The US is to deploy a specialised force to Iraq to build pressure on Islamic State militants, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said.

"In full co-ordination with the government of Iraq, we're deploying a specialised expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces," Mr Carter said.
The operators would carry out raids, free hostages and capture IS leaders.
They would also conduct "unilateral operations" in Syria, he said.
Islamic State conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.
A US-led coalition of 65 countries is conducting a campaign against the militants in both countries.
Mr Carter made the announcement in remarks to the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Tuesday.
He did not offer specifics on troop numbers, but said they would also be focused on securing Iraq's borders and building the capacity of the Iraqi government forces.
US special forces have already conducted operations in both Syria and Iraq - notably the killing of the IS oil chief Abu Sayaff in eastern Syria and the freeing of prisoners from the IS-held town of Hawija near Kirkuk in Iraq.
But this is a clear indication from the Pentagon that their role will become more significant.
The "specialised expeditionary targeting force", as the Iraq group is being called, will not only assist local forces but will also conduct further "unilateral" raids into Syria.
While this does not amount to significant numbers of boots on the ground, it is an escalation of America's role in direct combat.
Mr Carter said there was now an important opportunity to divide IS militants in Iraq from those in Syria.
In October, the US announced it would send up to 50 special forces soldiers to northern Syria as military advisers to Kurdish and rebel forces.


Nasa's Cassini probe is going to try to take a special picture of Planet Earth.

The spacecraft will include our home world when it makes a giant mosaic of Saturn and its ring system.
In the Friday 19 July portrait, Earth will be almost a billion miles in the distance - a mere pixel in size.
Carolyn Porco, who leads Cassini's camera team, hopes the picture will be reminiscent of the famous "Pale Blue Dot" image captured by the Voyager-1 probe in 1990.
See Saturn's intricate rings up-close
Enter the Cassini probe's mission control
That was an image she helped produce. A major difference on this occasion is that people will know in advance that they are being photographed from the outer Solar System.  They could wave, said the researcher from the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
"People can celebrate it and join in. This will be like an interplanetary cosmic photo session," she told BBC News.
"People can enjoy the fact that we have a robot out there, a billion miles away, taking our picture.  How cool is that?"
Cassini has caught sight of Planet Earth before as it has studied and photographed the ringed gas giant. But the set-up has never been ideal.
This time Dr Porco has searched through the upcoming mission plan for Cassini to find an occasion when she can properly frame the shot, using the most appropriate filters to capture Earth in natural colour.
Using the probe to look back towards the inner Solar System needs great care and must only be done when the Sun is eclipsed by Saturn.  To do otherwise risks the full glare of our star falling on the probe's instruments and damaging their sensitive detectors.
In 2006, Cassini managed to do this in a mosaic that is routinely cited as the most popular picture ever taken by the satellite.  It shows Saturn as a translucent orb surrounded by its rings, with Earth - a speck so small you could almost miss it - sitting in the upper-left of the frame.  It is visible just inside the planet's faint G-ring.
Dr Porco believes her Ciclops team can improve on the 2006 picture, especially if they use their high resolution camera to picture Earth during the 19 July opportunity.
No science is being interrupted for the purpose of getting the new mosaic. Researchers who will be working through the eclipse to gather infrared data on Saturn have agreed to accommodate Dr Porco in her quest to acquire what should be another spectacular vista.
Opportunities like this are few and far between, particularly given that Cassini is moving towards the end of its mission.
Nasa has determined that it will crash the probe into Saturn's atmosphere in 2017, but may pull the plug even earlier if its budget becomes severely constrained in the fiscal squeeze now afflicting US federal agencies.
Although Cassini has been at the ringed planet for nine years now, scientists say there is still much to learn.
They plan to use the remaining time to make some manoeuvres that might have been regarded as too risky in the mission's early years.
This includes diving between Saturn and the inner C-ring.  "That's kind of a wildly crazy thing to do, but it will give us very high resolution views of the rings," said Dr Porco.  "And we really want to measure how massive the rings are.  We're puzzled by that, and it's important because it plays into how long they've been around."
Cassini's images of Earth to be included in the mosaic - both wide angle and narrow angle - will be acquired between 21:27 and 21:42 GMT (17:27 and 17:42 EDT) on 19 July.  During these times, North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean will be in sunlight. The illuminated parts of the Earth and the Moon will each be no more than one pixel across in the final image.
You can follow Dr Porco on Twitter as she builds up to 19 July.  There is also an event page that provides more details. And watch Carolyn Porco reflect on the original Pale Blue Dot image.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Further heavy rain is expected in parts of Scotland on Sunday after a number of areas suffered localised flooding.

Flood warnings were in place in areas of west central Scotland, Scottish Borders, Central, Tayside and Dumfries and Galloway,
There were also flood alerts in other areas including Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Edinburgh and Lothians, Fife and Skye and Lochaber.
Travel has been disrupted in some of the areas affected.
The A737 at Beith in North Ayrshire, was closed in both directions after a blocked drain caused flooding.
The A8 westbound at East Hamilton Street, Greenock, was affected by flooding, as was the M74 at the Raith Interchange.
Road users were also advised to use caution on the A83 between Lochgilphead and Inveraray.
Fire crews responded to incidents of localised flooding on parts of Scotland's west coast.
Sandbags were brought in to protect a handful of properties in the village of Lamlash on Arran. Streets in Tarbet and on Colonsay and Islay were affected too.
The Met Office issued an amber "be prepared" warning for rain in the Stirling area, Dumfries and Galloway and parts of Strathclyde.
It warned that flooding was possible either from standing water or from rivers which have remained high after the large volumes of rainfall over the last few days.
The rain is expected to finally clear away in the early hours of Monday morning.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is providing updates on areas where flooding may occur.
Live traffic updates are also available on the Traffic Scotland website.


Barnsley have signed Brighton midfielder Charlie Harris and FC Halifax striker Shaun Tuton for undisclosed fees.

Harris, 20, never featured for the Championship side in a competitive fixture has signed an 18-month deal.
Tuton, 24, scored 10 goals in 27 National League appearances for the Shaymen.
Meanwhile, Preston midfielder Josh Brownhill, 20, has had his loan extended until the end of the season.
Another midfielder, 19-year-old Josh Kay, has also joined Barnsley from non-league AFC Fylde.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Felix Baumgartner travelled faster than the speed of sound when he jumped from the edge of space back down to earth.

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15 October 2012 Last updated at 07:40 BST
He was going more than 800 miles an hour after he leapt from 24 miles about the ground.
He had a few problems on the way down when he span out of control and the visor on his helmet fogged up.
But he managed to get back in control and landed safely in the desert in New Mexico, America.


Ethiopia has started three days of national mourning following the killing by Islamic State of more than 20 migrant workers  - most thought to be Ethiopian Christians - in Libya.

The Libyan branch of IS on Sunday released videos of the men being beheaded and another group being shot.
The killings have been condemned in Ethiopia and throughout the world.
IS and other jihadist groups are active in many towns in Libya, which has been torn by civil conflict since last year.
The brother of one of those killed described the killers as "animals... outside of all humanity".
Ethiopia's government has confirmed that the people shown being killed in the IS videos were Ethiopian migrant workers.
However the Jerusalem Post reported that three of those killed were Eritreans who had previously sought asylum in Israel.
Among those who have condemned the killings are Pope Francis, who expressed his "great distress and sadness" and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Patriarch Abune Mathias who described them as "repugnant".
"We have a duty to raise our voice to tell the world that the killing of the innocent like animals is completely unacceptable," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
Prayers were said jointly by Christian and Muslims across Ethiopia, led by Sheikh Mohammed Jemal, head of the Islamic Affairs Supreme Council. He said that the killing  of people like "chickens" had no place in Islam.
A man who saw his only brother executed on the video also expressed his outrage.
"I saw him kneeling, a masked man pointing a gun to my brother and his friend, with a knife to their throats," Tesfaye Wolde said.
He described how his brother and his brother's friend - also seen killed on the video - left Ethiopia two months ago to seek a better life in Europe, heading first for Sudan and then to Libya in the hope of crossing the Mediterranean to Italy.
Ethiopians have taken to social media to express their shock, anger and grief following the killings.
The African Union, the European Union and the US have also expressed their solidarity with Ethiopia.
The video is similar to previous ones posted by IS, including the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in February.
The latest killings appear to have taken place in two regions of Libya - in the south and the east, the BBC's North African correspondent Rana Jawad reports.
Libya has not had a stable government since long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.


The lives of four Italians from Birmingham, who died 75 years ago after their boat was torpedoed, have been formally remembered.

Media playback is unsupported on your device
3 July 2015 Last updated at 02:38 BST
The men were being deported to Canada at the start of World War Two when their ship, the SS Arandora Star, was attacked. They never had a funeral.
A plaque was unveiled at St Michael's Church in the city on Thursday to honour them.
Dorothy Bradbury, who campaigned for 10 year to get the men recognised, said: "They have no known grave."
Antonio Santuz, grandson of one of the victims, said: "I don't think Birmingham wanted to acknowledge what had actually happened."
Rita Fantinel, granddaughter of Anthony Grego, who died aboard, travelled from Canada for the service.
BBC Midlands Today's Bob Hockenhull reports.


The company behind a proposed large-scale pig farm in Derbyshire has hit out at "misleading" claims surrounding its plans.

