The first of a revolutionary new type of vessel has arrived at Scotland's oldest lifeboat station.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) Shannon class vessel is powered by water jets rather than traditional propellers.
The boat has now arrived at the charity's Montrose station in Angus.
The cost of the lifeboat was bequeathed to the charity by supporter Ruth Grant Smith who died in 2005
She left left money to fund an all-weather lifeboat to be named after her husband Ian Grant Smith.
The new lifeboat is 50% faster than RNLB Moonbeam, the vessel which has been used by Montrose crews for the past 25 years.
Water-jets allow the vessel to be more manoeuvrable, able to operate in shallow waters and be intentionally beached
Ray Wilkie, lifeboat operations manager said: "We're very pleased to finally have the Shannon on station so that the crew can really get to grips with the new boat."
Coxswain Scott Murray said: "The new boat is faster and more manoeuvrable than Moonbeam and the way it handles is very impressive. All this means that we'll be able to reach casualties more quickly."
Each Shannon costs Â£2.1m and has an operational lifetime of 25 years but the life expectancy of its hull and wheelhouse is 50 years.


Talks have begun about a possible takeover of Championship side Hull City, reports BBC Radio Humberside.

The club have been up for sale since 2014, after the Football Association turned down owner Assem Allam's request to a change of name to Hull Tigers.
As offer is now understood to have been made and talks held over the weekend have been described as "constructive".
Hull face Derby in the second leg of their play-off semi-final on Tuesday, having won the first game 3-0.
In May 2015, Egyptian Allam told BBC Look North he had rejected offers for the club as he wishes to ensure it goes to a "good home".
Allam took charge of the Tigers in December 2010 and they were subsequently promoted back to the Premier League under manager Steve Bruce, before relegation last May.


Women from Northern Ireland who seek abortion are "second-class citizens", the Supreme Court has been told.

On Wednesday, the court heard a legal challenge brought by a mother and daughter who want women from Northern Ireland to be allowed access to NHS-funded abortion care in England.
Women from Northern Ireland are not entitled to free NHS abortions in England.
Judgement in the case has been reserved until a later date.
In Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, abortion is only allowed if a woman's life is at risk or there is a permanent or serious risk to her physical or mental health.
The case at the centre of the hearing was originally brought in 2014 by a young woman, A, and her mother, B.
The young woman was 15 when she and her mother travelled to Manchester to have an abortion, at a reported cost of Â£900.
According to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), last year 833 women were recorded as having travelled from Northern Ireland to England and Wales for abortion care.
If A succeeds it could open the way for women from Northern Ireland to be permitted abortions on the NHS in England.
She argues that the Secretary of State for Health failed to discharge his duty under section three of the NHS Act 2006 to "meet all reasonable requirements" in England for services - including abortion.
A also argues that her human rights under Article 8 and Article 12 of European Convention of Human Rights, have been breached and she has been discriminated against - by reason of being treated differently from other women in England.
However, the fact that abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland - save in exceptional circumstances - remains a major obstacle.
Their challenge against a ruling that prevents women from Northern Ireland having free NHS abortions in England was unsuccessful at the High Court and the Court of Appeal, but they were granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In court, a lawyer for the two women said that women in A's position "find themselves in desperate and stressful practices and become second-class citizens in abortion".
He added that B said it was "more stressful, humiliating and traumatic for a 15-year-old girl than it needs to be".
Lady Hale, the deputy president of the Supreme Court, told the women's lawyers that she was far more interested in the human rights arguments in the case than the NHS Act arguments.


Speaker John Bercow has joined more than 90 Conservative MPs demanding the government urgently rewrites the rules for funding schools in England.

In an unusual move, Mr Bercow has put his name to a letter intended to put pressure on Chancellor George Osborne ahead of the Spending Review.
Two Conservative former cabinet ministers and two ex-Labour cabinet ministers have also signed it.
The Department for Education said per-pupil funding was being protected.
It said the government would continue to make "funding fairer".
The letter to the prime minister, seen by BBC Radio 4's PM programme, demands "urgent action" to change the funding system.
It says the current school funding rules are arbitrary and unfair and see the worst-funded areas receive on average Â£2,000 less per pupil than the best-funded each year.
It comes as the Institute for Fiscal Studies says despite a Conservative promise to raise school spending with student numbers, the amount spent per pupil is likely to fall by around 8%, taking into account inflation experienced by schools, by 2020.
The IFS says this will be the first time since the mid-1990s that school spending has fallen in real terms.
Rising wage costs and national insurance bills are putting school finances under pressure.
The PM programme has heard fears those pressures could see classes of 50 pupils in core subjects.
Conservative ministers have long promised to change the formula that dictates how much money schools get, but have not said when the change will come.
If delivered without extra funding it would see some schools lose money.
The Conservative former chair of the education select committee Graham Stuart admitted the reform would be "enormously difficult politically".
The government needed to come up with a plan that was fair and politically deliverable, he said.
He added: "It's also about looking people in the eye and saying there is no rational basis for the additional funding that you receive compared to these other authorities.
"Therefore it is right and proper that your budget should be reduced."
Many Conservatives regard a manifesto commitment to "make schools funding fairer" as vaguely-worded and fear ministers will offer only slight change, late in the Parliament.
As speaker, Mr Bercow is politically impartial but can deal with his constituents' problems like other MPs.
Other signatories to the letter, which will be sent to the prime minister, include former Tory cabinet ministers Caroline Spelman and Cheryl Gillan.
Former Labour cabinet ministers Ben Bradshaw and Andrew Smith have also signed.
Their letter demands "urgent action".
It says: "It is widely acknowledged that the existing school funding model is a muddle and that funding for individual schools with similar pupil characteristics is arbitrary and unfair."
Nick Binder, head of the Sele school in Hertford and chair of the Hertfordshire Association of Secondary School Headteachers, told PM some heads were looking at teaching two classes simultaneously.
The plan could see one teacher addressing 50 children, he said.
"I don't think parents have seen the impact yet and I think as they do they are going to be shocked," he said.
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "We are ensuring schools across England are funded fairly so all pupils, whatever their background and wherever they live in the country, have access to a good education.
"We have maintained per pupil funding and will make funding fairer.
"Despite the economic climate we have already committed an additional Â£390m to the least fairly-funded areas in the country.
"It is down to councils to determine exactly how funding is allocated to individual schools."


Substitutes Rudi Skacel and Declan McManus combined to give Raith Rovers a late equaliser that forced a Scottish Cup fourth-round replay against Hearts.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The Premiership side were worthy of the lead established when Don Cowie set up Jamie Walker for a clinical finish.
Their Championship hosts responded after the break and Mark Stewart somehow contrived to fire against the crossbar from only four yards.
But McManus deflected in former Hearts midfielder Skacel's 89th-minute shot.
Rovers almost snatched victory in stoppage time, but goalkeeper Jack Hamilton parried Yves M'Voto's header off the line.
The Kirkcaldy side, led by former Hearts manager Gary Locke, have now gone 10 games without a win.
However, McManus' header means they will have another chance to progress to the fifth round when the sides meet in Wednesday's replay at Tynecastle.
Ian Cathro, who became Hearts' latest head coach last month, has begun to re-shape his side and showed confidence in his four January signings by handing them all immediate starts.
With Faycal Rherras, along with midfielder Arnaud Djoum, absent because of Africa Cup of Nations duty, Igor Rossi having left for Al-Faisaly and Liam Smith dropped to the bench, only John Souttar remained from the back four that lost to Aberdeen on December 30.
Andraz Struna looked like the quality right-back you would expect from a Slovenian international fresh from playing in the Greek Superleague, Lennard Sowah was the strong if occasionally erratic left-back witnessed at Hamilton Accies, while Aaron Hughes had the composure of a Northern Ireland centurion despite his advancing years.
However, it was Malaury Martin, the former Middlesbrough midfielder previously with Lillestrom, who was the stand-out newcomer, full of composure, clever touches and probing crosses.
Yet Cathro's side - who have won once in six games under his charge - has yet to become more than the sum of its parts.
And it took two of the star turns he inherited to conjure a rare clear sight at goal and send the 4,000 travelling fans into rapturous applause as former Scotland midfielder Cowie threaded a pass through for Walker to slot his 11th goal of the season past goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert.
Maybe lack of match fitness - Premiership sides are just back from a winter break - also began to take its toll, but the newly created defence began to creak after the half-time break and only Hamilton's quick reactions prevented an earlier equaliser and eventual winner for the hosts.
Rovers remain in the hunt for a promotion play-off place, but they have slipped to seventh and it is the relegation zone that will loom ever closer should they fail to reverse their recent slide in fortunes.
History did not suggest there was much prospect of their run of games without a win ending against visitors from the league above who had won on their last five visits to Stark's Park.
When Mark Stewart, handed a start up front in place of Ryan Hardie, fired against the crossbar from only four yards out when an equaliser looked certain, you could see why Locke's side had only scored three times in that run of nine previous games without a win.
Having rarely threatened until that point, the missed opportunity appeared to lift the weight of apprehension from the home side's shoulders and Ross Callachan and Iain Davidson both tested Hamilton before that late breakthrough.
The preamble to the game had all the elements of a potential cup shock, with Locke, a player, coach and manager at Tynecastle, only one of several Hearts connections in the Rovers dressing-room.
Assistant Darren Jackson, midfielder Jason Thomson, full-back Kevin McHattie and cup-tied Ryan Stevenson were also former players with the Edinburgh club.
Then there's that man Skacel - twice a Scottish Cup winner in maroon.
The 37-year-old former Czech Republic midfielder has looked well past his sell-buy date since arriving from Mlada Boleslav last summer and again found himself dumped on the bench.
However, his one contribution was enough to provide McManus with the chance to keep alive Rovers' hopes of a first win over Hearts in 24 years.
Raith Rovers manager Gary Locke: "I felt we probably should have won the game. In the second half especially we were on the front foot a lot. We've had a wee blip in the last few games but there's a lot of quality in the dressing room so I'm delighted their efforts today got rewarded and on another day if we had taken our chances we could have won the game.
"I didn't just put Rudi [Skacel] on the pitch for sentiment, he's always a threat in and around the box. It was a great strike from him and Dec (McManus) has done great to get in front of the goalkeeper and nod it into the net."
Hearts head coach Ian Cathro: "It's okay. What's difficult, we've just to beat them again.
"I've just been informed we have to play the replay in midweek so we have to deal with it then.
"We were okay in the game, we could have played better but there's no need for an over-reaction. We don't have any doubts in our work, we just need to keep working."
Match ends, Raith Rovers 1, Heart of Midlothian 1.
Second Half ends, Raith Rovers 1, Heart of Midlothian 1.
Dario Zanatta (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Iain Davidson (Raith Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Iain Davidson (Raith Rovers).
Lennard Sowah (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross Matthews (Raith Rovers).
Attempt blocked. Jean-Yves Mvoto (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Andraz Struna (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Andraz Struna (Heart of Midlothian).
Bobby Barr (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Conor Sammon replaces Bjorn Johnsen.
Goal!  Raith Rovers 1, Heart of Midlothian 1. Declan McManus (Raith Rovers) header from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Rudi Skacel.
Corner,  Raith Rovers. Conceded by Aaron Hughes.
Foul by Malaury Martin (Heart of Midlothian).
Kevin McHattie (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Dario Zanatta replaces Jamie Walker.
Bobby Barr (Raith Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Andraz Struna (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Bobby Barr (Raith Rovers).
Attempt missed. Declan McManus (Raith Rovers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Bjorn Johnsen (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Kevin McHattie (Raith Rovers).
Andraz Struna (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Bobby Barr (Raith Rovers).
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Rudi Skacel replaces Jordan Thompson.
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Declan McManus replaces Mark Stewart.
Attempt missed. Bjorn Johnsen (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top right corner.
Corner,  Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Kevin McHattie.
Lennard Sowah (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross Matthews (Raith Rovers).
Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross Matthews (Raith Rovers).
Corner,  Raith Rovers. Conceded by Krystian Nowak.
Foul by John Souttar (Heart of Midlothian).
Mark Stewart (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Krystian Nowak (Heart of Midlothian).
Ross Callachan (Raith Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Don Cowie (Heart of Midlothian) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Substitution, Raith Rovers. Ryan Hardie replaces Chris Johnston.


