in melbourne — against england. hello and welcome to the programme. venus williams beat wimbledon champion garbine muguruza in straight sets to reach the last four of the wta finals in singapore. the loss for muguruza end her hopes of finishing the year as world number one. austin halewood has this report. for venus williams and garbine muguruza, the equation was simple on thursday in singapore. the winner goes through to the semifinals and the loser goes home. at 37, venus is the loser goes home. at 37, venus is the oldest player in singapore but you would not have known it in the first set as she took an early lead. the american hasn't been knocked out of the tour finals at this stage before. she was determined to keep a record out. the decisive break of

serve in the first set... and after taking the opener, venus broke again as errors continued to blight gabi muguruza's game. the spaniard beat venus williams in the wimbledon final this year. but lightning didn't strike twice in singapore. venus was through in two, muguruza was out at the first hurdle for the second year in a row. having lost her first two matches, second year in a row. having lost herfirst two matches, she knew second year in a row. having lost her first two matches, she knew she couldn't make the semifinals but it did not stop herflying out the blocks against carolyn pliskova. the czechoslovakian is one of the biggest hitters on the talk but oster pinko showed that she was up to the task. she took the first set 6-3 to the task. she took the first set 6—3 and continued to press home her advantage in the second as she won seven straight games. she soon wrapped up her first seven straight games. she soon wrapped up herfirst tourfinals seven straight games. she soon wrapped up her first tour finals win injust over an wrapped up her first tour finals win in just over an hour. wrapped up her first tour finals win injust over an hour. the wrapped up her first tour finals win in just over an hour. the semifinals

weight but she will have to play a lot better than that. austin hillwood, bbc news. if game one in the world series was all about pitching... game two was all about the star sluggers. the series delivered one of its most memorable games in los angeles on wednesday... with the houston astros winning 7—6 to level the series, before they head to texas for game three on friday. and our reporter nick marshall mccormack was at dodger stadium to witness an incredible game 2. who would have thought? all square after two games, we had to gain three in —— we had to gain three in houston, texas. ken rosenthal will be following the drama. how did you see the game? and what would it do for the rest of the series? i've been doing this for 31 years. 31 years of covering baseball. that was

one of the five best games i've ever seen. it might be number one. but the drama, the back and forth, the lead changes, it isn't typical to have that kind of action in the late innings and it will be memorable and set the tone going forward. now, they've got to the dodges for pen, there were thought to be invincible. hollywood drama goes to houston, the fan base changes. what do you expect from the houston fans? to get to the dodgers? it was very loud in the championship series. i don't think they can get much louder than the yankee stadium but the park is a loud place too. football — and real madrid look well—placed to reach the last 16 of the copa del rey. they won 2—0 at third—tier side fuenlabrada. both goals were second—half penalties — scored by marco asensio and lucas vasquez. elsewhere, there were wins for las palmas, levante and real sociedad — while tenerife against espanyol finished goalless. us open champion brooks koepka leads

the wgc event in shanghai after an eventful opening round of 64. that has him one shot ahead of the field on eight under par. playing the back nine first... he eagled the 18th with this putt... before then making another birdie on his penultimate hole despite hitting his tee shot into the water. upstaging a number of big names on the leaderboard — was world number 166 gavin green of malaysia. he's one of two players on 7 under. the 15th rugby league world cup gets under way on friday. 1a teams are taking part in a tournament co—hosted by australia, new zealand and papua new guinea. the kangaroos are the reigning champions — and will begin the defence of their title against england. dave woods is in melbourne for it. it's australia's city of sport, and

by it's australia's city of sport, and rugby league is about to take centre stage. melbourne's amy park is the venue stage. melbourne's amy park is the venue for the opener between australia and england. it's 11 years since an australian side beat —— and english side beat the aussies but they believe they can rewrite history. you are playing the number one team in the world. to go away with a win is a confidence booster for the next six weeks. this is only the first group game, a win for england will help their progress to a possible final. for coach, wayne bennett, the performance on opening night matters the most. we've got to get better every week. we will all build into it. they want us to play well and we have to do what we have to do, giving ourselves a chance.

