Fulham claimed a third Championship win in a row with a comfortable victory at Ashton Gate that left Bristol City just two points above the relegation zone.

Lucas Piazon's calm finish gave the visitors a deserved 1-0 half-time lead.
Fulham's Floyd Ayite capitalised on sloppy defending to feed Tom Cairney, who fired in the second.
The win lifted Slavisa Jokanovic's side to within six points of the top six, with a game in hand, while City have lost 10 of their past 13 league games.
Milan Djuric had arguably the hosts' best chance before the break, but he headed David Cotterill's dangerous cross narrowly over the crossbar.
The visitors had time on the ball early on and some neat passing fed Piazon, who delicately lifted the ball past the on-rushing Fabian Giefer for the opener.
A poor clearance from Adam Matthews then led to Fulham's second, as Cairney lashed Ayite's pass into the top corner.
Fulham, who have now won five of their past seven games in all competitions, could have added to their tally, but Kevin McDonald glanced a corner just over the bar.
Boos greeted the half-time and full-time whistles at Ashton Gate, as well as the second goal, with the Robins fans venting their frustration as they watched their side lose for a 13th time in 17 league games.
Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol: "I'm obviously angry, hurting and disappointed.
"We didn't have the team energy today. I've got to find a team and a formation that gives us the talent and the energy to go and get close to people.
"I don't think some players did enough, in terms of energy. But we have to go back to the drawing board.
"I understand the fans' frustrations completely. 100%, I'm with them."
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic: "We played a very good game. We won three points, we took a clean sheet and we cut the distance between us and the top teams in the Championship.
"I have to be satisfied with how my team is fighting and how they concentrated after our FA Cup exit a few days ago.
"Lucas Piazon is fighting for every ball. He has been working very hard all season and today he scored a very nice goal."
Match ends, Bristol City 0, Fulham 2.
Second Half ends, Bristol City 0, Fulham 2.
Attempt missed. Bobby Reid (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Matty Taylor.
Offside, Bristol City. Gary O'Neil tries a through ball, but Bobby Reid is caught offside.
Foul by Sone Aluko (Fulham).
Scott Golbourne (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Kevin McDonald (Fulham) because of an injury.
Hand ball by Matty Taylor (Bristol City).
Attempt missed. Kevin McDonald (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Stefan Johansen with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Fulham. Conceded by Aden Flint.
Corner,  Fulham. Conceded by Fabian Giefer.
Attempt saved. Bobby Reid (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Joe Bryan.
Tom Cairney (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Bailey Wright (Bristol City).
Substitution, Fulham. Sone Aluko replaces Neeskens Kebano.
Foul by Kevin McDonald (Fulham).
Bobby Reid (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Tim Ream (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Tim Ream (Fulham).
Milan Djuric (Bristol City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Fulham. Ryan Fredericks replaces Lucas Piazon.
Neeskens Kebano (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Bailey Wright (Bristol City).
Attempt missed. Milan Djuric (Bristol City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matty Taylor with a headed pass.
Attempt missed. Stefan Johansen (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Kevin McDonald.
Attempt blocked. Matty Taylor (Bristol City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Milan Djuric with a headed pass.
Offside, Fulham. Tom Cairney tries a through ball, but Chris Martin is caught offside.
Neeskens Kebano (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Bailey Wright (Bristol City).
Substitution, Bristol City. Gary O'Neil replaces Jens Hegeler.
Substitution, Fulham. Chris Martin replaces Floyd Ayité.
Jens Hegeler (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card.
Tom Cairney (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jens Hegeler (Bristol City).
Corner,  Bristol City. Conceded by Kevin McDonald.
Substitution, Bristol City. Lee Tomlin replaces Adam Matthews.
Offside, Fulham. Tomas Kalas tries a through ball, but Floyd Ayité is caught offside.
Offside, Bristol City. Fabian Giefer tries a through ball, but Milan Djuric is caught offside.
Goal!  Bristol City 0, Fulham 2. Tom Cairney (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Floyd Ayité.


Three people have been arrested in Cheshire as part of an investigation into modern slavery and human trafficking offences.

A woman, aged 24, and a 29-year-old man were held on suspicion of modern slavery in a raid on a business premises in High Street, Northwich.
A woman, 43, was also arrested at an address in Chesterton Court in Chester on suspicion of the same offence.
The 24 and 29-year-old were also held on suspicion of money laundering.
All have been released under investigation pending further inquiries.
DS Clare Ellis, from Cheshire Police Strategic Public Protection Unit, said: "This is a challenging issue to deal with as it is very much a hidden crime - and the true extent of the problem is not known."


Thousands of Australians have held candlelit vigils for Syria as pressure mounts for Australia to offer to take in more refugees.

Australia has said it will take more Syrians, but stopped short of increasing its overall refugee intake.
Social media has taken up the push for a policy change, with people on Tuesday posting photos to #lightthedark.
More vigils will be held this week, which will also remember a Syrian child who drowned on the coast of Turkey.
An image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down on a beach has sparked an international outcry over the human cost of the European migrant crisis.
An estimated 10,000 people attended the ceremony at Sydney's Hyde Park on Monday night, and thousands more in other cities.
They came ahead of an expected announcement on Tuesday from the Australian government authorising air strikes against the so-called Islamic State group in Syria.
Members of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's own party, including several state premiers, have called for more to be done for people fleeing Syria.
A Kosovo-type solution has been discussed that would see Syrians and Iraqis housed in Australia, then returned home once the countries were safe.
The Federal Opposition has called for 10,000 additional places for refugees from the Middle East, with priority to be given to those from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten also said the government should spend an extra $A100m ($69m; Â£45.6m) on aid for refugees.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


Homeless protesters living in a "tent city" in Doncaster are to be evicted after the council was granted a court order.

Up to 80 people have been sleeping rough on land by the Old Civic Theatre since 19 November in a bid to "highlight the plight of the homeless".
Doncaster Council said it had taken action as the site was "unsafe".
Campaigner Paul Hartley said the camp had been a success and "the people it was there to help have been helped".
The protesters have until 10:00 GMT on Saturday to leave.
An application for an injunction banning the protesters from setting up a similar camp in the town was, however, rejected.
Council chief executive Jo Miller said: "I think it's a good outcome.
"We've secured possession of the site and we've made sure that everybody who needs to be housed has been housed so, working together with the organisers, we've achieved the result we needed to.
"I do not think we will need the [injunction]. We are consensually taking the site down because the job has been done by the organisers and the council."
She said of the 80 people on the site "just over half" had been re-housed while "of the other half some of them were not homeless and some did not want any help".
Mr Hartley said the authority had been "amazing" at engaging with those in need of shelter since the makeshift camp was set up.
"They have worked tirelessly with us to get a positive solution to the problem," he said.
"They are tackling homelessness differently now."


The German town of Limburg has stopped playing a children's folk song from its town hall bell tower after a complaint from a vegan.

Usually, Fox, You Stole the Goose sounds out frequently on the carillon, a mechanical chiming instrument.
Although the words are not used, a woman was upset by the song line "the hunter will get you with his gun", town spokesman Johannes Laubach said.
But the mayor is facing a wave of anger over the decision, Der Spiegel reports.
Marius Hahn agreed to remove the song from the bell tower's playlist temporarily as a gesture of kindness, the German newspaper reports.
However, his administration's phone has been ringing constantly, it quotes Mr Laubach as saying, with people phoning to express anger over the decision - or over the time being devoted to the issue.
The tower usually chimes out tunes from a list of 33 songs, including German children's songs, tunes from towns that Limburg is partnered with, and seasonal songs such as Silent Night, German media say.
The vegan woman, who is said to work within earshot of the town hall, has not been named.


A cyclist died after a road accident, hours after getting back on his bike and continuing his journey, Greater Manchester Police said.

Jason Lee Gibbs, 44, was on his way home from work on his mountain bike on Friday when he collided with a vehicle.
He got up, rode home and went to bed after the crash, which happened between 13:10 and 13:50 BST in Manchester.
Mr Gibbs later suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital. He died early on Sunday.
Officers are investigating the crash, which happened as Mr Gibbs rode home to Moss Side from Gorton.
PC Neil Pennington said: "Unfortunately, we don't have full details of where the collision happened or what vehicle was involved, but I am urging anyone who saw the collision or was involved to come forward.
"It may not have appeared serious at the time, but a man has died, and any information you have, no matter how small, could help us piece together what happened."
Police do not know if the vehicle was moving or stationary.


Swansea City manager Bob Bradley was the wrong appointment, according to former player Andy Legg.

The Swans are bottom of the Premier League after their 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur and have won only once under the American.
Legg believes the club should have appointed a manager with Premier League experience when Bradley took over from Francesco Guidolin in October.
"Personally I thought it was a bad decision by the board," said Legg.
"I thought they needed someone who knew the Premier League, knew what sort of players to bring in and Bob didn't.
"That's not his fault - he was given the job and any manager in the world would take a Premier League job.
"So I feel sorry for Bob, but I think it was the wrong decision.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"There's two ways they can go. They either stick with the manager and accept they've got a lot of work to do or they make the change because otherwise I can only see one way for Swansea."
Bradley is the first Premier League manager from the United States, and took over from Guidolin on 3 October.
The former United States national team manager was in charge at French second division club Le Havre before accepting the job at Liberty Stadium.
Bradley was the first manager appointed following the take over of the club by an American consortium headed by Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.
Swansea's 5-4 home win against Crystal Palace on 26 November was only their second in the Premier League this season and they face Sunderland - who are two points ahead of them - at home on 10 December.
Former Wales international Legg believes Swansea are "too easy" to beat and pinpoints the sale of Ivory Coast international striker Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January 2015 as the point when Swansea's troubles began.
"I've seen it coming from probably when they sold Bony," he said.
"They never replaced him and obviously [Wales captain] Ashley Williams has gone now they haven't replaced him either.
"It's okay selling your good players, but you've got to replace them and you've got to replace them with quality.
"Even if the 11 players on the pitch look organised and in formation it can be difficult to beat. But they are not difficult to beat, they're quite easy to beat."
Swansea won the opening game of the season, but did not win again until they beat Crystal Palace and Legg believes even that victory carried a warning.
"The Palace game, everyone got carried away. They won three points, but they conceded four goals at home and if they don't bridge those gaps in the defence they are going to concede every week," he added.
"And that means they've got to score three, four, five to win and that's not going to happen so it's concerning."