A demonstration was held at the weekend by animal rights campaigners in Derby over the planned facility near Foston.
Midlands Pig Producers (MPP) said allegations its pigs would be kept in cramped conditions were untrue.
The farm would hold 2,500 sows and 20,000 piglets and use biogas from the slurry to produce electricity.
MPP has finished giving extra information to Derbyshire County Council as part of the planning process.
It said it had addressed concerns about animal welfare and emissions.
A company spokesman said: "We are astonished at some of the highly misleading claims and accusations.
"Claims that pigs will be crammed into narrow crates are simply not true.
"Our acclaimed 360 Farrowers were named because the sow can turn around 360 degrees at will.
"We urge people to either contact us, or refer to the planning application so that they may ascertain the facts of the matter for themselves."
About 100 animal rights protesters marched through Derby on Saturday claiming the large-scale development would be cruel to pigs.
Critics said that the only time the pigs would see the outside world would be on their way to slaughter.
It has also been claimed the site could put small-scale farmers in the area out of business.
MPP said the farm would observe the highest welfare standards and pointed out there was already a unit in the UK containing 3,500 sows.
South Derbyshire District Council handed over duties for dealing with the application to the county council because of its waste implications.
If planning permission is given, construction on the farm will take about a year.


Camera-maker GoPro has unveiled a foldable drone that fits in a backpack.

The Karma aircraft also features a detachable stabiliser that can be used to make handheld shots more steady.
In addition, the firm unveiled a new action camera that can be controlled with voice commands as well as a pay-to-use video sharing service.
GoPro hopes the launches will turn around its fortunes. The firm posted losses for each of its last three quarters totalling $233.7m (Â£179m).
The company's shares were trading at more than 80% below their July 2014 high ahead of its launch event - which was held at Squaw Valley, California.
GoPro first announced that it planned to make its own drone in May 2015 and had planned for it to go on sale in the first half of this year.
The move presents an opportunity for it to profit from a fast-growing market.
But it also helps the firm address the fact that DJI - the bestselling drone brand - has ditched support for GoPro's cameras in favour of its own, while 3D Robotics - another popular manufacturer - is now promoting the use of a rival camera made by Sony.
The Karma is not the first commercial foldable drone, but the feature is still relatively unusual.
GoPro says the move allows its aircraft to be carried about in a relatively small backpack that is "so comfortable... users will forget they've got it on".
The Karma's other distinctive detail is its removable three-axis stabiliser.
It can be fitted to a bundled grip and then held in the hand or attached to a helmet to film Steadicam-like shots.
Normally, filmmakers would be required to buy a separate device known as a gimbal, to achieve this.
The drone will cost $799 (Â£612) and will be released on 23 October.
When bundled with the new Hero5 Black camera, it will cost $1099.
That is $100 less than DJI's Phantom 4 - which includes collision-avoidance sensors, which the Karma lacks - but $100 more than the Chinese company's last-generation Phantom 3 Professional.
The research firm IHS Markit predicts sales of consumer drones will rise from three million units this year to 6.7 million units in 2020.
"The target market for consumer drones and action cams is very similar, so it makes sense for GoPro to do this," commented its senior director of consumer electronics, Tom Morrod.
"And maybe it can carry it off because of its brand.
"But what differentiates one drone from another is its flight control and navigation systems, which are typically developed in-house by the different companies.
"That technology is very different to what GoPro's done before and can be complex to develop.
"So, GoPro must convince consumers of its abilities or will not find this an easy sell."
The announcement of the Hero5 Black camera comes two years after that of the Hero4 Black - the longest GoPro has taken to refresh its top-end model to date.
The new $399 (Â£306) device features a 2in (5cm) touchscreen and can also be controlled by speaking to it, which might be useful in situations where the owner is wearing gloves or does not have a free hand.
"It opens up a whole new world of possibilities," said the firm's chief executive Nick Woodman at the launch.
"You just think it, say it, do it."
The firm suggested that the facility would also help users avoid missing critical moments.
As an example, it said an owner could say "take a photo" to  snap a picture while they continued to simultaneously film video with the device.
Its 4K video and 12 megapixel photo capabilities are the same as the last generation.
But the new camera gains:
In addition, the camera can be set to automatically upload video and pictures to the firm's new video sharing service, GoPro Plus, if its owner takes out a $4.99-a-month subscription.
The add-on also includes access to a library of music the owner can use for their edits as well as a discount on further accessory purchases.
The new camera  - and a smaller HERO5 Session, which takes 4K video but only 10 megapixel photos - will be released on 2 October.
Three hundred. That's how many people GoPro have flown and driven in for this event. 100 of its own staff, 100 athletes and 100 reporters (for the record, the BBC has paid its way).
We're at around 6,000ft (1.8km) above sea level, in a jaw-dropping ski resort that hosted 1960's Winter Olympics.
GoPro is still the most recognisable brand in action cameras, so much so that "a GoPro" has become shorthand for any brand of small camera.
But the issue isn't whether GoPro is performing well in the market. They are. Problem is, the market isn't as big as they, and their shareholders, had perhaps hoped.
Today's launch of a drone and camera is designed to inject a bit of energy back into the firm.
Its new easy editing and publishing tool cement its ambition to not only dominate hardware but also the means of consumption for extreme footage.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC
IHS predicts sales of action cams will grow from 11 million this year to 14.5 million in 2020, but GoPro might not necessarily benefit.
"There's increased competition in the market," said Mr Morrod.
"At the high-end, Sony and Panasonic have released kit targeted at broadcasters and other professionals.
"At the low-end, the market has been commoditised by budget small cameras from the likes of Xiaomi and other less well known brands.
"Added to that, increasing numbers of smartphones - like the Samsung Galaxys and Sony Xperias  - are now waterproof and dustproof and all that limits the market."
To underline the point, Nikon - one of Japan's leading camera brands - announced a new range of "freeze-proof" KeyMission action cams on Monday, shortly before GoPro's event.


A Lancashire animal sanctuary hit with an eviction notice is facing a "heartbreaking" race against time to re-home more than 30 animals.

Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary in St Annes has been told it must leave its current premises by the end of March after a year-long tenancy row.
The charity is trying to re-home eight horses, 25 dogs, three pigs and one cat and has vowed none will be put down.
Sanctuary owner Mandy Leigh said: "It's heartbreaking, time is running out."
She added: "It's terrible, very upsetting, but the fight is on and we are determined.
"I'm not going to give up after 20 years and I absolutely promise not one animal will be put to sleep.
"I have never done that and I'm not going to start now."
The sanctuary currently employs eight staff and has re-homed 22,000 animals in the past 20 years.
Owner Mrs Leigh, 67, said she hopes to keep some of her staff on, funded by charity shops across the Fylde coast.
She said: "We tried to buy the sanctuary without any success.
"We thought we would have more time to get out, but we've been told we have to be out by the end of March.
"We are trying not to panic and we will get every animal sorted one way or another.
"It's so upsetting. Some of the staff have been with me for more than 10 years. We'll get a new place eventually, but we need to find homes for these animals now.
"We need money. If we have to put animals in kennels or stables, it will all have to be paid for."


A meeting of Syrian opposition politicians and rebels in Riyadh has produced a statement of principles to guide peace talks with the government.

The statement calls for a new "pluralistic regime that represents all sectors" in Syria, Reuters report.
It also stresses that President Bashar al-Assad and his aides could play no part in any transitional period.
There are conflicting reports as to whether the powerful rebel group Ahrar al-Sham signed the statement.
It had earlier complained that figures it regarded as too close to the government were being given too prominent a role, and pulled out.
But Reuters news agency said the group had signed the copy of the statement at the end of the two-day talks.
The story of the Syrian conflict
Who are the groups fighting Assad?
Where key countries stand
World powers want negotiations between a unified opposition delegation and President Bashar al-Assad's government on a political solution to the four-and-a-half-year conflict to start by 1 January.
Opposition groups had previously demanded Assad leave before any negotiations took place. But the statement says he would be allowed to stay until a transitional government was formed.
This signifies "a big change" on behalf of the opposition, Ibrahim Hamidi, the Syria editor of the Saudi owned al-Hayat newspaper, told the BBC.
What's important about the Riyadh meeting is that it creates a framework and mechanism for a broad spectrum of the Syrian opposition and rebels to engage in settlement negotiations with the regime.
That is what the Americans and others were looking for, as a prelude to another planned meeting of the outside powers - including Russia and Iran - later this month to prepare for rebel-regime negotiations in early January.
But that doesn't mean it's going to be plain sailing.
Can Syria opposition unite?
More than 250,000 people have been killed since an uprising against Mr Assad began in March 2011. Eleven million others have been forced from their homes.
The two-day conference in the Saudi capital brought together representatives of the main Western-backed political opposition alliance, the National Coalition, and of the National Co-ordination Committee, which is mostly tolerated by the authorities in Damascus although some of its members have been harassed and detained.
Most of the main rebel factions, including Ahrar al-Sham, also sent delegations.
Reuters quoted a joint statement as saying that delegates had backed a "democratic mechanism through a pluralistic regime that represents all sectors of the Syrian people". It would include women and would not discriminate on religious, sectarian or ethic grounds, the statement added.
Delegates also committed to preserving state institutions and restructuring the security forces.
Mr Assad's staunch ally Russia - which launched an air campaign in September to prop up his government - supports the implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communique, which calls for the establishment of a transitional administration.
But the president has said his departure is out of the question before elections are held, and recently warned that peace talks could not begin while the country was occupied by "terrorists" - a term he uses to describe all opponents.
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile said that the new International Syrian Support Group - which includes the Arab League, the EU, the UN and 17 countries - was "working toward the potential of a meeting in New York" on 18 December.
The Syrian Kurds, who control large parts of northern Syria, were not invited to Riyadh. They held their own conference, at the same time, on the future of Syria.


The UK unemployment rate has remained at 4.7% as inflation starts to wipe out wage growth, official figures show.

