and spanish passports, so he cannot leave the country and an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis. the former world tennis number one, caroline wozniacki, says simona halep shouldn't have been given a wild card into the miami open after her doping ban and needs to work her way up from the bottom again. this was halep�*s first tournament since having a four—year doping ban — that started in october 2022 — reduced to nine months on appeal. that meant that she could play again straightaway. she won the first set of her match against spain's paula badosa, but lost in three. halep, a two time major champion, blamed contaminated supplements for her positive test in 2022, for a blood boosting drug and earlier this month the court of arbitration for sport accepted that she had unwittingly

doped and freed her to play again. this doped and freed her to play again. is not directly it someone this is not directly it, but if someone purposefully cheats, if someone purposefully cheats, if someone has tested positive for doping... i understand why a tournament once a big star in the tournaments, but it is my personal belief and it is not a knock on anyone, but it is my personal belief that i don't think that people should be awarded while cards afterwards. if you want to come back and it has been a mistake, i understand. you should work your way up understand. you should work your way up from the bottom, that is my personal opinion on things. why did she say that? in the _ opinion on things. why did she say that? in the press _ opinion on things. why did she say that? in the press conference. - opinion on things. why did she say l that? in the press conference. there es, but that? in the press conference. there yes. but why? _ that? in the press conference. there yes, but why? because _ that? in the press conference. there yes, but why? because i— that? in the press conference. there yes, but why? because i didn't - that? in the press conference. there yes, but why? because i didn't do i yes, but why? because i didn't do anything wrong, i didn't cheat, i didn't dope, so they back it is better that we read the decision, but it was a contaminated sample, it was not doping. i but it was a contaminated sample, it was not darting-— was not doping. i never had something _ was not doping. i never had something to _ was not doping. i never had something to do _ was not doping. i never had something to do with - was not doping. i never had i something to do with doping, was not doping. i never had - something to do with doping, so i something to do with doping, sol never_ something to do with doping, so i never doped, so i am not a cheater. to the nba, where reigning

mvp nikola jokic led the denver nuggets to victory over the minnesota timberwolves to close in on top spot in the western conference. jokic scored 35 points and finished with 16 rebounds to lead the nuggets into a commanding position, from which they should have easily seen out the game against an undermanned minnesota. but the timbewolves erased an 18—point deficit and had the chance to send the game into overtime at the buzzer but anthony edwards missed the shot. 115—112 to the nuggets. orlando magic have secured post—season basketball for the first time in four years after beating the charlotte hornets 112—92. the magic impressed at both ends of the court in the first half, and were leading by 41 points at one stage. orlando currently sit fifth in the eastern standings. they cannot be caught by iith—placed brooklyn and have guaranteed themselves at least a spot in the post—season play—in tournament. indian premier league chairman, arun dhumal, says that the competition has

transformed cricket. the 17th edition of the tournament begins on friday as ms dhoni's defending champions chennai super kings take on royal challengers bangalore, which features virat kohli. yes, which features virat kohli. as you will see, it is goi over yes, as you will see, it is going over the years, the ipl. every year you find amazing talent coming out of ipl and this season is going to be no different. all of the last —— over the last 15 or 16 years, in such a short span ipl has become number two league in terms of the value globally. so there is a part of ipl, it has transformed world cricket for good. it of ipl, it has transformed world cricket for good.— of ipl, it has transformed world cricket for good. it is going to be re cricket for good. it is going to be pretty much _ cricket for good. it is going to be pretty much nonstop _ cricket for good. it is going to be pretty much nonstop t20 - cricket for good. it is going to be pretty much nonstop t20 cricket| pretty much nonstop t20 cricket because the final of that ipl is just before the t20 world cup in the west indies, which i'm sure geeta will be delighted with back in london! my children will be! i don't know if i will be! do you know, the ipl always clashes with school

exams, a complete disaster in our house! has to do clutch for something, it is on all the time! a lot of cricket on. —— attest to clash with something. get more of the main news today. the uk government has banned 15 synthetic opioids is a bbc investigation reveals its data may be under estimating their spread. the department of health estimated 19 nonfatal overdoses last year linked to new cuisines. but there have been more than 100 deaths last summer. the bbc correspondence has spoken to one man who nearly died from an accidental overdose. drugs cause so much chaos and disaster. it's horrible. i want people to stop. so on august �*23, i took nitazene, and i never want to take it again. last summer, while using what he thought was heroin, matt ended up in hospital. it had been laced with a new super strength street drug

known as a nitazene. it plays a big impact on your mental health... what did they tell you had happened to you? that i had died. that i died that day. nitazene is the most terrifying thing i've ever experienced, everfaced. i'd never, i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. i wouldn't. it's terrifying. that's why matt's been off drugs ever since and is working with the charity change grow live to help with his recovery. nitazenes can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin, and just a tiny amount can cause users to stop breathing. it's believed that a crackdown on heroin production in afghanistan has led to a rise in synthetic opioids here. the national crime agency says nitazenes are being created in illicit labs in china and often enter the uk in the post. nitazenes are a whole new, whole new ballgame. experts we've spoken to believe the government is behind

