If day one of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's was champagne cricket, then day two was more about graft.

That's not to say it was a poorer spectacle, it was just more of what we expect from a Test, but still a good day to watch.
It belonged to the tourists, who wrapped the England innings up for 389 then moved to 303-2, only 86 runs behind.
England, though, will rue a couple of missed opportunities that could have altered the course of the play.
The first came when Mark Wood, the Durham seamer making his debut, had Martin Guptill caught at slip, only for replays to show that Wood had overstepped. At the time, Guptill had 24 and went on to make 70.
On the one hand you sympathise with Wood and the cruel way he was denied a first Test wicket. But ultimately, he will know that only he is to blame.
Who knows what that wicket would have done for his confidence? I like the look of him, not least because he's got pace.
Wood's approach is quite unusual, a springing step into a bounding run that makes him look like he's been released out of a catapult. He has a strong action that is slightly open-chested and may one day produce some reverse swing.
If the catch off Guptill had not been a no-ball, then perhaps he would have taken a couple more wickets. It is all ifs, buts and maybes.
The same can be said for Ian Bell's dropped catch from the bowling of Ben Stokes. At second slip, Bell put down a chance from Tom Latham, who was allowed to move from 21 to 59.
Drops have been a feature of England's indifferent run over the past 18 months. Catching and winning are interlinked. You takes catches when you're winning and you win because you take your catches.
England put down chances in the drawn series in the West Indies and day two at Lord's had a similar feeling to those days in the Caribbean.
Alastair Cook's side tried hard to make something happen on a pitch suited to batting then missed the opportunities they worked so hard to create.
In fairness to England, they bowled well, mainly on a full length. They were seldom cut or pulled, a display much improved on the shambolic bowling performance in the defeat by India on this ground last summer.
Some suggested they failed to show any creativity and it is true that they waited until late in the day before asking Stokes and Stuart Broad to pepper Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor with some short-pitched bowling. At least they tried it.
In reality they ran in to some very good New Zealand batting on a surface that offered precious little help.
We wondered how the Black Caps would adjust after so many of their players came straight from the Indian Premier League, but modern batsmen are used to switching between formats.
It is said that the Kiwis can be dashing, but here they collectively displayed proper Test-match batting, perhaps because they realise this pitch will deteriorate and may well be very tough on which to bat last.
For that reason, the early exchanges on Saturday, with the new ball due three overs into the day, are absolutely crucial.
If New Zealand get through that period, with the likes of Brendon McCullum still to come, then they could go well past England's total and subject Cook's men to the type of pressure which made them crumble in the final Test against West Indies.
England, on the other hand, will want early wickets to limit New Zealand and still have the opportunity to set a stiff fourth-innings target.
It promises to be a fascinating day.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt.


Volunteers in Cardiff are hoping to inspire a "make do and mend" revival with free repair events in a bid to divert useable items from waste dumps.

Joe O'Mahoney and Cerys Jones set up the Repair Cafe in Cathays after growing frustrated at the number of fixable items being thrown away.
The first event in April attracted dozens of people and saw 18 volunteers fix 43 items in four hours.
Monthly events are now planned and they also hope people will learn new skills.
The Repair Cafe movement began in Amsterdam in 2009 and has since spread around the world, including more than 30 registered groups in the UK.
Miss Jones got involved after answering a social media post from Mr O'Mahoney asking whether people would be interested if he set one up.
The pair organised the first event not knowing if anyone would turn up, but they were "overwhelmed" by the response.
Among the items fixed were clothes, bikes, irons and hair strengtheners, which were also safety tested.
"Our motivation is reducing what's sent to landfill, we're also really keen on bringing the community together," Miss Jones said.
"When you bring something, you get the option to learn a new skill so you can fix it yourself next time."
"Consumerism has gone a bit crazy and there's no requirement to be chucking things away when they could be fixed.
"It's quite different from our grandparents' generation, when things would be fixed out of necessity. We've lost all those skills."
About 38,000 tonnes of rubbish passed through Cardiff's waste centres in 2016-17.
Household waste which cannot be recycled in the city is no longer sent to landfill and instead goes to an incinerator, which deals with 172,000 tonnes of waste a year from five councils.
Miss Jones said people had been "chuffed to bits" with their newly-revived items.
If the success continues, Miss Jones hopes the event could also be held in areas across the city.
The next Repair Cafe is at The Table, Pentyrch Baptist Church, Cathays, from 10:00 BST to 14:00 on 6 May.


Prison staff who watched but failed to intervene as a mentally ill prisoner blinded himself and injured his groin area have been strongly criticised.

A report by NI's Prisoner Ombudsman has said Sean Lynch inflicted "extreme and shocking" self-harm over three days.
The 23-year-old was held in Maghaberry Prison, a high security jail.
Mr Lynch's father said the recommendations in the report offered "no comfort."
The report said on the final day, two prison officers watched as he injured himself on more than 20 occasions in an "ordeal" that lasted for over an hour.
Prison officers "directly observed" the inmate for more than a quarter of the time, the report added.
CCTV cameras showed Sean Lynch shouting and crying in pain and banging his cell door, but the officers did not try to stop him.
"It seems remarkable that several experienced Northern Ireland Prison Service officers, including a senior officer, all felt it was neither necessary nor appropriate to enter his cell to prevent Mr Lynch from self-harming further," said Prisoner Ombudsman Tom McGonigle.
"Their duty of care was trumped by security concerns that appear to have had little basis in reality."
Sean Lynch used his fingers and thumbs to damage his eyes, and claimed to have used a piece of broken glass to injure his groin.
Mr Lynch's father Damien told BBC's Nolan Show that "everything had been taken" away from his son.
"His sight is completely gone, his life is completely gone," he said.
"I have no faith, I don't think anyone would have any faith if this had happened to their son."
The director general of the prison service, Sue McAllister, said it was the most extreme case of self-harming she had experienced in 30 years working in prisons.
She said it was a "shocking and tragic case" and said her thoughts were with Sean Lynch and his family.
"But this is not about apportioning blame or apologising," she said.
Mrs McAllister said it was not possible to say what staff "could or should have done" in this "unprecedented incident."
"Our staff on that day, and in the days leading up to incident had cared for Sean in very caring and professional way."
"But this case also highlights just how challenging and complex the work of our staff is every single day."
She offered to meet Sean Lynch and his family if they wished.
The report said the incident in June 2014 followed the deterioration of Mr Lynch's mental health in the community "and increasingly bizarre behaviour in prison".
It identifies serious shortcomings in the treatment of Mr Lynch, who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness.
A detailed Forensic Medical Officer's assessment, suggesting that formal psychiatric assessment was an "absolute necessity", was sent to Maghaberry Prison.
Despite this, the prisoner was treated as a "routine" referral, said the Prisoner Ombudsman.
Mr McGonigle added that the problems may have been compounded by an eight-day delay in administering an increased dosage of medication that was prescribed.
The report stated that while numerous staff from the prison service and the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust dealt with Mr Lynch, "nobody took overall responsibility for managing him, either as a patient or as a vulnerable prisoner".
It said a priest who visited the prisoner in Maghaberry noted: "His condition is beyond anything the officers can cope with."
The Prison Ombudsman also noted that Mr Lynch's "self-destructive behaviour" had required treatment at outside hospitals.
The report said his conduct was so challenging "he had to be restrained and tranquilised, and he seriously assaulted a prison officer".
The report has made 63 recommendations for improvement by the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the health trust.
"This dreadful sequence of self-harming highlights the challenges of caring for severely mentally-ill people in prison," said Mr McGonigle.
"The key messages from this investigation are the need for someone to take prompt and effective control when a prisoner/patient's mental health is deteriorating rapidly; and for improved assessment and information-sharing at the point when people go into prison."
The justice minister and director general of the prison service have both said the report highlights the difficulties managing a prisoner with severe mental illness.
"This was an awful case for everyone concerned and I am deeply sympathetic to Mr Lynch and his family," said Justice Minister Claire Sugden.
She said that while prison staff are trained to support and care for vulnerable prisoners, the process "was not designed to care for someone as challenging as Mr Lynch".
The minister and prison service director general both said lessons will be learned and that recommended improvements for dealing with vulnerable prisoners will be implemented.


The Saudi-led coalition bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen has said it attacked a funeral hall in the capital, Sanaa, based on "bad information".

At least 140 people were killed, most of them civilians, in the attack on 8 October - one of the single worst death tolls in the two-year conflict.
An inquiry blames "non-compliance with coalition rules of engagement" and "the issuing of incorrect information".
The attack was heavily criticised internationally.
The 14-nation Saudi-led inquiry, carried out by the Joint Incidents Assessment Team, said coalition aircraft were wrongly told that the funeral hall was full of Houthi leaders.
It said "a party affiliated to the Yemeni presidency of the general chief of staff" was to blame.
The inquiry also apportioned blame to the Air Operation Center in Yemen for directing aircraft onto the target without obtaining approval from the coalition's command.
The investigation called for families of the victims to be compensated. An estimated 600 people were injured in the bombing.
"Coalition forces must immediately review their rules of engagement and update their procedures to ensure adherence in future," the inquiry team said.
The findings of this Saudi-led investigation will come as no surprise and little consolation to those caught up in the devastating air strike on a funeral in Sanaa.
Already social media postings have suggested that blaming a senior Yemeni military officer for ignoring the rules is a case of scapegoating.
But for Saudi Arabia, which was already looking for ways to extricate itself from the Yemen conflict, this could be a watershed moment.
Beyond sacking those responsible for this catastrophic breach of its targeting rules and compensating the victims' families, the Saudi-led coalition is immediately reviewing its rules of engagement. Will this be enough to silence those calling for the UK and US to curb their arms sales to Saudi Arabia?
Unlikely. As long as air strikes continue over Yemen civilians will continue to die, while Houthi rebels continue to fire their missiles across the border at Saudi villages. So the pressure to end this unwinnable war is greater than ever.
One woman's lonely struggle against famine in Yemen
A year of war that has set Yemen back decades
Practising medicine under fire in Yemen
The conflict in Yemen pits forces loyal to the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi against Houthi rebels.
The coalition led by Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of backing the rebels and supports the president.
Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom
The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have been killed in the conflict, many of them civilians.
The coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia's Gulf Arab allies, enjoys logistical backing from the United States but the White House condemned the bombing and said it was reviewing its assistance.
Adding to the condemnation, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the air strike was "an apparent war crime" and "unlawfully disproportionate".
The UK, a major seller of arms to Saudi Arabia, is to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council next week calling for a ceasefire in Yemen.


