Tax avoidance is back in the news again following the appearance of the "Big Four" accountancy firms in front of a committee of MPs.

Year after year, some wealthy individuals have used legitimate reliefs to pay little or no tax, according to the Treasury. Other schemes have been seen as more contrived.
The way in which these high-income individuals have used the system has led to an argument about morality, but also what can be done to halt the avoidance.
Accountants and commentators say this is nothing new, as many of these schemes have been around for years.
Remember, tax avoidance - unlike tax evasion - is perfectly legal, so it is up to the government to change the rules to make these people pay more in tax.
So, what are the most common ways that individuals look to mitigate their tax bill?
The BBC News website asked two experts to pick out some of the most common avoidance schemes: Ronnie Ludwig of Saffery Champness Accountants and John Whiting of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, who also advises the government on tax simplification.
Wealthy individuals have a lot of disposable income - money that is not needed to heat the house, feed the children, or pay the council tax bill.
This income can be invested in things that lead to a reduction in the amount of tax they have to pay.
For example, this income can be pumped into an individual's pension scheme, up to a certain limit, or into schemes that are aimed at allowing businesses to thrive.
The latter - known as Enterprise Investment Schemes - are designed to encourage wealthy people to invest in new businesses that appear to have good ideas, but could be risky investments.
Banks may not be willing to take the risk these days, but wealthy people are encouraged to do so because they receive tax relief on the chunk of their own income that they put in and also pay little or no tax on any return they get out if the business is successful.
Some of these schemes already have a limit on how much income people can invest and get tax relief on.
Others do not, such as giving a chunk of their income to charity, or possibly donating a chunk of their companies' shares.
Some people may choose to give some of their income to charity, rather than the state. As with some reliefs they may not benefit directly as individuals, but it may mean the government does not gain as much in tax as it might expect, as the charities would benefit instead.
This month a cap of 25% of incomes (or £50,000, whichever is the greater) was introduced for income tax relief, available on a range of methods that do not already have caps.
Another well-known ploy, available to anyone, is to insure their lives, and write this policy into a trust for their children, so the money passes straight to them without paying inheritance tax. However, for somebody approaching later life, the premiums on such a policy are likely to be expensive.
Again, this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, for those who have their own business.
Many small businesses might survive only because the owner's husband or wife is prepared to do a lot of work behind the scenes for relatively little pay.
However, some businessmen and women have employed their husbands or wives, who paid little or no tax previously. They might do very little work, but are still paid a salary.
This means that the couple divides its income tax bill, rather than one of them - who might be the boss of the company - receiving all of the income and so paying a larger amount in tax.
The benefit from this arrangement arises because most people get a tax-free allowance to set against the first chunk of their income.
This applies in full only to individuals with a taxable income of less than £100,000.
Above that level, the once-universal personal allowance is gradually withdrawn.
If only one of the couple took all the income, he or she might also be pushed into a higher tax bracket.
The couple may also pay less tax by sharing ownership of the company and paying themselves a dividend, rather than salary - something that governments have also tried to crack down on.
Chancellor George Osborne wants to strengthen existing rules against this and similar schemes by introducing a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR).
This aims to act as blanket legislation to allow the taxman to differentiate between what counts as responsible tax planning and what is abusive tax avoidance. An advisory group on the issue has now been set up, with the government intending to bring in the rule soon.
The test should be clearer - did Parliament intend for this tax not to be paid when it set out tax laws?
That does not mean that this will not be challenged by either side, and accountants say that these appeals could still be lengthy and expensive.
Some say the line between avoidance and legitimate tax planning will still be blurred. But others argue that the general rule should create a culture in which people will think twice about signing up to an avoidance scheme, knowing that they may be more likely to pay back the tax and pay a penalty.


Manager Louis van Gaal ended Manchester United's interest in new Bayern Munich signing Renato Sanches - and remains in charge of recruitment for next season.

Bayern confirmed a £27.5m deal for the Portugal midfielder on Tuesday, but Van Gaal decided to pursue other targets.
There has been speculation since December that the Dutchman will leave this summer, with ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho favourite to replace him.
However, Van Gaal has insisted he will fulfil his three-year contract.
Even if the 64-year-old does leave Old Trafford a year before his contract ends, he has been heavily involved in planning for next season.
United's summer tour has been shortened significantly following his intervention and they will now spend only five full days in China for matches against Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City rather than the usual fortnight away.
It is understood talks have taken place with Mourinho, who has also managed Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto. A verbal agreement that the 53-year-old Portuguese will become the next manager at Old Trafford is believed to have been reached.
United chief executive Ed Woodward has been silent on Van Gaal's future at the club.
After losing at West Ham Tuesday, United must now beat Bournemouth and hope Swansea defeat Manchester City on the final weekend of the Premier League season to claim top-four finish and a place in the Champions League qualifiers.
United meet Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on 21 May.
Never want to miss the latest Man Utd news? You can now add United and all the other sports and teams you follow to yourpersonalised My Sport home.


It may look like something from the future, but China's long-awaited "straddling bus" ran its inaugural test in Hebei province this week.

The 2m-high Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) straddles the cars below, allowing them to pass through.
Powered by electricity, the bus is able to carry up to 300 passengers in its 72ft (21m) long and 25ft wide body.
A video of a mini-model of the vehicle caused great excitement when it was released in May.
The trial run was conducted on a 300m-long controlled track in the north-eastern city of Qinhuangdao.
The vehicle is expected to reach speeds of up to 60km per hour, running on rails laid along ordinary roads. Up to four TEBs can be linked together.
"The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space," the project's chief engineer, Song Youzhou, told state-media agency Xinhua earlier this year.
"The TEB has the same functions as the subway, while its cost of construction is less than one fifth of the subway," another engineer Bai Zhiming told news outlet CCTV.
One TEB could replace 40 conventional buses, according to the firm. However, it is unclear when the vehicle will be widely used in Chinese cities.
It is not a new idea, but it was not seriously considered until a mini-model of it was launched at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in May.
A month later, developers announced that the TEB would be ready for a test-run in August.
Thousands took to micro-blogging site Weibo to express their amazement and incredulity.
"I saw images of this not long ago and now it's actually happening?" asked one user. "This is truly build at 'Chinese speed'".
"I swear I just saw ideas of this in pictures. Now it's appeared in real life," said another.


A Mexican army helicopter has been shot at in the western state of Jalisco, killing three soldiers and injuring 12 others.

The country's defence minister said the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after it came under fire from members of a drug cartel.
A government official said the Jalisco New Generation gang was believed to be behind the attack, Reuters reports.
There were violent clashes elsewhere in the state on Friday.
Jalisco's Governor Aristoteles Sandoval said at least seven people had been killed and 15 injured.
Vehicles were set on fire and banks and petrol stations were damaged across the region.
"This is a reaction to an operation to detain leaders of this cartel," said Mr Sandoval, without naming the group.
The Jalisco New Generation is considered one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Mexico and is involved in large-scale drug trafficking along the Pacific Coast.
The military helicopter was taking part in the operation when it spotted carloads of gunmen on a road between the towns of Casimiro Castillo and Villa Purificacion.
Three other security personnel are still missing, according to the defence ministry.
More than 20 police officers have been killed in attacks by drug gangs in the last two months in Jalisco state.


Politicians (and hands up, the people who report on their work) are good at talking about each other.

What they say, and what they actually mean, matters hugely. But - with ministers revealing very little that they haven't already in advance of the triggering of the legal process to leave - there quite possibly won't even be that much more substance to come in tomorrow's letter.
Among all the speculation what's not being discussed that much is not the juggle between the UK and the rest of the EU, not the juggle between Scotland and the rest of the UK, not even the juggle inside the Tory party with Remainers urging the PM to face down the Eurosceptic right, but how on earth will Theresa May be able to seal her deal in two years' time with the electorate when they wanted such different things from the referendum.
And for the prime minister, that's one of the toughest parts of what beckons.
Leaving the EU didn't just divide the country between north and south, or town and country, or even constituency by constituency, but street by street, and of course inside the same households in some cases. Today we're with the prime minister in Birmingham where she is heralding more British investment from the Gulf state of Qatar, again underlining her oft-repeated desire to build closer relationships with countries outside the EU. But there's a big political job closer to home to be done.
As a city Birmingham voted narrowly to Leave the EU - 50.42% to 49.58%. But its constituencies were divided, six Leave and four Remain, as were even council wards which are often no more than a collection of a few streets.
As a snapshot, on one side of the same street in the Edgbaston constituency (which was a narrow Remain area) one council ward, Harborne, voted by nearly 70% to remain. On the other side of the road, Quinton, there was a clear verdict the other way. That situation is of course replicated time and again right around the country.
Of course the broad divisions are pertinent and worth reflecting. But the decision of whether to leave or stay created political splinters in thousands upon thousands of communities for all sorts of different reasons.
Even if (and it is an enormous 'if') Theresa May manages to achieve all that she wants in her negotiation with the rest of the EU, persuading the many different parts of the electorate she's got it right will be a tall order indeed.


When Alan Joyce, the chief executive of Australian airline Qantas, was asked by a young indigenous woman whether she could ever head up the firm his answer was unequivocal.