For officials and politicians getting ready for the UN summit on climate change in Paris later this year, there's a word that dare not be uttered: Copenhagen.

I remember pained faces etched with failure on the final day of a dysfunctional gathering in the Danish capital in 2009, the last time world leaders got together to try to tackle global warming, and the collective memory still haunts the process six years on.
So, in the run-up to the next big attempt to secure a global treaty limiting greenhouse gases, it's worth exploring what's changed since 2009 - and what hasn't.
In some ways, the negotiating landscape is transformed, mainly because of dramatic shifts by the two biggest emitters, the United States and China.
President Obama spoke of the threat of global warming from his first day in office but he was distracted by healthcare in his first term and came to Copenhagen with his hands tied by a reluctant Congress.
But now, as he eyes a chance to leave the White House with a green legacy, he can point to his plan to reduce emissions from power stations as tangible evidence of American willingness to take the issue seriously.
That plan is facing determined opposition from coal states - and may well be dismantled if the next presidential election brings in a Republican - but for the moment it shows the United States in a more constructive light around the negotiating table.
China too is in a different place compared to its role in Copenhagen - which many witnesses there saw as more or less openly obstructive.
After years of resisting any attempt to be included in an international system of carbon targets, the Chinese leadership is now openly talking of national emissions peaking around 2030, if not before - something that would have been unimaginable amid the chaotic scenes of Copenhagen.
The motivation is more to do with the filthy air choking many Chinese cities - and the increasingly vocal complaints about it from a growing and emboldened middle class - than with climate change itself. On a visit to China two years ago, the pollution was so dense it closed an airport I was trying to fly from for several hours.
But, whatever the reason, China comes to the talks in Paris using language that could suggest a new willingness to see a global deal.
Another big change from 2009 concerns technology: the prices for renewables have fallen so dramatically in many parts of the world that a future involving clean energy like wind and solar looks far more feasible than it once did. China is playing a leading role in that.
And, last but not least, the UN process itself has been upended. Whereas in Copenhagen there was an effort to browbeat countries into accepting targets for reducing carbon emissions, Paris is about collecting voluntary plans for action drafted by individual countries.
In the jargon - which we'll hear a lot more of - the UN is inviting each government to submit what is called an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). In plain English, that means a pledge to do something. The details are here.
So far some 62 countries have tabled their INDCs - covering a little over 60% of global emissions - among them the big guns of the United States, China and the EU.
By the time Paris starts on 30 November, there's a hope that even more of these plans will have come in, covering perhaps 85% of emissions - those from India, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia are eagerly awaited.
In itself, that could be seen as remarkable progress - just getting so many governments, some very unwilling, even to take part in such a public process.
But closer scrutiny starts to reveal a serious problem. Add up all these pledges and - no surprise - there's a big shortfall compared with what the scientists of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say is needed.
The UN Environment Programme estimates that if everyone keeps burning fossil fuels as usual, then a global average temperature rise, compared with the pre-industrial age, of 3C by the end of the century seems likely.
The INDCs submitted so far might reduce that to a likely rise of something like 2.5C by 2100, which is still above the internationally accepted target of 2C.
That emissions gap gives a hint of difficult hurdles to come. If the current pledges aren't adequate, there's a plan for the Paris deal to spell out a system of five-year reviews to try to use peer pressure to ratchet up everyone's efforts - but the detail of that is the subject of fierce haggling.
So too is the age-old and fraught question of money - with poor countries long cynical about rich-world promises of $100bn a year to help them adapt to climate impacts and to transition to green forms of growth. So far, some $31-37bn is on the cards. That may rise but disappointment would seem inevitable.
And hanging over the whole endeavour is the most fundamental challenge of all: Agreeing on a system that everyone will see as fair for sharing out the burden of carbon cuts - what is called Common But Differentiated Responsibility.
Is the onus on developed countries, which have enjoyed a century or more of emitting greenhouse gas, or the giant, rapidly industrialising nations whose emissions are likely to keep soaring? Or a mix of each? We'll hear much more about that dispute, too.
Asked about the chances of success at the talks, UK government sources say they expect a deal to be done but also that "it's not in the bag".
Paris might not be "another Copenhagen" but it definitely won't be easy.
Follow David on Twitter.


Conor Washington and Joel Lynch goals secured QPR's Championship survival and set up a nervy final day for Nottingham Forest, who dropped a place to 21st.

After an open but goalless opening 45 minutes, Rangers led when Washington took a Massimo Luongo pass to fire past Jordan Smith and break the deadlock.
Ex-Forest defender Lynch headed in Rangers' second to stun his old club.
Forest must now at least match 22nd-placed Blackburn's final-day result to avoid being relegated to League One.
Blackburn are at Brentford on Sunday, 7 May while Forest will host Ipswich, with both relegation-threatened sides level on points but separated by a goal difference of just one in favour of the Reds.
Wins for both Rovers and Forest would save both sides from the drop if 20th-placed Birmingham fail to win at Bristol City.
At Loftus Road, there seemed little tension between the teams in the first-half of an entertaining tussle, as they exchanged decent chances apiece from Pawel Wszolek for the hosts and Mustapha Carayol for Forest.
Birmingham's opener at home to Huddersfield did not seem to have any impact on the tempo of the game, but Washington's opener after half-time certainly did.
News had barely filtered through that Blackburn were beating Aston Villa when Rangers scored their second, with Lynch towering to meet a corner.
Forest woke up and set about clawing back the deficit, peppering the goal with chances from Ben Osborn, Jamie Ward and Matty Cash who were all denied by Rangers' player of the year Smithies.
Six minutes of added time meant for a frantic finale, but Rangers clung on to spread relief around Shepherd's Bush.
It was only QPR's second win against Forest in 11 games, and their first since April 2014.
QPR manager Ian Holloway:
"It (the threat of relegation) has been on everybody's mind, including the supporters. It's a relief for everybody, but the job starts now.
"I'm delighted with the lads. They needed the fans and the fans were absolutely brilliant - they must have felt nervous but it didn't transmit to my team.
"I know I haven't won enough games. But no-one wants it more than me and I want this club to move forward."
Nottingham Forest boss Mark Warburton:
"We had to expect other teams to win. We know what we have to do. We're at home and our focus is now on preparing well and getting a good performance.
"It's up to us. We're at home. We can't control what happens away from us, and we have enough quality.
"We have been in it (danger) for a number of weeks now and every time they've played the players have had the talk of the threat of relegation and I've been saying they're handling the pressure very well.
"But we've got to take our chances. We looked more desperate and hungry to score after we conceded and we had chances and didn't take them."
Match ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Nottingham Forest 0.
Second Half ends, Queens Park Rangers 2, Nottingham Forest 0.
Offside, Queens Park Rangers. Jamie Mackie tries a through ball, but Yeni N'Gbakoto is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Yeni N'Gbakoto (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Massimo Luongo with a cross.
Attempt saved. Matthew Cash (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by David Vaughan.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Alex Smithies.
Attempt saved. Matthew Cash (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jamie Ward.
Attempt saved. Yeni N'Gbakoto (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Pawel Wszolek.
Attempt saved. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Osborn with a cross.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Pawel Wszolek.
Matt Mills (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jamie Mackie (Queens Park Rangers).
Corner,  Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Jordan Smith.
Corner,  Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Michael Mancienne.
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Michael Doughty replaces Luke Freeman.
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Yeni N'Gbakoto replaces Matt Smith.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Alex Smithies.
Attempt saved. David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Chris Cohen (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jamie Ward.
Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.
Matt Mills (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by James Perch (Queens Park Rangers).
Chris Cohen (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by James Perch (Queens Park Rangers).
David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest).
Luke Freeman (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Matthew Cash (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Jamie Ward.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Alex Smithies.
Attempt saved. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Ben Osborn (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Luke Freeman.
Attempt blocked. Matthew Cash (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Eric Lichaj.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Matt Smith.
Attempt saved. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ben Osborn with a cross.
Corner,  Nottingham Forest. Conceded by James Perch.
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Jamie Mackie replaces Conor Washington.
Foul by Britt Assombalonga (Nottingham Forest).
Joel Lynch (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


Torrential rain in Cambridgeshire caused a riverbank to collapse, left 856 homes without power, trapped drivers and closed two supermarkets.

