this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at 7: at least 41 people are killed in a bomb attack in a cultural centre in the afghan capital kabul — so—called islamic state says it was responsible. more than 80 people were injured. there were women and children among the casualties. this is the building where the explosion happened and you can see the building has been almost completely destroyed. britain braces itself as forecasters predict the coldest night of the year. it comes as ice and sub—zero temperatures cause treacherous driving conditions in some parts. a murder investigation is launched after a woman's body is found in a north london park. in the last few minutes she has been named. a team of british medics is travelling to bangladesh to help deal with the spread of diphtheria at rohingya muslim refugee camps. also this hour, a record breaking day for alastair cook in melbourne.

he makes a double century and his highest ever score against australia in the fourth ashes test. and lost and found — a man's reunited with his £600 wage packet after losing it in a pub just before christmas. we were just astounded by how quickly, how far, how wide reaching this whole thing went. it was just amazing. it went bonkers. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a suicide bombing in the afghan capital, kabul, has claimed the lives of at least a0 people and injured more than 80 others, with women and children among the casualties. the islamic state group says it

carried out the attack, which targeted a cultural organisation and news agency in the western part of the capital. in recent months so—called islamic state has attacked many shia muslim targets in this area of kabul, where the majority of the city's shia population lives. 0ur correspondent in kabul zia shahreya has just sent this report. the force of the explosion is clear to see. among the rubble, relatives desperately search for their loved ones. but there was little left behind. the bomb went off inside this building, a cultural centre and also home to an afghan news agency. students had been marking the 38th anniversary of the soviet invasion of afghanistan. the suicide bomber apparently has entered through that way, inside this hall where the seminar was happening and the hall was full of people, students, male and female, from different universities in kabul. translation: i saw many dead

in the area, i was looking for my cousin but could not find his body. i'm not sure what happened to him. the number of dead people has increased. after the explosion, ambulances took the injured to the hospitals nearby. this man, one of dozens badly hurt in the explosion. some of the wounded were taken in for surgery. translation: a total of 35 dead were registered here and 20 others wounded. there are men, women and children among the injured. for some waiting outside for news it was all too much. back in the area, to the west of the capital, where the bomb went off, armed guards patrol. the initial blast was followed by two other explosions but nobody was hurt in those.

so who was behind the attack? so—called islamic state has claimed responsibility, saying it targeted the centre with a suicide bomber and other bombs. it has behind a number of other attacks on shia targets across the country in recent months. the president's spokesman called the attack an unpardonable crime against humanity and pledged to destroy terrorist groups. freezing temperatures around the uk have been causing travel disruption for a second day. around 100 passengers were stranded at stansted airport after a number of flights were cancelled yesterday. and drivers are being warned of icy conditions in many areas. 0ur correspondent anisa kadri has the latest. hanging around for a flight longer than you expected. it's not much fun, especially when the queues are just getting longer and you find out your flight is now notjust delayed, it's cancelled.

more than 12 hours after sarah's flight to stockholm was meant to take off from stansted, sarah was still here and will now fly tomorrow. i only found out literally i think it was three hours after my flight was supposed to leave that it was cancelled and there was no boards to tell us that it was delayed or anything so it was literally like going backwards and forwards between the one person who was there, kind of thing. ijust ended up lining up for like ten hours to try to get a new flight! did you get any sleep at all? no. i think i've been awake 25 hours now. you only need to head to social media to get an idea of the frustration some people here felt last night. one person tweeted it was a shambles, another posted a picture of people sleeping on seats. stansted airport says it has cleared the backlog of stranded passengers and things are returning to normal. they say there still could be delays because of the weather. and the weather has been causing

problems elsewhere, too. in the cairngorms, three climbers had to be rescued after getting lost in blizzard conditions. the rescue took five hours. the wintry weather is not going away as we are being told to make sure our vehicles are safe for the road. check your tyres, make sure you've got some good tread and they are well inflated, that should keep you safe on the road, because they keep you gripped to the road, after all. and pack accordingly, so have your own winter breakdown kit with plenty of spare warm and dry clothing, a flask, some snacks, a shovel and certainly a fully charged mobile phone. today in inverness people were enjoying the snow but there is more on the way for scotland and the met office is warning that tonight could be the coldest night of the year. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this

evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are broadcaster david davies and journalist dina hamdy. a 44—year—old man accused of stabbing a woman to death in a supermarket in skipton has appeared in court. he spoke only to confirm his details. he is charged with the murder of 30—year—old jodie wiltshire, who was attacked at the store where she was working. and in the last few minutes a woman found deadin the last few minutes a woman found dead in finsbury park in north london has been named as iuliana tudos. her body was found near a sports pitch. the 22—year—old had been missing since christmas eve, after an evening out with friends. let's get more from our correspondent. tolu adeoye

is at finsbury park now. we know that her friends had we know that herfriends had been looking for her and reported her missing on christmas eve? flowers have been left, and you might see a missing poster that was put up on christmas eve. it was only yesterday that her body was discovered, found bya that her body was discovered, found by a member of the public inside finsbury park at around 4.30 in and out building next to a sports pitch. police and the ambulance service we re police and the ambulance service were called but she was pronounced dead at the scene. the park has been open for much of today, but a significant area was cordoned off. forensic teams had been working throughout the day and a police tent is still up this evening. we still don't know how iuliana was killed. a postmortem was due to take place today. but this being treated as a murder investigation. police believe she was attacked in the park and they are now seeking information from anyone who might have seen anything suspicious over the holiday

period. they say they are still trying to piece together the timeline of what went on here, and they still don't know what the motive may have been for the attack. the night, we now know the woman discovered yesterday was iuliana tudos. many thanks. two a british medical team is flying to bangladesh to help hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees, who've fled violence in their home country of myanmar. more than 40 doctors, nurses and firefighters from the uk will spend six weeks in bangladesh, tackling an outbreak of diptheria in the refugee camps. 75% of the people who have been infected with diphtheria are under the age of 15 so we need to act fast. we have to try to treat these kids and stop the disease spreading. it is going to be tough. we can speak to kirsty, a midwife who will be travelling to bangladesh at the weekend. thank you very much

for joining at the weekend. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. how have you got involved in this?” forjoining us on bbc news. how have you got involved in this? i have been a member of the uk emergency medical team for the past year. i have been undergoing rigorous training, along with a lot of skilled professionals. we have been ready to be on—call for this kind of emergency for the past year. my understanding is that you are the only midwife that is travelling in this team of 40? i am, yes. we work together cohesively as a team. this team of 40? i am, yes. we work together cohesively as a teamlj have together cohesively as a team.|j have been out to the refugee camps on two occasions and i was very struck by the fact that there are a great many children, many young women and pregnant women that are there as well. you must expect to be

potentially extremely busy?|j there as well. you must expect to be potentially extremely busy? i will. iam sure potentially extremely busy? i will. i am sure i will be very busy. amongst the 600,000 displaced people in bangladesh, from myanmar, it affects about 27,000 of those who are pregnant women. a lot of children and babies. those people in populations are very vulnerable. that is why our emergency medical tea m that is why our emergency medical team is so vital in helping those people with vaccination treatment in diphtheria outbreaks. kirsty, have you done this sort of work before? are you prepared for what you are likely to see? i am prepared. just because of the rigorous training we have had. i have worked abroad before, and i bring my years of skills from the nhs. we are so

fortu nate skills from the nhs. we are so fortunate in the uk to have such a good health system that trains us and equips us with skills that we can share with people when they need them, like the situation in bangladesh at the moment. many thanks forjoining us on bbc news. the government has announced new plans to tackle what it calls "rogue landlords" in england. the government is looking to introduce a licensing scheme for certain landlords renting a property to multiple individuals. separately, the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, has said his party wants tenants to have more powers to avoid eviction. joining me now is our reporter sebastian chrispin. so, tell us more about what has been proposed. that's right, there has been quite a lot in the media about so—called rogue landlords, landlords that don't treat tenants properly. there has been a big emphasis on overcrowding. landlords that forced te na nts to

