Former Scottish secretary and Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael has confirmed he will stand in June's election.

The member for Orkney and Shetland said he was looking forward to campaigning for his seat at a time of "enormous challenges" in UK politics.
All of Scotland's sitting party MPs have confirmed they will stand again, with the exception of independent MPs Natalie McGarry and Michelle Thomson.
Meanwhile a number of sitting MSPs and MEPs have come forward as candidates.
The UK is to go to the polls on 8 June after Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans for a snap election, which were subsequently backed by MPs by a margin of 552 to 13.
All 54 sitting SNP MPs have confirmed they will stand again, while the party is looking for fresh candidates to replace Ms McGarry and Ms Thomson, who currently sit as independent members, following separate police investigations.
Mr Carmichael completes the set of incumbent members, with Labour's Ian Murray and Tory David Mundell already campaigning in their Edinburgh South and Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seats.
The Lib Dem MP, who was first elected in Orkney and Shetland in 2001, saw his majority cut to 3.6% in 2015 - down from over 51% in 2010.
A group of constituents subsequently launched a legal challenge in an election court over the leak of a memo about First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the election campaign.
Mr Carmichael survived the legal battle at the Court of Session, although judges were critical of his conduct in their final ruling.
Four MSPs have so far put themselves forward to fight for Westminster seats, all of them Conservatives.
John Lamont was confirmed as the Tory candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, seeking to overturn SNP MP Calum Kerr's majority of 328 in the most marginal seat in Scotland.
List MSPs Douglas Ross, Ross Thomson and Miles Briggs have announced they will fight for seats in Moray, Aberdeen South and Edinburgh South West respectively.
Meanwhile MEP Ian Duncan has put forward a challenge to Pete Wishart in Perth and North Perthshire, a seat the SNP member has held since it was created in 2005.
Scottish Labour is evaluating a list of 150 potential candidates, and have said their list should be finalised later in the week.
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to campaign in Fife following a speech at the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Aviemore, which will also hear from SNP leader Ms Sturgeon.
The Lib Dems are operating all-female shortlists in a number of target seats, having already put forward former MP Jo Swinson to challenge John Nicolson in Dunbartonshire East.


The Scotch Whisky Association has appealed to the chancellor to freeze duty ahead of his Budget this week.

The industry body is fronting a campaign calling on the UK government to abolish the automatic annual increase in duty on wines and spirits.
The alcohol duty escalator, which goes up by inflation plus 2% each year, was introduced in 2008 but was scrapped for beer in George Osborne's last Budget.
The Treasury has said 90% of Scotch was exported and unaffected by UK duty.
But, according to the association, some 79% of the price of an average bottle of Scotch whisky is made up of duty and VAT.
It said if the alcohol duty escalator were implemented again at this week's Budget, this would raise that figure to 81%.
The whisky industry body claimed Scotch sales in the UK had declined since the introduction of the escalator.
Its Call Time on Duty campaign was also backed by the Wine & Spirit Trade Association and the Taxpayers' Alliance.
Scotch Whisky Association chief executive David Frost said: "We urge the chancellor to listen to that large majority of the population who believe the alcohol duty escalator is simply unfair to a major Scottish, and British, industry.
"An overhaul of the alcohol duty system would support not just the Scotch whisky industry, but also the wider hospitality industry, which provides employment across the UK."


Graeme Shinnie will lead Aberdeen out for Saturday's Scottish Cup final and insists there is no ill-feeling between him and deposed captain Ryan Jack.

Midfielder Jack will leave the Dons under freedom of contract following the meeting with Celtic at Hampden.
"I've got a great relationship with Jacko," said Shinnie. We will be fighting for each other. We'll be doing everything we can to win.
"We've got a great team spirit here and it's all about the team."
Jack, who has been heavily linked with Rangers, returned to action as a half-time substitute in Sunday's 6-0 win at Partick Thistle after recovering from a groin operation at the start of this month.
"Speculation is speculation," added Shinnie. "We've got a cup final here and that is what we're focused on. This is what we all want to do.
"There's a Scottish Cup to be won, a winners' medal to be claimed, so that's the only thing that matters."
Shinnie, who skippered Inverness Caley Thistle to their Scottish Cup triumph two year ago, now has the chance to repeat the feat.
"It's a big honour but it's not going to change the way that I play," said the 25-year-old.
"The same can be said of Jacko if we both play.
"We will both do the same things that we have done all season. It's all about the team. The team is desperate to win this.
"The players, the management and everyone else at this club are just focused on trying to win this game."
Jack, also 25, was made captain at the start of last season, having made his club debut in 2010.
Last week, manager Derek McInnes confirmed the midfielder's departure but said that no club has made an official approach for the player.
McInnes had previously said Jack offered him assurances that he would not be moving to Premiership rivals Rangers.


Belgium have parted company with manager Marc Wilmots, two weeks after the team lost 3-1 to Wales in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

The 47-year-old former Belgium international held the position for four years and managed 50 games.
The Red Devils are ranked second in the world.
Belgian FA president Francois de Keersmaecker said: "The objectives set for the Euros were not achieved. We need a new momentum."
Belgium dominated large periods of the game against Wales, and Radja Nainggolan opened the scoring. But goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes dumped the Red Devils out of the competition.
Wales went on to lose to eventual champions Portugal in the last four.
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There were high expectations for a Belgium side second in the Fifa world rankings and described as the "golden generation" prior to both the Euros and the 2014 World Cup.
However, they fell in the last eight of both competitions, losing to eventual runners-up Argentina in Brazil.
Wilmots scored 28 goals in 70 appearances for Belgium, and won the European Super Cup in 1988 with Belgian side Mechelen.


Heather Watson reached the second round of the Italian Open with a 6-4 3-6 6-0 win over world number 18 Sara Errani.

British number two Watson, who went through qualifying to reach the main draw in Rome, defeated the 2012 French Open finalist in two hours and 16 minutes.
Italian Errani needed two medical time-outs during the first set, which featured seven breaks of serve.
But she levelled at one set all before Watson powered away in the decider.
It means that Guernsey-born Watson, currently 55th in the world, will go through to face the Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova, ranked 36th, in round two.
And Watson admitted that the battle to qualify for a place at the Olympic Games in Rio is never far from her thoughts at the moment.
The top 56 players in the singles rankings are guaranteed qualification, with a few extra places likely to be available when the cut-off is made on 6 June.
"It was totally on my mind as we started that third set today," Watson told BBC Sport.
"It's just a big goal of mine and with it in the back of my mind it just motivates me and gives me that little bit extra.
"The Olympics is every four years, it's for your country. I can't even describe the atmosphere, it's unbelievable, and I just love being around the other athletes."
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French MPs have adopted a bill aimed at banning the use of fashion models deemed to be "excessively thin".

Models will need a doctor's certificate that their health is "compatible with the practise of the profession".
Employers who break the law could face up to six months in jail and a â‚¬75,000 fine (Â£54,000, $81,000).
A previous version of the bill had suggested a minimum Body Mass Index (BMI) for models, prompting protests from modelling agencies in France.
But the final draft approved on Thursday allows doctors to decide whether a model is too thin by taking into account their weight, age, and body shape.
It also says that digitally altered images making a model's silhouette "narrower or wider" should be labelled "touched up".
France is not the first country to legislate on underweight models - Italy, Spain and Israel have all done so.
Anorexia affects between 30,000 to 40,000 people in France, 90% of whom are women.


Construction work has begun on a new town centre in Berkshire.

Building is under way on the northern quarter of Bracknell, with the first foundations due to be laid at the end of April.
A post-World War Two shopping centre has been cleared and the road network remodelled for the development, which includes a new town square.
The first steelwork will begin appearing in June, according to the town's regeneration partnership.
Other features wiped off the map for the regeneration are The Ring - the town's inner ring road - and Winchester House, a 12-storey office block, which will be replaced with a 19-storey building containing 311 homes.
The shops and restaurants in the northern quarter are due to open in Spring 2017.
A 12-screen cinema is also planned.


Wrexham's appointment of Dean Keates as manager is not the first time the Welsh club have turned to a familiar face to lead them.

Keates, who made over 150 league appearances and captained the club to an FA Trophy win in 2013, has been handed his first managerial role as Gary Mills' successor.
Arfon Griffiths, Brian Flynn and more recently Andy Morrell were all former players given their first chance of management by the north Wales club.
All three left their own mark on a club which is now in its eighth season outside the Football League.
Wrexham have not mounted a serious play-off challenge since the reign of Morrell, who had Keates as club captain.
Morrell, now manager of National League North side Tamworth, was one of the first to message Keates with congratulations on his appointment.
"He's perfect for it," Morrell told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"He's somebody who is ambitious, enthusiastic and has got Wrexham at heart.
"He fought tooth and nail when he was a player for them and put his body on the line and he'll do exactly the same thing in the manager's job as well.
"It's a great opportunity for him because these don't come along very often."
Morrell, like Keates, initially took over on an interim basis in September 2011 when Dean Saunders left for Doncaster Rovers and was later made permanent.
However, Morrell took over a side that was second in the Conference while Keates' Wrexham are currently 14th and eight points off the play-off places.
"I was in a better position because we had won seven out of the 10 games," Morrell recalls.
"All I had to do was carry on doing what we were doing and the lads were great.
"Dean has got to somehow change the mind-set of the players.
"They've got to change that mentality into one that's a winning one and he can do it.
"He'll lead from the front and he'll tell them exactly what he wants."
The appointment has also drawn comparisons with another diminutive midfielder turned Wrexham manager Flynn. Although 5ft 5ins, Keates joked at his press conference: "I'm a bit taller than Flynnie though."
Flynn, the former Wales international, made the switch from player to manager at Wrexham as Dixie McNeil's successor in November 1989.
He transformed a side which finished bottom of the Football League to FA Cup giant killers, with notable wins over Arsenal and West Ham United during his 12-year tenure.
"It's a very similar situation to when Brian Flynn came in and look at the success he had at the football club," said Peter Jones, chair of Wrexham Supporters' Trust.
"We felt the opportunity for Dean was the right time. He knows the club, he knows everyone here."
Flynn was renowned for giving young players their chance at Wrexham and Morrell says home grown talent is key to the club's development and sustainability.
"I hope they can get a plan in place not just to try and make the play-offs this season or next season," Morrell told BBC Wales.
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"It's got to be a longer term plan. What are they going to do with the academy? Are they going to use that properly and get players from that and bring them into the first team?
"You've got assets there that you can sell whereas at the moment they seem to be ignoring that. If they can get those players through then that gets the fans on board.
"If there's a plan in place there's no reason why in a few years' time you can't be pushing again.
"There's so many big teams that are struggling to get back to where they should be and Wrexham are a Football League club in mine and a lot of people's eyes.
"Keatsy will be positive and he'll push them on and make them play well."


