aaron woods, bbc news. in a momenta look at the weather but first, the 21—year old singer michael rice, has been chosen to fly the flag for the uk at this year's eurovision song contest in israel. he'll be singing this song — bigger than us — at this year's competition in tel aviv, having triumphed over six contestants in a public vote last night. it's been 22 years since the uk last won the compeitition. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. the uk was pummelled yesterday by

storm eric, widespread gales. strong and gusty winds, a0 to 50 mph in places, losing their strength through the afternoon. slightly milderfor many, through the afternoon. slightly milder for many, temperatures through the afternoon. slightly milderfor many, temperatures up through the afternoon. slightly milder for many, temperatures up to 11 or 12. the best of the sunshine and eastern areas, showers, persistent rain across 0rkney. more general rain into central and southern england tonight, parts of wales, some showers further north but the clearest skies are probably gci’oss but the clearest skies are probably across eastern scotland and north—east england where we could see some frost as temperatures get close to if not below freezing. a soggy start to sunday, rain moving away eastwards to be replaced with showers. 0utbreaks away eastwards to be replaced with showers. 0utbrea ks of away eastwards to be replaced with showers. outbreaks of rain across northern scotland thinking southwards, more persistent rain in some areas. squally winds, north or north—westerly, so tomorrow feels colder with highs of around 607 celsius. —— six or seven.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the government has cancelled a controversial agreement to provide extra ferries in case of a no—deal brexit. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon sir philip green are published in the telegraph — he denies any crime or misconduct. the number of young victims of knife crime admitted to hospitals in england has risen by more than 50% in the past five years. the rapper blaine cameronjohnson — who was known as cadet — has died in a car crash on the way to a gig in staffordshire. now on bbc news, a special programme with one of the world's greatest sports stars. in this frank interview, billiejean king talks to the bbc‘s sue barker about her sexuality, life as an advocate for gender equality, lgbt rights and socialjustice. applause. as a youngster, i dreamt of playing

professional tennis but that, at the time, didn't look possible. then, all of a sudden, it changed, and it changed because of one person. 0n court, this unique talent won 39 grand slam titles, but it's what she did off the court that will define her legacy. the women's tour, which i played in, was set up by her in the 1970s and suddenly, prize money, legislation and conditions improved for women like me. we had a voice. we were heard. it was a game changer. and today, all sportswomen are in a far better place. there's equality, respect, the playing field is levelling out. this woman led the way to make it all happen. a champion player, a fearless pioneer, the ultimate winner in a battle of the sexes, who i am proud to call a friend. she is billiejean king. applause.

i first played tennis at 11. the second time i picked up a racquet, i knew i wanted to be the number one player in the world. you know, it's wonderful to be celebrated and appreciated for — for everything that she's done. each of us is an influencer. every single one of us. she deserves every accolade that she receives because she is so interested in the welfare of others and i think she really takes that seriously, that she has a voice, that she has a platform and that she is an advocate for causes that she believes in. let's continue to use our power of our voices, our action to inspire others. thank you so much for tonight. thank you for having me. god bless you. applause. ladies and gentlemen, the inspirational, iconic and indefatigable billiejean king. cheering and applause.

billiejean, listening to your speech as sports personality, it seemed very humble because, you know, with everything you've achieved in your life, i mean, you're a game changer. well, i think i really wanted to thank people and then go through the progression of how i made it from the time i was young and wanted to be number one and won wimbledon. and when you think back at this age, you start — i'm always thinking about all the different people who helped me because you never get there alone, ever. i don't know — and i listen to certain athletes or players and i think "wow! they talk just about themselves." i want to know about how did you get here? and i think it is important that people have a little bit of history. she fell in love with the game and that is truly is what started her.

