this is bbc news — the headlines... the grand final of the eurovision song contest gets underway — against a background of protests against israel's participation. the israeli military says about 300,000 palestinians have left the city of rafah since it ordered them to evacuate on monday. but the un warns they're moving to an area which lacks basic infrastructure. thousands of demonstrators in georgia take to the streets of tbilisi in the latest protest against legislation that would force organisations to declare foreign funding. hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed by majorflooding in northern afghanistan. and the most powerful solar storm in 21 years triggers celestial light—shows in many parts of the world — with scientists expecting another display later this evening.

now on bbc news, it's sportsday. hello, welcome to saturday sportsday live from the bbc sport centre. i'm ben croucher. celtic celebrate as victory over rangers puts the scottish title tantalisingly close. but football can give you all the feels — not always the happy ones. all the reaction to come as from a big day at both ends of the premier league. and it looked like an easy win — but we'll tell you why england's t20 win over pakistan was anything but. also coming up on sportsday. get the abacus out as — northampton saints go try crazy in the premiership. and on the 75th anniversary of the badminton horse trials — we'll chat to a couple of british contenders.

it's a phrase you'll be used to hearing at this time of year — "all but". when you want to celebrate — inevitably do — but need to temper those festivities just slightly. when a team has done everything but mathmatically secure the title. in scotland, celtic are happy not only because they beat rivals rangers 2—1, but because it means that have all but sealed a third straight scottish premiership title, with two games to go. we'll kick off sportsday with this report from keredine idisanne. derby day in glasgow — celtic and rangers! - high stakes, high drama. in ten mad minutes before half—time, the good, the bad and the ugly.

celtic�*s matt 0'riley with the good. rangers�*john lundstram with the bad, an own goal. the visitors responded through their dessers. then the ugly — a late lundstram lunge. a red card. rangers down to ten for the whole of the second half. a stroll in the celtic sun? not quite. matt 0'riley missed a penalty, but the champions held firm until the end. the celtic fans filed out of the arena here in party mode, celebrating yet another league title. technically, one more point is required, but few in scotland in scotland are in any doubt about the destination of the title. so, this is what it's done at the top of the table then. celtic six points clear. two games to go.

but that goal difference is significantly better so barring the extraordinary — celtic will be champions. we are in a great place, we've taken the six—point advantage with two games to go, and we have an extra goal difference as well. but we're not over the line yet. we're in an amazing position, that was the opportunity we had today to win that game to put us in that place. the players have done that. still plenty to sort out elsewhere. kilmarnock sealed fourth and a europa league spot by beating st mirren. hearts dented dundee�*s european hopes with a 3—0 win at tynecastle. in the bottom six, stjohnstone conceded late at livinstone and missed the chance to pull well clear of the bottom two. ross county remain second bottom after being thrashed by motherwell. we'll tell you how manchester city returned to the top of the premier league shortly,

but first to matters at the other end of the table, where burnley�*s one—year stay in the top flight is over. it was always going to be a tall order at tottenham, where only a win would have kept alive their faint hopes of survival. and they started brightly whenjacob bruun larsen slid in the opener. but goals from pedro porro and micky van der ven ensured vincent kompany�*s side would be making an immediate return to the championship. i'm very lucky to be surrounded by good people, hard—working players, hard—working staff, and fans that have backed the club for generations. that is kind of who we try to do it for every single weekend. today the premier league is over, but tomorrow we start day one of doing everything we can to get back to the premier league. day one of next season starts tomorrow for me, personally.

well, they say what goes up must come down and its looks like that's going to happen again because — i'll use the dreaded phrase again — luton are all but down too. luton took the lead at west ham but lost 3—1. they need a twelve goal swing over nottingham forest on the final day. it was also a final home game for the west ham boss david moyes. let's hearfrom both managers — starting with luton�*s rob edwards. i think we know our fate now. i was emotional at the end, i'm an emotional person. lots of hugs on the touchline, when our supporters started reacting the way they did, itjust got me. what makes me really proud is the growth the players have shown. i know respect, in the end, it doesn't get you points, but i do care about how we play and what we do and how we go about it. we'll get over this. it is difficult, i know it is like the end of the world right now, but we know it's not.

