A murder inquiry has been launched following the death of a 34-year-old man in Edinburgh.

Police said the man, who has not been named, was found in the Guardwell Glen area of the city at about 23:00 on Saturday.
Officers described the killing as an "isolated incident" and have appealed to the public for information.
Police Scotland have set up a major inquiry unit to help investigate the death.
Det Insp Bruce Coutts, who is leading the inquiry, said: "Detectives from Edinburgh, supported by the major inquiry team, are progressing all inquiries.
"A member of the public may hold a key piece of information that could assist with the investigation, and we are appealing to anyone who saw anything in and around Guardwell Glen about 11pm on Saturday night to get in touch as soon as possible."
Ch Insp Mark Rennie, the area commander for south east Edinburgh, said: "We are keen to reassure residents that, at this stage, the incident appears to be isolated.
"Officers will be carrying out inquiries and on patrol in the area over the next few days to provide support and information to residents."


European aerospace giant Airbus Group is to sell its Defence Electronics business to private equity firm KKR for €1.1bn (£856m)

Airbus said the deal should be finalised in the first quarter of 2017, and that it may keep a minority stake.
The firm's Bernhard Gerwert said the division business would "strongly develop" under KKR.
Airbus is shedding several arms to focus its defence division on missiles, warplanes, launchers and satellites.
In total it hopes to dispose of assets with combined annual revenue of some €2bn.
The Defence Electronics unit, part of the group's Airbus Defence and Space arm, has a global staff of 4,000 and annual revenues of roughly €1bn.
Its areas of expertise include military sensors, electronic warfare, avionics and optronics.


An air show which has run for more than 30 years in Cornwall has been cancelled because of safety concerns.

The annual Red Arrows show at Fowey Royal Regatta has been scrapped after an audit found there was not enough space to perform above the town's river.
The Military Aviation Authority audit raised concerns over the width of the "safety corridor" below the display.
Organisers have scrapped the show rather than move it further out to sea.
"Our only means of achieving the safety standard is to move the display out over the sea which simply won't be the same," a statement said.
"This has led to a reluctant decision not to host the Red Arrows in 2016."
Harbour master Paul Thomas said: "It is hugely important and is without question the busiest day of regatta week. There is a huge sense of disappointment."
Malcolm Palin, chairman of Fowey Regatta Committee said moving the event out to sea would encounter problems.
"To view it, spectators would need to go into fields which would mean a lack of vehicle access, narrow footpaths and uneven ground," he said.
"Also we would need to raise enough money to pay for the display while expecting a significant drop in visitor numbers."
The decision is not believed to be connected to the Shoreham air crash which killed 11 people last year.


Scotland had the lowest rate of female unemployment of any country in Europe in the final three months of last year, according to new figures.

The rate of unemployed women between October and December 2014 stood at 4%, Eurostat figures showed.
This compared to a rate of 5.3% for the UK as a whole and was just ahead of Germany where the rate was 4.5%.
Scotland also had the second highest female employment rate at 71.3%, with only Sweden higher at 72.6%.
Minister for youth and women's employment Annabelle Ewing said: "We have recently seen record levels of female employment in Scotland and the gap between male and female employment is also near a record low.
"In addition, we are leading the way with our commitment to 50:50 boards, supporting flexible working patterns to accommodate working parents and carers and other innovative support programmes such as support for women in enterprise, promotion of careers for women in STEM subjects.
"Gender balance isn't just the right thing to do, it makes smart business sense."
She added: "We need however to remove the gender gap entirely, encourage more women in to senior positions and to set out in businesses of their own, as well as helping those actively seeking a job into employment.
"The rewards for this will be great. We would have industries that would better reflect our society and see an extra Â£7bn added to our economy if the number of women-led businesses matched that of men.
"We need to champion female role models in every aspect of business, open every possible pathway into work and debunk the myth that there are jobs specifically for boys or girls."


Five people have died in a mid-air collision between two small commercial planes in the US state of Alaska.

There were no survivors from the crash, which happened in a remote area near the village of Russian Mission.
Those killed included three people on a Cessna from Hageland Aviation, a local airline, and two on a Piper operated by Renfro's Alaskan Adventures, a tourism company, Alaska's national guard said.
Mid-air collisions are rare in the US and most occur near airports.


Former Netherlands boss Guus Hiddink has been appointed interim Chelsea manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

The 69-year-old also managed the Blues on a temporary basis for the final three months of the 2008-09 campaign.
"I am excited to return," said the Dutchman. "Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world but is not where it should be at the moment.
"However, I am sure we can all turn this season around."
Mourinho was sacked on Thursday with champions Chelsea 16th in the Premier League table, one point above the relegation zone.
Hiddink watched Saturday's visit of Sunderland from the stands, sat next to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and former Blues striker Didier Drogba.
Coaches Steve Holland and Eddie Newton were in charge of the team for the game against the Black Cats.
"It's a fantastic appointment. I'm very happy about it. This club needs an experienced manager at the helm and Guus Hiddink is clearly that," said Holland.
Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo said a "palpable discord between manager and players" had contributed to Mourinho's dismissal, the second time he has been sacked by the club.
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola, who is set to reveal on Saturday if he will stay at the German club beyond the end of the season, is among the possible permanent replacements.
Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and out-of-work Carlo Ancelotti, who managed Chelsea for two seasons from June 2009, have also been suggested as potential candidates for the full-time role.
A statement on the Chelsea website read: "The owner and the board welcome back a coach with a wealth of top-level experience and success, including his previous spell with the club in 2009 when we lifted the FA Cup.
"Mr Abramovich and the board believe that Guus has what it takes to get the best out of our talented squad."
Hiddink won six Dutch league titles and the European Cup in two spells as PSV Eindhoven manager. He has also coached South Korea, Australia and Russia.
He took over at Stamford Bridge in February 2009, replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari, and shared the role with his job as Russia manager.
Since then, he has endured unsuccessful spells as manager of Turkey, Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala and the Netherlands.
He stood down as Netherlands boss in June, during a miserable Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
The Dutch failed to reach the finals, finishing fourth in their group behind Czech Republic, Iceland and Turkey.


Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich cruised to victory over Borussia Monchengladbach thanks to goals from Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa.

Chile midfielder Vidal put Bayern ahead early on when he headed in Rafinha's cross after good work by Arjen Robben.
Bayern increased their advantage when Brazil winger Costa capitalised on Oscar Wendt's slip in the area and finished clinically at the back post.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are three points clear of second-placed Hertha Berlin.
Andre Hahn went closest to scoring for Monchengladbach in the second half at the Allianz Arena when he struck the post.
But Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was rarely tested throughout the contest as the home side efficiently clinched the three points.
Dutch winger Robben may be in the latter stages of his career but he continues to sparkle for the German champions.
While the 32-year-old has lost a little of the pace from his Chelsea days, he still possesses the guile and skill to give defenders nightmares.
Robben was instrumental in Bayern's opening goal as he teased the visitors' defence before he released Rafinha to cross for Vidal.
With Ancelotti having decided to rest captain Philipp Lahm, Bayern needed their experienced players to be influential and Robben led the way.
Match ends, FC Bayern München 2, Borussia Mönchengladbach 0.
Second Half ends, FC Bayern München 2, Borussia Mönchengladbach 0.
Attempt missed. David Alaba (FC Bayern München) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Thiago Alcántara following a corner.
Corner,  FC Bayern München. Conceded by Yann Sommer.
Attempt saved. David Alaba (FC Bayern München) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Corner,  FC Bayern München. Conceded by Yann Sommer.
Attempt saved. Renato Sanches (FC Bayern München) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Arturo Vidal.
Substitution, FC Bayern München. Joshua Kimmich replaces Rafinha because of an injury.
Corner,  FC Bayern München. Conceded by Jannik Vestergaard.
Substitution, FC Bayern München. Renato Sanches replaces Arjen Robben.
Substitution, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Patrick Herrmann replaces André Hahn.
Foul by Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München).
Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Mönchengladbach) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Lars Stindl tries a through ball, but André Hahn is caught offside.
Substitution, FC Bayern München. Thomas Müller replaces Douglas Costa.
Xabi Alonso (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Thiago Alcántara (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
André Hahn (Borussia Mönchengladbach) hits the left post with a right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box. Assisted by Julian Korb.
Foul by Javi Martínez (FC Bayern München).
André Hahn (Borussia Mönchengladbach) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Nico Schulz replaces Oscar Wendt.
Rafinha (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Attempt missed. Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Mönchengladbach) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Julian Korb with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Borussia Mönchengladbach. Conceded by Mats Hummels.
Attempt missed. Douglas Costa (FC Bayern München) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Thiago Alcántara.
Attempt missed. Arjen Robben (FC Bayern München) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Douglas Costa with a cross.
Arjen Robben (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Foul by Xabi Alonso (FC Bayern München).
Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Javi Martínez (FC Bayern München) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by André Hahn (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Corner,  FC Bayern München. Conceded by Nico Elvedi.
Foul by Mats Hummels (FC Bayern München).


A 33-year-old man has appeared in court accused of punching a police horse in Stirling city centre.

