england back on form to level the odi series against west indies. underfire, buttler and curran come up trumps. and, new balls please. but it's golf which will intoduce new rules to limit the distance a ball can be hit. we start with football, and just a day after predicting his team would win an unprecedented fourth premier league title, pep guardiola's manchester city have failed to win for a fourth league match in a row. losing 1—0 at aston villa. it's the first time in more than seven years the champions have hit a run like this.

but in contrast to their three draws on the bounce to chelsea, liverpool and tottenham hotspur this defeat to high flying villa was fully deserved, leon bailey's deflected shot giving unai emery�*s team all three points for a 14th home league win in a row. the 22 shots fired at ederson�*s goal by villa are the most pep guardiola has seen his side face since taking over at city, whose meagre two efforts in total was a fair reflection of the hosts�* superiority. aston villa played better, the first half we didn't move and the positions that we should move and talk, but second half was much better. we had a chance in the early. we struggled to make a little bit more, and after we struggled i would say to find the pass and movement in the right moment. it was the expected tough return to bramall lane for manager, chris wilder. he started his second stint in charge of sheffield united with a 2—0 defeat to liverpool.

jurgen klopp�*s side put four spectacular goals past fulham on sunday, but struggled to break down the league's bottom club under their returning boss. reds captain virgil van dijk scored his first goal of the season just before half time. and in time added on at the end of the match dominik soboslai secured the three points to keep them second in the table two points behind leaders arsenal. i was delighted with the approach, the attitude of the players, we are all disappointed we haven't got something from the game. i can't lie to you. we knew we would be on the back foot but i asked, it's a little bit difficult because we want to win, and we are all in it to do that, first and foremost, i ask for a performance and i got a performance and a little bit disappointed we did not get a result out of it. i would have taken it as well, but each throw in, throw in these were the most dangerous situations like that, it was really, really difficult to defend.

it became somehow true that as well and then yeah of course, school or at a second goal earlier but it's ok. so in that part of the year, you take the three points and you keep going, that's all you do. you recover and go again, recover and go again. manchester united are up to sixth with a precious 2—1 victory over chelsea at old trafford. to ease the pressure on manager erik ten haag. scott mctominay scored twice on a night when united contrived to waste a succession of chances, including a bruno fernandes penalty, amid a total of 28 shots. chelsea did score a wonder goal through their young forward cole palmer but the victory continued united's recent dominance in these matches to 12 games, while chelsea's wait for an away win will now extend beyond 11 years. but a much needed win for erik ten haag's united. i don't care about the noise and what is going on around us.

in the dressing room as well, they don't care. so, i'm sorry to say, they are used to it. we wanted this, we want to give a message to the crowd as well, but also, that's our way of playing, we want to be proactive and brave. that is what our side is an what our style is, and i think in the first 30 minutes you got it perfect on the pitch. at the other end of the premier league, the pressure is really mounting on nottingham forest manager steve cooper. his side were thrashed 5—0 at fulham, with in this position, i've said what i'm going to say now. the only thing i want is what's right for the football club.

it's the only thing i want. whoever is in whatever role, you know, on the pitch, off the pitch, etc, that is the only thing i care about, so that's how i am. that's my genuine feeling. i don't think about myself, my own reputation, etc. of course, we want to be playing much better than we did tonight, we want to be winning games, we want some great moments, we already had a few over the last couple of years, more than a few. that's what's important to me because i know what that means for the people. also in the premier league on wednesday, 18—year—old jack hinshelwood's first senior goal helped brighton come from behind to claim victory over brentford.and goals from marcos senesi and kieffer moore gave bournemouth a 2—0 win at crystal palace. it's emerged that the football association has also complained about the behaviour of former spanish football federation president luis rubiales. rubiales was banned from the sport for three years after his behaviour at the 2023 women's world cup final which included "forceably" kissing spanish player jenni hermoso without her consent at the presentation ceremony.

fa chair debbie hewitt, who was stood next to rubiales at the time told a fifa disciplinary hearing she felt "uncomfortable" according to fifa, hewitt said rubiales: "cupped and stroked" the face of the english player laura coombs, and then he seemingly forcefully kissed the english player lucy bronze on her face. hewitt asked to give evidence at the fifa disciplinary hearing, the written reasons from which have now been released by the world governing body. cricket, and england's men have won the second one day international against the west indies in north sound, by six wickets. following a poor performance with the ball in the openind odi sam curran silenced the critics with three wickets to scythe through the top order as the home side were skittled out for 202. willjacks got england on their way with the bat, hitting 73, and captain jos buttler was unbeaten on 58 to wrap up the win, and level the series at 1—1. england's women also produced a convincing performance to beat india by 38 runs in the opening game

of their t20 series in mumbai. batting first, england opener danni wyatt set the platform with 75, nat sciver brunt later top scoring with 77, as the visitors made i97.sophie ecclestone, on her return from a dislocated shoulder then took three wickets, india coming up short by 38 runs. the second game in the three—match series takes place at the same ground on saturday. it's a set of rules that will affect golfers of all levels. but the sports governing bodies have announced new rules surrounding ball specifications that will limit the distance balls can travel. it means golfs biggest hitters are likely to see their tee shots shortened by around 15 yards from 2028. natalie pirks has more. nice hit. steve and his cousin leon are battling the morning mist in bromley. they've been playing together for years and admit they're no tiger woods.