"I said, 'Well if a gay Irishman can become the CEO of Qantas then an indigenous lady can.'"
The fact that Mr Joyce makes no secret of his sexuality, makes him a relative rarity among top ranking bosses.
Among the chief executives of the 500 biggest US companies only one, Tim Cook of Apple, is openly gay. Similarly, in the UK's 100 largest firms listed on the stock exchange, Burberry boss Christopher Bailey is the only well-known gay chief executive.
Of course you could argue that the sexuality of those at the helm is not really anyone else's business but their own, but Mr Joyce believes being open about it allows him to be himself at work and demonstrates to others that it hasn't hindered his career.
During his tenure, he has steered the airline through huge difficulties caused by tough competition and soaring fuel costs, including a 2011 union dispute over restructuring which led him to take the unprecedented step of grounding all flights.
He subsequently led the firm through a massive cost-cutting programme that involved some 5,000 job losses, in the midst of which the national carrier announced the biggest annual loss in its near 100-year history, leading to calls for Mr Joyce to be sacked.
Critics accused him of ruining a national icon, yet earlier this year, helped by the drop in fuel costs, the firm reported its best ever first-half profit.
Mr Joyce credits the airline's diverse senior leadership team for its successful turnaround, saying it meant they came up with more varied ideas for addressing the firm's problems.
"We've got three Brits, an American, an Irishman, a Kiwi. So all different type of backgrounds. We've got three women, three gay men, people that were mathematicians, people that were business consultants, people that were flight attendants.
"I can say categorically that we wouldn't have gotten through the transformation and the tough times of this business as well as we did without having that diversity in the top leadership team. At the end of the day, it makes you a better business."
Recent research suggests Mr Joyce's conclusion is spot on.
Firms in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians, according to management consultancy McKinsey, which looked at 366 public companies across a range of industries.
A separate study by accountancy firm Grant Thornton estimated that publicly traded companies in India, the UK and US with male-only executive directors missed out on Â£430bn of investment returns last year.
"The research clearly shows what we have been talking about for a while: that diversity leads to better decision-making. Those businesses stuck in the past are not fully unlocking their growth potential," says Francesca Lagerberg, global leader for tax services at Grant Thornton.
Yet while recognising it is the right thing to do, embracing diversity can be tough in a firm that has traditionally employed a particular type of person.
One of Australia's biggest firms, Westfield, which owns shopping centres around the world, has been listed publicly for over half a century and has its roots in real estate and construction, both sectors which have historically been male-dominated.
The firm's global spread means that it is already very diverse culturally, says co-chief executive Steven Lowy, but he admits it still has "some way to go" on gender diversity.
"The gender issue is a challenging issue for companies to come to grips with, but I would suggest that we're very focused on it," he says.
Often it is business needs that drive a firm to become more diverse.
Jayne Hrdlicka, chief executive of Qantas' subsidiary Jetstar, grew up in the US. As a female CEO who was brought up abroad, she sees herself as a great testament to the firm's diversity.
Over half of Jetstar's revenues are generated outside Australia, meaning a diverse workforce is an absolute necessity.
The airline has invested significantly in educating people in working cross-cultures "because it's such a fundamental part of the way we need to operate," she says.
One exercise it has carried out with external experts is a nationality swap, where for one day Australian staff pretended to be Japanese and the Japanese staff pretended to be Australian.
While an exercise like this could seem superficial, Ms Hrdlicka says it taught staff to respect each other's roots.
"We  were able to appreciate the different ways of working, and the importance of building on the best of all those different ways of working rather than trying to force one over another," she says.
In the end, though, she says embracing a more diverse workforce requires a broad shift in how those at the top think about things, meaning that it's time that will make the biggest difference.
"It's the right thing to do, but it's a smart thing to do. You get the best outcomes for your shareholders and you get the best outcomes for all the stakeholders involved in your business when you really do create an environment that brings the best out of everyone."
This feature is based on interviews by CEO coach and author Steve Tappin for the BBC's CEO Guru series, produced by Neil Koenig.


A malaria outbreak has killed 25 penguins at Longleat Safari park.

A spokesman for the park, in Wiltshire, said the Humboldt penguins had contracted the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes.
Avian malaria cannot be passed on to humans but the park, which is home to a colony of captive-bred Humboldts, has closed Penguin Island to visitors.
The spokesman added that the park was "doing everything we can to try and treat the remaining nine penguins".
The disease was "not uncommon among penguin collections", he added.
"Regrettably this has resulted in us losing a total of 25 penguins from our resident colony; despite the very best efforts of the team of keepers involved in their care," a spokesman said.
"The penguin team have been working incredibly hard to try and save as many of the colony as they can and they feel the loss of each individual penguin acutely."
What is Avian malaria?
Originally from South America, the breed is normally found around coastal areas of Peru and Chile.
Humboldt penguins are now officially listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which means they are at immediate or imminent risk of becoming endangered.


Higher costs for Premier League rights have hit annual profits at Sky despite a jump in revenues and new customers.

The satellite broadcaster said total costs rose by 5%, with the £629m jump in football rights accounting for most of the increase in programming costs.
That helped send pre-tax profit down £27m to £1.05bn, while operating profit slid £87m to £1.46bn.
Revenues at Sky rose 10% to £12.9bn, while almost 700,000 new customers brought the total to 22.5 million.
While the UK and Ireland remained its biggest market, the company now has five million customers in Germany and Austria, while a new loyalty programme in Italy had been an "outstanding success".
A similar loyalty scheme will be launched in the UK and Ireland this autumn in a bid to cut the churn rate - the number of customers who leave - which rose from 11.2% to 11.5%. Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said the rate remained "at a level higher than we would like".
"We will continue to identify opportunities to reach new customers through the recently launched new portfolio of channels and pricing to drive growth in Sky Sports UK," he said.
George Salmon, a Hargreaves Lansdown analyst, said price increases that followed the higher Premier League football rights costs meant "more customers are choosing to leave Sky than have done for quite some time. Clearly, this presents a problem".
Only half the rise in revenues was due to organic growth, with the remainder due to the positive impact of currency moves, he said.
"21st Century Fox's takeover of Sky looms large over the group. Given the price is 40% above what the shares changed hands for just prior to the offer, this remains the dominant issue for shareholders," Mr Salmon added.
Shares in Sky fell 2p to 964.5p in morning trading in London.
New delay to decision over Fox's Sky bid
Premier League wins anti-piracy ruling
BT wins TV rights to European rugby union
Liberum analysts still expect the Fox takeover to be approved, but warned: "If there is any concern the bid will not go through, the shares could come under pressure as investors focus more on the fundamentals."
They said Sky won just 35,000 new customers in the UK and Ireland in the fourth quarter, a sharp drop from last year's 93,000, while average revenue per user was flat at £47 despite the price rises.
Like-for-like revenues in the UK rose 4% to £8.6bn during what Sky called a "challenging environment" for consumer-focused businesses and "prevailing headwinds" in the advertising market. It has 11.4 million TV customers in the UK, while one in four broadband customers now take ultrafast fibre.
Sky said it increased investment in original content by a quarter, with the glossy drama Riviera setting new records with two million viewers and almost 12 million downloads. All episodes of the drama, which stars Julia Stiles, Anthony LaPaglia and Adrian Lester, were made available to viewers in the same way as Netflix's successful "box set" approach.
The firm also plans to introduce a service similar to its NOW TV offering in Spain, which requires only a broadband connection rather than a satellite dish.


Ukraine's Jamala has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden.

The country scored 534 points with its song 1944, about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Josef Stalin.
Australia finished second with 511 points, while Russia - which was the favourite going into the competition - was third with 491 points.
Joe and Jake, who represented the UK with their song You're Not Alone, finished in 24th place with 62 points.
Jamala is the first Crimean Tatar to perform at the contest and her song caused controversy because of alleged political overtones.
It references the year when Stalin deported almost all of the Tatar ethnic group from its native region of Crimea in what was then the Soviet Union.
The song has angered Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, as tension between the two countries grew.
How Twitter reacted to Jamala's win
There have been calls in Russia for a review of her victory after a prankster told Russian TV that Jamala had admitted to him her song had a political subtext while he posed as an aide to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
A Russian MP, Elena Drapeko, blamed Russia's defeat on what she called an "information war" and "general demonisation" of her country.
But Mr Poroshenko hailed Jamala's victory and said her performance had been "incredible".
The juries from Russia and Ukraine did not award each other any points. However large numbers of the Russian public voted for the Ukrainian song, awarding it 10 points, while the Ukrainian public gave Russia's entry the maximum 12 points.
Under the radar: Helen Bushby, BBC entertainment reporter, Stockholm
Ukraine confounded the bookmakers and Eurovision commentators who had been convinced that Russia - or possibly Australia - would win.
Russia's CG effects and the brilliance of Australia's singing weren't enough to defeat jazz artist Jamala.
Russia was the bookmakers' favourite for so long, possibly because it was so similar to last year's Swedish winner. Ukraine appears to have slipped past it under the radar.
Simon Bennett, head of the International OGAE Eurovision fan club, told the BBC that former Soviet countries that would "normally vote for Russia" sent it a message by voting for Ukraine instead.
How political was this?
The singer had dedicated the song to her great grandmother who was forced to leave along with a quarter of a million Tatars, as a collective punishment for those who had collaborated during the Nazi occupation.
It had been expected to finish in the top three but in a surprise result beat favourites Russia, which had been angered by the song.
Collecting her award, an emotional Jamala thanked Europe for their votes, adding: "I really want peace and love to everyone."
Speaking about her win backstage after, the singer said: "It's amazing. I was sure that if you talk about truth it really can touch people."
A new scoring system was introduced this year, providing separate scores for each country's jury and public votes, rather than combining them as in previous years.
At the half-way point after the juries' votes had been counted, Australia - which had been invited back to perform after last year's 60th anniversary celebrations - topped the scoreboard with 320 points and a firm lead over Ukraine's 211 points.
But Dami Im's Sound of Silence failed to strike the same chord with the public and was voted the fourth most popular song overall.
The new scoring system highlighted the disparity between the preferences of the juries and the public.
It allowed Poland, which was in penultimate place with seven points from the jury, to leap to eighth when the public's 227 points were taken into account.
It also meant the UK, which had been placed 17th after the jury vote with 54 points, was pushed down to 24th out of 26 when the public's mere eight points were added.
Despite the low finishing position, the UK still scored more points than it has done since 2011 when Blue competed.
Writing on Twitter, Joe and Jake said: "Regardless of the result, our main aim was to make the UK proud. We hope we did that."
Germany's Jamie-Lee finished in last place - her song Ghost received 11 points.
Graham Norton, who provided commentary to viewers watching in the UK, paid tribute to his predecessor Sir Terry Wogan during the contest.
He recalled Sir Terry, who died in January, advising him not to drink anything alcoholic until the ninth song had been performed.
"I would urge you at home to raise a cup, a mug, a glass and give thanks to the man who was, and always will be, the voice of Eurovision," he said as the ninth competitor began.
This year's contest took place at the Ericsson Globe arena in Stockholm and was hosted by last year's winner Mans Zelmerlow and Swedish TV personality Petra Mede.
Justin Timberlake performed his new single during the interval of the show, which also included a sketch featuring British actors Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi as their ITV Vicious characters.


