this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the prime minister says 23 russian diplomats will be expelled from the uk, the largest number for more than 30 years, after it ignored a deadline to explain why a soviet nerve agent was used on a former spy in salisbury. theresa may said britain won't tolerate a threat to life on british soil. through these expulsions, we will fundamentally degrade russian intelligence capability in the uk for years to come, and if they seek to rebuild it, we will prevent them from doing so. the prime minister has also cancelled an invitation to russia's foreign minister to visit the uk, sergei lavrov says britain is ‘staging a political performance‘. the scientist who achieved worldwide fame with his theories of the universe. he died in his home in cambridge at age 70 six. students

from 50 us states walk out of their classrooms to demand tighter gun safety laws. the protest comes one month after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a school in florida. it'll be time for sports in a moment, but let's look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. we will get more reaction from russia and the rest of the world to the uk's sanctions after a nerve agent was used to poison a former spy agent was used to poison a former spy and his daughter in salisbury. leading scientists will give their memories of stephen hawking, who has died aged 76. and we will hear from nick allen, who used to work with jim bolan on bull's—eye. that's all ahead on bbc news, now it's time for sports day. —— jim ahead on bbc news, now it's time for sports day. ——jim bolan. hello, and welcome to sportsday, i'm jessica creighton. the headlines tonight: a big night in the nou camp for chelsea.

can conte‘s men become england's third champions league quarterfinalists? ruby walsh is out of the rest of cheltenham after suffering a suspected broken leg on day two, we'll be live there later and another day, another medal for british paralympic skiers fitzpatrick and kehoe in south korea. i never get used to it, it is a com pletely i never get used to it, it is a completely different feeling every timea completely different feeling every time a walk—out. it is just amazing. good evening, lots of stories to bring you tonight, but we'll start with football and the champions league. in a few hours‘ time, we'll know all eight of this year‘s quarterfinalists. chelsea will need to be at their best if they are to be among them. they take on spanish giants barcelona in the nou camp

with the tie standing at 1—1 after the first leg. if they can upset the odds, chelsea will be the third english team in the last eight, after liverpool and manchester city. barcelona will be third spanish side through after real madrid and sevilla. setting the scene from barcelona for us, is five live‘sjohn murray. coming here for the first time since the unforgettable semifinal of 2012 in the champions league, and tonight, the odds are very much against them again. again -- against them again, it will be difficult and daunting. but they still have a chance, unbeaten against barcelona, in eight games. they have to be defenders, but when they get the chance —— chances, they‘ll have to ta ke chance —— chances, they‘ll have to take them. it's a big night for antonio conde and the team he is selected. would you think is the

right approach against his barcelona team? it will be similar tactics of the tactics used, barcelona will don a possession, but hazzard has says he is not happy, he has to play him when he is at his best, so i think he will startjoe root, confident that he will. and he will offer that presents to take chelsey of the pitch. defensively as well, christensen has conceded some big chances as of late, he needs a big night tonight. when antonio conde spoke to us yesterday, he mentioned several times the fact that it is a big patch. what does that mean for chelsea? it means barcelona will have a lot of the possession, but i think you‘ll chelsea will narrow up the 18 yard box and let barcelona have the ball in the wide areas. and thenit have the ball in the wide areas. and then it will break at pace,

hopefully. chances of them going through? slim, but they were slim in 2012, and they got them through against all odds. bringing you the commentary on five live at 6:15pm. can they do a? and you can hear commentary on tonight‘s match on five live, kick—off at 7:45pm. bayern munich will be the seventh quarterfinalist, they currently lead besiktas from turkey 7—1 on aggregate, 2—1 on the night. thiago scored their first goal, converting a cross from thomas muller and an own goaljust seconds after half—time made it 2—0. he managed to pull a goal back, so at least the fans have had something to cheer for turk night at least the fans have had something to cheerfor turk night —— at least the fans have had something to cheer for turk night —— for tonight. mark hughes is in talks with southampton to become their new manager. the club sacked mauricio pellegrino yesterday afterjust one win from 17 league matches. the saints are currently 17th, one place and one point above the relegation zone. hughes has been out of work since being sacked as stoke boss in early january. hughes would be southampton‘s fifth

manager in less than four years, with mauricio pochettino leaving for tottenham in may 2014, ronald kooman spent two years at st mary‘s before he joined everton. claude puel lasted 12 months until he was sacked, then came mauricio pellegrino, whose spell lasted just nine months. tottenham confirmed today that harry kane has damaged ankle ligaments after limping off in sunday‘s win at bournemouth, and isn‘t expected to be back in training until next month the news is a blow to spurs but also england manager gareth southgate, who names his squad tomorrow for the friendlies against netherlands and italy. if kane doesn‘t return until the end of april, he has seven weeks to get fit before england‘s first match in the world cup against tunisia. on his twitter account, kane said: "disappointed to be out until next month, but injuries are part of the game. will do everything i can to get back out there asap." the football association said this