The weather also hit Norfolk and Lincolnshire, where homes were evacuated and an air display cancelled.
BBC Weather said 50mm of rain fell in Cambridgeshire in an hour, damaging the banks of the River Nene in March.
A Tesco shopper said water was "pouring through the ceiling near the fresh fish counter".
Richard Mayer, 32, became trapped in his car at Bar Hill while he was visiting to buy a home in the area.
Speaking from the vehicle he said: "Water is lapping over the kerb now. People can walk through it, but it's far more than you'd want to drive through.
"I'm sitting in my car on the pavement in order to maintain some height just down from the Bar Hill roundabout near Tesco.
"There are cars everywhere and the flooding is getting worse as people are trying to drive through it, but their engines are cutting out which is causing them to block the road."
Fire service group commander Ryan Stacey said: "We have seven crews currently in the March, Doddington and Wisbech St Mary areas, assisting with evacuating residents, salvaging and pumping water out of homes.
"The exact number of properties affected cannot be confirmed, but we understand that we are assisting currently at least 60 properties."
He warned: "Don't try to drive through standing water - as well as the water damaging your car, there may be hazards under the water you can't see."
A rest centre was opened in St John the Evangelist Parish Hall in Queens Street, March.
There have also been reports of flash flooding in west Norfolk.
Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said officers have been dealing with about 40 flood-related calls with ongoing incidents in Swaffham, Necton, Outwell and Downham Market.
Police in Cambridgeshire urged people to avoid driving on the county's roads unless absolutely necessary due to the "deluge of rain currently being experienced".
Ch Insp Nick Night said: "We are assisting partner agencies including the Highways Agency, Fire and Rescue Service, Fenland District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council with road closures, evacuating residents and pulling vehicles out of flood water.
"We do not have a stock of sandbags, so please do not call 999 requesting any."
The UK Power Network said it had been working to restore power to homes and about 400 homes were still without power at about 21:00 BST on Friday.


The former mayor of a French seaside town has been sentenced to jail for four years for ignoring flood risks before a storm that killed 29 people.

Rene Marratier hid the risks to La Faute-sur-Mer to avoid putting off property developers, the court said.
The storm Xynthia hit western Europe in early 2010. The storm knocked down seawalls in La Faute-sur-Mer, leading to severe flooding.
Marratier called the verdict "unjust" and said he would appeal.
On Friday, the court said that Marratier knew La Faute-sur-Mer, a west coast resort in the Pays de la Loire region, was at risk of flooding.
However, he "deliberately hid" the risk so that he could benefit from the "cash-cow" of property development, the court added.
Marratier's deputy was jailed for two years.
Xynthia swept through Spain, Portugal and France in February 2010, killing at least 50 people in western Europe.


The Australian Rugby Union has announced its intention to drop Perth-based Western Force from Super Rugby, although a legal challenge to the decision is being considered.

The ARU is reducing the size of the competition from 18 teams to 15 because of falling revenues and fan interest.
South Africa are to lose two sides in 2018 with Australia losing one.
The decision to drop Western Force has been "guided primarily by financial outcomes", the ARU said.
"This is a sad day for rugby, especially for Western Force fans," ARU chairman Cameron Clyne said.
"We accept that there will be anger and resentment over this decision and we sympathise with those fans. We sincerely hope that they are not lost to the game forever."
Rugby Western Australia plans to pursue "every possible means" to ensure the Force stay in the competition.
The organisation said in a statement: "RugbyWA is considering all options including bringing urgent proceedings in the Supreme Court and legal action relating to the circumstances which led it to enter into the alliance agreement with the ARU."
The Super Rugby competition, which features sides from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan, initially expanded to 15 teams from 2011 before adding three further sides in 2016.
South African sides Cheetahs and Kings will now play in the Pro14.


A short boat trip across the river Tigris takes you from Iraq into northern Syria.

Both sides of this frontier are controlled by the Kurds, who have forged their own path through the country's brutal civil war, between the opposition and the regime.
Further south, the fighters of Islamic State (IS) have erased the border between Syria and Iraq, proclaiming their Caliphate.
This war is redrawing the map of the region. As IS have carved out their territory, so have the Kurds.
The two sides meet at a place called Jezaa, where the rolling hills of the north give way to the flat, dusty plain of the desert.
A Kurdish commander points to a small town shimmering on the horizon in the midday heat: it is controlled by IS, he says.
There are clashes here almost daily, between IS fighters and the Syrian Kurdish "People's Protection Units", also known as "YPG".
The YPG is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Turkish-Kurdish guerrilla group labelled a terrorist organisation by the US and the EU.
Around a third of the Syrian Kurdish force is made up of women. On the front lines they fight alongside the men, taking the same risks and facing the same dangers.
"Women are the bravest fighters," says Diren, taking refuge from the scorching heat in the cool of an underground bunker.
She and three comrades are having lunch: flatbread, cheese and watermelon. Many of the fighters, like Diren, 19, are still teenagers.
"We're not scared of anything," she says. "We'll fight to the last. We'd rather blow ourselves up than be captured by IS."
Like the followers of the Islamic State, most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. But that is where the similarities end. Diren says that, to the fanatics of IS, a female fighter is "haram", anathema: a disturbing and scary sight.
"When they see a woman with a gun, they're so afraid they begin to shake. They portray themselves as tough guys to the world. But when they see us with our guns they run away. They see a woman as just a small thing. But one of our women is worth a hundred of their men."
The Kurds have been battling Islamic State in this part of northern Syria for more than two years. Unlike the Iraqis, they have been relatively successful in consolidating their territory, without the help of US airstrikes.
Asia Abdulla is co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the dominant political party in Kurdish-controlled Syria. Like almost all officials here, a large portrait of the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan hangs in her office.
In their fight against IS, she says, the Kurds are supported by a majority of the local population, including Arabs and Christians. But she admits they could use some outside help.
"Islamic State is a big threat for the whole Middle East and all of the Syrian people. We are doing most of the fighting, and we need more support from regional powers."
In the deserted villages around the front line, the only sign of life is the barrel of a tank peeping out between the mud houses. Most of the civilian population has left. The only people remaining are here to fight.
A lone figure appears in a doorway. His face is covered in a scarf and he is holding a Kalashnikov rifle. His name, he says, is Abu Bandar Hadi.
The terrifying speed of Islamic State's expansion has come in large part thanks to its ability to draw support from local Sunni tribes. Mr Hadi says that IS has split his community.
"Half of the people around here are with IS. They opened their gates to them. They were our neighbours, our families, until they joined Islamic State."
The Kurds play down the extent of the role played by foreigners in their battle with IS.
"Most of the fighters we catch are locals", says Sores Xani, a member of the Asayish, Kurdish Intelligence.
He showed us an ID card belonging to a young Saudi man: taken from the body of a dead fighter, Mr Xani said:
"The foreign fighters all wear suicide belts. When we capture them they blow themselves up."
The Kurds of northern Syria are in an existential fight. The country's brutal civil war has given them the opportunity to wrest control over some of the territory they claim from the regime in Damascus.
But the frontiers of their long-dreamed-of state clash with those of the Caliphate proclaimed by Islamic State. And they know they will not be able to defeat this fanatically brutal movement on their own.


Hundreds of thousands of people have joined peaceful demonstrations across Brazil against government corruption.

Crowds were generally smaller than in March when more than 1.5 million people turned out.
They allege involvement of the governing Worker's Party in bribery at the state oil firm Petrobas.
President Dilma Rousseff denies involvement and has been exonerated in an investigation by the attorney general.
The political opposition say much of the alleged bribery of politicians took place when Ms Rousseff was head of the oil company.
Despite her exoneration, many protestors still believe that the president must have known about the scandal. Some have been calling for her impeachment.
The number of protestors varied widely. Police have said that 696,000 people took to the streets on Sunday but organisers have put the number at 1.5 million, according to Globo news.
Many of the protestors wore the yellow shirts of the national football team and waved Brazilian flags. Others held placards reading "Dilma out" and "Corrupt government".
In Rio de Janeiro, several thousand people marched along Copacabana beach, a turnout reported to be considerably lower than the 25,000 protestors seen on 15 March.
A BBC correspondent in Rio de Janeiro says that most of the protestors in the city were white and middle class.
The exact turnout in the city of Sao Paulo is unclear. Police say 275,000 participated in the march but organisers have put the figure nearer 1 million.
After the protests in March, the government promised a series of measures to combat corruption and impunity.
The Workers' Party has been in power since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his first term in January 2003.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court approved the investigation of 54 people for their alleged involvement in a corrupt scheme.
It is alleged that private companies paid corrupt officials in order to get lucrative Petrobras contracts.
High-profile politicians also took a share of the money siphoned off from the oil company, according to the investigation.
Officials to be investigated include Senate President Renan Calheiros, President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, former Energy Minister Edison Lobao and former President Fernando Collor de Mello.
All deny corruption allegations.


Ferry services have been cancelled between Dorset and the Channel Islands due to warnings of gale force winds.

Condor Ferries has cancelled return services from Poole to Guernsey and Guernsey to Jersey because of "inclement weather conditions".
The services affected are the 13:00 BST Poole to Guernsey, 16:30 Guernsey to Jersey, 18:30 Jersey to Guernsey and 20:00 Guernsey to Poole.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning in southern England.
Wind could reach speeds of 60mph (97km/h) in exposed coastal sites, it said.


Players not selected for the British and Irish Lions squad to face New Zealand this summer must train as if they are going on the tour, says 2013 series winner Alex Corbisiero.

