A key investor in Royal Dutch Shell has said the oil company's proposed takeover of BG Group does not work at current oil prices.

David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life, said oil needed to be over $60 rather than the current $33.
He said the fund manager would oppose the deal when it goes to a shareholder vote later this month.
But Shell has said it remains confident of winning the vote.
A Shell spokesman said: "We continue to believe we have the broad base of shareholder support we need for the deal to complete."
Shares in Shell fell 0.8% to Â£13.64 when the FTSE started trading on Monday, while BG dropped 1.3% to Â£9.27.
The firm announced its intention to buy BG - an oil and gas exploration company - in April 2015 for Â£47bn.
But Mr Cumming said that the risk of further oil price falls and financial risks connected to BG's Brazilian assets make the deal undesirable.
"The problem we have with the deal is that a lot's changed since the bid was announced in April last year -  all of it negative," he told the BBC's Today programme.
"The current oil price is $33 and Shell still needs an oil price well over $60 to make it work financially," he said on Monday.
Shell and BG shareholders will vote at separate meetings on 27 and 28 January respectively.
Mr Cumming said Standard Life would not want to see Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden forced out if the deal failed.
"He's doing a good job in our view. It's just the deal we don't like. We have to put financial logic above management loyalty in this instance, and we would recommend other shareholders do the same," Mr Cumming said.
Standard Life is the 11th largest holder of Shell's B shares, with a 1.7% stake.
Shell B shares make up the share component in the cash-and-share deal that is expected to be completed on 15 February.
Standard Life is also the 16th biggest shareholder in BG, according to data from Bloomberg.
Shell has won the support of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), an influential advisory firm, which recommended on Friday that Shell shareholders support the deal.
Another influential advisory group, Glass Lewis, also issued its guidance late on Friday, joining ISS in advising shareholders to vote in favour.
ISS, which advises about 5% of Shell's medium and small shareholders, said it supported the deal "given the compelling strategic rationale, and the significant positive economics to be realised within a relatively short time frame".
Glass Lewis, which says it advises 12 of Shell's top 50 shareholders, said the deal "could lead to significantly improved financial results and the creation of substantial shareholder value".
Shell will become the world's top liquefied natural gas trader after the deal.
In December Shell said it would cut 2,800 jobs as a result of restructuring the companies into one unit.


An attempt by England rugby star Danny Cipriani to have a drink-driving trial thrown out of court has been dismissed.

The 28-year-old, whose Mercedes was involved in a crash with a taxi in London, was allegedly so drunk that his eyes were "glazed" and he was slurring.
A breath test allegedly found him to be twice the legal alcohol limit, but the players's lawyer had questioned whether the test was working properly.
A judge at Westminster Magistrates Court said the trial would proceed.
Senior District Judge Howard Riddle ruled that Mr Cipriani did have a case to answer, pointing out that Sgt Marc Pullen insisted the breath test device was "working correctly".
The Sale Sharks fly-half's car was involved in the collision in Imperial Road, South West London, at about 05:15 BST on 1 June last year.
The court heard he was found to have 67 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit in England and Wales is 35 micrograms.
The player's defence lawyer Philip Lucas suggested there was not "sufficient" evidence that the test, carried out in a police station, was calibrated properly.
However, prosecutor Katie Weiss, contested the application, insisting the court did have enough evidence to continue the case.
Mr Cipriani, who has 14 caps for England, has pleaded not guilty to drinking and driving.
He was bailed until a further hearing, which has been scheduled for 26 May.


Pointless host Alexander Armstrong will voice Danger Mouse when the much-loved cartoon hero returns to TV next year.

The comic actor, also known for his TV shows with Ben Miller, said voicing the character was "about as close to a dream job as you could wish for".
Armstrong takes over from Sir David Jason, who voiced the eye patch-sporting "DM" in ITV's original series from 1981 to 1992.
Kevin Eldon will voice trusty sidekick Penfold, Terry Scott's old character.
"When I am recording the episodes, I'll be making sure that at all times my eyebrows are at least three inches above my head," joked Eldon, known for his appearances in Big Train, Nighty Night and other comedy shows.
Other cast members include Shauna MacDonald and Morwenna Banks, while Dave Lamb - the voice of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me - will take on the role of narrator.
The new series, which will initially run for 52 episodes, is due to be broadcast on the CBBC channel in 2015.
Armstrong's Danger Mouse will have more gadgets at his disposal than the original, among them a multi-purpose "i-patch".
The actor previously voiced an alien super-computer in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures and Professor M in the animated series Tooned.
"As a lifelong fan of Danger Mouse, I was ecstatic just to know that the show was coming back," the 44-year-old said.
"To be actually involved with the reboot and to be taking DM out to a whole new generation is about as close to a dream job as you could wish for."
"We're all genuinely bowled over to have Kevin and Alexander on board as Penfold and the mighty DM himself," said CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor.
"They are both funny and fabulously talented performers and... will ensure that the series' considerable comedy credentials are bestowed on a new generation of fans."


Mike Flynn says Newport County's players "have given everything" since he was appointed caretaker manager.

County were 11 points adrift at the bottom of League Two when Flynn replaced Graham Westley in March.
The Exiles remain in the relegation zone, but are five points from safety, having won three of Flynn's six games in charge.
"I'm proud of them. They have given everything since I've been here," Flynn said.
"That determination, that effort and that intensity has got to last every game to the end of the season.
"Nothing less than that will do. We've got six big games to go and if we close the gap one point every week we're going to stay up."
County ended a three-match winless run with a 1-0 win at home to Crawley Town to leave them five points behind Hartlepool, who were beaten by Portsmouth.
Fellow strugglers Cheltenham boosted their survival hopes with a home win over Morecambe and are six points ahead of Newport with six games remaining.
"It's so important we take care of our business because Cheltenham won," Flynn told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"It could have been a lot worse. It could have been nine points, but thankfully we've closed the gap because Hartlepool lost.
"Two teams have been dragged into it again and we've got to keep concentrating on what we do."
Newport are at play-off contenders Exeter City on Saturday, 8 April.


This might not seem the wisest moment to release a comedy in Spain about a Catalan village where independence has apparently been declared.

Spain's government is in uproar over a Catalan parliament vote to launch a unilateral secession process, and the region's leader is being investigated by a Spanish judge for criminal disobedience.
But the filmmakers are looking to repeat the runaway success of their 2014 feature Spanish Affair, which became the domestic cinema industry's biggest-ever hit, attracting nine million people.
Known in Spanish as Ocho Apellidos Vascos (Eight Basque Surnames), its blend of wedding comedy and north-versus-south rivalry dared to poke fun at northern Basque culture and even the radical politics and street violence associated with the militant group Eta.
Eta's four-decade campaign of violence aimed at independence from Spain left more than 800 people dead before it declared a "definitive" ceasefire in 2011.
The Spanish title comes from a hilarious scene in which the Andalusian hero has to pretend he is 100% Basque by reciting the names of his grandparents.
The film critic at the Basque Country's pro-independence Gara newspaper turned his nose up at "non-Basque actors playing Basques with joke accents", but the film was a success in the northern region.
Now the Spain-wide release of Eight Catalan Surnames on Friday will show whether Catalans are also in the mood to laugh at the political crisis that has put the national government in Madrid and Barcelona's regional leadership on a collision course.
Director Emilio Martinez-Lazaro tries not to worry about any political crossfire.
"This is a 100-minute film full of the elements you would expect to find there, and the viewer will not be thinking about anything other than that during those 100 minutes. Then he will leave the cinema and go back to thinking about Mr Mas or whatever."
Artur Mas, the leader of Catalonia's government, and other Catalan nationalists won a majority in the regional parliament on 27 September with 48% of the vote, in elections that they had styled as a de facto referendum on independence.
Early this month, pro-independence parties approved a motion to start "the process to create a Catalan state in the form of a republic".
The Spanish government appealed against the move to the Constitutional Court, and leading Catalan officials have been warned that proceeding on the basis of the independence motion could see them suspended from their posts.
French film pokes fun at national stereotypes
The film's two Basque scriptwriters, Borja Cobeaga and Diego San Jose, have sought to poke fun at all nationalism, including the ultra-Spanish approach as personified by the civil guards who storm into the supposedly independent village as the farce approaches its climax.
What they say they really enjoyed creating in Eight Catalan Surnames was a comic rivalry between Basques and Catalans over the size of their opposition to Spanish rule in Madrid.
"Ten years ago Basque nationalism was on the front pages and Catalan nationalism was somewhat dormant," says Cobeaga. "Now, while the Basques are in the pit lane, the Catalans started overtaking everyone and are out in front."
In one of the film's funniest moments, a brutish Basque fisherman berates the Catalan mayor speaking to a square festooned with Catalan independence flags: "When it comes to independence, we're first in line!"
Catalan push for independence from Spain
Spain pushed into unknown territory
Catalonia profile
What is Eta?
For Diego San Jose, the sequel remains more a comedy about the Basque character than the current reality of Catalonia. "The Catalan question is more about shades of grey, but the Basques are extreme in all aspects of life. Whatever we do, we go further than anyone else and that is great for comedy."
Director Emilio Martinez-Lazaro accepts that his portrayal of Catalan independence as a fantasy facade to please a dying old lady could prove controversial. But, he argues, "the film is a vague echo of reality in that there is a hot-headed adventure going on".
Toni Soler, who directs a successful political sketch show, Polonia, on Catalan television believes the ability to laugh at oneself is the "first rule of living together as a society".
"We have always thought that the best thing we can do to help is show that all ideologies and all leaders can be ridiculous," he says.
His programme came under attack for depicting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as Adolf Hitler in his bunker, when it showed him receiving news of last November's unofficial ballot on independence in Catalonia.
Asked whether Catalans will see the funny side now, Toni Soler is not so sure.
"It's much easier to laugh at yourself when you are the one poking fun. When your neighbour does it, it's harder to take."