Scottish technology companies are heading to Bavaria on a trade mission which aims to strengthen links between Scotland and Germany.

The delegation will visit a number of prominent businesses, universities and government organisations in Munich this week.
They will seek opportunities in the tech sector for increased collaboration and international investment.
The mission will be led by Scotland's Business Minister Paul Wheelhouse.
The visit comes two months after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon held talks in Berlin with a member of the German government about the UK's Brexit vote.
Ms Sturgeon later said she had set out Scotland's perspective on the EU referendum, adding that she was aiming to strengthen Scotland's relations.
During the Bavaria trip, the Scottish tech companies will meet senior executives from IBM, BMW, Munich Technical University, Munich Technology Centre, the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the City of Munich.
Mr Wheelhouse will also meet executives from renewable energy firm BayWa r.e. and Fraunhofer, Europe's largest applied research institute. Both organisations have their UK headquarters in Scotland.
The mission will also highlight the work of support bodies such as Scottish Edge, We Are The Future, Informatics Ventures and Women's Enterprise Scotland.
Scottish companies heading to Munich:
Among those taking part will be David Scrimgeour, founder of the British-German Business Network.
He said: "Bavaria is an attractive market for Scottish tech companies and this will hopefully be the first of many visits.
"The idea behind this mission is to explore the potential for future co-operation between the two tech ecosystems and to start to build relationships in Bavaria. We expect a return visit early next year."
Andrew Dobbie, founding director of digital creative agency MadeBrave, who will be travelling as part of the delegation, said: "Companies like ours who are eyeing international growth see Germany and Bavaria as important territories so I'm really excited about the opportunity to build relationships that I'm sure will lead to business activity for MadeBrave."
Mr Wheelhouse said: "This visit presents a very important opportunity to take a group of some of Scotland's most exciting and innovative technology companies to Germany, and to visit Bavaria in particular; an area that is known globally as a leading international technology hub.
"Our aim is that, through achieving increased collaboration across the commercial, public and university sectors, we will be able to translate this into significantly increased economic benefit for both Scotland and Bavaria.
"Germany is Europe's largest market, as well as the third largest inward investor into Scotland and one of our most important export markets."


Over the last decade the price of flats has risen much faster than the price of houses, according to research for the Halifax.

While flats have risen by 60% in value over that time period, the average house has only gone up by 34%, it said.
Detached homes have seen the smallest price rise, at 21%.
At the same time the Halifax said the rise in UK house prices in the year to September slowed to 8.6%, from 9% previously.
Between July and September, prices went up by 2% compared with the previous quarter.
On a monthly basis, the Halifax said prices in September dropped by 0.9% compared with August.
As a result the value of the average house or flat in the UK has fallen to £202,859.
Last week, rival lender Nationwide said that house prices rose by just 3.8% in the year to September.
It also said that the gap between prices in London and the rest of the UK had reached a record high.
The relative popularity of flats has fallen over the past decade, according to the Halifax research.
In 2005, 20% of all property sales were flats. Ten years on, that figure has fallen to 17%.
Price rises have therefore been driven by flats in the capital.
"The national increase in flat prices has been led by London where flats account for roughly one in two property sales; substantially higher than for the country as a whole," said Martin Ellis, Halifax's chief economist.


Chinese diver Ren Qian won Olympic gold at the age of 15 as Britain's Tonia Couch finished out of the medals in the 10m platform competition.

Ren took the lead after the third of five dives and a superb inward three-and-a-half somersault with her fourth virtually clinched the title.
China's Si Yajie took the silver, while Canada's Meaghan Benfeito won bronze.
Couch, competing in her third Olympics, ended with a fine reverse two-and-a-half somersault but finished in 12th.
"The last few days I haven't dived my best, I've been a bit flat," the 27-year-old from Plymouth told the BBC.
"But I have made the final here, and that was goal."


Doncaster Rovers have signed Port Vale goalkeeper Chris Neal on a 28-day loan.

The 30-year-old's move to the Keepmoat Stadium is added competition for Thorsten Stuckmann and Marko Marosi in the Doncaster goal.
Neal, who has made 133 appearances, has featured just once for Vale this season since losing his place to Jak Alnwick.
Neal was part of the Vale side which won promotion from League Two in 2013 and the Shrewsbury Town side which went up to League One the previous season.
Meanwhile Rovers' veteran defender Rob Jones has left the club by mutual consent.
The 36-year-old, who was also a coach with Doncaster's development side, moved to Rovers from Sheffield Wednesday in 2012.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


The family of a four-year-old boy who died after being knocked down by a car in Oxfordshire have said they are "absolutely heartbroken".

Barnaby Cork, from Thame, was struck by a car outside a sports centre on the town's Oxford Road shortly before 10:30 GMT on Saturday.
He died on his way to hospital.
In a statement, his family said: "We're truly devastated at the loss of our precious Barnaby. We're absolutely heartbroken."
They added:  "There's no words that can even begin to describe the sadness we're experiencing now that Barnaby isn't with us. He was our world."
Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident.
Barnaby's family added: "We are so very very lucky to have such close and strong family, as well as such great friends and neighbours, and your support means everything to us.
"We know the people of Thame have us in their thoughts and prayers and this gives us strength when we need it the most."


A 27-year-old motorcyclist has died in a three-vehicle crash in Aberdeen.

The incident occurred on Great Northern Road near to its junction with Clifton Road at about 12:00 on Saturday.
Police said the collision involved a Yamaha motorcycle, a Vauxhall Adam and a Volkswagen Caravelle.
The 27-year-old man has not yet been named by police.


Derry had the upper hand in the all-Ulster Nicky Rackard Cup final, claiming their second title with a 3-23 to 2-15 win over Armagh at Croke Park.

Alan Grant, Gerald Bradley and Brian Cassidy fired the goals for Derry.
Grant landed 1-4, with Bradley scoring three fine points as the Oak Leafers carved out a 1-9 to 0-6 half-time lead.
Each side scored two goals in the second half, with Derry's Bradley and Cassidy finding the net and Ryan Gaffney's scoring twice for Armagh.
It was another Croke Park disappointment for the Orchard County as they had lost finals in 2015 and 2016.
Earlier, there was a strong Ulster influence as Warwickshire lifted the Lory Meagher Cup with a 0-17 to 0-11 win over Leitrim.
Ex-Antrim player Liam Watson scored 11 points from placed balls, as Tony Joyce's charges put in a strong second-half display.
The sides were well matched in the opening half, with Leitrim leading 0-10 to 0-8 at half-time, off the strength of Padraig O'Donnell's contributions from placed balls.
Down native Kelvin Magee was also a member of the Warwickshire attack, while substitute Chrissy Convery, became the first of the Swatragh brothers to pick up a medal, with Ruairi following later in the afternoon with Derry's Rackard Cup success.
It was the Birmingham side's second title.


