"After a few seconds on the ground I understood there would be no survivors."

Jean Sebastien Beaud, 31, is a rescuer and officer of the High Mountain Police based in Jausiers in the French Alps.
He and two of his colleagues were the first to arrive on the crash site of the Germanwings aircraft on Tuesday, just half an hour after the impact.
"We got the alert at 10:45 local time (09:45 GMT) on Tuesday, we grabbed our equipment and took off with the helicopter in direction of the area where we thought the Airbus went missing.
"At 11:07 we spotted the crash site." A few minutes later Jean Sebastien was winched down at the top of the crash site with another colleague and a doctor.
"What we saw there was surreal, beyond imagination. The smell of burned metal and kerosene was overwhelming.
"There was a lot of debris, we saw the first human remains and we immediately knew there was going to be no survivors."
"We found less than ten bodies entirely or partly preserved, to be honest only one body was almost intact.
"We do this job to rescue and help people but in this case we were only spectators, it was very distressing."
In the absence of any survivors the rescue operation turned into a search operation.
"We were instructed to take pictures of the scene for the report and we were also asked to find the black boxes."
On his smartphone Jean Sebastien shows me pictures of the scene as he found it, smoke coming out of the vast slopes covered with debris and burned pieces of metal.
On one video he recorded on his mobile you see a couple of unrecognisable aircraft parts still in flames. It then pans across the scene and reveals very graphic images including what look like body parts.
"We started to walk down slope the best we could as it's a dangerously steep side of the mountain. At the top of the hill we could see the largest parts of debris but down the slopes only very small pieces.
"After 30 minutes of research I found an orange piece of metal of about 1ft (30cm) at the bottom of the valley near the impact point and I immediately called on the radio to indicate that one of the black boxes had been found."
His discovery has since proved to be key to answering some of the questions surrounding the drama.
The High Mountain Police are special units of the French National Military Police. They are trained rescuers and they know the mountains well.
There are 15 squads of High Mountain Police as well as Lower Mountain Police, most them based in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Well equipped, they have helicopters and rescuers on standby 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Every night since the accident High Mountain Police officers have spent the night at the crash site to secure the area. Thursday night was Jean Sebastien's turn.
"It's very dark at night, we base ourselves only 100 meters away from the debris but we don't see anything.
"The atmosphere is pretty gloomy as we are on the site of the tragedy. The smell of burning and of kerosene is still strong and of course you can't help and think about the people who died there.
"We don't sleep. It's very cold up there and last night was very windy, there were four of us spending the night there.
"We light a fire and chat to each other to stay awake, we talked about what we saw - it's a form of therapy. Even if we don't consciously feel traumatised by what we see, it's good to talk about it between us.
"It's a way to deal with the horror we witnessed."


The chief executive of SYHA Hostelling Scotland is to step down.

Keith Legge has been in charge of the not-for-profit self-funding charity for 13 years.
The organisation said this period has seen the most radical rationalisation and modernisation in its 86-year history.
SYHA has a turnover of £8m and employs 250 people. Over 400,000 people stay in its 34 youth hostels and 28 affiliate hostels in Scotland each year.
Speaking on his retirement, Mr Legge said: "SYHA is now a professionally-minded, modern not-for-profit organisation, true to its founding ethos with clear objectives that are understood and embraced by all, giving more people authentic and affordable access to all areas of Scotland from cities to more remote rural locations.
"It has a positive culture that understands the importance of customer service and is clearly focused on delivering the core ethos. It is also aware of the ever-changing needs of our guests and the marketplace in which we operate, and is able to embrace and adapt to change."


Germany's biggest companies have been ordered to ensure that 30% of supervisory board positions are held by women from 2016 under a law agreed late on Tuesday by the governing coalition.

Firms that have not implemented a quota of female directors will have to leave some vacancies unoccupied.
Some leading German business figures have criticised the new legislation.
Similar measures have been introduced in other European countries including Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.
"This law is an important step for equality because it will initiate cultural change in the workplace," Chancellor Angela Merkel, who initially was against the reforms, told parliament on Wednesday.
"It has been decided and it is coming. We can't afford to do without the skills of women."
Women's Affairs Minister Manuela Schwesig told public radio on Wednesday that she did not expect many positions to go unfilled because of a shortage of female candidates.
"There are enough women who are qualified to do these very important jobs," she said.
Correspondents say that the new rules will affect about 100 listed companies with employee representatives on non-executive supervisory boards. Another 3,500 firms will in future have to publish gender-equality targets.
While quota supporters welcomed Wednesday's developments as groundbreaking, critics including German Industries Federation chief Ulrich Grillo said that a quota system was counter-productive.
He argued that voluntary schemes were far more effective in getting more women into top jobs.
More than 80% of German boardroom positions are occupied by men, Deutsche Welle reported, even though roughly 40% of the federal cabinet is female.
Of the the 160 most important publicly traded companies, women make up 17.4% of supervisory boards and only 6.1% of management boards, Spiegel Online reported.
It says however that Germany's laws on 'co-determination', which guarantee employees seats on supervisory boards, have made some progress in narrowing the gender gap.
Chancellor Merkel's cabinet is due to approve the quota bill on 11 December, and subsequent parliamentary approval is expected to be a formality.
Last year the EU Commission said that it was considering forcing companies to increase the number of women on their boards.


AMs have backed the UK Government's Wales Bill in a Senedd vote - meaning the next stage of devolution can become law.

The bill promises new powers for Wales, but there have been claims it would reduce AMs law-making powers.
First Minister Carwyn Jones recommended AMs vote for the bill, saying it could be improved but "takes Wales forward".
But Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood suggested Wales had been "backed into a corner" over the legislation.
The vote was 38-17 in favour of the bill.
The Wales Bill offers to extend the transfer of powers over tax, energy, transport and the assembly's own affairs.
Labour - the largest group with 29 of the 60 assembly seats - agreed on Monday to back the legislation despite reservations.
It was joined in supporting the bill by the Conservatives, ensuring the motion to give consent to the bill passed.
UKIP and Plaid Cymru opposed the law - UKIP voted against because it devolved income tax without a referendum and Plaid because of the claimed "roll-back" in assembly powers.
The Wales Bill introduces a system of powers that are reserved to Westminster - such as defence and foreign affairs - with everything else assumed to be devolved.
But some have claimed that the new devolution model is unclear and have criticised the large list of reservations.
In a debate on the bill in the Senedd, the first minister said: "On balance, I believe it is in the best interests of Wales as we look at dealing with the issue of Brexit that we take what is on offer today."
Mr Jones said the bill should be seen as "another step on what is a long journey of devolution".
However he said there was "a need for improvement" in some areas, such as the lack of devolution of air passenger duty.
He added it was "not possible to conclude that the reserved powers model, welcome though it is in theory, is fit for purpose in the long term".
"There is no other country that I know of where two legislatures exist in the same jurisdiction", he said.
"It's possible in the future that somebody might be arrested in Cardiff for something that is not an offence in Wales."
Plaid Cymru decided at a group meeting on Tuesday to oppose the bill. Sian Gwenllian, Simon Thomas and Elin Jones voted in favour, with the rest of the group against.
Ms Wood told the debate Plaid was voting against the Wales Bill "with a heavy heart".
"We never want to see Wales backed into a corner again," she said.
Her party supported the fiscal framework on Wales' funding negotiated between the UK and Welsh governments, she said.
But she added: "The UK Government did not have to tie the fiscal framework to a bill that would restrict our ability to make laws.
"The public finances of Wales should not be conditional on accepting a worsened legislative framework."
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Is any bill perfect? No it's not.
"But this bill offers a huge opportunity to take responsibility over energy, over transport, over electoral arrangements, over income tax - the list goes on."
He said it was a "sad day when Plaid Cymru in this chamber choose to vote against... [an] opportunity for a huge transfer of responsibility and sovereignty".
UKIP group leader Neil Hamilton told the Senedd he supported the broad principles of the Wales Bill.
But he said the removal of the need for a referendum before income tax powers were devolved was a "constitutional deficiency we ought not to ignore".
He said it was an "important principle that politicians should keep their promises and should be held to their word".
Mark Reckless, UKIP AM for South Wales East, added: "They know if they did have a referendum they would lose."
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Davies said the Welsh devolution settlement would need a rethink because of Brexit.
It is the fourth Wales Bill since the devolution process began in 1998 with the act which created the assembly.
Mr Davies said powers returned to the UK by the European Union after Brexit would require more legislation "to realign those responsibilities".
"This will not be the last Wales Bill, but it will be the last Wales Bill in this parliamentary session", he added.
Mr Davies also regretted the UK government's decision not to devolve powers over air passenger duty.
He said he thought it would be devolved eventually as there was "no coherent argument to hold it back".
What is in the Wales Bill?
Under a political convention between the assembly and Westminster, the Wales Bill needed a legislative consent motion passed in the Senedd before it can be become law.
That is because the Wales Bill relates to devolved matters.
The convention does not have legal force but Wales Office minister Lord Bourne has said the bill would not become law if the assembly did not approve it.
The vote means the bill will now return to Parliament for the final stages of the legislative process.


A goat has head-butted a pensioner and jumped on cars in a County Antrim town.

