hello, i'm holly hamilton, and this is sport today, from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: leciester deny liverpool a win at anfield as the league leaders drop two points, but still go five clear of manchester city. "tous sala." nantes pay tribute to their former striker in their first game since his disappearance nine days ago. and australia's most successful trainer is arrested following the discovery of equipment used to deliver electric shocks to horses. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with the english premier league, where liveprool had —— we start with the english premier league, where liverpool had the chance to go seven points clear of manchester city at the top of the table, but instead they had to setttle for a draw at home to leicester. the bbc‘s guy mowbray was at anfield. all square in the enfield snow and ice. it is still a 1—point game of the manchester city for liverpool.

they will be frustrated at not making the absolute most of the chance that they were given to go seven points clear at the top. they will have to settle for five. credit to leicester city for what they have given to the game tonight. they came to have a go at liverpool. and after going a goal down very early on to sadio mane, very late on in the first half it was harry mcguire that levelled matters. there is one more talking point, should liverpool have had a penalty? it looks that way. liverpool, one. leicester city, one. it was difficult, for two reasons. the opponent of good organisation, very deep defending and the pitch, u nfortu nately, very deep defending and the pitch, unfortunately, the first time i have experienced snow in england, so that's pretty difficult. in the end you have to say that leicester did really well and, you know, it was a bit unlucky of course for us with the goal in the last second pretty much before half—time. you don't want to have that.

you don't have to lose the ball there. and then they get the freekick. that is all true. but at the end, you have to take it like it is. elsewhere, chelsea missed the chance to close the gap on the top three. they were thrashed at bournemouth, wherejosh king scored twice in a 4—0 victory. southampton and crystal palace shared a 1—1 draw at st mary's. they remain level on points with fourth—from—bottom burnley. and tottenham kept alive their slim title hopes with victory over watford at wembley. son heung—min, back from asian cup duty with south korea, and fernando llorente scored for spurs as they came from behind to win 2—1. in spain, the holders barcelona are through to the semi—finals of the copa del rey after overturning a 2—0 deficit from the first leg of their tie against sevilla. philippe coutinho scored twice, as barca won the second leg 6—1 against last season's beaten finalists. lionel messi also scored, as barcelona went through 6—3 on aggregate. and real betis are also through. they beat espa nyol 3—1 after extra—time, to go through 4—2 overall. in italy, holdersjuventus are out of the coppa italia after a shock defeat against atalanta. duvan zapata scored twice asjuve were beaten 3—0, ending their hopes of winning the cup for the 5th year in a row. in another shock result, federico chiesa scored a hat—trick

as fiorentina thrashed roma 7—1. in france, nantes played for the first time since the disappearance of their former player emiliano sala. they drew 1—1 with saint—etienne. the home side wore shirts with sala's name on the back with the message "amino emi", which translates as, "stay strong emi". while fans watched footage of sala on big screens, they raised a huge banner depicting his image. once play had begun, the match was stopped after nine minutes for 60 seconds as supporters applauded sala and his pilot david ibbotson after their plane to cardiff went missing nine days ago. police in australia have arrested three men after finding devices used to deliver electric shocks to make horses run faster during a raid of one of the country's top trainers. the illegal equipment was found at the stables of melbourne cup winning trainer darren weir. police have not yet released the names of those arrested and refused to confirm whether weir was among them. frank keogh is our

horse racing reporter. huge story, particular in australia. darren weir is one of the top trainers over there. won the melbourne cup in 2015. they call it the race that stops the nation. and that victory was particularly well known around the world really because michelle payne was the first female jockey to ever win the race on the 100 to one outsider prince of penzance. this has sent shock waves through racing. what is alleged to have been found at the stables was a gun, cocaine and what they call jiggers, these are electronic devices that can help make a horse go faster by sending a shock through the walls. 50 what are the implications going forward, how is this going to be sorted out? well,

the investigation is ongoing. three men have been arrested. australian police are then set who they are. 0ne police are then set who they are. one is reported locally to be darren weir. so we wait to see what happens with them. but clearly, how this pans out would be very important for raising both in australia and globally. and just exponent everyone why this is so important. the details of the investigation have to come out, but what we seem to be looking at is possible integrity issue in terms of use of electronic devices and a possible welfare issue. so when you are a love of horse racing, you love the animals, so horse racing, you love the animals, so that is where the world that comes in. and if you are a punter backing horses, you want to make sure that you are on a level playing field and that someone is not effectively cheating. now, we don't know what the allegations are against darren weir, but that is why it is so important. 0ne against darren weir, but that is why it is so important. one of the top trainers in australia facing very serious allegations. that was horse racing reporter frank keough speaking. atlanta's getting ready to host

the biggest sporting event in the city since the 1996 olympics. the la rams and new england patriots meet in super bowl 53 on sunday. the preparations continue with hundreds of thousands of people expected to arrive in the city to sample the atmosphere. the bbc‘s caroline barker is already there. welcome to atlanta, the big a, the peach state in georgia, not so peachy at the moment, it is a little bit cold. it will heat up come sunday on super bowl weekend. we are in the centre of the city downtown. this is where you have the big wheel, which you see in most cities, but you don't normally see the super bowl experience. you shut because of the weather but on the weekend thousands will be here to enjoy the super bowl for themselves, new england patriots against the la rams, who are a little inexperienced. they will feel the experience of super bowl. you can't miss it. everywhere you look there

