Scottish universities should consider admitting students from deprived backgrounds whose grades are lower than their more affluent counterparts, according to a report.

The Commission on Widening Access said there was an "undeniable case for change" on the issue.
But it acknowledged the move would be "divisive", with concerns that middle-class students could be displaced.
The commission was set up by the first minister last year.
It was tasked with advising the Scottish government on how best to achieve its goal of ending the big gap between the number of students from wealthy and deprived backgrounds going to university.
The commission's interim report said there had been "steady progress" on the issue over the past decade.
But it stressed that "very significant socioeconomic inequalities" remained which were "unfair, unsustainable and detrimental to Scotland", and said the country had a moral and economic duty to tackle the issue
The report said it had been suggested that admitting students from deprived backgrounds with lower grades could have a detrimental impact on the academic excellence of Scotland's universities.
But it stated: "There is increasingly strong evidence that with the right support, bright students from deprived backgrounds can enhance, rather than jeopardise, academic excellence."
The report said other opposing viewpoints included:
But it added: "Unless we are prepared to accept the notion that Scotland's talent is concentrated in its most affluent communities, it is clear that, through accident of birth, a whole section of Scottish society has nothing like an equal opportunity to maximise their talent and reap the benefits of higher education.
"We believe that this is fundamentally unfair and that the ultimate goal of widening access should be to eliminate socioeconomic inequality.
"Equality of access is not just a passport to a better life for individuals; it is also a passport to a fairer, better Scotland."
The report also said there was strong evidence that parental experience of higher education was one of the most influential factors in determining the likelihood of a child entering university.
It added: "This means that equal access is capable of transmitting the social and economic benefits of higher education between generations, breaking cycles of deprivation and contributing to a society that is healthier, wealthier and fairer.
"The evidence shows that a higher education is a passport to a better life. Graduates benefit from higher wages, significantly improved health outcomes and a higher life expectancy.
"We believe that Scotland has a moral duty to ensure that these opportunities are distributed fairly."
The commission's final report is expected to be submitted next year.
The interim report was welcomed by Education Secretary Angela Constance, who said more needed to be done to tackle inequality in education despite the progress that had been made in recent years.
A spokeswoman for Universities Scotland said: "Contextual admissions can help with this and it is one of many tools, but definitely not a silver bullet, that universities can use to help widen access.
"Universities will always look for the best and brightest applicants - our quality and excellence is very important to us and absolutely will not be compromised - but we are open-minded about what best and brightest actually means."


Telecoms regulator Ofcom has unveiled plans for the auction of fourth generation (4G) bandwidth for mobile phone services.

The sales process will start later this year but bidding will not begin until early 2013, which Ofcom said was in line with its previous timetable.
The regulator says it expects consumers to start getting services in late 2013.
It wants to see "at least four credible national wholesalers of 4G mobile services" to promote competition.
The auction will sell chunks of radio spectrum to support future 4G mobile services, which will allow users to download data such as music and videos at much faster speeds.
The regulator has previously said that the spectrum to support 4G services will not be available to use  until 2013.
It says its plans should see mobile broadband rolled out to at least 98% of people in rural areas across the UK.
By Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent
The auction will offer the equivalent of three-quarters of the mobile spectrum currently in use - some 80% more than released in the 3G auction which took place in 2000,
          Ofcom said.
It now wants to see at least four wholesalers of 4G mobile services so that consumers will benefit from better services at lower prices.
"In the interests of competition, Ofcom has decided to reserve a minimum amount of spectrum in the auction for a fourth operator. This could be either Hutchinson 3G or a new entrant altogether," Ofcom said.
Everything Everywhere - the merged operator of Orange and T-Mobile - Vodafone and Telefonica, which owns O2, are the other three operators.
A spokesperson for Everything Everywhere said: "While there are still some elements of today's proposal which we don't think are in the interests of competition or consumers, we are pleased that Ofcom is moving in the right direction and we recognise that we need to get this process moving now before the UK falls further behind the rest of the world."


Scores of people are reported killed in an explosion at an industrial gas plant in southern Nigeria.

A truck is said to have exploded as it was off-loading butane cooking gas in the town of Nnewi in Anambra State.
Reports of casualties vary from 35 to more than 100 people killed, including factory workers and neighbours.
Local police have confirmed the incident but have yet to provide further details. A huge fire reportedly followed the blast.
The dead and injured are being taken to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnewi.
A witness told the Vanguard newspaper that the blast was triggered when a truck began discharging cooking gas without waiting for the mandatory cooling time.
People who had come to fill up their gas cylinders were caught up in the explosion as well as passersby, the newspaper reported.
Witnesses say the explosion caused a huge fire that firefighters and residents took several hours to put out.


Ten new housing developments in England are to be built with healthy living in mind, under an NHS scheme.

Clinicians, designers and technology experts will work together to create the "healthy new towns".
Plans include homes with virtual access to GP services, safe green spaces to play and fast-food-free zones around schools.
The money to build the developments will come from council budgets and private partners rather than the NHS.
The places earmarked to test the ideas include existing villages in the South West, London and the North West and two new developments in Cambridgeshire and Darlington.
Some of the developments are already being built, but others will not be completed until 2030.
Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England, said a much-needed push to kick-start affordable housing across England had created a "golden opportunity" for the NHS to help town planners promote health and keep people living independently.
"As these new neighbourhoods and towns are built, we'll kick ourselves if in 10 years' time we look back having missed the opportunity to 'design out' the obesogenic environment, and 'design in' health and wellbeing," he said.
"We want children to have places where they want to play with friends and can safely walk or cycle to school - rather than just exercising their fingers on video games."


Three teenagers have been found guilty of the manslaughter of a young rapper who was stabbed to death in a fight over a stolen bicycle.

Myron Yarde, 17, aka Mdot, was stabbed five times in the leg in New Cross, south-east London, on 3 April.
Fauz Richards, 19, known as Mags or Maggie, and two youths both aged 16, were found guilty following an Old Bailey trial.
Judge Nicholas Cooke said "the evil" of knife crime had "to stop".
"Too many young men lose their lives in this way," he said.
The court heard Myron had lent his bike to 16-year-old Leoandro Osemeke, another promising rapper who was known as Showkey.
He would have been a witness at the trial but he too was fatally stabbed in an unrelated attack at a party in Peckham, south-east London, in August.
The court heard he had ridden the bike to buy pizza in the rival Monson neighbourhood where it was snatched.
When Myron - who was said to have been armed with a machete - went to get it back, he was attacked in Camplin Street after being cornered.
On hearing on Snapchat that Myron had been seriously injured, the 15-year-old defendant allegedly asked why Myron had come to Monson, followed by: "I think I've killed him".
When he was arrested four days later, he told officers: "Some people deserve to die, I just mean not everyone is innocent, including that boy that died."
The court heard that a kitchen knife found in Richards' back garden had Myron's blood on it.
All three defendants were initially on trial for murder.
Charlotte Edmonds, 32, and Jamie Kennedy, 31, of New Cross, were convicted of perverting the course of justice.
They will be sentenced on 13 January.


Four-weekly bin collections in Conwy county are causing an increase in rats, seagulls and flies, a councillor has claimed.

The council began a 12-month trial of monthly collections in September, to encourage residents to recycle more.
Councillor Bill Darwin, who represents Kinmel Bay, said the new arrangement was a "potential health time-bomb".
Conwy council said it is half way through the trial period and there is no evidence of an increase in vermin.
Mr Darwin said there had been an increase in fly-tipping in the Towyn and Kinmel Bay areas as people struggle to fit four weeks' worth of waste into one wheelie bin.
"It's not too bad if there's just one couple living in a house but it's a big problem for families," he said.
"People are resorting to taking household rubbish, including dog excrement and cat litter, to public litter bins and this is causing an increase in rats and seagulls.
"The smell is terrible and it's only going to get worse as the warmer weather comes."
More than 10,000 Conwy residents are taking part in the trial, while the council has brought in three-weekly bin collections for the rest of the county.
Clwyd West AM Darren Millar said complaints had "increased dramatically" since it had started.
"The situation is totally unacceptable and unless these changes are scrapped, it will have a detrimental impact on our tourism industry and local wildlife," he said.
The council's recycling and waste policy states that properties with fewer than six residents are restricted to one wheelie bin for household waste and that overflowing or open bins will not be collected.
There are weekly collections for recycling and food waste.
Mr Darwin is asking for more feedback from local residents as he writes a report to present to the council.
A council spokeswoman said there was "no evidence of an increase in vermin" and that "the vast majority of residents are disposing of their food waste correctly in their food waste bin".
She added the four-weekly trial was introduced after the council found half of rubbish thrown away to landfill could have been recycled, wasting Â£1.6m each year.
Since September, the trial has seen residents throw 507 tonnes less into their wheelie bins compared to the same period last year.


