US House Speaker Paul Ryan has officially ruled out making a late attempt to become the Republican presidential nominee.

"I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination," he said.
Mr Ryan's name was floated as a late contender if there is a contested convention in July, as doubts persist over the strength of the candidates.
If none of Donald Trump, John Kasich and Ted Cruz can win 1,237 delegates, the convention will be contested.
The state-by-state primary contests, which come to New York next week, determine the number of delegates pledged to a particular candidate.
Mr Trump is still well ahead in the number of delegates accumulated but may fall short of the magic number required.
In 1886 former civil war general William Sherman set the gold standard for disavowing interest in serving as US president. "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected," he bluntly stated.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan may not reach Shermanesque levels of certainty with Tuesday's statement, but the move should put the latest round of rampant speculation and rumour-mongering to rest.
The Ryan presidential boomlet was largely a result of growing desperation among Republicans who see a presidential ticket headed by the epically unpopular Donald Trump as an unmitigated disaster and by absolutist Ted Cruz as only a slightly mitigated disaster.
Mr Ryan won't be their establishment-friendly "white knight", however, and there are few others out there with the stature to pull off such an unlikely convention coup.
Former candidate Mitt Romney? Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker? At this point, anyone other than Mr Cruz or Mr Trump - the two men who have slogged through the presidential season and won the votes and delegates - appears to be pure fantasy.
How does a contested convention work?
Five ways Republican bloodbath could end
Profile: House Speaker Paul Ryan
At a contested convention, the delegates are free after the first ballot to back whom they want, opening the door for Texas Senator Mr Cruz or even the third candidate in the race, Mr Kasich.
Some in the party had hoped Mr Ryan would emerge as a candidate at that stage, believing he would be a more effective and less divisive figure than Mr Trump or Mr Cruz.
Speaking at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, Mr Ryan - who ran as Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election - ruled himself out unequivocally.
But some commentators were quick to point out that he said he did not want to run for Speaker of the House last year before eventually accepting the job.


Two Stockport brothers have been given life sentences for shooting dead a man, decapitating him and setting his body on fire.

John Grainger, 33, was shot before his headless body was found in Wellington Street, Stockport, on 26 January. His head was found by firefighters.
At Manchester Crown Court, Joseph Jenkins, 30, who denied murder, was ordered to serve a minimum of 32 years.
Anthony Jenkins, 34, pleaded guilty and must serve a minimum of 30 years.
Police said the two brothers and Mr Grainger had been drinking at pubs in Stockport on the eve of the attack. The three then continued drinking at Joseph Jenkins' flat in Covent Gardens.
The brothers then attacked Mr Grainger with a hammer, stabbed him in the legs then shot him in the knee and the head.
He was decapitated with an electric jigsaw in the bathroom, the jury heard during the trial.
During the trial of Joseph Jenkins, the court heard the brothers used a can of petrol to set  Mr Grainger's body alight in nearby Wellington Street.
His body was found on a verge by fire crews tackling a blaze close by.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the brothers had been stopped by officers in the area because they were acting suspiciously.
Anthony Jenkins was found to have six shotgun cartridges in his pocket and blood on his trainers.
The shotgun said to have been used to kill Mr Grainger was found the next day under a parked car, close to where both had been stopped in the street, the jury heard.
Senior investigating officer Andy Tattersall said: "The Jenkins brothers put Mr Grainger through a horrifically violent and cruel attack before shooting him.
"What followed was nothing short of macabre."


Phil Taylor secured a straightforward 3-0 victory over David Platt in the first round of the PDC World Championship on Sunday.

Taylor, who has won a record 16 world titles, threw at an average of 101.93 as he registered a speedy victory over Australia-based Platt.
He will now face Kevin Painter, who he beat 7-6 in the final of the 2004 World Championship.
"I think I'm cracking it and we've got a battle now," Taylor told Sky Sports.
"For the first time in my career, I'm confident of winning it and that's rookie for me."
Alan Norris beat John Michael 3-2, while Daryl Gurney secured a 3-1 victory over Jermaine Wattimena.
Click here for full results


A 16-year-old from Hertfordshire has warned other young people to avoid having black henna tattoos after she suffered severe chemical burns from an inking done on holiday.

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13 August 2015 Last updated at 19:46 BST
Mary Bates, from St Albans, did not know the ink used in the tattoo she had done in Turkey contained paraphenylenediamine (PPD) - a substance which is strictly controlled in the European Union.
When she returned to the UK Ms Bates was referred to the specialist burns service at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital by her doctor.
Dr Chris Flower, of the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association, warned people could be scarred for life if they had black henna tattoos.
BBC London's Yvonne Hall spoke to Ms Bates and Dr Flower.


UN envoy Said Djinnit has stepped down as mediator in the Burundi crisis - a demand of those opposed to the president's third-term bid.

Said Djinnit had been hosting talks between the governing party and those who do not want President Pierre Nkurunziza to stand for re-election.
His announcement has sparked weeks of protests in Burundi and a failed coup.
The election was due in June but was put back to 15 July following pressure from regional leaders.
Mr Djinnit was aware of the "positions expressed... on his role as facilitator by some Burundian parties", according to a UN statement.
They had complained that the talks were not focusing on the root cause of the crisis, which they say is the third-term bid.
Whatâ€™s behind the coup bid?
President Pierre Nkurunziza profile
African news updates
But Mr Djinnit said that though the dialogue had not achieved agreement on the "candidature of President Nkurunziza", there had been "progress" in other areas.
One of the leaders of the anti-third-term protests, Nininahazwe Pacifique, has welcomed the resignation saying that Mr Djinnit had "no choice".
The president "should follow this beautiful example," he added.
The presidential election was postponed by 18 days, which falls short of a call by regional leaders to delay the poll by at least six weeks.
Though he is stepping down from his role as talks mediator, Mr Djinnit remains the UN's envoy to the Great Lakes region, a UN official says.


A series of recommendations have been announced in a bid to get more children from poorer backgrounds in to Kent grammar schools.

A Kent County Council select committee said it wanted to see greater co-ordination between primaries and grammars to identify "bright children".
Figures show 2.8% of grammar pupils are eligible for free school meals compared with 13.4% in non-selective schools.
However, the committee said in its report it could not "impose" measures.
It said this was due to the "increasing number" of schools becoming academies and the council having no control over them.
The 16 recommendations in the report range from urging grammar schools to use multiple uniform suppliers to keep costs down, to offering help with transport costs.
The report said children from poorer backgrounds need improved support during entrance tests and during the appeals process.
Matthew Bartlett, who is the headteacher of Dover Grammar School for Girls, said: "This report challenges us all to continue to keep open and to open yet wider, the doors to a grammar school education for all our young people.
"Grammar school heads will not rest until there is absolute parity of opportunity for all young people regardless of their social and economic background."


Police are investigating claims that a Bradford MP was subject to "aggressive behaviour" from the Respect party while out campaigning in the local elections.

David Ward, Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, has complained to police about an incident on Folkestone Street in the city on Wednesday night.
He said he was out canvassing when he was intimidated by Respect supporters.
Respect spokesman Ron McKay denied the claims and said the party was considering making its own complaint.
Mr Ward claims Respect members shouted abuse and told him to "get off our streets".
He said his car was then surrounded and the situation got "quite aggressive and unpleasant".
Mr Ward said: "In elections things always happen, tempers get heated, things are said.
"But seriously, this kind of behaviour is not right."
He added: "There needs to be a clear statement that this is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the future.
"I'm now in a situation where if I want to deliver leaflets I'm worried about going on my own.
"I've been doing it 20-odd years quite comfortably but would I now send my staff out to do such work? I'm not sure it would be a wise thing to do."
Mr McKay described the allegations as "very, very, very limp claims" and alleged that one of their supporters was assaulted.
He said: "If an exchange of views is seen as harassment then we're in a sad place for democracy."
He added: "If these people want to waste police time, because they clearly appear to be doing so, then we will have to join the queue to waste police time too.
"Nobody was hurt, an ego was bruised. We will review it later and decide whether we will be making our own complaint."
In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to Folkestone Street at about 21:00 BST on Wednesday to reports of a verbal altercation.
It said: "Officers are investigating and trying to trace people who were involved.
"Police want anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward."


Paul Pogba's agent says there is no rush to sort out the future of the Juventus and France midfielder.

Manchester United are interested in the 23-year-old, though a deal for Pogba to return to Old Trafford is said to be "not out of the starting blocks".
Pogba is keen on the idea of joining Real Madrid, while Juve want him to sign a contract extension beyond 2019.
"Several big clubs are keen on his services and we have all the time to listen," said agent Mino Raiola.
"He has three years left at Juventus and they are asking him to renew. Why would they want to let him go?"
Pogba was part of the France team beaten in the final of Euro 2016 by Portugal.
He spent three years at Manchester United, but made just seven appearances before moving to Italy in 2012.
His agent has already played a major role in new United manager Jose Mourinho's summer recruitment as he also acts as representative for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Any deal for Pogba looks sure to be more complicated to negotiate, and is likely to cost United in excess of the world-record £85m Real paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale in 2013.
The transfer window will not close until 31 August but Mourinho has said he is not willing to wait that long to secure what he said was the fourth and final "fundamental" signing he wanted.
Raiola said Pogba is not desperate to move and he knows where the midfielder would like to spend next season, but added: "We didn't talk about transfers during the Euros."


A man has pleaded guilty to supplying weapons for a foiled terror plot at an Anzac Day remembrance parade in Australia.