Ghana's Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu has thanked his Italian club Udinese after they loaned him to Turkish side Bursaspor.

The 26-year-old will spend the next season at Bursaspor.
The midfielder played 29 times for Udinese last season as well making five appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations for the Black Stars.
"Wow wow wow, what a wonderful family I have been with for the past 7 years," he posted on social media.
In an extensive thank you statement he also thanked "the president of Udinese and his family, management members, technical team, medical team, physiotherapists, all my colleague footballers, the media and my lovely supporters of Udinese."
"Thank you thank you for everything. God bless us all," he added.
He has been at the club since 2010 after joining from Ghanaian side Berekum Chelsea.


Fulham have signed Norwich City centre-back Michael Turner on loan until the end of the season.

The 31-year-old former Hull and Sunderland player has made 24 appearances for the Canaries this season but has not featured since 7 February.
"As soon as I learned of Fulham's interest I wanted to come here," Turner told the west London club's website.
"I just want to try and make a big influence on the team."
Fulham are 21st in the Championship table, eight points above the relegation zone.


Welshman Geraint Thomas could lead Team Sky in Grand Tours in the future, says team principal Sir Dave Brailsford.

Thomas, 29, and fellow Welsh cyclist Luke Rowe are part of the nine-man team that will support 2013 champion Chris Froome in the 2015 Tour de France.
Brailsford said: "Geraint is going from strength to strength.
"His opportunity to ride Grand Tours, try and lead the team at stage races is becoming clear - that's the way it's going to go."
He said "nobody knows" the limit of Thomas' talent and that he was "a very exciting prospect".
Thomas became the first British rider to win one of the hardest races on the professional circuit - the formidable E3 Harelbeke race in Belgium - in March this year.
In early June he finished second in the Tour de Suisse, finishing five seconds behind Simon Spilak, and Brailsford says Team Sky will try to protect the "versatile" Thomas.
Brailsford confirmed he would be discussing Thomas' growing role in the team with the double Olympic pursuit champion, who will be competing in his sixth Tour this year.
"I'm a very big believer in ownership," Brailsford told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"You can tell people what to do but if they believe in it, they are part of the decision-making process, they buy into it more.
"In my opinion that's the way to go, so that will very much be a discussion with Geraint.
"He's one of the world's most versatile riders.
"The challenge for Geraint is that he can get dragged in to helping out in all scenarios.
"The key for us as a team this year is to make sure we use his specific skills that we want to use in a certain area and give him the protection he deserves and give him the opportunity."


Former drug smuggler turned author Howard Marks has died at the age of 70.

11 April 2016 Last updated at 12:16 BST
In 1997, he spoke with Nik Gowing on BBC HARDtalk about his drug smuggling exploits and his run-ins with law enforcement.


It's a four letter word at the heart of the London mayoral election campaign.

Land.
How much is there to build on, and what should be built on it?
It's been apparent from the start of the 2016 campaign that all the leading mayoral candidates appreciate that - for the first time in five contests for City Hall - housing could be a major determinant of how people end up voting.
More on this story and other news from London
So - what are the early signals?
The housing issue is dense, and the policy questions complex. It's hard to see many voters getting beyond the bold-type pledges made with nice round numbers.
But genuine credibility established over the next few weeks - based around detailed solutions - could achieve cut-through.
Mainly so far the turf for this particular war has been publicly owned "brownfield" land.
It's difficult to say yet how much there might be to play with. But it was reported this week that the London Land Commission set up last year has so far identified enough for 130,000 homes.
There's a fairly big caveat attached. Much of this land is owned by agencies like the NHS, the Ministry of Defence or local government. And they have to weigh up the pressure for immediate disposal against predicting future operational needs.
Cross-department land assembly won't be easy. But the mayor does have a direct say over land owned by Transport for London.
It claims it has now identified about 300 acres, across 75 sites, which could deliver 10,000 homes over the next decade. Two thirds of them would be in Zones 1 and 2.
There are already plans for developments at Parsons Green, Northwood and above the proposed new Tube link at Battersea power station, where affordable housing is badly needed.
Most sites are what TfL describes as "operationally constrained", adjoining or above stations or track, making development more tricky.
It means the new mayor could have, optimistically as things stand, around 1,000 new homes a year to shape directly.
We've learned so far that Labour candidate Sadiq Khan will apportion an unstipulated amount of this new housing to shared ownership where you typically start by buying 25% of a property's value and pay rent on the remaining 75%.
He says he will give priority to people who've been renting privately for more than five years, and claims he will be able to cut the typical rent element because TfL will retain the freehold.
Conservative Zac Goldsmith has said that he would ensure the land is used for a mixture of affordable rented, shared ownership and market housing which would go to people who had lived in the capital for three years.
The Liberal Democrats' Caroline Pidgeon has called for a new mayoral building company, the Greens' Sian Berry for a "community" homes agency, and UKIP's Peter Whittle for a social housing building programme alongside a debate on the pressure of migration on the current housing stock.
And what of previous experience? Over the last few years, the Greater London Authority (GLA) under Boris Johnson has sold off - rather than retaining a stake in - around 1,500 acres of land.
According to the latest GLA figures 27,300 homes have received planning consent, of which 7,590 were deemed affordable, either to rent or buy.
Mr Khan has described this as a "fire-sale" and said public assets need to be "sweated more".
In recent years, too, more than a hundred Metropolitan Police buildings have been sold, raising around Â£1bn.
Mr Goldsmith says that the limited physical and monetary resources available in the future means regeneration needs to combines transport and housing, and new ways of raising money for infrastructure like the mayor taking a slice of stamp duty will be necessary.


While most social networks aim to connect people, one new service seeks to join the growing trend of doing the opposite and help you avoid them.

Cloak uses public location data from other social networks, Foursquare and Instagram, to determine the locations of others you know.
Users can choose to receive an alert when certain people are believed to be nearby.
It is the latest in the recent trend of "anti-social", or secretive, apps.
Apps such as Snapchat - which deletes photographs and videos seconds after they have been viewed - and Secret - which broadcasts messages anonymously - are growing in popularity.
Likewise WhatsApp, a private-messaging service recently bought by Facebook for $19bn (Â£11.4bn), indicates a shift back to conducting online conversations in private.
Cloak describes itself as a method to "avoid exes, co-workers, that guy who likes to stop and chat - anyone you'd rather not run into".
It was created by programmer Brian Moore and the former creative director of viral news site Buzzfeed, Chris Baker.
Mr Baker told the Washington Post that his service was typical of the direction social networking was taking.
"Personally, I think we've seen the crest of the big social network," he said.
"Things like Twitter and Facebook are packed elevators where we're all crammed in togetherâ€¦ I think anti-social stuff is on the rise. You'll be seeing more and more of these types of projects."
Nick Jones, editor-in-chief of App Magazine, told the BBC he was unconvinced - though tempted.
"It does sound like a gimmick," he said. "But I might use it myself!"
He suggested that these niche apps were being developed not because of any great consumer need, but because developers are keen to corner some of the few remaining untapped social-media markets.
"People are having to diversify their apps and find some unique angle to their app, and then try and sell it to Facebook and make a pretty penny."
However, he admitted: "Secrecy has its advantages for people. It's quite attractive."


The UK's advertising watchdog is looking into the way so-called "fibre broadband" services are marketed.

In some cases, ISPs are advertising services as fibre that rely on slower copper wires for the final link to a customer's home.
The probe has been prompted by consumer complaints and calls from MP Matt Warman to investigate.
Mr Warman said ISPs were misleading customers by giving them copper when they expected fibre.
In a statement, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it was acting because of "evolving concerns" about the way fibre broadband services were advertised, and recent changes to government policy, which meant far more people would potentially have access to such services.
Policy papers spelling out the government's view made clear that fibre should be used only to describe services that rely on the faster cables from end to end, it said.
The ASA said it would consider whether ISPs should be able to continue using "fibre broadband" to describe both full and part-fibre services.
"We will be considering whether the use of that term is likely to cause people to be materially misled," it said.
The ASA did not say when it would complete its work but said it would provide an update by the summer.
James Blessing, chair of the council at the UK's Internet Service Providers Association said it had been "working with the ASA on their wider review into broadband advertising to ensure that adverts are understood by consumers and help them make informed choices about the services, products and technologies that best suit their needs."
He said ISPA "looked forward" to helping the ASA's review of what the word "fibre" means in adverts.
Andrew Ferguson, co-founder of the ThinkBroadband website, said "clarity" on advertising would be welcome. "Then we can avoid adverts that promote fibre optic broadband but clearly show a coax cable with a metal core," he said.
Telecoms watchdog Ofcom offers an app that can help consumers check broadband speeds and availability. Commercial sites. such as ThinkBroadband and USwitch, have also made tools that let people check deals and speeds available.