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Dywedodd yr heddlu fod y ferch fach wedi ei chanfod ger tafarn y Magpie and Stump yn Nhywyn tua 07:15.
Dywedodd Helen Douglas ar ran yr heddlu: "Rydym eisiau i'r fam wybod ei bod hi ar hyn o bryd yn cael gofal a thriniaeth yn Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.
"Rydym yn poeni am iechyd mam y ferch fach ac yn apelio arni i gysylltu â mi, Helen, ar 07835 92378.
"Yn yr un modd, os ydych chi'n ffrind, perthynas neu'n gymydog i'r fam, gallwch gysylltu â mi ar yr un rhif.
"Rydym eisiau sicrhau fod y fam yn cael y gofal meddygol sydd ei angen arni."
Mae'r heddlu'n dweud y dylai unrhyw un arall sydd â gwybodaeth allai helpu'r heddlu i adnabod i fam gysylltu â nhw ar 101, gan ddefnyddio'r cyfeirnod V103529.


Sussex batsman Ed Joyce has decided to retire from county cricket to focus on his career with Ireland and their bid to gain Test status in 2018.

The left-hander will remain available for Sussex as injury cover for the remainder of the season.
"County cricket has been a huge part of my life for the last 18 years," the 38-year-old former Middlesex player said.
"It is with a tinge of sadness that I've decided not to play on for Sussex this season or beyond."
Joyce, a former captain of Sussex, joined from Middlesex in 2009 and has scored more than 8,000 first-class runs for the county.
"I fully intended on playing at least some cricket for Sussex in 2017," he added. "But the realities of my various injuries, alongside my playing commitments here in Ireland have meant that this isn't possible."
Joyce will play for provincial side Leinster as well as Ireland, having recently appeared for them in the one-day international series against England.


Veteran republican Ivor Bell is to stand trial for involvement in the murder of Jean McConville.

Mr Bell, 79, from Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast is charged with two counts of soliciting the murder of Mrs McConville in 1972.
The IRA kidnapped 37-year-old Mrs McConville in front of her children at her home in the Divis flats.
When asked if he had any reply to the two charges he said "no".
He was asked if he wanted to call witnesses, and again he said "no".
The district judge said that following a two-day preliminary hearing last week she was satisfied that the standard proof had been met and there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Six of Jean McConville's children were in the court to hear the decision.  None of them wanted to speak after the hearing.
Ivor Bell was released on continuing bail. His bail conditions were amended, and he must now report to police once a week rather than twice.


Tens of thousands of people have protested in cities across Germany against a proposed transatlantic trade deal between the EU and the US.

Protesters say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will lower European standards on food and environmental protection, and could lead to outsourcing and job-losses.
Supporters of the deal say it promises to lower tariffs and promote growth.
The demonstrators were also protesting against a similar deal with Canada.
There were large crowds carrying flags and banners in seven German cities, including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt, all braving cool and wet weather.
TTIP: The EU-US trade deal explained
TTIP: Are US-Europe trade talks tanking?
Would Canada's CETA deal with the EU be a good model for the UK?
"I want us to get rid of TTIP and for European social and environmental standards to be respected, maintained and improved," said Peter Clausing in Berlin.
Many demonstrators said the deal would lead to exploitation of people by businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.
"It will be the enterprises and banks that will have power over people worldwide", said Tobias Kuhn. "That is a no-go. People need to know that and we will protest until there's no chance of that happening anymore."
The EU and the US began negotiating the trade deal in 2013, aiming to create the world's biggest free trade market with 850 million consumers.
A new round of talks is due to start in October, and President Obama says he wants the deal to be concluded before he leaves office in January.
A similar but smaller trade deal between the EU and Canada, called the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), is due to be signed in October.
The objective of the proposed TTIP deal is to remove or reduce barriers to commerce between the US and the EU. Negotiators are working towards eliminating most tariffs.
But the plans face opposition in Europe from citizens as well as some governments.
The French government has strongly opposed it, with President Francois Hollande casting doubt on when the deal would be reached.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs TTIP, but Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel last month said the talks on TTIP had "de facto failed".
Mr Gabriel, who is the chairman of the CDU's junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) does support the CETA deal with Canada, which he sees as a counterweight to China's increasing economic power.


The publication of key financial performance data from the NHS in England will be delayed until after the election, the BBC understands.

Regulator NHS Improvement had wanted to publish data on the scale of hospital deficits but was advised against it by the government.
NHS Improvement said it was "disappointing" the results could not be published until after the election.
The Department of Health and the Conservative Party did not comment.
In a statement, NHS Improvement said a date for the publication of the figures had to be agreed with the Department of Health, but this had not been done when the election for 8 June was called.
"We sought advice and clarification in the hope that a date for publication could be agreed but it was clear, after discussions with the department, that this would not be permitted without breaching Cabinet Office guidance.
"It is disappointing, but the financial results for the provider sector will have to be published after the general election."
The financial state of the NHS in England has been debated intensely.
In the 2015-16 financial year, hospitals and other trusts ran up deficits totalling Â£2.4bn.
The latest figures covering the three months until the end of March will confirm the deficits for the most recent financial year, 2016-17.
They are usually published ahead of NHS Improvement board meetings with the next one due before the end of May.
It is understood that NHS Improvement wants to publish the figures in line with normal practice, which should be within the next week.
But Whitehall officials have advised that because of so-called purdah rules there should be a delay until after polling day.
The purdah convention limits civil service announcements during election campaigns.
Some have argued that the rules are too restrictive.
Dr Mark Porter, BMA council chairman, said: "The government is clearly running scared, refusing to face up to the funding crisis that has put the NHS at breaking point.
"Delaying the release of the figures won't magically solve the very real problems our health service is facing."
Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: "The general election and purdah appear to be putting a number of important NHS decisions on hold.
"I would argue that it is only right and just that important data pertaining to the NHS in England is published. "
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said: "It's a cover-up to deny the public the true picture of the NHS.
"We demand full transparency so everyone knows the real state of the NHS when casting their vote."
NHS England caused some raised eyebrows at the start of the campaign by announcing that the monthly performance figures, including A&E waiting times, due on 8 June would not go out then because it was polling day.
A spokesman said the figures would be published on 9 June on the advice of the national statistician.
Meanwhile, leading scientists, in a letter co-ordinated by the Science Media Centre, have written to the head of the civil service, Sir Jeremy Heywood, calling for clarification of the purdah rules.
The signatories said that the public "are being denied access to the best experts" because university researchers felt unable to provide comment to journalists.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "It would be wrong to try and hide this vital information until after the election.
"The public deserves to know the scale of the financial crisis facing the NHS before they vote."


Plans for a £4.2bn "super sewer" under London have been given the go-ahead by the government.

Work on the controversial 15-mile (25km) Thames Tideway Tunnel, which has been proposed by Thames Water, will start in 2016 and finish in 2023.
The company says it is needed because the city's current Victorian drainage system cannot cope.
Opponents say the work will cause major disruption near tunnelling sites and insist there are better options.
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The tunnel will run from Acton Storm Tanks in west London to the Abbey Mills pumping station, in east London, and have a storage capacity of 1.25 million cubic metres.
It would eventually add up to £80 a year to Thames Water customers' bills.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "This is a challenging infrastructure project, but it is clear that the Thames Tunnel will help modernise London's ageing Victorian sewerage system, and make the River Thames cleaner and safer."
Thames Water has said the current systems overflow on a weekly basis, flushing 39 million tonnes of raw sewage straight into the Thames each year. The company said in 2013, 55 million tonnes of sewage polluted the river.
"If the tunnel had been in operation last year, it would have captured 97% of the sewage that poured into London's river," Thames Water's Andy Mitchell said.
"Hardly a week goes by when untreated sewage isn't pouring in to London's river and we are pleased that we can now start to tackle this archaic problem.
"This is a huge project but it's a huge problem, and we can now get on with tackling it."
But several London councils and environmental groups have criticised the project.
Southwark Council leader Peter John described it as a "ludicrous and evil decision".
And Christian Sarrasin, from the environmental group, Clean Thames Now and Always, said much of the building work would take place around the clock, causing "mayhem" for people who lived near the tunnelling sites.
"We've concreted over all the cities and that's why we've got this issue with the Thames Tunnel," he said.
He said there were cheaper, greener alternatives to it that involved preventing stormwater flooding into the sewers in the first place, such as green roofs and porous asphalt roads that soaked up or stored water.


A three-year-old girl's anti-litter campaign has prompted a council to increase the number of bins on its streets.

Matilda Rusby's family posted pictures of the young eco-warrior picking up rubbish in their street to social media.
Councillor Karen Bolger described the photos as a "wake-up call", and spoke with North Tyneside Council.
She said the council had arranged for extra bins and signs as a result.
Frankie Rusby, Matilda's mother, said her daughter describes litter in their street, in North Shields, as "naughty" whenever she sees it.
"It's a stark reminder of how bad things are when it takes a three-year-old to tell adults that this is wrong," she said.
"When I saw her with gloves on picking up other people's litter and putting it into her black bag I just thought 'this isn't right, my daughter should be playing on this street, not cleaning it' and so it went from there."
Ms Bolger said Matilda had shown people the need to be "proactive and proud of our area".
"Since getting in contact with the Rusby family I have enlisted the help of North Tyneside Council," she said.
"They checked the street bins and confirmed regular bin collection, they stencilled "pick up after your dog" on the pavement and they checked and confirmed road sweeping schedules."
She said she would be working with the family to encourage further clean-up efforts.