The number of people unemployed fell by 45,000 to 1.56 million in the three months to February, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Average weekly earnings including bonuses increased by 2.3%, the same as in the year to January.
On Tuesday, figures showed inflation was running at 2.3%, above the Bank of England's 2% target.
The ONS said average weekly earnings for employees rose by 2.3% including bonuses, and by 2.2% excluding bonuses, compared with a year earlier.
But adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings increased by 0.2% including bonuses, and by just 0.1% excluding bonuses over the year. That was the slowest rate of growth since 2014.
ONS senior statistician David Freeman said: "A joint record employment rate and a new record high for the number of vacancies point to continued strength in the labour market. However, higher inflation, coupled with subdued earnings increases, means that the real growth rate in pay has tailed off to just above zero."
Wage increases are set to continue slowing. It is likely that next month, falling real incomes will be back with us for the first time since September 2014.
Britain's income squeeze is one of the most difficult political and economic issues facing the government.
Many will argue that an economy that works for everyone would not be expected to be one where people are worse off at the end of the year than they were at the beginning.
Read more from Kamal here.
The number of people in work continued to increase - up by 39,000 on the latest quarter to 31.8 million, giving an employment rate of 74.6%, the joint highest since records began in 1971.
Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said: "More people are finding full-time jobs and average wages have grown yet again, meaning more families have the security of a regular wage."
However, Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Households are being caught in a perfect storm of rising inflation and slowing labour income growth."
As inflation was expected to keep rising this year, the squeeze on consumers would intensify, said Andrew Sentance, senior economic adviser at PwC.
"Both the employment and wage figures therefore point to a slowdown in consumer spending, which is already apparent from the retail sales data for the early months of this year."
The unemployment rate is at its highest in the North East region at 6.4% and at its lowest in the South East at 3.4%.
Sterling rose slightly against the dollar to $1.2521 after the figures were released and hit a 12-day high versus the euro.


Toyota has become the latest car manufacturer to test a driverless vehicle on a public road.

The car, a modified Lexus GS, was tested on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, where it carried out a range of automated manoeuvres.
These included merging into highways, changing lanes and keeping inter-vehicular distance.
Toyota said it aimed to launch related products "by around 2020", when Tokyo is due to host the Olympic Games.
According to Toyota, the car "uses multiple external sensors to recognise nearby vehicles and hazards, and selects appropriate routes and lanes depending on the destination".
Based on these data inputs, it "automatically operates the steering wheel, accelerator and brakes" to drive in much the same way as a person would, said the firm.
In its current iteration, however, the car can only be operated in the more straightforward driving conditions of a main road.
The company said it expected to bring such a car to market by 2020, but has not said whether it will offer vehicles suitable for city streets.
Toyota is the latest car company to push forward with plans for an autonomous vehicle, offering fresh competition to Silicon Valley companies such as Google, Cruise and Tesla.
Last week, General Motors said it was offering driverless rides to workers at its research and development facility in Warren, Michigan.
Nissan has promised to put an automated car on Japan's roads as early as 2016.
However, Google is already testing its self-driving cars on US city streets. And Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in July his company was "almost ready" to make its cars go driverless on main roads and parallel-park themselves.


London Irish director of rugby Nick Kennedy has called for "no let up" from his squad despite being well set for the Championship play-off final.

Irish take a 35-3 lead into the second leg of their semi-final against Doncaster Knights on Saturday.
"We can't go in at half-time too happy, so we'll look to put our best game on the park yet again," Kennedy said.
The Exiles, who finished top in the regular season, are aiming for an immediate return to the Premiership.
"If you'd offered me that lead at half-time, I'd have bitten your hand off," Kennedy told BBC Radio Berkshire. "But Doncaster are a team that can score a lot of points.
"So we can expect them to come up with some different tactics in the return leg and perhaps run it a bit more with a very dangerous back three."
Irish lost just one game in the regular season and look set to meet runners-up Yorkshire Carnegie, who take an 18-point lead into their second leg with Ealing Trailfinders on Friday, in the two-legged final.


Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has welcomed what he called the "impatience" of the taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) with the UK on Brexit.

When asked about Irish border controls, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he still did not have "clarity" on what the UK wanted in terms of the customs union.
"We didn't cause this, we have to put up with the consequences," he added.
Mr Adams welcomed "the fact the taoiseach expressed impatience" but said he should set out his own plans.
He accused Mr Kenny of "being too slow and too mesmerised about what the British government is doing".
The Sinn Féin leader made his remarks before a meeting of his party's national executive in Dublin - the first since last week's Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
The last couple of days has seen some speculation that UK Prime Minister Theresa May may trigger Article 50 as early as next week, which would formally begin the process of the UK leaving the European Union.
Mr Kenny spoke to reporters in Brussels on Friday after a two-day EU summit.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ asked him to respond to speculation that Article 50 could be triggered before 15 March.
"I can't confirm that," Mr Kenny replied.  "I asked the prime minister this question directly yesterday and she said 'well, I did say before the end of March'."
When asked if Mrs May had given any indication of the UK's intentions regarding its future relationship with the customs union, Mr Kenny appeared to express some frustration.
"I speak in respect of the Irish government and the Irish people here. We didn't cause this, we have to put up with the consequences of it.
"And in order to deal with the consequences, we have to know what the relationship that's being sought by Britain is, beyond having the closest possible relationship with the EU.
"So I suppose Article 50 being triggered will bring some further clarity in that regard."
Reacting to Mr Kenny's remarks, Mr Adams suggested that rather than be irritated with London's vague intentions about its future relationship with the EU, the Irish government should be setting out its own Brexit strategy.
"The taoiseach needs to stop waiting for the British government. I know he is engaging with EU partners, but he must act in our national interest, at European level, to secure special designated status for the north within the EU," he said.
Mr Adams was also asked to respond to remarks by Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire, who said Stormont parties could face a second snap election if there is no deal to restore devolution.
"It is a sign of change that a British government is threatening us with an election," Mr Adams said.
"Back in the day, the threat was martial law, internment, censorship, and lead and plastic bullets. So, Mr Brokenshire's threat is progress."
Sinn Féin's new leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, said she hoped there could be a way forward but said the "clock is ticking".
She added that the Stormont talks had to be more about the implementation of existing agreements than new negotiations.
Mrs O'Neill also called on Mr Brokenshire to release the "agreed" funding to allow about 50 Troubles-related inquests to proceed.


A brilliant unbeaten innings of 119 by James McCollum rescued Northern Knights on day one of their inter-provincial against Leinster Lightning.

The home side were put in to bat at Stormont and lost their first two wickets for only ten runs.
McCollum's influence was immense, hitting 15 boundaries and accumulating more than half the team's total of 233.
Leinster faced 16 overs before the rain intervened having reached 22 for none by the close.
Hanley Energy Irish Interprovincial - Day One
Northern Knights 233 (85.4 overs): J McCollum 119 no, R McKinley 29, E Richardson 4-33, P Chase 3-41, G Delaney 3-48
Leinster Lightning 22 for none (8.1 overs)


Indian Railways is to introduce new "lightweight" blankets that will be washed every time they are used.

Currently, blankets in use on the rail network are washed every two months.
The new blankets, designed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology, will be able to withstand being washed every day, a senior railway official told reporters.
The issue of "smelly" blankets was even taken up for discussion in the parliament last week.
The chairman of the upper house of the Indian parliament Hamid Ansari had said it was more advisable for passengers to bring their own linen.
The Press Trust of India quoted a railway official as saying that the new blankets would be introduced on a few "premier" trains before being rolled out across the service.
The state-run Indian Railways operates more than 12,000 trains, carrying some 23 million passengers every day.


The former head of the International Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn is joining the board of a bank owned by Ukranian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk.

Mr Strauss-Kahn resigned as IMF managing director in 2011, after being accused of a rape at a New York hotel - allegations which were later dismissed.
He will join a newly-formed supervisory board at Bank Credit-Dnepr.
Mr Pinchuk is the son-in-law of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and is reported to be worth $1.4bn (Â£1bn).
During the 1990s he built Interpipe into one of Ukraine's biggest industrial firms, making steel, pipes, wheels and axles.
Since then Mr Pinchuk has diversified into other industries, including banking.
Last month he settled a dispute with two other Ukrainian businessmen, over the 2004 purchase of a mining company in Ukraine.
The case, due to be heard in London, was expected to be one of the most expensive court cases in English legal history and promised to reveal details about the business dealings of some of Ukraine's wealthiest men.
It was settled just days before the trial was due to begin.
In 2012 Mr Strauss-Kahn faced allegations of pimping. The case became known as the Carlton Affair, named after the Lille hotel where sex parties took place.
Mr Strauss-Kahn acknowledged attending the parties, but always denied knowing that some of the women who took part were prostitutes.
He was acquitted in 2015.


The chief executive of the Professional Golfers' Association says the ongoing controversy generated by Donald Trump is "not a positive thing for golf."

