premier premiership table. and leicester on the brink of the top four with a win at the harlequins. lots for you. starting with claudio ranieri, the ex— leicester city manager and how the man who helped make one of the sports great stories has become one of its most famous victims. ranieri claimed in a statement this afternoon that his dream died. leicester are currently one point above the relegation zone after a string poor performances in the league. earlier, the team's interim manager craig shakespeare, who was his assistant, insisted ranieri hadn't lost the support of the players and that they needed the fans on their side.

i can't tell the fans how to behave ati i can't tell the fans how to behave at i think what i will say is we will need their support over the next coming matches starting against liverpool on monday. can you categorically say he hadn't lost some parts of the dressing room? categorically say he hadn't lost some parts of the dressing room7m is pure speculation and what i would say is there was a lot of frustration with results but he hadn't lost the dressing room. well the decision to sack ranieri hasn't gone down well with the lifelong leicester fan and former striker gary lineker. he told us he's saddened by the club's treatment of the man who led them to their first title in their history. last season is inexplicable, not this season, so the fact they have managed to get into a reasonable position in the champions league with a 50—50 chance of going through to the quarter—finals, they are not in the bottom three, and given the magic of last season, surely he deserved more time, surely we have sentiment and empathy for him. i think i speak for myself as a

leicester fan, think i speak for myself as a leicesterfan, i think i speak for myself as a leicester fan, i cannot think i speak for myself as a leicesterfan, i cannot speak think i speak for myself as a leicester fan, i cannot speak for all leicester fans, some leicester fan, i cannot speak for all leicesterfans, some might disagree, but i think the way that he handled everything last season, the fact that he gave leicester so much, the fact that he made the whole country get behind leicester, a lot of that was down to him. no silly football mind games et cetera. he was genuine. he was warm. the country warmed to him and to the club. that would have evaporated today. manchester united have been given, what managerjose mourionho described as a ‘bad draw‘ in the europa league. they face russian side rostov in the last 16. although rostov are the lowest—ranked team in the draw, it's not ideal for united as they face a near 5,000 mile round trip for the first leg in russia, before their fa cup tie at chelsea just four days later. inverness are off the bottom of the scottish premiership table after a dramatic 2—1 win over rangers tonight.

caley thistle took the lead just before the half—time break. greg tansey with this lovely finish from outside the box. rangers equalised midway through the second half after their captain was fouled in the penalty area, and up stepped martyn waghorn to score from the spot. inveress were then awarded their own penalty with five minutes left but iain vigurs's shot was saved. but caley thistle weren't finished there and what a way to win it. bill mckay with a brilliant overhead kick in the last minute of the game to seal a valuable win. birmingham returned to winning ways in the championship with a 2—1 win over local rivals wovles. the opening goal is one that wolves keeper carl akeeme will want to forget. the simpliest of finishes. and the lead was doubled barely five minutes later. former wolves player david davis with the finish. they played the last half an hour with ten men after paul robinson was sent off.

and wolves made them sweat. nouha dicko pulling a goal back. but birmingham held on for the victory. rugby union's six nations championship continues this weekend with the third round of matches. won their first six nations match for six years....they‘ve beaten —— but the women's tournament is slightly ahead and scotland have won their first six nations match for six years. they've beaten wales by 15 points to 14. it's the first time in 30 meetings that they've beaten the welsh. they did it the hard way, coming back from 14—0 down. sarah law with the vital penalty to push them over the line at broadwood stadium. domestically, there was one game in the premiership tonight and it was a big win for leicester, who are closing in on the top four after beating harlequins 27—18 away. after taking an early lead it was quins who led at half time but leicester came back, freddie burns scoring more than half their points, with their third and final try as well as kicking ten points.

leicester a re now level with fourth placed bath, only behind on points difference. in the pro 12, cardiff narrowly won at edinburgh, to inflict more misery looking beaten and 11 points down on the hour, the blues staged a come back — lloyd williams with the match winning try. 18—17 the score. in the night's other games. it was a busy night in rugby league's super league with five games. warrington were hoping for another win after their victory over the brisbane broncos in the world club series but they were left red faced by castleford whose man of the match zak hardaker gave them the lead and they never looked back. 30—22 the score. castleford are now top of the table. here is a look at the other scores.