Violets are blue,
I wrote this algorithm
Just to find you.
If you're not being wined and dined this Valentine's Day here's some encouraging food for thought - mathematician Chris McKinlay from Los Angeles may not be a hopeless romantic but he programmed his way to true love using data freely available on dating website OKCupid.
Mr McKinlay decided to put the data into dating during a lull in his PhD research.
"I was frustrated with what I was supposed to be working on so I picked up OKCupid as a side project," he said.
"I just wanted to see if I could do it. I thought, if dates came out of it, that would be great, but it was proof of concept."
Being somebody's "proof of concept" doesn't exactly sound like the stuff of fairy tales but his method was so effective that, after three weeks of what he describes as "heavy part-time work", Mr McKinlay was averaging 70 unsolicited introductory emails a week through the site from potential girlfriends.
Three months and 90 dates later, Mr McKinlay met Christine Tien Wang, now his fiancee, and his "side project" was over.
So how did he do it?
Users of OKCupid have to answer multiple choice questions as part of building their online dating profile. The questions vary but include lifestyle, religion and political subject areas.
Chris McKinlay reasoned that by trawling all the answers he would find that the respondents would fall into clusters - those who were liberal and enjoyed shopping, or liked horror movies and tattoos, for example.
"I reasoned their answers would bunch up around belief systems," he explained.
"If they were going to clump up there were going to be answers that were more important [to me]."
He chose a locally-based target group of women on the site and created code, in the form of bots, to trawl the questions they had answered - giving him a dataset of some six million answers.
He is unapologetic about such personal data gathering.
"I collected a bunch of data that was publicly available online," he said.
"I didn't break into OKCupid's servers. I did use it for my personal gain, that's true. Big companies do it all the time."
Data analysis sorted the profiles into seven distinct clusters.
"I think humans in general aren't all over the map when it comes to questions about lifestyle, politics, religion - there tends to be common threads," Mr McKinlay said.
"What was surprising was how well grouped these different sets of people were."
He selected two clusters that appealed most to him and set up two dating profiles specifically written to get their attention.
The responses soon flooded in.
Chris McKinlay began dating in earnest. Evening dates and lunches became quick coffee dates as his diary filled up - and he soon began observing surprising patterns within the dates themselves.
"A lot of the people who were on these dates with me had answered several hundred multiple choice questions with a high degree of statistical similarity that would bleed into the dates in weird ways," he said.
"At one point eight out of nine people in a row ordered the same odd coffee drink - a flat white - which at the time was not on the menu in a lot of coffee places in LA and certainly wasn't in the questions or profiles.
"The [women] had the same colour iPhone case, similar dress, the tendency to ask the same questions in a similar order.
"I got really good at these dates because in a sense they were all the same date."
It was also a little heartbreaking, he admitted.
"To put myself in one of those people's shoes - they saw me online and I was at or near the top match they'd ever had on the website, in some cases after years of being on it, so there was a strong incentive to meet me and really bring their A game.
"Me, on the other hand, I already had seven or eight dates lined up after that one, I knew what they were going to say, and I knew how to maximise their sexiness, or mystique, or whatever I wanted to on the date.
"I started looking for the outliers - someone who was a little bit different. About three times in the experiment I met someone really different, I kind of fell [in love] a bit."
Then one day, Christine Tien Wang got in touch.
"Christine went online and searched for something and found me at the top of the list and wrote to me," Chris recalled.
"So from her perspective she did all the work. All I did was just make myself more visible."
He told her about his experiment on their first date.
"She thought it was cool - a little dark and cynical but interesting," he said.
She's "a bit fatigued" with it now though, he added, and doesn't want to be interviewed about it.
A triumphant Mr McKinlay has since helped a few friends find partners using the same method.
There has been a lot of research into the role of smell in identifying a potential partner.
Daniel Davis, author of The Compatibility Gene and professor of immunology at Manchester University, believes that what we might actually be trying to sniff out is our potential mate's immune system.
"An experiment was done where men were asked to wear T-shirts for two days without washing or entering a smelly room," he said.
"Women were then asked to rank the smell of those T-shirts as to how sexy they thought they smelt - the results of how they ranked were compared with the versions of immune system genes that the men and women had.
"It turned out the smell of T-shirts that women found most sexually attractive were from men who had different versions of particular immune system genes to themselves," he explained.
The experiment itself proved controversial, not least because it was impossible to see whether it influenced the subjects' behaviour in any way.
"If you ask people generally what would be the difference between people - you might think about genes that affect hair colour or eye colour or skin colour but those are very narrow ranges in diversity - by far the biggest difference from one person to the next is in immune system genes," he said.
"It's highly possible that some aspects of mate selection and reproduction are linked in with how our species has evolved to fight off disease."
Then one day Mr McKinlay said OKCupid changed its algorithms and closed his side door.
Founder Christian Rudder however said there were no hard feelings.
"What he did was turn the tables on us, but I'm fine with that," he told the BBC.
"He gamed our system, but it's hard to do, it's so rare.
"Maybe one in every 200,000 people could or would want to do what he did.
"I think it's cool."
Fellow mathematician Matt Parker suggests using a theory called optimal stopping point if you haven't got the time for some seriously intensive dating.
"The number of people you should date depends on the number of people you are prepared to date," he explained.
"So let's say you are prepared to date 100 people, at which point you give up and settle for the last person.
"You calculate the square root of that number of people - so for 100 people that's 10 - you date that number of people and they are your survey period... you reject them all."
So far, so brutal.
"You tell them it's nothing personal, they're just your sampling candidates," is Mr Parker's advice.
"And then at the end of that, having remembered the best person you met in that sampling people you continue dating until you meet someone who is as good or better than that."
But what if your chosen one has by that point found somebody less, well, picky?
It is a flaw in the plan, Mr Parker conceded.
"The general rule of thumb is to not settle down too quickly, Mathematically that will give you a better potential life partner further down the road," he said.
"But as always people tend to follow their heart, not their calculations."
Not everybody is convinced that data and dating go hand in hand.
"I think if you're talking data as in what do you want for a partner or what are you offering yourself, it's a very good starting point," says relationship expert Susan Quilliam.
"But if you're talking algorithms and using them to find the love of your life there's a problem which is, when you meet face to face all the data in the world doesn't tell you whether there's chemistry or not."


Police have seized a sawn-off shotgun and a quantity of ammunition in Craigavon, County Armagh.

The items were found in Drumgask Road on Friday morning by a member of the public, who then alerted police.
A police spokeswoman said: "While the items appeared to have been there for some time, the weapon was loaded and presented a clear danger."
She said officers were "grateful" to the person who reported the gun so it could be disposed of safely.


A thief has been caught on CCTV stealing a charity bucket from an Edinburgh restaurant.

The footage shows a man taking the money intended for the Daisy Chain Trust from Tapa on Shore Place, Leith.
At first the owners thought the bucket had been misplaced, but checked their CCTV when it failed to turn up two weeks later.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the theft which took place on 20 September at about 10:20.
There was about Â£90 in the bucket.
Tapa owner Daniel Shearon said the staff member on duty that day had been in a back office when the theft happened.
He said: "We are very upset about this.
"On Tuesday 20th of September at about 10:20am, the man on the left of the picture opportunistically entered the restaurant and stole our charity box while the man on the right kept watch from outside.
"We know the CCTV pictures of the men aren't great but Police Scotland would love to know if anybody recognises either of them.
"We're determined to turn this terrible act into a positive, as the charity we were collecting for is very close to our hearts.
"We love the charity because it's run entirely by volunteers, so 95% of the money raised goes directly to those who need it most.
"Their biggest fund-raising event of the year is coming up very soon at Oxenfoord Castle and is called the Chuffs Extravaganza- we'd love it if you could go along and support them."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Police in Edinburgh are investigating following the theft of various items from a restaurant in Leith.
"The incident happened around 10.30am on Tuesday 20th September at a premises in Shore Street.
"A charity collection bucket was stolen along with alcohol and inquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible.
"Anyone with information that can assist police with their investigation is asked to come forward."


A Glaswegian mother who handed out a hard-hitting "life lecture" to a teenager caught with her son's stolen bike has been hailed a "supermum".