The first minister has said she believes technology could be used to control the border with the Republic of Ireland following Brexit.

Arlene Foster told the BBC's The World This Weekend that data could be "sent to the cloud and tracked".
"It's not beyond the boundaries of possibility that we deal with the realities of the situation of today using new technologies," she said.
"I'm thinking of going through technology borders essentially.
"So when people move from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland, they're tracked in relation to technology and that data is sent to the cloud and can then be tracked."
Mrs Foster said she didn't foresee a time when heavy goods vehicles would be stopped and searched at a hard border.
"There is a border in reality, but if you go to any border road, you'll not see a particular sign that says you're leaving or coming into Northern Ireland and that's going to remain the case.
"If there are tariffs imposed, that could be done remotely."
Speaking at her party conference on Saturday, the first minister said Brexit presents the biggest economic opportunity for the UK in decades.
Mrs Foster also criticised the Irish government for allowing "political instability in Dublin" to drive its decision making "as much as any concern for Northern Ireland".
"While they seek to take the views of people in Northern Ireland on the issue of Brexit at home, their (the Irish government's) representatives are sent out around the world to talk down our economy and attempt to poach our investors," she said.
Reacting to her comments on Sunday, the Republic of Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said he was "very surprised and concerned" about Mrs Foster's remarks.
The Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness shared Mr Flanagan's sentiments in an interview with the Irish Broadcaster RTÃ‰.
Mr McGuinness told RTÃ‰ he met with a Chinese investor alongside Mrs Foster and the Chief Executive of Invest NI, but that Mrs Foster's did not mention her concerns.
He added that Northern Ireland would be "living in a fools paradise" if it did not consider that US investors would be cautious about the market as a result of Brexit uncertainty.


A trade union education centre in South Yorkshire is to be renamed in memory of former rail union leader Bob Crow.

The general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) died in March aged 52. He led the union from 2002 until his death.
The Â£1.5m Doncaster National Education Centre, in Thorne Road, is used to train workplace representatives as well as regional and national officers.
The RMT said renaming the centre would be "a fitting and lasting tribute".
Mick Cash, who succeeded Mr Crow as RMT boss, said: "With Bob Crow as general secretary our education centre in Doncaster grew into a full residential college educating and training up hundreds of our activists and building a strong, member-led union that has proved its resilience despite the shock of Bob's tragic death earlier this year.
"The union believes that it will be a fitting and lasting tribute to rename the Doncaster National Education Centre after Bob Crow and that plan will come to fruition in 2015 with the support of Bob's family."


The NHS has partnered with dating app Tinder to raise awareness about organ donations.

The app is used to find people a good personality match but for the next fortnight it will also encourage users to become a donor.
People who swipe on some pictures on the app will be encouraged to sign up to the NHS organ donor register.
The NHS said that it wants more younger people to join its campaign.
In July, NHS Blood and Transplant reported that the number of people in the UK donating organs after death had fallen for the first time in more than a decade.
There are just under 7,000 people currently on the UK transplant waiting list and, in the last decade, more than 6,000 people across the UK have died while waiting for an operation.
Tinder has created bespoke profiles for some of its more high-profile members, including Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones MBE, Emmerdale's Gemma Oaten and Jamie Laing, who takes part in reality show Made in Chelsea.
The celebrities' Tinder profiles will feature The Wait logo to draw attention to the importance of organ donations.
Users who swipe right will match with these profiles and receive a message that says: "If only it was that easy for those in need of a life-saving organ to find a match."
Hermione Way, Tinder's head of European communications, said: "Tinder users regularly make the decision to swipe left or right wondering whether someone may be the person they are looking for.
"While those swiping decisions are important and could be the first step to a successful relationship, we hope that the NHS profiles featuring Jamie, Jade and Gemma will encourage people to make and act upon a different decision too - to sign up as an organ donor."
Sally Johnson, director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Educating and encouraging people to sign up for organ donation - that's what our partnership with Tinder is all about.
"While a third of the UK population have registered their intention to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register, millions more support donation but haven't taken the final step to sign up.
"Joining the register takes only a couple of minutes - about the same amount of time as a few swipes on Tinder," she added.


Steve Smith made an unbeaten century for Australia on the opening day of their first Test against Pakistan.

Captain Smith was lucky on 97, as he nicked a Mohammad Amir delivery to the wicketkeeper - which showed on the decision review system - but Pakistan's players did not appeal.
Smith's 110 not out, together with opener Matthew Renshaw's 71, helped Australia to 288-3 at the close.
The 26,434 crowd was a record for day one of a non-Ashes Test in Brisbane.


A man has appeared in court accused of killing a 21-year-old woman in Leeds.

Polish national Daria Pionko was discovered seriously injured in Springwell Road, Holbeck, on 23 December.
Ms Pionko, who police said was a sex worker, died later in hospital. She was found in a defined managed area where sex workers operate during set hours.
Lewis Pierre, 24, of Mile's Hill, Leeds, has been charged with murder, robbery and rape.
He was remanded in custody at Leeds Magistrates' Court earlier and will appear at the city's crown court on Wednesday.


A 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a baby boy in Enniskillen.

A detective constable said she could connect Timuras Kozlov from Derrychara Drive in the town to the charge.
The baby boy, who is thought to be about six months old, is in a stable condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
He sustained serious injuries at an address on Castlecoole Road in Enniskillen on Saturday evening.
A defence solicitor told Omagh Magistrates' Court that his client had maintained that the incident was an accident during the course of four police interviews.
He said Mr Kozlov had cooperated fully with police and answered all their questions.
The solicitor added that he was employed locally and was not known to the police in Northern Ireland or in Lithuania.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Kozlov confirmed he understood the charges.
There was no application for bail and he was remanded in custody to appear in court via video link on 22 May in Enniskillen.


Newcastle United midfielder Siem de Jong has joined Dutch top-flight side PSV on a season-long loan.

The Netherlands international led Ajax to the Eredivisie title before joining United on a six-year deal in July 2014.
He returns to his homeland after two injury-plagued years in England, having started only four of his 22 league appearances so far.
De Jong, 27, has not featured for Rafael Benitez's side since their relegation to the Championship.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Great Britain made six finals after men's qualifying at the European Gymnastics Championships in Romania.

James Hall qualified third in the all around and will be joined there by first-year senior Joe Fraser.
Hall also made the high bar final in Cluj, while Dom Cunningham will compete for both vault and floor medals.
Courtney Tulloch will aim for GB's first rings medal after placing third in that event but Sam Oldham and Frank Baines missed out.
Find out how to get into gymnastics with our special guide.
On Thursday, GB's four women will take their turn at making event finals.
The men's individual finals take place across Saturday and Sunday.


Dundee United have appointed their former striker Mixu Paatelainen as head coach on a deal until June 2018.

The 48-year-old Finn played at Tannadice between 1987 and 1992.
He has managerial experience in Scotland with Cowdenbeath, Hibernian and Kilmarnock and succeeds Jackie McNamara in the United dugout.
"It feels wonderful," said Paatelainen. "Obviously this club is special to me - it was my first club abroad as a player. Fond memories."
United had approaches for St Johnstone's Tommy Wright and Inverness Caledonian Thistle's John Hughes rejected by their respective clubs.
And Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson said of Paatelainen: "He was the first we interviewed and the last.
"All through that process, he's shown a great desire to be here. He's very driven but he's also got his coaching ideas, which is something that caught our imagination as well as a club. We'd like to welcome him here, obviously I'm wishing him all the best for the future.
"It's exciting times, it's a fresh start for the club. Mixu's record's very strong. His coaching credentials speak for themselves."
Paatelainen left his role with Finland in June after more than four years in charge of the national side, a job that followed his spell at Killie.
The former Finland striker, who earned 70 international caps, has also had a spell in charge of TPS in his homeland.
McNamara departed Tannadice with his side second bottom of the Scottish Premiership and they have since slipped to the foot of the table.
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"When the vacancy came available, I felt that there might be a good opportunity for me," said Paatelainen, whose first game in charge will be at home to Hearts on Sunday.
"I must also say that, before that, I had my eyes elsewhere. But once this vacancy came about, I felt that would be a great challenge and wonderful to go back there, now in a management capacity, so I'm looking forward to it.
"The previous management team, I really want to pay compliment to them. I think they did a fantastic job for the club overall.
"They were successful, they guided the team to cup finals, they finished in the top six and then, as it happens so often in football for one reason or the other and not solely because of the management team, so many things affect your success. Things went a little bit wrong and there was a change."
During his 20-year playing career, Paatelainen also featured for Haka, Aberdeen, Bolton Wanderers, Wolves, Hibs, Strasbourg, St Johnstone, St Mirren and Cowdenbeath, where he started his managerial career and won the old Third Division title.
As well as league matches, Paatelainen also has a League Cup quarter-final at Hibs on the horizon after United beat Dunfermline in the last round - a game Paatelainen attended.
"It's a wonderful club, wonderful supporters," the Finn added.
"It's been a difficult time recently but that happens to many, many clubs. Unfortunately, Dundee United have had a sticky spell but it's our job now to work hard and change that.
"I think it's a technically very good squad. There's plenty, plenty good footballers in the side.
"I must say that I was a little bit surprised when Dundee United played against Dunfermline, the desire of Dunfermline players seemed to be bigger to win the match than Dundee United, especially first half.
"I think the quality came through in the end, Dundee United won the game. So often, that happens in the cup matches."