tomorrow we have to pick ourselves up. what will make it easier is the fact that this club is so united. huge emotion, let me tell you. just being a manager of such a great football club. sometimes when you think you have done a good job, it's good that people applaud you, and i think today they applauded, not just today's performance, but i think overall in the four years we've done a pretty good job here. given them things they haven't had for a while, european football, some really big nights here. so, nottingham forest knew a point against chelsea guaranteed safety. but they failed to get it, losing 3—2 in an action packed game at the city ground. forest took the lead in the second half through callum hudson—0doi, after it had been 1—1 at half time. raheem sterling hit back for the visitors though, before nicolas jackson turned the game on its head with what proved to be the winner.

at the other end of the table, manchester city did what manchester city tend to do at this stage of the season — win, and win well. a 4—0 victory at fulham takes them back to the top of the premier league — ahead of arsenal having played the same number of games. patrick gearey watched this one. tempting as it may be, this was no day to be messing about by the river. manchester city at fulham needed full focus, full throttle, and as it turns out their full—back. josko gvardiol�*s fourth goal in a little more than a month. defenders don't tend to score that often. exhibit a, manuel akanji. in the second half, city delivered on their threat. the season, phil foden has become such a reliable front man. title races can be stressful, but this was fun in the sun for the champions.

gvardiol again. mayhem, bar one notable oasis of calm. a second yellow card, julian alvarez got the penalty. 4—0, and city are back on top for now. this group of players for many years have done it. we are in the latter stages. we have the final. 0urdream is... when they lost against aston villa, our destiny is in our hands, we decide, ok, the final is west ham at home. destiny belonging to us. we created chances. now recover, come back to manchester, recover. in a few days come back to london and play the final. so, here's the eight games in the premier league today. what haven't we told you about? yoane wissa scored a 95th—minute winner as brentford beat bournemouth. everton beat already relegated sheffield united. newcastle's pursuit of european

football next season not helped with a 1—1 draw at home to brighton. crystal palace continued their good form at molineux against wolves. confirmation of that latest score at the city ground too. all of the goals on match of the day — bbc two at 10:00 this evening because of eurovision. less than a week after missing out on a place in the football league on penalties at wembley, solihull moors have suffered spot—kick sadness again — beaten in the final of the fa trophy. in a topsy—turvy finale that saw two goals in regulation time and two in extra—time, it was dajaune brown's penalty that finally saw gateshead over the line and to the glittering trophy. redemption completed for gateshead — who were denied a spot in the national league play—offs because of problems with their ground — and who lost in last year's final. staying at wembley, because tomorrow it will be sold out when a new name is etched

onto the women's fa cup. for the first time since 2005, the final doesn't contain one of chelsea, manchester city or arsenal. for manchester united and tottenham, it's arguably the biggest game in both their histories. 0ur correspondent katie gornall has more. tomorrow it will be the colours of manchester united and spurs underneath that wembley arch on what is set to be a huge day for both clubs. neither side has lifted this trophy before, and spurs have never even appeared in the final before, so it is certainly a massive occasion for their club and the latest step on a journey that has taken them all the way from the grassroots level of the football pyramid to the biggest stage in the domestic game. the manager said he will be savouring every moment. i'm not going to lie, you can feel it in your body,

it is a big week, a fun week. it is not only stress, but it is actually a good feeling in your body. i've been working pretty much 30 years to get to this stadium. it is more like enjoying the ride here. the feelings i get with that is of course a mixture of stress and happiness. i love those feelings. i'm looking forward to this game, and hopefully we can win and get the trophy. if we lose, i'm going to be very upset, but i know even a few weeks after that i will be very proud of what we have done. it's a good feeling, actually. manchester united are in a very different place from last when they lost the final here against chelsea. this season they have also struggled for consistency in the league. nonetheless, their experience will still make them slight favourites for this final. their manager, mark skinner, doesn't quite see it that way. this is an equal playing field going into it. we cannot and will not underestimate it. we know the job we've got to do.