A man brandishing a meat cleaver threatened staff during a robbery at a shop in Oxfordshire.

The man went into the Tesco Express on Cogges Hill Road, Witney and climbed over the counter before stealing an undisclosed amount of cash.
The raid happened at about 22:45 BST on Saturday. No customers were in the store at the time.
The offender was white and wearing a black balaclava, dark clothing and gloves.
Police are also investigating two other robberies and are keeping an "open mind" whether all three are linked.
Last Wednesday night a man armed with a syringe stole money after jumping over the counter at Tesco Express in Fettiplace Road, Witney.
While on Sunday evening a robber with a screwdriver stole cash from Co-op in Shipton Road, Milton-under-Wychwood.
No-one was hurt in either incident.


Plans have been submitted for 3,000 new houses in a £1bn development in Perth.

Springfield Properties has applied to Perth and Kinross Council for permission to build a new 333-hectare community at Bertha Park.
The development would include two new primary schools and a secondary school, shops, restaurants, medical, leisure and community facilities.
If approved, more than 2,000 jobs would be created over 30 years while construction takes place.
The first phase of the development would begin in 2017, with more than 1,000 new houses - including two, three and four-bedroom detached and semi-detached houses, across private, affordable and retirement accommodation.
Springfield Properties chairman Sandy Adam said inspiration had been taken from surrounding towns and villages to ensure the design retains a traditional look and feel for the area.
He said: "Bertha Park is an exceptional opportunity for Springfield Properties.
"It is one of the biggest ever developments in Perth and is an entirely new concept for us. Rather than extending a community in an existing location, we are creating a new community."
Plans are already in place for a new 1,100 place secondary school which will be completed in time for the 2018 academic year.
A new road, the Cross Tay Link Road, would be integrated through the site, providing access to Bertha Park and the new school.


Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey carded a disappointing final round of three-over-par 75 to finish in a tie for eighth position at the Indian Open.

Hoey had posted three consecutive rounds of one-under 71 to lie two off the lead going into day four but ended the tournament on level par.
The Belfastman, 37, dropped shots at the 15th and 17th to lose ground.
Defending champion SSP Chawrasia, from India, won on 10 under, seven shots ahead of Malaysian Gavin Green.
Hoey, who lost his European Tour playing card last year, was joined on level by England's David Horsey and South African George Coetzee after the closing round.
The Northern Irishman's round included one birdie and four bogeys.


Giving up a goal at home would be a calamity for Mamelodi Sundowns, said their coach Pitso Mosimane as they completed preparations to take on Zamalek in Saturday's first leg of the African Champions League final.

Mosimane's biggest fear is that the South African club, who have emerged favourites for the title despite coming through the back door, sabotage their own chances by allowing the Egyptians to score an away goal.
"We have had a tendency to give away home goals which we must cut out," Mosimane told reporters in the build-up to the game at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, on the outskirts of Pretoria.
"Critcially it is important to score an away goal and to make sure your opponents do not score on your home ground."
Sundowns travel next Wednesday to Egypt for the return match which is being played at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria on Sunday, 23 October.
We have a chance to write history for ourselves. This is the biggest prize
Mosimane says the team with the stronger mentality will win, despite the South African having the upper hand over Zamalek in both group matches in July.
Sundowns won 2-1 away in Cairo and a late own goal gave them a 1-0 home success a fortnight later.
"We must forget about those two group wins because Zamalek will be much more lifted up now that they are so close to the title," the Sundowns boss added.
Zamalek have won the top club prize in African football five times but their last success was in 2002. Since then they have largely existed in the shadow of arch rivals Al Ahly.
Like Sundowns, their progress to the final has been against expectations.
Sundowns had actually been eliminated before the group stage and were handed a back door pass when AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo were disqualified for using an ineligible player in the earlier rounds.
Zamalek have been through three coaches in 2015 with Mohamed Helmi resigning after their last defeat to Sundowns and Moamen Soliman taking over.
But despite the turnover of coaches, they defied convention to hold off Wydad Casablanca in the semi-final and advance to their first final in 14 years.
Zamalek arrived in South Africa on Wednesday with Soliman telling reporters he would quit after just three months in charge if he did not deliver the trophy.
Egyptian clubs have won the competition 14 times to just one for South Africa - achieved 21 years ago when Orlando Pirates won the old-style African Champions Cup.
"We have a chance to write history for ourselves. This is the biggest prize. It has come ahead of our planning but we are close. We are prepared, we've done the miles and beaten the odds," added Mosimane.


Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has denied allegations he was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine.

"I cannot comment on a video that I've never seen or that does not exist," he told reporters.
Mr Ford's remarks came a week after the Toronto Star newspaper and US news website Gawker reported they had viewed a video in which he smoked the drug.
"I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict," he said. He accused the media of judging him without evidence.
Mr Ford said the previous week had "not been an easy one".
"It has taken a great toll on my family and my friends and the great people of Toronto," he said.
The mayor's first extended remarks on the rumours that have roiled politics in Canada's largest city came after senior aides pressured him to address the allegations.
"He would have been a lot better off had he made this statement earlier in the week but for whatever reason he did not," Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, an ally of Mr Ford, told the Associated Press after Mr Ford's news conference.
The video has not been released publicly and has not been verified.
The Toronto Star newspaper and Gawker report it was shot by men who claimed they sold crack cocaine to the mayor.
Gawker has launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise $200,000 (Â£140,000) to buy it, though it now says it has lost contact with the people in possession of the footage.
On Wednesday, the mayor was removed as volunteer head coach of a high school football team, the Don Bosco Eagles, by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. No explanation was given.
And the following day the mayor sacked his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, but did not say why.
Afterwards, Mr Towhey said he had not resigned.


A detective has been charged with downloading indecent images of children.

Det Con Jamal Hassan, 36, faces three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and a further charge of perverting the course of justice.
The officer, who is based at Bedfordshire Police's Kempston HQ, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Saturday.
The case was adjourned to a later date. Det Con Hassan is currently suspended.


Owen Farrell was the inaugural winner of the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy - awarded to the European player of the year - after guiding Saracens to a second successive Champions Cup title.

England playmaker Farrell, 25, was given the award after Saracens beat Clermont 28-17 at Murrayfield.
He was chosen by a public vote and a panel of rugby experts.
The trophy was named in the memory of former Munster coach Foley, who died in October at the age of 42.
Foley played a key role in Munster's quest to reach the pinnacle of European club rugby throughout the 2000s, making 86 European Cup appearances for the province, playing in three finals and leading the team to victory in 2006.
His death came a month into a season in which they reached the European Cup semi-finals and finished top of the Pro12.
Tournament organiser European Professional Club Rugby said it had commissioned the trophy with the agreement of the Foley family and Munster Rugby.
Foley's widow Olive and son Tony presented it to Farrell.
"This is a fitting way to honour Anthony's memory," said EPCR chairman Simon Halliday. "He was a great player and a great leader as well as a galvanising force in Munster's European odyssey.
"I would like to thank the Foley family and Munster Rugby for allowing us create this trophy for now and for the future."
The other nominees for the award were Farrell's Saracens team-mate Maro Itoje, Camille Lopez (Clermont), Garry Ringrose (Leinster) and CJ Stander (Munster).
Read how Saracens secured back-to-back European titles


One of the most familiar sights in the Middle East is of local citizens gathering in cafes smoking hookah pipes as they drink coffee strong enough to knock out an Arabian horse.

But in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, such traditional pastimes are being given a hi-tech twist.
Not only is the city as hip and cool as any city in the West, Lebanese technology is even changing the nature of the hookah pipe.
Finding the ideal tobacco flavour in the bowl at the right temperature is the Holy Grail of hookahs, but a start-up called Nara - Arabic for flame - is solving this with the first "internet of things" hookah pipe.
Compact fast-lighting spheres of charcoal are supplemented by a dense battery and internet-connected sensors that measure air flow, moisture and temperature - all vital elements for a perfect smoke.
Nara does its best to keep everything in the bowl perfectly balanced. And the collected data can be used by cafe owners to prepare a personal mix for returning customers.
With more than 500 million people across the region enjoying a daily hookah pipe, this is one of several innovations that the Beirut start-up ecosystem is beginning to create.
Nara is the brainchild of Lebanese-born Fady Isshak, Joe Zoghzoghy, and Mark Haidar - the latter now a highly successful US-based entrepreneur.
But Mr Haidar's start in life was far less auspicious.
Raised in a "mixed" South Lebanese refugee area of Bedouins, Palestinians and other displaced peoples, Mr Haidar created his first product, a smart chair, when he was 17 and without the use of electricity.
Smart and ambitious, he left Beirut when he was 23. Four days later he had received his US visa, after charming the interviewer by saying he'd learned English by watching the "two best documentaries on America": The Simpsons and Seinfeld.
The reason for his swift departure was the beginning of the 2006 war.
His father ordered him to get out of Beirut and gave his son the family's life savings of $2,200 (Â£1,785), asking only for him to leave "$300 for food".
Mr Haidar took his chance, managed to get to the border, and like many refugees after him, travelled through Syria, Turkey and Germany before finally flying to the US and getting a job in a Detroit petrol station.
The rest was another example of the American Dream come true. His companies include Silvr, a payments company, and Dialexa, a technology and product development firm.
While Mr Haidar has invested in a Beirut start-up as part of Lebanon's diaspora, several other companies are starting life in the city itself. And smoking seems to be a key theme.
Samer El Gharib founded Slighter, a smart cigarette lighter that helps smokers quit gradually. The lighter records the user's smoking habits in the first week that they use the device and then sends them notification of times they are allowed to smoke - one of several steps on the way to giving up completely.
Another (non-smoking) Lebanese start-up is Play My Way, an educational way to stop children spending too much time on their smartphones and tablets.
At parent-specified intervals, Play My Way interrupts any running app with an educational question and will only return to the app once the question is answered.
Of clearly global appeal, last month the app was the third most downloaded app, not in Lebanon, but in the UK.
Other global players in the tech scene are taking an interest in Beirut.
Two months ago, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak made his first visit to the city. He was the keynote speaker at the BDL [Banque du Liban] Accelerate conference in November, one of the 10 biggest tech conferences in the world. Tony Fadell, creator of the iPod and iPhone, also addressed the 25,000-strong audience.
Event organiser Samer Karam was originally a photojournalist in Lebanon, covering all the traumatic events of the region in the early 21st Century. Now, he is probably the most influential tech person across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.
In 2010, he raised $700,000 and founded Seeqnce, one of MENA's first start-up accelerator programmes and whose first two batches of start-ups raised more than $10m.
He regularly advises the Central Bank of Lebanon on best practices in venture capital and was a member of the founding steering committee of Lebanon's $600m start-up fund, BDL Circular 331.
The Lebanese tech sector witnessed significant growth between 2009 and 2014 - the so-called "youth bulge".
Young talented individuals have been able to start companies in their own country, rather than having to move abroad like so many others. There are 15 million Lebanese living in other countries, from Brazil to Melbourne.
The establishment of new incubators and accelerators such as the UK Lebanon Tech Hub - an initiative between the Central Bank of Lebanon and the UK government - is creating jobs, revenues and investment for start-ups.
"We have already seen the ICT sector here take huge strides forward as a result of incentives, such as the introduction of Circular 331," says Colm Reilly, chief executive of UK Lebanon Tech Hub.
"There is huge R&D capability from academia here and if we get this right, Lebanon can become the tech gateway to the Middle East."
While nothing in Beirut is ever certain, at least it is now much easier to find that perfect hookah pipe smoke, thanks to technology.
Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
Click here for more Technology of Business features