Nelson Mandela's arrest in 1962 came as a result of a tip-off from an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a report says.

The revelations, made in the Sunday Times newspaper, are based on an interview with ex-CIA agent Donald Rickard shortly before he died.
Mandela served 27 years in jail for resisting white minority rule before being released in 1990.
He was subsequently elected as South Africa's first black president.
Rickard, who died earlier this year, was never formally associated with the CIA but worked as a diplomat in South Africa before retiring in the late 70s.
The interview was conducted by British film director John Irvin, who has made a film, Mandela's Gun, about his brief career as an armed rebel, the Sunday Times said.
The events leading up the the arrest of Nelson Mandela, on a dark night near Durban in 1962, have always been murky. In the era of Cold War politics, Mandela, then leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), was considered a terrorist and a threat to the West.
As Mr Rickard put it, he was "the most dangerous communist" outside of the Soviet Union, although Mandela always denied being a member of the party.
Rumours have circulated for years that the CIA trailed Mandela but the agency resisted previous attempts to shine a light on its alleged involvement in his arrest. Rickard's admission will bring renewed pressure to declassify documents from the time.
The ANC's spokesman Zizi Kodwa said he believed the CIA was still meddling in South African affairs and collaborating with those wanting "regime change".
The future president led the armed resistance movement of the banned ANC, and was one of the most wanted men in South Africa at the time of his arrest.
His ability to evade the security services had earned him the nickname "the black Pimpernel".
He was posing as a chauffeur when his car was stopped at a roadblock by the police in the eastern city of Durban in 1962 and he was detained.
"I found out when he was coming down and how he was coming... that's where I was involved and that's where Mandela was caught," Rickard is quoted as saying.
ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said: "That revelation confirms what we have always known, that they are working against [us], even today.
"It's not thumb sucked, it's not a conspiracy [theory]. It is now confirmed that it did not only start now, there is a pattern in history."
Mandela, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, was on a US terror watch list until 2008.
Before that, along with other former ANC leaders, he was only able to visit the US with special permission from the secretary of state, because the ANC had been designated a terrorist organisation by the former apartheid government.
The bill scrapping the designation was introduced by Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who promised to "wipe away" the "indignity".
President Ronald Reagan had originally placed the ANC on the list in the 1980s.


Police looking for airman Corrie Mckeague have arrested a man on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The 23-year-old, from Dunfermline, Fife, went missing on a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, last year.
A 26-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday but has now been bailed.
The man is not the driver of the bin lorry which collected refuse from the area where Mr Mckeague was last seen, Suffolk Police said.
He is not related to the missing gunner, who was based at RAF Honington, the force confirmed.
For the latest on this story visit our Suffolk live page
Police said the man has been bailed to return to police on April 13 while further inquiries are made.
Work is continuing on a landfill site at Milton, near Cambridge, ahead of a police search, which is now likely to start in the next seven days.
Officers have issued CCTV footage of two people who were seen on foot in Brentgovel Street or the "horseshoe" area of the town, around the time of the last sighting of him.
Det Supt Katie Elliott said: "We are continuing to make progress on the investigation and we will be starting the landfill site search as soon as the preparatory work is complete.
"We have been carrying out a lot of inquiries behind the scenes and our work continues to find the truth about what happened to Corrie."
Corrie Mckeague and his mysterious disappearance
Mr Mckeague had met up with friends on 24 September before heading to a number of bars and Flex nightclub on St Andrew's Street at about 00:30 BST.
He was asked to leave half an hour later and went to Pizza Mamma Mia on St Andrew's Street North. He then took a nap for about two hours in a electrical shop doorway.
At around 03:25, he walked into the "horseshoe" loading bay area.
It has been proven an individual cannot leave the area on foot without being seen on CCTV, but Mr Mckeague was not caught on camera again.
RAF Honington reported Mr Mckeague's disappearance to police on 26 September when he did not turn up to parade at 11:30.
Mr Mckeague's mother, Nicola Urquhart, has previously said she has no faith police would find him and launched a crowdfunding campaign to hire a private investigator.


South Africa's governing ANC party has lost control of the country's largest city and economic centre, Johannesburg.

The city council elected as mayor Herman Mashaba from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
The ANC had run the city since the fall of apartheid more than 20 years ago. It lost its council majority in local elections, although it is still the largest party.
The party has also lost control of the capital Pretoria and Cape Town.
The end of racial politics?
Testing times for South Africa's ANC
It follows local elections earlier this month that produced no outright winner in most districts, resulting in hung municipalities and forcing parties to form coalitions to govern.
Of the country's six biggest cities, the ANC only won an outright majority in Durban, seen as a stronghold for South African President Jacob Zuma.
There was drama at Monday's Johannesburg council meeting, which lasted 11 hours.
A scuffle broke out between opposition party members and electoral commission officials and an ANC councillor who was sworn in earlier in the day collapsed and died shortly after Mr Mashaba was elected.
The ANC had won 44.5% of the vote, more than the DA's 38.4%. But the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 11% found itself in the position of kingmaker and refused to give its votes to the ANC.
Analysis: Milton Nkosi, BBC Africa, Johannesburg
The election of the Democratic Alliance's Herman Mashaba as mayor of Johannesburg represents a tectonic shift in South African politics.
This is the first time since the end of apartheid that the ANC lost control of the city of gold, as Johannesburg is known locally.
The Johannesburg wing of the ANC is known within the party to be professional and not corrupt.
However, voters still punished it for the litany of corruption scandals the ANC has been involved in at a national level.
And there were some local problems, including potholed roads, a shambolic electricity billing system and refuse strikes that left the city filthy.
What has happened in Johannesburg is a microcosm of what could happen nationally come the general election in 2019.
Mr Mashaba, a 56-year-old businessman, has promised to reform the city administration.
"As of this evening, corruption is declared public enemy number one in this city," he told cheering supporters.
"Public monies that have been misspent, misused, over the last five, 10 years or so ... we're going to take this money, we're going to look after it, so that we can provide basic services to our people."
Mr Mashaba also pledged to tackle unemployment.
"Over 800,000 of our residents, one-in-three, are today unemployed. We need to address this and we need to address this as a matter of urgency."


Johannesburg's streets were filled with the unrelenting chorus of the vuvuzela and car horns announcing the beginning of a long night of celebrations as South Africa - known by all football fans here as "Bafana Bafana" ("the boys") - drew 1-1 with Mexico at the opening match of Africa's first World Cup.

"I am really proud of Bafana Bafana. Yes, I was hoping for a win but they played really well and have done the country proud," said Isaac Maphalle, 21, after the final whistle.
The past week has been particularly impressive here - as though the reality of what it means to hold an event of this magnitude has finally sunk in. The entire country is drunk on World Cup fever.
Words can scarcely describe the electricity in this country at the moment.
The energy has even spread to South Africa's poorest areas.  Diepsloot is located near the affluent suburb of Fourways on the outskirts of the city.
"The game was fantastic. A draw is okay, we're happy Bafana Bafana didn't lose," said local resident Lefa Pienaar.
Just two years ago, there was a violent outbreak of xenophobia here, leaving many foreign nationals without homes and several dead - but today all of that seems forgotten.
In pictures: World Cup voices
Though the streets are lined with shacks and poverty remains evident, today it was all about the game.
Local residents, other South Africans and foreign nationals danced side-by-side in a local park where some 3,000 people had gathered to watch the match between South Africa and Mexico.
"The issue of xenophobia is no longer bad - football has unified the community," said community leader David Maseko.
The park was a sea of colour as thousands of fans - many of them wearing the Bafana Bafana colours, green and gold - watched the game on a giant screen.
Colourful vuvuzelas, blankets made in the colours of the national flag and multi-coloured wigs added to the scene.
A heavy police presence kept an eye on the afternoon's proceedings, with officers carefully searching all those who walked into the park.
"Yes there are problems here like poverty and no jobs but we are putting them aside for Bafana Bafana, we are focusing on football. It is all about them and the World Cup," says 18-year old Kgofelo Mahlatse, who is struggling to get into university because of a lack of money.
Large crowds cheered as the referee's whistle announced the start of the much-awaited match being held at Soccer City stadium on the other side of Johannesburg.
"It is here," some screamed as the game started.
But a few minutes into the game, the noise levels dropped as thousands of eyes were glued on the screen - nervousness etched on many of their faces - a theme that dominated the first half.
A few minutes after the start of the second half, Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the first goal of the match, causing an eruption of screams - many jumping up and down and throwing themselves on the floor in excitement.
Although Mexico went on to equalise, the euphoria was still evident at the end of the game.
South Africa has a lot of challenges. It has one of the highest crime rates in the world, poverty still haunts many as the gap between the rich and the poor widens - but the country is nowhere near breaking point.
For now South Africa seems oblivious to its challenges, determined to savour the moment.
"We have waited for this moment for years. Win or lose, this World Cup is ours - we are behind Bafana all the way," said Monica Masisi, 48.
What made South Africa special was its ability to move past the negative and focus on what lay ahead, she said.
"Today we are able to celebrate our freedom as South Africans by hosting the world in our own country."
Many have speculated about the World Cup over the years, worried about the lack of infrastructure in Africa to host such an event.
Naysayers predicted that none of the 10 stadia would be ready on time and that the country would not be able to accommodate the thousands who would be descending on its shores.
But over the past few years South Africa has surprised even itself by delivering world class stadia, hundreds of hotels and a multi-billion dollar railway system.
These will remain in the country long after the final whistle is blown.
Many South Africans believe one man should be thanked for bringing the World Cup to Africa - Nelson Mandela.
"This is a first for Africa and maybe the last. We owe Mandela a lot," says schoolgirl Lebohang Sekhu.
Mr Mandela was unable to attend the opening match as many had hoped due to the loss of his great-granddaughter Zenani, 13, who was killed in a car crash while returning from a World Cup concert in the early hours of Friday morning, but many here said they still felt the "Madiba magic".
"Mandela taught us unity - that's why we are here today as Africans. We are celebrating the match but our prayers are with him during this time," said Ms Mahlatse.
When Mr Mandela was released from prison in 1990, some believed there would be a civil war in South Africa but instead there was change of governance as democracy was ushered in.
The first fruits of South Africa's attempts at unity was the 1995 rugby World Cup, where black and white South Africans stood side by side cheering on the Springboks.
2010 has brought back many of those good old feelings.
Until now, football was seen as a black man's sport and rugby as a white man's sport, but the unity this football event has brought has blurred the lines between black and white and instilled a sense of national pride.
Whatever the outcome, Africa will be remembered as the continent where blacks and whites danced, cheered and cried along side each other - grateful to have been part of South Africa's golden moment.