Mehran Azami on Monday appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on multiple charges connected to the plot.
Azami pleaded guilty to 19 charges of importing restricted goods, including knives and stun guns, local media said.
A teenager from the UK has also admitted involvement in the plan which was targeting police at the parade.
Police say they prevented the attack, planned for Melbourne, when Azami and others were arrested in anti-terrorism raids.
A UK court has heard that several of the alleged plotters were supporters of the Islamic State militant group.
Anzac Day, held on 25 April each year, commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps' World War One battle in Gallipoli, with this year marking its centenary.
Azami was remanded in custody until October, said the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
He was 19 when he was arrested after police launched counter-terrorism raids in April.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court had previously heard Azami had given some weapons to Harun Causevic and Sevdet Besim, who are charged with conspiring to plan the attack, reported The Australian.
Defence lawyer Charles Atlas has previously said Azami was suffering from a mental illness and was being kept at a psychiatric facility.
A teenager from Blackburn in the UK earlier this month pleaded guilty to one count of inciting terrorism by encouraging the murder of police officers during the parade.
The 15-year-old appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Manchester Crown Court, speaking only to enter his plea.
He could not be named for legal reasons.
The Old Bailey heard the boy, who was 14 at the time, sent thousands of instant messages to 18-year-old Besim in Australia over a 10-day period in March.
The boy sent a message to the older teenager suggesting he got his "first taste of beheading," prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said, to which Besim replied that this seemed "risky".
According to the Australia government, at least 100 Australians are fighting with terror groups in the Middle East, and another 150 people in Australia are known to be supporting such groups.


Police have started to investigate the unexplained death of a woman in the south side of Glasgow.

Emergency services were called to Kildrostan Street in Pollokshields at about 06:05 after reports that a woman had died.
An area of pavement on Kildrostan Street has been taped off and a forensic tent has been set up.
The death is being treated as unexplained while arrangements are made to carry out a post-mortem examination.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "Emergency services are at the scene and inquiries are continuing.
"A post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course and the death is currently being treated as unexplained."


Ethiopia's government has declared a six-month state of emergency in the face of an unprecedented wave of violent protests.

Activists in the country's Oromia region have been holding demonstrations since last November, and protesters from the Amhara region have also joined in.
The deaths of at least 55 people at an Oromo religious festival on 2 October triggered fresh unrest, including the targeting of some foreign-owned businesses.
Rights groups say that at least 500 people have died during the protests overall and last week Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said that could be an accurate estimate.
The emergency was announced earlier this month but the government has now made clear what this means in practical terms.
Here are some of the things that are restricted:
You cannot use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to contact what are called "outside forces". In fact, any attempt to communicate with "terrorist organisations and anti-peace groups designated as terrorist" is banned.
Protesters have been posting messages and mobile phone footage to social media and websites run by Ethiopian dissidents living abroad.
The government has accused Eritrea and Egypt of fomenting the protests.
You cannot watch the TV channels Esat and OMN, which are both based outside the country. The government has described them as "belonging to terrorist organisations".
These broadcasters have become some of the major sources for people wanting to know more about the protests.
You cannot organise a demonstration at your school or university, neither can you be involved in a political campaign that is "likely to cause disturbances, violence, hatred and distrust among the people".
University campuses were among the first places to be hit by the wave of anti-government protests.
You cannot make a political gesture, such as crossing your arms above your head, or communicate a political message to the public "without permission".
The crossing-arms gesture has been seen widely at the protests in Oromia, and even made it to the Olympics when marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa used it as he crossed the line in second place in Rio in August.
You cannot visit a factory, farm or governmental institution between 6pm and 6am the next day. If you violate the curfew than "law enforcement bodies have been authorised to take the necessary action".
Government buildings and private businesses, some of them foreign owned, have been deliberately targeted by some of the protesters.
If you are a diplomat you are not allowed to travel more than 40km (25 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa, without permission. The government says that this is for your own safety.
In general, the diplomatic reaction to the protests and the state of emergency has been muted. The US has said that it is "troubled" by any restrictions on the freedom of expression in the state of emergency, but, like other western powers has called for peaceful dialogue to solve the country's problems.
Ethiopia is a close ally of the US against Islamist militancy in neighbouring Somalia.
If you have a gun, you cannot take it within 25km of the country's main roads out of Addis Ababa, and within 50km of the country's borders, even if you have a permit to carry it.


A Charlton Athletic supporter has been told he would only receive his season ticket if he agreed not to criticise the club on social media.

The fan of the League One club was given the warning in a letter, which has been widely shared on Twitter.
Charlton claimed that only one letter was sent and that they met with the fan on Thursday.
He has now been given his ticket after apologising for abusive behaviour towards the club and some of its staff.
The letter suggested the fan would need to agree not to post "derogatory or inflammatory comments" about the club on social media and sign an 'Agreed Behavioural Contract'.
But Charlton said he was given his ticket without signing the contract because of his apology.
It follows repeated protests by Charlton fans against owner Roland Duchatelet's running of the club, including disrupting matches at The Valley by throwing beach balls and stress balls onto the pitch.
Duchatelet, a main shareholder at five football clubs, took charge of Charlton in January 2014.
In that time, he has overseen six managerial changes and the club's relegation from the Championship last season.
Their first home game of the season is against Northampton Town on Saturday.
The supporter, whose identity has not been revealed to BBC Sport, was written to by Charlton's duty safety officer Cliff Eager on 2 August.
It stated: "We have identified that certain comments placed on social media websites by yourself have been not particularly constructive.
"Whilst we recognize that everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion it is not helpful when inflammatory comments are posted on such websites.
"The granting of your season ticket will be 'conditional' and subject to you receiving an 'Agreed Behavioural Contract', which will request that you refrain from posting derogatory or inflammatory comments regarding the club of people representing the club in the future on any social media websites."
A statement issued by the club confirmed the supporter had been written to about their "continued inappropriate behaviour towards members of staff on Charlton's official social media accounts and foul and abusive language captured on stadium cameras".
Charlton's head of matchday operations Mick Everett and Eager met with the supporter on Thursday.
"During the meeting, the level of abuse, which the individual has since voluntarily removed from their Twitter account, was discussed," the statement read.
"The club also discussed the video footage, after which the individual apologised on several occasions for his behaviour and assured the club that he would not continue to engage in an abusive manner."
Since Duchatelet's takeover of the Addicks, protest group CARD (Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet) has been formed from an umbrella of Charlton supporters' groups.
Organiser and lifelong club supporter Alan Davis told BBC Sport he was concerned the letter may be "the thin end of the wedge from the ownership".
He said: "It might be the start of more to come. We know season ticket sales are down this year and I have not renewed myself for the first time in more than 20 years.
"CARD are not seeking to disrupt matches during August, but we will continue to protest.
"As a group, we developed a slogan that Charlton has become 'the club that hates its fans'."


A review into the workings of Parliament triggered by government defeats in the House of Lords could be completed by Christmas.

Conservative peer Lord Strathclyde said he wanted to "give clarity" quickly to age-old conventions which had been "capriciously" breached by the Lords.
He appeared to rule out recommending the creation of lots more Tory peers.
Labour said it was a "pretend crisis" and ministers wanted to "give the Lords a kicking" for doing its job properly.
Ministers have accused peers, who are overwhelmingly appointed, of overreaching themselves by holding up and seeking major changes to tax credit cuts approved three times by elected MPs.
They have questioned the authority of the Lords to challenge the Commons on such a major financial issue, saying it flew in the face of long-standing historical precedents.
Lord Strathclyde, the former leader of the House of Lords who is leading the review, told the BBC that the Lords had the "power but not the authority" to challenge the Commons over the issue, suggesting they had behaved "deplorably".
"We have developed very good ways of the unelected House of Lords protesting at what the House of Commons does but backing down," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. "On Monday, gleefully and capriciously the House of Lords voted it down so as to kind of engineer this semi-crisis."
Among the options open to him, he said, was to recommend amending the 1911 Parliament Act, which asserted the Commons' supremacy over the Lords, to prevent the Lords from being able to vote down or amend secondary legislation.
However, he scotched the idea - put forward by some Tory MPs - that a large number of peers could be created to give the government the working majority in the Lords it currently lacks: "I think that would be the wrong thing to do. It is the wrong way to deal with this particular problem."
The Tory peer added that he would like to complete his review "by the end of the year, perhaps sooner if possible".
Senior figures in the House of Lords have urged the government not to "punish" it for defying the Commons. Ex-Lords Speaker Baroness Hayman said it had done "what it classically does" in asking the government to "think again".
Analysis by BBC political reporter Brian Wheeler
The House of Lords is not traditionally supposed to block financial legislation that has the backing of MPs.
This principle was established in 1911 during the constitutional gridlock that followed a decision by peers to block the Liberal Party's "people's budget".
But nothing is ever cut and dried in Britain's fluid, unwritten constitution. And both sides are angrily trading precedents and claiming that their opponents are overstepping the mark. If they could only agree where the mark is.
Read more on the 'constitution wars'
She pointed out Commons Speaker John Bercow had said there had been no "procedural impropriety".
Downing Street said the review would examine "how to protect the ability of elected governments to secure their business", considering "how to secure the decisive role of the elected Commons in relation to its primacy on financial matters and secondary legislation".
But Labour is seeking more details about the review's terms of reference and who Lord Strathclyde will be consulting.
"It is clear that the government intends to give the House of Lords a kicking," said shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant.
"But it should remember, I think, as it fashions this pretend constitutional crisis that the vast majority of people in this country applauded the Lords on Monday because this was not in the government's manifesto."
The government has suffered 19 defeats in the Lords since May.
Critics say that it has mishandled the presentation of its tax credits policy and sought to enact the changes through a statutory instrument rather than a money bill, which the Lords cannot challenge, to restrict debate.
Before Monday's defeat, peers had only blocked so-called secondary legislation on five occasions since 1945 and never on a financial matter.
Under the motion passed by peers, the government would have to compensate people losing out from the Â£4.4bn cuts to tax credit payments.
In response, Chancellor George Osborne said he would listen to people's concerns and announce any modifications in next month's Autumn Statement but insisted he would press on with changes designed to save billions from welfare, claiming they had public support.


