Activists in Iran are angry that women were barred from watching a volleyball game against the US, despite earlier indications they could attend.

There had been reports Iran's sporting federation would permit a limited number of women to watch Friday's game, which Iran won 3-0.
But opposition from the country's hardline conservatives appears to have led the federation to backtrack.
The Islamic country traditionally bars women from male sporting events.
However, in recent months the relatively moderate government of President Hassan Rouhani appeared willing to bow to pressure from activists and international sporting bodies and ease restrictions.
Shahindokht Molaverdi, Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, told reporters last week that a limited number of women - mainly players' family members - would be allowed to attend the volleyball game against the US.
And earlier this week, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said it had been assured by Iran that women would be allowed to join spectators for the tie at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Sports Complex.
But activists' fears were realised on Friday night when women were prevented from watching the game. Female journalists were also denied entry, according to Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency.
The decision led to a protest on social media, with thousands tweeting using the hashtag #LetWomenGoToStadium.
There were reports of heavy security around the arena. Protests had been discussed on social media - a Facebook page called "Women's Revolution" invited people to demonstrate outside the stadium.
Religious hardliners had reacted angrily to the apparent softening of restrictions.
Ansar-e Hezbollah, a religious vigilante group, issued a statement earlier this week likening female spectators to prostitutes and calling on its supporters to prevent them from entering the stadium.
"We are taking a stand against legalising the presence of prostitutesâ€¦ in stadiums," the group said in a flyer distributed in Tehran. "This Friday there will be blood," it added.
Senior Islamic clerics and officials also denounced the proposals. "We didn't rise up in an Islamic Revolution for the right of women to enter sports stadiums," said Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Alavi Gorgani.
Women's presence at sporting events has become something of a lightning rod for tensions between Iran's religious hardliners and its more progressive elements.
The issue made international headlines in June 2014 when a group of women protested by entering the Azadi stadium to watch a volleyball game between Iran and Italy.
They were arrested and one of them, British-Iranian Ghoncheh Ghavami, was held in jail for five months.


A man has been stabbed in what police have described as an unprovoked race hate attack in Merseyside.

The 24-year-old was walking through South Park in Bootle on Saturday night when he was assaulted and verbally abused by a gang of youths.
He managed to escape and call emergency services, before being taken to hospital.
Merseyside Police said he was receiving treatment for facial injuries and a stab wound.
Detectives from the force's specialist hate crime team are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
The man's condition was not thought to be life-threatening.


Wales manager Chris Coleman says he is not surprised that counterpart Roy Hodgson has opted to take teenager Marcus Rashford to the Euros.

Wales' first major tournament appearance in 58 years sees them draw in the same group as England with the two nations meeting on 16 June in Lens.
The 18-year-old was named in England's squad three months after making his Manchester United debut.
"I'm not surprised, I've watched him a lot and he is a class act," he said.
Coleman, who opted to pick Joe Ledley in his 23 man squad despite him suffering a broken leg on 7 May, says it is difficult to predict how Rashford will perform under the pressure of a major tournament.
"Some players go into the tournament on fire and they fall flat," he said.
"You see others come from nowhere, like (Salvatore) Schillaci for Italy in the 1990 World Cup and bang the goals in.
"It is hard to call it. Ability-wise, he is a good player, and has a real good mentality.
"I couldn't say what to expect. As soon as he's there he will have to adjust, as we all will."
Coleman, who signed a new two year deal to remain as Wales boss in May, believes star striker Gareth Bale has a key role to play in removing Wales' pre-Euro 2016 complacency.
Bale joins up with the Wales squad on Wednesday morning after winning his second Champions League title in three seasons at Real Madrid.
The world's most expensive player marked Real's success in Milan on Saturday night by saying he was now planning to win the Euros with Wales.
"I thought 'cheers for that, a semi-final just will not do'," Coleman said. "That is the mentality we want. The mentality of achievement.
"Since we qualified if you look at our results it is nothing to shout about."
Wales have lost friendlies against the Netherlands and Ukraine and drawn with Northern Ireland since their last qualification victory, against Andorra.
"We went through a run of results where we were almost unbeatable, but we have tailed off a bit," he continued.
"I'm not making any excuses - we haven't had this one, we haven't had that one.
"It's international football, you get on with it, but sometimes with success comes a little bit of complacency.
"Subconsciously sometimes, but we are our best when we are right on it."


A Northern Ireland company is accompanying Prime Minister David Cameron on a trade mission to Asia.

Belfast-based Repknight is a security company offering a data monitoring platform across social media channels.
The prime minister is to touch down in Jakarta on Monday on the start of a four-day visit to South East Asia.
"Companies like RepKnight are flying the flag and unlocking the economic potential of the fast growing economies of South East Asia for NI," he said.
"I am delighted that they have joined me on my first trade mission of this government and I hope that we can work together to create jobs and growth for the UK."
The visit forms part of the government's efforts to increase UK exports to Â£1 trillion a year and to get 100,000 more UK companies exporting by 2020.
Mr Cameron is taking the first trade mission of the new parliament to a region forecast to grow at 5% this year and with potential to unlock huge opportunities for jobs and growth in the UK.


The wife of a PC shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat has told an inquest his affair with a 7/7 bomb survivor effectively ended their marriage.

Kath Rathband said her estranged husband David would call her up to 100 times a day asking to come home despite having a relationship with Lisa French.
Mrs Rathband was giving evidence at the Newcastle inquest into the PC's death.
The 43-year-old was found hanged in Blyth, Northumberland, in 2012, 19 months after being shot by Moat.
Mrs Rathband said she had visited Mr Rathband at his home on the evening he died and was concerned enough to call his welfare officer, Inspector John Heckles, and to text his sister, Debbie Essery, who lived in Staffordshire.
But despite her fears for his well-being, she did not consider he was going to kill himself, she told the hearing.
"Of course I couldn't possibly know," she said. "Nobody could have known. But I did not feel that David was in imminent danger of taking his life for a moment."
Ms French, who was at the inquest, survived the bombing of the number 30 bus at Tavistock Square in London in 2005, despite sitting near the bomber.
Mrs Rathband said the last time she saw Mr Rathband he had just returned from Australia and "looked awful".
"He said to me, 'I'm sorry, I do love you'," she told the inquest. "'I don't want to be friends'."
She said that she had taken him back after previous affairs, but would not do so again.
"I told him I couldn't go back after his behaviour to me and the kids and he could not understand why," she said.
Later, he called her to tell  her again that he loved her and that "I wouldn't see him again", Mrs Rathband said.
Mrs Rathband said: "I told him, 'Don't be stupid, don't say things like that'."
Mrs Rathband discovered he had begun a relationship with Ms French after they exchanged Twitter messages.
She found out it was more than a friendship in late December 2011, before he flew to Australia to visit his twin and she said it "put an end" to plans to rebuild their marriage.
"By this point it was my opinion our marriage was over due to David's level of deceit," she said.
Giving evidence, Ms French said shortly before his death he told her he had tried to kill himself, but had been unable to go through with it.
She said it had been a "step forward" for her, as it might mean he had "come to terms" with the fact that he could not "put himself through that".
She told the inquest: "David did not make threats to kill himself to me, but he expressed suicidal thoughts. He trusted me and said he felt so low it made him feel suicidal.
"He also spoke at great length about how he did not want to do it and he fought bravely and courageously for the whole six months that I knew him."
Before the inquest began, Mr Rathband's father Keith,  said: "The evidence that the coroner has been given identifies that David was let down by the people that could have prevented his death.
"The findings of the coroner may be a foregone conclusion to many. Our hope is he finds David's death was preventable in the circumstances."
Moat shot Samantha Stobbart, who survived, and Chris Brown, who died, in Birtley, Gateshead, on 3 July 2010, hours after his release from prison.
The next day he shot Mr Rathband, originally from Stafford, twice in the face as he sat in his patrol car in East Denton, Newcastle.
Following a week on the run, the former nightclub bouncer turned the gun on himself during a stand-off with police in Rothbury on 10 July.
The inquest into Mr Rathband's death is expected to last five days.


An online auction for the pistol used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin has apparently reached $65m (Â£45m), organisers say.

The sale has been plagued by fake bidders including "Racist McShootface".
George Zimmerman, who shot and killed the teenager, had planned to auction what he called "an American icon" on the website Gun Broker on Thursday.
But the web posting was removed just as the auction was due to begin with a reserve price of $5,000 (Â£3,450).
United Gun Group is now hosting the auction.
In a statement on Twitter they defended the sale of the gun on their site. They were "truly sorry" for the Martin family's loss but said it was their goal to "defend liberty".
"Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of the United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features. While not always popular this is where we stand."
On Friday afternoon, the top bidder was a user named Craig Bryant.
Mr Zimmerman, 32, a neighbourhood watchman, was cleared over the death of the 17-year-old in February 2012 after saying he acted in self-defence.
Does the gun belong in a museum?
In an online posting to announce the auction, Mr Zimmerman said that he would use the profits to "fight" the Black Lives Matter movement and oppose Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
A lawyer for the Martin family told the Washington Post that "it is insulting to this family that he would decide that he would sell the gun that he killed their child with".
"Think about what that means: This is a gun that took a child's life and now he wants to make money off of it."
On the auction site, Mr Zimmerman said it was recently returned to him by the US Department of Justice.
He claimed that the Smithsonian museums had expressed interest in buying the 9 mm handgun, but Smithsonian officials denied that in a statement.
Speaking to a Florida television station, Mr Zimmerman had defended the auction saying "I'm a free American, and I can do what I'd like with my possessions."
Few cases in recent years have been more racially sensitive or led to such an anguished national conversation as the killing of Trayvon Martin. It sparked demonstrations around the country, prompted President Obama to remark that if he had a son, he'd have looked like the black teenager and brought about the first use on social media of the hashtag "Black Lives Matter."
So the decision of the former neighbourhood watchman, George Zimmerman to put the gun he used up for auction not only seems extraordinary but also cruel and callous - especially since he refers to the weapon on the online site as an "American icon."
This is not the first time that Zimmerman has sought to cash in on his notoriety. His first painting of an American flag, emblazoned with the words "God One Nation with Liberty and Justice For All," sold on eBay for the staggering sum of $100,000. But it did not impress critics, who called it "primitive" and "appalling."
Harsher language will no doubt be used to describe the sale of the pistol that killed Trayvon Martin.
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday that "Trayvon Martin's cold-blooded killer should be in prison. Instead, he is trying to profit from the stunning miscarriage of justice."
Florida police did not arrest Mr Zimmerman for six weeks after the shooting in Sanford, Florida, provoking mass rallies in Florida and throughout the US.
Police justified their decision not to detain him by citing the state's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows a citizen to use lethal force if he or she feels in imminent danger. Police initially said the law prevented them from bringing charges.
Profiles: Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman
Mr Zimmerman's defence said Trayvon Martin had punched their client, slammed his head into the pavement and reached for Mr Zimmerman's gun. Prosecutors accused Mr Zimmerman of telling a number of lies.
The case led to protests in several cities in the US and to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr Zimmerman's name has been in news headlines several times since his closely watched trial.
Twice, assault charges against his girlfriend were dropped.