A car park operator is being investigated over claims photographic evidence has been altered to unfairly impose parking charges.

UK Parking Control (UKPC) said it has investigated allegations one of its employees in Lincoln had changed timestamps on photos.
It said it had worked "to mitigate the risk of this re-occurring".
But, a wider inquiry in other parts off the UK by the British Parking Association (BPA) is under way.
The BPA said it could not comment further as they were "still in the process of our investigation".
UKPC has also been reported to Action Fraud and the complaint is currently being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
Alex Shipp, who campaigns as the Parking Prankster, said: "I think this merits a full investigation, rather than just acknowledging the few cases we know about so far."
The issue came to light in Lincoln when Simone Riley-Young was issued with a parking charge notice while parked at Tritton Retail Park on 18 July.
Drivers can park there free of charge for up to two hours.
The timestamps on the photos said 07:15 and 09:27, but Ms Riley-Young said the earlier time was impossible as she was still in bed.
Another driver, Matthew Treacy, had the same problem at the car park on 23 August.
The timestamps on the photos of his car said 14:06 and 16:21, but Mr Treacy said he had four independent sources to prove his car could not have been in the car park at 14:06.
UKPC operates more than 1,400 sites nationwide and similar problems have been reported outside Lincoln, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
Talking about the Lincoln incidents, UKPC said there had been a full investigation.
"This behaviour is completely contrary to UKPC's operating procedures and employees who do not adhere to our high professional standards or codes of conduct are subject to disciplinary proceedings up to and including dismissal," a spokesman said.
"We have put steps in place to mitigate the risk of this reoccurring."
The BBC contacted UKPC again about incidents elsewhere in the country, but the company has not responded.


Former rebels in the Central African Republic killed almost 1,000 people in a two-day rampage this month, double an earlier UN estimate, Amnesty International has said.

The group says war crimes are being committed in CAR.
In a separate report, Human Rights Watch is calling on the UN to send a peacekeeping mission to CAR.
The mostly Muslim fighters ousted President Francois Bozize in March, sparking sectarian conflict.
Rebel leader Michel Djotodia became the Christian majority country's first Muslim leader and is now interim president.
The US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, arrived in the CAR on Thursday for talks with Mr Djotodia and religious leaders.
Urgent action was needed to end the "vicious violence", she said, on the eve of her visit.
"The authorities and the opinion leaders have to make difficult choices to help stop the violence, bring their people together, begin a process of reconciliation," she said.
In its report, Amnesty said former Seleka rebels killed nearly 1,000 people in the capital, Bangui, in revenge for deadly Christian militia attacks.
The death toll was much higher than earlier UN estimates, which spoke of 450 killed in Bangui and another 150 elsewhere in the country.
The attacks came after Christian militias known as "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) went door-to-door in some parts of Bangui "and killed approximately 60 Muslim men", Amnesty said.
"The de-facto government forces, known as ex-Seleka, retaliated on a larger scale against Christians in the wake of the attack, killing nearly 1,000 men over a two-day period and systematically looting civilian homes. A small number of women and children were also killed," the report said.
Amnesty says civilians are being killed on a daily basis in Bangui, despite the presence of French and African Union troops.
Christian Mukosa, Amnesty's Central Africa expert, said the information gathered "has left no room for doubt that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed by all parties to the conflict."
In its report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that in the northern town of Bossangoa, Christian militias attacked Muslim communities, cutting the throats of children while forcing parents to watch.
Muslim groups retaliated, setting fire to Christian homes and killing their occupants with the apparent approval of military commanders who were present, Human Rights Watch says.
"The brutal killings in the Central African Republic are creating a cycle of murder and reprisal that threatens to spin out of control," said Peter Bouckaert, author of the HRW report.
"The UN Security Council needs to act quickly to bring this evolving catastrophe to a halt."
Ms Power said she and President Barack Obama were "deeply disturbed" by the killings.
"This world has been witness to great atrocities before and each situation has its own unique aspects. Direct comparisons with other crises, past crises, are inevitably flawed," she said.
"But it is worth noting that Somalia taught us what can happen in a failed  state, and Rwanda showed us what can occur in a deeply divided one."
Earlier this month, President Djotodia told French radio he was ready to speak to the leaders of Christian militias to resolve the worsening conflict.
His comments come after the African Union authorised increasing the number of troops in CAR to 6,000.
The AU troops, along with some 1,600 from France, are attempting to disarm militia fighters.


James Keatings' stoppage-time strike gave Championship winners Hibernian victory and left Raith Rovers a point above the bottom two places.

Keatings was left unmarked to put Hibs ahead before the break but Declan McManus fired Raith level in the second half.
Grant Holt edged the hosts back into the lead only for fellow substitute Ryan Hardie to equalise.
Keatings would have the final say, his free-kick finding the net.
The Kirkcaldy side, who visit second bottom St Mirren on Saturday, remain three points clear of bottom team Ayr United - Hibs' weekend hosts.
Despite making 10 changes to the side that lost to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final, Hibs dominated the opening exchanges.
Fraser Murray, making only his second start for the first team, sent a header inches wide of Pavol Penksa's left-hand post and then Brian Graham had a header from a Chris Humphrey delivery tipped over the crossbar by the keeper.
Andrew Shinnie and the impressive Murray fired just over but slowly John Hughes' side began to make an impact on the game, winger Chris Johnston warming the palms of Ross Laidlaw in the home goal.
Hibs took the lead when Shinnie played the ball wide to Humphrey, who utilised his pace to escape Kevin McHattie and cross for Keatings to smash home from close range.
Hibs boss Neil Lennon, serving the first of a two-match touchline ban, must have been encouraged by the performances of some of his fringe players as he watched from the stand, with Murray again going close with a volley.
The small band of visiting fans were on their feet when McManus fired home after getting the better of Alex Harris but referee Greg Aitken had already blown for an infringement.
Bobby Barr then had a snapshot that Efe Ambrose managed to get in the way of but the pressure from Raith eventually paid off.
The home side were slack in midfield and Barr slipped the ball through to McManus, who made no mistake from 14 yards.
McManus twice came close to giving his side the lead. His first effort from the edge of the box beat Laidlaw but came back off the inside of the post and an overhead kick from the striker was turned over by the keeper.
Hibernian introduced Holt in place of Graham and within minutes they were back in front. The Raith defence failed to cope with a ball over the top and Holt ran on to knock it home.
The visitors, though, struck back for the second time when Hardie ran through on goal and, as the home defence stood and watched, the striker took his time to round Laidlaw before blasting into the empty net.
There was one final twist after Jordan Thompson was booked for handball just outside the box, Keatings' free-kick beating Penksa to secure Hibs the three points.


A group of MPs and Peers says legal cannabis markets should be tested and drug use decriminalised as part of a radical new approach to drug use.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform wants an overhaul in global narcotics policy.
It says the "war on drugs" and "blanket prohibition" have failed.
The group also believes certain human rights laws could be used to claim that those who possess cannabis should not be treated as criminals.
In its report, the all-party group says that experiments into possible models for the regulated sale of marijuana should be encouraged among United Nations countries including the UK.
Co-chairman Lady Meacher wants ministers in the UK to try out a controlled system where licensed premises sell labelled and tested cannabis.
The idea is to control what is sold and undermine dealers who sell more dangerous substances.  The results of the trial could then be evaluated.
Cannabis has already been legalised in some parts of the United States.
The United Nations drug conventions were originally drawn up in 1961.
The convention sets up the framework under which governments around the world pursue their drugs policies and punish offenders.
The all-party group says a special UN meeting next year offers a unique opportunity to press for improvements to the system.
The group believes the current convention has led to many countries taking a prohibitionist approach.
But Lady Meacher, a crossbench peer, argues countries could do much more to pursue policies based on public health, human rights and welfare.
For example, she argues in some Latin American countries, a policy to use aircraft to spray and destroy coca crops, has led to the destruction of the crops that produce cocaine, but also left the land unusable for any other purpose with serious consequences for local people.
Instead she argues there is room for flexibility within the UN conventions, with states able to decriminalise the use of controlled drugs for personal use.  Portugal for example has decriminalised drug use in 2001.
The report also says that any regulation of cannabis should reflect the supremacy of human rights laws.
For example, someone growing a small number of cannabis plants for modest personal use, could deploy their human right to "a private and family life" to avoid prosecution.
The report argues the Human Rights Act could be invoked to support the argument that the possession or purchase of small amounts of cannabis does not harm other people's rights and therefore should not be criminalised.


A security alert in the centre of Larne, County Antrim, has ended and been declared a hoax.

The alert began just after midday when police received a report of a suspicious device at the back of business premises on Dunluce Street.
Officers cordoned off the scene and part of the street was closed. It reopened at about 17:30 BST.
The suspect object was examined by Army bomb experts who declared it a hoax device.
Chief Inspector Stephen McCauley said: "Police acted quickly to keep people safe and away from the suspicious object.
"Many businesses and a few residents in the area were evacuated.
"The lives of local people have been disrupted today and I lay the blame on those who planted the hoax device. Their actions are irresponsible and show disregard for the local community.
"Hoax devices can be very realistic and similar in look to the real thing. Where there is a clear threat to life, police must take action to keep people safe."


