefinite action was announced at the end of April, between 180 and 190 workers have not worked at all.
Since the assembly election the Welsh Government has been part of the negotiations to settle the dispute - with the PCS believing that those discussions would pave the way to an agreement.
But it has not happened so far.
In a statement, the National Museum said: "We have met with the Welsh Government and the PCS over recent weeks to try and reach an agreement and bring the dispute over weekend working allowances (Premium Payments) to a conclusion.
"Though the meetings were useful, giving all parties an opportunity to set out their position, it was clearly communicated at the end of those discussions that no agreement had yet been reached.
"We are still seeking a solution and we hope to reach an agreement that is acceptable for all parties soon."
The Welsh Government did not respond to Mr Thomas' comments, but confirmed that Heritage Minister Ken Skates recently met with representatives from the PCS and the museum.


Children are being left "at risk of harm" because of the government's failure to develop "credible" plans to improve child protection, MPs warn.

"Urgent" action is needed to end the variations in the quality of help for vulnerable children in England, the Public Accounts Committee says.
The MPs called for the publication of detailed plans to transform child protection services.
The government says it has a relentless focus on keeping children safe.
The MPs said progress had been "too slow" in the five-and-a-half years since a government-commissioned review, the Munro Report, called for a major overhaul of the system.
Professor Eileen Munro was commissioned by then Education Secretary Michael Gove to conduct a review of child protection services.
Her 2011 report called for social workers to be freed from excessive bureaucracy, centrally imposed targets and regulations so that they could spend more time on face-to-face work with families and at-risk youngsters.
Ministers said at the time that they were adopting Prof Munro's principles for the service, but according to the PAC, the government still had "no credible plan to improve services and grow a quality social workforce".
Less than a quarter of services were rated "good" by Ofsted, it said, which the committee described as "by no standards" an improvement.
The PAC called on the DfE to "set out detailed plans, including a timetable and resources, for how it will work with local authorities to transform services".
Ministers needed to explain how they would ensure that all children have equal access to high-quality services, and how they will attract more "high-calibre people" to social work, said the report.
And it called for more resources for Ofsted to conduct quality checks, and greater readiness to intervene to nip local problems in the bud.
Committee chair Meg Hillier said it was "completely unacceptable" that so little progress in the past five years, adding  improvements were "woefully overdue".
"Government complacency over improving children's services must end now," said Ms Hillier.
"There are nearly 800,000 children in need of help or protection every year - children who for far too long have been let down by the support available."
The government's target of 2020 to transform the system "better serves Whitehall than it does vulnerable young people in need of help", said Ms Hillier.
She called on the the Department for Education to provide the committee with clear plans to drive improvement.
A DfE spokesman said it had a relentless focus on keeping children safe, and it was wrong to suggest otherwise.
"This year we published plans to deliver excellent children's social care across the country, and through new legislation are further strengthening protection for the most vulnerable children and transforming the support available to them.
"We take tough action where councils are failing children, stepping in to make sure improvement plans are taken forward as a matter of urgency."
He added that councils had increased spending on children's social care by around £850m since 2010-11, to nearly £7bn last year.
It added that the Children and Social Work Bill, currently going through Parliament, would strengthen protections for vulnerable children and improve support for looked after and formerly looked after children in schools.
And local authorities would be enabled to develop new and better ways of delivering children's services through the innovation programme.
But the Local Government Association said children's services were handling 65% more initial contacts in recent years - up from 1.2m in 2007 to 2m in 2013-14.
Councillor Richard Watts, chairman of the LGA's Children and Young People Board, said: "The number of children on child protection plans has increased by more than 60% during the same period.
"But local authorities have faced significant funding reductions over this same period, and with such a big rise in demand for services, it's vital that local authorities have the resources they need to keep children and young people safe."
"Child protection reform and improvement support have been largely removed from local government in recent years and increasingly centralised within Whitehall instead," he added.


Manchester City's Fabian Delph is expected to be out for six weeks after picking up a hamstring injury playing for England in their Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland.

