and roger federer moves through to the quarter—finals at halle, as he remains on course for a ninth title there. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with football and it was honours even in both of thursday's group b matches at the confederations cup. cameroon and australia drew 1—1, which did neither side any favours, while a 1—1 draw between chile and germany leaves them both on the brink of the semi—finals. colm harrison rounds up the action. germany were hoping to make it to be number 100, but suffered an early set back. the defender paid the price for a wayward path and his teammate alexis sanchez made the most of that mistake to put the south american champions in front after only six minutes. he is now the record goalscorer, with 38. it almost got worse for germany before it got better. a crossbar which away from making it 2—0. three minutes before half—time the germans were

level. a win for either side would have sealed their place for the last four, but 1—1 was the final score. the game between cameroon and australia also finished 1—1. the african champions league in front on the stroke of half—time but the challenge early in the second half was deemed a penalty via the video assistant referee and mark milligan put away the spot kick for the socceroos. neither side could fashion a win, although cameroon went close. a point for either team may not be enough in the end. those results means germany and chile both need just a draw from their final games to qualify for the semi—finals. australia and cameroon both need to win to have any chance of going through. if all four teams end up on four points each, it'll all come down to goal difference. to england, where premier league side liverpool have signed egyptian

winger mohammad salah. the 25—year—old tweeted this picture of himself a short time ago wearing the number 11 shirt which he's been handed for next season. the £34 million fee matches that which liverpool paid for fellow african sadio mane last year. salah has moved from italian side roma signing a five—year deal for the anfield club. he last played in the premier league with chelsea where he only made six starts before moving to italy with fiorentina and then roma scoring 15 goals in 31 league appearances last season. now to cricket, where the icc has granted test status to ireland and afghanistan. the decision on thursday increases the number of countries competing at the top level of international cricket to 12. ireland have been playing as associate members since 1993 and have had official one day status since their first world cup appearance in 2007. they've recorded famous victories over pakistan, england and the west indies in that time. now they'll be able to compete alongside them at test level.

i guess we are hoping that this is going to help translate cricket or ireland being a majorforce of cricket and help drive forward cricket and help drive forward cricket being a major force cricket and help drive forward cricket being a majorforce in ireland. we set out a strategy last year to make cricket mainstream in ireland and in fact gaining test status and gaining full membership isa status and gaining full membership is a means for us to be able to achieve that. what i am hoping is that this decision today is going to help us to become much more i guess are part of the cultural landscape of ireland. i might be overly ambitious to say as much as gay by ambitious to say as much as gay rugby is for football but i think we will get there. —— gaelic rugby. afghanistan's rise has been rapid. the cricket board was only formed in 1995, by afghan refugees living in pakistan, but the country gained full 0di status in 2011 and became an icc associate member in 2013. it is big news for afghanistan. i

can't express my feelings. that was a dream, especially for me. as a child i was watching these members play each other and now we are full member, so that's big news. now we are celebrating this huge achievement. ijust received the message that in all five regions of afghanistan people are out on the streets and celebrating this achievement. i very much congratulate this for all cricket fans. roger federer remains on course for a ninth title at halle in germany after a straight sets win over home favourite mischa zverev on thursday. the 35—year—old swiss moves through to the quarter—finals where he'll face zverev‘s compatriot florian mayer after this 7—6, 6—4 win. the 18 time grand slam champion was knocked out in the first round last week in stuttgart, but finds himself coming into form on the grass as he prepares his bid for an eighth wimbledon title. kei nishikori, though, is out.

he needed treatment for a back and hip problem during his second round match against russia's karen khatchanov. the number three seed from japan did his best to carry on after that, but was forced to call it a day during the sixth game of the first set. it's the third year in a row he's been forced to retire through injury at this tournament. meanwhile, at queen's club in london, marin cilic is safely through to the quarter—finals after a straight sets win over stefan kozlov of the united states. cilic, the number four seed, is the highest ranked player left in the draw. the 2012 champion won 6—0, 6—4 and he'll face donald young in the last eight. there were also wins for sam querrey, daniil medvedev and feliciano lopez. the number two seed elina svitolina says she may have to withdraw from wimbledon after losing her