Gary Dornan is accused of hitting the animal, which was one of a pair of police mounts on routine patrol, on Wednesday.
He is also accused of behaving in a disorderly manner in Murray Place and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner in a police van.
Mr Dornan, of Raploch, is also accused of urinating in the police vehicle.
Sheriff Michael Wood granted him bail and set a trial date of 8 May.


A hardliner has been elected chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, a clerical body which chooses and monitors the country's supreme leader.

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi defeated moderate former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, winning 47 out of 73 votes.
Correspondents say the ayatollah was not seen as a frontrunner for the post.
He will head the assembly until next February, when direct elections for all 86 of its members will coincide with national parliamentary polls.
The move comes at a sensitive time, with rumours circulating about the health of the 75-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The responsibilities of the Assembly of Experts are to appoint the supreme leader, monitor his performance and remove him if he is deemed incapable of fulfilling his duties.
Monday's election was prompted by the death in October of its former chairman, Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, considered a unifying figure in Iranian politics.
The election of Ayatollah Yazdi is undoubtedly a blow for former President Rafsanjani and for the more moderate faction of Iran's ruling elite.
It is something of a surprise, too, as Ayatollah Yazdi was not seen as a frontrunner. Another prominent cleric, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, had been touted as a likely compromise candidate, but withdrew before the vote.
It comes at a sensitive time, not just as talks over a deal on Iran's nuclear programme reach a critical stage, but also as speculation is rife over the health of the supreme leader himself. Publicly discussing his successor is taboo in Iran, but the jockeying for power is clearly underway.
Ayatollah Yazdi was among five contenders whose names had been linked to the post by Iranian media, but he was not the most talked about, according to the AFP news agency.
The 83 year old served as a deputy speaker of parliament after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and headed the judiciary for a decade until 1999.
He received almost two times more votes than Mr Rafsanjani, who previously served as chairman of the Assembly of Experts between 2007 and 2011.
In an interview published by the reformist Shargh newspaper on Tuesday, he had appeared reluctant to take on the post, saying his work with the Expediency Council, an advisory body for the Supreme Leader that adjudicates in disputes over legislation, was keeping him busy.
"Psychologically, I am not at all prepared to become the chairman of the Assembly of Experts," he said. "I work enough at the Expediency Council and why would it be necessary to work more than this?"
He added: "My criterion is that it should be someone who befits the stature of the Assembly of Experts."


The first students in Wales have received their results for the new-look GCSE maths exams.

The proportion achieving A* to C grades in both maths and maths numeracy exams was 46.1%.
The first tranche of more than 20,000 pupils sat the papers last November.
The new qualifications started being taught in 2015 and were brought in as part of reforms to improve numeracy standards.
The chief executive of exam board WJEC Gareth Pierce said:  "Students and teachers in Wales should be extremely pleased with the successes demonstrated by the results in both these new qualifications."
Mr Pierce added: "There is of course plenty of time remaining within Year 11 for those candidates who wish to aim for improvement on the grade achieved on this occasion."
Schools started teaching the new qualifications in September 2015 and the majority of pupils will sit them, as usual, in the summer.
The GCSE numeracy qualification assesses the maths that pupils will need in their everyday lives, at work and in other subject areas in school.
More than 12% of nearly 29,000 pupils who took the exam achieved the very top A and A* grades.
The GCSE mathematics exam involves aspects needed for scientific, technical or further maths study.
About 10% of the 22,686 pupils who took this exam got the highest A and A* grades.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams also congratulated the students and said the "made in Wales" qualifications were aimed at raising standards by placing a sharper focus on literacy and numeracy.
"The new qualifications are part of extensive reforms to our education system to give our young people the right skills and knowledge to thrive in the modern word," she said.
"Our national mission is to raise standards and make sure everybody has a chance to succeed."
They are being called "significantly different" from the old GCSEs, with warnings about taking care when comparing them with previous results.
For the whole of the last academic year, 65.5% of 16 year olds got A* to C grades.


Leicester City have sacked manager Nigel Pearson, saying the working relationship between him and the club's board was "no longer viable".

Pearson, 51, guided the Foxes to 14th in the Premier League in 2014-15.
But he was involved in several high-profile incidents, including calling a journalist an "ostrich" and clashing with Crystal Palace's James McArthur.
"It has become clear that fundamental differences in perspective exist between us," said a club statement.
Pearson first became manager of Leicester in June 2008 but left two years later to take over at Hull before returning to the Foxes in November 2011.
They clinched the Championship title in 2013-14 and won seven and drew one of their last 10 games last season to secure Premier League survival.
The Leicester statement - which thanked Pearson for his "considerable contribution" - added: "The board of directors recognises the success Nigel has helped to bring to Leicester City during his two spells in charge, particularly during the last three and a half years."
In June, Pearson's son James was one of three players sacked by the club for their involvement in a racist sex tape, while on a tour in Thailand - home of the club's billionaire owners, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and son Aiyawatt.
The decision comes just days before the players report back for pre-season training on Monday. The squad will include three new summer signings, Japan striker Shinji Okazaki, Austrian defender Christian Fuchs and Robert Huth, from Stoke.
Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh will take charge of first-team duties while the club begins its search for a new manager.
Pearson won the Premier League Manager of the Month award for April, but his season was not without controversy.
Pearson called a journalist an "ostrich", "stupid" and "daft" during a bizarre post-match news conference following Chelsea's 3-1 win at the King Power Stadium in April.
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After Pearson referred to "the amount of criticism and negativity" his side had faced, Ian Baker of Wardles Press Agency asked the Foxes boss to elaborate.
The Leicester manager replied: "You must have been either head in the clouds or away on holiday because your question is absolutely unbelievable.
"If you don't know the answer to that question, then I think you are an ostrich. Your head must be in the sand. Is your head in the sand? Are you flexible enough to get your head in the sand? My suspicion would be no."
Pearson also made headlines with a strange touchline clash with Crystal Palace midfielder McArthur in February.
After the pair collided, it looked as though both parties would laugh off the incident.
But Pearson grabbed McArthur by the throat before preventing him from returning to the field by pulling his shirt.
Asked why he had held McArthur back, Pearson said: "Because he said something to me. I'm more than capable of looking after myself. There's no problem with the player."
The Football Association wrote to Pearson to remind him of his responsibilities but did not charge him.
After the incident with McArthur, media reports suggested Pearson had lost his job, but the club issued a statement saying said the rumours were "inaccurate and without foundation".
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With the club then bottom of the Premier League, Pearson said he "had conversations" about his job but would not reveal the details.
"If I have got things to say I will say it in the appropriate manner to the appropriate people," he added. "I don't think I've been in a position where I speak too openly about what goes on in internal workings.
"I've always had a good working relationship with the owners and I'm sure I will moving forward."
In December 2014, Pearson was given a one-game touchline ban and fined £10,000 for insulting a fan during Leicester's 3-1 Premier League loss to Liverpool.
Pearson declined to reveal what was said during the altercation with the supporter, but said he felt it necessary to protect his players and himself from abuse.
He was called arrogant by the chairman of a Leicester supporters' group after he refused to apologise.
"Had Leicester sacked Nigel Pearson at various stages last season it would not have raised an eyebrow - to dismiss him now after brilliantly engineering an escape from what seemed certain relegation is a major shock.
"Pearson's season was chequered to put it mildly. And yet he kept his nerve to produce a stunning end to the campaign that kept Leicester City in the Premier League against all the odds. Pearson ended last season as a hero to the Foxes fans.
"It looked to have secured his future and the "fundamental differences in perspective" after that have led to his demise remain a mystery. He did the hard yards in keeping Leicester up - now someone else will take the Foxes forward."
Match of the Day presenter and ex-Leicester striker Gary Lineker: "Leicester City have sacked Nigel Pearson. Really? Could you kindly reinstate him like the last time you fired him?"
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher: "And people ask why the modern player chooses punditry."
BBC presenter Dan Walker: "Football is a bit daft sometimes."


As Europe's winter approaches and many hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the continent face an uncertain future, in Havana rare street protests have been held in recent days over a separate, very different kind of immigrant crisis that's taking place in Latin America.