The Scottish Parliament has set up a cross-party group on Brexit.

The group is to "remain neutral" on the issue, but will "act as a watchdog" over the process and contact other European countries and institutions to examine "the best ways forward".
The eight-member group will be headed by SNP MSP Alex Neil, who has spoken out about his backing for Brexit.
Holyrood's standards committee agreed to approve the group on the condition its membership is reviewed annually.
The group will be led by Mr Neil, with another Brexiteer, Tory Oliver Mundell, as secretary.
The deputy conveners will be Labour's Johann Lamont and Lib Dem member Tavish Scott. The remaining MSPs making up the group are Labour's Neil Findlay and Pauline McNeill, Tory Murdo Fraser and Lib Dem Liam McArthur.
Mr Scott told a meeting of the standards committee that the group wanted to act as a "genuine forum" for people to bring forward views that have not been heard outside other parliamentary discussion on Brexit.
He said the group would look to add external members as well as MSPs, and would look to bring in a high calibre of speakers from Scottish and international forums.
Patrick Harvie questioned the group's balance of activities, asking whether the group would be restricted to accepting that Brexit is happening.
Mr Scott said members like himself who campaigned for Scotland to remain in the EU would make sure that was not forgotten about.
SNP member Clare Haughey also asked for more information before the group was approved. Committee convener Clare Adamson said the membership of the group could be reviewed on an annual basis, and the committee agreed the proposal on that basis.
The committee also approved applications for cross-party groups on health improvement and nuclear disarmament.


Annan Athletic moved into the League Two play-off places, routing Montrose.

Veteran striker Peter Weatherson bagged a first-half brace, including a penalty, to put the visitors firmly in control at Links Park.
Matthew Flynn and Josh Todd both struck from close range around the hour-mark.
Todd added his second of late on, with Jim Chapman's side rising to fourth, one point clear of Queen's Park, while Montrose drop to ninth after Berwick Rangers and Arbroath both won.


Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has thrown his support behind a new cross-party campaign aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union.

The Change Britain campaign is being led by Mr Johnson's former Vote Leave colleague, Labour's Gisela Stuart.
The group's main aim is to ensure that PM Theresa May's delivers on her promise that "Brexit means Brexit".
Mr Johnson said the group would make sure that the UK gained control over "laws, borders, money and trade".
His comments came as former cabinet minister John Whittingdale urged Mrs May to speed up the formal process of breaking away from Brussels, rather than waiting until next year to trigger Article 50 - after which both the UK and EU will have two years to negotiate the terms of the split, with any extension having to be agreed by all 28 EU members.
In a recorded a video message, in which he declared his support for the campaign, Mr Johnson said: "On June 23 the people of this country voted to leave the European Union and they voted for change.
"They did so by a clear majority. But there were many people who also voted for Remain.
"So it's absolutely vital that we work together, Leavers and Remainers, as we seize the opportunities that this country now has to forge a positive and exciting new relationship, not just with the European Union, but also with the rest of the world; changing Britain and making it global again.
"Now more than ever we need to show the British people that, as politicians, we are listening to what they have to say.
"Brexit means Brexit and that means delivering on their instructions and restoring UK control over our laws, borders, money and trade."
Ms Stuart said the EU referendum meant the country would undergo "the biggest change in 40 years in our diplomatic, trade and economic relationships".
"It also creates a unique opportunity to review our democratic and constitutional arrangements," she said.
"The referendum also marked a more profound political change than a change of occupancy in Downing Street. It has forced us to acknowledge that people in large sections of the UK have lost faith in political parties and the Westminster elite.
"While millions in this country enjoy unprecedented prosperity and freedoms, many millions more feel despair at their sense of exclusion and diminishing prospects."
Meanwhile, Mr Whittingdale, the former culture secretary, urged Mrs May to push ahead with triggering Article 50, which begins the formal two-year process of leaving the EU.
"Article 50 is the beginning of the process rather than the end," he told the Daily Telegraph. "We do need to get the formal process under way. I don't say that it has to happen tomorrow but I would like it to happen pretty soon, and by that I mean weeks, not months."
And Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith said he would consider applying to rejoin the EU if he became prime minister after UK had already left.


The Bangladeshi anti-poverty banker Muhammad Yunus is to feature in an episode of hit US TV show The Simpsons.

Mr Yunus's appearance will focus on his Grameen Bank and work on micro-credit, which has helped millions of people lift themselves out of poverty.
The Nobel laureate's voice has already been recorded for the episode, which will air in October.
The Simpsons regularly attracts big-name guests such as Elton John, Stephen Hawking and Tony Blair.
Yeardley Smith, who voices the character of Lisa Simpson, has already spent a week in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka studying the Grameen Bank.
She is a long-time admirer of Mr Yunus and has visited Grameen micro-credit programmes in Haiti and elsewhere.
Mr Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the concept of micro-credit - lending small amounts to the poor to help them start up businesses to get out of poverty.
He started it in 1976 by lending $27 (Â£17) to a group of families in a village.
Grameen is now a billion-dollar micro-credit venture with more than eight million borrowers in Bangladesh alone.


Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt says he will retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships in London.

The 28-year-old six-time Olympic gold medallist also says that he will just focus on the 100m in 2017.
Bolt had suggested that the Rio Games in 2016 would be his last major championship but he now appears to have changed his mind to make a return to London.
"That was the initial plan [to sign off after Rio]," he told the Daily Mail.
"But my sponsor has asked me to go on for another year; to 2017 and London.
"But I'll be doing one event, the 100. I've already discussed it with my coach. I can concentrate on that, and on retiring on a winning note."
Bolt's main focus for 2015 will be the World Championships in Beijing from 22-30 August where he will be looking to add to his haul of eight world golds and the 28-year-old also has one eye on breaking his own 100m world record of 9.58 seconds, set in Berlin in 2009.
"If everything goes well this season...in my life anything is possible. If I can get myself in good shape, it should be wonderful this season," he added.
"I live for competition. I thrive on competition. I live to compete against the best."


A host of internet giants - from social networks to dating apps to porn sites - will join a protest Wednesday against plans to roll back rules protecting "net neutrality".

The sites will display a variety of messages, or simulate the potential effects of losing the basic principle of all internet traffic being treated equally.
The US communications regulator earlier this year voted to remove an Obama-era rule that would prevent the prioritisation - or "throttling" - of data, as well as other measures campaigners consider to be detrimental to the internet.
Opponents to net neutrality say it stifles innovation and discourages investment in telecoms infrastructure.
Among the companies protesting, the headliners include Google, Facebook, Amazon, Reddit, AirBnB, Twitter and Snapchat.
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter will be involved, as will craft-selling site Etsy and dating app OkCupid. PornHub, one of the world's most visited sites, will also be taking part.
"Internet service providers could create special fast lanes for content providers willing to pay more," said Corey Price, vice president of PornHub.
"That means slow streaming, which, especially in regards to online porn, is quite problematic as you can imagine."
Campaigners told the BBC around 80,000 websites and services in all are taking part in the co-ordinated action that is designed to draw attention to a public consultation about the proposed rule reversal.
"What we want the FCC to hear, and we want members of Congress to hear, is that net neutrality is wildly popular, which it is, and we want them to stop trying to murder it," said Sean Vitka, a lawyer for pro-net neutrality groups Demand Progress and Fight for the Future.
"It stops large companies, like internet service providers, from controlling who wins or loses on the internet. There'd be nothing to stop your ISP stopping the next Facebook, the next Google, from accessing customers equally.
"If a new company can't access companies on the same terms as the incumbents they're not going to have the chance to thrive."
This kind of protest technique has been effective in the past.
When numerous firms went "dark" in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, which they argued was a threat to free speech, it led to the bill being withdrawn.
But protest groups face a tougher battle in convincing the Republican-controlled FCC headed by new commissioner Ajit Pai.
Earlier this year the department described President Obama's rule as risking "online investment and innovation, threatening the very open internet it purported to preserve".
It added: "Requiring ISPs to divert resources to comply with unnecessary and broad new regulatory requirements threatens to take away from their ability to make investments that benefit consumers."
Promoting investment in infrastructure is the strongest of the anti-net neutrality arguments, with major telecoms companies arguing that the Googles and Facebooks of the world would not be able to run were it not for the high-speed internet connections offered by internet service providers.
Campaigners have countered this by suggesting it is the lure of enticing premium services like Netflix that tempt users into paying more for better internet access.
A more curious position came from mobile carrier AT&T which said it was supporting the protest - despite in the past being a vocal opponent of net neutrality.
"We agree that no company should be allowed to block content or throttle the download speeds of content in a discriminatory manner," the firm said.
"So, we are joining this effort because it's consistent with AT&T's proud history of championing our customers' right to an open internet and access to the internet content, applications, and devices of their choosing."
Campaign groups gave the company little credit, pointing out that it has sought to put in place data prioritisation, which would allow web companies to pay AT&T in order to get priority - i.e. quicker - access to their users.
"AT&T are lying when they say they support net neutrality, while actively opposing it," said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, in an interview with tech news site Ars Technica.
___________
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Build an orphanage and play football for a living - a young Grace McCatty was thinking big when she was setting goals in life.