Three Grenoble players have been charged with gang rape, reports AFP.

Prosecutors said there was "serious or consistent evidence" against France's Loick Jammes, New Zealander Rory Grice and Irishman Denis Coulson.
The trio, who face a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail if they are found guilty, cannot leave France.
Jammes' lawyer said the charges allowed legal teams to "put forward a real defence" of their clients, "respecting the presumption of innocence".
A woman told police she had been drugged and raped in a hotel in Bordeaux following a league match between Bordeaux and Grenoble on March 11.
A lawyer for Coulson denied the allegations, describing the incident as "a night out between consenting adults".
Grenoble had suspended six players but reinstated them, citing a "presumption of innocence".


The Red Knights group of wealthy supporters mulling a takeover of Manchester United has put plans to make a bid for the club on hold.

The group said media speculation of "inflated valuation aspirations" had hampered its plans.
It added that it had always maintained it would only pay a sensible price for Manchester United.
Last week, United reiterated it was not for sale and that the Glazer family owners would not listen to offers.
The Glazer family bought Manchester United for Â£800m in 2005.
However, critics say the family has saddled the club with massive debts. In the last annual accounts, to July 2009, debts at the club's parent company Red Football Joint Venture increased to Â£716.5m.
The Red Knights group - which includes the former Football League chairman Keith Harris and Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill - had said that one of its priorities was to reduce debt levels.
The group had been expected to make a bid of about Â£1bn for United, however reports have suggested that the Glazer family put a much higher value on the club.
Last week, Manchester United said the club was not for sale and that the Glazer family owners would "not entertain any offers", adding that the Glazers remained "fully committed to their long-term ownership of the club".
In a statement, the Red Knights said that it remained committed to pursuing its efforts "to try and help bring ownership of Manchester United to its supporters, and under a structure with materially less debt".
"As we have maintained however since news of our ambitions first emerged in March, we will only attempt to purchase the club at a sensible price, consistent with the long term interests of the club," the group added.
"Persistent speculation in the media of inflated valuation aspirations has made our goals less attainable, as potential investors have strongly reinforced our views that we should not move forward at a price uneconomic for the future of the club."
Manchester United fans have launched a campaign to oust the Glazers, with many boycotting the traditional red shirts and scarves and instead wearing green and gold, the original colours of Newton Heath, the amateur side which was founded in 1878 and became Manchester United.
There has also been talk of supporters not renewing season tickets, in an attempt to hit revenue streams at the club.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust, which has backed the Red Knights' campaign, said last month that it had not called for a boycott.
However, it added it was "encouraging supporters to delay renewal of season tickets and executive facilities until at least the first deadline and ideally until a Red Knight bid comes forward".
"If the Glazers reject a bid or indeed are still here next season we will review that position accordingly," it added.
The trust also said it believed the Red Knights had not totally walked away, but were waiting for the price of Manchester United to fall.
"We understand the intention of the statement from the Red Knights is to remove the time deadline pressure and set more realistic expectations with regard to a bid," the trust said.
In its statement, the Red Knights group said: "We understand that many supporters were hoping that we might be in a position to make a bid before the season ticket renewal deadline.
"We have never taken a stance on season ticket renewals, it is a personal choice for all supporters."


A bird described as an "extremely rare" visitor to the UK has had one its best breeding seasons in years in Scotland.

Red-necked phalaropes migrate to the Western Isles and to Orkney and Shetland during the summer.
Thirty-six breeding males were counted on RSPB Scotland's reserve in Fetlar, Shetland, equalling the highest number that has ever been recorded there.
A pair also bred at an RSPB reserve at Balranald in North Uist for the first time in 31 years.
Argyll, the most southerly the birds breed in the UK, had its best year on record with six males present, RSPB Scotland said.
Malcie Smith, the charity's species and habitats officer for Shetland, said: "It was so exciting to see that many phalaropes about for their very short summer season.
"It's very satisfying that our work here is paying off and that birds are now breeding in record numbers."
In a reversal of roles among birds, it is male red-necked phalaropes that incubate eggs and raise chicks.


Humans lived in the Amazon rainforest much earlier than previously thought, and even helped shape its biodiversity, researchers have said.

Swansea University's Dr Neil Loader and Emeritus Prof Alayne Street-Perrott, are among a team who have found ancient earthworks, possibly 2,000 years old.
The discoveries were made in Acre state in the western Brazilian Amazon.
Researchers from the universities of Exeter and Reading, and Brazil's SÃ£o Paulo, BelÃ©m are also part of the team.
Their research investigated ditched enclosures which were concealed for centuries by bamboo-dominated rainforest until modern deforestation allowed the discovery of more than 450 large geometrical "geoglyphs".
The team said the function of these mysterious sites is still little understood.
They are unlikely to be villages, since archaeologists have recovered very few artefacts during excavation, and their layout does not suggest they were built for defensive reasons.
Instead it is thought they were used only sporadically, perhaps as ritual gathering places, similar to the Maya pyramids of Central America, or Britain's own Stonehenge.
Although Dr Loader - who has analysed soil samples from the geoglyphs - said the surroundings in which they were built were very different to other ritual sites around the world.
He looked at phytoliths - a type of microscopic plant fossil made of silica - to reconstruct ancient vegetation; charcoal quantities, to assess the amount of ancient forest burning; and carbon stable isotopes, to indicate the type of vegetation growing there in the past.
"The indications are that the geoglyphs were constructed amongst taller vegetation. So, unlike the towering Maya pyramids of Central America, they were likely not visible above the forest canopy, and this raises questions about their purpose," he explained.
It had been assumed prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th Century, the Amazonian forests had been pristine ecosystems, free from human influence.
But the new research indicates a wide variety of plant species spread over 6,000 years, which could only have been artificially brought together by humans.
It suggested instead of burning large tracts of forest - either for geoglyph construction or agricultural practices - people transformed their environment by concentrating on economically valuable trees such as palms.
The team have likened it to a form of "prehistoric supermarket" of useful forest products.
They said there is "tantalizing evidence" to suggest the biodiversity of some of Acre's remaining forests may retain a strong legacy of these ancient "agroforestry" practices to this day.


A volunteer fireman who subdued a teenage gunman outside a South Carolina school has been described as a hero.

Police say the teenager killed his father and then drove to Townville Elementary School, opening fire outside the building.
Two young students and a teacher were injured, police said.
Fireman Jamie Brock was one of the first on the scene and "took down" the unnamed boy before he could go inside the school, local authorities said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the school, about 100 miles (160km) north-east of Atlanta.
Officials say the boy shot his father, 47-year-old Jeffrey Osborne, at home and then drove two miles to the school, where he parked and began shooting with a handgun.
One student was shot in the foot and another in the leg, police said. A female teacher was shot in the shoulder.
It was then that Mr Brock, a volunteer fireman of 30 years experience, apprehended the teenager, Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper said.
Scott Stoller of Anderson County Emergency Management said he was "absolutely a hero".
He "wants to remain humble and quiet about it" as he believes "he did nothing any of the other volunteer firefighters wouldn't have done'', he said.
Officials are investigating the teenager's motive, but say there is no evidence of links to terrorism or racism.
The boy reportedly called his grandparents in a distressed state early on Wednesday afternoon. They arrived at his house to find their son - his father -  dead.
The emergency call from the primary school was made very shortly afterwards, police said.
According to US reports, one of the injured students remains in a critical condition. The teacher and the other student have been released from hospital.
The school has cancelled classes for the rest of the week.
"We are heartbroken about this senseless act of violence," local school superintendent Joanne Avery told US media.


Southampton will be without Virgil van Dijk, James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez for Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie against Arsenal.

Defender Van Dijk has an ankle injury, while midfielder Ward-Prowse and forward Rodriguez picked up knocks in Wednesday's EFL Cup win at Liverpool.
Midfielder Granit Xhaka is suspended for Arsenal following his red card against Burnley last Sunday.
Forward Theo Walcott is back in the squad following a calf injury.


Manchester United have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper David de Gea from Atletico Madrid on a five-year deal.

The Spain Under-21 international, 20, underwent a medical at Old Trafford on Monday and will finalise what is thought to be an £18.9m move on Friday.
"I feel very proud and I can't wait to start playing here," De Gea told MUTV.
"When a club the size of Manchester United comes in for you, it obviously makes you very, very happy. I'm keen to do my best and show what I can do."
The deal marks De Gea out as the second most expensive keeper behind Gianluigi Buffon, who cost Juventus £32.6m in 2001.
*Estimated fee
De Gea, part of the  is a product of Atletico's youth academy, spending his first professional season with the club's reserves in the Segunda Division B before making his senior debut as a substitute in the Champions League against Porto in September 2009.
Since then he has made nearly 100 senior appearances for the Spanish outfit.
His arrival at Old Trafford follows the departure of Edwin van der Sar, who retired after the Champions League final defeat by Barcelona in May.
In May, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the Red Devils had been working on the De Gea deal for "quite a while".
"He's a young goalkeeper, very quick, good composure, presence and an outstanding replacement for Van der Sar," Ferguson told the club website.
The hardest person to replace in your team is always the goalkeeper. De Gea is only a young boy, so it will be very intriguing to see how he goes.
Read more
"We were looking for the same type of qualities as Edwin, because the one great quality Edwin always had was his composure and organisational ability."
And, upon completion of the deal, De Gea added: "I saw Man Utd's interest as an extra motivation to work even harder to show off my ability.
"It's a great privilege to be part of a club like United."
Ferguson currently has goalkeepers Tomasz Kuszczak, Anders Lindegaard and Ben Amos on his books but De Gea is widely expected to be the Scot's number one in the new season.
The deal takes the Premier League champions' summer spending past the £50m mark after the acquisitions of defender Phil Jones from Blackburn and Ashley Young from Aston Villa.


