hello from the bbc sport centre. we start with tennis, and there were mixed fortunes for rafael nadal and emma raducanu, as both step up their comebacks ahead of the australian open. nadal cruised to a straight sets victory overjason kubler, whilst elinia svitolina came from a set down to beat raducanu — our tennis correspondent russell fuller spoke to us earlier about both matches. he is playing, very, very well and this is rafael nadal we are talking about, 22 time grand slam champion. i think the other advantage of whining two matches here already and having a third against thomson of australia is it will be three matches in four days. if he wins the quarterfinal, four matches in five days and that is what you need when you are returning to the tour having had a year away. two hours and 15

minutes on the clock when the third set began. if you have been out since april and you have had three minor operations, two on her hand and one on her left ankle, then you're going to retire in the third set of a match of that quality and physicality. she was really going for her shots, we know that is the way she plays and wants to play. her defence was very, very good. again, it's been a very encouraging couple of rounds for her. i think certainly above expectations given that she has had so little tennis in 2023. india have won the second test against south africa in cape town afterjust a day and a half's play. after a remarkable day one where 23 wickets fell, south africa were bowled out for 176 in their second innings, aiden markram providing the only resistance with a century for the hosts. that left india needing just 79 to win the match and they chased down the target in just 12 overs to win by seven wickets, sharing the series at1 a piece. luke humphries is the new world champion of darts after beating

luke littler in a dramatic final at alexandra palace. humphries has now won four majors in the past three months and says his acchievements are beyond his wildest dreams. as for teenage sensation littler, he's looking forward to what is to come in the next year after rising to 31 in the world rankings. i have ng an incredible amount in the last 48 hours. —— have achieved. i knew if i was to win the game in the semifinals i would become world number one. but for me, being world champion meant more because obviously that sticks with you forever. so i had to overcome a lot in 48 hours. obviously being world number one is fantastic but being world champion will stay with me forever. two amazing achievements in such a small amount of time, it really is incredible. no one likes losing _ it really is incredible. no one likes losing and _ it really is incredible. no one likes losing and i _ it really is incredible. no one likes losing and i have - it really is incredible. no one likes losing and i have not i it really is incredible. no one i likes losing and i have not really lost much — likes losing and i have not really lost much about to lose on that stage. — lost much about to lose on that stage. you _ lost much about to lose on that stage, you can't be angry at yourself. — stage, you can't be angry at yourself. the only thing i was angry

with theirs— yourself. the only thing i was angry with theirs i— yourself. the only thing i was angry with theirs i was losing a lot of legs— with theirs i was losing a lot of legs with — with theirs i was losing a lot of legs with my throw. i was chasing a reset. _ legs with my throw. i was chasing a reset, really. i have gained a lot of experience and stage experience myself _ of experience and stage experience myself i_ of experience and stage experience myself. i am of experience and stage experience myself. lam in of experience and stage experience myself. i am in the top 32 now so could _ myself. i am in the top 32 now so could potentially could be in it next _ could potentially could be in it next year. another busy year ahead. the world number five golfer, patrick cantley, says the fans are the ones suffering as the stalemate over the future of the sport rumbles on. six months ago it was announced that the pga tour was going to merge with the saudi backed liv tour, but so far it hasn't happened. with talks between the two set to continue this year, cantley says everyone wants clarity. i feel for the fans. there ifeel for the fans. there has been a tonne of confusion, not only for players out on tour in the last year or two but i can only imagine for the fan at home. and so i hope with having more of the best players play in the same weeks, they know exactly which weeks are important and important to us players and they get to see a lot more tournaments where the best players on tour are

competing against each other down the stretch on sunday because i think that is what the fan really wants to see. and that's all the sport for now. lovely, thank you very much. the new year has begun with a lot of speculation here in the uk about when the general election will take place. today, the prime minister rishi sunak has said his working assumption is that he'll call a vote, or �*go to the country�* as it's referred to here — in the second half of the year. his main rival, the labour party leader, sir keir starmer, won't have any say in the date, but he's been outlining his vision for the uk and listing why he thinks the current conservative government is failing. for more on labour's reaction to the election hint from the prime minister, i'm joined by shadow cabinet member, jonathan ashworth. lovely to have you with us here on bbc news today. so first off, what

