A married couple, born thousands of miles apart, have revealed how they discovered their fathers had an unlikely wartime connection.

Ed Heron is originally from Montreal in Canada while his wife Brea is from Newry, County Down.
The couple met in the 1960s in Lincolnshire, where they were both teaching.
They would later discover that many years before, there was a good chance that their fathers had encountered each other while fighting in World War Two.
The Newry couple have shared their series of remarkable coincidences on Time of Our Lives, a BBC Radio Ulster programme about the life stories, experiences and ambitions of older people in Northern Ireland.
Brea's father, Cyril Wiltshire, was killed in France in July 1944, fighting for a Welsh regiment.
While his name was on a memorial in Bayeux, her family did not know where he was buried.
In the 1980s, Ed and Brea travelled to France in a quest to find her father's grave.
Having visited many cemeteries and looked at hundreds of headstones, their investigations led them to a grave simply marked: "21st July, 1944."
They had a feeling that this was where Brea's father Cyril was buried.
In one of many coincidences, the man who buried him also lived in Newry.
While he was reluctant to talk about his experiences in the war, he was able to say who had been killed alongside Brea's father.
Once they knew these names, they knew they had the right cemetery.
All this searching prompted Ed to get in touch with his father and ask him about his experiences in the war.
It turned out he had also fought in France at the same time and on the very same spot - Hill 12 - where Brea's father had been killed.
The Canadians had been on one side of the hill, the Welsh on the other.
The whole thing became a "very spiritual adventure," says Ed.
On one of their visits to France, they discovered that a friend from Newry had bought a house there.
It turned out that it was the place where the soldiers had met to attend Mass before going into battle.
Ed and Brea are sure her father would have been one of these soldiers.
Brea's mother had her late husband's diaries and letters, including a half-written one that was the very last he wrote before being killed.
Time of Our Lives, with Colum Arbuckle, is broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle at 14:03 BST on Sunday


The A457 has closed after a lorry carrying fruit overturned in Conwy county,

The road has been shut to traffic in both directions between St Asaph Road and the A55 junction for Abergele.
The crash happened just before 01:00 GMT on Saturday and diversions were put in place.
A man in his 30s was taken to Glan Clwyd hospital following the incident. His injuries are not believed to be serious, the ambulance service said.


Entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter is giving Scottish school pupils the chance to compete for a table at a dinner attended by former US president Barack Obama in Edinburgh.

The Hunter Foundation is donating a table of 10 to a secondary school.
To enter, pupils must write an essay on how they would change Scotland.
In return, they could win a table at the former president's lecture at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 26 May.
In the invitation, businessman Sir Tom said: "If you ruled the world...Oh okay then, Scotland... what would you change? All you have to do is write an essay that summarises what your school would do if you ran Scotland.
"What would you change, why would you change it and how?
"Think you could run the country? Tell us how you'd do it and your school could win a table at a dinner with Barack Obama."
The 44th president of the United States will address philanthropy and business leaders at the dinner.
"This is your school's chance to be there at the event," Sir Tom said.
One table of 10 is being offered to the winning pupil, who must also say how they would select the nine others on their table.
At least one member of the winning group must be a teacher or adult and permission must be given from pupils' schools to enter.
The essays should be a maximum of two pages with pupils being encouraged to be as creative as they like.
The prize is only for President Obama's lecture and does not include post-lecture entertainment. Oscar-winning musician Annie Lennox, comedian Kevin Bridges and Glasgow band Texas are to perform at the event.
The competition has been set-up by the Hunter Foundation, in partnership with Skills Development Scotland and Founders4Schools.
Danny Logue, director of operations at Skills Development Scotland, said: "SDS careers advisers across Scotland work with pupils to support them to make the most of their strengths, potential and future career ambitions.
"This is a great opportunity for schools and for young people to show their creativity and innovation."


Turkey is investigating 10,000 people on suspicion of using social media to support terrorism, its interior ministry has said.

They are accused of insulting government officials online, or what the ministry called "terror-related activity" on the internet.
The ministry said the fight against terrorism was being carried out "with determination" on social media.
The authorities have held 3,710 people for questioning in the last six months.
Of those, 1,656 have been formally arrested and 84 are still being questioned.
Access to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook is often blocked in Turkey, especially after bombings.
Internet monitoring groups believe the outages are calculated blackouts designed to block the spread of militant propaganda.
Turkey denies this, and has blamed past episodes on spikes in internet usage after major events.
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Internet use was severely disrupted after Russia's ambassador to Turkey was shot dead on Monday.
Reports suggest Twitter and YouTube have also slowed down since Thursday, when a video emerged allegedly showing two Turkish soldiers being burned alive by the so-called Islamic State.
Activists and foreign powers have raised repeated concerns about repression in Turkey since the summer.
After a coup failed to unseat him in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency and began purging officials, soldiers, teachers, police and judges who were perceived as "anti-government".
Critics say the president is using the state of emergency to tighten his grip on power and stifle opponents.
Since the attempted coup, more than 150 media outlets have been shut down and 140 journalists arrested.
As of November, more than 125,000 state employees had been sacked or suspended.


A 72-year-old woman has been reliving the moment she was beaten by robbers in her Denbighshire home, in a bid to help catch the culprits.

Lis Culshaw was woken in the early hours of the morning at the property in Ruthin in December.
One of the men armed with a knife left Mrs Culshaw battered and bruised, before fleeing with more than Â£1,000.
She told the BBC One Wales Crimewatch Roadshow that her greatest fear was for the life of her bulldog, George.
"I heard this crash against the front door," said Mrs Culshaw.
"Next thing this fella was in my room with a knife in his hand. And he said: 'Where's your safe?'.
"The other one had come into the lounge here and said 'I'll kill the dog, I'm going to kill the dog' and I was absolutely terrified."
Mrs Culshaw lost two teeth in the attack and suffered severe bruising.
The incident took place at about 03:45 on Saturday, 3 December.
The money stolen by the thieves had been taken out to buy Christmas presents for her family.
"The level of violence, thuggery, they used against an old lady - I'm partially disabled - I thought it was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful," added Mrs Culshaw.
Police are still searching for the attackers, who are described as both being about 30-years-old.
The first man was about 5ft 8in (1.73m) tall, with a slim strong build and clean-shaven, wearing a dark balaclava, dark top, beige trousers and a brown belt.
The second man was stockier and wearing dark clothing.
You can catch-up with Crimewatch Roadshow on the on the BBC iPlayer.


Businesses in Wales are "crying out" for a Brexit plan, a Labour MP has warned the UK government in a debate.

Ogmore MP Chris Elmore said that he knows of a leading UK manufacturer with "serious" concerns.
He said the company, which wanted to remain anonymous, was already being hit by a downturn in construction and currency fluctuations.
UK ministers suggested MPs spend more time discussing Wales' "positive" jobs news, rather than "scaremongering".
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Elmore said that the firm had told him the scale of the potential change Brexit could bring about was "vast" .
He said that the company  needed clarity about the form of Brexit, but that it specifically need to know if the government was going to keep the UK in the single market and the customs union.
"The bottom line is that business in Wales is crying out for a Brexit plan for Wales," he said.
The government's "vague platitudes" on what it wanted from the negotiations "serve only to distract from the fact that, as it stands, we're being led into the night without a torch", Mr Elmore added.
Dwyfor Meirionydd Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts said that there was uncertainty for rural firms about what would replace the Rural Development Programme and the Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit.
She gave the example of South Caernarfonshire Creameries, which she said generated at least Â£30m a year for the local economy, had expanded with EU monies, and was planning on expanding further.
"Since the vote to leave the European Union however, the government has failed to shed any light on how they intend to  compensate for the millions of pounds lost," she said.
Wales Office Minister Guto Bebb said that Wales had performed extremely well from a jobs point of view and "every single measurement on employment has been positive".
He said the best performing part of the UK has been small businesses in Cardiff - with a 12 percent growth in turnover - "outpacing even London", something MPs should be talking more about that rather than "scaremongering", he said.
On Wales' involvement with the Brexit negotiations, there was an "ongoing engagement" from the Wales Office and across government, he added.


Scotland's international development minister Humza Yousaf has described how he witnessed "utter chaos" as he helped Syrian refugees off a boat.

The politician was on the Greek island of Lesbos to see what help was being given to those coming ashore.
Mr Yousaf said an estimated 5,000 people had arrived on the island in the 24 hours he was there.
The Scottish government is providing Â£300,000 in humanitarian aid for those arriving in Europe.
It has also pledged that Scotland will accept at least 2,000 refugees.
Mr Yousaf called on governments across Europe to do more to assist.
During his visit, he said he;
Mr Yousaf said: "It is hard to describe in words how shocking and heartbreaking it is.
"You're talking of mothers, pregnant women, the elderly, children - all just desperate to find safety, security and a home.
"The first thing that hits you when you see the coast is the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of life jackets piled up on the shores.
"The emotions of the people who disembarked ranged from delight that they'd managed to make it to safety, to shock - one woman collapsed in front of us with shock - to fear because the journey had been so treacherous.
"It's a scene that should leave every single one of us thoroughly ashamed of ourselves, that this is happening on our doorstep and we're doing next to nothing to assist."


Paralympic sprinter Libby Clegg has told BBC Sport she believes her new guide-running partnership can help bring her success at the Rio Games.