The Who's Roger Daltrey has confirmed a much-rumoured "megafestival" featuring his band alongside Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

The promoters of the annual Coachella festival are reportedly behind the three-day event in the US this October.
"What a great weekend it will be," Daltrey told BBC 6 Music. "They're all going to be there, on the one spot, at the one time."
"It's amazing really. It's amazing we're still here."
The historic festival was initially reported by the Los Angeles Times over the weekend, but neither the acts nor the promoters had confirmed the event.
It is expected to take place on the weekend of 7 - 9 October at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California, where the Coachella Festival took place last weekend.
The line-up is also expected to include The Rolling Stones and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.
It will be the first, and possibly last, time the artists - all Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees - have shared the same bill.
"We have to face it, we are [at] the end of an era," Daltrey told 6 Music's Matt Everitt. "We're the last of our generation."
"You can see from reading the obituaries lately that we [rock stars] don't make old bones very well, do we?"
The LA Times said Dylan and the Stones were expected to open the festival with back-to-back performances on Friday, 7 October, with McCartney and Young playing the following night, and Waters and the Who concluding proceedings on 9 October.
"I don't think any of us cares who goes on first," said Daltrey. "We've never worried about that. The music is all so different, that's not going to matter at all."
Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar said: "If you just look at it at face value, a bill like this doesn't exist anywhere else on the concert landscape."
"There are a lot of festivals, but nothing quite like what's being planned there. I expect it will resonate nationally - and internationally."
The Who are currently in the middle of their 50th anniversary world tour, which hits the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK on 11 June.
Dozens of dates were postponed last year when Daltrey contracted viral meningitis.
"I got terrible headaches, then I fell over. It was touch and go there for a few days," Daltrey said.
"I'm doing alright. I don't think I'm 100% but I'm singing better than I've ever sung in my life, so that's a good result."


Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has paid tribute to an officer shot during a police operation in east London.

The detective, who works in a firearms unit dealing with gang crime, was shot in the shoulder on Thursday afternoon in Hackney.
Sir Bernard said he had shown "great bravery" and that colleagues had described him as "exceptional".
He remains in a stable condition in hospital.
A 31-year-old man was arrested at the scene and a non-police firearm has been recovered.
Sir Bernard commented: "This officer has shown great bravery. His colleagues have described him as 'exceptional' and 'professional'. He has been that and more.
"Our officers confront danger every day. I am proud of all of them and the courage that they show."
A specialist firearms unit and officers from Trident Area Crime Command, which is responsible for tackling gang crime, were conducting an operation in Scriven Street at the time of the shooting.
No-one else was injured.
Witnesses reported seeing police dogs and helicopters and hearing gunfire as police entered Stonebridge Park estate.
Commander Duncan Ball said for operational reasons he could not reveal whether police had fired any shots, but said: "This incident reveals the very real risks our police officers face on a day-to-day basis while protecting the safety of Londoners."
Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: "So soon after the tragic death of an officer on Merseyside, this incident once again reminds us of the dangers faced by officers policing in 2015."
Witness David Silvester, 28, who owns an import business, said "The whole road was filled with undercover police. They all burst out of their cars (when the shots went off)."


Ten Tunisian diplomatic staff who were kidnapped in Libya a week ago have been freed and returned home.

Foreign Minister Taieb Bakouch said the consulate had now been closed and urged all Tunisians to leave the country.
He denied reports that the workers were freed in exchange for a Libyan militia commander.
Walid Kalib, who leads a brigade in the "Libya Dawn" alliance which controls Tripoli, was recently arrested in Tunisia on terrorism charges.
Libya Dawn official Jamal Zubia on Wednesday wrote on his Facebook page:
"The page of the Tunisian consulate will be turned and they will return to their families and the revolutionary hero Walid Kalib returns to his family,'' reports AP news agency.
Analysis: Rana Jawad, BBC News, Tunis
Tunisian officials have occasionally advised their nationals to leave Libya in times of crisis there in recent years.
More often than not, these calls are not heeded - this is partly why officials here decided to re-open their consulate in Tripoli in recent months.
Tunisia has very high unemployment and the livelihoods of a large number of its nationals depend on Libya for both skilled and menial jobs, as well as trade.
The recent kidnappings of Tunisia's consular staff served as a reminder of why most embassies pulled out of Tripoli last summer. Militia allegiances shift as frequently as the sand dunes in the Libyan desert.
There is no central security structure that anyone can rely on - not even those who are in power.
In urging Tunisians to leave Libya, Mr Bakouch said "we cannot again be subject to any blackmail," according to the Reuters news agency.
However, he said that the decision to deport Mr Kalib had been taken by the courts, independently of his ministry.
Why is Libya lawless?
Holed up in Tobruk
Libya descended into chaos after the uprising that led to the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
There has been no central government since then, with different militia groups competing for power.
Most countries closed their embassies during the fighting that ensued, but Tunisia recently sent consular staff back to Tripoli.
The UN is trying to negotiate a political settlement to the crisis in Libya, after insecurity in the capital forced Libya's internationally recognised parliament and government to relocate to the eastern city of Tobruk.
Libya Dawn last year seized control of Tripoli and surrounding areas.


A £5m community hospital has opened its doors to patients 18 months after building began on the site.

The 12-bed Bicester Community Hospital has facilities including a first aid unit and x-ray and physiotherapy suites.
In September the opening was delayed to rectify problems.
Chief operating officer at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Yvonne Taylor said it offered a "modern and safe environment" for patients.
Land on the site also has planning permission for 14 homes.
An official opening is planned for next year.


It has been a roller-coaster year of African news, from the historic elections in Nigeria to the momentous visits of the Pope and the US president.

To sum up the last 12 months, here are some of the best quotes:
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on the day of his historic inauguration in May
President Buhari said four months later on Nigeria's independence day
Can Nigerians stop being unruly?
South Africa's Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who denied that his comments in March fuelled xenophobic violence
South Africa xenophobia: Africa reacts
US dentist Walter Palmer, who killed Zimbabwe's famous Cecil the lion in July
What Cecil the lion means to Zimbabwe
South Sudanese model Nykhor Paul, who got more than 20,000 likes on Instagram after she posted the comment in July
Ghana's President John Mahama, being dismissive in March of the protests against his government. The quote has earned him the nickname "The Goat"
South African comedian Trevor Noah as he made his debut hosting Comedy Central's satirical news show in September
Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe, mocking a US Supreme Court decision in June to legalise gay marriage
US President Barack Obama on his visit to Ethiopia in July
What's Obama visit done for Africa?
Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe in November, after her 91-year-old husband was caught on camera struggling to walk
Tanzania's newly elected President John Magufuli, telling parliament in November about his drive to root out corruption and lazy workers
Tanzania's 'Bulldozer' president
Togo football star Emmanuel Adebayor, denying in a Facebook post in May claims that he failed to support his family financially
Pope Francis on his visit to a mosque in the Central African Republic in November
Pope of the poor makes big impact in Africa
Kenya's Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o told the BBC
Being African: What does hair have to do with it?
Judge Dunstan Mlambo, who criticised the South African government for letting Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir leave the country in June despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant
Why South Africa let Sudan's Bashir escape justice
Undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whose documentary this year exposed corruption in Ghana's judiciary
Ghana's anti-corruption blockbuster


A new logo has been revealed for BBC Three ahead of its move online, with 16 February announced as the date for the channel's switchover.

The new logo is made up of two white bars and an exclamation mark on a pink background.
It has been criticised on Twitter for the fact it seems to say BBC 2! in Roman numerals.
BBC Three's head of marketing, Nikki Carr, acknowledged the critics but added she was "not worried".
"Some people are resistant to change and we wanted to be bold and create something that looks forward and will be around for years to come," she said.
She added the logo needed to work both on TV and as an app icon, saying: "Look at Snapchat. They're doing okay without having Snapchat in their logo."
Ms Carr admitted following the BBC's satirical show W1A, "we're cursed at the BBC when it comes to marketing".
Many have pointed out the new logo looks similar to a sketch in W1A where the team came up with plans to replace the BBC logo with three bars.
But Ms Carr explained the three bars were chosen because the new channel is founded on three principles which underpin everything it does.
"The first is 'make me think'... The second is 'make me laugh'... The third, the exclamation mark, is 'give me a voice', which is what we will do for young people," she said.
Ms Carr said the BBC will make young people part of the decision making process at the channel and include them as content creators.
In the next few weeks it is launching a collaboration with 50 young creative people.
Content will range from short form films, blogs and animation, to picture-led stories and will be delivered daily via soon to be launched products.
In November the BBC Trust approved proposals to move BBC Three online as part of cost-cutting moves at the corporation.
It was agreed on the condition the channel's long-form programmes would be shown on BBC One and Two, which is likely to account for around two hours a week.
On 16 February BBC Three will become more of a promotional channel letting people know about content that can be found online.
The BBC Three TV channel will go dark in the weeks following.


More than 10,000 migrant children may have disappeared after arriving in Europe over the past two years, the EU's police intelligence unit says.