A homeless man grabbed a woman under a motorway bridge and killed her before dumping her body in undergrowth, a court has heard.

Vadims Ruskuls, 25, is accused of murdering Pardeep Kaur as she walked to work in west London, in October 2016.
Ms Kaur's body was found near Harlington Bridge in Hayes, nearly a week after she was reported missing by her husband.
Mr Ruskuls denies murdering the 30-year-old.
Opening the trial at the Old Bailey, Crispin Aylett QC told jurors: "This is a truly terrible case.
"The evidence in this case is distressing and you will have to brace yourself for what is to come."
Mr Ruskuls was thought to be sleeping rough with his mother beneath the bridge crossing the M4.
The court heard the waste ground by the walkway on to the bridge over the M4 was a "bleak spot" used by rough sleepers, drunks and drug addicts.
CCTV cameras recorded Ms Kaur at 06:33 GMT on 17 October as she walked towards the bridge.
Investigators also noticed a man under the bridge at the same time as Mrs Kaur.
Less than half an hour later, someone was picked up on CCTV dragging her body away towards the patch of ground where it was later discovered.
Mr Aylett said: "What happened in the 25 minutes between those two pieces of film?
"The prosecution allege that the defendant must have pounced on Pardeep Kaur at some point on the ramp, that he then sexually assaulted her and he murdered her."
Jurors were told Ms Kaur scratched her attacker but her screams would have been drowned out by early morning traffic.
Following his arrest, Mr Ruskuls' DNA matched samples taken from Ms Kaur's ankle, sock, and bra with a probability of "one in a billion", the jury heard.
The trial continues.


The teen pregnancy rate in England and Wales is continuing to fall, latest figures show.

It stands at 23.3 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17, which experts say is more in line with the rest of Western Europe.
There were 5,740 pregnancies in girls aged under 18 in the three months to June 2014, data from the Office for National Statistics shows.
This compares with 6,279 in the same period in 2013 and 7,083 for the June quarter the year before that.
Historically, the UK has had one of the highest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in Western Europe.
In recent years, the government put a series of strategies in place in an attempt to get these figures down.
There are no comparable rates for conceptions across Europe, but the under-18 birth rate suggests England is closing the gap.
The under-18 birth rate in 2012 in England and Wales was 9.2, compared with an EU average of 6.9.
However, the UK birth rate has fallen by almost a third (32.3%) since 2004 compared with a fall of 15.6% in the EU.
In 2004, the UK rate was 13.6 births per 1,000 women aged 15-17 compared with an EU average rate of 7.7.
A spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said: "Contrary to popular perception, this data shows that the teenage pregnancy rate is falling dramatically in England and Wales. While the UK has historically had a high teenage conception rate, it is now at its lowest level on record and not significantly out of step with other European countries.
"We have seen a huge decline in the number of babies born to teenage mothers over the last decade, in part due to the improvements we've seen in contraception advice and services for younger women, with straightforward access to abortion services when their chosen method lets them down. But it also reflects broader societal shifts, with younger women quite rightly expecting and able to pursue educational and professional ambitions."


Saracens will bid to become champions of Europe for the first time when they face holders Toulon in Cardiff on Saturday in the last Heineken Cup final.

It will be Jonny Wilkinson's last appearance on British soil before he retires, and the 2003 World Cup winner's contest with current England 10 Owen Farrell could be the defining battle.
I played in the Bath side that became the first English team to win the tournament when we beat Brive in 1998.
Here's what it takes to win the Heineken Cup, which will be replaced by the European Rugby Champions Cup next season, and how I rate Saracens' chances of becoming the fifth champions from English shores.
It had been a strange season for me in 1997-98 because I ruptured a disc in my back and had to have an operation, but I came out of hospital and within two weeks was playing in the final.
*Record for a Heineken Cup season
Coming from Bath, which is rugby mad, everyone was talking about the game and the city moved en masse to Bordeaux - some groups even hired planes.
French teams had won both previous finals, Brive were the defending champions and we were in France, so pretty much everything was against us.
But when we arrived in Bordeaux there was blue, black and white - the colours of Bath - everywhere and there was such a buzz leading up to it.
We'd had a massive night at an awards dinner in London a few days before the final - it was the good old days - but it didn't affect us because we were on such a high.
The atmosphere was amazing. The ground was full of flags - it was the first time I'd seen that - and the noise was incredible.
It was like the European football finals I'd watched on TV and a bit different to our normal vibe.
Remember rugby union had only gone professional in 1995 and this was just the third final. It was electric; I got a real high from that atmosphere.
We were under the cosh and for most of the game it didn't look like we were going to win, but Brive's Christophe Lamaison missed a couple of drop-goal attempts and we had a bit of good fortune.
We were trailing 15-6 when we scored a try in the second half to get back into the game but we only took the lead for the first time in injury time.
I made the pass that sent Jon Callard over to score our try. It was a massive decision for me because I'm pretty sure I could have made the line.
It was instinctive for me to want to score tries, but it was far simpler for me to pass it to JC to walk it in.
Admittedly he, along with a lot of the guys, was probably shocked I passed.
But it was such a vital score and I couldn't have lived with the humiliation if I hadn't made it.
It's the only pass I ever made that I remember in slow motion.
I don't think of it often but when I'm prompted to do so I can remember it with such clarity.
I had played in Twickenham finals before but this was every bit as special and to win a game we struggled in for so long was like a dream.
"Saracens players have sunned themselves in Rimini, hung out in Miami, hit the ski slopes in Switzerland and returned to Munich for a second stay at Oktoberfest - all while their rivals are slogging it out on the training field."
Read more on their route to the top
When the final whistle went we all started running towards halfway, where the subs and coaches were, and started celebrating - it just went wild.
There was lots of champagne in the changing room and we were late to the reception.
By the time we got there the nibbles had all gone so on the way to the bar we'd hired for a celebration party we had to stop off at a fast food place to get some food.
There were loads of supporters at the bar and we just got on with it and celebrated like it was the end of the season - even though it was only January.
We only won by one point in 1998 but that's not uncommon in finals and there's a good chance it could come down to the boot of Jonny Wilkinson or Owen Farrell to decide the destination of this year's silverware.
Jonny's trademark is his attention to detail, his professionalism, his big defence and kicking the goals.
Farrell has some of those qualities, but no fly-half can match Jonny's intensity and hitting ability in defence; in his prime he hit harder than most forwards.
Farrell, who is only 22, has an edgier temperament but it works for him and, although neither are the best at making breaks, both have improved in that department.
If I were Farrell and wanted to get one over on my opposite number it would have to be by making a break past Wilkinson. That's the biggest statement he could make.
This year Farrell has moved away from being fairly static and standing way behind the gain line - he now plays closer to the opposition defence and is distributing well.
He has not looked back since England beat New Zealand 18 months ago and he's improved again this season. In terms of directing his backline, the Six Nations was a major step in the right direction.
Jonny still kicks a lot, and his breaks are rarer than hens' teeth, but he jinks well and can beat defenders.
Two years ago Clermont beat Saracens and last year Toulon knocked them out, but Sarries smashed Clermont in the semi-finals this year and will be hoping to get revenge on Toulon as well.
One lesson they will have to have learned is not to give away penalties that Wilkinson can knock over, and I think they are smart enough to play a territorial game and not get penalised by the referee in their own half.
They have a great line of defence and pick the right moment to pounce and turn the ball over.
They will be really pleased captain Steve Borthwick has passed a fitness test because teams need a commander.
Jacques Burger is an exceptional defender. He's a confrontational, gladiatorial type of player who will look to dominate the collision.
He made an astonishing 27 tackles in the semi-final win over Clermont, but he's got to be careful.
The Namibia flanker is a workaholic but he can give away penalties and the last thing Sarries want is him being sin-binned for a high tackle.
Their other star from southern Africa, Springbok hooker Schalk Brits, is just one of those gifted players who is bound to have an impact.
Toulon are a who's who of world rugby but they have also turned themselves into something truly amazing.
I was sceptical that you could just throw these big-name players together but I underestimated the influence of Jonny Wilkinson.
Winger Bryan Habana is bidding to join Toulon and South Africa team-mates Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw as the fourth man to have won a World Cup, Super Rugby and Heineken Cup (former All Blacks and Leinster lock Brad Thorn is the other).
And there's a strong English influence too with Delon Armitage and brother Steffon set to start alongside Wilkinson.
The defending champions are proven winners, led by Wilkinson, but there is no doubt he has been helped by the on-pitch relationship he has forged with former Wallaby back Matt Giteau.
Wilkinson has never been one to open up defences and was at his best when he had creative players like Will Greenwood and Mike Catt inside him.
He has found another accomplice in Giteau, who is the sort of player who can make something out of nothing with an electric break.
He makes good use of space and if he's in trouble he can always pass it to Mathieu Bastareau. The 18-stone France centre is a pretty handy man to have on your shoulder.
Wilkinson would be the first to say the final is not about him but is about whether Toulon can become only the third to team - after Leicester and Leinster - to defend the Heineken Cup.
Having said that, it is likely to come down to a solitary kick and that means either Wilkinson or Farrell, the past and present of England fly-halves, are likely to be the match winners.
Jerry's prediction: I'm tempted to say Toulon by no more than three points, but I think this is Saracens' time. They will win, but by no more than three points.
Jerry was speaking to BBC Sport's James Standley.