are giant posters, noise and razzmatazz and that will go up another level when brady and co hit the turf on sunday. two—time 0lympian charlotte bankes is a world leading snowboarder but last year came close to quitting following complications from an earlier car crash which left her with a fractured pelvis. despite reaching two 0lympics and claiming multiple world cup honours with france, she had been left unable to train to full intensity. now, following intense rehab she feels "almost pain free" ahead of her major event debut for great britain at the world championships in the us, which start on friday. nick hope went to meet her. i was born in the uk. my parents are british. the whole family moved out of france when i was four because we loved being out in the mountains. just looking around, it is a stunning backdrop here, the french alps. what was it like growing up, it must have been amazing? yes, it

was pretty amazing. we never really spent much time inside. always trying to keep up with my brothers. her older brothers both raced internationally but it was charlotte who reached the olympics and four yea rs who reached the olympics and four years after her debut she entered pyeongchang 2018 as a medal contender. bankes is out! she was left frustrated after a crash, but also by the french team, who have been unable to help her recover from a serious injury sustained earlier in her career. i broke my pelvis eight years ago and since then i have been in pain and struggling with it. and we haven't found a solution in france. i was thinking, doi solution in france. i was thinking, do i continue snowboarding or do i just give up? and then it was like, ifi just give up? and then it was like, if i want to continue, no way i can actually continue with the french. how difficult was it to break the news to the french team that you wa nted news to the french team that you wanted to switch over to gigabits. news to the french team that you wanted to switch over to gigabitslj don't think at the start they really believed it was going to happen.

they were starting to be like, we can do this and this but at the time when i was thinking should i stop, i didn't have much support —— gigabits? citing afterwards i was like, well, it is too late. her full—time switch was confirmed in november and she has been near pain—free after intense rehabilitation. decisions that have been made in the team actually so that i will perform and since i broke my hip i have never been able to train like this. so i am really enjoying it. the southern alps really make for a stunning setting. it provides near perfect conditions for charlotte great britain' conditions but this week the practice is over a she heads for the usa and the freestyle world championships where she makes her debut for great britain. championships where she makes her debut for great britainlj championships where she makes her debut for great britain. i am looking forward to it. i think it will be a really good event. i am having fun again snowboarding. and 110w having fun again snowboarding. and now i am not looking at one year. i am looking a lot further ahead with the goal of the olympics and trying to go for a medal. you can get all the latest sports

news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, holly hamilton, and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hello there. we've got a potentially disruptive snowy spell of weather on the way. we've got very cold air locked in place and an area of low pressure developing over the atlantic. and it's a perfect breeding ground for a snow event as this moisture moves in across the country, bumps into the cold air — some of us are likely to see some pretty heavy sleet and snow through thursday into friday. so of course some yellow warnings are in force for snow, ice, and also the risk of freezing fog overnight through thursday into friday, it's likely to cause some disruption so stay tuned to bbc local radio and keep tuned to subsequent weather forecasts. but we start this morning on a very cold note, largely clear skies. so many places will be dry. a few wintry showers continue across the north of scotland. we'll also see some freezing

fog patches developing. something else to watch out for. we could be looking at temperatures as low as —12 to —15 celsius in some of the scottish glens. so we could have ice and also risk of freezing fog to start this morning. but, on the plus side, plenty of crisp winter sunshine. now, things start to go downhill across the south—west of england across wales and that weather system arrives, initially bringing rain and turning increasingly to snow across this part of the country. further north and east it should be relatively dry. the sunshine continuing. but it will be a cold day with increasing easterly winds. now this sleet and snow will gather force and become more widespread, pushing northwards and eastwards all the while through thursday evening and overnight. some heavy snow likely across the downs of the south—east into the midlands and certainly across southern and eastern parts of wales. by early friday this is the lying snow, a map. we could be looking at significant accumulations across parts of wales, the south—west, and the south downs, 1—4 centimetres to lower levels. a lot more than that further north. rain, sleet, and snow will continue to fall, become lighter and patchier, but it'll still continue to accumulate in places. we'll see wintry showers across the north—east of england and further wintry showers across the north of scotland. it's going to be a very cold night

again, a significant risk of ice. now, our area of low pressure gives to migrate southwards, taking its weather fronts with it. so we'll start to see a slow improvement across the south of the country. but we could still see some rain, sleet, and snow continue for a while throughout friday. this easterly breeze will bring more wintry showers into eastern england and eastern scotland, further wintry showers across the north of scotland. but in between we should see plenty of sunshine around, but that really won't do much for the temperatures. it is going to be another cold day. but stay tuned to the weather forecast. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the big freeze hits parts of the us. arctic conditions are sending temperatures down below —30 celsius. the european union insists it won't renegotiate britain's brexit deal, despite the vote in parliament seeking changes to the so—called irish border "backstop". more street protests in venezuela as president maduro refuses new elections but says he will talk to the opposition. and navigating the presidency —

we take to the ice to hear what voters think of donald trump's first two years in office.