It is a journey which begins in Cuba, but takes in Ecuador in the Andes and Central American nations such as Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
It involves political allegiances between long-standing allies and new relationships between former Cold War foes.
And, of course, it involves the immigration policies of the migrants' ultimate destination, the US.
Late on Thursday, Ecuador's foreign ministry announced that from 1 December Cubans would require a visa to enter the country.
For many Cubans, the news was a blow.
In fact, Ecuador was reimposing a measure it had lifted on its socialist ally in April 2014.
For 18 months, Cubans had enjoyed the freedom to travel to the South American nation without restriction.
Ecuador quickly became a popular destination for Cubans as it presented them with two important opportunities.
First, the rare chance to travel abroad to a comparatively affordable holiday destination - one where they could load up on much-needed goods and electrical items, often with the intention of reselling them on the black market back in Cuba.
Second, for thousands of Cuban immigrants it became the first step on a 5,500 km trip north to the US.
Ecuador's decision came as around 3,000 Cubans sit stranded in Costa Rica amid a stand-off with Nicaragua.
Costa Rica is urging its Central American neighbours to grant safe passage to the Cubans, to allow a kind of "humanitarian corridor'" so they can reach the US.
But Nicaragua, led by Raul Castro's old ally, President Daniel Ortega, is refusing to let them in and is taking what appears to be a harder line on Cubans passing through their territory on the route north.
Cuba has said the immigrants can return home but it is clear that they have no intention of abandoning their trip.
Instead, they are left in limbo on Costa Rica's northern border.
Ecuador announced its plan to require a visa for Cubans following an emergency meeting in El Salvador - seemingly echoing Nicaragua's tougher stance.
The Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry said they still welcomed Cubans to the country, but were committed to "efforts by the Latin American community to prevent migration without authorisation".
Meanwhile, those Cubans who had already bought plane tickets for Ecuador were caught by surprise by the news and without visas face losing their flights and their money.
But significantly, their reaction was one not often seen in Cuba.
Rather than meekly accept the decision of the authorities, they took to the streets outside the Ecuadorean embassy to demand their visas be issued immediately.
Protests that aren't government organised are very rare in Cuba and in this instance, police cordoned off several streets around the embassy building.
Ecuadorean diplomats used loudspeakers to address the crowd, who had started to chant for visas, insisting that they would have to apply for them online.
Given how little internet access there is in Cuba, and how difficult and expensive it is for people to get online, that was never going to placate the crowd.
At the same time, there were also queues forming outside the offices of the Copa and Avianca airline companies, as frustrated customers demanded refunds on their tickets.
Some were desperate, having spent up to $800 (Â£531) on their tickets, a huge sum for most Cubans.
Others were visibly angry - both at the Ecuadorean Government for taking the measure, thereby cutting off one of their few routes out of Cuba, and at the Cuban Government of Raul Castro, at whose behest they believe Quito is acting.
By Saturday, Ecuador's Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, said that those Cubans who had bought tickets before the announcement would be issued visas for travel.
But even that wasn't enough to send home some in the crowd, who resolutely stayed put until their individual cases were resolved.
The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro and his brother Raul led a revolution toppling US-backed President Fulgencio Batista. The Castros established a revolutionary socialist state with close ties to the Soviet Union.
The following year, the US imposed a trade embargo covering nearly all exports to Cuba. This was expanded by President Kennedy into a full economic embargo that included stringent travel restrictions.
The embargo is estimated to have cost the Cuban economy more than $1.1tn and the US economy $1.2bn a year.
In September, the US announced eased restrictions on business and travel with Cuba, the latest move by President Barack Obama to improve relations with the country.
US businesses will now be allowed to open up locations in Cuba.
For its part, the Cuban government has consistently blamed the situation on the US and its immigration policies that favour Cubans.
Specifically the Cuban Adjustment Act and the famed "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which give Cubans who reach US soil automatic legal residency and the right to apply for citizenship.
This, the Castro Government says, is the carrot in Washington's policy towards Cuba (the trade embargo on the island being the stick).
In fact, the number of Cubans making the vast trip from the Andes up to the US-Mexico border has risen significantly since the detente between the US and Cuba was announced on 17 December last year.
Many Cubans fear the days of their special privileges in the US are numbered and those who want to get to the US to claim residency now see it as a race against time.
With Ecuador closing one loophole and Nicaragua posting troops to its border with Costa Rica in the continuing impasse over the stranded immigrants, it certainly seems that Cuba's allies intend to make that journey even harder.


Work to complete repairs on the gates of a canal lock in Oxfordshire have been completed.

The Canal & River Trust carried out the emergency repairs of the Banbury Lock gates in five days.
It is due to be refilled on Monday, but during the weekend the trust has given visitor tours of the drained lock.
Waterway manager Vicky Martin said walking on the bed of the 237-year-old lock to see the original 18th century design was a "real privilege".
The bottom gates have been realigned to make them watertight, helping to conserve water on the Oxford Canal.
They were last repaired following a bombing raid in September 1940.
When the lock was drained, objects including mobile phones, a mattress and a diamond ring were discovered.
The original brickwork of the lock, dating back to 1778, was also visible.


Thousands of children have been spared serious illness and hospital treatment since the smoking ban was introduced in England in 2007, research suggests.

The study, in the European Respiratory Journal, looked at 1.6 million hospital admissions of under-14s from 2001-12.
The law against smoking in indoor public places saw 11,000 fewer children being admitted to hospital with lung infections every year, it found.
Researchers said it showed anti-smoking legislation was improving child health.
The University of Edinburgh study compared the figures for hospital admissions after the ban with mathematical predictions of the number of admissions that would have occurred without the smoking ban.
It estimated that hospital admissions for children with respiratory infections fell by 3.5% immediately after the ban was introduced.
While the biggest effect was seen in the number of children suffering chest infections - which dropped by almost 14% - the number of admissions attributable to nose, throat and sinus infections also went down.
But these effects were more gradual, the study said.
There is a well-established link between second-hand smoke exposure and bronchitis, bronchiolitis, middle ear infections and respiratory tract infections.
Dr Jasper Been, of the University of Edinburgh and Maastricht University, said: "This study is further demonstration of the considerable potential of anti-smoking laws to improve child health.
"Although our results cannot definitively establish a cause and effect, the rigorous analysis clearly shows that the introduction of smoke-free legislation was associated with significant reductions in hospital admissions among children."
Data suggested the ban on smoking in public places had also led to a rise in the number of smoke-free homes, reducing second-hand smoke exposure among children, the study said.
The ban is estimated to have reduced adults smoking in the home from 65% to 55%.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, co-director of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Population Health Sciences, said: "The many countries that are yet to enforce smoke-free legislation should consider the substantial number of hospital admissions from respiratory infections that occur each year that they delay."
Less than one sixth of the world's population is currently protected by anti-smoking laws.
It is estimated that about 40% of children around the world are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke.
Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at health charity Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), said: "Back in 2007, the opponents of smoke-free legislation claimed that it would lead to more people smoking at home, placing their children at greater risk.
"This research supports evidence from elsewhere that this fear has not been realised.
"Without the ban on smoking in public places the NHS would be seeing more sick children at a significant cost to the public purse."


Paralympic champion David Weir warmed up for Sunday's London Marathon with fourth place in Boston.

The Briton, competing in the race for the first time, finished in a time of 1:26.17, just over two minutes behind Swiss winner Marcel Hug (1:24.06).
Hug edged out South Africa's Ernst van Dyk and Australia's Kurt Fearnley in a sprint finish.
American Tatyana McFadden maintained her dominance to win her fourth women's title in a row.
Weir will be bidding for a record seventh title in London this weekend but will again be up against Hug, van Dyk and Fearnley in a strong field.
In 2012, Weir, 36, equalled Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson's record of six London victories.
Since then, he has finished fifth in 2013, was beaten into second by Hug in 2014 and lost out to Joshua George 12 months ago.


Former champions Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were in impressive form as they reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in straight sets.

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Third seed Federer played superbly in a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4 win over German 27th seed Mischa Zverev on Centre Court.
Djokovic, seeded second, had earlier looked fired up as he beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-2).
Federer will play Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov and Djokovic faces Adrian Mannarino in the last 16 on Monday.
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An early argument with the umpire seemed to fire up Djokovic, who told the official to "focus" - something he later apologised for - and then appeared to take his own advice.
From a break of serve down at 4-2, the Serb powered into a 6-4 5-0 lead and had a set point for 10 straight games.
Gulbis, 28, clung on briefly but the second set soon disappeared and the Latvian then had lengthy treatment on his back.
Ranked down at 548 after a succession of injuries, the former world number 10 recovered sufficiently to earn a break point at the start of the third set.
Djokovic, a friend of Gulbis since their junior academy days in Germany, snuffed out the danger but required a tie-break to eventually see off the Latvian after two hours and 12 minutes.
"I am delighted with my performance today," said Djokovic, 30.
"I thought I raised the level of tennis, comparing to the first couple of matches. This was the most focused I have been on the court and it came at the right time."
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The 35-year-old Federer kept up the form that has seen him rated as the favourite to land a record eighth title, and first since 2012.
The Swiss played beautifully to overcome the attacking serve-volley game of Zverev, the man who beat Andy Murray in fourth round at the Australian Open in January.
Zverev pegged back Federer from 4-1 to earn a tie-break in the first set but a terrific backhand volley brought up set point for the seven-time champion and he duly converted.
A spectacular return game that included drive backhand and forehand winners gave Federer the crucial break early in the second set, and a Zverev double-fault gave up the initiative in the third.
A 27th win in 29 matches this year was wrapped up after one hour and 49 minutes, and the Swiss heads into week two in ideal shape.
"It's important to get through the first week with a good feeling and I think I got that," said Federer.
"The first match with the walkover saved me a lot of energy, crucial energy. We go one round at a time.
"The first goal is to get through to the second week and I am happy to sit back and relax and then come back on Monday."
Boris Becker, three-time champion and ex-coach of Djokovic:
For the first time in a while I see the passion back. Ultimately it's about passion; how much you're willing to sacrifice, how much you're willing to invest to win and go far in the tournament. All these screams really are a sign that the passion is back. He wants to win desperately.


Actress Kirsten Dunst and Hollywood veteran Donald Sutherland have joined the jury for the Cannes Film Festival.