(Close): The FTSE 100 reversed its earlier gains by closing down 17 points, or 0.27%,  at 6,130.46.

Shares in Admiral Group, the insurer, were the biggest risers after the company reported better than expected annual results.
They closed up 9%, or 159 points,  to end the day at 1919p.
The company - which also owns the Confused.com price comparison website - were helped by an 11% rise in profits from car insurance.
Mining stocks also boosted the FTSE.  Shares in Glencore rose 5.6%, while Anglo American climbed 1.49%.
But shares in Whitbread fell 6.15% after the firm said sales growth had slowed at its Costa coffee chain.
Like-for-like sales at Costa rose by just 0.5% in the 11 weeks to 11 February, which Whitbread blamed partly on the "unusually warm winter".
Contrasting house price reports from the Nationwide Building Society and Halifax did nothing to calm worries about the sector.
House builder Persimmon saw its shares fall 6.8% to 1998p.
The pound was up 0.5% against the dollar to $1.4151 and fell 0.2% against the euro to â‚¬1.2925.
News of weak growth in the UK's services sector weighed on the pound, with a survey registering the slowest rate of growth in the sector for nearly three years.


People living in Bristol have complained about a vinegary whiff in the air.

They've kicked up a stink with their council, who've decided to use the liquid to kill weeds around the city.
It's all part of a trial to get rid of the unwanted plants without using strong chemicals, which some people think aren't environmentally friendly.
But many locals say they're not happy with the unpleasant pong the trial's creating.
They've started a campaign and also say they don't think vinegar is strong enough to kill the weeds.
Bristol City Council say they'll continue with their trial, but will keeping track of feedback from the people who live there.


Paul Rowley has resigned as Leigh Centurions head coach 10 days before the start of the 2016 Championship season.

The 40-year-old took over in 2012 and has guided Leigh to the Championship title in each of the past two years.
They won just one game in The Qualifiers in 2015 as they missed out on a place in Super League.
"It is with a heavy heart I have decided to resign as coach," said Rowley in a statement.
"My reasons for leaving are personal and I will not comment further in public or in private."


A windsurfer has died after getting into difficulties off the Essex coast.

The accident happened just off the beach at West Mersea at about 12:00 BST on Saturday, the RNLI said.
The man, who was in his 60s, was rescued by an RNLI lifeboat crew from West Mersea with the assistance of the coastguard.
He was airlifted to Colchester Hospital where he later died. Police said they were trying to establish the events leading up to his death.


More than two thirds of oil and gas firms cut jobs last year - but there are signs the crisis may be approaching a turning point, a survey has found.

The 25th Oil and Gas Survey found 67% of north east Scotland businesses had shed staff at a faster rate than at any time in the survey's history.
But a similar proportion felt the sector had reached "rock bottom" and the rate of job cuts would now slow.
More than 40% had cut pay or changed benefits to cope with low oil prices.
The survey, conducted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute, canvassed the views of 130 businesses, employing more than 308,000 UK staff in total.
The findings included:
James Bream, research and policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: "We're likely to remain in an uncertain position through 2017 and 'the bottom' will arrive at different times and feel different for each company.
"It is clear that companies are striving to become fitter, leaner and they are working hard to look for new markets to secure their future and employment levels where that is within their control.
"There is no question of complacency in the north east and our brilliant people will continue to demonstrate that the oil and gas sector should be considered a success story in generating economic value for the UK economy."
The survey was conducted in September.
Meanwhile, the UK's oil and gas industry has claimed chemical discharges to sea and emissions to the air have continued on a downward trend over the last 15 years.
Trade body Oil & Gas UK said the average oil-in-water concentration last year was less than half of the recommended limit set by the OSPAR Commission.
That was despite the industry's first increase in production since 2000.
The findings are contained in Oil & Gas UK's Environment Report 2016.
Mick Borwell, health, safety and environment policy director with Oil & Gas UK, said: "The environment report comes at a challenging time for the UK oil and gas which is working extremely hard to navigate through the downturn, while maintaining environment and safety standards.
"Despite the UK Continental Shelf being a mature basin with technically challenging production, the overall trend for the last 15 years is downwards for discharges, emissions and accidental releases. Put simply, we are using the same amount of chemicals and emitting less CO2 in the production of more oil and gas.
"Industry is committed to minimising the effect on the natural environment and all operators have an environmental management system which is designed to minimise environmental effect."


Oxford University has come top of the Times Higher Education world university rankings - a first for a UK university.

Oxford knocks California Institute of Technology, the top performer for the past five years, into second place.
But there are warnings the vote to leave the European Union could destabilise UK higher education and hinder work with academics abroad.
The rankings show a mixed picture for European universities, while Asian institutions continue to rise.
The Times Higher tables rank universities worldwide on measures including teaching, research and international outlook - for example, numbers of overseas students and staff.
Editor of the rankings Phil Baty said it was "fantastic news" Oxford had come top, but the UK's vote to leave the European Union was a big threat to the sector.
"The referendum result is already causing uncertainty for the sector," he said.
"As well as some top academics reporting they have been frozen out of collaborative research projects with EU colleagues, many are admitting that they might look to relocate to a university outside the country.
"It is also having an impact on the UK's potential to attract international talent in the future."
Beyond the UK, this year's rankings present a mixed picture for Europe, which is increasingly under threat from the continuing strength of Asian institutions.
Switzerland's ETH Zurich is ranked ninth for the second year running.
Germany has 41 institutions in the rankings,  nine of which make the top 100.
And, for the first time, the Netherlands' 13 leading research-intensive universities all made it into the top 200.
But other European countries are losing ground.
A third of France's 27 universities have slipped down the tables, while half of Italy's 39 institutions have dropped down.
France, Spain and Italy have each lost a representative in the top 200.
Central and Eastern Europe have also suffered, with just one university in the Czech Republic making the top 600, down from six last year, while three of Romania's four universities drop to a lower band.
Denmark and Finland are also seeing signs of slipping, with the universities of Copenhagen and Helsinki dropping 38 and 15 places respectively.
Asia, however, continues to rise up the rankings. It has four new entries in the top 200 group, bringing its total to 19.
China's Peking University joins the top 30, in 29th place, up from 42nd last year, while Tsinghua joins the top 40 in 35th place, up from joint 47th.
Five of Hong Kong's six representatives make the top 200 - more than any other Asian region - and the National University of Singapore, Asia's top university, stands at 24th, its highest ever rank.
Education Secretary Justine Greening said: "Britain has long been home to some of the best universities in the world, and it's fantastic to see a UK university top these world rankings for the first time.
"We want to see this success continue and provide real opportunities for students up and down the country.
"That is why we are reforming higher education to make sure it delivers the quality teaching and skills that students and employers expect."


The inquest into the death of 14-year-old Alice Gross has opened.

The murdered schoolgirl's mother Rosalind Hodgkiss, 50, was at West London Coroner's Court for the brief hearing as the inquest was opened and adjourned.
Alice, from Hanwell, in west London, disappeared on 28 August. Her body was found on 30 September.
The court heard Alice's body was found by London Fire Brigade divers, wrapped and weighted down in the River Brent.
A post-mortem examination into the teenager's cause of death proved inconclusive and more tests are being carried out.
Coroner's officer John Chadwick told the court Alice had been identified through dental records.
Police are currently investigating her murder.
Coroner Chinyere Inyama adjourned the hearing to 29 January next year.
He said: "Clearly there are other investigations ongoing, including the police inquiry."
Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the killing, was found hanged in a west London park on 4 October.
The 41-year-old Latvian builder had served seven years in prison in his native country for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death, before moving to the UK in 2007.
The hunt for Alice was the largest Met Police search operation since the 7/7 terrorist bombings in 2005, involving officers from 17 other forces.
On Thursday, the Met Police's Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey defended the amount of time it had taken to find the teenager.
"When you have search parameters of this size, it takes an awful long time," Mr Mackey told the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee.
"And there is not a huge amount of experience across the country of doing this.