Ukrainian officials are preparing for a possible evacuation of the eastern frontline town of Avdiivka amid renewed fighting with pro-Russian rebels.

If evacuation takes place, officials say up to 8,000 people could be removed each day from the government-held town, which has no water or electricity.
Shelling and the deaths of several more people were reported by both sides on Tuesday.
Each blames the other for the upsurge in violence.
It erupted despite an attempt to renew a ceasefire last month.
Ukrainian forces say the outbreak began when rebels launched an attack on Avdiivka, which borders land controlled by the separatists.
Seven soldiers and a number of rebels have been killed in recent days, and there have been civilian casualties on both sides but precise numbers are unclear.
For several hours 200 coal miners were trapped underground on Tuesday when shelling cut power at a pit in the rebel-run area of Donetsk.
Engineers at Zasyadko eventually managed to get generators working and started bringing the miners back to the surface.
"Everything is going bad," a resident in Avdiivka told the BBC. "People are scared and try to go out. It's very cold. There are bread queues. Only a few shops are open," said the woman, who identified herself as Nadiya.
On Tuesday, the head of the Kiev-appointed administration, Pavlo Zhebrivsky, said plans were being made for an evacuation of residents.
More stories from Ukraine:
"As of now, we can evacuate up to 8,000 people in the course of the day. The region's towns are ready to receive up to 9,000 people," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
The population of the town is uncertain but is believed to range between 16,000 and 22,000.
Officials say the evacuation will go ahead if the fighting escalates further. About 10 tonnes of food will soon arrive in the city, they add.
Recaptured from pro-Russian rebels in 2014, Avdiivka is a key stronghold for the Ukrainian army which it is desperately trying to retain.
The town is close to rebel-controlled Donetsk and important roads and intersections used by the rebels to transport machinery and ammunition.
Just as important is the town's coking and chemical plant - the biggest of its kind in Europe. If it fell into rebel hands it would cut much-needed supplies to Ukraine's steel industry.
The renewed violence coincided with President Donald Trump's first phone-call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he took office.
The government in Kiev fears it may lose US support during Mr Trump's presidency. According to the Kremlin, Mr Trump and the Russian leader agreed to a "partner-like co-operation" on issues including Ukraine.
While Ukraine accuses rebels of starting the violence, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday blamed government forces.
"Such aggressive actions, supported by the armed forces of Ukraine, undermine the aims and the task of realising the Minsk accords," he said on Tuesday.
A ceasefire was agreed in Minsk in February 2015 but there have been frequent violations. The latest truce began on 23 December.
More than 9,700 people have died since the conflict erupted in 2014, as Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula, and pro-Russian rebels later launched an insurgency in the east.
The US and EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in eastern Ukraine. Russia has denied backing the rebels.


A fall in the sales of the Barbie doll has hit earnings at the US toymaker Mattel.

Net income at the company fell to $223.8m (Â£145m) in the three months to September, down from $331.8m a year earlier, while Barbie doll sales fell by 4%.
The stronger dollar also hurt revenue from overseas markets.
The chief executive, Christopher Sinclair, said the results were "broadly in line" with expectations.
The company has been struggling as children increasingly turn to electronic games and tablets. This is the eighth consecutive quarter of declining sales for the 56-year-old Barbie brand.
"We're very encouraged by the progress we are making on reenergizing the company," Mr Sinclair said.
"As we continue our turnaround efforts, we remain comfortable with our full-year outlook."
Nearly half of Mattel's revenue came from international markets last year and Mr Sinclair expects the strong dollar to "continue to be a headwind".


Oscar-tipped film The Revenant has held on to the top spot in the UK box office chart for a third week.

The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman fighting for survival after being attacked by a bear, took £2.28m.
The Revenant's total after 17 days on UK release is now £16.09m.
Hot on its heels was the Robert De Niro comedy Dirty Grandpa, which came in at number two with £2.05m, despite having received a critical mauling.
De Niro's film, which also stars Zac Efron, also made £605,000 in previews.
It sees the Raging Bull star playing a grandfather who convinces his snobbish grandson to take him to Florida in order to fulfil a romantic ambition.
A review on Variety saying Dirty Grandpa was "a brutally unfunny stab at ribald comedy" was fairly typical of the critics' opinion.
But a trailer campaign that included a near-naked, drug smoking, bronzed Efron seemed to do the trick with the audience.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens continued its strong performance at number three in the chart after seven weeks.
The film made a further £1.3m, bringing its total UK takings to £119.4m so far. The film is now the UK's most successful film to date.
At number four was action comedy Ride Along 2, starring Ice Cube, making £1.3m in its second week.
Meanwhile, Spotlight - which is in the running for six Academy Awards - made a seemingly disappointing arrival in the UK, coming into the chart at number five.
Telling the true story of the Boston Globe's investigation into widespread child abuse within the Catholic Church in 2002, it took £1.06m.
Despite a weak box office, Spotlight was released in only 241 cinemas. Distributor eOne kept its opening week on a tight rein but will expand its roll-out this Friday to around 370 cinemas.
The Big Short, also up for five Oscars, performed respectfully in the sixth slot on the chart. The satire, starring Steve Carrell, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling about the global financial crisis, made £959,765 in its second week.
Daddy's Home, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, was in eighth place in its sixth week having made £601,301.  Rocky Spin-Off Creed was in ninth place in its third week, making a further £581,943.
Meanwhile two new releases filled out the top 10: Capture the Flag came in at seven while a live performance of Turandot by the Metropolitan Opera in New York entered at number 10.


Women gathered on Westminster Bridge on Sunday to show solidarity with the victims of the London terror attack.

The group held hands in a line for five minutes when Big Ben chimed at 16:00 BST.
Many of the women wore head scarves at the tribute and said they were wearing blue to represent hope.
Khalid Masood, 52, killed four people when he drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a police officer on Wednesday.
Fariha Khan, a GP from Surbiton who was at Sunday's event, said: "The feeling of what happened here on Wednesday was really strong.
"We thought of the ordinary people who were here and were mown down, standing here like this, it was very overwhelming."
The event was organised by Women's March On London group which took part in an international campaign to highlight women's rights on the first full day of Donald Trump's US presidency.
Another woman who was there, Sarah Waseem, said the Islam faith "totally condemns violence of any sort".
She said: "When an attack happens in London, it is an attack on me. It is an attack on all of us.
"This is abhorrent to us."
Londoner Mary Bennett, who is a retired healthcare worker, said she was there to make a "small gesture".
She said: "I am here to show that in a quiet way we continue to go where we like and do what we like in London.
"This is my city. It's a very small gesture but life is made up of small gestures."
On Facebook and Twitter, Women's March On London posted an image titled We Stand Together and outlined reasons for people coming together after the attack on Wednesday.
The post invited people to unite in grief for those who died, to support the injured, to defy what the group called "forces of fear and division", and to show solidarity for equality, justice and peace.
The group said: "It is important that we come together at this time when tensions intensify in our communities."
Women's rights activist, Akeela Ahmed, who helped organise Sunday's event said it had been "powerful and sent a clear message".
She said there had been no speeches and that those attending had been advised to stay for the five minutes then disperse because the group had wanted it to be low key and not disruptive.
Organisers urged people to talk about the event using the hashtag #WeStandTogether.
One Twitter user, Natasha Gooding, wrote: "United Kingdom we are, united we stand. Unity and love will always be more powerful than your hate."
Another, Eleanor Goodman, said it was "such a beautiful tribute". She tweeted: "It embodies peace, love and unity."
Roshana Mehdian wrote: "Darkness cannot defeat darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot defeat hate. Only love can do that."
Catriona Robertson called it "silent resistance against fear and division".


A Canadian boy has caught a 486lb (220kg) tuna in Naufrage Harbour, off the coast of Prince Edward Island.

Koen Norton, 10, is hoping to secure the International Gamefish Association record for largest tuna caught by a child 10 years old or younger.
He was on his family's charter boat when he caught the massive fish on Sunday, using a fishing technique called "stand up" involving a harness.
Norton has been fishing since he was about five.
"He's talked about this record for quite a while," his father Greg Norton, who runs a fishing charter boat business, told the BBC. "We waited until he was 10 because it gave him the advantage of being as big as he could be. We go fishing every chance we get."
Koen Norton said it took him an hour to reel in the massive tuna.
"It was fun," Koen told the BBC. "It was just amazing how it felt when I was fighting it. When I hooked him, I could tell he was going to be a little bit of a fight."


Five cheetah cubs who were orphaned just after they were born, have found an unusual nanny - a dog!

24 March 2016 Last updated at 10:33 GMT
The cubs enjoy cuddling up with Blakely, a five-year-old male Australian shepherd.
He stepped in to keep the cubs warm, and even lets them climb on him for exercise.
Take a look at this video.


A Florida prosecutor has cleared an FBI agent in the May shooting death of a Chechen immigrant linked to one of the men accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing, US media report.

State Attorney Jeff Ashton will not charge the agent in the death of Ibragim Todashev.
The FBI has said Todashev, 27, attacked the agent with a metal pole during an interview in his Orlando apartment.
Todashev had been a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspected bombers.
On 27 May, a team of FBI agents were questioning Todashev about his relationship with Tsarnaev when the altercation occurred.
An unnamed agent fired several shots at Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter, after reportedly suffering a head injury which required stitches. Todashev was killed.
The agent was also cleared of wrong-doing in an internal FBI inquiry, the New York Times reports.
US officials say Todashev had just admitted a role in a September 2011 triple murder near Boston that was unrelated to the bombing, and implicated Tsarnaev in those killings.
Authorities say Tsarnaev, 26, and his younger brother Dzhokhar, 20, plotted and carried out the 15 April bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon which killed three and injured 264 others.
The two ethnic Chechen Muslims immigrated to the US from Russia as children.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed days after the bombing during an attempt to evade capture. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was shot by police but caught and charged with terrorism in connection with the bombing.
Currently jailed in Massachusetts, he faces the death penalty if convicted.
No evidence has emerged linking Todashev to the bombings.


