Manchester United are making progress under Jose Mourinho and are "unlucky" not to be challenging Chelsea, says their former boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

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Ferguson, 75, stepped down in 2013 but retains close ties to Old Trafford and attends most games.
"I think he has done a great job," said the Scot in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport.
Ferguson also explained why he thinks Wayne Rooney's United goalscoring record will never be broken.
Jose Mourinho became Manchester United's third manager since Ferguson retired when he replaced Louis van Gaal in May.
Although he won his opening three games in charge, Mourinho's team collected just six points from their next seven Premier League matches.
There was a period earlier in the season when he wasn't getting the decisions and his emotions boiled over. You see him now - he is calm and in control
They have been sixth after every round of matches since the end of October and stayed in that position after the 1-1 draw at Stoke on 21 January, when Rooney scored an injury-time equaliser to become United's record goalscorer, with 250.
Nevertheless, Ferguson can see signs of progress under the Portuguese. And though Chelsea are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League - and 14 points ahead of the Old Trafford club - he believes his former side are "unlucky" not to be up there with them.
"You can see he has got to grips with the club," he said.
"The team is playing really well and he has been very unlucky. He has had six 1-1 draws and in every game he has battered the opposition.
"If they hadn't had all these draws, they would be there challenging Chelsea. That is the unfortunate part but he is going to have to live with that."
Mourinho has been sent to the stands twice this season, against Burnley and West Ham, as his side struggled to overcome supposedly inferior opposition at Old Trafford.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager seems far more relaxed now though.
United go to Hull on Thursday for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final unbeaten in 17 games. That run encompassed nine successive wins, including a 2-0 triumph in the first leg at Old Trafford, their longest-winning sequence since Ferguson called time on his illustrious career.
Ferguson said: "I was a little bit different from Jose in the respect that I wanted to build the football club and wanted young players to be part of that.
"Nonetheless, the first team weren't doing great and you have to find solutions to correct that. I think Jose is finding solutions now. There was a period earlier in the season when he wasn't getting the decisions and his emotions boiled over. You see him now - he is calm and in control.
"That is the obvious observation I am making of the team now. The team is mirroring its manager.
"On Saturday at Stoke, they played to the last kick of the ball. They never gave in and got their rewards to take something from the game with that great Rooney goal.
"And did you see what he did? Ran to the halfway line. No celebration. Pointed to the ball as if to say 'get it, we are going to win this'. That is exactly the spirit Jose has created."
Sir Bobby Charlton's club record of 249 Manchester United goals had stood for 44 years until Rooney went past it at the Britannia Stadium.
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Charlton amassed his tally in 758 appearances for the club. Rooney, 31, has gone one better in 546 games since moving from Everton for £27m as an 18-year-old in 2004.
With the chance to score even more this season and a contract that runs to 2018 if the Liverpool-born player remains at Old Trafford until its conclusion, Rooney has set a record that is unlikely ever to be beaten, according to Ferguson.
"In the present-day game, it is difficult to see any club having players who can stay with them for 10 years.
"Jose has mentioned Marcus Rashford and there is an opportunity for that young lad, if he stays at United, and develops his potential the way that Wayne has. But it is a very big target to hit.
"Bobby Charlton's record was quite substantial. I couldn't think anybody would beat that. It is an achievement par excellence."
BBC Sport's Simon Stone
It is nearly four years now since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager of Manchester United, yet the ease with which he skipped from room to room to conduct interviews at a Cheshire hotel on Tuesday suggests that, at 75, he remains as enthusiastic for life as ever.
There is no longer the same hint of menace about him if the questions are not to his satisfaction, although I suspect if I had strayed off topic, I might have got a mild blast of the famous hair dryer.
But Ferguson remains engaging company. Far different to the combustible figure who dominated the touchline and harangued anyone who got in his - and United's - way.
These days a funny story usually close at hand. Today, it concerned the mother of Everton chairman Bill Kenwright, who, Ferguson recalled, pleaded with him over the phone not to take away "my boy" as negotiations over Rooney's £27m move from Everton drew to a close in 2004.
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Mountain rescuers were called to the summit of a Lake District mountain during a thunder-storm after a man was injured in a fall.

The 58-year-old tumbled from Striding Edge towards Nethermost Cove, on Helvellyn, at 13:30 BST on Wednesday.
Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was taken to the summit by The Great North Air Ambulance to help the casualty, who was then flown to hospital.
The "difficult" five-hour rescue involved 18 rescue team members.
With a 950m (3,117ft) summit, Helvellyn is England's third highest peak.


A body has been discovered off the County Mayo coast in the Republic of Ireland.

RTÃ‰ reports that the remains were found by a fishing vessel crew in Lacken Bay, in an area southeast of Downpatrick Head, on Friday evening.
No identification has been made at this stage.
In the past two weeks, there has been a search in Broadhaven Bay for fisherman Daniel Doherty, 23, who has been missing since 11 September.


Family and friends should help older people to switch energy supplier to save money on their gas and electricity bills, campaigners say.

The Energy Saving Trust said support from others would help those not confident in finding a better deal.
Energy regulator Ofgem said that 88% of energy customers had not switched in the past year.
A separate study suggested more than a million older customers faced poor service from energy firms.
The Energy Ombudsman and Age UK said that many of those aged over 65 did not want to make a fuss after being poorly treated by energy firms.
Citizens Advice said that the process of switching was relatively straightforward, and urged people to take advantage of better deals before heating bills started to bite in the winter.
The call comes shortly after the banking sector was told to do more to encourage switching between current accounts, although many people are daunted or uninspired to take part in the switching process.


A "revolution" is needed in dementia care in Wales, the partner of veteran broadcaster David Parry-Jones has said.

Mr Parry-Jones was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009 and is cared for at home by his partner, Radio Cymru presenter Beti George.
Ms George said Wales suffered from a "division between health and social services", carers were not paid enough and care in Scotland was "far ahead".
The Welsh Government is consulting on its Dementia Strategic Action Plan.
A spokeswoman said it had been working closely with charities and people affected by dementia to develop a "team around the individual approach" for people living with dementia and their carers.
Ms George allowed cameras into her Cardiff home to film her day-to-day life caring for her partner.
The couple met more than 40 years ago at BBC Wales.
"He was ever so kind and gentle really. He was very handsome but it was more than that," remembered Ms George.
Since his diagnosis Ms George has been working to raise awareness of the condition.
"I feel like I'm giving a voice to these people who can't otherwise be heard."
During filming for BBC documentary, Beti and David: Lost for Words, Ms George visited a group of medical students at Cardiff University and told them: "There really needs to be, I think, a revolution in dementia care and I'd like to see you taking part in that revolution or even starting it."
She also visited the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley where she met experts and leaned about Scotland's approach to dementia care.
The country has a charter of rights for people with dementia and, following diagnosis, people are given a dementia link worker to provide support to individuals and their families.
Alzheimer Scotland's policy and research advisor Dr Barbara Sharp told Ms George that people with dementia and their families "were at the heart of writing the charter of rights and the other political parties came on board".
She said: "It's a world first in the terms of it gives people an absolute commitment that they have the right to have the support of an informed link worker."
Ms George said she wanted Wales to follow suit.
"I think it's a brilliant idea to have a link worker, to signpost you I suppose, to hold your hand.
"When you get the diagnosis it's a traumatic experience so you want somebody who knows about it and who can talk you through what's available to make life a bit easier.
"I think a service like that would be ideal for people in Wales."
The Welsh Government said it had provided more than Â£8m a year of additional funding over the last two years for dementia services, including Â£800,000 a year for additional primary care dementia support workers to provide face-to-face help following diagnosis.
Following her visit to Scotland, Ms George said she was impressed by the country's "enthusiasm and dedication".
"Scotland and Wales have limited resources but here they seem to think, 'well, that doesn't stop us from talking about it and doing something about it'," she said.
She praised Mr Parry-Jones's carer but was critical of homecare on the whole, calling it "inconsistent".
"Until they pay them a decent wage the problem will never go away."
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "We are committed to improving the working conditions of our dedicated care staff, which is why we recently held a consultation looking at a wide range of issues affecting them.
"We have now outlined our intentions to influence the use of zero hours contracts and are looking at other ways of improving the working conditions of these vital workers."


The amount UK firms paid out in health and safety fines rose sharply last year following the introduction of tougher rules, new research has found.

Law firm BLM said there were 292 fines issued during the year, with more than £61m paid out in total - a 148% rise since 2015.
The average cost of a fine rose from £69,500 to £211,000.
BLM partner Helen Devery said strong safety processes were vital for businesses "big or small".
The firm attributed the rise to new legislation on health and safety, food hygiene and corporate manslaughter offences introduced in February 2016.
The rules impose fines proportionate to the size of a business, rather than using a universal figure for all offences.
They also judge a penalty using metrics such as the seriousness of an offence and likelihood of harm in cases of "near misses".
BLM said fines for businesses with a turnover more than £50m could now be as high as £10m for health and safety offences, and £20m for corporate manslaughter.
It also said more than 18 fines topped £1m last year, compared with just two in 2015.
These included the £5m fine issued to Merlin Entertainments following the Smiler rollercoaster accident at Alton Towers that injured 16 riders, some seriously.
It remains the largest fine for a single incident and would have been £2.5m higher had Merlin not pleaded guilty.
BLM said that as a sector construction had paid the most in fines, followed by manufacturing, leisure, logistics and transport, industrials and the public sector.


Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will make the 1,000th appearance of his professional career in Friday's World Cup qualifier against Albania.

