the first ”silo-finals, the weekend the first 3/4—finals, the lesser lights, lincoln city, what a great run, they were knocked out by arsenal, as were millwall by spurs, middlesbrough by manchester city. so the cream has risen to the top, a very short straw, just four names in it, chelsea winners today, they have set upa it, chelsea winners today, they have set up a london derby against spurs. they have beaten spurs, they have lost to spurs this season, so a little bit of bragging rights riding on that one, as well as a place in the final. they absolutely stuffed them five years ago, 2012, in the semifinals, 5—1, and chelsea went on to beat liverpool in the final. manchester city against arsenal in the fa cup, you can count on one hand the amount of times they have faced each other. if the omens are looking good for arsenal, the last time they faced city in the cup, 1971, they beat them on the way to the final, where they beat liverpool

as well in that final. but two cracking semifinals to look forward to next month. women's football has been let down by the fa, according to the organisation's chief executive. the women's game was banned at football league grounds in 1921 and wasn't back under the jurisdication of the fa for another 70 years. martin glenn acknowledged the mistakes made in the past but is aiming to double participation in the sport by 2020. 0ne one of the jobs of the fa is to promote football in the country, whether it is small sided, 11 aside, it is such a great sport for everyone, and frankly half the publishing, are you females, have not had as much attention as they might. that has changed in recent yea rs, might. that has changed in recent years, but today was all about saying, let's be ambitious, let's double the number of girls playing, and really make it a mainstream sport. both birmingham and liverpool have already expressed an interest in hosting the 2022 commonwealth games after it was announced a little earlier on that the event won't be taking place in durban any longer. the south african city was going to be the first african host but had indicated recently

it faced financial difficulties. an official commonwealth games federation statement has said they are searching for potential replacement candidates. the federation are probably not willing to accede to some of the demands of the south african department of sport, who are responsible for providing the funding for the games. i believe they wanted a return on their investment, and there was a discrepancy in the budget presented. it was believed to be $120 million less tha n it was believed to be $120 million less than what was seen to be provided by the ministry of sport. when it came to issues of funding is, economic growth is set to be 0.3% in the country, so there are much more pressing needs in the country, and the treasury has not been able to provide the funding required to host the games. chris froome has given his backing to the principal of team sky, sir dave brailsford,

saying without him, "there is no team sky." froome hadn't commented on his under pressure boss, who has said he won't resign, despite uk anti—doping's continuing investigation into a mystery package delivered to sir bradley wiggins in 2011. but today the three—time tour de france winner apologised for the way things have been handled. both brailsford and team sky deny any wrongdoing. here is some of froome's statement, in which he says, "i completely understand why people feel let down by the way in which the situation has been handled, and going forward we need to do better." he goes on to add, "i know it will take time for faith to be restored, but i will do my utmost to ensure that happens, along with everyone else at team sky." there have been protests this evening by fans and supporters of two of the biggest clubs in french rugby union, after it was announced that they are to merge. paris—based stade francais and racing 92 say they need to pool their resources to cope with the challenges of performance and education. it's a huge shock, as our reporter chrisjones explains. absolutely incredible story, this.

it's unprecedented, it's bizarre, and these aren't two small rugby clubs struggling to make ends meet. this is paris heavyweights stade francais, who won the french title in 2015, and racing 92, dan carter, potentially the world's greatest player, one of the greats of all time, he plays for racing 92, they won the french title in 2016. so two powerhouses of the french game have announced today they are going to merge under one banner. in order to get the best out of both clubs, their owners said they need to pool their resources and become one club. it's the equivalent perhaps in england of saracens and harlequins merging, or you can use football examples and say tottenham and arsenal merging, two london sides, so it really is a bizarre story, the kind of story that only french rugby seems able to throw up. you can't imagine tottenham and

arsenal joining you can't imagine tottenham and arsenaljoining up, you can't imagine tottenham and arsenal joining up, can you can't imagine tottenham and arsenaljoining up, can you? that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are matthew syed, columnist at the times, and kevin schofield, editor of politicshome. welcome to both of you, a look at those front pages first of all. the times, unsurprisingly, leads on the scotland first minister's demand for a second referendum on scottish independence, calling it an ambush, and reporting that theresa may is preparing to reject nicola sturgeon‘s bid for two years. a witty play on words

from the metro — "scots throw a sporran in the works," reporting that the first minister's announcement has thrown downing street's brexit plans into chaos. and the guardian continues the theme, headlining that the prime minister's plans have been upstaged by scotland's first minister. he daily telegraph calls the face—off between the two leaders the new battle for britain, and the paper includes quotes from theresa may accusing next of tunnel vision. and finally the daily express, which has focused on the events in westminster, saying that following the votes in parliament, pushing through the article 50 bill, the queen could sign brexit into law as early as tomorrow morning. well, let's ta ke early as tomorrow morning. well, let's take some of those on board in the next few moments, we will start with the i, which leads with the headline, future of the uk in doubt,

