hello there, and welcome to the programme. we've not long to wait now until the return of the premier league. we've had the euros, and the olympics in the meantime, but the drama is back as of friday night. whether it's manchester city going for five in a row, their rivals attempting to dethrone them, or even for the relegation—threatened a calming comfort of mid—table mediocrity, every one of those 20 clubs have something to play for in the new premier league season. it all kicks off at old trafford, where manchester united host fulham. united's new signings, mattias de ligt and noussair mazraoui, will be in the squad. manager erik ten hag is concerned his team aren't ready — the new players have onlyjust arrived — and he says he has injury concerns across several key positions. the issues are there. it's not about the players who are not available. always last season, it is about the players who are available. and we have a good group, we can make a strong selection and we can put out a strong

team, so it will do. ipswich are back in the top division for the first time in 22 years — they'll begin their campaign at home to liverpool on saturday. they managed to keep hold of their highly rated manager kieran mckenna — and are set to strengthen with a loan move for manchester city's kalvin phillips. but the players know what awaits, with tough matches to open their season. we are not naive to think there's going to be plain sailing, probably the biggest challenge we've had as a football club. it's probably a clip of what we've done last year, we know we were offered a challenge, definitely. but we also have massive belief in our manager and her team—mates as well to be able to compete and compete well at that level. —— and our team—mates. ipswich have been given a boost with the news that one of their biggest — and most famous fans — has bought a minority stake in the club. singer ed sheeran —

who's been the team's main shirt sponsor since 2021 — has bought 1.4% of the portman road club. so the part of the build up to any new premier league season is to familiarise ourselves with all the new faces. these are the most expensive imports from outside the english top flight so far. nearly £2.5 billion was spent on transfers last summer. this time around, just 1.5. still a lot, and there are just over two weeks before the window closes. half of the biggest ten deals to be done were by premier league clubs selling players, with the most money changing forjulian alvarez tojoin atletico madrid. in fact, despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, manchester city have made a transfer profit this summer because of that deal. and the only team lower than them in the premier league spending table is liverpool, whose outlay is zero. it's been remarkably slow, but actually the culmination of a couple of transfer windows where everything has been slowing down because of profit and sustainability and the church as we saw last season and now how clubs are trying to balance sheets.

is that the future come the ebbs and flows depending on how much you spent in that financial window? it should have been. when ffp was first introduced psr, we were expecting to see a slow or more controls with players coming in and out, we have not seen that over the last few seasons but those regulations are starting to hit home, clubs are much more cautious now since last season and of course a change next year when they go to a squad cost ratio. tottenham have suspended yves bissouma for their opening premier league game at leicester on monday after footage appeared to show the midfielder inhaling laughing gas. bissouma has apologised for his actions after he posted a video of him online inhaling from a balloon. but spurs boss ange postecoglou says the midfielder needs to rebuild trust between him and the squad. he has responsibilities, responsibility to his club,

he has responsibilities. to his team—mates, he has responsibility to our supporters, everyone associated with the club. he's failed in those duties, so there's got to be sanctions for that. he won't be available for monday. we've suspended him from monday's game. but beyond that, there's also some trust building that needs to happen between biss and me and biss and the crew. and, yeah, that's what he needs to work hard at from now on to try and win that back. the women's super league in england is regarded as one of the world's best — but over in italy, ac milan have recently introduced the ground—breaking policy for all female players and staff and will offer a contract renewal to their pregnant players with a one—year extension. the italian team's captain is scotland international christy grimshaw, and she hopes it can spark more change in the women's game. the choice of being a mother or a player is one that

definitely in the past a lot of women have had to take. to be granted this opportunity, and i know there are a lot of other opportunities now fifa have introduced different policies as well a couple of years ago. this one really feels extra special because it is this one really feels extra special. jack draper came back from a set down to bet world number 11 stefanos tsitsipas at the cincinatti open — the british number one taking the round 32 victory 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. there was a big shock as the fourth seed daniil medvedev was knocked out. he was beaten byjiri lehecka 7—6, 6—4. a great result for czechia's lehecka — who'd only returned to court this week after being out for three months with a back injury. a shock too in the women's draw with second seed coco gauff knocked out — but no problems for the third seed aryna sa balenka. she beat the italian

elisabetta cocciaretto 6—3, 6—4 to book her place in the last 16 — where she'll face elina svitolina next. the australian breakdancer whose performance at the paris olympics was criticised — leading to an online petition calling for an investigation into her selection — says the backlash has been devastating. rachel gunn, who's known as b—girl raygun, lost all three of her round robin battles without scoring. but she's received support from the australian olympic committee, who have condemned the petition now signed by more than 50,000 people as bullying, and using falsehoods aimed at inciting hatred against her. she's asked for the press to stop harassing herfamily. i just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me. i really appreciate the positivity and i'm glad i was able to bring some joy into your lives. that's what i'd hoped. i didn't realise that