Now, as a 25-year-old she is preparing to captain Bristol Academy in the Champions League, while helping fund the finishing touches for a school in Zambia where she will also spend four months volunteering as part of UK Sport's Ideals programme.
Returning to south-central Africa will mean temporarily hanging up her boots in the middle of the Women's Super League season, something that would be inconceivable for a male counterpart in the Premier League, but McCatty is not someone who would agree with the late Bill Shankly's view that football is much more important than life or death.
The former England youth international is more the "striving to live a life that makes a difference" kind of person.
"Football has given me an unbelievable platform to do that," she told BBC Sport.
"As much as I love football, it is only only one part of what I do. That doesn't devalue it, it is part of me, but I have a heart for international development.
"What I do on the field is, to an extent, selfish - I do it for myself, for my own enjoyment. I love playing the game and do it because want to achieve.
"This is me going out, making a difference to someone else's life.
"Having played on the international stage, I've then seen the flip side of that and how you can go into a community where they have nothing - kids have no shoes, they wear the same clothes every day. You take one football to 40 kids and the joy on their faces when they see that, the joy that football brings them genuinely changes their life."
It has also changed the course of McCatty's life.
After Bristol Academy beat Barcelona in the last-16 of the Champions League to set-up a quarter-final meeting this month with European women's football giants Frankfurt, the Gloucester-born defender was offered the chance to return to Zambia to oversee the Ideals - International Development through Excellence and Leadership in Sport -  project.
For the Vixens, it may mean losing one of their best players for half the season, but it did not stop manager Dave Edmondson from naming her skipper for the new WSL1 campaign, which begins next Wednesday.
"First thing I did was speak to the manager, I wanted to make sure that I not only had his approval, but that when I came back there was a club for me," McCatty said.
"I spoke to Dave and he was good about it. He said 'as your manager I want the best players here, but as your coach I have an emotional investment in you and I know how important it is'.
"That was refreshing to hear - his support made the decision easier."
In between juggling her football career and a day job as relationship manager for Rounders England, as well as volunteering every Friday night at her local church and coaching three football teams, McCatty has also managed to complete a masters thesis on how to better improve the impact of charitable projects in Zambia.
Since she first worked among the community in the Chawama district of Zambia's capital city Lusaka, where she taught in schools, coached local children and assisted in the delivery of HIV and Aids education, she has raised money with a 874-mile solo bike ride from John O'Groats to Lands End.
The funds from her journey will go towards equipping a school with essentials, such as electricity.
"Life is manic but I'm always looking for the next challenge, looking to stretch myself as much as possible," she said.
"You only have one life and I want to know that when I get to the end of it I can look back and be proud of everything I have done, that I've taken every opportunity and that I've really given all I have to offer to those that need it."
While Zambia has "captured" McCatty, she also remains dedicated to Bristol's fortunes on the pitch.
If the Vixens do manage to get past three-time Champions League winners Frankfurt and go on to reach the final in Berlin on 14 May, the skipper will be there.
"Knowing I'm going away is difficult because I know I will miss part of the season, but my aim is to do the best I can in every game, so when I do leave, I leave the club in the best position it can be," she said.
"It's crazy, I leave in two and a half months and as excited as I am to go back, I've not thought about it because my focus is on football.
"The fact that we are just two rounds away from the final is a crazy thought. The fact Bristol Academy are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League is pretty special and that is my biggest motivation."


Circulations of all the daily Welsh newspapers have fallen since last year, according to official figures.

The Newport-based South Wales Argus saw the biggest drop, down 32.2% to an average of daily sale of 13,952 in the second half of 2013.
The figures came from the ABC, the organisation which measures newspaper circulation.
But some Welsh newspapers saw traffic to their websites rise by up to 35% as more people seek their news online.
The ABC figures showed that daily papers produced in Wales all saw sales fall in 2013:
However, some weekly papers saw their sales rise:
Other weekly papers did not fare so well:
The ABC has also published circulation details for smaller Welsh newspapers that only have their circulations audited every 12 months.
They include titles like the Glamorgan Gazette and the other "Celtic" weekly papers, and most of the other local weeklies around Wales.
The only one of these titles to record an increase in circulation was the Caerphilly, Ystrad Mynach & Bargoed Campaign with a 0.6% rise.
However, news websites have seen their users increase during 2013
Alongside its Wales Online and Daily Post websites, Trinity Mirror last year launched digital editions of its Western Mail, Daily Post and Wales on Sunday newspapers aimed at users of tablets and other mobile devices.


One of Africa's foremost fashion shows, the Fima festival in Niger, has been called off by authorities amid security fears, the organiser has announced.

It follows the recent attacks in Paris and also in Mali, where 22 people were killed in a raid on a luxury hotel last week, couturier Alphadi said.
About 1,000 designers, models and celebrities were due to attend.
Niger is battling the Nigerian-based jihadist group Boko Haram in the south-east of the country.
Since February, hundreds of people have been killed by the Islamist militants in Diffa region, which borders Nigeria.
The last Fima show in 2013 was held under tight security amid fears of an attack by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb  (AQIM).
Alphadi, whose real name is Seidnaly Sidhamed, said the four-day festival would take place "very soon", without giving a date.
Apart from musicians and designers, footballers Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and Ivorian Yaya Toure were expected for this year's launch which was due to take place at Niger's biggest stadium, the AFP news agency reports.


We've been asking you to send in ideas of how to solve parking problems at Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital.

We invited you to choose from the three suggestions which cropped up the most to tell us which you would most like us to look into.
The ranking has now closed and the most popular idea was: "Build multi-storey car parks."
We will now investigate this idea and publish our findings on the BBC News Oxford section of the website.


Police are investigating after four people were assaulted and robbed by a gang of men who broke into a house.

Two men aged 33 and 49 and two women aged 29 and 37 were in the house on Falkirk's Windsor Road when the three men forced entry on Wednesday evening.
The robbers made off, with property including a two-figure sum of cash, in a waiting dark-coloured hatchback car.
All of the suspects were described as being white and wearing dark clothing. None of the victims were badly hurt.
Det Insp Graeme Hendry urged anyone with information about the raid, which happened at about 23:50, to come forward.
He said: "This is an isolated incident during which the victims were injured, though, thankfully, not seriously.
"Nevertheless this was a traumatic experience for those involved and we are now keen to trace the three suspects who entered the home as well as another individual who we believe was waiting in the car."


Peter Kay is bringing back his hit TV series Phoenix Nights as a live show in aid of Comic Relief.

The comedian has announced two dates at the Manchester Arena on 31 January and 1 February.
He revealed the news to Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2 and admitted he wasn't sure it would be possible.
"I rang all the cast and they overwhelmed me with their generosity. Everybody's doing it for free, everybody's involved," he said.
"We're all looking forward to doing it. It's been lovely getting together with everybody and working out ideas and what we're going to do."
Phoenix Nights Live will reunite the full original cast from the award-winning television series, with Kay back as both Brian Potter, the owner of the Phoenix Club, and doorman Max.
Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness will return as the other doorman Paddy, while Dave Spikey will be back as the compere Jerry St Clair.
Kay said he came up with the idea in February this year and thought it would take a year to organise.
All the original cast are busy with their own careers and Kay admitted it was hard to organise.
"It's been so hard getting everybody together at the same time, it's really hard, but we've all set the time aside and we've been working on it since February, writing it and getting together.
The second series of Phoenix Nights finished in 2002 and he admitted he is constantly being asked whether there would be any more episodes.
But Kay said he wasn't sure whether the live shows would lead to anything else.
"It's lovely to do it and I hope people support it because I think it'll be a belter. I don't know if anymore will come off the back of it we'll just have to see.
"I don't know about a series I don't think so, I've no plans to. There are lots of things written but I think it's a case of doing one thing at a time, little steps.
"I think the main reason for doing this for Comic Relief is because if it sells it could make an absolute fortune.
"You're always trying to think of new ways of doing things and I just thought nobody has done this before, nobody's got together the cast of a sitcom and done a show on stage and given all the money to Comic Relief, and I thought if we can all agree, the money it could raise would be fantastic."
Tickets go on sale Sunday 30 November at 11:00 GMT.


The Metropolitan Police has officially named two men who had relationships with women while working as undercover officers.

It is the first time in its history that it has confirmed the identities of undercover operatives.
The pair - Jim Boyling and Bob Lambert - are accused of deceiving the women by having relationships with them without disclosing who they really were.
The Met is being sued by three women over the issue but denies wrongdoing.
The force argues that the relationships were based on "genuine" feelings.
Historically to protect the safety of undercover officers it has been police policy neither to confirm nor deny who they are under any circumstances.
But last month Mr Justice Bean at the High Court ruled that Scotland Yard could no longer rely on this in the cases of Mr Boyling and Mr Lambert, and - in an unprecedented move - the force has now confirmed they did work undercover.
Helen Steel is suing the Metropolitan Police over a relationship she had with another undercover officer - not one of the operatives officially named on Friday.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she believed he was a "real person" when they started to form a relationship in 1990.
"We talked about having children together," she said. "We talked about spending the rest of our lives together and then he disappeared.
"I spent years searching. Eventually, I found that actually he'd been using the identity of a child who had been eight years old.
"At that point my world really fell apart because this person, who I'd known and loved, suddenly I didn't even know who they were or what their name was.
"How can you have a genuine relationship that's based on a complete web of lies?
"These guys were saying that they loved us, that they wanted to be in our lives for the rest of their lives and yet they knew that their posting was going to be ending in just a few years time and that they were going to disappear from our lives and leave us bereft.
"That is not love, that is abuse."
The Met Police said Mr Boyling - whose alias was Jim Sutton, a political activist in the 1980s - had relationships with two women in the late 1990s, while deployed covertly.
He later married one of the women and had two children with her.
Mr Lambert, who went by the name of activist Bob Robinson, had a relationship in the 1980s with a woman he met at an animal rights party, also while he was undercover.
According to legal documents, seen by BBC News, the force denies the women were "deceived" and says the relationships occurred because of "mutual attraction and genuine personal feelings".
Scotland Yard says it did not authorise the relationships or "tacitly acquiesce" in them, and it denies they were started as a "deliberate tactic".
Harriet Wistrich, a solicitor for the women in this case, said the naming of the officers represented a "partial victory".
In a statement, she said: "The police have been pulled kicking and screaming to this first extremely significant development in the litigation brought by the women in their long battle for justice and accountability."
A spokesman for the Met Police said: "Our defence is in line with the ruling given by Mr Justice Bean.
"The force's position, which we have repeated a number of times, is that long term sexual relationships between an undercover officer and a member of the public is and has never been an authorised tactic."


