closed drh—r hfiitiffigj‘afifin a huge fire that closed nottingham railway station early this morning is being treated as arson by the police. ina police. in a moment, it will be time for sportsday. first a look hat what else is coming up —— look at what else is coming up —— look at what else is coming up —— look at what else is coming up this evening: following his alleged racist comments about other nations and the cancellation of his uk visit, we're live in washington, where it's been another unusual day in the tenure of president trump. we'll discuss the research which revealed that young breast cancer patients with a certain strain of fa u lty patients with a certain strain of faulty genes have the same survival chances as those without. and joining me for a look at the front pages later will be from the evening standard and the deputy editor of the daily express. that's ahead on bbc news. time now for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm damian johnson. ahead on the programme: arsenal admit defeat in the battle

to keep sanchez at the emirates — it looks like exit alexis. johanna konta carries british hopes at the australian open, but there's plenty of controversy surrounding the first tennis major of 2018. and the champion amateur boxer facing the fight of his life outside the ring as he battles deportation from the uk. i'm not special. i don't think i am special, but i work hard. i work really ha rd. at special, but i work hard. i work really hard. at times, working hard it's enough to give someone a second chance. plenty to come in tonight's show but we start with football, because arsenal have admitted defeat in their fight to retain their £35 million striker alexis sanchez. the chile international is set to leave the emirates in the current transfer window with six months

of his contract remaining and could become the subject of a bidding war. tim hague reports. if you wondered why reasonable were so if you wondered why reasonable were so keen to keep —— arsenal were so keen to keep alexis sanchez, here's a reminder. commentator: he's scored an absolute beauty. that was unstoppable. so it seems is the chilean's move away from arsenal. you are always observing you with microscope when you're on a short—term contract. i never questioned his professional attitude on the football pitch. sanchez wants to win. where will he go next? it seems certain it will be somewhere in england and somewhere in the north west too. he almost joined manchester city for around £60 million on the final day of the summer £60 million on the final day of the summer transfer window. city seem the favourites again. but don't rule out neighbours united. jose mourinho isa man out neighbours united. jose mourinho is a man who likes to hijack a

tra nsfer is a man who likes to hijack a transfer and is rumoured to be poised once again. there's even been the suggestion liverpool may spend some of the money philippe coutinho credited their coverers with for —— coffers with for sanchez. it's clearly a bidding war, isn't it?l bidding war has always been to a guy toa bidding war has always been to a guy to a club who can take advantage of it. we are in the in that. i maintain what i said many times that formally he should stay here until the end of the season, but we'll see. thank you very much for torturing me. laughter well the press also tortured mr wenger on the future of theo walcott as well. he looks on his way to everton very soon. that's according to their manager, sam allardyce. but it's the impending departure of a special player called sanchez that arsenal will miss most. there are seven fixtures in the premier league tomorrow: the 3pm matches at crystal

palace, huddersfield, newcastle and west brom are all significant in the battle to stay up, with tottenham playing everton in the 5.30 kick off at wembley. there are seven fixtures in the premier league tomorrow. ahead of the champions chelsea's home game with leicester, manager antonio conte has cast further doubt on his long—term future at stamford bridge. conte led chelsea to the title last may but his position has been the subject of speculation for much of this season. at his news conference today, he wouldn't confirm that he is staying at the club. i have another year of contract with this club. but as you know very well, in the football, everything is possible. in one moment you stay here, another moment you stay in another place. 0r neither person replaces you in yourjob. there are three more fixtures over the weekend and on monday with sunday's clash between fourth placed liverpool and top of the table manchester city the highlight. it doesn't matter how they play, if

they make a good performance, they put everything on the field and they win, then they're happy. 0bviously, for us, it's a real test, win, then they're happy. 0bviously, for us, it's a realtest, go win, then they're happy. 0bviously, for us, it's a real test, go to anfield, one of the most prestigious stadiums, teams in the world and play. they're going to try. it's a big game for us. in a game like this, you need to show that you can cause them problems, more problems than other teams can do, stuff like that, make their life difficult and try to win. it's anfield. that's another thing what we should show. really looking forward to the game, to be honest. sheffield united can return to the championship play—off places if they beat local rivals wednesday tonight, in the second steel city derby of the season. united won the reverse fixture in september, while wednesday have new manager jos luhukay in charge for the first time. conor mcnamara is at bramall lane. there's always good excitement