A single-decker bus has been completely destroyed after catching fire in a village in North Lanarkshire.

Fire crews were called to the incident on High Street in Newarthill, near Motherwell, just after 13:00 but the bus was well alight by the time they arrived.
It is understood no-one was injured in the incident.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.


Two men said to resemble a children's author's supposed kidnappers have been presented in court to her fiance.

Ian Stewart denies murdering Helen Bailey and making up a story she was abducted by men called Joe and Nick.
The prosecution brought Nick Cook, Mr Stewart's neighbour, and Joe Cippullo, into St Albans Crown Court.
It is alleged the descriptions the accused gave to police matched the men, who he knew from his former home in Bassingbourn.
Prosecutor Stuart Trimmer told the jury that the descriptions bore a striking resemblance to Mr Stewart's acquaintances.
Follow the latest updates on this story
Asked if he knew Mr Cippullo, Mr Stewart replied: "Yes, he's a bowler."
Asked about Mr Cook, his reply was: "Yes, he's my next-door neighbour."
Mr Trimmer asked Mr Stewart if "when you look back and consider descriptions you gave... do you think of them?"
Mr Stewart replied "no" and "they don't compare at all".
Mr Trimmer then said: "They are both here so you can have a plain look at them."
Asked if he recognised the pair, Mr Stewart replied:  "Yes, it's Nick and Joe."
The Electra Brown writer Ms Bailey's body was found last July in a cesspit at the home she shared with Mr Stewart in Royston, Hertfordshire.
He is accused of drugging her before suffocating her and throwing her in the pit.
Mr Stewart told the court Ms Bailey had been snatched on 11 April by two men who blackmailed him and subjected him to a series of demands. He reported her missing on 15 April.
Under cross-examination, Mr Stewart was also accused of carrying out a "charade" following her disappearance by sending her bogus texts.
Mr Trimmer asked why he sent messages urging her to contact the police if she had been taken.
"You might not believe this but my mind was totally messed," Mr Stewart said.
Mr Trimmer suggested the texts were sent to "expand the lie" and give the impression he was concerned about his fiancee.
"If she was never found, if she remained in the bottom of that cesspit for years, all we know is that she had gone away and you had tried your best," he said.
Mr Stewart, 56, of Baldock Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, denies murder, preventing a lawful burial, fraud, and three counts of perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.


The death of a teenage girl which was initially being investigated as murder is no longer being treated as suspicious, police have said.

The 17-year-old's body was found at a house on Foston Close, Mansfield, at 01:45 BST on Wednesday, after concerns were raised about her safety.
A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, but has since been released and is assisting officers.
Detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection to the death.
Updates on this story and more from the East Midlands


I'm writing from the back seat of a Chinese police car.

An interesting enough location you might think, but the novelty wears off if you sit in gridlocked traffic for long enough, and I can now report first-hand that however magisterial the Chinese state, its citizens, when stuck in traffic, do not readily give way for a police car.
It's hard to have my finger on the pulse of national news here.
I've been on the road in south-west China for a whole week and the patchy phone signal, let alone the ongoing challenge of VPN access, make it hard to see beyond the red dust and queues of frustrated drivers.
But talking about VPN access, China's rules in cyberspace continue to be one of the big stories this week.
The government has announced that "real" real name registration is coming on 1 March.
After so many attempts to close down the ways in which citizens can hide behind aliases online, it's hard to know whether Beijing really means it this time.
Is it the parent who says "I really, really, really mean it this time", only to be completely ignored by their children?
Some suggest Beijing now has both the tools to enforce real name registration and, under Xi Jinping, the political will, so probably it really does mean it this time
Just one of the many ways in which China is creating a world of two internets, the global one and the Chinese one.
Another big story that rolls on this week and will continue to roll is ideology on university campuses.
Following up last week's broadside against Western values, Education Minister Yuan Guiren wrote in a Communist Party journal that "universities are the front line of ideology" and that "young university teachers and students have been targeted by foreign infiltrators".
A lecturer on a Beijing campus told me he felt the campaign would undermine the goal of becoming a world-class learning institution and was incompatible with trying to train young people to think critically.
It may raise questions for universities from Europe or North America which have worked hard to build relationships with Chinese campuses.
And in the long run, it may also have implications for China's attempt to build an innovative economy.
But as the education minister himself says, the students are the frontline.
More rote learning of ideology is likely to drive even more of them abroad for higher education.
As for university staff, campus leaders who want to keep their jobs have no choice but to get in line.  Already the party secretary of elite Beijing University has been rolled out to endorse the rectification.
But not all his staff are singing from the same hymn sheet.
In a blog post, Vice-Dean of the Law School Shen Kui has challenged the education minister to draw the line between Chinese and western values, pointing out that "the Marxism that our current constitution stipulates we must uphold, and the education in internationalism, communism, dialectical materialism, and historical materialism that the current constitution stipulates we must undertake, are all from the West".
It's still unclear, to me at least, how far this was coming anyway and how far it was triggered by the sight of tens if not hundreds of thousands of young people on the streets in Hong Kong's "umbrella movement".
Beijing and its friends in Hong Kong seem to have reached a consensus that "patriotic education" is key to inoculating young people against democratic ideals and that to prevent any repetition of such scenes on the mainland, ideological indoctrination must be tightened.
Perhaps less surprising is the parallel rectification in the armed forces. The People's Liberation Army Daily this week published a guideline from the Central Military Commission stressing the need for political background checks on officers and soldiers to "prevent penetration, sabotage by hostile forces or erosion by corrupt ideas and cultures".
Military personnel are now forbidden from blogging and using social media: "Some Western countries have intensified plotting against our country with 'colour revolutions' and an online 'cultural Cold War'... trying in vain to uproot the spirit of our military officers and soldiers."
Enough of ideology though. Some might even think environmental education more pressing this week after seeing tourist snaps from the South China Sea.
As part of the campaign to reinforce its territorial claims, Beijing has been encouraging the domestic travel industry to offer cruises around the contested Paracel Islands.
But now some visitors have posted proud images of themselves landing endangered species like Thresher sharks and posing with large trophies of red coral.
The government has responded with a vow to crack down on illegal activities, but the fish may feel closing down the tourism industry would be a more effective way of protecting their future.
And a last word for Huugjilt. Nearly 20 years after the 18-year-old Mongolian student was executed for a rape and murder that he didn't commit, his parents received 2.05m yuan ($327,600; Â£214,000) from the state in compensation and said their first task was to give their son a proper burial.
It's taken nearly two decades, and much determination and courage, to overturn this miscarriage of justice.
As state media reflected when the Inner Mongolia Higher People's Court finally found Huugjilt not guilty and apologised to his family: "Protecting the innocent is as important as bringing criminals to justice".
Traffic's started moving at last. More on my day out with the police another time.


According to David Mundell, the gap between the UK and Scottish governments on the subject of future spending amounts to a "molehill" - by comparison, that is, with the tax powers on offer.

Pursued by the wicked media, Mr Mundell declined to quantify the size of said molehill. However, he gave us to understand that it was small.
By contrast, the verdict from Scottish Ministers might be, to misquote Winston Churchill, "some mole, some hill." (See the great man's Ottawa speech from 1941.)
Mr Mundell said he would not outline the dimensions of said earthly eruption because that would be to enter into a "running commentary" upon the detail of the talks. Which would be wrong.
His news briefing, by contrast, was dealing with very general matters. Which was entirely fine. Certainly, with me. (Actually, I would like the running commentary too - but one step at a time.)
The Scottish Secretary, it should be reported, appeared to be in fine mischievous form - while treating the topic with due seriousness.
At one point, he suggested that the Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney was "chancing his arm" in trying to wring more cash from the Treasury.
Team Swinney, needless to say (which is why I say it), insist that their man is the most "straight-backed" politician in such matters, the very pillar of rectitude. Was that an "if only" I detected in the distance?
Meanwhile at First Minister's questions Nicola Sturgeon turned upon Ruth Davidson of the Tories when she suggested that the Scottish government might loosen up a little, certainly on timetable if not on substance.
Ms Sturgeon positively pounced. She would not, she said, abandon Scottish interests. The FM suggested that Ms Davidson might usefully spend her time contacting her London colleagues to prevent "billions" being taken from Scotland's budget.
Beneath the rhetoric, there is a serious point there. One or two in the Scottish government have come to believe that this issue may only be resolved if and when the Prime Minister tells the Treasury that there is a bigger prize at stake; namely the redemption of the Vow to which Mr Cameron appended his signature.
Mr Mundell is, of course, of a different view. He minimises the difference - and suggests that a deal is possible next week.
His latest initiative was to suggest that a review might be held after a few years to ensure that the deal remained fair. From his perspective, it is a reasonable move but one which, I would suggest, is scarcely likely to placate Scottish ministers.
Why so? Well, if they think the deal is a stinker now, they are scarcely likely to be impressed by the notion of confirming its pungency a few years down the line.
So where are we? The Treasury says it has offered a deal which is fair to Scotland and rUK. As I disclosed earlier this week, it has offered to modulate the offer to take account of population differences. In effect, a Barnett formula for tax and welfare.
Scottish Ministers say the deal remains unacceptable. They have offered to ensure that any cash raised in England from alterations in tax would stay in England and would not have any Barnett consequentials for Scotland.
Which is an offer - although, again, it is one that is presaged in the Smith commission. Mr Mundell seemed to think it was simply common sense - and not much of a concession.
There is a further SG concern. New welfare powers are being transferred to Scotland. By contrast with the tax deal, that means topping up the block grant. The SG concern is that the top-up will match population share, not historically higher need.
So where do we go from here? Treasury officials are in St Andrew's House today, trying to strike a bargain. The next round of Ministerial talks are scheduled for Monday. Maybe we will learn the dimensions of the molehill then.