It will be his 168th Italy game, making him the most capped European player - above Spain's Iker Casillas and Latvian Vitalijs Astafjevs.
He needs another 17 caps to break the 184-appearance world record of former Egypt midfielder Ahmed Hassan.
"It's a huge pleasure," said the 39-year-old Juventus captain.
Buffon has conceded 799 goals in his 999 games for club and country so far.
He made his professional debut for Parma in 1995 at the age of 17 and his international debut two years later. He has played 612 times for Juventus since joining them in 2001.
A World Cup winner in 2006, Buffon has previously said he plans to retire after next year's tournament in Russia.
And he joked that he plans to go out as Zinedine Zidane did for France in the 2006 final - with a red card.
"Maybe, I'll do a Zidane and headbutt someone on the pitch."


A man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body after a man was found dead at a house.

Leicestershire Police said they were called to the house in Glazebrook Road, Leicester, at 11:00 BST on Tuesday.
The force is treating the death as unexplained and said enquiries were ongoing to "ascertain the exact circumstances".
The detained pair, both aged 35, are currently in police custody.


A new model of the Moon's formation suggests it developed in two distinct stages, producing inner and outer layers with different compositions.

Beginning with a massive impact that left a disc of material swirling around the proto-Earth, it predicts how our satellite clumped together over time.
By splitting this process into two phases, it is the first model to account for some crucial differences between Moon and Earth rocks.
The work appears in Nature Geoscience.
In general, the Earth and Moon are remarkably alike in their mineral make-up. This has led scientists to propose that the smash-up that eventually spawned the Moon was caused by a Mars-sized interloper made of surprisingly similar stuff to Earth.
But there are some noteworthy differences, which Moon origin models have struggled to account for.
"One of the key differences, that's been known since the Apollo sample return, is that the Moon is much more depleted in so-called volatile elements - those that vaporise easily as you heat up material," said Dr Robin Canup, the new study's lead author, from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, US.
"And the origin of this depletion has been essentially unknown."
These volatile elements, it is worth noting, are not things we think of as wet and wispy here on Earth; Dr Canup and her colleagues were looking primarily at metals like zinc, potassium and sodium - which are volatile in the context of Solar System formation.
To address the problem of the Moon's missing volatiles, Dr Canup's team added temperature and chemical models to a framework they had already developed for the physical dynamics of how the Moon assembled from the magma disc.
In the very first months and years after the collision, about half the Moon's mass was crunched into a ball at the fringe of the disc, which at that stage surrounded the fledgling Earth like Saturn's rings. Because this early material came from the edge of the rings, it was cool and contained a good mix of volatile elements.
But subsequently, the outer half of the Moon was formed by molten material slapping on to the expanding satellite from the inner portion of the disc.
This stuff, according to Dr Canup's new model, was too hot for volatile elements to condense with it. So the Moon's outer layers - where all the rocks we've sampled come from - ended up "volatile-poor".
"What we find," she told the BBC, "is that the initial half of the Moon, say 50% of its mass, may well have retained its volatile species. But for the last half, as that material accreted on to the Moon, it was consistently too hot to contain the volatile species."
After accumulating these two layers, the model suggests that the Moon swung further away from the Earth. This is a key aspect of the findings, Dr Canup explained, because it locks the discrepancy in place.
"The Moon's orbit expands enough to turn off its accretion, before the inner disc gets cool enough for the volatiles to condense.
"So by the time they do condense, they're scattered on to the Earth rather than swept up by the Moon."
Dr Mahesh Anand, a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK, said the research was "very elegant" and thorough, and offered an excellent match for some - but not all - measurements of lunar chemistry.
"It is a good way of explaining a Moon that is volatile depleted," he told BBC News. "But I also feel that you need a number of other processes to have affected these volatiles afterwards - before the Moon completely solidified - in order to reconcile all of the observations that we are making in the laboratory."
For example, Dr Anand said, there are discrepancies in the isotopes of zinc found in Earth and Moon rock, as well as the question of how much water there is - and was - on the Moon.
"But until now, nobody had tried to build so many aspects into one model," he said.
In a commentary for Nature Geoscience, Prof Steve Desch from Arizona State University said this latest view of the Moon's origin was one of the most complete yet.
"No other model of the Moon's formation is as comprehensive, or is as capable of making such detailed predictions about the Moon's composition," he wrote.
Prof Desch also compared the new Moon model to Chinese "mooncakes" or yue bing, traditionally baked for an Autumn festival. These cakes have a moist filling baked inside a dry pastry.
Just like these cakes, he suggested, the Moon may have required a "two-step recipe".
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A man has been jailed after he left his trainer pattern in the home of a woman he sexually assaulted at knifepoint.

Andrew Check, 30, was jailed for 10 years on Monday after admitting two counts of assault by penetration.
Swansea Crown Court heard the imprint from his Fred Perry shoes at the house in the Tenby, Pembrokeshire, helped police trace him.
Check, of Tenby, must serve a further seven years on licence upon release.
Prosecutor Nicola Powel said the victim woke in the middle of the night to see Check stood over her.
He then held a knife to her throat as he assaulted her.
Det Adele Benjafield identified the tennis shoe pattern from a database of 38,000 images.
Police carrying out house-to-house inquiries visited Check's home and noticed he matched the physical description given to officers.
A pair of Fred Perry trainers were found at his home - they were not the ones worn in the attack, but were enough to make officers suspicious.
A search revealed the victim's DNA on a glove in Check's house.
In a video shown to court, the victim said: "I suffer with nightmares, anxiety, and panic attacks and I am unable to sleep. I don't know how and when I will recover my life again."
Judge Keith Thomas said: "Such an offence rightly frightens and horrifies people in equal measure.
"He carried out the attack in a callous and determined way. The rape sent shockwaves throughout the community. "
After the case, Dyfed-Powys Police Det Benjafield said: "The evidential value of footwear is becoming more recognised.
"It's value is on a par with fingerprints and DNA samples and scans of footwear are routinely taken of people who come through our custody suites."


Mainland media back Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung as protesters step up their demands for his resignation.

Hong Kong students angry at China's plan to vet candidates for 2017 polls say protesters will start occupying government buildings if Mr Leung does not resign by Thursday night.
State media, however, dismiss the calls and praise the chief executive's performance.
"The chief executive is chosen through a legal election process and appointed by the central government. The central government fully trusts Mr Leung, and is very satisfied with his work performance," says People's Daily.
Criticising the protesters for disrupting social order and challenging the "law", the front-page commentary stresses that Beijing will not change its position on Hong Kong and will continue to back Mr Leung "for the sake of national security and interests, as well as for the interests of Hong Kong".
"The central government will continue to give Chief Executive CY Leung its firm support to execute his policies in accordance to the law. The government will firmly support the police in dealing with the illegal activities in the city," states the article.
In a separate report, the paper quotes several experts from think-tanks and universities in the mainland on Hong Kong affairs.
The report says most experts agree that the protesters are hurting Hong Kong's interests and "they are not executing the freedom of expression in a normal way".
Echoing similar views, an article in the China News Service slams the protesters for "bringing shame to the rule of law in Hong Kong".
News portal China.com, in a commentary, accuses the US and UK of "inciting" the Occupy Central campaign "in order to mess up Hong Kong".
"China is developing while the US and UK are on the decline, so they could only gather a minority of Hong Kongers who forgot their roots to create trouble for China. Such a scheme will definitely not succeed," says the article.
Adopting a softer approach, the Shenzhen News website publishes an open letter from a high school student in Shenzhen, a southern China city bordering Hong Kong.
"When I know that some students in Hong Kong are participating in the class boycott, and even taking to the streets, I cannot understand why. Being a student of your age, and being your neighbour, I have some heartfelt words to share," writes the "ordinary high school student" known as Si Yu.
The letter, which has been reprinted on various websites, urges Hong Kong students to "go back to class, and to believe in the country".
Ending the letter on an emotional note, the writer says that "we all have a home, its name is Chinaâ€¦ I deeply believe that when the country is good, Hong Kong will also be good".
But some of China's main newspapers continue to ignore the protests. Outlets including the Beijing Times, Beijing News and Southern Metropolis make no mention of them.
Instead, the papers have reprinted a Xinhua News Agency report noting that celebrations to mark the 1 October National Day attracted "large crowd of people in Hong Kong".
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, papers remain divided.
Pro-Beijing China Review News says the "mastermind of the protests" should be punished and cautions Hong Kong authorities to remain on high alert against "foreign forces" supporting the opposition.
Calling for solidarity among the protesters, the editorial of the pro-democracy Apple Daily cautions "the people" to be "on high alert against the underhanded measures" of the chief executive.
The article accuses Mr Leung of "pushing the blame of the chaos on the protesters and trying to reinforce his power".
"He is not solving the problem, instead he is intensifying the conflicts, as preparation for clamping down the protests," says the article, urging protesters to "fight a long war" and not to lose the understanding and support of ordinary residents.
Noting the silence from top officials, the South China Morning Post says the Beijing and Hong Kong governments "are playing a waiting game in hope Occupy will run out of steam".
And finally, several Hong Kong celebrities have voiced their support for the protest.
"What Hong Kong is going through now fills our hearts with pain. Most importantly, hope the students and residents are safe and sound. Hong Kong, add oil! [a form of cheer which means 'come on'!]," singer Sammi Cheng writes on her Weibo, a Twitter-like service.
According to audio uploaded on the Apple Daily's website, reputed actor Chow Yun Fat said he was "touched by the brave actions of the protesters and the residents", adding that the police "were wrong" to fire tear gas at students who were "rational".
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


There are believed to be as many as 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria, commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters.