Vonnie Sandlan used social media to trace the bike after it was stolen in Glasgow city centre on Saturday night.
In an often hilarious Facebook video, the brave mum said she posed as a buyer before confronting the boy.
She won plaudits after revealing that she told the boy he could "end up in Barlinnie" - Glasgow's prison.
She then gave him a hug.
Ms Sandlan, the former president of NUS Scotland, even told the boy to think about college or an apprenticeship "if school wasn't working out for him".
She said: "Part of me really hopes that the kid gets in trouble and it properly scares him and that's enough.
"Part of me hopes that he just genuinely takes it as an opportunity to make some better life choices."
The drama unfolded after her son Findlay's bike was taken from outside McDonald's on Argyle Street at about 21:30 on Saturday.
He had bought the cycle just a few days earlier and the theft had left the 16-year-old "distraught", Ms Sandlan told her followers.
"He's been less upset when pets have died," she said. "He used his birthday money for it, he'd been saving up for ages. It's a big deal."
She said she reported the theft to Police Scotland but understood they could not deal with it as they had other priorities.
Instead, she turned detective and launched a social media campaign in a bid to find her son's prized possession.
By Sunday, she had received a tip off that it was for sale on the Gumtree website.
After checking that it was definitely Findlay's bike, she called the police. She said they supported her plan to arrange to retrieve the bike.
While her friend filmed the meeting from a nearby bus stop, Ms Sandlan and her husband, Bob, met the boy with the bike outside The Forge shopping centre.
In her Facebook Live post, she said: "The kid came over and he stopped in front of the bike and I was giving it big smiles and went over and put my hand on the bike and I said 'Thanks so much for coming out to meet us on such a miserable day as well, we would have came to your house'.
"And I looked underneath the frame and I checked the serial number, then I just said 'This is my bike'. And the kid just burst into tears."
She went on: "So this kid is just like crying in front of me, saying 'Is it really your bike?' And I said 'Yeah, it's really my bike - it's not your bike, is it?'
"And then he's like 'It's my first time, it's my first time' and I was like 'I think we both know that's not true, pal'.
"And then somehow I ended up like pure giving him a life lecture on how this is a turning point in his life and it could have been so much worse if it had been somebody else who had came and just like battered him to get the bike back off him.
"And what he needed to be doing was thinking of his future and he said, 'I'm only 15'.
"And I said, you know what, if school's not working out for you, you need to start thinking about college or like go and do an apprenticeship or something. Stop stealing because you're terrible at it and you're going to end up in Barlinnie."
The video, which ends with Findlay agreeing that his mum is the "best in the world", has been viewed thousands of times since it was posted on Sunday night.
A police spokesman said: "Always use 101 in circumstances like this. Let us know what's happening and let us deal with the confrontation side of things."


A man accused of murdering a British businessman in India has appeared before a court in the Jalandhar region.

Sukhdev Singh, a taxi driver, confessed to killing Ranjit Singh Power, a 54-year-old hotelier from Wolverhampton, Indian police said.
Divers are searching for Mr Power's body in a canal in Ropar District.
Mr Power was last seen at an airport in Amritsar, Punjab on 8 May. After he did not contact his family for a week, they reported him missing.
Writing on Facebook, Mr Power's son Gian called his father his "best friend, teacher and leader".
"The lessons my dad has taught me over the last 23 years will remain with me forever. The relationship we had was like no other.
"I will continue to live in his legacy, work hard and always help others and know he is with me every step of the way."
Mr Power's daughter Emma said: "My father will be so sorely missed. I will keep his memory alive and tell his granddaughter everyday what a kind warm hearted man her Nanaji was.
"My father's love was immense, and I cannot put into words how much I will miss my father. No matter how many times we clashed because of our similar personalities, dad was always there for me. I wish I had the chance to thank him for the strength he has instilled in me over the years.
"I am so proud of the his sheer determination over the years. He was a strong, proud man.
"I am the luckiest daughter alive to have been able to call him my Dad."
The Foreign Office has confirmed the death of a British national in India.


A Bristol woman who promoted a £21m scam that fleeced some 10,000 victims has been ordered to pay back £1.

Rita Lomas, of Whitchurch, made £40,000 by encouraging people to join the Give and Take (G&T) pyramid scheme.
The scheme spread across the country between May 2008 and April 2009 and victims lost between £3,000 and £15,000 on the promise of getting £23,000 back.
Lomas previously received a four-and-a-half month suspended sentence after admitting her part in the scam.
Judge Mark Horton at Bristol Crown Court said: "By agreement, I assess the benefit that you had from your criminal conduct at £40,455.93.
"It is agreed between the parties that your realisable assets amount for the purposes of this amount to £1.
"I therefore order confiscation in the order of £1 and £1 only."
He added that if her financial circumstances improved she would be called upon to pay the whole or any part of the money she made.
Victims were encouraged to "beg, borrow or steal" to invest in the scam, in which organisers promised they "could not lose".
Committee members behind the scheme pocketed up to £92,000 each, while as many as 88% of their victims lost between £3,000 and £15,000.
Eleven women, now aged between 35 and 70, became the first in the UK to be prosecuted for such a scheme, under legislation from the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Act 2008.
Six of the group were convicted of operating and promoting the scheme, while Lomas and two others were convicted of promoting it.


Ecuador's National Assembly has approved a constitutional amendment allowing the president and other officials to be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms.

The change is part of a package of reforms backed by President Rafael Correa.
After the vote opposition demonstrators clashed with police outside the assembly building in Quito.
They say the reforms are an attempt by Mr Correa to tighten his grip on power.
But the constitutional change lifting restrictions on the number of re-elections only comes into force in 2021.
Mr Correa says he does not intend to run for re-election in 2017.
Other reforms approved include changes to the role of the armed forces, the media and labour relations.
The opposition boycotted the session, but Mr Correa's left-wing coalition had enough votes to secure the approval of the 15 amendments.
The measures were approved by 100 votes to eight, with one abstention.
"We will continue governing for the common good of the country, with full democratic legitimacy," Mr Correa tweeted from Paris, where he is taking part in the COP21 World Climate Change Conference.
"In Ecuador, the people of Ecuador will rule!" he wrote.
The opposition had asked for the constitutional amendments to be submitted to a referendum.
"More than 85% of the people demanded to have their voice heard [in a referendum]," said opposition politician Guillermo Lasso.
"But we will change that when we win the 2017 election," said Mr Lasso.
Opposition politicians say Mr Correa was inspired by other Latin American left-wing governments, including Venezuela and Nicaragua, which changed their constitutions to allow the indefinite re-election of the president.


Heavy downpours expected across north Wales have prompted a yellow "be aware" warning for rain.

The Met Office said the rain will gradually spread north across Wales on Christmas Day.
It will be "heavy at times", particularly over high ground, and is expected to continue into Boxing Day.
The warning is in place from 15:00 GMT on Friday until 23:45 on Saturday and there could be flooding and some disruption to transport.
Natural Resources Wales currently has two flood warnings in place for Tenby, Pembrokeshire, and the Lower Dee Valley, from Llangollen to Trevalyn Meadows, as well as more than 20 alerts across Wales.
Meanwhile, December is on course to be the warmest on record with temperatures averaging 9.3C (48.7F) - up 4.8C on the usual average for the month.
However, Wales has had more rain and less sunshine than anywhere else compared to the usual averages in the UK.


Norwich City striker Kyle Lafferty has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association after allegedly breaching betting rules.

The Northern Ireland international, 28, is accused of breaking FA rule E8, which bars professional players from betting on football-related matters.
In a statement, the FA said that Lafferty is alleged to have committed the offence on 20 February.
The former Burnley, Rangers and Palermo forward has until 5 August to respond.
The FA statement read: "It is alleged that on 20 February 2016, the Norwich City forward placed a bet on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, a football match or competition in breach of FA rule E8."
Rule E8 prevents professional players not only from betting on matches in which they are involved or have an influence, but also on any other football-related matter anywhere in the world - including matches, the transfer of players, employment of managers, team selection or disciplinary matters.
Neither Norwich nor Northern Ireland played on the date that Lafferty is alleged to have breached the rules.
The forward spent the end of last season on loan at Birmingham City, having joined them on 24 March, and scored once in six appearances.
He also appeared three times for Northern Ireland at Euro 2016 as they reached the last 16.


A man accused of claiming almost Â£10,000 after allegedly pretending his family died in the Grenfell Tower fire has denied two counts of fraud.

Anh Nhu Nguyen, 52, of Beckenham, south-east London, is accused of defrauding charities and Kensington and Chelsea Council by posing as a victim of the fire for nearly two weeks.
He pleaded not guilty to both counts at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
He was remanded in custody and his trial is due to take place in December.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard last month that Mr Nguyen claimed he lived in the North Kensington block, and that his wife and son had died in the blaze.
The court also heard he was given a hotel room, clothing, food, electrical items and cash after he went to the Westway Sports Centre, where he allegedly claimed to have lost all his possessions,
The centre had been set up as one of the focal points for the local relief effort.
The tower block fire on 14 June killed at least 80 people and made hundreds homeless.


North Korea's economy shrank at its sharpest pace in eight years after a fall global commodity prices hit the value of its coal and iron ore exports.

Gross domestic product fell by 1.1% last year compared to a 1% gain in 2014, according to an estimate from South Korea's central bank.
The Bank of Korea has released the data annually since 1991 using information supplied from sources such as the Ministry of Unification.
North Korea does not publish any data.
The worsening economic picture may put pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang is facing heavy international sanctions because of its continued provocations such as missile launches and nuclear threats.
China is North Korea's main trading partner but its demand for raw materials has lessened as it moves away from manufacturing towards a more consumer-oriented economy.
North Korea's exports fell by 14.8% last year in annual terms, mostly due to a slump in mineral product shipments.
Imports slid by 20%, versus an increase of 7.8% in 2014.
However, construction and services are believed to have gained last year.


England paceman Stuart Broad was unable to take the field at the start of India's second innings in the fourth Test after his nose was broken by a Varun Aaron bouncer.

After hooking the India bowler for successive sixes, Broad tried to repeat the shot but top-edged the ball between the grille and peak of his helmet.
The 28-year-old Nottinghamshire player retired hurt to have his nose stitched and left the ground for an X-ray after tea, but he was not needed to bowl as England completed an innings victory.
After X-rays confirmed the fracture, Broad will be treated further over the course of the week and the England medical team anticipate he will be available for the fifth Test, which begins at The Oval on Friday.
Broad tweeted a picture of his injury on Sunday morning alongside the comment: "Little bit sore this morning but not too bad! Doc did a great job with the stitches. On to The Oval! (With a mask)."
England were bowled out for 367, a lead of 215 over the tourists, then bowled them out for 161 to win by an innings and 54 runs.
Broad took 6-25 on the first day of the match as India were skittled out for 152.
In his absence, Chris Woakes shared the new ball with James Anderson in India's second innings.