The former human resources director of a hospital trust would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had she not resigned, a panel has ruled.

Sharon Partington stood down after she was suspended by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust following whistleblowing complaints last year.
The trust said it was "obliged to complete the disciplinary process".
Former chief operating officer Sheilah Finnegan, who has since retired, was cleared of misconduct.
Chief executive Jonathan Parry was sacked last month amid the allegations, the details of which have never been revealed.
The trust said it was required to continue with the disciplinary process due to the former staff members' seniority.
In a statement, the trust said: "It was determined that the former director of human resources would have been dismissed as a consequence of gross misconduct had she remained in employment.
"Ms Partington has the right of appeal against the decision."
The disciplinary panel ruled that no action would have been taken against Ms Finnegan.
The trust's deputy director of performance, Richard McCarthy, was cleared of misconduct at an earlier hearing.
Chairman Sue Musson said she would like to "acknowledge the bravery of the individual who came forward and spoke out about their concerns".
She said the "overriding objective" had been to handle the matter "appropriately and fairly".
"Following this difficult time for everyone concerned, the trust now has an opportunity to focus on the future," she added.
However, Southport councillor and local Liberal Democrat NHS spokesman Tony Dawson criticised the process.
He said: "Two valued NHS employees who had given many years of service to the local hospital were publicly placed in the firing line and hung out to dry when they were apparently without fault.
"Surely, the inquiry which now needs to be held is into the competence and actions of the people who decided to suspend the four managers in the way that they did originally."


The body of a cat missing its head and tail has been found in a Staffordshire garden.

Ellie-May had been missing for two days before the grim discovery was made by a member of the public in Lincoln Drive, Cannock.
The RSPCA has launched an investigation to find out whether the pet has been killed by a human or a wild animal.
The owner of the 18-month-old black and white cat, Brenda Hearndon, said the news of her last moments was "awful".
The 74-year-old said: "I have had Ellie-May since she was dumped 10 months ago with 12 kittens and she worked so hard bringing these kittens up.
"She was a very timid cat but she was affectionate towards me.
"It is so sad because she was just starting to enjoy life, going outside and doing what cats like to do, but now something like this has happened and it is awful."
RSPCA inspector Kate Levesley said: "We do not know for certain how Ellie-May died, whether it was by the hands of a cruel human being or whether she died naturally and had started to be scavenged by wild animals.
"However we cannot rule anything out. If this was done deliberately, it does not bear thinking about how terrified Ellie-May may have been in her last moments."
Anyone with information is urged to come forward.


Rotherham United have signed striker Dexter Blackstock, who was a free agent after being released by Nottingham Forest, on a three-year contract.

The 30-year-old spent seven seasons with Forest, playing almost 200 games for the Championship club.
As Blackstock was released before the 31 August deadline, he was free to join another club before the next transfer window, which begins in January.
Rotherham have scored just three goals in five Championship games in 2016-17.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Passengers were left stranded on the Isle of Wight's chain ferry after it broke down a day after services began.

The travellers had to be helped from the Floating Bridge by staff, with some taking off shoes and socks to wade through the river water to the slipway.
Ferry staff suspended services after a technical breakdown and said the vessel may be out of action until Monday.
The new Floating Bridge replaced a vessel that had crossed between Cowes and East Cowes for 40 years.
Video footage from Saturday showed bumpers scraping the slipway as vehicles disembarked from the vessel.
Isle of Wight Council had previously said "final teething problems" would be dealt with before the official launch next month.
Crowds had gathered to see the first crossing of the chain ferry which meant an end to a 10-mile road diversion for drivers after its predecessor was retired in January.
Independent councillor for East Cowes Karl Love, said it was a "catalogue of disaster".
"Everyone was desperately wanting this to be a success for the town - everyone was so excited. It was clear from the beginning cars couldn't get off in a straight line."
Ferry staff told the BBC the service had been suspended until engineers could examine the vessel.
A launch used to ferry foot passengers since the start of the year has been put back in action in the meantime.
In a statement, issued before the ferry began operating, the council said there had been "relevant tests, commissioning and staff training".
"However, the real test will begin as she welcomes visitors aboard on the weekend. This is an important stage as the next two to three weeks is where any final teething problems or minor issues whilst it is being used can then be dealt with," it said.
The ferry, which can accommodate 20 cars, was built in Wales and has an expected lifespan of 40 years.
The vessel and slipway work has cost Â£4.6m, of which Â£3.8m came from the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership.


Newly crowned commonwealth flyweight champion Jay Harris believes his stablemate Liam Williams is leading a new boxing boom in Wales.

Williams faces former WBO super welterweight champion Liam Smith on Saturday, 8 April in Manchester.
"Liam Williams is flying the flag at the moment and kicking on all the Welsh fighters under Frank Warren with him," Harris told BBC Wales Sport.
"We are getting opportunities and TV time we wouldn't otherwise be getting."
Harris, who is managed by Gary Lockett, trains part-time with the likes of Liam Williams and Chris Jenkins in Lockett's stable when he is not working with his father, former British champion boxer Peter Harris.
And the Swansea boxer has no doubts Williams is heading for the big time.
"Him (Liam Williams) beating Liam Smith, which I am sure he will do, will take Welsh boxing onto another level again," he said.
"There are a lot of Welsh boxers coming through, it is booming at the moment. There is a lot of good Welsh talent coming through."
Harris is looking forward to gaining more experience after he won the Commonwealth flyweight title in just his tenth professional fight with a victory on points over Thomas Essomba at York Hall.
But he says winning his first title means even more coming from a family steeped in boxing heritage.
Father Peter was a British champion, uncle Mike was a Welsh champion and both professionals were trained by their father, himself a prodigious amateur talent.
"It was overwhelming (to win the title), brilliant, I have never had a feeling like that in my life, it was the best feeling in the world," he said.
"The family are over the moon, so proud, they were going crazy and my dad and uncle are chuffed to bits for me.
"Boxing has always been in my blood, my grandfather did it as well and trained my father and uncle and it has carried on with my father training me.
"He is always making sure I don't repeat any mistakes he made when he was younger."
Find out how to get into boxing with our special guide.


Leaving the European Union would tip the UK into a year-long recession, with up to 820,000 jobs lost within two years, Chancellor George Osborne says.

Publishing Treasury analysis, he said a Leave vote would cause an "immediate and profound" economic shock, with growth between 3% and 6% lower.
David Cameron said it was the "self-destruct option" for the country.
But Boris Johnson dismissed the study as "more propaganda" from the Remain side which he claimed was "rattled".
How trade and the UK's economy are affected by membership of the EU.
Former Chancellor Lord Lawson accused the government of trying to "scare the pants" off voters while Brexit-supporting economist Patrick Minford said the assessment ignored all the "upsides" from leaving, including the money saved from not being a member of the Common Agricultural Policy and not having to abide by EU regulation.
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said the Treasury report on the economic consequences of leaving - which comes one month before the vote on Britain's EU membership on 23 June - was "even gloomier" than had been predicted.
The Treasury's "cautious" economic forecasts of the two years following a vote to leave - which assumes a bilateral trade agreement with the EU would have been negotiated - predicts Gross Domestic Product would grow by 3.6% less than currently predicted.
In such a scenario, it suggests sterling would fall by 12%, unemployment would rise by 520,000, average wages would fall by 2.8% and house prices would be hit by 10%.
A second, "severe shock" scenario, also modelled by the Treasury, predicts what would happen if Britain left the EU's single market and defaulted to World Trade Organization membership.
In this scenario, after two years GDP would be 6% lower, up to 820,000 jobs could go, take-home pay would fall by 4%, house prices would fall by 18% and the pound would be 15% lower.
By BBC economics editor Kamal Ahmed
Sometimes this debate can feel a little like "my plague of frogs is worse than your plague of frogs".
And we could all be forgiven for becoming a little fed up with politicians shouting at each other, particularly when they claim, as the prime minister did earlier, that "this is what happens" to the economy, without a nod to "coulds" or "maybes".
These are forecasts, not definitive outcomes.
But, political hubris to one side, the Treasury analysis can be set apart from the "he said, she said" tenor of much of the EU referendum debate. It is based on a well-understood and tested economic model.
It might be wrong, or the outcomes might be substantially different once real events take hold - as is true of all forecasts - but it is very much worth the paper it is written on. Read Kamal's full analysis
On a visit to B&Q's head office on the south coast, Mr Osborne warned voters not to choose a "do-it-yourself recession" for Britain.
"It's only been eight years since Britain entered the deepest recession our country has seen since the Second World War. Every part of our country suffered," he said.
"The British people have worked so hard to get our country back on track. Do we want to throw it all away?"
He said the analysis had been "peer reviewed" prior to publication by Charlie Bean, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and that the economist had said it was based on "reasonable estimates" and "best practice procedures".
Mr Cameron said the report chimed with other analysis by institutions such as the Bank of England and the IMF, likening a decision to vote for EU exit, so soon after the last recession, to "surviving a fall and then rushing back to the cliff edge".
The Treasury says it modelled the impact of a leave vote by looking at three key factors: the "transition effect" of the UK becoming less open to trade; the impact of "uncertainty" on the economy; and the potential "volatility" of financial markets.
A previous Treasury report, which looked at the long-term effect of an EU exit, claimed households would be £4,300 a year worse off, and the economy 6% smaller by 2030.
The Vote Leave campaign said the worse-case scenario painted by the Treasury was bleaker than the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Treasury had been "hopelessly wrong" in previous forecasts, including in its support for the Exchange Rate Mechanism in the early 1990s.
Former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said he did not believe there would be any "economic shock" from leaving, citing economists who have argued the economy would be able to add nearly a million new jobs by negotiating new trade deals.
"Every Treasury report has a central presumption from which there are downsides and then there are upsides," he told Radio 4's Today.
"They have chosen today to only produce the downsides...That makes this report categorically unfair and biased. I don't think that downside exists for the UK."
There was "not one word about the risks of remaining", the former work and pensions secretary added, and by ignoring this the government was "misusing its power and misusing the civil service".
Mr Duncan Smith said he was "deeply disappointed" that his former colleague Sajid Javid was among those defending the report, suggesting he had heard the business secretary say privately before the referendum was called "how much he wanted the UK to leave the EU".
By BBC political correspondent Tom Bateman
This is the second time the Treasury has released a major document used by Remain campaigners to claim there will be serious damage to Britain's economy in the event of a vote to leave the EU.
To vandalise a well-worn election slogan - it tells us that Stronger In's referendum strategy is sticking with three priorities: the economy, the economy, the economy.
It became clear weeks ago the Remain camp's playbook involved repeatedly trying to appeal to wavering voters with what were presented as sober economic assessments on the risks of leaving the EU.
Vote Leave are still fighting on this turf, but recent days have seen their campaign shift emphasis solidly to the issue of immigration - with what were claimed to be the risks of Turkish EU membership - a noticeable change of tack which fellow out campaigners in Ukip (not part of the officially designated campaign) had been calling for, believing it key to winning over undecided voters.
EU for beginners: A guide
UK and the EU: Better off out or in?
Sources close to Mr Javid have denied this.
The business secretary, who has acknowledged he wrestled long and hard before deciding to back Remain, earlier told Today that EU membership benefited UK business as the UK was in the single market but outside the euro and the Schengen border-free zone.
But John Mills, the chair of the Labour Leave, said the Treasury's economic warning was "grossly exaggerated". While there might be a "small blip" in the immediate aftermath of a vote to leave, he said the economy would soon recover to a higher level.
"These wild claims we hear from the Remain side do nothing to help their cause," he told the BBC News Channel.
And as the economic arguments intensify Grassroots Out, which is campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, has suggested Brussels will "lay siege" to the City of London in the event of a vote to Remain with "wave after wave" of new regulation.