Many of the groups are small and operate on a local level, but a number have emerged as powerful forces with affiliates across the country or formed alliances with other groups that share a similar agenda. Here we look at the most prominent.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed in August 2011 by army deserters based in Turkey, led by Col Riad al-Asaad. Its banner was soon adopted by armed groups that began appearing across the country. Despite this, the FSA's leaders had little or no operational control over what was happening on the ground in Syria. The opposition's Western and Gulf Arab backers sought to encourage a centralised rebel leadership and in December 2012 a number of brigades affiliated themselves to a newly-created Supreme Military Council (SMC). The SMC's chief-of-staff, Gen Idris, wants it to be a more moderate and stronger alternative to the jihadist rebel groups in Syria.
The SMC has 30 members, six representing each of five "fronts" in Syria - Northern (Aleppo and Idlib), Eastern (Raqqa, Deir al-Zour and Hassaka), Western (Hama, Latakia and Tartus), Central (Homs and Rastan) and Southern (Damascus, Deraa and Suwaida). Each front has a civilian-military council and a commander. The opposition National Coalition describes Gen Idris as the commander of the FSA, however observers have said the FSA is simply a loose network of brigades rather than a unified fighting force. Brigades supposedly report through the chain of command to Gen Idris, but he is yet to assert operational control and serves more as a spokesman and conduit for foreign funding and arms shipments. SMC-aligned brigades retain separate identities, agendas and commands. Some work with hardline Islamist groups that alarm the West, such as Ahrar al-Sham, and al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.
SMC AFFILIATES
Martyrs of Syria Brigades
Originally called the Martyrs of Jabal al-Zawiya Brigade, the group was formed in late 2011 in Idlib province. Although its name was changed in mid-2012 to the Martyrs of Syria Brigades to reflect the growing ambitions of its leader, its operations are still focused in north-western Syria. Unlike Suqour al-Sham (see below), which also hails from Jabal al-Zawiya and wants an Islamic state, the Martyrs of Syria Brigades reportedly ascribe to no particular ideology.
Northern Storm Brigade
The Northern Storm Brigade is an Islamist FSA unit that controls an important border crossing between Syria and Turkey. In September 2013, there were deadly clashes between the Northern Storm Brigade and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) after the jihadist group stormed the town of Azaz.
Ahrar Souriya Brigade
The Ahrar Souriya (Free Men of Syria) Brigade, which operates under the SMC, was set up by Col Qassem Saad al-Din, a former air force pilot from the northern town of Rastan.
In November 2013, seven Islamist groups - Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya, Jaysh al-Islam, Suqour al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid, Liwa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Sham and the Kurdish Islamic Front - declared that they were forming the largest rebel alliance yet in the 33-month conflict, with an estimated 45,000 fighters. They said the new Islamic Front was an "independent political, military and social formation" that aimed to "topple the Assad regime completely and build an Islamic state". They outlined a new command structure, with key roles shared between the seven groups, and said they would work towards a "gradual merger".
The announcement led to the dissolution of the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF), which was dominated by Ahrar al-Sham, and the effective break-up of the SMC-aligned Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF). Analysts predicted that the move would undermine the SMC, and in December 2013 the front announced that it had withdrawn from the SMC's command. Days later, its fighters drove out SMC-aligned forces out of their headquarters and warehouses at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, prompting the US and UK to suspend "non-lethal" assistance for rebel groups in northern Syria.
The Islamic Front does not include al-Qaeda affiliates like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and the al-Nusra Front, but its charter welcomes foreign fighters, as "brothers who supported us in jihad", suggesting it is willing to co-operate with them.
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya
The Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant) is a Salafist group that first emerged in the north-western province of Idlib in late 2011 as Ahrar al-Sham and has since made a major impact on the battlefield. In December 2012, it formed the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) with 10 other hardline Islamist groups, including Liwa al-Haqq. Ahrar al-Sham later merged with three of them to form Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya. Its leader is Hassan Abboud, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Hamawi, who was imprisoned by the Syrian authorities after taking part in the insurgency in neighbouring Iraq but released in early 2011 as part of an amnesty.
Before its dissolution in November 2013, the SIF became the most powerful rebel force battling the government, operating all over the country. It remained independent and refused to come under the umbrella of the SMC, but co-operated with SMC-aligned brigades on the battlefield, as well as al-Qaeda affiliates.
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham's fighters are renowned for their discipline and ability. They were some of the first to use improvised explosive devices and to target military bases to capture weapons. The group operates a "technical division" that carries out cyber-attacks and a "relief office" that runs social services and carries out public works.
Jaysh al-Islam
Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) was formed by some 50 Islamist factions operating in and around Damascus in September 2013. Zahran Alloush, a former imprisoned Salafist activist whose group Liwa al-Islam (Battalion of Islam) is the most prominent and powerful member of the alliance, said it had been formed to "achieve unity among the units of the mujahideen and avoid the effects produced by the divisions within the National Coalition". More than 30 of the brigades in Jaysh al-Islam were already operating under the banner of Liwa al-Islam. The others include Liwa Fath al-Sham, Liwa Tawhid al-Islam and Liwa al-Ansar. Jaysh al-Islam's formation was believed to have been an attempt by Saudi Arabia to counter the expanding presence of al-Qaeda affiliates around the Syrian capital, with Salafist groups being offered arms and money in return for loyalty. Zahran Alloush's father is a religious scholar based in the Gulf Kingdom. Liwa al-Islam, which was founded in mid-2011, is the leading rebel group in the Ghouta agricultural belt around Damascus and is well-armed. The group rose to prominence after claiming it was behind the bombing of the National Security Bureau's headquarters in Damascus in July 2012, which killed several senior security officials including the defence minister and President Assad's brother-in-law.
Suqour al-Sham
Suqour al-Sham (Falcons of Syria) was formed in the Jabal al-Zawiya region of the north-western province of Idlib in September 2011. It has since grown in size and influence - drawing in several local factions, including the Daoud Brigades - and expanded its operations into Aleppo and Damascus provinces. Ahmed al-Sheikh, also known as Abu Issa, was the driving force behind the establishment in September 2012 of the SILF and was named its leader. Suqour al-Sham nevertheless said its fighters would not take instruction from an outside leadership and in late 2013 it joined the Islamic Front. Abu Issa, who has previously called for a moderate Islamic state that is not imposed on society, was named head of the new alliance.
Liwa al-Tawhid
Liwa al-Tawhid (Battalion of Monotheism) was formed in July 2012 to unite the many separate fighting groups operating in the northern Aleppo countryside. It took control of part of the city of Aleppo after leading a rebel offensive that month. Liwa al-Tawhid is now one of the main forces operating in the province. The relatively moderate Islamist group, which calls for an Islamic state that is governed by civilians and protects minorities, joined the SMC-aligned SILF in January 2013. However, it maintained good relations with hardline groups such as Harakat Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Nusra Front. In September 2013, it was called in to broker an end to clashes between ISIS and an SMC-aligned brigade in the northern town of Azaz. Later that month, Abdul Aziz Salama, then Liwa al-Tawhid's political leader, read out a statement by 11 rebel groups, including al-Nusra, declaring that they did not recognise the National Coalition and calling for the opposition to unite under an "Islamic framework". Its late military leader Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, a former businessman known as "Hajji Marea", praised al-Nusra before he was killed in a government air strike in November 2013. After his death, Mr Salama, also known as "Hajji Anadan", assumed overall command of Liwa al-Tawhid and the following week the group joined the newly formed Islamic Front. In addition to its military operations, Liwa al-Tawhid has medical and media "foundations" and claims to have thousands of civilian "administrators" helping run areas under rebel control.
Liwa al-Haqq
Liwa al-Haqq (Battalion of Truth) was formed in 2012 by Liwa al-Ansar and other Islamist brigades fighting in and around the central city of Homs. Led by a former Syrian army paratrooper, it is one of the most prominent groups in Homs and the surrounding province. Liwa al-Haqq is dominated by hardline Islamists and helped form the now-dissolved SIF alliance with Ahrar al-Sham.
Kataib Ansar al-Sham
Kataib Ansar al-Sham (Supporters of the Levant Brigades) is mainly active in the northern provinces of Latakia and Idlib. The group was a founding member of the SIF.
Kurdish Islamic Front
The Kurdish Islamic Front is a Salafist group that came to prominence only recently when it fought alongside Harakat Ahrar al-Sham and ISIS against the Popular Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish militia force set up by the Democratic Unity Party (PYD) to provide security in the de facto autonomous Kurdish zone in north-eastern Syria. The KIF reportedly runs a number of Islamic schools for Kurdish children in Aleppo and elsewhere.
The Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF) is a loose alliance formed in September 2012 by about 20 rebel groups, including the Farouq Brigades, the Islamic Farouq Brigades, Liwa al-Tawhid, Liwa al-Fath, Liwa al-Islam, Suqour al-Sham, and the Deir al-Zour Revolutionaries' Council. Most of the groups, which ranged from moderate Islamist to ultraconservative Salafist in outlook, recognised the SMC and made up the bulk of its fighting force. In November 2013, Liwa al-Tawhid and Suqour al-Sham declared that they were joining the new Islamic Front, significantly reducing the SILF's military strength and raising questions about whether it would be disbanded. It is not clear if the remaining members of the SILF will continue to fight under its banner or join the Islamic Front.
Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigades
The Ahfad al-Rasoul (Grandsons of the Prophet) Brigades are an alliance of more than 40 moderate Islamist groups formed in 2012. They operate across Syria, although their presence is strongest in the northern province of Idlib. The alliance is independent but aligned to the SMC, and has also been linked to Qatar and Western intelligence agencies. In August 2013, its fighters were forced from the northern town of Raqqa by ISIS.
Asala wa al-Tanmiya Front
The Asala wa al-Tanmiya (Authenticity and Growth) Front is a moderate Islamist alliance formed in November 2012. Its fighters are organised across five "fronts" covering most of Syria, but their presence is strongest in Aleppo, where the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Brigades operate, and in the tribal areas of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, the power base of the Ahl al-Athar Brigade.
Durou al-Thawra Commission
The Durou al-Thawra (Revolution's Shields) Commission is an SMC-linked alliance of a few dozen small armed factions, most of them in Idlib and Hama provinces. It was set up in 2012 with the help of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. It describes itself as a moderate Islamic-democratic alliance. It acknowledges receiving support from the Brotherhood, but denies any direct link to it.
Tajammu Ansar al-Islam
Tajammu Ansar al-Islam (Gathering of the Supporters of Islam) was formed in mid-2012 by seven Damascus-based Islamist groups. However, it has since suffered several splits.
Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigade
The Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigade is a moderate Islamist group linked to the SMC that was formed in the southern province of Deraa in August 2012 through the merger of eight small units. Led by Bashar al-Zoubi, it operates mainly near Syria's borders with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where in March and May 2013 fighters briefly detained UN peacekeepers patrolling the demilitarised area.
National Unity Brigades
The National Unity Brigades (Kataib al-Wihda al-Wataniya) were created in August 2012. They claim to have several units located in almost all of Syria's provinces and to operate "for the sake of a civil, democratic state for all ethnicities and social identities". The NUB operates mainly in the Jisr al-Shughour region of Idlib province and south of Damascus, but also in Jabal al-Zawiya, Deraa and Deir al-Zour. Some fighters are reported to be from the minority Alawite and Ismaili sects.
Al-Nusra Front
The Nusra (Support) Front for the People of the Levant, is a jihadist group believed to have been created in mid-2011 with the help of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), a militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). It declared its existence in January 2012 and has since emerged as one of the most effective rebel forces. Its fighters are active in 11 of Syria's 14 provinces, particularly Idlib, Aleppo and Deir al-Zour. Initially, the group was blamed for dozens of suicide bombings in major city centres, killing many civilians. Later, its disciplined and well-armed fighters began to take part in regular rebel operations, then major offensives. Today, they control territory in northern Syria. The US designated al-Nusra a terrorist entity in December 2012, saying it was an "alias" of AQI. In April 2013, the head of the ISI, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the merger of his group and al-Nusra, creating the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). However, al-Nusra's leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani - another former insurgent in Iraq released in 2011 by the Syrian government - swiftly rejected the move and asserted his allegiance to al-Qaeda's overall leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Since then, al-Nusra and ISIS have operated as separate entities, with large numbers of foreign fighters joining the latter. Like Ahrar al-Sham, al-Nusra has sought to build popular support by providing social services and carrying out public works.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis)
The creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in April 2013 was rejected by the al-Nusra Front. ISI's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, known as Abu Dua, nevertheless pressed ahead with expanding its operations into Syria. In August 2013, US intelligence assessed that he was based in Syria and commanded as many 5,000 fighters, many of them foreign jihadists. The group is active mostly in northern and eastern provinces of Syria. It has assumed joint control of municipalities in Aleppo, Idlib and Raqqa provinces. Isis has taken part in a number of major rebel operations, including by carrying out suicide bombings that helped capture two military bases. But it has also had tense relationships with other rebel groups, including those considered Islamist. Its fighters reportedly recently killed a prominent member Ahrar al-Sham, and have clashed with those from Ahfad al-Rasoul in Raqqa and the Northern Storm Brigade in Azaz. They have also targeted Shia and Alawite civilians.
Jaysh al-Muhajirin wa al-Ansar
Jaysh al-Muhajirin wa al-Ansar (Army of the Emigrants and Helpers) is a group comprising hundreds of mostly foreign fighters, many of them from the North Caucasus, that was formed in March 2013 by several jihadist units. The group, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Syria, operates mostly in Aleppo province, but says it is also fighting in Hama and Latakia. It is led by a Chechen jihadist called Omar al-Shishani, who has aligned himself with ISIS.
Popular Protection Units (YPG)
The Popular Protection Units is the armed wing of the Kurdish political party, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that runs the de facto autonomous Kurdish zone in north-eastern Syria. The YPG emerged as a force in the summer of 2012 when the Syrian army withdrew from Kurdish areas and it sought to provide security. The PYD has tried to keep the Kurds out of the conflict and consolidate its territorial gains. However, there has been occasional fighting with government troops, and since November 2012 also deadly clashes between the YPG and rebel fighters - particularly those from Islamist and jihadist brigades - over control of several border towns and parts of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian rebels and the Turkish government have accused the Kurdish group of acting as an Assad proxy.
Sources: IHS Jane's, CTC Sentinel, Institute for the Study of War, Carnegie Endowment