A pleasure boat involved in a crash that injured nine tourists had steering problems, a report has said.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it was difficult to keep the vessel Millennium Time on a steady heading before it struck a tug on the River Thames in July 2014.
The report also said the man at the helm at the time of the crash did not hold a boatmaster's licence.
City Cruises apologised and said passenger safety was "paramount".
The nine injured passengers suffered cuts and bruises when the boat struck motor tug Redoubt, which was towing three barges between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges on the Thames on 17 July 2014.
The 69-year-old mate's employment as a helmsman was contrary to the instructions of the Millennium Time's operators, City Cruises, the report said.
And the 58-year-old master of vessel was providing a sightseeing commentary, meaning he did not supervise the mate at the helm, the report concluded.
The MAIB said the mate did not take immediate action to avoid the vessel's collision with Redoubt because he thought the motor tug was turning towards Millennium Time, but Millennium Time had unexpectedly steered towards the motor tug.
The report said: "The turn was not deliberately initiated by the movement of the helm and most likely resulted from the unintended application of port rudder, and/or the influence of the effects of (an aquatic phenomenon known as) hydrodynamic interaction."
By the time the helmsman noticed the vessel was turning the collision could not be prevented, the MAIB said.
The report added the crew were also unaware of the number of passengers onboard - they thought they were carrying 426 people but the police counted 362.
Both vessels were damaged and it took 32 days to repair Millennium Time's damage, which included broken windows.
The MAIB, which made a number of safety recommendations, said City Cruises had replaced the steering systems on Millennium Time and its sister vessels.
In a statement, City Cruises said its vessels undergo rigorous testing and the helmsman was in the process of completing his boatmaster's licence.
Spokesman Kyle Haughton said: "The safety of our passengers and crew is paramount to us.
"The report does not highlight one significant reason for the accident and refers to a number of contributing factors."


The European Commission has sent a "final warning" to the UK over breaches of air pollution limits.

It said limits had been repeatedly exceeded in 16 areas including London, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow.
Germany, France, Spain and Italy were also served with warnings over nitrogen dioxide levels.
The commission said if countries did not take action within two months it could take the matter to the European Court of Justice.
Nitrogen dioxide comes from sources including factories and vehicles, particularly diesel engines.
The commission said more than 400,000 people died prematurely in the EU every year as a result of poor air quality and that millions more suffered respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Under EU law, when air pollution limits are breached member states have to implement air quality plans to bring the levels back down.
Friends of the Earth said it was "shameful" that the UK had breached the limits and called for new domestic legislation to protect people from pollution once it leaves the European Union.
Asked whether the UK would remain bound by any legal proceedings after Brexit, Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said: "For as long as the UK is a member of the European Union, rights and obligations apply.
"European law applies fully."


An auction of more than 1,300 clothes, instruments, pieces of jewellery and other items owned by Ringo Starr has raised a total of $9.2m (£6.1m).

The highlight of the sale was a drum kit played by Starr on many Beatles hits, which fetched $2.1m (£1.4m).
A Rickenbacker guitar once owned by John Lennon made $910,000 (£600,000).
Starr's copy of The White Album, numbered 0000001, sold for $790,000 (£525,000) - which is thought to make it the most expensive record ever sold.
Auction house Julien's Auctions said it surpassed the previous world record, set when Elvis Presley's first acetate recording sold for $300,000 earlier this year.
Starr's LP was the first mono copy of The White Album to be manufactured in the UK.
It was widely known that the band members kept the first four copies, but until recently it was assumed that Lennon had owned the first.
Sir Paul McCartney told his official biographer: "John got 0000001 because he shouted loudest. He said, 'Bagsy number one!'"
But Starr somehow got his hands on it. The 1968 LP was not quite in mint condition, with Starr telling Rolling Stone: "We used to play the vinyl in those days.
"We didn't think, 'We'll keep it for 50 years and it will be in pristine condition.' Whoever gets it, it will have my fingerprints on it." However the album has spent the last 35 years in a bank vault in London.
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to Starr and wife Barbara Bach's charity The Lotus Foundation, which says it aims to advance "social welfare" in a wide range of areas including substance abuse, cancer, cerebral palsy, domestic abuse and animal protection.
"Some of the stuff, it's a real surprise that we still had it because it's been in storage for so long," he said, according to Rolling Stone. "I don't mind getting rid of a lot of stuff and it goes to good use. That's the deal."


Lewis Hamilton said he was "not worried" about his difficult start to the Formula 1 season.

The world champion has made bad starts to both races and is trailing Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by 17 points after two victories for the German.
Hamilton said his starting problems were "not a big issue", adding: "It is something we'll fix for the next race."
And he said he was "actually pretty chuffed" about finishing third in Bahrain after a first-lap collision.
Hamilton started on pole but was second behind Rosberg by the first corner, where he was hit by Valtteri Bottas's Williams and dropped to seventh.
The damage to his car cost him between 0.8-1.5 seconds a lap but Hamilton fought back to finish third behind Rosberg and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton said his poor start in Australia two weeks ago was caused by a clutch problem and that in Bahrain "it was not entirely my fault but it was my reaction time that caused the delay".
Asked whether he was concerned about having to make up ground to Rosberg, just as he did on his way to the title in 2014, he said: "Don't worry about it - I'm not."
He added: "This is a psychological game for sure, but with age and experience I'm in the most solid place I've been. There's very little that can penetrate that.
"We easily had the pace to win. We didn't. We all feel the pain, but I just said to the guys: 'There is a long way to go; let's not worry about it.'
"I know it will come good. We've had two poles and we'll get more."
Rosberg, whose victory in Bahrain was his fifth victory in a row including the final three races of last season, said: "I'm just enjoying the moment - fighting for wins, knowing I'm going to be fighting for the win in China. I'm really not looking ahead."
However, he said Mercedes were concerned about the threat from Ferrari, whose lead driver Sebastian Vettel retired before the start with an engine failure.
"They showed good pace," Rosberg said. "They are close and they haven't shown what they can do because of various mishaps in the races so far.
"They are coming at us strong and we need to be careful."


A man has been charged with robbing a 100-year-old woman outside her home as she returned from a prayer meeting.

Alexteen Roberts was pushed to the ground and punched on Sherboro Road, Tottenham, before her bag containing Â£300 was taken on 23 August.
Her family said she had since celebrated her 101st birthday but was scared of leaving the house on her own.
Jawad Naser, 37, of Gladesmore Road is due before Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court later.


Bayern Munich remain on course for a treble after beating Werder Bremen to reach the German Cup final.

Thomas Muller scored both goals with the first a header after Clemens Fritz slipped in the box.
His second came from a penalty after Arturo Vidal went to ground without appearing to be touched when tackled by Janek Sternberg.
Bayern are top of the Bundesliga and play Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola's side will play Hertha Berlin or Borussia Dortmund, who play on Wednesday, on 21 May in the final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.


Chancellor George Osborne's claim to have halved the £1.7bn UK surcharge owed to the European Union is a "con trick", Labour's Ed Balls has claimed.

The chancellor told MPs the UK will only have to pay £850m next year, in interest-free instalments, rather than the larger lump sum by 1 December.
In an update to Parliament, he said the "whole episode reminds us of the reform" the Tories wanted in Europe.
But Mr Balls said his counterpart had not saved taxpayers "a single penny".
The two men clashed in Parliament after Commons Speaker John Bercow granted Labour's request for an Urgent Question on the issue.
The surcharge followed an annual review of the economic performance of EU member states since 1995, which showed Britain had done better than previously thought.
But the demand sparked anger across the UK political spectrum, with David Cameron insisting the UK would pay nothing by Brussels' original 1 December deadline and calling for the overall sum to be renegotiated.
Analysis, by BBC News head of statistics Anthony Reuben
George Osborne criticised Ed Balls for referring to the interest rate that would have been payable on £1.7bn, even though the shadow chancellor said everybody knew there would be a rebate payable on the money.
But that ignores the timing of the payments, which are the key part of this issue.
Previously, the UK would have had to pay £1.7bn in December and would not have received a rebate for a year. That would have added £1.7bn to the UK's deficit for the current year. Whether this year's deficit is likely to be bigger than last year's is going to be a big issue at the Autumn Statement.
Instead, the chancellor has managed to negotiate a position in which this year's deficit is unaffected and next year's goes up by £850m, well after the general election.
Speaking after meeting other European finance ministers on Friday, Mr Osborne said the UK would pay £850m in two instalments next year since the Commission had agreed to apply the UK's rebate on its EU contributions in full to the surcharge.
But Mr Balls told MPs that other European countries were "queuing up to contradict" Mr Osborne's assertion that he had halved the bill.
Accusing Mr Osborne of "fog and bluster", Mr Balls said everyone had known that the rebate - a partial refund that the UK gets on its annual contribution - would be applied in full in advance of the negotiations.
"The British people do not like being taken for fools and his attempts to fool them have totally unravelled," Mr Balls said.
Mr Osborne agreed that "the British people don't like being taken for fools - that is why he is sitting in opposition".
Mr Osborne said his counterpart had never mentioned the issue of the rebate before and said it was "an absurd charade" to suggest Labour would defend the UK's interests as the last Labour government "had given away half of it".
"It was not clear that we would receive a rebate or such a large one," he said, adding that this had only been confirmed on the night before the Brussels meeting.
The rebate was specific to the surcharge, he added, and would not affect the UK's existing refund on its annual contributions.
Former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke said the outcome was a "surprisingly good result" but accused eurosceptics of turning the episode into a "Gunfight at the OK Corral".
Veteran eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash questioned whether the UK needed to pay any money if the formula used to determine each country's contributions were flawed.


