against europe in france. and stage nine of the dakar rally is cancelled, after a massive mudslide in argentina. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with football, and the opening leg of the english league cup semi—final, where hosts southampton have beaten liverpool 1—0 at st mary's stadium. nathan redmond managed the only goal of the match on the 20—minute mark, and he hit the crossbar late on, as claude puel‘s side take the advantage into the return leg at anfield in a fortnight‘s time. one bright piece of news forjurgen klopp‘s side was the return of philippe coutinho, with his first appearance since the end of november. in spain's copa del rey, luis suarez became the third—fastest barcelona player to reach 100 goals, on wednesday. the uruguayan scored in their 3—1 victory over athletic bilbao, in the second leg of their copa del rey last—16 tie. it took him 120 games, with only mariano martin and laszlo kubala needing fewer appearances. holders barcelona were 4—3 aggregate winners, with lionel messi and neymar also scoring.

elsewhere, alaves went through on away goals with alcorcon, and real sociedad also progressing. real madrid feature on thursday, when they travel to last year's beaten finalists, sevilla, leading 3—0 from their opening match. holders juventus are through to the quarter—finals of the coppa italia, thanks to a 3—2 victory over ata la nta. juve took a two—goal advantage into the half—time interval, before a nervy finish that saw three goals, with the hosts moving through, where they are joined by fiorentina. napoli progressed on tuesday, with the final five last—16 ties taking place over the coming week. jim furyk will be the ryder cup captain for the united states team in 2018. he replaces davis love iii, who led the american side to victory last year. furyk is a veteran on the pga tour, and has played in the ryder cup nine times. for him, the competition is the very essence of the game. it is no secret. it has been my

favourite event my entire career. and in my opinion the ryder cup embodies everything special about golf. it was an event that was started yea rs golf. it was an event that was started years ago to bring two sides of the pond together. it was all about camaraderie, and using golf as the vehicle tojoin about camaraderie, and using golf as the vehicle to join two sides. it has the teamwork, the camaraderie, the competition, the passion. it brings fans together from worldwide, andi brings fans together from worldwide, and ijust... i get chills thinking about all the events that i've been able to participate in, and how fortu nate able to participate in, and how fortunate i've been. and now to stand here is the 2018 captain, or sit here is the 2018 captain, for 2018, is such an honour. furyk had been the clear favourite to become the next captain. here are the thoughts of our golf correspondent ian carter. he was the expected new captain, there is no doubt about that, jim furyk. and i think fred couples was his only realistic challenger for

the role. perhaps steve stricker might have been in the running as well but i think what tipped the balancejim well but i think what tipped the balance jim furyk‘s well but i think what tipped the balancejim furyk‘s way it was that he has been right at the heart of the task force that was set up following the defeat at at len eagles two ryder cups ago, that was the point at which america said enough is enough. we have to be more competitive in these ryder cups. they have lost four in a row, and it was phil mickelson who really set the ball rolling. tiger woods was on board as well, and jim furyk, the ball rolling. tiger woods was on board as well, andjim furyk, who was very much putt of their generation at the very top of the world game. and his passion for the ryder cup has never been called into question. yes, he has a losing record, having only one in two of the nine matches in which he played, but there is no mistaking the passion that he has. he is quiet, he is analytical, he is very, very methodical. you see that in the way

he plays his golf, and that really isa he plays his golf, and that really is a manifestation of his personality. but deep down there is a devilish little sense of humour there. as i say, a real sense of competition. you can't be at the top of the game for the length of time that he has been up there, and even now, and the age of 46 he is ranked 37 in the world. he shot a 58 last year on the pga tour, the lowest score ever completed on the pga tour. you can't have all those qualities without being a very, very steely competitor. and that i think we'll course through the veins of his team. he will be looking to imbue that into what i think will be a very young and dangerous american team. they haven't won on european soil since 1993, so it will be 25 yea rs by soil since 1993, so it will be 25 years by the time that they arrive in paris. and of course he is up against thomas bjorn, who will be leading the europeans in that ryder cup. the first annual report from the tennis integrity unit warns that the number of suspicious betting patterns in tennis is on the rise, and is a concern. last year, nine players and officials were sanctioned as a result of tiu disciplinary investigations.

there were 292 alerts to the tiu last year, with eight of them from grand slam, atp and wta matches. that is 46 more than the year before. england propjoe marler is set to miss the start of rugby union's six nations in february, after sustaining a fracture to his lower leg playing for harlequins. he adds to a lengthy injury list for coach eddiejones, which includes fellow harlequins player chris robshaw. meanwhile, sam warburton‘s six—year spell as wales captain is to come to an end. 0spreys lock alun wyn jones is likely to be named as his successor next week, when interim coach rob howley announces his six nations squad. jones took over from him for the final lions test against australia in 2013, and has also captained wales five times. the german cyclist marcel kittel says he believes tues, or therapeutic use exemptions, have no place in cycling. tues allow the use of banned su bsta nces if athletes have a genuine medical need. but the 23—year—old, who has won stages in all three of the grand tours, believes if people have illness or injury they shouldn't compete. in general, i can only say that the