A woman has been dragged from her vehicle and raped in the car park of a John Lewis store, police have said.

The victim, who is in her late 20s, was attacked at the retailer's branch in Cheadle, Stockport, at about 19:00 BST on Friday.
Her attacker, described as a "monobrowed" Asian man aged about 40, dragged her into bushes before sexually assaulting her, police said.
Greater Manchester Police said she had reported the attack on Monday.
The woman had been parked near a cut-through, which joins the car park to the A34 Wilmslow-Handforth bypass, the force said.
Appealing for witnesses, Det Insp Richard Ennis said officers hoped the suspect's "distinctive" description would "jog someone's memory".
The man was said to be of medium build, with black hair, and heavily pock-marked, open-pored skin on his face.
He was wearing black jogging bottoms at the time of the attack and sported a "thick, black monobrow", Det Insp Ennis said.
"We believe that the area close to where the victim was parked in her car is used as a cut-through between Wilmslow-Handforth bypass and the junction of Wilmslow Road and Etchells Road.
"We are appealing for anyone that may have seen a man fitting this description hanging around this area, to please get in touch," he said.
The company said the incident had left staff at the store "shocked".
"We are doing everything we can to support the police in their investigations," added a spokeswoman.
"Although we have been advised by the police that this type of incident is extremely rare, we are working with our landlord to immediately put in place additional security measures including extra security personnel and improved lighting and visibility in the car park."


(Close): Advertising giant WPP was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 on Friday after it gave a cautious outlook for the year ahead.

Its shares fell by 7.95% after it said 2017 had got off to a slow start, citing "tepid economic growth".
The comments overshadowed news of record annual revenues of Â£14.4bn, which were helped by last year's fall in the value of sterling.
The FTSE 100 closed slightly lower at 7,374.26, a fall of 8 points or 0.11%.
On the FTSE 250, shares in WH Smith closed up 3.36% after Barclays upgraded its rating for the retailer to "overweight" from "equal weight".
Also on the FTSE 250, workwear and hygiene company Berendsen, which had earlier slumped by 17%, finished the day 11.4% lower, after it warned on its 2017 outlook.
The firm reported improved profits and sales for 2016, but said it would struggle with "legacy issues" this year.
On the currency markets, the pound fell after the survey of the UK's dominant service sector added to evidence that the economy has slowed since the start of the year.
The dollar was boosted by expectations of a rise in US interest rates.
Sterling was down 0.12% against the US dollar at $1.2251 and dropped 0.59% against the euro to 1.1606 euros.


A memorial service has been held for former Labour MP Tam Dalyell.

The veteran politician, who spent 43 years as an MP, died last month aged 84 following a short illness.
The Red Flag was played on the organ as political figures past and present filed into St Michael's Parish Church in Linlithgow.
Mr Dalyell's body was donated to science in line with his wishes, followed by a private interment.
Tributes were led by former Labour MP Brian Wilson, who spoke of Mr Dalyell's commitment to his constituents and party.
Mr Wilson said: "Tam never lost sight of the things that brought him into politics. There wasn't a subject you could not go to him for advice."
He later said he "would miss Tam's phone calls" and described him was a "great man with great influence".
Labour colleagues at the service included former chancellor Alistair Darling and former MPs Jim Murphy, Ian Davidson and Margaret Curran.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell also attended as well as SNP minister Fiona Hyslop.
The Old Etonian baronet was elected to represent West Lothian in 1962. He became MP for Linlithgow 21 years later and was named Father of the House, the longest continuously serving MP, in 2001.
A fervent opponent of Scottish devolution, Mr Dalyell's famous constitutional challenge, "Why should Scottish MPs at Westminster be able to vote on English matters when English MPs would be unable to vote on Scottish issues," became known as the "West Lothian question".
A further memorial service is planned for London.


Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the second day of her visit to China, state media report.

They met in Beijing's Great Hall of the People and spoke of the importance of positive ties between the two nations.
Mr Xi said he hoped her visit would build "mutual understanding". Ms Suu Kyi said her NLD party values Myanmar's friendship with China, Xinhua reports.
China was a close ally of Myanmar when it was under a military junta.
But since the end of military rule and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from years of house arrest, the military-backed government of President Thein Sein has allied itself more closely with the US.
Correspondents say China is keen to build its relationship with the NLD (National League for Democracy), as it is expected to poll well in general elections in November.
Aung San Suu Kyi, however, is barred by the constitution from running for the presidency because her children are foreign citizens.
A long-awaited bill to amend the constitution was tabled in parliament on Wednesday, but retained the clause.
The bill also slightly reduces the role of the military, but allows it to keep a quarter of all seats in parliament.
The visit comes at a time of tensions between Myanmar and China, partly because of violence near their mutual border.
Myanmar has been fighting rebels in its eastern Kokang region, which borders China's Yunnan province.
China is concerned by instances of the violence spilling over its border. It has sent patrols to the border in response and recently carried out live fire drills in the region.
But on Thursday, the Kokang rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire, saying they wanted to take part in the general election.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Myanmar says the ethnically Chinese armed group released a statement saying they had taken the decision under pressure from the authorities in Beijing, but retained their right to self defence.


Hearts will not play any league matches at Tynecastle until November due to delays in the main stand construction.

The club say that wet weather and waiting for seating to arrive from the Far East forced the "contingency plan" of playing at Murrayfield.
Hearts will face Aberdeen in September and St Johnstone and Rangers in October at the national rugby stadium.
"Unfortunately, there are some things we cannot control," said chief executive Ann Budge.
"Despite the mammoth effort that has gone into the construction project up until now, we are not going to make our targeted open for business date of 9th September 2017 [against Aberdeen]."
Hearts had negotiated with the SPFL that their opening four fixtures against Celtic, Motherwell, Rangers and Kilmarnock would be played away from home.
The St Johnstone game will be on October 21, with the Rangers game scheduled to be seven days later. A third fixture, against Patrick Thistle on September 23 has been switched to Firhill.
"While this is disappointing, the cooperation of the management and staff at the SRU means we can accommodate all, indeed even more, of our supporters in fine style at the national rugby stadium," Budge added.
Hearts have played six European ties at Murrayfield going back to 2004, and they also hosted a friendly match against Barcelona back in the summer of 2007 watched by over 57,000 fans.
"Scottish Rugby is looking forward to welcoming Hearts to Murrayfield for three matches in the next couple of months," said Scottish Rugby's Chief Operating Officer Dominic McKay.
"As Scotland's biggest sporting stadium, Murrayfield has a history of hosting football matches having welcomed Hearts, Barcelona and Celtic in the past. We look forward to working closely with Hearts in the coming weeks."


The Irish president, prime minister and government ministers have taken part in the state centenary commemoration of the death of republican Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa.

Although he died in exile the Fenian leader, who fought for Irish independence,  was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
The commemoration is the first in the Republic's 1916 centenary events.
Fifteen hundred members of the public who applied for tickets attended.
Members of the diplomatic corps, including from the UK, are in attendance as well as members of the extended O'Donovan Rossa family whose ancestor spent long periods in British jails for his activities.
Large screens showed the event outside the cemetery where there was a public viewing area, with spaces for up to 5,000 people.
At the original funeral, the Easter 1916 leader Padraig Pearse delivered the oration in which he famously said: "The fools, the fools, the fools! They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace."
The oration was read out again on Saturday.
The original funeral is seen as a pivotal moment in Irish history, as several of those who attended went on to take part in the Rising.
In the 1850s, O'Donovan Rossa  was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) known colloquially as the Fenians, a reference to Na Fianna, a band of warriors who defended Ireland from invaders in Irish mythology.
The IRB was a small, secret, revolutionary body committed to the use of force to establish an independent Irish republic.
O'Donovan Rossa  was imprisoned in various jails in England for his activities and later moved to New York following his release, continuing his efforts to oppose British rule in Ireland.
After his death, his remains were brought to Ireland by the American liner St Paul from New York to Liverpool.
They were then transferred to the steamer Carlow, which carried them to Dublin.
Separately, Sinn FÃ©in organised a full-scale re-enactment of the funeral, which was one of the largest in Ireland's history.
A number of road closures have been in place while the events took place.


Nepal's Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has appointed 12 cabinet ministers, a week after he took office.

Mr Bhattarai has also named a deputy prime minister - Narayankaji Shrestha from his own Maoist party.
The cabinet now comprises seven Maoists and eight members from an alliance of smaller parties which supported Mr Bhattarai's election.
The formation of a government was delayed due to differences between the Maoists and their partners in alliance.
Mr Bhattarai heads the party of Maoist rebels who fought a decade-long guerrilla campaign against the former monarchy until joining the United Nations-supervised peace process in 2006.
The monarchy was eventually removed from power in 2008 but more than 16,000 people had died in the civil war.
Mr Bhattarai, 57, faces the immediate challenge of agreeing the first draft of the new constitution before 31 August, the expiry date of the constituent assembly.
There has been political deadlock on the issue since the parliament's election, with the Maoists as the largest party, in 2008.