evening that they will continue to work with the government over england‘s participation at this summer‘s world cup in russia. their statement comes after prime minister theresa may said in the commons today, that no members of the royal family or government ministers would attend the finals. after mrs may‘s comments, the fa said they will continue to work closely with the uk government and relevant authorities regarding our participation in this summer‘s fifa world cup. ‘0ur priority is to ensure the safety and security of the fans, players and staff. we will take all travel guidance from the foreign and commonwealth 0ffice.‘ in the wake of the controversy and attention on the use of var in this season‘s fa cup, fifa president gianni infantino has today claimed that under the system, there is an error every 19 matches. there have been a series of incidents involving var in a number of fa cup ties this season with some figures in the game voicing their opposition to its introduction. var will be used at this

season‘s world cup and infantino is a big fan. translation: we have seen without video refereeing, there is one serious mistake her reverie every third match. we have seen one serious match —— mistake every 19 matches. the chances of doing this without video referee is 93%. tv analystjamie carragher has been suspended from his role with sky sports, until the end of the season. the former liverpool and england defender apologised earlier this week after footage emerged of him spitting towards a girl and her father while driving. after an internal review, sky say they will disucss with carragher any return to his role, before the start of next season. scottish football is facing accusations of sweeping sectarianism under the carpet. delegates employed by the scottish premier football league to report secterianism, say nothing is being done

when the issue is highlighted. bbc scotland has learned at least four top flight clubs have been reported this season alone. the spfl says it condemns all sectarianism, as chris mclaughlin reports. scottish football has a reputation for passion, commitment, and fierce rivalry. but at times, the rivalry strays into something more sinister. sectarianism was once described by the country‘s first minister as scotland‘s secret shame. as part of the plan to tackle it, delegates have deployed a league to monitor singing. but some of those delegates have asked to remain on the dash anonymous and tell us that it they continue to report the problem, and nothing is done. 0ne former official told me, i know that some of the

delegates who are still working today are absolute appalled. it seems the as pfl are just content to sweep the issue under the carpet. the s pfl says it works hard with sta ke the s pfl says it works hard with stake holders to fight sectarianism. this season alone, at least four clu bs this season alone, at least four clubs have been reported by match delegates for fans singing sectarian that part offensive songs. we have managed to get a hold on some of those reports, and they make for some very interesting reading. in this one, there details about songs sungin this one, there details about songs sung in report of the ir —— support of the ira. in this one, there details of songs of an anti—catholic nature. the scottish government have asked the sfpl to release these figures to the public. but so far, they have refused. much the annoyance of those at holyrood. they seem annoyance of those at holyrood. they seem to think that the rules do not apply to them as they do to every other organisation. their

organisation receives taxpayer money. the fear is the problem could drive some fans away from games. money. the fear is the problem could drive some fans away from gameslj ta ke drive some fans away from games.” take my son... i think it's poison. has been an issue for a long time,. it is not scottish football‘s sole responsibility to eliminate sectarianism, but there are those who say it should play its part, especially given that those asked to report on it say the current system is just not working. banishing the same from scotland‘s game was ever going to be easy, but there are those who just want a fighting chance. also coming up in the programme, find out how laughter is helping a paralympic skier, win all those medals. how things can change at the cheltenham festival injust 2a hours. yesterday jockey ruby walsh

was celebrating two big wins, now it looks as if he is out of the rest of the festival with a suspected broken leg. walsh‘s fall came on an eventful day with an equine superstar taking centre stage and possibly a star of the future making his mark. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss is at cheltenham for us. andy, we have to start with the ruby walsh news and a reminder about the dangers of this sport. such cruel luck for ruby walsh, four months out with a broken leg, he only made his comeback last week, two wins yesterday, it seemed to be business as usual. but today, a nasty fall on board album photo. tha nkfully nasty fall on board album photo. thankfully the horse seemed 0k, nasty fall on board album photo. thankfully the horse seemed ok, but ruby walsh had to be helped from the course, he was taken away for x—rays at hospital. in the last hour or so,

it has emerged that he has aggravated his leg injury, and he will be assessed next week, but his cheltenham festival is now over. such cruel look for ruby walsh. the queen mother champion shape —— chase, he had to be replaced. do van was going very nicely indeed, he led during the early stages, but at fault last, he fell, and his hopes we re fault last, he fell, and his hopes were over. that led the way clear for the favourite, ltr, to claim a brilliant victory. altair had a end —— an injury scare, but he finished ahead of men in second place, and can‘t‘s alone in third place. victory and delight for her his jockey. also for his trainer, nicky henderson, who won yesterday in the champion hurdle, and once again today in the champion chase. he kept hisjumping today in the champion chase. he kept his jumping together, he today in the champion chase. he kept hisjumping together, he was off the

