' way may in melbourne. pliskova is through in underan melbourne. pliskova is through in under an hour. and the cubs have a new fan. maybe they will offer him a job. the world number two, maybe, but he is very much the favourite in melbourne. novak djokovic begins the defence of his australian open title on day two. he will play spain's fernando verdasco in the rod laver arena. a tough opening assignment — djokovic had to save five match points against verdasco in a tournament in doha recently. djokovic has been busy in the run—up to the tournament at promotional events, but he says he is determined to kick—start 2017 with a record seventh title in melbourne. the question everyone has been asking him is whether he will reclaim his world number one ranking. asa as a consequence as a consequence of the results, if

i become number one, that's great. of course that's what i want. but it's not... it's not my main priority, let's say. i really would like to take one tournament at a time, and just tried to win as many matches as possible. and then, as i said, asa matches as possible. and then, as i said, as a consequence to that, if i become number one, of course i'll be thrilled. it is eight years since rafael nadal, winner 01:14 grand slam title, last won the australian open. last year he went out in the first round. focus will be on the spaniards physical condition and, in particular, his troublesome wrist. but he still looks the part, and more importantly he believes he can win another title. before he can dream of more melbourne glory, he will have to get past the german florian mayer. ifi if i don't see myself, and if i don't believe that i can be competitive, and when i remain competitive, and when i remain competitive, is fighting for the

things that i fought during the last ten years. i will be probably playing golf or fishing at home. i am being honest with this, so if i am being honest with this, so if i am here, it is because i believe that, i don't know, in a couple of weeks, in acapulco, in miami, i don't know, but i believe that i can fight for the things that really motivate me. already the rising czech star karolina pliskova has breezed through, dropping just two games. serena williams has started against bencic, who beat her in 2015. rafael nadal has to wait until that match is over before he gets his melbourne trip under way, so to speak. the

margaret court arena, konta is serving to take that match. flipkens showing some resistance, as she did in the first set, konta eventually taking that 7—5. 0n the hisense arena, 19—year—old german alexander zverev is starting well. he has taken the first set. he lost the next 6—3, close in the third set. former world number one caroline wozniacki has been to the semi—finals in melbourne before. the chinese football association have announced reforms which will restrict the number of foreign players in the chinese super league. from the start of the new season, in march, clubs will only be allowed to field three non—national players per game, down from five. several high—profile players have joined the chinese super league following big—money transfers, and diego costa is the latest to be linked with a move there.

the chelsea striker trained alone for a second day, after missing his side's win at leicester on saturday. manager antonio conte says the player is suffering with a back injury, but there has been huge speculation that his absence was to do with a possible big—money move to the chinese super league. west ham have rejected a second bid from marseille for dimitri payet. the french side have reportedly offered around $24 million for their former midfielder. but west ham are still refusing to sell, despite the fact that he is not currently playing or training with the first team. just one goal in two games in the africa cup of nations in gabon on monday, junior kabananga for dr congo. the central african side won 1—0 against morocco, despite having a man sent off. togo and ivory coast played out a 0—0 draw. ten—man ac milan managed a 2—2 draw at torino on monday.

milan are fifth in serie a. in spain, malaga lost 2—0 at home to fifth—place real sociedad. valtteri bottas will drive for mercedes in formula 1 next season. the finnish driver has been announced as nico rosberg's replacement, after the german world champion quit just days after winning the formula 1 title. he leaves the williams team to team up with three—time champion lewis hamilton. i'm prepared to work really hard. i'm prepared to work really hard. i'm still young and fast, and obviously lewis is going to be a great reference, many time world champion. everyone else is excited how good he is, so it is going to be great dean witter lewis, being his team—mates, and also for me to compare to him. but first of all for

us compare to him. but first of all for us to work together. —— being with lewis. he is england's number one batsman, and he might be about to get the topjob. there are calls forjoe root to take over as test captain. alastair cook is said to be considering stepping down, after his team lost their test series in india. root, who is with the one day side out there, has been asked if he would like the job. but he just says cook needs space. it is completely out of my hands. it isa it is completely out of my hands. it is a decision that cookey has two, and tim and straussy has to make and whatever decision is made will be in the best intentions of this team moving forward, and there has been a lot of speculation about it happening soon, but the next test match until the summer, and i think cookey deserves to be given some space, and a bit of time to make his choice, and personally i think he is a great leader, and it would be great to see him continue. i think

