lewis hamilton could win a fifth world title this weekend — final practise gets under way in austin ahead of qualifying later this evening for tomorrows us grand prix hamilton posted the fastest time in practise yesterday — and his cause has been helped by his nearest rival. sebastian vettel has been given a three place grid penalty for not slowing sufficiently for a red flag. hamilton needs to beat vettel by eight points to be crowned champion again. it's champions day at ascot, and cracksman has won the champion stakes again— a son of the great frankel, and the six fifths on favourite, was racing in blinkers for the first time but frankie dettori brought him home six lengths clear of crystal ocean. cracksman also won this race last year. that was a part of a treble for trainerjohn gosden. that's all the sport for now. back with holly later.

now on bbc news — the story of us gymnast simone biles and her return to the sport — after revelations she was sexually abused by the team's doctor. spring, texas. the town that sprung up in the 1870s around the international and great north railroad. but from humble beginnings, it has grown. its population has more than doubled in the last 30 years. now a suburb of houston, more than 5a,000 people call it home, home, but one of them is a sporting superstar. a diminutive figure who is massive in the world of gymnastics. after 18 months out of the sport, simone biles is back. her timeout wasn't always easy. former us gymnastics doctor larry nassar was found guilty of serial sexual abuse. biles publicly admitted she was one of his victims.

but she is aiming to take off where she left the sport, at the rio olympics in 2016 she won five medals, four were gold. in the brazilian heat, she set the sporting world ablaze. everyone thinks we are overnight sensations, but we have been working our whole life for this. where do those medals live now? in a safe. laughter. ina safe? yes. i think i would have them on my bed. i know, but they are just so precious. you have to kind of hide them. after rio, the simone that we saw walk into rio and the one that left left was very different. you had gone in, with this huge pressure on your shoulders, and you totally delivered. and then you came out and people knew your name suddenly. people that didn't before. what was that like to deal with that kind of pressure? it is very different and kind of scary. because every where i went somebody knew me. it is so strange because i don't know them but everybody knows me, it is like why is everybody staring at me. it was kind of scary.

but then you get adjusted and get used to it, it becomes 0k. get any good perks? so many perks. it is bad to say that but being an olympian you do get a lot of perks. we got to go see hamilton right away. the wait was two or three years long. i can't get see that. we went straight into that and you get to do so much. anything you say on social media, throw it out there because you'll get to do if you say it. that was kind of the craziest part. and she made sure she took time to capitalise on the success of rio, not just to have fun but some well—earned rest. and relax and recuperate and regroup with some me time. it was more mental than physical. i could've kept pushing and pushing if i wanted to but mentally i needed a break. you tweeted recently that you're the happiest and healthiest you have ever been. what part of taking a break do

you attribute to that feeling? mainly my body and my mind because before, i would eat and breathe gymnastics and now i realise i'll have to do that to be i realise i don't have to do that to be as strong and confident as i am in the gym. so i really found myself doing a lot of things outside of the gym to not just better my gymnastics but to better myself and i think that has worked out very well. that amount of time off of a sport that is a sport for younger people, that must‘ve been a risk? yes, i definitely expected after the olympics to take some time off and we were not sure how long but i said i wanted to take at least a year off to see and my year off was absolutely amazing and i honestly think it helped my body. after her break, she came back with a bang at the us nationals in august. she announced a return by sweeping the board, winning every event over the two—day competition. i expected to be a disaster. it was my first two—day competition

in a really long time. i didn't expect it to go as well as it did. i am very happy with the outcome and that i held it together to perform the routine. i read after the nationals that you said you only give yourself a b+. what on earth do you think you need to improve on? why are you so hard on yourself? i don't know, i guess isjust the nature of who i am but i feel like going in i could see the mistakes that i made and i didn't want to make. even though they were very slight, i wanted to be better. it was like she had never been away, yet some things have changed. the teal leotards she wore at nationals was in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse. apart of her history, she felt she had to speak out about it. i think it was very important to support the fellow gymnasts that it had happened to you and to just speak up

for what to believe in. i hope i gave them courage to come out and share their stories, one day, if they want to. injanuary of this year, us gymnastics team doctor larry nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison for abusing more than 150 women and girls under the guise of medical treatment. your decision to assault was precise, calculated, manipulative, devious and despicable. you do not deserve to walk outside of a president ever again. of a prison ever again. i have just signed your death warrant. the judge was absolutely amazing on her part. we were very proud of her. it is kind of a relief because he kind of got what he deserved. for biles, it was personal. prior to the sentencing, she confirmed in a statement via social media that she too had been one of his victims. what prompted you to make that decision to write that

