this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk has confronted russia at the united nations over the salisbury poisoning. the united states, france germany and canada have expressed confidence in the british statement that the attack was carried out by two russians agents. we have clear evidence of russian state involvement in what happened in salisbury and the use of cw. involvement in what happened in salisbury and the use of (w. london needs this story forjust one purpose — to unleash a disgusting anti—russian purpose — to unleash a disgusting anti— russian hysteria purpose — to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria and to involve other countries in this hysteria. an inquest found gross failures contributed to a death of a toddler. members of northern ireland assembly

will have their pay reduced. and an indian court rules gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. president trump names the official behind an article criticising his government. a price cap on energy bills. ina in a moment time for sports day. but first what else is coming up. as britain increases pressure on russia, how has the west managed to curb russia's activities. after the indian decision to decriminalise gay sex, we will talk to a guest about what is driving the change. and at 10.40 we have tomorrow's front—pages

with giles cunningham and polly mckenzie. that is all ahead on bbc news. now time for sports day. hello and welcome to sportsday with me, will perry. the headlines this evening: the start of a new era, the uefa nations league is officially underway. (wipe sot head) :itisa : it is a new era in cardiff, where ryan giggses takes charge of wales. and we look forward to the new nfl season. also coming on sportsday, we hear from england captainjoe root ahead of his predecessor's final test match. good evening, welcome along.

finally, the nations league gets underway this evening. what is it, you might ask. we'll have more on the format shortly but there's a huge game going on to kick the tournament off tonight — germany hosting france in munich and there's another match taking place in cardiff — wales up against the republic of ireland in their nations league opener. our sports news correspondent david ornstein is in the welsh capital for us. it isa it is a huge night for ryan giggs, his first competitive match in charge of the welsh. yes and his first on home soil. he took charge of wales for three friendlies over the summer at the china cup and that was after being appointed injanuary and this will be the true test of ryan giggs as a manager. ourfirst glimpse of him in a match that

actually means something, following some contemporaries from his playing days like steven gerrard, now it is his turn and some strong team selection for him with gareth bale and aaron ramsey starting. the manager himself appears to be raring to go. this is a competitive game, i still put myself under the same pressure. i want the team to be hard to beat and to play attractive football. football i would want to watch. i wa nt football i would want to watch. i want the players to express themselves, do what they're good at. if they're defending, defend the right way. if you like to take placers on, do that. do the things that made me pick you.” placers on, do that. do the things that made me pick you. i can see fa ns that made me pick you. i can see fans making their way, what do they

make of this, because the nations league, it gets rid of the meaningless friendlies? yes, i think that the main point. there is confusion, no one seems to know how it will pan out. it is replacing meaningless friendlies with competitive matches. it is sort of taking a league to international football outside of the competitions with a potential trophy at stake for some of the bigger nations and a back route into euro 2020 for four teams. so we will see how it pans out. there is some excitement to find out what it is like and nice to have an edge to international football and we know friendlies can be drab. looking at wales who, have named a strong team, with youth and experience and they're taking it seriously. for ireland, a lot of injuries and problems. so they are understrength tonight. we have seen

football associations struggle to sell out friendlies, this could be a big change? yes, we are expecting around 25,000 people here tonight. that is not quite full capacity at the cardiff city stadium, but it will be a great atmosphere, wales have been selling it as the red wall. they want the sort of noise we saw from the welsh fans at the the euros. but the irish knocked them out for the world cup. so perhaps a bit of a score to settle on that front and with that competitive edge coming into these previously so—called friendly matches, perhaps crowds will start to generate. it is what uefa what, a resurgence in international football to redress

the balance between clubs and the international scene. thank you. you can hear full commentary of that match between wales and ireland on bbc radio 5 live — all the build up from 7 o'clock. and we'll be looking ahead to scotland's friendly against belgium later here on sportsday. so what is the nations league — dotting the is and crossing the t‘s for you, here'sjoe lynskey. so for the next two months of international breaks, the focus is on the nations league. you can see it forms part of calendar as we head to the next major summer tournament of euro 2020, that will be played in different venues. the league is designed to reduce the amount of meaningless friendlies and offer a route into the competition through the play—offs in march 2020. we will get to the qualification of this in a moment. first, let's look at how

