as the manchester united caretaker manager until the end of the season gareth bale scores a hatrick to send real madrid through to the club world cup final where they'll face hosts al ain. and major league baseball have agreed a deal with their cuban counterparts that will see players able to freely sign for north american teams. hello and welcome to the programme where just a day after sacking jose mourinho — manchester united have named former player ole gunnar solskjaer as caretaker manager until the end of the season. solskjaer spent 11 seasons at old trafford, scoring the winning goal in the 1999 champions league final — and takes over with united sixth in the premier league. our sports correspondent andy swiss has more. it girls made him an old trafford

legend. he scored the winner in the champions league final but now he's back a different challenge as ca reta ker back a different challenge as caretaker manager. in a statement, he said while the club's vice—chairman said his history at manchester united means he lives and breathes the culture here. we are confident he will unite the players and the fans. that is the hint perhaps of what was lacking under jose mourinho was sacked yesterday in bandsi jose mourinho was sacked yesterday in bands i spoke to this morning looked to the norwegian‘s appointment. absolutely delighted. i think you will bring the feelgood factor back to the club. we've had negative football for so long and we need an uplift. we've had three former coaches and we need to make sure we get the right appointment andl sure we get the right appointment and i think the next six months, he will do. there were even

congratulations from the norwegian prime minister. but not everyone is so prime minister. but not everyone is so happy. solskjaer has only managed once in the premier league at cardiff and that ended in relegation and the sac which some believe hardly bodes well. to appoint an interim manager is a shambles. the amount scored to win a goal in the champions league final? is this where manchester are out? this morning it was training as usual and among those arriving was paul pogba who became disillusioned underjose mourinho. solskjaer will have to fire him up on the rest of the squad —— the squad service club hero can bring back the glory days. the former nigerian international winger peter odemwingie was signed by solskjaer when he was manager at cardiff city and he says the norwegian is an exciting choice to inspire the players. what caught my eye was the

excitement we have, managing the premier league. he looked really in busier stick about it. that he didn't come across as a defensive minded manager. ithought didn't come across as a defensive minded manager. i thought he would play more attacking football. they are still relegated but they couldn't spend a lot of money. he will tell the players that opportunities don't come to life. time flies. take the opportunity now at the same time, remind them of course how big this club is. but he was happy to be a poor choice striker. he will play a key role in bringing out the best of the young players. telling them that you are not here forever, it's a big club and take your chance wallets here. this man behind me, gareth bale, scored a hat—trick. they reach the final of the fever club world cup. the spaniards will look to make it

three consecutive titles when they face hosts al ain abu dhabi. these two sides of history in the world cup. this was the start of their quest fourth world title in five but they were almost undone after 90 seconds. it took awhile for the european champions to get going but when they did, they did so devastating fashion. gareth bale relieved the pressure but breaking the deadlock just before relieved the pressure but breaking the deadlockjust before half—time and they may be mindful of river plate's shock exit on tuesday. they'll then made it three nil, an 11 minute hat—trick which put the result beyond doubt and ended the contest. with 14 minutes to go,

there was a consolation goal for the asian champions but it was too little, too late and it is re— madrid who will face al ain in saturday's final. it's great on a personal level to get the goals. it now uses personal level to get the goals. it now uses a chance. personal level to get the goals. it now uses a chance. he personal level to get the goals. it now uses a chance. he is 10096 personal level to get the goals. it now uses a chance. he is 100% fit. he can decide this kind of game for us. he can decide this kind of game for us. he has those qualities. tomorrow we will analyse the opposition and get ready to the game. windows going to bea get ready to the game. windows going to be a difficult game, it is one we really wa nt to be a difficult game, it is one we really want to win. we look forward to it. gareth bale scored a hatrick as european champions real madrid in germany, 3rd—placed bayern munich beat 4th—placed rb leipzig in the big game

of the night in the bundesliga. franck ribery scored the only goal of the game — 7 minutes from time — to secure the win for bayern munich who move level on points with borussia monchengladbach, and six behind the leaders borussia dortmund. both teams were reduced to 10 men in the last minute. stefan ilsanker of leipzig was shown a straight red card for a challenge on thiago alcantara, and bayern‘s renato sanchez received a second yellow card for his part in the melee which followed. elsewhere, 5th—placed eintracht frankfurt missed the chance to move above leipzig as they drew 2—all at mainz. meanwhile, hannover drew 1—all at freiburg to move off the bottom of the table. they're ahead of nuremburg on goal difference. in engand, arsenal have told the bbc they're investigating cctv footage after the tottenham midfielder dele ali was hit with a plastic water bottle in his side's 2—nil league cup quarter final victory at the emirates stadium. alli was hit in the back of the head shortly after scoring tottenham's second goal. (00v) it was son heung—min who scored the opening —— it was son heung—min who scored the opening goal for spurs.