Rolls-Royce has confirmed that some jobs will be lost at its Renfrewshire plant as part of global cutbacks.

The engineering giant announced last month that 2,600 jobs would be cut worldwide over the next 18 months.
The firm has now said its Derby plant will lose 300 jobs in the first round of cuts, about half of the UK total.
A total of 130 jobs will go at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, Oberusel in Germany, and Hucknall and Barnoldswick in England.
And 150 jobs will be affected by the closure of a turbines facility at Ansty in Warwickshire.
The latest cuts come less than a year after 200 jobs were lost at Inchinnan.
A spokesman for Rolls-Royce said the company hoped to achieve the reduction "by voluntary means wherever possible".
He added: "It is never an easy decision to make changes and propose reductions in our workforce, but it is a sign of the increasingly competitive market in which we operate."
Tony Tinley, of the Unite union, said: "These cuts are a huge loss of skills to the UK economy and will result in Rolls-Royce outsourcing high-tech manufacturing jobs overseas to plug the skills gap in the future.
"The UK workforce is world class and has proved time and time again to be at the cutting edge of engineering.
"Rolls-Royce needs to give assurances over its long-term future and manufacturing in the UK."


A tropical species of shark has been found on the UK coastline for the first time in recorded history, marine experts said.

A Crocodile Shark carcass was discovered on a beach at Hope Cove near Plymouth and was reported to the National Marine Aquarium.
Experts think the animal, normally found in tropical waters, may have died from the shock of UK's colder seas.
It is commonly found in Brazil and Australia growing to about 1m (3.3ft).
Steven Greenfields spotted the shark washed up on the beach while walking with his family.
Mr Greenfields said: "We regularly visit this beach and have never seen anything like this before. My whole family was stunned as the animal had really unusual features but was unmistakably a shark.
Because it was so unusual we consulted our local aquarium to confirm what species it was."
James Wright, curator at the National Marine Aquarium, said: "This species has never been recorded in the UK before, as it is normally found in deep waters during the day in tropical climates, such as Brazil and Australia, then coming shallower at night to feed.
"With the Crocodile Shark accustomed to much warmer waters, travelling so far and reaching colder waters would have caused a shock to its system and account for the cause of death.
"We would urge the public to share any other unusual sightings with us or The Shark Trust, so we can monitor any trends."
Paul Cox, managing director of the Shark Trust, said: "Any information that we can get is useful so it's great that this one has been reported and identified."


Injured Wasps wing Christian Wade says he's optimistic he can return to action on, or possibly ahead, of schedule.

The 24-year-old, capped seven times by England, is currently sidelined by a foot injury picked up in November, and was told at the time he would be out for between two and three months.
"It's too early (to set a date) - we're going with what the surgeon's said," he told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.
"But you never know, it depends on how the rehab goes - it's going very well."
Wade was hurt in Wasps' shock 32-6 win at defending champions Toulon in their European Champions Cup pool match at the end of last month.
And he admits not being part of their impressive run in the tournament - which has seen them win three of their four pool games so far - has been difficult.
"It's really frustrating. We started off well with two big wins and we've got two games to go (at Toulon and home to Leinster) and they're two really big games I would've love to be a part of," he said.
"It looks as though I'm going to miss them but I can't wait to get back and be ready for the quarter-finals.
"It's just over a month now (since getting injured) so hopefully I'll be back playing again in January or February so we'll have to wait and see."
Wasps will mark the one-year anniversary of their very first game at their new matchday base at the Ricoh Arena on 21 December.
A crowd of over 28,000  - a record attendance for a domestic Premiership game - watched them beat London Irish twelve months previously, before they extending that mark when 32,000 turned up for the visit of Leicester last May.
With the move from the previous home in High Wycombe already benefitting the club off the field, playing in front of such large passionate crowds is a big motivation for Wade.
"It felt like home straight after that first game and we've had a few sell-out games which have been awesome," he said.
"Because it's an arena the bowl increases the noise and it amplifies the sound even more.
"The boys love playing here, the atmosphere is amazing and hopefully we can keep giving them good performances."


Brighton defender Shane Duffy is focusing on a return to action in late April after surgery on a foot injury.

Duffy, 25, fractured a metatarsal during the 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on 4 March and was given a six-week recovery time.
"That's quite good for these kind of injuries. I don't want to rush it," Duffy told BBC Sussex.
"The next two weeks are probably the most important, then I can start cracking on with my fitness again."
The injury also ruled him out of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Wales and the home friendly with Iceland at the end of March.
However, after having the operation to heal the injury, Duffy hopes to be back for the closing weeks of the campaign as Brighton push for promotion to the Premier League.
He said: "They put a screw into my metatarsal, so hopefully that'll quicken the healing a bit. Six weeks is probably the earliest I will be back.
"It's an exciting time. These are the vital games that you want to be involved in."
Duffy is one of a number of Brighton defenders out of action.
Fellow centre-back Connor Goldson is out for the rest of the season with a heart issue, left-backs Gaetan Bong (knee), Sebastien Pocognoli (groin) and Sam Adekugbe (hamstring) are all injured, while skipper Bruno - who this week signed a new deal - is a doubt for Saturday's trip to Leeds with a groin problem.


The three main separatist leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir have met members of an all-party delegation of Indian politicians from Delhi.

The separatists had earlier refused to meet the delegation, which is visiting after months of violent protests that have claimed more than 100 lives.
Moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was told there was no chance of Kashmiri secession from India.
But he was told that all other issues could be discussed.
Different groups of MPs from the delegation met Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik at their residences.
The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Indian-administered Kashmir's main city of Srinagar says the Indian government is trying to build a consensus among the country's major parties on how to deal with the situation.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the leader of the moderate faction of the separatist alliance the Hurriyat Conference (HC), was told by the MPs who visited him that while the idea of Kashmiri succession from India would not be entertained, all other options were on the table.
Mr Farooq, who is under house arrest, told India's NDTV that a private call from the five MPs was not the same as talks with the government.
By Chris MorrisBBC News, Srinigar
Kashmir's been in turmoil for three months now and for the past week Srinagar has been under the strictest of curfews.
The shops are shuttered and the streets all but deserted.
Those restrictions have become if anything more severe since the all-party parliamentary delegation reached town.
The main separatist leaders here in Kashmir aren't impressed by what's going on.
Many dismiss the visit as a public relations exercise by India.
They want the demilitarisation of the Kashmir Valley, where India has more than half a million men under arms; they want emergency laws to be repealed; and they want what they call political prisoners to be released.
None of that will happen as a result of the two-day visit by Indian MPs.
This is very much a preliminary move by the government in Delhi.
It says the violence in Kashmir has to stop.
But it is doing nothing to address the anger that has boiled over in Kashmir during the past three months.
Before the meeting, he told the BBC the delegation's visit to Kashmir was of limited value.
"The Kashmir issue is not about sending delegations from Delhi with no mandate, it's very clear that they have come to Kashmir to assess the situation."
He added: "I mean what is there to assess?  A hundred people have been killed in the last three months, young children, from 80-year-old to 60-year-old people have been shot dead."
Another group of MPs from the Indian delegation had earlier visited Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his residence, where he too is under house arrest.
Mr Geelani leads the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference.
Our correspondent says Mr Geelani's decision to talk to the MPs is unexpected because he has been a strident critic of Delhi's policy in the region.
The leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Yasin Malik, was also visited by a group from the delegation.
The delegation is led by Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and includes lawmakers from all major national parties.
The government announced the all-party fact-finding mission last week after an emergency meeting in the capital, Delhi.
During their two-day visit, the delegation plans to consult members of the public and Kashmiri politicians in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.
But there is resentment among many people who want to meet the visitors, but have so far been unable to do so because the valley remains under curfew.
Send your comments
Until visiting the separatist leaders, the delegation had only met pro-India politicians and business leaders.
In the latest violence in the valley, five people were injured on Monday in clashes with the army outside of the town of Sopore.
A 22-year-old woman was killed in Sopore at the weekend during clashes between police and protesters, as residents continued to defy the curfew.
Anti-India sentiment is high in the region, which has been under an almost round-the-clock curfew for the last nine days.
Kashmir has been on the boil since June, with tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets.
Protesters in the mainly Muslim valley have been hurling stones at troops and demanding independence from India.
Many analysts see the recent unrest as the biggest challenge to Indian rule in Kashmir for 20 years.