Clegg is one of British Paralympic sport's best-known faces, having enjoyed considerable success since she made her GB debut 10 years ago.
The 26-year-old has the degenerative eye condition Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy and is registered blind.
With Rio on the horizon, and as she chases a first Paralympic gold medal in her T12 category, Clegg has opted to link up with elite sprinter Chris Clarke, who himself is also aiming to make the GB Olympic team.
It has been a difficult time for Clegg since she won Commonwealth gold for Scotland in Glasgow in July 2014.
She had to withdraw from the European Championships in Swansea that August with a viral infection.
After switching coaches to Joe McDonnell, who also works with IPC Athletics world champion sprinter Sophie Hahn, in early 2015 the Scot was hoping for better fortunes.
Although she put in an impressive performance over 200m at the Anniversary Games in London in July, her season was hampered by injuries.
Worse was to follow when she had to pull out of the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha in October with an ankle problem and she subsequently lost her British Athletics funding.
She also parted company with guide Mikail Huggins who she had been working with for five years, and who partnered her to Paralympic silver in London in 2012 and Commonwealth gold.
"The T12 sprint events have moved forward massively in the past 12 months, which is great for Para-sport in general," she says. "I just need to make sure I am up there with my rivals and in the mix for medals," she explains.
"At the World Championships, I saw that the guide runners who my rivals are running with are all elite-level international athletes themselves.
"I felt I needed a guide who had that international experience and was able to run those quicker times."
But Clegg admits that she had moments of self-doubt before deciding to push on to Rio.
"Losing my funding was a blow but I have retained my sponsors. Without them I wouldn't be able to carry on," she says.
"I definitely had some down moments. After Doha, I had some time off and I really needed that break to gather my thoughts and see whether I wanted to carry on for the next couple of years.
"That was very beneficial and helped to put my mind at ease that this is what I wanted to do.
"I didn't want to give up so close to the Games and I would have felt like a quitter if I had left with less than a year to go, especially knowing I have such a supportive  team behind me."
Clarke, 26, is a talented sprinter in his own right. Trained by Steve Fudge, he represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and also has Great Britain representative experience.
As well as working with Clegg, he is also aiming for a place on the Great Britain Olympic team in Rio either in the 200m or 400m, or in the 4x400m relay.
He reached the semi-finals of the 200m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and ran for GB at the 2012 European Championships - but missed out on a place at London 2012.
"Libby approached me and said she needed a new guide. I like a challenge and it is something new and exciting," he said.
"Being attached to someone when you are running took a bit to get used to but I think it is going well so far, even though it is early days.
"I want to make both the Olympics and Paralympics. It is achievable but I am excited for Libby and helping someone to achieve their dream is fulfilling."
Clegg's 100m personal best is 12.13 seconds, which she achieved at London 2012, while the world record - held by Cuba's Omara Durand - is 11.48, set at the Worlds. The silver and bronze medals in Doha were won with times of 11.94 and 11.96.
It means that Clegg will have to run her fastest times to have any chance of a medal in Rio, but she - and her coach - are confident she can do it.
"I am a lot fitter, healthier and stronger than I have ever been," she says. "It is now just staying injury free and I have a good team around me so I am confident I can do well."
"Libby has won medals at so many major championships. I don't think anyone should doubt her capability and her talent," insists Clarke.
McDonnell also believes she can make the improvement she needs.
"Some of the changes we have made involve the way she is placing her foot on the floor and you can see she is moving better. She is in the best shape she has ever been in over the past 12 months," he adds.
"Durand has blown the event wide open and there is a lot for the rest of the world to catch up on - but that is sport and the rest of the world has to get better, too."


Ireland is to make a clean break from its three-year 85bn euro (£71bn) bailout programme next month, without seeking precautionary funding.

The Irish prime minister (taoiseach) Enda Kenny confirmed the move during a speech to the Irish parliament.
The Irish economy is emerging from one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, having sought an international bailout in November 2010.
Ireland is due to leave the EU-IMF bailout on 15 December.
Mr Kenny said: "We will exit the bailout in a strong position. The government has been preparing for a return to normal market trading.
"We will set out a path to a brighter economic future for our people, a path from mass unemployment to full employment, from involuntary emigration to the return of thousands of people who have to leave for other countries to find work.
"Today is just the latest step in that ongoing journey, a significant step indeed but also just another step towards our ultimate job of getting Ireland working again."
He added that German chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work closely with Ireland to improve funding mechanisms for the economy, including access to finance for small and medium businesses.
"The German government has asked KFW, the German development bank, to work with the German and Irish authorities swiftly, in order to deliver on this initiative at the earliest possible date," Mr Kenny said.
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said the performance of Ireland bodes well for the future.
"The Irish authorities have established a very strong track record of policy implementation. This bodes well as Ireland exits its EU/IMF-supported programme," she said.
"Although uncertainties remain in Europe and the global economy more broadly, Ireland is in a strong position in terms of its bond yields and has built a sizable cash buffer. We look forward to continuing to work with the authorities as they address the challenges that remain."
It is understood a decision not to seek a special overdraft facility was finalised at an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, ahead of Finance Minister Michael Noonan flying out to a summit in Brussels.
Mr Noonan said the decision was in Ireland's best interests, and that he hoped to publish the main outlines of a medium-term economic strategy before 25 December.
The Department of Finance said confidence and sentiment towards Ireland has improved considerably in recent months and domestic and international economic conditions were also improving.
Deputy prime minister Eamon Gilmore told the parliament it was an "historic, important and welcome" announcement.
However, the Labour leader added: "There will be no celebration until our economic fortunes are fully recovered."
Mr Gilmore said the renegotiation of bailout interest rates and the Anglo bank promissory note were among the reasons Ireland can cleanly exit the bailout.
Micheál Martin, leader of the opposition Fianna Fáil party, said a case should be presented by the government on why Ireland does not need a precautionary credit line.
He said there was no need for a "stage-managed" announcement.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams welcomed the move but said the government should not applaud itself for decimating public services and leaving families across the state in poverty.
Independent member Stephen Donnelly described it as a "bittersweet moment" for Ireland and said there was a need for retrospective capitalisation.
Another independent member, Shane Ross, said the bond markets would require as much austerity as the Irish government had been "imposing at the whim of the troika (the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund who provided the bailout)".


Sean Penn is one of the more colourful Hollywood stars of recent decades, emerging from his early incarnation as a hard-drinking young Hollywood actor to become a double Oscar winner and high-profile campaigner on social and political issues.

The 55-year-old's secret interview in the Mexican jungle with fugitive Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, published in Rolling Stone shortly after the notorious drug lord was recaptured, is just his latest brush with controversy.
Penn was a noted critic of the administration of President George W Bush, visiting Baghdad ahead of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq which he firmly opposed. He also met Washington betes noires like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban leader Raul Castro.
Meanwhile, his personal life - involving marriages and relationships with high-profile women including Madonna, Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron - has become the stuff of tabloid legend.
Born in 1960 in Los Angeles, the son of actor and director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, Sean was one of three brothers. Childhood friends included Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, both of whom would also go on to become successful actors.
Appearances in US TV series in his early teenage years - the first a cameo in the popular western TV series Little House on the Prairie - started his acting career, which took off after his central role in the 1983 film Bad Boys, a crime drama mostly set in a juvenile detention centre.
The 1980s also saw him marry Madonna, then as now one of the best-known pop singers on the planet. Their supposedly private wedding on a Malibu clifftop was an occasion that saw several media organisations deploy helicopters that buzzed the ceremony in an attempt to film and photograph the happy couple.
The often tempestuous marriage, characterised by frequent rows and Penn's fraught relationship with press photographers and cameramen, lasted four years and saw the couple star together in the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise - a widely derided box office flop.
Penn's next serious relationship was with actress Robin Wright, with whom he went on to have two children and a 14-year marriage. It was eventually dissolved after several withdrawn divorce petitions by both parties.
Despite once being quoted as describing awards seasons as times "where manipulation and very good marketing are rewarded", Penn has been nominated five times as best actor in the Academy Awards, initially in 1996 for his role as a racist murderer on death row in Dead Man Walking.
He has won the Oscar twice, in 2003 for his role as an ex-convict Boston shopkeeper in Mystic River and in 2008 for his portrayal of a gay rights activist and politician in Milk, a performance that led director Gus Van Sant to describe him as "the Brando of our generation".
He has also worked extensively behind the camera, directing both films and music videos for singers including Shania Twain.
"I search the skies for helicopters. There is no question in my mind but that the DEA [US Drug Enforcement Agency] and the Mexican government are tracking our movements."
"He is interested in the movie business and how it works. He's unimpressed with its financial yield... He suggests to us that we consider switching our career paths to the oil business."
"I will discover that his already accomplished engineers had been flown to Germany last year for three months of extensive additional training necessary to deal with the low-lying water table beneath the prison. A tunnel equipped with a pipe-track-guided motorcycle with an engine modified to function in the minimally oxygenised space, allowing El Chapo to drop through a hole in his cell's shower floor, into its saddle and ride to freedom."
Winning an Oscar for playing Harvey Milk - the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California - gave Penn a platform to voice support for gay marriage, but he had already tied his colours to the liberal mast with his vocal opposition to the policies of the Bush administration, in particular the invasion of Iraq.
He visited Baghdad to express solidarity with the Iraqi people a few months ahead of the US-led invasion. "Sacrificing American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented pre-emptive attack on a separate sovereign nation may well prove itself a most temporary medicine," he said at the time.
He also developed a friendly relationship with Venezuela's socialist President Chavez, another staunch critic of President Bush, and - in a foretaste of his Guzman interview - was allowed to question Cuban leader Raul Castro in the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election that foreshadowed a softening of US policy towards the communist island.
But Penn has also become known for his humanitarian work, including during the chaotic aftermath of the hugely destructive earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010.
The actor spent time in Haiti, helping to dispense food and medicine and even reportedly sweeping floors. He went on to found the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which employs hundreds of people working on development projects in the poor Caribbean nation.
Five years before and closer to home, Penn got involved in the rescue effort after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the US Gulf Coast.
"Displaying a mix of bravado, altruism and daredevil recklessness, he repeatedly swam over to trapped homeowners to take them to higher and drier ground," Vanity Fair reported.
More recently, Penn has enjoyed romantic relationships with actresses Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron, the latter ending abruptly last year when Theron reportedly broke off their engagement.
Despite having divorced more than a quarter of a century ago, Penn and his first wife remain close.
As news of his interview with Guzman broke, Madonna accompanied Penn to a benefit concert in Beverly Hills for his Haiti charity, where she was one of the acts performing.
At the event Penn spoke passionately about his charity's work in Haiti. "We can't depend on governments," he said. "We have to make it better now."
But Republican senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio was more interested in Penn's interview with the Mexican drug lord.
"If one of these American actors who have benefited from the greatness of this country, who have made money from our free enterprise system, want to go fawn all over a criminal and a drug trafficker in their interviews, they have a constitutional right to do it," he told ABC News. "I find it grotesque."


