and the mclaren formula 1 team say the door remains open for fernando alonso, despite this weekend's abu dhabi grand prix being his last. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with cricket, and the news that australia beat india byjust four runs on wednesday in the first of their twenty20 international matches in brisbane. australia were sent in to bat after india won the toss, and glenn maxwell top—scored with a8, as the home side made 158—4 in 17 overs. the match started on time, but their innings was interrupted by rain, so india were set a target that was revised upwards to 173. despite the efforts of shikhar dhawan, who made 76, india were restricted to 169—7, meaning the aussies go 1—0 up in the three—match series, with the second match to be played in melbourne on friday. we've got good memories of the team. we've got good memories of the team. we've got good memories of the team. we dominated the t20 games last

year. really good form. we were i'm pretty sure number one or number two ranked in the world not long ago. so we are ranked in the world not long ago. so we a re really ranked in the world not long ago. so we are really confident. obviously things haven't gone our way, but we know we are still a good side. things haven't gone our way, but we know we are still a good sidem was a good game of cricket today, and it was a very close match, and i feel that both the teams played really well. and yes, we've got a lot of confidence out of this game, and we are going to take it forward to the next game. no smiles for martin o'neill and roy keane. the pair have left their respective roles as manager and assistant manager of the republic of ireland. having been relegated from their uefa nations league group, they haven't won a match this year. here isjoe lynskey. one was the tactician, the other had the temperament. it was the blend of personalities that ireland hoped would promise so much. and it comes now. the republic of ireland have scored, and the place is going mad! this was the high point of o'neill and keane's revolution.

a win against italy took them to the knockout stage of the euros. but the next cycle would bring harder times, and key players' retirements were exposed in world cup qualifying, where ireland's hopes of reaching russia were ripped apart in a play—off. it was also a campaign where keane's personality tested the squad. rows with players went public in leaked recordings. club managers and colleagues got on the wrong side of the assistant. you're asking me about roy's criticism of players. let me tell you — this is is my responsibility, totally my responsibility. in the last 12 months, some of ireland's worst.

relegation from the nations league was confirmed, with just a single goal in their four games. a new manager will go straight into qualifying for euro 2020. the results haven't been good enough, and the manager always comes under pressure. it's never on the players, the manager always comes under pressure. ultimately the fia — it's mutual consent. they've parted company. i do think, if they are still there he would have qualified. o'neill spent his career as a premier league mainstay, but at 66 years old, he could now choose to walk away. it was the job and the characters that once got this nation excited. but now, irish football faces another rethink. the former ivory coast international didier drogba has confirmed his retirement from football at the age of a0. drogba, who scored 65 goals in 104 games for his country, both of which are records, began his career in france, where he played for a number of clubs including marseilles. he finished his career in north america, where he played for montreal and memphis. along the way there were also short spells in china, with shanghai shenhua, and galatasaray, in turkey. but drogba spent the bulk of his career in england, where he enjoyed a total of nine trophy—laden years at chelsea. go premier league. four fa cups.

three league cups, and the champions league. you know that you made history when you want those kinds of moments. and i know that this team will be remembered forever from the chelsea fans, and really i am proud to be part of this special team, winning the first trophy after 50 yea rs. winning the first trophy after 50 years. i know people will talk about it. that is the 2009 bbc african footballer of the year, didier drogba. onto one of this year's nominees, and winning the uefa europa league and super cup with atletico madrid helped thomas partey

to be nominated. the 25—year old ghana international may have missed out on a world cup appearance, but his strong performances in la liga and in europe for atletico has left partey with a host of new admirers. scoring goals allows herself to be seenin scoring goals allows herself to be seen in the world, because our football is all about goals. any time you score, you feel confident, and you have more confidence to keep playing more. it was a great season, because we were second in the league and we won the europa cup and we won in the super cup. yes, ifeel great, it isa in the super cup. yes, ifeel great, it is a dream come true. because it is know, doesn't

on the ball. you know, he doesn't rush, he doesn't panic, and i want to be like him. i want to be lay kim. i started in a small but village where my father was, like, the team manager. he did a lot of sacrifices that he never told me about. it was him selling his stuff to try and get me in. every african football at looked up to him, and i tried to be a stopper using that intelligence, and attacking i used the strength of toure. we know he is a great coach and one of the best coachesin a great coach and one of the best coaches in the planet, and he helps me adapt to any position that he put me, because it is not easy for any

