hello from the bbc sport centre. it'll be a nerve shredding night in cardiff as wales take on poland with the winners going to this summer's european championship. both endured difficult regular qualifying campaigns up to the playoffs, but last week wales comfortably dispatched finland 4—1, while poland thrashed estonia. the wales manager, rob page, had been under intense pressure, but his side has responded well and they now stand on the brink of their third successive euros. it would be a great achievement for us to qualify, and in the manner in which we have done, you are always going to get bumps on the roads during any campaign and we had one in the summer, but what pleases me is the reaction since then, unbeaten

in seven matches, and to play in the manner that we have scoring the goals that we have, it really pleases me, so it would be a proud moment to get the job done but we have got to focus on getting the victory first. translation: we getting the victory first. translation: ~ ., , ., translation: we finalised our anal sis of translation: we finalised our analysis of the _ translation: we finalised our analysis of the tactics _ translation: we finalised our analysis of the tactics of - translation: we finalised our analysis of the tactics of wales | translation: we finalised our i analysis of the tactics of wales and we are _ analysis of the tactics of wales and we are prepared well and we know it as a team _ we are prepared well and we know it as a team that are based on good running _ as a team that are based on good running and counterattacks and they use their_ running and counterattacks and they use their wingers but we need to eliminate — use their wingers but we need to eliminate those strengths. and also use our— eliminate those strengths. and also use our style and focus on that. so we are _ use our style and focus on that. so we are hoping right from the start we are hoping right from the start we can— we are hoping right from the start we can manage the game mentally and physically— we can manage the game mentally and physically and play the game on our terms _ physically and play the game on our terms. keep our strength mentally and physically and i'm confident we can win _ and physically and i'm confident we can win the — and physically and i'm confident we can win the game. against the continuing backdrop of the war against russia, ukraine host iceland in their playoff final eilminator. that game is being played in poland because of what's happening in kyiv. of course, in the morning i saw the

players and they are on the telephone, seeing what is happening in ukraine, and of course it is difficult for them because some of theirfamilies are difficult for them because some of their families are there. i'm sure they will be more hungry and tomorrow they will be more motivated for this game. so comfirmation of the playoff eliminators for the final three spots at this summer's european championship. wales take on poland, ukraine face iceland and in the final match georgia are up against 2004 champions greece. there are also a lot of friendly internationals taking place later, including england against belgium. 18—year—old kobbie mainoo will start tonight along with brentford's ivan toney. declan rice will captain the side as he wins his 50th cap. manager gareth southgate believes the game provides an opportunity for new players to stake their claim to be in this summer's european championship squad. some of our core group, harry kane,

kieran trippier, kyle walker, harry maguire, they are not here and there is a different dynamic and that is a great opportunity for other people to step up and lead and to grow and thatis to step up and lead and to grow and that is important because a lot of the players involved that are with the players involved that are with the squad now, they of the team, for the squad now, they of the team, for the medium and long term, and the more of the experience as they can have, that is really helpful for everybody —— they are the future of the team. as the teams finalise their preparations for the summer the hosts, germany, take on the netherlands later. it mayjust be a friendly but it's a fixture steeped in history. it is still a big game. it is normal it is a big game because neighbouring countries playing against each other, and a lot of players who know each other from their clubs, so it is always a tough game in the past and it is always a tough game in the present.

and a women's ashes test will be held at the melbourne cricket ground for the first time the four day match will be a day nighter injanuary next year and will be the culmination of the multi—format series — they'll play 3 one day internationals and 3 t20s before they head to the 100,000—capacity mcg. and that's all the sport for now. wikileaks founderjulian assange has been told at the high court in london that he faces a further wait to see whether he can appeal against his extradition to the united states. thejudgment said he will be able to appeal, unless assurances are received from the us that the death penalty will not be applied. mr assange faces 18 charges relating to the publication of thousands of sensitive documents, about the wars in afghanistan and iraq. earlier i was joined by the bbc�*s diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, who explained more. it was a written judgment. it was 66 pages long and people are still trying

to digest all the details. but essentially, it was a highly anticipated verdict because it had been thought that this could be the very end of the legal road forjulian assange in the british courts, although he could still appeal to the european court of human rights against extradition. but instead we've got this slightly kind of mixed verdict, which amounts, i would say, to a temporary reprieve forjulian assange. the us now has three weeks to provide those assurances to the uk, to the british courts, assurances that he won't face the death penalty and assurances that he won't be prejudiced at trial because he's an american, that he will still have the same rights under the first amendment of the us constitution, rights to freedom of speech, for example, as a us citizen. so that's been the decision. so what happens next? three weeks to provide

these assurances, so the ball in the us court at the moment. so if they get them, if the us comes back and says yes, he will not face the death penalty? then there will be another hearing in may to assess those assurances. if the assurances don't come, thenjulian assange will be allowed to appeal. right. i mean, you said this has been a long legal battle. i mean, it's almost an understatement, isn't it? i mean, he spent seven years alone, didn't he, just in the ecuadorian embassy? this has been going on a really long time for him, hasn't it? that's right. and then when he fell out with the ecuadorian embassy and with the ecuadorian government, he was hauled out of the embassy. he then had 18 charges of releasing this classified military intelligence. now, his supporters say this is about the freedom of the media to publish, to get information out there. because you may remember that one of the first things julian assange' wikileaks did was to to put out some