overcrowding. landlords that forced tenants to live in properties that are not big enough. the government has set up today is a range of measures trying to tackle overcrowding and drive up standards in the private rented sector in england, in particular what it is doing is it wants to change the licensing rule for landlords in england. so now, anyone who wants to rent a property to five or more people that are not all from the same family will have to register. 0n same family will have to register. on their licence, it will specify how many people are allowed to live in any one room. how big a problem is this and how many landlords are likely to be affected? to give you a scale of the size of the sector, there are about 4.3 million households in england that fall under the privately rented sector. about 500,000 of those are so—called houses in multiple occupation. so that's properties that are left to three or more people that are not all from the same family. what the government says is that in the proposals announced today, it will affect about 160,000 houses. to give you an idea of how serious the government is taking it, so—called

rogue landlords could face a fine of up rogue landlords could face a fine of up to £30,000 if they break the rules. those are the government's proposals, the labour party has also been discussing housing. what do they say? it is a separate story, but it shows that the government and the opposition want to address the issue of housing. in an interview with the independent newspaper, jeremy corbyn said that he wants to abolish what he calls so—called no—fault eviction. these are people that are forced to leave a tenancy through no fault of their own. he uses quite colourful language, which i think gives a sense of the direction the labour leader would like to take the policy. he says we are like to take the policy. he says we a re really like to take the policy. he says we are really facing a moral litmus test. he really wants to address the issue of homelessness. the emphasis here is try to put on is that he wa nts to here is try to put on is that he wants to try to emphasise longer term tenancies to end this uncertainty facing people who have two rented properties. he wants to move to what he calls a more regulated private rented sector. sebastien, many thanks. a lack of the headlines now on bbc

news. at least 41 people are killed ina bomb news. at least 41 people are killed in a bomb attack at a cultural centre in the afghan capital kabul. so—called islamic state says it was responsible. a woman found dead in a north london park has been named as iuliana tudos as a murder investigation begins. britain braces itself as forecasters predict the coldest night of the year, it comes as ice and sub—zero temperatures cause treacherous driving conditions in some parts. nhs hospitals in england made a record £174.5 million from car parking charges in the past financial year. the figures, obtained through a freedom of information request, showed more than half of hospital trusts also charged for at least some of their disabled bays. 0ur correspondent phil mackie has the story. a hospital visit can be upsetting, even traumatic, and that's before you pay for your parking ticket.

nhs hospitals in england made over £174 million in fees last year. that's a rise of 6% on the year before. and nearly £1 million came from fines which was an increase of 32%. the hospital trust which make the most money was the heart of england, which runs three hospitals in sutton coldfield, solihull, and here in birmingham. last year its income from car parking was £4.8 million. it's shocking actually, because i come quite a lot with my son and the amount we have to pay, it's really bad. i don't mind paying a small fee but i've had occasions where i've spent £20 in one day. it's the hassle of visiting hospital on a regular basis, it's just another hassle. no—one from the heart of england trust was available today but they have given a statement saying they know that parking costs can be a financial burden to patients and visitors. they say that fees have gone down in the past year and the money they make is reinvested in, among other things, utility bills

and the maintenance of car parks. fees have already been largely abolished in scotland and wales and campaigners think it is time they were listed elsewhere, too. you might have to make 50 trips to hospital if you are receiving cancer treatment. sometimes you need to be there all day which means you might have to pay £25 or £30 just to cover the cost of your chemotherapy on that particular day. so it has a really big effect on people. today's figures will only raise pressure to cap or end charges in the future. every year, thousands of planning permissions are granted for new homes but the properties are not actually built. there are currently 684,000 valid permissions that haven't yet been put into effect. the chancellor philip hammond has set up an urgent review to understand the reasons. so in the midst of an acute housing shortage, why is the process of building much—needed new homes proving to be so cumbersome?

my colleague sophie long has been to clacton in essex to try to find out. clacton—on—sea. like many towns across the country, they need to build hundreds of houses here to provide homes for those that don't have them in a way that is sympathetic to those that do. well, this is a site that got planning permission two years ago for 300 homes, but as you can see, nothing is being built yet... one problem is that developers are not building on land where permission has been granted. what needs to happen is a fundamental look, i think, at planning and how it works, because the planning system, the planning laws are not working. you can't blame developers who are exploiting loopholes that they manage to find. the loophole they found here is that they can land bank, they can get permission on land with no intention of developing at any time soon, get the permission, put it in the bank, go on to the next site, get permission for that one. the developers say they find that accusation staggering, that they would be building here now but this is a textbook example of local planning issues stopping house—builders from building the homes that the country needs.