At least 10 people have died after two car bomb attacks outside central Baghdad hotels, say Iraqi police.

The explosions happened just before midnight local time (21:00 GMT). The first hit the Babylon Hotel, near the Tigris river, and the second struck the Ishtar, formerly the Sheraton Hotel.
The Reuters news agency said at least 30 people were injured in the blasts.
A night-time curfew lasting 12 years was lifted in Baghdad in February.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, in Baghdad, tweeted that gunfire was also heard.
Police said they were trying to defuse a third car bomb they found in the Babylon Hotel car park.
The two hotels are regularly busy on Thursday nights and had been renovated in recent years.
In 2010, the hotels were the target of co-ordinated car bombs that killed more than 30 people.


Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell believes his "wobbly" League Two side are good enough to get up "off the canvas" and fight to stay in the EFL.

Since succeeding Steve Davis as manager on 8 January, Artell has so far been unable to halt the Alex's poor form.
Crewe are 21st, having taken just one point from 12 and are only four points clear of the relegation zone.
"We've been down on the canvas for a long time now but I still believe in the players," Artell told BBC Stoke.
"One win and you're up on your knees, not on your backs. Another win, you've still got wobbly legs but you're stood up. Another win and you're throwing punches back.
"We've not given up the ghost, far from it. We've got to fight."
The 36-year-old former Crewe defender points out that three of the four games under his charge were against leaders Doncaster and two other occupants of the current top five, Exeter and Luton.
He also argues his side outplayed Cheltenham, only to draw 0-0 and that they can do the same this weekend against Grimsby.
"We've got better players than Grimsby," he added. "We had better players than Cheltenham. Over the next few weeks, we've now got easier games and we've got to take advantage.
"It's the silly mistakes you make when you're down at the bottom of the league. So many little things. Poor defensive headers, poor defensive clearances. Not tracking your man, letting your man inside."
One positive piece of news is that defender George Ray, who was taken off in the 12th minute of Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Exeter City with a knee injury, may not be out too long.
"He's seen a specialist," said Artell. "But the injury is not as bad as first feared."


A massive $750m (Â£473m) Chinese-built oil rig, the Scarabeo 9, is due to arrive in Cuba before the end of the year, to begin drilling a series of exploratory wells.

A whole range of international oil companies from Spain, Norway, Russia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Canada, Angola, Venezuela, and China - but not the US - are lining up to hire the rig and search for what are believed to be substantial oil deposits.
"We will drill several wells next year and I'm sure we will have discoveries. It is not a matter of if we have oil, it is a matter of when we are going to start producing," Rafael Tenreiro, head of exploration for the Cuban state-owned oil company Cupet, confidently predicts.
The Spanish company Repsol will be the first to drill, with an exploratory well in extremely deep water just 50 miles (80km) off the coast of Florida.
It has sent alarm bells ringing in the United States because if there were an accident, the ocean currents would push any oil spill onto Florida's beaches and the Everglades.
Yet under the US trade embargo, neither American firms nor the Coast Guard could come to Cuba's assistance or provide much needed equipment such as booms, pumps, skimmers and oil dispersant systems.
The Cubans would need to turn to the Norwegians, British or Brazilians for help.
"In the event of a disaster we are talking a response time in terms of equipment of four to six weeks as opposed to 36 or 48 hours. This is a serious impediment," warned Lee Hunt, president of the Texas-based International Association of Drilling Contractors.
Mr Hunt was part of a team of oil industry and environmental experts who were given permission by the Obama administration to visit Cuba to discuss safety issues with the authorities in Havana.
Leading the group was William Reilly, a former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and co-author of the government report into last year's BP oil disaster.
He was impressed with Cuba's awareness of the risks and knowledge of the latest international safety measures.
The explosion and blow-out aboard BP's Deepwater Horizon rig off the coast of Louisiana killed 11 people and spilled 5m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the worst environmental disasters ever to hit the Gulf Coast.
It took 85 days to cap the well head, which was 5,500 feet beneath the surface. The Scarabeo 9 will be drilling in even deeper water.
After his talks with Cuban officials, William Reilly said he found them serious about safety and aware of international best practice but lacking in experience.
He wants to see the US co-operate with Cuba on safety issues and ease the embargo to allow US companies to assist in case of an emergency.
"It is profoundly in the interests of the United States to prepare the Cubans as best we can to ensure that we are protected in the case of a spill. We need to make it 'Key West safe'."
But Florida's powerful Cuban-American lobby has other ideas and with the 2012 presidential election looming, Barack Obama is in a difficult position.
The anti-Castro groups want the administration to take action to halt the drilling altogether and not just for safety reasons.
A major oil find would make this communist-run Caribbean island financially independent for the first time since the revolution in 1959.
For more than half a century Cuba has been dependent on the largesse of its ideological allies. First it was subsidised by the Soviet Union, then more recently Venezuela and, to a lesser extent, China.
Cuba has long produced some oil from a series of small onshore and coastal deposits.
Tourists going from Havana to the beach resort of Varadero drive past several kilometres of nodding donkeys and the occasional Chinese or Canadian drilling rig.
Cuba currently produces about 53,000 barrels of oil a day but still needs to import about 100,000 barrels, mainly from Venezuela.
Its deep territorial waters, though, lie on the same geological strata as oil rich Mexico and the US Gulf.
Estimates on just how much offshore oil Cuba is sitting on vary. A US Geological Survey estimate suggests 4.6bn barrels, the Cubans say 20bn.
Even the most conservative estimate would make Cuba a net oil exporter. A large find would provide untold riches.
It is one of the US-based anti-Castro lobby's worst nightmares.
"The decaying Cuban regime is desperately reaching out for an economic lifeline, and it appears to have found a willing partner in Repsol to come to its rescue," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Cuban-born Republican and Chairwoman of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement recently.
The Florida Congresswoman and a group of 33 other legislators, both Republican and Democrat, wrote to Repsol warning the company that the drilling could subject the company to "criminal and civil liability in US courts".
Repsol responded saying that its exploratory wells complied with all current US legislation covering the embargo as well as all safety regulations.
It has also agreed to allow US officials to conduct a safety inspection of the Chinese rig before it enters Cuban waters.
Under the embargo it is limited to just 10% American technology.
The rig was fitted in Singapore and the one piece of US equipment which was installed was the blow-out preventer.
It was the failure of BP's blow-out preventer which was at the heart of that disaster.
According to Lee Hunt, the Scarabeo 9 is a state of the art deep-water rig and there are six similar platforms built at the same Chinese shipyard currently operating in US waters.
For the moment environmental concerns appear to be taking precedence over politics.
The government will take up Repsol's offer to inspect Scarabeo 9 and a limited number of licences have been issued to US clean-up operators to enter Cuban waters and assist in the event of a spill.
But the arguments are far from over as environmentalists are pushing for greater co-operation while Cuban-American groups are looking at ways to place legal and legislative hurdles in the way.