Trump, who owns two Scottish courses, has been criticised for comments made during his bid to become the Republican Party's US presidential candidate.
And Sandy Jones says the negative publicity around Trump is bad for golf.
"Sadly his political campaign in America seems to be getting in the way of all the great things golf offers."
Jones says the PGA try to keep politics away from the sport, but Trump's high profile and controversial views make that difficult.
"The controversy is not a positive thing for golf," he told BBC Scotland.
"Donald has built some great golf courses and has two in Scotland, in Aberdeen and at Turnberry.
"I'd prefer to see less controversy around the game and sadly Donald is producing it through his political motive, not through his golfing ones.  They are bound to be linked, there is no getting away from that."
Trump has spoken of his desire to attract the Open Championship to Turnberry, with 2020 a possible date if, as expected, the R&A stage that tournament away from St Andrews, allowing the 'Home of Golf' to host the 150th championship the following year.
But Jones believes the R&A will need to manage the situation carefully.
"I'm sure the R&A will be managing that situation very cautiously as they need to do and try to keep golf away from the political scene.
"An announcement to play at Turnberry would cause a huge political uproar.  I'm sure they'll come to the right conclusion at the end of the day."
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley feels it would be a shame if Turnberry was removed from the list of potential Open venues.
"We've got great history there going back to '77 with Nicklaus and Watson, and obviously Watson nearly winning a few years ago at the age of 60," McGinley told BBC Scotland.
"Unfortunately it's part of the modern world we live in now that sport and politics are very much blended in a lot of decision making.
"I don't envy them (the R&A) having to make that decision. What would be a real shame is if Turnberry doesn't happen to be on The Open rota because it's a terrific golf course."
McGinley - who captained Europe to a comprehensive victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles - does not envisage players having any issues about playing at Turnberry despite the recent controversy surrounding Trump.
"I think they'll be guided by the R&A. Whatever the R&A's decision will be you'll find the players will be behind that.
"If the R&A decide to have an Open Championship there I would be very comfortable playing - if I qualify."


Dungiven middleweight Eamonn O'Kane has announced his retirement to end a career which included a Commonwealth Games goal medal in 2010.

The 34-year-old excelled as an amateur before winning IBF inter-continental titles after turning professional.
O'Kane's last fight was a defeat on points to Tureano Johnson in a final world title eliminator last year.
"After listening to my family and also my body, I have decided it's time I hang them up," he said on Monday.
O'Kane's gold medal was won in Delhi with the Northern Ireland team captain securing a 16-4 victory over England's Anthony Ogogo in the final.
"I am retiring from the sport I have loved and taken part in since being a teenager," he added.
"After a much-needed rest from the Johnson fight I picked up an injury to my neck while getting ready to do it all again.
"It has been a very hard decision to make and one I have fought with but one that ultimately I feel is the best one to make."


Pupils at Devenish College in Enniskillen usually use their football pitch to train for cross country running.

But after floods wreaked havoc across Northern Ireland, the school has turned their field into County Fermanagh's newest canoe polo venue.
Students took on their teachers in a game of canoe polo played in kayaks on Thursday.
The pupils had the bragging rights after winning that match 4-2.
They celebrated by dunking their teachers and capsizing their boats.
Water levels on the pitch are currently two to three feet deep.
Teacher Colin Lyons said there was "banter" between the staff and the students in the lead up to the game.
"The pupils have benefited from six weeks practise, the staff have some experience and inexperience."
Mr Lyons said that a number of safety precautions were in place for the match.
"There's a good flush of water from Lough Erne through there, which means the water is clean and safe," he said.
Mr Lyons said the only concerns around the match related to the cold.
Flooding has affected how Devenish College students travel to school each day.
"A lot of the pupils are from rural areas so it has been quite difficult to get in," Mr Lyons said.
"Thankfully people have been able to find a way, people in Fermanagh have been quite resourceful in finding ways of getting people back into schools."


A library book complete with stamps has been sold at auction for £39,000.

The Antiquities of the Russian Empire was published in Moscow by order of Emperor Nicholas I between 1849 and 1853.
The book, binding four volumes, had been owned by Birmingham City University which decided it was no longer relevant to research.
It contains 508 plates of Russian artefacts including crowns, costume, weapons and jewellery.
See more stories from Birmingham and the Black Country here
Chris Albury, senior valuer for Dominic Winter, which handled the sale, said: "In book terms, it's quite a lot of money to pay."
He said it "probably would have sold better if it was privately owned" as the ex-library copy was very much a working one, with "a few library stamps and not the prettiest binding".
Only 600 sets were made and according to Mr Albury, the one formerly owned by the university could be unique because of its English title and contents pages.
He said: "We haven't been able to find another copy with these pages anywhere else in the world."
The book was the sole one in its lot.
Another 199 books in a collection put up for auction by the university were divided into a further 29 lots.
On Wednesday, one of these fetched £1,050, with more to go under the hammer on Thursday.
The collection was built up from the mid-19th Century during the university's days as Birmingham College of Art, but the books are deemed no longer relevant to current teaching or research.
Steve Rose, deputy director of library and learning resources, said it was a "stunning collection" and he was "sad to see the books leave".
The proceeds are due to be reinvested.


Andrea Leadsom has apologised to Theresa May after suggesting being a mother made her a better candidate for prime minister.

The energy minister told the Daily Telegraph: "I've already said to Theresa how very sorry I am for any hurt I have caused."
The row began after Mrs Leadsom told the Times being a mum meant she had "a very real stake" in Britain's future.
Mrs Leadsom later sent Mrs May a text of apology, the BBC understands.
Aides to Mrs May say the home secretary was "grateful" for the message and texted her thanks.
They say Mrs May always believed Mrs Leadsom had not meant to cause any offence.
In the Times, Mrs Leadsom had discussed her bid to become the next leader of the Conservative Party, and therefore the UK's next prime minister.
She said Mrs May, the home secretary and Mrs Leadsom's rival, who has no children - "possibly has nieces, nephews, lots of people.
"But I have children who are going to have children who will directly be part of what happens next".
Mrs Leadsom told the Daily Telegraph motherhood should not play a part in the Conservative leadership campaign and added that she deeply regretted "that anyone has got the impression that I think otherwise".
She went on to say the Times article "said completely the opposite of what I said and believe" and that the criticism she faced since left her feeling "under attack, under enormous pressure - it has been shattering".
"I was pressed to say how my children had formed my views. I didn't want it to be used as an issue," she said.
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Among those who had criticised Mrs Leadsom over her original comments were business minister Anna Soubry, who said her comments meant she was "not PM material", while Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said there was a "gulf in class" between the two candidates.
Senior MP Sir Alan Duncan said Mrs Leadsom's remarks were "vile".
However, Mrs Leadsom's key supporter Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, has said she is facing a "black-ops" campaign by MPs who want to "denigrate her reputation".
He told ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday: "I was talking about the wider operation here, which is during the course of the last week we have seen the most remarkable and unprecedented attempts to cast Andrea Leadsom in the most ridiculous ways."
He also said Mrs Leadsom was "angry" over the coverage of her motherhood comments and that her apology to Mrs May was "heartfelt".


Idrissa Diallo, who lost his three young sons 10 years ago in Senegal's Joola ferry disaster - one of the worst maritime accidents in history - says he will not rest until he finds justice.

The Joola ferry disaster claimed more lives than the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, in which 1,563 people died.
"I am not angry that my sons died, that was God's will. I am angry at the way the aftermath of shipwreck was handled," Mr Diallo says.
He now heads an association for families of the more than 1,800 victims of the accident.
Holding his five-year-old daughter tightly on his lap, he calmly recalls the events of the morning of 26 September 2002.
"I was in the United States visiting family when I received a phone call from Ziguinchor early in the morning telling me the Joola had sunk and that no children had survived.
"My three sons [aged eight, 13 and 15] were on it, they were returning from a visit to their grandmother in Casamance, where my family is from."
The southern province of Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia, making travel by sea the easiest way of reaching the northern regions and the capital, Dakar.
Only 64 people were rescued from the ferry that day.
About 1,000 of the passengers - many of them children returning to the capital for the start of the new school term - still remain on the Joola.
The ferry was only built to hold about 580 people - a limit which was routinely ignored, with hundreds of people travelling without tickets.
Though Mr Diallo has no trouble speaking of the events that led up to tragedy, like thousands of other family members of victims, he says he has not been able to properly grieve for his loss.
"How can I say I have grieved when I have not found my children's bodies - when it took me a long time to even believe they were dead? And the government refuses to even talk about it," he says.
One of the main demands of the victims' families is for the ferry to be raised from the ocean floor, so they can claim the remains of their loved ones.
The Joola was not moved after it sank, but Senegal's Environment Minister Haidar El Ali says there was equipment to do so.
At the time of the sinking, Mr El Ali was head of a diving school and part of a rescue team which within days of the disaster would have been able to drag the wreckage to shore.
The rescue mission waited days for the government of the time to give it instructions about what to do with the wreck, but none came, he says.
So the ferry was just left where it was - at a depth of 18m (59 ft) and 20km from the Gambian coast.
The government had a second opportunity to raise the ferry in 2005.
"The European Union granted Senegal the necessary funds to fulfil the operation, but the authorities never allowed it," says Nassardine Aidara, head of the committee for the creation of a memorial for the Joola victims.
Mr Diallo says the lessons of the tragedy have not been learned as the authorities have tried to forget it by "abandoning the victims at sea".
The families have also been asking for an official memorial for the victims to be built.
A few days before the presidential election in March, former President Abdoulaye Wade announced he was building one, and even set up a barrier around the space where it was meant to be erected in Dakar, near the sea.
Construction has yet to begin.
A new ferry link linking Dakar to Ziguinchor -  the Aline Sittoe Diatta - has been working for four years.
It was a new German boat and there is strict enforcement of passenger numbers.
For Mr Diallo, the only significant change that has occurred in the last decade is the election of a new president.
Macky Sall, who took office in April, has been insisting transparency at the top is a priority, and has ordered audits into most of his predecessor's controversial projects.
Now families of victims are waiting to see whether he will also want to revisit the sensitive issue of the Joola.
Mr Diallo says the association of victims' families met the new prime minister a few days ago, and insisted on the importance of bringing the ship back to the surface and building a memorial.
He also asked for the government not to get in the way of justice when the association files a new complaint against the former authorities.
An inquiry led shortly after the disaster revealed it was down to human negligence.
The ferry, owned by the national navy, was found to be overcrowded and did not comply with international norms.
Mr Wade admitted his government was responsible and the case went to court.
A year later the captain of the ship, who died in the accident, was held solely responsible - an outcome victims' families have never accepted, saying his superiors were also to blame.
"We will find a way to reopen the case, now that the previous government is no longer there to block justice," says Mr Diallo.
The prime minister has promised to examine all of the families' demands.
"I am hopeful that this new government will listen to us," says Mr Diallo.
"I told the prime minister a catastrophe can be useful to a country, if it is recognised for what it is."