Sheffield Wednesday climbed into the Championship play-off places with a draw which denied Neil Warnock a second win as Cardiff manager.

Cardiff led at half-time thanks to Peter Whittingham's exquisite free-kick.
Daniel Pudil's low strike brought the visitors level but they were thwarted by a stubborn defensive effort.
Wednesday are now sixth in the table, while Cardiff are up to 22th but still in the relegation zone.
Carlos Carvalhal's side had their eyes on the play-off places following Sunday's Yorkshire derby win at Huddersfield, while Cardiff had started Warnock's reign with a stirring derby victory of their own against Bristol City on Friday.
Whittingham had given Cardiff the lead with a casually taken penalty on that occasion, and he was similarly insouciant as he curled a delicate free-kick over the wall to put them ahead against Wednesday.
The visitors enjoyed as much as 78% possession in the first half but they were shackled by their industrious opponents, who could have scored a second goal moments before half-time when Sean Morrison's header was cleared off the line.
Wednesday were sharper after the break and the introduction of Fernando Forestieri - who scored the winner at Huddersfield - brought pace and invention to their attacks.
Carvalhal's side struck after 55 minutes, Gary Hooper's fizzing cross finding its way to Pudil, whose low shot hit Cardiff goalkeeper Ben Amos on its way into the net.
They continued to dominate possession but found it difficult to create clear scoring opportunities against a resolute Bluebirds defence which dropped deeper to frustrate their opponents.
Match ends, Cardiff City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 1.
Second Half ends, Cardiff City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 1.
Attempt missed. Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Joe Ralls with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Cardiff City. Conceded by Gary Hooper.
Attempt blocked. Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Offside, Cardiff City. Sean Morrison tries a through ball, but Junior Hoilett is caught offside.
Foul by Daniel Pudil (Sheffield Wednesday).
Marouane Chamakh (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Sam Hutchinson (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City).
Substitution, Cardiff City. Stuart O'Keefe replaces Peter Whittingham.
Foul by Gary Hooper (Sheffield Wednesday).
Ben Amos (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner,  Sheffield Wednesday. Conceded by Sean Morrison.
Attempt saved. Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Gary Hooper.
Attempt blocked. Junior Hoilett (Cardiff City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joe Ralls.
Foul by Gary Hooper (Sheffield Wednesday).
Sol Bamba (Cardiff City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. William Buckley replaces Ross Wallace because of an injury.
Delay in match Ross Wallace (Sheffield Wednesday) because of an injury.
Corner,  Cardiff City. Conceded by Sam Hutchinson.
Attempt missed. Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Gary Hooper.
Substitution, Cardiff City. Marouane Chamakh replaces Rickie Lambert.
Substitution, Cardiff City. Anthony Pilkington replaces Craig Noone.
Attempt missed. Ross Wallace (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Fernando Forestieri.
Attempt missed. Adam Reach (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Goal!  Cardiff City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 1. Daniel Pudil (Sheffield Wednesday) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Gary Hooper.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Tom Lees (Sheffield Wednesday) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Junior Hoilett (Cardiff City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Rickie Lambert with a headed pass.
Offside, Sheffield Wednesday. Ross Wallace tries a through ball, but Daniel Pudil is caught offside.
Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff City).
Second Half begins Cardiff City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 0.
Substitution, Sheffield Wednesday. Fernando Forestieri replaces Almen Abdi.
First Half ends, Cardiff City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 0.
Sam Hutchinson (Sheffield Wednesday) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Rickie Lambert (Cardiff City).
Offside, Cardiff City. Peter Whittingham tries a through ball, but Junior Hoilett is caught offside.


Edinburgh's tram service has taken its first paying customers as the long-awaited route from the airport to the city centre opened to the public.

The first tram service set off at 05:00 from the Gyle shopping centre in the west of the city.
It follows six years of disruption and problems, including a bitter dispute between the council and its contractor.
The Edinburgh tram route cost £776m and covers 8.7 miles (14km) from the New Town to Edinburgh Airport.
In the decade since the first money was allocated to the project, the price has doubled, the network has halved and it has taken twice as long to build as originally planned.
Tram enthusiasts Marjory Broom, 59, her husband George, 63, and son Christopher, 31, were on the first tram as it went from the Gyle shopping centre to York Place in Edinburgh city centre, before heading out to Edinburgh Airport and then back to the Gyle.
Mrs Broom said: "It was chock-a-block, and it was a real carnival atmosphere on board, with people cheering as the tram set off."
She added: "We've been on trams all over the world and the tram in Edinburgh today was really, really smooth.
"It was the first tram and it was standing room only, it was very, very busy.
"I'm really excited we managed to get on - there would have been no buzz being on the second tram."
Also on the first tram was Edinburgh City Council transport convener Lesley Hinds, who conceded the transport project had been "hugely challenging" but said there was now "growing positivity" about the trams.
"Two years ago, I pledged to do everything in my power to ensure we brought this project in on the revised budget and revised schedule," she said.
"It was never going to be straightforward, but with an incredible team effort and a focus on results, it now feels fantastic to be where we are today."
The tram project was almost scrapped just weeks before the construction began in 2007 and later ground to a halt for months when the company in charge of the trams fell into a bitter dispute with the main contractor.
The people of Edinburgh suffered six years of disruption as roads were closed for construction and businesses have also complained it caused them to lose trade.
Edinburgh City Council chief executive Sue Bruce accepted the project had been a "shambles".
"It's not a day for jubilation," she told BBC Breakfast.
"I think the whole of Edinburgh is relieved that the programme is now in place and the city can move on."
She said there were "big questions to be asked over the original due diligence of the programme" and the council had to be "held to account" over what had gone wrong.
Edinburgh has 27 trams in its fleet, although only about half of these will be in service at any one time.
Tram vehicles, each costing about £2m, can take 250 passengers - 78 seated, 170 standing and two dedicated wheelchair spaces.
The full journey from the airport to York Place in the city centre should take about 35 minutes.
The route has 15 stops, three of which connect with rail and bus services.
The tram services will run seven days a week, with a reduced timetable on Sundays.
During the week, the first trams will run from the Gyle at 05:00 and from the airport at 06:15.
Trams will run from York Place to the airport from 05:29.
At peak times, the trams will runs every 8-10 minutes.
The last trams to travel the full route will leave from Edinburgh airport at 22:45 and from York Place at 23:08.
Tickets cost £1.50 for a single in the city zone and £5 for a single to or from the airport.
Operators warned passengers should get a ticket before getting on the tram as there will be a £10 fine for anyone travelling without a ticket.
It had been hoped the tram fleet would offer free wi-fi, but it is understood most carriages will be installed with internet access in the weeks and months following the launch date.
Original plans to take the tram line to Leith were scrapped but could still be implemented in the future.
Edinburgh City Council transport convener Lesley Hinds said: "You can't underestimate the amount of money over-budget and the time it's been over as well. Obviously that has been extremely frustrating and I think it's been damaging to the city of Edinburgh.
"Our purpose over the last two years has been to get passengers on the tram from the airport to York Place.
"We do have enough trams to go down Leith and we have the rails because that was all bought before.
"There will be a report at the end of the year to see how people are taking to the system and it will suggest how we might want to further invest in public transport and the trams come under that."
There have been calls for a public inquiry into the trams fiasco but Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown said there are no immediate plans for one.
"We've said let's wait until the system is up and running and then look at lessons to be learned," Mr Brown said.
"I've spoken to the council already about this and will speak to them in future because the council has a number of legal actions ongoing and we can't have inquiries which cut across that.
"A total of £776m has now been spent on the system so let's make as much money as we can and get people on as many trams as we can to help repay that cost."


Four sheep have been killed after being attacked by a dog at a farm in Balado in Kinross.

Police Scotland said the incident happened at Vane Farm between 08:00 on Friday and 14:00 on Saturday.
Two Beltex rams and two sheep died as a result of the attack.
The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime launched a campaign on Monday to raise awareness amongst dog owners about the impact of livestock worrying.
Insp Jane Donaldson, Police Scotland's rural crime co-ordinator, said:  "The worrying of livestock can have devastating consequences for farm animals and has an obvious financial and emotional impact on farmers and their businesses.
"This campaign is being launched to coincide with the spring lambing period because this is when sheep are at greatest risk."


The Kurdish-led operation north of the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa has received scant coverage in Syrian mainstream media, but attracted sharp criticism from users of social networks.