Leeds Rhinos captain Danny McGuire says he is back running again in his rehabilitation from a knee injury, and feels positive about his progress.

The 33-year-old stand-off sustained the problem in the Rhinos' opening-day defeat by Warrington Wolves, and is expected to be out until next month.
In his absence, Leeds have lost four out of five games in all competitions.
"I've started running again, which was good but felt weird after a month off," McGuire told the Super League Show.
"It's going really well. It's four weeks since I got injured and I've been working really hard with the physios and rehab team.
"I'm looking forward to getting out there, training with the team and getting on the field."
Rhinos head coach Brian McDermott has been unfortunate in terms of personnel, with McGuire one of a number of casualties from the opening four Super League games.
Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Ashton Golding, Tom Briscoe, winter signing Beau Falloon and Carl Ablett were joined by Ash Handley and Joel Moon after Friday's win against Huddersfield.
"It's usually a lonely place in rehab, but it's not been that lonely because we've got a few on the injury front," McGuire added.
"There've been plenty of us training together and keeping everybody motivated, which is not what you want because you want everyone on the field.
"That's the nature of the game. I've had plenty of setbacks so I know how to handle the situation."
With McGuire currently sidelined and former skipper Kevin Sinfield departed for rugby union after last season's treble triumph, responsibility for leading the side around the park has fallen to two relatively inexperienced halves.
Liam Sutcliffe and Jordan Lilley, with 73 games between them, have combined in 2016 and McGuire has made sure he can pass on his expertise to the duo.
"I've tried to give them a few tips here and there but they're both level-headed, talented lads," the former East Leeds amateur said.
"They've been really good, Liam is coming off a serious cruciate ligament injury and Jordan's a 19-year-old kid thrust into the limelight and there's a lot of pressure.
"They've handled the situation well and done a decent job in tough circumstances."


A 47-year-old man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with the murder of a 71-year-old man in Kent.

Police discovered the pensioner with multiple stab wounds to his chest and arms at a property in MacKenzie Way, Gravesend, on Monday evening.
The man, who has not yet been identified, died at the scene.
Tony Wotton, of Mackenzie Way, is due to appear next at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday.


More than 40 firefighters have tackled a fire which destroyed a house in the West Midlands.

Nine fire engines were sent to Ladywood Road in Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, at about 23:20 GMT on Sunday.
West Midlands Fire Service said the derelict property was destroyed but there were no reports of any injuries.
The cause of the blaze was being investigated and a structural engineer has been called out to assess the damage.
Read updates on this story and other news from Birmingham and the Black Country.
The road is the location of some of the most expensive properties in the West Midlands with houses selling for millions of pounds.
Two fire engines were deployed from Sutton Coldfield and Perry Barr and one appliance was sent from Erdington, Aldridge, Ward End, Sheldon and Ladywood.
Crews from one or two fire engines were damping down from dawn.


Prosecutors in Brazil have begun investigating the deaths of about 10,000 fish that had been brought in to fill a huge freshwater aquarium.

Building work on the project, in the western city of Campo Grande, overran and the fish died in temporary tanks.
The company contracted to look after them, Anambi, blamed the deaths on a drop in overnight temperatures in May, as winter set in.
But authorities in Mato Grosso do Sul state blamed the company.
Officials said a study had found evidence of poor oxygenation and inadequate cleaning of the tanks.
Many of the fish had been imported from Africa, Asia and Oceania and should have been transferred to a permanent aquarium six months ago.
"The transfer of fish was planned between January and February, but the [permanent] tanks were not ready," Anambi's Augusto Silva told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
The Aquario do Pantanal was initiated by the previous governor, Andre Puccinelli.
The project has so far cost about $50m (Â£30m) and it is not clear when it will be finished.
It is hoped that the aquarium will attract thousands of tourists to Campo Grande.
The city is the main hub for people travelling to visit the Pantanal, the world's largest freshwater wetland, covering much of Mato Grosso do Sul state and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay.


A poor country even by West African standards, landlocked Burkina Faso has suffered from recurring droughts and military coups.

Burkina Faso, which means "land of honest men", has significant reserves of gold, but the country has faced domestic and external concern over the state of its economy and human rights.
A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960.
In 1983 Capt Thomas Sankara seized power and adopted radical left-wing policies but was ousted by Blaise Compaore, who went on to rule for 27 years before being ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.
Population 17.4 million
Area 274,200 sq km (105,870 sq miles)
Major languages French, indigenous languages
Major religions Indigenous beliefs, Islam, Christianity
Life expectancy 55 years (men), 57 years (women)
Currency CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc
President: Roch Marc Kabore
Marc Kabore, who served as prime minister and speaker of parliament under veteran President Blaise Compaore, won the November 2015 presidential election, easily beating his main rival.
The intervening year before Mr Kabore's election saw considerable turmoil, including an attempted coup by troops loyal to the ousted president in September 2015.
A French-educated banker, Mr Kabore sees himself as a social democrat, and has pledged to reduce youth unemployment, improve education and healthcare, and make health provision for children under six free of charge.
Kabore was a long-standing Compaore loyalist, but he quit as chairman of the then-president's Congress for Democracy and Progress party in 2014 over the head of state's plans to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year rule.
Some key events in Burkina Faso's history:
896 - Kingdoms now making up Burkina Faso become a French protectorate, later known as Upper Volta.
1960 - Upper Volta becomes independent with Maurice Yameogo as president. He is overthrown in 1966 by Sangoule Lamizana.
1980 - President Lamizana is ousted in coup led by Saye Zerbo, who is overthrown two years later by Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo, ushering in a period of unrest and power struggles.
1984 - Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso.
1990 - Blaise Compaore, who assumed power when he ousted and killed then-leader Capt Thomas Sankara in 1987, introduces limited democratic reforms. He remains in power for 27 years.
2000 - Government agrees to set up UN-run body to monitor weapons imports after allegations that it has been involved in smuggling arms to rebels in Sierra Leone and Angola.
2011 - Months of unrest, including a mutiny.
2014 - President Compaore steps aside following massive protests against plans to extend his rule. A transitional government takes charge.
2015 - Acting President Kafando faces down coup attempt by presidential guard allies of Blaise Compaore. In November, former Prime Minister Roch Marc Christian Kabore wins presidential election.
2016 - Islamists attack a hotel and cafe frequented by the French military and other expatriates, killing 29 people.


Dave Allen has resigned as chairman and director of League One side Chesterfield.

Allen, who previously had shares in Sheffield Wednesday, took over back in 2012 from Barrie Hubbard.
The Spireites twice won the League Two title during his time at the club and also the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Allen said he "never intended to become chairman", adding: "It is a sad day for me, but I can't carry on like this. I wish you all the best."
He announced his decision at the club's AGM on Monday, saying he had originally planned to only be an investor and then sell on his investment.
"I took over as chairman because the previous incumbent sat at the end of the boardroom table and said after one meeting that unless I put a further £600,000 into the club, they could not carry on," he said.
"The reason I'm resigning is because at the board meeting held this afternoon, I suggested that all the directors should not seek repayment of loans and waive any interest until such time as the club is in a position to pay it.
"The interest alone amounts to just over £150,000 per annum, so it would be a considerable saving.
"Over the last couple of years, I've put in an extra £1.9m, for which I personally have not taken any interest at all."
Chesterfield are currently bottom of League One, seven points adrift of safety, with only three wins from 17 matches.


With dramatic images of flood damage in the Thames Valley as well as rural Somerset, inevitably there is speculation about the clean up costs.

Insurers and business organisations met in Downing Street on Tuesday to thrash out how to help businesses and homeowners as quickly as possible.
The wettest January on record and continuing rain in early February could have major financial consequences as insurers are obliged to fund a substantial repair operation.
Severe flooding in the UK is not unusual.
In 2007 there was extensive damage in several urban areas including Hull and Tewkesbury. The insurance bill for this year's flooding could well end up a lot lower than the payouts required seven years ago.
Between May and July 2007, England and Wales experienced the wettest conditions in 200 years. Nearly 50,000 households were affected.
So far, about 5,000 homes are believed to have been affected in the current floods, although that figure is likely to rise of course.
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) there were payouts of £3bn as a result of the summer floods in 2007.
Across the whole of 2012, flooding caused damage worth £4bn. The ABI believes storms at the end of December and over the New Year have generated bills of £426m.
According to the insurer Hiscox, the latest floods could, if they continue for a couple more weeks, result in payouts of about £1bn. This would still be well short of the claims seven years ago.
Insurance experts at the consultancy firm Deloitte concur with that figure. But they warn that consumers will probably have to pay higher premiums as a result of the latest flooding.
Experts say the final bills will depend on how long the wet weather lasts, and how many more households and businesses suffer damage to their properties.
In terms of disruption to the economy, it is too early to say.
Retailers may lose business if rail links are disrupted for some time.
That said, some analysts point out that repairs to rail lines and other infrastructure will support economic growth.