The 25-year-old midfielder pulled up in the first minute of Tuesday's game at Wembley, which England won 2-0.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini said of Delph's prognosis: "I don't know how long it will be, we'll see.
"I think at this moment it will be a month and a half."
Delph signed a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium in July - less than a week after saying he would stay at Aston Villa, where he was captain.
He also picked up a hamstring injury on his pre-season debut for City, during their game against Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup in Melbourne.
Delph returned to action as a substitute in his side's Premier League win over Everton on 23 August and also came off the bench in their victory over Watford before the international break.


Full-back Liam Williams gave Wales a pre-Six Nations boost by featuring for a little over an hour in Scarlets' 30-17 Pro12 defeat by Connacht.

Williams, who was playing for the first time since injuring a foot at the 2015 World Cup, came through unscathed.
He is currently the only regular full-back in Wales' squad.
Fly-half Rhys Priestland played throughout Bath's 19-13 loss at Saracens on Saturday while lock Dominic Day came off in the second half.
Williams, Priestland and Day were among those playing eight days before Wales' tournament begins against Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, 8 February.
Elsewhere, lock Luke Charteris was brought on from the replacements bench for the final 20 minutes of Racing 92's convincing 26-3 win over Oyonnax in the French Top 14
Kicking coach Neil Jenkins has said Wales have had concerns about fly-half Priestland's lack of game time going into the Championship.
Prop Tomas Francis will play for Exeter against Worcester Warriors on Sunday.
And Utility back Matthew Morgan is on Bristol's bench for their Championship clash against Jersey on Sunday.
However, centres Jamie Roberts (Harlequins) and Jonathan Davies (Clermont Auvergne) as well as wing George North (Northampton) are not in action this weekend.
Lock Bradley Davies was absent from Wasps' team to play Northampton on Friday night, while Gloucester did not select back-rower Ross Moriarty against Leicester.
Wales earlier announced captain Sam Warburton would not appear in Cardiff Blues' back-row in Saturday's Pro12 game against Edinburgh.
Warburton, 27, played in Blues' win over Calvisano, his first game since injuring an ankle in November.
Blues team-mate Gareth Anscombe also remained with Wales.
Hallam Amos, 21, played the full game as Newport Gwent Dragons beat Leinster in the Pro12 on Friday after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland says players' game-time needs have been assessed on an individual basis.
"It depends on the individual, how they feel physically," said Gatland.
"Some players like to get a few games under the belt, others are a bit more flexible and can go straight into it."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Amos injured his shoulder as Wales beat England in the World Cup, but returned to action in Dragons' win over Castres on 15 January.
Blues back Anscombe, 24, suffered an ankle injury during Wales' World Cup quarter-final loss to South Africa.
But Anscombe, who has three caps, has played twice for the region in recent weeks.
Forwards: Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Dominic Day (Bath Rugby), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby).
Backs: Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Davies (Clermont Auvergne), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), George North (Northampton Saints), Matthew Morgan (Bristol Rugby).


An expo for young scientists is currently taking place in the South African city of Johannesburg.

6 October 2016 Last updated at 16:36 BST
More than 500 students from across Africa are attending and showing off their latest inventions, including a prototype of flying car. BBC Africa met some of them and to find out why they think science matters.
Video journalist: Christian Parkinson


Hong Kong has said it will return nine Singaporean military vehicles that it seized in November.

The Terrex infantry carriers were impounded on their way back from Taiwan, where Singapore had been using them in training exercises.
The incident sparked a diplomatic dispute between Singapore and China, which has sovereignty over Hong Kong.
Hong Kong officials said there had been a suspected breach of law and that there could be criminal prosecution.
Singapore sings for return of army vehicles
Singapore had demanded the release of the vehicles, which were being transported by a commercial carrier. It said they were property of a sovereign state so had diplomatic immunity.
The incident put a strain on an already tense relationship between Singapore and China, which controls Hong Kong's foreign affairs.
Beijing has been angered by what it sees as Singapore's support for countries which oppose its claims to large areas of contested territory in the South China Sea.
Singapore also has a close relationship with Taiwan and, lacking land space itself, has trained its troops there for decades.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway Chinese province which will one day be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Hong Kong officials said on Tuesday they had now completed their investigations and the vehicles would be sent back, but that legal action could still be taken.
Singapore's foreign ministry said it was a "positive outcome" and thanked Hong Kong for its "co-operation in resolving this matter".
In a Facebook post referencing the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations this weekend, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said he was "looking forward to this happy reunion with all Singaporeans in the Year of the Rooster".