A young offenders institution was found to be "not safe for either staff or boys" after an unannounced inspection.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) gave YOI Feltham in west London its lowest judgement for safety after finding levels of "very serious" violence had risen.
The prison on the same site was also found to have had a "significant increase in violence".
However, staff were also praised for "many examples of good work".
Feltham A holds boys aged 15 to 18, while Feltham B is a prison for young adults aged 18 to 21.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said violence at the young offenders institution was a "serious problem" and "a serious assault on an officer" had happened while the inspection took place.
As well as a rise in violence, inspectors also criticised how long boys were allowed out of their cells as a result of a strict but "ineffective" regime used to manage behaviour.
About 40% of boys were locked up during the school day while 30% were allowed out of their cells for only two hours each day.
This meant some were prevented from being able to use basic amenities including showers and telephones, inspectors said.
Feltham B was also found to be an "unsafe environment" with inmates "often afraid for their own safety".
"Prisoners were enduring a regime that was unsuitable for prisoners of any age, let alone young men," inspectors said.
Nevertheless, staff at both the YOI and prison were praised, with healthcare - particularly mental health provision - described as "impressive".
Work to resettle offenders back into the community upon their release from both institutions was also considered to be "generally good".


Two newly-elected Conservative MPs have resigned their seats in the Scottish Parliament.

Douglas Ross and Ross Thomson were both elected to Holyrood in 2016 but then won seats at Westminster in the snap general election.
Both are list MSPs, so will be replaced by fellow Conservatives.
Scotland is sending a total of 22 new MPs to Westminster following the election, alongside 37 re-elected incumbent members.
Meanwhile, Rachael Hamilton is being sworn in as a Conservative MSP for the second time in the current term, having quit her list seat to successfully contest the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election on the same day as the general election.
In last Thursday's general election, the Conservatives won 13 seats north of the border, their best return since 1983.
Mr Ross won the Moray constituency from the SNP's depute leader and Westminster group leader Angus Robertson, while Mr Thomson took Aberdeen South from Callum McCaig.
Both men were formerly councillors, on Highland and Aberdeen City councils respectively, and have gone from local politics to Holyrood to Westminster in just over a year.
The Scottish Parliament's additional member system means the two list MSPs will be replaced by Conservative party colleagues.
To replace Mr Ross, Jamie Halcro-Johnston is next on the Highlands list, having failed to win a seat in Orkney and Shetland in the general election.
Tom Mason, who is currently depute provost of Aberdeen City Council, is expected to take Mr Thomson's place from the North East list.
Mr Mason is the final name on the list, with all of the other candidates having been elected either to Holyrood or Westminster - or, in one case, left the party. If a party runs out of regional list members, then the seat is left empty for the duration of the parliament.


Nottingham Forest fans fear for the future of the football club after a proposed takeover deal collapsed.

The Championship club, which is in a relegation battle, was set to conclude a deal with a US-based consortium led by John Jay Moores, on Friday.
The current owner Fawaz Al Hasawi later announced negotiations had "come to an end", leaving the fans threatening boycotts and planning protests.
The Nottingham Forest Supporters' Trust have urged him to resurrect the deal.
Live updates and more from Nottinghamshire.
Mr Al Hasawi, who took over at the City Ground in 2012 and claims to have invested over Â£100m, has seen his relationship with supporters break down amid accusations he is destroying the club.
In five years, the team has underachieved and attendances have dwindled, the club has been under a transfer embargo twice and faced several winding-up petitions.
The Kuwati national has also sacked seven managers, the latest being Philippe Montanier, on Saturday.
Supporters were also left angry at the Â£13m sale of talented teenager Oliver Burke, in August.
"It's really sad times for the club," said Richard Antcliff, the chair of the club's supporters trust.
"We thought the [takeover] deal was very close. It would have given us some very much needed leadership off it."
Mr Antcliff, who said contact with the club had been "patchy", added that Mr Al Hasawi has to explain his future plans.
"We're crying out for some communication around what the vision is.
"There's lots of angry fans and rightly so. We need to galvanise, put the pressure on Fawaz [Al Hasawi] in a respectful way to say 'give us some of these answers, your ideas'."
The BBC has attempted to speak with Mr Al Hasawi without success, but he said in a statement on Friday the takeover deal "was not in the interests of the long-term future of [Nottingham Forest]."


A motorist who was racing a car which crashed and killed a nine-year-old girl has been found guilty of causing her death.

Aleena Kauser was walking in Rawtenstall when she was hit by one of two cars travelling at more than 60mph (96km/h) in a 30mph zone.
Adil Manir, 20, has already admitted causing her death by dangerous driving.
Mohsem Saddique, 23, denied the same charge but has been found guilty at Burnley Crown Court.
Aleena was walking on a pavement with her mother along Bacup Road to a mosque when she was struck by Manir's Audi A5 on 18 September 2015.
She was airlifted to the Royal Blackburn Hospital after the crash but later died.
The prosecution said Saddique was tailgating Manir in a Volkswagen Golf immediately before the collision and there was only 6ft (2m) between the cars as they drove at speeds between 55mph and 64mph.
Saddique and Manir, both of Rossendale, are due to be sentenced at the court on 19 December.
Speaking after the hearing, Det Insp Mark Haworth-Oates said the "tragic incident" had had a "devastating impact on Aleena's family and the wider community".
He said: "I'm sure that when Saddique and Manir set out they had no intention of hurting anyone, but their actions showed a complete disregard for the safety of other road users and pedestrians.
"The irresponsible and dangerous way in which they raced their vehicles in a built up area at a busy time of day has led to the worst possible outcome."


Despite the falling popularity of organised religion, most people in the UK still believe in the power of spiritual forces, research suggests.

A study for the Christian think tank Theos recorded 77% as believing some things could not be explained by science or any other means.
Among the other findings, 8% said they or someone they knew had experienced a miracle, while one in four expressed a belief in angels.
ComRes surveyed just over 2,000 people.
"The study appears to confirm that, despite a steady decline in congregations and in formal religious belief, a sense of the spiritual remains strong in Britain," said the BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott.
Only a quarter of those questioned thought spiritual forces had no influence on Earth.
And almost two-thirds of those who identified themselves as Christians thought such spiritual forces could influence people's thoughts or the natural world.
More than a third of the non-religious shared that belief.
Between 2001 and 2011, the proportion of people in England and Wales identifying themselves as Christian fell from 72% to 59%.
In the last census a quarter of the population said they had no religion - up from 15% 10 years earlier.
"Some secularists have concluded from these trends that over recent decades Britain has become more secular, or more sceptical, or more rational," says Theos in its "belief in post-religious Britain" report.
"But the picture is actually very different - more complex and more interesting - than that."


Leeds United were held to a draw by relegated Wigan Athletic to end the season on a five-match winless run.