The former England prop was not initially selected for the trip to Australia four years ago, but was called up as an injury replacement.
He went on to play a starring role in the third Test win over the Wallabies.
"It's a long way to go before you get to those Tests," Corbisiero, 28, said.
The tour, which runs from 3 June to 8 July, features three Tests against the All Blacks, who are world champions.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast, he added: "My advice to anyone who hasn't been selected is to stay ready and train like you are going, because you never know what is going to happen."
After missing out on Lions selection, Corbisiero went on tour to Argentina with England before being called into the Lions squad as cover for Ireland's Cian Healy.
"I felt like I was good enough to go on the tour, but I remember watching the announcement and deep down it did hurt," he added.
"I had a little bit of a sulk, a little bit of grieving, but then I used it as fire to make sure I trained harder. My last few games for London Irish, I went out there to try and put performances in and try and show I was a Test player.
"I genuinely trained as hard as I could, like I was going to go [on the Lions tour]. I went to Argentina and then I got the call. I turned up on that tour and in my head I was determined to prove I deserved to be there from the start."
Corbisiero also backed his former Northampton team-mate Dylan Hartley to recover from his Lions omission.
Hooker Hartley was one of a number of high-profile players to miss out on Warren Gatland's 41-man squad and will now captain England in Argentina this summer.
"Unfortunately Dylan has had to swallow a few tough pills before," Corbisiero added.
"A lot of the time they were maybe self-inflicted wounds, but this is one where he has actually not been selected, and it's not down to something he did, so it might be a new experience for him.
"But at the same time he is a very resilient character and he is strong willed. He is going to Argentina, he is going to be playing, he is going to be fit and ready, and there is probably a good chance he is going to be on that Lions tour."


A student jailed in Dubai has gone on hunger strike in protest over the UK government's "lack of action" in calling for him to be pardoned, says his father.

Ahmad Zeidan was jailed for nine years in 2014 for drug possession, but says he was tortured to admit the charge.
Manal Zeidan says he is being treated like a "third-class citizen" because he does not have "an Anglo-Saxon name".
The Foreign Office said it continued "to assist Mr Zeidan", of Reading.
In 2013 Zeidan, a student at the Emirates Aviation College in Dubai, was part of a group who had accepted a ride in a friend's car when police stopped them and found 0.04 grams of cocaine, worth about Â£3, in the vehicle.
The other men were given pardons or were acquitted but Zeidan, the only British citizen, was jailed.
"He is starting a hunger strike to protest the lack of action by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to raise a request for a pardon", Mr Zeidan told BBC Radio Berkshire.
"The UK government has previously requested people's release at the highest level.
"He feels he is being treated as a third class citizen for no reason other than the fact he does not have an Anglo Saxon name".
A bilateral meeting between the British and UAE governments took place in March 2016 after Zeidan's case was raised in parliament by Reading West MP Alok Sharma.
But in an email seen by the BBC, a Foreign Office caseworker told his father that during the meeting "it was decided that Ahmad's case did not reach the threshold for Her Majesty's Government to support a clemency request".
This suggests the Foreign Office has made no formal request for a pardon.
Mr Zeidan claims his son was left in solitary confinement in prison for complaining about his conditions, and talking to the British Embassy.
"He's in a state of trauma, he's got severe depression," he said.  "He was in the prime of his life as a student, he was in the middle of his studies, and looking forward to a career in aviation.
"He has lost his future".
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it would not comment on consular cases and cannot confirm or deny the hunger strike claim being made by Zeidan's family.
The UK ambassador for the UAE said the country "has the strongest rule of law of any country in the region, and among the strongest in the world.
Amb. Sulaiman Al Mazroui added: Abuse of detainees is a crime and any and all allegations of abuse formally registered with the appropriate authorities are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated".


The BBC has revealed two-thirds of its stars earning more than £150,000 are male, with Chris Evans the top-paid on between £2.2m and £2.25m.

Claudia Winkleman was the highest-paid female celebrity, earning between £450,000 and £500,000 last year, its annual report for 2016/2017 says.
The One Show's Alex Jones was second, earning between £400,000 and £450,000.
BBC director general Tony Hall said there was "more to do" on the gender pay gap.
The top seven earners, in the list of the BBC's 96 best-paid stars, were all male.
It is the first time the pay of stars earning more than £150,000 has been made public.
The BBC has been compelled to reveal the information under the terms of its new Royal Charter.
Speaking on LBC Radio, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "We've seen the way the BBC is paying women less for doing the same job... I want women to be paid equally."
When asked if Evans was worth considerably more than her, she said: "What's important is that the BBC looks at the question of paying men and women the same for doing the same job."
The total bill for the 96 personalities was £28.7m but the figures in the report reveal large disparities between what men and women are paid.
"On gender and diversity, the BBC is more diverse than the broadcasting industry and the civil service," Lord Hall said.
"We've made progress, but we recognise there is more to do and we are pushing further and faster than any other broadcaster."
When asked if female stars working at the BBC would now be asking for pay rises, Lord Hall said: "We will be working carefully on our relationship with our talent."
He also pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2020.
Trade union Equity said in a statement: "The apparent pay gaps in gender and for those from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background are troubling."
Woman's Hour's Jane Garvey tweeted: "I'm looking forward to presenting @BBCWomansHour today. We'll be discussing #GenderPayGap . As we've done since 1946. Going well, isn't it?"
Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis retweeted Garvey's message.
Other high profile omissions including the Today programme's Sarah Montague, BBC Breakfast's Louise Minchin and Woman's Hour's Jenni Murray.
Radio 4 Today presenter John Humphrys, acknowledged that his £600,000 salary was hard to justify: "On paper, absolutely nothing that justifies that huge amount of money, if you compare me with lots of other people who do visibly.
"If a doctor saves a child's life, if a nurse comforts a dying person, a fireman rushes into Grenfell Tower, then of course you could argue that compared with that sort of thing I'm not worth tuppence ha'penny.  However, we operate in a market place."
There is also a gap between the pay for white stars and those from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.
George Alagiah, Jason Mohammad and Trevor Nelson are the highest paid BAME presenters, each receiving between £250,000 and £300,000.
The highest-paid female star with a BAME background is BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, who earned between £200,000 and £250,000.
The annual report does not include stars who receive their pay through BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm.
The figures quoted only refer to the amount of licence fee money each person receives and do not include their earnings from other broadcasters or commercial activities. They also exclude stars paid through independent production companies.
That means some big name stars - such as David Attenborough, Benedict Cumberbatch and Matt LeBlanc - do not appear on the list.
The list also does not distinguish between people who are paid for doing multiple jobs within the BBC and those who are just paid for one. Talent pay is considerably higher in the commercial sector.
As he left the BBC after his Radio 2 breakfast show on Wednesday, Chris Evans said it was right "on balance" that star salaries were being disclosed.
"We are the ultimate public company I think, and therefore it's probably right and proper people know what we get paid," he told reporters.
During a briefing on the annual report on Wednesday morning, Lord Hall said: "Chris Evans is presenting the most popular show on the most popular radio network in Europe.
"The BBC does not exist in a market on its own where it can set the market rates.
"If we are to give the public what they want, then we have to pay for those great presenters and stars."
Aside from Strictly, Winkleman's other BBC roles include presenting The Great British Sewing Bee and her Radio 2 Sunday night show. Her agent said she would be making no comment.
Casualty star Derek Thompson was the BBC's highest paid actor, receiving between £350,000 and £400,000 over the last financial year.
Amanda Mealing, who also stars in Casualty as well as Holby City, was the highest paid actress, receiving between £250,000 and £300,000.
Clare Balding earned between £150,000 and £200,000 for her work on sports shows including Wimbledon Today and the Rio Olympics.
The overall spend on talent was £193.5m - down on the £200m spent in 2015/2016.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Port Vale have signed Scott Tanser from fellow League One side Rochdale on a deal until the end of the season.

The 22-year-old left-back becomes Vale caretaker boss Michael Brown's fourth January signing.
He follows the arrival of experienced winger Chris Eagles and two loan signings, striker Tyler Walker from Nottingham Forest and midfielder Callum Guy from Derby County.
Tanser made his Rochdale debut in a 1-0 League Two win over Plymouth in 2013.
Having previously been on the junior playing staff at both Blackpool and Burnley, he played 59 times for Dale, but did not feature over the second half of last season and has made just nine appearances this term.
Ahead of Saturday's trip to second-placed Scunthorpe, Vale are 15th in League One and six points clear of the relegation places, following the 2-2 home draw with 21st-placed Bury on 20 January.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here.


A food bank charity says it has handed out 913,000 food parcels in the last year, up from 347,000 the year before.