This has, in many ways, been a very reassuring year for Andy Murray.

He won his first Masters Series title for over two years in Madrid in May, and added another in Montreal last month. And by reaching the Australian Open final, as well as the last four at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Murray has re-established himself as one of the best three players in the world. He even beat Novak Djokovic - to end a run of eight consecutive defeats by the world number one.
But there will inevitably be frustration that after such a successful year, he has failed to add to his tally of two Grand Slam titles.
The benefits of a first meaningful training block with Amelie Mauresmo in Miami last December were evident in Melbourne in January, and Murray's clay-court form was a revelation. The plan this year, where possible, has been to play a smaller tournament in the lead-up to the Masters events in the hope the extra preparation would pay dividends.
It has. Not only has Murray's ranking improved from six to three since the start of the season, but he has also been a much more potent threat in the Grand Slams. Or at least in three of the four, as here in New York he appeared to run out of steam.
Murray had already played a five-set match against Adrian Mannarino before his four-hour-17-minute defeat by Kevin Anderson, but a lack of spark and the reduced power on his forehand in that fourth-round match seems closely related to the amount of tennis he played earlier in the summer.
Murray's commitment to Great Britain's Davis Cup team is not without its drawbacks. This year's quarter-final against France at Queen's Club took place the week after Wimbledon, leaving him just one week of rest before flying out to Washington to compete in an ATP 500 event which would have been worth his while financially. A first-round defeat there encouraged him to play in both Montreal and Cincinnati in the two weeks that followed, before heading to New York to complete his preparations for the US Open.
Going into the year's final Grand Slam, Murray had played 65 matches over the course of 14 tournaments and two Davis Cup ties. World number one Djokovic, by contrast, had played 61 matches in 11 tournaments and one Davis Cup tie, and Roger Federer - who is yet to play in the team competition this year - 52 matches in 12 events. The Swiss world number two, 34, signed up for (and won) only one event between Wimbledon and the US Open.
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Murray says life will be far less frenetic after next week's Davis Cup semi-final against Australia in Glasgow. He expects to play in just Shanghai and Paris before the World Tour Finals begin in London in the middle of November.
Britain's first Davis Cup final since 1978 may follow, after which Murray will have to make some tough decisions about his future. He plans to train at home this December, as his wife Kim will by then be heavily pregnant, and expects to be away from the tour in February: the month in which the baby is due.
But what will his schedule look like for the rest of 2016? Will he be able to commit to the Davis Cup for another full year? Any quarter-final would again be played the week after Wimbledon and he is also due to defend his Olympic title in Rio in the run-up to the US Open.
As Murray told me, with a smile on his face, after his defeat by Anderson: "If I don't play Davis Cup, I get abused by you guys."
He may find himself in an unenviable position. And at 28 - the age a modern day player tends to reach his prime - these decisions carry a lot of weight.


A charity set up in memory of a Scots aid worker killed in Afghanistan almost six years ago is supporting an Afghan women's beekeeping project.

Linda Norgrove, from Lewis, had been working in Afghanistan when she was seized by rebels in September 2010.
She was killed during a rescue attempt by US special forces the following month.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation has paid for a van and driving lessons for the women beekeepers.
The Bamyan Beekeeping Cooperative is led by women of the minority Hazara community in the Bamyan Valley.
The foundation said the beekeeping project was important because it supported people from a minority group and was good for the environment.
More than 280 women are involved in the venture which produces about a ton of honey a year. The produce is sold at local markets.
The charity added that the sight of women driving was still "a rare and unusual thing" in rural parts of Afghanistan.
The foundation was set up by 36-year-old Ms Norgrove's parents John and Lorna, who still live in Lewis.
It supports projects that benefit girls and women in Afghanistan.


Four people were caught driving at speeds of over 120mph on roads in Wales last year - with one topping 136mph, a road safety charity has revealed.

Three of the worst speeders were caught on the A5 in north Wales, while the other was on the M4 in south Wales, the Institute of Advanced Motorists said.
It said the 136mph driver broke the 60mph limit in Conwy by 76mph and was one of the worst cases in Britain.
The IAM had asked the Welsh forces for their worst offenders caught on camera.
The figures for 2014, released following a freedom of information request, showed Wales' worst speeder was recorded by North Wales Police at 136mph on the A5 Ty Nant to Dinmael road in Conwy.
The A5 also saw two further instances of over 120mph speeding recorded; 122mph on the Ty Nant-Cerrigydrudion stretch in Conwy; and 121mph at Halton, Wrexham.
The final case of 120mph being exceeded was captured by South Wales Police: 125mph on the M4 between Junction 35 Pencoed and Junction 34 Miskin, where a 70mph limit is in force.
The charity is campaigning for an increase in visible policing to deter excessive speeders.
North Wales Police
South Wales Police
Gwent Police
Dyfed-Powys Police


More than 30 civilians and Kurdish-led fighters have been killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants near Syria's north-eastern border with Iraq.

They targeted a makeshift camp for displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees at Rajm al-Salibi, near the town of Shaddadi in Hassakeh province.
The militants also clashed with members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stationed at a nearby checkpoint.
IS said the attack was one of several targeting "apostates" around Shaddadi.
The jihadist group is coming under mounting pressure in northern Syria from the SDF's Kurdish and Arab fighters, who are supported by the US, and from pro-government forces in neighbouring Iraq.
The SDF has driven IS militants out of much of Hassakeh and is close to taking control of the strategically important Euphrates River Valley town of Tabqa.
It will soon launch an offensive to retake the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the "caliphate" proclaimed by IS after the fall of the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reports that at least five IS suicide bombers blew themselves up outside and inside the camp at Rajm al-Salibi, east of Shaddadi, at dawn on Tuesday.
At least 38 people were killed by the bombings and subsequent clashes, among them 23 civilians, and 30 other people were wounded, it adds.
According to Syria's official Sana news agency, more than 30 civilians were killed and 34 wounded. It did not say whether there had been any suicide bombings.
The Kurdish Red Crescent put the civilian death toll at 22.
SDF fighters took wounded civilians to hospitals in the city of Hassakeh. Several were admitted to intensive care due to the severity of their injuries, according to medical sources cited by Sana.
An IS statement said six groups of militants had attacked SDF positions in Shaddadi and its surrounding area on Tuesday, including a "barracks" near Rajm al-Salibi, killing and wounding dozens of people.
An Iraqi army source told the BBC the militants had also abducted dozens of civilians during the attack on the camp.
It was not possible to verify the report. However, a similar allegation was made by the head of the Iraqi parliament's human rights committee in an interview with Beirut-based al-Mayadeen TV and Sana cited some of those injured as saying they had lost contact with dozens of their relatives.
About 300 families were waiting at Rajm al-Salibi - where conditions are harsh and there is little shelter - to be screened and allowed to enter SDF territory.
They included Syrians from Raqqa and Deir al-Zour provinces, as well as some of the thousands of Iraqis who have fled to Syria from Mosul since October.
As a result of the attack, approximately 400 people are being relocated from Rajm al-Salibi to another camp at al-Hawl.


Wales coach Rob Howley says they will have England-based pair Jamie Roberts and George North available to face Australia in their opening autumn Test.

The game on 5 November falls outside World Rugby's Test window, which contravenes English Premiership rules.
But it appears North and Roberts - and the injured Taulupe Faletau - could have special dispensation to play.
"Having spoken to the players, some of them are available for the Australia game," said Howley.
"We've had no formal conversations with any of the English clubs.
"The players I've spoken to are the likes of Jamie, George and Toby [Taulupe Faletau]."
Harlequins' Roberts posted a message on his Instagram account saying he was "looking forward to meeting up" with the Wales squad next week.
Northampton paid a fine of £60,000 in 2013 after their wing North played for Wales against Australia in a match which took place outside of the international window.
North had agreed a three-year contract whereby he would be available for all Wales games, but the 24-year-old has since signed a new deal.
Centre Roberts, meanwhile, is in the second year of his Harlequins contract and any fresh release could prompt more action by Premiership Rugby Limited against its clubs.
Wales also believe Toulon full-back Leigh Halfpenny will be available to line up against the Wallabies.
Bath number eight Faletau has been picked to lend experience to Wales training, although he is unlikely to be fit until the latter half of November if at all.
His inclusion, along with Roberts and North as the three wildcards under the Welsh Rugby Union's senior player selection policy, meant that Bath fly-half Rhys Priestland misses out.
Only three players who have signed new contracts outside Wales can be included in any squad.
Japan-based lock Dominic Day, Gloucester prop Nicky Thomas and scrum-half Rhodri Williams are the others affected by the rule.
Meanwhile, Wales captain Sam Warburton could make his return for Cardiff Blues against Pau in the European Challenge Cup on Friday 21 October, following a cheekbone injury.


