goes from gold to nothing in the space of 20 metres, as phyllis francis claims the world title. isaac makwala runs by himself, but he's through to the men's 200m final after the iaaf allow him to compete. and kay wilson scores four tries as england get their defence of the women's rugby world cup off to a flying start. hello, and welcome to the programme. we start with news from day six of the world athletics championships in london. botswana's isaac makwala found himself eligible to compete in the 200 metres after the iaaf allowed him to run a heat by himself after overcoming illness, while the last event of the night saw a gold lost in the last 20 metres, as colm harrison reports. the women's 400 metres final was seen as the women's 400 metres final was seen as a the women's 400 metres final was seen as a showdown between the defending champion, alison phoenix, of the usa, and shaunae millerfrom

the bahamas. she was on course to add her title. but she stumbled with the finish—line insight and was taken over in the final metres. it was philip francis coming through to get gold. a first individual medal for the usa regular who seemed as stunned as anyone. norway got the 400 metres hurdles. leading from gun until tape. the first gold for the country in the event and the first medal of the championships. and china got the only field goal on offer on wednesday. throwing 19 metres to win shotput. the action of the night began with the bizarre sight of botswa na's the night began with the bizarre sight of botswana's isaac makwala on a 200 metre time trial on his own. he was temporarily barred from earlier attempts after being

diagnosed with a virus. after repeating his 48 our quarantine, he was given a chance to qualify for the 200. he had to go faster than 20.53 seconds and did just that. two hours later, he went to the semis as well. and so did the south african attempting to get a 400— 200 double. 0ne attempting to get a 400— 200 double. one of the fastest losers. also on day six, dalia, the russian, breezed into the long jump, posting six metres and 66 centimetres in the second round. and mo farah, the home favourite, is through to the next round. he eased through his hit. a fifth global five and 10,000 metres

double is still on. bbc news. the year's final golf major, the uspga championship, tees off on thursday at quail hollow in north carolina withjimmy walker the defending champion. at 24, jordan spieth can become the youngest player to win the career grand slam if he can manage victory on sunday. for news on that and everything else, here's austin halewood. after the brilliance of birkdale, the eyes of the golfing world returned to the united states and quail hollow, the final major of the year, the uspga, being billed as the last stand of rory mcilroy as he tries to stop jordan last stand of rory mcilroy as he tries to stopjordan spieth becoming the youngest golfer to complete a career grand slam. fresh from winning the open last month, jordan spieth has momentum. but rory mcilroy has gotten victory before on this course and he is rediscovering his old form. my form is better coming into this event than it was in the open after a few top fives

and miscuts. things at different than a few weeks ago. but in a city where there are constant reminders of the civil war, it is more likely we will see a showdown between some of america's biggest guns. brooks koepka and rickie fowler have the firepower as does jimmy walker after battling lyme disease which has given him fatigue at times. he is hoping to put health problems behind him. it is hard when you cannot get out there and get going. everyone likes time off from work, but i don't. i want to compete. if you cannot do it at your best it is difficult. another american going for the title is dustinjohnson. the world number one is a shadow of what he was before his fall on the eve of the mast is. things happen. -- masters. just when you feel like you are on top, things happen. but i am

fighting back. i feel like are on top, things happen. but i am fighting back. ifeel like the are on top, things happen. but i am fighting back. i feel like the game is as good as it was. hopefully we will have a good weekend i will be there on sunday. the odds are long onjohnson winning the title on sundays to pick the sensible bet is with his countryman, jordan spieth. but we should know better than to rule out rory mcilroy. after all, as a promotional campaign proved earlier this week when he is at the top of his game, the results can be out of this world. bbc news. now to rugby union. the eighth women's world cup got under way in ireland on wednesday. there are 12 teams taking part, and they were all in action in the opening round of pool matches in dublin from where sarah mulkerrins reports. the sun has set in dublin after the opening day of the rugby world cup for the women. we got plenty of tries. england, the defending champion, started well, 56 points against five against spain. ten tries showing the strength of the

side. they are the only full—time professional tea m side. they are the only full—time professional team and have such strength and depth. 12 debutants lining up to begin with. they will be the ones to watch. new zealand, four—time champions in this tournament. they got knocked out in the pool stages three years ago. looking for a comeback. 44 points against 12 against wales. a tries. a big win for canada, the runners—up three years ago. 98— zero, beating the debutants, hong kong. a tough open up for hong kong. the host, ireland, they had fans on the edge of their seats towards the end of their match. just a 2—point margin of victory ireland gave their fans in dublin. 19 points against 17. they eventually beat australia. much to the relief of the home crowd. she mentioned it was a tough opening

