unfortunately it is not over yet in eastern ghouta. if you're looking and saying there should be used that the absence of isis should have given syrian people hope, shouldn't it? this is the problem when only the terrorist angle is focused upon. the conflict is about more than terrorism. it is essentially about a regime that has been oppressing its people and this oppression contributed to the rise of terrorism and other things. so, ghouta has nothing to do with isis. it has been running parallel to the isis problem. in four years of sieges, isis only rose since 2013. ghouta was under siege since 2013. when you look back over this period, what are the strategic points missed? should there have been an intervention on assad sooner or was when putin came in? what do you think? at geneva nothing is going on.

at various points, the west could have done a number of things it did not do. very early on there could have been some form of diplomatic brokering that did not happen. some say the red line drawn in the sand by president obama in 2013 when he said the us would attack whether evidence of use of chemical weapons in syria, a lot of people say that was a mistake. a lot of things could have happened and did not happen. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. that's all we've got time for tonight. but before we go, you may have thought that time hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. the headlines tonight. group g for grateful. the world cup draw appears to be kind to england. we will play belgium,

tunisia and panama in the tournament in russia. could the day night match in adelaide provide england's best chance of winning an ashes test? cloudy skies, chilly temperatures... it's almost like being at home. and then it's australia against england part two... in the rugby league world cup final. england's first in 22 years against the hosts and defending champions. hello again. the consensus seems to be the world cup draw for russia 2018 has been kind to england — more best case than worst case that's for sure. it all begins for them on june 18 against tunisia, before then matches against panama, and belgium, who are the seeded

team in the group. 0ur sports news correspondent richard conway gave me his assessment of group g from the draw in moscow. it has been perceived that yes, this has gone pretty well for gareth southgate and the england team. belgian will know lots about those players, lots of them playing them trade in the premier league. premier —— panama making their debut at the world cup and then tunisia, gareth southgate will know a thing or two about tunisia, he played against them back in the 1998 france world cup. jonathan pearce caught up with them shortly after the draw, this was his reaction to getting the north african team. what sort of the site are they? we have to find out. we have not done as much research on the african teams as yet, we don't have to play them and tell them. now is the opportunity, that is what is great, who you are playing, and then we can start to focus on that. how important is it that you have a

break, six days between that game and the game against panama. there isa and the game against panama. there is a little bit of travelling and it gives us the opportunity for a couple of injuries if you get them to clearup, so couple of injuries if you get them to clear up, so you are always grateful for as much preparation time as possible for any game. first finals the panama, people will be writing them off, but then people said costa rica would not do anything four years ago. we are good at writing teams off and getting beaten by them. we have to make sure we are prepared to those games. gareth southgate fairly public —— relieved that england have avoided germany, brazil and argentina. and you are probably see that the talent has been distributed fairly evenly, dare i say there is no group of death even? my limited russian does have the word for group of death, but there is no group of death.

russia starts against saudi arabia in group a, a few other games, argentina and iceland, iceland is making their debut in group d, that will be a fascinating contest i am sure. brazil after that semi—final humiliation back in 2014 on home ground, they start their campaign against switzerland, they go on to play costa rica and serbia. germany, defending champions, mexico sweden and south korea, that is an interesting game against mexico. england was a group we have talked about, poland, senna gaal, colombia andjapan, some about, poland, senna gaal, colombia and japan, some interesting matchup is there for fans and players to look forward to. —— senegal. the man who began england's world cup qualifying campaign at the helm, sam allardyce, has started work in his newjob at everton. his first game in charge is at home to huddersfield tomorrow and despite retiring from management in the summer...

allardyce sez he didn't hesitate to take the job with the premier league strugglers. i have been morejobs offered since isaidi i have been morejobs offered since i said i would retire than ever in my life. finally everton came along and in the end it was done within 48 hours, even with me being in dubai. in the championship this evening, cardiff city moved to within a point of leaders wolves with a 3—1 victory over norwich who now haven't won in eight games. meanwhile it finished 1—1 at elland road between leeds and aston villa. henri lansbury‘s late goal for the visitors cancelling out pontus janssen‘s first half header. villa stay fourth in the table, leeds seventh. non—league afc fylde held league one leaders wigan to a draw in the second round of the fa cup. after going behind to will grigg's first half goal fylde won a penalty when nathan byrne fouled sam finlay. danny rose converted to earn the national league side a replay at the dw stadium. england's cricketers begin their second ashes test against australia in the ealry hours of the morning.

they lost the first match, and haven't had a trouble—free build up to this one either, with the fitness of all—rounder moeen ali in doubt. he suffered a cut finger in his side's10—wicket defeat in brisbane. but there are perhaps some reasons for optimism in adelaide — as andy swiss reports. under the spotlight in every sense, as adelaide prepares for a day night match england are preparing for revenge. a defeat in the first test was marked by australia's vocal targeting ofjonny was marked by australia's vocal targeting of jonny bairstow was marked by australia's vocal targeting ofjonny bairstow over an incident in a bar with one of their players. afterwards as australia's skipper steve smith was in tears of laughter, and that has left england skipper unimpressed.” laughter, and that has left england skipper unimpressed. i think looking at the whole situation, if that is not motivation to get the lads up for this week i don't know what is. i would like to think that it was about the situation, i don't really know steve that well, but i'd like