Astronauts have grown the first flower in space on-board the International Space Station.

The orange zinnia flowers can be eaten and were grown in the 'Veggie' laboratory, which was installed on the space station in 2014.
Growing their own food in space is a big step for astronauts because it means they could go on longer missions in the future.
They've grown lettuce before but the zinnia is the first to bloom flowers.
It shows that it may be possible to grow other flowering crops like tomatoes.
Growing plants in space might be trickier than you think - watering flowers is much more difficult in a place without gravity!
Another problem was that the high levels of moisture in the air inside the space station led to mould growing on some leaves.
The astronauts cleaned the plants, cut away the mouldy leaves, and set up a fan to try and dry out the crop. But the high speed fan did its job a bit too well, and the plants got too dry.
Astronaut Scott Kelly took charge of the flowers, and worked hard to revive them over Christmas, and on 12 January, a few petals started to peak out.
When the flowers finally bloomed, Scott shared the photo saying 'first ever flower grown in space makes its debut!'


The Saudi-led multinational coalition fighting the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen says a 48-hour cessation of hostilities will not be extended.

A coalition spokesman said the truce, which ended at midday (09:00 GMT), had been violated repeatedly by the rebels.
A pro-Houthi Yemeni army spokesman also accused the coalition of breaches.
The truce brought residents of the capital, Sanaa, a brief respite from air strikes. But fighting continued around the city of Taiz.
More than 7,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Yemen escalated in March 2015, when the coalition launched a military campaign in support of the government against the Houthis and allied security units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
More than three million people have also been displaced by the fighting, and 21 million are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
The coalition had said the cessation of hostilities, which came into effect on Saturday, might be extended if the rebels abided by it and allowed aid deliveries into besieged areas.
But on Monday coalition spokesman Maj-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri told AFP news agency:  "There is no respect [for the truce], only violations."
"There have been more people killed in Taiz and more attacks with surface-to-surface missiles, so automatically the conditions are not there [for an extension]."
Gen Asiri accused the rebels of 563 breaches inside Yemen and 163 across the border in Saudi Arabia.
A spokesman for Yemeni forces fighting alongside the Houthis, Brig Gen Sharaf Luqman, told the Saba news agency that coalition fighter jets "and their mercenaries" had been responsible for 114 violations over two days, dropping cluster weapons and shelling areas near the Saudi border.
"The army and popular forces will reserve all rights to respond to any breaches and violations by the enemies against our citizens, vital facilities and infrastructure services," he added.
Fifteen rebels and nine loyalist troops were killed in fighting overnight in and around Taiz, military and medical sources told AFP. Four civilians living in areas besieged by the rebels over the past year were also killed by shellfire, the sources said.
Coalition warplanes also resumed air strikes around Sanaa early on Monday, reportedly bombing military positions on a mountain overlooking the capital.


Abrupt climate change in Africa helped trigger technological and cultural advances in early modern humans, according to new research.

Archaeologists had long noted that the complexity displayed by human groups moved in fits and starts.
But there has been a debate about the causes of this stop-start pattern.
Analysis of marine sediments suggest a close link between changes in human behaviour and changes in the southern African climate.
The research by a British, Swiss and Spanish team is published in the journal Nature Communications.
The marine sediment core drilled off the coast of South Africa provides a record of climate variability over the last 100,000 years.
Co-author Martin Ziegler, from Cardiff University, said: "We found that South Africa experienced rapid climate transitions toward wetter conditions at times when the Northern Hemisphere experienced extremely cold conditions."
These large Northern Hemisphere cooling events have previously been linked to a change in the Atlantic Ocean circulation that led to the reduced transport of warm water to high latitudes.
The southern African climate responded in the opposite direction, with increasing rainfall associated with a southward shift of the tropical monsoon belt.
Prof Ian Hall, also from Cardiff, explained: "When the timing of these rapidly occurring wet pulses was compared with the archaeological datasets, we found remarkable coincidences.
"The occurrence of several major Middle Stone Age [tool] industries fell tightly together with the onset of periods with increased rainfall."
"Similarly, the disappearance of the industries appears to coincide with the transition to drier climatic conditions."
The archaeological record in southern Africa is vital for understanding the development of modern behaviour in humans, because it contains some of the oldest evidence for symbolism and personal adornments.
"Climate-driven pulses in southern Africa and more widely were probably fundamental to the origin of key elements of modern human behaviour in Africa, and to the subsequent dispersal of Homo sapiens from its ancestral homeland," the scientists wrote in Nature Communications.
Prof Chris Stringer, from London's Natural History Museum, who was also an author on the paper, said: "The quality of the southern African data allowed us to make these correlations between climate and behavioural change.
"But it will require comparable data from other areas before we can say whether this region was uniquely important in the development of modern human culture."


We'd already had the announcement of the £1.2bn Cardiff Capital Region deal - but what else would Chancellor George Osborne reveal in his Budget which would have an impact in Wales?

Taxation
When it comes to the money we have to spend, those of us who pay income tax will be a bit better off after the Budget.
About 1.3 million people in Wales  pay income tax - and they start paying when they earn more than £10,600 pounds a year.
Nine out of ten only pay the 20% basic rate but from next April all income tax payers will be able to earn £11,500 before they start paying tax  - a saving of about £180 a year.
That's about £3.50 a week.
1.35m
pay income tax in Wales
1.18m pay basic rate tax (20%)
140,000 pay higher rate tax (40%)
5,000 pay additional rate (45%)
Also from next April the 40% rate of income tax will not come in until people earn £45,000; at the moment in Wales only 140,000 people pay that 40% rate.
Meanwhile, the cut in corporation tax to 17% in 2020 would affect 25,000 Welsh businesses.
Tolls
The headline grabbing announcement was the halving of tolls on the Severn Crossing from 2018.
About 13 million vehicles pay Severn bridge tolls every year and the Institute of Directors (IoD) said it would make a "real difference to Welsh businesses trading across the bridge".
The level of tolls has been a particular issue for the haulage industry, which supports more than 60,000 jobs in Wales. Larger companies face bills into six figures each year.
In addition to the freeze on fuel duty, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) called the toll reduction a step in the right direction, although it said it wanted "in a perfect world" no tolls at all.
"We're extremely happy," said Kate Gibbs of the RHA. "Every added cost to a haulier has to be passed onto the customer - so you or I see higher costs in shops."
Public services
Welsh council leaders are already anticipating a "tough picture" for public services over the next four years and Finance Minister Jane Hutt also admitted her concern at what lies ahead after Mr Osborne signalled an extra £3.5bn in spending cuts.
"Councils up and down Wales will continue to be forced to make difficult choices about local services in the future, on top of the swingeing reductions that have been visited on them already," said Anthony Hunt, deputy finance spokesman for the Welsh Local Government Association.
Steel industry
There was no easing of the burden of business rates for steel producers, which the Community union called "sorely disappointing".
"Steel producers will continue to be penalised with high business rates for the investments they have made, adding uncompetitive costs in a difficult global market," said general secretary Roy Rickhuss.
Meanwhile, the Treasury has agreed to the Welsh Government's request to create an enterprise zone for Port Talbot, which includes the Tata site.
Growth and city deals
Following on from the signing of the deal for south east Wales, the Chancellor promised he would "open discussions" with the Welsh Government and local partners about the proposed city deal for the Swansea Bay City Region - welcomed by Sir Terry Mathews, who is leading the vision of an "internet coast".
It also said it would also open the door to a "growth deal" for north Wales - which would provide funding for partnerships between councils and business - to make the most of its connection to the Northern Powerhouse. This development was welcomed by the IoD, which called it "overdue".
Chairman of the Deeside Business Forum Askar Sheibani said infrastructure investment was "desperately needed" in the next Budget.
In conclusion
While some opportunities for the Welsh economy were unveiled by the Chancellor, his official forecasts for the UK economy show there are tough times ahead.
The economy here is slowing down and the Chancellor warned of potential risks from the global economy.
His argument is that to ride more difficult times those £3.5bn public sector cuts are necessary.
But they are bound to take more money out of the Welsh economy and could cost jobs.


The £85,000 target to erect a statue to the man who led Cardiff City to its 1927 FA Cup win has been reached.

Cardiff City FC and the Football Association of Wales agreed to fund the remaining £14,000 for the tribute to Fred Keenor.
It is hoped the bronze statue will be in place outside Cardiff City Stadium in September.
Fans chose a design by artist Roger Andrews, who produced the Millennium Stadium's Sir Tasker Watkins statue.
Cardiff City Supporters' Trust and appeal spokesperson Phillip Nifield said: "It is just over two years since we officially launched the appeal and, providing there are no hiccups, the statue should be in a position to be erected in September.
"The statue is almost ready to go to the foundry and we're sure football supporters will welcome the finished image.
"It will be a great landmark outside the Cardiff City Stadium."
Besides supporter donations and cash raised through fundraising events, Cardiff council provided £15,000 and the Welsh government contributed £5,000.
Keenor had been wounded at the Somme in World War I but eventually returned to Cardiff City.
The tough-tackling Cardiff-born defender led City to FA Cup victory at Wembley Stadium in 1927 after the Bluebirds beat Arsenal 1-0 to become the only team outside of England to win the trophy.
In 2010, the approach to Cardiff City Stadium was named Ffordd Fred Keenor.


"Her voice has been strengthened by all this and not silenced," believes Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox.