for hong kong. we will look at those results, including that one. in pool a, there were big win for new zealand and canada. fullback, selica winiata, scored a hat—trick as the black ferns beat wales 44—12, and canada, runners—up in 2014, thrashed hong kong 98—0. in pool b, england began the defence of their title with a comfortable win over spain. kay wilson ran in four of england's ten tries as the champions won 56—5 and usa beat italy. while in pool c hosts ireland scored a tight win over australia and france were very comfortable beating japan but how did the holders view their win? the second round of games takes place on the weekend. the final is in belfast on the 26th of august. the score does not reflect how physical and tough it is out there. spain where a great opposition. buy from the beginning they set the score. it was a physical game. they played until the end and gave us some questions we were not expecting. we had to adapt on the field. it was certainly a contest no matter what the score has to say.

liverpool have rejected a second offerfrom spanish giants barcelona for midfielder phillipe coutinho. the bbc understands the bid for the 25—year—old brazilian was nearly $100 million, with around $17.5 million then to be paid in add—ons. barcelona are widely regarded as wanting coutinho to replace neymar, who moved to paris st germain for a world record fee. now to tennis, and world number one, andy murray, has withdrawn from the cincinnati masters because of an ongoing hip injury having already pulled out of this weeks montreal masters. the 30—year—old is now certain to lose his number one ranking this month and is a doubt for the us open, which starts in under three weeks. the world number three roger federer is playing in montreal though and needed just 53 minutes to get past canadian wild card and world number 116 peter pola nsky winning 6—2, 6—1.federer, who turned 36 on tuesday, will next face spain's david ferrer.

i think this tournament, trying to play with confidence that i got on the grasscourt season, i have to adjust my game a little bit because the bounce of the ball is so much higher in wimbledon. there is wind, which we did not have much of. so, i think it isjust which we did not have much of. so, i think it is just really we will see how it goes this week and then we will learn from this week after cincinnati in the us open. 0n the wta tour event in toronto, new world number one, the cubs and the giants. there was a hamstring injury. and the giants got

a 3—1 lead, winning two of the three matches in the series. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hello there. much of the country was fine and dry, with some good, sunny spells on wednesday. but it was atrocious across the south—east, cold and wet, like this weather watcher behind me depicts of central london. the rain has been slowly petering out, and as we start thursday morning with largely clear skies and light winds, it's going to be a chilly one. temperatures out of town in single figures, widely, across the uk. maybe a little bit of mist and fog in places, as well. that's because we've got a ridge of high pressure which will keep things largely fine and settled for thursday, this weather front which brought all the rain across the south—east on wednesday slowly clearing away. we've also got another weather system slowly approaching the far north—west of the uk. so that will introduce a little bit of thicker cloud, and also a few spots of light rain across the far north and north—west of scotland.

but, away from here, for much of scotland it is going to be a dry and fine morning with some sunshine. same too for northern ireland. some sunshine there in across kent, and quite a strong northerly breeze, too, which will gradually ease down through the day. apart from a few heavy showers for kent, in the very far south—east for england and wales, most places fine dry. lots of sunshine around. the south—east, a little bit of cloud. just one or two showers there in across kent, and quite a strong northerly breeze, too, which will gradually ease down through the day. apart from a few heavy showers for kent, most places will be dry for the afternoon, as scotland. so a good—looking day for the world championships athletics in london stadium. it is going to be dry with some sunshine, temperatures around 21 or 22 degrees. now, a fine end to the day as well for thursday, as well for wales, it is going to be another largely clear night, with light winds, so here not quite as cool. but, for scotland and northern ireland, we will have an approaching weather system, so here turning wet and windy through the night.

here, not quite as cool. so for friday, then, we have got this weather system across northern and western areas. a nice, fine start, though, for central, southern and eastern parts of england. but even here, conditions will go downhill during the course of the day. so the rain will be heavy across western scotland and north—west england. northern and western wales, it will slowly move its way eastwards, eventually reaching the south—east later on. top temperature 16 to 22 celsius again across the south—east. looks like friday night could be quite a wet and blustery one, as those weather systems clear away. as we head on towards the weekend, a big ridge of high pressure builds in. so it does mean for both saturday and sunday we are looking at fine and dry weather. a little bit of cloud here and there, but some good sunny spells. fairly cool, though, at night. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: ramping up the rhetoric. north korea announces what it calls a serious plan to target guam as the us defence secretary says pyongyang's actions could result

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