player to play a lot of positions. so for me he is doing well in my life, and i think he deserves a lot of respect. i am thomas partey, a player for atletico madrid and the ghana national team. please vote for me the african footballer of the year. thomas partey is nominated along with medhi benatia, kalidou koulibaly, sadio mane and mohamed salah, and you can vote for your favourite right now via the bbc sport website, that is bbc.com/sport, and follow the link to the bbc african footballer of the year voting page. voting closes at 8:00pm gmt on sunday 2 december. the mclaren formula i team say the door remains open for fernando alonso, and won't rule out a return for the man who is scheduled to leave the sport after this weekend's abu dhabi grand prix. sunday's race will be alonso's 314th in formula i since making his debut back in 2001. only rubens barrichello has driven in more races than alonso, who won two world titles

with renault before his first spell at mclaren. the spaniard will be taking part in the world endurance championship next year, which includes a second attempt to win the indy 500 race. but mclaren say alonso might not be finished in formula i. that's certainly a possibility, if something happened and we needed a driver, he would certainly be on our speed dial. it just driver, he would certainly be on our speed dial. itjust depends on whatever commitments he has maybe made, does it conflict or not, but we certainly wouldn't hesitate if we needed a driver that's not one of our current two, to have fernando be the first on the speed dial list. you know, you have seen a lot of drivers, schumacher came back, so we are very happy with our driver line up are very happy with our driver line upfor are very happy with our driver line up for the future, so that is what we are very focused on at this

moment. but, you know, never say never. he is certainly driving at the top of his game, so i wouldn't rule anything out. an astonishing fluke basket from jordan mickey was the talking point on social media, after he helped khimki moscow region on the way to their second win of the euroleague season on wednesday. stefan markovic‘s pass hit the american on the head before looping in, to help secure their 85—69 win over buducnost podgorica. it certainly provided the highlight of the match, and i guess you could say he gets full marks for using his head. the los angeles lakers are up against the cleveland cavaliers. you may remember the name of lebron james, the lakers are leading, almost half—time. hello.

we've had that cold wind, some of us have had the first snow of the season, and now the widespread frost going into thursday morning. coldest in the blue here. in fact, parts of southern england could be as low as —7 to start the day. temperatures down the eastern side of the uk recovering a little bit going into the first part of the day, because you will see here increasing cloud, whereas elsewhere, it should be afairamount of sunshine to begin with. but through the day, the cloud is moving west. now, with the clud, you could see a bit of patchy rain and drizzle. and from the word go into parts of eastern scotland. and this is where it's likely to be most persistent as we go through the the day. let's take a closer look at things at 3:00pm in the afternoon. so you can see the outbreaks of rain, northern and eastern parts of scotland. western fringes of scotland still seeing some sunny spells. northern ireland — early showers clear, and then it's dry with sunny spells here. a lot of cloud through much of northern, central and eastern england.

wherever you see that cloud, it could be damp in places, though the rain not amounting to very much. there's still some sunshine through much of wales, the south midlands, and into south—west england. now, the winds are a touch lighter than they've been. temperatures are still for the most part in single figures, but windchill isn't so much of an issue. still going to feel quite cold, though, particularly where you find yourself underneath the cloud cover, and you may be seeing a bit of patchy rain. that will continue on and off through thursday night and into friday morning, still more particularly through eastern scotland. and then, to end thursday and through the night into friday, the risk of a few heavy showers into the far south—west of england, maybe clipping south—west wales. not as cold as friday begins, though pockets of rural frost around, as some spots still get close to freezing. then, on through friday, still some rain affecting parts of eastern scotland, that chance of a shower into the far south—west. could have a bit of hail with these, maybe a rumble of thunder. elsewhere, variable cloud and sunny spells. i think parts of northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england

should fare fairly well for sunshine, and temperatures still for the most part in single figures. going into the weekend, low pressure to the south, high pressure to the north, a flow of air coming in from the east. now, much of the uk under the influence of high pressure. but close to southern england, there is a weather front here that could well be producing some outbreaks of rain during saturday. some uncertainty about the exact position of that, so we'll keep you updated. still either some showers or some patchy rain towards north—east scotland. elsewhere it is looking mainly dry. you get to see some sunny spells, temperatures around 7—10 celsius. not much change going into next week. still much of the uk under the influence of high pressure. not particularly warm, but mainly dry. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: drawing a line in the sand.

the murder ofjournalist jamal khashoggi had nothing to do with saudi arabia's royalfamily, its top diplomat tells the bbc. criticising the leadership, he says, is crossing a red line. and it is a red line when you have individuals calling for the removal or replacement of a leader. that is ridiculous and unacceptable. that is ridiculous and not acceptable. an unprecedented rebuke from america's topjudge for president trump, for describing a colleague as an ‘obama judge.‘ a briton accused of spying in the united arab emirates begins a life sentence in prison. and taking the chair — ahead of the un climate change