Europol said thousands of vulnerable minors had vanished after registering with state authorities.
It warned of children and young people being forced into sexual exploitation and slavery by criminal gangs.
Save the Children says some 26,000 child migrants arrived in Europe last year without any family.
It is the first time Europol has given a Europe-wide estimate of how many might be missing.
What happens to lone child migrants?
Migration to Europe explained in graphics
"It's not unreasonable to say that we're looking at 10,000-plus children," Europol's chief of staff told the Observer newspaper.
"Not all of them will be criminally exploited; some might have been passed on to family members. We just don't know where they are, what they're doing or whom they are with."
Officials in Italy warned in May 2015 that almost 5,000 children had disappeared from asylum reception centres since the previous summer.
In October, the authorities in Trelleborg in southern Sweden said about 1,000 unaccompanied refugee children and young adults who arrived in the town in the previous month had since gone missing.
Confirming the overall estimate of missing minors, a Europol spokesman said a large proportion may have also disappeared after landing in Greece. The country is the first entry point for most of the 1 million migrants who arrived in Europe by boat in 2015, and authorities have been criticised for failing to register and check the arrivals.
Criminal gangs known to be involved in human trafficking in Europe are now targeting refugees, Europol said.
There are fears unaccompanied children and young people may be dragged into sex work, slavery and other illegal activity.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesman Leonard Doyle told the BBC the figure of 10,000 missing children was "shocking but not surprising".
He said it was "to be expected" that many of these would be caught up in exploitation.
"Let's hope now the EU puts the resources into finding these children, helping them and reuniting these children with their families."
The BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler exposed the plight of vulnerable children arriving in Italy in an investigation last year. Here is an extract:
Fabio Sorgoni works for the Italian charity On The Road. He told me that there is a very short window of time to provide unaccompanied minors arriving in Europe with a safe haven.
By law, they are allowed out of reception centres during the day, when they easily fall prey to organised crime or individuals looking to exploit them, he said.
Few Italian centres have enough translators who speak the children's languages. They do not employ staff experienced in spotting victims of sexual exploitation.
Feeling uncertain and unprotected, thousands of children have run away from Italian reception centres, disappearing on to the streets.
With no one stepping in or taking responsibility for them, they're left to fend for themselves - doing what it takes to survive.
The warning from Europol comes days after the UK government said it would accept more unaccompanied child refugees from Syria and other conflict zones, without giving numbers.
However, it said it would not be taking in vulnerable children who had already made it into Europe.
On Saturday, at least 39 migrants, including several children, drowned trying to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.
The IOM said on Friday that 244 migrants had drowned in the Mediterranean so far this year, out of 55,568 arrivals.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


Drivers are being urged to leave more time for their journeys after two crashes on the M40 in recent days.

Four people were taken to hospital on Thursday after a three-vehicle accident in the early hours near the A40 turn for Oxford (junction 8).
On Saturday, a car ended up on its roof on a verge after a four-vehicle crash at junction 10 at 15:22 GMT.
John Callaway from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was "remarkable" that no-one was killed.
He added it was the seventh road accident his Banbury team had been called to in under a week.
Mr Callaway said: "This was a high-speed collision on a fast road, it is remarkable that nobody lost their life.
"Out of the four casualties, two were transferred to hospital by ambulance and two were treated at the scene. Fortunately none of the injuries appear life-threatening.
"With the onset of winter and more difficult driving conditions, I urge drivers to allow more time for their journey and adjust their driving accordingly."


Swansea City boss Paul Clement will have gained a lot as a manager from their battle against Premier League relegation, says West Brom head coach Tony Pulis.

The Swans were bottom of the league when Clement arrived in January as replacement for Bob Bradley.
Clement has won 26 points from his 18 games in charge and has been nominated for manager of the season.
"I'm sure they will be much better off for it next year," Pulis said.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Sport, Pulis continued: "Paul would have got a lot of experience from his time at Derby, although it didn't go that well for him there.
"The fact he's managed to come into Swansea, roll his sleeves up and pull them out of trouble, he'll become a better manager himself but I'm sure the club will do better next year under him."
Clement was assistant to Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich, and Pulis says he has adapted well to working at a smaller club in Swansea.
He was sacked as Derby boss, his only managerial role before Swansea, after eight months in February 2016.
"I think the great thing is that you've got a smashing manager who's had wonderful experience as an assistant at top clubs," Pulis added.
"He's had a go at Derby himself so he's found the pitfalls there and come back and done a fantastic job at Swansea.
"He'll understand and recognise that when you are working with a smaller club, those small margins are even smaller than what you could imagine to get the results that you need."
Swansea host West Brom in their final Premier League game of the season on Sunday.


With the excitement building for Euro 2016, all eyes are on Wales manager Chris Coleman as he ponders who to pick in his 23-man squad.

He will have to do so at least 10 days before their tournament opener against Slovakia on 11 June, and he has some tricky decisions to make.
So following the friendly matches against Northern Ireland and Ukraine, I've analysed which players have forced their way into the squad and those who could miss out.
Those friendlies were a chance for players to nail down their places in the squad, and I think a few really took their opportunity.
Fulham winger George Williams looked sharp against Northern Ireland and he looks like he's benefitted from getting more game-time on loan at Gillingham under former Newport boss Justin Edinburgh.  With his pace and trickery, I think he could have a big impact from the bench in France this summer.
It's a similar case for Jonny Williams. We all know how talented the Crystal Palace midfielder is, and it's good to see him playing regularly on loan at MK Dons. He would bring creativity to the squad, which could be crucial if someone like Ramsey picks up an injury.
Both George and Jonny Williams have been unlucky with injury, as has Emyr Huws, who I would also take to France. The Wigan midfielder has impressed on loan at Huddersfield this season and I thought he was excellent alongside Joe Allen against Ukraine.
I would also pick young Walsall striker Tom Bradshaw. He may be playing in League One but he's a prolific goalscorer and, as he showed with his substitute appearance against Ukraine, his movement in the box could make him a surprise package for Wales.
Coleman will have to make some tough decisions as he chooses his squad of 23, and the hardest bit of all will be telling some players that they have missed out.
I think Nottingham Forest midfielder David Vaughan will be one of those unlucky players. He is neat and busy but central midfield is one of the most competitive areas in this squad and I think he's a bit too similar to midfielders such as Allen.
Tom Lawrence, currently on loan at Cardiff from Leicester, is another who may just miss out. I thought he did well in his first start against the Netherlands in November but he struggled against Northern Ireland and Ukraine.
I don't think there will be room for Newcastle defender Paul Dummett, mainly because injuries have meant he's had to withdraw from a few squads.
The likes of full-backs Adam Henley and Adam Matthews, as well as midfielder Shaun MacDonald, just didn't have enough time on the pitch to make an impact.
Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward, Owain Fon Williams
Defenders: Chris Gunter, Jazz Richards, James Chester, Ashley Williams, James Collins, Ben Davies, Neil Taylor
Midfielders: Joe Allen, Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey, Andy King, David Edwards, Emyr Huws, Jonny Williams, George Williams
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Simon Church, Hal Robson-Kanu, Sam Vokes, Tom Bradshaw


The first victim of the fire at Grenfell Tower in London has been named by a charity as a Syrian refugee.

Mohammed Alhajali, who was reported to be 23, came to the UK in 2014 and was studying civil engineering while living in North Kensington.
Syria Solidarity Campaign said: "[He] undertook a dangerous journey to flee war and death in Syria, only to meet it here in the UK, in his own home."
At least 17 people died in the fire which started early on Wednesday.
The charity said he had been in a flat on the 14th floor with his brother, Omar, and the pair had tried to escape, but lost each other on the way downstairs.
Omar was rescued by firefighters, but Mohammed returned to his flat and tried to call family members back in Syria.
"Mohammed was on the phone for two hours with a friend in Syria, waiting to be rescued," said a statement from the charity.
"He was trying to reach his family... but he could not get connected to them due to the situation in Syria. He had not seen his family for four years.
"When the fire reached his flat... Mohammed bid his friend goodbye. He asked his friend to pass on the message to his family."
Both Mohammed and Omar had been due to join the charity with another brother on Saturday as part of The Great Get Together - celebrating the life of murdered MP Jo Cox - and Refugee Week.
Now the event will be used to pay tribute to Mohammed and the others who lost their lives in the fire.
The charity called for a "thorough investigation" into building regulations, adding: "Mohammed came to this country for safety and the UK failed to protect him."
Mohammed's family told the BBC that Omar was being treated in King's College Hospital and was improving.
They are trying to get UK visas for their parents so they can come from Damascus to see Mohammed's body.


Tim Peake is to carry out the first ever spacewalk by a British astronaut, Nasa has confirmed.