Fake social media accounts have been used to deceive teenage girls into sending indecent images of themselves.

Snapchat profiles were set up in the name of Base Models, a legitimate company, not involved with the activity.
Girls received messages from the accounts, from someone who claimed to be recruiting models for the agency.
Base Models said anyone approached online by someone who claimed to work for them should contact their office.
Base Models, a London model agency, said it had received more than 40 reports from girls who said they were contacted online by someone claiming to work for the company as a model scout.
Using Snapchat accounts named after the company, somebody posing as a Base employee contacted girls aged between 14 and 19.
Girls were told they could earn between Â£500 and Â£50,000 working as models.
One report, shown to the BBC by the agency, indicated that a child was asked to send a naked picture of herself.
Base said it began receiving reports in October about a Snapchat profile named after the company that had asked girls to send indecent images.
The model agency reported the account to Snapchat, who deleted it - but a week later another account named after the company appeared and the issue resumed.
Base Models does not have a Snapchat account, nor does it use the platform to recruit models.
The BBC heard from the mother of a 14-year-old girl from Hunwick, County Durham, who was "disgusted" to discover that her 14-year-old daughter, a child model, had been targeted.
The mother said: "They messaged her saying they worked for Base and wanted to hire her as a model, so she sent some headshots."
The girl told the "scout" she was 14 but was still asked to send lingerie shots - so she told her mother about the exchange.
The girl's mother said she was "immediately suspicious" about the messages, so she contacted Base Models, who confirmed the messages were fraudulent.
She said she was worried that others who were less knowledgeable about modelling could be more easily deceived.
"If you tell a child who knows nothing about the business that they could earn up to Â£50,000 [working as a model] - they might think that it sounds like a great opportunity," she said.
A 19-year-old student based in Manchester, Ellie McCandles, said she had received an almost identical approach on Snapchat.
After she was asked to send pictures of herself in her underwear, Ellie declined and contacted the agency.
"Something didn't feel right about it," the student said.
Base Models managing director Max Ridd said the rise of celebrity culture had made model agencies an "easy target" for those looking to deceive young girls.
Mr Ridd said: "Young people have always been seduced by the idea of fame and celebrity - but especially today with the Kardashian fame wave going on.
"Modelling is seen as a first step on the fame ladder - and I think that's one reason why we are being targeted."
Mr Ridd said anyone approached online by someone who claimed to work for his agency should contact its office.
Police in Scotland issued a warning last month after a girl in Lanarkshire was asked to expose herself on Skype by someone who claimed to work for Base Models.
An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Every child has the right to be safe online and reports of children being contacted in this way are troubling.
"No legitimate company would ever ask a child to send indecent images of themselves, and anyone who receives such a request should report it immediately.
"Children should remember to think twice before sharing pictures of themselves, and if they are ever unsure they can call Childline on 0800 11 11."


The first case of an infection that resists the antibiotic of last resort - colistin - has been detected in the US.

The 48-year old woman from Pennsylvania recovered and the infection was vulnerable to other antibiotics.
However, colistin is hugely symbolic as it is used when other drugs fail and officials warned the world was now reaching "the end of the road" for antibiotics.
Colistin resistance was first discovered in China at the end of 2015.
The study sparked concern around the world, and intensive testing rapidly discovered bugs that can resist colistin in Europe and Asia.
Now data from the US has identified the first case in a patient, who had a urinary-tract infection, as well as colistin-resistant bacteria in farm animals and meat on supermarket shelves.
It is not clear where the infection came from as the patient had not travelled recently and colistin is not widely used in the US.
The DNA that gives bacteria resistance to colistin - the mcr-1 gene - can spread rapidly between species.
The concern is that colistin resistance will now hook-up with other forms of antibiotic resistance to create infections that cannot be treated.
Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "The more we look at drug resistance, the more concerned we are.
"The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients, it is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently."
However, Dr Beth Bell, also from the CDC, said in an interview: "Luckily haven't seen actual bacteria that are resistant to every single antibiotic."
Commenting on the reports Dr Nasia Safdar, from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said: "The results are very concerning.
"It is almost inevitable that more cases will come to light. It's just a matter of how quickly things spread. With carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, soon after the initial description it became fairly widespread and not just in the US but globally.
"It wouldn't be a stretch to say that we are towards the end of effective antimicrobial therapy for antibiotic resistant bacteria."
Follow James on Twitter.


A week after Shanghai Disney opened its doors, China has become embroiled in a high-profile copyright court case with the children's entertainment giant over the striking similarities of a cartoon.

Disney subsidiaries Disney Enterprises Inc. and Pixar are suing Chinese companies G-Point, PPTV and Bluemtv for hosting images and posters of 'The Autobots', a Chinese film that was released in July 2015.
'The Autobots' was criticised last year at home and abroad for being visually similar to the Disney animated franchise 'Cars' but has only gained wide media attention since going to court on Tuesday.
Critics are sceptical over whether Disney will win the case, noting that China has ripped off overseas-produced cartoons before.
Thousands of Chinese social media users are talking about the case on the popular Sina Weibo microblog, saying that 'The Autobots' is a "blatant copy" and that they "support Disney".
Chinese papers have also noted similarities between the two productions, but with more carefully worded editorials. The Beijing Economic Daily says that the two films are visually "extremely similar", and highlights that this is not the first time it has happened.
China has been criticised in the past for copying a number of Japanese cartoons.
These include the 2011 production 'Train Hero', which was criticised for "suspected plagiarism" because of its strong similarities to the Japanese animation 'Hikarian' in 2011.
In 2007, a CCTV Children's Channel cartoon 'Big Mouth Dodo' was also criticised for its similarities to another Japanese production, 'Crayon Shin-chan'.
Videogame critics note that China has escaped punishment for replicating Disney products before.
On 13 June, US comedian and videogame critic JonTron remarked on the explosion of bootleg games and products based on Disney films.
In a YouTube video with over three million views, he says that Disney is not safe from "the curse of bootleg". He singles China out as being "farther away from US jurisdiction and much better at Disney bootlegging" than any other country, and says that it is able to produce products like 'Bear of the Interest', a toy that strongly resembles Winnie-the-Pooh, but has flashing eyes and is described in Chinglish on the box as a "high class weapon".
JonTron also notes the wider trend of bootleg online games based on Disney films internationally, and highlights the launch of questionable online games 'Elsa Frozen Brain Surgery' and 'Anna Cesarean Birth' [sic], based on the 'Frozen' franchise.
The case has perhaps comes as a surprise in China, given that its media regulator recently introduced strict new guidelines.
On 19 June, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) issued new rules on "foreign-inspired" shows in a bid to boost domestic production.
The Xinhua news agency said "the new regulation came as many TV channels rely on foreign programmes, with few original ones. The new regulation will boost self-innovation by Chinese TV channels".
Along with other mainstream outlets, it highlighted widely-praised programmes like 'The Voice of China', which was "inspired by The Voice of Holland", and 'Running Man', a variety show that is based on a South Korean series of the same name.
While China has been embroiled in a number of copyright infringement cases, in recent months some high-profile companies have lost cases against Chinese companies.
Electronics giant Apple was especially hard hit. On 17 June, the Beijing Morning Post noted that a regional court specialising in intellectual property rights had determined that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were an infringement of a Chinese patent, the 100C produced by Shenzhen Baily.
National broadcaster China Radio International said that the court had added that "Apple must stop selling the products and providing related services".
In May, Apple also lost a trademark fight over the 'iPhone' name in China against a handbag and leather goods firm Xintong Tiandi, which had trademarked "IPHONE" in 2010.
Both moves came as a blow, as China is the second biggest market for Apple products.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Bromley have signed former Port Vale midfielder Nathan Ferguson and ex-Bristol City player Shabazz Omofe.

Ferguson left Port Vale by mutual consent in January, having made just one appearance for the club.
The 21-year-old had a loan spell with National League side Southport earlier this season, featuring in six games.
Former Chelsea trainee Omofe, 19, signed a short-term deal with Bristol City in June 2016, but did not make a first-team appearance for the club.


The Islamic State (IS) militant group say its Yemeni affiliate carried out a car-bomb attack at a funeral attended by Shia Houthi rebels in the capital.

Dozens of people were injured, reports say. An unconfirmed report says many people were killed.
The blast happened near a military hospital in Sanaa on Monday night.
It is the latest attack by IS against Houthis in Yemen, where the Sunni extremist group declared its presence in November.
Houthis have been fighting forces loyal to Yemen's exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi for several months.
A Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes in March, claiming to target Houthi positions. The strikes have had a devastating impact on civilians.
In a separate development on Monday, the rebels said in a statement that they had launched a Scud missile across the border at a Saudi military base. They said the missile was fired "in response to the crimes of the brutal Saudi aggression".
If confirmed, it would be the second such attack since fighting began.
A Scud missile fired from Yemen earlier this month was shot down by Saudi Arabia before it could reach its target.
Monday's car-bomb attack appears to have targeted a funeral attended by two brothers who are leaders in the Shia Houthi rebel movement.
The number of casualties is unclear, with reports saying at least 28 were injured, including women and children.
IS posted a statement online saying its Yemeni affiliate was behind the attack. The group has carried out a number of attacks in the capital in recent weeks.
Separately on Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a full investigation after a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit a UN compound in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, injuring one guard.
Yemen has been in turmoil since Houthi rebels overran Sanaa last September, forcing President Mansour Abdrabbuh Hadi to flee.
Three months ago, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia began targeting the rebels with air strikes. Since then, well over 2,000 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 1,400 civilians, according to the UN.