is sir keir starmer�*s plan in terms of a general election, would he have been ready for may anyway? {lit of a general election, would he have been ready for may anyway? of course we would be — been ready for may anyway? of course we would be ready _ been ready for may anyway? of course we would be ready and _ been ready for may anyway? of course we would be ready and i _ been ready for may anyway? of course we would be ready and i think - been ready for may anyway? of course we would be ready and i think the - we would be ready and i think the british public expect that. the british public expect that. the british public�*s view of rishi sunak as he is a weak and desperate individual and i think they will ask themselves, what is he hiding, why is he running scared of the verdict of the british public? after 14 years of national decline, his country is yearning for change. all we have got today from rishi sunak is more dither and delay. we need a general election because people are paying more in tax, they are paying more on their mortgages because of decisions taken by the conservatives. the nhs is on its knees with people waiting longer for waiting lists. our children are not getting the education that they need and deserve. we could make our streets much safer with a new direction and of course we could invest in the green infrastructure of the future and bring down energy bills for people. but all we have

got today's dither and delay when this country needs change. shire got today's dither and delay when this country needs change. are you sa in: is this country needs change. are you saying is sir— this country needs change. are you saying is sir keir— this country needs change. are you saying is sir keir starmer— this country needs change. are you saying is sir keir starmer has - this country needs change. are you j saying is sir keir starmer has some concrete pledges he could share with us? �* , ,., , , ., concrete pledges he could share with us? absolutely. if there is a young cou - le us? absolutely. if there is a young couple watching _ us? absolutely. if there is a young couple watching the _ us? absolutely. if there is a young couple watching the news - us? absolutely. if there is a young couple watching the news channel| couple watching the news channel this afternoon who want to get on the housing ladder, then i can tell them that a labour government will help build over1 million more new homes across the country because we will reform the planning laws. if that young couple want to start a family, then their children at primary school will get access to breakfast clubs and of course we will recruit specialist teachers to make sure their children get the best possible education. and if heaven forbid they fall ill, the nhs will be there for them because they will be there for them because they will be there for them because they will be 2 million more appointments in the nhs. we will speed up cancer diagnosis with more specialist equipment. we will provide the mental health care provision that so many people young people are denied today and we will make decisions about the future of the economy and jobs which will bring energy bills down for that couple as they are starting to build a home for themselves. i starting to build a home for themselves.— starting to build a home for themselves. ., , ., _,

themselves. i wonder if you could elaborate. _ themselves. i wonder if you could elaborate, what _ themselves. i wonder if you could elaborate, what did _ themselves. i wonder if you could elaborate, what did mr _ themselves. i wonder if you could elaborate, what did mr keir - themselves. i wonder if you could i elaborate, what did mr keir starmer mean by divide and decline politics and having to crush that? that is very strong language, isn't it? that is what you — very strong language, isn't it? that is what you have _ very strong language, isn't it? that is what you have with _ very strong language, isn't it? t�*isgt is what you have with the conservatives, a divided government. only before christmas you had conservative mps comparing themselves to mafioso characters from the godfather film for goodness' sake, pushing rishi sunak around. if rishi sunak got re—elected, can you imagine the chaos of all of these different factions in the tory party pushing him around, liz truss running the show again and telling him what to do and whatnot show again and telling him what to do and what not to do? that is more chaos. that is more instability. that is what we have to get away from. we need a government focused on the people's priorities, focused on the people's priorities, focused on bringing change to this country. focused on growing our economy, rebuilding our national health service. not all this division and delay that you get with the conservatives.— delay that you get with the conservatives. ok, so you are accusing — conservatives. ok, so you are accusing the _ conservatives. ok, so you are accusing the conservatives . conservatives. ok, so you are accusing the conservatives of| conservatives. ok, so you are - accusing the conservatives of being divided, there are none in the

labour party at the moment? we are united, labour party at the moment? we are united. united _ labour party at the moment? we are united, united party _ labour party at the moment? we are united, united party wanting - labour party at the moment? we are united, united party wanting to - united, united party wanting to change this country, wanting to grow the economy wanting to great good and well paid jobs, to raise living standards and rebuild the national health service. we are united in that endeavour and we want to take our message of hope to the country. but instead, rishi sunak, there he is, what has he got to hide? running scared, continuing to squat in downing street and he hasn't got a plan for the next five months, never mind the next five years.— mind the next five years. talking of lans, mind the next five years. talking of plans. labour's— mind the next five years. talking of plans, labour's £28 _ mind the next five years. talking of plans, labour's £28 billion - mind the next five years. talking of plans, labour's £28 billion green i plans, labour's £28 billion green pledge, mr rishi sunak said today that pledge simply is not viable. well, what he needs to apologise for is that the state of the economy after 14 years of the conservatives. we believe that economic stability has to come first. that there can be no responsibility with the public finances because we saw what happened under the conservatives when they were so reckless with the public finances. it led to a run on