Keeley Hawes says she has previously stayed away from acting in dramas about missing children as they "felt too close to home".

Hawes appears in the second series of BBC drama The Missing, which focuses on children who have disappeared.
She said: "Having three children myself, I have tended to stay away from these sorts of dramas in the past.
"It all felt too close to home, it's one of those stories you see on the news."
Hawes, the star of Line of Duty and Ashes to Ashes, added: "You don't want to look at it, but in the end you can't help it because it's riveting."
The second series of The Missing - written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams - begins with a young British woman being found collapsed in a German town square.
It later transpires the woman - Alice Webster, played by Abigail Hardingham - has been missing for 11 years.
The series explores how her family and the local community cope with her return.
Hawes and The Walking Dead actor David Morrissey play the young girl's parents, Staff Sergeant Sam Webster and his wife Gemma.
Speaking about her decision to sign up to the show, Hawes said: "I was sent the first six scripts and I sat down one evening and thought, 'Oh I'll take a look at the first one.'
"By the end of the evening I had read them all, like I was making my way through a box set. I just couldn't stop. So I was very excited."
The first series of the BBC One drama, which starred James Nesbitt, aired in 2014.
The forthcoming series stars an almost entirely different cast - detective Julien Baptiste, played by TchÃ©ky Karyo, is the only character to return.
It will again tell the story over two timelines, starting in 2014 when Alice returned and then moving to the present day. The programme will also examine Alice's possible connection to another missing girl whose case Baptiste has examined.
Harry Williams said: "We didn't want to recreate the same story, we wanted to do something different.
"Rather than losing someone, it's about finding someone, and whether that is the happy ending that everyone thinks it is."
The Missing will return on 12 October.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Fabio Saraiva scored a late winner as Woking edged out Bromley in their National League meeting at Kingfield Stadium.

The home side took the lead just after the half-hour mark when former Wycombe striker Gozie Ugwu headed home Frazer Shaw's cross for his seventh goal from the last four games.
The Cards' lead did not last long as - three minutes later - Bromley were awarded a penalty for a foul and, although goalkeeper Brandon Hall guessed the right way, Blair Turgott slotted the ball home to level the scores at the break.
But man-of-the-match Saraiva unleashed an unstoppable 25-yard drive into the top-right corner to clinch maximum points for Garry Hill's hosts with 10 minutes remaining.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Woking 2, Bromley 1.
Second Half ends, Woking 2, Bromley 1.
Ben Chorley (Bromley) is shown the yellow card.
Blair Turgott (Bromley) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Woking. Ismail Yakubu replaces Fabio Saraiva.
Substitution, Bromley. Louis Dennis replaces Lee Minshull.
Goal!  Woking 2, Bromley 1. Fabio Saraiva (Woking).
Substitution, Bromley. Jordan Higgs replaces Dave Martin.
Substitution, Woking. Anthony Edgar replaces Luke Chike Kandi.
Lee Minshull (Bromley) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Bromley. Adam Cunnington replaces George Porter.
Second Half begins Woking 1, Bromley 1.
First Half ends, Woking 1, Bromley 1.
Goal!  Woking 1, Bromley 1. Blair Turgott (Bromley) converts the penalty with a.
Goal!  Woking 1, Bromley 0. Gozie Ugwu (Woking).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


South Africa all-rounder Rory Kleinveldt will return as Northants' overseas player for the 2016 season.

The 32-year-old, who made the last of his 20 international appearances in a one-day international against Sri Lanka in 2013, was the Division Two side's players' player of the year in 2015.
He was Northants' leading Championship wicket-taker with 57 at an average of 27.14, while scoring 391 runs.
Kleinveldt also helped the county finish runners-up in the T20 Blast.
Northants head coach David Ripley told the club website: "Rory will play an important role next season.
"He is respected by the rest of the squad and helped push us over the line in a few games this year and was our leading wicket-taker.
"He was voted as our County Championship player of the year and players' player too which shows just how popular he is in the changing room. We are looking forward to having him back."


A familiar issue for many businesses these days is a scarcity of top talent.

Chinese film studio Light Chaser Animation has taken an unusual approach to help to solve this problem - it bought a robot.
The device is a "telepresence robot", which it acquired from California-based Double Robotics. It consists of a battery-powered mobile platform to which an iPad is attached.
The wi-fi controlled device can move around the company's offices and it allows animation director Colin Brady  - who lives in Los Angeles and did not want to move to China - to communicate with the rest of the team in Beijing.
He says he uses the robot more than he initially expected to. "During meetings and interviewing new employees, it is very helpful to look people in the eye and then look at their screen," says Mr Brady.
"It is very weird to be a robot that can roll around independently and surprise people at their desks, but that's a little bit of the fun part too." The best thing for him about using it is it allows him to spend more time at home.
His assistant Mo Chen says: "It's a bit scary when Colin suddenly shows up from behind, but thankfully, this doesn't happen a lot." But she says she does not find it weird talking to Colin through the device, since she is used to using Apple's Facetime app.
Company founder Gary Wang says the robot is just one example of the new communication tools that are now available to make working easier for teams that are dispersed across the world.
He adds that recruiting and retaining the right staff is absolutely vital for start-up businesses.
"If you hire 'A' class people they will hire 'A' class people from that point on. If you hire 'B' class people thenâ€¦ it will just go downhill from there. So we want to find our 'A' class people."
Mr Wang says the goal of the company is to produce animated movies like those made by Pixar and Dreamworks, aiming to achieve the same level of quality as the giant US studios.
He believes that the time is right for his new venture. As China goes through a transition from an economy based on industry, to one more driven by domestic consumption, he sees a growing appetite for home-produced entertainment.
"There are a tremendous number of people inside China who are looking to see stuff that's related to them, rather than just seeing another American film," he says.
Light Chaser has already made one short film and work is under way on its first feature.
Little Door Spirits is a fantasy tale aimed at a family audience. Although the content and characters are definitely Chinese, Mr Wang says he also has one eye on the wider international market.
"We want to makeâ€¦ something that can be shared with anyone in the world."
Light Chaser is not Mr Wang's first enterprise. In 2005, he founded Tudou, a video-sharing site which launched shortly before YouTube.
The business grew quickly, attracting millions of users. But after it merged with another Chinese video-sharing firm, Youku, Mr Wang says he became restless.
He began to look for a fresh venture.  He considered several possibilities, such as creating a vineyard. Eventually the notion of starting an animation company emerged.
Mr Wang says he soon discovered that putting his idea into practice was not going to be easy. "It requires a lot of people to do an animation feature film - we calculated about 150 peopleâ€¦ in various disciplines, [from] artists to computer tech support, animators, lay out and so on."
The problem was that it was difficult to find people with the right skills in China, because few, if any, large-scale animated movies were being made at the time.
"We needed to do a poaching trip," he says.
He travelled to California, visiting Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and ended up hiring a handful of highly experienced people, who helped him to recruit the rest of the team.
Mr Wang says he is in the fortunate position to have raised the resources to make several feature films over the next few years. If the movies prove to be successful, he sees the potential to expand into other areas, such as merchandising or even theme parks.
Light Chaser Animation
Read more: New Entrepreneurs
However, he recognises that he has entered a very risky business.
There is also a lot hanging on his shoulders. He is not only the company's chief executive, he is also the screenwriter and director. He says his previous experiences of writing novels and plays has been helpful with the latter roles.
Mr Wang believes it is in his nature to attempt to overcome difficult challenges. Some of the biggest difficulties many entrepreneurs face are uncertainty and self-doubt. He says he learnt to push these fears aside - and urges others to do the same.
"There's an old Chinese saying that when a boat hits the bridge, it will go straight again, [all] by itself," he says. "It basically means that it's actually not that terrifying. The big unknown is just like anything else."


David Cameron is risking the economic recovery by refusing to lift the cap on skilled foreign workers coming to the UK, the CBI has said.