Others on the nine-strong panel include Casino Royale villain Mads Mikkelsen, French star Vanessa Paradis and Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes.
Chaired by Mad Max director George Miller, the jury will pick the winner of the top award, the Palme d'Or.
Organisers said the nine showed "universal and international approach" of the event, which begins on 11 May.
Alongside Sutherland, who is Canadian, the American Dunst and Miller, who is of Australian origin, the multinational jury will also include Italian actress and director Valeria Golino, known for featuring alongside Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.
French director and writer Arnaud Desplechin is also there, as is the Iranian producer Katayoon Shahabi, one of the most powerful women in the country's film industry.
The group's industry and festival credentials are strong with Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road box office hit having opened last year's two-week event.
Dunst's Cannes films have included Lars von Trier's controversial Melancholia, for which she won the best actress award five years ago, while Mikkelson won the best actor award in 2012 for Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt.
Sutherland has been in four competition films since 1968, most recently with 1989's Lost Angels. In 1970, he starred in Robert Altman's Palme d'Or winner, M*A*S*H.
Desplechin has been in contention for the Palme d'Or five times and Nemes had his first film debut in competition last year, when the harrowing Holocaust feature Son Of Saul went on to win the festival's Grand Prix, as well as a Golden Globe and the Oscar for best foreign language film.
There are 21 films in competition at the festival - including new films from Ken Loach, Sean Penn and Pedro Almodovar - and all the prize winners will be announced at the closing ceremony on 22 May.
This year, for the first time, the Palme d'Or winner will be screened that same evening, rather than a specially selected number of other films.
The event will be opened by Woody Allen's new film Cafe Society, though it is not in the running for the top prize, while Steven Spielberg's The BFG, Jodie Foster's Money Monster and The Nice Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, will also screen out of competition.


The Metropolitan Police has told Lord Bramall it regrets the "distress" caused to him during its inquiry into historical child abuse allegations.

But Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan stopped short of apologising, citing a police duty to investigate.
Former Army head Lord Bramall was interviewed last April and told last week that he faced no further action.
The peer, aged 92, said the Met's statement was "a long justification of their actions".
"If that's what they want to put out it's not for me to comment," he said, adding it was "up to the public to think whether it is convincing or not".
He told the BBC it was wrong that news of his questioning had been released by Scotland Yard even though the force described him only as a "91-year-old man living near Farnham".
Lord Bramall, a Normandy veteran who retired from the House of Lords in 2013, was never arrested and always denied the allegations.
After being cleared, he told the BBC there wasn't "one grain of truth" in the allegations, made against him by a man in his 40s, and accused the police of not behaving very well.
Friends said Lord Bramall's late wife, who had Alzheimer's, was at home when police officers "barged" into the house.
In the statement, Ms Gallan said she fully recognised how unpleasant it would be to be investigated by the police over historical abuse allegations.
"For a person to have their innocence publicly called into question must be appalling," she said.
She said she was taking the unusual step of explaining the dilemmas of policing after the possibility of an apology was raised.
"We have many serious allegations referred to us every year that we have a duty to investigate," she wrote.
"It is, of course, a principle of British justice that everyone is equal before the law so that duty must apply equally to all, irrespective of their status or social standing.
"The fact that after a full and impartial investigation the evidence did not support charges being laid does not suggest that an allegation should not have been investigated."
She added that the inquiry into the allegations continued until all lines of enquiry had been examined.
"The Metropolitan Police accepts absolutely that we should apologise when we get things wrong, and we have not shrunk from doing so.
"However, if we were to apologise whenever we investigated allegations that did not lead to a charge, we believe this would have a harmful impact on the judgements made by officers and on the confidence of the public."
Ms Gallan said she would meet Lord Bramall to explain the force's conduct at the end of Operation Midland, a wider police investigation into historical abuse claims.
Lord Bramall said he welcomed "enormously" the offer of a meeting but now wanted "the whole thing to die down".
Lord Bramall served during the D-Day landings during World War Two and commanded UK land forces between 1976 and 1978.
He became chief of the general staff - the professional head of the Army - in 1979, and in 1982 he oversaw the Falklands campaign.
Later that year he became chief of the defence staff, the most senior officer commanding the UK's armed forces.


A Somali man has pleaded guilty in New York's court to seizing a US ship and kidnapping its captain last year.

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse now faces a minimum of 27 years in prison. He is expected to be sentenced in October.
Muse is the only surviving attacker of the Maersk Alabama merchant ship off Somalia's coast in April 2009.
He was captured by the US Navy, whose sharpshooters killed three other pirates trying to escape on a lifeboat, saving the captain.
During the trial in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors described Muse as a ringleader of a gang of four pirates who seized the Maersk Alabama some 450km (280 miles) off the coast of Somalia.
A criminal complaint also said Muse was the first to board the vessel, firing his AK-47 assault rifle at Captain Richard Phillips.
On Tuesday, Muse said through an interpeter: "I am very, very sorry about what we did. All of this was about the problems in Somalia."
It is said to be the first piracy trial in the US in decades.
The vessel, which was carrying food aid, was seized by the four pirates in April 2009.
Capt Phillips then told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men.
He was later taken hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was soon shadowed by US warships and a helicopter.
The stand-off only ended several days later when Navy sharpshooters killed three of the pirates, saving the captain.


Now is as good a time as ever to ease yourself into your local swimming pool and try these four Get Inspired exercise challenges.

Choose from pool running, flutter-kicking, jumping or balancing. Better still, work your way through all four and see how your fitness and confidence in the water improves.
Go on, make a splash!
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Goal
The first challenge is to walk and then run powerfully through the water at the shallow end of the swimming pool.
The three elements of the pool running challenge are a great way to get moving in the pool - even if you cannot swim.
You will tone your legs, glutes and abdominal muscles as you work against the resistance of the water without risking an impact injury.
Start slowly, simply walking through the water and building up to a breadth. Increase your distance to 10 breadths before trying the energy-sapping side steps. Once you can complete 10 breadths of the pool have a go at running. It's a tiring business so take things gently at first before reaching the target.
Step 1
Standing in waist-height water, walk across the width of the swimming pool. Focus your energies on driving your legs through the water. You'll soon discover that this is not like walking normally in the park - much more effort is required. It's great for your muscles and kind to your joints.
Step 2
Once you have mastered walking through water, vary your workout by side-stepping from one side of the pool to the other, again with the water at waist height. You will feel this exercise work the muscles in your legs and groin. Gradually, add a spring to your step to work those thigh muscles all the more.
Step 3
For those with a good level of fitness, try running across the breadth of the pool, using your arms to help drive you forward. You'll no doubt be quickly out of breath so take it easy at first. Build up to being able to maintain a fast pace for the duration of the breadth and gradually increase to being able to do 10 breadths at top speed.
Next steps
The fitness you'll have built up by walking and running in the pool will serve you well in your swimming or running outdoors. If you have an injury that prevents you running outdoors, you might like to get hold of a buoyancy belt so that you can move in to the deep end and practise 'aqua running' without your feet touching the floor of the pool.
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Goal
Here's a challenge you can do in your local swimming pool that will strengthen your quads and calves and will work your groin and stomach muscles too.
There are three stages: begin by lying on your back and kicking your legs out in front of you in the water. Next flip over and, holding the edge of the pool and facing forward, kick your legs out behind you. Finally, build towards being able to hold a float in front of you and, facing down towards the water, cover the length of the pool using only a flutter-kick.
Don't feel you have to rush from one stage to the next. Visit your pool as often as you can and build your strength and confidence until you can flutter-kick your way up and down the pool.
Step 1
Depending on your confidence and buoyancy, hold one or two floats against your stomach, lie back in the water and raise your legs. Looking at the roof of the pool, stretch out your legs, point out your toes and begin kicking, working your hips, thighs and calves. Your propulsion through the water will improve as your kicking technique and strength increase.
Step 2
Hold the edge of the pool, ideally using a ledge or bar just above water level.
Stretch out your body and begin flutter-kicking. Try to keep your hips high in the water.
Your feet should only just break the surface of the water. Bend your knees only slightly and point your toes out. Smaller kicks are better than exaggerated, bigger kicks. Try to use the power in your hips rather than that in your legs.
Step 3
Next, hold a float out in front of you and, looking down and slightly forward, push yourself forward, throw up your legs and begin flutter kicking. Again, keep your hips up, point your toes our and develop a steady rhythm with your kick. Try to build up to one length of the pool.
Next steps
Once you have the knack of propelling yourself through the water using the power in your legs, try to increase your speed and the number of lengths you can manage.
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Goal
We could call these three exercises the thigh-buster challenge!
They are ideal exercises for people recovering from injury who want to keep in shape or for those whose joints would not withstand the impact of jumping on a hard surface.
You'll be splashing like a happy child in a paddling pool as you use the power in your legs and glutes to thrust you out of the water. Remember, try to keep the correct body position when you do your squats.
Anyone who includes squats in their workouts on dry land will know they are great for building strength in their legs and firming up their backside muscles. Doing these exercises in the pool adds the resistance of the water, both when lowering your body and when standing up straight.
Step 1
From a standing position in waist-deep water, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and pointing slightly outwards, squat so that your chin touches the water. Make sure you keep your back straight - don't hunch forward. Try to lower yourself in such a way that your knees stay directly above your feet. Stick your bottom out. Find the right depth of water that allows you to get your thighs parallel to the bottom of the pool as your chin touches the surface of the water.
Step 2
Next, lower yourself into a squat so that your thighs are parallel to the floor of the pool and your chin is touching the surface of the water. Now, thrust explosively with your legs so that you jump as high as you can out of the water.
Step 3
Moving into chest-height water, now it's time to try some star jumps. The water resistance will work your legs, arms and shoulders…and your lungs! With your hands by your side and your feet together, jump up and put your feet out to the side at the same time as thrusting your arms out to the side and through the water. It will take a bit of practice to get the timing right so that your arms and legs are working in unison.
Next steps
Once you can successfully complete 10 repetitions of each exercise, increase the frequency to 20 reps and decrease the recovery time between each exercise. However, don't forget the importance of good posture.
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Goal
The challenge here will work your leg and hip muscles and your core, and improve your balance.
Your goal is to keep your balance as you stand on one leg in the pool and perform a simple movement with one arm and one leg.
This is harder than it sounds. The movement of the water makes things more difficult than you might imagine. Practise being able to make the movement with your arm and leg with your eyes open and slowly build towards being able to keep your balance with your eyes closed.
Step 1
With your feet about six inches apart and your toes pointing forward, stand in water just below waist level. Slowly raise one leg in front of you until your thigh is parallel to the bottom of the pool and your lower leg is at a right angle to your thigh. Try to maintain your balance for 10 seconds then slowly lower your leg and repeat with the other leg.
Step 2
Do the same as above but this time, as you raise your leg, also lift your arm straight out in front of you, with your palm facing down. Keeping your balance, slowly move your raised, bent leg and straight arm out to the side. Finally, slowly return your arm and leg to directly in front of you before lowering them again. Try to build towards a 90-degree angle between your standing leg and your bent, raised leg.
Step 3
Once you have mastered step 2, try doing the same move but with your eyes closed. This will take a fair bit of practice for most people, but don't worry, it's actually really good fun.
Next steps
See if you can perform each move really slowly. You'll find your leg muscles will be twitching as you work them hard but you'll soon notice a difference in the muscle definition. And all without any damaging impact on your joints.
And if you can manage those four challenges, why not try matching Susanne Clarke's feats on the rings at Glasgow's historic Arlington Baths...
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A judge has sentenced the former speaker of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, Eduardo Cunha, to 15 years and four months in prison.