Staff and customers ran for cover when the unusual visitor appeared at the doors of the Eurospar store in Carrickfergus on Saturday morning.
The shop manager told BBC News NI the stray goat charged at one of his regular customers, named Billy.
He said the goat "butted" Billy in the back before he managed to drag the pensioner into the shop for safety.
"We had to trail him inside," the manager said, but added that the pensioner was not injured.
In the forecourt of the shop, the goat got up on its hind legs and jumped on two cars, one belonging to a customer and another to a staff member.
Speaking to the Carrickfergus Times newspaper, the manager said: "I was on my own in the store at around 6.20am and thought it was the bread man knocking."
He looked up and saw the goat outside the door, adding: "It seemed to want to break into the shop and it was staring straight at me."
The manager described how the goat began eating flower baskets outside the shop on Victoria Road and then frightened staff and customers as they tried to get into the building.
"It was into the baskets eating all the plants and running round the car park, I thought: 'you've got to be kidding me!'"
He said one customer tried to use the ATM when she spotted the goat and ran back to her car.
Another customer shouted a warning to a member of staff who was walking in to the shop to start work.
The manager said his employee replied: "Yeah, right" But when she spotted the goat she dived in to the customer's car for cover.
The incident ended when a man, believed to be the goat's owner, arrived at the shop and dragged the goat off by the horns.


Studies of teeth from sheep and cattle have provided new insights into farming practices in the Iron Age through to the Late Norse periods in Scotland.

Archaeologists used a range of techniques to determine the age, diet and health of livestock raised at two sites in Orkney.
One of the sites, Earl's Bu, appears to have been organised and managed as a large estate farm.
It may have been run this way from an earlier time than previously thought.
The study, which involved excavated animal remains and the examination of other historical evidence, could give fresh insights into ancient farming elsewhere.
The University of the Highlands and Islands, which did the research, said these other places could include other Scottish islands and Scandinavia.
The archaeologists said the good condition of the livestock at Earl's Bu gave an "overall impression" of an organised system of pastoral farming on the land.
Herds of sheep and cattle were pastured and fattened up in established fields or upland areas, they said.
This suggests that an elite group of people controlled the land in the form of manorial estates from the Viking period onwards.
The archaeologists said that this challenged the view of agriculture in the 9th to 11th Century being "dominated by free peasant farmers with varying degrees of obligation to chieftains and larger farmers".


Four men have been charged following an international investigation into the supply of 'skunk' cannabis into Northern Ireland.

The men aged 33, 32, 30 and 29 have been charged with a number of offences related to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Officers recovered Â£800,000 of 'skunk' and cash during searches in Belfast, Greenisland, Bangor, Newtownards and Ballywalter. Six people were arrested.
Eight have also been held in Italy.
The men who have been charged are due to appear at Newtownards Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening a 37-year-old man was arrested in England, to be brought to Northern Ireland for questioning.
He was detained by police in Birmingham but it is expected that he will be transferred on Tuesday to be interviewed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The six people arrested in Northern Ireland were four men and two women who were questioned on suspicion of the importation of cannabis and conspiracy to supply cannabis and money laundering.
The two women, aged 29 and 26, have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.


It's four years since Nasa's Curiosity rover landed on the planet Mars, on 6 August 2012.

The robot's mission is to search for evidence of life and to learn more about the planet.
It can take pictures, collect samples and study the surface of the planet - and then beam the information back to scientists on Earth.
Here are four of the biggest discoveries it's made about Mars over the past four years.
The Curiosity rover found that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support life.
It found sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon in the samples it collected, which are key ingredients necessary for life.
It also found methane, which is a gas that, on Earth, comes largely from living things.
In 2015, Curiosity found that that water can exist as a liquid just beneath the surface of Mars.
Mars should be too cold to support liquid water at the surface.
But the rover discovered salts in the soil - that means the freezing point of water is lower than we thought, and so liquid water could exist.
On a separate mission in 2015, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft took pictures that showed mysterious streaks on Mars - evidence that there could be flowing water on the Red Planet.
Astronauts travelling to the Red Planet would get a big dose of damaging radiation.
The Curiosity counted the number of high energy space particles striking it on its eight-month journey there.
It shows that astronauts would be exposed to radiation levels higher than current safety limits allow.
The Curiosity rover sent back the first colour picture of a sunset on Mars - and it turns out it's blue!
The rover snapped some pictures of the sunset in between several dust storms on the planet.
The reason it looks blue is because the reds and yellows from the Sun were absorbed by the dust that was still floating in the atmosphere..
That meant the blue coloured light was able to get through the dust more easily and that was picked up by the rover.


A person who was trapped inside a house fire has died in a "terrible tragedy", the fire service has said.

Four fire crews tackled the blaze in the early hours of this morning at a property in Cottesmore, Rutland.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said the person was rescued, but later died in hospital.
"At this time, we have not been able to establish if the premises contained working smoke detectors," the fire service said.
"We are fortunate that this type of tragedy happens very infrequently."
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the service and Leicestershire Police.


Yeovil Town manager Darren Way says the fans are still behind him, despite their inconsistent form in League Two.

The Glovers beat against Leyton Orient on Saturday but lost their last five games in the run-up to the 1-0 victory.
"I've come in, worked hard and stood strong. We had a bad run of defeats but I have learnt so much," Way said.
"From the moment I got off the bus [on the way to the game against Orient], there were two supporters who said 'I'm with you Darren'."
Way's side had conceded eight goals in their three games before the trip to Brisbane Road, but kept a clean sheet as Tom Eaves' 76th-minute strike gave them three points against Orient.
Despite taking just seven points from a possible 24 this term after a promising end to last season, Way says he is learning a lot from his first full campaign as Glovers manager.
"I've learnt not just about my players but everything," Way told BBC Radio Somerset.
"I went over to speak to the supporters before the game and they said they're with me.
"What I know is everyone I'm coming into contact with face to face are behind this football club."


The EFL Cup is a "total rip-off" for fans because Premier League managers field weakened teams, says former England winger Chris Waddle.

Liverpool made 11 changes and Tottenham 10 on Tuesday and the 10 top-flight teams made 71 changes, with a number of young or fringe players involved.
"I feel for the fans," said 55-year-old Waddle. "They should know who is going to play in the competition."
Former Tottenham manager David Pleat also said he was "very disappointed".
Pleat, who reached the semi-finals of the competition in 1987 as manager of Tottenham, said teams are treating the competition as a "secondary affair".
"It is almost as if the Premier League clubs have got together and said we are not going to give the competition our full attention," he said.
Ex-Spurs and Newcastle player Waddle said clubs should announce their squad for the cup's fixtures in advance at the start of the week.
"It would mean that if you're travelling a long way you'd know that it will be a weaker side and you may not buy a ticket," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"For me, it is a total rip-off."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose side are fifth in the Premier League and second in their Champions League group, defended his decision to use some of the younger members of his squad in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Anfield.
"The young players are very important for our future, to be a better squad," he said.
"I think it was a fantastic opportunity to show their quality and a great experience to capitalise on, to take positive things for the future."


There was one clear winner after Tuesday's Nevada caucus - Donald Trump.

The New York billionaire has emerged victorious in his third-straight nominating contest. He has come out on top in primaries in New England and the south, and he has now won a caucus in the west.
He is bringing voters to the polls who have never participated in the Republican political process before - voters who the political wags never thought would turn out.
He is appealing to hard-core Tea Party conservatives and born-again evangelicals; libertarian true-believers and blue-collar moderates. If caucus entrance polls are to be believed, Mr Trump even won Nevada Hispanics by a significant margin over two Cuban-American senators.
If Mr Trump is the winner, the rest of the field - no matter how it shakes out - are the clear losers. And they are losers who are running out of time to derail the growing Donald Trump juggernaut.
Can it be done? The odds are growing increasingly long, but here are five ways it might happen - and why it probably will not.
Republicans who hate Trump
22 things Trump believes
Marco Rubio has secured the blessing of Republican officeholders across the nation.
He finished second to Donald Trump in South Carolina and could repeat the performance in Nevada.
But second place is first loser, as the saying goes, and he needs to find somewhere to break through and notch some wins before Trump becomes inevitable. Where does that happen? Even in his home state of Florida he trails the New Yorker.
How Trump is beaten: The Republican Party apparatus has picked its candidate, and consolidated support allows Rubio to pull ahead while Trump never breaks past 30-40%. Maybe the Floridian forces Kasich out of the race - either by promising him the vice-president spot or by appealing to his civic responsibility.
It takes Rubio a while to start winning primaries, but when he does the victories snowball into a wave that carries the senator to the nomination.
Why it does not happen: The establishment field is still somewhat fractured.
John Kasich seems stubbornly determined to stay in the race, and Ted Cruz likely pulls away some anti-Trump support that could be Rubio's.
Time is running short. Despite a strong effort in Nevada, Rubio could not get any traction. If he is going to make his move, it has to be soon.
Is Marco Rubio Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare?
The momentum Ted Cruz had after his Iowa caucuses and second-place showing in New Hampshire has evaporated. He may have hoped his organisation in Nevada would allow him to be a surprise winner, but that was not to be.
As he said during his concession speech, next Tuesday, when a large slate of southern states vote, will be the "most important night" of his campaign.
How Trump is beaten: Cruz recaptures his magic thanks to a strong performance in his delegate-rich home state of Texas and across the South. Trump's air of inevitability is broken, and he falls back to the pack.
Why it does not happen: If there is a candidacy that is broken, it is Cruz's.
He has endured a string of bad headlines, including having to fire his chief spokesman after a social media scandal. With his win in South Carolina Trump has already shown he can thrive in the South - and he buries Cruz on Tuesday with across-the-board victories.
Ted Cruz's rapid, rocky ascension to presidential candidate
Ohio Governor John Kasich did not even try to contest Nevada and seems ill-suited for the upcoming slate of southern primaries. Where he does have a chance, however, is in his home state of Ohio, which votes on 15 March.
Starting then, many of the states, including Ohio, are winner-take-all. That is where Kasich makes his move.
How Trump is beaten: If Kasich can nab all of Ohio's delegates and maybe pick off another Midwest state or two, he could garner enough support to deny Trump the nomination.
If no one has a majority of the delegates at the end of the primary process, there is a brokered convention where the presidential nominee will be decided by behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and deal-striking between the various candidate camps.
Why it does not happen: Kasich currently trails Trump in Ohio and across the Midwest. He has got little momentum and even less money. If he survives to 15 March, it will be only just barely. There has not been a Republican brokered since 1948 - ancient history in US politics.
Who is John Kasich?
The editors of the Boston Globe suggested an interesting strategy for left-leaning independent voters in Massachusetts, where Trump currently holds a large lead over his Republican competitors. In the state's primary on 1 March, they said, even unaffiliated liberal voters should cross party lines and support one of Trump's opponents.
By picking someone other than Trump, they would keep the New Yorker's margin of victory down and deny him delegates.
How Trump is beaten: With Massachusetts voters leading the way, independents and even Democrats in states with open primaries flock to the polls to stop a candidate they view as toxic. That helps lessen Trump's advantage in new voters and tips the electoral scale to one of his opponents.
Why it does not happen: Some Democrats appear to be openly cheering for Trump to burn the Republican Party to the ground, figuring he will be easily defeated in the general election. Besides, the Bernie Sanders v Hillary Clinton battle is still going strong, and they might be more concerned with actually picking their party's nominee.
Maybe, just maybe Trump finally says something so outrageous, so politically radioactive that it torpedoes his candidacy.
Perhaps there's a position so anathema to conservatives that even Trump cannot take it without alienating his voters. Or maybe there is a segment of the population the New Yorker just cannot insult without repercussions.
How Trump is beaten: Conservative voters shake their heads, as if emerging from a long slumber, and decide they do not want to support a brash, controversial businessman for commander in chief after all. There was a line out there, and Trump finally crosses it.
Why it does not happen: There is no line. This is not a dream. Trump may still be beaten, but he is not going to beat himself.