around the steel city when sheffield united and sheffield wednesday meet. maybe more this season, because after five years of being kept apart in different divisions they're back together in the champion. six goals and excitement when they met in 0ctober. sheffield united won that game. back then they were riding high in the division. they were aspiring to moving up the next season. aspiring to moving up the next season. since then a poor run of form through late november right the way through november and sheffield united have now found theyselves slipping out of the top six. plenty of time to turn it around. they've been busy in the early stages of this january transfer window. we could see you? new faces this evening, lee evans, ryan leonard, james wilson, new players who've come in. for wednesday, james wilson, new players who've come in. forwednesday, it's james wilson, new players who've come in. for wednesday, it's a new manager and it's the dutchmanjos luhukai, former stuttgart manager in

germany. he will hope to turn around a poor run of formulately for sheffield wednesday, just one win in the last 11 games. but the new coach will know that as often happens in local derbies the form book could go out the window this evening. another busy weekend of european champions cup rugby union. bath play scarlets with the losers almost certainly out of the competition this year. it is 20 years since bath won this competition, winning that dramatic final in 1998, 19-18 competition, winning that dramatic final in 1998, 19—18 against brive. they have invited back former players and staff tonight to celebrate that anniversary. they have only made the semifinals once since then, but they're in pretty good shape this time around. they are top of pool five, but tu ln and sca rlets are top of pool five, but tu ln and scarlets are right there with them. tonight's game absolutely crucial. priestland, former scarlets player,

kicked all the points in the reverse fixture earlier this season. no leigh halfpenny tonight. a blow for them. bath finish away to treviso. scarlets have a tougher game against toulon. tonight's game could be crucial. the fixtures in the champions cup: exeter need two bonus points wins against montpellier. there are a lot of things that are adding up against us. of things that are adding up against us. they are against us because we failed to get the results in the

last two rounds, particularly the home game here. not getting anything out ever that game has hurt our positioning. at the same time, there's still opportunities there for us, we have got through the pool before in different circumstances and if you work very hard to qualify to get in the top six in the premiership then you're going to be ina premiership then you're going to be in a frontline competition. that's what we've ended up in. we've got a lot to fight for. that's what we're going to do. we're going to fight until everything is gone. leinster have qualified. they entertain bottom of the table glasgow who can't now progress from pool 3. pool 4 can't now progress from pool 3. pool [iis can't now progress from pool 3. pool 4 is tightest. munster are top ahead of their trip to racing. leinster face castres on sunday evening. the australian open tennis gets under way on monday and the great billiejean king is calling for the arena in melbourne — named after margaret court — to be renamed. last year, court, the 24—time grand slam winner, who is also a devout christian, voiced her opposition to gay marriage, as well as saying the children of transgender people were "from the devil".

king says that was a step too far. ifi if i were playing today, i would not play on it. it's really up to the people of australia. you know, i have to leave it to them, but if i we re have to leave it to them, but if i were here, i would have difficulty with it now, yes. the most important thing is be your authentic self, 0k? so, they have to decide, each one of them. you can have discussion around it, but everyone's entitled to their opinion. margaret's very much entitled to her opinion. i'd be very welcoming to margaret. she'll say, well, i welcome you too. but you know, she believes in conversion. like she thinks i can go back to straight. the action gets under way on monday morning in australia, sunday night here in the uk, with johanna konta leading the charge for british success down under. earlier we spoke to former british number one, greg rusedski, who gave us his view on konta winning a maiden grand slam title — and also the prospect of andy murray returning later this year after hip surgery. ifjo is

if jo is healthy ifjo is healthy she's got a real opportunity to possibly go all the way this year, because she had a little scare in brisbane where she hurt her hip. i hear that she's fully fit and ready to go. if you look at her section, there's a wonderful opportunity because she's got halep and pliskova, but she a lwa ys got halep and pliskova, but she always plays well in australia. mentally she's stronger and tougher. you have to have the dedication, drive, will power to be the best. jo's been as high as numberfour in the wore. she's been to the semis of wimbledon, the australian, many major titles. she's progressing nicely. now is to get over the hump and intoa nicely. now is to get over the hump and into a grand slam final. maybe this is the tournament she can do it. it's been a really tough time for andy murray. he's already missed six months of his tennis. tried to do it without surgery. he's had surgery do it without surgery. he's had surgery less than a week ago to his hip. that's probably another six months away from the game. its going to be tough for him to get back to the very top of men's tennis and win