On-loan midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe rounded Leeds goalkeeper Rob Green to make it 1-0 to the 23rd-placed Latics.
Chris Wood scored his 30th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Eunan O'Kane went down under Michael Jacobs' challenge to level the scores.
Kemar Roofe struck the crossbar from 25 yards, but Garry Monk's side could not find a winner and finish in seventh.
Leeds had already all but dropped out of the play-off race, surrendering sixth place to Fulham after their poor run of form, but started the better side with Pablo Hernandez firing an early chance wide.
However, it was Tunnicliffe who made the breakthrough, gathering Jacobs' pass to beat the onrushing Green and find the net for his first goal since scoring for parent club Fulham in a 4-1 win over Bristol City on 31 October 2015.
Buoyed by the goal, Wigan pushed for another and Green had to be alert to smother Omar Bogle's shot and keep out another Tunnicliffe effort.
But after the break Leeds got back into the match with O'Kane's driving run drawing a foul and allowing Wood to send goalkeeper Matt Gilks the wrong way from 12 yards.
Monk's side finished the stronger team but could not force a second goal, with Roofe's volley the closest they came to ending their season with a win.
Leeds were without left-back Charlie Taylor, who was not in the matchday squad, with Monk saying he refused to play having been "terribly advised".
Taylor, 23, is out of contract at the end of the season and West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has confirmed the Premier League side are interested in signing him.
Leeds manager Garry Monk:
"There's no sugar-coating this - Charlie refused to play the game. I think he's been terribly advised...I think he's been poorly advised all season.
"To refuse to play the game, for me as a manager and for the club, that's unacceptable. I've got a lot of time for Charlie, as we all have at the club.
"He's not very experienced in these situations, and you need proper guidance, and people around you who can help you do things right.
"He'll learn from this but, as a manager and a club, you cannot have a player refusing to play. The club will have a strong stance on this, I'm sure."
Wigan interim manager Graham Barrow:
"It was a decent way to finish the season, and we had chances at the end to have won it.
"We had to dig in a few times in that second half, because Leeds are a good side - one of the better sides we've played.
"I'm impressed with what Garry's done there, so fair play to him, but it was one of those games that we could have won."
Match ends, Wigan Athletic 1, Leeds United 1.
Second Half ends, Wigan Athletic 1, Leeds United 1.
Attempt missed. Max Power (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a set piece situation.
Foul by Luke Ayling (Leeds United).
Omar Bogle (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Gaetano Berardi (Leeds United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic).
Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Max Power (Wigan Athletic).
Kemar Roofe (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Alex Bruce (Wigan Athletic).
Foul by Chris Wood (Leeds United).
Matthew Gilks (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Leeds United. Kemar Roofe tries a through ball, but Alfonso is caught offside.
Foul by Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United).
Ryan Colclough (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Alfonso (Leeds United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Chris Wood following a corner.
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Stephen Warnock.
Offside, Wigan Athletic. Alex Bruce tries a through ball, but Omar Bogle is caught offside.
Foul by Gaetano Berardi (Leeds United).
Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Leeds United. Kalvin Phillips replaces Ronaldo Vieira.
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Ryan Colclough replaces David Perkins.
Foul by Kemar Roofe (Leeds United).
Stephen Warnock (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Alfonso (Leeds United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Gaetano Berardi.
Attempt missed. Chris Wood (Leeds United) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Alfonso with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Callum Connolly.
Substitution, Leeds United. Hadi Sacko replaces Stuart Dallas.
Attempt missed. Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Attempt blocked. Kemar Roofe (Leeds United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Alex Bruce (Wigan Athletic).
Attempt blocked. Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jamie Hanson.
Substitution, Leeds United. Alfonso replaces Pablo Hernández.
Hand ball by Stuart Dallas (Leeds United).
Kemar Roofe (Leeds United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Callum Connolly (Wigan Athletic).
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Nick Powell replaces Michael Jacobs.
Attempt saved. Stuart Dallas (Leeds United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Eunan O'Kane.


Britain's Mo Farah was almost pushed over on the final bend of his 5,000m heat but qualified for Saturday's World Championships final in Beijing.

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Farah, who claimed his sixth successive global title when he won 10,000m gold at the weekend, recovered to finish second in 13 minutes 19.44 seconds.
The defending champion, 32, was touched on the back by Canada's Mohammed Ahmed but just managed to stay on his feet.
Fellow Briton Tom Farrell came fourth in his heat to reach the final.
Ahmed finished third but was initially disqualified by officials, only to be reinstated after a protest.
Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, who has the world leading time this year, finished ahead of Farah in 13:19.38.
"I'm lucky I stayed up. I almost went down again," Farah, who also nearly fell midway through the race, told BBC Sport.
"At that point you have to stay on your feet, concentrate and relax."
Farah added he had been suffering from a sore right foot, but said "it's nothing to worry about".
He had endured agony in the same stadium seven years ago, crashing out of the Olympics after failing to qualify from the heats of the 5,000m.
But he is now one race away from securing a third consecutive double, after taking 5,000m and 10,000m gold at London 2012 and the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
He looked to have recovered well from Saturday's victory in humid conditions, when he also survived a near-fall, as he was forced to work hard amid a packed bunch of runners in the final 150m of a quick heat.
Carlisle's Farrell, 24, progressed to the 15-man final with a time of 13:45.29 in a much slower-paced first heat.
"I think I did what I'm capable of doing - it's another thing coming here and doing it. I'm really happy to make the final," he said.
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Britain's Sophie Hitchon will be in Thursday's hammer throw final, qualifying in fifth position with a throw of 71.07m.
In the women's 800m heats, Britons Lynsey Sharp, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke and Jenny Meadows all successfully progressed to Thursday's semi-finals.
Sharp, who registered a season's best of 1:58.98, and Oskan-Clarke both qualified automatically, while Meadows required a fastest loser slot.
Lawrence Clarke completed a clean sweep of British qualifications in the morning session, as his time of 13.61 seconds in the 110m hurdles was enough to put him through to Thursday's semi-finals as one of the four quickest losers.


It's 70 years since Anne Frank's diary was published.

Anne was a Jewish victim of the Holocaust.
Her diary is a very famous record of her experiences during World War II.
Lots of you know about the diary, so we asked some girls to read them for us and tell us what it means to them.
Anne's diary has been read by millions of people across the world.
The diary was first published in 1947 by Anne's father, who survived the war.
Anne and her family lived in the Netherlands and went into hiding from the Nazis.
She lived for two years in a secret attic apartment but was eventually discovered in a raid.
She died in a concentration camp in 1945, just before her 16th birthday.
Three weeks before her arrest, Anne wrote: "I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us..."
"I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up into the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquillity will return once more."


The number of abortions carried out in Northern Ireland has increased with 51 terminations performed in local hospitals last year.

According to figures published by the Department of Health, that was an increase of 16 over the previous year.
The South Eastern Health Trust carried out the highest number of terminations. A majority of the women were aged over 30.
However, 14 women were aged 24 and under.
According to the department the abortions were performed within legally acceptable and medically approved conditions.
Unlike the rest of the UK abortion is only allowed in very restricted circumstances in Northern Ireland.
Abortions can be carried out in NI only to preserve the life of the mother or if continuing the pregnancy would have other serious, permanent physical or mental health effects.
There is strict assessment regarding any impact on mental well-being and the woman must consult with two clinicians.


Barrow extended their club-record unbeaten run to 19 matches with a home victory over relegation-threatened Guiseley.

It took a while for the Cumbrian club to find their rhythm but, when they did, Jordan Williams beat Dan Atkinson with a thunderous 20-yard shot.
Paul Cox's men once again rode the tide of euphoria, and Byron Harrison took his season's tally to 14 with a brace - putting him clear in second place in the National League scoring charts.
The first was an accurate header on the stroke of half-time. He then added a penalty after the break when Marcus Williams fouled Ryan Yates.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Barrow 3, Guiseley 0.
Second Half ends, Barrow 3, Guiseley 0.
Substitution, Barrow. Akil Wright replaces Ryan Yates.
Substitution, Guiseley. Alex Purver replaces Marcus Williams.
Substitution, Barrow. Andy Haworth replaces Jordan Williams.
Substitution, Guiseley. Jordan Preston replaces Jake Cassidy.
Substitution, Barrow. Ross Hannah replaces Byron Harrison.
Goal!  Barrow 3, Guiseley 0. Byron Harrison (Barrow) converts the penalty with a.
Substitution, Guiseley. Joel Logan replaces Will Hatfield.
Ryan Yates (Barrow) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Second Half begins Barrow 2, Guiseley 0.
First Half ends, Barrow 2, Guiseley 0.
Goal!  Barrow 2, Guiseley 0. Byron Harrison (Barrow).
Goal!  Barrow 1, Guiseley 0. Jordan Williams (Barrow).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


A survey for the The Army Reserve shows 18-35s spend three-and-a-half hours a day on social media and gaming.

The survey of 2,000 is part of a recruitment campaign highlighting how young people wile away a day a week.
The Army Reserve said many young people think joining the reservists is too much of a time commitment - despite saying they would like to learn a new skill if they had more time.
The Army is aiming to reach a target of 30,000 trained reservists by 2019.
Reservists are required to commit to at least 19 days a year.
The study carried out on behalf of The Army Reserve by research specialists Opinion Matters asked 2,021 people, aged between 18 and 35, about their personal lives.
It found that more than 60% (1,213) said they would be interested in learning a new skill if they had more spare time, and a fifth (404) would like to volunteer and help others.
A spokesman for the Army Reserve said the research was designed "to get people who may have not considered the Army to think again about being a reservist and realise that it's not a huge commitment".
"With a time commitment from just 19 days a year, much of which is made up of short training evenings during the week, it's a realistic option for a lot of people and that the rewards are huge," he added.
The survey also suggested that:
With cuts to the size of the regular Army, the country is having to rely more on part-time soldiers.
But the Army's struggling to meet its own target of 30,000 trained by 2019.
After a very slow start the numbers are growing, though the Army Reserve is still around 8,000 short.
After a series of high profile recruiting campaigns, already costing millions of pounds, the Army is adopting a high risk strategy.
It's now telling one of its key audiences - those aged between 18 to 35 - they're "wasting their time".
Rather than cause offence it's telling this generation they could be learning new skills and earning extra money as part-time soldiers rather than lounging on the sofa or logging into their social media accounts.
The most senior Reserve Officer, Major General John Crackett, says the key message is "what can the Army do for me?" with the slogan "A Better You".
Even he admits that meeting the recruitment target will be "challenging", but he insists it can still be achieved.


Central European countries have reacted angrily after plans to relocate 120,000 migrants across the continent were approved by EU interior ministers.