you'd be a fool to go in super, super confident, that you are going to walk this final. because tottenham are a very, very good team, and especially on their day they can beat anyone within this league. to live in that space where you are confident, you know what you can do, but you also have the hurt of last year that you have to push through, and you have to make sure to go and make tottenham feel. many see this as manchester united's final to lose. will that play into tottenham hotspur�*s hands? it's a close one to call, but we can say history will be made tomorrow. a sold—out wembley awaits. you can watch that on bbc one and the bbc iplayer tomorrow. one other football

story to mention — mk dons face crawley town in the league two promotion play—off semifinal. that kicks off shortly — crawley won the first leg 3—0. the winners will face crewe alexandra in the play—off final — that's a week tomorrow — you guessed it — at wembley. you can follow that on the website — bbc.co.uk/sport. to cricket — where james anderson, england's all time leading wicket taker and one of the greatest bowlers to ever grace the game, has confirmed he will retire from international cricket injuly. he'll bow out after the opening test against west indies at lord's. at the age of 41, he said there was no greater feeling than representing england, and no player has done it more often either. he made his test debut back in 2003. streaks in his hair and plenty of highlights to come as one of the finest exponents of swing bowling. 12 years later, he overtook sir ian botham's record for the most test wickets. the milestones followed. in 2018, he surppassed glenn mcgrath to pick up the most test wickets by a pace bowler. he currently stands on 700, third on the all—time list, with his 188th and final test match to come in a couple of months.

in a statement, anderson said... the international summer got underway in birmingham, as england women beat pakistan by 53 runs in the opening t20 international. a comfortable victory on the face of it — but it wasn't that straight forward. lydia campbell reports. five months out from the t20 world cup, the start of the summer of cricket is the perfect time to prove why you should be included in the squad. but this isn't the start maia bouchier wanted. and this was just a beginning of a difficult start for england. england were left 11—4.

england desperately needed some stability, and often with amyjones that is what you get. together, jones and knight made a 50—run partnership, bringing england back into the game. jones eventually fell on 37, while heather knight reached 49. but sophie ecclestone and dani gibson continued the fight back, with england reaching 163 in their innings. pakistan would need a very fast start if they were to complete an unlikely comeback. and it wasn't long before they reached 50. butjust like that, a moment of magic from jones stopped them in their tracks. they tried to keep the runs ticking over, and they were doing a good job — until this. run out byjones. pakistan's hopes were fading. jones then took a fourth catch of the day. not a bad way to mark your 100th t20. despite a flurry of late runs

from pakistan, england wrapped up the match with 53 runs to spare. a poor start, but a strong finish from england to get their summer of cricket under way. loads more going on around the world on this sunny saturday. tadej pocagar has extended his lead at the giro d'italia after winning stage 8. he now has a lead of nearly three minutes over rivals, dani martinez and geraint thomas. jorge martin has extended his motogp championship lead after dominating the french grand prix sprint from marc marquez. francesco bagnaia retired early. and great britain lost 11—2 to canada in their ice hockey world championship opener. liam kirk gave gb a surprise lead in prague, but the top seeds were just too strong. next up, second seeds finland.

you don't get the nickname the king of clay for nothing, but it seems that rafa nadal�*s aura on the red dust has distinctly diminished. continuing his return from a long—standing injury, he was no match for hubert hurkacz at the italian 0pen. with more on that and defeat forjack draper, here's reginaldo rosario. in the eternal city comes the man with an enternal legacy. a ten—time winner in rome. rafael nadal came up against hubert hurkacz. but he dropped the first set 6—1. there were brief glimpses of nadal�*s excellence. but this is no doubt far from but this is no doubt farfrom his peak. hubert hurkacz taking the second set

