liverpool are a step closer to the league cup final after beating fulham in the first leg semifinal encounter at anfield. it could have been the visitors walking away with advantage, but three crucial second—half minutes sanurgen klopp's side turn the game. the bbc�*s football correspondent was watching. liverpool will go to craven cottage as strong favourites, but for much of the first leg, it was fulham who led after williams�* eye—catching nimble footed one. the opening goal in the 20th minute. liverpool looked like they were missing their bigname stars, but fulham couldn't take chances to increase their lead. liverpool upped it. nunes brought the spark and they scored two goals in three minutes. first, curtisjones deflected shot, then gakpo�*s flashing finish. and the goalkeeper was central in keeping it to a scoreline which means that fulham aren't out of it, but liverpool are more likely to reach what would be a record 14th final in this competition.

now, a thriller to tell you about in the spanish super cup as real madrid sealed their sport over athletico after going over there. an action packed first—half saw four goals 2—2 at half time. greisman became the all time goal leader. got the 174th goal for the club. they went ahead but a late goal for real sent the match to extra time at 3—3. a late own goal and diaz's strike won the game for real. in italy's copa italia, three players were sent off. lazio went through to the semis thanks to a second—half penalty. a drama late in stoppage time. lazio reduced to ten men. romo down to nine. mancini sent off after the final whistle for roma came from behind to beat ac milan. they take on fiorentina in the semifinal. the last four not taking place until april. premier league defender harry

toffalo said that he thought that his career was going to end after being charged by the fa for bet breaches. now 28 years old, the bets were made beforejoining nottingham forest. but it took a toll on his mental health. he's now using that experience to fuel his playing career while inspiring them not to bottle things up and to talk about mental health wellbeing. my kids will never forget the day. and they say, i saw daddy cry. and to me, my heart goes out because that was the moment that i remember and that of the moment that i just completely capitulated. for me, the toughest part was when the kids came back from school and saying that your dad is going to get banned for life. and my seven—year—old is crying to me and i'm just going —

oh, what have you done. 2023 was a tough time for harry. after admitting that there are 375 breaches, the fa handed him a five—month ban. the bets placed between seven and 10 years ago, but now, he feared his career was over. i'm sat there going — how am i going to get myself out of this position here? and then i had that, i saw an amazing bit. i'm so glad that i came across it and it was almost like, just get through one more day. just get through one more day. so when i found out my charges in april to coming off in september, with five months. so i was everyday — just get through it. you've got this. and five months later, i got through it and my career has never been that high, as it has been in the past 2—3 months. and for that, i'm extremely grateful. # mull of kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea. harry is now a mental health am balances for tricky to talk, a charity about promoting mental health wellbeing.

making harry the perfect person to get involved. i went down to hucknell to tricky to talk and it was an amazing experience. and these guys were just normal blokes. and we say about normal blokes, normal blokes, you'd meet at the school run or anywhere, and having the opportunity to hear their story. so it's important for us to be able to be a shining light for people to say — no, there is light at the end of the tunnel and the support is there. where do you feel that you are now in the space in yourcareer and in your head? ifeel the most complete i've ever felt in my life at this moment in time. i almost feel that i have nothing to lose, because i felt like i lost everything last year. six months ago, i would have been — if you said, you're going to have a chat with x amount of people about this subject, i'd have probably

just burst into tears, to be honest. because i thought that it wasn't possible. but i'm going to go out there and fight for the fans and fight for my family. (singing) to be able to sit- here now and speak so openly, confidently, to be an ambassador for the football club. to try to help other people. for me, that gives the ultimate joy and that's where i feel complete. now, french police officers paraded on an open top buses through paris on wednesday to urge authorities to accelerate talks on working conditions and pay during the 2024 olympics. the games starts in latejuly, and are set to put a further strain on paris's workforce amid the fear of heightened security threats and chronic staffing shortages in police, hospitals and public transport. the quarterfinal line—up is complete after the win in the last of the first round matches in london's alexened palace. he barely missed a ball and was three frames to zero up and was distracted by what sounded like a dropped plate in the crowd.

look at the reaction. not impressed. but recovered composure and still won. milkins could only get one on the board. selby cruised to a 6—1 victory. selby looking for the first masters win in 11 years. and selby will play mark allen in the last eight after getting the better ofjohn higgins. it went to a deciding frame. the northern irishman allen came through. the first time he's made it through to the quarterfinals since winning it back in 2018. now, the board of english county cricket side yorkshire has approved a controversial takeover for the club from a consortium by former chairman collin graves. the 75—year—old was chair of yorkshire from 2012 to 2015. that was part of the period where the club was fined for failing to address the systemic use of discriminatory or racist language. let's have a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines. steve smith will replace dave warner as australia's test opener despite having never batted in the position

during his career. he'll open alongside usman khawaja. one of the most charismatic bosses in f1 has left his stole. gunter steiner who has been with the team since 2016 as been replaced by the former director of engineering. and royal and ancient chief executive martin slumbers is to step down from the role after nine years as one of golf�*s leading administrators. he succeeded peter dawson as boss of the rna after joining the st andrews based organisation in 2015. staying with golf, rory mcilroy says a world tour is his dream scenario amid ongoing talks aimed at ending the split that has dominated men's golf in recent years. golf's future remains uncertain with merger talks between the pga tour and the public investment fund which bank rolls liv golf.

