hero, as denmark steamroll past ireland and into the world cup in russia. romelu lukaku has become belgium's all—time record goal—scorer, and he is just 2a years old. and six—time champion roger federer is through to the last four at the atp finals, with victory against alexander zverev. welcome along to the programme. let's start with denmark securing their spot at next year's world cup with a thumping 5—1 win against ireland in dublin. the tie was goalless after the first leg, and a headerfrom shane duffy put the hosts ahead just six minutes in. but the bubble was soon to burst. cyrus christie scored an own—goal, before denmark's star midfielder christian eriksen ran riot, racking up a hat—trick. nicklas bendtner made it 5—1 from the spot in added time. after missing the euros in 2016, a spot in russia meant much delight

for the danes in dublin, from where our correspondent joe wilson reports. well, the republic of ireland reach this stage world cup qualifying, the play—off, blade being strong, resolute and defensively minded. we saw it from them in the first leg in copenhagen, which finished 0—0. but here, when the game opened up the home side fell apart. the republic of ireland took the lead afterjust five minutes, a header shane duffy before half—time and they lead. defensive errors from the irish team, but christian eriksen, in an attacking midfield role for denmark, was allowed to run the show. his hat—trick was a delight, the second goal, his fetish for that want a particular highlight of the evening. and the world cup, which will not feature robert or gareth bale or alexis sanchez, will have in

christian eriksen one of the most talented players in europe. the world cup may well benefit from his presence and denmark may feel their superior technique and skill won the day, and won the tie. if they feel they deserve to be in the world cup, i think they are properly right. —— probably right. so there are nowjust two spots left for next year's world cup. one of those will go to either australia or honduras on wednesday. they played out a goalless draw in the first leg, so it is a winner—takes—all in sydney. and the match won't be without controversy, after the honduras coach accused the australians of spying on their training session. austin halewood has the details. espionage has arrived in football. the thoughts of a furious pinto, the honduras head coach, as he accused australia of using a drone to spy on his side's reparations for the vital second leg. translation: the incident where the drome was embarrassing for such an advanced

country —— with the drone. what a shame. when australia came to ponder as they checked every bathroom to see if there were cameras. what a shame a culture of this level demand such a thing. for either side, missing out on the world cup would be devastating for their fans. honduras have taken part in the last two finals, while you have to go back 15 years for the last time australia missed out, and the home side have a fitness boost ahead of their decisive play—off. all—time leading score at tim cahill has been cleared to play. cahill was a hero in their dramatic 2—1 win over syria in their dramatic 2—1 win over syria in the previous round of qualifying but missed the first leg against honduras. he is ready to go, yes. and from the start, he probably could have played on friday in the first game. but as i said, looking at that pitch and the way the game went, we were able to keep him fresh for this one. he is certainly ready to go. in world cup play-offs,

australia have done it all before. they have got the t—shirt, pop the champagne, and shed the tears. in both 1993 and 1997 the aussies missed out after coming so close. colas first legs against argentina and iran both ended with eventual defeat, so socceroos fans will be hoping they don't have to sit through similar heartbreak this time around. there were lots of international friendlies taking place around the world on tuesday. sergio aguero was taken to hospital after fainting at half—time in argentina's friendly defeat against nigeria. the manchester city striker scored after 36 minutes in krasnodar, to put argentina 2—0 up, but he didn't come out for the second half. argentina went onto to lose 4—2, arsenal forward alex iwobi scoring twice for nigeria. elsewhere, wales drew 1—1 with panama, and england and brazil played out a goalless draw. our sports correspondent david ornstein was at wembley. well, this wasn't quite the

spectacle that many had anticipated. however, for both england and brazil, they will be able to take 20 away from it as they build—up for the world cup in russia next summer. england are a young and inexperienced squad. they have now had held the world champions, germany, and the five—time world cup winners brazil two goalless draws in a matter of days. for brazil this was their first real test on european soil since their qualification for the world cup. they have really been resurgent under their new manager, qualifying for the world cup in style. but dig tests await. we saw the likes of neymar tonight, jesus, and coutinho playing together, and they will go to the world cup is favourite so they will want to step up their preparations in the 2018. what a night for manchester united striker romelu lu ka ku. he became belgium's all—time top—scorer, on 31, after scoring the winner in his side's1—0 victory overjapan