The centre-right bloc which won Denmark's general election has begun negotiations to form a new government.

The bloc's leader, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, looks likely to succeed Helle Thorning-Schmidt as prime minister.
But difficult talks lie ahead. Mr Rasmussen's own Venstre (Liberal) party saw great losses in Thursday's poll, and the biggest party in the right-bloc is now the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP).
As a result, the bloc that will rule Denmark is likely to be very different from the one Mr Rasmussen led when he was prime minister in 2009-2011.
We have yet to fully understand the roots of the DPP's success, but its calls for tougher asylum policies combined with demands for border control seem to have paid off, amid concern over the public cost of immigration.
It was expected to make huge gains, but on election night it was clear that it had done even better than expected - increasing its share of the vote by 8.8%.
The DPP took 21.1% of the vote, while Venstre - the party of the likely premier - saw its worst election result since 1990, with less than 20%.
A lot of long-serving Venstre MPs will lose their seats. Their election party was a strange mix of worried faces and joyful cheers.
Much of Venstre's failing support is due to Mr Rasmussen himself. Polls have indicated he scores poorly when voters rate him for trustworthiness, following a string of scandals and media stories over the years.
As the likely prime minster, he will have to manoeuvre carefully with a strong DPP. Another strong force within the right-wing bloc will be the Liberal Alliance, which also saw large gains after campaigning for tax and spending cuts - quite the opposite of the DPP's more social-democratic economics.
Many questions about Mr Rasmussen's government remain unanswered, and the coming weeks will see tough talks.
The questions pile up: Will Venstre form a government on its own? Or is the DPP ripe for the responsibility of forming a coalition government?
Either way the right-wing bloc will have to deal with differences in terms of euroscepticism and Denmark's position vis-a-vis David Cameron's attempt to renegotiate the UK's EU membership terms. So far the right-wing bloc has signalled support for Mr Cameron's bid.
Back in the losing left-wing bloc, Mrs Thorning-Schmidt - Denmark's first female prime minister - announced that she would step down as leader of the Social Democrats.
Everything points to Mette Frederiksen as her successor.
Mrs Thorning-Schmidt did not mention any names in her succession speech, but noted that she would not be the last female prime minister her party would have.
It is still unclear what she will do next. At the age of 48, she is a relatively young former PM, and she has previously shown an ambition for a position in international politics.
It is summer time in Denmark - but for everyone involved in politics, vacations will have to wait.
Asmus Leth Olsen is an assistant professor at the department of political science at the University of Copenhagen.


England wing Jack Nowell says they want to become "the most dominant team in the world" after completing the Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this month.

The 22-year-old, who plays for Exeter Chiefs, started all five games in the championship, scoring one try.
"At the start of the tournament we said that we wanted to be the best side in Europe," Nowell told BBC Radio Devon.
"To do that you have to win all five games, so to come back and to achieve that is massive for us."
England will take on World Cup semi-finalists Australia in a three-match series in June.
"We want to be the most dominant team in the world," added Nowell.
"The first stage for us was Europe and now it's going to be a massive test going down to Australia in the summer. It's going to be another challenge for us but one that we can look forward to after a good start."
The Cornishman was given a week off following international duty and missed Exeter's Premiership defeat by Saracens, but is set to return to the side when they host Worcester on Saturday.
"The England players have bounced out of the Six Nations on great form, and I think that's fantastic for English rugby," said Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter.
"It's fantastic for this tail end of the Premiership, because you're going to see an awful lot of very good international players playing right at the top of their game."


Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder says Saracens deserve to be favourites ahead of the European Champions Cup quarter-final match between the two sides.

Saints are the lowest-seeded team left in the competition, while Saracens are the top seeds.
"Their key leaders are all playing well," Mallinder told BBC Radio Northampton.
"I don't think I need to name names for people to know who I'm talking about."
Saracens go into the game as the only team to win all of their pool games, earning victories over Ulster, Oyonnax and Toulouse.
"They're playing very well," Mallinder continued. "They did lose a few games over the Six Nations, where they didn't have players available to them, but they've got those back now.
"They're a very well-coached and difficult side to beat. We look forward to those sort of challenges."
Saints will travel to London knowing a victory would take them through to an all-English semi-final, with either Wasps or Exeter Chiefs awaiting them.
"The conditions are never easy down there, so sometimes you have the difficulty of what you do playing into the wind and then what you do with it," Mallinder added.
"They (Saracens) have got this gameplan which they play very well. It's not as simple as kick-chase, but when they do kick they chase very well.
"Once they get in behind you they're a difficult side to stop."


The world's most used operating system has made it into double figures.

Windows 10 is destined to change the way millions of us interact with our computers and gives Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, the opportunity to steer the company in a new direction.
He describes the OS as "Windows as a Service", which means he plans to release improvements as they become available, via the internet, rather than working towards another "big bang" upgrade in a few years.
Versions of the software will also be released for smartphones - making the Windows Phone OS defunct - as well as the Xbox One games console, "internet of things" kit and, potentially, smartwatches at a later stage.
There has even been talk of this being the "last version of Windows" assuming all goes well - so no pressure then.
The best explanation Microsoft has given for jumping a number has been in the form of a very nerdy joke: "Windows 10 because seven, eight, [ate] nine."
The suspicion is the company's marketers just think it sounds cooler.
And, of course, there is the added benefit that it further distances the product from the ill-fated Windows 8 while catching up in numeric terms with Apple's rival Mac OS X.
At first look, at least on a desktop PC, the user interface looks pretty similar to the popular Windows 7.
Microsoft is pitching the product as being "familiar and easy to use", as part of a shift away from the unpopular touch-centric focus of Windows 8.
Perhaps the headline feature is the return of the Start Menu, providing users with quick pop-up access to their favourite apps, documents and settings.
It does, however, carry over some of W8's design language.
To the right of the list of sober-looking shortcuts, the Start Menu now also offers a selection of customisable "live tiles".
These can also launch favoured apps, but people may prefer to use them to get at-a-glance updates about how many unread emails they have, what the weather is doing, forthcoming diary alerts and other notifications.
Those pining for Windows 8's full-display Start Screen can still turn it back on via settings, and it appears by default on tablets when no keyboard is attached.
The other big addition is Cortana - the virtual assistant first featured in Windows Phone 8.1.
This makes sense of natural-language requests spoken or typed into a computer to help users manage their diaries, search the internet for information tailored to their interests, play music they might like, and control third-party apps, among other activities.
The more Cortana studies its owner's habits, the better, in theory, the suggestions it makes. Those who find this a bit freaky can restrict the data it has access to.
Other new features include:
No.
Microsoft is making it available to members of its Insider programme - people who tested preview versions of the system - from the start.
But it is staggering delivery to others.
As part of the process it is carrying out compatibility checks, so that PCs most likely to experience serious problems running the software do not get the upgrade until the relevant bugs have been dealt with.
If users have not already pre-registered for the download, they can do so by clicking a Windows icon in their taskbar. If it isn't there, they will need to carry out a complicated workaround to make it appear.
That means some people will have to wait days and perhaps weeks to get Windows 10 for free.
Some computer makers have already, however, rushed out machines pre-installed with the software to shop shelves.
Boxes containing the software on USB flash drives are also due to go on sale "between mid-August and September" for those that don't have broadband internet. Retailers - including Currys in the UK - are also offering in-store installs for a fee.
The money paid by computer makers to preinstall Windows on their PCs is one of Microsoft's biggest sources of revenue.
It also helps Microsoft direct business' budgets towards its lucrative add-on cloud services - including its Office 365 productivity suite, Azure cloud computing platform, and Dynamics supply chain management tools - as well as the IT support and training it sells.
There are also subscription fees to be made from consumers, whether it is charging for OneDrive cloud storage, calls made via Skype, or access to Microsoft's Groove music library.
Every customer lost to devices running a Google, Apple or Linux operating system is one more likely to spend their money elsewhere.
In addition, every company that decides to stick with Windows 7, Vista or even XP is one that will not be able to support all of Microsoft's latest technologies.
Windows Phone has also been a bit of a flop, at least in most countries.
Now, there is a new pitch: if you link a Windows 10 Mobile handset to a screen, keyboard and mouse, it can double as a PC.
This feature - called Continuum - might appeal to the billions of consumers in emerging economies for whom buying both a smartphone and a laptop would be unaffordable.
Consumers and small businesses are being offered a free upgrade of existing computers running Windows 7 or 8 at any point over the first year of Windows 10's release.
In addition, Microsoft's move to a "universal app platform" should make the OS more attractive to developers.
Microsoft will run a single app store, and every product should be compatible with a plethora of devices - including PCs, Xboxes, smartphones and the forthcoming HoloLens headset - as long as the computer involved is powerful enough and the coder has made the user interface responsive.
Microsoft is also making it easier for developers to port Android and iOS apps to the platform.
Until about a month ago, this was a common complaint about the preview builds.
But critics acknowledge many of their biggest gripes have now been addressed , even if there are some outstanding issues - such as Edge's lack of support for extensions.
Big businesses are still unlikely to adopt the OS on day one. Tech consultancy Gartner has advised its clients to wait until at least the second half of 2016.
However, one issue that may have deterred consumers has been addressed.
Microsoft caused controversy when it suggested people using the Home version of its system would have to add new features as they became available.
Matters were not helped when it explicitly said businesses would be able to wait until "quality and application compatibility has been assessed in the consumer market".
That led some bloggers to accuse Microsoft of treating the public like "guinea pigs".
But on the eve of Windows 10's release, Microsoft told the BBC it had added an option to defer all Home Edition updates, security fixes aside.
There remains, however, an incentive to buy the Pro or Enterprise versions, as their owners will be able to control which specific features are added.
One final thought:  just in case you try Windows 10 and do not like it, it is worth knowing there is a "rollback" option that works for the first 30 days.