Mr Peake and Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) on 15 January to replace a failed voltage regulator.
Mr Peake launched on a Russian rocket on 15 December to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting outpost.
This will be the second spacewalk in under three weeks for Mr Kopra, who has flown into space once before, in 2009.
The two Tims will don their spacesuits and exit the US Quest airlock to replace an electrical box known as a Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU), which regulates voltage from the station's solar arrays.
Its failure on 13 November last year compromised one of the station's eight power channels.
The unit is relatively easy to replace and can be removed by undoing one bolt. Once this task is complete, the spacewalkers will deploy cables in advance of new docking ports for US commercial crew vehicles and reinstall a valve that was removed for the relocation of the station's Leonardo module last year.
Mr Peake supported a spacewalk on 21 December last year, in which Mr Kopra and station commander Scott Kelly moved a stalled component known as the "mobile transporter" on the outside of the ISS.
The Briton stayed inside the ISS, helping the Americans don their spacesuits and monitoring their progress for mission control.
This time, he will be the one to get inside the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) - the spacesuit used by US and European astronauts on the station.
The spacewalk is scheduled to start at 12:55 GMT and last for six-and-a-half hours.
Mr Peake and Mr Kopra were both crew members on the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) Soyuz flight that arrived at the ISS on 15 December. As such, they have trained closely with each other.
Mr Peake was selected by the European Space Agency in 2009, and is the first British astronaut to fly into space since Helen Sharman spent a week on the Soviet space station Mir in May 1991. Her flight was privately funded, under a venture known as Project Juno.
The UK government has traditionally been opposed to human spaceflight, which has led other Britons to fly into space with Nasa - wearing the American, rather than UK flag on their uniforms.
Michael Foale, who hails from Louth in Lincolnshire, became the first British-born person to carry out a spacewalk when he stepped outside the shuttle Discovery on 9 February 1995.
Mr Foale flew on six Nasa shuttle missions, with extended stays on both Mir and the ISS. He has dual citizenship on account of his American-born mother.
Piers Sellers, who was born in Crowborough, flew on three space shuttle missions between 2002 and 2010. Over the course of six spacewalks, he accumulated 41 hours and 10 minutes of "extra-vehicular activity" time - the most of any UK-born astronaut.
Another UK-born Nasa astronaut, Nicholas Patrick, travelled into orbit on the Discovery shuttle in 2006.
Follow Paul on Twitter.


A "very large" avalanche in western Canada has left at least five people on snowmobiles dead, authorities say.

The avalanche struck near the community of McBride, north-east of Vancouver in the province of British Columbia.
A spokesman for the Avalanche Canada monitoring service said the "very large, significant" avalanche was triggered by human activity.
Reports from British Columbia say the avalanche struck three separate groups of snowmobilers.
They were helped by a search and rescue team that happened to be in the area at the time, The Province newspaper reported.
Karl Klaasen, of Avalanche Canada, said there was a high risk of more incidents in the region, after heavy snow and rainfall over the past few days.


Bromley came from behind to crush Southport and bounce back from two straight defeats in the National League.

Jake Wright broke the deadlock for the visitors after a quiet opening period, making the most of a defensive mix up to give Southport the lead after 22 minutes.
That only spurred the hosts into action, with Charlton loanee Brandon Hanlan notching a debut goal to make it 1-1 two minutes later.
Louis Dennis then gave Bromley the lead in the 49th minute and Hanlan helped himself to his second of the afternoon five minutes later to seal the win.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Bromley 3, Southport 1.
Second Half ends, Bromley 3, Southport 1.
Substitution, Bromley. George Porter replaces Blair Turgott.
Substitution, Bromley. Daniel Johnson replaces Alan Dunne.
Declan Weeks (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Goal!  Bromley 3, Southport 1. Brandon Hanlan (Bromley).
Substitution, Southport. Ben McKenna replaces Jake Wright.
Goal!  Bromley 2, Southport 1. Louis Dennis (Bromley).
Second Half begins Bromley 1, Southport 1.
First Half ends, Bromley 1, Southport 1.
Jake Wright (Southport) is shown the yellow card.
Alan Dunne (Bromley) is shown the yellow card.
Goal!  Bromley 1, Southport 1. Brandon Hanlan (Bromley).
Goal!  Bromley 0, Southport 1. Jake Wright (Southport).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


Glamorgan remain top of the T20 Blast Southern Group after they held their nerve to beat Kent by 25 runs in a high-scoring affair at Canterbury.

The hosts finished on 174-4 despite the efforts off Joe Denly (68 off 50 balls) and Sam Northeast (60 off 34).
Glamorgan's 199-2 was given a blistering start by Aneurin Donald's 50 off 31 balls.
Captain Jacques Rudolph then played a range of inventive shots in his unbeaten 77 from 52 deliveries.
It was his third half-century in seven innings, while David Miller chipped in with 43 off 26 despite Kent's seamers trying plenty of variety in their efforts to drag back the scoring rate.
Denly and Northeast continued the batting dominance with a stand of 89 in 8.5 overs to put the home side in the hunt, but the middle order could not keep the run-rate going against the accurate bowling of Marchant de Lange (1-26 in four overs) and Craig Meschede (1-12 in two).
England batsman Sam Billings did not reach the wicket until the 19th over with the game already sliding away from Kent.
Glamorgan batsman Aneurin Donald told BBC Wales Sport:
"Kent have a pretty strong batting line-up so it was nice for our top four to get the job done. That's what you're looking for in T20 for the top four to get the bulk of the runs, and [for me] to pick up the slack when Colin Ingram fails for once in a blue moon is nice.
"At the top of the order it's your job to get the big scores. I'm the aggressor trying to get us off to a quick start.
"Credit to our bowlers holding their nerve, it shows what a quality outfit we are this year and, if you get to 200, you're going to win more often than not with the experience of our bowling line-up.
"The target's another home quarter-final and trying to get to that Finals Day. I think we're one of the stronger teams in the competition this year and if we play the way we are, we're going to be there or thereabouts."
Kent captain Sam Northeast told BBC Radio Kent:
"When Joe and me were going, we felt we were in the game, but a few overs where you lose a wicket or low overs put us right behind, and it's hard work when the guys come in needing 12 or 13 an over.
"It was never going to be easy chasing that score and we're going to have to be better with the ball. The coaches and bowlers will get together and come up with a plan. We're going to have to have better plans and execute a lot better."


Scarlets flanker James Davies has been suspended for three weeks by a disciplinary panel after admitting swearing and making an obscene gesture in the 31-20 loss at Toulon.

The 25-year-old will miss next Sunday's European Challenge Cup match with Toulon and the Welsh derby games against Ospreys and Cardiff Blues.
The panel felt the offence was at the "low end of World Rugby's sanctions".
The player will now face a further disciplinary process at the Scarlets.
However, the region say the player's contract will not be terminated.
A statement by Scarlets general manager Jon Daniels said: "Whilst our internal disciplinary process may find further sanctions are appropriate, removing James from his rugby community through contract termination is not in anyone's interests."
Head coach Wayne Pivac had warned on Tuesday that "all sorts of things right up to dismissal" were possible punishments.
Davies, who won an Olympic silver medal as part of Team GB's sevens team in Rio, apologised for his actions before facing the independent disciplinary panel.
He was warned for swearing by referee Greg Garner during the first half of the match at Stade Felix Mayol and appeared to make a gesture.
The offence carries a range of bans from four weeks to a year depending on seriousness.
The summary of the adjudication issued by European Professional Club Rugby said the panel had taken into account "Davies' guilty plea and timely expression of remorse".
Scarlets issued a statement on Monday in which Davies said: "During the heat of battle I lost my composure and said and did things I deeply regret.
"I apologised to referee Mr Garner both during and after the game but would like to reiterate my sincerest apologies publically."
The region said Davies had volunteered to be an ambassador for a Welsh Regions initiative to support disaffected young people and had visited a children's ward at West Wales General Hospital with team-mates after attending the tribunal on Wednesday.


Sam Ledward is more grateful than most to celebrate his 106th birthday given that he was declared dead 76 years ago.

The former joiner crashed his motorbike in 1936 and says he was in a coma so deep that doctors ordered his body to be taken away.
He was being taken to the mortuary when a hospital porter noticed his "corpse" move and returned him to the ward.
Mr Ledward, of Flintshire, puts his long life down to "sheer luck" - as his fortune all those years ago suggests.
As he celebrated turning 106, he said: "I'll be all right for a while yet. You don't get rid of me like that."
He said: "I was riding on a 500cc Triumph. I hadn't had it more than two months. I bought it off a farmer. One of his sons had come to grief on it.
"I just tuned it up and put a new rear tyre on it. I thought the front tyre would be okay but it wasn't. It bust."
He was thrown into the road and his coma was such that doctors concluded that he had died. So they gave the order for the body to be taken away.
Mr Ledward said: "They put me on a trolley and this chap saw something move and took me back. I came to five days later.
"My first recollection of anything was seeing someone stood round the bed and me knocking something out of someone's hand.
"I had knocked a feeding cup out of a nurse's hand."
He was carried back to the ward where he stayed unconscious for another five days. His head and face injuries took six months to heal.
"I've had a good life since," he added.
Most days he catches a bus into town with his companion Millie Minshall, 90, the cousin of his late wife, from the house they share in Gwernaffield, near Mold.
Born and brought up in Cheshire, Mr Ledward and his late wife, Edith, lived in Blackpool. Mrs Ledward died in 1993 but not before telling her husband that her cousin would look after him.
He said: "She said 'go to our Millie,' I'm well treated every day.
"We're doing very well. We knock about together. We used to go abroad a lot but I think I'm too ancient for that now.
"But I'm not too bad for an old codger."
Mr Ledward celebrated his 106th birthday last Friday with Mrs Minshall and her daughter's family.
Mrs Minshall said: "He's not bad, not bad at all."


The Labour Party received an income of more than £51m in 2015, nearly £10m more than the Conservatives, according to the latest party funding figures.