Some critics say the campaign should be led by Arabs, not the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and many highlight the ordeal of Raqqa residents.
News of the Kurdish-led campaign against IS has caused disquiet among social media commentators, many of who fear a backlash against ordinary people in Raqqa.
"The ongoing talk of 'liberating Raqqa'", tweeted prominent opposition journalist and activist Hadi Al-Abdallah, "actually means a re-occupation of the city".
He argued that "the SDF is more radical than ISIS [IS]."
A spokesman for the anti-IS activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), Mohamed Al-Saleh, said that "a state of fear prevails among civilians" in the city.
"Civilians fear that the international coalition's warplanes or Russian aircraft may carry out massacres inside the Raqqa city similar to what happened in Aleppo," he said, alluding to air strikes on rebels in the Syrian city.
Similar views were expressed on Twitter.
"People in Raqqa have embarked on a trip into the unknown, just like what happened in Aleppo countryside - neither life nor death, we have no one but you God," one user tweeted.
In fact, expressions of fear have been the dominant trend among tweets commenting on the Raqqa operation.
Analysis of 23,154 Arabic tweets written between 24 and 25 May showed that about half of the sample were circulating news, while almost a quarter of the remaining posts expressed fear.
The rest of the comments were critical of the operation, with very few expressing support for it.
On 25 May, IS was reported to have closed down bus stations in Raqqa to completely prevent residents from travelling outside the city.
Mohamed Al-Saleh said IS was "trying to tighten the noose on civilians".
According to activists, this has left residents with no choice but to seek the help of smugglers, who reportedly charge $400 per person.
On the other hand, the US-led international coalition's warplanes have reportedly been dropping leaflets asking residents to leave to avoid getting caught in the fighting,
According to the RBSS, the leaflets say: "This is the time you have been waiting for, it is time to leave Raqqa."
Startled by the news, one Twitter user commented: "Don't they know Daesh [IS] has closed the roads and the bus stations?"
In the past, Kurds have been accused of carrying out atrocities against Arabs in areas that fell under their control.
"We have not forgotten the desecration of dead bodies, dragging rebels across the streets and displaying them on the back of trucks. We have not forgotten the occupation of Sunni Arab areas, displacing their people," one user tweeted, commenting about the start of the Kurdish-led operation north of Raqqa.
Although outnumbered on social media, supporters of the campaign said it would deal a blow to terror.
"Burn ISIS, burn terrorism, liberate Raqqa," tweeted one user, who described himself as a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Another suggested that the campaign only "annoys ISIS members in the area and those who follow them."
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Football Association chairman Greg Clarke remains hopeful a women's team will represent Great Britain at future Olympic Games.

Team GB's women squad, including two Scots and no players from Wales and Northern Ireland, reached the quarter-finals at London 2012.
The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish associations refused to keep the combined team going for Rio 2016.
But Clarke wants "a partnership of equals" to reform a joint women's team.
He added: "The home nations are discussing how we can achieve that for the women's game.
"We've got a follow-up meeting to look at the practicalities of making it happen.
"I'm hopeful that the four of us together (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) will create a partnership of equals that will allow our women to compete in the Olympics going forward."
Clarke did not address any possibility of a men's GB team also being rekindled after appearing at the 2012 Games and not doing so four years later.
Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Jonathan Ford confirmed in September 2016 that the home nations had met informally to discuss Team GB teams at future Olympics.
Ford also stated at that time there had been no change to the FAW's stance over men's and women's teams on the issue.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are thought to fear such a move could affect their independent status within Fifa and at international tournaments such as the World Cup.


For the first time in 24 years more Australians have moved to New Zealand to live and work than the other way around.

The latest New Zealand government figures show that last month it had a net inflow of 100 Australian migrants.
New Zealanders traditionally flocked to Australia which had a booming economy and offered higher wages.
But Australia's mining-reliant economy has slowed while New Zealand's is still doing well.
Both countries have an agreement allowing their citizens to live and work freely in either state.
In the past, an estimated 40,000 New Zealanders would migrate to Australia every year, adding to the complex rivalry between the two countries.
"From the Kiwi point of view, Australia was the land of milk and honey, a rich big brother who would help set you up for life," wrote The Australian's associate editor Cameron Stewart in a piece last month titled Revenge of the Kiwis.
"[The New Zealanders] were dubbed Bondi Bludgers who either stole our jobs or sucked up our welfare."
The brain drain also worried New Zealand, which has been working to attract more skilled migrants.
However, in recent years the number of New Zealanders moving to Australia has steadily fallen.
It lost 1,900 of its people to Australia between April 2014 and April 2015 - the smallest net loss since 1992, reported Radio New Zealand.
One major reason appears to be a reversal in economic fortunes.
Australia is grappling with the end of a decade-long mining boom and a slowdown in China's demand for minerals.
In recent months Australia has seen some of its highest unemployment rates in the past decade, and some project that the rate will hit 7% by the end of the year.
In contrast New Zealand's economy has steadily grown. On Thursday its government said unemployment was due to fall to 4.5%, and the country is expected to have a budget surplus by the next financial year.


Aaron Hughes says Northern Ireland will be well prepared to shackle the threat of Gareth Bale in Saturday's Euro 2016 game against Wales.

Real Madrid forward Bale scored three times as the Welsh topped Group B ahead of England to set up a meeting with Michael O'Neill's side.
"The great thing about this tournament is you get to play against the top players," said Hughes, 36.
"On form, Gareth Bale is arguably the best player here."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Northern Ireland have not conceded more than a single goal in any of their last 16 games.
And they know they must produce another solid defensive performance to stop Chris Coleman's impressive team and earn a quarter-final against Belgium or Hungary.
Hughes made his 101st Northern Ireland appearance for match against Ukraine in Lyon and the right-back kept his place for the 1-0 defeat by Germany.
"A player of Bale's calibre is important," said Hughes. "But you cannot stop one player on a man-to-man basis.
"The whole shape of the team has to be right and it takes a big effort from everyone."
Former Newcastle, Aston Villa and Fulham defender Hughes is currently without a club following the end of his brief spell with Melbourne City.
"I went to Australia because I wanted to continue playing international football," he said.
"To get on the pitch here has been great, but it would have all been worthwhile even if I had not played. I am here to enjoy it and absorb as much as I can.
"I cannot do anything about my club situation, and I do not want the two or three weeks here to pass by with other worries in my head."
Meanwhile, striker Kyle Lafferty says he is desperate to be involved in Saturday's last 16 match at the Parc des Princes.
The 28-year-old was left out for the victory over Ukraine and came on as a second-half substitute against Germany.
"I would love to get on the pitch, and if I get a chance to score it is up to me to take it," said Norwich City striker Lafferty, who has struggled to get games at club level.
"We played against Wales a few months ago so we know about some of their players. They have some world-class stars, but we have heart and determination.
"With a bit of luck, we can surprise a few teams. We are all fighting for each other."


Blackburn Rovers have signed free agent striker Anthony Stokes on a three-year deal, following his departure from Scottish champions Celtic.

Stokes, 27, spent the latter part of last season on loan at Hibernian, scoring twice in May's Scottish Cup final victory against Rangers.
He leaves Celtic Park having scored 77 goals in 192 games, and helped them win four titles and two Scottish Cups.
The Republic of Ireland forward had previously been linked with Rotherham.
He began his career at Arsenal, and spent time at Falkirk, Sunderland and Hibs before the move to Celtic in 2010.
His decision to join Rovers followed a meeting with new manager Owen Coyle.
"I get a feeling for moves a lot of the time and there were different options available, but this time round this seemed like the right move for me," he told the club website.
"He had only positive things to say about me and I'm just looking forward to bedding in, getting a good pre-season under my belt and the start of the season.
"For myself, having a manager that believes in me gives me a lot of confidence and as a striker you need that, but it's going to be down to how I perform."


Flooding and landslides in central Vietnam have left at least 28 people dead, nine missing and some 80,000 homeless since Friday.

Lives were lost across five provinces, according to the National Flood and Storm Control Agency, quoted by the Associated Press.
In Quang Ngai province, flood waters reportedly rose above a previous peak recorded in 1999.
A tropical depression has dumped rain on the country.
Earlier in the week, at least 13 people died and 81 were injured when Tropical Storm Haiyan made landfall in north Vietnam after wreaking havoc in the Philippines.
There has been disruption to the coffee harvest and bean drying in Vietnam's central highland provinces, Reuters news agency reports.
The country is the world's top robusta coffee producer, accounting for around 17% of the world's output.
Flood waters have started to recede in some areas, allowing residents to return and begin digging out their homes, officials said.
Binh Dinh Province reported the highest number of deaths, followed by Quang Ngai, the official Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reports.
Bui Thi Thanh Chuyen, a woman in Binh Dinh, told Vietnamese state TV on Saturday she had rushed home to try and help her mother, who was trapped in her house.
"All I heard [on the phone] from my mother was 'Help me, daughter' before the connection was cut off," she said.
"I rushed here to try to help her but I cannot cross the flood to the house."
In the Danang area, villager Vo Ngoc Nghiem described the speed of the disaster: "We are familiar with floods every year but this time it rose so quickly that we had no time to cope with it.
"We weren't warned about the reservoir release. The children were at school and they were stranded there."
Some 100,000 houses were submerged and roads were closed and some national train services cancelled.
Flood waters rose quickly after 15 hydro power plants opened their sluice gates as a safety measure.
Earlier reports on the flooding gave a slightly higher estimate for deaths.


More than 50 words and phrases have been ruled unacceptable when used in the Welsh Assembly chamber, according to a list obtained by the BBC.

Words that question honesty, such as "lying" or "misleading", appear most often on the list.
Describing The Queen as a "parasite" and "Mrs Windsor" was also overruled.
Among the "unparliamentary" words used to describe other AMs were "bumbling idiot", "rent-a-gob", "hypocrites", "pathetic" and "political vermin".
BBC Wales obtained the list using the Freedom of Information Act.
David Melding, who went on to be deputy presiding officer between 2011 and 2016, is an unlikely inclusion on the list, after his description of then-minister Edwina Hart beginning a speech in a "somewhat sneaky way".
Only two of the words were spoken in Welsh. They included a reference in 2002 by Elin Jones, now the newly-elected presiding officer, to former First Secretary Alun Michael and others in the Labour party in Wales as "poodles", and another by Owen John Thomas, who accused the UK government of "deceit" over school grants.
Like the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly, there is no definitive list of words considered inappropriate for use in the Welsh Assembly chamber.
According to an assembly spokesperson: "There is no list of words and phrases that are deemed automatically out of order or unacceptable for use in the assembly; the presiding officer's ruling will depend in each case on the context in which the words are used."
The assembly's Standing Orders states the presiding officer must call to order any member "who is guilty of discourteous or unbecoming conduct, is using disorderly, discriminatory or offensive language or language which detracts from the dignity of the assembly".
It adds: "a member must comply with any directions given by the presiding officer about any conduct for which he or she has been called to order."
The list, compiled by assembly officials and which includes some swear words, was obtained following a request by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, and has been expanded to provide more context in each.