6—3 and sending rafael nadal out. hardly ideal preparation for the french open in two weeks' time. jack draper going blow to blow with daniil medvedev, and coming up better. but in the topsy turvy first set, it was eventually meant we did that one out, taking a 7—5 and leaving draper with a taste of clay. it was a better day for cameron norrie, recovering to come through in three. setting up a to surpass as a potential opponent in round threes. to rugby union — where if the sport had a vidiprinter, it would probably need to write out the score at franklins gardens, where leaders northampton saints beat gloucester 90 — that's nine—zero — 90—0. the largest home victory in the history of the premiership. they ran in 1a tries in total, alex mitchell amongst the scorers in the first half, to lead 40—0 at the interval. gloucester were not spared from the humiliation in the second half. 0llie sleightholme completied

his hat trick with this brilliant solo effort, running almost the length of the field to go over. the bonus point win seals their spot in the play—offs and keeps them top of the league. they are four points clear of saracens, who beat in—form bristol bears by 111—20 at ashton gate. england second row maro itoje scored two tries to boost their play—off hopes, but bristol now need to beat harlequins next week and hope other results go their way. two games in super league today with wigan up to third — wigan warriors have gone top of super league after a 118—6 win against huddersfield giants. a hat—trick of tries from liam marshall and a brace from bevan french helping them dominate proceedings in west yorkshire. catalan dragons also won today, they beat leeds rhinos 26—0 to move up to fourth.

it's 75 years since the first badminton horse trials, the most famous and prestigious three day event in the world. this year's competition has been as tough as ever, but there are five brits still in the top ten and as it's an olympic year there's a little extra tension. lizzie greenwood—hughes has been there with two of great britain's best placed riders. welcome to badminton, the wimbledon of the sporting event. i don't know what your knowledge of sporting events are like, but i can tell you it is a horse triathlon. the first part is the triage, a kind of precision course of movements, were there to perform precision movements and they are marked accordingly. they lowest penalty score is what you want. the second part of this horse triathlon is the cross country, there really tough endurance phase, but they have to be brave, courageous and strong and they have to gallop around, over 32 fences, four miles, and hopefully by the end of it get inside the optimum time. nobody done that today. but two that did get around and are still in the

competition looking ahead to tomorrow with me. i don't want to be rude, but this is kind of oldies corner! you have done this 35 times, this is your 35th year, and this is your 36th year, pippa. we should be getting pretty good at it, shouldn't we? well, you are doing pretty good, you are in second place, william. pippa, you are in ninth. william, with all your experience here, you have won it twice, how tough was it out there today? we saw loads of experienced riders finding it really difficult. it was a really great course, i think the riders thought it was really up to standard, it was going to challenge us. i think the sport is now much more about the cross country, not so much physical and endurance required from the horse. but there were so many twists and turns, it was relentless, there were places where the horse just couldn't relax and recover quite

so easy. the horses were caught out by that factor, i think. pippa, you have won this three times. both of you have been to multiple 0lympics. how tough was it for you out there? what is it like riding over these massive fences? i mean, if i'm completely honest, doing the actual competition in my head now is easier a bit. because my nerves and my head, where i am before i go, i'm thinking, what on earth am i doing? i'm 55 years old, why am i still doing this sport? but i was absolutely delighted, i had a young horse doing it today, it was his first time here. it was notjust the demand of the cross—country course and the big fences and the relentless galloping, but it is also the whole atmosphere. it isjust so enormous here. i think it's the second

largest spectator sport on cross—country day in the world. the horses have to take in an awful lot. i have to try and calm my nerves. moving on to brighter things, we are in an olympic year. william, how many 0lympics have you been to? i've been to five 0lympics, which is quite a scary thought, but i've not done very well in any. maybe on the sixth chance, i will get a medal. there is a chance, william, that if you go into the showjumping ring tomorrow, and you have no fences down and the person ahead of you has one fence down, you could win and find yourself in paris. how does that make you feel? i love living the dream. i've come herejust to be at badminton. i have an amazing horse, she went so well today. it would be shock and horror if she didn't end up on some 0lympic list.