A 29-year-old man accused of attempted murder after a stabbing at a London Underground station has been further remanded in custody.

Muhyadin Mire, currently being held in Belmarsh Prison, appeared via video link at a hearing at the Old Bailey.
He has been held since the incident on the 5 December which saw a 56-year-old man suffer serious stab wounds at Leytonstone tube station.
Mr Mire will next appear before the court on 7 March.
A provisional trial date has been set for the 31 May.


A woman has been charged after detectives used social media to write an open letter to a burglary suspect.

Tracey Dyke was charged with 15 counts of burglary, three counts of fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and one count of theft by finding.
The 30-year-old, of no fixed abode, was due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Monday.
The letter, posted on Kingston Police's Twitter and Facebook accounts, was met with a mixed response online.


The government is failing to take adequate measures to tackle "significant teacher shortages" in England, a committee of MPs has said.

The Education Select Committee has called for a long-term plan, as schools struggle to recruit enough teachers and pupil numbers continue to rise.
MPs want more active efforts to reduce the numbers quitting teaching.
The Department for Education said there were currently record levels of teachers.
A spokesman said: "We recognise there are challenges."
But, he said, the department had spent Â£1.3bn on a recruitment campaign.
The report from the cross-party committee, though, says recruitment targets for teaching had been consistently missed and the teacher shortage is getting worse.
It warns that this causes particular problems in some shortage subjects in secondary school, including physics, maths and computing.
But the MPs say that there is no clear long-term plan to address this - and they suggest there should be greater efforts to keep teachers from leaving the profession and moving to other jobs.
Figures last year showed that almost a third of new teachers who had started jobs in English state schools in 2010 had left within five years.
The MPs want measures to tackle problems that make people leave teaching - such as an "unmanageable workload" or a lack of professional development.
"The government needs to do more to encourage teachers to stay in the profession by raising the status of teachers, improving the opportunities for good quality training, and by doing all it can to help reduce teacher workload," said Neil Carmichael, who chairs the committee.
He said the government could consider "holding fire" on policy changes that added to the pressure on schools.
And he suggested schools needed time to support staff development without constantly being "distracted by the demands of the latest Whitehall directive".
Malcolm Trobe, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union said: "The crisis in teacher supply has a direct impact on the education that schools are able to provide to their pupils.
"It means that important subjects like maths and science have to be covered by teachers who are not specialists in these subjects and that schools have to increasingly rely on supply staff."
Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching said: "As well as bringing new talent into our profession, we must stretch every sinew to hang on to that talent and develop it further."
Ministers have argued that they have kept teaching as an attractive profession in a competitive jobs market.
There have been a series of high-profile advertising campaigns for teaching and there are financial incentives focused on attracting recruits into shortage subjects.
Labour's shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said the government was "failing to deliver on its most basic of tasks".
"Recruitment targets are being missed, school budgets are being cut for the first time in decades and we have thousands more unqualified teachers teaching in our schools."
Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh said the lack of pay rises for teachers had added to a sense that they were "undervalued".
"It's high time the cap on public sector wages was lifted so teachers were given the pay rise they deserve," he said.
A Department for Education spokesman said: "There are more teachers in England's schools than ever before, with secondary postgraduate recruitment at its highest since 2011.
"We are investing more than Â£1.3bn in recruitment over this Parliament and have recruited more trainees in key subjects like physics and maths than last year."


A Caerphilly man who ran over and killed his step sister, while racing in his father's car, has been jailed for seven years.

Aaron Bridgeman, 35, of Lansbury Park, had been racing a friend on a motorbike when Vicky Bridgeman fell from the back of the bike and was hit.
Bridgeman was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving earlier this month.
Newport Crown Court heard he had been "driving at grossly excessive speed".
The court was told Bridgeman had never held a driving licence and how the weather on the day of the incident - 23 December, 2013 - "was atrocious", with weather warnings being issued by the Met Office.
Bridgeman and his friend Jason Szalkowski, 32, who had previously been disqualified from driving, decided to race on the narrow Pandy Lane, in Bedwas, the court heard.
He was driving his father's Peugeot while Mr Szalkowski was riding a Suzuki motorcycle with 40-year-old Ms Bridgeman - also known as Claire - as a pillion passenger.
After half a mile of racing, both Mr Szalkowski and Ms Bridgeman came off the motorbike, and Bridgeman, who was just half a second behind, drove into her.
A farmer, who was also using the road and witnessed the race, was unable to stop and also drove into Ms Bridgeman.
After the crash, Bridgeman asked the farmer if he was phoning 999. The court was then told he ran off, not knowing if his step sister was dead.
Ms Bridgeman died at the scene, the court heard.
Her step brother later handed himself into police.
At his trial, Bridgeman blamed the farmer for his step sister's death, but the jury found him guilty.
As well as the prison sentence, he was disqualified from driving for six years.
It was decided it was "not in the public interest" to prosecute Mr Szalkowski as he was so seriously injured in the crash.


One of the most senior figures to defect from Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab has urged his former colleagues to stop targeting civilians and to begin negotiations with the Somali government.