The Unite union was the party's biggest backer last year, donating £6.4m, although Labour's income also included public funding of nearly £8m.
The Conservatives received £41.9m, the Lib Dems £7.9m and the SNP £6m.
Parties must report donations of more than £7,500 to the Electoral Commission under party funding rules.
The latest figures mark a record year for the Labour Party, up on its 2014 income of £39.6m. It also spent £46,789,000 - the highest amount since the 2005 general election.
In its submission, the party said it had been a "hugely positive financial period" for Labour and said the "main driver" of the boost in its income was a "growth in donations from all sources: members, online supporters, affiliated unions and high value gifts".
While large sums were donated by unions including the GMB, Unison and USDAW, hundreds of thousands of pounds were also received in donations from individuals such as Hull City chairman Assem Allam and property developer Sir David Garrad.
The Conservatives spent nearly as much as they took during the 2015 general election year - £41,030,000.
Their largest donors included Addison Lee founder John Griffin, who gave large donations totalling more than £900,000 and Trailfinders founder Michael Gooley who gave £500,000.
The Lib Dems spent more than they earned last year - £9.5m on an income of 7.9m - as did UKIP, which raised £5.8m and spent £6.7m.
Thursday's publication is of figures from political parties which raised more than £250,000 for the year ending 31 December 2015.


For those of us who live partly in the past, the idea that the British steel industry should be under threat is both familiar and unimaginable.

But now Tata Steel is negotiating to sell its huge works in Port Talbot and other UK interests and the spotlight is on the apparent long decline of the British steel industry, and how it happened.
For steel was once one of the pillars of British industry, one of the "commanding heights of the economy" twice taken into state ownership (at least in part) by Labour governments after World War Two, twice privatised by the Conservatives.
Some 350,000 people were employed in the steel sector when it was nationalised by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1967, compared with about 30,000 now.
Listen to Peter Day's programme: Steel in the UK
More to download from Peter's World of Business
Steel was at the heart of the new Europe in the post-war recovery: the EU started life as the European Coal and Steel Community. Steel was vital to build battleships and munitions, so it was a strategic industry. Steel was how a country defined itself.
And that seems to explain the ferocious booms and busts to which the industry has been prone for so long.
UK willing to take 25% stake in steel rescue deal
China 'commits' to cut steel production
What's going wrong with Britain's steel industry?
Can UK steel be helped under EU rules?
It is natural for a country when it is developing to invest in new steelworks as it tries to create its own industrial revolution (think Japan, South Korea then China).
Railways, bridges and buildings all need steel, and lots of it.
But steel needs huge investments in blast furnaces and rolling mills to create an industry, and once erected they churn out more mass-produced steel than a developing country can cope with.
This tends to push down prices and impels new producers to find new markets abroad for their steel. It's a global world.
A glut develops, prices plunge, giant steelworks rack up losses or at best break even. A bust is born. It has happened regularly since 1945.
But the world has never seen anything like the Chinese industrial revolution of the past 30 years, and one of the things that China invested in on its green-field sites on the edge of cities was steel.
When China's economic development slows down as it has done in the past five years, there's too much steel at home and producers cut prices to export the stuff. This time the steel glut is a huge one.
That's one of the main reasons why the Port Talbot plant is now up for sale. After Tata Steel bought it and three other former British Steel plants in 2007, some Â£300m was invested in new equipment in South Wales.
Tata from India wanted to keep up with its international rivals; its takeover of the Anglo-Dutch company, by then called Corus, was a Â£6.2bn bid to create the fifth largest steel company in the world.
It happened just before the financial crisis, just before the world economy slowed down even in the developing world.
The Tata sale of Port Talbot - first headlined as a closure in March - has created huge uncertainty for the 37,000 people of the Welsh town absolutely founded on iron and steel, many of whom rely on the works for their living, directly or indirectly.
But steel has been here before. And the peaks and troughs of the production cycle are a significant part of the story of how British industry evolved - and perhaps the penalties you pay for being a pioneer.
Iron was at the heart of the industrial revolution, led by British expertise at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire at the very end of the 17th Century.
Despite the world's first iron bridge across the Severn at Ironbridge (of course), iron was mostly brittle and snapped under pressure.
Steel - strong and flexible - was made by small-scale workshop craftsmen until Henry Bessemer brought his new invention, the converter, up from London to Sheffield in the 1850s.
And Bessemer ushered in the mass production revolution which started the boom and bust mentality of steel which persists to this day. Blast furnaces such as Bessemer's created the city of Sheffield.
The other day I was in the Don Valley that runs between Rotherham and Sheffield just a few miles away. I was there to see the Magna Science Adventure Centre, a heritage place created out of one of the old works at Templeborough, run in its prime by the firm of Steel, Peech and Tozer and known locally as Steelos.
It's far larger than a cathedral or an airship hangar, and once housed six monstrous electric arc furnaces making steel from scrap. It was the biggest concentration of them in the world.
The centrepiece of the vast space is a recreation of the steel production process called the Big Melt. Every hour in front of parties of enthralled schoolchildren, there's a show of simulated sound and gushes of fire from the extraordinary electric arc process that turns scrap metal back into steel.
The show is awe-inspiring and so is the process.
And so is the long tradition it commemorates: the 150,000 people who once worked in this valley in a succession of huge famous name steelworks.
John Heaps showed me round; he worked for more than 40 years in several of the works in and around Sheffield, and he has also studied the story of the industry he was part of.
It's not just history when you listen to John Heaps; the vast enterprises come alive.
Above all, he talks about the camaraderie of the jobs in the works, and the pride that people took in using their eyes and huge experience to make things for the whole world out of molten steel. Computers do the measuring now.
A well-paid (he says) but dangerous trade: on one occasion John Heaps was engulfed in flames shooting out of the furnace and feared that he would not survive. He did - shielded to a certain extent by the safety clothing everyone wore.
But making steel was never a predictable business.
The days he remembers are when the housewives of Templeborough checked the wind direction before they put their washing on the line - because wind blowing from the works would cover the washing in smuts in minutes.
And when the works all closed for two weeks in the summer for maintenance work, and everybody went off on holiday at the same time to the east coast seaside resorts, where (of course) they encountered their neighbours.
We still need steel, of course, but far fewer people are required to make it.
In Port Talbot they are still pinning their hopes on a rescue of the works by new investors ready to ride on hoped-for recovering world demand. But in many places in Britain a way of life has disappeared.
When I was growing up, this was unthinkable. Now it has happened.
Listen to Peter Day's In Business: Steel in the UK, on Radio 4 at 21:30 BST, Sunday 22 May


A man has been charged in connection with an offensive email sent to a Merseyside MP.

Steven King, 45, is accused of sending the email of "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" to Wallasey MP Angela Eagle.
Mr King, of Mirin Wynd, Paisley, Renfrewshire, was arrested in July and is charged under the Malicious Communications Act.
He is due before Wirral Magistrates' Court on 19 October, police said.


A man has died after a suspected robbery in Coventry.

Police found the man, aged in his 50s, unconscious in Fairfax Street in the city at about 11:00 BST. He was taken to hospital where he died.
West Midlands Police said officers were called to reports of a street robbery.
An investigation has been opened and an area of the road, near to Pool Meadow bus station, and a part of Lady Herbert's Garden, has been cordoned off.
More updates on this and other stories in Coventry
Det Insp Warren Hines said: "We are in the very early stages of the investigation and following a number of lines of enquiry.
"I want to appeal to anyone who was in the area this morning and saw what happened to contact me as a matter of urgency."


A lot of the stories I am asked to look at involve organisations trying to make big claims based on surveys of tiny numbers of people with questionable methodology.

But occasionally I also have to take issue with the use of much bigger surveys, such as the country's biggest household one, the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
One of its main uses is in the production of the unemployment figures every month.
It used to be that the headline unemployment figure was the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits, but that meant the figures were vulnerable to changes in who was allowed to claim such benefits, so instead the country switched to the International Labour Organisation's definition of unemployment, which is people out of work and seeking a job, whether or not they are claiming benefits.
As I reported a few weeks ago, the claimant count has lost its national statistic designation, because the introduction of universal credit has made it more difficult to calculate.
But our headline unemployment figure comes from the LFS, in which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) speaks to 60,000 households once a quarter. It's a big survey, but it's still a survey. The ONS is very clear in its monthly releases about its limitations.
Two weeks ago we had the unemployment figures for the three months from March to May, which it turned out had risen by 15,000 compared with the previous three months.
But lower down in the release, readers were warned that the ONS was 95% confident that the actual figure was within plus or minus 80,000 of that mark, so between a rise of 95,000 and a fall of 65,000.
Which may make you question our top line, that unemployment had risen for the first time in two years.
Unemployment is not the only figure taken from the LFS, and there was some interesting analysis done by Migration Watch last week using the survey.
The group said its research showed that groups of migrants with weaker economic characteristics (based on level of employment, rates of pay and likelihood to claim benefits) outnumbered those with stronger economic characteristics by two to one.
The House of Commons Library has been looking at this analysis and questioning whether the LFS is a robust enough source to make such claims.
As an example, it considers the figure given for the gap in likelihood to claim benefits between UK residents born in the UK, and those born in Pakistan or Bangladesh, between the ages of 40 and 44.
It says that despite its huge sample size, the LFS is only likely to have interviewed about 27 people who fall into the category of 40 to 44 year-old benefit claimants born in Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The Library suggests: "a nuanced narrative might be more appropriate than broad statements about migrants' likelihood to claim".