right for a moment, but as soon as he pulled him out from behind the other horses, coming to the second last, you could just see him pick it up, but gears changed, and it was game over in a matter of strides. so we saw one big name show exactly why he‘s a champion today andy, but did we see a star of the future as well? that‘s right, sam crow, this new wonder horse from ireland, such high expectations, and he certainly lived up expectations, and he certainly lived up to his billing in the first race of the day. a quite brilliant performance from sam crowe as he claimed a comprehensive victory, 18—year—old jack kennedy was superb writing on board, as sam crowe finished ahead of black op in second place, and next destination in third place. sam crowe, very much a horse to watch for the future. as far as

tomorrow‘s action goes, the future —— feature race is the stayers hurdle, which could be a very emotional race if one of the favourites, sam spinner, wins, because his trainer is lucky to be at cheltenham at all, as dave edwards now reports. meet sam, he is getting ready for a run on the gallops up in the yorkshire dales near laban, but he will soon be heading to cheltenham, and what those around him say is already a bit of a fairy tale. when you're is that your name is lexus and spinners in the morning, you know it will be a good day. he is such a gentleman, he is such a pleasure to ride. i‘m very lucky. also feeling lucky is trainerjed 0‘keefe. his small team has never seen a horse is good, and more importantly, he is now in the best of health. i had two tumours, one in my neck and one of my tonsil, which was diagnosed as being stage

three cancer, which is obviously very scary. i had some rigorous treatment, which was very aggressive, and made life very difficult for me and my family. we made the decision to stop training, but it was to the support encouragement of our existing clients to keep us going, which we did. jed has never had a run at the best runner at the cheltenham, but sam, that‘s up there, is among the favourites for the prestigious stayers hurdle, a grade one race with prize money of 325 thousand pounds. not bad when he only costs £12,000, he is -- pounds. not bad when he only costs £12,000, he is —— he shot up the rankings after winning the long walk hurdle in ascot in december, jed‘s first grade one victory. but winning at cheltenham would me much more. we can't leave her here, with all the media interest, it isjust quite

incredible, and a lot of the journey so incredible, and a lot of the journey so far has felt like we are living a bit of a dream. so it would mean everything. at a festival packed with racing‘s big names, sam spinner will fly the flag for those with a lower profile. of course i will not be the case for long if he wins. dave edwards, bbc news. what a story that could be tomorrow in the stayers hurdle, but today has been one very much of mixed emotions, especially for the walsh family victory for katie walsh in the final race of the day. but this pair for her brother, ruby walsh, his cheltenham festival is already over —— despair. cheltenham festival is already over -- despair. thank you. good news for england ahead of their final six nations match against ireland on saturday. captain dylan hartley and elliott daly are both fit again and ready for selection after recovering from energy ——

injury. but not such good news for courtney lawes and nathan hughes. both will be out for the rest of the season with kneee ligament injuries they suffered in that defeat in paris, and both are doubts for england‘s summer tour of south africa. great britain are still waiting for theirfirst gold of the winter paralympics but for skiiers menna fitzpatrick and guidejen kehoe, it‘s been a hugely successful games with a third medal today. it came in the visually impaired giant slalom where they won silver — it‘s now two silvers and a bronze for the pair. i never get used to it, it is a com pletely i never get used to it, it is a completely different feeling every time we walk out. we skied really well, we work togetherjust like any other day, and the teamwork was perfect, everything was perfect. it was as a really great day. it feels like all the emotions suddenly settling it and you achieve. for me

in particular, this is five years of ha rd in particular, this is five years of hard work, which we missed out on so she do to injury. and also having not had the best season last season when we entered ourselves. we picked ourselves up from that and had an amazing season. questions there from our reporter kate grey. well, a short while after the race, our reporter in pyeongchang, kate grey caught up with the proud parents of the pair. i‘m now at the medal plaza here in pyeongchang, and i have found team fitzpatrick and keio. i imagined you have had a brilliant few days, what a collection of medals they have. we have a father here, what an amazing few days! and i hear that you are partly to thank for this? partly to blame, really. she found a younger, faster guide, but i‘m not moaning, three medals is brilliant. and for you, a guide —— a mother to guide her. user responsibility to pick up

and refocus? i don't think some realise what the guides have to do and all this. they have such a good relationship, they‘rejust and all this. they have such a good relationship, they‘re just the and all this. they have such a good relationship, they‘rejust the most amazing team. they use laughter an awful lot to get them through things, which is fantastic. sol think minna was shaken, she said so publicly, she was quite tearful, but theyjust work together on set with their amazing support team, and they we nt their amazing support team, and they went off, and now they have medals galore, as is amazing!