"we have," they say, "been thwarted by over two years of council bureaucracy, very poor decision—making and planning red tape." building is happening, but not on the scale needed to solve the housing crisis. developers say they are not the ones dragging theirfeet. overall, the system is just too cumbersome, there are too many things that get put through the planning system that don't need to go through the planning system. that means that once you've got an initial consent, you still need to do a lot of work before you can get on site and start development. nearly everyone agrees there's a housing crisis and more homes need to be built. the question is how and where — unblocking the problems in the planning process has now become a national priority. a couple of miles along the coast is jaywick sands. developers don't want to build here. it is the most deprived

place in england. transport links are poor, and unemployment is high. but the need for new housing is clear. there's a lot of houses what's empty, what could be done up for people who ain't got housing and everything. houses are being built where there's money to be sold, so the developers make their money back for expensive homes, they're not putting money for affordable living, i don't think. the council says it is now taking the lead, and community activists are hopeful that change is ahead. we've been talking about this for about four or five years, nothing has happened. my view is everybody should have a decent place to live, you know, the social housing has got to happen, council housing is there as part of it, everybody wants that social housing, and starter housing, stuff like that. the problem is that local authorities and developers have different priorities. but the need to find common ground and get more new homes built quickly now has a new sense of urgency. sophie long, bbc news, clacton—on—sea.

figures out today show the number of alleged sexual assaults committed by taxi or private hire drivers has risen by 20% in three years. according to the guardian at least 337 assaults were reported between april 2016 and march 2017 in england and wales — up from 282 in 2014—15. the figures were obtained from 23 of 43 police forces, a number of incidents were recorded where the victim was a child under 16. so what sort of behaviour counts as sexual harassment? and how should you deal with it if you think it is happening to you? let's speak now to the psychologist dr emma kenny and steve garelick, who has been a private hire taxi driverfor 26 years. he's also the secretary of the gmb's professional driver's branch. thank you very much forjoining us.

steve, what do you make of these figures, the fact that the number of assaults, although relatively small, has now gone up in these three yea rs ? has now gone up in these three years? well, small or not, it is lamentable that there are any assaults on any type going on in private hire or taxis in the united kingdom. 0bviously when you look at this against public transport and the figures for public transport that we have been seeing, looking at that, it is obviously a lot lower. but nonetheless, it is 337 allegations to many. what do you put it down to? i think there is an increased confidence now where people bring forward their concerns about a misdeed. that is a good

thing, obviously. ispoke about a misdeed. that is a good thing, obviously. i spoke about the increases. if you look at crime overall, people are now more prepared to put forward complaints when they think they need to let the police know. enda -- emma kenny come if you are a woman and feel threatened in the back of a cab, what should you do? first of all acknowledge that is how you're feeling, that is good reason. a lot of women allow themselves to feel very uncomfortable because they feel they are not being taken seriously or they have invited some kind of attraction. 0ne really important thing is to acknowledge that anybody who is making you feel in anyway, and inappropriate towards you in any way, that is a concern. ideally, have a smartphone on you at all times. take a picture of the individual or, if you can get any of

the registration details, send it to somebody that cares for you, make sure you acknowledge if that individuals coming on to you in a way that makes you feel scared all concerned. make it clear to them that you do not want that attention. if you feel they are going to harm you in anyway, absolutely called the police. however, if it turns out that you are dropped off safely, but you still feel there has been a real level of harassment, intimidation, overt sexual behaviour or even discussing things in front of you that has made you feel uncomfortable ina that has made you feel uncomfortable in a sexual way, speak to the people that they work for or speak to the police. the most important thing to remember is, while we see these figures arriving, this really is the tip of the iceberg. very few women report this kind of behaviour. what we see is a rise, but i guarantee there are many, many more women out there are many, many more women out there that feel that when men treat them this way, and some degree when