Just over a decade since making his playing debut for Swansea City, manager Garry Monk is preparing to lead out the club at Old Trafford for their opening Premier League match of the season against Manchester United on Saturday.

I believe in myself. I've always believed in myself and the way I go about things
The Welsh club and the 35-year-old have come a long way since that opening day 2-0 League Two defeat against Northampton Town, at the start of the 2004-05 season, at their former Vetch Field home.
Monk went on to captain the Swans as they rose up the leagues to claim a place in the top flight in 2011.
In 2013 he lifted the League Cup with team-mate Ashley Williams, as the Swans won their first major domestic trophy.
Monk was appointed manager on a full-time basis in April, having taken over the reins temporarily after Michael Laudrup was sacked in February.
He eventually led the Swans to a 12th-placed finish and Premier League safety following a battle against relegation.
From player to manager
Monk, who appears on Sport Wales TV on Friday, says of his move from player to manager: "The players have been good, very understanding of the situation."
"When you change to being an interim manager, players will fight for you because of the character [you are], but in terms of fighting for the right to be in the team and still be at the club, it wasn't really my decision.
He said now that he is full-time, the players "react differently, look at you differently", adding: "Albeit I'll still be myself and they understand that, but the fact is I'm now the manager and that's the way it will be."
Spanish exodus
In January, when Monk was still a player, police were called to the club's training ground following reports of a confrontation between him and Spanish defender Chico Flores.
They issued a statement denying there was a rift in the squad.
In April it was revealed that the build up to their battling 10-man 1-0 home loss against title-chasing Chelsea had been disrupted by a "bust-up" between "certain players" during a training session.
During his first pre-season in charge, Monk has seen the exit of most of the club's Spanish players.
Flores has been sold to Qatari club Lekhwiya SC with winger Pablo Hernandez also moving to Qatar to Al-Arabi.
Striker Alejandro Pozuelo has signed for Rayo Vallecano and forward Michu has joined Italian club Napoli on a season-long loan.
Fellow Spaniard Jose Canas could also be on his way out.
Monk denied he was trying to break up a Spanish clique at the club and said he "got on very well" with Michu, Flores and Hernandez.
He said the trio wanted to "move onto other things and try new challenges".
"For me I don't care what nationality you are," said Monk.
"All I care about is the football and what you do as a footballer.
"I want the players that I feel are best for me to take the club forward."
Among the players Monk has brought into the Liberty Stadium are former Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis, Ecuador winger Jefferson Montero, forward Marvin Emnes and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski from Arsenal.
Midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has also joined the club from Tottenham in a swap deal for Wales international defender Ben Davies.
Napoli's Argentina defender Federico Fernandez is also set to undergo a medical at Swansea after both clubs agreed a fee for the World Cup runner-up.
Monk says he wants to sign more players before the transfer window closes at 23:00 BST on Monday, 1 September.
Monk's and Swansea City's habits
The jury is out on whether Monk will succeed or fail in his first full season in charge in his first managerial job.
But the Swansea board have a good track record when it comes to appointing managers.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez was given the opportunity to cut his teeth at the Swans leading them to promotion from League One to the Championship.
Liverpool's Brendan Rogers was also relatively unknown when he demonstrated some of his potential by steering them into the Premier League.
Monk, who was captain under Martinez and Rogers before replacing the sacked Laudrup as manager, wants to build on the foundations laid at the club.
"I believe in myself. I've always believed in myself and the way I go about things," said Monk.
"I have a clear plan of what I want to do and OK that can adjust in certain aspects through the journey... but I think the players understand that."
Monk is well aware of the pressure he is under and that the spotlight will fall on him if the Swans get off to a bad start.
"Nobody puts me under pressure more than myself," said Monk.
"I can deal with myself a little better so I'm more relaxed about it, but obviously I realise how important it is for me this season, and the team and the club... that we do well."
The former Southampton and Barnsley defender's philosophy is: "We have to be Swansea City. We have to be what we've been in the past but better."
"Each season it gets tougher and tougher and the Premier League gets harder and harder.
"Everyone's fighting that little bit harder because of the rewards that can come with this league.
"We have to make sure we keep our identity, which is something I've preached massively since I've come back in this pre-season.
"The principles are that we always have to be what we are, which is a possession, passing team, trying to be attacking and entertaining, but obviously trying to get the right results."
Garry Monk talks to Sport Wales TV, Friday, 22:00 BST, BBC Two Wales


Highland councillors have approved a number of major planning developments proposed for Inverness.

They include Hercules Unit Trust's plan to open three restaurants - a Frankie and Benny's, TGI Fridays and Nandos - at the Inverness Shopping Park.
Tulloch Homes have a proposal for 60 new homes on the site of the city's former Glebe Street swimming pool.
Tuesday's south planning applications committee also approved student flats at Rose Street.
However, councillors objected to another major scheme - 13-turbine Tom Nan Clach Wind Farm near Dava Moor and Lochindorb Castle.
The project could now go on to be considered by a public inquiry.


Highland League title challengers Buckie Thistle have avoided a points deduction that would have cost them the chance to win the title on Saturday.

The Jags had been accused of listing an ineligible player by naming Callum Murray as a substitute in last week's game against Formartine United.
But the league's management committee decided no action would be taken against the club.
However, it also decided that its rules would be reworded.
Murray, who did not play in the 0-0 draw with Formartine, had recently been recalled from a loan spell with Highland League rivals Deveronvale to cover for injuries.
In season 1992-1993, Elgin City won the Highland League but were later stripped of the title after having been found to have fielded ineligible players.
Buckie are likely to win the championship if they beat bottom side Strathspey Thistle on Saturday.
The Jags and Cove Rangers are two points behind Brora Rangers, but the present leaders have played all of their games.
Buckie have a superior goal difference over Cove, who face 12th-placed Lossiemouth, going into the final game of the season.
The title winners will have a chance to win promotion to League Two of the Scottish Professional Football League.
Victors of the Highland and Lowland Leagues will meet in a play-off to decide who should face League Two's bottom club in the play-off final.


Sales have fallen at Sainsbury's in the first nine weeks of the year, but the newly-acquired Argos reported strong growth.

The supermarket's like-for-like sales, which strip out new stores, fell by 0.5% in the period to 11 March.
However, Argos sales rose 4.3%, resulting in a 0.3% increase excluding fuel across the Sainsbury's group.
Sainsbury's said the market remained "very competitive" and the impact of cost pressures "remains uncertain".
The supermarket's performance was worse than the 0.1% rise in like-for-like sales seen in the 15 weeks to 7 January.
Sainsbury's convenience stores saw total sales growth of almost 7%, with 10 new outlets opening in the quarter.
Chief executive Mike Coupe said customers had welcomed Sainsbury's "differentiated food offer", with new products including butternut squash waffles and sweet potato tagliatelle.
General merchandise sales were down 4%, which Sainsbury's said was due to Easter and Mother's Day falling later this year.
Sainsbury's bought catalogue retailer Argos last year as part of its Â£1.4bn takeover of Home Retail Group.
The retailer has opened another 11 Argos Digital stores in Sainsbury's supermarkets since the start of the year, bringing the total to 41, while there are now eight Mini Habitat stores.
Shares fell almost 1% to 268.9p in morning trading and are down 4% over the past 12 months.
Neil Wilson of ETX Capital said Sainsbury's was being squeezed from all sides.
"Sainsbury's did very well when Tesco and others were struggling but is now facing its own challenges. It must contend with all the sector-wide problems like falling margins and the sterling squeeze from suppliers," he said.
"Falling margins and profits don't look great when the market is growing."


A woman developed severe blood poisoning and a liver abscess after inadvertently swallowing a toothpick.

The toothpick perforated her gullet and lodged in a lobe of her liver.
The patient, who is not being identified, has now recovered after having the toothpick removed.
Such cases are rare, but the report, published by the British Medical Journal group, says doctors need to look out for signs of "foreign bodies", as detection can be challenging.
It is one of thousands of cases being logged at BMJ Case Reports, an online resource to allow doctors to share information about the treatment of difficult or unusual cases.
Swallowing foreign bodies is relatively common, particularly among children.
But the subsequent development of a liver abscess was rare, the authors, from Bristol's Frenchay Hospital and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, said.
The condition has mostly been associated with inadvertently swallowing pins, nails, fish and chicken bones, rather than toothpicks.
But the authors said toothpicks could be "difficult to deal with effectively, because they don't show up on conventional X-rays and symptoms are often non-specific and remote".
In this particular case, the woman was admitted to hospital with generalised gut pain and fever, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and low blood pressure.
An abdominal ultrasound scan revealed a liver abscess and the presence of a toothpick lodged in her liver. She subsequently developed breathing difficulties and an infection as a result of blood poisoning and had to be admitted to intensive care.
After treatment with antibiotics, she recovered and the toothpick was removed using keyhole surgery, after which all her symptoms cleared.
In another case on a similar theme in BMJ Case Reports, a surgical swab left inside the abdomen after surgery only came to light when the patient experienced persistent changes in her normal bowel habit.
The swab was clearly visible on a computerised tomography (CT) scan. Removal of the swab resolved her symptoms.