second round match to italian qualifier camila giorgi in birmingham. svitolina, the world number five from ukraine, was troubled by a heel injury during the three set loss saying it was very sensitive and that she couldn't even play at 50% of her ability. giorgi though moves through to a quarter—final against another surprise packet in 21—year—old australian ashleigh barty. world number sevenjohanna konta has suffered a setback losing to american coco vandeweghe who's now being coached by former wimbledon champion pat cash. the 26—year—old briton who was a beaten finalist at the nottingham 0pen last weekend lost in straight sets 6—1, 6—3 and will now head to her home event in eastbourne before the wimbledon championships get under way while vandeweghe will now play spain's garbine muguruza. meanwhile, vandeweghe will face garbine muguruza in the quarter—finals. the number six seed from spain eased into the last eight with a straight sets 6—1, 6—4 victory over the american alison riske. kristina mladenovic is also through to the quarter—finals after beating zhang shuai in straight sets. jordan spieth was leading on eight

under in connecticut at —— and the former world number one is leading after this hole on the 18th. rory mcilroy miss the cut last week and has a niggling with problem. rory mcilroy is certainly showing form and the defending champion is currently on one under. sergio garcia is among three players who are two strokes off the lead heading into the second round. the australian leads on eight under par and he could have been leading by more if this is all shot had dropped. spain's garcia who's playing his first european tour event since winning his inaugural major at augusta

national in april is playing consistently well this year with tee shots like this on the par three eighth keeping him well placed. it was great. i felt like i it was great. ifelt like i played quite well. not spectacular but consistent and i was happy to see some of the shots i hit and i am very happy with the six under. to cycling and chris froome sets out to defend his tour de france title when this year's race gets under way in the german city of dusseldorf eight days from now. the briton will start as favourite for a fourth title in five years and has been looking at where the race may be won and lost. i think the real key stages are going to be the mountaintop finish, which is our biggest mountaintop finish this year, over 2000 metres. it isa finish this year, over 2000 metres. it is a massive client. i think state aid or nine, quite a hard

stage with the final climb up. —— eight or nine. then descending down, that will be a key stage. i don't think this tour will be won or lost on one stage, it will be a combination of the three weeks together. to day three at royal ascot where big orange won the gold cup on thursday in a photo finish. it was a packed course with ladies day on one of the biggest races in the uk flat calendar and it became a two horse race between last year's winner order of st george with ryan moore on board and big orange with the latter taking it by a short head, as queen elizabeth ii handed the trophy to owner bill gredley and james doyle also getting his hands on it after stepping in for the unjured frankie dettori. that's all we've got time for. until next time, goodbye for now. well, it has certainly freshened up right across the uk.

here'sjust a reminder of the heatwave we had on wednesday. the peak 35, nearly, degrees celsius across the south—east. come thursday, almost a ten degree drop as these fresher atlantic conditions are setting in. but some spectacular weather as well. this is a picture of a thunderstorm taken by a weather watcher in kent. but further north, and across western areas, those atlantic clouds have been rolling in, bringing much cooler conditions. this is the system. this system will be responsible for bringing some quite windy weather, particularly into northern areas, back into the weekend. let's look at friday, early hours of the morning. rain getting into parts of northern ireland, western and south—western scotland.

for most of us in the south and east, it will be a dry end to the night. still quite warm for the morning. 111—15 celsius. let's look at rush hour. at this stage in belfast, glasgow, maybe edinburgh, some spots of rain, nothing too heavy. some heavier pulse is possible a little further south into the lake district, lancashire maybe, northern parts of wales, but for most of the central and southern areas, a dry start to the day. some sunshine poking through and temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees. now, this here, this band of weather, this is actually cold front or cool front, that brings fresher atlantic conditions in, it is going to sink southwards in the morning and into the afternoon. so across parts of the midlands and wales, there will be spots of rain, and as it moves south, it is going to brighten up in belfast and glasgow. so some sunshine in the afternoon. a fair bit of cloud in london, up to 23. it is worth pointing out the wind in northern scotland. could be up to gale force. pretty unusual for this time of year, with showers around, as well. i think on saturday, and sunday as well, a bit of a mixed day — sunny spells, passing showers,

and even those even fresher atlantic conditions setting in. in fact, many of us will not have temperatures up to 20 degrees. maybe london just scraping into the low 20s. how are we doing compared to the rest of europe? it has been hot in paris. similar temperatures to london. berlin as well. as you'd expect in the mediterranean, in rome, temperatures still on the hot side. temperatures still into the 30s. the next two days, fresh and breezy. rain at times, but also some sunshine from time to time. goodbye. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is gavin grey. our top stories: 0n the frontlines in the fight for raqqa. we have a special report from syria with us—backed fighters battling to drive the so—called islamic state out of their last stronghold. as you can see, there is still sniperfire going on here. welcome to raqqa, caliphate under siege.

and in iraq, islamic state fighters destroy a historic mosul mosque. the iraqi prime minister says it's a declaration of defeat by the militants. the us congress gets to see the new draft bill on healthcare but four republican senators say they may not support the plan