"How she lived is more important than how she died, and what she stood for is more important than the hatred that drove this act."
What, then, about the contrast between Jo's life, and that of her killer, Thomas Mair?
"He said I think, at the time, that he did what he did for Britain. But I think that Britain would be ashamed of him," Mr Cox said.
"I have no interest in him. I have some pity that his life was so devoid of love and so consumed with hatred that he thought this was an OK thing to do, but I have no interest in how he feels or what he thinks."
Mr Cox said he is not able to forgive the man who brutally murdered his wife.
"In order to talk about forgiveness you have to have some acceptance of how wrong and how evil what he did was, and I have seen no suggestion of any of that.
"From the way the trial was conducted, it feels like somebody who is both unbelievably cowardly and driven by hatred, but if those things were to change then it would be a different scenario.
"I think one of the reasons this happened was for a sense of notoriety and I don't want to bestow that," he added.
Although living in the aftermath of his wife's murder still feels "like a bad dream", Mr Cox said he and his two young children, aged four and five, find comfort in reminding themselves of the sort of person she was.
"Probably every other night, I ask people who knew Jo to write a story for the kids about something they did with Jo or a memory of Jo, and I'll read out one of those to the kids and they love them," he said.
"We have a lifetime of stories. Jo packed in probably 80 or 90 years into the 40 she lived.
"I'll remember her for her zest for life, an enthusiasm in almost all circumstances and about most things, an empathy towards other people and a love both of our family but also just of others."
Obituary: Proud Yorkshire lass Jo Cox
He said: "A lot of what Jo worked on was very worthy and important but she was also very mischievous and very fun and great just to play around with and to hang around with, so we'll remember all of that as well.
"When we were on the way to the funeral and there were thousands and thousands of people lining the streets of Batley, [their son] Cuillin said 'I knew people loved mum but I didn't know this many people loved her'."
"We talk about Jo every day, we talk about the things that made her amazing and we talk about the things that made her annoying... because that also made her so human and so endearing."
It is also through Mrs Cox's work as an MP that many people will remember her.
"She was driven by a very powerful sense of empathy and so when she would meet people who had a problem, she would be committed to dealing with that problem no matter how difficult or seemingly unsolvable," her husband said.
"I used to get very frustrated because every week when she would be up in the constituency at her surgery and she would call me up and say, 'I've missed the train again', and I would be very irritated.
"But she would say, 'it was because somebody turned up and their child support allowance hadn't come through and they didn't have any money for the weekend'. She had a very personal, human connection with people."
When asked how the family are trying to move forward with their lives, Mr Cox said one of the main things they want to achieve is to continue his wife's vision through the Jo Cox Foundation, which has raised more than Â£2m to help with issues such as loneliness, Syrian refugees, autism, and encouraging women in politics.
"For us this is the beginning of something," he said, explaining that their mission is to "make sure that in the years after, what's happened to Jo awakens something which is about bringing our communities back together".
"It's what she said, we do have more in common than that which divides us.
"We are in a place in the world where that message is even more necessary and Jo, if she was alive now, would be spending the vast majority of her time on making that case and that argument.
"She's not here, so we are going to do that in her name."


The third season of the Formula E all-electric racing series comes to a climax this weekend on a new street track in downtown Montreal.

Swiss Sebastien Buemi and Brazilian Lucas di Grassi are the main contenders - as they were last year, too. Both men are ex-Formula 1 drivers who switched to the new electric championship after low-key careers in motorsport's premier category fizzled out.
But their rivalry has been overshadowed ahead of the final race of the season by the news that F1 world champions Mercedes will enter Formula E from 2019-20 - three seasons from now.
Mercedes' decision to join arch-rivals Audi and BMW, as well as Renault, DS (Citroen) and Jaguar, underlines the impression that Formula E is beginning to carve a permanent place for itself in the motorsport tapestry. Hardly surprising given the rise of electric cars on the road.
Mercedes entering Formula E has very little to do with its participation in Formula 1.
The company sees the two championships as complementary, not competitive. Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff - also the boss of and 30% shareholder in the F1 team - has made that clear.
"In motorsport like in every other area, we want to be the benchmark in the premium segment and to explore innovative new projects," Wolff said. "The combination of Formula 1 and Formula E delivers that."
Wolff described Formula E as "like an exciting start-up venture". What it certainly is not is the global marketing platform with an unrivalled exposure reach that F1 offers - audiences remain tiny in comparison.
Mercedes emphasises that it has a "long-term commitment to F1", that it is investing in its facilities in order that the team remain competitive for years to come, and that as long as negotiations over the form F1 takes post-2020, when the teams' contracts run out, take it in a direction it is happy with, there is no reason for it not to stay involved.
The same applies to Renault - also in Formula E and the only manufacturer already contractually committed to F1 beyond 2020, to 2024.
Some have seen the growth of Formula E as an opportunity for F1 to go 'old-school' and reintroduce big-capacity, normally aspirated engines - V8s, V10s or even V12s, such as were used until 2013.
The latest turbo hybrid F1 engines represent a revolutionary advance in technology but they are far from universally popular. Their detractors shrug off the 1,000bhp they produce, the fact they use 35% less fuel to do a grand prix, that they have increased thermal efficiency from 29% to a remarkable 50% in just four years, and focus instead on their muted sound and their high cost.
Nevertheless, hoping that the rise of Formula E will allow F1 to turn back the clock is likely a delusional fantasy.
There is an acceptance in F1 that the existing engine formula of 1.6-litre V6s with significant energy-recovery systems needs tweaking. But very few senior figures are pushing for a wholesale change.
Even the F1 Group's new American owners accept that it would be wrong to completely divorce the sport from new technology and the direction the rest of the world is travelling in - and if it wants to keep car manufacturers involved, it simply cannot. F1's new sporting boss Ross Brawn has made this position very clear.
So, post-2020, expect an engine that is cheaper, yes, and less complex. It will be louder, to satisfy people who feel the noise produced by the hybrid engines is not evocative and exciting enough. Its hybrid technology may well be highlighted in television coverage, to show how it is being used. But that it will remain a small capacity turbocharged engine with some form of hybrid technology is all but a given.
That will take F1 up to 2030 or so, still a decade away from the banning of the sale of new cars with petrol and diesel engines in Britain and France - and plenty of time to ponder what should come after that.


A badger cull is under way in England despite protests, the National Farmers' Union has confirmed.

About 5,000 badgers are expected to be killed in controlled shootings over six weeks in Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Supporters say the cull is necessary to tackle bovine TB, which can be spread from infected badgers, but opponents say it is inhumane and ineffective.
The RSPCA said it was "saddened", while anti-cull protesters held a vigil as the pilot began, initially in Somerset.
It is understood the cull in Gloucestershire will start later this week.
In a letter to members, National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Peter Kendall said: "This is an important step not just for cattle farmers but for the whole farming industry.
"I know that many of you reading this will have suffered the misery of dealing with TB on farm - some of you for decades - and I hope now you will feel that something is finally being done to stem the cycle of infection between cattle and badgers."
He added that he hoped the culls would show a reduction in TB in cattle, and that more people would understand why they were "absolutely necessary".
But one activist from Forthampton, near Tewkesbury, who would only give her name as Lynne, said the cull was "utterly unacceptable" and described it as the "extermination of the badger on British soil".
She said activists would be calling on people from across England to join their demonstration, by "interfering with the cull" and protest walks.
Q&A: The badger cull explained
Find out more about badgers with BBC Nature
Lynne said she did not believe the cull represented the democratic point of view, was "completely unscientific" and would push infected badgers into cull-free zones.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said the infection needed to be dealt with in both badgers and cattle.
"We have to use every tool in the box because TB is so difficult to eradicate and it is spreading rapidly," he said.
"If we had a workable vaccine we would use it... a vaccine is at least 10 years off."
Mr Paterson denied suggestions from anti-cull campaigners that the government was simply trying to appease the farming community.
"In the Republic of Ireland the disease was rocketing until they began to cull."
He said there had been a "significant reduction" in the disease in Ireland, where culling began in the 1980s.
Scotland is classified as being free of TB. In Wales, vaccination trials are under way. Northern Ireland is researching a mix of vaccination and culling.
"I want to end up with healthy cattle living alongside healthy wildlife," Mr Paterson added.
But Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary, Mary Creagh, said the cull was "not the answer".
"The government's own figures show it will cost more than it saves and it will spread bovine TB in the short term as the badgers are disturbed and spread infection to neighbouring herds.
"We agree with the scientists that it has no meaningful contribution to play in tackling bovine TB."
Lord Krebs, who led the Randomised Badger Culling Trial in the 1990s, said the two pilots "will not yield any useful information".
Farming minister David Heath admitted in correspondence with Lord Krebs that the cull would "not be able to statistically determine either the effectiveness (in terms of badgers removed) or humaneness of controlled shooting".
This was due to the small scale of the pilot culling programme.
Dominic Dyer, of Care for the Wild, which opposes the cull, described the start of the scheme as an "absolute scandal".
"There's no scientific or economic justification for the cull and it may make the spread (of TB) worse not better," he said.
"This is killing without protection - they're not even testing [the culled animals] for TB and they're only monitoring the cull of a small number."
The RSPCA said it was "deeply saddened" to learn that the cull had begun.
Chief executive Gavin Grant referred to the cull as a "misguided attempt to control bovine TB in cattle".
He said the organisation was seriously concerned the methods being used to kill the badgers were "not humane", and the extent of potential suffering was not known.
"It is very likely that many of them are lying injured, suffering a painful death," he added.
Mr Grant backed other opponents who say scientific evidence shows a cull is unnecessary.
"Science has shown that this cull is not the answer to bovine TB in cattle. In fact, it could make things a lot worse."
"Vaccination and better bio-security are the only sustainable and true ways forward."
David Barton runs a closed herd on his farm in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
"I've lost a third of my herd in the last two years - it's completely devastating," he said.
"These are animals I know, they have characters, and I hear people being very passionate about badgers and I can empathise with them but they're not animals they deal with on a day-to-day basis and they have no idea what farmers like myself are going through.
"I understand people don't like the idea of it (the cull) - I don't like the idea of it but it has to be addressed.
"In this area over 50% of the badgers are carrying TB."
Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Nick Gargan said his force had been preparing for the start of the cull for some time.
"It's their [the government's] call not ours, but we understand we have a supporting role in ensuring that this democratically-elected government can push its programme forward... and similarly to ensure that people who want to protest within the law are able to do so."
Earlier, officers were sent out in Gloucestershire to provide "reassurance".
The cull will involve marksmen with high-velocity rifles using a mixture of controlled shooting and free shooting, with some badgers being trapped in cages first.