The former Bishop of Derry Dr Edward Daly has called for an end to clerical celibacy.

Dr Daly, who was a bishop for almost 20 years, said there needed to be a place in the modern Catholic church for a married priesthood.
He also said that many young men who considered joining the priesthood turned away because of the rule.
Dr Daly, 77,  addressed the controversial issue in a new book about his life in the church, A Troubled See.
The former Bishop worked in Derry at the height of the troubles.
A photograph, showing the then priest waving a white handkerchief on Bloody Sunday, has become one of the most enduring images of the troubles.
Speaking on BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme, Bishop Daly said allowing clergymen to marry would ease the church's problems.
"There will always be a place in the church for a celibate priesthood, but there should also be a place for a married priesthood in the church," he said.
"I think priests should have the freedom to marry if they wish. It may create a whole new set of problems but I think it's something that should be considered."
Dr Daly said he found it "heartbreaking" during his term as Bishop when priests, or prospective priests, were forced to resign or unable to join the priesthood because of the celibacy rule.
"I'm worried about the decreasing number of priests and the number of older priests. I think it's an issue that needs to be addressed and addressed urgently," he said.
While Dr Daly accepted he might be out of step with current Vatican thinking he said he was "not engaged in a popularity contest".
A spokesman for the Catholic Church said he did not wish to comment on Bishop Daly's remarks.
"Bishop Daly was speaking in a personal capacity," he added.


UK cereal company Weetabix is expected to be sold to US firm Post Holdings for $1.8bn (£1.4m), reports say.

A formal announcement is expected later, the Financial Times said.
Weetabix - made in the UK since 1932 - has been widely reported as being up for sale by its Chinese owner Bright Food, which bought a 60% stake in 2012.
Bright's acquisition was the largest by a Chinese firm at the time, but it is believed to have struggled to build significant market share in China.
Chinese consumers generally prefer a hot, rice-based breakfast, rather than cold cereal.
While Weetabix doubled sales in China in 2016, the UK still accounts for the majority of its sales.
Post Holdings is the third-largest cereal firm in the US and owns brands including Great Grains, Golden Crisp and Coca Pebbles.
Some of the world's biggest names in food, including the UK's Associated British Foods and Italy's Barilla, had been named as possible suitors for Weetabix.
Northamptonshire-based Weetabix, which has a royal warrant, was family owned until 2004, when it was bought by private equity firm Lion Capital.


Exeter Chiefs and England centre Henry Slade will be out for about four months after having surgery on his broken leg and damaged ankle.

It means Slade is likely to miss the Six Nations, which starts in February.
The 22-year-old, capped twice by England, was hurt during Exeter's Premiership win over Wasps on Saturday.
"It was a pretty major operation but certainly not one we don't expect him to make a full recovery from," head coach Rob Baxter told the club website.
"We are certainly not pencilling in any date for Henry's return because we know it is long term.
"We will start talking about a return date in eight to 10 weeks' time when we know a bit more - it will take a bit of time though and a lengthy rehab process."
Meanwhile, Chiefs have announced that back-rower Dave Ewers, 25, will miss "a fair few weeks" after suffering a knee injury.
"It is difficult to put a timescale on these things but he will be out for a significant period of time," said Baxter.


Offshore workers are to be balloted for industrial action in a protracted dispute over pay and conditions.

Members of Unite and the GMB will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch action after talks with the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) broke down on Wednesday.
The move comes after union members voted last month to reject a new pay offer from North Sea employers.
OCA said it was "extremely disappointed" at the news.
In a statement, Unite said it would press ahead with preparations for official industrial action ballots, following the failure of talks which involved the conciliation service Acas.
Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell said: "Unite members gave a significant mandate to hold a ballot for strike action in this dispute with the OCA employers.
"Offshore workers are gearing up to campaign for a yes vote. It is time for all union members to stand up now, and fight back for better terms and conditions."
OCA chief executive Paul Atkinson said: "We are extremely disappointed that the trade unions appear unwilling to engage on the issues which are so important to their members.
"Our priority has always been to find ways of avoiding any disruption.
"We approached our meeting today as a constructive opportunity to take the next step in bringing this dispute to a resolution.
"We believe that the OCA has acted as a fair negotiator throughout this process and that our approach balances the needs of employees with the requirements of business."
He added: "Industrial action will only serve to make investment in the North Sea less attractive and jeopardise the long-term future of the industry.
"We remain firmly committed to doing all we can to find a lasting solution to this dispute."


The seven people who died in a tram crash in Croydon fell out of windows as they shattered, investigators said.

The Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB) said initial indications showed passengers were "ejected or partially ejected" from the tram.
It added the brake was applied two and a half seconds before the crash, suggesting the driver "lost awareness".
A total of 70 passengers were on board in November, rather than 60 as originally believed, it showed.
The report found the tram was travelling at 46mph - faster then the 43.5mph initially thought - before it crashed in a 13mph zone near the Sandilands Junction area of Croydon.
The RAIB's second interim report said: "Of the seven passengers who died, one was found inside the tram; two were found partially inside the tram; three were found underneath the tram; and another was found on the track close to the tram."
The brake would have had to have been applied as the tram entered the last of three tunnels approximately 180 metres ahead of the junction, which was a left turn, in order to slow sufficiently to 13mph, the report indicated.
But the RAIB said the late application of the brake and the "absence of emergency braking" suggested tram driver, Alfred Dorris - the only member of staff on board - had "lost awareness" that he was approaching the 13mph zone.
The seven people killed were Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35 and Donald Collett, 62, both of Croydon.
A further 51 people were taken to hospital, with eight of them suffering injuries described by London Ambulance Service as serious or life-threatening.
London's Transport Commissioner Mike Brown, said Transport for London's (TfL) thoughts remained with "all those affected by the tragic tram derailment".
He added TfL continued to "do all we can to offer our support".
TfL added in January it installed chevron signs at four sites with significant bends including Sandilands to provide an additional visual cue for drivers.


Firefighters from across Cheshire and north Staffordshire have tackled a large fire at Alsager Town Football Club.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to the clubhouse on Woodland Court at about 2315 BST on Monday.
Two teams specialising in hazardous materials were also needed because the building was largely made of asbestos.
The fire was finally put out just after 0500 BST on Tuesday.
The single-storey building collapsed in the middle where the fire was contained, according to the fire service.
Cheshire Police said the fire is not being treated as suspicious.
Alsager Town chairman Terry Greer said that he not been able to inspect the extent of the damage yet, but the clubhouse would need to be pulled down and completely rebuilt.
"I'm gutted. We've just spent two months refurbishing the changing rooms and the clubhouse.
"It's difficult to put into words what I feel about the cost to the club, both short-term and long-term."
The club said that although the stands were unaffected, Tuesday's scheduled friendly with Nantwich Town would be switched to Nantwich's ground.
Their league matches start on 6 August and Nantwich Town have also offered to host Alsager's home matches.


Labour MP Simon Danczuk has admitted receiving £1,100 from a photo agency for pictures of him sold to tabloid newspapers and magazines.

Mr Danczuk told BBC Newsnight it was a properly declared payment for media advice and to "give ideas about what they might or might not do."
The Rochdale MP said he did not make any apologies for the arrangement.
FameFlynet describes itself as one of the most powerful photographic news agencies around the world.
Mr Danczuk said: "What I have done with that organisation is to provide media advice and give ideas about what they might or might not do and that's my choice if I want to do that type of work and I don't make any apologies for it.
"There's nothing against doing that. It provides insight, it provides some transparency in terms of my life, not anything that I have ever shied away from.
"I readily accept that I do media work of various kinds and that is all declared quite clearly in the register of members' interests."
FameFlynet said it "prides itself on helping people in the public eye to raise their media profile. We use the mainstream press to achieve this".
A spokesman said: "Our work is mainly done through clever PR and promotional activities. We do not hide this from anybody and stress to our clients that we all have to be transparent.
"Over the years we have been extremely successful in this work and feel our expertise is a benefit to our clients."
It is the latest twist in the furore surrounding Mr Danczuk, 49, who is fighting to save his career following revelations that he sent lewd messages to a 17-year-old woman.
In his Newsnight interview, Mr Danczuk apologised for his behaviour and blamed tabloid newspapers for blowing the story out of all proportion.
He said he feared his work campaigning against child sex abuse might be tarnished by the current stories around his private life but he admitted he had brought this upon himself by messaging the girl.
"It was inappropriate and I have apologised for that unreservedly. I think you have to see the context of this.
"This young woman got in touch with me some months ago, during the course of several months we had exchanges across social media, and just at a low point in my life in September she sent me some sexual texts and I responded accordingly and I shouldn't have responded. Wholly inappropriate, no doubt about that."
He added: "My credibility has been dented, I readily accept that, and I have to work harder than ever before to prove myself.
"There is a dramatic difference between what I have done, some sexting with a young woman above the legal age - nothing illegal - the police have said there is no case to answer.
"That is in sharp contrast to what I have always campaigned on, which is child sexual abuse of the most criminal nature."
Watch the full interview with  Simon Danczuk here.
BBC Newsnight airs every weekday at 22:30 GMT on BBC Two. You can catch up on iPlayer and follow Newsnight on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube


Mid-table Dunfermline and Queen of the South had to settle for a point apiece as neither made significant ground on the Championship play-off positions.