A large fire has broken out at a mosque complex in south London.

The blaze at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden, which describes itself as the largest mosque in western Europe, was being tackled by 70 firefighters.
The London Fire Brigade said the fire was contained to an administration building and the mosque itself was unaffected. They said the blaze was under control by about 17:30 BST.
A man was taken to hospital suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.
The brigade was called at just after 12:00 BST to the mosque, which also has a community centre attached.
Only a handful of worshippers were inside the mosque when the blaze started and they were evacuated from the site.
About 50% of the building's ground floor has been damaged as well as part of the first floor and a section of the roof.
Fire crews were set to stay at the site into the evening, damping down and dealing with the aftermath of the blaze.
Earlier, station manager Philip Morton said: "This is a large fire and our crews are working hard to minimise fire spread to other parts of the mosque.
"We are working closely with the local community to ensure our damage control operations take full regard of the religious significance of the building's contents."
Julian Roman, from Morden, told the BBC: "I saw it start from my window. There was a tiny bit of smoke, some alarms.
"Now there are firefighters, ambulances, hundreds of people."
The 5.2 acre (2.1 hectare) mosque serves the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and there is space for at least 10,500 worshippers, according to its website.
Fareed Ahmed from the Ahmadi Muslim Community UK said: "It's a very difficult time and obviously we're praying that it comes to a safe conclusion.
"This is a devastating accident to happen to any mosque.
"What we understand at the moment is that the mosque itself where the prayers take place at the back of the site is safe and untouched by fire."
Merton Council leader Stephen Alambritis described the mosque as a "beautiful building" and a "major landmark" in the area.
Mr Alambritis said the mosque is manned by security staff and suggested the fire could have been caused by cooking preparations rather than an arson attack.
Lord Ahmad, a high-profile member of Ahmadiyya community and junior government minister, tweeted: "This is a beautiful mosque complex which has transcended barriers and been a beacon of peace - thoughts & prayers."


A man has been arrested by police in Londonderry investigating paramilitary displays during the wake and funeral of a veteran republican.

Dozens of people in paramilitary-style uniform attended Peggy O'Hara's funeral in the city in July.  Her son was an INLA member who died on hunger strike.
Police said a 53-year-old man was arrested in the city on Saturday.
A number of other people have been questioned as part of the police investigation.
Mrs O'Hara's son, Patsy, was one of 10 republican prisoners who died on hunger strike in the Maze Prison in 1981.
He was a senior member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) - a republican paramilitary group believed to have been responsible for more than 120 murders from its formation in 1975 until its ceasefire in 1998.


An Apple 1 motherboard, a 79-year-old TV and the only surviving processor of the last supercomputer designed by Seymour Cray have been auctioned at a vintage tech sale in New York.

However, neither the Apple 1 nor the rare antique television were sold.
Apple 1 computers are usually valuable collectables. Made in 1976, there are now only about 50 left in the world.
At a similar sale last year, one fetched $365,000 (Â£237,000). And in 2013, another attracted a $905,000 bid.
The Apple 1 at Monday's vintage tech sale had a starting price of $300,000.
The Cray-4 processor sold for $37,500.
The 1936 Baird television set may not work - but auctioneer Bonhams had forecast that it could fetch between $20,000 (Â£13,000) and $30,000.
Seymour Cray is widely considered to have designed the world's first commercial supercomputers.
He was working on the Cray-4 model when his company went bankrupt in 1995, and the following year he died in a traffic accident.
The processor, with serial number 001, was listed with an expected price tag of $50,000 - $80,000.
Other lots included an early German Enigma machine, handwritten paperwork by Albert Einstein and a 19th Century telegraph sending and receiving set used by spies during the US Civil War.
CCS analyst and mobile phone collector Ben Wood said: "During a period of birth, amazing things happen. These devices become almost curiosities which shape an industry.
"Their scarcity is always going to bring inflation in terms of the value of these devices.
"You can go right back to the evolution of technology - lots of people are collecting typewriters."
Mr Wood, who has a collection of more than 1,000 mobile handsets dating back to 1982, added that collectors did still tend to prefer working models despite their comparatively limited performance.
"To me personally it doesn't matter whether they still work as I am interested in physical design," he said.
"However, for a lot of people it would matter immensely."
As devices became more similar in appearance, it was the software behind them that could become the collectable of the future, Mr Wood said.
"If the physical devices all start looking the same... I have a vision that people will start keeping the software," he said.


Syria's president has said "opposition forces" could form part of a new government, the shape of which could be agreed at peace talks in Geneva.

Bashar al-Assad told a Russian news agency he would expect it to consist of "independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the state".
Indirect talks between the government and opposition resumed this month.
The opposition insist Mr Assad must step down, though the government says his fate is not up for discussion.
The president has previously said it is up to the people of Syria to decide who governs them.
A spokesman for the main opposition umbrella group at the UN-led talks dismissed Mr Assad's latest comments.
"The government, whether it's new or old, as long as it is in the presence of Bashar al-Assad, is not part of the political process," said George Sabra, of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Reuters news agency reported.
"What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process."
The major powers backing rival sides in the war agree that there must be a political transition process, a new constitution and elections in Syria, but so far the talks in Geneva have not produced any signs of progress.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, Mr Assad said despite deep differences between the two parties, the format for a new government could emerge from the talks.
"There are many questions that need to be discussed in Geneva, but there are not difficult questions," he said. "I don't consider them difficult, they can all be resolved."
Mr Assad did not spell out what he meant by "opposition forces". The Syrian government does not recognise rebel groups, which it commonly refers to as "terrorists", while there has long been a tolerated political opposition inside Syria.
Mr Assad said a new draft constitution could be drawn up "within a few weeks" and would then need to be put to a national vote.
The HNC has accused the Syrian government of trying to scupper the negotiations by refusing to discuss Mr Assad's future.
At the end of the previous round of talks last week, the UN's special envoy said both sides were taking the process "very seriously", noting the atmosphere had been more constructive than previously with "no breakdowns; no walkouts; and no de-legitimisation".
The talks are expected to resume in the first half of April.


A small town is using its textile past to help forge a profitable future, as Mary Jane Baxter reports from Stroud in Gloucestershire.

Lizzi Walton is struggling under the weight of 25,000 brochures, and she is inundated with calls.
It is a good job she can multi-task because she has got plenty to do.
From this tiny office in the middle of a small Gloucestershire market town, Lizzi is running an international festival - one that will see some 15,000 visitors swell the local streets this month.
So are we talking music, literature or the latest fad, food - all of which are now popular festival fodder?
No, this festival is all about fabric or, to be more precise, textiles - and it is already into its sixth year.
Stroud has a proud textile heritage. In its heyday, the town was bursting at the seams with mills churning out cloth.
By the mid 19th century, there were more than 1,000 looms at work in what was known as the Golden Valley.
Stroud Scarlet, a beautiful red woollen fabric, graced the backs of the Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Family, and local manufacturers were world-renowned.
Today Stroud still boasts a mill that makes cloth for snooker tables and championship tennis balls.
It is this former global reputation that Lizzi is seeking to build on.
"Stroud has such a proud textile heritage and I wanted that tradition to live on," she says.
"This area is teeming with talent and was at the forefront of the arts and crafts movement.
"[Famous 19th century designer] William Morris' country house Kelmscott Manor is just up the road."
Born in Stroud, Lizzi trained in fine art at Winchester and has spent much of her life working in arts administration.
Then, a few years ago, she decided to channel her considerable creative energy into putting the town back on the map and single-handedly started the festival of which she is now the director.
"I support good design, provide contemporary artists with a platform to showcase their work, and aim to create a real buzz around textiles again," she says.
This year, more than ever, one senses that buzz is growing. The recent recession has awakened a whole new generation to the delights of sewing, knitting and crochet.
"Make do and mend" has gone from being a wartime necessity to a fashion trend, and in Stroud itself two enterprising barmaids from The Prince Albert are now running popular monthly clothing repair sessions alongside the peanuts and pints.
But Lizzi is keen to point out that textiles are not just about domestic crafts.
"It's really not just about women making quilts, although of course that definitely has a place," she says.
"Textiles helped make Britain great and fashion, for instance, is a huge generator of wealth.
"Fabrics play a major role in all our lives, from the cradle to the grave we're literally touched by textiles. It's a global language."
This year the festival is an exciting mix of exhibitions, talks and workshops, with artists coming from as far afield as Holland, France and Japan to take part.
Established world-class makers rub shoulders with emerging talent, and quirky fringe events provide opportunities for everyone to get involved.
Putting on a festival in a recession is no easy task, and the programme is delivered on a shoestring. Apart from Lizzi, there is just one part-time administrator.
"With investment, we could draw even bigger crowds," she says.
"The local economy is already benefiting from hosting an international festival, and visitor numbers have grown year-on-year, with 65% of people coming from outside of the county.
"Bed and breakfasts in the town this month are full. The craft sector brings in cash and helps people think outside of the box, both important commodities - especially today."