Logistics and airport services group John Menzies has reported a sharp fall in first-half profits, despite boosting revenues over the period.

Revenue rose by 21% to £1.2bn, while pre-tax profit fell by more than 80% on the same period last year to £500,000.
Menzies attributed the fall largely to costs linked to an acquisition and an unsuccessful attempt to sell its distribution business to DX Group.
That deal fell through on Monday after the two firms failed to agreed terms.
Menzies said transaction-related costs amounted to £12.5m, including the acquisition of plane refuelling business Asig last year and work linked to the scrapped DX deal.
There were also costs and charges of £5.1m relating to its pension scheme.
The Edinburgh-based company said its aviation business had been boosted by the acquisition of Asig, with turnover exceeding that of distribution for the first time.
Distribution delivered a "slightly lower result", the company said, as a result of a drop in newspaper and magazine volumes and a lack of football-related sticker sales in the period.
Chairman Dermot Smurfit said the group was "trading well", adding: "Menzies Aviation continues to go from strength to strength.
"The recently acquired Asig business is integrating well and generating many opportunities for growth.
"Within the rest of the business, contract win momentum continued and we are benefiting from our investments into infrastructure and innovation.
"Menzies Distribution remains a strong business, performing well despite cost and volume pressures."


BT has bowed to demands by the telecoms regulator Ofcom to legally separate Openreach, which runs the UK's broadband infrastructure.

Ofcom said that Openreach will become a distinct company with its own staff, management and strategy "to serve all of its customers equally".
It must consult with customers such as Sky and TalkTalk on major investments.
Ofcom boss Sharon White told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "we can now expect better service from Openreach".
Openreach controls the fibre connections, ducts and pipes behind the UK's broadband infrastructure and sells access to BT's rivals, such as TalkTalk and Sky.
The regulator had threatened to force BT to legally separate Openreach.
However, Ofcom said on Friday that the company had agreed to all of the changes needed to address its competition concerns.
"As a result, Ofcom will no longer need to impose these changes through regulation. The reforms have been designed to begin this year."
BT's rivals such as Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone, which use Openreach's network to offer broadband to consumers, have long complained of high charges, poor service and failure to invest in the division.
Ms White called it a "significant day" for phone and broadband users and pledged to "carefully monitor" how the revamped Openreach performs.
Sky welcomed the announcement: "A more independent Openreach is a step towards delivering better service to customers and the investment that the UK needs. It's important that today's agreement is now implemented by BT in good faith and without delay."
Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, said: "We hope this is the start of a new deal for Britain's broadband customers, who will be keen to see a clear timetable from Openreach setting out when their services will improve."
Vodafone said it is "an encouraging start".
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said: "Now we need to see this deal implemented, along with significant improvements to Openreach's service standards, and  increased investment by Openreach in the country's digital infrastructure."
BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said the deal, reached after two years of negotiations with Ofcom, meant Openreach would have its own board and make its own investment decisions. However, he admitted that BT would set the overall budget.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The BT board will set the annual budget. As the 100% shareholder, the owner of the company that's not unreasonable."
It has been a lengthy, not to say tortuous, saga but now the battle over the future of BT - and the UK's broadband infrastructure - appears to be over.
A legal separation of Openreach and BT may not satisfy those who feel the parent company should have been forced to sell the broadband division.
But even fierce critics such as Sky and TalkTalk appear to be accepting that this is a more realistic option. A forced sell-off could have meant a lengthy legal battle that would not have done anything to speed up the rollout of superfast broadband at a crucial time.
But will customers see any difference? The accusations had been that Openreach delivered a poor service, favoured BT over other suppliers and was pressured to deliver cash to fund the acquisition of expensive sports rights.
That last charge was always denied by BT - but it accepts that it needs to do better when it comes to serving customers.
Will an Openreach run by an independent board suddenly see an economic case for investing billions more in fast fibre broadband connections right into homes when BT did not? That seems doubtful.
The other question is whether BT's shareholders will be happy to see a vital part of their company sail off on its own. They still own Openreach but have little control. Maybe they will end up feeling it would be better just to sell it off and say goodbye.
Under the agreement, Openreach chief executive Clive Selley will report to its chairman, Mike McTighe. However, the boss will still have to report to Mr Patterson on legal, fiduciary and regulatory issues.
BT's chief executive can veto the appointment of Openreach's boss, but only after notifying Ofcom.
Openreach's 32,000 staff will transfer from BT to allow the new business to "develop its own distinct organisational culture".
Mr Patterson said the agreement would end a "period of uncertainty" for staff. "We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future," he said.
He also admitted that Openreach's service has "not been where it needed to be" and said the separation would improve the situation.
The BT logo will also be removed from Openreach's branding.
Shares in BT jumped 4.3% to 344.2p in morning trading in London.
George Salmon at Hargreaves Lansdown said keeping Openreach as part of BT, but with its own board and brand, "should put to bed any lingering concerns investors may have had over this potentially disruptive issue".


Former Conservative party treasurer Michael Spencer has denounced efforts by some EU countries to strip London of key financial services after Brexit.

He said it was "a real nasty piece of economic nationalism and protectionism" to insist that euro-denominated deals should be settled in the EU.
Mr Spencer, chief executive of NEX Group, told the BBC that he had voted Remain in the June 2016 referendum.
However, he was now "fully signed up" to UK's decision to leave the EU.
EU financial services commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis is arguing that either the EU should have greater policing powers over euro-clearing in London or the business should relocate to the EU.
The European Commission is set to rule on the matter next month.
Mr Spencer told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This proposal by certain people in Europe to repatriate euro-clearing to the eurozone is nothing more than a real nasty piece of economic nationalism and protectionism."
He added: "Logic would dictate that it's in Europe's interest to have a sensible agreement with the UK on financial services and not to seek to stupidly plunder, as some Europeans feel they can do, to try to plunder the UK's financial services.
"Damaging London, in my opinion, will also damage Europe and I think it is in the interests, certainly of the UK but certainly of the EU as well, to make sure that London's capability as a global financial centre remains properly intact and undamaged."
Mr Spencer founded ICAP, which became NEX Group last year following the sale of part of the business.


This week I went to the scene of terrible tragedy.

A river, swollen by raging monsoon floodwaters, had torn down a bridge on the main road between Mumbai and Goa.
More than 30 people are thought to have died when the great stone structure crashed into the torrent, taking with it two buses and a number of cars.
Some of the bodies were swept more than 60 miles downriver in two days.
We produced a short news report.
In the heart-wrenchingly brutal calculus of the newsroom, this isn't a major story. But zoom out, and you begin to see the outlines of a much bigger and more worrying picture.
India, indeed the whole South Asia region, has been riding a rollercoaster of extreme weather.
The summer monsoon is the most productive rain system in the world, and this year the region is experiencing a strong one. The floods it caused have affected more than 8.5 million people; more than a million are living in temporary shelters; some 300 people have been killed.
Though what really caught people's interest was the three baby rhinos rescued from the waters in the north Indian state of Assam.
The fact that 17 adult rhinos drowned got rather less attention.
But the important point is that the region is awash with water. Just a few months ago, it was a very different story. The previous two monsoons were unusually weak. The result was a terrible drought in northern India, and parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
And it was exacerbated by another extreme weather event - record heat.
India experienced its highest temperature ever this summer, a blistering 51C.
Rivers ran dry; water holes evaporated; reservoirs became dusty plains. And, once again, the statistics were staggering.
More than 300 million people were affected by water shortages - the equivalent of the entire population of the US. A city of half a million people was left completely dry. It had to rely on supplies brought in by train.
As if that weren't bad enough, in spite of the drought, the country was hit by a series of unseasonal rain and hailstorms. They caused such terrible damage to crops that some farmers were driven to suicide.
All these examples of extreme weather were widely reported, rightly so. What tended not to be discussed was the underlying cause.
We are all interested in weather; few of us want to be told - once again - that our lifestyles are disrupting the global climate. Yet the truth is that many climatologists believe the monsoon, always fickle, is becoming even more erratic as a result of global warming.
The picture in the last couple of years is complicated by the fact that the world has been experiencing a particularly strong El Nino, the periodic weather variation caused by warming of the sea in the Pacific.
But a series of long-term studies have shown the number of extreme rainfall events in South Asia increasing while low-to-moderate events are decreasing. And increasingly erratic and extreme weather is precisely what scientists expect climate change will bring.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted "rainfall patterns in peninsular India will become more and more erratic, with a possible decrease in overall rainfall, but an increase in extreme weather events".
Since the monsoon accounts for as much as three-quarters of rainfall in some areas, any change is a huge issue. The more extreme the storms, the more likely we are to see more tragedies like the shattered bridge I visited this week.
Now, since you've read this far, I hope you'll excuse me if I take a moment to ram my point home a little harder because there is growing evidence that climate change isn't just restricted to South Asia.
Ask anyone who follows the issue and they'll tell you that this year is already well on the way towards becoming the hottest ever. The previous record was last year; before that it was 2014. In fact, the 11 warmest years have occurred since 1998.
I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about the weather, just that we need to talk about the climate too.