let's just see tomorrow and see if i can jump all the jumps tomorrow. best of luck to you, pippa, as well. if it is not out of the realm of possibility you could get your hands on the trophy. if he goes to the olympics, perhaps he will let me groom for him. if you want to see how all the competitors get on, it is on bbc two, there is a highlights programme from 2pm. who is going to win? we will find out tomorrow. rory mcilroy is under way in the third round of the wells fargo championship on the pga tour, aiming to hunt down xander schauffele at the top of the leaderboard. a second round of 68 means he was 7 under par starting the day — four shots behind, hoping for a good start to get himself into contention, and he's had just that — five pars and a birdie through the first six holes to reduce the lead to three shots. and, finally, most tennis players are more than happy to oblige their adoring

fans and stick around the sign a few autographs after matches and training sessions, but novak djokovic found it a little bit painful in rome when a water bottle inadvertantly fell out of a spectator�*s bag and hit him on the head following his win over corentin moutet yesterday. he said he was fine. but was taking no chances when he came to meet the fans again today. a cycle helmet — just in case. the bump on the head didn't knock the sense of humour out of him. just a reminder of our top story. celtic have all but won the scottish premiership title after beating rangers in the old firm derby. burnley are down in the premier league, and luton look likely to join them too. plenty more on the bbc sport website and app. but from me and the rest of the sportsday team, thanks for watching.

bye— bye. hello. well, the show�*s not over yet. we have both a music spectacle on and, of course, a light display in the heavens. and once again, saturday night, a pretty good chance of catching a glimpse of the aurora borealis, or the northern lights. the viewing conditions will be good, if not excellent, across much of the uk with the clear skies and try about 11pm onwards. get your eyes used to that dark sky, away from any bright city lights if you can. now, here's the probability of the aurora occurring. this is just an approximation. so, the red colour is pretty much 90% to 100%, and then that chance drops off somewhat as you head southwards across the uk. but it really could happen almost anywhere, and there's some uncertainty even with that. now, the weekend weather forecast, some uncertainty, too. and the weather is going to produce a spectacle of its own. in fact, thunderstorms

in the forecast for sunday. now, let's get the outlook, then, for the rest of the evening and into the overnight hours. so, let's take a tour across the uk. around about midnight, where we are expecting the clear skies. you can see much of scotland, the aurora should be visible easily here and certainly out of town. beautiful displays of green and purple and violet, also a chance of catching it further south. very little in the way of cloud. if you are unlucky, you mightjust have to wait for that bank of cloud to clear away. and remember, the aurora isn't just a brief occurrence. it can last over a couple of hours, so there'll be plenty of opportunity to go out and check again. now, the temperatures first thing in the morning, typically around 9 to 13 degrees. so a relatively mild start to sunday with a lot of sunshine. and on sunday we start with high pressure just about in charge of the weather. and thanks to this high pressure, we will have had the clear skies and the chance to catch glimpses of the aurora. but it is slipping away, that high, low pressure is moving in, as are weather fronts, and these weather fronts will be responsible for sparking

off some thunderstorms during the course of sunday. and some of them could be heavy, indeed, pretty nasty across western areas of the uk. indeed, pretty nasty and the temperatures every bit as warm if not warmer. highs up to about 26 degrees in london. that's it from me. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. the grand final of the eurovision song contest is underway in malmo, sweden — against a background of protests against israel's participation. the israeli military says about 300,000 palestinians have left the city of rafah since they've been ordered to evacuate on monday. but the un warns they're moving to an area which lacks basic infrastructure. hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of homes destroyed by major flooding in northern afghanistan. thousands of demonstrators in georgia take to the streets of tbilisi in the latest protest against legislation that would force organisations to declare foreign funding. and the most powerful solar storm in 21 years triggers celestial light—shows in many parts of the world — with scientists expecting another display later this evening.