footage which showed a helicopter gunship in iraq shooting at unarmed civilians. so he has a lot of very fervent support and human rights activists saying he was putting out there what needed to be put out there. and this is about media freedoms. and the case jeopardises media freedoms around the world. but what the americans are saying is the information, one, it was illegal to put it out there. two, it put lives at risk, lives of people that the americans were working with in, for example, afghanistan. scientists in the uk have been working with beer brewers to secure the future of the humble pint of beer. they are trying to identify genes in hop plants that are more resilient to climate change, while also producing new varieties and flavours of beer. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh can tell us more. it's a great british tradition,

but one that's now under threat. mm! that distinctive flavour is down to the hops that are used in the brewing process. but there's a problem. the hop plant doesn't like the hotter, drier conditions we've had in recent decades, and production has plummeted. it's also affected that lovely, bitterflavour. and with climate change, the problem is only going to get worse. dr helen cockerton is identifying genes in hundreds of different hop plants that will make them more resistant to climate change. but the new varieties also have to be acceptable to the brewing industry. brewers want good tasting beer, so they need their hops to produce the flavour profile that is particularly desirable for the beer that they hope to produce. whereas growers are more interested in having plants that are able to survive but also providing a good yield in order to give them a large crop. can't you have both? yes, and that's exactly

what we're hoping to do. so we have some new hop varieties here in these beakers. these new varieties are created by hop breeders, such as dr klara hajdu, using the rub and sniff method. this one is an american variety. it smells of beer. experts can tell from the aroma what the beer will taste like, and they're cross—bred with english hops that grow well in the current climate. arguably, the most important is to have competing varieties with the import hops, and they have to be very fruity and punchy. currently, it takes ten years to produce a new hop variety for a commercially sold beer. but the new research will greatly accelerate this process, by identifying the key genes in them for flavour and resilience to climate change. britain's oldest brewing company, in faversham in kent, says that the research is vital for the future of the british pint. i mean, i think without it,

it's going to die off. i mean, those hops are vital to the british pint whether it's a new british pint or an old—school british pint. but without that, we're just going to be importing beer and we won't have that culture here any more. it's a race against time, with british summers becoming hotter and drier. but the scientists are optimistic that their research will give brewers a fighting chance of saving the pint. pallab ghosh, bbc news. they collapsed bridge in baltimore is the top story today and we have heard from the authorities saying that the crew on board the ship that clouded with the bridge notify the authorities of a power issue —— that collided with the bridge. so that gave the emergency services time to stop more people from coming onto the bridge and they are still looking out for six people who are unaccounted for.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. over the next few days, mother nature is going to throw a bit of everything at us. a real mixed bag on the way, as we often say, from gusty winds, heavy showers, hail, thunder, some sunshine in between, too. and in fact, the satellite picture is already looking very dynamic. and if we look at this conveyor belt of cloud, that's actually the jet stream aloft and it's allowed the colder air to dig in from the northern climes. that's going to help to build those big shower clouds over the coming days. now, as far as the evening is concerned, rain will be sweeping into southern parts of the uk. in the north i think there'll be still some sunshine, late sunshine around across scotland, but cloudy generally speaking. and then through the course of this evening that rain will be travelling northward.

so most of us will get some rain, some of it will be heavy, particularly in the north and for example in northern ireland could be 30 or a0 millimetres of rain. so really quite soggy. and then by the end of the night that weather front is across scotland, it's cold and miserable here in the morning, 6:00, three degrees there in glasgow, snow across the mountaintops there. and then to the south of that, something a little bit drier temporarily before the next weather front sweeps in. see the speckles here in the rain? those are the showers carried by that increasingly strong wind out of the south west, already gale force around some of the coasts. so it's going to feel quite chilly, but the sun is strong this time of the year. so it will be coming between the clouds as well. then, if anything, on thursday, the winds will get even stronger as this low sweeps in so quite a few isobars there. strong winds to the south of that area of low pressure. and in fact, inland, we could be talking about 50mph gusts. that's pretty strong

for this time of the year. gales around coasts, windy in the north, too. and again, those big shower clouds producing sudden downpours with hail and thunder, but sunshine in between as well. and it will feel chilly in those heavy showers and the gusty winds as well. on friday, i think the winds are going to be a little lighter. still a noticeable breeze, though, but there'll be fewer showers around on good friday. how about the outlook into easter? again, that mixed bag continues. i think by the time we get to sunday, i think across most parts of the uk, there should be some dry weather with a bit of sunshine too. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. the headlines. six people remain missing after a cargo ship ploughs into a bridge in baltimore — causing it to collapse. this is the moment the lights went out on the dali — as the ship lost power — sending it into the path of the bridge. two people were rescued from the water — and one remains in hospital — as the authorities search the river for people and vehicles that plunged from the bridge. i'm sumi somaskanda, live from baltimore with the latest what's happening on the ground. we are learning new details about the moment before impact. we will bring you the latest.

hello, i'm ben brown, welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out