The Trussell Trust said a third were given to repeat visitors but that there was a "shocking" 51% rise in clients to established food banks. It said benefit payment delays were the main cause.
In a letter to ministers, more than 500 clergy say the increase is "terrible".
The government said there was no evidence of a link between welfare reforms and the use of food banks.
However, the Trussell Trust, the largest food bank provider in the UK, said benefits payments had been a particular problem since welfare changes were introduced just over a year ago.
Some 83% of food banks reported that benefits sanctions - when payments are temporarily stopped - had resulted in more people being referred for emergency food.
And more than 30% of visits were put down to a delay in welfare payments.
The second biggest reason, given by 20% of food bank users, was low income.
"In the last year, we've seen things get worse, rather than better, for many people on low incomes," said Chris Mould, chairman of the Trussell Trust.
In all, 913,000 people received three days of emergency food supplies in the past 12 months.
But more than a third of those cases represented repeat visits. Some of the increase was also down to extra food banks opening.
Andy, a 47 year-old unemployed electrician, applied for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) a week ago, but has not heard when the money will come through.
In the meantime, he has been referred to a food bank near his home in Hackney in north London.
"If I didn't come here, there wouldn't be any food for me tonight. It's the system. But I don't understand why there's a gap," he told the BBC.
Andy was sent away with two shopping bags of pasta, rice, vegetables, biscuits and juice.
The clergy from all major dominations, who include Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan and several senior Church of England bishops, describe the increase in the use of Trussell Trust food banks as "terrible", in a letter to the government.
They insist it does not give a full picture of hunger in the UK because it does not include people who are too ashamed to use food banks and others who are cutting the size of meals.
They called on ministers to co-operate with an inquiry into the causes of hunger, led by the Bishop of Truro Tim Thornton.
A public vigil will be held on Wednesday night in Westminster to highlight the issue.
The government denies that welfare payments are a problem.
"There is no robust evidence that welfare reforms or benefit administration are linked to increased use of food banks," said a spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
She also maintained that the amount of time taken to process payments had improved.
By Robert PigottReligious affairs correspondent, BBC News
Churches have been in the lead in criticising the effects of the government's welfare changes for more than a year, and looking for tangible evidence of "hunger" to back up their argument that they disproportionately affect the poorest people.
The figures for the use of food banks seem to provide at least an indication of food poverty, but how far they do is open to debate.
The Trussell Trust - which has taken on a campaigning role as well as providing food banks - says that at least 60% of their three-day parcels are taken by once-only clients, but that leaves some room for repeat visits, as the government has pointed out.
Ministers have also suggested that the publicity surrounding food banks will have pushed people in their direction.  But arguments like this haven't deflected the clergy, who insist much of the real extent of hunger is hidden, as people cut the size of meals and parents go hungry to feed their children.   They want a national debate about the issue, and to make it a moral issue, one the government shows every sign of being willing to take part in.
Ministers say that before their changes, benefits paid more than work and left many people "trapped" on welfare - something they insist was far from caring.
Some 92% of payments were now made within the target time of 16 days, a 6% improvement on the time taken five years ago, she told the BBC.
But an additional problem since April 2013 has been the abolition of DWP-funded crisis loans, designed to cover short-term emergencies.
Responsibility for these loans has been devolved to local authorities, which can make them harder to access.
Short-term advances, as they are known, are still available through job centres for people awaiting benefit payments. But many claimants - including Andy - are not always made aware of them.
Other people have their payments stopped, sometimes because they have missed an appointment, or have lost paperwork.
"We're often surprised by the length of sanctions people get," said Liza Cucco, the manager of the Hackney food bank.
"If someone is late for an appointment, I'm not sure it's reasonable to block their payments for four to six weeks," she told the BBC.
However the government said it was spending Â£94bn a year on working age benefits to provide a safety net to millions of people on low incomes.
It also insisted that its welfare reforms will promote work, and so lift millions of people out of poverty.


A man has been jailed for four and a half years for killing a pensioner during a botched burglary at an elderly couple's home in County Londonderry.

Bertie Acheson, who was 72, died after a confrontation with the intruder at his home in Glenmore Gardens, Coleraine, in April 2012.
Paul James Manolito Toland, originally of The Cedars, Antrim, had pleaded guilty to Mr Acheson's manslaughter.
After his release he must serve a further four and half years on licence.
Toland, a father of four, has 18 previous convictions for burglary.
He was confronted by his victim after he broke into the couple's home to steal money.
There was a struggle and Mr Acheson, who cared for his disabled wife Sheila, suffered a heart attack and died on his kitchen floor.
Speaking after the sentencing, the senior investigating officer in the case said the Acheson family had been left "devastated" by his loss, particularly his widow.
Det Ch Insp Ian Harrison said the fact that Toland was sentenced on what would have been Mr Acheson's 75th birthday had a "double impact" on the pensioner's loved ones.
"A person who I deem to be dangerous has now been taken off the streets and people can now feel safe in their homes," the officer said.
"Paul Toland was a predator. He preyed on the vulnerable and elderly and equally infirm couple who had been married for 44 years. His actions resulted in the death of Bertie Acheson, for just over Â£300."
An earlier court hearing was told that the couple were woken up by the sound of breaking glass in the early hours of 20 April 2012.
Mr Acheson went to investigate.  His widow later told police she overheard a verbal altercation between her husband and an intruder, during which money was demanded.
Mrs Acheson claimed she also heard the sound of a scuffle and gasping for breath. She managed to raise the alarm, but when ambulance personnel and police arrived at the scene, her husband was already dead.
Toland had originally been charged with Mr Acheson's murder, but at a court hearing in October, a defence lawyer asked that his client be re-arraigned. Toland told Belfast Crown Court that he was not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
He also admitted the robbery of Mrs Acheson, who had Â£335 stolen from her purse during the burglary.
Det Ch Insp Harrison paid tribute to the courage and resilience of the pensioner's family throughout the "long and protracted inquiry".
The officer said that Toland had been in the couple's house the previous month to repair a vacuum cleaner and had been paid in cash.
"We believe that Toland's greed brought him back to the house in the expectation that he could break in and steal whatever cash he could get his hands on," Det Ch Insp Harrison added.
He appealed to the public not to store cash at home saying they were exposing themselves to "unnecessary risk".
"In memory of Bertie Acheson, and to avoid the pain still being suffered by his family, please do not keep large amounts of money at home," the officer said.


A clothing tycoon has lost appeals against his conviction and fine for damaging ancient Cumbrian woodland.

Phillip Day was prosecuted in 2013 for clearing part of Gelt Woods, near Brampton, for a pheasant shoot.
The owner of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain was fined Â£450,000 and ordered to pay Â£457,000 in costs, after admitting two charges brought by Natural England.
Judges at London's Criminal Appeal Court dismissed challenges to his conviction and the amount of his fine.
The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is protected due its age and the form of gorge woodland, a type particular to north Cumbria and parts of Scotland.
During his trial at Carlisle Crown Court, the 48-year-old businessman denied he had played any part in giving any instructions for the work, which involved the felling of trees and excavation of land to build an access track.
He claimed he had not been consulted about it and did not know it might be done, but later admitted two counts of allowing unauthorised work to be carried out.
At the Appeal Court, his lawyers argued the crown court judge's "approach to the case was wrong" and the fine "disproportionate".
However, the appeal court judge pointed to the original guilty pleas, which were made in "clear and unequivocal terms" and said the fine was "entirely proportionate".
Following the failure of his appeal, Mr Day said, in a statement, he was surprised and disappointed by the decision and would consider going to the Supreme Court.


MSP Rhoda Grant has called on the Scottish government to help fund the cost of a permanent solution to the trouble-hit A890 Stromeferry bypass.

The road has been badly affected by rock falls in recent years, with one slide closing it for four months.
Highland Council cannot afford the proposed solutions - a new bridge and bypass at an estimated cost of Â£100m, or diverting the existing road.
The government said it and the council were discussing the options.
Scottish Labour MSP Ms Grant said: "It is a real safety issue and just been good fortune no-one has been killed on this road because there have been huge landslides."
She said the bypass was used to take schoolchildren to Plockton High School.
The Scottish government said the work being done by Highland Council to build a safer route to replace the Stromeferry bypass was recognised.
A spokesperson said: "Transport Scotland is in continued discussions with Highland Council to help them identify a solution, and are providing technical advice as part of the appraisal of possible options.
"Any decision on providing financial support for the preferred option will be determined by the availability of resources within future spending reviews."
The A890 helps to connect Lochcarron to Plockton, and its high school, and eventually with Kyle, on the opposite side of Loch Carron.
The road runs across the top of the sea loch to link up with the A896, the main road to Lochcarron.
When the bypass is closed, drivers face having to take a 140-mile (225km) diversion, instead of the usual 18 miles (29km) from Lochcarron to Plockton.


More than 100 UK businesses have won Queen's Awards for international trade.

They include Jaguar Land Rover and Veolia Environmental Services UK, as well as smaller businesses, including All3Media, which makes programmes including Horrible Histories, and children's clothing company, Frugi.
Other companies have been granted awards for sustainable development and innovation.
The awards are designed to reward growth and enterprise.
A survey of Queen's Awards winners found 76% said the win had brought added commercial value to their business.
The winning businesses come from a range of sectors including fashion, food and drink, media, IT and construction, and range from enterprising small businesses, with just a handful of employees, to companies employing thousands.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Companies that are growing, innovating and championing UK business overseas deserve the recognition that these awards bestow."
This year 162 businesses have been recognised, with 110 winning awards for international trade; 39 for innovation and 13 for sustainable development.
Eight individuals won the Queen's Award for enterprise promotion, nominated by their peers for their efforts to encourage UK entrepreneurship.
Their nominations show that, in addition to being full-time entrepreneurs, they have voluntarily passed their skills and experience on to others, involving themselves in education and providing help and support to develop people's business skills.
Winners are presented with a crystal bowl and are invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace.
They can use the Queen's Award emblem in advertising, marketing and on packaging for a period of five years, as a symbol of their quality and success.


Having a glittering career in the public eye may come at the cost of a shorter life, an analysis of obituaries in a US newspaper suggests.