the curve on nitazenes. there is currently no national system for tracking non—fatal overdoses, despite more than 100 deaths being linked to nitazenes since last summer. in a similar period, the department of health recorded just 19 non—fatal overdoses. i think that figure is an enormous underestimate. and i think it's worse than useless to be suggesting that there's maybe only 19. the government says it's trying to address these concerns. this is one of its drug testing facilities. it says it will analyse wastewater for the presence of synthetic drugs, record spikes in overdoses, and from today, 15 synthetic opioids will be controlled as class—a drugs. well, over the last nine months, we've pulled together an early warning system, drawing on tests done at the border, tests done on samples that have been seized, post—mortem toxicology, as well as overdose reports, that i think does give us a complete picture. meanwhile, the department of health says it has a surveillance system in place to collect information

on the nature and location of novel drug use. and that work is ongoing to improve it. but for those who know first hand the damage nitazenes can cause, they're worried about what's to come. please stop using. and the dealers don't care. they want your money. don't give it to them. your life's worth more than a £10 bag. navteonhal, bbc news. from something rather bleak to something a bit happier. happiness! today is the international day of happiness — so what is the happiest country in the world?

according to a un report published today, finland is at the top. the research has also highlighted a rise in unhappiness among younger people, which pushed the us and some large western european countries down the rankings. sofia bettiza has been looking at the data. what determines the happiness of a country? the world happiness report, which was published today, measures social support, which was published today, measures socialsupport, income, health, social support, income, health, freedom, socialsupport, income, health, freedom, generosity and the absence of corruption. and once again finland was crowned the happiest country in the world for the seventh yearin country in the world for the seventh year in a row. as you can see, it is closely followed by denmark and iceland. in fact, closely followed by denmark and iceland. infact, scandinavian countries dominate the top five. so why are people there so happy? line well, it does matter —— like wealth does matter, but especially how wealth is distributed. in finland, denmark and other scandinavian countries, you will find wealth is way more evenly distributed, so more people benefit from the wealth being distributed in these countries. so

wealth is an important factor, but it is more than that. something that really stands out in scandinavian countries is that society is built on trust. essentially, people tend to trust each other. they trust institutions and they feel supported by the state. now, at the bottom of the rankings are leben on and afghanistan, which remain the two unhappiest countries in the survey. now, what is interesting is that for the first time since the report was published, the united states and germany are not among the 20 happiest nations. and that is linked with a worrying trend which shows that in the us and in some countries in western europe old people are much happier than younger people. the report doesn't say why, but what is different about this younger generation is how much time they spend on social media, feeling

lonely, the difficulty of buying a house and fears about climate change. sofia bettiza they're looking at the numbers. well, i am very happy to be back after a little time away and we are all back, of course, in becoming our. matthew is here with verified live, i am back on friday. nice to see you, though, goodbye! hello there. for england and wales we have got weakening low pressure this afternoon, cloudy with some drizzle, damp conditions loitering in eastern scotland. for the north and west of scotland and northern ireland the weather system is disappearing with sunshine following, the stripe of cloud on the horizon in orkney is the weather system disappearing over the horizon. through the rest of today, damp and drizzly conditions for

wales, the midlands, a swathe of northern england, eastern scotland drizzle reluctant to clear away. some sunshine for south—east england, temperatures could get up to 17—18 here. but in the north of the uk the weather will be feeling quite chilly, particularly for the east coast of scotland, where temperatures could be 7 degrees for quite a lot of the afternoon. overnight tonight there could be one or two mist and fog patches and then later in the night we will have rain moving into scotland and northern ireland. the rain is associated with the next weather system moving in off the atlantic. this warm front will be bringing some milder air back into northern areas of the uk, so temperatures will be climbing by a few degrees. however, it is going to be a wet day, particularly for scotland on thursday, with some strong winds across the far north, where we will see gusts running into 50mph, damp weather for northern ireland and the far north of england in the afternoon. further south you might see the cloud thinning and breaking, we could see some pretty high

temperatures for the time of year. friday, a cold front pushing south across england and wales, bringing cloud and rain, followed by sunshine and showers. across scotland, northern ireland and the north—west of england and wales, could be heavy, with some hail. temperatures near average for the time of year, 10—12, but feeling quite a bit cooler. for the weekend the pressure front stays in charge, sunny spells and showers on saturday, the showers having some hail mixed in with them, and we could have a bit of sleet over the hills in the north of the uk, where there will be a chilly wind knocking the edge off these temperatures, feeling cool. further showers are in the forecast on sunday, but probably with bigger gaps between them. some places will stay dry. on monday, with colder air moving in across the north of the uk, we might actually see a bit of hill snow in parts of scotland.

live from london. this is bbc news. the irish prime minister leo varadkar announces he's going to step down. politicians are human beings, and we have our limitations, we give it everything until we can't anymore. and then we have to move on. i'm caitriona perry in washington and i've been covering irish politics for decades following leo varadkar from his earliest days through to last week when he met with presidentjoe biden here in washington.

millions of people in sudan are at risk of disease and starvation in what's described as a war the world's forgotten. we have a special bbc report. the uk's largest delivery of aid arrives in gaza as america's top diplomat visits saudi arabia amid a renewed diplomatic push. the london hospital which treated the princess of wales says it will investigate after reports that staff tried to access her private medical records. and who will be picked in the draft for the hundred? we have the latest. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them. and checking out we start in ireland where the prime minister leo vardkar has resigned. in an unexpected announcement mr varadkar described the period leading his country as "the most fulfilling time of his life".

he will step down before the next general election