statement and how did it feel when it was out there? it is very hard just because i think a lot of people struggle with coming out and telling their stories but i figured if i can tell my story than it might encourage other people to tell theirs. because a lot of people do look up to me so they are like if simone can be strong enough, hopefully i can too and that is the message that i wanted to get. that i wanted to give. but i was kind of relieved when it came out. it was a lot of pressure off of my shoulders. because to keep something in for so long whenever we usually share everything with our friends and family and our was a lot. the young girls here, have you had young girls come up to you and say to you you're such an inspiration for having spoken out and done that? yes, it is more the parents because i think the parents are linked to the social media accounts or whatever they see. i remember even some of our girls didn't quite understand it and they are 12 and 13,

so you have to be a little bit older to fully understand what had happened. much of the abuse happened around an hours‘ drive from spring, at a ranch deep in the texan forest. us gymnastics camps were held at a property belonging to the karolyis, the team's head coaches. in this compound, only accessible via a long, winding dirt track, nassar used his power to exploit the young girls under the noses of the unwitting karolyis, but sometimes even the gymnasts parents, who were in the same room as nassar secretly abused their daughters. you written it would be heartbreaking to have to return to the branch. to return to the ranch. four days after you wrote that, us gymnastics came out and said we're not going there any more. how did that feel? i don't know.

it felt kind of empowering. even though that is like an overused word right now. but really, yeah. do you think that what you all went to will mean that things are changing in the future and that us gymnastics will change? i think it has to. they have no other choice basically. but speaking out is the first thing that change will happen. you've often been talked about as being the gymnastics saviour. that is a lot to put on one person. how have you felt about that tag? it is kinda crazy. i can't be the one to save everything. but as long as i do myjob and everybody is pleased, maybe i will save something. i think because people think of you have a super woman. of you as a super woman. you can do things that normal human beings cannot. so, they almost put this superhuman thing on you. are you a bit more comfortable with that role now? i think so because coming up, being who i am, i push a lot of things away because expectations are scary and i don't want to be

the one to hold all of them. but as i get older, i'm just more used to it. i expect for that to be put on me so i try not to think of it too much. music. it's here at the world champion centre where simone trains and her regime is pretty brutal. around 32 hours a week and she has a new coaching team and has discovered a new love. i didn't really like bars before. they didn't like me. so it was kind of... ifeel like i'm more confident in the skills that i'm doing. and just overall, i think i was young and not mature enough and i would work against the bar and not be with it. so i think that is why i had that problem. so, do you think it's a coming—of—age thing then? maturity has to do with some of that?

a little bit. and i know that i have to do bars. i can't get out of it. especially at the olympics when they told me i was going to be put up on bars for the team. i said, what? i've never been in a bar team line—up. they were like, you have to go. and i'm like, oh my gosh, i'm going to pass out. so i think that also gave me confidence that i went out there and did the routine. the world championships get under way in a few days‘ time at the qatari capital of doha and will mark simone biles return to this world stage. with a combined total of 19 olympic and world championship medals to her name, she will be expected by many to put in a performance worthy of america's most decorated gymnast. how do you feel your routines are heading into doha? right now i would say a little bit more confident going into doha with my routine. ifeel more confident. and then we've worked on the little details so hopefully i will be able to clean those up and beat that.

to clean those up and keep that. do you feel more or less pressure and going in to the world, knowing you have been there and done it and performed on the big stages? it is almost more pressure. you know exactly what to expect and the pressure that will be put on you rather than your first time, you kind of are so excited to be there and take everything in and whatever happens, happens. and now you have those expectations. you are 21 now. so, to normal people, you're still very young. a whole life to live. in gymnastics, you're like elder. does that bring an extra responsibility with the other girls? again, yes. because i'm not a rookie any more. i've had my training. now i get to mentor these girls, which is exciting because i've been through it all. so i really feel like i can help these girls on those world stages or the big stages out there. what is the absolute hope and dream and realistic aim for going into the world championships after being out for so long? again, to provide the team with the best of my abilities

in gymnastics and hopefully we get a team medal and i would really like to make barfinals but then again, that's putting a lot of pressure on myself. so we will see. while the immediate focus is on very much the world championships, long—term it remains the olympics. for years on from rio, she will be aiming to be america's golden girl once again with a 2020 games come around injapan. tokyo, that is the big focus, isn't it? do you think you ever be able to top what happened in rio orjust a different experience and you want to experience different things? definitely experience different things because four years apart is of a long time. for my first olympic games, to walk away with five medals, i think that is kind of unbeatable, even for myself. we will go in there with an open mind and see what happens. to put pressure on myself is alot. the first time around