australia, as the holders and co—hosts, are favourites to win the tournament but their coach recognises the threat england pose. i was disappointed by the four nations. wayne is a great motivator. they have a strong squad. they hit ambushes. is the greatest test until we get into the finals. it isn't just about england and australia, all 1a nations kick off their campaigns including the welsh, with a tricky test when they go to port moresby to play papa new guinea. the irish play and unpredictable italian side, and as far as the scots are concerned? it's the toughest task of all, against a tonga team who could be an outsider who do well in the competition but no doubt about it, most experts predict these two

giants to be in the final, september the 2nd. britain's anthonyjoshua is just two days away from the defence of his ibf and wba heavyweight world titles. he takes on the cameroonian born carlos takam on saturday in cardiff. his initial opponent was kubrat pulev — before the bulgarian pulled out through injury. the pre—fight press conferences were on thursday and joshua told the bbc‘s boxing correspondent, mike costello, that there's one thing in particular that motivates him. time. i know this doesn't last for ever. while i'm doing it, i had to stay focused and if i do not have the motivation, boxing is my motivation, otherwise i give up now. stay hungry and stay on top as long as possible. you have two of the most recognised belts at the moment, no heavyweight has ever held all four simultaneously, is that an

ambition? it interesting. that can be, for sure. history is a great thing to chase. records are great to chase as well. it's very possible, it's a possibility, and a challenge... we will find a way. we will definitely find a way of making it happen. on to cricket... and pakistan beat sri lanka by seven wickets in the first match of their twenty20 series in abu dhabi. sri lanka batted first after pakistan won the toss, and they were bowled out forjust 102. hasan ali was the pick of the bowlers, taking three for 23. in reply, shoaib malik top—scored for pakistan with an unbeaten 42 off 52 balls. mohammad hafeez hit the wining runs as pakistan reached their target with 16 balls to spare. south africa beat bangladesh by 20 runs in the first t20 international in bloemfontein on thursday. quinton de kock top—scored with 59 on the proteas way to 195 for four. bangladesh did put up a fight in reply,

but were restricted to 175 for 9. australia's women beat england in the second one—day international in coffs harbour, to make it two wins out of two in the multi—format ashes series. australia batted first after england won the toss, and made 296 for six from their 50 overs. captain rachael haynes top—scored with an unbeaten 89 offjust 56 balls. after a brief delay for rain, england were set a revised total of 285 from 46 — but were bowled out for 209. there's one more one—dayer, followied by a test match, and three twenty20 internationals. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. friday is looking beautiful and

sunny across most of the uk. how about that? that is the forecast... the morning may be cloudy and misty in some areas, especially the south of the uk but by the second half of the morning and lunchtime, it will bea the morning and lunchtime, it will be a case of the beautiful autumn day across the country. a lot of cloud and drizzle early on but that has pushed out of the way, this high pressure is building, and it is squeezing out the weather front that is hugging the south coast during the early morning. temperatures on the early morning. temperatures on the mild side, and drizzle keeps these temperatures from dropping too low. clear skies further north means it will be a nippy start of the day. in glasgow, 16 degrees first thing. less cold but wherever you are in the country, it somewhere within the range. the far south is still 11 or 12 degrees. parts of sunset and

devon maybe cornwall, under the cloud. during the early morning. even a spot of drizzle. that should quickly fade away. then, we are left with a mostly windless day. sunny skies and decent temperatures. not to be sniffed at. in the south of the country, up to 15 degrees. stronger, arrows across scotland. the northern isles be blustery, and on friday night and on the early hours of saturday, the winds are strengthening across many northern and north—western parts of the country. picard and north—western parts of the country. pica rd returns and north—western parts of the country. picard returns from the atlantic. drizzle in places, hill fog as well. a great picture on saturday for many of us but eastern parts of the country, anywhere from aberdeenshire, the borders, down to the south coast, these areas have another sunny day. saturday to sunday, we see colder air coming in

from the north, not desperately cold, not forecasting a freeze, it may feel pressure compared to what we will have had recently. temperatures on saturday and sunday around eight or 9 degrees. across northern areas, some showers scattered, mild in london and in plymouth, still around the mid—teens. a big contrast between north and south but relatively settled with high pressure later on. monday to tuesday we see weather fronts marching in from the atlantic. goodbye. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: president trump declares a national public health emergency,

saying opioids kill more than a thousand americans every week. spain's parliament is expected to vote within hours on whether to impose direct rule on catalonia following the recent independence referendum. fewer than half of kenya's voters turn out in the rerun presidential election amid a boycott and violence. and 3,000 once—secret files about the jfk assassination are released but hundreds more are held back.