Under the scheme, migrants will be moved from Italy, Greece and Hungary to other EU countries.
But Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas.
Czech President Milos Zeman said: "Only the future will show what a mistake this was."
The BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris says it is highly unusual for an issue like this - which involves national sovereignty - to be decided by majority vote rather than a unanimous decision.
The scheme to take in migrants appears on the surface to be voluntary, he says, although countries are likely to be given little choice in the matter.
In the latest reaction:
Under the EU's rules, a country that does not agree with a policy on migration imposed upon it could have the right to appeal to the European Council.
But Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, who chaired the meeting, said he had "no doubt" opposing countries would implement the measures.
Read Tuesday's developments as they happened
Follow BBC correspondents covering the crisis on Twitter
Finland abstained from the vote. Poland, which had originally opposed the proposal, voted for it.
"We felt that it was much better to negotiate, to negotiate all these conditions, which for us are important," Poland's Europe minister, Rafal Trzaskowski, told the BBC.
"We preferred to be an active member of this debate."
The scheme must now be ratified by EU leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.
Source: European Commission
Relocation deal explained
Hungary proposes its own deal
Why central Europe says 'No'
How is migrant crisis dividing EU countries?
EU migration: Crisis in graphics
Under the plan, Hungary will have to take in a share of migrants. Had it not opposed the scheme, it would have been exempt.
Hungary's anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban could present his own proposals before EU leaders on Wednesday.
The UN refugee agency said the scheme would be insufficient, given the large numbers arriving in Europe.
"A relocation programme alone, at this stage in the crisis, will not be enough to stabilise the situation," ,  UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
The number of those needing relocation will probably have to be revised upwards significantly, she said.
The UN says close to 480,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year, and are now reaching European shores at a rate of nearly 6,000 a day.
Criticism is already ringing out from countries that voted against the relocation scheme, but under EU law they are now obliged to take part. It is highly unusual - unprecedented, really - for a majority vote to be used in a situation like this, which involves basic issues of national sovereignty.
But the European Commission says it is determined to enforce what was agreed. What's not yet clear is what will happen if any country simply refuses to comply - and that has certainly been the suggestion from some capitals.
Will financial sanctions be sufficient? It is another sign that this crisis is testing European unity like no other.
After the meeting, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said: "Today is an important building block, but no more than that."
A statement from the European Commission said foreign ministers would now discuss reforms to the Dublin regulation, which demands that migrants register as refugees in the first EU country in which they arrive.
The UK has opted against taking part in the relocation scheme and has its own plan to resettle migrants directly from Syrian refugee camps.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of Iraq has told the BBC he supports an air strike on Islamist militants at a border crossing between Iraq and Syria.

Military and rebel sources say the strike took place inside Iraq, at the Qaim crossing, although Mr Maliki said it was carried out on the Syrian side.
Mr Maliki also said the militants' advance could have been avoided if US jets had been delivered more quickly.
Isis and its Sunni Muslim allies seized large parts of Iraq this month.
Iraq has been receiving support from Iran, with whom its Shia Muslim leaders have close links.
Speaking to the BBC's Arabic service in his first interview for an international broadcaster since the crisis started, Mr Maliki said that Iraq had bought 36 American jet fighters, but that the process had been "slow and very long-winded".
"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract. We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian to secure the air cover for our forces; if we had air cover we would have averted what had happened," he went on.
He said Iraq was acquiring "second-hand jet fighters from Russia that should arrive in Iraq in two or three days".
"God willing, within one week this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.
The Syrian air strikes show how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are merging together, with Isis as a common factor. Once-rival fighters on the Syrian side of the border at Qaim have now pledged allegiance to Isis, giving it control of both sides.
If US drones are not yet involved, they soon could be, illustrating how the threat posed by Isis is creating a convergence of interests between players who so far have been adversaries.
That goes for Iran, too, which is deeply concerned about the sudden upheavals in Iraq. It has reinforced its positions along its own western border, where guards have been killed in an attack. There are reports that Iran has been heavily shelling border areas in the Kurdish mountains, where an Iranian Kurdish opposition group called Pejak has bases.
The US, which also backs the government, has stressed that the militants can only be defeated by Iraq's own forces.
Mr Maliki is seeking to form a new government but has rejected calls to create an emergency coalition which would include all religious and ethnic groups.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague  has arrived in Baghdad to meet political and community leaders.
"As a friend of Iraq, the UK believes the urgent priority must be to form an inclusive government that can command the support of all Iraqi people and work to stop [Isis] in its tracks," he said.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi air force is reported to have launched an assault in
Mr Maliki told the BBC: "Yes, Syrian jets did strike Qaim inside the Syrian side of the border.
"There was no co-ordination involved. But we welcome this action. We actually welcome any Syrian strike against Isis... But we didn't make any request to Syria. They carry out their strikes and we carry out ours and the final winners are our two countries."
Unnamed US and Iraqi military officials told the Associated Press earlier that Syrian warplanes had bombed militants' positions inside Iraq on Tuesday.
A Pentagon source told BBC News: "We are aware of the reports that the Syrian government has taken strikes against targets in Iraq.  We have no reason to dispute these reports."
Militant sources have been reporting for two days that Syrian jets hit the Iraqi side of Qaim, and also Rutba which is further inside Iraq.
The militants say 70 people were killed in the first attack and 20 in the second.
Mr Maliki also said that Iraq had bought a number of used Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia and Belarus.
He said the aircraft could be flying missions in Iraq "within a few days".
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the crisis with Mr Maliki by phone last Friday, the Kremlin reported on its website at the time.
Mr Putin confirmed his "full support" for the government's efforts to rid Iraqi territory of "terrorists", it said, without giving details.
Mr Maliki said on Wednesday that forming a broad emergency government would go against the results of April's parliamentary elections, which were won by his alliance of Shia parties.
His political rival, Ayad Allawi, had proposed forming a national salvation government.
Reports say a unit of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, pledged allegiance to Isis in the Syrian town of Albu Kamal, near the Iraqi border.
The Nusra Front, along with other rebel groups, has been fighting in Syria against Isis, which it sees as harming its cause with its brutality and extremism.
Also on Thursday, the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan visited the northern city of Kirkuk for the first time since it was seized by Kurdish forces earlier this month.
It fell into the hands of Kurdish fighters when Iraqi troops fled in the face of the Islamist advance.


Lewis Hamilton took a sensational pole position in a dramatic, rain-hit qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The world champion beat team-mate Nico Rosberg by 0.543secs in a breathless final few minutes on a drying track.
Rosberg will start sixth after a grid penalty for a gearbox change following a crash in practice.
That moves Force India's Nico Hulkenberg up to second on the grid. McLaren's Jenson Button qualified fifth but will start third.
Reaction: Drivers split over kerbs after crashes
Button benefitted from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel also being penalised five places on the grid for an unauthorised gearbox change.
The mixed-up grid promises an exciting race, with Rosberg and Vettel coming through the field, Button trying to hold on to his position and the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers starting the race on the super-soft tyre rather than the ultra-soft tyre of everyone else in the top 10. As long as it doesn't rain...
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was sixth fastest ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, and they will be promoted to fourth and fifth on the grid.
The rest of the top 10 was occupied by Williams' Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Williams' Felipe Massa.
"It was a really fun session, said Hamilton. "Those sessions that start dry and then go wet, and here it dries up so quickly."
Button, who excelled as always in the ever-changing conditions in a final session that started wet but dried enough for slicks halfway through, predicted that it would be a "tough day" because the teams lacked knowledge about the tyres.
His team-mate Fernando Alonso will be quietly fuming, after being sent out by mistake on used tyres for the one lap he got in second qualifying, on which he was inevitably 0.6secs slower than Button.
Attempts to improve on new tyres were thwarted by yellow caution flags and then rain, and the Spaniard will start 14th.
"Really happy," said Button. "Those mixed conditions are tough. When you have to find your feet every corner you get to, it is a lot of fun."
The rain, which hit in the closing minutes of the second part of qualifying, was only one reason for the high-octane action.
Another was a further two suspension failures, for Force India's Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, following Rosberg's crash in final practice for the same reason.
Perez managed to get back to the pits but Kvyat, whose suspension failed on the exit of Turn Eight, had a heavy crash from which he emerged unhurt.
The failures appear to have been caused by excessive loads caused by a new kerb design at the Red Bull Ring.
Kvyat has called for the kerbs to be changed.
The Russian said: "Once you're on those kerbs you're not in control if the suspension breaks. At least on the AstroTurf, you had control.
"At the last corner, everyone is going off [with] four wheels - they wanted to make it better but actually they made it worse."
Hamilton added on the kerbs issue: "For me, looking at it, obviously those yellow kerbs are quite dangerous, we have now seen a couple of incidents.
"I don't know how many more it will take before someone ends up in the wall and gets hurt.
"The idea is good because we don't want to be off the circuit but perhaps another solution is needed."
Austrian Grand Prix qualifying results
Austrian Grand Prix coverage details


A fifth sperm whale has washed up on the east coast of England.

It follows the death of a beached whale in Hunstanton, Norfolk, on Friday and the discovery of three carcasses near Skegness over the weekend.
The sperm whales are believed to be from a pod spotted off the Norfolk coast.
The fifth whale was found at Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, on Monday afternoon, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency reported.
It was found on the site of a former bombing range, and warnings have been issued for people to stay away.
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust tweeted: "There is no public access to the area and it is extremely dangerous with tidal creeks and the potential for unexploded ordinance. Many of the lanes to the marshes are private and not accessible."
Why do sperm whales wash up on beaches?
Marine biologists were using a probe to examine one of the Skegness whales earlier on Monday when there was a "huge blast of air", said BBC reporter David Sykes.
The letters CND had also been spray-painted by someone on the whale's tail.
CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) said the action was not carried out by the organisation at a national level.
The word "fukushima" - presumably a reference to the stricken Japanese nuclear power station - was also written on the side of the whale's body.
One of the Skegness whales is at the end of Lagoon Walk, with the other two towards Gibraltar Point.
They have been cordoned off to prevent crowds of people touching the carcasses.
People are also being prevented from going too close to the Hunstanton whale.