Nearly 18,000 people have died in government prisons in Syria since the beginning of the uprising in 2011, according to Amnesty International.

A new report by the charity, based on interviews with 65 "torture survivors", details systematic use of rape and beatings by prison guards.
Former detainees described so-called welcome parties - ritual beatings using metal bars and electric cables.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied such allegations.
The report estimates that 17,723 people died in custody across Syria between March 2011, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad began, and December 2015 - equivalent to about 10 people each day or more than 300 a month.
According to the report, new detainees are subjected to "security checks" that often involve women being sexually assaulted by male guards.
"They treated us like animals. They wanted people to be as inhuman as possible," said Samer, a lawyer from Hama who was among those interviewed.
"I saw the blood, it was like a river... I never imagined humanity would reach such a low level."
Another inmate, Ziad (not his real name), described how seven people died in one day after the ventilation stopped working at an intelligence agency detention centre.
"They began to kick us to see who was alive and who wasn't," Ziad said.
Other detainees described being forced into a rubber tire or whipped on the soles of their feet. Amnesty says prisoners are routinely denied access to medical care and prevented from washing properly.
"For decades, Syrian government forces have used torture as a means to crush their opponents," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Director.
"Today, it is being carried out as part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against anyone suspected of opposing the government in the civilian population and amounts to crimes against humanity," he added.
A UN human rights report in February accused the Syrian government of carrying out a state policy of extermination, and said both sides in the war were suspected of committing war crimes.
Amnesty has called on the US and Russia, which co-chair peace talks on the Syrian crisis, to address the reports.
Talks have stalled however, with world powers failing in May to agree on a date for the process to resume. Talks in Geneva broke down in April after the opposition delegation quit, accusing the government of ignoring a ceasefire agreement.
More than 250,000 people have died in almost five years of war in Syria, with a further 11 million people displaced by the conflict, according to the UN.


New restrictions on private cars, which are being enforced to tackle hazardous pollution levels in Delhi, faced their first serious test on Monday as residents headed back to work following the New Year weekend.

The scheme was launched on Friday and authorities in the Indian capital said that most drivers had complied with the rules, which require private cars with even- and odd-number plates to take to the roads on alternate days until 15 January.
There were fears many would flout the rules on the scheme's first full working day.
But the city's usually clogged roads saw less traffic than normal, police said, suggesting motorists with odd-number plates had sought alternative ways of getting around.
"There were doubts about what would happen when all the offices opened," said Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai. "We are glad that people are following the rules."
One way of getting people on board was through a full-page advertisement in Monday's newspapers which compared the lungs of a 52-year-old Delhi citizen with those of a resident of a similar age from Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state in northern India.
"DELHI HAS NOW DECLARED A WAR ON AIR POLLUTION. ON WHICH SIDE ARE YOU?" it asked readers.
The car limiting plan is in place between 08:00 and 20:00 daily except on Sundays and the city government has put an additional 3,000 buses into service to handle an increased load.
The city's Metro has also had to deal with a rise in passengers but on Monday, Mangu Singh, the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, said the network was operating smoothly.
Taxi operators, which like motorcycles and women drivers, are exempt from the scheme, appeared to witness increased business.
"It's encouraging that people have worked with the government on this. This is most important because it affects our health and our children," said retired engineer RC Taneja, who owns both an odd- and even-plated car but chose to take the Metro for an appointment on Monday morning.
Some residents have even called for the scheme to be made permanent.
Those caught violating the rules face a fine of 2,000 rupees ($30), although many were let off with a verbal warning on Friday and Saturday.
The Press Trust of India said 1,231 people had been fined on Monday.
But what impact has it had on the city's air quality, which the World Health Organization (WHO) says is the world's dirtiest and a Delhi-based environmental group says is responsible for up to 30,000 deaths each year?
A visible layer of smog hovered over the city on Monday and overall pollution levels continued to be deemed "hazardous" on the US embassy's air quality index. It advised the elderly and children to stay indoors and for everyone to avoid physical activity outdoors.
Meanwhile, PM 2.5, the small particles in the air considered dangerous for lungs and the heart, stood at 403.6 micrograms per cubic metre in the Indian capital as of 14:00 - while the safe limit defined by the WHO in 25.
As well as vehicles, experts say the burning of crops and dust from construction also heavily affect Delhi's toxic air.
In an editorial on Monday, the Business Standard newspaper applauded the Delhi government, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who carpooled to work on Monday with colleagues, for "making a sincere effort in curbing vehicular pollution".
But it added that more needed to be done, including encouraging people to buy and use battery-operated motorcycles given that "over a third of Delhi's pollution is caused by emissions from two-wheelers".
It also called for expanding public transport networks and upgrading them so "that people can use them with comfort in preference to their private vehicles".
Some residents agreed.
Abheyraj Singh, 25, a smart-phone app designer, said buses "move super slow, making travelling a pain" and that "my nearest Metro station is 3-4km away, making it really hard for me to use". He  added: "I really want to use public transport and I feel everyone should, but only if it were more connected."


A 30m (98ft) wall of foam which appeared along a canal after a major chemical fire is being investigated.

The blaze broke out at Carbogen Amcis Ltd, Clayton, a mile away from Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
A huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the firm's Clayton Lane unit, which develops and produces pharmaceuticals.
The Environment Agency said the foam has caused "minimal impact" to water.
About 50 firefighters fought the blaze through the night as it spread to a pallet, containers and a warehouse.
Residents living within a two-mile radius were asked to keep their doors and windows closed and stay indoors by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.


Conservation charity Tusk has told Newsround that "If poaching is not stopped, then there is every chance that elephants will become extinct in a number of African countries within the next decade."

12 August 2016 Last updated at 08:36 BST
The warning comes on World Elephant Day, 12 August.
Tusk say more needs to be done to stop the poaching of the biggest land animals on Earth.
Ayshah has been looking into the threat facing elephants around the world.


War crimes prosecutors in Serbia have charged eight people over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

They are accused of killing hundreds of Bosnian men and boys in a single day at a warehouse near Srebrenica.
It is the first time a Serbian court has charged anyone over the massacre of 8,000 people by Bosnian Serb forces.
The authorities in Bosnia and an international court in the Hague have carried out all previous prosecutions.
The men charged on Thursday belonged to a special Bosnian-Serb police unit that was operating in the eastern village of Kravica when the killings took place just over 20 years ago.
They herded the mainly Muslim victims into a warehouse where they were killed with machine guns and grenades in an assault that lasted all night, the prosecutor's statement said.
Those charged included the unit's commander, Nedeljko Milidragovic, also known as Nedjo the Butcher, who was accused of giving the order for the killings and saying that "nobody should get out alive".
Mr Milidragovic is already facing genocide charges in Bosnia but has been able to live freely in Serbia because of the lack of an extradition treaty, says the BBC's Guy De Launey in Belgrade.
But this changed in March when he and the seven other suspects were arrested as a result of co-operation between the war crimes court in Belgrade and its counterpart in Sarajevo, our correspondent adds.
Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said the charges were a "message that there will be no impunity for war crimes and that the victims will not be forgotten".
The eight men could face a maximum sentence of 20 years if found guilty.
Fourteen people have been convicted at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague in relation to the Srebrenica killings.
Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic are both on trial at The Hague, accused of crimes relating to the massacre.
The ICTY and the International Court of Justice have called the events genocide.
The Srebrenica massacre came amid the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia into independent states in the 1990s.
Serbia backed Bosnian Serb forces fighting the Muslim-led Bosnian government during the conflict.
In July 1995, in what was supposed to have been a UN safe haven, Bosnian Serb forces took control of Srebrenica. They rounded up and killed about 8,000 men and boys and buried them in mass graves.


Tributes have been paid to a scuba diver who went missing in the English Channel off the coast of Dorset.

Andy Moll was part of a three-man team exploring a wreck six miles south of Swanage, some 131ft (40m) below the surface, on Sunday.
Father-of-four Mr Moll, from North Curry, near Taunton, is said to have more than 30 years' diving experience.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency called off the search for Mr Moll, who remains missing, on Sunday.
Leon Smith, chair of Severnside Sub Aqua Club, said Mr Moll was a "great personal friend" to many club members.
"Andy has been a long-standing, active, and well-respected member of the diving community," he said.
"Everyone who knows Andy is truly devastated by recent events and our thoughts and concerns are with his family and all those involved."
Mr Moll also served nationally with the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) and had been an instructor trainer.
"He was full of passion and enthusiasm and the BSAC, and had a true love of scuba diving, and all that went with it.
"Andy was also a real family man and our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to them, in particular his wife Elaine and four daughters."
Mr Moll failed to surface while diving with two others from the boat Emma J off Swanage and the emergency services were alerted.


US retailer Walmart has apologised after a picture emerged of a gun cabinet in one of its stores beneath a sign reading "own the school year like a hero".

The retailer tweeted the display was "horrible" and "truly awful," and said it would investigate how it came to be.
The image has been widely shared on Reddit and Twitter, with many users questioning how it had happened.
In recent years, the US has seen a number of deadly school shootings.
Charles Crowson, a spokesman for Walmart, told the BBC: "What's seen in this photograph would never be acceptable in our stores.
"We regret this situation and are looking into how it could have happened."


As cricket playing nations get ready for the ICC World Twenty20 competition which begins in Sri Lanka today, sports journalist Ayaz Memon says predicting the winner is loaded with hazards.