In his first interview with a foreign journalist, Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi - who once had a $3m (£1.9m; €2.7m) bounty from the US government on his head - condemned al-Shabab's attack on Garissa University College in Kenya in April, where 148 students were killed.
Speaking at a government safe-house in Mogadishu, he described it as "wrong and unlawful" and offered his condolences to the victims and their families.
Inside his heavily guarded residence he tells me the story of his rise through the ranks of the jihadists until the group's policy of extreme attacks on civilians forced him to flee for his life.
Mr Hersi's defection - a lengthy process that appears to have begun in 2013, if not before - is now the centrepiece of a new government amnesty initiative designed to convince other militant leaders to follow suit.
"The path became wrong... and I had a tipping point," he said in fluent English.
Mr Hersi - widely known as Zaki - is a youthful, slim 33-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache.
Wearing a new, Western-style checked shirt he struck me as proud, thoughtful, and extremely careful in the way he sought to present himself as a devout Somali patriot, who had been trapped inside a militant group that had lost its way.
"Now they're trying to kill me," he said of his former colleagues in al-Shabab, which explains the tight security at the safe house where a soldier manned a makeshift watchtower and two more guarded the gate.
After months of debriefing, Mr Hersi is now technically a free man, with access to a mobile phone. "I'm on social media, Twitter and Facebook," he volunteered.
I asked him if he had been in touch with people in al-Shabab, and indeed whether it was a condition of his defection that he try to persuade others to swap sides.
"It's not a condition. But if I got a [phone] connection I will try to encourage them definitely," he said, praising his treatment at the hands of Somalia's intelligence services.
"They treated me very nice. Welcomed me in a very good way and I thank the government for that welcome."
Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Mr Hersi's defection - the third of its kind in recent times - is the result of growing military pressure on al-Shabab.
"There was no defection two or even one year back. They were not fighting among themselves or killing some of their own leaders. The reason we have some high value targets defecting today is because of pressure... from the Somali National Army and Amisom (the African Union peacekeeping force) and in the air by our international partners," President Mohamud told me.
He was referring to the US drone strikes which he praised for their "minimal collateral effect - surgically targeted to al-Shabab's high level leadership".
President Mohamud acknowledged that al-Shabab remains a powerful force inside Somalia - as shown by its continuing attacks in Mogadishu - and that the government's own weaknesses were "considerable".
But he said the government was improving its approach to tackling the group, citing a recent attack on the education ministry in the city that was quickly contained by security forces.
"That would never have ended like that in the past. Someone who wants to die - you hardly know how to stop them.
"But we succeeded to minimize the impact. Every single attack al-Shabab makes, the casualties are less, because we are learning. The Somali people are learning and are alerting the security forces," he said.
Mr Hersi told me he had given the government "very good advice" about how to defeat al-Shabab. He declined to give details but said he thinks "they're doing the right things".
However, he did suggest that a few amnesties and a few drone strikes would not be enough, and that "a complete strategy" was required to tackle "the thousands still inside the organisation".
Mr Hersi joined the militant group in 2007. He had been studying economics in Pakistan and came home for a holiday to get married.
Neighbouring Ethiopia had recently invaded Somalia, with implicit US support, to oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The conservative religious group had succeeded in bringing much needed stability to Mogadishu, but it included figures linked to international terrorism.
The ICU was quickly eclipsed by its increasingly militant armed wing, al-Shabab.
"Our aim was to liberate the country," said Mr Hersi, proudly comparing the fight against Ethiopia to Britain's war against Nazi Germany.
"Did Churchill waste his time? We were doing just what they were doing," he said forcefully.
Mr Hersi appears to have risen quickly in the ranks.
"As an educated person my job was in a leading position. I was running some offices, like media, like regional affairs. In 2010 I joined military intelligence," he says.
Mr Hersi eventually ran that group, but vehemently denied that he also led al-Shabab's notorious Amniyat - the intelligence service responsible for planning atrocities like the attack in Kenya on Nairobi's Westgate Mall in September 2013.
"Such operations were not in the duty of the military. It was Aminyat's operation, not ours. I was not in al-Shabab at that time. I left in June 2013," he said.
It was a growing sense of disillusionment with the group's direction that Mr Hersi says pushed him towards defecting.
Forming an alliance with al-Qaeda "was a very big mistake. Our duty at that time was only to liberate Somalia - our interests were local." He added that it had a huge effect and diverted al-Shabab from is purpose.
"Now it turns to terror acts, organised crime... we were against all that. In late 2010/2011 there was a lot of misunderstanding within the core leadership of al-Shabab... in terms of these terrorism events.
"When we failed to get an agreement with [the group's former leader, killed by a US drone strike in 2014, Ahmed Abdi] Godane and his inner circle, they started to silence all opposition.
"They started arresting and killing... some of my colleagues have been killed; some are still in prison," he said, insisting that he had finally abandoned al-Shabab in order to save his own life.
Who are al-Shabab?
Al-Shabab recruiting in Kenyan towns
I suggested to Mr Hersi that he was lying about his past, neatly tailoring his curriculum vitae, and had only jumped ship because he had lost a power struggle within al-Shabab.
His response illustrated the moral and political tight rope he is now walking as he seeks to win some sort of public acceptance outside al-Shabab.
On the one hand, Mr Hersi seemed stung by the idea that he had lost power within the organisation.
"When I was leaving, I was in a fully powerful position. I decided on my own choice," he said tetchily, insisting he had defected with only one precondition, that he not be harmed, or handed over "to some other foreign countries".
On the other hand, Mr Hersi sought to present himself as an isolated figure in a highly bureaucratic system that prevented him from knowing about, or having any responsibility for, al-Shabab's brutal activities.
"I haven't seen such an event," he said of the group's frequent public stonings and beheadings.
"Most of the time I was in civil positions... a normal job," he later insisted. "The wrong activities came from other persons. But me personally, I believe I didn't commit any wrong thing.
"Such an act [like the Garissa attack] is not discussed in an open way. It is between the Amniyat and the Emir [leader] only.
"This is the nature of the organisation. You have to be with your duty only. You can't ask anything about what they're doing. Otherwise they will suspect you - so you have to save your life," Mr Hersi said.
Some may find this hard to believe. But in public, at least, Somalia's intelligence services are hiding any scepticism.
"I think that's the typical story of many, many former al-Shabab members, whether at a senior level or low level. We understand that's the situation [with Mr Hersi]," said senior government counter-terrorism advisor Hussein Sheikh Ali.
"Of course he's been part of that organisation at the decision-making level, but we don't have any evidence that he was part of any particular [terror] incident," he said.
Mr Ali declined to reveal how many senior al-Shabab leaders were now in talks with the government about defecting, but credible sources suggest about 10 of the top 50 figures may have made some sort of contact.
"We cannot kill every member, or put every member in prison. The plan is to offer them a chance to leave - to give them an exit route where they can change their mind.
"So we must persuade them that they must come to a normal life. We're talking about senior levels - a very few at the decision-making level," said Mr Ali.
An earlier defection - of former leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - was widely considered to have been badly handled, with the elderly man shown publicly in handcuffs.
"Overall they want assurances that when they come over they will receive fair treatment and they will be able to live a normal life," said Mr Ali, giving a flavour of the sort of private discussions he has been having with al-Shabab leaders who appear to be following Mr Hersi's case with great interest.
"We want to keep him secure and help him to go back to a normal life. He's a very known figure with al-Shabab's leadership and overall within the organisation, and he is committed to talk to those members that he left... hopefully on a personal level.
"So this is a domino effect where all those members who left the organisation will tell the real story here so those remaining can make up their mind.... that coming over is not something they're going to regret. I'm sure they're watching very closely," said Mr Ali.
Somalia's government, which is coordinating its defectors programme closely with the international community, is combining the carrot of an amnesty with the stick of its own new "wanted" list, with 13 names, and a combined bounty of at least $1.3m (€1.1m, £800,000).
Will there be a domino effect? Some observers are sceptical.
"I'm not persuaded this was the coup the government and its partners tried to portray it as," said Somalia analyst Matt Bryden.
"These public recantations are given a lot of importance. They're noteworthy, but there's only so much value to be had in parading defectors or prisoners in this way,
"It's clear these decapitations have not seriously degraded the organisation's capability," he added, pointing to the continued attacks in both Somalia and Kenya.
Although Somalia's government says some 80% of the country is now under its control - a dramatic shift from just 3 or 4 years ago - the organisation clearly remains a highly influential and powerful force.
There is growing concern about the extent to which  al-Shabab has now infiltrated Kenya, as well as real fears of escalating violence in Jubaland, the border area inside Somalia where Kenya's military has sought to carve out a buffer zone.
Meanwhile, Mr Hersi waits in his safe-house.
The afternoon I met him he seemed generally relaxed, often breaking into a smile, and claimed to be busy planning his own "bright future... saving the country".
There is talk of a cooling-off period, perhaps studying abroad, but Mr Hersi did not hide his own political ambitions.
"I haven't decided yet, but it seems so," he said, when I asked if he wanted to run for office in Somalia.
As for his agenda - he said he had no interest in al-Shabab's professed commitment to building a regional Islamic caliphate. "We have Sharia law here [already]. We have to make further developments... in security, education. To improve the livelihoods of the people," he said.
In the gloomy, but spacious house he now shares with his own personal bodyguards and an assistant, he showed me a small collection of books.
I spotted Islam and Democracy, The Black Man's Burden and Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.
"I live a normal life," he said with a short, ambiguous laugh. His wife and children are, he said, also being kept somewhere secure in Mogadishu.
I asked him if he felt joining al-Shabab had been a mistake, whether he was weighed down by regret. No, he insisted.
So did he really think that people in Mogadishu - a city now slowly emerging from decades of anarchy and conflict - might one day vote for him?
"The vote depends on your agenda. And how you prepare it," he said, in confident tones of a man shrugging off one mission, and embarking on a new one.


A 61-year-old woman had to be rescued by a mountain search team and a helicopter after collapsing at an isolated beauty spot in Gwynedd.

Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team was called after a road ambulance was unable to reach the woman at Blue Lake quarry, Fairbourne, on the Mawddach estuary on Saturday at 13:40 BST.
Volunteers and paramedics evacuated the woman down to the valley floor to meet a coastguard helicopter.
She was flown to hospital for care.


Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has appointed Bruno Tshibala as the new prime minister of the power-sharing government.

Mr Tshibala will be leader until presidential elections later this year.
He was expelled from Congo's largest opposition party, the UDPS, last month after contesting the designation of successors to veteran leader Etienne Tshisekedi who died in February.
Mr Tshibala's appointment is likely to further divide Mr Kabila's opponents.
Talks to negotiate his exit from power broke down last week.
Mr Kabila was supposed to step down after his second and final five-year term came to an end last year but the vote to replace him was not held.
The electoral commission cited financial and logistical difficulties.
The arrogance of power
The failure to organise the polls led to a wave of deadly demonstrations by opposition supporters, with calls from diplomats for the president to respect the constitution.
The Roman Catholic Church stepped in to broker a deal at the end of 2016 which outlined the creation of a transitional government that would oversee the elections.
But the deal collapsed because the government and the opposition were unable to agree on the power-sharing mechanism under the arrangement.
The country of 71 million people has not had a peaceful transfer of power since its independence from Belgium in 1960.


Bydd enillwyr Gwobrau'r Selar yn cael eu cyhoeddi nos Sadwrn yn Undeb Myfyrwyr Aberystwyth.

Nod y gwobrau yw rhoi clod i'r artistiaid a bandiau cyfoes o fewn y sîn Gymraeg sydd wedi bod yn ddiwyd yn ystod y flwyddyn ddiwethaf.
Mae 12 categori ar gyfer y gwobrau a bydd Geraint Jarman hefyd yn derbyn gwobr 'Cyfraniad Arbennig' sydd yn cael ei rhoi i artist neu grŵp sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad enfawr i'r diwydiant cerddoriaeth Cymraeg.
Nos Wener roedd y canwr yn perfformio yn Neuadd Pantycelyn yn Aberystwyth.
Yn ystod y penwythnos bydd digwyddiadau hefyd yn cael eu cynnal yn y dref er mwyn cofio am hanes y sîn bop Gymraeg.
Cân Orau
Gweld y Byd Mewn Lliw - Band Pres Llareggub
Cyn i'r Lle Ma Gau - Y Bandana
Canfed Rhan - Candelas
Gwaith Celf Gorau
Fel Tôn Gron - Y Bandana
5 - I Ka Ching
IV - Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog
Hyrwyddwyr Gorau
Clwb Ifor Bach
Maes B
4 a 6
Cyflwynydd Cerddoriaeth Gorau
Tudur Owen
Huw Stephens
Lisa Gwilym
Artist Unigol Gorau
Yws Gwynedd
Gwilym Bowen Rhys
Alys Williams
Digwyddiad Byw Gorau
Maes B - Eisteddfod Y Fenni
Gig Olaf Y Bandana
Gig y Pafiliwn - Eisteddfod Y Fenni
Band neu Artist Newydd Gorau
Chroma
Ffracas
Magi Tudur
Band Gorau
Candelas
Sŵnami
Y Bandana
Offerynnwr Gorau
Merin Lleu
Osian Williams
Gwilym Bowen Rhys
Fideo Cerddoriaeth Gorau
Sgrin - Yws Gwynedd
Bing Bong - Super Furry Animals
Suddo - Yr Eira
Record Hir Orau
IV - Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog
Fel Tôn Gron - Y Bandana
Kurn - Band Pres Llareggub
Record Fer Orau
Tân - Calfari
Niwl - Ffracas
Propeller - Cpt Smith
Bydd y canwr Rhys Gwynfor yn holi Dafydd Evans, gynt o'r grŵp roc Cymraeg cyntaf, Y Blew, ddydd Sadwrn a bydd Geraint Jarman hefyd yn sgwrsio gydag Emyr Glyn Williams o Recordiau Ankst Musik.
Mae arddangosfa o femorabilia Y Blew a Geraint Jarman hefyd i'w gweld yn y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol a bydd teithiau yn cael eu cynnal er mwyn i bobl gael cyfle i weld y casgliad o archif sain sydd yn cael ei gadw yn y llyfrgell.
Bydd sesiynau hefyd i drafod ymgyrch ddiweddaraf Wicipedia Cymru i gael mwy o gynnwys am gerddoriaeth Gymraeg ar y wefan.
Nod y prosiect tri mis ydy bod 500 o erthyglau ychwanegol yn cael eu hysgrifennu am y pwnc.
Dywedodd trefnydd Gwobrau'r Selar, Owain Schiavone: "Er mai dathlu llwyddiant y presennol ac edrych ymlaen i'r dyfodol ydy prif amcan Gwobrau'r Selar, rydan ni'n awyddus iawn i bobl sy'n dilyn y sîn ddysgu mwy am yr hanes."
"Mae sefyllfa'r sîn yn iach iawn ar hyn o bryd, ac yn gryfach nag erioed o safbwynt safon a dyfnder yr artistiaid.
"Ond dwi'n credu ei bod yn bwysig i bobl ddysgu am yr hyn sydd wedi arwain at y sefyllfa bresennol - mae'r datblygiad dros yr hanner can mlynedd ers i'r Blew arloesi trwy ffurfio fel grŵp roc Cymraeg yn rhyfeddol, ac mae'r sori'n un ddifyr dros ben."