elsewhere, eden hazard scored chelsea's late winner as they beat bournemouth. chelsea and spurs will now face each other in the semi—finals while the holders manchester city will play third—tier side burton albion in the last four. celtic have moved top of the scottish premiership after a 3—0 win at home over motherwell with all three goals coming in the first half (00v) meanwhile, rangers fell to second — a point further back after a goalless draw away to hibernian — although the hosts have substitute goalkeeper adam bogdan to thank, who's on loan from liverpool, after he saved numerous chances at easter road. british rider simon yates will know what to expect when he looks to retain his vuelta a espana title later this year. the 2019 route was announced in the spanish city of alicante on wednesday. setting out from salinas de torrevieja and ending in madrid, the 74th edition of the spanish grand tour will take place from the 24th of august until september 15 — and cover a distance of almost three thousand three hundred kilometres. the route includes eight uphill finishes — five of which are new — and the race will start with a team time trial. andorra will play host to a spectacular mountain stage and the race will then cross over

to france before returning to the more familiar basque country. five—time usa 0lympic swimming champion missy franklin has retired at the age of 23 after admitting she's been in"too much pain for too long." ranklin claimed four gold medals in her 0lympic debut at london 2012 when she was just 17 — but a shoulder injury and issues including depression have affected her since, and she is ready to retire. major league baseball has reached an agreement with cuba's baseball federation allowing cuban players to sign with north american teams without needing to defect. it becomes the fourth foreign professional baseball league to enter into an agreement of this type with the mlb, joining the japanese, korean and chinese professional leagues. the mlb says the deal provides a safe and legal way for cubans to reach the big leagues in search of riches and success without the need to defect and resort to dangerous journeys via traffickers.

now, when you're the son of one of the greatest basketball players ever, you must feel the pressure when you get on court. but when le bronjames' son bryce had a tough game, the los angeles lakers player gave him a good pep talk. you down on yourself no reason. you can make the shots. you played a hell of a game. good job. i'm can make the shots. you played a hell ofa game. goodjob. i'm proud of you. proud of you, man. there are 12 games happening. the pick of those, but in the eastern conference. indian led by ten

points. couldn't ——to next time, could by now. —— until next time, bye for now. hello there. well, as you've probably already heard, the run—up to christmas is set to be a fairly mild one, with ouraircoming in off the atlantic. now, it's not going to be completely settled, though. there will be quite a bit of cloud and also some rain or showers at times. but a little bit of sunshine, too. now, for thursday, we've still got low pressure in charge of the weather. it'll be anchored to the north—west of the uk. and we'll have a fair old breeze

blowing in from the west, and that will continue to feed in showers, most of them across southern and western areas early on thursday, the odd heavy one, with many central and eastern parts seeing the longer dry spells to begin thursday. so we'll have a split in temperatures. where you get the showers, a bit more cloud. southern and western areas, temperatures around five to seven degrees. something a bit cooler, though, further north. but, for thursday morning, it's going to be a largely dry and a bright one across many northern and eastern areas. and, again, it's going to be fairly blustery, particularly near southern and western coasts. mild in the south, 10—11 degrees. further north, these are pretty typical temperatures, in fact, for this time of year. as we head through thursday night, it stays quite breezy, quite showery. the showers ease down and then we start to see some wetter and windier weather arriving across the south—west. that's because this next frontal system will move into the southern half of the country during thursday night into friday morning. it could be quite wet for some. but what it will do is import even milder air across the southern half of the country, as you can see, the yellow and orange colours there. so, although it's going to be a really drab start to friday,

a lot of surface spray, standing water on the roads, that rain should eventually clear eastwards. although its northern extent may linger on across parts of northern ireland, northern england, maybe southern scotland. so a bit of a grey day here. to the north of here, again, quite cool with a little bit of sunshine. and sunshine will move in across england and wales. and very mild, 11—14 degrees. it looks like saturday will be the driest day with that right of high pressure. then the weather fronts move in on for sunday. so i think it is a bit of a tale of two halves. there will be one or two showers across northern and eastern areas to begin saturday. 0therwise, with that ridge of high pressured building in, a little bit drier. winds a bit lighter, too, still coming in from the west, and we should see a good deal of sunshine around, particularly further south and east where you are. 10—12 degrees, very mild again in the south. around 9 or 10 in the north. sunday, wetter and windier across the board. as we head into monday, it could turn a little bit cooler in the north. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley.

our top stories: president trump is pulling us troops out of syria. he says islamic state is defeated. defense chiefs and senior republicans say not so fast. if you're tired of fighting radical islam, i understand it. they're not tired of fighting you. the european commission publishes a series of measures to avoid major disruption if britain leaves the eu without a deal. cu ba's baseball players are told they can now play professionally in the us and canada. one of charles dickens', best—loved stories, a christmas carol, turns 175 years old.