slams again because he's had back surgery slams again because he's had back surgery and now hip surgery. but i think he wants to go out on his own terms. i hope i'm wrong and he can get back to the top of men's tennis, but that's a big ask because of the physical things he's been through. but mentally he's as strong as nails. physically, i'm not sure the body will recover enough for him to get back to the very top. when you have surgery, it's not about playing one, two or three matches. it's whether you can win four, five, sip, seven matches. that's where the body comes into play. we're not questioning his tennis or his mind set. for me it's a physical thing. being away from the sport for a year isa being away from the sport for a year is a long time with the likes of all the other players getting better and better and the next generation coming through. i think it's going to be tough for andy murray. but you know, with his grit and determination hopefully he can play some good tennis and finish off his career some good tennis and finish off his career and do what else is left in it that he'd like to do. also coming up in the programme... it's not bondi or barbados but a remote scottish farmhouse which is providing a training base for the beach volleyball team hoping

for commonwealth games glory. we will be in the best shape we can possibly be. we always knew if we could qualify for the commonwealth games we had a chance of getting a medal. i this i this is going to be the difference. first though, a look at the other news around today. chelsea are investigating allegations of racism made against two ex—coaches. the guardian newspaper has reported that graham rix and gwyn williams allegedly racially abused three black former youth team players during the 1990s. the bbc has approached williams for comment, but rix has declined. chelsea's director of communications made a statement on the allegations earlier today. we ta ke we take the them extremely seriously. we're absolutely determined to do the right thing to fully investigate and support those affected and we'll assist the

authorities and support their investigations. 0ur sports correspondent, david 0rnstein, joins me. david what more do we know? according to the guardian rix and williams allegedly bude black players physically, emotionally and verbally consistently over a number of years. among the claims of the alleged victims, unnamed and reported to be taking legal action against chelsea, is that rix threw a cup of hot coffee in the face of a player, that one of the alleged victims was left with a bloody nose after rix threw a football at him and that both men consistently addressed the alleged victims using strong racial slurs. now a statement from the lawyers of the coaches said that they deny all and any allegations of racial and other abuse. you saw the statement from chelsea there, the guardian claims that police decided not to take any action after concluding an investigation into this. but the football association is also

investigating and has interviewed two of the players. the fa said that they're not in a position to comment. ryan giggs and craig bellamy have both been interviewed for the wales manager's job. it is understood the football association of wales have interviewed others — thought to be mark bowen and 0sian roberts — for the role vacated by chris coleman. a decision is expected to be made in the coming days. the bbc understands former manchester united and england defender phil neville is among the candidates to take over as manager of the england women's team. neville's only previous managerial experience has been as an assistant at manchester united, everton and valencia. the lionesses are still without a manager after mark sampson was sacked in october. scotland full—back stuart hogg will be fit for the start of the six nations next month. hogg hasn't played since injuring his hip during the scots' autumn series. he narrowly missed a spot on the bench for glasgow's european champions cup match with leinster this sunday. scotland's first six nations fixture is against wales on february 3. anthonyjoshua's world heavyweight unification fight

againstjoseph parker of new zealand is poised to be confirmed. joshua holds the ibf and wba belts, while parker is the wbo champion. reports suggest the fight will take place on 31 march in cardiff. it's been a day of comebacks in the quarter finals of darts‘ bdo world championship at lakeside. defending champion glen durrant trailed by four sets to one against the man he calls his best friend jim williams, but the number one seed came back to win 5—4. he sets up a meeting with scott waites who also came from 4—1 down to seal a place in the last four. with just a month left before she defends her 0lympic title, britain's lizzy yarnold has finished ninth at the skeleton world cup in st moritz. yarnold was in sixth place after the first heat but finished over a minute behind janine flock, who claimed gold. the result leaves yarnold in 10th place in the overall competition standings. the final world cup race takes place in germany in a week's time. an amateur boxer, who has