Following Labour's heavy defeat in Scotland at the general election, BBC Scotland Investigates has been speaking to former leaders, politicians and activists to examine how the party that was born in Scotland and helped shape the country came to have only one MP north of the border.

The seeds of May's catastrophic defeat may have been sown a way long back in the complacency of Labour's dominance in local government, its move away from its roots or its past political decisions.
But in 1997 Labour could not have been riding higher across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Tony Blair's landslide victory led to a referendum on Scottish devolution and the setting up of the Scottish Parliament.
Could Scottish Labour's current problems be down to one of its greatest achievements north of the border?
After winning the 1997 referendum on devolution, the next task was choosing the members who would stand for election to populate Holyrood and steer the new devolved parliament.
Some claim the process was not impartial, with the party reaching for a top-down process, with Westminster, not Scottish Labour, taking a lead.
IAN DAVIDSON (Glasgow MP 1992 until 2015)
"Behind it all was Donald Dewar who was a tremendous intellectual and social snob.
"I mean Donald had a very clear view about what he wanted to have in the Scottish Parliament and he basically wanted Liberals and Labour, sort of like Glasgow University debaters and lawyers, as it were, running the whole establishment and he wanted people to come in there that were going to go along with that."
SUSAN DEACON (Labour MSP 1999 to 2007)
"It was supposed to be about the great and the good selecting the brightest and the best but what it actually did was deny the chance for a whole lot of very talented and accomplished people, including a number of sitting MPs, from actually even putting themselves forward for selection.
"That first Scottish parliamentary Labour group didn't have within it some real talents that could have been there. And I think we paid the price for that."
DAVID WHITTON (Special advisor to Donald Dewar and Labour MSP from 2007 to 2011)
"I think it was cataclysmic. The parliament had only been going for just over a year.
"The fact that Donald was not there to lead it through its first four years did untold damage to the parliament and did untold damage because the last thing we needed was a leadership vacuum at that point in time."
BRIAN WILSON (Cunninghame North MP 1987 to 2005)
"That there was no succession planning for leadership.  It was a great tragedy that Donald died, but things just went from bad to worse thereafter."
HELEN LIDDELL (Labour MP 1994 to 2005)
"Frankly Scottish Labour could start a fight in an empty house. "
HENRY MCLEISH (who succeeded Donald Dewar as Scottish Labour leader and first minister in 2000)
"Personal care free at the point of need seems like a great step forward. But the worry at Westminster was the English may want it as well. How horrific.
"So you would have spats with the ministers, you would have some fairly hectic, intense and language exchanging sessions with them.
"People felt that, you know, it was a kind of second division parliament, and that got us off to a bad start.
"And to be honest with you, that hasn't wholly disappeared in the last 16 years."
JACK MCCONNELL (Scottish Labour leader and first minister from 2001 to 2007)
"In Scotland local government had been Labour's great powerbase through the opposition years and the creation of the Scottish Parliament, to some extent, eclipsed local government.
"And at the other end I think the Westminster MPs found it really hard to cope with the fact that suddenly there was this bunch of new MSPs who were getting more publicity in the local papers, who had more day-to-day responsibility than they had, and they found - they were defensive I think, over a long period of time."
IAN DAVIDSON (Labour MP)
"I think it's fair to say that Jack and Henry's periods were less than total successes, and I think I can understand why they would want to blame somebody else for that."
"They weren't forceful enough.  They should have been doing far more for working people and their families. Simply to say a "bad boy at Westminster blocked them" all the time, isn't really good enough. I can understand why they say it, but it's not true."
SUSAN DEACON (Labour Scottish government minister)
"Week on week, discussions about policy and so on were driven, not by kind of long-term aims.
"I'm thinking here, within the parliamentary group for instance - but rather about how you'd win the vote that week, what the headline would be, how we'd be seen to be getting one over on the Nats, for example, that was typically the exchange.
"And I know that many of my erstwhile colleagues will despise me for saying that, but I'm sorry, that's what it felt like to me, and that's what I disliked, and I firmly believe it's what an awful lot of the Scottish public disliked too."
Of all the events said to have contributed to the fall of Labour in Scotland, and which caused damage to Labour nationally, one looms large.
Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision in 2003 to lead the UK to war in Iraq.
LORD FALCONER (close friend and confidant of Tony Blair)
"I think the Iraq war damaged Labour everywhere, and I think that the Iraq war is perceived to be a mistake.
"That damaged Labour right throughout Scotland and England, but I'm not sure that it necessarily damaged Labour more in Scotland than it did in England.
"In 2005 and 2010, after the Iraq war, there were elections in which Labour were returned, once with Tony Blair in 2005 and then in 2010 in Scotland, although Labour was not returned as a national government, as I said before, it did better.
"So, yes Iraq was damaging, the question was it more damaging in Scotland than it was elsewhere, I'm not sure that it was."
By 2007, Labour's grip on power was slipping and the SNP became the biggest party by one seat and formed a minority government.
Labour had been the incumbent party of government in Holyrood since 1999 and at Westminster since 1997.
But now it had been eclipsed as the main party of power in Scotland for the first time in decades.
For a party unused to defeat, the recriminations started.
JACK MCCONNELL (the defeated Scottish Labour leader in 2007)
"I think there was initially defensiveness that was then added to anger after the SNP won in 2007.
"And I have to say defensive anger is not a good starting point for a political party that's trying to rebuild its levels of support.
"But that was what was driving much of Labour decision-making and tone from 2007 onwards. That there was this anger that the voters had done the wrong thing, how dare they?"
IAIN GRAY (took over the Scottish Labour leadership from Wendy Alexander in 2008)
"I think if you do any kind of job like that the dangerous thing, but the thing which nobody can avoid, is you look back and think about things that you could've done differently.
"My view of the core of our problem, this is not the only problem but I think it's at the heart of it, is the inability of the party to really come to terms with the new political context created by devolution.
"I think I maybe half understood that when I was a leader.  I understand that much better now."
IAIN GRAY (the defeated Scottish Labour leader in 2011)
"The difference between what happened to us in 2011 and what had happened four years before, was largely about a very successful SNP campaign.
"My point is not that that wasn't a bad result - it was a terrible result.
"My point is we should've seen it coming because the roots of it actually lay back in previous elections."
JOHANN LAMONT (became Scottish Labour leader in 2011)
"I think when I took over in 2011 what I wanted was for us again to be credible politically. We described it at the time as being intensive care. We'd gone through a really, really bad election. You know, this was not a job that anybody was rushing towards in order to get plaudits.
"I wanted people to look again at the Labour Party and say: 'This is an organisation that has a purpose'."
Was the referendum the cause of Scottish Labour's problems or did it just expose them?
The Better Together Campaign, which included Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems, was supposed to show a united, pro-unionist front against independence.
However, it meant Labour being yoked to a party that had very different notions of society and what Scottishness should be.
JOHANN LAMONT (Scottish Labour leader during the referendum campaign)
"I took a view that we should be part of Better Together but I also recognise that there were people in our own party who are less comfortable with that.
"And, of course, we were having this kind of argument put back to us by the SNP, while they themselves were making that common cause, that somehow that we were doing the wrong thing by working with people in Better Together."
HENRY MCLEISH
"I believe that the Better Together campaign was created in London, and was delivered to Scotland to be implemented by the Labour Party.
"Speaking to many, many Labour Party people, they were totally dismayed by the fact that we could have a platform with the Conservatives because we have no platform with the Conservatives on anything else.
"It gave the SNP a field day and in the referendum what we found was it was the SNP and their voice of Scotland against the rest."
JACK MCCONNELL
"The whole campaign design was wrong. There should have been an independent, non-party campaign for a No vote that the three political parties then each supported in their own way with their own supporters.
"This idea that you bring the grandees of the three Westminster parties together to come and tell Scotland what to do - it's a daft idea, it's always going to be problematic but nobody would listen, and organise the campaign in a different way.
"It is an example of what was wrong with the thinking - the idea that you can dictate to Scotland how it thinks instead of actually listening and engaging with people who are active in Scotland and have got some experience of the situation."
IAIN GRAY
"I said to a number of colleagues there that we have to think about the possibility that even if we win the referendum and Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom that what will follow from that will change the next election, and that next election will be 2015 - that election will be about something different, that it will be about Scottish identity and the constitution.
"And that for the first time in many Westminster elections the SNP will be able to find a strong relevance, and if that happens then you - Labour MPs - will find yourselves competing against the SNP in the way we had to do in 2011.
"And my colleagues said: "That can't happen." I could not convince them that the referendum would change the context. So what I'm saying to you is that that's not a tension. It was a failure to really understand how Scottish politics was changing."
BBC Scotland Investigates: The Fall of Labour is on BBC One Scotland at 21:00 on Monday 22 June.