Japanese authorities urged at least 350,000 people to flee as Typhoon Nangka made landfall in southern Japan.

It hit the island of Shikoku late on Thursday, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 185 km/h (115mph).
Kyodo news agency reported at least two deaths while broadcaster NHK said at least 31 were injured.
Nangka has since weakened and been downgraded to a tropical storm, but officials have warned of continued strong winds and storms in the area.
As of Friday morning, the Japan Meterological Agency warned of high waves, gales and thunderstorms in many parts of the main island of Honshu, as the storm headed north.
It is currently moving slowly at 15km/h with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90km/h, according to the agency.


The GAA has cancelled some tickets for the All-Ireland football semi-final between Tyrone and Dublin that were being sold online at above face value.

It has warned fans turning up for the match with cancelled tickets that they will be refused entry at the turnstiles.
Tickets with a face value of 45 euros (Â£40) are fetching up to 190 euros on the black market.
A GAA spokesman said more than 10 tickets had been cancelled in 24 hours.
"To the people that have paid over the odds, they face a real risk arriving at Croke Park, into the Hogan Stand, or Cusack Stand, that will not gain them admittance," GAA Director of Communications Alan Milton told RTE.
"They are taking a huge risk, both financially and also in gaining admittance to the stadium."
He stressed the importance of purchasing tickets from official sources.
The Dublin-Tyrone game on 27 August is heading towards an 82,300 Croke Park sell-out, but holders of tickets from unofficial sources may find their unique barcode will not scan.
Mr Milton said it was wrong to profit from fans attending music and sporting events, and that genuine fans had been contacting the GAA aggrieved that they were unable to afford the black market prices.
He said the GAA regularly checked websites and that it had even cancelled executive boxes in an attempt to stamp out the practice.
"I see it as being fundamentally wrong," he said. "It's unjust."


Prince Harry helped capture a saltwater crocodile during his tour of Australia last month, newly-released pictures have shown.

The 30-year-old looked relaxed while sitting on the 3.1m (10ft) crocodile, removed from a trap in Darwin Harbour.
The pictures, which also show him hauling in the catch, were released by the Parks and Wildlife Commission Northern Territory.
Meanwhile, the prince has completed an eight-day tour of New Zealand.
Wildlife ranger Erin Britton said the prince would make "a great croc catcher" and said he did a "great job" helping the crocodile management team in the removal of the crocodile.
Bess Price, minister for parks and wildlife, said it was a "top secret mission" that would leave "a unique lasting impression" of the Northern Territory with Prince Harry.
Rangers in the Northern Territory remove crocodiles from waterways used for boating and fishing to limit the risk of fatalities and injuries.
The Parks and Wildlife Commission Northern Territory says more than 200 crocodiles, common in Australia's tropical north, are removed from Darwin Harbour each year.
They are taken to crocodile farms or killed.
Meanwhile, on his final day in New Zealand, Prince Harry scored a winning goal in the dying seconds of a football match to the delight of a cheering crowd.
The prince took part in the five-a-side game with a group of young players to promote the Fifa under-20 World Cup.
After the 8-7 victory in Auckland, he said: "I've had a great time and that win was so well-scripted, thank you."
Prince Harry has spent a week in New Zealand, his first visit to the country.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who was made team coach, praised the prince's "great display of athletic ability and sheer presence".
"If you want a spot in the New Zealand team, call us any time, it's yours," he said.
Prince Harry also talked to his teammates about football and asked if there were any fellow Arsenal fans.
When one boy said he supported Stoke City, the prince said: "I wouldn't have spoken up if I was you."
Prince Harry also revealed he was looking forward to the FA Cup final between his team, Arsenal, and brother Prince William's side Aston Villa.
He then went to the AUT Millennium Institute of Sport and Health where he tried out different exercises with All Blacks rugby player Kieran Read.
These included lifting weights, playing netball, throwing a rugby ball through a tyre and rope pulling.
Prince Harry landed in the country on 9 May, receiving a traditional Maori welcome in Wellington before travelling to Stewart Island, the country's most southern and remote community.
He has also spent time in Christchurch, finding out about the city's efforts to regenerate after the earthquake in 2011.


How much do you remember about the news in Wales over the past 12 months?

Test your news knowledge with our 12 days of Christmas news quizzes.
This quiz is day five and asks questions about the month of May 2016.


Lord Mason of Barnsley was one of the most influential politicians of the 1970s but never forgot his roots as a mineworker who became the MP for his home town.

He was Labour's Defence Secretary under Harold Wilson and oversaw one of the most comprehensive reviews of the strength of the armed services since the Second World War.
And he was James Callaghan's uncompromising Secretary of State for Northern Ireland where he took on the IRA at the height of its powers.
All this was a long way from Roy Mason's upbringing in the pit village of Carlton just outside Barnsley where he left school with no qualifications and went down his local pit as an apprentice at the age of 14.
In an interview with the BBC in 2007 to mark him being awarded the Freedom of Barnsley: "I wasn't thinking about politics then- just getting on with life like everybody else and that meant going down the pit".
The young Mason was clearly a bright lad.  He became an underground fitter, passed his qualifications for the highly responsible and skilled job of an underground foreman - a "pit deputy"- and became an activist in the National Union of Mineworkers.
"It was at that time that I had the ambition of becoming an MP," he said in that 2007 interview. "For me I thought I could make a difference."
By the time he won a by-election in 1953 to take his home-town seat he had taken a university degree through his trade union and married his wife Marjorie.
Many years later he told me how his win at the polls happened so quickly that he had to borrow Â£50 from his father-in-law to keep him and Marjorie going for the first month in London.
He told me he got off the train holding a suitcase in one hand, his wife in the other and with no more than a fiver in his pocket.
He was then summoned to meet his first party leader, Clement Attlee.
"I was not a particularly young man. I was 28, but this was really a daunting prospect. He gave me two bits of advice - specialise and keep away from the bars. I have followed that advice ever since."
His talents had been spotted by Harold Wilson who made him a minister of trade in his first cabinet and then later a member of his cabinet as postmaster general.
He really came to the fore as defence secretary. His review of the size, funding and organisation of the armed forces provoked an outrage from the military but was seen by many commentators as part of a long overdue modernisation process.
It was his time as Northern Ireland Secretary from 1976 that put him at the heart of the storm. He is credited as being the first minister to take on the IRA and was totally uncompromising in his approach.
Martin McGuinness, a senior IRA member at the time and later elected to become the joint Northern Ireland First Minister after the peace process has described Roy Mason as probably the province's most reactionary 20th Century British politician.
His time in Belfast meant that Roy Mason had a permanent armed police bodyguard wherever they went even decades after he left office.
He never moved from the semi-detached house in Barnsley where he and Marjory brought up their two daughters. He was elevated to the Peerage as Lord Mason of Barnsley.
Yet he said in 2007 that probably the proudest moment of his long and distinguished career was to receive the freedom of his home town.


The food blogger Jack Monroe will not contest the Southend West parliamentary seat after she said she received hate mail and had deteriorating health.

Ms Monroe was to stand for the National Health Action (NHA) Party but tweeted a letter announcing her withdrawal.
She said she took the decision after receiving two letters "along the lines of 'die you bitch'" and after being bedridden by arthritis twice.
She also cited "my own sanity" and the "safety of my seven-year-old son".
She said: "Throwing all of my energy into a personal campaign is the fastest way to burnout I can possibly imagine."
As well as publishing several budget cook books, Leigh-on-Sea-based Ms Monroe is a campaigner on health and poverty issues.
In March, she successfully sued columnist Katie Hopkins over two tweets published in 2015.


Allegations that a politician stood to benefit from the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland property loan holdings are being discussed by Stormont MLAs.

The Northern Ireland Assembly's Finance Committee is examining the claims, made in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) by independent member Mick Wallace.
He claimed £7m in an Isle of Man bank account had been "reportedly earmarked" for a Northern Ireland politician.
Firms involved in the transaction have denied any wrongdoing.
The chair of the finance committee, Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay, announced on Friday that he would convene an emergency sitting to examine Mr Wallace's allegations.
The sale, completed in April 2014, was the biggest ever property deal in Northern Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland's state-controlled National Asset Management Agency (Nama) sold its entire 850-property loan portfolio in Northern Ireland to the New York investment firm Cerberus for more than £1bn.
No witnesses are expected to appear before the Finance Committee, and only assembly members will attend.
The meeting began at 10:00 BST on Tuesday and after a short closed session, public proceedings recommenced at about 10.35 BST.


A former army captain has run a marathon on every continent in a week to raise funds for an armed forces rehabilitation centre.

Ibrar Ali, from Selby, North Yorkshire, was injured by a road-side bomb in Iraq and lost his lower right arm, but re-trained and returned to active service.
He was part of the Walking with the Wounded trip which trekked to the South Pole with Prince Harry in 2013.
The seven-day challenge finished on Manly beach, Sydney, Australia.
The endeavour had started on 23 January in Antarctica.
Mr Ali, originally from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, who left the Army in 2013, finished alongside RAF veteran Luke Wigman.
Mr Ali finished the challenge with a final four-hour marathon as the sun was rising over Manly beach, he wrote on social media.
"All the support from family and friends has kept us moving when our bodies really wanted to give up", he said.
Mr Ali added: "For Luke and I to complete this shows that rehab works but it needs to be better. That's why I did this crazy challenge - to get word out about the DNRC for current and future servicemen and women."
The challenge involved 295km of running and 59 hours of flight time.
Marathon locations
Money raised through the challenge is to help fund the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, being built near Loughborough that is to open in 2018.


The unlawful sex case against film director Roman Polanski has been rumbling on for almost 40 years.