The T20 game itself is like a lottery. If it is your day, it could be your game.
The last three tournaments - in which there have been three different winners - exemplify the topsy-turvy nature of this format best. Past reputation and form on paper have mattered very little.
This year's tournament is perhaps the most riveting and intriguing. There is more depth and talent.
By now the T20 game is familiar to all major players and there is little scope for the naivety that, say, may have existed in 2007, the inaugural year.
A great deal of this talent has certainly been honed by the Indian Premier League (IPL), much maligned though it may be.
Take the West Indies for instance - players like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell are the toast of the IPL and could be major performers on the international stage too.
Indeed, according to many experts, the West Indies might well be favourites to win this time because of the resurgence of exciting big-hitters, fine all-rounders and brilliant fielders they possess.
The Twenty20 format might well be the fillip which Caribbean cricket has been seeking to regain its pristine position in the sport.
Nevertheless, the teams most feared will be from the sub-continent because they always seem to revel playing in the hot and humid conditions that players from Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand can find such a test.
India are former champions and have a formidable line-up for this format.
MS Dhoni's team have also had great success in Sri Lanka in recent months, not to mention a morale-boosting 2-0 Test series win over New Zealand.
Importantly, key players for India have struck good form, notably Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Dhoni himself.
Mercurial opener Virender Sehwag is still the most feared batsman, but it is not so much batting as bowling and fielding which could let India down.
Sri Lanka are always dangerous at home - and also boast some spectacular T20 players in Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga.
Indeed, the Sri Lankans have perhaps been the most consistent team in the T20 format over the past five years.
Mercurial Pakistan cannot be counted out either. The talent in the side is beyond dispute. Saeed Ajmal alone could be a handful for any opposition in these conditions.
There is sure to be a strong desire in the players to prove themselves and re-establish their credentials after all that has transpired in the past few years.
Australia, because they have spent the past few weeks in the United Arab Emirates playing Pakistan in excruciatingly humid conditions, will be a team to watch.
The players acclimatised, sort of, though one wonders whether the side has the depth in talent to win in this format.
Interestingly, teams that might struggle the most could be the two who have just been in an absorbing battle for top Test and ODI status - England and South Africa.
England will certainly miss the presence of Kevin Pietersen who, along with his other talents, is splendid in the T20 format. This time though, he will be wielding a microphone during the tournament, not a bat.
So which team is favourite?
Take your pick. As I mentioned at the start, this is a lottery where everybody starts equal - to win or lose!


Seeing our mobile phone running low on juice can induce near panic in many of us these days - we've become so reliant on them.

So imagine what it's like living in a remote village whose only electricity comes from solar power. What do you do when the sun doesn't shine?
Not only might your phone die, you might not have enough stored electricity to keep the lights on for more than a few hours. You have to light candles or a smelly kerosene lamp to see what you're doing at night.
But one solar power firm, Azuri, reckons it has an answer to this problem.
Its HomeStart system learns your electricity usage patterns and monitors climatic conditions to make sure the stored solar power is used in the most efficient way.
This can involve dimming lights to use less power and generally eking out the stored energy on less sunny days.
"Standalone solar home systems run until the power stored from sunshine during the day is exhausted, and then switch off," says Simon Bransfield-Garth, Azuri's chief executive.
"In poor weather, this may mean lighting time is reduced to just a few hours, forcing customers to revert to traditional means, such as harmful kerosene."
The firm believes this is the first time machine learning has been applied to rural domestic solar power systems, and is an example of how innovation in the solar sector is helping "off-grid" households power up more efficiently across the continent.
New products are coming on to the market, including solar-powered fans, TVs and fridges.
One firm, Aleutia, provides a "solar classroom in a box", including solar panels, 10 rugged computers, a server, LED projector, and 3G and satellite networking equipment. It costs about $9,500 (£7,100).
Aleutia has provided 137 schools in Uganda with computers and education software.
The company has also launched SolarEnabler, a "plug-and-play" box that provides everything you need for solar power in a wall-mounted box with constant 2G connectivity.
"Our computers are unique in their incredibly low energy consumption, which makes solar affordable," says Michael Rosenberg, Aleutia's chief executive.
It is making a big difference in rural primary health centres, he says.
"A single computer can register 800 patients a month, and record their symptoms and conditions. It is solar-powered hardware that provides transformative big data for health ministries."
Innovation in financing has also been key to the growing adoption of solar energy.
"Pay-as-you-go" and "rent-to-buy" schemes, pioneered by the likes of M-Kopa Solar and Azuri, are helping households pay off the cost of the solar kit over a manageable period.
Customers use mobile money services like M-Pesa to credit or top up their solar accounts.
"Over the course of typically 18 months, the purchase of top-up pays off the cost of the solar home system," says Mr Bransfield-Garth.
"After this, the customer fully owns the system and can use it to access clean, renewable energy with no further cost."
Azuri, which launched in Kenya and has since expanded to other countries, has sold about 80,000 solar home systems so far.
Its entry level solar panel is a five-watt unit which, with plenty of sun beating down, provides users with about eight hours of lighting for two rooms and mobile phone charging.
It costs about 220 Kenyan Shillings a week (£1.62; $2.17).
"Azuri's objective is to deliver clean and affordable power to enable rural Africans to realise their aspirations; lighting and mobile phone charging are just the starting point," says Mr Bransfield-Garth.
PEG Ghana, another solar power firm, has connected almost 15,000 homes in the West African country via a pay-as-you-go model. Customers receive a kit made up of two lamps, a radio, a torch, and a mobile phone charger, licensed from M-Kopa Solar.
"We enable customers to replace their perpetual spending on poor-quality polluting fuels, such as kerosene, with solar energy that quickly becomes an asset the customer owns," says Nate Heller, chief operating officer of PEG Ghana.
And the firm now offers customers who have paid off their solar units loans for other items, such as smartphones.
"Before you buy our product, you have a challenge to get anything on credit. You live in the middle of nowhere, you have no credit history, and no collateral," Mr Heller says.
"After you've paid off our system we have one year's worth of data on how you paid off the loan. Now we can give you loans for things like smartphones - you are a safe credit risk," he says.
But about 585 million people still lack access to electricity in Africa, according to the International Energy Agency, with only 14.2% of people in rural areas able to power their homes.
Even those with access to regular grid power can find it unreliable.
This leaves millions having to rely on kerosene, candles, battery torches or other fossil-fuel powered technologies.
Across Africa and Asia, the 1.2 billion people who have no access to electricity spend about $27bn (£20.4bn) annually on these alternatives, says the BNEF Global Solar Market Trends Report 2016.
Solar power could save them a lot of money.
So the case for taking solar power into poorer communities is not just a social policy issue, says Xolani Mncedane, senior research analyst at the consultancy Frost & Sullivan Africa.
There is now a "compelling business case", he says. "The market is more affordable and more appealing.
"Solar home systems and solar-diesel hybrid systems are becoming economical, thereby presenting new opportunities, new business approaches and new financing models," concludes Mr Mncedane.
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The five main parties at Stormont have asked the government for £2bn in loans and extra funding over a 10-year period, the BBC understands.

The secretary of state said Downing Street and the Treasury were now considering the proposal.
The news comes after it emerged that the five parties agreed proposals to break the deadlock on welfare reform.
The parties want to improve Stormont's borrowing powers and are seeking to have welfare penalties written off.
Northern Ireland is having to pay the penalties to the Treasury for not implementing the welfare reforms passed by Westminster in February 2013.
The BBC also understands that the document passed to the government includes a request for cash  to pay for bodies that  would examine the past.
The parties have also asked for a peace investment fund.
The talks, which have been going on for 10 weeks, are aimed at resolving disputes over flags, parades, the legacy of the Troubles and welfare.
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said the talks were at a "crunch point".
She would not go into the detail of the proposals, but said the government was looking "very seriously" at the paper submitted by the five parties.
"There does seem to have been a degree of progress between the parties," she said.
"Our response is going to have to take into account the deficit that we inherited and the limited resources we have."
Ms Villiers said there were no plans for David Cameron to return to Northern Ireland before Christmas
Earlier, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said there had been a "step change" in the  talks.
The deputy first minister tweeted:  "Our team focussed but more to do."
Negotiators from the five executive parties have been holding the latest round of talks in Stormont Castle.
Sinn Féin has refused to implement welfare reform in Northern Ireland and a paper from the party earlier in the week was dismissed as being unrealistic and unaffordable by other political parties.


Former media mogul Conrad Black has been released from prison in Miami after serving just over three years for defrauding investors.

His wife greeted him at their home in Toronto, Canada, and he was seen on the estate grounds by 14:00 (16:00 GMT).
Black, 67, who controlled an empire including the Daily Telegraph in the UK, and US papers including the Chicago Sun-Times, left prison early on Friday.
Earlier, Canada said he would be allowed to live there upon his release.
Black was born in Canada but renounced his citizenship in 2001 to accept a peerage in Britain's House of Lords. He is a British citizen.
The move to grant Black a one-year temporary residence permit stirred debate in Canada's House of Commons.
Tom Mulcair, leader of the New Democratic Party, said Black had received special treatment.
"No-one else has ever been in that situation, of being still in jail, having his dossier marched around all the offices of the minister and getting his approval before even getting out of the slammer," Mr Mulcair said, according to CBC News.
But Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney countered that approval of Black's application had been processed by "highly trained, independent members of our public service" and had not been subject to political interference.
In 2007 Black was convicted of defrauding Hollinger International shareholders of $6.1m (Â£3.8m), by paying himself a tax-free bonus from the sale of newspaper assets without the approval of the company's board.
He had been forced out of the company by shareholders in 2003.
After his conviction, Black was sentenced to 78 months in prison. He was released two years later while he pursued a partially successful appeal, in which a judge cut his sentence down to 42 months, including the 29 months he had already served.
Black reported to prison in September to complete the remainder of his sentence but was released after eight months on good behaviour.
Upon his release, Black was transferred to the custody of US immigration authorities before he travelled to Canada.
As a British citizen, he could have returned to Britain.
Black, who became Lord Black of Crossharbour, was known for his extravagant lifestyle.
It was reported that he had two apartments on Park Avenue in New York - one for himself and his wife, writer Barbara Amiel, and one for his domestic staff.