The monthly limit on visas was hit for the first time since it was introduced, in June and already again this month.
Up to 20 firms have complained that they are unable to get the staff they need into the country.
CBI director general John Cridland urged the prime minister to "push it up and give a bit of headroom".
He said the 20,700 annual limit on Tier 2 business visas, introduced in 2011, was fine for when the country was in recession but was too tight for a growing economy.
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said in June there were "no plans to change the limit" and that the government had asked the Migration Advisory Committee to find ways to "significantly reduce economic migration from outside the EU".
Mr Cridland is concerned that could mean a further tightening of the limit despite skills shortages in sectors such as professional services, IT, science and engineering.
He declined to suggest how high the cap should go, saying that was for the Migration Advisory Committee to decide.
But he attacked the government's policy of targeting net migration and said they should be focusing on gross migration, numbers coming into the country, instead.
He said the government should focus its immigration efforts on tackling bogus asylum-seekers, over-stayers, criminals, welfare-seekers and some unskilled workers.
Instead, skilled migrants seemed to have become "the first port of call" because they were easier to target, he suggested.
The CBI chief told journalists: "Let's tackle the bits of immigration the public is concerned about but while we have challenges to productivity and education and skills, let's not let migration controls inhibit economic growth because that isn't necessary."
He also criticised Home Office moves to end the right for non-EU students to work for up to 10 hours a week while they study in the UK and to force them to leave the country after they graduate and re-apply to work here rather than being allowed to stay for up to two years.
Mr Cridland said: "I understand the need of government to tackle public concerns about migration.
"But I don't think the public is concerned about skilled workers that help business be more successful or about hard-working students who are adding value to the economy, whether as a skilled engineer two years after they got their degree or as a waiter in a barista bar if you want a cup of coffee at a rail station in the morning.
"The government need to back out of the cul-de-sac they are in on the overall net migration target."
The CBI chief said there had also been "some noise" from the government that they could include intra-company transfers - where existing employees of a firm were moved to the UK to work on specific time-limited projects - in the cap.
But these were "highly-skilled individuals" who "keep the UK at the cutting edge of high-value innovation", he said.
Mr Cridland made his comments as part of the CBI's "end of Parliamentary term" report on the new government, which was "broadly positive", although he remains concerned about the impact of the higher minimum wage announced in the Budget on small businesses.


Somalia's president has lashed out at the government of neighbouring Kenya - accusing it of a "heavy-handed" approach to regional security, and specifically criticizing Kenya's recent decision to clamp down on money transfer companies allegedly linked to the militant group, al-Shabab.

In an interview with BBC News, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud described the remittance industry as "a lifeline" for millions of Somalis and for others across the region, and said "the massive closing of accounts, the closing of remittances" was counter-productive.
Following the massacre of 148 students at Kenya's Garissa University in April, the authorities shut down 13 Somali money transfer agencies, arguing that they were channelling funds to terrorists.
Asked if Kenya was mishandling the security threat posed by al-Shabab, President Hassan Sheikh said: "I would not say [they're doing it] the wrong way. But I would say there are better ways to do it. I would have suggested that the Kenyan government change their strategy."
It is estimated that an astonishing $1.3bn (Â£840m) is sent to families in Somalia every year by relatives who fled the country during two decades of conflict, to join the diaspora.
That is roughly half of Somalia's gross national income - and 80% of total investment - easily eclipsing all international aid to the country. The World Bank estimates that 40% of all Somalis depend on remittances for their basic needs.
"We were getting money from relatives in Kenya. It was helping to pay for school and university fees. Now we're even having to cut back on meals," said Moalim Mohamud, a Koranic teacher in one of the crowded makeshift camps for families displaced by conflict in Mogadishu.
And it is not just Kenya's actions that are causing hardship here. Banks in the US and Europe, seeking to avoid the risk of potential fines from regulators, have also been closing the accounts of some Somali remittance companies.
This is happening despite precious little evidence that money sent to Somalia has ended up in the hands of militant groups like al-Shabab.
"It's very difficult. My daughter didn't go to school now for two months," said a woman named Hawa, emerging empty-handed from a branch of the Dahabshil remittance company on a narrow street in Mogadishu's old quarter. "My brother in America [used to] send me $100 every month," she said.
Although the remittance business has not stopped altogether, some speculate that some Somalis abroad - who have often struggled for years to raise the money to send back home - may be taking advantage of the new restrictions to ease off on a burdensome obligation.
But Somalis are famously entrepreneurial, and some businessmen in Mogadishu are already looking for ways to turn yet another challenge into an opportunity.
"We're forced to come up with solutions. We're resilient people. Finding ways around problems - that is a necessity," said Liban Egal, showing off a new machine that he hopes will convince US banks to keep the remittance industry afloat.
The handheld device, dubbed Camelcash, combines a fingerprint scanner with wi-fi, a card reader and printer.
It is a way of confirming someone's identity in a turbulent country, which - after decades without a functioning government - still lacks a proper national ID system.
"The banks' concern is who's picking up the money in Somalia - they don't want to be penalized if the money goes to the wrong hands. So this device can authenticate the customer. You swipe your card here, and put your finger right here," said Mr Egal, before swiftly moving on to talk about Somalia's extraordinarily successful cashless mobile phone banking system - another example of an entrepreneurial society finding ways to flourish.


Two Chelsea loanees were among the scorers in the opening fixtures of the Europa League group stage.

Bertrand Traore scored for Ajax in their 2-1 win at nine-man Panathinaikos in a game that saw three red cards.
Baba Rahman grabbed the only goal in Schalke's victory at Nice, for whom ex-Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli failed to add to his two debut goals.
Frank de Boer's Inter Milan - in Southampton's Group K - lost 2-0 at home to Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Inter, who have won the European Cup and Uefa Cup three times each, have picked up four points from their opening three games in Serie A since De Boer replaced Roberto Mancini.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva were knocked out of the Champions League by Celtic at the play-off stage earlier this season.
Zenit St Petersburg pulled off one of the Europa League's great comebacks when they came back from 3-0 down at Maccabi Tel-Aviv to win 4-3, with three of their goals coming in the last six minutes. They are in Group D with Dundalk.
Jan Sykora scored the fastest goal in Europa League history - after 10.69 seconds - for Slovan Liberec at Qarabag. They ended up drawing 2-2, with Milan Baros, who played for Liverpool, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, scoring their other goal.
In Manchester United's Group A, Simon Kjaer scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time for the visitors as Fenerbahce drew 1-1 at Zorya Luhansk.
Alexandre Pato, who had a loan spell at Chelsea last season, scored in Villarreal's 2-1 win over FC Zurich. Facundo Ferreyra, who never played a single minute for Newcastle in a disastrous 2014-15 loan spell, scored Shakhtar Donetsk's goal in a 1-0 win at Konyaspor.
Former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi netted for Celta Vigo in their 1-1 draw at Standard Liege.
Italian minnows Sassuolo, in their first European campaign, thrashed Athletic Bilbao 3-0, while Roma drew 1-1 at Viktoria Plzen.


A convicted killer who was on the run from an open prison in South Yorkshire has been recaptured, police said.

Michael Robson, 44, who is serving a prison sentence for manslaughter, absconded from Hatfield Prison in Doncaster on Thursday.
Robson, from North Tyneside, was originally convicted of murder in 1996 but had his sentence reduced to manslaughter after an appeal in 2006.
He was arrested by officers in West Yorkshire on Sunday.


Conservative MP David Ruffley has said he "deeply regrets" actions that led to a police caution for common assault on his ex-partner earlier this year.

Speaking about the incident in London for the first time through his lawyers, the MP for Bury St Edmunds admitted "inappropriate action".
The Conservative Party is now privately discussing the future of the MP.
And the dean of his local cathedral has written to Mr Ruffley saying his position in parliament is "untenable".
It is now more than four months since Conservative MP Mr Ruffley - a former shadow policing minister - was arrested at his flat in Pimlico in central London.
He was given a caution and a Conservative Party spokesman said the matter was dealt with by police.
Now, 18 weeks later, and for the first time, he has told me, through a statement from his lawyers, about the incident.
"In March this year, an incident occurred between me and my former partner, resulting in inappropriate action on my part, which I deeply regret, in respect of which I accepted a police caution for common assault."
He adds: "Some time later, I telephoned my former partner to apologise.
"I am pleased to be able to say that she has accepted my apology. I have refrained from making any public statement on this matter as it is a deeply personal matter.
"It is my understanding that my former partner wishes the incident to remain private."
His statement concludes: "I wish to stress that I would never condone domestic violence under any circumstances."
Last Friday, the Dean of Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds, the Very Reverend Doctor Frances Ward, wrote to Mr Ruffley.
She told the MP she had met his ex partner, a friend of hers, shortly after the incident and she was wincing in "obvious pain".
The dean is far from the only senior figure to question whether Mr Ruffley, who was reselected as the Conservative candidate for the constituency in next year's general election before his arrest, to have cast doubt on whether he has a future in Parliament.
In a statement, Tim Passmore, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, said: "If a caution is accepted by the offender then there is, I believe, an implicit admission of guilt.
"The caution was made by the Metropolitan Police. I would like to reiterate that domestic abuse is a dreadful crime which should not, and must not ever be tolerated, regardless of the circumstances. This applies to all people regardless of wealth or status in society."
Mr Passmore went on: "The future of David Ruffley as a member of parliament and prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for the Bury St Edmunds constituency is a matter for their association but I hope I have made my views entirely clear, such behaviour is inexcusable.
"Those of us in a leadership role in society must do our level best at all times and try to set a good example to others in what we do and how we behave - that includes all politicians regardless of any party affiliation. In my opinion there cannot and must not be any hiding place for the perpetrators of such brutal crimes."
A Conservative Party spokesman told the BBC the matter was investigated by the police and "dealt with by them at the time".
But Bury St Edmunds Conservative Association executive is due to meet next week and, amongst the items expected to be discussed is Mr Ruffley's future.
There is a growing recognition within Tory ranks both locally and at Westminster that this issue is not going away - and will need to be resolved soon.


The violin that was apparently played to calm passengers on the Titanic as it sank was sold for £900,000 in just 10 minutes at auction in Wiltshire.