represented england six times, is facing deportation, after being told he has no leave to remain in the uk. after winning amateur titles in middleweight, light middleweight and welterweight, bilal fawaz was offered the chance to turn professional. but instead he's fighting to stay in the country he calls home. azi farni went to meet him. as an amateur boxer bilal fawaz has enjoyed great success, but his biggest fight so far has been outside the ring. born in nigeria his life was turned upside down when, as a young child, his mother was killed. he was sent to the uk and told he was meeting his father. when he arrived in london, had erealised he'd been tricked.|j when he arrived in london, had erealised he'd been tricked. i was keptin erealised he'd been tricked. i was kept ina erealised he'd been tricked. i was kept in a house. i wasn't allowed to go to school. i wasn't even allowed to go out. for a significant amount of time, i contemplated running away. i finally summoned of time, i contemplated running away. ifinally summoned up of time, i contemplated running away. i finally summoned up the

courage away. i finally summoned up the courage to actually do that. he was put into foster care. at 18 he started making asylum applications to stay in the uk. he was arrested for minor offences but then turned his life around. i met a beautiful lady. she changed me. she changed my perspective on life. i went to collegement i studied. i got my national diploma in sports science. i got three as on my a—levels. i found boxing and boxing helped me. bilal‘s success in amateur boxing led to an invitation to train at tea m led to an invitation to train at team gb‘s boxing headquarters in sheffield. they told me they would like me to represent them and fight for them and go through a qualification stage where i would be picked for the olympics. i was gutted. i way devastated because i knew i couldn't go further, not because i didn't want to, but because i didn't want to, but because i didn't have a country. i didn't have a passport. many of his peers from amateur boxing have gone on to start successful professional careers. but without the possibility ofa

careers. but without the possibility of a pro contract himself, bilal‘s left wondering what could have been. with his asylum applications denied, he was arrested last month at his gym. he's currently out on gym and his case is ongoing. the home office says he has no leave to remain in the uk. immigration rules are there, they're set in stone, anyone can read them. why should you be any different? i shouldn't be treated any differently, because i'm just like any other asylum seeker, any person trying to survive. so i'm not special. i don't think i am special. but i work hard. i work really hard and, at times, working hard it's enough to give someone a second chance. at the age of 29, time is running out for bilal to make his mark in professional boxing. i'm still hungry. i can feel. it i can put my finger on it but i can't grab it. i'm still relevant. potters resort in norfolk celebrates

its 20th anniversary this year as host to the world indoor bowls championships. despite having female champions in previous years, this year's field is made up entirely of men. 0rganisers are hoping that will change in years to come. tom williams reports from hopton—on—sea. the cream of the world bowls tour having fun before the action starts for real. it's the 20th successive year that potters has staged the flagship vent, nowt —— flagship event. proud on many levels, for getting a world championship to norfolk. whilst i can quietly be proud of that, what i'm most proud about is the relationships we've seen about is the relationships we've seen being built over 20 years. the event seen being built over 20 years. the eve nt m oved seen being built over 20 years. the event moved to the norfolk resort in 1999 from scotland. much has changed in 20 years, not least the carpet colour. this year no ladies qualified for the open singles. buff

the women held their own in practice. the men's game is definitely the stronger game. but there are some women that can definitely keep up with them. you have to play the same game as the men. if you've got that attitude and you get it right you can definitely compete. to be honest, i think the qualifiers are tough to come through. there's a lot of good guys playing in the qualifiers, as well as good ladies. but it's that old adage whether you're talking darts, snooker bowls, for some reason, nine times out of ten, a good girl nearly always beat the good ladies. the laties will —— ladies will hate me for that. is there any reason a lady can't compete with a man at the same level? simple answer no. there will be two or three more times men playing than women. certainly some of the women who would give the boys here a good run for their money. greg's eyes the £55,000 first prize in the open singles. katherine's aiming fora third in the open singles. katherine's aiming for a third ladies‘ title. man orwoman, aiming for a third ladies‘ title. man or woman, it‘s still the one to win. ?