Robert Snodgrass hopes rave hit "Bits and Pieces" will ring out around Hampden on Saturday so he can dance away the blues of poor club results.

The Artemesia tune was chosen by Scotland fans as the music to accompany goals during the World Cup campaign.
"I tell you what - there'll be some amount of carnage going on," the Hull City midfielder said about the prospect in the build-up to the home game with Lithuania. "I'm a fan of it.
"I'll be dancing as well."
More than 20,000 people voted in the Scottish FA survey, with the dance tune from 1995, which was more recently re-mixed by Scottish DJ George Bowie, winning.
It beat The Proclaimers' "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles", which has most recently been played over the PA when Scotland score.
Having scored a hat-trick in Scotland's opening Group F victory away to Malta, Snodgrass is eager to trigger the music against Lithuania and make a statement about Scotland's prospect of qualifying.
"At club level, we've just got beat three on the bounce," he said of Hull's Premier League form. "So I'm desperate to get a win and I can't wait for the game to start.
"Because of how well we did in the last game, we want to build on that and it's at home and you want the home fans to see you mean business."
After entertaining Lithuania, Scotland travel to face Slovakia on Tuesday and Snodgrass agreed that four points from the two games would be the minimum target for his side.
"Focusing on two games, we obviously need to get off to a good start on Saturday," said the midfielder.
"They will be no mugs. It will be like the Malta game. They will be hard to break down, but we have to be ruthless, especially at home, because the fans have an expectation when you go away from home and win your first game convincingly.
"But I am not one for feeling pressure. I just enjoy playing football and enjoy being with the lads every day."
Snodgrass has shown excellent form after being sidelined for 15 months following an injury picked up when making his Hull debut in August 2014.
He missed much of Scotland's failed Euro 2016 qualification campaign and national assistant boss Mark McGhee again emphasised how highly the 29-year-old is regarded by head coach Gordon Strachan.
"I was there the day he got injured at Queens Park Rangers and I remember saying that, had he not got injured, I don't think his team would have got relegated that season," he said.
"That's how important he was to them and then he went out and scored a hat-trick in Malta and qualified that by showing how important he is to us.
"He is a brilliant player. He is such an important asset in and around the camp in the sense of taking the pressure off people.
"He will make a little joke in the dressing room. On the training ground, he's got a lovely rapport with the coaches. He is a great asset to the squad."


Eilish McColgan says making the final of the 5,000m at the Rio Olympics is "beyond anything" she could have dreamed of.

McColgan, 28, finished fifth in her heat in 15 minutes 18.20 seconds in a race won by Ethiopia's 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana, who clocked 15:04.36.
The Scot only returned to training in February following a broken ankle.
"It's a huge achievement in itself," McColgan told BBC Scotland after sealing a place in Sunday's final.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"I'm not going to medal, I'm not going to be anywhere near the medals but to make that actual final is beyond anything I could've dreamed of.
"It is literally like a dream come true. If someone said to me at the start of the year I would make the Olympic 5k final, I would've thought they were insane.
"I needed this today. I just wanted it so badly. It's been such a long time coming.
"To be in that final, that was the aim. It was an outside aim. To automatically qualify and not have to stress out - couldn't be happier."
McColgan's mother, Liz, won Olympic silver in Seoul 28 years ago and Eilish added: "It's actually been quite a challenge for myself and my mum because it's totally different to how she coached herself, how she coaches other athletes because of the problems that I had.
"She's always been the one keeping me focused. She knows exactly what I've been through. My family are going to be going crazy.
"Right up until January this year, I wasn't walking. I started back jogging again February/March. I was really, really unfit and struggling. Still had a lot of pain, actually not in my ankle that I originally broke but nerve pain going up into my leg.
"I still cross-train now, every single day. I can't run everyday or twice a day like everyone else.
"The hours and hours of just staring at a wall has made me a bit stronger. I know what I want now and I want to be here.
"It's been such a long process even to get to this line - to be pain free and to actually be able to run. Even to be in spikes as well, I didn't get into spikes until quite late on."


If you think about the big names in the English Premier League, the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Man City and Liverpool might come to mind.

12 February 2016 Last updated at 07:15 GMT
But this season the name that's on everyone's lips is Leicester City.
And they play against Arsenal today.
The club's currently top of the league table so Martin's been to the city to find out the secret to their recent success.


Two six-year-old girls were sexually assaulted during a trip to Legoland.

Thames Valley Police said the girls were "touched inappropriately" at the Legoland Windsor Resort between about 12.15 BST and 12.30 BST on Thursday.
The offender was described as a white man in his teens or early twenties. He was wearing dark-coloured clothing and trainers.
Legoland said it was "deeply shocked" and "nothing of this nature" had ever taken place at the resort before.
Det Insp Penny Mackenzie said: "I would ask anyone who visited the Legoland Windsor Resort yesterday [Thursday], especially if you went to Castaway Camp in Pirate Shores, to check any photographs from your trip to see if you recognise anyone matching the offender.
"Such offences are extremely rare and we are working closely with Legoland to identify the suspect."


Premiership club Gloucester have signed back row Carl Fearns from French Top 14 side Lyon for next season.

The 27-year-old former Sale Sharks and Bath forward joined Lyon in 2015 and will complete his second term in France before moving to Kingsholm next summer.
He helped Lyon return to the French top flight by winning promotion last term.
"He's made it clear he wants to play in the Premiership to give himself the best chance of playing for England," director of rugby David Humphreys said.
Fearns added: "I've really enjoyed playing my rugby in France and I feel as though I have become a better player for it. I'm excited to return to the Premiership and get stuck in."
The length of his contract has not been disclosed, but French newspaper L'Equipe reports he has agreed a three-year deal.


An Italian cardinal has donated €150,000 (£109,000) to a Catholic charity which allegedly footed the bill for renovations to his luxury flat.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was donating the money for medical research "to make amends", said Mariella Enoc, head of the Bambino Gesu Hospital.
Cardinal Bertone said he had paid for the work on his residence himself.
However, documents leaked to reporters earlier this year allege the €200,000 came from the Bambino Gesu Foundation.
The foundation collects donations for a children's hospital in Rome.
Vatican leaks lift the lid on Pope's financial battle
Vatican reforms may be starting to bite
Ms Enoc said that the cardinal had acknowledged the affair had "damaged our hospital and our foundation... and thus he is making amends to us with a donation".
Cardinal Bertone, 81, was the Vatican's secretary of state - a role equivalent to prime minister - under Pope Benedict XVI but was replaced when Pope Francis was elected in 2013.
He has defended his use of the top-floor flat overlooking Saint Peter's Square, saying that he shares it with a community of nuns who look after him.
But apparently lavish lifestyles are at odds with the tone now set by Pope Francis, who lives in a modest suite of rooms in the Vatican's Santa Marta guest house.
Italian news agency Ansa quoted Cardinal Bertone as saying that the money he was giving was "a voluntary donation".
"It's not reimbursement, because I personally haven't done any damage," he was quoted as saying.
He said he would donate the money in instalments from his savings and from contributions for charity that had been made to him over the years.
"My life is not luxurious," he reportedly said.
Cardinal Bertone was widely criticised over the so-called "Vatileaks" scandals in 2012.
The leaked documents revealed corruption and infighting at the Vatican.
The cardinal said he had been the victim of "moles and vipers".


Google has been ordered to hand over all contact details linked to accounts behind a series of damaging fake online reviews of a nursery.

An Amsterdam judge told the tech firm to release internet and email addresses, phone numbers and names related to four reviewers, one of whom assumed the identity of a dead woman.
Google deleted the reviews but the nursery's lawyer said it has not yet handed over the information.
Google is reviewing the decision.
The nursery, which was not named in the judge's ruling, complained that the reviews were making serious and unfounded claims that it was neglecting children, and that this was harming its business.
Three of the reviews were removed by Google for breaching its anti-spam rules after the nursery complained, including one written in the name of a woman who died in the US in November 2006. Others were found to have been copied and pasted from other websites.
In a ruling handed down last week, the judge CM Berkhout ordered the fourth to be removed because it too was in breach of the rules.
Google was given two weeks to hand over the information related to the four accounts - all of which remain active on Google+ - as well as the exact dates and times the reviews were posted. It was also told to pay more than â‚¬1,500 (Â£1,100, $1,600) to the nursery by the same date.
Paul Tjiam of Simmons and Simmons, who represented the nursery, said he believed the case would make it more difficult for fake reviewers to "hide themselves behind their computers." He added that the nursery would contact the people behind the fake reviews before deciding whether or not to pursue civil action against them.
He told the BBC that fake reviews online were not just an issue in the Netherlands, but a "worldwide problem." He said the courts' decision "shows that Google has a long way before its notice-and-take-down policy functions properly." Mr Tjiam said it was "stunning" that Google allowed the reviews to remain online. "Hopefully, another consequence of this decision is that it will make Google rethink their own policies and the way they enforce their policies."
He added: "Google's attorneys informed me that Google is still considering an appeal, but as far as I know they have not made a decision."
A Google spokesman declined to confirm that and said: "We've received the ruling and are currently reviewing it." The BBC understands that this is not the first time Google has removed reviews in the Netherlands, nor is it understood to be the first time it has been ordered to hand over internet protocol information, which identifies computers online.


US Vice-President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed ways to defeat Islamic State and strengthen the Syrian opposition.