in in bruges on tuesday. russia held spain to a 3—3 draw in a pulsating friendly in st petersburg. jordi alba put spain ahead first. yuri zhirkov made it 2—2 for the russians early in the second half. and, after a sergio ramos penalty had made it 3—2 to spain, fyodor smolov scored this to mean it ended a draw on the night. and, in cologne, lars stindl‘s 93rd—minute goal earned germany a 2—2 draw against france. some big names were still missing through injury from the german squad, including bayern duo manuel neuer and thomas mueller. six—time champion roger federer beat alexander zverev to reach the last four at the season—ending atp finals in london. federer proved the stronger in the final set, winning the match 7-6, 5-7, 6-1. germany's zverev, who is seeded third, can still qualify for the semi—finals on his debut appearance at the event. he will play americanjack sock in his final group match

on thursday, with the winner to progress to the last four. well, this is sock in action earlier. he beat wimbledon finalist marin cilic in three sets, to keep his dreams of progressing to the semi—finals alive. the american, who lost his opening match to federer, came from a set down to defeat the fifth seed 5—7, 6—2, 7—6. that was a tough one, for sure. it has been an interesting morning so far. the fire alarm went off in our hotel at 4am and we had to exit the building, so it has been a long morning. but no, it has been an amazing atmosphere out here. i love playing in london, have some amazing memories from wimbledon doubles, and i love playing in front of the fans here. you make me feel like home. so iamjust here. you make me feel like home. so i am just excited, we get the win

and keep myself alive. the host nation for the 2023 rugby world cup will be decided on wednesday, with the world rugby council voting in london. ireland and france are in the running, but south africa are favourites. they last hosted the competition in 1995. that tournament will always be associated with the iconic image of nelson mandela handing the trophy to south africa captain francois pienaar, after they won it for the first time. this time around, the country is planning to use stadiums from the 2010 football world cup. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. but, from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hi there. for many of us, wednesday is going to dawn on a pretty grey and cloudy day. competing weather stories, really, for wednesday. we've got a big ridge of high pressure keeping the weather quiet across much of the uk. however, a small area of low pressure has just trickled underneath the high,

and that's brought us a lot of cloud across england, thick enough to bring us some outbreaks of patchy rain and drizzle, particularly across eastern england, first thing in the morning. elsewhere, a few fog patches up over high ground, notably across the higher parts of wales and south—west england. so one way or another, for many of us, it's going to be quite a cloudy start. but at the least that early—morning patchy rain across eastern england will be clearing out of the way. so, with a bit more detail, the morning forecast — a bit grey over the top of the brecon beacons, the moors of south—west england, with some hill fog patches here. could have a bit of fog across the salisbury plain, perhaps a bit misty for the downs and the chilterns first thing. otherwise, we'll have this thick cloud continuing to bring patchy outbreaks of rain just for the first part of the morning, but that rain will clear away pretty quickly. a few fog patches in the valleys of northern ireland, where it's going to be a chilly start to the day. some sunshine for scotland, yes, but it's cold. temperatures low enough for a touch of frost

across sheltered northern areas. now, as we go on through the rest of wednesday, that rain should clear out, but it will stay cloudy across the midlands and eastern england for most of the day. the weather brightens up, though, for north—west england and across wales, with some sunny spells here. but, no doubt about it, the best of the sunshine will be across scotland, particularly eastern areas. rain, though, threatening the western isles as we go on through the afternoon. now, through wednesday evening and overnight, we'll see rain becoming a bit more extensive across western areas. always rather patchy in nature, nevertheless. but, nevertheless, some damp weather pushes its way in. this is a cold front reaching scotland and northern ireland, bringing further heavier rain towards the end of the night, so turning wet here. now, looking at the weather charts through thursday, this cold front will be sliding its way southwards across england, bringing a spell of heavy rain. right about lunchtime across northern england, heading into the midlands, and across wales, too. to the south of this, a lot of cloud. behind the front, that's where we're going to see a big clearance, and much more in the way sunshine moving into northern ireland, scotland, and the north of england. it might be sunny, yes, but it's also colder.

notice the temperatures into single figures. for friday, many of us with a decent day, bright and sunny spells. however, there'll be a number of blustery showers affecting the far north of scotland. those showers could merge together to give some lengthier spells of rain at times. now, this weekend, sunny spells around. showers across northern and western areas. and at times, there will be quite a chilly wind, particularly on saturday, the wind falling a bit lighter by sunday. that's your latest weather. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers, in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: loud explosions are heard in the zimbabwean capital, where soldiers are reported to have ta ken over the headquarters of the state broadcaster. australians say "yes" to same—sex marriage. more than 61% back the move, in an historic national vote. screams. children caught in yemen's conflict — the un warns millions of lives are at risk from fighting and famine. and are these two really

a threat to western values? french president emmanuel macron thinks they are. we have an exclusive interview.