Former England and Aston Villa defender Ugo Ehiogu has died at the age of 44 after suffering a cardiac arrest at Tottenham's training centre on Thursday.

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A Spurs statement said Ehiogu died in hospital in the early hours of Friday.
Ehiogu, who was Spurs' Under-23s coach, was capped four times by England.
"Words cannot express the shock and sadness that we all feel at the club," said Tottenham's head of coaching and development John McDermott.
"Ugo's immense presence will be irreplaceable."
Ehiogu made over 200 appearances for Aston Villa between 1991 and 2000 and then spent seven years at Middlesbrough.
He won the League Cup with Villa in 1994 and 1996, and also with Boro in 2004.
The centre-back also played for West Brom, Leeds, Rangers and Sheffield United, before retiring in 2009. He began coaching at Tottenham in 2014.
Ehiogu was a co-founder of music label Dirty Hit, which has British indie band The 1975 on its books.
He married his wife, Gemma, in 2005. He had two children - son Obi Jackson and daughter Jodie.
Villa will hold a minute's applause before their Championship match against Birmingham City on Sunday, with both sets of players to wear black armbands.
The same tribute will be paid before Spurs' FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Spurs' reserve team game at Manchester United on Monday has been postponed.
And all of the club's weekend academy matches have also been called off.
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"I can't fathom he's no longer here," former Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who won the League Cup with Ehiogu, told BBC Radio 5 live.
He added: "He was a tremendous person, a tremendous character, a dedicated footballer and dedicated to his family. He was a great guy to be around, so full of life and so enthusiastic.
"As a centre-back, I rate him right up there. He suffered from injuries throughout his career, but with more consistency he could have added to his England caps.
"He was very much a family man and it's such a shame to leave such a young family behind."
Former Aston Villa team-mate Andy Townsend told BBC Radio 5 live: "He was a defender every team would like to have at the back. It's a life that is so tragically cut short and so sad.
"He was on the training field with the academy boys and would have stayed active. I saw him recently and he was a picture of health, which is why this come as such a huge shock."
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Middlesbrough bought Ehiogu for a then club record fee of £8m in 2000 and he became a mainstay of the defence alongside Gareth Southgate as Steve McClaren's side won the League Cup.
"Ugo was one of our heroes at Cardiff when the club won its only ever major trophy," said Boro chairman Steve Gibson.
"Ugo and Gareth Southgate were the rock on which Steve McClaren brought the club its best period in its history. He wasn't just a good footballer, he was a great man."
Former Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson, who signed Ehiogu, added: "He was such a good, strong defender and a fitness fanatic, which is why it becomes a real shock.
"I know he was a good lad and a team man who would chat to everybody, so I always thought he could be a coach because he was good at dealing with young lads."
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce, who played for Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup final, added: "I had so much admiration for him as a fellow centre-half.
"He was uncompromising, quick and gave his all every single week - he was a great defender. All the football world will be saddened."
Former Villa boss Ron Atkinson, who brought Ehiogu to the club in 1991, said: "It is a complete shock. He was a big physical specimen, a strong man. You realise that can happen to anyone.
"He was a defender that liked defending, he loved a full-blooded challenge.
"He didn't have the best of starts for Villa and made a couple of blunders against Norwich that cost us the result, and it took him a long time to live that down. But he showed character and developed into a centre-half who would have got a lot of England caps but for injury."
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino added: "Ugo was a lovely man and we had a very good relationship. It's a huge loss personally and for all the Tottenham family."
Club chairman Daniel Levy said: "This is an incredibly sad day for the club and a tragic loss of a talented member of our Spurs family. Ugo was an extremely popular and respected academy coach, a tremendous influence on our younger players, both in training and away from the pitch."
Football Association chairman Greg Clarke said he was "a hugely popular figure across English football but particularly at Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. He was also close to many at Wembley and St George's Park through his England connections - both as a player and as a coach".
Ex-Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas tweeted: "Gutted is an understatement. An aspiring coach and all round top guy. My thoughts and prayers are with your family."
Former England women and Arsenal Ladies forward Kelly Smith on Twitter: "RIP my friend Ugo Ehiogu, gone too soon. A wonderful, caring man."
Ex-Blackburn, Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton posted: "Really upsetting news about Ugo Ehiogu. Football has lost a great player and a great man. Thoughts go out to his family. RIP Ugo."
Ex-Aston Villa goalkeeper Mark Bosnich tweeted: "RIP Ugo Ehiogu. Tremendous player and an even better man. Words can't do justice to how sad I am."
Former England defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted: "Can't believe the news that Ugo Ehiogu has passed away. Calm & warming vibe when in his company. My heart goes out to his family."
Ex-England defender Sol Campbell described Ehiogu as "one of my East London mates of old" and "a true defender". "My heart goes out to his family. I just can't believe it," he added.
Jamie Oborne, who co-founded Dirty Hit with Ehiogu in 2009, tweeted: "Gutted to hear that my friend Ugo has tragically passed away. I will always treasure the memories of our chats about love, life, hopes and dreams. Feel very blessed to have had you in my life. Love to Gemma and the little man. Such a sad day."
BBC Radio 5 live's Pat Murphy:
He was a very unassuming, gentle soul to deal with - very softly spoken. On the field he was an absolute beast, a colossus, an animal.
Gordon Cowans, a former midfielder at Aston Villa, and Ron Atkinson, his manager at the time, often tell the story of Ugo Ehiogu's first tackle at Villa.
In a pre-season game at Witney Town in Oxfordshire, he went into this tackle and Cowans, in the dugout with Atkinson, turned to him and said: "Did you see that?" He was such a strong defender, they knew they'd bought an absolute diamond for £40,000.
Atkinson knew him at Sheffield Wednesday and when he moved to Villa in 1991, he went after Ugo.
In his first game - Norwich City at home - he had a shocker. They lost 3-2 and Atkinson joked with Ugo that he was the player of the month - but he took it well.
For the next nine years, he was a tremendous centre-back alongside Gareth Southgate - a mixture of elegance, technical ability and strong, aggressive defending from Ehiogu.
Ehiogu was from the school of hard knocks. When he was trying to make his way in the game, he wrote to about 10 top clubs looking for a chance but got nowhere -  other than at West Brom, where Atkinson liked the look of him.
So Ugo's career was a triumph of perseverance as well as undoubted talent and ability to look after himself physically.
He was a role model to a lot of the young players he'd been coaching at Tottenham because he could say he didn't have a gilded passage, like so many in academies nowadays.
Ehiogu had to work for everything he got, as an international and a Premier League defender.


Meera Syal has voiced her frustration at how the portrayal of Asians on TV has "slightly gone backwards".

The writer and comedian said TV should not just feature South Asian characters in dramas like BBC One's Three Girls, about the Rochdale abuse scandal.
"Of course it's not like those things don't happen," the Goodness Gracious Me star told Radio Times.
"But if that's all that TV is doing, it looks like that's the only thing Asians do. It's a problem."
Three Girls is based on a child sexual exploitation ring that saw nine men, mainly of Pakistani origin, jailed in 2012 for grooming white girls.
Syal made her name in the 1990s as one of the stars of sketch show Goodness Gracious Me and is also known as a screenwriter and as an author of novels including Anita and Me.
Asked whether TV had made progress in showing Asians in Britain, Syal replied: "I think we've slightly gone backwards.
"Some of the stuff I'd want to have on TV wouldn't get on at the moment. It's a conservative climate with lots of period pieces and lots of nostalgia.
"When people think of stuff with South Asians in, it tends to be programmes like the upcoming Rochdale abuse drama."
She added: "If there were five or six or seven shows on TV featuring South Asians, then absolutely Rochdale is a worthy subject to investigate - but it's about context.
"We should also be thinking about stories that just show us as people, not issues."
Asked whether TV had got better at depicting women, she said broadcasters could take a leaf out of theatre's book by looking beyond traditional casting.
Television is "changing, but needs to change a little quicker", she said.
"In theatre there's lots of cross-gender casting, like Tamsin Greig playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the National. And in Elementary, the US version of Sherlock Holmes, Watson is played by an Asian American [Lucy Liu].
"It would be nice if it happened a bit more in Britain because it can unlock something terrific."
Goodness Gracious Me returned for a special to mark the 50th anniversary of BBC Two in 2014, and Syal revealed that it may return again - but not necessarily as the same type of show.
"We don't want to redo something for the sake of it, but we're discussing something," she said.
"We'd like to bring our brand of humour back but in a different format. We have to be confident we've got the material and I think we have. We're gathering it. That could well happen."
Syal will be heard on the radio next, starring in new BBC Radio 2 comedy Parental Guidance on 13 March.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion, email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Shares in Nintendo have surged after the company announced that a new version of its popular Super Mario franchise will be available on iPhone.

Super Mario Run will be released in Apple's App Store in December in more than 100 countries.
It will be free to download but users will have to pay for the full game.
Nintendo, which announced the tie-up at Apple's launch event for the iPhone 7, saw its shares jump 18% before falling back to around a 13% rise.
Smartphones are the gaming industry's fastest growing source of revenue and Nintendo has been criticised for being slow on the uptake.
However, the Japanese firm co-created the popular Pokemon Go game and released an app called Miitomo earlier this year. It plans to unveil more gaming titles by March 2017.
Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said an Android version would also be launched at a later date.
Nintendo plans to move Super Mario into movies
When Japan's PM appeared as Mario
At the Apple launch event, Mr Miyamoto said to loud cheers from the audience, "Mario is running toward his next goal: iPhone."
Mobile analyst Jack Kent, of IHS Markit, said: "Mario is one of Nintendo's core properties so it makes sense for it to come to iPhone, if Nintendo is serious about making a success of its mobile strategy."
Apple is also jumping on the popularity of online gaming.
Gaming phenomenon Pokemon Go will appear on the Apple Watch for the first time. The device will vibrate when users are near Pokemon or Pokestops.