It showed performers and sports stars tended to die a few years younger than people successful in other careers.
The researchers acknowledge the study does not provide any conclusive answers, but said it asked interesting questions about the cost of fame.
The data was published in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine.
Researchers in Australia looked at 1,000 obituaries in the New York Times between 2009 and 2011.
They showed that performers, such as actors, singers and musicians, as well those who made a career in sport died the youngest - at an average age of 77.
Writers, composers and artists died at 79. Those classed as academics, including historians and economists, survived until 82 on average while those in business or politics made 83.
The researchers, at the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales, said cancer, particularly tumours in the lungs, was more common in performers.
Professor Richard Epstein said: "A one-off retrospective analysis like this can't prove anything, but it raises some interesting questions.
"First, if it is true that successful performers and sports players tend to enjoy shorter lives, does this imply that fame at younger ages predisposes to poor health behaviours in later life after success has faded?
"Or that psychological and family pressures favouring unusually high public achievement lead to self-destructive tendencies throughout life?
"Or that risk-taking personality traits maximise one's chances of success, with the use of cigarettes, alcohol or illicit drugs improving one's performance output in the short term?"
He added that, whatever the reason, the findings should be considered as a "health warning to young people aspiring to become stars".
Honey Langcaster-James, a psychologist who specialises in celebrity behaviour, said so few people achieved star status that it made it difficult to scientifically study the effect on people's lives.
She said: "The results are interesting of themselves as they suggest an inherent hazard of a public career and that all that glitters is not necessarily gold.
"They may be paying a high price for their career."
However she said it was not easy to come up with a scientific explanation.
On the one hand she said such a career "has unique stressors" such as "the pressure to live up to a public image, which can lead to risky behaviours".
Yet she suspected that "particular personal characteristics predispose people to wanting a career in the public arena", which may also lead to lifestyle choices affecting health.


A man has been fined for destroying 30 acres of priority habitat within an environmentally protected zone at Slieve Gullion, County Armagh.

Derek Johnston, of Carrickasticken Road, Forkhill, was fined Â£3,400.
Inspectors from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency visited a site owned by him five times between October 2012 and July 2014.
They saw areas being burned, sprayed and vegetation being removed with machinery.
This took place within the Slieve Gullion Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) and the Slieve Gullion Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
In total, 30 acres of priority dry heath habitat was destroyed.
Mr Johnston was fined for five breaches of the Environment Order.
It is an offence to carry out such works in a protected area without notification or permission.
Slieve Gullion is one of the largest expanses of European dry heath in Northern Ireland.
An ASSI is a national designation of an area of special significance. An SAC is a European designation.


The Scottish football authorities should come up with tougher ways of dealing with sectarianism, according to a government-commissioned study.

The recommendation was one of a series made by the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism.
Scottish clubs do not currently operate a policy of "strict liability", which would see them held responsible for the behaviour of their fans.
The report challenged clubs to come up with an alternative.
And it said sanctions were "urgently needed".
The final report follows a two year study by the advisory group, which saw it gather evidence, research and opinions from across wide sections of Scottish society.
The advisory group has now made a number of recommendations for churches, football clubs, media and government bodies.
But it highlighted football in particular as an area where action to tackle the issue was urgently required.
The report said: "It is clear that a strategic and measured response to Scotland's remnants of sectarian attitudes and behaviour cannot succeed without squarely addressing the sectarian problems within and around football."
The group said it was "struck by the reticence about leadership in addressing sectarianism from within Scottish football".
It said that during meetings with both the football authorities and Celtic and Rangers Football Clubs, it was suggested the system of "strict liability" for fans misbehaviour -  which has been in place for a number of years in UEFA competitions  - would "be difficult, if not impossible, to introduce in Scotland".
However, the group said: "We feel very strongly that sanctions are urgently needed and remain of the view that their introduction would not simply be a step towards tackling sectarianism, but also an important step towards clubs and their fans taking responsibility for their actions as we all have to do elsewhere in society."
One of the reasons given by clubs and the football authorities for not adopting "strict liability" was the financial impact it could have.
The report said: "We were told that one reason that strict liability was unworkable in Scotland was because certain stadia would be closed for months leading to severe financial hardship for particular clubs.
"However, that claim also makes the case for action. If elements within Scottish football make it so toxic that it cannot survive the introduction of strict liability, then we need to find ways to address these elements."
The report said the issue of marches and parades "remains contentious."
It said: "The ultimate responsibility for such events, the behaviour associated with them and those who turn up to spectate lies with those organising the event."
The group said more should be done by march organisers to reassure the general public about the nature of the parades, and issues of public safety and public order.
It also said those who organise the events should take more responsibility for the behaviour of so-called "hangers-on".
The report also urged the media to play a role in tackling sectarianism by not "sensationalising" or "stoking the flames of sectarianism" through headlines.
It cited the example of the Celtic v Rangers league cup semi-final in February.
Chairman of the advisory group, Dr Duncan Morrow said: "Our work over the last two years has explored how sectarianism continues to manifest itself in Scotland today and how it still has the power to impact negatively on people's lives.
"But we have also seen a strong hunger for change across Scotland and a real desire to make sectarianism a thing of the past.
"I believe that this desire amounts to a real commitment from Scotland's communities and a challenge for leaders and institutions to set out a clear and inclusive vision that rejects avoidance and blame."
The Scottish government welcomed the recommendations made by the advisory group.
Community Safety and Legal Affairs Minister Paul Wheelhouse, said: "This Scottish government will continue to do all it can to create a Scotland free from the scourge of sectarianism through a range of approaches.
"As a result of the work undertaken by the independent advisory group and our many community based projects we now understand the nature and extent of sectarianism better than ever before."
He added: "The report published today makes it clear that the approach we are taking is the right one.
"It also confirms that each and every person in Scotland has a part to play in tackling sectarianism and I would urge everyone in Scotland to consider how they can help stamp out this issue."
Anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth, which has repeatedly called for Scottish football to introduce the "strict liability" policy, welcomed the group's recommendations.
Campaign director Dave Scott said: "Football in particular has to face up to the reality of its responsibilities.
"We are pleased that the advisory group has recognised the importance of 'strict liability' being introduced into the Scottish game."
He added: "The SFA AGM is to be held next month and we still have time to introduce strict liability for next season if the clubs have the will and courage to act.
"The choice for the game is simple: remain part of the problem or be part of the solution."


Facebook's effort to provide Indians with free access to a limited number of internet services has run into trouble.

India's telecoms regulator has asked the mobile network that partnered with the US firm to put their Free Basics offer on hold.
Data fees are relatively expensive in India, and the initiative aims to prevent this being a deterrent.
But critics of the Free Basics service say it runs contrary to net neutrality principles.
They suggest data providers should not favour some online services over others by offering cheaper or faster access.
A spokesman for Reliance Communications - the mobile network that had supported the scheme - confirmed it would comply with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's demand.
"As directed by TRAI, the commercial launch of Free Basics has been kept in abeyance, until they consider all details and convey a specific approval," a spokesman told the BBC.
He added that the watchdog had only explained its decision by saying it wanted to "examine the details and intrinsics" of the offer, but had not provided further detail.
However, the Times of India quoted a source who confirmed the decision was indeed related to the net neutrality controversy.
"The question has arisen whether a telecom operator should be allowed to have differential pricing for different kinds of content," they said.
"Unless that question is answered, it will not be appropriate for us to continue to make that happen."
Facebook said that it would continue to lobby for its scheme.
"We are committed to Free Basics and to working with Reliance and the relevant authorities to help people in India get connected," a spokeswoman said.
Facebook launched Internet.org as a partnership with several mobile operators in emerging economies in 2013 as a means to "introduce people to the benefits of the internet".
The associated app, which provides access to selected services, was renamed as Free Basics earlier this year.
Content includes pages from selected local news and weather forecast providers, the BBC, Wikipedia and various health services.
It is offered in 36 countries and Facebook says it believes more than 15 million people have been brought online who would otherwise not be using the net.
Reliance began offering the scheme in February and then extended it to all its subscribers in November, but it has faced criticism.
Local start-ups complained they risked being disadvantaged because they were not included, and in April several larger groups that had initially signed up to the scheme - including the media conglomerate Times Group and the travel booking site Cleartrip - pulled their services, citing concerns about it failing to provide a "fair, level playing field".
Facebook attempted to address such concerns by saying it would allow more services to join, but the firm's founder Mark Zuckerberg warned it was "not sustainable to offer the whole internet for free".
Part of the attraction for the mobile networks was their expectation that users would see the benefits of the internet and want to pay for fuller access.
In recent weeks Facebook has stepped up its campaign by paying for billboard adverts and full-page ads in newspapers.
In addition, it has texted users and shown a notice when locals sign into its platform urging them to contact TRAI and tell it they support the Free Basics initiative.
The regulator is set to hold a hearing into net neutrality in January.


Ross County manager Jim McIntyre paid tribute to the club's chairman Roy MacGregor after leading the Staggies to their first major trophy.

Alex Schalk's last-minute goal gave County a 2-1 victory over Hibernian in the League Cup final at Hampden.
"He really deserves it. He's put Dingwall on the map and he's been absolutely fantastic for this club. He is Mr Ross County," McIntyre said.
"For us to be able to give him a bit of silverware is so pleasing."
McIntyre concedes his players rode their luck at times, but believes they are fully deserving of their winners medals.
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"We've taken our chances when it counts," he noted. "These games are all about winning.
"Nobody ever remembers the losers. That was my message to the players."
It was a momentous day in the history of the Highlands outfit, who have finished fifth, seventh and ninth since promotion to the Premiership in 2012, and currently lie fourth in the table with nine games left.
MacGregor says he hopes County's achievement will spur other smaller clubs in Scotland on to greater things.
"I'm really proud for everyone and delighted for these fans," said the chairman. "Absolutely incredible. We've been on a journey together and this is not the end of the journey. We look forward to the next chapter.
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"We've just got to battle on and see if we can come in the top six of the league. It will be a milestone for the club if we can do that.
"We're a community club and hopefully that gives encouragement to all the community clubs in Scotland."
Match-winner Schalk, 23, says the cup win is just reward for a squad who "go through hell" together.
"We fought so hard today," said the Dutchman, who joined the club last October. "They're a great side Hibs, and played fantastic. Second half, we fought for each other.
"The whole season with his squad, we go through hell for each other. The 90th-minute goal couldn't be better for me though.
"It was a fantastic counter-attack. I am where I'm supposed to be as a striker. Tap-in, 2-1, cup-winners."
County assistant manager Billy Dodds was pleased at how well the team recovered after a nervy opening to the match.
"Hibs were the better team first half. I thought we froze a little bit. It was an eachy-peachy second half, could have gone either way.
"I thought we stuck in, worked hard and we got the break.
"I'm just delighted. I would have hated this bunch of lads to go on and lose this. I don't know what would've happened."