Mr Biden, who is in Turkey for talks, said they discussed how to pursue a "political transition" in Syria.
The US wants a bigger Turkish role in the fight against IS, but Turkey wants this linked with plans to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Mr Biden also praised Turkey's role in supporting Syrian refugees.
Speaking at the joint press conference after the meeting. Mr Biden said that they had discussed the crises in Iraq and Syria in "considerable detail".
"We spoke about our work as part of an international coalition to degrade and eventually defeat Daesh," he said, using an Arabic name for Islamic State.
He added that they had discussed a range of issues in Syria, including the need to deny Islamic State "a safe haven" and "strengthen the Syrian opposition and pursue a political transition away from the Assad regime".
Mr Erdogan said:  "We want to continue our co-operation with the United States by strengthening it."
Mr Biden, who is in Turkey for a three-day tour, said that Turkey was "carrying a heavy humanitarian burden", with over 1.6m Syrian refugees in Turkey.
He also announced an additional $135m (Â£86m) in humanitarian aid for civilians affected by Syria's civil war.
The meeting came amid reports of strains between the two countries over Syria, and Turkey's role in the fight against IS.
Turkey has pressed for a no-fly zone in Syria but has not won US backing.
Mr Biden and Mr Erdogan have also had a public row over foreign jihadis crossing Turkey's border with Syria.
Last month, the US vice-president said that Mr Erdogan had privately admitted Turkey had allowed foreign jihadists to enter Syria.
This was angrily denied by the Turkish president, who called his relationship with Mr Biden "history".
Mr Biden's office said he had apologised, but the vice-president then said it was not an apology, merely a clarification.
On Friday, Mr Biden held talks with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who praised the "deep-rooted" relationship between the countries.
Mr Biden said: "We've been friends for a long time and one of the great advantages of being back in Turkey with a friend and Nato ally is we're always direct with one another."
IS militants have seized large areas of Iraq and Syria this year, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
On Saturday, Iraq's army launched an operation to retake parts of Ramadi, a city in Anbar largely controlled by IS.
The jihadists control almost all of Anbar, despite operations by the Iraqi army backed by air strikes from the US and its allies.
Turkey's main contribution to the military campaign against IS has been to allow some Kurdish fighters from Iraq to travel through Turkey to assist in defending the Syrian town of Kobane near Turkey's border.


More than 4,000 people have fled at night from a border town into Uganda after rival rebel factions fought in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The violence followed the sacking of the political leader of the M23 rebel group, Jean-Marie Runiga, on Thursday.
Mr Runiga is allied to Bosco Ntaganda, a rebel commander wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.
Some 800,000 people have been displaced since the M23 rebellion began in 2012.
On Sunday, regional African leaders signed a UN-brokered accord to end the conflict.
The UN refugee agency in Uganda told the BBC about 4,500 people crossed the border overnight.
"It started at around midnight and we can still hear the bullets and bombs," Damien Batimaha, a local community leader in the border town of Bunagana, told Reuters news agency.
"Most of the town has fled. I'm at home but my family has already left," he said.
The town is under the control of fighters loyal to the M23's main leader, Brig Gen Sultani Makenga.
Rebel spokesman Col Vianney Kazarama told the BBC's Great Lakes Service that the M23 fighters were ambushed as they made their way to Rumangabo, a military base about 50km (31 miles) north of Goma.
They were attacked by men loyal to Gen Ntaganda using heavy weaponry. There were many casualties on both sides, the spokesman said.
Profile: Bosco 'Terminator' Ntaganda
The second attack came at midnight on the the M23 headquarters near Bunagana.
Col Kazarama said he believed the attack was prompted by the peace accord signed in Addis Ababa, which mentioned arrest warrants - and Gen Ntaganda fears he will be handed over to The Hague.
The M23 - mostly made up of fighters from the Tutsi minority group who deserted from the army - launched a rebellion against the DR Congo government 11 months ago, briefly seizing Goma, the main city in the east, in November.
The rebellion was founded by Gen Ntaganda, who was an officer in the Rwandan army before he left to join a rebel movement in DR Congo.
In a statement signed by Gen Makenga on Thursday, Mr Runiga was accused of treason because of "financial embezzlement, divisions, ethnic hatred, deceit and political immaturity".
Rwanda and Uganda have denied UN allegations that they are backing the group.


A solicitor for a man accused of procuring drugs intended to cause an abortion has protested about delays in dealing with the case.

The man, who is 22 years old, is charged with procuring the drugs for his co-defendant, a 21-year-old woman.
The woman is charged with taking two drugs which are commonly used to bring about a miscarriage or abortion.
At Belfast magistrates court on Monday, there was an application to adjourn the case.
The man's solicitor said there had had been a lot of unacceptable delay in the case and that it was quite stressful for his client.
The case was adjourned until 23 January.
In Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, abortion is only allowed if a woman's life is at risk or if there is a permanent or serious risk to her physical or mental health.


A cyclist's attempt to break a 77-year-old distance record has been "much harder" than expected.

Kajsa Tylen, from Nottingham, began the year-long attempt to ride 31,068 miles (50,000km) on New Year's Day.
The 38-year-old has so far covered nearly 23,000 miles (37,000 km) - an average of about 89 miles a day.
Ms Tylen, who is originally from Sweden, is seeking to break the record of Billie Fleming, who pedalled 29,603 miles (47,641km) in 1938.
Since January she has cycled "where the wind" has taken her and despite "a lot of pain" and bad weather she said stopping "is not an option".
"It has been much harder than I thought - there has been a lot of pain, both in the legs and elsewhere," she said.
"I can't get this far and not do it, it is not an option. But I've never wanted Christmas to come so fast!"
Over 10 weeks during the summer months, Ms Tylen cycled through parts of Europe including Sweden, Finland and Germany.
Ms Tylen is not raising money, but asking for "Sweat Pledges" -  specific promises to start taking more exercise - and has so far received dozens.
"People are saying to me 'I can do this, I've never done it before and you have inspired me to do it'.
"And that is brilliant, because they inspire me as much as I inspire them."


Ex-England footballer Adam Johnson has lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction for sexual activity with a schoolgirl.

The 29-year-old was jailed for six years last March for sexually touching and grooming the 15-year-old fan.
He was refused leave to appeal his conviction and sentence in July, but launched a second bid late last year.
A panel of three appeal judges turned down the former Sunderland player's latest bid.
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A Mexican priest is hospital after being stabbed during Mass in Mexico City's cathedral.

Father Miguel Angel Machorro is said to be in "delicate but stable" condition after Monday evening's attack, according to government and ecclesiastical sources.
A suspect, who was reportedly detained on site as he tried to flee, told law enforcement officials he was a North American artist.
His identity has not been confirmed.
The assault left the priest lying on the ground, with blood soaking his clothes.
He was stabbed in the neck, and some witnesses said it seemed to be an attempt to cut his throat, said La Jornada newspaper.
At a news conference, the lawyer of the archdiocese, Armando MartÃnez, told people to pray for Father Machorro.
"We cannot talk about terrorism, we cannot talk about motives because we obviously have no significant facts," he said.
Mexico's Metropolitan Cathedral, situated on the main El Zocalo plaza, is the largest cathedral in the Americas.


Gwynedd council is holding a series of meetings about plans to make £25m in budget cuts affecting public services.

The first evening meeting takes place at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen in Bethesda on Monday, with informal drop-ins starting on Tuesday at Y Felinheli.
The council's Gwynedd Challenge consultation has been launched amid concerns it faces tough decisions due to budget cuts.
Councillors will decide which services to protect and which to cut in 2016.
One unpopular idea is to close public access on Barmouth bridge to save £30,000 a year, which would mean walkers and cyclists facing a 16-mile (26 km) diversion.


Scotland head coach in waiting Gregor Townsend says he and incumbent Vern Cotter have "the same goals" this term.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Townsend, 43, will take over from New Zealander Cotter in June.
The Warriors start their Pro12 season away to reigning champions Connacht on 3 September.
"We obviously want Scottish rugby to be a success and that starts with the national team and my own team, Glasgow," said Townsend.
"We've got the same goals. It'll be working on a similar way as before - how we manage the players, how we make sure that they're playing well for us and also playing well for Scotland."
Townsend goes into his fifth and final season in charge of Glasgow having reached the Pro12 final in two of the last three seasons, winning the tournament in 2015.
However, Warriors are yet to progress from the group stage of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
"Europe is the ultimate for any team that gets into that top 20, that get into the Champions Cup," said Townsend.
"With our pool - Racing, Leicester and Munster - it's going to be tough but that's the challenge we want to take on."
Ex-Clermont Auvergne coach Cotter will take charge of Scotland's autumn series against Australia, Argentina and Georgia before his final Six Nations as Scotland boss early next year.
And former Scotland fly-half Townsend, who previously worked with the national team as assistant to Andy Robinson, will take charge for the summer tour to Australia.
"That was a big pull, to coach nationally, that I would still be working with a group of Scottish players that I've really enjoyed working with," he said of his next post.
"I have really enjoyed and am enjoying being the Glasgow coach and I want to make the most of this next season with them."
Townsend was also asked if he would be available to assist the next Lions coach for their tour to New Zealand next year.
"My focus is firmly on Glasgow, a lot of work to do here," he added.
"There's been no conversations with anybody about the Lions.
"We're all waiting to see who the head coach is going to be. It's going to be exciting, as a supporter, just thinking about that tour and taking on New Zealand."


A 19-month-old girl has been seriously injured after being hit by a car in the Highlands.

Emergency services were called to the incident in the Smithton area of Inverness at about 16:40 on Saturday.
The girl was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for treatment before being transferred to Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow.
Her condition was described as "stable".
Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.


Tottenham's point at Liverpool would have been creditable in most circumstances - but the 1-1 draw at Anfield means Leicester City will open up a seven-point advantage with only six games left if they win at home to Southampton on Sunday.