men are treated this way by other people, that they are responsible. we have to drop that shame and guilt that we feel, because it is not ok to be made to feel uncomfortable and rust in this manner. steve garelick thinks that this rise in the number of reported sexual assaults is down to greater reporting. we don't know if that is the case or not. do you think women are becoming more confident in reporting cases?|j really hope that wigan are becoming more confident in reporting cases. unfortunately, we know that the figures, 80% of women do not report this kind of crime. those that do don't tend to get the best response from the police, for example, that leads to a lack of confidence. there isa leads to a lack of confidence. there is a lot of victim blaming. we see that constantly in the press, women feel whenever they dress a certain way, or put themselves in a vulnerable position, they got drunk, for example, that somehow they have invited it. iwould hope

for example, that somehow they have invited it. i would hope that the press campaigns of late, recognising that it press campaigns of late, recognising thatitis press campaigns of late, recognising that it is not acceptable for anybody to make you feel that way, that women's confidence is growing. i think there will be a lot of women talking on twitter saying that they have been a victim. 60% of women have been a victim. 60% of women have been a victim. 60% of women have been victims of sexual harassment. the reality is that they are not reporting it. we need to do more to make services a little bit more to make services a little bit more sympathetic to women that go through these things, and also to remind women, and men are victims as well, that it is not their fault, they are the innocent party and nobody has a right to make you feel like you have been harassed sexually in any way, shape or form. steve garelick, to bring you back in, presumably regulation is the key to making women feel safe and to making sure that there are not perpetrators that are driving cabs? well, we know that are driving cabs? well, we know that there are definitive issues where people may work for one local authority, they lose their licence,

we have heard anecdotal evidence of people moving from birmingham over to wolverhampton, as an example. it is not right in any situation. we've talked about the public transport figures. i think they were 650, up to 1468. it shows that it is not just unique to private eye and taxis. i do want to add one other small point, i don't want to get away from these figures, but i also wa nt to away from these figures, but i also want to bring up the fact that on a regular daily basis private hire taxi drivers are assaulted verbally and physically throughout the united kingdom. it is very rare those figures are reported or taken by the police as well. we had leave it there. thank you both very much indeed. the former footballer george weah has won the liberian presidential election. mr weah played for a string of football clubs, including ac milan and manchester city, and is the only african footballer to have won fifa world player of the year. he entered politics after his retirement in 2002 and will succeed ellenjohnson sirleaf, africa's first elected female, as president.

in the last half—hour, democrat doug jones has been certified as senator of alabama. he defeated roy moore in the us senate election in alabama. he has filed a lawsuit to challenge the result, alleging voterfraud. roy moore's campaign was plagued with allegations of sexual misconduct and lost narrowly to jones earlier this month. the immense power of social media was once again in evidence this christmas time, when a welder from south—west london left his christmas wage packet in a local pub, the alexandra in wimbledon. more than a million people responded to an online appeal, and identified mariusz so that the pay packet could be returned yesterday, six days after he lost it. 0ur correspondent chi chi izundu takes up the story. this is the story of a welder, a pub and lost wage packet. last thursday after a few hundred people have been here at the alexandra pub

celebrating their christmas parties, at the end of the night a small brown envelopes stuffed with cash was spotted on the floor. the only reason i realised it was a wage packet was because i used to get paid in a similar packet when i first came to the country. all they had was the name mariusz and £600. the landlord and his wife posted a picture on social media which is reposted by authorjk rowling and hundreds of thousands around the world joined in. we did not find him straightaway and a couple of celebrities retweeted it and it went bonkers. my phone was like a fridge buzzing! has we were getting messages from all over the world, so much interest trying to find this guy, people contacting asking if we found them? from canada and america and australia, everywhere. and then what happened. lo and behold, yesterday, he walked

in the door and said hello, i'm mariusz and i believe you've got my money! it was like the biggest anti—climax in history, he just wandered in! he said, i think you've got my money. mariusz explained he took out his phone to take pictures of his christmas party and that is probably when his wage slip fell from his pocket and under this chair, and he did not notice until about a day later. he had not seen the social media posts, it was his son who alerted him to them and he may have kept the loss quiet from his wife to have, as he called it from a stress christmas! he came in yesterday and got it. in a show of gratitude, he gave nobby a generous tip. snow and ice have caused problems