to think that he has a bit more respect for our team than to be mocking us, because in cricket there are those situations which can come back to bite you. smith insists he was not mocking england and hit back at claims from bowlerjimmy anderson that australia are bullies. at claims from bowlerjimmy anderson that australia are bullieslj at claims from bowlerjimmy anderson that australia are bullies. i think it's interesting coming from jimmy, calling us bullies and sledges, i think he is one of the biggest sledges in the game, to be honest. for me back in 2010 when i first started and wasn't any good, he was pretty ha p py started and wasn't any good, he was pretty happy to get stuck into me then. the fallout from the first test this has —— has only ramped up the tension between these teams, but australia know another win here and the ashes will be within touching. the cool weather here should help england's bowlers, but they know it is make or break. is this must win

for england? i think so, if you are 2-0 for england? i think so, if you are 2—0 here and you go to perth where you haven't won the generations, i think it will make winning the ashes very difficult. in new zealand, ben stokes is making his comeback this weekend, could he yet play in the ashes? for now england have more pressing concerns, a test with little room for arrow. —— error. so that's a very early start in adelaide, 3:30 it gets under way our time, meanwhile in brisbane at the slightly more respectable 9am for us, it's the rugby league world cup final. sam burgess will captain england against the hosts and defending champions australia. he replaces sean 0'loughlin, who has a thigh strain. england are hoping to win a world title for the first time. it's not ideal to lose sean, he is a huge part of our success in getting here, over the past few years. it is not ideal to lose him and is bittersweet really, i am super

excited and proud to captain the tea m excited and proud to captain the team tomorrow, it is not a job i ta ke team tomorrow, it is not a job i take lightly, and i really enjoy doing it. if i'm honest, not a lot change tomorrow to me. we have a group of great players and a full squad staff, everyone has lost do tomorrow, but my mind will be the same as it has been throughout the whole tournament. you can watch that on bbc one from 8:30 a.m.. a last gasp try helped newcastle to a dramatic win at northampton in rugby union's premiership, a fifth straight defeat for the saints. but it looked like they might win at franklins gardens before nili latu crossed over in the final play of the game. the falcons converted to give them a 24—22 victory. sale won the other match of the night 18—14 at worcester despite having a man sent off. in the pro14, conference a leaders glasgow maintained their 100% record with a win over cardiff blues. they only led by a point at half time, but blew their opposition away in the second period, leonardo sarto one of six try scorers in total, and it finished 40—16. elsewhere there was a dramatic

32—all draw between newport gwent dragons and ulster, and edinburgh had a comfortable win against the south african side southern kings. those two games are in conference b. tiger woods continues to impress in his first competitive golf for more than 300 days, as he remains in contention after two rounds of the hero world challenge in the bahamas. a 68 on friday to add to his opening round 69 has him on 7 under par, thanks in part to theis eagle on the ninth. he's five shots off the lead held by fellow american charley hoffman. woods is one of five players on 7 under par, that's all from sportsday. good evening. we have started a

metrological winter now but actually the temperatures will be on the rise as we head through the course of the weekend. this was the scene as we ended the day, beautiful sunset at lytha m ended the day, beautiful sunset at lytham in lacko share. —— lancashire. it is still quite cold because we have theirjet stream coming from the north—east importing the cold air, the blue colour still with us, but much milder air waiting in the wings and that will push it across the country, slowly through the weekend. with this clear spells around it is turning quite chilly out there, not quite as cold as recent nights. 0ne out there, not quite as cold as recent nights. one or two recent showers around the east coast and the south—western coast towards wales in south—west england, dry elsewhere. temperatures in the towns and cities just holding above freezing. as we head through the day on saturday, as thejetstream changes position we will start to see the milder air slowly creeping in from the north and west, so i think to start the day it still will be quite chilly with some frost and

the odd icy patch around, particularly where we have showers and then through the day sunny spells appearing for many of us, the chilly south and east as well, more clout as the wind picks up and there will be cloudy conditions across the north of scotland, further south across scotland is looking a little bit brighter. a few sunny spells, also the chance of the odd shower across northern ireland and dry across northern ireland and dry across much of the north of england through saturday afternoon. further south more into the west midlands and across wales where we are likely to see a few showers, which italy to the west on higher ground. a few showers also took on walking to the west of devon. when we moved eastwards a cross west of devon. when we moved eastwards across the country you noticed sunshine around. dry and bright for kent and towards north as we go into the afternoon. bridges on the cooler side. into saturday evening we have more clout filtering south across england and wales and then some outbreaks of rain also pushing in through scotland and then down across northern england. sunday, a different feeling day. it

is turning that little bit milder as the wind is coming, more of a north—westerly direction. clout initially across the southern half of the country tends to drift away taking any showers away to the south and we are back in double figures. some sunshine particular around north—eastern parts of the country. through the course of the weekend gradually we would see the milder airarriving, gradually we would see the milder air arriving, mostly cloudy, gradually we would see the milder airarriving, mostly cloudy, but there will be some spells of sunshine around two and a few showers, but many of us will avoid them. you can find more details as ever on our website. this is bbc world news. i'm gavin grey. 0ur this is bbc world news. i'm gavin grey. our top stories: this is bbc world news. i'm gavin grey. 0urtop stories: former national security adviser michael flynn pleads guilty to lying to the fbi over his contact with moscow. us media is reporting that he will testify that donald trump's son—in—law, jared kushner, was among those who directed him to make contact with rush hour. the white house says that nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicate anyone other than michael flynn. in other news, pope francis comes face

to face with the agony of rohingya refugees in bangladesh. and publicly uses the word rohingya in recognition of their identity. the eu will refuse to begin talks on a post—brexit trade deal if ireland is not satisfied with the uk's offer