Cunha was found guilty of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
He led the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff and was one of Brazil's most powerful politicians before his arrest in October.
Judge Sergio Moro said he should be held in custody even while appeals are under way.
Judge Moro argued that, even though Cunha no longer held political office, there was a risk he could continue engaging in corruption, intimidation and extortion.
Who is Judge Sergio Moro?
"There is no bigger crime than that of trying to use one's parliamentary mandate and the sacred trust the people place in it to obtain personal gain," Judge Moro said.
Cunha, from the centre-right PMDB party, was expelled from the Brazilian Congress in September 2016.
Just last year, Eduardo Cunha was seen as perhaps the most powerful politician in Brazil.
Many blame the downfall of former President Dilma Rousseff on a personal vendetta between the two. But now both Cunha and Rousseff seem to be part of Brazil's political past.
Cunha's work helped establish his PMDB party in power. But he lost all his influence when his own colleagues turned on him due to the various corruption investigations into his affairs.
His conviction may serve as a warning for the current speakers of both Houses - Rodrigo Maia, in the Lower, and Eunicio Oliveira, in the Senate.
Both men have also been mentioned in the Petrobras probe, which is still looking into the alleged participation of hundreds of politicians in corruption.
A house ethics committee found he had lied about having secret bank accounts in Switzerland, something the Swiss authorities confirmed he had.
He was arrested a month later in connection with a major investigation into corruption at state oil giant Petrobras, dubbed Operation Car Wash.
Judge Moro said Cunha had received bribes worth $1.5m (Â£1.2m) for his role in an oil exploration contract Petrobras struck in the African nation of Benin.
He has been held at a federal police prison in the city of Curitiba since his arrest in October.


The new school year is about to start and it is a bag of mixed emoji-tions (see what we did there).

25 August 2017 Last updated at 15:25 BST
So we've been talking to kids about their feelings on the first day of high school.
And what better way to explain than by using emojis!
They also have some top tips for all of you who are about to start secondary school for the first time.
Check out the video...
Watch our special programme all about starting high school.


Scotland could not beat Australia for a second time at the World Rugby U20 Championship and will now face Wales in the seventh-eighth place final.

The Scots led early in the second half when Scott Cummings added to tries from Hugh Fraser and Robbie Nairn.
But Australia hit back as Sione Tuipolotu scored a second try, with Liam Wright and Jordan Jackson-Hope adding scores for a 35-19 victory.
Tyrel Lomax produced the first touchdown of the evening in Salford.
Mack Mason converted all five of the Australia tries, while Adam Hastings knocked over one from two attempts, with Fraser adding the extras from captain Cummings' score.
For the first time at the tournament, Scotland won two of their three group matches, beating Australia 15-10 and Italy 27-19 either side of a sobering 44-0 defeat from England.
The young Scots meet Wales in their last match on Saturday after the Dragons were hammered 71-12 by New Zealand.
Ireland and England will contest the final.


Plans for a transport hub in Cardiff have been revealed as the council announces its preferred architect.

Foster and Partners will design a building at Central Square with a new bus station, shops, up to 200,000 sq ft (18,581 sq m) of offices and a 200-bed hotel.
The council aims to get 50% of people in the city using public transport.
The firm is also responsible for designing the new BBC Wales headquarters at the square.
The bus station will be designed around an enclosed public concourse, with a large waiting area. There will also be walkways giving access to the adjacent railway station, a bicycle hub, shops and restaurants.
It will close in August, with buses redirected until it reopens in December 2017. Detailed plans will be submitted to councillors at the end of 2015.


Captain Greig Laidlaw has urged Scotland to be "smart" in Saturday's second Test against Japan.

The Scots laboured to a 26-13 win over the Cherry Blossoms in Toyota City last weekend and face them again in Tokyo.
Both of Scotland's tries came while Japan had men in the sin-bin and Laidlaw racked up 16 points with six successful kicks out of six.
"We'll need to make some small tweaks within the game," the scrum-half told BBC Scotland.
"That's the beauty or the hard part of playing teams back-to-back. You don't want to be doing exactly the same things one week to the next.
"The flipside to that is I'm sure Japan will try and change a couple of things too. Defensively, we'll need to be smart."
Vern Cotter will name his Scotland team on Thursday, with several changes expected from the first Test.
Prop Alasdair Dickinson and centre Duncan Taylor have both been ruled out with injuries, with loose-head Rory Sutherland set for a first Test start, and either Peter Horne or the uncapped Huw Jones likely to replace Taylor.
Glasgow back-rower Josh Strauss could also come into the match-day squad.
Analysis of the first Test at Toyota Stadium revealed the Scots ran around 50% more than during a typical Six Nations match.
"It is a different game," said Laidlaw. "The fact that we coped well and came out with a victory was credit to the boys, especially in the heat.
"Vern's right on the boys' heels about staying in system and getting to the ball carrier quickly."


More than 30 firefighters spent four hours tackling a blaze at a church in a seaside town.

Residents living near the disused Trinity United Reform Church on the Esplanade in Whitley Bay were forced to leave their homes after the fire broke out at 20:25 BST on Saturday.
Several are still in a refuge centre and have not been allowed home.
Northumbria Police said the fire was being treated as arson and a man, aged 56, had been arrested.
Det Ins Jane Fairlamb said: "This was a large operation involving a number of partners, all agencies worked together to extinguish the fire and I want to personally thank all of them for their hard work in ensuring that it did not spread to neighbouring properties.
"The fire was successfully extinguished overnight, but a number of people have been housed in temporary accommodation while we carry out some further structural investigations."


Two police officers who a judge said gave inconsistent and unconvincing evidence to an inquest in to the death of an IRA man are to be reported to prosecutors.