The redevelopment of Casement Park into a 40,000 all-seater stadium has taken a significant step forward.

Experienced stadium designers Mott MacDonald Ltd have been appointed to lead those carrying out the Â£76.4m project.
The work on the west Belfast GAA stadium is expected to last for 21 months and be completed by 2015.
The team will now develop a design brief and plan public consultation events.
A formal application for planning permission will be submitted by the end of March 2013.
The GAA will provide around Â£15m of the funding and the exchequer Â£61.4m.
Minister Chairman of the Stadium Project Board, Tom Daly, said the announcement marked "the culmination of an intensive period of work over the past twelve months".
"The challenge is to now work in partnership with the community, all strands of the GAA and the statutory stakeholders to ensure that the vision for this magnificent new stadium for the GAA in Ulster can be achieved on time, within budget and to the highest quality standards."
Sports minister Caral Ni Chuilin said the appointment was "a significant step".
"The upgrade of the GAA's Casement Park, rugby's Ravenhill and soccer's Windsor Park have been a key priority for both me and my department," she said.
"These are exciting times for the GAA as they embark on one of the largest and most significant projects since the redevelopment of Croke Park. I look forward to seeing the designs and working with them to achieve a first class provincial stadium in the heart of Belfast."


A battle is brewing in Mississippi, as the growing animosity directed against Confederate symbols following the church shooting in Charleston has led to calls to remove the rebel pattern from the state's flag.