use of these tues i think has no place in our sport any more. i don't think that anyone who is... you know, who is seriously sick, should use those tues. 0r know, who is seriously sick, should use those tues. or if he has to use them because he needs to recover from an injury, or whatever, then he should take time and really recover from that, and then come back afterwards. badou jack and james degale meet in a super middleweight unification title bout in new york on saturday. the vacant ring title belt means three belts in total will be on the line. the 33—year—old swedish fighterjack has held the wbc title since 2015, and has 20 wins, with just the one loss and two draws, knocking out 12 opponents, while british boxer degale, who turns 31 next month, has a record of 23 and one, with 14 knockouts. sometimes i think i don't really get

the credit that i deserve. 0lympic, british, european, world champion, andi british, european, world champion, and i am part of the unified division. so yes, this is a massive fight. i division. so yes, this is a massive fight. i trained extremely hard, and its time. it is literally round the corner how. its time. it is literally round the corner now. so i can't wait. you've got three belts on the line. you've got three belts on the line. you've got legacy, the best 168 pounder in the world after this fight. so you you can't get no bigger than this. nba commissioner adam silver believes president—elect donald trump will be good news for the sport of basketball. silver told the bbc that he believes mr trump will be keen to see players from all over the world featuring in the nba, as they look to expand the game. president—elect trump is a huge sports fan. he is an enormous nba fan. i have known him over the years from his presence at many new york knicks games. he has attended our d raft, knicks games. he has attended our draft, which takes place in new york. i happen to know his daughter

and his son—in—law very well. they've attended many games. so we began with a president who i know loves sports and loves the nba. and loves sports and loves the nba. and loves the very best. that is what he is known for. and what makes the nba unique, it is one league where the very best in the world participate, whether you grew up in london, mumbai, beijing, your aspiration, yourdream, is to mumbai, beijing, your aspiration, your dream, is to play in the nba. and i know that president—elect trump will be supportive of that notion, completely separate from any sort of politics or political issues. a massive landslide that killed two people has led to the cancellation of the ninth stage of the dakar rally. the landslide happened 40 kilometres north ofjujuy, in argentina. a man and a woman died, and hundreds of people have been left without homes. torrential rain has wreaked havoc on this year's competition. the race will restart on thursday for stage ten between chilecito and sanjuan. the leaders of the vendee globe yacht race are into the final week of sailing.

french skipper armel le cleac‘h, on board banque populaire, was on wednesday 180 nautical miles ahead of briton alex thomson. le cleac‘h has described the mental toughness he has needed to summon up just to stay ahead in the race. thomson, who failed to finish in 2004 and 2008, said the biggest test was trying to pick up speed in his boat, hugo boss, when sailing through the becalmed doldrums. the race, which began in november, finishes on the west coast of france from next week. that is about all we have time for. let's recap our top story and nathan redmond goal was the only thing which separated southampton and liverpool, with the saints winning 1-0 liverpool, with the saints winning 1—0 in the opening leg of their english league cup semi—final. until next time, goodbye. hello. i know already some of you have seen some fairly wintry conditions. i think, over the next couple

of days, that prospect becomes a good deal more widespread across the british isles. thursday dawns with still a lot of wind to be had across the northern half of the british isles, maybe not just as windy as wednesday was, and it is a cold start to the day. cold and dry to start in the south—east. don't be fooled by that, because relatively mild air is moving in from the atlantic. we have real concerns through the day again about the strength of the wind and the snow, initially in northern parts, but there is a change on the way for southern areas. because your mild air, bringing the rain, will eventually run into that cold air, which is already in situ across wales, the midlands, and the northern parts of the british isles. and, as that moisture runs into the cold air, so i think we'll see quite a significant conversion, slowly but surely through the day, of some of that rain into snow, initially across the high ground of wales, but eventually, as we get on into the afternoon,

so more widely snow will become an issue, and notjust at higher levels, either. some doubt about the exact wheres and whens, but that's the general principle. all the while across the northern half of the british isles it is another bitterly cold day, with a lot of wind driving a whole peppering of showers into central and western parts of scotland, across northern ireland, into the north—west of england, and into northern parts of wales, on what is going to feel like a bitterly cold day, given the strength of the wind and the fact that your thermometers are never going to read better than two, three or four degrees. not quite out of the woods with regards to this problem in the south, because increasingly through the evening so the snow will fall to lower levels. as it quits the scene, so those wetted surfaces will turn into icy surfaces underneath clear skies. at least clear for a time because we have another weather feature dragging the prospect of more snow ever further south across scotland, into the north

of england, such that friday morning could be a real fest of frost and ice, and some snowfall, we think, too, coming down across central and eastern parts of the british isles, before it eventually quits the scene, unfortunately just after the main rush hour, to leave behind another chilly, chilly day right a prospect of somewhat drier conditions following all the snow. the weekend starts chilly again, and then it turns milderfor many as we get to sunday. a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: in his first news conference as president—elect — donald trump rejects claims he might be vulnerable to blackmail by the russians. trump's choice for us secretary of state hits out at china in his confirmation hearing — calling it aggressive, expansionist and unreliable. the taliban release a video of two abducted professors —

one australian, the other american — as they plead for donald trump to help free them. and drawing a line under the 0bama presidency — we talk to the artist who's painted him every day since he took office.