you win the uefa nations league trophy. the top 12 ranked sides go into league a and these sides play each other home and way. the team that finishes top of the group goes through a knockout competition that will be played injune 2019. this is perhaps where uefa will hope they're on to perhaps where uefa will hope they're ontoa perhaps where uefa will hope they're on to a winner. they will be filling a period where there is never usually major competitions. we have france, spain, germany and the netherlands. the winner gets the trophy, but it may be a few years before we see people parading it down the streets. that is at the top. plenty to play for across the rest of the continent. this is where we need to concentrate, there are four tiers to the nations league, all made up of smaller groups of three orfour teams.

all made up of smaller groups of three or four teams. instead all made up of smaller groups of three orfour teams. instead of trophy, if teams finish top they will go into a knock out competition that could earn them a place at euro 2020 if they haven't qualified already. let's look at league c. it is teams that usually are not regulars at major competitions, but the winners of each of the smaller groups will be guaranteed a spot in the league c play—offs that we saw ta ke the league c play—offs that we saw take place in march 2020. that means if scotla nd take place in march 2020. that means if scotland target the nations league and they will make sure they get a chance to reach the knockouts at least, which guarantees one spot for league c teams at euro 2020. it also interestingly guarantees a spot for teams in league d. that means that one of these 16 nations will be playing at euro 2020. you can see the names here. so fans of latvia,

san marino, gibraltar, this could be the competition to keep an eye on.|j hope that clears it up. cricket now and tomorrow's 5th and final test between england and india is pretty meaningless except for one thing — former captain alastair cook will play for england for the last time in his illustrious career. his side have an unassailable 3—1 lead in the series. joe wilson's in south london for us to look ahead. alastair cook would like us to talk about something other than alastair cook. so let's focus on the the wicket keeping situation. england say thatjonny bairstow will resume as wicket keeper, but in the future jose buttler and bairstow may share the workload. in this test match, ali, will bat no three. he bowled well in the last match. going forward he may bat at no three and

may not. joe root said adaptability will be crucial in the future. he knows that he will not of course have alastair cook to turn to. and naturally a lot of his media opportunities today were taken up with discussing the soon to be retired alastair cook. do you think he has another century in him. obviously. i have seen one coming for a while. you may not think it with the scores he has had in the la st with the scores he has had in the last couple of weeks, but it would seem last couple of weeks, but it would seem fitting to go out on a high, notjust as a seem fitting to go out on a high, not just as a team. hopefully he can soak up everything else and go out and deliver on the field. it would be nice to start and fin wish a century. it might be written in the stars for him. india may feel unluckily to be 3—1 down, more resolve in the run chases and it

could have been different. their approach will be fascinating here in this test match. they're captain did not come to speak to us today, instead he said rahane. england particularly they won small, small sessions, that is what i feel, especially the bowling unit, they bowled well. important test match coming up and we will give our bis. the tes —— give our best. the matches have been low scoring but exciting. and if alastair cook did summon one exciting. and if alastair cook did summon one final great test innings, well, who here would begrudge him that? stay watching. still to come on sportsday... we'll hear from the new scotland captain andy robertson ahead of tomorrow's friendly against world cup semi finalists belgium at hampden park. and serena williams says she still has a "long way to go" to win a record—equalling 24th grand slam singles title as she prepares to face

anastasija sevastova in the us open semis. the new nfl season gets underway in the early hours of the morning with defending champions the philadelphia eagles taking on the atlanta falcons, but the start of the campaign has been somewhat overshadowed by the new nike ad featuring former san franscisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick. he's become a polarising figure in american football after deciding not to stand for the national anthem during a 2016 nfl preseason game to protest against racial injustice. osi umenyiora and jason bell from the nfl showjoined me earlier and are both fully behind him. it is incredible. i have always said, i believe in a person's right for peaceful protest. i always have, a person like me wouldment n't have the rights i've without that. i