It was played by band leader Wallace Hartley, who died along with 1,517 others as the ship went down. It had a guide price of £300,000.
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy said the buyer was believed to be British.
Auctioneer Alan Aldridge said the violin was the "rarest and most iconic" piece of Titanic memorabilia.
Many of the other items up for sale, such as photographs, newspapers and crockery, were sold for between £10 and a few hundred pounds.
By Duncan KennedyBBC News
What would Wallace Hartley have made of it all?
Well, the modest, jobbing, musician from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, would probably not have believed it.
His violin, given to him by his fiancee, Maria, as an engagement present, going at auction for £900,000 (just over £1m when you add in buyers premium and VAT).
He'd only just got off the RMS Mauretania when his agent asked him if he wanted to go straight onto another voyage, the Titanic.
Hartley agreed, a move that would cost him his life but also create a legend.
There were gasps at the auction when the bidding passed half a million pounds.
But it kept climbing, the bidders in the room soon over taken by the serious money on the phones.
Any suggestion the violin wasn't authentic, as some have claimed, was swept away in a torrent of successively higher bids.
In the end, it beat the old world record for a single Titanic item four times over.
Played by a man who personifies a bygone era of high morals and values, it's more than just a violin, it's an instrument of history.
Mr Aldridge set the bidding at £50 for the violin, which was lot 230 of 251, so "two of his friends could bid" - but after just a couple of minutes it had passed £100,000.
It eventually sold for £900,000 after fierce bidding between two telephone bidders.
Hartley has become part of the ship's legend after leading his fellow musicians in playing as the vessel sank. They are famously said to have played the hymn Nearer My God To Thee.
It had taken seven years for the Devizes auction house, Henry Aldridge & Son, to authenticate the instrument.
Several experts were used, including forensic scientists who said the wood still contained salt deposits from the sea water.
Some people still doubt whether the violin is the genuine article, however, and believe it could not have survived being submerged in the sea.
But it is claimed the violin survived in a leather case strapped to Mr Harley's body who was found wearing his cork and linen lifejacket.
A diary entry by his fiancee, Maria Robinson, said it was saved from the water and returned to her.
Following her death in 1939, the violin was given to her local Salvation Army citadel and was later passed on to the current anonymous owner's mother in the early 1940s.
The auction house said it had attracted interest from collectors all over the world and added that more than 315,000 people viewed it during a three-month exhibition in the United States.
The most money previously paid for a piece of Titanic memorabilia is thought to have been a plan of the ship used in the 1912 inquiry into the sinking. This was bought by a private collector at auction for £220,000 in 2011.


The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 should go to the bicycle - at least that is what two presenters on Italian state radio believe, and they have started a petition to push for it.

The popular Caterpillar programme on Italy's Rai 2 network is gathering signatures to present to the Norwegian Nobel Committee in February.
The presenters describe the humble two-wheeler as an "instrument of peace".
They say the bicycle does not cause wars - often fought over oil.
The bike "is the most democratic means of transport available to humanity", say Caterpillar's hosts Massimo Cirri and Sara Zambotti.
They add that each kilometre pedalled generates a benefit to society of â‚¬0.16 (30.12; $0.17), compared with the social costs of using a car.
The lack of pollution and markedly fewer road casualties caused by cycles are also cited, along with the way cycles help children develop independence and bring people closer together.
The petition's proponents use the example of Italian cycling champion Gino Bartali, who ferried counterfeit documents by bike to save Jews during World War Two, as an example of how the cycle aids "liberation and resistance".
The plan is to deliver the completed petition to the Nobel Committee by bike relay.
The petition has been launched amid a surge in the popularity of cycling - in sport, leisure and for commuting in cities.
Recent Nobel Peace Prize winners include President Obama, the European Union, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Chinese human rights campaigner Liu Xiaobo.


A UKIP councillor has labelled homeless people "unwelcome detritus" and called for them to be removed from the streets of Portsmouth.

Group leader Colin Galloway said the city was no longer welcoming to businesses or tourists "because it seems we prefer to have vagrants".
He said he has seen "no action" while on a homelessness committee and wants police to forcibly put people in care.
Hampshire's Police commissioner called the comments "disgusting".
Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Lane described the language used as "appalling and offensive".
He added: "I am clear that the challenges of people living with vulnerabilities need to be dealt with in partnerships... it is a complex issue."
Matt Downie, director of policy at homelessness charity Crisis, said: "Referring to people as 'unwelcome detritus' is offensive in any circumstances, but it is all the more toxic when those people are homeless or struggling in desperate circumstances.
"Whether homeless or not, people who beg are often some of the most vulnerable in society and they deserve better than to be treated as a nuisance."
Portsmouth City Council estimates its number of rough sleepers has risen from 37 last autumn to 60 in May.
In a motion due to be debated at the full council meeting next week, Mr Galloway said there was "a lot of good intentions but virtually no action" on the homelessness committee.
"Portsmouth City is no longer a welcoming city to either business or tourist because it seems we prefer to have vagrants," he added.
"These beggars, vagrants, rough sleepers, homeless, troubled folks or whatever label you want to put on them must be removed from our city and placed in specific care whether they want to or not."
He called on police to "help us clean up this unwelcome detritus".
At the Portsmouth City Council meeting on Tuesday, Mr Galloway is set to urge council leader Donna Jones to write to Mr Lane to instruct police to "help the council to remove the ever increasing beggars and rough sleepers that are beginning to dominate the city".
Mr Galloway has been approached for comment.
4,134
rough sleepers a night in 2016
3,569
the year before
509 female
288 under 25
714 from other EU countries
194 from outside EU


Holger Badstuber played his first competitive game in more than 20 months as Bayern Munich easily beat minnows Preussen Munster in the German Cup.

The 25-year-old Germany defender injured his knee against Borussia Dortmund on 1 December 2012 and suffered another setback in May 2013.
He played 79 minutes as a strong Bayern team saw off their third-tier hosts.
Mario Gotze, Thomas Muller, David Alaba and Claudio Pizarro scored for the holders who won 4-1.
Rogier Krohne replied with a late consolation but Robert Lewandowski then missed a last-minute penalty after Marc Heitmeier was sent off for fouling the Poland international.
After the match, Badstuber, who won 30 caps before tearing his cruciate ligaments, tweeted: "First game. Done!!! Thankful to be back on the field... It is simply the best!!!"
Bayern, who have won the domestic double for two consecutive seasons, begin their Bundesliga defence at home to Wolfsburg on Friday.
This was their second match of the season, after losing 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the Supercup on Wednesday.


The Thai owner of the Redcar steelworks has said that it lost almost 29bn baht ($800m, £530m) from the liquidation of the Teesside plant.

Parent company Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) said it expected "zero recovery" from the Redcar operation.
The Teesside furnaces and coke ovens were closed with a loss of 2,200 jobs in October.
Its liquidation meant SSI recorded an overall third quarter loss of 33,122m baht (£600m).
Group Chief Executive Mr. Win Viriyaprapaikit, said: "At present, the company on a conservative basis expects zero recovery after the completion of the SSI UK liquidation."
Redcar was founded in 1917,  producing steel that was used to build iconic structures such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
SSI bought the plant from Tata Steel in 2011.
Mr Win said that SSI had been hit by a collapse in demand worldwide and in the last quarter alone sales from its upstream business, which included Redcar, fell 15%.
He said: "Global steel over-capacity and demand imbalance since late 2014 and the continuous decline in steel prices resulted in a huge operating loss for the group this year."


A new ferry built to serve on the Ullapool to Stornoway route has berthed for the first time at Stornoway harbour.

The Â£42m MV Loch Seaforth has been doing berthing trials at pier number three ahead of its introduction to the route.
The boat has already carried out trials at Ullpool.
Last month, Transport Minister Derek Mackay said he was confident the ferry will be operating by the end of May.


"Amateurish" school governing boards in England's schools "will no longer do", the chief inspector of schools warns.

Head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw said goodwill would "only go so far" and governors signing up to boost their CVs were not welcome.
He repeated his belief that chairs and vice-chairs of governors, at least in challenging areas, should be paid.
The National Governors' Association said it recognised the need to improve governance in struggling schools.
In an online note, Sir Michael said Ofsted came across too many schools where the  governing board was ineffectual.
He said: "In the last academic year alone, there were nearly 500 schools [of a total of 5,000 inspections] where inspectors were so concerned about the performance of the governing board that they called for outside experts to be drafted in to carry out an urgent external review of governance."
Schools were now complex institutions, he went on, subject to far greater external accountability than they had been in the past.
Changes including the rapid growth of academies and free schools in England had put more power into the hands of governing boards than ever before.
"In short, the role is so important that amateurish governance will no longer do. Goodwill and good intentions will only go so far," he said.
"Governing boards made up of people who are not properly trained and who do not understand the importance of their role are not fit for purpose in the modern and complex educational landscape."
He went on: "The role demands commitment. There can be no place for those who have signed up to become a governor because they think it will boost the credentials on their CV and are content to sit passively through meetings where important aspects of the school's performance are being put under scrutiny."
Sir Michael also said he was disappointed that his recommendation to the government that all governors and trustees should receive compulsory training had seen little progress.
He said the weakest governance was too often operating in the most challenging schools in the poorest areas of the country - the very schools that stood to gain most from strong governance.
"I therefore pose the question once again: has the time not come to consider paying chairs and vice-chairs in order to recruit the most able people to schools in the most difficult circumstances?"
The chief inspector said he was so concerned about the issue that he had commissioned inspectors to carry out an in-depth survey into the effectiveness of school governance.
Ofsted will publish a report next year and in the meantime the watchdog is seeking the views of serving governors and trustees, head teachers, teachers and parents.
Sir Michael also acknowledged there were "thousands of people across the country who give up their time to serve on governing boards" and the majority took their duties very seriously.
He added:  "In many schools, governors and trustees are making an important contribution to raising standards and lifting aspiration."
Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governors' Association, said it understood the urgent need to improve governance in poorly performing schools and was already in talks with the Department for Education on the issue.
"But while we welcome Ofsted's spotlight on governance, we do question whether Ofsted has the expertise in this area to conduct such a review - their own school reports suggest that inspectors do not always understand the governance role and they invariably misunderstand the lines of accountability.
"Therefore we hope Ofsted will have the humility to involve those who have the breadth and depth of governance knowledge in their upcoming evaluation."
A Department for Education spokesman said it had introduced reforms to "improve and professionalise" governance, including allocating Â£1.4m to recruit high calibre volunteers and a further Â£1m to help governing boards train their members.
He added: "We are also creating a supply line of outstanding non-executive directors from the corporate world to sit on academy trust boards to use their experience to ensure trusts are equipped with the range of skills needed to help modern schools thrive."