history will be made in west yorkshire tomorrow when the toronto wolfpack become the first transatlantic sports team as they take on siddal in rugby league's challenge cup on saturday. the third round tie will be the canadian side's first professional game and our reporter stuart pollitt has been to see them prepare. the decades, rugby league has tried to expand beyond northern england, m62 corridor, with mixed success. they are based in kent. the biggest change in rugby league took place in paris. the first time wales has had a club in this competition. now the sport is crossing the pond and breaking ground. what will this look

like? better. the toronto wolfpack is the brainchild of this man. like? better. the toronto wolfpack is the brainchild of this manli like? better. the toronto wolfpack is the brainchild of this man. i was living in birmingham, looking through the tv, landed on the super league match and i was blown away by the action, what is this? then, as i was watching, i realised this is the most canadian sport that had never been to canada, so i left birmingham, icame been to canada, so i left birmingham, i came home and started a dream. despite starting in the third and bottom tier, there is a record team on board, and here is the stadium, the home turf, the pitch is covered in the harsh canadian winter. it is currently minus eight degrees. because of the weather they won't play any home games here until may. meanwhile they are training on the other side of the atlantic under the former great britain boss ray —— brian noble.

unique, interesting, challenging. imagine the first conversations to recruit the first group of players. you know, approaching them and saying, there is a new team, come and play for me. the toronto wolfpack have to find travel and accommodation for visiting teams. can rugby league in a city dominated by baseball, basketball, football and a bigger sport, by baseball, basketball, football and a biggersport, i by baseball, basketball, football and a bigger sport, i thought he? —— ice hockey? have you heard of the toronto wolfpack? no. i have heard of it. people asked me about tickets. it will be difficult for the toronto wolfpack to become part of the mainstream, right away, they are not going to play at a point where there is no other sports team playing. it is a pioneering project that will take not only rugby league to another level, another stratosphere, it will change the way

world sport is done on a professional levels to wipe the rugby football league confirmed they are in talks with other countries about similar ventures. ace-4 long criticised for failed expansion could now become trailblazer —— a sport long criticised. just time for some skeleton news. britain's lizzie yarnold is fourth after the first day of the skeleton world championships in germany. olympic champion yarnold has had an indifferent season since returning after a year out. she was fourth in her first heat this morning before the second was cancelled due to heavy snow in koenigsee. germany's jacqueline loelling leads. there's live coverage tomorrow on the bbc sport website and red button. that's all from sportsday. today was much more calm and quiet than what we saw yesterday. it was cooler as well. things are set to change. we have weather systems pushing in through the weekend, it will bring spells of rain. you can see the weather fronts. tightly packed isobars and it will be windy. it will be mild from the south—west,

pushing in across the uk tonight. rainfor pushing in across the uk tonight. rain for northern and western areas, heavyin rain for northern and western areas, heavy in north—west england and wales, eventually reaching the south—east. notice temperatures are higher than last night 5—10 in the south—west. this weekend is looking u nsettled. south—west. this weekend is looking unsettled. stills of rain at times in the north and west, and gale force winds at times across the north and west. 0n the upside, for most of the weekend, it will be mild. saturday is not looking pleasant, cloudy, wet, heavy rain. gale force winds around the coasts and over high ground. the rain will be focused across western hills of england and wales, south—west england, western wales, cumbria and lancashire will see rain either time saturday is out with localised flooding in places. central and eastern places, you could see a glimmer of brightness, but it will be mild. the rain band moves south in the afternoon. brighter skies for

northern ireland and scotland with blustery showers. at least you have sunshine to compensate. so, the first part of saturday night begins wet and windy. eventually the rain pushes into the north sea. it will turn dry for pushes into the north sea. it will turn dryfora pushes into the north sea. it will turn dry for a while. the windfall in later. a chilly night. in. in the south it will be fairly mild. 0n sunday morning, here it is, showing up sunday morning, here it is, showing up clearly on the bigger picture, sweeping in across the uk as sunday wears on. central, southern and eastern parts of the country will be dry through sunday. you could see some sunshine as well with the mild air, it will be pleasant, i2, some sunshine as well with the mild air, it will be pleasant, 12, maybe 13 degrees. wet and windy for the north and west. western hills see most of the rain. into monday, it looks like things turn cooler. it will be a blustery day. frequent showers around. maybe even wintry over the high ground of scotland. notice temperatures in single

figures. that is the theme as we head into next week, it looks like it will be cooler, quite unsettled with spells of wet and windy weather. welcome to bbc news. our top stories: malaysia confirms that it was a chemical weapon that killed the half brother of north korea's leader. it was a lethal nerve agent. iraqi forces say they are back in western mosul for the first time, day after recapturing the airport from so—called islamic state. donald trump renews his attack on the media for claims america will be bigger and stronger than ever before, and he is pressing ahead with the mexico wall. we are building the wall. we are building the wall. in fact, it is go to start soon. way ahead of schedule. -- it is going to. and will hollywood be going la la for la