Deciding which children should get a life-saving vaccine against meningitis B is a battle between hearts and heads.

The effects of meningococcal infection can be devastating.
In the space of a few hours, the bacterial infection can leave a child fighting for their life in intensive care.
They can be dead within 24 hours.
If it infects the brain and spinal cord to cause meningitis or sepsis in the blood, then even survivors could face life-long disability.
It is something any parent would try to prevent happening to their child, and more than 800,000 people have signed a petition calling for the meningococcal B vaccine to be offered to all children under 11.
It is the most popular petition in parliamentary history because of this picture.
It was shared by Jenny Burdett, whose two-year-old daughter Faye died from the infection last month.
She was too old to get the vaccine, which is given in the first year of life, but only to children born after May 2015.
So why isn't it given to more children?
This is the point where the "heads" can appear heartless - as the answer is mostly about money.
While any child's life is priceless, a publicly funded NHS aims to ensure it spends its money on the treatments that give the most benefit, whether they are cancer drugs, hip operations or vaccines.
And the meningococcal B vaccine is spectacularly expensive because of the complicated way it is manufactured.
The government's expert advisers on vaccines have told the BBC that the evidence was "pretty borderline" for giving the vaccine to anyone and a plan was initially rejected.
It took a cut-price deal arranged between the Department of Health and GlaxoSmithKline for an immunisation programme for the most at-risk age group - the under-ones - to be introduced.
The vaccine is so new that we do not know how many lives are being saved.
The UK is also the only country to have introduced the vaccine, so the whole world is waiting for answers to know how effective this jab is.
We know the programme vaccinates about 700,000 infants each year in an age group that has just over 100 cases and six deaths each year.
Remember, the cost-effectiveness in this high-risk age group was classed as borderline.
Running a catch-up programme for all two-to-10-year-olds (one-year-olds would have been vaccinated in the first year of the immunisation scheme) would require giving two doses of the vaccine to more than five million people.
We know Men B gets rarer as children get older, apart from a teenage blip.
The data on deaths from meningitis B has not been published, but senior figures have told me that fewer than 100 infections would be prevented and about six lives saved.
That is why heads appear to be winning the battle with hearts within government.
And these are not the only costs.
One of the reasons cited for the vaccination programme going ahead in infants was because it could be given during the same appointment as for other childhood immunisations.
A catch-up campaign for under-11s would require extra resources - probably a combination of GP and primary school campaigns.
The closest comparison is the huge effort being made to vaccinate all children between the ages of two and 16 against flu.
But that is taking years to introduce and so far the vaccination has been routinely offered to only two, three and four-year-olds.
The idea of vaccinating under-11s also assumes there are 10 million doses of the vaccine waiting to be given to children.
As anyone who has tried to get the jabs privately knows there is a shortage. The relatively small private market should have new supplies by the summer. Getting millions of jabs would take much longer.
As one official told me: "Even if we had the money, we wouldn't have the vaccine."
Some doctors have also raised concerns about unknown safety risks, as no country has immunised large numbers of people.
Trials on thousands of people have clearly shown the jab is safe, but some side effects appear only after tens or even hundreds of thousands of people are vaccinated.
Narcolepsy induced by the swine flu vaccine or an old rotavirus vaccine and bowel obstructions are two examples of unexpected side effects.
It is another reason there is reluctance to vaccinate millions of children.
But away from the money there are other arguments made for not giving the Men B vaccine to under-11s.
One is that it may be better to vaccinate slightly older children instead.
Teenagers harbour the bacterial infection and unwittingly spread it to children.
Immunising this age group - as happens with Men C - could protect people of other ages too.
Doctors are also more worried about another, even more aggressive, type of meningococcal infection that is spreading rapidly.
Meningococcal infections have natural cycles, becoming more and less common over decades.
At the moment Men B is becoming rarer. In the early 2000s there were more than 1,600 cases in England, compared with about 400 cases in 2014.
But an aggressive strain of Men W is currently spreading - going from 17 to 200 cases in the space of five years.
It is twice as deadly as Men B and is the strain that is causing most alarm and changes to vaccination programmes.
Deciding who should get a Men B jab is an emotive issue.
The evidence will change with time once the data on lives saved by the immunisation programme is published.
And there are discussions about whether the rules on cost-effectiveness do not work for preventing childhood diseases and need to be changed.
But for now there seems little appetite to let hearts rule heads.
Follow James on Twitter.


Award-winning children's television presenter Justin Fletcher, better known as Mr Tumble, has received an honorary degree from Dundee University.

The Bafta-winning entertainer was one of 10 public figures chosen to be honoured by the university.
Hundreds of Dundee students are celebrating graduation this week.
Among them is Dennis Akande, who won a postgraduate scholarship at the university in an Apprentice-style radio contest in Ghana.
Mr Fletcher, who has won several Bafta awards for his CBeebies programme Something Special and was appointed an MBE in 2008, said it was "fantastic" to become a Doctor of Laws.
He said: "When I received the letter to say I was getting it, it was just wonderful. I'm very flattered indeed."
The presenter has been recognised for his work with children with communication difficulties, and bringing the sign language Makaton to a wider audience.
Honorary degrees are also being given to figures including BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor, writer Roddy Doyle, film director Bill Forsyth and graphic novelist Dave Gibbons.
Dennis Akande won the inaugural 2013 series of The Scholarship, a Ghanaian radio contest styled on the Apprentice to win a postgraduate place at the university including fees and living allowance.
Mr Akande, who has since landed a place as a community management intern in Paris, said he had built "a network of strong, lasting relationships with professors, fellow students and industry personnel" through the course.
He said: "The Scottish cultural experience has been amazing, from the ceilidh dinner and dance to the field trips of historic sites in and out of Dundee.
"I hope to use my experiences of the last year and a half to make a positive impact when I get back to Ghana."


A deaf woman who went missing after a night out at a Glasgow bar at the weekend did not get in a taxi as previously thought, police have said.

Officers have studied CCTV images to trace the movements of 30-year-old Kirsty Aitchison after she left the Campus bar in Sauchiehall Street.
The footage shows she was last seen at the Broomielaw, by the River Clyde, at 03:16 on Sunday.
She had taken off her high heels and was "walking quickly and with purpose".
Ms Aitchison, a mother-of-four from Robroyston in the north of the city, had left the bar at about 03:00 on Sunday.
Some of her friends have also been carrying out searches near where she lives.
It was earlier reported that Ms Aitchison may have been involved in an argument in the pub and was thought to have been seen getting into a taxi.
Insp Leigh McManus, from Greater Glasgow Division, said there was no longer any suggestion that Ms Aitchison had got into a taxi or any vehicle.
He said: "Officers have been working through the night to piece together Kirsty's movements from when she left Campus in the early hours of Sunday morning."
CCTV footage showed her make her way down from Sauchiehall Street to Argyle Street and on to James Watt Street before walking down to the Broomielaw, where she was last viewed on CCTV.
The footage confirms she was wearing the same clothing as in the photograph released to the media, which was taken on Saturday evening.
Ms Aitchison was described as white, a Deaf/BSL user, about 5ft tall, slim build and long dark-coloured hair.
She was wearing a black top, cream skirt and in the CCTV images she is seen holding her high-heeled black sandals and walking barefoot.
Insp McManus said he was looking for information from anyone who may have seen her at the Broomielaw.
Rachael Griffiths and Catriona Lafferty, friends of Ms Aitchison's who are also deaf and have helped organised searches, told BBC Scotland: "This is so out of character for Kirsty. We just want her to come home.
"We can't sit at home doing nothing. We know that the police are doing their job, but we feel like we want to get up and do something too. We want to help search and do whatever we can."
Police Scotland has also set up a dedicated email address for anyone with information to contact.


An outstanding £1m winning lottery ticket has been claimed.

Camelot put out an appeal after the winner of the Lotto Millionaire Raffle, who bought their ticket in Denbighshire, had not come forward.
The mystery ticket holder matched the draw number AQUA 6323 7030 on 1 April.
Andy Carter, from the National Lottery, said: "It would have been awful if the ticket holder had missed out on this substantial and life-changing amount of money."
Lottery winners are given 180 days from the date of the draw to come forward and claim their prize.
After this time, the money is given to good causes.


In Case You Missed It: a round-up of interesting technology-related links shared over the weekend.

Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising workplace (New York Times)
A huge piece in the New York Times looks at the working culture at Amazon. It doesn't make for pretty reading. In the aftermath of Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld's report, a former Amazon employee wrote a strong defence of the company.
Boffins nail 2FA with 'ambient sound' login for the lazy (The Register)
A terrific solution to a constant problem: password security. If the computer you're trying to log into hears exactly the same ambient noise as your smartphone, there's a good way to determine that it's actually you logging in. Smart.
Obama shares music tastes with Spotify playlist (Yahoo Tech)
The US president loves his music, and he's now shared two playlists - one for the day time, one for the night time - on music streaming site Spotify.
The worst/best idea ever (Popular Mechanics)
It's a Comic Sans typewriter.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


Schools across the US are to be allowed to stop serving so-called "pink slime" beef to their pupils at mealtimes.