A judge said there was a basis for concluding the officers, known as M and Q, may have perverted the course of justice and committed perjury while giving evidence.
Pearse Jordan was shot in the back by an RUC officer as he ran from a stolen car he had been driving on the Falls Road in 1982.
Judge Horner told Belfast High Court that although he was not duty bound to report the matter, he intended to exercise his discretion.
"I do not consider that I am bound to report Officers M and Q to the Director (of prosecutions)," he said.
"However, in the present case I intend to exercise my discretion and report Officers M and Q to the Director because I consider that their behaviour sought to conceal the role played by DP2 in the events of November 25, 1992.
"This attempted concealment could have seriously impacted on this hearing."
The judge rejected an application to lift the anonymity order preventing either officer being named.
Mr Jordan, 22, had been driving a stolen car suspected of ferrying IRA munitions when he was shot.
He failed to stop when ordered by police and sped away from a patrol car.
Earlier this month, Justice Horner delivered findings in what was the third inquest into the highly contentious death.
The coroner said he was not convinced either by family claims Mr Jordan was gunned down in cold blood or by police insistence the RUC sergeant acted in self-defence.
Testimony from Officers M and Q, who were not directly involved in the shooting, was singled out for specific criticism.
The judge concluded that one or both of the officers had edited the original logbook and that they had been untruthful when asked about the identity of the driver of the stolen car.
Following the judgment, lawyers for the Jordan family called for M and Q to be investigated for allegedly perverting the course of justice and perjury.
They also requested both officers be identified.
The court was also told the granting of anonymity to officers M and Q was made on the basis of an objectively verified risk to life.
The threat to officer M was assessed as moderate, namely that an attack is possible but not likely, but that in the event an appearance at the inquest without anonymity and screening the threat was likely to rise.
The threat to officer Q was deemed to be low but could rise to moderate or beyond if identified through court proceedings.
The judge said the measure was "necessary and proportionate" given the risk to life.
The investigation into Mr Jordan's shooting has been beset by controversy and delay.
In 2014, his family were awarded compensation for the lengthy hold-ups in concluding an inquest.
An original inquest was adjourned in 1995 after being only part heard.
Another probe was held in 2012, but the jury failed to reach consensus on a number of crucial issues - including whether the RUC used reasonable force.
Those findings were later quashed after the High Court identified a number of failings in how the probe was run.
In his findings, Justice Horner said it was impossible to determine with certainty what happened.


At 00:30 on 7 December, Abu Khalil and his family were sound asleep at their home in the north-eastern Syrian village of al-Khan.

They were woken by the sound of a huge explosion.
The house shook. The windows shattered. There was shrapnel in the walls.
Abu Khalil ran out and saw that his neighbour's house had collapsed. The neighbour was frantic and shouted to Abu Khalil to help him find his six-month-old baby.
"I could hear people calling from underneath the rubble," said Abu Khalil. "My neighbour's mother was crying out. She's 70."
It was an air strike, but not by the regime. The villagers say it was the US-led coalition against the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), and that some 47 civilians were killed, half of them children.
If that is true, this was one of the worst accidental bombings of the campaign against IS.
We spoke to Abu Khalil by phone. He is an Arab man in his 30s but did not want to be further identified. He said he was afraid of reprisals by the Syrian People's Protection Units (YPG), which controls much of Hassakeh province and is a key ally of the US-led coalition.
He told us the casualties were so high in the attack on al-Khan because the house hit in the initial strike - by a rocket - was packed with people who had fled other villages. The village was also strafed from the air, he said.
Abu Khalil managed to drag his neighbour's mother from the wreckage of the house, along with a boy and his mother. They were OK - at first.
He described the scene as others in the village came running to help: "My mother and my aunt were both digging through the rubble with me. But while we did this, a helicopter came overhead. It fired. They had machine-guns with explosive bullets. I was hit. I still have the shrapnel in my body.
"I fell into the hole made by the air strike. That was what saved me. The helicopter circled round again and fired a second time. My mother and aunt were killed. The woman and her son who I'd rescued were killed. Everyone but me was killed."
Abu Khalil said the initial air strike was a rocket or missile fired by an Apache helicopter. It left a 2m-deep hole in the ground.
"Anyone could see the hole until the PKK [Turkish rebel Kurdistan Workers Party] filled it. They don't let anyone go near the place or take pictures.
"It was the Americans. For the past year-and-a-half, the only aircraft that have flown over our area have been American."
When the first, sketchy reports came in about al-Khan in early December, the US military's Central Command (Centcom) said it would investigate.
Centcom now says it has looked at its records and did not attack the village. A spokesman stated, however, that there were air strikes in the area of al-Hawl, a small town a few kilometres away.
Al-Khan is a tiny village. According to Abu Khalil, fewer than 100 people live there. Local activists have looked at a map provided by the US military marking the location of the air strike - they say that is exactly where al-Khan is located.
There was confirmation of an air strike on al-Khan from another important source - the Kurdish forces on the ground.
A web page apparently published by the YPG, states: "Coalition aircraft made several raids on IS targets in al-Khan and finished off many rats."
The page purports to come from Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RIBSS), a human rights organisation known for its brave opposition to IS. But RSS has told us the page is nothing to do with them.
The whole thing has the whiff of propaganda about it - an exercise in denying there has been any kind of serious incident because that might undermine support for an air campaign.
Abu Khalil told us that the Kurdish militia had filled the hole made by the initial strike and would not let anyone go near it or take pictures.
He accepts that there was an IS presence. But he said: "There were fewer than 10 fighters in the village, including two locals. And they all stayed together at one place."
He said the village did not support them: "People in al-Khan didn't like IS and always avoided talking to them."
The villagers even tried to expel IS, he said. According to one report, there was an altercation that escalated into an exchange of fire - and IS responded by sending reinforcements.
This convoy, it seems, was spotted by the Kurds, who no doubt thought they were seeing a big movement of troops to the frontline - and called in air support.
If all this is correct, the village's opposition to IS resulted in a devastating attack by US aircraft.
There are many things that are unclear about the events in al-Khan. How many IS fighters were there? How many of them were killed? Were they close to the house that was hit?
There are no independent witnesses, but there is testimony from survivors such as Abu Khalil and others.
And while the villagers counted 47 dead, the coalition counted none.
To some, what happened at al-Khan tells you why the US military's own estimate of civilian casualties in the war against IS is simply not credible.
In an 18-month-long campaign, during which coalition aircraft have conducted 7,550 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, the US military so far acknowledges causing the sum total of 22 civilian deaths.
By contrast, an independent monitoring group called Airwars says that at least 846 and as many as 1,166 non-combatants have died in coalition strikes in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Of course, IS makes the most of civilian casualties. One of the most effective - and upsetting - IS propaganda videos I have seen is of the aftermath of an air strike on the hospital in the town of Abu Kamal, in eastern Syria. It is professionally shot and edited, in high definition as we have come to expect from the jihadist group.
A trail of blood is shown going up the stairs to the neonatal unit. Inside incubators and other equipment are strewn around. The camera points to the floor to get a close-up of the face of a dead baby. The baby's face is coated in plaster dust and fills the screen.
"This is the work of the Crusader Coalition," the video says.
"They accuse the Islamic State of killing civilians! What do you call this? Destroying a hospital with newborns - this is terrorism, not what the Islamic State does. When the pilot falls into our hands, we will bring down justice upon him!"
Was this the coalition or could it have been an air strike by the Syrian regime, or shelling by one of the armed groups fighting IS?
While there is no record of a coalition air strike on Abu Kamal on the day the hospital was hit - 6 March - a coalition press release does talk about an oil pipeline nearby being bombed.
In one sense, it does not matter. IS claims it was a coalition air strike and uses it as propaganda in the battle for Sunni Muslim public opinion.
While the coalition is extremely cautious about estimating the number of civilians killed, there is no such reticence when it comes to the number of enemy dead - at least 23,000, according to briefings given by officials to US media.
This figure may be exaggerated. The CIA has repeatedly said IS can put 30,000 fighters in the field. Can it really be that they have lost three-quarters of their strength to US bombs? And since the CIA estimate has not wavered, has IS really been able to replace 100% of its losses?
But even if total IS casualties are only half what is claimed, or a quarter, something remarkable is happening. Thousands of the enemy are being killed with, so far, very few coalition casualties. Just a single US death is classed as being caused by hostile action.
It is a vastly uneven contest and one in which, ultimately, the industrial and military might of the US will almost certainly prevail.
IS militants have been steadily losing territory. They may be on the point of abandoning much of Aleppo province, with the latest reports speaking of senior figures leaving the main IS-controlled town there, Manbij.
The seriousness of the situation - even the possibility of defeat - was acknowledged in late December in an audio message purportedly from IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"If we are victorious then God has promised it to us," he said. "But let us not get bewildered if death, injuries and defeat overcome us because it's God's promise to us as well."
We spoke via Skype to Abu Haider, a defector from IS. First of all, he said, the militants had adapted to the coalition's bombing.
"Air strikes won't affect them. They are well trained, they use walkie-talkies to warn of an attack. They have made shelters."
But, he went on, morale was low among ordinary fighters as the group fell back. "They are frustrated because the entire world is fighting against them," he explained.
There was another reason for poor morale. People were disillusioned - the so-called Islamic State had not lived up to its promise.
A medical student when the protests in Syria began, Abu Haider was very religious, much more so than his family. From the start, he saw the uprising as jihad, not a revolution for democracy. But IS turned Muslim against Muslim.
"We went to the Islamic State because they said they were establishing Sharia and protecting Muslims. But we witnessed something very different," he said.
"They were killing Muslims - from the Free Syrian Army, from al-Nusra Front, from Ahrar al-Sham. This is unacceptable... I joined the Islamic State to fight the regime."
That disillusionment does not mean Abu Haider would take arms and money from the US to fight IS.
"I would never join the coalition led by the US," he said. "I would never choose Americans over Muslims, even if they are IS."
"The Americans are our enemies, although their time hasn't come yet. We are already fighting against the Shia and the Russians."
That declaration illustrates the problem for the US that many of those fighters opposed to IS share the same basic aims.
Abu Haider believes in a scriptural prophecy of a final battle marking the end of days, a prophecy he said was constantly invoked by IS commanders and clerics.
They would tell him that the battle would be at the village of Dabiq in northern Syria, against the "forces of Rome", the "Crusader coalition".
Some IS members will not leave the group but will fight to the last bullet. The death throes of IS could be drawn out - and with it the US coalition's air war.