stop, stop, stop. but new rules unveiled today will affect all players, no matter their level. back in the day, golf courses were designed to challenge. but as golfers and technology got better, balls flew further. in 1980, only six professional golfers could hit the ball 270 yards from a tee shot. this year, rory mcilroy�*s record average was more than 326 yards. to keep challenging those big hitters, courses need extending. but that's expensive, not to mention environmentally damaging. so after five years of grappling with these issues, the rule makers say it's a case of new balls, please.

i think it is a good choice because it makes, it will make the golf more realistic. not everyone is happy. ball manufacturers are miffed, and some pros have called the governing body out of touch. but speaking to me on his phone, three—time major winner padraig harrington said he agrees with the new rules. so if you're at the top, you never want to change. you want to keep it where it is. your winning formula genuinely helps the golf course. new and old, it really helps them, both in terms of cost, sustainability, maintenance, safety. so change is coming no matter which side of the debate golfers land. natalie pirks, bbc news. former champion caroline wozniacki has been awarded a wild card for next month's australian open. the dane won her only grand slam title in melbourne

in 2018 before retiring in 2020 to start a family however the former world number one returned to the tour in august reaching the last 16 at the us open on her grand slam comeback, losing to eventual winner coco gauff. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye. hello there. while wednesday was a pretty chilly day for many of us, again, we had some blue skies and sunshine, especially towards northern and eastern areas of the uk. a lovely scene there in perth and kinross, but it wasn't quite as sunny

as that further south and west, where we had rain spreading in, well, courtesy of these weather fronts pushing in from the southwest. now, we could see a spell of snow in the central lowlands into thursday morning. that could be disruptive, just one to keep an eye on first thing on thursday, and maybe a touch of frost here. but elsewhere, you can see temperatures above freezing. so a frost—free night. as we go through thursday, though, we will see further heavy rain moving in from the west. notice these green colours here. really quite intense rain for a time, and a windy day, really, for many of us. those winds really picking up, particularly around the irish sea coast. gales here, severe gales in the far north east of scotland. but it's through thursday that we'll see that milder air, really, spread to all parts. so temperatures a bit higher, seven or eight celsius for many, but double figures towards northern ireland, wales and the south west of england. but the rain could be a little bit disruptive. we could see some localised flooding as we go through thursday. into the evening, that rain does spread away to the east, but some really quite high rainfall totals for some of us. but the milder air firmly with us because it'll be a frost free night into friday morning. temperatures no lower

than about five to seven or eight celsius. and there's that milder air i've been talking about. you can see the colder condition is just limited to the very, very far northeast of scotland. the south—westerly winds bring those milder conditions or less cold conditions, i should really say, because it's not exactly mild. but we do have on friday further pulses of rain moving its way in from the west, all linked in with that area of low pressure. just situated across northern ireland. some sunny spells, especially towards the south east of england during the day, and many more of us will see temperatures getting up into double figures. how about the weekends then? well, it's going to stay unsettled. there'll be further bouts of rain coming their way in from the atlantic. you can see the south—westerly airflow moving those weather fronts in. now, the weekend isn't going to be completely wet. there will be some sunny spells in between some spells of rain. but you notice those temperatures will stay up in double figures for many of us with rain at times. bye— bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. the gloves were off at the fourth and final republican presidential debate as he highly fended off attack. i love all the attention. thank you for that.

i love all the attention. thank you format-— you for that. the top un official says _ you for that. the top un official says the - you for that. the top un - official says the humanitarian system in gaza may soon collapse, provoking a rebuke from israel's foreign minister. and a blow for president biden as republican members of the us senate block billions of dollars of aid for ukraine and israel. good to have you with us. the gloves were off at the fourth and final republican presidential debate hosted by the tv network news nation. the event at the university of alabama featured the smallest group of candidates qualify for a debate so far, just for. ron desantis, former un ambassador nikki haley, entrepreneur and a former us governor. 0nce nikki haley, entrepreneur and a former us governor. once again, leading gop contender former president donald trump skipped the debate, instead opting to

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