It's a battle that Greg Stewart, executive director of the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential library in Biloxi, has fought before. And it's one he's convinced the defenders of the flag that has flown over Mississippi for more than 100 years will win again.
Sitting inside a massive, million-dollar monument to Southern history - built on the post Civil War home of the Confederate president with federal disaster relief funds provided after 2005's Hurricane Katrina - Stewart explains that Mississippi is most definitely not South Carolina.
If the national media and liberal agitators think his state is going to be quick to follow suit and renounce its Confederate heritage, he says, they're mistaken.
According to Stewart, "the stars all lined up" in South Carolina. A tragic event combined with national Republicans who wanted to defuse the debate over the Confederate flag before the South Carolina presidential primary next February.
"They are desperate to get the flag issue off the table before the presidential hopefuls have to show up and face those questions," he said.
Stewart already bears the political battle scars from a 2001 fight to prevent what he saw as a pending back-room deal to change the flag. He pushed for Mississippi to hold a public vote on the issue - and when they did, they opted by a nearly two-to-one margin to make no change.
At that point Stewart thought the issue was settled. And it seemed to be - until Charleston.
Given the events of the past week, it now appears as if a tidal wave of public opinion about the Confederacy and the place of Confederate imagery in modern society is sweeping across the South.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has publicly called for the Confederate flag to be removed from her statehouse grounds. Legislative action making her recommendation a reality is likely only a matter of time.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced his state would stop issuing licence plates with the rebel flag on it. Mega-retailers Walmart, Sears and Amazon.com are halting the sale of flag-themed merchandise. Online auction website eBay will no longer list Confederate flags - and the same goes for the craft site Etsy.
It was only a matter of a few hours, minutes even, after Ms Haley announced her support for removal of the flag that attention turned to Mississippi.
"This is not a horribly offensive relic of history that flies on/near state buildings," tweeted Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffrey. "It is the actual flag of the state of Mississippi."
Jennifer Gunter, a Mississippi native who now lives in South Carolina, started a moveon.org petition calling for state officials "to change the flag of Mississippi to reflect the present, not the past". It received more than 18,000 signatures.
Philip Gunn, the Republican speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, also came out firmly in favour of change.
"We must always remember our past, but that does not mean we must let it define us," he said in a statement. "As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offence that needs to be removed."
According to Stewart, however, Mr Gunn will soon be isolated among state leaders.
"Gunn has made a huge mistake," he said. "He was not here in 2000. The woods are on fire."
He says he sees the same look in the eyes of country-dwelling Mississippians angry about changes to the flag that he saw back then.
"If you do something to them that really bothers them, they will climb off that tractor and come into the town and vote," he adds.
Early evidence from other Republican leaders seems to bear this out.
The governor, Republican Phil Bryant, pointed to the flag referendum in his only public comments so far.
"A vast majority of Mississippians voted to keep the state's flag, and I don't believe the Mississippi Legislature will act to supersede the will of the people on this issue," he told a local television station.
Another state legislator, Melanie Soujourner, wrote on her Facebook page that calls to take down the flag in South Carolina are what's wrong with US society.
"The flag was no more the 'source' of horrible acts against mankind than a gun is the 'source' of someone's death," she wrote. "We all have a responsibility to make certain that it is the 'source' we address and not place blame on something that alone could do no harm."
Then again, many South Carolina politicians were saying the same thing in the days just after the Charleston shooting. Could the ground shift in Mississippi equally quickly?
Even within the walls of the Jefferson Davis museum, visitors gave a mixed reaction to the flag issue.
"You have to be proud of the state where you're from, and that's part of their history," said Elizabeth Hahs, visiting from Missouri. "I think it's a good representation of what the state's gone through and been through."
Kim Sine of Wymer, Texas disagreed.
"I think they need to take it down," she said. "Put it in a museum. Quit flying it around and causing trouble."
Just a few miles away, outside a local Walmart - now devoid of Confederate merchandise - feelings were similarly divided.
"It's like the shooting in Ferguson had nothing to do with racism, but they made it a racist thing," said Rick, a Biloxi resident who declined to give his last name. "The shooting in South Carolina was purely racist, but it had nothing to do with the Confederate flag."
"It's time to take it down," said Effie Hudson Barrett, a local Mississippian who asserts she is a "black American", not an "African-American". "The flag has always been against us. The 50 stars on the US flag is the only thing that should represent us."
At a tattoo parlour down the street, artist Travis Wade says he's probably drawn hundreds of Confederate flag tattoos - and he wouldn't be surprised if he sees an uptick in business from those willing to push back against the criticisms. "We're in the South, after all."
Personally, he says, he doesn't know what the big deal is.
"Who cares?" he asks. "It's like somebody shoots someone with a gun and they want to ban guns. Somebody that did something bad likes a flag, but that doesn't mean that everybody who likes that flag is bad."
Fellow employee Tom Donovan adds that if any patrons want to get their old flag tattoos covered up, they can do that too.
"Something dark that will cover the colours - like a black panther or a grim reaper," he says.
It doesn't seem likely that the Mississippians who cherish their Confederate past are going to be quick to renounce it, however. As Stewart explains, to do so means turning their backs on their ancestors.
"Implicit in the argument that the flag represents evil is for me to have to say, yeah, you're right, my people were evil," he says. "And that's just not true."
A short walk away from the Jefferson Davis museum is a graveyard filled with tombstones of Confederate war veterans. Many lived out their final days on Davis's estate, which was converted to an old soldier's home following his death.
Fresh Confederate flags are scattered among the headstones, which bear the names and military ranks of those interred beneath the ground.
It's been more than 150 years since Robert E Lee, the general who led these men into battle, laid down his sword at a courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia.
But in Mississippi, the echoes of the war have yet to fade.


Members of the Unite union working for Scotland's fisheries protection fleet are set to walk out on a series of strikes in a dispute over pay.