Port Vale's four-game League One winning run ended as they surrendered an early lead to lose to Rochdale.

Vale winger Chris Birchall nipped in ahead of Jim McNulty to round keeper Joel Castro Pereira and slip the ball inside the near post on 13 minutes.
But Dale levelled from Ian Henderson's 40th-minute penalty following Carl Dickinson's foul on Donal McDermott.
Nat Mendez-Laing knocked in a rebound to win it on 78 minutes prior to captain Carl Dickinson's sending off.
Dickinson, who was red carded in added time for an off-the-ball challenge on Henderson, had earlier seen his header graze the top of Pereira's crossbar after Mendez-Laing had slammed a shot against the foot of the post at the other end.
Both sides hit the woodwork after the break, Mendez-Laing slamming a shot against the foot of the post for Dale.
But, when James Hooper's effort was blocked, the rebound ran kindly for Mendez-Laing who applied a cool finish to find the bottom corner of Jak Alnwick's net and earn victory.
Rochdale manager Keith Hill told BBC Radio Manchester:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"I enjoyed watching the game, I thought the performance merited 3 points. I must admit I do believe we were given a penalty that was an excellent challenge from one of their defenders, I don't think it was a penalty and I think the referee has got that wrong. I am one of those that comes out and complains about referees.
"As a home manager to get the advantage their when the opposition is winning 1-0. It was a big lift for us but I think we were playing well and I do believe we deserved the 3 points from the performance.
"I think we've got a very good squad of players, but we are dealing with inconsistent performances. Individually we have to crack that nut. On any given Saturday we're a very, very good side but I just want a little bit of individual consistency. This season I think we've been inconsistent with performances which has led to inconsistent results."


This Budget is "bold in building the aspirations of working people", according to Chancellor George Osborne.

Yet, at its heart is a plan to cut £12bn from the welfare bill - a move that will affect the lives of millions of people.
To Mr Osborne's supporters, this Budget is a seminal moment in a shift from reliance on the state to rewarding hard work, particularly with a new pay guarantee.
To his critics, it is a hammer blow to the financial lives of struggling families across the country.
But what - in practical terms - does it mean for you?
As predicted, there will be big changes to the system of tax credits.
Only the lowest-income families will be able to claim tax credits. Together with changes to entitlement to Universal Credit, this will cut £2.9bn from the welfare bill in the next financial year and £3.4bn a year by 2020-21.
For example, the income threshold for tax credits is to be reduced from £6,420 to £3,850.
Larger families, particularly, will be hit by tax credit changes if they have children from April 2017.
Claimants will see child tax credits and Universal Credit limited to the first two children.
Here is some context: at present about 870,000 families claiming tax credits have three or more children - about one in five families receiving tax credit. However, it will only be those larger families making a claim, or having more children, from April 2017 that will be affected.
In addition, many working age benefits will be frozen for four years, such as tax credits and local housing allowance, but excluding maternity pay and disability benefits. This is a cut to the welfare bill of £4bn a year by 2020-21.
The benefits cap - the maximum amount a household can receive in benefits - will be reduced. For those living outside of London it will drop to £20,000. For those living in London, where housing costs are higher, the cap will be £23,000.
Landlords are going to take a big hit, but not immediately.
Tax relief on mortgage interest payments on residential property will be restricted to the basic rate of tax. This will be phased in over four years from April 2017.
This means that landlords, who get a tax break by using mortgage interest to reduce their taxable profits, will have less opportunity to do so.
Landlords in London, where rents and property prices are highest, are likely to be hit the hardest.
The share prices of house builders have taken an immediate hit, partly because a number of homes may be put onto the market by reluctant landlords following the chancellor's announcement.
In other housing announcements, rents in the social housing sector will be reduced by 1% a year for the next four years. However, housing association tenants in England who earn more than £30,000 per household - or £40,000 in London - will have to pay up to the market rent.
Housing benefit will not be paid automatically to 18 to 21-year-olds.
Insuring a home will get more expensive, by an average of £9.48 a year, as a result of changes to insurance premium tax.
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Currently there is a 1% cap on rises in public sector pay. The chancellor said this would be held at a 1% rise for the next four years.
Although this is faster than the rising cost of living at the moment, this measure is expected to mean a cut in real terms over the course of the four years. The Bank of England's target for inflation, which charts the rising cost of living, is 2%.
But there was a huge rabbit that Mr Osborne pulled out of his hat after an hour of his speech.
He announced a compulsory Living Wage - basically, a new minimum wage - paid to people aged 25 and over, starting in April 2016 at £7.20 an hour and reaching £9 an hour by 2020.
The current national minimum wage, we already know, will increase by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October. The hourly rate for younger workers will also rise, and for apprentices it will go up by 20% - or 57p - to £3.30 an hour.
A lot of directors of small companies take a small salary and pay themselves a much larger amount in dividends from shares in the company. The chancellor will increase the tax on all dividends above a new tax-free threshold of £5,000.
The most striking will be a 32.5% tax charge, instead of 25%, for those paying higher rate tax. Overall this is expected to raise an extra £2.5bn for the Treasury in 2016-17 and similar amounts in subsequent years.
The Conservatives have promised that most people will not pay income tax on their first £12,500 of income by the end of this Parliament.
Mr Osborne was already moving towards this, with the allowance due to rise to £10,800 in 2016-17. However, he has now said that the first £11,000 of income will be free from tax from April 2016.
The point at which taxpayers pay higher rate tax of 40% on their income will increase to £43,000 from April.
This is the first step on the road to delivering his promise that, by 2020-21, nobody earning less than £50,000 will pay higher rate tax.
In the build-up to the general election, there were promises about making inheritance tax less of a burden on families.
A family home allowance of £175,000 in inheritance tax means that a married couple or civil partners can potentially leave property worth up to £1m to their children without an inheritance tax charge. The change will take effect in stages beginning with a family home allowance of £100,000 in April 2017 and reaching £175,000 by April 2020.
However, families will want more detail on exactly how this works, especially given that those who downsize in later life will get some credit in terms of inheritance tax for doing so.
There is an added complication in these calculations for those in some of the largest homes, or those owning in expensive areas. Over time, the allowance will gradually be taken away from those with estates worth more than £2m.
Students going to university from some of the worst-off families have been getting a maintenance grant.
This will be scrapped in England and Wales and replaced by loans for new students from the 2016-17 academic year.
These loans will be paid back once they earn more than £21,000. The maximum loan available will be increased to £8,200.
Yes, anyone buying a new car from 2017 will have to pay attention to new Vehicle Excise Duty bands.
This means that the buyers of most new cars will pay a standard charge of £140. People who own cars now will see no change to this duty on their current vehicles.
The chancellor's previously announced plan to freeze fuel duty will remain in place.
The average annual comprehensive motor insurance policy will be £12.25 more expensive, owing to changes to insurance premium tax, according to the Association of British Insurers.
In previous Budgets and Autumn Statements, the chancellor has outlined plans for the coming years including:


League One Peterborough United have signed former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor on a two-year deal.

The 31-year-old centre-back ended last season at Ipswich, playing three games in the Championship before injury cut short his brief spell.
Taylor made 268 appearances for the Magpies during 12 years at St James' Park and was twice called up by England without making his debut.
"It is a massive coup to get him on board," said Posh boss Grant McCann.
Doncaster Rovers had also been interested in signing Taylor, while Ipswich decided against re-signing him after they brought in Dominic Iorfa from Wolves.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Sierra Leone has begun house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.

President Ernest Bai Koroma said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted.
The president said that as Christmas approached, people would need to be reminded that Sierra Leona was at war with a "vicious enemy".
Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia to have the highest number of Ebola cases, World Health Organization figures show.
The virus has killed more than 6,800 people this year, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to "break the chain of transmission".
He added: "Do not hide the sick."
The president said that while many districts of the country had made progress in fighting Ebola, challenges still remained in the western part of the country, which for the past two weeks had accounted for 50% of new infections.
He said that he was introducing an action plan, Operation Western Area Surge, to encourage people to come forward if they had a fever or other symptoms of Ebola.
He said it was necessary to introduce such stringent measures even though it was the festive season -  a time when people would normally "celebrate with their families in a joyous manner".
The president also said that:
The prevalence of the virus in the capital Freetown is thought to be one of the reasons why Ebola is spreading so fast in the west.
Our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana, said the measures were partly aimed at controlling crowds.
He said people in Freetown continued to gather on the streets or go jogging along the beach despite the Ebola threat.
This is not the first time that Sierra Leone has used stringent tactics to locate Ebola sufferers, but none have stopped the rise in infections.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Tom Frieden told the AP news agency that "the fight is going to be long and hard to get to zero cases", and is heavily contingent on sick individuals coming forward to be diagnosed.
11,315
Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)
4,809 Liberia
3,955 Sierra Leone
2,536 Guinea
8 Nigeria


A third of malaria drugs used around the world to stem the spread of the disease are counterfeit, data suggests.