It was, by her own admission, one of the most difficult stories that Mexican crime reporter Luz Sosa has ever had to cover: the murder in November 2008 of her own boss and friend Armando Rodriguez.

He was shot outside his house in Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city close to the US border that has become synonymous with the country's vicious drug war.
Mr Rodriguez, chief crime reporter at the city's main newspaper, El Diario, was setting off for school with his young children when a lone gunman approached and shot him dead with a 9mm pistol.
"I was just leaving home myself when my editor called me and said: Armando's been killedâ€¦ be careful, come straight here to the office," 41-year-old Luz says.
First making sure her own two children were safely back home, she headed across town to the newspaper's offices.
"I couldn't believe it. No, not Armando, I kept repeating to myself. It was such a shock. I just cried and cried. And then I had to write up an article about it all," she added, her voice dipping as she spoke.
Luz has one of the most dangerous jobs in one of the most violent cities in the world.
Her daily beat takes her from one gruesome scene to another in a city that witnessed some 3,000 killings last year.
Most are believed to be the result of a vicious struggle between drug cartels battling for control over the lucrative drug smuggling routes into the US.
"On one of my worse days I recently had to cover 20 murders in one 12-hour shift," she said.
Almost all the victims died from gunshots, killed in public places.
Trying to collect information about each murder, or investigate what or who lies behind the city's violence has brought journalists like Luz and her colleagues at El Diario, into direct confrontation with the drug gangs.
In September last year, another El Diario employee, 21-year-old trainee photographer Luis Carlos Santiago, was shot dead in broad daylight.
For most of our hour-long conversation, which took place in London this month when Luz was visiting the UK to promote a a television documentary for Channel Four about her work,  she spoke defiantly, but modestly, about the dangers she faced on a daily basis.
"We live in a vicious circle of permanent intimidation, trying to force journalists into silence," she said.
The culprits, she said, were not just the cartels and rogue police officers who work for them, but the state institutions which cannot provide protection or guarantees for the media.
Yet Luz said the murder of her two colleagues had made her "more determined" not to be coerced.
"Once I'm afraid, it would be better to resign and do something else," she said.
By way of example - and as if I were about to doubt her sincerity - she then recounted one particularly incident, shocking even by Juarez's horrendous standards, which took place on the same day Mr Santiago was buried.
"We are at the funeral and someone sent word that a decapitated head had been left on the top of car nearby," Luz began telling me.
When she and some of her fellow mourners got there, they found a copy of El Diario on car's windscreen beside the severed head, open at an article Luz had written about Luis Carlos's murder.
Did this make her afraid for her life? I asked the question almost apologetically.
"No," she replied, "it could have been for me, or for anyone else at the paper."
El Diario's owners certainly took it seriously enough, taking the unprecedented step of using the front-page headline in the following day's edition to address those responsible
"What do you want from us?" it read.
There have not been any further attacks on El Diario journalists since, Luz said.  But after the incident, the paper's editors decided to remove Luz's by-line from most of her articles.
Before we part, I have two more questions for Luz.
How she does she feel being so far away from the daily drama of her life and work on the streets of Juarez? Does it feel like a totally different world?
She paused before answering, as if thinking of the right words to express herself.
"I can't forget what's happening back home, I am constantly looking on the internet for the news," she said.
"But being here I realise just what we are facing back there. And it makes me angry. I have a responsibility to keep going, to report on these things and to keep asking why has our peace and tranquillity been stolen from us?"


Russian and Syrian planes have pounded rebel-held areas in Syria's largest city, Aleppo.

The overnight bombing targeted the rebels' last remaining supply route on the eastern side of the divided city.
Aleppo, once Syria's economic hub, has been the scene of fierce fighting since civil war broke out in 2011.
Despite recent efforts to calm the situation and introduce temporary truces, the battle for the city seems to be intensifying, correspondents say.
Life inside rebel-held Aleppo
What is left after five years of war?
Why is there a war in Syria?
Profile: Aleppo, Syria's second city
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made clear his intention to recapture Aleppo, and on Friday one of his key allies - the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, promised to send more fighters.
A recent truce brokered by the US and Russia expired earlier this month without renewal.
Russia has pledged to press ahead with its air campaign in support of President Assad's forces, saying rebels had failed to deliver on promises to break ranks with al-Qaeda loyalists.
The latest strikes focused on the Castello Road, the only remaining route out of the rebel-held east of the city, monitors said.
A local civil defence group said a child was among two people killed in the bombing.


Derby County left-back Max Lowe has signed a new contract with the club until the summer of 2020.

The 19-year-old came through the Rams' youth ranks and made his first-team debut against Carlisle in the EFL Cup earlier this season.
England Under-20 international Lowe made his first Championship start in the 2-0 win at Cardiff on Tuesday.
"I really hope that this is just the start and I know that I still have lots to learn as a player," he said.
"It has been a great journey for me to get to this stage, having joined at the age of 10, but I know I've not achieved anything yet and I'll continue to work extremely hard."


Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday with technology stocks seeing some of the largest gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 218.25 points, or 1.39%, to 16,192.09.
The S&P 500 jumped 30.57, or 1.65% to 1,895.35, while the Nasdaq climbed 98.44, or 2.27% to 4,435.96.
Despite an announcement from several oil producing nations that they would consider freezing production, oil price fell on Tuesday. Brent crude dropped 3.4%, while US crude fell 2.1%.
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela agreed to maintain output at January levels if other oil producing countries did the same.
The announcement marked the first move between Opec and non-Opec producers to stem the price fall since the price of oil began to slide nearly 19 months ago.
ExxonMobil rose 0.23% and Apache gained 2.6%, while oil services giant Halliburton advanced 2.8%.
Wall Street's big winners were security firm ADT and deal site Groupon.
Shares in ADT closed nearly 50% higher after private equity firm Apollo Global Management agreed to buy the electronic security company $7bn.
Groupon rose 41% after e-commerce giant Alibaba disclosed a stake of 32.9 million shares after the market closed on Friday, making it the fourth-largest shareholder.
Apple and Amazon shares both rose 2.8%.
Apple announced earlier in the day that it planned to sell up to $12bn in corporate bonds.
Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.


An RAF World War Two Spitfire painstakingly restored over five years, has sold for £3.1m at auction.

The airworthy fighter, based at Imperial War Museum Duxford, is one of only two left in the world to have been restored to its original specification.
The aircraft was shot down over Calais in 1940 and discovered when its wreckage was exposed by the tide.
The money will go to the RAF Benevolent Fund and Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.
Spitfire P9374 was donated by the American philanthropist Thomas Kaplan and his wife.
He said they were "overwhelmed and thrilled" with the sale price at Christie's in London.
The Mk I Vickers Supermarine Spitfire was originally piloted by Old Etonian Flying Officer Peter Cazenove during the evacuation of Dunkirk.
Despite saying on the radio, "Tell mother I'll be home for tea," he was shot down on 24 May 1940, crashed on the Calais coast and was captured.
He ended up in the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp, where British airmen launched their famous Great Escape in 1944.
But despite failing to escape, he survived and returned to the UK after the war.
The plane remained hidden in the sandy beach of Calais until the 1980s.
However, it was not until the parts were bought by Mr Kaplan and shipped to the UK that the task of restoring it began at the former home of RAF Duxford, in Cambridgeshire.
The plane was sold on the same day that The Duke of Cambridge visited Duxford to see a second Spitfire, which was restored alongside the P9374.
Mr Kaplan said: "When we all embarked upon this project, it was to pay homage to those who Churchill called "the Few", the pilots who were all that stood between Hitler's darkness and what was left of civilization.
"Today's events are, more than anything else, concrete gestures of gratitude and remembrance for those who prevailed in one of the most pivotal battles in modern history. "
Christie's said the sale broke the world record price for a Spitfire sold at auction, which was £1.7m in 2009.
BBC iWonder: Why do we love the Spitfire?


Members of the public have come to the aid of a motorist during an attempted hijacking in County Down overnight.

The man driving the car had been flagged down by two men in Banbridge at about midnight who asked him to take them to the town centre.
The driver agreed but when the men got into his vehicle they threatened him and demanded he take them to Hilltown.
The pair then tried to steal the car in Rathfriland Road, Hilltown, but both fled when passers-by intervened.
A police spokesman said the driver was not physically injured but was left "badly shaken".