Marine Scotland staff have complained of being paid less than those in comparable jobs in other publicly-owned organisations.
Unite said it was disappointed the situation had reached this stage.
The Scottish government said talks aimed at averting the strikes were continuing.
Unite has said a chief steward can earn up Â£29,579-a-year at Marine Scotland but Â£37,675 at ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, which is also owned by the Scottish government.
Last December, the Scottish Parliament passed a motion put forward by Scottish Labour, stating that Marine Scotland staff should receive a fair pay settlement that recognises their experience and skills.
Unite regional officer Sandy Smart said: "Our members do a difficult and dangerous job ensuring that the fishing grounds around Scotland are protected. We are very disappointed that things have got to this stage despite the Scottish Parliament passing a motion to support a fair pay award.
"The first minister also pledged to look at this issue yet our members have been rewarded with a pay cut. Industrial action is always a last resort and even at this late stage we hope that we can reach a solution but this requires movement by Marine Scotland and the Scottish government to properly award the seafarers.
Marine Scotland vessels carry out protection and research work in the seas and fisheries around the country.
There are five vessels in total and five sets of two-day strike action are scheduled to take place on 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25 and 26 August.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "We wish to avert industrial action and will continue our discussions with Unite. It would be inappropriate to comment further while these discussions are under way."


Kevin Nolan made a winning start to management as two second-half goals helped Leyton Orient beat Wycombe.

After a turgid first half, Jay Simpson was left unmarked just eight yards out to fire home his 21st goal of the season and put Orient ahead.
Ollie Palmer then headed wide from Jobi McAnuff's free-kick before Calaum Jahraldo-Martin slid the ball past an on-rushing Alex Lynch on the break.
Wycombe failed to muster an effort on target in their third straight defeat.
The win moves Orient above the home side into eighth place in the League Two table.
Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth told BBC Three Counties Radio:
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"I didn't think anyone was going to score first half against us. But in the second half, the goal changes everything, it was a poor defensive goal.
"We fell asleep, you can't give Jay Simpson time in the box, he's the top scorer in the country. Before that there was absolutely nothing in the game and it was heading for a 0-0.
"There were two shots on goal in the whole game. Both were from Leyton Orient and both went it.
"It's a disappointing game, especially after Tuesday's exit from the FA Cup. We've got a full week now to prepare for Plymouth and I want to get rid of any hangover from the FA Cup and especially against orient."
Leyton Orient player-manager Kevin Nolan told BBC Radio London:
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"The lads responded to everything I've asked of them over the last 48 hours so I'm going home on that bus really pleased.
"I think what I've learned is that they can take things on board very quickly, which is very pleasing.
"They've got the result today which is pleasing so hopefully now they'll start believing in what I'm trying to do
"Bit-by-bit we'll start implementing things and hopefully start making this club strive forward and get into those play-off positions."


The Swedish navy has stepped up its search in the waters off Stockholm amid suspicions that a Russian submarine might be in trouble there.

The military has asked civilian vessels to evacuate the area between Nattaro island and Danziger Gatt.
A Swedish source told the BBC an underwater vessel was spotted in waters about 25km (16 miles) from Stockholm.
Russia's defence ministry denied any "irregular situation" involving its ships.
It said a Dutch submarine might have triggered Sweden's alert after carrying out exercises in the area.
However, this theory has been dismissed by the Dutch defence ministry.
"It was definitely not a Dutch submarine," a ministry spokeswoman in The Hague told the BBC.
It is the fourth day of the search, involving ships and helicopters.
The Swedish military earlier said it was investigating three credible sightings of "foreign underwater activity". It denied looking for a submarine, and said that it was conducting an intelligence operation.
It also released a grainy photograph showing an object in the sea near Stockholm, although it was not clear what the object was.
The Swedish navy has asked all vessels to stay at least 10km away from military vessels.
A Swedish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that air space around the search area had been closed off.
He said he doubted the incident could have been a navigating error, as the Stockholm archipelago is a difficult area to navigate.
When asked why an underwater vessel would have entered waters off Sweden, the official said: "It's always about testing the Swedish response to see if we are awake and able to detect it... it's a way of testing our skills in detecting and locating."
Sweden was keeping an open mind about which country was behind the incident, the official said, adding that there had been a similar pattern of incidents in the past.
Soviet submarine sightings during the Cold War caused security alerts in Sweden in the 1980s.
Swedish radio says the search area has expanded to include more islands out into the Baltic, further away from Stockholm.
Swedish news website The Local says vessels and troops have been deployed from Moeja, north of Stockholm, to Ornoe, south of the capital, using sensors in an operation "continuing day and night".
A local newspaper said Sweden had intercepted a distress signal in Russian.
It is reported to be Sweden's biggest military mobilisation since the Cold War, the BBC's World Affairs Correspondent Richard Galpin reports.
Whatever is lurking under the waters of the Stockholm archipelago, it is raising tensions in what is already a nervous region after Russian troops moved into parts of Ukraine earlier this year, our correspondent adds.
Russia has several submarines based in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordered by Poland and Lithuania and facing out to Sweden, as well as a much bigger force near Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula.
Last month, another Swedish newspaper, Expressen, reported an incursion by two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter bombers into national airspace. Sweden scrambled jets to see them off, it said.