Experienced striker Michael Moffat put the Pars ahead when he ran on to a pass from Jason Talbot and slotted a left-foot shot into the bottom right corner.
Joe Thomson, on loan from Celtic, tucked away an equaliser after John Rankin's shot was blocked.
The Pars' Nicky Clark came close to a winner but his effort hit the post.
Queen of the South are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Morton, having played two games more, while Dunfermline are 11 points off the top four, but now six clear of second-bottom Ayr United.
Match ends, Dunfermline Athletic 1, Queen of the South 1.
Second Half ends, Dunfermline Athletic 1, Queen of the South 1.
Nathaniel Wedderburn (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Owen Bell (Queen of the South).
Attempt missed. Joe Cardle (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Corner,  Dunfermline Athletic. Conceded by Scott Mercer.
Attempt saved. Dom Thomas (Queen of the South) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Jason Talbot (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Derek Lyle (Queen of the South).
Substitution, Queen of the South. Owen Bell replaces Joseph Thomson.
Nathaniel Wedderburn (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joseph Thomson (Queen of the South).
Attempt saved. John Herron (Dunfermline Athletic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Darren Brownlie (Queen of the South) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Joe Cardle (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Darren Brownlie (Queen of the South).
Attempt blocked. Dom Thomas (Queen of the South) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Michael Paton (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Scott Mercer (Queen of the South).
Substitution, Queen of the South. Dale Hilson replaces Lyndon Dykes.
Substitution, Queen of the South. Derek Lyle replaces Stephen Dobbie.
Attempt missed. John Rankin (Queen of the South) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Foul by Michael Paton (Dunfermline Athletic).
Joseph Thomson (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Joe Cardle (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Michael Paton (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Scott Mercer (Queen of the South).
Attempt saved. John Herron (Dunfermline Athletic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. Michael Paton replaces Michael Moffat.
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. Gavin Reilly replaces Paul McMullan.
Nicky Clark (Dunfermline Athletic) hits the right post with a right footed shot from outside the box.
Attempt saved. John Rankin (Queen of the South) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top right corner.
Attempt missed. Dom Thomas (Queen of the South) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. Joe Cardle replaces Kallum Higginbotham.
Attempt saved. Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Corner,  Queen of the South. Conceded by Lee Ashcroft.
Attempt blocked. John Rankin (Queen of the South) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Foul by Nicky Clark (Dunfermline Athletic).
Darren Brownlie (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Dom Thomas (Queen of the South) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.


The family of a south Wales man, missing on the Isle of Wight, have said they are "in limbo" and "unable to face things and move on".

Michael Davies, 71, from Blaina, Blaenau Gwent, was staying at a hotel in Sandown with his wife Pat when he disappeared on 26 May.
His family thanked those who organised and took part in a search on Wednesday.
They said they wanted to join in, but it was difficult for them to return to the island from Wales.
In a statement released through Hampshire Constabulary, they said: "The whole family remains in limbo right now. Every day is a struggle as we feel unable to face things and move on."
A police spokesman thanked those who took part in the search, adding that detectives and specialist officers continue to work on the case.
There is no evidence to suggest Mr Davies has been the victim of a crime.
But there is concern that he may not have access to the blood pressure medication he needs.


Tributes have been paid to a former Glamorgan cricketer who was found dead at his Swansea flat on Friday.

Jamie Bishop, who was 44, was a left-handed batsman who also represented Wales at minor county level.
Glamorgan cricket club chief executive Hugh Morris described him as "a hugely talented cricketer" who had an outstanding record for Pontarddulais cricket club.
South Wales Police is not treating the death as suspicious.
Tributes were also paid on social media, from sporting figures including Steve James, Edward Bevan, Sean Holley, John Devereux and Rick O'Shea.


The biggest powers in the world were not able to find a way to stop the war in Syria when it broke out in 2011.

More than four years on, a whole new set of challenges is coming from Syria, and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. And the world's biggest powers are struggling once again to find answers that work.
The new crisis is about refugees. The European Union is discovering, belatedly, that it is impossible to avoid the consequences of a range of wars and civil conflicts right next door.
Some Western politicians, and journalists, are taking proper notice for the first time of a refugee crisis that has been a huge concern for Syria's neighbours since the war started.
The difference now is that refugees, in big and increasing numbers, are trying to get to the richest countries in Europe.
The EU is discovering that the Mediterranean is an inadequate moat. Eventually a response will be found to handle this summer's refugees.
But the fundamental reason why they will continue to come is still there.
And that is war in Syria, in Libya, in Iraq and Yemen. Violence, instability and chaos make lives miserable, dangerous and short across a broad swathe of the Middle East and Africa. It is not surprising that people want to get out.
Some may not have their lives threatened directly, but they want to leave before the worst happens.
People do not leave their homes lightly. They flee, and sometimes take dreadful risks at the hands of people smugglers, because the alternatives are so much worse.
I walked through the ruins of Yarmouk, one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds in Damascus, only a few miles from the centre of the city.
Yarmouk used to be a Palestinian refugee camp for families who had fled or been driven from their homes when Israel won its independence war in 1948.
Over the last three years in Damascus I have spent nights watching Yarmouk being pounded. On the day I was there, it was quiet and eerie.
The Syrian army and Palestinian fighting groups control roughly half of Yarmouk. All the civilians who lived there have gone. Some are in shelters nearby. Some are trying to get to Europe.
Street after street was in ruins. Every building was damaged, not just by artillery but by thousands of rounds that were fired in street fighting.
Inside the buildings soldiers hacked holes in dividing walls between flats so they wouldn't have to risk the streets.
Four hundred metres away from where I was, fighters from Islamic State and the Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda affiliate, were in control.
An unknown number of Palestinian civilians, in their thousands, are trapped there too.
UNRWA, the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees, has not been able visit them with relief supplies since March. As well as bullets and shells, this summer they have to endure a typhoid outbreak.
What has happened to Yarmouk is just a single example of why so many have wanted to leave Syria.
Some who left Syria earlier in the war hoped they would return home fairly soon. Now that the war is in its fifth year, they have realised that is not going to happen anytime soon. They need to find another future.
And until a way is found to make things better in Syria, they will keep leaving. Peace is too much to ask. Some stability might help.
One senior aid worker in Damascus complained that European countries who are preparing to spend billions of euros on absorbing refugees might have headed off the problem, or at least persuaded more to stay in the region, if they had fully funded a succession of appeals for humanitarian operations in and around Syria.
The aid worker said messages had been sent warning European governments that conflict and desperation would force refugees to head their way.
Inside Syria, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has cut rations and is struggling to find $12.50 (Â£8) per head to spend on food for each of Syria's four million displaced people every month.
"That's the price of three Big Macs in Europe," the aid worker said. "But we can't do it."


Bricks and debris were thrown at police as officers moved into Dale Farm amid violent scenes to secure the illegal part of the travellers' site.

One person was Tasered and seven arrested as police moved through the former scrapyard in Essex - the largest travellers' site in the UK.
Officers in riot gear broke down a rear fence, prompting angry scenes.
The travellers lost a final attempt on Monday to stave off the evictions, but protesters pledged they would fight on.
Officers have now begun removing protesters from the 40ft (12m) high scaffolding on the gate.
Earlier, police entered the back of the site during discussions, described by supporters as a distraction, at the main gate.
One caravan was set on fire.
Electricity supplies were cut and protesters wearing masks said this had turned off crucial medical equipment belonging to elderly residents.
One resident said she had been hit by a baton. The ambulance service confirmed a woman had been taken to hospital with a back injury.
Two people were treated for smoke inhalation, one for a nose bleed and one for chest pains but there was no evidence it had been a heart attack, an ambulance spokesman said.
An Essex Police spokeswoman said on Wednesday afternoon that the situation had "reached a considerably more calm state than officers were faced with this morning".
She said the arrests had been for offences including violent disorder and a breach of the peace.
The spokeswoman added it was now believed only one person had been Tasered, not two as previously reported.
"We are aware a small number of people on the site have been treated for minor injuries and one woman has been taken to hospital for treatment to a minor back injury," she said.
Speaking at a press conference, Supt Trevor Roe said: "The tactic was to take early control of the site.
"Where we have intelligence there is likely to be violence we need to protect members of the public including bailiffs, police officers, travellers and protesters from injury.
"We also needed to provide access for all emergency services should they need to enter and exit the site.
He said two officers had deployed a Taser after being threatened with violence.
Police said they had received reports that bottles, liquids and bricks had been stockpiled and this was a threat to the public, including bailiffs and council workers.
The BBC's Jeremy Cooke, inside the camp, described the early morning entry by police as a "very dramatic situation".
He said the protesters were "heavily outnumbered by the police".
By Julian SturdyInside the Dale Farm travellers' camp
Police arrived at Dale Farm at first light, when they streamed through a rear perimeter fence in riot gear.
An alarm siren sounded inside the perimeter and protesters gathered at the main gate rushed to the eastern side of the site where police were streaming in.
They engaged in hand to hand fighting with the officers who had come across the adjacent fields.
The operation was entirely police led and they were moving at jogging pace, driving back the protesters in a running battle.
Well in excess of 100 officers pushed people aside as they made their way through the site and I saw one traveller dragged and unceremoniously dumped.
Within 15 minutes they had complete control but I did not see a single bailiff with them.
Ranks of officers, including many from the Met force, lined up in front of the main gate and its gantry which has now become the symbol of the fight.
They were pelted with bricks, bottles and other debris and used riot shields above their heads as protection.
Resident Nora Egan said she had been struck as she told police they were not entitled to break down fences.
She said: "This is being led by the police, there is no sign of bailiffs."
Resident Kathleen McCarthy said: "The memory of Dale Farm will weigh heavily on Britain for generations - we are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world.
"Our entire community is being ripped apart by Basildon Council and the politicians in government."
But police said consistent attempts had been made asking protesters to leave the site peacefully.
The eviction, which could cost up to Â£18m, marks the end of a 10-year battle between travellers, who bought a former scrapyard on green belt land in 2001 and established their caravans there, and the council.
More travellers joined them and some semi-permanent chalet dwellings were built.
Over the past few days, travellers and their supporters have reinforced the perimeter of the 49 illegal plots at the site.
Basildon Council leader Tony Ball condemned the violence between police and protesters.
Basildon Council leader Tony Ball said the travellers had rejected alternative accommodation
Police defend use of Tasers
'Why I'm occupying Dale Farm'
He said: "These are utterly disgraceful scenes and demonstrate the fact some so-called supporters were always intent on violence.
"Nonetheless we are going to press on with this operation with our partners in a safe, dignified and humane way and will uphold the law."
He said that "alternative bricks and mortar accommodation" offered to the travellers had been turned down."
The council's initial application to have them evicted began a series of legal cases which saw the local authority and the travellers explore every part of the justice system to settle the dispute.
As appeals were made by the travellers on humanitarian, medical and other grounds it became apparent they would have to go.
Conservative MP for Basildon John Baron said: "Police are using the minimum force required and when you are being pelted with bricks and rocks you are entitled to defend yourself."
Labour MEP Richard Howitt said: "The smoke above Dale Farm is the most visible sign of the failure of Basildon Council to seek a mediated solution."