Researchers who looked at 1,500 samples of seven malaria drugs from seven countries in South East Asia say poor-quality and fake tablets are causing drug resistance and treatment failure.
Data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa including over 2,500 drug samples showed similar results.
Experts say
          The Lancet Infectious Diseases
 research is a "wake-up call".
The US researchers from the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health who carried out the work believe the problem may even be much greater than data suggests.
"Most cases are probably unreported, reported to the wrong agencies, or kept confidential by pharmaceutical companies," say the researchers.
No large studies of drug quality have been carried out in China or India - countries that house a third of the world's population and are a "probable" source of many counterfeit drugs as well as genuine antimalarial medicines, they say.
Lead researcher Gaurvika Nayyar stressed that 3.3 billion people were at risk of malaria, which is classified as endemic in 106 countries.
"Between 655,000 and 1.2 million people die every year from Plasmodium falciparum infection," he said.
"Much of this morbidity and mortality could be avoided if drugs available to patients were efficacious, high quality, and used correctly."
In parts of the world where malaria is prevalent, antimalarial drugs are widely distributed and self-prescribed, both correctly and incorrectly, say the researchers.
The study found there are insufficient facilities to monitor the quality of antimalarial drugs and poor consumer and health-worker knowledge about the therapies.
And there is a lack of regulatory oversight of manufacturing and little punitive action for counterfeiters.
Despite this, malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25% globally since 2000, and by 33% in the WHO African Region.
But the World Health Organization says maintaining current rates of progress will not be enough to meet global targets for malaria control.
It is calling for renewed investment in diagnostic testing, treatment, and surveillance for malaria.


Port Vale have signed former Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United defender Ryan Taylor on a short-term deal, subject to league approval.

The 32-year-old, who can also play in midfield, has spent nine seasons of his career playing Premier League football.
He was a free agent after his release by Hull City in June, having played 12 times last term as the Tigers on promotion back to the top flight.
He is available for Vale's home League One match against Oxford on Saturday.
Taylor is the 18th signing made by new Vale boss Bruno Ribeiro since taking over in June.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Suspended Labour MP Simon Danczuk said he expects to be the party's Rochdale candidate in the general election.

Mr Danczuk, 50, was suspended in 2015, pending an investigation, following revelations he exchanged explicit messages with a 17-year-old girl.
He currently serves as an independent MP but has asked Labour's head office about having his hearing held in time to him stand for the party on 8 June.
Labour said the hearing's timeline has yet to be decided.
Mr Danzcuk said: "I hope and expect to fight the general election for Labour in Rochdale on 8 June.
"I don't take anything for granted but I go round talking to the people of Rochdale regularly, and they say they have faith in me.
"I have a strong track record."
Labour's National Executive Committee conducts investigations.
Regarding Mr Danczuk, the party said: "The process for selecting candidates in all our seats, including Rochdale, will begin shortly."
Mr Danczuk, who has been an MP for the town since 2010, said he is the "best-placed person" to fight the snap general election for the party.
Best known for his campaign work on historical child sex abuse and he co-authored a book on alleged abuse by former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith.
In July 2015, shortly after separating from his wife Karen, the MP announced he was stepping back from his work on child sexual abuse to seek help for depression.
Five months later he was suspended from Labour following tabloid newspaper claims that he sent lewd texts to a teenage girl. He said while the story had been blown out of all proportion by the tabloids, it referred to "an extremely low point" in his life.
In January 2016 he admitted taking payments from a photo agency for pictures of him sold to tabloid newspapers and magazines, but denied any wrongdoing.
Two months after that, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ordered him to repay more than Â£11,000 after he admitted an expenses claims "error" over money he claimed for the cost of his children living in London.
In August 2016 he was arrested in Spain for two nights following an alleged row with his estranged wife Karen.
In October a rape case against him was dropped by police due to "insufficient evidence".


The Egyptians used to believe that literacy was divine, a gift from baboon-faced Thoth, the god of knowledge.

Scholars no longer embrace that theory, but why ancient civilisations developed writing was a mystery for a long time. Was it for religious or artistic reasons? To communicate with distant armies?
The mystery deepened in 1929, when a German archaeologist named Julius Jordan unearthed a vast library of clay tablets that were 5,000 years old.
They were far older than the samples of writing already discovered in China, Egypt and Mesoamerica, and were written in an abstract script that became known as "cuneiform".
The tablets came from Uruk, a Mesopotamian settlement on the banks of the Euphrates in what is now Iraq.
Uruk was small by today's standards - with only a few thousand inhabitants - but in its time was huge, one of the world's first true cities.
"He built the town wall of 'Uruk', city of sheepfolds," proclaims the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest works of literature. "Look at its wall with its frieze like bronze! Gaze at its bastions, which none can equal!"
This great city had produced writing that no modern scholar could decipher. What did it say?
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy highlights the inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped create the economic world.
It is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen online or subscribe to the programme podcast.
Uruk posed another puzzle for archaeologists - although initially it seemed unrelated.
The ruins of Uruk and other Mesopotamian cities were littered with little clay objects - conical, spherical and cylindrical. One archaeologist quipped they looked like suppositories.
Julius Jordan was a little more perceptive. They were shaped, he wrote in his journal, "like the commodities of daily life - jars, loaves, and animals", although they were stylised and standardised.
But what were they for? Nobody could work it out.
Nobody, that is, until the French archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat.
In the 1970s, she catalogued similar pieces found across the region, from Turkey to Pakistan, some of which were 9,000 years old.
Schmandt-Besserat believed the tokens had a simple purpose: correspondence counting. The tokens that were shaped like loaves could be used to count loaves. The ones shaped like jars could be used to count jars.
Correspondence counting is easy: you don't need to know how to count, you just need to look at two quantities and verify that they are the same.
The technique is older even than Uruk.
The 20,000-year-old Ishango Bone - found near one of the sources of the Nile in the Democratic Republic of Congo - seems to use matched tally marks on the thigh bone of a baboon for correspondence counting.
But the Uruk tokens took things further: they were used to keep track of counting lots of different quantities, and could be used both to add and to subtract.
Remember, Uruk was a great city. There was a priesthood, there were craftsmen. Food was gathered from the surrounding countryside.
An urban economy requires trading, and planning, and taxation too. Picture the world's first accountants, sitting at the door of the temple storehouse, using the little loaf tokens to count as the sacks of grain arrive and leave.
Denise Schmandt-Besserat pointed out something else revolutionary. The abstract marks on the cuneiform tablets matched the tokens. Everyone else had missed the resemblance because the writing didn't seem to be a picture of anything.
But Schmandt-Besserat realised what had happened. The tablets had been used to record the back-and-forth of the tokens, which themselves were recording the back-and-forth of the sheep, the grain, and the jars of honey.
In fact, it may be that the first such tablets were impressions of the tokens themselves, pressing the hard clay baubles into the soft clay tablet.
Then those ancient accountants realised it might be simpler to make the marks with a stylus. So cuneiform writing was a stylised picture of an impression of a token representing a commodity. No wonder nobody had made the connection before Schmandt-Besserat.
And so she solved both problems at once. Those clay tablets, adorned with the world's first abstract writing? They weren't being used for poetry, or to send messages to far-off lands. They were used to create the world's first accounts.
The world's first written contracts, too - since there is just a small leap between a record of what has been paid, and a record of a future obligation to pay.
The combination of the tokens and the clay cuneiform writing led to a brilliant verification device: a hollow clay ball called a bulla. On the outside of the bulla, the parties to a contract could write down the details of the obligation - including the resources that were to be paid.
On the inside of the bulla would be the tokens representing the deal. The writing on the outside and the tokens inside the clay ball verified each other.
We don't know who the parties to such agreements might have been - whether they were religious tithes to the temple, taxes, or private debts, is unclear. But such records were the purchase orders and the receipts that made life in a complex city society possible.
This is a big deal.
Most financial transactions are based on explicit written contracts. Insurance, a bank account, a government bond, a corporate share, a mortgage agreement - they're all written contracts - and the bullas of Mesopotamia are the very first archaeological evidence that written contracts existed.
Uruk's accountants provided us with another innovation, too.
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At first, the system for recording five sheep would simply require five separate sheep impressions. But that was cumbersome. A superior system involved using an abstract symbol for different numbers - five strokes for five, a circle for 10, two circles and three strokes for 23.
The numbers were always used to refer to a quantity of something: there was no "10" - only "10 sheep". But the numerical system was powerful enough to express large quantities - hundreds, and thousands.
One demand for war reparations, 4,400 years old, is for 4.5 trillion litres of barley grain, or 8.64 million "guru".
It was an unpayable bill - 600 times the US's annual production of barley today. But it was an impressively big number. It was also the world's first written evidence of compound interest.
In all it is quite a set of achievements.
The citizens of Uruk faced a huge problem, a problem that is fundamental to any modern economy - how to deal with a web of obligations and long-range plans between people who did not know each other well, who might perhaps never even meet.
Solving that problem meant producing a string of brilliant innovations: not only the first accounts and the first contracts, but the first mathematics and even the first writing.
Writing wasn't a gift from the gods. It was a tool that was developed for a very clear reason: to run an economy.
Tim Harford writes the Financial Times's Undercover Economist column. 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy is broadcast on the BBC World Service. You can find more information about the programme's sources and listen online or subscribe to the programme podcast.