The Premier League season is now at the sharp end. Will there be any more twists before the champions-to-be edge over the finishing line?
The Foxes have a lead of some significance and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted the result at Liverpool felt like two points lost rather than one gained.
This is a reflection of the fine margins that will decide the destination of the title. It leaves Leicester with an opportunity to strike a heavy blow if they can beat Southampton (kick-off 13:30 BST).
If Spurs win their remaining six games they will finish with 80 points. A Leicester win on Sunday will take their tally to 69 with six games left. It would give them a security blanket and put them in a position where they would feel they had thrown away the chance of a lifetime if they did not win the title.
This is why Spurs, and indeed Arsenal as they lurk in the background, will hope Ronald Koeman's Southampton, harbouring hopes of European football themselves and knowing a win would leave them only a point behind West Ham United in fifth, can somehow stop Leicester's roll.
If they can do that, Spurs will feel their hopes have been revived, leaving Pochettino and his players feeling much better about the point picked up via Harry Kane's superb goal at Liverpool.
While Spurs may feel a tinge of disappointment at the Anfield result, they looked like a team holding their nerve and ready to continue the fight. They faced a grim scenario after Philippe Coutinho put Liverpool ahead, but they responded with resilience and a wonderful moment of quality from Kane.
Leicester have four matches at home and three away in their last seven but they close with visits to Manchester United and Chelsea and a home game against Everton sandwiched in between. As those three matches may well be testing, they will be looking at home games against West Ham United and Swansea City to push themselves nearer to the title.
The idea of Claudio Ranieri returning to Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season as a Premier League champion will provide a delicious irony to this most unpredictable season.
Spurs' last six games are split evenly home and away - and while they will feel confident in all, their final two away games will provide serious examinations at Chelsea and Newcastle United on the final day of the season. What stakes will the Magpies be playing for then?
So while Leicester have that cushion of points, no-one will predict the title winners with serious confidence - but a win for Ranieri's men on Sunday may help them decide.
There will be evidence to answer this question on Sunday - but it is hard to doubt Leicester on what we have seen this season.
It was a year ago, on 4 April 2015, when the great recovery to survival started as bottom-of-the-table Leicester beat West Ham United 2-1. With the pressure to avoid relegation at its height, Leicester won seven of their last nine games to stay up.
It not only started the rush of momentum that was uninterrupted by the sacking of manager Nigel Pearson and his replacement by Ranieri, it proved this group of players can cope with pressure. Pressure of a different kind yes, but still heavy pressure.
And when the emphasis of Leicester's 2015-16 switched from scepticism to disbelief and on to expectation, they have been getting the sort of results that bear the hallmark of potential champions.
Title winners are characterised as much by the results they grind out as well as the days when it all goes smoothly.
Ranieri's side have won their past three games by a single goal, keeping clean sheets - and getting three points at potentially hazardous places such as Watford and Crystal Palace.
The Italian has done superbly in deflecting pressure on to those who are, unlike Leicester, expected to be in the title shake-up.
Will they continue to hold their nerve? They have so far and the doubters have been proved wrong on a weekly basis this season.
Jamie Vardy: He will return to Leicester on a high after excelling for England, scoring a brilliant equaliser in the win in Germany and getting on target again as one of the few players to enhance their reputation in the loss to the Netherlands at Wembley.
Riyad Mahrez: While Vardy's rush of goals has dried up in the league, in relative terms, Mahrez has stepped into the breach with the winners at Watford and Crystal Palace. He now has 16 goals and 11 assists - keep up that ratio and Leicester will be champions.
N'Golo Kante: The bargain £6.5m summer buy from Caen has been one of the stars of the Premier League season and he is another whose spirits will be soaring after excelling on his France debut by scoring against Russia.
He, along with Danny Drinkwater, is the glue in this Leicester side. Ranieri calls Vardy and Mahrez "The Pinnacle Of The Iceberg" - but he, along with everyone else, never underestimates Kante's contribution.
Harry Kane: The man who makes the difference. Spurs were on the back foot at Anfield until Christian Eriksen chased a lost cause and gave the 22-year-old the chance to show his balance, poise, composure and finishing expertise to score on the turn.
Kane is the Premier League's top scorer with 22 goals at a rate of one every 129 minutes. If he stays fit and keeps scoring, Spurs can still claim that first title in 55 years.
Dele Alli: Quiet at Anfield but a prodigious, game-changing talent. Could be pivotal in the weeks ahead.
Hugo Lloris: When Spurs were struggling to establish a foothold at Anfield, it was the France keeper who kept them right in contention with a crucial save from Daniel Sturridge, two fine stops from Adam Lallana and a performance of all-round assurance.
Here we go again. Pressure off as expectations reduce and only the Premier League to fight for after exits from the FA Cup against Watford in the quarter-finals and a last-16 exit in the Champions League for the sixth successive season at the hands of Barcelona.
So what comes next? A fine 2-0 win at Everton and then those FA Cup conquerors are swept aside 4-0 at Emirates Stadium.
It means if Arsenal win their game in hand on Spurs they are only one point behind and in a position to put pressure on Leicester.
Manager Arsene Wenger still believes they are in with a chance - which they certainly are - but just imagine if it was another case of too little too late again for the Gunners?
Meanwhile, Leicester have an opportunity to put clear daylight between themselves and the Premier League's pursuing pack when they face Southampton at the King Power Stadium.


The safety and management of an A&E unit in Brighton have been rated "inadequate" by care inspectors.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital A&E did not always have enough capacity or nurses, a report said.
Cubicles were not consistently cleaned and checked between patients because of high patient turnover, inspectors said.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said management plans were in place but performance had deteriorated. The NHS trust said it was making changes.
Inspectors said many patients had to wait in the emergency department to be admitted to wards, leading to delays and overcrowding.
The CQC's deputy chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Edward Baker, said the trust had not taken all the steps it should have to tackle points raised on previous inspections.
Professor Baker said despite the best efforts of staff, the hospital was not being managed well, which affected care and staff morale.
He said new management was in place but added: "I do not feel the board has done enough."
Patient flow through a hospital, or rather lack of it, is a huge issue for all the region's acute hospitals.
Hundreds of people come through the doors of The Royal Sussex's A&E every day.
Patients being admitted have to have a bed but at any time there might be 50 patients fit to leave without a care package or support available. As the CQC point outs, this results in "overcrowding" in A&E.
The hospital can do more - and it says it will - but the wider NHS and the care system, already under pressure itself, also has to do more.
What shines through the CQC report though is good care. It uses the words "compassion", "dignity" and "respect" when talking about the care staff provide.
The Royal College of Nursing says staff morale is low but the nurses and care workers I spoke to told me they were a close team determined to get it right for their patients.
The hospital management are the people who have to make it happen under the intense scrutiny of both the CQC, their hard-pressed staff and us, the patients.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS chief executive Matthew Kershaw said the trust recognised the issues.
He said specialists were working alongside A&E to ensure patients were seen by the right clinical teams earlier.
Tests, treatments and therapies were being improved to help patients return home quicker, he added.
More beds had opened at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and there would be a new community ward in Newhaven, he said.


David Cameron may have secured an outright majority in the House of Commons, but in the Lords the Conservatives face a trickier arithmetical task pushing through all their policies.

So you might think they would be glad of an extra vote.
The former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is now, of course, a Tory peer, and for a short while this week it looked like his old colleague Lord Maginnis was heading in the same direction.
The former Fermanagh South Tyrone MP told his local paper that, given the challenge posed by Scottish nationalism, he had decided to side with the Conservatives.
However, some elements to the story looked strange - not least that David Cameron's "personal invitation" referred to in the report reads like a generic e-mail punting for new members.
Sure enough, within a short time the Conservatives clarified that Lord Maginnis had "made an application to join, but it was declined".
"The party reserves the right to refuse membership," it said.
One can speculate that the Tories might have made their decision after considering the circumstances in which Lord Maginnis left the Ulster Unionists, including his controversial comments about same-sex marriage and bestiality.
But there is also another subtext to this story - an evident antipathy between the peer and the secretary of state.
When Theresa Villiers was reappointed after the election, Lord Maginnis released an extraordinarily critical statement, arguing she was "considered by many to have little interest and virtually no understanding of the problems and sensitivities required for the position".
Lord Maginnis continued that Ms Villiers had "easily the poorest record of any who have held that post over the past 43 years".
Whilst many might share the peer's evaluation that the pre-Christmas Stormont House Agreement has "virtually eroded before the ink on it was even dry", a more surprising line of attack to the uninitiated will have been his hostility towards Theresa Villiers' attitude, not to the division of Ireland, but to the division of Cyprus.
Ms Villiers' constituency of Barnet has an active Cypriot community, who regard their local MP as a "stalwart and an asset".
Ms Villiers demands "justice for Cyprus" and at a recent meeting during the election campaign pointed out that the Conservative manifesto backed Cypriots' efforts "to find a peaceful and lasting settlement to reunite their island".
By contrast, Lord Maginnis is a staunch supporter of Turkish Northern Cyprus, speaking on behalf of their cause in the House of Lords and contributing a foreword to an authorised biography of the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas released earlier this year.
In his statement on Ms Villiers' reappointment, Lord Maginnis criticised what he called her "high profile association" with the Greek Cypriot government which he described as "the inheritors of EOKA and EOKA-B terrorism".
The peer also questioned Ms Villiers' understanding of Middle-Eastern politics.
Lord Maginnis told me he remains a member of the Association of Conservative Peers and implied that the Tory statement saying he'd been declined membership wasn't the end of the matter.
But, whilst he and Ms Villiers might share the same view when it comes to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, it seems unlikely they will be able to bridge their differences over the partition of an island 2,000 miles away in the Mediterranean.
No doubt the Conservative party is big enough to include members with different perspectives on the Cypriot situation, but the peer's full frontal assault on the Secretary of State might have been another element the Tories will have pondered in assessing Lord Maginnis's application.