Graham Dawe says he has "no emotion" ahead of his Cornwall side's County Championship game at Devon, who he previously played for and coached.

The ex-England hooker, 57, won the competition with Devon in 2004 as a player and as coach in 2007, and played in Cornwall's triumphant 1991 campaign.
Dawe has been Cornwall head coach since 2013, leading them to victories in the 2015 and 2016 Twickenham finals.
"It's a nice local game for me, but I'm travelling as a Cornishman," he said.
"I'm 100% behind Cornwall, there's no emotion at all."
The game will be played at Ivybridge on Saturday, with Cornwall favourites as they continue their pursuit of a hat-trick of County Championship titles against a Devon side who were only promoted to Division One because of a restructuring of the competition.
Devon head coach Dan Parkes played under Dawe at Plymouth Albion, and acknowledges his side are underdogs.
"It's going to be hard, the boys are going to be up against it," he told BBC Sport.
"For Graham the pressure is on, but I'm sure they'll get to their third final.
"The better we can do, the more likely we can attract players next year. Players play for Cornwall because they know they have a great chance of reaching Twickenham."


The international governing body for fishing has applied for angling to be part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Confederation Internationale de la Peche Sportive says accepting fishing as an Olympic discipline would enlarge the universality of the Olympic idea because angling is so popular.
Fish caught would be returned to the water unharmed.
But critics say fishing involves too much luck, is incomprehensible to outsiders and too boring to watch.
They reject Confederation president Ferenc Szalay's assertion that angling's "ancient and fair competition system" matches Olympic ideals.
Fishing is among a raft of sports aiming to secure Olympic status.
Skateboarding, surfing, climbing, Karate and baseball/softball have already been confirmed for Tokyo 2020.
The IOC said it hopes the "innovative" move will draw in new audiences by focusing inclusions on youth-oriented sports.
The five extra sports, which do not replace any of the 28 already on the Tokyo schedule, will include 18 events and involve hundreds of athletes.
Baseball and softball featured separately between 1992 and 2008, but made a joint bid to be readmitted.
Fishing has featured at the Olympics once before - it was an unofficial sport at the 1900 Paris games. Only six nations took part and there is no record of the eventual winner.


A bullet and an exploded hand grenade have been found in former World War One training trenches in Denbighshire during archaeological excavations.

Plans have been drawn up to create replica trenches alongside the original ones as a tourist attraction in the grounds of Bodelwyddan Castle.
Councillors have been recommended to approve the proposals at a planning committee meeting next week.
A decision was deferred to await results of the archaeological study.
The trenches, used by soldiers based at Kimnel Park Camp in 1915, have filled in over time.
Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, said the scheme would have an impact on the area, which is a Grade II historic park, and the views within it.
And the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust lodged an objection, claiming it would "interrupt an undisturbed area of parkland".
Apart from a few finds, the archaeological study concluded that the area was likely to have been left "mostly untouched since it was agricultural land".
Recommending the scheme be approved, the report said: "It is accepted that there will be views of the trenches and this will be in place of currently undisturbed gently sloping grassland, but again given the tourism and history benefits of the scheme such a visual appearance is considered to be appropriate."


For some people having a beard is much more than a simple decision for a change from being clean shaven.

More than 130 days after embarking on an epic swim, Sean Conway emerged from the chilly Pentland Firth looking like a shipwrecked Viking.
Water dripped from a full, red beard as he strode ashore at John O'Groats having swum the length of the UK coastline from Land's End.
And it seemed that his hirsute look - he was clean shaven when he set off from Cornwall in June - was something he needed to explain away pretty quickly.
After answering a couple of questions from the waiting media at John O'Groats about how he felt, he told reporters of his encounters with jellyfish.
"I had to grow a ridiculous beard to stop the stings," he added, explaining that the thick wiry hair of his beard had acted like shield against the creatures' stinging tentacles.
Others have grown, or sported fake, beards in the face of adversity.
In 2007, the Royal Air Force Regiment relaxed its restriction on the growing of beards in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan.
Elements of RAF Lossiemouth's 5 Force Protection Wing (5FP) were preparing to spend six months defending Kandahar airfield.
Beards are considered to be a sign of status in the country and the air force hoped that allowing some of its personnel to grow them would boost relations.
Royal Marines were also sporting beards during tours in Afghanistan for the same reason.
Growing a beard is contrary to RAF regulations, but the wing asked permission from higher up the chain of command.
A senior officer said at the time: "British personnel who have served in Afghanistan, particularly in the south of the country, found that a beard represents strength and virility and also age.
"When guys were out on patrol it was found that Afghans would go to the guy with the beard because they considered him to be the elder."
The RAF gunners were given three weeks to try and grow a beard.
A parade was then held and the commanding officer selected 14 with the best growth.
A group of French feminists has chosen to fight inequality with sarcastic humour and fake beards.
Called La Barbe, the group's members infiltrate high-level, male-dominated meetings.
During the proceedings they get to their feet and silently don false beards before one of them reads out an ironic statement congratulating the men on their supremacy.
The emphasis on facial hair ridicules antiquated male attitudes, according to the group.


Roma threw away a two-goal lead late on to draw a thriller with Bayer Leverkusen and leave themselves bottom of Champions League Group E.

Javier Hernandez scored twice for Leverkusen but two Daniele De Rossi strikes before half-time made it 2-2.
Miralem Pjanic placed a low free-kick to give the Italians the lead, before Iago Falque converted for 4-2.
But Kevin Kampl curled in from range and with four minutes to spare, Admir Mehmedi tapped in a dramatic leveller.
The German side could have won it when Hernandez fired narrowly wide at the end. They sit second in the group on four points, three adrift of leaders Barcelona, who beat BATE Borisov 2-0.
Their coach Roger Schmidt said "this was far from a normal football game", while sporting director Rudi Voller admitted his side "lost the plot" after Roma had scored their first.
Roma - who are without an away win in the Champions League since 2010 - are now bottom of the group and will realistically need to beat Leverkusen in the Italian capital on 4 November to stand a chance of reaching the last-16.
Match ends, Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4, Roma 4.
Second Half ends, Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4, Roma 4.
Kevin Kampl (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Edin Dzeko (Roma).
Attempt missed. Javier Hernández (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Julian Brandt following a fast break.
Wendell (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Wendell (Bayer 04 Leverkusen).
Vasilis Torosidis (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Roma. Juan Iturbe replaces Alessandro Florenzi.
Foul by Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer 04 Leverkusen).
Miralem Pjanic (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Admir Mehmedi (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Radja Nainggolan (Roma).
Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Edin Dzeko (Roma).
Goal!  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 4, Roma 4. Admir Mehmedi (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the top right corner. Assisted by Wendell.
Substitution, Roma. Edin Dzeko replaces Gervinho.
Goal!  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3, Roma 4. Kevin Kampl (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) left footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner.
Foul by Vladlen Yurchenko (Bayer 04 Leverkusen).
Vasilis Torosidis (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Miralem Pjanic (Roma).
Javier Hernández (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Kostas Manolas (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Javier Hernández (Bayer 04 Leverkusen).
Foul by Alessandro Florenzi (Roma).
Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Vladlen Yurchenko replaces Ömer Toprak.
Offside, Roma. Vasilis Torosidis tries a through ball, but Antonio Rüdiger is caught offside.
Corner,  Roma. Conceded by Jonathan Tah.
Attempt saved. Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hakan Calhanoglu with a cross.
Corner,  Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Conceded by Wojciech Szczesny.
Attempt saved. Julian Brandt (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kevin Kampl.
Goal!  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2, Roma 4. Iago Falque (Roma) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Gervinho.
Iago Falque (Roma) hits the bar with a header from the centre of the box following a fast break.
Attempt saved. Alessandro Florenzi (Roma) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Radja Nainggolan.
Foul by Iago Falque (Roma).
Javier Hernández (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Julian Brandt (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin Kampl.
Attempt missed. Kevin Kampl (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Admir Mehmedi.
Substitution, Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Julian Brandt replaces Christoph Kramer because of an injury.


Australia has been cautioned by the OECD to keep further interest rate cuts "in reserve" and that the country's booming housing market could be at risk of a "sharp correction".

The warning from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OEDC) came in its latest economic report on Australia.
Australia's benchmark interest rate is at an historic low.
But cheap credit has fuelled a housing bubble in some cities, warn analysts.
In May, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 2%.
Rising property prices in Australia's biggest city, Sydney, a strong currency and a drop in iron ore prices were among the reasons for the cut.
But Australia's treasury secretary John Fraser said earlier this week that Sydney was "unequivocally" in a housing bubble.
A shortage of new houses, cheap credit and generous tax breaks, together with money from overseas investors, have sent the city's housing prices sky high.
Home prices across some of the country's biggest cities have surged as much as 40% in the past three years, but the OECD warned that continuing momentum in Australia's property market added "to the risk of a sharp correction".
Given Australia was adjusting to its post-mining boom landscape, and considering the downside of rate cuts, the OECD said the country should continue to support investment in non-commodity sectors, among other areas.
It also said it should consider measures to boost competition, cuts to red tape and tax reforms in order to help boost growth.
The OECD's latest report said Australia's growth would likely dip to 2.25% in 2015, but that it would pick up to nearly 3% in 2016.
On Wednesday official numbers from Australia showed the economy grew at a better-than-expected 0.9% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the previous quarter, boosted by mining together with financial and insurance services.
On an annual basis the economy expanded 2.3%, beating expectations for 2.1%.
But economist Shane Oliver from AMP Capital told the BBC the numbers were "well below potential".
He also said the Reserve Bank of Australia "may yet still have to cut interest rates further into record low territory" to help boost growth.