The anti-doping laboratory to be used during London 2012 has been given the official seal of approval.

The
          World Anti-Doping Agency
 (WADA) has accredited the facility which will test athletes for banned substances.
The laboratory, based in Essex, has been tested over two years to make sure it is up to international standards.
"Ensuring athletes come to London with confidence in the anti-doping programme is very important," said Olympic gold medallist Jonathan Edwards.
The move comes as the British Olympic Association (BOA)
          awaits a decision
 over the right to continue imposing lifetime Olympic bans on British athletes who have served suspensions for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
The BBC's home of 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, culture, torch relay, video and audio
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) is expected to rule this week.
The BOA challenged a ruling from WADA that its by-law was unenforceable.
The by-law was introduced more than 20 years ago and has kept a number of British athletes out of past Olympics.
If it is revoked it could mean that banned athletes - sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar - would be eligible for London 2012 selection.
The facility in Harlow, operated by
          King's College London
, is estimated to be the size of seven tennis courts and will carry out more tests than at any previous Olympics.
It will operate 24 hours a day during the games, ensuring that every medallist and more than half of all competitors will be tested.
Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has donated and equipped the lab, which it says is the major part of its Â£20m contribution to the games.
"The WADA accreditation is a green light signal that the lab is ready," said Jonathan Harris, head of anti-doping at Games organisers Locog.
The laboratory underwent a series of rigorous tests including several site visits from WADA's science department and accrediting body ISO/IEC.
Assessments focussed on the facility, equipment, procedures and staffing during three formal inspections and dummy sample testing.
Over 1,000 Locog staff and a team of 150 anti-doping scientists will test up to 6250 samples during the Games.
WADA president John Fahey said that accreditation meant the laboratory would operate to the highest standards during the Games.
"Doping athletes must know that there is a very good chance they will be tested this summer," he said.
"Everything scientifically possible - and with the assistance of growing intelligence - will be done to make sure that their efforts to cheat are detected by the experts."
The facility will be led independently by Professor David Cowan from King's College London.
"We have demonstrated that everything is in place and we are well prepared to deliver robust testing for the Games," he said.
"This accreditation provides recognition of our ability to operate an effective laboratory."
In 2011 GSK signed a long-term agreement with WADA to share information about medicines in development with a view to developing early detection methods.


Swansea left out Gylfi Sigurdsson once again as they brushed Sampdoria aside in their final friendly before the Premier League season starts.

Everton and Leicester have had £40m bids rejected for the Iceland midfielder, who Swansea value at £50m.
Leroy Fer's header put the Swans 1-0 up, before Sampdoria's Ricky Alvarez put a back pass into his own net.
Tammy Abraham bundled in a third and then Federico Fernandez nodded in to complete the rout.


Heathrow airport plans to cut the fee it charges airlines for passengers travelling to other UK destinations by a third from next year.

The move would reduce the charge from £29.59 to £19.59 in a bid to boost regional connections to Britain's busiest airport.
The airport is also proposing raising environmental charges to encourage cleaner, quieter planes.
Heathrow serves just seven regional destinations, down from 18 in 1990.
Charges for passengers flying to European destinations will also be cut by £5 to £24.59.
The airport hoped the reductions, which would take effect on 1 January, would encourage fuller planes and make more efficient use of limited capacity.
Airlines are not obliged to pass on the savings to passengers but it is expected that many would.
John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, said: "Our proposal to cut passenger charges by a third for domestic services will help us continue to drive the tourism, exports, inbound tourism and foreign direct investment that supports economic growth across the whole of the UK."
The review of charges is part of the airport's attempt to keep existing domestic routes commercially attractive to airlines and meet the recommendations of the National Connectivity Taskforce.
Last month, the airport pledged to open more routes to domestic destinations if it is allowed to expand and build a third runway. New routes could include Humberside, Newquay and Liverpool.
According to Heathrow, 1.7 million passengers connecting with long-haul flights in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris or Dubai could potentially be persuaded do so through the London airport if charges were reduced.
It also plans to alter the minimum departure charge for all flights, which currently stands at £1,406.
The proposals mean that airlines would have to pay a minimum of £1,268.40 per flight, £1,592.15 for EU flights and £2,689.82 for non-EU destinations.
Heathrow reviews its charging structure every five years. The final schedule will be announced in August.
Analysis: Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland business and economy editor
Heathrow's bosses concede that they've lost ground in short-haul UK and European flights, while the scarcity of landing slots has pushed airlines to use them for more lucrative long-haul flights.
In the past 25 years, Heathrow's UK and Crown Dependency links are down from 18 destinations to only seven. Other London airports and rail offer alternatives, but that can be inconvenient for outbound passengers, and a blockage for inbound travellers who might otherwise visit other parts of the UK.
While Northern Irish links with London are almost all by plane, 69% of travellers between Scotland and London go by air. Yet there is no Heathrow link to Inverness.
Only BA links Heathrow to Glasgow, and Little Red, part of Virgin Atlantic, is to ground its links to Edinburgh and Aberdeen in September, leaving British Airways without competition. Meanwhile, smaller airports are closing or need government support without London links, including Blackpool, Newquay, Plymouth, Prestwick and Dundee.
The new charging regime, if implemented, would provide a financial signal to help maintain the shorter spokes in to the Heathrow hub. It would also help Heathrow's argument that it is good for the UK as a whole, as it fights for permission to build another runway.


Photos of unusual cloud formations complete with a reflection of a rainbow have been captured across the north east of Scotland.

A photo was posted by BBC Scotland's North East Twitter account on Sunday evening after the sight was spotted in Aberdeen, and followers joined in.
One, taken at Rickarton, looked like something from a sci-fi film.
BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith Ralston said they were lens-shaped lenticular clouds.
She added that rain or light snow above the atmosphere would have added the rainbow reflections.
She said: "There are some lovely colours. Lenticular clouds can be mistaken for UFOs. These are great pictures."
One response to Trish Macfarlane's image on Twitter taken at Rickarton, from Althea Tindell, said: "UFO or not those pics are fantastic!"
They are properly known as Altocumulus Lenticularis.
Do you have pictures or videos of the lenticular clouds and rainbow? Send them to the BBC Scotland news website at newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk


Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri has been appointed the new coach of Greece after agreeing a two-year deal.

The 62-year-old Italian takes over from Fernando Santos, whose contract expired after the 2014 World Cup.
The Portuguese guided Greece to the last 16 in Brazil and Ranieri will now focus on qualification for Euro 2016.
The Greek Football Federation said: "The Italian coach is expected to lead our group to new successes with Euro 2016 on the horizon."
Ranieri has managed at 14 different club sides - including Juventus, Roma and Inter Milan - but is yet to test himself on the international stage.
During four years at Chelsea, he improved the team's Premier League points tally year on year and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2004.
He was sacked a year after Roman Abramovich's takeover of the club and was replaced by Jose Mourinho.
In his last post, Ranieri led Monaco to promotion to Ligue 1 and finished second on their return to the top flight in the 2013-14 season, before being sacked.


A 19-year-old man has admitted causing two deaths by careless driving after his passenger and another driver were killed on the A12 in Suffolk.

Shannley Leaver, 16, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk and Ronald Gates, 55, from Knodishall in Suffolk, died in the collision near Lowestoft last year.
Daniel Watts, of North Denes Road, Great Yarmouth, admitted causing both deaths at Ipswich Crown Court.
He is due to be sentenced on 22 January.
Ms Leaver was a passenger in Watts' Citroen Saxo which collided with Mr Gates's Peugeot 106, at Frostenden, on 8 October 2013.
Four other people were injured.
Watts was released on bail while awaiting his sentence.


Uzbekistan's Oksana Chusovitina is on course to become the first female gymnast to compete at seven Olympic Games after qualifying for Rio 2016.