Oxford United have re-signed striker Chris Maguire for the rest of the season and taken Wolves winger Zeli Ismail on a one-month loan.

Maguire, 27, has returned to the Kassam Stadium following his release by Championship club Rotherham United.
Scotland international Maguire scored one goal in nine games during a six-week loan spell earlier this season.
"It's an excellent signing. Chris has played all of his football at a higher level," said manager Michael Appleton.
Ismail, 22, has made just five appearances for his parent club since joining as a trainee in summer 2012.
He has previously been on loan at MK Dons, Burton and Notts County.
Meanwhile, midfielder Danny Rose, 27, has left the club by mutual consent after making 138 appearances across two spells with the U's.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


A British ex-serviceman who abandoned his Mount Everest ascent to save a fellow mountaineer will return to the peak for a second attempt to scale it.

Leslie Binns was about 500m from the summit in May when he saved Sunita Hazra, an Indian woman who was slipping down the mountain.
The 42-year-old, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, helped her down to a camp where her frostbite was treated.
Mr Binns said he would return to Nepal in April to raise money for charity.
The mountaineer, who was in the Army for 13 years, lost vision in his left eye after he was hit by an improvised explosive device in 2009.
Talking to BBC Radio Sheffield, Mr Binns said he encountered Mrs Hazra on his final summit push.
"She came flying down the mountain - I basically rugby tackled her to stop her going any further down, maybe to her death," he said.
"She was out of oxygen, her gloves were off, she had frostbite; that's when I decided to cancel my summit bid and take her down to the relative safety of camp four."
After using a hot flask of tea to increase her body temperature, she eventually received hospital treatment and made "just about a full recovery", Mr Binns said.
He will fly out on 5 April for a second ascent, while raising money for a charity which helped him to retrain after he was medically discharged from the Army.
He described it as another go at "the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life".
"It's a lifelong dream to get to the summit of this mountain - you spend a lot of money and the mental and physical effort is unbelievable," he said.
"Of course I was gutted, but on the other hand I've managed to save a woman's life and get her back to her family, so that more than makes up for it."


Police now believe at least six people were involved in a gun attack at a boxing weigh-in in Dublin in which a man was killed.

The man who died was David Byrne, 33, from Raleigh Square in Crumlin in the south of the city.
Two other men were injured in the attack at the Regency Hotel at about 14:30 local time. One has since checked himself out of hospital.
Irish broadcaster RTÃ‰ is reporting that the other man was shot in the chest.
Police said three of those involved in the attack wore police-style SWAT team uniforms.
Those dressed in the police uniforms were armed with assault rifles.
One of the other gunmen was dressed as a woman and wore a blonde or auburn wig. The other was described as being middle-aged and stocky and wore a beige cap. They were both armed with handguns.
The sixth gang member was driving a getaway van.
A van was found burned out a short time after the shooting in the Charlemont estate in the Marino area of Dublin.
Police have appealed for information from anyone who may have seen a silver Ford Transit van in the vicinity of the Regency Hotel between 13:30 and 14:30 local time on Friday afternoon.
"Did anybody see this van in the vicinity of Swords Road, Griffith Avenue or the Charlemont estate in Marino between 14:30 and 15:00 or at any time in any location in the last number of days?" Assistant Commissioner Jack Nolan added.
The shooting happened during a weigh-in for a World Boxing Organization (WBO) title fight between Jamie Kavanagh and Antonio Joao Bento.
Mr Kavanagh tweeted to say he was "OK", adding: "I was lucky today is all I can say."
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny described the attack as "a new low".
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said the shooting was "despicable".
RTÃ‰ is reporting that police are concerned that there could be retaliation for the attack.
The broadcaster has said police suspect the shooting could be related to an ongoing feud between two criminal gangs following the murder of Dubliner Gary Hutch in Spain last year.
It said Mr Byrne was well-known to police and had been questioned several times over serious and organised crime.
BBC Radio Foyle's sports reporter Kevin McAnena, who was at the weigh-in, said he "never felt terror like it" when one of the attackers pointed a gun at him.
He said he saw one of the gunmen shoot a man in the leg "about six feet away" from him.
"I heard two loud gunshots from outside coming into the hotel," he said.
"At which point, two men, who I thought were [police] officers - turns out they were just dressed up in [police] uniform - came in with guns."
He said he believed "the man I saw shot is the man that is now dead".
"That same gunman then looked over at me and pointed the gun at me," he said.
"[Police] have told me since that [the guns] were AK47 rifles.
"It's so surreal, it just happened so quickly, right in front of me.
"A man was shot dead six feet away from me - it's hard to gather your thoughts right now."
The pay-per-view channel Box Nation was due to broadcast Saturday's fight as part of the Clash of the Clans show at Dublin's National Stadium.
But it has said the event has now been cancelled.


Following the departure of Les Hutchison, the question for Motherwell supporters is what they want their club to become.

They have been presented with an opportunity to achieve full fan ownership, and their progress will be relevant to other leading clubs.
Four teams in Scotland are currently fan-owned - East Stirlingshire, Clyde, Dunfermline and Stirling Albion - while the Well Society and the Foundation of Hearts have clear routes to eventual ownership.
Rangers supporters are seeking to grow their stake in the Ibrox club, but along with fans at Motherwell and Hearts they have encountered similar issues.
The impetus for the organisations came from moments of financial crisis. The response of fans, over various time frames, was to sign up and pledge annual or monthly payments. Financial stability at the clubs, though, has curtailed memberships.
There remains a body of committed and hard-working supporters across Scotland campaigning towards fan ownership, but at individual clubs the critical mass is often absent. Hutchison has essentially challenged the Motherwell fans, and local businesses, to step up and support the club, having agreed to sell his 76% shareholding to the Well Society for £1.
The plan had been to originally transfer ownership over a five-year period, while Motherwell paid back the £1m that Hutchison invested in loans. As he acknowledged himself, though, the membership of the Well Society has plateaued, in part because of his presence - a wealthy individual with the means to be the club's financial safety net.
Yet the Society's membership levels are too low. They want 2,000 members paying on average £10 per month, but currently have a little less than 1700 members, some of whom are lapsed and no longer contributing financially. The aim for the yearly figure raised is around £240,000, but the current annual amount is around £96,000.
If the Society's ownership bid is to succeed, more fans need to sign up and commit to regular pledges, so that a cash reserve can be built up to cover the income fluctuations during the course of a typical season.
"The community-based, fan-owned club is the way forward for a club like Motherwell," said Douglas Dickie of the Well Society, who is now the Motherwell vice-chairman.
"We have a solid fan base of about 3,500 and we're getting support from local businesses, so there's a lot of people around us to help us achieve it.
"Nobody's kidding, it will be a lot of hard work, but we are dedicated individuals that are determined to make this work. From fans surveys we've been putting out, everyone is up for the challenge."
The Foundation of Hearts worked tirelessly to secure the club's financial stability and there remains, for now, a plan in place for Ann Budge to transfer ownership in 2019.  However, the membership has remained fairly stable at around 8,000.
Rangers First saw an upsurge in members during the run-up to regime change in the Ibrox boardroom last year, but from around 14,000 contributors, they are now at around 9,000 active members.
In some countries in Europe, such as Germany, Portugal and Spain, fan ownership is part of the football culture.
Establishing it in Scotland, where clubs have tended towards sole, wealthy owners, has moved relatively slowly. Dundee, for instance, were owned by their fans, who then voted to accept an offer from Texan businessmen, who are now the majority shareholders.
In effect, fan ownership means more than 50% of a club being held by a group that operates along democratic, one-member, one-vote lines. Yet there are clearly groups of fans who are not motivated by the prospect of owning shares in their club, but who want to engage in other ways, such as buying tickets, merchandise, and media subscriptions.
"Results from our previous surveys show 91% of supporters in Scotland think community ownership can work," said Andrew Jenkin, the head of Supporters Direct Scotland.
"The days of the benefactors and white knights are ending and the only constant will be the community of supporters that attend week in and week out.
"Community-owned clubs require supporters to think about how clubs can be viable social enterprises which put competitive teams on the park every week, but also financially sustainable and deliver social and community benefit.
"Our research suggests that community ownership opens up a number of benefits to a club that are much harder to, or not possible to, achieve in privately-owned clubs and what we all need to do is raise awareness so supporters can be proud committing to community ownership bids which deliver real benefits."
Rangers supporters are about to be polled on a merger of the existing fan organisations into a single entity - Club 1872 - which would be independent of the club, hold an ownership stake that they would seek to increase to 25% and above, but also raise funds for other projects decided upon by members.
The hope is that it will be considered a membership rather than solely a fan ownership vehicle, with various membership benefits, to widen its appeal.
Different clubs will require different approaches, but key challenges are shared. Increasing the membership is the first obstacle, but for clubs there is the possibility of additional revenue streams.
For full fan ownership to succeed, there needs to be the cash reserves to help to fund even the most prudent clubs throughout the financial year.
Ultimately, though, for Motherwell, Hearts and Rangers, it is for the fans to decide what they want.


Sir Andy Murray reached the Qatar Open quarter-finals with a battling 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 win over Austrian Gerald Melzer.