As this gallery of your nature photos shows getting a great wildlife picture is no longer solely the preserve of the professional.

Even a phone has a decent enough camera to get some nice looking nature shots these days.
But it's not just still photography where the technology is changing fast.
Amazingly the sort of wildlife camera set-up that was once the preserve of a big budget show like Springwatch is now within the reach of many people.
I've been out to meet Dave Walker, a man who has more than 25 video cameras scattered throughout his Worcestershire garden - inside nest boxes, trained on badger setts, even operated by remote control and scanning the whole garden.
All that information pours into a central hub, with three large monitors for all the various video feeds. The best images can be found on their website.
The woman responsible for the technical side of things is Kate MacRae, (or Wildlife Kate as Springwatch viewers may know her).
She's wired her own Lichfield garden up with lots of cameras too. However, with Dave's garden she was able to start from scratch and the results are amazing. Some of the best footage is included in this blogpost.
As these cameras improve in quality and drop in price Kate has top tips for getting the best out of them.
She says you can use a portable, motion-controlled, "trail camera" to find the best spot for recording wildlife. Then you can hardwire a better camera into that position which allows you to record the action round the clock, rather than in short bursts.
The amazing otter and kingfisher footage are my favourite clips, but have a look and let us know what you think.
And don't forget to email us any clips or pictures you gather yourselves - we'd love to see them.


A man has been charged with the murder of a 17-year-old who was stabbed to death in north London, police said.

Vasilaki Kakko, of Newington Green, was found with injuries in Yoke Close, off North Road in Holloway, on 23 November.
He was the 14th teenager to be fatally stabbed in London in 2015. He died of a stab wound to the neck.
Uchechukwu Ejimonye, 20, of Holloway, is accused of murder and possessing a blade. He will appear at Bromley Magistrates' Court later.
Paying tribute to the teenager, his brother Bruno Kakko, 25, said: "He was just a lovely, nice guy who was always happy and smiley and loved playing around a lot.
"He was always very generous to his friends and family."


Algeria has temporarily blocked access to social media across the country in an attempt to fight cheating in secondary school exams.

Almost half of students are being forced to retake the baccalaureat exam, starting on Sunday, after the initial session was marred by online leaking.
Many students were able to access questions on Facebook and other social media ahead of the exam in early June.
Algeria has struggled with baccalaureate leaks in recent years.
The decision to block social media was taken to protect students de la publication of "bogus questions on those networks", officials told Algeria's APS news agency.


"Timing is everything," says entrepreneur Raquel Johnson.

"By the time you're 40 years old, you've learned a great deal, both professionally and personally, and made a lot of mistakes. And I think respect comes with age - people take you more seriously."
It certainly worked for Johnson. It was as she was turning 40 that she set up the San Francisco-based product design company, Coupage, with her engineer husband. Business has been booming ever since.
She is not alone, it seems. Many women entrepreneurs are waiting for the right moment, and are starting their businesses in their forties or beyond - as a second or even third career - having bided their time until they are absolutely ready.
Having worked in product design and then in advertising, Raquel Johnson realised that she did not want to return to the corporate world after she had her younger daughter.
It was challenging walking away from the "sure thing" of a steady salary, she says, but she also found it liberating. She has found her "true passion," she says.
"Even the stress I feel now is more enjoyable," she explains cheerfully. "It motivates me and pushes me forward."
Starting small, the business was run from home and was self-funded at first.
"[When you are older] there is more opportunity for some savings to have accumulated," points out Johnson. "You don't have to take out large loans or search for funders right away."
Having started with a prototype for a device to integrate an iPod into a car, Coupage has grown steadily, bringing ideas to life in the fields of audio, energy, cars and Apple-related products.
"Once you reach your forties you have the confidence to follow your own path," says the US-born businesswoman, Karen Scofield, who set up her company when she was 46.
A sense of humour is also important, she adds with a smile. In the early days, she had to run her firm, London-based fashion brand Lucza, single-handedly.
It was all down to her, from technology mishaps and admin dramas to sudden, urgent errands, like dashing out to the shop to buy a copier cartridge. "Humour was definitely needed on that day," she laughs.
All of which is a far cry from her previous career as a television executive in New York, working for a smooth-running corporate machine.
When she moved to London with her husband and started a family, it was time to think again.
But the skills she had learnt in TV - time and people management, organisation, as well as research and analysis - were highly transferable, she says: Some things, however, she is doing very differently from her old workplace.
Her leadership style at Lucza is "inclusive," she says.
"But the main difference is, now you are the boss, the final decision maker, which can be daunting.
"You decide what is best and you must make these decisions with confidence." It is something she relishes.
So what advice would Karen Scofield give to other entrepreneurs when the going gets tough? "You have to push yourself forward, set your own deadlines and keep going."
The hard work and "long nights" have been worth it, she says. The Lucza brand has been increasing year-on-year sales and its pieces are worn by high-profile women such as Samantha Cameron, wife of the British Prime Minister.
She loves that her daughters see her doing something "new and scary," and adds, "I do think it's incredibly important that women support other women, however and whenever possible."
She praises The Next Women, an organisation which connects women entrepreneurs via networking events and conducts "pitch events" to prepare female entrepreneurs for fundraising pitches. Raquel Johnson found Women 2.0, which champions female tech entrepreneurs, an invaluable support
New groups are increasingly popping up such as the fledgling UK-based organisation My Next Day Job, which is collaborating with Prime, the Prince's Initiative for Mature Enterprise.
Whatever the support, however, taking this path more than half way through your working life takes confidence and bravery.
Sarah Weck of Hidden Springs Maple  - a maple syrup farm, retail website and wholesale business - was emboldened by the opportunities she saw in the market. It was too good to miss.
"Having worked in Silicon Valley I saw how retail was changing, but when I was still in my thirties the market would not have been ready for my business," she says.
The maple syrup farming business had been in her husband's family for more than 50 years, but it was Weck who, at the age of 42, decided to combine old-style Vermont with high-tech California, and sell their syrup online.
She now runs the whole operation, from bookkeeping and marketing, to payroll and even scooping ice cream at the farm shop. Her hard work has paid off - the company now has 10 employees, and sales are doubling each year.
And how does gender fit in? There are barriers, she concedes.
"As a woman, you have to make people take you seriously. Men are more prevalent in business, and women have to work at changing the image of business to be gender neutral."
But, she adds, bias can be overcome. "I've watched people shift attitudes," she says.
In the early days she was overcharged for supplies, until she proved she had researched the supply-and-demand economics for that particular season. "I'm not sure a man would have had to prove himself in the way I did."
As for her age, Weck sees it as a definite advantage. She draws on skills she learnt in her previous two careers (she was an English teacher and then a technical writer for a software company), such as leadership and attention to detail.
"I know myself and my strengths and limitations so much better than I did in my twenties and thirties."
Never a better time than in your forties, seems to be the consensus.
As Raquel Johnson of Coupage puts it: "Being comfortable in my skin has helped me be much more successful now than when I was younger and more unsure of myself. Recognising when the time is right, and seizing the opportunity is absolutely key to success."


Real Madrid missed out on a record-breaking 17th consecutive La Liga victory as they drew with Villarreal.

The hosts fell behind just before the break when Sergio Ramos used his hand to block a shot in the box and Bruno Soriano chipped in from the spot.
Ramos made amends soon after the restart, heading in from a corner.
Zinedine Zidane's side put the visitors under concerted pressure throughout the second half, but Villarreal held on to deny Real the outright record.
Instead they will have to share the record of 16 straight wins set by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side in the 2010-11 season.
However a point ensures they remain top of La Liga, four points ahead of Barcelona, who could only draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid.
Not many players switch between the roles of hero and villain as easily as Sergio Ramos and the volatile defender once again played both parts expertly either side of the interval.
For the second game in a row he tried to disguise a handball by pretending the ball had hit his face. But the referee was having none of it and Bruno outsmarted Real keeper Kiko Casilla with a Panenka-style penalty to give Villarreal the lead. Ramos did the same against Espanyol at the weekend.
It is the third penalty that Ramos has conceded in seven games across all competitions this season, yet the Spaniard made amends, losing his man at a corner and producing a powerful header that gave Sergio Asenjo no chance.
It was the only one of 17 corners that the hosts converted, with Ramos also unable to persuade the referee to award Real a late penalty as he fell under the challenge of Roberto Soriano.
This was the first game in which Real's 'BBC' front line of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo have all started together - a result of both injury and Zidane's commitment to rotating his squad.
Yet there were only flickers of the trio's best football, especially in the first half when a resolute Villarreal stopped Real's fluid passing game and forced them to resort to shots from distance.
The hosts dominated for long spells of the second half but rarely forced Asenjo into a save, with Benzema guilty of heading over two chances when well placed before both he and Bale were substituted before the end.
A night of frustration for Real's talisman Ronaldo was complete when he finally found the target, only to see his effort parried away by Asenjo before slamming a late free-kick straight at the Villarreal keeper.
Match ends, Real Madrid 1, Villarreal 1.
Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.
Second Half ends, Real Madrid 1, Villarreal 1.
Attempt saved. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Alfred N'Diaye (Villarreal).
Foul by Raphael Varane (Real Madrid).
Alexandre Pato (Villarreal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Alfred N'Diaye (Villarreal).
Foul by Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid).
Manu Trigueros (Villarreal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal.
Substitution, Villarreal. Alfred N'Diaye replaces Jonathan dos Santos.
Attempt saved. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Lucas Vázquez.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Víctor Ruiz.
Attempt blocked. Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Sergio Asenjo.
Attempt saved. Álvaro Morata (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Lucas Vázquez with a cross.
Foul by Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).
Mateo Musacchio (Villarreal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid).
Alexandre Pato (Villarreal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt saved. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal.
Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jonathan dos Santos (Villarreal).
Corner,  Villarreal. Conceded by Toni Kroos.
Attempt blocked. Mario (Villarreal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Samu Castillejo.
Substitution, Real Madrid. Álvaro Morata replaces Karim Benzema.
Attempt missed. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Toni Kroos with a cross.
Corner,  Real Madrid. Conceded by Mateo Musacchio.
Attempt blocked. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).
Samu Castillejo (Villarreal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Villarreal. Alexandre Pato replaces Nicola Sansone.
Substitution, Real Madrid. Lucas Vázquez replaces Gareth Bale.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).
Bruno (Villarreal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.