The 40-year-old sealed her spot at Sunday's final qualifying event at the Rio Olympic venue.
Chusovitina has previously competed internationally for the Soviet Union, Unified Team, Uzbekistan and Germany before switching back to Uzbekistan.
She has won two Olympic and 11 World Championship medals during her career.
She helped the Unified Team win team gold at her first Olympics at Barcelona 1992 and won vault silver for Germany at Beijing 2008.


Oxford United have signed free agent and former Barcelona B midfielder Xemi on a three-year contract.

The 22-year-old playmaker impressed at UE Cornella before joining Barcelona B in December 2015, going on to make 46 appearances for the Catalan club.
Xemi, whose full name is Josep Miquel Codina Fernandez, is U's manager Pep Clotet's fourth summer signing.
"I have always thought about playing English football," Xemi told BBC Radio Oxford.
"My favourite players were [Steven] Gerrard and [Frank] Lampard."
He added: "I was looking to continue playing in the Spanish second division, but when Oxford appeared I was really interested in coming here.
"It's going to be more intense here, I think, and I will fit in better here than Barca."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


The recovery of four giant plastic pipes washed up on the Norfolk coast may take "several weeks", the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) has said.

Norwegian manufacturer Pipelife Norge said the 8ft (2.4m) diameter pipes broke loose from a tugboat when it was hit by a container ship last month.
The beached segments, the longest of which measures 1,574ft (480m), washed up at Winterton and Sea Palling.
Eight pipes still at sea were "secured and under control", the MCA said.
The pipes were being towed to Algeria for use in an energy project by MTS Viscount, before being hit by the Samskip Courier vessel on 19 July.
Pipelife Norge said up to seven tugboats and two diving teams would assist the salvage operation.
However, the MCA said returning the pipes to Norway "may take several weeks" and would involve them first being relocated to an offshore site near Lowestoft.
"The circumstances surrounding the parting of the pipes from their tow is subject to further investigation and the MCA is unable to comment further," the MCA added in a statement.
Other than their physical presence, it said the pipes were not believed to pose any other danger of, or potential for, pollution.
Jordan Grebby, senior maritime operations officer for UK Coastguard, said: "We have received several  999 calls regarding the pipes and sent teams to the area after reports were received that children were playing on or inside the pipes.
"We would like to issue a safety message to those in vicinity to keep at a safe distance until the salvage operation is complete.
"If you see anyone in close proximity to the pipes we would ask that you call us on 999 and ask for the coastguard."


A collection of handwritten notes by Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, has been sold at auction for 10 times its estimated price.

The notes, written in 1975 to a professor who had been hired to read to Mao, were sold at Sotheby's in London for Â£704,750 ($910,000).
The auction house said the manuscripts were of the "utmost rarity".
The notes relate to classical Chinese literature and poetry, something the Chinese leader was known to enjoy.
They were written the year before Mao died, as his health deteriorated.
His sight was failing and he struggled to read, so requested the presence of a literary expert to read to him.
A scholar, Di Lu, was found, and the two began meeting. But because Mao was having trouble articulating words, she asked him to write his thoughts down on a notepad to ease communication.
The notes were the product of these meetings and offered, Sotheby's said, "numerous valuable insights into Mao's thinking on literature".
Mao Zedong led the Chinese Communist Party, which defeated the Kuomintang in 1949 and founded the People's Republic of China.
As a young man he worked in Peking University Library and was known throughout his life as a keen reader and writer of classical literature, despite his revolutionary political values.
Sotheby's said the notes had been bought by a Chinese collector, after attracting interest from around the world.
Gabriel Heaton, a books and manuscripts specialist from the auction house, said they gave "an indication of Mao's cultural hinterland, of his interests far beyond politics and his deep knowledge of classical Chinese literature".
Asked why they had gone for a much higher price than the Â£60,000-80,000 estimate, he said manuscripts written by Mao were "exceptionally rare on the market, which makes it very difficult for us to estimate them in the first place".
Interest in items linked to Mao was strong, particularly in Asia and China, he said.
Earlier this year, a silkscreen portrait of him by Andy Warhol fetched $11m at auction in Hong Kong.


A man arrested over the death of Geordie Shore star Aimee Spencer has been released without charge.

The 27-year-old model, whose stage name was Carla Mai, died a week after falling from a first floor window in Brighton on 11 July.
A 28-year-old man who had been questioned on suspicion of attempted murder has been freed from bail, police said.
A man and a woman held over suspected drug offences have been re-bailed.
The MTV reality show Geordie Shore has been running since 2011.


Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected a decision to suspend the Senate president, who has been indicted for alleged embezzlement.

Renan Calheiros defied an earlier injunction by judge Marco Aurelio Mello, who said his position was untenable after the court ruled that he must face trial.
But the court voted to strip him from being in line for the presidency.
His removal could have derailed a government austerity plan.
The controversial proposal, known as PEC-55, is scheduled to go to the Senate before the end of the year.
The legislation includes big spending cuts and is a key part of President Michel Temer's plan to control the budget deficit and revive the country's economy.
Mr Calheiros' suspension would have left the leadership of the Senate in the hands of a leftist senator whose Workers' Party opposes the plan.
By a 6-3 majority, the court decided that, while no indicted person can be in line for the presidency of the country, that does not mean they have to step down from other positions.
As head of the Senate, Mr Calheiros, 61, is second-in-line after the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia.
Brazil does not currently have a vice president, as Mr Temer, who occupied the post, replaced Dilma Rousseff as president after her impeachment earlier this year.
Mr Calheiros, a major ally of President Temer, is accused of agreeing with a construction company that it should pay maintenance for a daughter he had fathered during an extramarital affair with a journalist.
In a case that dates back to 2007, the company allegedly billed the Senate for the payments.
He was forced to resign as Senate leader at the time, but was re-elected six years later. He denies any wrongdoing.
He is also being investigated in connection with a big kickback scheme at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Dozens of politicians, civil servants and businessmen have been detained since the investigation, known as Operation Car Wash, began in 2014.


Pupils have returned to two schools in Edinburgh which were evacuated after threatening phone calls.

Pupils at the Royal High School and at Tynecastle High in Gorgie were taken from their classes on Monday at 10:30.
Separately, two schools in Glasgow - High School of Glasgow and Hillhead High - were searched after threatening calls were received.
They were not evacuated and police said nothing untoward was found in either Edinburgh nor Glasgow.
On the Edinburgh evacuations, a Police Scotland spokesman said: "Two schools in Edinburgh were evacuated at around 10:30 on Monday 1 February following threats being made to three schools via telephone.
"Officers attended and searched all three premises, and nothing untoward was found.
"The schools are now operating as normal and inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding this."
A further Edinburgh school, Boroughmuir High, also received a call but but pupils were not required to leave their classrooms.


An Arbroath man has been left in a critical condition after a crash between his car and a lorry on the A92.

The man's VW Golf car collided with the articulated lorry at about 19:00 on Monday near Inverkeillor.
The 30-year-old was taken to Ninewells Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. The lorry driver was uninjured.
Officers are investigating the circumstances of the crash, and have appealed for witnesses.


Former SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon has endorsed Colum Eastwood in the party's leadership contest, the BBC has learned.

Mr Eastwood is challenging current leader Alasdair McDonnell, and party activists will vote next month at the annual SDLP conference in Armagh.
Earlier this year, Mr Mallon called on Dr McDonnell to step down as leader.
Asked about Mr Mallon's endorsement of the Foyle MLA, Dr McDonnell said Mr Mallon was "entitled to his opinion".
"People have elected me to do a job and I'm going to do that job," he told BBC NI's The View programme.
"Seamus is a very distinguished member of the party, but we have some 300-odd other delegates out there with opinions.
"The majority have pledged their support to me."


A Belfast man has appeared in court accused of sending a letter to the Prime Minister threatening to burn down a mosque.

Brian Brown, 51, of Claremont Street, is charged with sending a threatening article to David Cameron in order to cause him distress or anxiety.
A second count of threatening to damage a mosque was dropped as it was seen as duplication.
Mr Brown spoke only to confirm he understood the charge against him.
He was released on bail. His lawyer said he would be contesting the charge.


A 92-year-old man was found riding his mobility scooter on a busy dual carriageway after taking a wrong turn.

The "very confused" pensioner was stopped by police up on the 70mph-limit road near Crawley, West Sussex, on Friday.
Officers were alerted by a motorist who had seen the man heading away from the M23 on the A2011 Crawley Avenue and had stopped to help him.
PC Katie Breeds, of Sussex Police, said: "He didn't know where he was.
"We sat him in the back of our police car and waited for a colleague in a van to collect the mobility scooter and then we delivered scooter and driver back home to his warden-assisted accommodation in Crawley."


Wolverhampton pulled off the biggest turnaround in the 20-season history of the Elite League at Monmore Green as they overcame a 12-point first-leg deficit to beat holders Poole.