US president-elect Donald Trump has received a series of congratulatory messages from South American leaders amidst uncertainty of what his election will mean to the region in terms of policy.

South America barely received any mention from either US presidential candidate during the campaign, leaving analysts and pundits in the region to second guess the future.
Washington is the main trading partner for many nations in South America.
The heads of central banks in countries such as Brazil and Chile had to calm wobbly markets on Wednesday, by saying that authorities were ready to intervene if needed.
Leaders from most nations in the region were in a rush to congratulate the Republican politician, but some of the messages did not seem entirely whole-hearted.
Brazil's President Michel Temer sent a congratulatory note to Mr Trump, saying he was looking forward to deepening the friendship between both nations.
But only a few weeks ago, Mr Temer's foreign minister, Jose Serra, scoffed at the prospects of Mr Trump being elected.
"That won't happen. It can't happen," Mr Serra told reporters during a TV interview.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri also expressed his wish to work with Mr Trump for the good of both their people.
Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra congratulated the Mr Trump but said that "it was a pity not to see a woman as capable [as Hillary Clinton] elected to office".
Chilean leader Michelle Bachelet and Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski also sent their good wishes to Mr Trump only days after expressing either criticism of the Republican candidate or a preference for Mrs Clinton.
The left-wing leaders of Ecuador and Venezuela, Rafael Correa and Nicolas Maduro, have so far remained silent.
Earlier this year, Mr Correa said that he hoped for the good of the world and of the US that Hillary Clinton would win.
But he conceded that Mr Trump could end up inadvertently uniting and reviving the fractured left in the region.
"He is so basic that this will generate a reaction in Latin America which will build more support for progressive governments," Mr Correa told Venezuela-based broadcaster Telesur.
Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales congratulated Donald Trump on Twitter and said he hoped to work with the new US president to tackle "racism, sexism and anti-immigration (feelings)".
Mr Trump's victory also elicited comment from the far-right in the region.
Jair Bolsonaro, a controversial Brazilian Congressman who wants to run for president in 2018, congratulated Americans for choosing Mr Trump who, he said, went against "everything and everyone".
Mr Bolsonaro, who is hugely popular with his supporters, has in the past caused outrage for his homophobic comments and for dedicating a vote he cast to the memory of a colonel accused of human rights abuses.
Mr Bolsonaro said Brazilians would follow suit two years from now and support his bid for Brazil's top job.
Normally experts on bilateral relations say that a Democrat in the White House is more likely to affect trade in the region.
They argue that close ties between the US Democratic party and workers' unions usually result in more protectionist policies.
But in this campaign, it was Mr Trump and not Mrs Clinton who was advocating more protectionist policies.
Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz said he was concerned about the future of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement signed by 12 nations but which still needs to be ratified by national parliaments.
Mr Munoz said that even if President Barack Obama were to push for the deal to be approved by the US Congress before his term ended, Mr Trump could still unilaterally abandon it.
Brazilian farmers are worried that Mr Trump's rise to power could result in more protectionist policies for US agribusiness, putting foreign farmers at a disadvantage.
The director-general of the World Trade Organization, Brazilian diplomat Roberto Azevedo, congratulated Mr Trump on his victory, but urged him to lead US efforts towards free trade.
"It's clear many feel trade isn't working for them. We must address this and ensure trade delivers the widest benefit to the most people," he tweeted.
There are also concerns about immigration.
President Obama was in negotiation with Brazil to find a way to ease visa restrictions between the two countries.
But as Mr Trump ran on an anti-immigration policy, those talks are now in doubt.
Another point of uncertainty is the future of financial markets.
Many analysts had predicted a hike in US interest rates later this year, which could provoke an outflow of capital from South American markets to the US.
But as Mr Trump has been a fierce critic of Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, that move, too, is now in doubt.


National League side Southport have signed midfielder Kevin Da Veiga Monteiro and winger Lindon Meikle on deals until the end of the season.

Monteiro, 22, joins on a free after leaving Welsh side Airbus UK, while Meikle, 28, moves on loan from Barrow.
Frenchman Monteiro could feature in Saturday's trip to Woking, subject to international clearance.
Former Mansfield and York player Meikle is yet to score in 20 appearances for Barrow this season.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


The day of Ashura is marked by Muslims as a whole, but for Shia Muslims it is a major religious commemoration of the martyrdom at Karbala of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

It falls on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
It is marked by Muslims with a voluntary day of fasting which commemorates the day Noah left the Ark, and the day that Moses was saved from the Egyptians by God.
For Shia Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day of mourning the martyrdom of Hussein in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq.
It is marked with mourning rituals and passion plays re-enacting the martyrdom.
Shia men and women dressed in black also parade through the streets slapping their chests and chanting.
Some Shia men seek to emulate the suffering of Hussein by flagellating themselves with chains or cutting their foreheads until blood streams from their bodies.
Some Shia leaders and groups discourage the bloodletting, saying it creates a backward and negative image of Shia Muslims. Such leaders encourage people to donate blood.
The killing of Hussein was an event that led to the split in Islam into two main sects - Sunnis and Shias.
In early Islamic history the Shia were a political faction (known as the "party of Ali") that supported Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and the fourth caliph (temporal and spiritual ruler) of the Muslim community.
The great schism between Sunnis and Shias occurred when Imam Ali did not succeed as leader of the Islamic community at the death of the Prophet.
Ali was murdered in AD 661 and his chief opponent Muawiya became caliph.
Caliph Muawiya was later succeeded by his son Yazid, but Ali's son Hussein refused to accept his legitimacy and fighting between the two resulted.
Hussein and his followers were massacred in battle at Karbala.
Both Ali's and Hussein's deaths gave rise to the Shia cult of martyrdom and to their sense of betrayal and struggle against injustice, oppression and tyranny.
Today, Shias comprise about 15% of the total worldwide Muslim population.


The UK government has announced plans to ban microbeads used in cosmetics and cleaning products by 2017.

The small pieces of plastic commonly found in toothpaste, exfoliating body scrubs and other household products and are thought to damage the environment.
Environmentalists fear they are building up in oceans and potentially entering the food chain.
A consultation on how a ban would work will start later this year, Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom has announced.
A number of cosmetic companies have made voluntary commitments to phase out the use of microbeads by 2020.
Products that contain the tiny bits of plastic won't necessarily say "microbeads" in the list of ingredients.
Instead, look for the words polyethylene, polypropylene and polymethylmethacrylate - the chemical names for plastics. Nylon may also be listed as well as the abbreviations PET, PTFE and PMMA.
There are several websites listing products that do and do not include plastic such as Beat the Microbead. It also has a free app where you can check products by scanning the barcode with your smartphone camera.
Many cosmetics brands include information on their websites. Johnson & Johnson which produces face scrubs under the brands Neutrogena and Clean & Clear has committed to phasing out microbeads by the end of 2017.
Proctor and Gamble which owns Crest toothpaste, Gillette and Olay, has also promised to stop using them by next year.
Read more: Why are microbeads controversial?
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee last month said the government needed to step in to protect the environment as soon as is practicable, after it was revealed a single shower can result in 100,000 plastic particles entering the ocean.
Mrs Leadsom said: "Most people would be dismayed to know the face scrub or toothpaste they use was causing irreversible damage to the environment, with billions of indigestible plastic pieces poisoning sea creatures.
"Adding plastic to products like face washes and body scrubs is wholly unnecessary when harmless alternatives can be used."
She said it was the "next step in tackling microplastics in our seas" following the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge, which was introduced in England in October.
Professor Richard Thompson, a marine biologist from Plymouth University, welcomed the decision.
He said: "Over 680 tonnes of mircrobeads are used in the UK alone every year. That's substantially more than all of the litter we pick up on our beaches in voluntary beach cleans each year, so it's not a trivial quantity.
"The sooner we can make progress with avoidable, unnecessary emissions, because it's not clear to me at all why we need to cleanse ourselves by rubbing our skin with millions of small, plastic particles. What's the societal benefit there?"
The environment committee's report suggested microplastic pollution could be more damaging to the environment than larger pieces of plastic because its size makes it more likely to be eaten by wildlife and then potentially enter the food chain.
As an example, it said a plate of six oysters can contain up to 50 particles of plastic.
More than 280 marine species have been found to ingest microplastics, but the committee said much more research was needed into plastic pollution because there was huge uncertainty about the ecological risk.
It added there was "little evidence" about the potential human health impacts of microplastic pollution, but said further research was "clearly required".
Commenting ahead of the government's move, Greenpeace UK senior oceans campaigner Louise Edge said: "It's a credit to Theresa May's government that they've listened to concerns from the public, scientists and MPs, and taken a first step towards banning microbeads.
"Marine life doesn't distinguish between plastic from a face wash and plastic from a washing detergent, so the ban should be extended to microplastics in any product that could be flushed down the drain.
"If Theresa May wants to show real leadership on this issue, that's the kind of ban she should back."
The US recently became the first country to announce it would ban microbead use in cosmetics, with pressure growing globally to take action.
The European Commission is also currently developing proposals to ban them in cosmetics across the EU, following calls from a number of member states.