for many of us this week. there is an amberwarning to for many of us this week. there is an amber warning to be prepared for snow across parts of the country as we head through the early part of tomorrow, because the night, things will turn very cold, with a cold and widespread frost. then rain pushes in from the west. rain, yes, but also snow. temporarily in northern ireland, wales and parts of the midlands. tomorrow morning, the area of most concern is south of the pennines, parts of lancashire, in towards west yorkshire. here, we could see up to 15 centimetres of snow on high ground, and even at low levels, a fair covering. we will also see snow falling to low levels in the far north of england and southern scotland. rain and sleet towards the coast. further south, it is all about the rain. as it falls on cold surfaces, that could give ice. tomorrow morning could bring

travel issues. through the day, the snow will move to the north and peter out. still some rain and sleet mixing into it as we go through the day. further south, a few showers towards the south coast, and temperatures starting to climb, a leading celsius in plymouth. 0n friday night, another weather system ru ns friday night, another weather system runs in. that could bring snow over high hills, but it will mostly be rain. 0n high hills, but it will mostly be rain. on saturday, spells of sunshine and showery rain at times. some wet weather in the south. still mild in the south, cult of the north. i windy day on new year's eve as well. areas of rain, still potentially cold enough for snow on high ground in the north. —— colder in the north. there will be a lot of

dry weather out there at midnight if you're celebrating. a small chance of showers. temperatures don't look particularly low but there is likely to bea particularly low but there is likely to be a fairly strong and chilly breeze. hello. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: at least 41 people killed ina bomb headlines: at least 41 people killed in a bomb attack on a cultural centre in the afghan capital, kabul. the woman found dead in a north london park has been named. police launched a murder investigation. forecasters predict the coldest night of the year, with ice and subzero temperatures causing treacherous driving conditions. doug jones has been declared as the senator of alabama. the defeated republican candidate has filed a lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

now, it's time for sportsday. their headlines: a record—breaking day down under for alastair cook. a double centurion. season's greetings — welcome to swansea and the premier league for the manager sacked last week by sheffield wednesday. and an upset at leopardstown. it was a day to remember for alastair cook, as he made history in melbourne with a double century, to put england in a commanding position on day three of the fourth ashes test.

the batsman admitted it was too little, too late for an england side who had already lost the urn to australia, but with cook on 244 not out and england closing the day on 491 for 9, a lead of 164, there is at least a chance to restore some pride. patrick gearey reports from melbourne. for england, finally, serenity at the mcg, but those who have followed them here are always wary of away just around the corner, followed perhaps by unwelcome ducks. imagine the ripples caused byjoe root‘s misplaced hope, 61 out. down with mallan chose not to review his lbw. it was a lifeline ignored. moeen ali try to be carefree and ended up careless. in contrast of the muddled minds, the continued clarity of

alastair cook. beyond 150 and then fortu nately alastair cook. beyond 150 and then fortunately just beyond alastair cook. beyond 150 and then fortunatelyjust beyond steve smith, the second time he dropped in. cook took over the management of the innings, driving england into a lead, pushing onto a remarkable double century. stuart broad was at first brave, then bowl. he made a 50 that infuriated the aussies. by the close, the total was nearly 500. cook had scored more runs than any visiting test batsman, and he had been at the crease in the melbourne heat for 10.5 hours, all surrounded by doubts about his future. afterwards, we have the players applaud cooked back into the dressing room. 0n applaud cooked back into the dressing room. on day four, it will be over to the bowlers to turn his tireless effort into a first victory of this series. i have doubted myself for 12 years and i will probably continue. the longer it goes, the harder it becomes. i suppose that's why i can be quite

proud that delivering a performance like that was pleasing. it is a shame that it is three and a half, four weeks too late. it is nice to score a few. he played well, didn't he? he batted for a long time. he was more aggressive in this match than he has been in the previous three. his plan was to take us on a little bit. it was a perfect wicket for him to do that, so he played brilliantly. he showed the younger guys how you sometimes have to grind it out and work it a different way to make runs in test cricket. this is how the match stands going into day for later this evening. england with a 164—run lead and cook and jimmy anderson at the crease. after the ashes test series, attention will turn to the one day series with australia and some of england's key one day players