Wales can become the most "active and creative nation in Europe", the minister responsible for culture says.

Ken Skates told the Arts Council of Wales annual conference people of all kinds could benefit if involved.
He said doing drama and sport had helped him cope with mental illness.
Mr Skates also urged arts groups to "explore and exploit every single option" for funding - crowdsourcing included - but stressed it was "not about removing government support".
"If we are to really truly ramp up investment and participation levels we need to explore and exploit every single option for getting more funding," he told BBC Wales after speaking at Thursday's conference in Cardiff.


A disused cross-Channel hovercraft is to partially open to the public following an eight-month campaign to save it from being scrapped.

The Princess Anne had been under threat after its site owners, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), announced plans to develop the land.
The vessel is stored at the Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-the-Solent.
It will be partially opened during the museum's annual Hovershow on Saturday and Sunday.
An online crowdfunding page has also been set up in a bid to raise Â£20,000 towards the restoration of the 250-tonne vessel on the former HMS Daedalus naval base site.
Museum trustee Ben Avery said it had been given a three-year lease of the vessel "with the intention of the HCA to hand the craft over completely to the trust at the end of the three years".
"This time period allows us to fulfil obligations in making the craft safe and of smart appearance," he added.
The museum said the cash raised via the crowdfunding appeal would initially be used to repaint the former Hoverspeed craft, make its roof watertight and for "sprucing up her interior".
An HCA spokesman said: "We are committed to regenerating this area to create new homes and jobs, and we also take our responsibility to national heritage seriously.
"This solution will protect the Princess Anne, whilst also ensuring that the rest of the site can be developed to provide much needed jobs and houses."
It had previously said it would consider options for a second hovercraft at the site - the Princess Margaret - once the lease for the Princess Anne was complete.
More than 21,000 people signed a petition to save the hovercraft which was set up by museum volunteers in January, after HCA announced it wanted to develop the land for homes.
The Princess Margaret and Princess Anne Hoverspeed vessels carried up to 400 passengers and 55 cars between Dover and France for 30 years.
They were taken out of service in 2000 and have since been stored at Lee-on-Solent.


Three men who used laser pens to dazzle pilots coming in to land at East Midlands Airport have been jailed.

Alex Parker, 19, Craig Appleby, 20, and 21-year old Luke Walters, all from Loughborough in Leicestershire, admitted endangering three aircraft.
In one case the pilots' vision was so badly affected they covered the cockpit and landed on instruments alone.
Parker was jailed for seven months while Appleby and Walters were given five-month sentences.
The trio were caught red-handed at East Midlands Airport in February last year after pilots of three planes and Air Traffic Control tower staff all reported being dazzled by a green laser.
Pilots of an Atlantic Airlines plane, returning from Switzerland, took the decision to land on instruments alone because of the laser.
A Monarch flight from Lanzarote and a Swift Air plane from Spain also reported the laser.
Judge Simon Hammonds, in sentencing the trio at Leicester Crown Court, said their actions endangered the lives of passengers and crew and he hoped the jail term would be a deterrent.
He said residents in the area would remember the Kegworth air disaster.
Speaking before he was sentenced on Wednesday, Appleby said he did not realise how dangerous it was.
"Now I know what dangers it can cause, it's horrible," he said.
"I'm very sorry it happened, it will never happen again. I wasn't aware of what we were doing."
Captain Martin Dudley, chief pilot at Monarch Airlines, said: "The real danger is flash blindness. A laser encounter comes unexpectedly and it's extremely bright," he said.
"That flash blindness stays with the pilot for a while."
Parker said he did not shine the laser but admitted owning it. Appleby and Walters admitted using the device.


Progress has been made at a Swindon hospital but further improvements need to be made, inspectors have said.

A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Great Western Hospital's critical care and service effectiveness as good.
But problems with long delays and infection control contributed to the site being given an overall "requires improvement" rating.
Warnings were issued when the hospital was last inspected in 2015.
The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the site, was also given an overall rating of "requires improvement".
Its chief executive, Nerissa Vaughan, said while there was "still more to do" the trust was in "a much stronger position than eighteen months ago".
The inspection found areas including urgent and emergency services, surgery and medical care need to be improved.
The findings, following inspections in March and April, found A&E patients were experiencing long delays and frequently being cared for in corridors, while infection control was not always managed well.
However, the hospital was rated as "good" in some areas, including its critical care and the effectiveness of services.
Ms Vaughan said: "We've been on a journey of improvement for the last two years.
"It's one we are still on and one the CQC recognised as being 'underpinned by realistic goals'."
The chief inspector or hospitals, Prof Ted Baker, said he was "confident that the trust is heading in the right direction".
"But this is of little comfort to someone who finds themselves today waiting for urgent attention in an overcrowded emergency department," he added.


A 16-year-old lifeguard helped save a man's life on a Hampshire beach 13 minutes after starting the first day of her new job.

Sydney Horsted was called to help a man with a suspected heart attack near the Pyramids leisure centre during her first patrol of Southsea beach on Sunday.
Sydney then helped co-ordinate the rescue operation between lifeguards and the ambulance service.
She described it as a "bit of a shock".
The teenager qualified as an RNLI beach lifeguard earlier this year.
She and her fellow lifeguards Naomi Groome and Elliott Daley were alerted when a man began suffering chest pains on the beach.
Rogan Wheeldon, RNLI lifeguard supervisor for Southsea, said: "Sydney was on her first ever day at work when the call came through that a man had suffered a suspected heart attack.
"The casualty's condition was assessed and he was made as comfortable as possible.
"The ambulance arrived quickly and the man was taken to hospital."
Sydney, who started her shift at 10:00 BST and received the call at 10:13 BST, said: "People often think lifeguards only rescue people from the water but we do a lot of first aid work on the beach."


An activist group in the United States has been carrying out deeds that some might think the stuff of dreams - buying and cancelling other people's student debts.

Rolling Jubilee has purchased and abolished $3.8m (£2.35m) of debt owed by 2,700 students, paying just over $100,000 (£62,000), or as it says, "pennies on the dollar".
The campaign group, which wants to "liberate debtors", says it takes its name from the tradition in many religions of marking a "jubilee" celebration by freeing people from debt.
An offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street protest that began in New York, the campaigners, funded by donations, say that more than three quarters of US households are in debt.
Debts can be bought and sold in the financial marketplace. But student debt, which has spiralled to an estimated $1.2 trillion (£619bn), is not usually as available to buy as other debts, such as unpaid medical bills.
In this speculative secondary market, third parties buy debt for a fraction of its original cost and try to collect the full amount from debtors.
But these debt campaigners are buying debts and then writing them off.
The student loan debts cleared by Rolling Jubilee were for students from Everest Colleges, a string of institutions owned by Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit education company.
A Facebook group is overflowing with reports of people having to pay back hundreds of dollars each month while working minimum-wage jobs.
Last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it was suing Corinthian over its lending tactics.
Laura Hanna at Rolling Jubilee says the student debt situation amounts to a "bubble".
The group pulled off the deal to illustrate how cheaply the money owed can be sold on the secondary debt market, she says.
"We wanted to question the morality around repayment," she says.
"Your debts are on sale. They are just not on sale to you."
Ms Hanna says the problem lies deep within the structure of the education system and the way that selling education as a commodity reinforces inequality.
Many of Everest Colleges' debtors are single mothers and are on low income, she says.
"It is documented that they end up worse off and have no better chance of getting work than if they simply finished high school," she says.
The group is hoping to show students that if they work together, they can renegotiate their debt.
Its debt collective has 350 Everest College students who are working to renegotiate their debt with the student loans companies and refuse unfair debts.
In the past few weeks, she says thousands more have signed up.
At the very least, says Ms Hanna, students have another tool for negotiating their repayments.
"As an individual, you should feel morally compelled to renegotiate that amount."
Dawn Kaylor is a 49-year-old single mother from Illinois. She is one of 40 million people across the country in debt because of their student loans.
She studied law at one of the Everest Colleges and owes $177,000 (£110,000).
"I live in fear and worry every day about what my future holds.
"It's a very scary and depressing situation to be in. The scariest part is there is no way out.
"There is no relief, other than death."
Ms Kaylor recently joined the collective to try and challenge her debt.
She now works in a bank, which pays minimum wage. She says she can pay back only $90 (£56) a month - but that is because she has deferred two of her loans as she is still technically enrolled at the college.
When she has to start paying back her loans in full, she says she won't be able to pay for medical care. "I will probably lose everything I have," she says. "Including my home."
Student debt can pursue people all through their working lives and into retirement.
The United States Government Accountability Office published figures last month showing there were more than 700,000 households with people aged over 65 still repaying student debt.
These pensioners still owed more than $18bn (£11bn) - and officials giving evidence to a US Senate committee said this could mean that student debt repayments could be deducted from retired people's social security benefits.
More than half of student debtors who are over 75 are in default on their loans.
This week, the Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen warned the quadrupling of the student loan debt since 2004 represented a barrier to social mobility.
John Aspray, national field director at the United States Student Association (USSA), said recent changes in law mean people in medical or gambling debt can declare themselves bankrupt - but to do so for student debt means satisfying an '"undue hardship" criteria, which is very difficult to prove.
"Opportunities for renegotiating are very well hidden," he says.
He says Rolling Jubilee's work was "important and symbolic" as a lot of people "don't even consider" getting rid of their debt.
As 85% of student loans are guaranteed by the national government the USSA is putting pressure on the department to "cut contracts with the worse corporations", says Mr Aspray.
"Political reforms are needed," he says. "We are going to see people continuing to rebel against this."


A former solicitor who defrauded her clients out of nearly £1m has been jailed for three years and four months.