he's been speaking in dubai at the inaugural dubai invitational. i think everybody needs to speak about it. but holistically. notjust this tour and that tour. but really, what is the best structure for elite men's professional golf. so you know, the top 70 to 100 guys in the world. and what would that look like? especially if the game is going to look different going forward and everything is on the table. i just think it's worth having that conversation. to nfl and the latest head coach to depart is 72—year—old pete carroll at the seattle seahawks. he was responsible for two nfc championships and the only super bowl title in their franchise during his 1a seasons in charge. he was the fourth longest serving head coach behind john harbaugh of the ravens. mike tomlin and bill bellicic. carroll, the oldest nfl coach,

is moving into an advisory role with the organisation. he was asked what he will miss the most... the chance of being in one of those parades. the thrill of a lifetime was being in that parade. and for fans and the people and all of that. that's. .. you know, who's to say? i don't know what's going to happen next. i'm not sure about that. but that pursuit to the greatness of the moment that you celebrate with everybody — there ain't nothing like it. so, it's worth fighting for. clearly an emotional moment for pete carroll and a well deserved standing ovation for him as he left the press conference. clapping well deserved indeed. that is just about it from us. you can get all of latest sports news at the bbc sports app or the website at the usual address. from me and the rest of the team. thank you for watching. see you again very soon.

hello there. on wednesday, we were all in the same area of high pressure. but despite that, the amount of cloud we saw from place to place varied a lot. the cloud was at its thickest across eastern scotland and north—east england, where we saw drizzle move in from this sheet of cloud from the north sea. but there was some sunshine. western scotland did 0k, and for east anglia and southern england also there was quite a bit of sunshine around on wednesday, and what a difference the sunshine made to how the weather looked. for example, here in cornwall, barely a cloud in the sky. now, we're going to have the same kind of weather picture with us for thursday, with the cloud varying a lot from place to place. still got a bit of drizzle falling from it, mind you, east scotland around these eastern coastal counties of england, otherwise dry start to thursday, still some frost slowly melting away for southern england and western scotland initially. but it is across these colder parts of the country where we will have the best

of the early morning sunshine. and the cloud across the north sea, i think it's going to thin through the day, so i would expect any drizzle to die away, the afternoon looking dry for all of us. cloud will tend to encroach across the midlands east anglia into parts of south—east england, leaving the best of the sunshine probably across central southern england, south west england, southern wales and probably western scotland. again, not doing too badly for some sunny spells. you might see a bit of sunshine as well in northern ireland. 0n into friday's forecast, that cloud comes further south again. so east anglia, southern england, a lot cloudier this time, probably more in the way of breaks generally across scotland, northern ireland and probably north—west parts of both england and wales. temperatures give or take around about six degrees, so it is still on the cold side for the time of year. and the weekend has more of the same, really. high pressure stilljust about clinging on. so some cold and frosty mornings, largely dry weather picture with some of you seeing some sunshine, others staying a little on the cloudy side, but it will remain on the cold side. now, beyond that, next week, we get northerly winds diving southwards.

they will bring some snow to scotland, i'm sure about that. we could see a weather system move into the cold air, which could bring some snowfall on its northern edge as well across parts of england and wales. but there's still a little bit more uncertainty about that. however, there is plenty of potential to see some disruptive weather with cold, icy and maybe snowy conditions next week.

live from washington, this is bbc news. the debate stage shrinks in iowa, as two republican presidential candidates square off, just days before voters in the state have their say. meanwhile, former president trump headlines his own event. us house republicans press forward with their plans to impeach the top white house official in charge of stemming an increase in migrants at the country's southern border.

ecuador�*s president says his country is "at war" with gangs of terrorists, as streets empty, and prison guards are held hostage and police kidnapped. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. just moments ago, the final republican presidential debate, before iowa voters take part in monday night's caucuses, wrapped up. the debate, aired on cnn, featured just two candidates, florida governor ron desantis, and former un ambassador and south carolina governor nikki haley. once again the republican front—runner donald trump, opted to take part in his own event instead, as polls show a tight race for second place in the state. any time the going gets tough, any time people come down, she caves. when you need someone standing and fighting for you, don't look for nikki haley. you will be able to find out if you

had a search warrant.