League One side Bury have signed striker Chris Brown on a one-year deal after his release by Blackburn Rovers.

The 31-year-old spent two seasons at Rovers but failed to score in his 41 appearances.
Brown came through the youth system at Sunderland and has played for Doncaster Rovers, Hull City, Norwich City and Preston North End.
His deal includes the option of another year and he is available for Saturday's season opener against Charlton.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


All living flowers ultimately derive from a single ancestor that lived about 140 million years ago, a study suggests.

Scientists combined models of flower evolution with the largest data set of features from living flowers ever assembled.
From this the team was able to infer the appearance of the ancestral flower.
The flower had many concentric cycles of petal-like organs in sets of three, arranged in whorls, and was bisexual.
Hervé Sauquet, from Université Paris-Sud, France, one of the authors of the paper published this week in Nature Communications said: "There is no living flower that looks exactly like the ancestral one - and why should there be? This is a flower that existed at least 140 million years ago and has had considerable time to evolve into the incredible diversity of flowers that exist today."
We are all familiar with the beauty of flowers - the reproductive structures produced by about 90 % of all living land plants. But their origin and early evolution is a mystery. This is mainly owing to the lack of fossil flowers from the time period when the ancestor of living flowers is thought to have existed.
Dr Jason Hilton from the University of Birmingham, UK, who was not involved in the study, said: "The structure and organisation of the ancestral flower has remained enigmatic.
For instance, we don't know if the oldest flowers were unisexual or bisexual, or if they were pollinated by wind or insects."
To reconstruct the appearance of the first flower, the scientists recorded the features - such as the petals and sepals  - of the flowers from 792 living species.
They mapped the distribution of these features on to the evolutionary tree of flowering plants enabling them to build a picture of what flowers looked like at key points in their history - including the last common ancestor of all living flowers.
The first flower is reconstructed with petal-like structures arranged in a whorl, so each petal appears in the same plane, like a common lily (but with more whorls), rather than in a spiral, where petals overlap in a spiral arrangement around the stem, like a lotus.
"For some of the features we studied, the result was surprising, especially the fact that organs (such as sepals and petals and the stamens) were probably arranged in whorls instead of spirals, as commonly assumed for the ancestral flower," said Hervé Sauquet.
Sex evolution in flowers has been highly debated. Flowers can be unisexual or bisexual and this study infers a bisexual early flower with both male and female organs.
"This study is important as it tells us how complicated the ancestral flower is likely to be - now the search is on to find it or something closely resembling it in the fossil record. That's if the model is correct - only time (and further study) will tell," said Jason Hilton.


The head of National Museum Wales has warned that proposals to merge some of its work with parts of Cadw would tie it "by the legs".

Director general David Anderson told the assembly's culture committee he feared a loss of effectiveness.
The Welsh Government is looking to merge the commercial functions of both bodies under the banner Historic Wales.
Economy Secretary Ken Skates has said that he wants to see the institutions become more financially resilient.
Mr Anderson told AMs on Wednesday: "If we lose management control of key functions we are being tied by the legs at that point.
"It becomes very hard to be effective as an entity", he added.
He said while it may look as though only certain functions are being taken, commercial activity and core work are "deeply integrated with each other", citing the example of a recent dinosaur project.
Mr Anderson questioned how good it would be as a way of resolving financial problems - he said the organisation had had its budget cut by 33% in real terms since 2010.
Mr Anderson said the process of drawing up the report which led to the proposals for Historic Wales was also "problematic".
A steering group has been set up by Mr Skates to look at the Historic Wales plan and examine whether to include other organisations, such as the National Library of Wales.
But Mr Anderson suggested that a decision was made already on the plans going ahead.
He said that "if the statement has been made that Historic Wales will be created and its said to be a manifesto commitment by government, and also that it will merge most of the commercial functions of the museum and Cadw, those look very much like decisions, as opposed to open reviewing of options".
Bethan Jenkins asked for clarification that Mr Anderson was not against the creation of another body "but that you would be concerned that it would between Cadw and taking away your commercial functions as opposed to discussing the whole mix of the heritage sector in Wales".
Mr Anderson said she was right.
The museum has warned the Welsh Government to respect its independence, while the proposals have attracted criticism from the UK museum sector.
Former Arts Council of Wales chairman Dai Smith also said he was alarmed by the plan.


A brain injuries expert has discovered what he believes to be the first confirmed case of early onset dementia caused by playing rugby.

Dr Willie Stewart said the discovery suggested "one or two" players competing in the Six Nations every year may go on to develop the condition.
The neuropathologist examined brain tissue for abnormal proteins associated with head injuries and dementia.
The former rugby player had higher levels than a retired amateur boxer.
The boxer had been diagnosed with dementia pugilistica - more commonly known as punch drunk syndrome - which is thought to affect up to 20% of boxers who retire after long careers.
Symptoms, which usually appear between 12 and 16 years after the boxer's career begins, can include memory, speech and personality problems, tremors and a lack of coordination.
The condition has been recognised for more than a century, and until recently had been thought to only affect boxers who suffered repeated concussive injuries through being punched in the face.
But Dr Stewart, a consultant at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, said: "What we are finding now is that it is not just in boxers. We are seeing it in other sports where athletes are exposed to head injury in high levels.
"Those sports include American football, ice hockey and also now I have to say I have seen a case, the same pathology, in somebody whose exposure was rugby."
The rugby player was aged in his 50s and had early onset dementia. He had a number of abnormal proteins in a section of his brain which was comparable to a young man who had suffered a "moderate to severe" head injury in an assault.
Dr Stewart said the percentage of rugby players affected was likely to be far lower than sports such as boxing, American football and ice hockey, where competitors are more likely to suffer repeated head trauma and concussions.
But he told BBC Radio Scotland's Sport Nation programme: "I think on current evidence coming from American studies, from looking at American football, our historical evidence looking at boxers throughout the world, I think it would be foolish to think there will be no problem and that rugby is immune from brain damage.
"What the numbers are, what proportion of people who play rugby, how often you may have to get concussed, how long after you may develop problems, these are questions we can't answer.
"We would suspect it would be a fairly low number, but not a zero number. Let's say it is 1% of people who are playing rugby at international level may go on to develop long-term problems.
"In any Six Nations weekend that is one or two players who may go on and develop a dementia they wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to. That is a realistic number."
In the interview with BBC Scotland's John Beattie, a former Scotland rugby international, Dr Stewart said he expected other cases similar to the one he had found to emerge in the near future as more doctors become aware of the link.
He said: "People are beginning to think 'here is somebody with early onset dementia who may have played rugby and I've heard something about head injuries and I wonder if these are linked'.
"So there are other cases that I am aware of internationally, but this is the first complete case."
He said all sports that carried the risk of head injury - including football, horse racing and show jumping - had a responsibility to ensure athletes did not return to action too soon after suffering a concussion or other brain trauma.
Dr Stewart said: "What we are really starting to worry about now is the long term problems, the things that might happen 10 or 15 or 20 years down the line. Has that injury to the brain perhaps led to longer term damage?
"The general advice for a concussion is if in doubt, sit it out. So at all levels, if you think there has been a concussion the player should be removed and not expose himself to risk.
"There is a risk that a second head injury, coming within a short space of time and before the brain has properly recovered, can be much more severe and cause more problems and more symptoms.
"There is undoubted evidence that people will try to play on. That is something we would really like to discourage as much as possible.
"Just as we discourage people from playing on with a damaged knee, even more so we would really try not to have people carry on with a damaged brain."
The full interview with Dr Stewart will be broadcast on Sport Nation on BBC Radio Scotland at 11:00 on Saturday 3 August.


The United States secured a one-two in the Olympic women's long jump as Tianna Bartoletta upset defending champion Brittney Reese to win gold at Rio 2016.

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Bartoletta, the 30-year-old world champion, took gold with a new personal best of 7.17m.
Reese, 29, could only manage 7.15m with her final attempt, claiming silver ahead of Serbia's Ivana Spanovic, who jumped a national record of 7.08m.
Britain's Jazmin Sawyer, 22, finished eighth with a jump of 6.69m.
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"Eighth in my first Olympic final is good, but I jumped 6.69m and I'm better than that," she said.
"I know I shouldn't really be disappointed. I'm the highest-placed Brit and I've beaten a lot of girls that I've been thinking are a lot better than me, but I wanted to beat more of them."
Fellow Briton Lorraine Ugen, 24, was eliminated after the first three jumps.
The Londoner, a bronze medallist at this year's World Indoor Championships, could only jump 6.58m to finish 11th.
Bartoletta, however, had little time to enjoy her victory on Wednesday night - she had to focus on the women's 4x100m relay on Thursday morning.
She is part of the US squad running in the heats at 11:28 (15:28 BST).
"I couldn't really celebrate. When I won, I realised I have to be back in the morning for the relay," she said.
Russia's sole track and field athlete at the Rio Olympics, Darya Klishina, failed to make an impact as she finished in ninth.
The Florida-based 25-year-old, who was suspended by athletics world governing body the IAAF on Friday only for the decision to be overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, could only manage a best leap of 6.63m, meaning she was eliminated after three jumps.
"I feel really well and I've gotten a lot of support from other athletes," she said. "I missed the last week-and-a-half of training, so I could've done a lot better than I did."
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Tuesday's Scottish Championship game between Dumbarton and Alloa Athletic has been postponed following a 16.30 GMT pitch inspection.