and it really is, we have got to that point, haven't we? it kind of suitis that point, haven't we? it kind of sums up in a nutshell, really, those of us who covered the first referendum are still trying to get over that experience! traumatised! now we are being thrown back into it once more. this was always on the cards, as soon as britain voted to leave the european union and scotland itself voted to remain. this was always likely to happen, but i still think that the timing is pretty significant. i think undoubtedly nicola sturgeon has caught theresa may on the hop, a bit ofan ambush, caught theresa may on the hop, a bit of an ambush, as one of the headline says, and she has taken the upper hand in this debate, but it has got a long way to go, and it will be interesting to see, once theresa may four minutes a proper response, what she actually she says. -- formulates a proper response. i have to say, i

think this is contemptible opportunism, because i understood the last referendum was to be once ina the last referendum was to be once in a generation. at the time it took place, they knew that cameron had promised to give a referendum to the whole of the uk on brexit. and they still said it was going to be once ina still said it was going to be once in a generation. it seems to me that the rules of the game was such that, after that referendum, scotland decided to stay in, they were committed to accepting the majority view of the united kingdom as a whole. it seems to me that this is opportunistic, and i am not at all surprised that theresa may is likely to push back, partly on the timing, but if she pushes it back until after the next scottish elections, it will be difficult for the snp to trigger the referendum. i mean, this could be a constitutional crisis. without a doubt, i think it will be. you are right, i don't see the benefit for theresa may in agreeing to have a referendum while she is also trying to get through the

minefield of brexit, so on the one hand you would be carrying of discussions with 27 other member states, trying to get the best possible deal for britain, while at the same time trying to fight a battle to keep the country together. i don't see why she would agree to do that, because it is in her gift to decide whether or not to give the scottish parliament the power to hold a referendum, and it would be madness to do it well brexit is rumbling on. of course, the next argument would be that she has a mandate as a result of the scottish elections that were most recently held, because she had put in a ma nifesto, held, because she had put in a manifesto, if there is a material change in the relationship between britain and, well, scotland and the uk as britain and, well, scotland and the ukasa britain and, well, scotland and the uk as a result of brexit, she can do it again. that manifesto was a bit of slippage in itself, because material change is open to all sorts of interpretations. they were not saying, during the first independence campaign, that we will,

if we lose, introduced into the next ma nifesto, if we lose, introduced into the next manifesto, a clause saying that if there is any material change... they we re there is any material change... they were all saying, it is once in a generation, come what may, and i felt that was unfair. i was in favour of remain as a voter, and i campaigned for it when i could. but i accept the result of that too. if you are going to have a fair fight, you are going to have a fair fight, you have to abide by the rules and not try to weasel your way out of it, and jude processes such an important concept, because then you can plan, have some certainty when you are casting your ballot. —— due process is. it seems to me that this isa process is. it seems to me that this is a corrosive effect, i do not think it is good for democracy. what is the metro take on it? i said a witty headline in the run through a moment ago, i am not sure that it necessarily stands up to that examination. i am not sure that will be the front page in the scottish edition! is there a scottish

edition? i believe there is, i believe they usually have a different front page, and scots throw a in the works, a bit of a tortuous pun. —— throw a temporary. anyway, leaving the headline aside, itjust shows you, anyway, leaving the headline aside, it just shows you, all the front pages are dominated, on a day when the article 50 bill is passed, a massive enough story in itself, ordinarily that would be the front page, but nicola sturgeon's faces staring out from every single front page. so it shows you it has been a massive pr win for her. no doubt what the scottish daily mail thinks about it, not only have they got a headline which is pretty clear, they have got comment on the front page. it is very neutral, very difficult to know what the editorial line is(!) they are going strongly with the line that may may turn down the idea that nicola sturgeon has of having the referendum before brexit. but this is going to be

extraordinarily divisive, notjust the campaign between those who want to remain part of the uk and those who do not, but those who feel that this is a betrayal of an earlier pledge to stick by the first result. the other thing to bear in mind is uncertainty, we already have uncertainty, we already have uncertainty in england because we don't know the terms of brexit, but at least there is a general expectation we will leave the single market, probably the customs union, there will hopefully be a free—trade deal. his mrs in scotland don't not this point whether they will be in the uk, whether they will be in the eu, whether they will be in the single market, whether they will be in the customs... they don't even know what the currency is going to be, extraordinary uncertainty with the scottish economy is tanking, is that too strong a word? a bit strong, but the economic case has weakened since the last referendum, but the political case is strengthened, and i think that is the gamble that nicola sturgeon is taking, that the political case will trump the economic case, because as