he's got a lot to offer this team, moving forward. the british sailor alex thomson has set a world record for the longest distance sailed solo in a day. he was competing in the vendee globe. that is the non—stop race around the world. thompson covered 536.8 miles, which averages out atjust over 25 mph over a 24—hour period. now he has broken the record, and reduced the gap on the leader, france's armel le cleac‘h. thomson actually broke the record earlier in the race, but not by the distance needed to make it official. a new 24—hour record. whoo! feels like a long time coming, obviously i should have broken it two months ago, ori should have broken it two months ago, or i did make it two months ago, or i did make it two months ago, but by less than one mile. you need to break it by more than one mile. so i'm very happy about that but really it is about trying to get as close to armel as possible. i'm struggling a little bit at the moment, not catching up as much as i

would like. president barack 0bama welcomed the chicago cubs to the white house on monday, to celebrate their world series win. the president has a home in chicago, but he is a white sox fan. the cubs gave 0bama a baseball jersey with the number 44, a fitting gift for the nation's 44th president. richard mcelvanney has this report. he made many promises when he came to power in 2008, but not even president 0bama was brave enough to reject the chicago cubs winning the world series. they said this day would never come. a chicago white sox fan, the president welcomed his team's main rivals to the white house. here is something none of my predecessors ever got a chance to say. welcome to the white house, the world series champion, chicago cubs. the cubs won their first world

series title since 1908 in november, eating the cleveland indians in a dramatic game seven. eating the cleveland indians in a dramatic game sevenlj eating the cleveland indians in a dramatic game seven. i will say to the cubs took too long enough. i have only got four days left, you just made it under the wire. and from one president to another. we have taken the liberty here today of offering you a midnight pardon. for all your indiscretions as a baseball fan. and so we welcome you with open arms today into the cubs family. unity among sporting rivals, an important lesson for a country about to enter a new era. britain's konta has beaten flipkens in straight sets, she is through to the second round. good morning. we got some topsy—turvy weather conditions across

the country yesterday. last week's snow still just about lying to the tops of high ground in scotland. a lot of cloud around, but look at the temperature. 12 degrees, incredibly mild for this time of year. a different story further south and east. there were some brief glimpses of sunshine across that kent coast, but it was cold with it, four orfive generally in the south—east corner. and that is because the nearer the area of high pressure and the cold air coming from the near continent. at the same time, we've got the winds coming from a south—westerly direction in scotland, driving in this milder air. there will continue to be quite a lot of cloud, cloud thick enough for drizzle. but not a cold start to the day, but in the south—east corner, we're going to see temperatures hovering around freezing. but it will be quite a mucky start to the day, really, through scotland and northern ireland. a lot of cloud around, there will be some hill fog,

and bits and pieces of showery rain, through eastern scotland down across the borders towards the isle of man and north—west england. further south, maybe the cloud thick enough for the odd spot or two of drizzle, but nothing particularly significant, but it will be mild. through the isle of wight up into east anglia, here it will be cold and frosty. i suspect we will see more in the way of sunshine through tuesday. clear skies, a beautiful day developing for many of us. further north and west, it stays cloudy, stays pretty murky close to the coast there as well, but it stays incredibly mild. with eastern scotland brightening up into the afternoon, we could see highs of 12 degrees. but generally around 10 celsius through scotland and northern ireland. into that south—east corner, despite the sunshine, it stays cold — four or five. and so that means for the fa cup third—round replays, it is going to be cold at wimbledon, but burnley and barnsley looks as though it will stay with a little more cloud. not quite so cold there. now, with the clear skies through the day, that is going to allow for those temperatures to really fall away overnight tuesday into wednesday,

perhaps the coldest of the nights through the week. we could see lows down to —2, “11 in rural spots. but —1 close to towns and city centres. elsewhere, it is going to be cloudy and rather mild. and that theme, what a surprise, continues into wednesday. once we lose the frost, it is going to be a glorious day across much of southern england, but it looks as though it will stay rather cloudy. but double—digits again in the far north, 10 degrees the high. things become more uniform thursday into friday. not quite as sunny in the south, and not quite as warm in the north. take care. 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: turkish police say they've captured the main suspect nightclub shooting where 39 people were killed in the new year attack. donald trump casts a long shadow across the atlantic as europe and china hit back at his latest foreign policy comments. elections are called in northern ireland

as the power—sharing government collapses. but the main parties are warned they will have to work together again. and he was the last man on the moon. commander gene cernan dies at the age of 82. hello.