pension funds and people pay more in mortgages and tax as a consequence of that we believe you can work in partnership with the business community to lock private capital investment in this country to create the well—paid jobs of the future. but public, economic stability and the public finances and there are clear rules for the public finances will always come first under a labour government.— will always come first under a labour government. many people listenin: labour government. many people listening to _ labour government. many people listening to what _ labour government. many people listening to what you _ labour government. many people listening to what you are - labour government. many people listening to what you are saying i listening to what you are saying already perhaps we'll be saying, i have had enough of this. there is a lot of apathy, isn't there, when it comes to british politics? how are you going to win them over and what does project hope mean? i you going to win them over and what does project hope mean?— does pro'ect hope mean? i don't think does project hope mean? i don't think there _ does project hope mean? i don't think there is _ does project hope mean? i don't think there is apathy, _ does project hope mean? i don't think there is apathy, actually. i | think there is apathy, actually. i think there is apathy, actually. i think when people are struggling to get a gp appointment in the morning when the kids are ill, your kid has woken up with a sore throat, coughing and a temperature and you are desperate to see a gp and you can't get your kit into see your gp, people are not apathetic about that. they are angry. when their grandma is stuck in hospital on a trolley

waiting hours and hours in a corridor, people and apathetic about that, they are angry. but it doesn't have to be like this. the tories are trying to say there is no change, there can't be any change, there can be. britain can be better and that is what we are focused on. building a better britain. that is why we say it is time for change and that we have a plan and a programme for the future to grow our economy, raise living standards, help young people get on the housing ladder and rebuild our national health service. jonathan ashworth, thank you very much for outlining some of labour's plans. thank you, jonathan ashworth there, labour shadow cabinet member. stay with us because there is plenty more coming up on bbc news. but if you want to keep up—to—date with all of those details coming from westminster, do have a look at our website and our politics team have been updating that for you. stay with us.

hello there. weather across the uk has certainly been testing our patience in recent weeks, but there are indications of something a little quieter as we head towards the weekend. but until then, most of the countryside looking like this, fairly waterlogged, a lot of flooding out there at the moment. there are hundreds of flood warnings in effect across the country. and, in fact, we may well add to those across southern england overnight tonight as there's yet more rain to come. it's this base cliff swirl of cloud that's moving in from the southwest. it will bring a brief spell of heavy rain once again and strengthening winds. ahead of it, spilling in quite a lot of cloud across much of wales and the midlands. the best of any brighter skies through northern england, northern ireland and western scotland. still pretty windy across the northern isles with a trail of showers through northeast scotland. temperatures generally around single figures between 7—9 degrees. but let's zoom in and look at this rain in a little more detail. once it arrives, gusts of winds

are likely to reach 50 to 60 miles an hour in exposed coasts through the channel, perhaps. there'll be a spell of wet weather. we're going to see another inch or two of rain falling on already saturated ground in areas where we've got flooding. so this is just going to exacerbate the issue. it will move through at quite a pace, lingering across lincolnshire perhaps, and there will be a scattering of showers through the night across the east coast of england and scotland. but elsewhere, temperatures perhaps into low single figures for many, two or three degrees first thing. so we've got that weather front continuing to bring some windier and slightly showery conditions across north—east scotland. our weather front through the night has eased away and so that means first thing on friday morning, it will be a cloudy story with a little bit of mist and fog around. but on the whole, quite quiet. the best of the sunshine on friday out to the west, a few scattered showers through wales and again, those temperatures generally at around 6 to 9 degrees. now, as we move out of friday, it looks likely that we could see areas of high pressure building. so friday into the start

of the weekend, here's that high come, quieting things down, but the blue tones taking over. it means temperatures will be just that below par for the time of year and that could be a bit of a shock to the system. we will be chasing cloud amounts around, but certainly it's going to be a drier story and a slightly cooler story with a brisk northeasterly wind at times. take care.

live from london. this is bbc news. thousands of people attend the funeral of hamas's deputy leader — killed in a drone strike in beirut. britain's prime minister says a general election is likely to take place in the second half of this year. and prince andrew and bill clinton are among those named in newly—released court documents relating to sex offenderjeffrey epstein. hello. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. we begin in the middle east — and the aftermath of several acts of deadly violence in different countries. the funeral has been taking place in lebanon, just outside beirut, for saleh al—arouri, the deputy leader of hamas, who was one of several people killed in an explosion in beirut on tuesday.