you say, the economic case is much weaker, the oil price has tanked, we can definitely say that. we were predicting a second oil boom at the time of the last referendum, and that has proven not to be the case. till with politics, the other big talking point, brexit, of course, various boats have gone in favour of the government tonight. —— various votes. this is a leaked document which really reveals what, i think, we already knew which is the complex structure that we are currently trying to disentangle ourselves from, given the vote to leave the eu. they are saying that there will have to be new laws covering immigration, tax, agriculture, trade, data protection, six bills for benefits, reciprocal health arrangements, in addition to the great repeal bill! there is a huge amount of negotiation of

disentanglement, it is an extraordinarily complex thing that has to take place. david davis, of course, is heading this up, and this just underlines what kind of thing we have got ourselves into. and all of that will involve votes, the lord is getting involved, potential amendments, that is the potential complication. absolutely, and a lot of mps and peers, obviously the government is in a minority in the house of lords, who will be using this legislation as an opportunity to delay, frustrate the process. so the notion that they will be able to not only agree a divorce deal with the rest of the eu, but also agree free—trade arrangements within the two year period, when you are also trying to do that, it seems fanciful to me. and scottish independence as well, a monumental period in front of us. let's end with something less controversial, namely a photograph

of her majesty the queen on the front of the express, this is from the commonwealth day evans today, which of course heralded the start of the baton relay head of the commonwealth games. yes, quite a big story, 2022, durbin, who had previously been the agreed hosts for that, they are no longer going to be the hosts. —— durban. ithink that, they are no longer going to be the hosts. —— durban. i think there may be a bid from liverpool, it gives me an opportunity to chip in with the fact that i won a commonwealth gold medal in manchester, i know you want to discuss the tactics are used in the final! but i will tell you one thing, it is very different from the 0lympics, great camaraderie, and in the build—up to all of that, they think of it as an anachronism, but it isa think of it as an anachronism, but it is a really uplifting experience, and quitea it is a really uplifting experience, and quite a good spectacle too. it is a really uplifting experience, and quite a good spectacle toom 2014, back to scotland, in glasgow, it came right after, no, it wasjust

before the independence referendum, so before the independence referendum, so you had the whole place in the firm and anyway, and then a commonwealth games, it was fantastic. any medals or prizes? honestly, i think i got a swimming badge! bronze, probably! in the interest of studio harmony, i wanted to give you the opportunity! thank you very much for the time being, thanks to both of you, you canjoin us thanks to both of you, you canjoin us again at 11:30, and you can see the front pages online on the bbc news website. for the moment, goodbye. quite a mild start if you saw

sunshine, certainly across northern ireland, 16.6 else is, the warmest day of the year so far in northern ireland. much of east anglia, wales and the midlands bathed in blue sky, but those areas will see cloud increasing overnight, and an area of rain in north—west scotland will push south across scotland, northern ireland and into the north of northern england, becoming increasingly light and patchy as it does so. but with all of the cloud around, temperatures not going down too far, we're not worried about frost overnight. 0nto tuesday morning, eight o'clock, quite misty and murky over the moors of the south—west, the welsh hills, drizzle to higher ground. just a few brighter breaks, east midlands, eastern england, damp and grisly into the pennines, plenty of cloud in north—west england. northern ireland, though, brightening up through the morning, getting two seasons sunshine, sunny spells in scotland, but across the north, northern and western isles, notjust showers but a very strong wind which could just above 70 mph,

particularly around some of the showers that come through, so that raises the possibility of travel disruption as we go on through tuesday. winds are like the further south you come, more cloud and some outbreaks of rain coming back to parts of northern ireland and south—west scotland into the afternoon, and we will keep a lot of cloud in england and wales, but through north—east wales, the midlands and eastern england some sunny spells, and if you get sunshine, temperatures will be higher than this, maybe around 17 or 18 celsius. going through tuesday evening and night, this area of thicker cloud will go southwards, patchy rain, north—east england could turn quite chilly, a touch of frost into wednesday morning. wednesday, southern england, southern wales, cloudy, outbreaks of rain in northern scotland, sunny spells in northern england, and across eastern parts. thursday into friday, initially a weather front moving south on thursday, weakening, stronger weather system is heading oui’ stronger weather system is heading our way. friday into the weekend, a

strongerjet our way. friday into the weekend, a stronger jet stream, so our way. friday into the weekend, a strongerjet stream, so what our way. friday into the weekend, a stronger jet stream, so what we our way. friday into the weekend, a strongerjet stream, so what we will notice right at the end of the week is temperatures will come it will feel cooler, particularly in the stronger wind, and more of us will be seeing wetter weather by then. this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 11:00pm: contents 118, not contents, 204. the house of lords has passed the government's brexit bill, paving the way for the theresa may to trigger article 50 by the end of the month, so the uk can start leaving the eu. nicola sturgeon announces plans to hold a second independence referendum for scotland, claiming the prime minister is ignoring the wishes of scottish voters on britain leaving the eu. i believe that it would be wrong for scotland to be taken down a path

that it has no control over, regardless of the consequences for our economy, for our society, for our place in the world, for our very sense of who we are as a country.