Kimberley Bridge used the money to prop up her struggling law firm, SFN Solicitors, in Burnley, Lancashire.
The 44-year-old, of Cumbrian Way, Burnley, was a partner at the now defunct firm.
Financial irregularities were raised by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA) after a visit in October 2012, Preston Crown Court heard.
The authority, which struck Bridge off in April 2014, contacted police and a criminal investigation began.
Because of Bridge's actions, the SRA said her company had run up a £186,000 shortfall in its client account by November 2011.
She tried to conceal this, the regulator said, by creating a fictitious property sale, then claiming she was taking the lender to court for failing to transfer funds.
By August 2012, the SRA said there were £714,000 of payments that had not been allocated to the correct clients in the ledger.
Of this, £232,000 had been paid into Bridge's personal account.
After sentencing, Det Sgt Nick Hodgeson from Lancashire Police said he was pleased with the outcome of the "long and complex investigation".
He said Bridge had shown "little empathy for her actions after preying on her victims", some of whom were "extremely vulnerable".
Mr Hodgeson, who said some victims had not been compensated, said: "The public rightly expect that solicitors and those in positions of trust should uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity.
"Her fraudulent activities have been an extreme breach of that trust."


Police have issued a warning about heroin after the deaths of three people in five days.

Gwent Police said it was "extremely concerned" after five incidents potentially linked to heroin were reported between 23 October and Friday.
They happened in Caerphilly, Newport and Blaenau Gwent.
Det Insp Leigh Mears said he "cannot rule out the possibility that the deaths and the medical emergencies are linked to the same batch of heroin".
He added: "The use of heroin is of course illegal, but I would urge anyone using the drug to be especially cautious and vigilant.
"If they experience any unusual symptoms after taking drugs, they should seek medical attention immediately."


A 99-year-old Netherlands woman has fulfilled a "bucket list" dream - by spending time in a police cell.

Most people in custody are less than happy about it, but in pictures shared by officers on Facebook, Annie could not have been more delighted.
Annie, who had not committed any crime, was allowed to sit in a cell at the police station in Nijmegen Zuid, 75 miles south-east of Amsterdam, in order to achieve "one of her last wishes".
The idea came from her family.
"Her niece came to us with this request," a police officer at the station told the BBC. "When she was reporting a crime, she told the police officer about Annie's 'bucket list'."
And social media users around the world have been queuing up to congratulate her, as the post detailing her stint inside a cell has been widely shared, generating thousands of reactions online.
"You are no-one until you go to jail. Great job Auntie!" one user commented. Others praised the police for helping Annie to realise her dream.
"You get many unusual requests with this profession," the police officer said. "We thought it would be nice to do something special for Annie."
By UGC and Social News team


A British adventurer and a former French rugby player claim to have set a world record for the "longest polar journey on foot in history".

Ben Saunders, 36, from Plymouth, and former Wasps player Tarka L'Herpiniere, 32, trekked 1,795 miles to complete Captain Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition.
The pair endured temperatures of -46C (-51F) on their 105-day journey.
Mr Saunders said it had brought them "close to the brink".
Captain Robert Falcon Scott led the first British team in the Terra Nova Expedition in 1912, but on the return journey their food supplies ran out and they all perished..
Mr Saunders and Mr L'Herpiniere set off from Scott's Terra Nova Hut on 25 October and reached their destination at about 01:15 GMT.
Source: BBC History
How did Amundsen beat Scott to the pole?
Organisers of the Scott Expedition said it was a the world record for the longest polar journey on foot in history.
Mr Saunders said the achievement was "almost impossible to comprehend".
"Completing Scott's Terra Nova expedition has been a lifelong dream and I'm overcome to be standing here at the finish."
He said the trek - hauling heavy sleds and experiencing temperatures as low as -46C (-51F) - had been a "mammoth undertaking" that had tested the bounds of their bodies and minds.
"At times we found ourselves in dire straits in the intense cold, wind and altitude of the high plateau, weakened by half-rations and closer to the brink of survival than I had ever anticipated," he said.
"Both Tarka and I feel a combination of awe and profound respect for the endurance, tenacity and fortitude of Captain Scott and his team a century ago."
Writing in his blog, Mr Saunders said receiving a message from Prince Harry in January had "made their day".
When Captain Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans reached the pole, they found a Norwegian flag planted by a rival team led by Roald Amundsen.
Mr Saunders is one of only three people in history to have skied solo to the North Pole, becoming the youngest explorer to complete the journey at the age of 26.


Aberdeen and Edinburgh are among the top 10 UK cities for their high wages and low welfare payments ratio, according to a report from a think tank.

The Centre for Cities said the Granite City and the Scottish capital were both doing well because of high-skilled jobs.
But it warned that competitive salaries were also driving up housing costs.
No Scottish cities were in the top 10 for "low-wage, high-welfare" economies.
The 2016 report - described as a "health check" for the 63 largest UK cities - focused on Chancellor George Osborne's vow to build a "higher wage, lower welfare" economy, as set out in the Summer Budget 2015.
It argued that nearly a million new jobs had been created in cities since 2010 - but that the average salary had also dropped by £1,300 per resident.
London topped the list of "high-wage, low-welfare" city economies, with an average weekly salary of £629 and welfare spend per capita of £3,045.
Aberdeen sat at number four with an average weekly salary in 2014 of £548 and welfare spend of £2,513. Edinburgh was eighth, with figures of £524 and £2,809, respectively.
The think tank said the two areas' ability to attract high-skilled jobs - in the oil and professional services industries for example - was the key to their success.
It argued that cities with high wages had seen faster jobs growth, with employment rising by 10% since 2010, compared with 3% in low-wage cities.
But it also found welfare spending had grown at a much faster rate in high-wage cities, with benefit payments more than 50% higher than in other places.
The report attributed this largely to high demand for housing, resulting in increased housing benefit payments.
The report added that welfare spending in high-wage places like Milton Keynes and Cambridge had risen by 4% since 2010, but had fallen in low-wage cities like Liverpool and Glasgow.


It may seem a little nuts, but a new road safety campaign launched by The Northern Ireland Squirrel Forum (NISF) is urging motorists to 'see red'.

Red squirrels are one of Ireland's most iconic, native mammals, but numbers are in steep decline as bigger and more aggressive, non-native, grey squirrels invade their habitat and spread disease.
Cars also pose a major threat. More than 70 red squirrels have been killed by motorists in the last few years and many more injured.
The NISF, in partnership with red squirrel groups across Northern Ireland, is appealing to drivers to "slow your speed, save our red squirrels".
The forum is encouraging householders to do their part by displaying squirrel warning signs on outside bins to highlight the danger to passing traffic.
Daniel McAfee, chair of the Glens Red Squirrel Group, said: "Too many of Northern Ireland's red squirrels are victims of speeding cars.
"Because of the greys, they are now confined to small patches of woodland. When they try to migrate across roads and start new populations, increasing numbers are being killed by cars.
"If motorists slow down, they will give the squirrels a fighting chance."
Squirrel groups have identified several Northern Ireland accident 'black spots' where there are currently strong red squirrel populations.
Together with members of the NISF, and Ulster Wildlife, they have devised a way in which householders in these areas can do their bit.
Mr McAfee said: "We are not permitted to display permanent signs, but as wheelie bins are set on road edges at least once a week, the stickers are a great opportunity to get the message across.
"Hopefully, drivers in these areas will see the stickers and note that red squirrels may be crossing the roads in their area."
Roads and areas identified as a significant problem for red squirrels are:
County Antrim has the largest number of squirrel road deaths with 54 of the endangered mammals killed on its roads.
In County Fermanagh, there have been 10 reds killed and in the area surrounding Mount Stewart in County Down, there have been eight.
However, these are only the incidents the squirrel forum is aware of. The actual number of reds killed or injured by cars is likely to be much higher.
The Forestry Commission estimates that there are only 140,000 red squirrels left in the UK compared with more than 2.5 million greys. So the future of the red squirrel in Northern Ireland is under severe threat.
Grey squirrels were first introduced to the UK from North America in the late 19th century.
To obtain a bin sticker, contact your local red squirrel group or email: squirrels@doeni.gov.uk
If you see either red or grey squirrels, or pine martens in your area, record your sightings online at: www2.habitas.org.uk/records/squirrels.


The Duchess of Cambridge has reopened a World War Two codebreaking centre, where her grandmother once worked.

The home of the Government Code and Cypher School in Buckinghamshire cost Â£8m to restore and was mostly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The duchess also met Lady Marion Body, a former colleague of her paternal grandmother, Valerie Glassborow, who worked in Hut 16.
The project has seen the buildings returned to their WW2 appearance.
Sir John Scarlett, chairman of the Bletchley Park Trust, said: "The work at Bletchley Park made an immense contribution to the victory of Great Britain and our allies in World War Two.
"It was a great honour to welcome the Duchess of Cambridge and to show her where her grandmother worked, especially now that Hut 6, along with other fragile buildings, has been restored to create a permanent and fitting tribute to the thousands of men and women whose work helped to shorten the war."
Iain Standen, the trust's chief executive, said the duchess had heard "first-hand memories of her grandmother from her Bletchley Park colleagues, demonstrating how veterans' recollections are central to telling this remarkable story".
Ms Glassborow, who married the duchess' grandfather Peter Middleton, was a civilian staff member at the centre where her twin sister Mary was also employed.
Documents dated October 1944 show she was probably a duty officer and worked in Hut 16, now restored Hut 6, where it is thought she chose which intercept stations staff should listen to.
The success of the centre's codebreakers in breaking the German cypher systems Enigma and Lorenz, are credited with shortening the war by two years.
Source: Bletchley Park Trust
During the tour of the centre, the duchess, dressed in an Alexander McQueen outfit, attempted to intercept radio messages.
Plans for complete restoration began at the end of 2011 when the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the trust a Â£5m grant and work began in 2012.
Veteran Lady Marion recalls working with the twin sisters on 15 August 1945 when they heard that the war had ended.
The three were on shift when their superior officer told them a signal had been intercepted between Tokyo and Geneva that the Japanese were surrendering.
"We just sat there in complete silence," she said.
"Commander Williams then just told us to get on with our work and we all laughed.
"It's something I could never tell anybody about because we were sworn to secrecy but it was a great moment to feel you were perhaps among the first people who knew the war was at last over."
She was among other former codebreakers meeting the duchess, who will be planting a tree to commemorate the visit.