Pirates' three-year reign as champions was ended when they were beaten 94-86 on aggregate in the semi-final.
Poole won last Wednesday's first leg 51-39 in Dorset.
But, after losing the second leg 55-35, Pirates boss Neil Middleditch said they "paid the price for underperforming".
Poole were forced into using their reserve riders after Swede Antonio Lindback was ruled out through illness, and Dane Bjarne Pedersen suffered a twisted knee while riding in Sweden.
"If the boys had all fired together, we could have done it," he told BBC Radio Solent. "We just don't know what kind of difference someone like Antonio could have made.
"I'm bitterly disappointed to be honest. I knew it was going to be tough here. But we just didn't perform. Too many of our riders just didn't come to the show. We just weren't good enough."
Wolves now face Belle Vue in next week's two-leg Grand Final, starting with Monday's first leg at Monmore.
"We have the fire power to rattle Belle Vue," said Swedish Peter Karlsson. "We have the form for the final."
Karlsson, who has ridden on and off for Wolves since 1990, was part of the squad that won the title in 1996, 2002 and 2009, the last two of which were in the Elite League era.
And, at 46, he admitted he had considered winding down his riding career this season.
"I wasn't planning to ride in England this year, as I wanted to ride less. I must have turned down 10 clubs in the winter," he added. "It was only Wolves. I didn't have to think more than two seconds."
"Whatever happens now in the final, it's already a successful season for us after a couple of lean years," said manager Peter Adams. "We're back in the big time and we're intent on staying there."
Although British speedway's Elite League started in 1997, the first two-legged play-off final was held in 2002 - and two-legged semi-finals were introduced in 2009.
In that time, Wolves' win was the largest first-leg deficit successfully overturned in a two-legged Elite League match.
The previous best was Poole themselves in the 2013 semi-final, when they came from 10 points down against Swindon to win the home leg by 17.
Wolves manager Adams, chasing a third Elite League title, told BBC WM: "It was a fantastic turnaround. A record-breaking overturn, but we always had the confidence we could do that."
Adams has won eight titles as a manager, two with Coventry (1978 and 1979) and two with Cradley Heath (1981 and 1983), before his four with Wolves (1991, 1996 and their two Elite League triumphs in 2002 and 2009).
Aintree, 1973 - After leading all the way round in the Grand National, and still by 15 lengths at the final fence, Crisp is overtaken on the line by Red Rum.
Vicarage Road, 1980 - Watford turn round a 4-0 first-leg deficit to win 7-1 on the night and beat Southampton 7-1 in the League Cup second round.
Headingley '81 - An Ian Botham-Bob Willis-inspired England rally from 135-7 in their second innings, still trailing by 92, to beat Australia by 18 runs.
Wimbledon, 1987 - Jimmy Connors comes from 6-1, 6-1, 4-1 down in the fourth round to beat Sweden's Mikael Pernfors in five sets.
Crucible, Sheffield, 1992 - Stephen Hendry trails 14-8 in the World Snooker Championship, but reels off the next 10 frames to win Jimmy White.
Rich Stadium, Buffalo, New York State, 1993 - Buffalo Bills trail Houston Oilers 35-3, but come back to win 41-38 in overtime.
Istanbul, 2005 - Liverpool trail AC Milan 3-0 at half time but score three times in five minutes to win the European Cup for a fifth time.
The Miracle of Medinah, 2014: Europe come back from 10-6 down after the second day to beat the United States in the Ryder Cup.


Chelsea have been cleared of breaking any Premier League rules in their handling of historical sex abuse claims made by former player Gary Johnson.

The club have apologised "profusely" to Johnson over abuse he suffered as a youth team member in the 1970s.
Johnson, 57, revealed the club paid him £50,000 to keep quiet about allegations against former chief scout Eddie Heath.
The Premier League said Chelsea had not broken any rules by not reporting the allegations, which were made in 2014.
In an earlier statement, the Stamford Bridge club acknowledged Johnson had "suffered unacceptably" after joining Chelsea as an 11-year-old in 1970.
Johnson, a member of Chelsea's first team from 1978 to 1981, claimed to have been groomed from the age of 13 by Heath, who died before allegations against him were made.
Johnson told the Mirror: "I felt shame, I felt my childhood had been taken away. I spent my late teens in turmoil, absolute turmoil."
After Johnson came forward, Chelsea said a review would take place into whether the club had properly investigated when the allegations came to light and why it did not report them to the Football Association (FA) and Premier League, saying they had "no desire to hide any historic abuse".
On Thursday, the Premier League said Chelsea had agreed to provide them with a copy of this review, as well as having a full, independent safeguarding audit.
The Premier League board said: "The league has no reason to have any concerns about Chelsea's current provisions in this area but, given the seriousness of these historical allegations, feels that such a review is an appropriate course of action."
In 2014, the rules stated that clubs had to notify the Premier League of any safeguarding issues reported to the authorities. That has since changed to an obligation to tell the Premier League of any safeguarding issues at all.
Chelsea said in their original statement that when the settlement was reached the club's board understood it was "usual practice" to include a mutual confidentiality agreement, adding that Johnson's solicitors had not objected to the clause.
A lawyer representing the Offside Trust - set up by ex-footballer Andy Woodward, who was the first to go public about his abuse as a junior footballer - has previously told the BBC there are other potential victims who have signed so-called gagging orders.
Edward Smethurst said that "calls and emails are coming in all the time" from people claiming to have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements with clubs in return for compensation.
Smethurst told BBC Sport he "could not make specific allegations" but revealed "several" victims had come forward.
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The FA gave an update on safeguarding earlier on Thursday, saying about 8,000 youth football clubs responsible for more than 60,000 teams have renewed their safeguarding commitment since the sport's child sexual abuse scandal emerged.
However, clubs that have missed the confirmation deadline - under 2% of the total number - have been suspended.
The FA has also written to the parents of academy footballers "to highlight the high standard of safeguarding provisions currently in place at clubs".
Its own independent review into the allegations, led by Clive Sheldon QC, has requested access to all FA documents relating to child sex abuse from 1970 to 2005.
There are currently 155 suspects in the UK-wide football child abuse investigation, according to figures from Operation Hydrant - the UK-wide police investigation into non-recent child sexual abuse.
The spotlight has fallen on abuse in football since a number of former footballers came forward publicly to tell their stories, and the number of suspects has almost doubled in two weeks.
Police say there are now 429 potential victims linked to football, some as young as four at the time of the alleged offence, with 148 clubs involved.


Rock star Patti Smith was moved to tears after a fan returned a bag of stolen goods to the singer, 36 years after they went missing.

Smith was giving a reading from her new memoir M Train at Illinois' Dominican University when the items were returned to her by fan Noreen Bender.
They included a shirt worn for a 1978 Rolling Stone cover shot and a bandana given to her by her late brother.
Bender said reuniting Smith with her stuff was "the highlight of my life".
"The feeling of making your hero happy, it was a moment," Bender told the Chicago Tribune.
It is believed the items went missing in June 1979 when a Ryder rental truck, which was carrying $40,000 in amplifiers, guitars and other musical equipment, was stolen from outside a hotel after Smith and her band played a show at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
'Sweat'
They are understood to have come in to Bender's possession many years ago, via the friend of a then roommate.
"I just thought, 'Oh my god, these are her clothes and they still have her sweat on them,'" Bender recalled, on first receiving the singer's belongings.
She added that she had long hoped to return the items to Smith but had not been able to find an appropriate occasion.
A member of the university audience, who witnessed Bender returning the bag of stuff to Smith on Thursday, recorded the singer's response on an online forum:
"Patti looked inside and just froze... [she] pulls out these items of clothing and talks about them (the shirt she wore on the Rolling Stone cover, the Keith Richards T-Shirt you've seen her wear in a hundred photos) and then gets to the bottom of the bag.
"Here was a bandana that her beloved late brother had worn and then given to her, and she starts to weep. Before long, half the audience was crying with her."
Smith's brother, and manager, Todd Smith died in 1994. Punk icon Smith, who is marking the 40th anniversary of her seminal album Horses this year, writes about his death in her new memoir.


The home secretary has refused to say whether the Conservative manifesto will repeat their 2015 pledge to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands".

Amber Rudd told the BBC the manifesto was "not going to be identical to the last one" and said things had changed since 2015 because of Brexit.
The target, set by David Cameron in 2010, has never been met and recent figures put net migration at 273,000.
The PM indicated in April that she would stick with the aim.
Speaking on a campaign visit last month, Theresa May, who was Ms Rudd's predecessor as home secretary, told the BBC: "We want to see sustainable net migration in this country."
"I believe that sustainable net migration is in the tens of thousands."
Questions had been raised about whether the commitment would feature in the Conservative manifesto after Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said that immigration was "not about putting numbers on it" but about ensuring Britain had the skilled workers it needed.
Asked whether she agreed with her colleague, Ms Rudd told BBC Radio 5live's Pienaar's Politics: "It's too early to say. I appreciate you want to push me on this but we are going to have to wait until the manifesto comes out."
Pressed on the issue again, she added: "That's why we're having a new manifesto. It's not going to be identical to the last one.
"We're setting it out for hopefully for a five year term, we've got a lot to think through to work out what's the best way to deliver on our priorities."
She added: "My personal view is, we need to continue to bring immigration down. I want to make sure that we do it in a way that supports businesses, you know we're ending freedom of movement when we leaving the European Union.
"So the situation from that time the [2015] manifesto... has changed because we're leaving the European Union, so it's right that we look at it again."
Ms Rudd also played down the potential impact of excluding students from net migration figures, saying: "It's a complete red herring to talk about taking students out of those numbers and it making a big impact."
This was because, in theory, roughly the same numbers of students should be leaving the UK at the end of their courses as are arriving each year.
Official figures out last month show EU migrants make up more than one in 10 manufacturing sector workers in the UK.
The government has promised new migration controls after the UK leaves the EU, when freedom of movement rules will no longer apply, but it has yet to set out the precise model it will adopt.
Labour says it accepts that the principle of the free movement of people - which EU leaders say goes hand-in-hand with single market membership - would have to end after Brexit.
But shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has said new immigration controls should not be the "overarching priority" as the UK leaves.
UKIP has said that Mrs May's failure to reduce net migration to less than 100,000 while she was home secretary suggests that she could yet "back slide" on delivering Brexit.


Meet charismatic head coach of Wimbledon Dan Bloxham and star pupil Elizabeth Nyenwe, who was plucked from a local council estate aged 8 and is now, aged 22, on a tennis scholarship in USA.

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The All England Club doesn't just host the Wimbledon Championships, it's a working tennis club all year round, and week-in week-out they're busy taking the sport into local schools all across south-west London.
Coach Dan Bloxham is the driving force behind their outreach programme - the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative - that has been getting young people involved in the sport, and finding potential talent like Elizabeth, for 14 years.
For information on how to get into tennis in your local area, visit our Get Inspired Tennis page.