World number 68 Melzer produced a gutsy display, saving eight first-set points before eventually succumbing to the world number one in the tie-break.
The Austrian broke as Murray served for the match at 5-4 but the Scot won the next two games and will next play world number 44 Nicolas Almagro of Spain.
Murray extended his career-best winning streak in competitive matches to 26.
He paid tribute to Melzer, saying: "He played great tennis and dominated large parts of the match. If he plays like this again this year he'll move higher and higher up the rankings.
"I played pretty good. The depth in men's tennis is great right now."
Earlier, world number two Novak Djokovic defeated Horacio Zeballos 6-3 6-4.
After shaking hands at the end of the contest the Argentine asked for a selfie with the Serb 12-time Grand Slam champion.
"That was the first time that I ever had this kind of experience in my career,'' Djokovic said. "So, Horacio, well done. Very original."
Meanwhile, Roger Federer was defeated by German teenager Alexander Zverev at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth.
The Swiss 17-time Grand Slam winner lost 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 30 minutes in a match of high quality.
The tournament in Australia is the 35-year-old's first after a six-month knee injury lay-off.


Dundee have secured striker Kane Hemmings on a pre-contract agreement as the club has confirmed more players will be leaving Dens Park.

Forwards David Clarkson, 29, and Paul Heffernan, 33 and defender Kyle Benedictus, 23, will not be offered new contracts.
The club had already released midfield duo Iain Davidson and Jamie Reid.
Englishman Hemmings, 23, is currently with Barnsley after previous spells with Rangers and Cowdenbeath.
He will join Paul Hartley's side on 1 July on a three-year deal.
The forward has scored five goals for English League One side Barnsley this season and has 29 goals from his previous spells in Scotland.
Former Motherwell striker Clarkson joined Dundee in September and soon scored eight goals in eight successive games. However, the Scotland cap has added to his season's tally only once since November.
Irishman Heffernan, who has played for several clubs in England and Scotland, moved to Dens Park in February and his only goal so far was in April's city derby win over Dundee United.
Dundee-born Benedictus is currently on loan at Scottish Championship side Alloa Athletic and made his senior debut with the Dens Park side in 2008.


Strawberries worth hundreds of pounds have been stolen from a Kent farm.

About 100kgs (220lbs) of the fruit, worth about £300, were stolen from Hill Farm in Lenham Road, Ulcombe.
Kent Police initially said the fruit had been coated with a chemical that could cause "poisoning", but later said the it posed no risk to public health.
It is believed the same people have committed previous thefts from the farm, a police spokeswoman said.
The thieves got into the farm by cutting a fence, before a vehicle was loaded with the strawberries sometime between midnight on Friday and 10:00 BST on Monday, police said.
The force initially said the strawberries had been coated with a chemical which could cause "poisoning to the stomach".
A police spokeswoman then issued a statement saying: "It has come to my attention that the strawberries mentioned below do not pose a risk to public health."


Western Storm head coach Caroline Foster believes the inaugural season of the Women's Super League is doing "great things for world cricket".

The former England opener's Storm side beat Lancashire Thunder by four wickets in their debut in the league on Sunday.
"The girls are involved in something that has been a landmark tournament," she told BBC Radio Bristol.
"The league have done a really good job of spreading out the talent, and have ensured it is an open competition."
Western Storm's next Women's Super League match is away at Loughborough Lightning on Friday.
"Everyone is really excited. Every team will go into this wanting to win," Foster added.
Each team in the T20-format event boasts three senior England internationals and three players from overseas.
The remaining squad members are made up of players from the respective counties and England's youth set up.
Foster explained: "While we are training we have got younger and older players mixing and sharing knowledge."
Western Storm's Georgia Hennessy, 19, is one of the youth players drafted into the league.
"When the teams were released, to see some of the players that were in the squad, it's crazy," Hennessy told BBC Sport.
"Every side is really strong, so we have got to take each day as it comes, train hard, and then hopefully we will show what we have got."


The UK's chief inspector of air accidents is the leading contender to run a new organisation which aims to make the NHS in England safer.

Keith Conradi's appointment as head of the new Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch is due to be confirmed at a parliamentary hearing next week.
Leading doctors have said for many years that healthcare has a lot to learn from systems which promote safety in the airline industry.
Mr Conradi was a professional pilot.
He took up his current role in as chief inspector of air accidents in 2010.
Scandals at Mid Staffs and Southern Health Trusts have highlighted failings in how the NHS in England responds to patients' complaints and deaths.
The new healthcare investigation body (HSIB) will begin work soon, with an initial budget of Â£3.5m.
It will carry out about 30 reviews a year.


A huge smile, then tears of joy: Bill Murray's reaction to the Chicago Cubs' baseball World Series win has resonated across social media.

The US actor better known for his hangdog expression and deadpan delivery was on the pitch to celebrate before being sprayed with champagne in the Cubs clubhouse.
Meanwhile Nasa tweeted a picture of Chicago as seen from space in honour of the team (the direction north is to the left of the photograph).
US President Barack Obama - a fan of the rival Chicago baseball team the White Sox - invited the winning Cubs to the White House.
Fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is from Chicago and running to be Mr Obama's successor, also tweeted in celebration.
The former chairman of the Republican National Convention, Michael Steele, hailed the Cubs' "amazing effort".
Many shared jokes about the length of time it had taken the Cubs to win, reportedly after a curse was placed on the team in 1945.
Bar owner Billy Sianis is said to have cursed the Cubs, so that they would never win a World Series game again, or even reach the World Series again (different versions of the story exist).
Some made their intention to celebrate abundantly clear while others poked fun at the number of people declaring themselves Cubs fan following the victory.
As always seems to happen on social media, a cat found its way into the story.
This time it was Amanda Steiner's cat Kira. A video of Kira attempting to catch the baseball during a TV action replay was retweeted more than 11,000 times.
The video can be seen here.
And as is often the case, there was someone pouring cold water on the whole thing.
Business journalist Josh Barro said the win would prove the Cubs' undoing, "ruining the franchise's magic".
The Cubs win was huge news outside the US too. Baseball is big in Japan and many Japanese social media users offered their reactions.
One Twitter user, @takayuu15, offered a historical perspective, listing other events that happened in 1908 when the Cubs last won, such as a visit by the Reach All-American baseball team to Japan, and the death of the Qing Dynasty empress dowager in China.


Astronaut Scott Kelly has become a record-breaker, after spending a year living in space.

28 February 2016 Last updated at 10:16 GMT
Scott has become the longest-serving American astronaut in space, after living on board the International Space Station for 340 days.
Kelly's mission will help Nasa to understand the long-term effects that living in space has on the body.
The results will help them with their long-term research, where they hope to send humans to live on Mars.
British Astronaut Tim Peake joined Kelly on board the ISS last year.
Scott Kelly will return back to Earth on Wednesday, landing in a remote part of Kazakhstan.


The International Olympic Committee has refused to comment on claims that the successful Tokyo Olympic bid team made a "seven-figure payment" to an account linked to the son of former world athletics chief Lamine Diack.

The Guardian alleges a payment of about £1m was paid into the account during the race to host the 2020 Games.
In March, French prosecutors investigating corruption in athletics widened their scope to include the bidding and voting processes for the hosting of the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
The British newspaper says French police are believed to be studying the allegation.
In a statement, the IOC said it had been "in contact with the French magistrates in charge of the investigation on the IAAF [athletics' world governing body] case, and with Wada [World Anti-Doping Agency], since its start".
It added: "The IOC's chief ethics and compliance officer will continue to be in contact with all interested parties to clarify any alleged improper conduct. The IOC will not comment any further on the elements of the investigations at this stage."
The Tokyo bid first came under scrutiny in January when the second part of a Wada commission report into corruption included a footnote detailing a conversation between another of Lamine Diack's sons, Khalil, and Turkish officials heading up the Istanbul bid team.
A transcript of the conversation cited in the report suggested a "sponsorship" payment of between $4m and $5m (£2.8m and £3.4m) had been made by the Japanese bid team "either to the Diamond League or IAAF".
The footnote claims the Istanbul bid "lost Lamine Diack's support because they did not pay".
Wada's independent commission said it did not investigate the claims "for it was not within our remit".
A Tokyo 2020 spokeswoman described the note in Wada's report as "beyond our understanding", adding that "Tokyo's bid was about Japan's commitment to address issues around the integrity of sport".
Lamine Diack, the former president of the IAAF, is already being investigated by French authorities. He was arrested last year on corruption and money laundering charges, over allegations he took payments for deferring sanctions against Russian drugs cheats.
His son Papa Massata, who was employed by his father as a marketing consultant for the IAAF, is also under investigation, and a warrant for his arrest has been issued by Interpol.
Diack Jr has been banned for life by the IAAF but told the BBC in December he and his father were innocent of the claims against them.
The IOC overhauled its rules - and regained trust in the integrity of its bidding process - since the 1999 Salt Lake City bribery scandal exposed systematic corruption.
In February, Wada commission chief Dick Pound said he was "fairly certain" the IOC was free of organised corruption, but just a month later the French prosecutors opened their investigation into the bidding processes for 2016 and 2020.


Irene Guasiruma is a member of the Embera indigenous group, the second largest in Colombia.