A Wiltshire couple were among Britons killed by a gunman in Tunisia, police have confirmed.

John Welch, 74, from Corsham and his partner Eileen Swannack, 73, from Biddestone, have been formally identified as victims of the attack.
The couple had been together for nearly a decade and had travelled to Tunisia twice a year for the past eight years.
They had been officially listed as missing since the attack in Sousse on 26 June.
Relatives of Ms Swannack and Mr Welch are getting family liaison officer support.
On Wednesday a book of condolence opened at St Nicholas' Church in Biddestone to remember the couple.
The first bodies of those killed have arrived back in the UK but the process of identifying victims continues in Sousse.
Thirty of the 38 victims are thought to have been British.


Australia's Northern Territory has decriminalised abortion as part of wide-ranging reforms on the medical termination of pregnancy.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the laws bring the territory in line with the rest of Australia.
The reforms legalise the use of abortion drugs, such as RU486, up to nine weeks into a pregnancy.
They also allow medical terminations to happen in specialist clinics, instead of solely in city hospitals.
Previously, women in remote areas travelled hundreds of kilometres to Darwin or Alice Springs to access surgical abortions in hospital.
"We hear of women forced to travel interstate to terminate pregnancies," Mr Gunner said.
The reforms decriminalise termination by removing legislation making it illegal to provide an abortion or supply a woman with abortion drugs.
The new measures also mean:
"We believe all territory women are entitled to control over their lives and access to high quality services," said Health Minister Natasha Fyles.


A deal has been struck on using satellites to track planes, motivated by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 last year.

The decision to dedicate part of the radio spectrum to a global flight tracking system was taken at a UN conference in Geneva on Wednesday.
The conference aimed to improve on the current tracking system which relies on ground-based radars.
MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board.
Representatives from more than 160 countries decided to set aside a radio frequency for the satellite tracking of planes at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), organised by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The deal will enable satellites to receive transmissions, known as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), that aircraft currently only send to other aircraft and to ground stations.
This will allow "real-time tracking of aircraft anywhere in the world," said Francois Rancy, head of the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau.
The disappearance of flight MH370 exposed weaknesses in worldwide air navigation systems.
The current system leaves around 70% of the world's airspace uncovered.
Soon after the plane disappeared, Malaysia's communication minister urged the ITU to help find new ways of transmitting flight data in real-time.
The Malaysia Airlines flight was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when air traffic control staff lost contact with it.
The plane is long believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
In July part of an aircraft wing was found on Reunion Island. Malaysian authorities later confirmed the debris to be from the missing MH370 plane.
Following Wednesday's decision, ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said the agency had "responded in record time to the expectations of the global community on the major issue concerning global flight tracking."
The UN's aviation arm, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), has set a November 2016 deadline for adopting new tracking guidelines.
These will include aircraft sending their position at least every 15 minutes, or more in case of emergency, reported Reuters.


Turkish police have launched raids in Istanbul and arrested 12 people, as the hunt for an attacker who killed 39 people in a nightclub intensifies.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said authorities had fingerprints and a basic description, and vowed to "speedily" identify the suspect.
Some 600 revellers were in the Reina nightclub early on Sunday when the gunman attacked.
So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack.
Mr Kurtulmus told reporters: "Information about the fingerprints and basic appearance of the terrorist have been found.
"The next step will be to try to identify him as quickly as we can. We hope we will not only find the terrorist but also his connections and those people who gave him support inside and outside the club," he said.
Mr Kurtulmus confirmed eight arrests. Later in the evening special forces police backed by a helicopter launched an operation on a house in the Zeytinburnu district following a tip.
The attacker was not found. Four more arrests have been made elsewhere.
Turkish police also released new images said to be of the suspect, but without giving any more information about the time or location.
Turkish media also showed video purported to be of the suspect at an unidentified date and location where he is seen handing over identification documents to an official behind a glass window. The video cannot be independently verified.
Turkish media reports quote police sources as saying he may have been from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan.
Police are investigating whether the suspect belongs to an IS cell blamed for an attack in June on Ataturk airport in Istanbul.
Mr Kurtulmus said the nightclub attack was a "message" against Turkey's operations in Syria but that they would not be affected.
Turkey launched a military operation in August aimed at pushing back IS and Kurdish forces, with some of the most intensive recent fighting against IS around the northern town of al-Bab.
IS said in a statement that the attack was carried out by "a heroic soldier".
It accused Turkey of shedding the blood of Muslims through "its air strikes and mortar attacks" in Syria.
Although IS has been linked to other attacks in Turkey, it has not claimed responsibility before.
Early on Sunday, the gunman arrived at the club by taxi before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.
The attacker fired randomly at people in an assault lasting seven minutes, starting with a security guard and a travel agent near the entrance. Both were killed.
The gunman is reported to have changed clothes before fleeing the chaos.
Some two-thirds of those killed were foreign, according to local media, among them citizens from Israel, Russia, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The victims
The body of one of those who died has yet to be identified.
At least 69 people are being treated in hospital, officials said, with three in a serious condition.
Barman Mehmet Yilan, 36, said the gunman "stormed in and immediately headed for the people to the left, which is always more crowded... he seemed to know where to go.
"He was shooting randomly but aiming for their upper bodies. He didn't want to just injure them."
The nightclub, which sits on the banks of the Bosphorus, is one of Istanbul's most fashionable venues - popular with foreigners and often frequented by singers and sports stars.
Istanbul was already on high alert with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city, following a string of terror attacks in recent months.
10 December: Twin bomb attack outside a football stadium in Istanbul kills 44 people, Kurdish militant group claims responsibility
20 August: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, IS suspected
30 July: 35 Kurdish fighters try to storm a military base and are killed by the Turkish army
28 June: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, in an attack blamed on IS militants
13 March: 37 people are killed by Kurdish militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara
17 February: 28 people die in an attack on a military convoy in Ankara


A 200-year-old copy of a bible which legend claims a 15-year-old girl walked 26 miles to purchase has returned to Gwynedd for three days.

The Bible Society has returned Mary Jones' book to Bala, where she originally purchased it in 1800 from Rev Thomas Charles.
She saved money from the age of nine for the trip, which moved Rev Charles to help set up the society.
It led to countless copies being translated, produced and distributed.
The bible has returned for a temporary exhibition at the Mary Jones World visitor and education centre after being stored at the Bible Society Archives at Cambridge along with other copies in different languages.
Mary Thomas, secretary of the Bible Society Action Group, said many people would have walked a long distance to obtain a copy of the bible but Mary's story had been held up as an example.
"Her story is better known in foreign parts than it is here," she said.


Germany's Tony Martin won a joint record fourth men's individual time trial world title at the Road Cycling World Championships in Qatar.

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The 31-year-old completed the 40km route in 44 minutes 42.99 seconds, 45 seconds quicker than defending champion Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus.
Spain's Jonathan Castroviejo was third.
It was Martin's second gold of the week in Doha, following victory in the men's team time trial in his last race for Etixx-Quick Step.
Martin will be leaving the Belgium-based side to join Katusha from 2017.
Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, who is to retire this year and was not competing in Doha, won four titles between 2006 and 2010.
"I want to be world champion every year, so I am so proud I can ride in a world champion suit from next year," said Martin. "I've missed it a lot.
"The course was made for me. I just had fun on the road."
Commonwealth time trial champion Alex Dowsett was the best of two Britons competing, finishing 12th in 46 minutes 54.07 seconds. Compatriot Steve Cummings was 25th.
The women's elite road race takes place on Saturday, with Britain's Lizzie Deignan the defending champion.
The men's elite road race is on Sunday, with Britain's Mark Cavendish among the favourites.
2010 Commonwealth time trial champion David Millar on BBC TV:
"That was a phenomenal ride. Tony Martin at his very best.
"The course was flat, there are no surprises, it's just who can hold that power for the longest time. It was the display of a world champion. Nobody could ever have come close to matching that.
"Alex Dowsett will be disappointed in finishing 12th. I think he is capable of doing better. I'm not sure if it was the heat or the distance, because he's an hour record holder and we have seen him up there before.
"But I think it's only a matter of time before we see him up there again."
Find out how to get into cycling with our special guide.


The owners of the giant Grangemouth refinery have said new "milestones" have been reached in moves to import shale gas from the United States.

Ineos said it had chosen German firm TGE as the preferred bidder to build a huge ethane tank at the site by 2016.
Ineos also announced two ageing plants at Grangemouth would close immediately, but added there would be no job losses.
The changes are part of a Â£300m "survival plan" launched by the company last year.
Ineos threatened to close the petrochemical site at Grangemouth in October after a dispute with the Unite union.
But it decided to keep the site open after workers accepted changes to pay, pensions and terms and conditions.
Ineos said an ethane gas terminal was essential as it looked to replace existing North Sea feedstocks that were running out.
Harry Deans, a senior executive at Ineos, said the new ethane tank would be the biggest in Europe.
He added: "It is a crucial part of our survival plan that will enable us to import shale gas from the USA.
"By 2016 Grangemouth will be a shale gas-based facility, essential for it to become a profitable business again."
Ineos had initially planned to close the facility's G4 ethylene cracker and BE3 butadiene plant in 2015, but in a statement the company said it was closing the plants with immediate effect.
Mr Deans said: "Both G4 and BE3 plants are no longer commercially viable.
"Both facilities date from the 1960s and their closure is another key part of our survival plan.
"We are pleased to be able to redeploy all affected staff into other roles across the Grangemouth site as we focus on the future."
About 1,300 people work across the Grangemouth sites.