A Polish court's decision to deny a US request for the French and Polish citizen's extradition is just the latest chapter in the saga.
The incident that sparked the long battle took place in 1977, when Polanski had unlawful sex with 13-year-old Samantha Gailey at actor Jack Nicholson's Hollywood home.
The film-maker was arrested and charged with a string of offences, eventually admitting to having sex with a minor. The other charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain.
He spent 42 days undergoing psychiatric evaluation in prison, but was permitted to travel overseas when this was completed.
Polanski's lawyers have said that private conversations with the judge led them to believe that the prison time would serve as his punishment.
However, when it was later suggested that he could return to prison, Polanski decided to flee ahead of sentencing.
In February 1978 he travelled to the UK where he had a home, and then went to France where he held citizenship.
US attempts to have him returned from France were thwarted, and Polanski's prolonged period of exile from Hollywood began.
He also avoided the UK, with its stronger extradition agreement with the US, and preferred not to travel to countries where there was any danger of arrest.
This quiet yet unresolved state of affairs continued until the release of Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist, a harrowing story of Nazi-occupied Warsaw which mirrored his own childhood experiences.
Polanski won the Oscar for best director, and his no-show at the Hollywood awards in 2003 seemed to lead to a new rash of developments in the case.
As The Pianist was raking in box office rewards, a Los Angeles judge made documents from the original case available to the public. These were subsequently posted on the internet.
Samantha Gailey - later Geimer - spoke out at the time, saying that Polanski should be allowed to return to the US and "should have received a sentence of time served 25 years ago".
Ms Geimer, now a mother of three, reflected on her experiences, saying it was "scary, and looking back, very creepy".
She maintained that her liaison with Polanski had not been consensual, and he would "not take no for an answer".
1977: Polanski admits unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, 13, in Los Angeles
1978: Flees to Britain before US sentencing, and then to France, where he holds citizenship and is protected by France's limited extradition with US
2009: The US rejects Polanski's request for the case to be dismissed. Visiting Switzerland later that year, he is jailed, then placed under house arrest following a US extradition request
2010: Swiss authorities decide against extraditing Polanski and free him
2014: Polanski is questioned by prosecutors in Poland, acting on a US request. He agrees to comply with the Polish justice system as it examines the matter
2015: Polish court rules against US request for extradition.
In 2005, a libel action brought by the film-maker against Vanity Fair magazine concerning allegations about his earlier private life went in his favour.
But his refusal to testify in person at London's High Court showed that he still considered himself at risk.
In 2008, a new HBO documentary entitled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired was released, which examined the events leading up to the film-maker's sudden flight from the US, keeping the case under public scrutiny.
In 2009, a flurry of legal activity failed to put an end to the case and US determination to extradite Polanski.
His lawyers' attempts to lift the threat of extradition fell on deaf ears, including a bid to hold a court hearing outside the US.
Ms Geimer also called for the case to finally be dismissed, saying it "causes harm to me, my husband and children".
But during a visit to Switzerland in 2009, Polanski was arrested at Zurich airport. He was held in prison and under house arrest for months but avoided extradition after Swiss authorities ruled against it.
In a 2011 TV interview, Polanski said he had "regretted" the 1977 incident for 33 years and called Ms Geimer a "double victim" - of both him and the press.
But Polanski's legal troubles may not end here. The Polish ruling can be appealed against and officials from the recently elected Law and Justice Party have publicly called for his extradition.


Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has called on his Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) counterpart to work with him as "co-equals" in opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr Nesbitt and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said last month they would not join the Northern Ireland Executive.
On Sunday, Mr Nesbitt said the two parties have had talks about taking a joint approach to their opposition.
"If we are going to work together, it will be as co-equals on this," he said.
"I've already gone out of my way to say to Colum: 'You are the leader of the SDLP, you're not the deputy leader of anything.'"
Mr Nesbitt told the BBC's Sunday Politics programme that while the parties have yet to reach a formal agreement has been made, he hoped they could strike a deal.
"We're not going to be rushed into anything," he said.
"The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn FÃ©in have been working on their relationship for nine years, so I think we can take a little bit of time to get this right."
The DUP and Sinn FÃ©in have formed an executive at Stormont, with independent unionist Claire Sugden appointed as justice minister.
Monday will be the first full day of business in the new assembly term and Mr Nesbitt said the Ulster Unionist Party was "unshackled" in opposition.
"What we had in the past two mandates was nine years where you had five and then four parties in government but actually the smaller parties being bossed by the two big ones," he said.
"The fact that we now have the two parties themselves alone in government is a more honest, open and transparent way to do business.
"We are unshackled now and we can say exactly what we think about what the executive is doing."


Japan has banned the possession of child sex-abuse images, one of the last developed countries to do so.

The new law states that anyone found with such images can be jailed for up to a year, or fined up to $10,000 (Â£6,000).
The ban does not apply to animation or to comic art known as manga.
Japan was previously the only country in the 34-strong Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) without such a prohibition.
Opponents of the bill say that freedom of expression needs to be protected in a country that once suffered heavy government censorship.
Analysts say there was strong resistance from manga artists, free-speech advocates and publishers.
They said it would impinge on freedom of expression and allow authorities to make arbitrary decisions about art.
The Japan Magazine Publishers' Association, which represents over 90 publishing companies, posted a statement on its website earlier in June saying the law could "put a strain" on artists and publishing culture.
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says Japan is still considered one of the world centres for the exchange and consumption of images of child sexual abuse.
Crimes related to child sexual abuse have reportedly been on the rise in Japan.
Police uncovered 1,644 cases last year, about 10 times higher than a decade ago.
More than half of the cases involved sharing or selling photos or videos over the internet, police said.
The new law will allow those who do possess such material a year to get rid of it.
Japan had earlier banned the production and distribution of child pornography in 1999.


It's been a bleak seven days for justice in India.

In three separate cases, high profile and influential individuals - a Bollywood star, a powerful politician, and a former business baron - were allowed to walk free by appeals court despite being found guilty by lower courts.
The actor was found guilty of running a vehicle over people sleeping on the street, the politician of amassing unaccounted wealth and the former business baron of corporate fraud.
The wheels of justice grind slowly in India - more than 30 million cases are pending in its courts and more than a quarter of them have been unresolved for at least five years. Snail justice ends up benefitting the rich as witnesses can be intimidated and bought and political pressure and money power can be used to influence and subdue prosecutors and sometimes judges.
It took 13 years for a court in Mumbai to convict actor Salman Khan of culpable homicide and sentence him to five years in prison despite prosecution witnesses turning hostile. But it took two days for an appeals court to suspend the sentence and grant him bail. It helped that Khan had access to some of the best and most expensive lawyers. India has over a million registered lawyers, but a large number of them graduate with dubious degrees from indifferent law schools, are poorly educated and, according to lawyer-turned-journalist Kian Ganz, "effectively operate as fixers... hawking for work outside small claims courts or as notaries".
After 18 years, a court last September found former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha guilty of amassing unaccounted-for-wealth and sentenced her to four years. Some seven months later, on Monday, an appeals court cleared her of corruption charges, saying that the trial court had "exaggerated" her wealth.
The case was moved from Tamil Nadu to neighbouring Karnataka to ensure a fair trial, but that doesn't appear to have helped matters. As Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy pointed out, the high court in Karnataka examined the same evidence and said in its 919-page ruling "repeatedly that the acquittal was a failure of the prosecution".
It took six years for a court in April to declare B Ramalinga Raju, former head of Satyam Computers, guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating and sentenced him to seven years in jail. A month later, on Monday, the appeals court accepted a defence plea that he had spent 35 months in jail, a "substantial part" of his term, and granted him bail after suspending his sentence.
To be sure, the three rulings really do not mark any sea change and have just happened to come around the same time. It is also true that India's higher courts routinely revoke orders of lower trial courts. For years politicians have evaded corruption charges and the rich and famous have escaped criminal liability through "high-priced lawyering".
At the same time, many believe, the recent rulings are - again - an indictment of India's ailing and unfair justice system which is heavily loaded against the poor, and shabby investigation by the police.
Thousands of undertrials languish in Indian prisons for lesser offences unable to afford bail. Judges are also often blamed for being anti-poor. After the Supreme Court granted bail to Jayalalitha last year, Supreme Court lawyer Rajeev Dhavan wrote tellingly about bail discrimination: "Bail for as many is good, but applying it differentially is not. We do not have clear principles to guide bail decisions - especially in post-conviction cases, where judges look at the crime and behave totally with subjective arbitrariness against the poor."
The recent rulings reminded me of a highly acclaimed recent indie film called Court - possibly the best Indian film of the year so far - which astutely skewers the country's discriminatory and outdated justice system. A part-time teacher and social activist is hauled to a court on  trumped up charges of instigating a sewage worker to kill himself after listening to one of the activist's incendiary songs. The case grinds on in drab courtrooms with no end in sight, and effectively destroys the activist.
Of course, as Nick Robinson, a fellow at the Harvard Law School's Program on the Legal Profession and at Delhi's Centre for Policy Research, tells me, there are often good judges trying to do the right thing. "But politics and money is so embedded in the system that it clearly tilts the deck in favour of the powerful," he says. "I also think some judges worry that if they are seen as overly-punitive on those with power, then there might be a backlash against them impacting their careers or the authority of the judiciary."
India needs more judges, more and better educated lawyers and a thorough repair of what academics Devesh Kapur and Milan Vaishnav call the "dilapidated and clogged" plumbing of its courts. Otherwise, as they warn, the judicial process itself will remain the punishment, an enduring shame for the world's biggest democracy.