A Shetland fish farm is investing nearly £100,000 in a project designed to protect stock from seals.

Balta Island Seafare Ltd is to install two new electronic seal scarers and introduce stronger nets at its sites off Unst.
It said the move would give better protection to salmon stocks.
The company operates a total of four marine farming sites off the coast of Unst.
The project is being supported with funding by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the European Fisheries Fund.
Christopher Ritch, from Balta Island Seafare, said: "We have had some success deterring seals with electronic scarers, and these new scarers should exclude seals from an even bigger area around the cages.
"Together with the stronger nets, I think this will go a long way towards allowing us to farm in harmony with the local nature and keep the company growing."
David Priest, from HIE, said fish farming was a major part of the Shetland economy.
He added: "The loss of stock from seals not only damages the business but escaped farmed salmon can also cause environmental damage by threatening the wild salmon population.
"The new nets and equipment installed by Balta Island Seafare will protect these wild stocks while also increasing the profitability of the business."


A British man killed in a car bomb attack in Afghanistan on Sunday has been named by the Foreign Office as Michael Hampshire from Huddersfield.

His family said he was "a loving fiance, son, grandson, brother, uncle, cousin and a friend to everyone who knew him".
He was a security contractor for the EU police mission in Afghanistan.
Three people were killed in total after the Taliban launched a suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital Kabul.
Two Afghan teenage girls, described as bystanders, died in the blast, while at least 18 people were injured.
The attack took place near the entrance to the international airport and targeted an EU police training mission vehicle.
Mr Hampshire, who was known as Mic, was working for the close protection team of the EU Police Mission in Afghanistan (Eupol), which supports the Afghan government in building a civilian police force.
In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Mr Hampshire's family said: "No words can explain what we are going through at this time and we will miss Michael dearly.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank people for the messages we have received but would now like, as a family, to grieve for Michael in peace."
On Sunday, Eupol released a statement confirming one of its security officers had been killed and two staff members had been injured.
Eupol head of mission Pia Stjernvall said the "dedicated and highly professional officer" died while protecting members of the mission.
"My thoughts are with the family and friends of our colleague and all the others who were involved with this tragic and cowardly attack against people who have come to this country simply to help the people of Afghanistan," she said.
"At the same time my thoughts are with the Afghans who were victims of this attack."


Drugs have gone missing from a prison healthcare centre, it has emerged.

Staff at HMP Norwich realised a drugs trolley was unlocked and the medication had disappeared in the early hours of 3 December, according to a prison report.
A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman said an investigation into what happened was currently taking place.
The MoJ added it could not say what drug had been removed from the trolley. It said: "We will take action against anyone found to have been involved."
An officer observed a prisoner walking around the landing near the centre at 00:10 GMT, according to the prison report.
"He escorted him back to his dormitory where he found the gate was unlocked," the report said. The officer then conducted a search of the cell before locking him up, it adds.
At the same time, nursing staff discovered the drugs trolley kept in a side room in the centre was unlocked.
"On a further check it was established that a quantity of medication was missing and unaccounted for," the report stated.
NHS England appointed Virgincare to run the health centre in April 2014.
Earlier this year, inspectors found that Class A drugs were intercepted at the prison. Their report revealed that a member of staff was sentenced for "illegal provision of drugs to prisoners for cash".
The Independent Monitoring Board found that healthcare had "improved after an uncertain start to the new contract with Virgincare", but said there were "too many agency staff" running the centre.
A spokesman for Virgincare said: "Following an incident at HMP Norwich, we are currently taking part in a joint investigation into the circumstances."