In a statement,the US Department of Agriculture saidschools buying beef from a central government scheme could now choose from a range of options.
The term has become used to describe a type of beef trimming commonly found in school and restaurant beef in the US.
Reports it was widely used in schools prompted a popular outcry, although the beef is certified as safe to eat.
Social media campaigns and an online petition sprung up to oppose the use of the product. The beef's producerled a campaignto explain it was nutritional and safe.
Last year, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver publicly criticised the product on his now-defunct US TV show, and McDonald's recently said it would phase out the use of "pink slime" in its burgers.
The US agriculture department said on Thursday it would now offer alternatives to the beef - officially called lean finely textured beef - for schools buying meat through its programmes.
The department (USDA) said the change was "due to customer demand".
"USDA continues to affirm the safety of Lean Finely Textured Beef product for all consumers and urges customers to consult science based information on the safety and quality of this product," it added.
School administrators reacted positively to the change.
"Our district has long advocated for purity and disclosure in food products. And we will definitely be moving to the pure ground beef when that becomes available," John Schuster, spokesman for Florida's Miami-Dade school system, told the Associated Press.
"Pink slime" - a term reportedly coined by a microbiologist working for the US government - is a form of lean beef formed by reclaiming the small parts of meat from leftover cuts with a high fat content.
The beef is spun in a centrifuge to separate the meat from the fat, before the final product is treated with a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas to kill any bacteria.
Produced in bulk by a firm in South Dakota, the pejorative nature of the term "pink slime" has coloured the debate, some experts say.
It is "unappetising", Sarah Klein, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest,told the Los Angeles Times, "but perhaps not more so than other things that are routinely part of a hamburger".
"What pink slime reveals to us," she told the newspaper, "is the unsavoury marriage of engineering and food, but it's present in a lot of the products we eat."


Shares in two of China's biggest conglomerates, Fosun International and HNA, fell by about 6% on Thursday, amid rumours that banks had been ordered to assess their loan exposure to them.

Fosun bought Wolverhampton Wanderers football club last year, while HNA is Deutsche Bank's biggest shareholder.
Reports said the banking regulator had also told lenders to investigate loans to Anbang Insurance, Odeon UK cinema owner Dalian Wanda and Zhejiang Luosen.
All five are big overseas investors.
The conglomerates' other high profile acquisitions include Zhejiang Luosen buying AC Milan football club earlier this year.
HNA also owns airport services firm Swissport and airline caterer Gate Gourmet, and it has a 25% share in Hilton.
Anbang owns New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Dalian Wanda's film division is the world's biggest cinema operator, and also owns the UCI chains in the UK.
Trading in Wanda Film Holding's shares was suspended after they fell by nearly 10% in Thursday trading. The company subsequently denied as "malicious speculation" rumours that some banks were offloading the company's bonds.
It said the shares would resume trading on Friday.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) had told lenders to conduct internal assessments of their credit-risk exposure to acquisitive companies, according to business magazine Caixin, quoting sources.
The CBRC has been attempting to stem the flow of money leaving China.
Last year China's companies invested $225bn (Â£178bn) overseas. The outflow has put pressure on the currency, the renminbi, and drained foreign exchange reserves.


Romelu Lukaku helped himself to four goals as Everton extended their unbeaten Premier League run to seven games with a thrilling victory over Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

Lukaku curled home an exquisite opener after just 30 seconds to equal the record for the fastest league goal of the season set by Chelsea's Pedro against Manchester United.
Lukaku's trickery set up James McCarthy for Everton's second before the Belgium striker doubled his tally when Simon Francis' suicidal back pass gifted him the opportunity to loft the ball over Artur Boruc for a 3-0 half-time lead.
Joshua King's brace gave Bournemouth hope but Lukaku added two more inside the final 10 minutes to put the game to bed, although there was still time for Harry Arter to add a third for the visitors and Ross Barkley to slot in Everton's sixth.
The result was a fitting way for Everton manager Ronald Koeman to celebrate his 100th Premier League game, and takes the seventh-placed Toffees to within two points of Manchester United.
For slumping Bournemouth, meanwhile, defeat drops them to within six points of the relegation zone.
Eddie Howe's men - winless in 2017 - are now on a run of one victory in eight and have conceded 34 goals in their last 13 games - shipping at least three goals in nine of those.
"We said we wanted to come out flying, we worked on it all week," Lukaku said as he held the match ball at full-time. "There's no lack of confidence."
There certainly wasn't.
Everton completely bullied the opening period, helped of course by taking such an early lead when Morgan Schneiderlin broke up play in midfield and Lukaku exchanged passes with McCarthy before stroking a lovely shot beyond Boruc.
Lukaku then breezed past two markers to set up McCarthy to make it 2-0 - the midfielder scoring at the second attempt - before adding his second of the contest with a cool finish when Francis inexplicably played the ball into his own area.
He very nearly got in once again to complete a 30-minute hat-trick only for Boruc to crowd him out, but he was not to be denied his treble as the game became stretched in the second half.
With the score at 3-2, he completed his hat-trick with a simple side-foot volley to kill off Bournemouth's hopes of completing an unlikely comeback, while his 17th goal of the campaign followed just moments later when ran on to a Barkley backheel, shrugged off his marker and found the corner.
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Given their recent form, Bournemouth might have been expected to roll over after conceding after just 30 seconds, yet despite shipping six goals they will surely take some positives from this match.
Their three-man defence of Francis, Steve Cook and Tyron Mings was ripped to shreds in the first half, but the switch to a four-man defence after the break paid instant dividends.
With former Liverpool youngsters Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith introduced for the second period, Bournemouth looked sharper from the outset.
They created a host of openings before King's brace - the first a nice chest down and finish from Jack Wilshere's lofted pass, the second a poacher's strike from Ryan Fraser's centre - set up a grandstand finish that was only derailed when Lukaku bagged his third.
"The start of the game killed us. You can't concede so quickly, it gives you a mountain to climb," said Howe, whose side have now lost five of their last six away league games.
"We got right back in the game, then conceded the fourth to knock the stuffing out of us."
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku: "It's disappointing we conceded the goals, but we showed mental resilience.
"We need to see the clips again because if you want to improve we need to get rid of the little problems.
"We have to believe that we can catch the teams ahead of us. We need to keep on winning and working hard for each other."
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Everton manager Ronald Koeman: "That's not a normal result. It was a crazy game.
"Both teams changed systems - it was a tactical battle. They made it really difficult for us. We dropped in intensity after half-time, but the reaction to them getting back to 3-2 was good.
"We scored great goals. Romelu showed that he is one of the best finishers in football. Scoring is one of his big qualities. We need to support him, to create. We can improve, but he showed his best today. I'm not surprised because we see it in training.
"We are getting closer to the top six. We have momentum and we are confident. It's a long way to go until the end of the season. If we keep this up, everything is possible."
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We tried to do something different today, but it didn't work. Three injuries to defenders have made it difficult.
"We have been looking over our shoulder all season. We want to get to 40 points as quickly as possible."
Everton return to Premier League action on Saturday, 11 February, when they make the trip to Middlesbrough for a 15:00 GMT kick-off. Bournemouth are back in action on Monday, 13 February, when Manchester City visit the Vitality Stadium (20:00 GMT).
Match ends, Everton 6, Bournemouth 3.
Second Half ends, Everton 6, Bournemouth 3.
Attempt saved. Jack Wilshere (Bournemouth) left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the right is saved in the centre of the goal.
Jordon Ibe (Bournemouth) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Leighton Baines (Everton).
Goal!  Everton 6, Bournemouth 3. Ross Barkley (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ramiro Funes Mori following a fast break.
Corner,  Everton. Conceded by Brad Smith.
Attempt missed. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jack Wilshere following a set piece situation.
Harry Arter (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ramiro Funes Mori (Everton).
Goal!  Everton 5, Bournemouth 3. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner.
Attempt saved. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Benik Afobe.
Attempt missed. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Brad Smith.
Offside, Everton. Ramiro Funes Mori tries a through ball, but Romelu Lukaku is caught offside.
Andrew Surman (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross Barkley (Everton).
Goal!  Everton 5, Bournemouth 2. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ross Barkley.
Substitution, Bournemouth. Benik Afobe replaces Marc Pugh.
Goal!  Everton 4, Bournemouth 2. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Seamus Coleman.
Substitution, Everton. Mason Holgate replaces Gareth Barry.
Attempt saved. Kevin Mirallas (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Tom Davies.
Tom Davies (Everton) is shown the yellow card for hand ball.
Hand ball by Tom Davies (Everton).
Attempt saved. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
Joel Robles (Everton) is shown the yellow card.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Joel Robles.
Attempt missed. Harry Arter (Bournemouth) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Jack Wilshere (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Morgan Schneiderlin (Everton).
Attempt missed. Marc Pugh (Bournemouth) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Brad Smith.
Offside, Everton. Ross Barkley tries a through ball, but Romelu Lukaku is caught offside.
Substitution, Everton. Kevin Mirallas replaces Ademola Lookman.
Goal!  Everton 3, Bournemouth 2. Joshua King (Bournemouth) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ryan Fraser with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Bournemouth. Conceded by Joel Robles.
Attempt saved. Joshua King (Bournemouth) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Marc Pugh.
Tyrone Mings (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ashley Williams (Everton).
Corner,  Everton. Conceded by Jordon Ibe.
Corner,  Everton. Conceded by Tyrone Mings.


Radio and TV sets in North Korea are pre-tuned to government stations that pump out a steady stream of propaganda.