Doctor-turned-author Richard Gordon, who penned the Doctor books in the 1950s and 60s, has died aged 95.

The books formed the basis for seven films and the television and radio comedy series, Doctor in the House.
The plot revolved around the trials of medical students at the fictional St Swithin's Hospital in London.
Under his real name of Gordon Ostlere, the author, who lived in Kent, worked as an anaesthetist in London and Oxford and was also a ship's surgeon.
His first book, Doctor in the House, was based largely on his own experiences.
The film version of the same name starred Dirk Bogarde as the recently qualified Simon Sparrow, and was also made into a stage play.
In total, Gordon wrote more than three dozen books.
His first novel not in the Doctor series was about a plastic surgeon between the wars, which was published in 1967,
He also wrote The Private Life of Florence Nightingale, which depicted her as a lesbian, and similarly titled books on Jack the Ripper and Doctor Crippen.
With his wife, also an anaesthetist, he produced a book for parents, called A Baby in the House.
The author famously refused to appear on This Is Your Life in 1974, where guests were surprised with a big red book and a presentation of their past life.
The television programme was being broadcast live, and when approached by presenter Eamonn Andrews Gordon swore and walked off.
However, he was persuaded to stay for a show that was broadcast a week later.


Philip Hammond has begun discussions with China on an ambitious free trade deal which could see greater access for major Chinese banks and businesses to the UK economy.

The chancellor told me that despite a short term economic shock to the economy of Britain leaving the European Union, it was now time to explore "new opportunities" across the world.
"What we now need to do is get on with it in a way that minimises the economic impact on the UK economy in the short term and maximises the benefit in the long term," Mr Hammond said, admitting that there had been "global disappointment" about the Brexit vote.
Chinese state media reported earlier in the month that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce wants to do a UK free trade deal.
Mr Hammond has now revealed that Britain is also keen.
It will be the first time the UK has embarked on such a major project with the second largest economy in the world.
And will raise concerns about cheap manufactured goods entering the UK more easily.
In return for greater access to the UK for its manufactured products and investment, China would reduce barriers to Britain's service industries like banking and insurance as well as UK goods.
That would be an important source of export income for Britain.
"The mood music that I have heard here is very much that this will mean more opportunity for countries like China that are outside the European Union to do business with Britain," Mr Hammond said.
"And as Britain leaves the European Union and is not bound by the rules of the European Union perhaps it will be easier to do deals with Britain in the future."
I asked if that could mean a free trade deal, bilaterally agreed with China which invested over $5bn (Â£3.8bn) in the UK in 2014.
"Definitely I could see such a thing," Mr Hammond told me at the meeting of G20 finance ministers in Chengdu, China.
"We already have a strategic partnership with China.
"We have hugely increased our trade with China, investment both by British companies into China and by Chinese entities into the UK.
"That's about as far as we can go while we are members of the European Union.
"But once we are out of the European Union then I have no doubt on both sides we will want to cement that relationship into a firmer structure in a bilateral way that's appropriate.
"That's something we will have to explore in the future."
Mr Hammond said it would be "certainly appropriate" to start discussing a new deal over the next "couple of years" and the issue was raised here at Chengdu.
What might a deal - which could only come after Britain had officially left the EU - look like?
Senior government sources have told me that officials are looking at New Zealand's free trade agreement with China which took four years to negotiate and came into effect in 2008.
Care would have to be taken over security concerns and the possibility of China "dumping" cheap imports in the UK - for example steel.
As well as a positive reaction from China, Mr Hammond said that he did not believe that the EU was trying to teach the UK a lesson over the Brexit vote by making negotiations over trade difficult.
"I don't think they are in punishment mode," he said.
"This is a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors and, as you would expect, they are very much focused on the economic challenges and the economic prizes available.
"I have no doubt that everyone would want to see a very close relationship between the UK and the EU going forward because that will be good for the economies of the European Union and the economy of the UK.
"The challenge for us is to make sure that other politicians who are not so narrowly focused on the economic agenda also share that view and recognise that it is important not just for Britain but for Europe as well that we continue working closely together."
No project better sums up how investment in major infrastructure projects is now a global issue than Hinkley Point, the Â£18bn plan for a new nuclear power station in Somerset backed by France's EDF energy company and one of China's main nuclear suppliers.
Mr Hammond said that the government still supported the project, and that a final agreement would be signed "hopefully over the next few days" after an EDF board meeting to agree the details.
At the G20 many countries are now moving into practical mode - the Chancellor campaigned against leaving the EU and China argued against it, but Mr Hammond has clearly signalled that is now a matter for the history books.
The British public have spoken.
The present challenge is seeing how the fifth largest economy in the world can take advantage of that decision, rebuilding a "close" trading relationship with the EU and new economic relationships with countries, like China, which, it should be remembered, has never had a free trade agreement with any EU country.


Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers are visiting the United States where they are promoting a reduced rate of corporation tax.

14 March 2016 Last updated at 20:34 GMT
The tax cut was agreed as part of the Fresh Start deal and is due to take effect in 2018.
It means companies in Northern Ireland will have profits taxed at 12.5% compared to 19% in the rest of the UK.
BBC News NI's Economics and Business Editor John Campbell reports from the US.


A rare and unpublished Winnie the Pooh drawing by EH Shepard is expected to fetch up to £50,000 at auction.

The ink sketch, showing Pooh and Piglet looking at a watch at the foot of Owl's House, never made it into AA Milne's books and was kept by the artist.
Sotheby's described the illustration as a "significant" and "rare unpublished example of Shepard's work".
It is estimated to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000 at auction in London on Tuesday.
The drawing was presented to composer Julian Slade at the first performance of a musical version of Winnie the Pooh at the Phoenix Theatre, London, in December 1970.
AA Milne wrote the Pooh books in the 1920s while he lived in Ashdown Forest, near Hartfield in East Sussex.
In December, a 1928 drawing of Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin playing Pooh Sticks was sold for £314,500 by Sotheby's.
A poll of more than 2,000 adults in 2014 named Winnie the Pooh as the favourite children's book of the past 150 years.
Sotheby's is also auctioning a 1931 illustration of Toad and Ratty from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.
The drawing, entitled "Toad told Rat all his adventures", showing the pair drinking coffee at a table, is expected to sell for between £10,000 and £15,000.
Shepard, who died in 1976, was also a noted political cartoonist, but became best-known for his children's book illustrations.
However, he famously came to despise his association with Winnie the Pooh, and was heard to describe the character as "that silly old bear" in later life.


Theatre actress and 70s child star Bonnie Langford is joining the cast of EastEnders, the BBC says.

She will take the role of Carmel Kazemi, Kush's mother.
She will start filming her scenes this month and will make her first screen appearance in June.
Known for her role as Mel Bush, Doctor Who's assistant as well as her stage roles in Chicago and Cats, Langford said: "I'm so thrilled and delighted to be part of EastEnders."
She added: "I'm a great fan of the show and think the recent 30th anniversary was sensational and shows just how good British television can be. To be part of this family is an absolute privilege."
Dominic Treadwell-Collins, executive producer for EastEnders, described Langford as a "British institution" as well as an "old-school hard-graft actress gifted at both comedy and serious drama".
He added: "Bonnie brings wit, pathos and a touch of class to Carmel Kazemi - a thoroughly modern Essex divorcee who isn't quite ready to cut the apron strings firmly attached to her son Kush.
"Even if it means clashing spectacularly with an already prickly Shabnam."


Uefa has fined Hungary 65,000 euros (£50,000) over the behaviour of their supporters at Euro 2016.

The Hungarian Football Federation was charged with crowd disturbances, setting off fireworks and throwing objects during the draw with Iceland.
Hungary top Group F and face Portugal on Wednesday in their final group game.
Croatia were previously fined 100,000 euros (£77,000) and Russia 150,000 euros (£115,000) after crowd trouble at the tournament in France.
Eight countries, a third of the teams, have now been charged by Uefa over crowd disturbances with Albania, Romania, Turkey, Belgium, and Portugal also facing disciplinary action.
Croatia's match against the Czech Republic on Friday was halted when flares were thrown onto the pitch.
In addition to the fine the Croatia Football Federation has also been banned from selling tickets to fans identified as "hooligans".
Russia were given a suspended disqualification after violent scenes during their opening match against England on 11 June.
They were eliminated from the tournament after losing 3-0 to Wales on Monday and finishing bottom of Group B.
Create leagues and play against your friends in BBC Sport's new Euro 2016 Predictor game