Derek McInnes believes Aberdeen have the confidence and experience to overcome being underdogs against Maribor in the Europa League.

The Slovenian club has knocked Hibernian, Rangers and Celtic out of Europe in recent seasons.
Yet McInnes is adamant that his players are not fearful of the quality of the opposition or their record.
"We're not daunted by it," McInnes said. "We're confident in our ability to get the right result."
Aberdeen's manager has told fans to expect an assertive first-leg display on Thursday and urged them to back the team.
"We've learned over the last few seasons to deal with European football," McInnes continued.
"I like the technical and tactical part of it. Our supporters should expect to see a confident Aberdeen team.
"They are favourites, we're the underdogs, but we were underdogs against Riejka [last season], we were underdogs against Groningen [in 2014].
"They'll take confidence from their recent history, and not just against Scottish teams.
"We want to represent ourselves first and foremost, get the reputation of our club at the forefront of people's minds, and help Scottish football at the same time.
"Those first two rounds always have trepidation about them, because players aren't fully up to speed, they're playing against teams that are relatively unknown and there's pressure in that.
"We've now come out the other side of those ties and we're now the underdogs going into this game. I'm happy to deal with the favourites tag and happy to deal with the underdogs tag."
McInnes warns that Maribor will be accomplished and dangerous opponents in the first leg of the third qualifying round tie on Thursday at Pittodrie.
He will send his side out in search of a victory, but also with the awareness that the contest can be won in Slovenia on away goals, so keeping a clean sheet is important.
"What was telling from [Maribor's win over Levski Sofia in the last round] was their maturity and calmness, even when they went behind they kept playing their game," McInnes said.
"That comes from playing European football and they look like a team confident within their shape. They've got a way of playing, very well organised, and the refusal to panic when they went behind has got them through into this tie.
"They play 4-4-1-1, they can play a bit deeper and they counter-attack quickly. We need to be aware of that and recognise the areas where we want to play and look after the ball, especially against a team that is quick to get forward.
"We want to win the game at home, [but] it's important we still have a result going over to Maribor.
"Ideally we want to impose ourselves and get that balance between attacking and defending right, but we don't want to be giving ourselves a mountain to climb by losing goals at Pittodrie."


The Welsh Rugby Union has confirmed the Principality Welsh Premiership will initially be divided into two groups of eight teams for the next two seasons.

The plans have already been approved by the clubs and been ratified by a WRU board.
Aberavon, Bridgend, Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery, Llanelli, Neath, RGC 1404 and Swansea will form the west.
Holders Merthyr, Bargoed, Bedwas, Cardiff, Cross Keys, Ebbw Vale, Newport and Pontypridd are in the east.
The clubs will play each other home and away in the first half of the season before all 16 sides join together, with points being carried over from the regional format.
The sides will then play each other once, meaning clubs will have 29 guaranteed league games.
At the split, points will be allocated to clubs based on league positions so the winners of the east and west leagues will go into the second half of the season with eight points.
The clubs in second place will carry seven points into the 16-team league, down to the eighth placed clubs who will carry one point.
There will be no end-of-season play-offs and the club who finishes top of the table will be crowned overall champions.
This format replaces last season's format when clubs were split into two sections of eight midway through the campaign based on positions in the table. There were only 22 guaranteed games for clubs in this competition.
Overall winners Merthyr won the Tier One final by defeating Aberavon, while Newport were the Tier Two winners after beating Neath.
Merthyr will launch the defence of their title at The Wern against Cross Keys when the new season kicks off on the weekend of 26 August.
Principality Premiership clubs will continue to work with the regions to select Regional Premiership Select XVs for the British & Irish Cup, while the Foster's Challenge Cup will not take place.
WRU head of rugby performance Geraint John said: "The Principality Premiership is a vital competition in underpinning the professional game in Wales, providing a crucial stepping stone for our potential future professional players, in addition to the British & Irish and Anglo-Welsh Cup competitions.
"We believe the new format and the additional, guaranteed local derbies in the first half of the season will further support the work of the regions to establish the place of the Principality Premiership within the regional and national pathway, in order to underpin player, coach and referee development. At this time we feel this solution meets the vast majority of those needs.
"We will continue to assess the outcomes of this new format but there will be no further structural changes to the Principality Premiership until at least the 2019/20 season."
Principality Premiership East: Bargoed, Bedwas, Cardiff, Cross Keys, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr, Newport, Pontypridd.
Principality Premiership West: Aberavon, Bridgend, Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery, Llanelli, Neath, RGC 1404, Swansea.