South Africa's largest mobile phone operator Vodacom has announced it will be scrapping its M-Pesa mobile money transfer system in Africa's second-biggest economy.

For many pundits the move comes as a surprise, because M-Pesa has been a huge success in other African states - especially in Kenya where it was launched in 2007.
The service allows people without bank accounts to transfer money quickly, easily and safely using their mobile phones.
According to a World Bank report, only 12% of Africans with bank accounts use mobile money services.
However, this is not the case in South Africa.
Mobile phone usage is high - nine in 10 South Africans own a mobile phone - and a third of these are smartphones, according to figures from the Pew Research Center.
Yet South Africa has the most technologically advanced, financially liquid and accessible banking system on the continent.
About 75% of adults in the country have bank accounts, a survey done by technology research body FinMark shows.
In a statement, Vodacom Chief Executive Shameel Joosub said the success of M-Pesa in South Africa hinged on "achieving a critical mass of users".
But Vodacom has struggled to find the customers. That is the problem.
M-Pesa was launched in South Africa in 2010, perhaps with the hope of capturing the energy and excitement of a nation hosting the football World Cup.
Trading on its position as the leading mobile operator in the country, Vodacom thought it could build an M-Pesa customer base of 10 million in three years.
However, six years on the service only has 76,000 active users in South Africa, although many more have been registered.
M-Pesa: The mobile wallet
Source: Vodacom
Jambo pesa! (Hello, money! in Swahili)
A few reasons have been cited for its failure.
Vodacom had to partner with a bank to provide the financial service on its platform.
Nedbank was its choice - and although it is one of the largest banks in South Africa, the perception is that it caters for middle-class and high-income earners.
These customers already have an array of banking services and platforms through which to conduct their business.
South Africa is also a country where banks have actually made significant inroads in both urban and rural areas.
Though untested, it is said that there is a bank, branch or ATM within a 20km (12-mile) radius in any urban or rural settlement.
So the challenge in South Africa is not about access.
Rather it is the ability to use various technologies to support how people save, spend and invest their money.
In this regard, banks in the country are focused on developing new financial products that will enhance savings schemes and pension funds.
Mobile phone operators, on the other hand, are working towards opening more secure platforms - for instance linking banks, hospitals, retailers, insurers, municipalities and revenue services.
There is definitely still a case to be made for getting the unbanked population to open up accounts.
And statistics show this is the trend.
A 2015 KPMG report revealed that South African banks are growing at an annual rate of 7% and to date the industry has assets worth $361bn (Â£250bn).
The prospects for financial services are good.
Vodacom remains upbeat about the market in South Africa despite the failure of M-Pesa.
"We remain of the opinion that opportunities exist in the financial services environment and we will continue to explore these," Mr Joosub said
But the only real concern is the continued growth and stability of the South African economy.
The country has been facing severe economic storms caused by slow growth, a weakened currency, disinvestment in mining, factories closing down and unemployment on the rise.
These problems need to be tackled head-on, if communications, banking and services are to continue to thrive and create a new direction for this economy.
Africa Business Report is broadcast on BBC World News on Fridays at 16:40 GMT and 1840 GMT, on Saturdays at 1010 GMT and 1830 GMT and on Sundays at 0010 GMT.


Emergency crews are dealing with a house fire at a property in Clousta in Shetland.

They have described the fire as "serious".
Three fire appliances are at the scene.
Clousta is a community of about 70 people on the west side of mainland Shetland.


Barcelona's 39-game unbeaten run was ended by 10-man Real Madrid in another dramatic El Clasico.

Juventus, who won one of their first six Serie A games, went six points clear at the top of the table as nearest rivals Napoli lost, while Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic warmed up for Manchester City in the Champions League by scoring a hat-trick.
And in the Netherlands, Ajax great Johan Cruyff was honoured by his former club in their first game since his death last month.
But what else happened around Europe this weekend? BBC Sport rounds up the stories you may have missed.
There has been no shortage of English managers doing well in Sweden. England boss Roy Hodgson's early managerial career was spent in charge of several clubs there including Malmo. Before him Bobby Houghton enjoyed a successful spell with Malmo, leading them to the 1979 European Cup final.
As another domestic season gets under way in the Allsvenskan - Sweden's top flight - all eyes are on a Solihull-born former Stoke City and West Brom defender who is making a name for himself in a town, a six-hour drive north of Stockholm, famous for hosting World Championships in winter sports.
Graham Potter is 40 yet he has guided Ostersunds FK from the fourth tier to the top flight of Swedish football in just five years.
When he took charge the club was getting gates of 500. At the end of last season they were attracting 6,500.
On Monday they visit Hammarby in their opening game of the season.
"We've got to keep translating positive, attacking football into results," Potter told the Guardian. "It's going to be difficult but this is an historic period for the club - it's nice to be part of it."
Ajax legend Johan Cruyff was remembered by his former club before and during a 3-0 win over PEC Zwolle, which fittingly lifted them back to the top of the Dutch league.
As a player, Cruyff inspired Ajax to three European Cups and shared in eight league titles, before leading the Amsterdam club to the 1987 European Cup Winners' Cup as manager.
Fans paid tribute to the former Netherlands international, who died on 24 March at the age of 68, by walking from Ajax's former home to the Amsterdam Arena where they now play.
The match against Zwolle was then halted for a minute's applause in the 14th-minute, in reference to the shirt worn by the three-time world footballer of the year.
Around 150 former Ajax players attended the game, including Cruyff's son Jordi, who was presented with a number 14 shirt by current captain Davy Klaassen.
It's not often Manuel Neuer is beaten three times in one game particularly when he is representing the world champions.
Yet seven days after England's 3-2 comeback win over Germany in Berlin, normal service was resumed with Neuer back to doing what he does best - keeping clean sheets.
The former Schalke stopper, 30, helped Bayern to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and in doing so reached 150 Bundesliga clean sheets in his 311th match.
Only Oliver Reck on 172 matches and Oliver Kahn on 196 boast more games without conceding a goal.
The celebrations continued after the final whistle for Neuer. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) presented him with the World's Best Goalkeeper award for the third time in a row.
When Suso chose to join Liverpool rather than Real Madrid, the Reds must have thought they were landing some prospect.
The young Spaniard arrived from Cadiz and on his 17th birthday in 2010 signed a first professional contract at Anfield.
Sadly, that was not to prove the start of a glittering career on Merseyside as the midfielder was to make just 21 first-team appearances, scoring once in a League Cup tie against Middlesbrough, before joining AC Milan in January, 2015.
Twelve months on, he was on the move again with a loan move to Serie A rivals Genoa,  where the Spain Under-21 international has been a regular.
And finally this weekend came his moment in the sun as Suso claimed the first hat-trick of his career, scoring three of Genoa's goals in a 4-0 win over Frosinone to enhance his prospects of a permanent deal.
It's been an unhappy return to Ligue 1 for Troyes and the team embarrassed 9-0 in front of their own supporters by Paris St-Germain three weeks ago have finally been put out of their misery.
Promoted as champions of Ligue 2, the club from the Champagne region of northern France has had little to celebrate since.
They had to wait until their 22nd game before registering a top-flight win - 3-1 away to Lille - while Troyes' season tickets holders have had next to nothing to cheer after failing to secure a home victory all season.
So it was fitting the result that confirmed their relegation came at home - a 90th minute goal by Charles Diers earning Angers a 1-0 win to leave their opponents 19 points from safety with six games remaining.
Only Arles-Avignon, relegated after 31 games in 2010-2011, have been relegated earlier in a 20-club Ligue 1.


US-based Liberty Media is in advanced talks to take control of Formula 1.

Talks with CVC Partners, which owns a 35% stake in F1, are at an advanced stage, the BBC has learned.
Liberty Media has stakes in several sports and entertainment businesses, including the Atlanta Braves Major League baseball club.
A source close to the deal told the BBC's sports editor, Dan Roan, that an agreement is yet to be completed and other parties remain in talks.
Others that have considered buying into F1 include, Qatar Sports Investments, and Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins American football team.
CVC has held a stake for the past decade but sold some of its holding in 2012.
A sale would end years of speculation and rumours about a potential change of ownership for the motor sport.
German magazine Auto Motor und Sport said the deal had been confirmed by F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone and was worth $8.5bn (£6.5bn).
Mr Ecclestone, who owns a 5.3% stake, met with CVC co-chairman Donald Mackenzie and Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche, whose company owns the Mercedes team, at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday. Mr Ecclestone declined to comment about the sale.
The potential takeover by Liberty Media was met with cautious optimism in F1 circles.
CVC has been criticised for taking considerable profits from the sport, which has suffered from falling TV ratings in recent years.
The domination of the Red Bull and now Mercedes teams has made races more predictable. Mercedes team has won 13 of 14 races this season.
Given that Liberty is a media and entertainment group, analysts hope it will give more consideration to the spectacle offered by F1.
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said: "If there is an investor that wants to buy the shares it is good news for Formula One. Maybe it is good news that an American media company buys Formula One. There are things we can learn from the American way, particularly in digital areas."