A midwife and a storyteller, she lives in the Wasiruma indigenous community in Valle del Cauca province, in the west of the country.
Sitting on her porch overlooking the green hilly countryside where a few dozen Embera families grow bananas and coffee, she sings a song about love and betrayal.
While it is a common theme in music, the Emberas' views on sex and fidelity have had deep consequences for Irene and other Embera women.
"When a girl was born, a little blade was bought," she says before explaining how a girl's clitoris would be removed in the first weeks after her birth.
"They said that if you hadn't been cut you'd go with many men, become a bad wife and look for other husbands," she recalls her grandmother telling her.
"That is why in the past it was cut, so that women would have a single husband until they died," Ms Guasiruma says.
She insists that female genital mutilation (FGM) is no longer being carried out in the Wasiruma community.
But there are Embera in other parts of the country who still practise FGM.
"They do it with a pair of scissors or a blade or burn the girl's clitoris with a spoon they heat in the fire," explains Laura (not her real name) who belongs to an Embera community in a remote location in western Colombia.
Laura tells the story of her neighbour, who decided to perform FGM on her daughter herself with tragic consequences.
"She had been looking at what the midwives did, and because she didn't want to bother them she did it herself," Laura explains.
"She cut baby's clitoris with a pair of scissors, but she cut too deep and the girl started bleeding."
With no medical help nearby, the baby girl eventually bled to death.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Colombian authorities are trying to eradicate FGM.
UNPFA's representative in Colombia, Jorge Parra, says that unofficial figures suggest that two-thirds of Embera women could have suffered female genital mutilation.
"The main challenge is that this is a traditional practice and many communities believe that it isn't bad," Mr Parra says.
"We respect all traditional practices but those that infringe people's human rights must be abolished," he argues.
Embera leader Alberto Guasiruma says the community is currently discussing whether FGM, which is practised mainly in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia but is rare in Latin America, should be abandoned.
"Many of the cultural practices are very much part of the indigenous communities and have a strong spiritual element," he says.
"But there are other practices that have become part of the culture but are not originally our own," Mr Guasiruma adds.
He is referring to the theory that FGM was adopted by the Embera in the 18th Century after it was introduced by African slaves brought to Colombia to work in the gold mines.
He says that as with any practice, the community has to ask itself some key questions: "Does it go against life? Or is it healing, preventive or educational?"
The Embera are not the only indigenous group in Colombia who practise female genital mutilation.
Blanca Lucila Andrade is a member of the Nasa indigenous group. "Our people have also been practising this," she says.
"I have asked the elders and they say it is a very sacred ritual so that the women don't misbehave."
"I've done it to my daughters and they are very calm, they haven't given me headaches, they haven't changed husband," she explains.
Ms Andrade says that female genital mutilation improves the chances of Nasa women of finding a husband.
She says she was puzzled when people from outside the community told her the practice was harmful.
"They told me it was something bad. I was very surprised," she recalls.
Under Colombian law, if female genital mutilation results in death it is considered femicide, which carries a harsher sentence than homicide.
Ms Andrade says she was worried she could be sent to jail when she first found out that FGM was not an accepted practice outside of her community.
But she insists: "I have done it, but I have never caused any bleeding."
Those trying to convince indigenous groups to abandon FGM say they have been more successful when they have questioned the roots of the practice rather than warn of the possible consequences.
"If the traditional midwives think this belongs to their culture they will stick with it," UNFPA consultant Esmeralda Ruiz says.
"But if they understand that it's not part of the culture they will say: 'I can leave this behind and nothing will happen.'"
Some, like Irene Guasiruma, are already questioning not just the origins of FGM but also the logic behind it.
"It's all a lie," she says.
"Even when it [the clitoris] is cut the woman can end up looking for another husband, swapping him for another man," she argues.


Conservative challenger Andrzej Duda will face President Bronislaw Komorowski in a run-off in Poland's presidential election.

Neither candidate gained the 50% needed to win outright in the first round. Mr Duda won 34.7% of the vote, just ahead of Mr Komorowski on 33.7%.
Mr Komorowski hopes to win a second term in office.
Opinion polls before the election had put him comfortably in the lead. The turnout was 48.8%.
Mr Komorowski, 62, took office five years ago after his predecessor, Lech Kaczynski, died in a plane crash.
He is an independent allied with the centre-right Civic Platform, which has been in government since 2007.
Mr Komorowski said the election result was "a serious warning for the entire team in power''.
Mr Duda is from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party, which is led by former President Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw.
He welcomed the result of the first round and looked forward to "two weeks of hard work" before the second round on 24 May.
"I deeply believe victory is still ahead of us," he said.
Mr Duda attracted most support in the more conservative eastern regions of the country, near the border with Ukraine and Belarus.
Rock musician Pawel Kukiz came third in the election, gaining just over 20% of the vote. There were another eight candidates standing.
The president has limited powers, but is head of the armed forces and can veto new laws.
The presidential vote comes ahead of parliamentary elections this autumn, and may give pointers to Civic Platform's chances of retaining power for a third term.


Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been made the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace.

The 19-year-old, who is doing her A-levels and has an offer from a top UK university, will take the role with a special focus on girls' education.
In 2012 Ms Yousafzai was nearly killed by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' rights to education.
Accepting the accolade in New York, she said: "(Bringing change) starts with us and it should start now."
"If you want to see your future bright, you have to start working now (and) not wait for anyone else," he said.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres described her as a "symbol of perhaps the most important thing in the world - education for all".
Last month, Ms Yousafzai said she had received an offer to study politics, philosophy and economics at a UK university, on condition of achieving three As in her A-levels.
Ms Yousafzai, who narrowly escaped death after being attacked on her way home from school in Pakistan, did not confirm which university had made the offer.
But previously she revealed she had interviewed for a degree place at an Oxford college.
UN Messengers of Peace are selected from the fields of art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life.
Other messengers have included Muhammad Ali, George Clooney, Michael Douglas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Stevie Wonder and Charlize Theron.


The one-time White House intern whose affair with President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment has broken her long silence in the media.

In Vanity Fair magazine, Monica Lewinsky, 40, writes that she deeply regrets the fling.
The president "took advantage" of her, she writes, though she describes their relationship as consensual.
In 1998, Republicans failed in their effort to oust him from office on the grounds he had lied about the affair.
But with Mr Clinton's wife Hillary said to be mulling a 2016 run for the presidency, the Lewinsky matter has re-emerged in US political discourse, in part because Republicans are eager to wield it against her.
In an advance excerpt from the article released by Vanity Fair, Ms Lewinsky writes she hopes to reclaim her story and says she is still recognised every day and sees her name thrown about in pop culture and the news media.
"I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton," she writes.
"Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened."
Ms Lewinsky writes that she suffered abuse and humiliation after the scandal broke in 1998, in part because she was made a "scapegoat" to protect the president.
"The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor's minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me," she wrote.
"And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power."
Since leaving the Clinton administration, she worked briefly as a handbag designer and as the host of a US reality dating show.
Ms Lewinsky then moved to London for a graduate degree, but said she has had difficulty gaining employment in the US because of her past.
Arguing Mr Clinton had lied to federal investigators about his relationship with Ms Lewinsky, who was in her early 20s, the Republicans in the House of Representatives impeached the president, essentially bringing him up on charges in the Senate to determine whether he could be expelled from office.
That effort failed, and Mr Clinton served in the White House until his term ended in 2000.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, went on to be elected US senator and to serve as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, and is currently tipped as a frontrunner for the Democratic 2016 presidential nomination.
The Republicans have indicated recently that Mr Clinton's affair with Ms Lewinsky will be fair game should Mrs Clinton indeed run.
Republican Senator Rand Paul - also tipped to run for the presidency in 2016 - said this year that "bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office".
Mr Clinton "took advantage of a girl that was 20-years-old and an intern in his office", he added. "There is no excuse for that and that is predatory behaviour."
In her piece, Ms Lewinsky signals that her desire in breaking her silence after so many years is to "give a purpose" to her past.
"Perhaps by sharing my story, I reasoned, I might be able to help others in their darkest moments of humiliation," she writes.
Ms Lewinsky now aims "to get involved with efforts on behalf of victims of online humiliation and harassment and to start speaking on this topic in public forums".


League Two Morecambe have signed striker Vadaine Oliver from York City.

He scored eight goals in 15 games for the Minstermen last season, including one in the FA Trophy final at Wembley.
The 25-year-old also had a spell on loan with League Two Notts County in 2016-17, with his one goal in 25 appearances coming against the Shrimps.
"I've always been impressed with him in the past and I tried to sign him on loan during January," Morecambe boss Jim Bentley said.
The length of Oliver's contract with Morecambe has not been disclosed.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Jared Payne, Andrew Trimble and Marcell Coetzee all look likely to feature in Ulster's Pro12 game against Treviso.

The Irish province's director of rugby Les Kiss said on Tuesday that the trio would all play a part in Friday's game.
Payne, 31, made his return after three months out because of a kidney injury when he came on in Ulster's Pro12 win over Zebre on Sunday.
Coetzee missed that game because of illness while Trimble was a replacement in Ireland's weekend win over France.
Trimble's fellow Ireland wing Craig Gilroy is also likely to return to Kiss' squad after missing Sunday's game.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has indicated that fit-again Payne could now come into consideration for a recall to the national squad for the remaining Six Nations games against Wales and England.
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Ulster boss Kiss was delighted to see New Zealand-born Payne emerge unscathed from his return to action.
"It was great to see Jared come out and have the 20 minutes. Baby steps but they are pretty good baby steps and we'll give him more time this week," Kiss told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.
"Jared's focus is to do the best he can for the Ulster jersey and get himself right and if something happens from there [with Ireland] then great."
With Ireland's full-back Rob Kearney a fitness concern for the Six Nations game in Cardiff on 10 March, there has been speculation that Payne be given game time at full-back against Treviso and when asked about this possibility, Kiss replied: "It's a good question".
The Ulster boss added that he intends make a number of changes this weekend because of the short five-day turnaround from the Parma game.
"We've also got Andrew Trimble back from the weekend [with Ireland] to get him a bit of rugby so I'm going to rotate a few players."
Springboks back row Coetzee has made an impressive start to his Ulster career after starring in his debut against Edinburgh on 10 February and then producing another forceful display in the impressive victory over Glasgow.
Centre Darren Cave remains out of contention for the Treviso game after being concussed against Glasgow while Louis Ludik is waiting to see whether he gets clearance to feature this weekend.
Ludik also missed the Treviso game after taking a bang to the head against Glasgow.
Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey remains unavailable for the visits of the Italians as he recovers from a calf injury which is expected to keep him out for around another fortnight, while Rodney Ah You and Ross Kane also remain on the injured list.