now, beach volleyball normally evokes images bondi, barbados and brazil but scotland‘s team don‘t have that luxury as they prepare to compete in the commonwealth games. beach volleyball is normally associated with the beaches of brazil. but in a scottish farmhouse four commonwealth games competitors have been perfecting their game. jane lewis went to meet them. edinburgh‘s portobello beach and the dog walkers are out in force. and until recently, it was also where you‘d find scotland‘s beach volleyball players honing their skills. but the beach in winter doesn‘t exactly make for ideal training conditions. during the recent chilly snap we had, this sand here was packed hard. today, it‘s really damp and it‘s really heavy as you can see. now it‘s not exactly uncomfortable temperature—wise here. it's uncomfortable temperature—wise here. it‘s not overly windy either. of course, that can all change. the posts that normally hold the volleyball nets are here. but the

people who normally train here have had to make alternative arrangements 120 tons of sand later, problems solved. a transformation was under way, from empty barn to volleyball minus the elements. we've got amazing quality of sand here. we‘ve got the light. if we can go down to portobello beach and the sand is frozen we can‘t train. to guarantee ourtraining, frozen we can‘t train. to guarantee our training, that means we will be in the best shape we can possibly be. we always knew if we could qualify for the commonwealth games we‘ve got a chance of a medal. i think this is going to be the difference between us just going out there to compete and winning a medal when we get out there. there you are busy raking. how have you made this possible? the work that went on behind—the—scenes was huge. we‘ve managed to turn this around with the

help of the farmers with the tractors, about 48 hours, we‘ve been ha rd tractors, about 48 hours, we‘ve been hard at it. this last flakes of sand that we‘re moving around, this is the last job before that we‘re moving around, this is the lastjob before we let the athletes get on there. it was all hands on deck to complete the conversion. job done and now the ha rd conversion. job done and now the hard work starts for the athletes. they‘ve been training out in the ha rd they‘ve been training out in the hard sand of portobello now all last winter and this winter. it‘s not just been this winter. i thought i‘d just been this winter. i thought i‘d just been this winter. i thought i‘d just be kind and give them a wee bit that had no wind or rain. i could have been nicer, sent them away. but we decided to toughen them up so they‘re ready for the gold coast. ready for the gold coast tharchingz to this kans formation from —— thanks to this transformation from empty farm yard baranau to ideal training needs. that‘s all from sportsday. we‘ll have more throughout the evening. bye for now.

hello. 0ur quiet spell of weather continues apace across the british isles. at times the cloud was thick enough to produce drizzly showers, whilst further west, for the most part, there was that lovely stillness about the january days not just in shropshire, but widely across the western areas, the cloud was thinner and higher. a bit of brightness breaking through in one or two places. signs a change on the way, though, especially for the far west of the british isles. a new weather front is going to gradually work its way in to produce wet fayre. a raft of showers towards the northern isles. not a cold night by any means at all in between. 0n saturday, this front really not

moving very far, very fast. there it is right from the word go, parts of devon and cornwall, pembrokeshire too. into northern ireland and western scotland. further east, with high ground there, the peaks and pennines, that might encourage the cloud to be thicker and drop a little bit of rain and all the while, a noticeably windy still across northern isles and still that run of showery rain getting up into that neck of the wood flirting with the eastern extremities of scotland. not a bad day provided you‘re not stuck with that weather front. if you get it, you will probably keep it. that‘s the speed of advance. further east, not a cold day. temperatures pretty much where we‘ve been for the last couple of days or. so through the evening, if you‘re stepping out, it‘s the western fringes, although the rain peters out in some locations, there‘s a lwa ys out in some locations, there‘s always that threat of there being a burst of rain through the course of the night. into sunday, well, it‘s join the dots time really, what‘s left of the front, more of a band of

rain but the prospect of rain drifting furning east, following on behind, somewhat brighter skies but the eye catcher at this stage is a new weather front, a the eye catcher at this stage is a new weatherfront, a combination the eye catcher at this stage is a new weather front, a combination of wet and windy weather, gradually slumping its way through sunday night into monday, down and across the british isles. a lot of isobars there, both ahead of that weather front and behind it. the thing to notice about the air behind it, it will be much colder, to the extent that it gets that cold, yes, some of the showers decidedly wintry. there‘ll be plenty of those showers and really windy at times. this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump says he won‘t come to the uk after all, saying he doesn‘t like the new us embassy and wasn‘t happy about its new location. meanwhile alleged comments he made about african countries land him in hot water at home. these are shocking and shameful comments from the president

of the united states. i‘m sorry but there is no other word i can use other than racist. a fine of £10,000 for the surgeon who branded his initials onto his patients‘ livers. a report into the manchester bombing finds some relatives of the victims suffered from media intrusion. also in the next hour — the new research on breast cancer survival rates. it finds that young women with the fault brca genes who develop breast cancer, have the same survival rates