support that. what's happened is incredible in the sense that teams have obviously backed away from employing him. he has stuck with it through thick and thin and put his neck on the line and so have nike, but people have burning their trainers, it is splitting the united states. as did the anthem protest. you had people who understand what it is about and others who don't ca re it is about and others who don't care and all they see is athletes who are supposedly making millions. so what they have done is great. nike may have other motives and they may be able to make money, but they have ta ken a may be able to make money, but they have taken a stand and when history looks back they will be judged on the right side. less still a baby for a quarterback. does he have a future. could it inspire teams to employ him? he put himself out there

on the line in the prime of his career. and i believe what he said about he will be on the right side of history and what he sacrificed. he will go down for some people in legendary status? what he has done off the field is going to by far trump anything that he could do... excuse the pun. yes, this guy will be looked at like a muhammad ali, as somebody who took a stand and brought people together. as two black men who have played this incredible game at the highest level, how does it make you feel when you see this split? it is unfortunate to see, if you look at theissue, unfortunate to see, if you look at the issue, why is he doing what he is doing, forget what how he is doing, why is he doing what he is doing? he has seen police brutality

and unarmed black american people getting shot and killed and people not being held accountable. to argue against that makes no sense. he has back. serena williams backed him and so has this man. i stand for anybody that believe in change. i stand for anybody that believes in a positive attitude and a positive matter. and i believe and i stand with nike every day all day, love you all. now the football. i love your show, the philadelphia eagles are going to become the team that everyone hates and wants to beet. everyone wanted them to win. now everyone wants a piece of them. they're the hunted. they stood with the trophy. last year they started fast and this year with the injuries they have had and they haven't had their fall offence,

they haven't had their fall offence, they may have a slow start. but it will be an exciting game. both have mvp quarterbacks. that is a match up in itself. i think the falcons will win. one man is oddell beckham junior, a star of the nfl. he didn't have the season people thought last season. have the season people thought last season. but he has a new contract and he won't be struggling to put bread on the table. he deserves every dollar, he is a superstar and he isa every dollar, he is a superstar and he is a game—changing player. he is electric and in new york you need a quy electric and in new york you need a guy like that. i expect big things out of our new york giants. predictions, how close were you? very far away. super bowl prediction is not for me. because i like you, i will throw something out there. you

say this to everybody. minnesota vikings against houston. what a season to look forward to we mentioned the quarterbacks and what eve ryo ne mentioned the quarterbacks and what everyone has mentioned may field and alan, who guys, both won't start for the first week. you don't want to throw them out to the wolves. you may want to see the buffalo bills throw him out there, but i don't think he is ready. he needs at least a year to mature. you see what the green bay packers do with rogers in behind and how they progress. they should take the same approach with the browns. talk about a new bond, they're looking for a new bond, look at this man! i love having those boys in. don't miss the nfl show.

she can wear a cat suit on court, she mingles with royalty. is there anything that serena williams can't do? well, equalling margaret court's grand slam record has so far eluded her, but tonight she has the chance to move a step closer to equalling that feat, when she takes on anastasija sevastova in the us open semi finals. our correspondent russell fuller is in new york. these are the sights and sounds of central new york before the women's semi—finals. all the talk is about serena williams chasing a 24th grand slam. she has not won the us open since 2014. she looks in even better form than at wimbledon and she reached the final there. can anastasija sevastova with her unorthodox game, he uses a lot of slice and varies the pace, cause her an upset. anastasija sevastova took

an upset. anastasija sevastova took a mid career breakfour years ago before coming back and stringing together an impressive sequence of results. the other semifinal has two of the younger players, ers. maddison keys was in the final last year. but this year has been calmer and less late—night drama under the lights and she looks a more complete player. the new scotland football captain andy robertson believes he's the man to lead his country back to a major tournament. he watched scotland's women reach the world cup earlier this week and the liverpool defender says ending the men's 20 year absence from the main stage would trump any of his football achievements. alasdair lamont has more. leading from the front,