for the olympics i said ijust want to help the team to the best of my abilities and that is what i did. so that is my next goal and however many medals ayanna and however many medals i get, is how many i end up with. once this is all over, and you retire, what is the plan and what would you love to do? i haven't quite decided that yet, i am still in it for a while. i don't really have time to think about all of that stuff. but i was taking a couple of college classes earlier this year and now i can't because i'm still travelling and doing so much. but maybe work with foster kids, or do something what professional sports. i haven't decided yet. you are a role model now. people listen to you. so you do have to be a bit more careful about what to what to say on twitter. being a professional athlete we always have to watch for that. so that part was nothing new. but it is still a lot more eyes on you so you have to watch out.

but before, i feel like being on the us team we always had to be a little careful. and despite what has been a difficult and traumatic few years for her and her sport, simone biles still has a hopeful message to the younger generation of american gymnasts. the young girls she inspires, trains with and eventually the ones who will take her crown. i hope they see the fun in the sport and they can reallyjust enjoy and embrace those moments. and really whatever happens, happens. you don't have to win to have to have fun and enjoy it. music. favourite things to do to relax would be hanging out with friends and families

and going to the movies. and going to the beach or shopping. who's my best friend? i have a couple of best friends. it would be caitlin, rachel, my boyfriend and my sister, my mum. i have a lot. ooh. it is one by khalid and halsey. i can't remember the name right now. b—side. yes. i'm not going to sing it. i'm such a bad singer! i guess it would be from my mum, to be the best amount.

hello. while most of us have been enjoying a sunny saturday afternoon that has not been like that everywhere. west of scotland we have seen cloud and passing showers and a rainbow here. it is notjust scotla nd rainbow here. it is notjust scotland singh seven clouds, also pretty great in northern ireland and parcel northwest england, still for most of england and wales and significantly the northeast of scotla nd significantly the northeast of scotland we have seen the clouds break up nicely. this was the scene early on in the marriott, and with that sunshine, we've also have the fern affect energy scotland pushing temperatures to 19 degrees. 19, possibly 20 the top temperature across as part of the world. about seven 01’ across as part of the world. about seven or 8 degrees above average for this time of the year. overnight, it

is going to be cloudy for northern ireland and the cloud coming back across scotland and rain pushing into the northwest turning heavy. clever skies for england or wales but again there would be missed and wa nted but again there would be missed and wanted to fog patches. it will be chilly perhaps in the countryside with the sea temperatures to about two or three celsius. there will be a gold star to the dead, and msn fog patches will burn off and we should see some sunshine and the best of it across us seven in see some sunshine and the best of it across us seven in the scenario. scotla nd across us seven in the scenario. scotland starts today pushing into northern england while turning lighter and patchy are in the rain associated with a cold front so you will notice the contrast temperatures, 17 in the south, but turning cooler in the north. temperatures will be around 12 degrees there. a cooler day for some and a drop of seven celsius. looking at the weather affected through monday we had this cold front that came push south and that will bring the cold air from northern ireland

and scotland and seven across well so and scotland and seven across well so today will be fine on my date with plenty of sunshine, temperatures will be edging downward. typically two between around 12 to 1a celsius. feeling a lot cooler and fresher franklin wealth and across the north of scotla nd wealth and across the north of scotland that will be read at times and fairly brisk winds and under the developer and tenant agrees and 11. for the rest of the week, high—pressure going to be close or just to the west of the uk so mentally dried picture with sunshine and if you missed the fog patches but it will turn quite a bit colder by the end of the week. that is your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines.

organisers say over half a million protesters have marched through london, demanding another referendum on the uk's membership of the european union. saudi arabia admits journalist jamal khashoggi was killed in the consulate in istanbul — the united states says it's unaccpetable — but admits the countries have close ties. they have been a great ally in the middle east. we need them as a counterbalance to iran, so it's not the simplest solution. also coming up this hour. bepi—colombo blasts off! two satellites developed in europe and japan are on their way to the planet mercury. it's hoped that together they can resolve the puzzles of the mysterious planet closest to the sun. prince harry has opened the fourth invictus games in sydney, dedicating them to all veterans who have served in dangerous conflicts.