are getting some practice in down under in the t20 big bash. jason roy showed early promise as he made 21 for the sydney sixers, but lost his wicket to the bowling of the adelaide strikers' ben laughlin. the sixers were beaten by six runs. sixth placed arsenal travel to crystal palace this evening, 24 points behind the league leaders manchester city. palace will be hoping to continue their climb up the table that began with roy hodgson's appointment as manager — an improvement that's come as no surprise to arsene wenger. they had many injuries at the start. if you look at their team, they have quality players, and roy hodgson has experience of the premier league, so i'm not surprised. they certainly don't look forward to playing the teams that are fully expected to

beat us by everybody, and a team thatis beat us by everybody, and a team that is such a good team with so many good players. we will find it very difficult to give them a game. we don't beat them very often, home and away. we will have to be at the absolute top of our game. the premier league's bottom club swansea have appointed the former sheffield wednesday boss carlos ca rva hal as their new manager. carvalhal was pressing the flesh and doing his best to make a good impression at his first swansea press conference today. he'd been sacked by sheffield wednesaday on christmas eve with wednesday down in 15th place in the table and has never managed in the english top flight before. in this moment, everybody understands that swansea is in a very difficult situation. this is what we like it. maybe a lot of persons will say it is just a miracle that swansea will stay in the premier, but i don't agree,

because miracles is something not from our world. and this kind ofjob is that they can do the things. you have all the time surprises, sometimes negative, sometimes positive. let's analyse the team and the players one by one and check if we have any kind of weakness, and if we have any kind of weakness, and if we feel that, of course, we will try to propose to bring in another player. first, we want to give opportunity to these players to show that they are better than what they did so far. the situation to me is very clear. you must prove your abilities. you must put the people like you, the fans, the chairman, the players, enjoy what we are doing. if they really like it, we

will prove it on the pitch. after, it is not paper or a contract that will do the things. if we do things the correct way, we believe we will stay here, and probably a long time. if you don't do things well, even with the contract, you will not stay here. it is not important to me. there's still plenty of chatter about liverpool's £75 million signing of virgil van dijk from southampton, making him the world's most expensive defender. one man who knows him well is leicester city boss claude puel, who managed the dutchman at southampton last season, and believes liverpool have bought one of the world's best centre—backs. 0ne one of the best defenders in the world. he has all the quality to become the best. i think it's fantastic, a very good possibility for liverpool, of course. he can play, he can play different teams,

different good teams, and it's a good reward for him. burnley manager sean dyche said today that the club's fans aren't about to "get drunk" on their success this season. burnley‘s final fixture of 2017 takes them to huddersfield on saturday and they lie seventh in the table after their 2—2 draw at manchester united on boxing day — a game in which they led 2—0 at one stage. i don't think the fans here are too drunk on it all. i think they know there is a reality and we had to work forever thing we get. they might be this time. they might be, andi might be this time. they might be, and i will make it clear. we are not condoning that or condemning it. george weir, the only african player to win the bowel on door —— ballon d'0r. the bbc understands that a heavyweight unification fight between britain's anthonyjoshua and joseph parker is close

to being confirmed. joshua is seeking to add parker's wbo crown to his wba and ibf titles. the main stumbling block until now has been how the revenue would be split. parker was said to be demanding 40%, but a compromise appears to have been reached that will see the new zealander take between 30 and 35 per cent. the cheltenham gold cup winner sizing john finished well down the field in the big race of the day, the christmas chase at leopardstown. it was won by the 8—1 shot road to respect. ridden by sean flanaghan and trained by noel meade he came home comfortably ahead of 66 to 1 shot balkos day flow and 0utlander. that completed a one—two—three for thejigginstown stud. sizing john finished seventh. the shocks continue at the pdc world darts championship at london's alexandra palace. the likes of peter wright and adrian lewis have already fallen and this afternoon fifth seed mensur suljovic of austria has been knocked out.

suljovic was beaten four sets to nil by the world youth champion dmitri van den bergh from belgium in the last 16 — van den bergh was in brilliant form and suljovic hardly had an opportunity. and in the last eight, van den bergh will face one of the sport's rising stars, england's rob cross. the 20th seed beat scot john henderson 4 sets to one this afternoon. rafael nadal‘s ongoing knee injury has forced him to pull out of the brisbane international, the traditional warm up event for the australian open. roger federer does not have any injury worries and has been enjoying sun, sand and sea in melbourne.