that would also open the door to so much hate, which is frankly pretty devastating. but i went out there and i had fun. i did take it very seriously. now to a possible basketball star of the future — although he might have to grow a bit yet. 6—year—old luther is already showing enough talent that he's caught the eye at a recent nba training camp in greece as stuart pollitt reports from liverpool. he can dribble. he can dummy. he's gone. and with a bit of help, he can slam dunk. luther's got the moves and the ambition for a career in basketball. can you remember when you first started playing? three. you were three when you first started? and how good are you now? good. and when he was three, he picked up a ball, and he's not been able

to put it down. every dinnertime, we're always saying come and sit at the table. and he just doesn't. he has to get up, and he's dribbling the ball around. former nba player michael bradley spotted luther's potential at a spring nba training school in greece. he'll be heading back there in the summer for one—to—one sessions. he did have a lot of skills, i so he was easy to work with. you know, he - understands the game. he has a high basketball iq, we like to say. - he knew what the skills - were that were being taught, and he really advanced in his time here. - and you can tell by somebody's coordination, their skills - after two or three minutes of looking at them, - you can basically tell. if they have potential. but, you know, the potential will only take you so far, - and that's what i stress to these guys. - he's always had dextrous fingers since he was a baby, so when he was three, he picked up drumsticks. we live near ringo starr's house, and he could just bash them on the skins. and then when he touched the basketball, which is all your fingertips — that's what i'm telling the kids every week, fingertip control — he just had it. tell me what you like about basketball. winning, shooting

and dribbling. dad andy also coaches in the toxteth elitejunior basketball programme, which is providing sporting opportunity in the area. we have free basketball sessions for everybody on friday nights, and it's funded by merseyside police. toxteth, unfortunately, hasjust moved up the rankings for child poverty from third to second, so we all feel that we're doing something really important for the community, we're building a community. there's hundreds of kids that pass through our doors every friday, and it'sjust giving me a new found joy for the game, and i can't get enough. and now we've got this fantastic thing where we just train together, and it's amazing. and with his skills sharpening all the time, little luther is hoping for a big future on the court. that is just about it from us. you can get all the latest sports news at from the bbc sport app, orfrom our website — that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye.

hello there. the summer holiday season is in full swing, and if you have plans for the weekend, well, it looks likely that the weather is going to behave itself. it will be largely dry, sunny and pretty warm. now, we have got a little bit of rain clearing away from the south and east as we speak and this area of low pressure to the far north—west. that's at risk of driving in a few isolated showers, chiefly to the north—west of the great glen, and here, a brisk wind with it as well. but elsewhere, a lot of sunshine. any early morning residual cloud will ease away from the kent coast. the sunshine break through and temperatures should peak between 15 and 20 degrees in the north, highs of 25 in the south. that comes at a cost if you are a hay fever sufferer. certainly across england and wales, we are likely

to see high pollen levels through friday afternoon. but as we go into the start of the weekend, we'll have clear skies across england and wales. still a bit more of a breeze and a few isolated showers to the far north—west. but that means during the early hours of saturday morning, under those clear skies, temperatures will fall away to single figures in a few spots. so a slightly fresher, more comfortable night for sleeping. but we've got high pressure building in from the south and west, quietening things down. again, that low to the far north could still drive in just one or two isolated showers, but on the whole, it's a dry picture for many of us through the weekend. we will be chasing cloud amounts around, particularly with that south—westerly wind. some cloud lapping onto west—facing coasts. here, not quite as warm, but these temperatures are where they should be really for this time of year, ranging generally from mid—teens in the north to the mid 20s in the south. then on sunday, scattered showers are likely to be continuing into the far north

and west, maybe one or two through the irish sea — very fleeting, few and far between. we keep the sunshine for most. and once again, if you are planning any outdoor activities, the weather should behave itself then into next week. there is a potentialfor weather fronts to push its way into the far north—west. just how much rain we'll have in the south—east corner is really subject to question. here is where we're likely to see the driest of the weather, but a little more unsettled further north and west, and as a result, not quite as warm. take care. bye— bye.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. the headlines: thailand's ruling alliance backs the daughter of controvertial former prime minister thaksin shinawtara to lead the country, following the court decision to dismiss srettha thavisin as premier. gaza ceasefire talks have resumed, as the number of palestinians killed passes 40,000 that's according to the hamas—run government. president biden and kamala harris have held an event for the first time since she became the democratic nominee. and, as taylor swift fans gathered at london's wembley stadium, security was tight, after the singer's shows in vienna were cancelled.

the biggest party in thailand's coalition government has chosen the daughter of the billionaire former leader, thaksin shinawatra, to be prime minister. paetongtarn shinawatra's nomination will be put to a vote in parliament later on friday. the announcement was made a day after the constitutional court dramatically dismissed srettha thavisin as prime minister. it accused him of a gross violation of ethics for appointing a lawyer to his cabinet who'd served time injail. earlier this month, they ordered the dissolution of move forward, the country's most popular party, over its election promise to reform thailand's strict lese—majesty law. let's get the latest from our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. this is an unusual way to

become prime minister but