Three major hospitals across England that provide complex heart care have been ordered to stop doing so amid concerns over standards.

NHS England has told three units - in Leicester, Manchester and London - to halt complex surgery on patients born with heart problems by April 2017.
Five other hospitals providing treatments other than complex surgery will have to stop those services too.
The sites affected are already promising to fight the decisions.
One hospital boss even described the announcement as "irrational and reckless".
The services being targeted provide care to people born with congenital heart problems, such as holes in the heart, which affect nine in every 1,000 babies, not other type of heart services.
The announcement comes after attempts to reorganise services had to be abandoned three years ago following legal challenges by local campaigners and the hospitals themselves.
Danielle Westerman's two-year-old son Declan has been a patient at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital.
He has had two open heart operations and is due to have another next year.
Ms Westerman, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, says she already has trouble getting to Leicester as neither she or her partner can drive and rely on a lift from her elderly grandfather.
She said: "Where would we have to go now? How would we even get there?
"Glenfield is only a hour away from me, this is going to be so difficult. We struggled as it was."
Leicester's Glenfield Hospital: What next for patients?
Last year NHS England established a set of standards that it wanted hospitals to meet to ensure both child and adult patients got high quality care.
These include the requirement that surgeons work in teams of four and see at least 125 patients a year each to ensure they keep their skills up-to-date.
Bosses at NHS England have now announced which trusts are not meeting the standards and which need to close services and transfer care elsewhere.
They have said:
Overall, it means the number of units providing the most complex heart surgery drops from 13 to 11. The number of "level two" units providing treatments other than complex surgery drops to five.
Carrying out surgery on children with congenital heart problems - some of them babies just born - is one of the most complex areas of care in the NHS.
There are fewer than 4,000 operations done each year with 80% of children born with these heart defects surviving into adulthood.
But how and where such surgery is carried out has been at the centre of a fierce debate since the publication in 2001 of a damning report into high death rates among babies undergoing heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Last time plans were put forward in 2011 it led to a bitter fallout, pitting hospitals against senior health bosses. Two years later the proposals were scrapped with NHS bosses told to look again. The decisions announced today, covering both adult and children's services, are the result.
Their argument is that units have to be big enough to allow surgeons to carry out operations on a regular basis. But the response of the hospitals affected suggests this will not be the last word on the issue.
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NHS England said while it would mean some patients travelling further than they previously needed to, the care that would be provided would be safer in the long-term.
Dr Jonathan Fielden, of NHS England, said: "There has been a great deal of uncertainty over the future of congenital heart disease services. We owe it to patients, families and staff to end that uncertainty and provide a clear direction."
NHS England said it would discuss the decisions with the hospitals affected and carry out consultations where necessary, but some hospitals bosses have already vowed to fight them.
British Heart Foundation chief executive Simon Gillespie said while he did not want to comment specifically on which units should close, centralising services in this way was the right move and should happen as "quickly as possible".
"It is absolutely critical that children and adults with congenital heart disease and their families receive safe and effective care, wherever they live."
Royal Brompton and Harefield chief operating officer Robert Craig described the announcement as "extraordinary".
He said stopping surgery would have a knock-on effect and put other services at risk, including paediatric intensive care, respiratory care and other heart services.
"Of one thing they can be sure, we will be working closely with NHS England to ensure that full and frank discussions take place to determine what is behind this irrational and reckless announcement."
John Adler, chief executive at the Leicester trust, said: "We are confident that our clinical outcomes are now amongst the best in the country so we strongly disagree with NHS England's decision and will not sit by whilst they destroy our fabulous service."