Two men who were passengers in a stolen car crash near Dundrod, County Down, in 2010 that killed two of their friends have been given suspended sentences.

Belfast men, Kevin Valliday, 27, and Francis Martin Lavery, 31, admitted aggravated vehicle theft.
The driver and front seat passenger died in the crash and a fifth passenger was left with serious injuries.
The judge said he had considered genuine expressions of remorse and bereavement during sentencing.
Conor Rules, 23, was driving the vehicle on 28 June 2010, when it crashed on Leathemstown Road, near Dundrod.
He, the front seat passenger, Patrick McAllister, 25, and Mark Smith, 24, were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Mr Rules and Mr McAllister died in hospital.
At an earlier court hearing, Valliday, from Cullingtree Road in Belfast, and Lavery, from Stewartstown Road in the city, admitted two offences of aggravated vehicle theft causing death. Their 15-month jail sentence was suspended for three years on Friday.
Mark Smith, 24, from Brompton Park in Belfast, was so severely injured in the accident, the Public Prosecution Service decided to drop charges against him.
The sixth passenger, Mark Toner, 31, had also admitted the same offences of aggravated vehicle theft, but he later died as a result of a drugs overdose.
A prosecution lawyer said that neither the defendants nor the deceased were involved in the initial theft of the powerful Subaru Impreza, which was stolen from outside a house in Lisburn two days before the fatal car crash.
Mr Rules had come into possession of the car at some stage after its theft.
The six men were on their way from a party to Mr Rules' parents home in Dundrod, when he lost control of the vehicle. The car ploughed into a field where it overturned with enough force to throw some of the occupants from the vehicle.
Police said the crash was "an horrendous scene".
They found Mr Smith, Mr Rules and Mr McAllister unconscious in the field.
Mr Toner tried to run away from the scene, but fell as a result of his injuries. A police sniffer dog found Valliday hiding in a ditch. Lavery was also quickly apprehended by the police.
Valliday told his probation officer "there was total carnage everywhere" in the field.
A toxicology report indicated that Mr Rules had not been drinking or taking drugs.
The prosecution lawyer said: "It appears simply that this car was travelling too quickly for the bend in the road that they came upon and simply lost grip, with catastrophic consequences."
The judge at Craigavon Crown Court said there was no evidence that either Lavery or Valliday were "actively encouraging" their friend to drive dangerously.
He said he was suspending their terms for three years because of the "exceptional and tragic circumstances" and because the pair had been engaging so well with probation.
He also imposed a two-year driving ban, and said he was taking account of the men's previous convictions and the loss of life, as well as guilty pleas and genuine remorse.
He said: "The interests of justice are better served by something left hanging over their heads to ensure that both continue to take positive steps."


A fossilised foetus belonging to an early relative of the horse has been described by scientists.

The unborn foal was identified among the remains of its mother - a 48-million-year-old horse-like animal found in Germany's Messel pit in 2000.
The mare probably fell into a lake shortly before birth - which led to outstanding preservation of the soft tissue from the foetus.
Details are published in the open access journal Plos One.
Dr Jens Loren Franzen and colleagues investigated the 12.5cm-long foetus using scanning electronic microscopy and high-resolution micro-X-rays.
Almost all bones are present and connected, except for the skull, which appears to have been crushed.
And this exceptional preservation allowed the researchers to reconstruct the original appearance and position of the foetus.
This corresponded very well with foetuses in living mares, suggesting the horse reproductive system was already highly developed during the Eocene Period.


(Close): London's FTSE 100 was little changed on Friday, as gains by the likes of Easyjet and Marks and Spencer outweighed falls in mining firms.

The FTSE 100 closed higher by 1 point at 6,916.
Budget airline Easyjet and Marks and Spencer both closed up more then 3%, while shares in the miners Antofagasta and Rio Tinto led the losers.
Bottling firm Coca-Cola HBC rose another 2% after Thursday's 7% lift following better than expected results.
On the currency markets, the pound slipped 0.19% against the dollar at $1.2931 and fell 0.47% against the euro to â‚¬1.15770.


Scottish women who volunteered in Serbia during World War One are being commemorated in a series of stamps.

The British Embassy has teamed up with Serbia Post to celebrate the efforts of the Scottish heroines.
Five women who worked as doctors, nurses and drivers feature on the new stamps.
A sixth English woman, Captain Flora Sandes, who was the only British female to bear arms during WW1, is also being remembered.
The five Scots are:
Cpt Sandes went, along with other British nurses, to Serbia in 1914. However, she swapped bandages for guns when she enlisted in the Serbian Army.
She remained in Belgrade after WW1 and volunteered to fight the Nazis during the attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941. She was decorated with the highest Serbian military medal for her contribution in combat.
The stamps are part of a wider campaign by the British Embassy in Belgrade aimed at highlighting more than 600 British women who contributed to the war effort in Serbia.
As well as remembering their service to the war, the embassy is keen to focus on their role in raising awareness about universal suffrage, solidarity and gender equality and the part they played building relationships with leaders and communities in Serbia.


After three years of suffering in Changi, it was several days after VJ Day that Olga Henderson even realised the war was over.

The joyous news was dropped on the notorious internment camp from a plane - and she has kept one of the leaflets containing the revelation in her possession for 70 years.
In February 1942 she lived in Johor Bahru, in British Malaya, with her parents and three siblings when, along with Singapore, it was invaded by the Japanese.
As a 10-year-old, Olga Morris - as she was then known - and her family were forced to walk 17 miles without water to the centre of Singapore, then on to Changi.
Her memories of that time remain extremely vivid.
"We had to go over a bridge. There were nine heads on this bridge, all on spikes. I can still see two of them."
It was a deterrent for those people who did not behave, recalled 83-year-old Mrs Henderson, who now lives in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
The family was split into separate camps in Changi - her father was taken to the men's camp at a military base called Selerang, where Allied soldiers were also held.
Mrs Henderson went to the women's jail with her mother, older sister and two younger brothers.
Nearly 3,000 civilians were held in Changi, which was originally built to hold a quarter of that number, and the conditions were appalling.
"There was nowhere to sleep, it was just concrete floors," Mrs Henderson said.
"You always had boils, and sores under your armpits and you had to walk about with your hands on your hips - because they were too sore. Your head was full of nits."
There were, however, some good times in the camp, as one of the internees decided to start a Girl Guide group, which would meet once a week in a corner of the exercise yard.
To relieve the boredom, and as a surprise birthday present for their guide leader, the girls met in secret and sewed her a patchwork quilt using hexagonal scraps of material they had found, and needles and thread belonging to Mrs Henderson's mother.
"It was being naughty, but we were enjoying it. The Japanese didn't like anything unusual," she said.
She was 13 by the time the Japanese surrendered to the Allies on 14 August 1945, but it was to be several days before she realised the war was finally over.
Hundreds of leaflets announcing the news and arrangements for the welfare of prisoners were dropped on to the camp, and "everyone rushed to grab one".
"To see it in writing was wonderful... us children were pushing each other out of the way trying to get one as they fluttered down," Mrs Henderson said.


A documentary charting the return of The Stone Roses has premiered in the seminal rock group's home city of Manchester, but drummer Reni failed to join his bandmates at the event.

Singer Ian Brown said Reni was absent because he had "a really bad cold".
The drummer has had a fractious relationship with his bandmates in the past and walked off during one of their reunion gigs in Amsterdam last year.
Meanwhile, guitarist John Squire said they had written "a few" new songs.
The group, who signed a new record deal at the end of 2011, will be working on a new album this year, he said.
"We won't be playing any of them live until we've recorded it," Squire told the BBC's Colin Paterson on the red carpet.
But the guitarist walked away when asked about what happened in Amsterdam. In the documentary, Reni is shown complaining about sound problems and leaving the stage before the encore.
After the premiere, a spokesman for the band said he had nothing to add about Reni's absence or his illness.
The film, titled Made Of Stone, features footage from the band's career and their comeback shows. It was directed by This Is England and Dead Man's Shoes filmmaker Shane Meadows.
The Stone Roses, whose 1989 eponymous debut is widely regarded in the UK music press as one of the best British albums ever, broke up in 1996.
After a reunion tour in 2012, the quartet have been on the road again this year. They are due to play in Paris on 3 and 4 June before appearing at Finsbury Park in London on 7 and 8 June.
The premiere was simultaneously broadcast to 200 UK cinemas, with a general release on 5 June.
Self-confessed Roses fan Meadows said: "You hear people say 'never work with your idols, it can only go wrong' and I was a bit of a nervous wreck.
"Normally as a director you're in control, you have written a script, whereas on this I was following their lead."
The director, best known for his semi-autobiographic film and television series This Is England, said the documentary was as "much about the fans as the band".
He said: "They [the band] were really open with me, they gave me access to clips, photographs, things no-one has ever seen."


A car has lost control and crashed into spectators at a motor show in Malta injuring 26 people, officials say.

Five people - including a young child and the driver of the Porsche - are in critical condition after the incident at the Paqpaqli event.
Footage showed the car spinning out of control at high speed on the airport taxiway used for the event.
There were scenes of panic, with some in the crowd shouting: "Oh, my God!" and "Ambulance!"
"The car was speeding down the taxiway when a back wheel went on the grass. The car spun out of control, went through the barriers where a large crowd was watching, and into the area of the static car exhibition," an eyewitness told the Times of Malta.
Some of the wounded were taken to hospital by helicopters.
Event organisers said the incident would be investigated and the rest of the show was cancelled.