The Sons were hoping to continue where they left off at the weekend, when they defeated second-top Hibernian 3-2.
That kept them five points clear of second-bottom Livingston with a game in hand.
Livingston had themselves won 3-1 away to Alloa to leave the Wasps seven points adrift at the bottom.


The governor of Yemen's port city of Aden, Aidarus al-Zubaidi, has survived an assassination attempt, security sources say.

A car bomb exploded as his convoy was passing, killing at least one body guard. The so-called Islamic State (IS) group says it carried out the attack.
The city's last governor, Jaafar Mohammed Saad, was killed in a similar attack in early December.
IS intensified operations in Yemen when civil war broke out in March 2015.
Yemen torn in two
Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe
Why IS is trying to expand in Yemen
Inside Yemen's 'forgotten war'
Witnesses to the attack described hearing "a loud explosion". One local man, Attef Hassan, told Reuters: "I thought it was an explosive device. I turned round and saw the governor and his companions getting out of the governor's car, and, thank God, they were not injured."
Yemen has been rocked by fighting, mainly between forces loyal to UN-recognised President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi - who fled into exile in Saudi Arabia - and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis. IS opposes both groups.
A Saudi-led coalition made up of nine nations began airstrikes in March, hoping to defeat the Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday, warplanes carried out fresh strikes on the capital, Sanaa, which is under Houthi rebel control. Residents say a care centre for blind people and a chamber of commerce building were hit.
The UN says almost 2,800 civilians have been killed since fighting began.
"The ongoing armed conflict in Yemen continues to take a terrible toll on civilians, with at least 81 civilians reportedly killed and 109 injured in December," UN spokesperson Rupert Colville said in a statement on Tuesday.
"This raises the number of civilian casualties recorded between 26 March and 31 December to 8,119 people, including 2,795 killed and 5,324 wounded."


Unparalleled levels of success for his country's competitors have been predicted by Scottish Athletics' performance director Roger Harkins.

Laura Muir won two gold medals, Eilish McColgan a bronze and Eilidh Doyle a relay silver at the European Indoor Championships over the weekend.
"People hark back to the halcyon days of the 1970s and 1980s," Harkins said.
"I genuinely believe Scottish athletics is moving into an era where it will be unprecedented."
And he added: "If it continues along this vein then it will definitely be the best it has ever been.
"There are so many talented athletes about at the moment - Eilish, Laura, Steph Twell, Andy Butchart, Callum Hawkins, Lynsey Sharp to name but a few.
"We've got some good throwers as well and we've got some good kids coming through in the sprints and endurance events."
Muir won the 1500m and 3,000m, with McColgan finishing third in the latter, while Doyle was part of Britain's 4x400m relay squad.
Harkins believes such successes are not only inspiring their colleagues but "a new generation of kids coming through".
"If you go back 10 years, there would only be a couple of Scottish athletes in the GB team and those athletes have inspired a generation of the next athletes," he told BBC Scotland.
"It was unprecedented that we have 15 athletes at the Olympics in Rio last year and six athletes at the Paralympics."
However, Harkins did not anticipate increased government funding as a result.
"I find that hard to imagine in the current economic climate, particularly when they are talking about cuts across the board," he said.
"We can only hope that, if athletics is doing well, our money will not be cut."
Meanwhile, Harkins believes Muir, who plans to double up again at this year's World Championships, could go on to become one of Scotland's greatest-ever athletes.
"She certainly has the ability and the characteristics for that," he said while praising the hard work put in by the 25-year-old and her coach.
"She's had this potential for a number of years, but to deliver the performances that she did and the manner in which she did them over the weekend is absolutely amazing.
"It is great credit to the work Andy Young has been doing with her."
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Former European medallist Lee McConnell thinks that Muir is already among Scotland's all-time best.
"She's a fantastic athlete," she said. "The future's really bright for Laura.
"I think the biggest thing for her is that she needs to keep training the way she's training and try her best not to pick up any injuries.
"She didn't come back with a medal from Rio, but she was still outstanding on the athletics circuit with such quick times over 1500m.
"True Laura style, she went out in Rio to win the gold medal and I think, if she had decided she was happy with silver or bronze, she would have probably come back with a silver or bronze.
"But she went for gold and, at that stage, it didn't pay off.
"Fair play to her - she feels she has a long future and there are other medals she can go for."


Steven Finn and James Anderson led England to a morale-boosting nine-wicket thrashing of India in Brisbane.

Finn took 5-33, his one-day best, and Anderson, back after a knee injury, 4-18 as India were bowled out for 153.
Ian Bell then made an unbeaten 88 and James Taylor 56 not out in a stand of 131 as England chased their target inside 28 overs.
The bonus-point win leaves England second in the tri-series table behind Australia, whom they meet on Friday.
Taken in isolation, the impressive performance at the Gabba was an ideal response to the opening defeat by Australia and kept England in the hunt for a place in the final.
More importantly, it gave Eoin Morgan a first win since replacing Alastair Cook as captain, comes on the back of six defeats in eight ODIs and was only a fourth win in 16 against world champions India less than a month before the World Cup begins.
It came thanks to the penetration of pace pair Finn and Anderson, some woeful India shot selection and a purposeful England run-chase.
Bowling on a true pitch after losing the toss, Anderson swung the ball both ways with miserly accuracy, while Finn - who was deemed "not selectable" in the same city almost a year ago to the day - exploited the pace and bounce on offer.
In fact, England's victory could have been more emphatic had a stand of 70 between Stuart Binny and MS Dhoni not been aided by some pressure-free field settings and an overuse of the bouncer.
By this point, Finn had already sparked a collapse of four wickets for 10 runs in 28 balls that reduced India to 67-5.
With India recovering well from Shikhar Dhawan's early edge behind to Jos Buttler off an Anderson out-swinger, Ajinkya Rahane inexplicably charged a Finn short ball to be held at mid-on.
Both Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu looked to guide Finn over slip only to be caught behind either side of Suresh Raina skipping past a Moeen Ali off-break to be stumped.
The Dhoni-Binny partnership steadied India and was beginning to look dangerous when Finn returned to have Dhoni feather another short ball down the leg side and, from the next delivery, Axar Patel edged on to his stumps.
Anderson produced a beauty that nipped off the seam to bowl Bhuvneshwar Kumar and, when the same bowler enticed Binny and Mohammed Shami to sky consecutive deliveries - brilliantly held by Morgan and Moeen respectively - India had lost their last five wickets for 16 runs in 21 balls.
England had a spell to bat before tea, in which over-aggression saw Moeen hole out to mid-off from the bowling of Binny, but Bell and Taylor, who both fell for ducks in the loss to Australia, ensured their would be no alarms.
Bell classily caressed his way to a first ODI half-century in 10 innings, while Taylor, after an uncertain start, gradually found his timing to register a third fifty in six matches.
It was Taylor who swept the winning runs, completing England's domination of an India side that are winless in eight matches on tour in Australia.


Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha has omitted six first-team players from his squad for the Europa League first qualifying round tie against Progres Niederkorn.

Rob Kiernan, Andy Halliday, Matt Crooks, Harry Forrester, Michael O'Halloran and Joe Dodoo were all left out of the list submitted to UEFA.
Rangers play the first-leg against the Luxembourg side at Ibrox on Thursday.
Seven of Rangers' summer signings have been included in the squad.
Fabio Cardoso, Ryan Jack, Carlos Pena, Dalcio, Eduardo Herrera and Alfredo Morelos have been registered to play. Bruno Alves is also on the squad list, although he is currently in Russia on international duty, with Portugal playing Chile in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Rangers' eighth signing of the summer - Portuguese winger Daniel Candeias - could not be registered because paperwork from Alanyaspor, where he was on loan last season, has not arrived from Turkey in time.
Caixinha has said that he expects several players to leave Ibrox during this transfer window, as he completes his overhaul of the squad. Joe Garner has already left for Ipswich, and the six players left out of the European squad would also now seem surplus to requirements.
Further additions to the squad are also expected, with Rangers having seen bids for Norwich City's Graham Dorrans and Hearts' Jamie Walker rejected, while they have also been linked with Aberdeen midfielder Kenny McLean.


People living in coastal areas are being warned to expect flooding, with high tides set to peak.

Six flood warnings are in place on Monday night, including areas around the Wye Estuary, the Usk Estuary and the tidal area at Crofty, Gower.
Ten flood alerts have also been issued, covering most of the Welsh coastline.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said astronomical tides would be "very high".
High tide at Newport is expected to reach 7.7m (25ft) at 20:55 BST.
NRW's Rick Park said with the relatively settled weather the risk of flooding to the majority of Wales was very low.


A ward at Withybush Hospital has been temporary closed to visitors and new admissions due to an outbreak of a bug.

Several patients on ward one have experienced diarrhoea and vomiting and specialists have been called in to reduce the spread of infection.
Hywel Dda University Health Board has reassured patients the hospital remains open, with operations continuing as normal.
Patients will be contacted about any changes, the health board added.


Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 16-year-old boy died in Jersey.

The boy from St Lawrence was found unconscious in Trinity early on Sunday morning.
He was taken to hospital where he died, States of Jersey Police said.
Two teenagers aged 16 and another aged 15 have been arrested. Police added it was believed all four boys knew each other. The victim's family have been informed.