Ex-Conservative Party treasurer Lord Ashcroft says his new book about David Cameron is "not about settling scores".

The unauthorised biography, serialised in the Daily Mail, includes allegations about the PM's student days.
The former Tory donor admitted to having personal "beef" with the prime minister after not being offered a major job in the coalition government.
The prime minister's spokeswoman said she did "not see the need to dignify the book by offering any comment".
"The author has set out his reasons for writing it," she added.
In the book, Lord Ashcroft, who donated millions of pounds to help the Conservatives fight marginal seats, says Mr Cameron was aware of his non-domiciled tax status, which was heavily criticised by Labour, in 2009.
The following year Lord Ashcroft released a statement confirming he was a "non-dom", a status he gave up in order to remain in the Lords.
The book also includes allegations of drug-taking and an initiation ceremony Mr Cameron is said, by an unnamed source, to have taken part in, involving a dead pig.
But sources said Mr Cameron was never a member of the club in question, the Piers Gaveston Society, during his time at Oxford University, BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said.
He added that the as yet unpublished book, Call Me Dave, was "less a story about stupid student pranks, and more a story about raw political revenge".
This was denied by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who has co-written the book.
She told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "If this was just a revenge job, Lord Ashcroft and I could have published it before the election."
Ms Oakeshott also said the Piers Gaveston Society did not have a formal membership list, saying "people go along" to society gatherings.
Two powerful men need each other, and then one of them becomes more powerful, and doesn't need the other anymore.
The understanding which they had comes to break down, recriminations follow, and sometimes, full throttle revenge.
But the roots of the embarrassment that has sent social media into overdrive in the last day were laid before Twitter was invented.
In fact, the origins of the spectacular parting of ways are 15 years ago.
Read Laura's blog in full
In the preface to his book, Lord Ashcroft says that after David Cameron became PM in 2010, he was offered the job of junior Foreign Office whip.
"After putting my neck on the line for nearly 10 years - both as party treasurer under William Hague and as deputy chairman - and after ploughing some Â£8m into the party, I regarded this as a declinable offer," he wrote.
"It would have been better had Cameron offered me nothing at all."
But he added: "Despite my disappointment, my new book about Cameron is not about settling scores."
According to Lord Ashcroft's account, Mr Cameron told him Lib Dem leader and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg had vetoed his appointment to a government role.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Mr Clegg said he did not recall being asked.
"I'm now used to Conservatives - they certainly did it for five years - using me as an alibi for awkward decisions that they had to face within their own party and I'm certain they fell into that category," he said.
Lord Ashcroft was deputy chairman during Mr Cameron's period as leader in opposition.
In July 2010, he gave up his non-domiciled tax status to remain in the Lords after a law was passed requiring peers and MPs to be tax resident and domiciled in order to remain in Parliament.
His tax status had long been criticised by his opponents.
Labour's shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth has written to Downing Street asking whether Mr Cameron was, as Lord Ashcroft claims, aware of his tax arrangements in 2009.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mr Cameron should "address directly" the claim, describing it as a "serious allegation".
In March Lord Ashcroft said he was stepping down from the House of Lords because he could not devote enough time to it.
In recent years he has built a reputation as an independent pollster.


A London financial services company is to create 300 new IT jobs in Belfast.

Tullett Prebon will make the posts, with an average salary of £33,000, available over the next three years as they establish a major technology centre in the city.
First Minister Arlene Foster said the jobs will contribute £10m in salaries to the local economy.
She said the move was a "vote of confidence" in the Northern Ireland workforce.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: "Tullett Prebon creating 300 new jobs and choosing to locate their new technology centre here is terrific news.
"The new jobs will offer an average salary of £33,000, providing excellent opportunities for graduate and experienced IT professionals as well as school leavers."
Invest Northern Ireland has offered Tullett Prebon over £2m towards the creation of the new jobs with the Department for the Economy Assured Skills programme providing £400k for associated training.
Analysis: BBC NI business correspondent Julian O'Neill
The announcement of 300 jobs is the largest the Northern Ireland executive has been able to unveil in ten months.
It continues Belfast's track record of attracting well paid jobs in the financial services sector.
Negotiations about the jobs took a year to conclude and were set in motion long before the EU referendum, the outcome of which did not torpedo an important inward investment.
The executive and Invest NI are very keen to project a business-as-usual message and this announcement aids that narrative.
But beneath the surface, the DUP and Sinn Fein are deeply at odds over what a Brexit future holds for the local economy.
Tuesday's announcement will be welcomed all round, but nothing can really be read into its wider significance vis-à-vis Brexit and whether that will disadvantage Northern Ireland's chance of inward investment.
Luke Barnett, of Tullett Prebon, said: "We are delighted to announce the launch of our technology centre in Northern Ireland.
"We looked at many potential locations and Belfast was the outstanding choice.
"The combination of a highly educated workforce, attractive business environment and great infrastructure, underpinned by the support of local government and Invest Northern Ireland, offers a compelling proposition for a global financial services group such as ours."


Canadians are debating the role of the prime minister's wife after Sophie Gregoire Trudeau said she wants to do more for the country but "needs help".

She told a French-language newspaper she was struggling to balance her schedule only having one staff member.
"I'd love to be everywhere but I can't," she said. "I have three children and a husband who is prime minister."
Some are ridiculing her for what they perceived as pretentious comments.
She told Le Soleil newspaper that she is "flooded with requests" for appearances and projects and that she does not have the time to do it all.
"It's hard to choose because it is affecting the people who want your help," she said. "You say to yourself: I will try to convey a message that will reach as many people as possible."
"There is always a price to pay, but the price shouldn't be as high," she said of balancing work and family.
She made the comments while promoting an organisation for active and healthy lifestyles.
In her youth, she suffered with eating disorders, she told the newspaper, and she wants to help young women build self-confidence.
Canadians on Twitter started a hashtag, #PrayForSophie, to poke fun at her request, with some people even drawing comparisons between the Trudeaus and the Kardashians.
"I'm setting up a lemonade stand this weekend, all proceeds going to fund help for Sophie," one person tweeted.
Opposition politicians in Canada called Ms Gregoire Trudeau out of touch and pointed out that previous prime ministers' wives dealt with only having one personal aide.
Tory MP Candice Bergen said Canadian families are struggling financially and questioned how the government could afford to hire another assistant.
Another Tory MP, Jason Kenney, said former prime minister Stephen Harper's wife, Laureen, never complained.
"Harpers paid for babysitters, not taxpayers," he tweeted. "And they didn't inherit millions. Nor did Laureen whinge about it."
A Toronto Star editorial argues that she should have the help she needs to fulfil her role.
The conversation should shift to what is expected of the spouse of a prime minister in Canada, the newspaper writes.
"It should come as no surprise that the demands on her are greater than those on previous PMs' wives," the editorial reads, pointing out that previous PM's wives have had one or multiple assistants.
"Justin Trudeau is riding a wave of popularity that extends to his entire family, especially his wife."
"It should be noted that Gregoire Trudeau is not asking for another employee to lessen her workload, but to increase it. She lamented that because she doesn't have enough staff she is forced to make difficult choices about who she can help."
Mr Trudeau himself came to his wife's defence, sharing a letter on Facebook written by a woman supporting his wife.
"I don't know what it's like to be you, and because of this I support you," the letter reads. "I know there are others like me out there, but the loudest voices in any conversation are always the angry ones."
The prime minister's office is looking into hiring another aide, federal officials told the Globe and Mail.
Government House leader Dominic LeBlanc also defended her.
"It's no secret that Ms Gregoire Trudeau is asked to attend an enormous number of events," Mr LeBlanc said.
"She's participated in a whole series of very worthy causes. So we find that a perfectly appropriate conversation to have - Does she have the adequate support to undertake these official functions?"
In the US, First Lady is a formal role within the executive office, with its own headquarters in the White House and staff, including but not limited to a social secretary, a chief of staff, a press secretary and a chef.
In Canada, the wife of the prime minister has no formal status and no personal office, but as the Toronto Star editorial notes, Canadians expect the PM's spouse to play a "significant public role", with the opportunity to represent Canada and promote causes.
Men are rarely asked about their domestic life and how they balance it, Suzanne Moore writes in the Guardian.
"Gregoire Trudeau has indeed committed a crime - against this fairytale that so many women are burdened with by simply telling the truth: 'I need help'."


The police officer leading the search for missing Leicestershire teenager Kayleigh Haywood has told her family to prepare themselves for the worst.

18 November 2015 Last updated at 15:00 GMT
Det Ch Supt David Sandall said it was proving an "extremely traumatic time for her parents" and they are now treating the disappearance of the 15-year-old, from Measham, as murder.
The teenager has not been seen since about 18:00 GMT on Friday when she was dropped off outside Ibstock Community College.
Two men, aged 27 and 28, who were arrested on Monday on suspicion of kidnap have been re-arrested on suspicion of murder.
More updates on this and other stories from Leicestershire.


Tens of thousands of Icelanders gathered in the capital Reykjavík to welcome home the nation's football team after their Euro 2016 quarter-final.

Led by drummers, the players made their way through the city in an open-top bus to the hill of Arnarholl, where fans greeted them with wild cheers.
Iceland's first major tournament ended on Sunday when the tiny nation, one of Europe's smallest, lost to France.
But not before they had dumped out the England side in the round of 16.
The Iceland team were beaten 5-2 by tournament hosts France on Sunday, but their exploits at Euro 2016 had already captivated the fans back home.
Coming from a population of just 329,000, they defied the odds to qualify from the group stage and then see off England.
On their way to the last eight of the European tournament, they had also beat Austria and, in qualifying, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.