The press and broadcasters - all of them under direct state control - serve up a menu of flattering reports about North Korea's leader. Economic hardship and famines are not reported. North Korea is one of the hardest countries for foreign media to cover.
Ordinary North Koreans caught listening to foreign broadcasts risk harsh punishments, such as forced labour. The authorities attempt to jam foreign-based and dissident radio stations.
A glimmer of hope, says watchdog Reporters Without Borders, is the "communications black market" on the North Korean-Chinese border where recordings of South Korean TV soaps and films are said to circulate.
Meagre media for North Koreans
North Korea has a minimal internet presence. News agency KCNA and the party newspaper Rodong Sinmun are among a handful of official sites. Their output is aimed largely at audiences outside North Korea.
Uriminzikkiri, a site hosted in China, carries news from official North Korean sources. It operates accounts on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
Online access within North Korea is exceedingly rare and limited to sites that comprise the domestic intranet, says OpenNet Initiative. Content is chosen, and user activity monitored, by the authorities.
North Korea is one of RSF's "Enemies of the Internet". North Korean journalists are active on blog sites hosted in Japan and South Korea, the organisation says.
A South Korean newspaper has said the North is believed to employ up to 1,000 hackers targeting other nations.
There is a 3G mobile phone service - a joint venture with an Egyptian firm. Take-up has proved popular among wealthier citizens in Pyongyang.
In 2013, officials loosened some curbs by allowing visitors to bring their mobile phones into North Korea. But mobile phone calls between foreigners and locals are prohibited.
Rodong Sinmun (Labour Daily) - organ of Korean Workers' Party; web pages in English
Joson Inmingun (Korean People's Army Daily)
Minju Choson (Democratic Korea) - government organ
Rodongja Sinmum (Workers' Newspaper) - organ of trade union federation
Korean Central Broadcasting Station - radio station of Korean Workers' Party
Korean Central TV - TV station of Korean Workers' Party
Mansudae TV - cultural station
Voice of Korea - state-run external service, via shortwave radio; web pages in several languages
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) - state-run; web pages in several languages
Uriminzokkiri (On Our Own) - website carrying official news; pages in several languages


Three defendants have been killed in a court in the Russian capital, Moscow, after they tried to take the arms from officers in an attempt to escape, officials say.

Five suspected gang members attacked two agents who were escorting them in a lift, the Investigative Committee said.
The group was handcuffed and it was not immediately clear how they managed to free themselves to attack the guards.
The two other suspects and three security officers were wounded.
The suspects were accused of being part of a group known as GTA Gang, named after the violent game series Grand Theft Auto.
The group of Central Asian nationals was suspected of killing 17 motorists in the Moscow area between 2012 and 2014. Cars were forced to stop on a main road and their drivers were killed for reasons as yet unknown; none of their possessions were stolen.
In the court, one of the suspects attacked and tried to strangle an agent, as others attempted to seize the officers' weapons, Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
When the lift they were in opened on the third floor, Russian National Guard officers opened fire, killing three of the suspects as they tried to escape, the statement added.
The fact that the suspects were in any position to assault security agents inside the court and even attempt an armed escape is likely to raise questions, BBC Russian's Oleg Boldyrev in Moscow reports.
Suspects are usually brought into courtrooms handcuffed, with their arms crossed behind their backs, so this turn of events will probably be seen as bizarre, our correspondent adds.
The security officers injured include a National Guard member, who had a gunshot wound and was taken to hospital, and two police officers, who sustained various injuries, according to the Interior Ministry.
A lawyer who was at the building when the incident happened said that at least 20 shots were heard.
The members of the gang are accused of murder, banditry and other crimes, the Investigative Committee said. One of them had fought for so-called Islamic State in Syria before returning to Russia, Russian television reported.


Europe fought back from a 4-0 foursomes whitewash to cut the USA's lead to 5-3 after day one of the Ryder Cup.

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In the afternoon fourballs, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose won 5&4 against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera-Bello beat JB Holmes and Ryan Moore 3&2, with Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters beating Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar 3&2.
But Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker won 5&4 against Danny Willet and Martin Kaymer to ensure the US remain ahead.
"I would definitely say it's better to have a small deficit with some momentum because we didn't have much at lunchtime," said Europe captain Darren Clarke.
"The guys went back out there and they showed just why I'm so proud of them. They showed a massive amount of desire and the fight in them to get themselves right back into it again."
US captain Davis Love said: "Obviously I'm happy to be 5-3. I like being ahead but I keep telling our guys there's eight points a day and then there's 12 points on Sunday."
After failing to win a point in a session for the first time since 1981, Europe improved dramatically - especially on the greens - to ensure their quest for a fourth successive Ryder Cup was not effectively ended in just one day at Hazeltine.
Still, the hosts hold a healthy advantage as they look to win the event for only the third time in 23 years, though it will not be lost on visiting captain Darren Clarke that Europe trailed 5-3 after the first day of their remarkable comeback win at Medinah four years ago.
Both the 3-1 scoreline and margin of European victories in the fourballs not only quelled the rowdy home crowd, but also reversed the momentum of the 41st Ryder Cup, leaving the contest delicately poised for Saturday morning's foursomes.
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Stenson and Rose trailed Spieth and Reed for almost all of the morning foursomes and looked set for a long afternoon in the Minnesota sunshine as the Americans began with more electric putting.
But after the US putters finally failed on the fourth, Sweden's Open champion Stenson dragged his team along, making birdie on the seventh when Rose went in the water, then knocking his tee shot on the eighth to gimme range.
Though Rose was below his best, Spieth and Reed became erratic after falling behind for the first time in 25 holes, their first Ryder Cup defeat as a pair engineered by the imperious Stenson.
If the European turnaround was sparked by their most experienced pair, it was continued by Spanish rookie Cabrera-Bello, who was relaxed enough to be seen encouraging his vastly experienced compatriot Garcia on the way to the first tee.
Cabrera-Bello, who sat out the morning, promptly birdied the first then, after a Garcia birdie for two up, put his team another hole to the good with a par on the seventh despite finding water off the tee.
Garcia faded in the morning session but found life in his putter in the afternoon - and though Holmes cut the lead from four to two, victory was sealed on the 16th.
Belgian Pieters improved throughout the morning, despite being on the end of a heavy defeat in partnership with England's Lee Westwood.
Paired with Europe's leading player McIlroy in the afternoon, he found a team-mate to share the load, with two birdies each giving the visitors four successive holes on the front nine.
Pieters drained an 18-foot putt on the 13th to draw a roar from McIlroy, before a birdie each from Johnson and Kuchar cut the lead to two.
But, with American momentum growing, McIlroy produced a wonderful approach to reach the par-five 16th in two, then bowed to the crowd as he holed the eagle putt that completed the win.
If Pieters benefitted from his more experienced partner, fellow rookie Willett - lightly booed on the first tee after the controversy caused by a magazine article written by his brother - was let down by two-time major winner Kaymer.
Not once on the front nine did the German provide the better ball for his team, who were subsequently overrun by big-hitting American debutant Koepka and the precise-putting Snedeker.
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Europe captain Darren Clarke on Sky Sports: "I'm massively proud of them. They were bitterly disappointed at lunchtime but the guys came out this afternoon and the golf was scintillating."
United States captain Davis Love: "You know it's going to be a close match. We had a great morning, they had a great afternoon. We shot low scores, just got beat by a team playing unbelievable golf. We need to start over again tomorrow. It's another day and we try to win every session."
Europe's Rory McIlroy on BBC Radio 5 live: "The consensus at lunch was we have to chip away at the lead. I don't think we could have dreamed it any better this afternoon and we are probably going into our locker room a little bit happier than they are this afternoon."
Europe vice-captain Ian Poulter: "The team was pretty low at lunchtime. It's been a long time since it's been 4-0 in a morning session, but the guys dug deep. That morning session was painful, but the afternoon was incredible. We can hear our crowd now."
BBC chief sports writer Tom Fordyce
It was a dramatic opening day in a competition that specialises in the sort of see-saw excitement that few other sporting events can match. At midday the course was a sea of Stars and Stripes,
McIlroy and Sullivan's foursomes defeat on the 18th to Mickelson and Fowler, having been two up with four to play, was perhaps the most chastening European moment of all.
Yet in the afternoon the vast galleries were silenced by a European charge that brought back stirring memories of Medinah four years ago, and nothing epitomised that better then McIlroy's eagle putt on the 16th to see off Johnson and Kuchar with the impressive Pieters. The contest is wide awake and wide open.
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The Northern Ireland economy grew by 1.4% in 2015, according to official figures.

The statistics are measured using the Northern Ireland Composite Economic Index (NICEI), which is roughly equivalent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The 1.4% growth rate is double the 0.7% growth recorded in 2014.
However, it is well below the 2.2% GDP growth for the UK as a whole in 2015.
All the growth is measured as coming from the private sector.
It experienced growth of 2.3% in 2015 with services, construction and production all showing increased output.
Meanwhile, public sector output shrank by 1.3%.
However, the NI Statistic and Research Agency (Nisra) said the public sector figure may be skewed by a current redundancy programme.
Nisra use jobs as a proxy for public sector output but it said as an example "a 10% reduction in public sector jobs may not equate to an equivalent fall in public sector output".
It is investigating ways of improving the measurement of public sector output.
Official figures have also been published for the construction industry which suggest it experienced significant recovery in 2015.
Output was up by more than 11%, albeit from a low base.
Construction was hardest hit by recession in Northern Ireland when the bursting of a property bubble led to a collapse in output and tens of thousands of job losses.