she came home and said she wanted to be a tennis player. and how old was she then? 11. 11 years old. she started late. she wanted to be number one in the world. notjust long beach — in the world. i actually, i don't know much about billie jean as a player. she finished playing four years before i was born — i hope she doesn't mind me saying that! we forget what a great tennis player she was. she's aggressive, she goes after what she wants, you know, she had a beautiful backhand, she was a serve and volleyer. only five foot four but speedy as can be. she was a great athlete and she could move, she could hit the shots, she was able to analyse, she was able to really commit herself and focus and analyse a match. an attitude in a good way — that confidence, that belief, that, you know, that kind of swagger that "i can get thisjob done" and that carried over into life.

she was a natural leader. people believed in her. she was obviously a fantastic player — i mean, one of the best of all time — but it's what she's done away from the court that's been even more impressive. you changed the whole face of women's tennis and, in some ways, women's sport, and everyone looks at tennis now as sort of a blueprint of how — how you can make things happen, and that — that was driven by you. i wanted the men and women to be together and the men rejected us, and that was a really hard time for me. because i still think if we were together, it would be much more powerful. we could do so much more off the court to make the world a better place together. and we're all together in this world, anyway. unfortunately, that's not the way it happened, so plan b was to "0k, we'll do it ourselves, the women." ann jones, rosie casals, francois durr and i were the first four real contract players in the modern times, because they never included women, ever, as pi’os. and george mccall signed us.

and that was when? that was back in ‘68, just when 0pen tennis were starting to happen. we wanted to be pros, we wanted to get paid, we wanted everything out in the open because you know, before that, you were getting money under the table. money came into tennis for the first time in 1968, when the associations agreed to have what they called open tennis — where they could be prize money, amateurs could play against pros. billie was thrilled. finally, players were going to be able to learn a living playing tennis, and i remember hertelling a story of how excited she was about open tennis and then, she got to wimbledon and she won wimbledon in 1968 and got £750, while rod laver won the men's singles and got £2000. and i think she really felt that finally, tennis was open, but the fight really was only beginning because the women

were having, you know, less and less opportunities. and i think that was when the penny dropped that "we're going to have to do something on our own. we're gonna have to separate from the men and start the women's tennis association." the three things we thought about in the wta when we formed that three years later was the same mantra, and that was any girl, if she's good enough in this world would have a place to compete, that the woman tennis player would the appreciated for accomplishments and not just her looks, and number three — which, for our generation, who only made $1a a day usually, and expense money — was to make a living. it must have been very difficult in the early days of the wta, and kind of taking that chance. our goal was for global — for the rest of the world. we had to get started. huge risk though, wasn't it?

0h, huge, we were going to lose out on everything. we never knew if we would be able to play wimbledon again or the us open, or any tournament. we might be blackballed. we might never get to play again. but we felt, um, it was so important to do this for not only our generation but for the junior — you know, the future generations. we had to do this not only for ourselves, but for the future generations. she's obviously someone who stood up for what she believed in and i imagine at the time, she would have taken a lot of stick, um, you know, and gone through a lot. um, but ultimately, she's changed, you know, our sport for the better by doing that. i hope that the generations that have come after us really understand the risk that they took. the path has been paved by those original nine. it's pretty easy now to make a good living, and it wasn't that way always. modern women's pro tennis would not have occurred had one of those incredibly important people, billie jean king, been there and done what she did.

this driving force that you have seems to have been in your dna. because of my dna! because even at the age of 12, you were thinking things that most 12—year—olds would never think. you were sitting at a tennis club and thought what? i was at the los angeles tennis club and i thought everybody who plays wears white shoes, white socks, white clothes, plays with white tennis balls, and guess what? everybody who plays is white. and my question at 12 was where's everybody else? and so, that was a moment of my total commitment to fight for equality and inclusion for everyone — for everyone. billie always had the bigger picture in mind. um, i think tennis did give her the platform but ironically, the match that changed everything for billie jean was the battle of the sexes in 1973 against bobby riggs. file: it has been called

the battle of the sexes, the greatest match of the year, and the greatest waste of money and time. but whatever the title, it's a tournament which has caught the imagination of millions of americans, and even the harshest of critics can see the sort of publicity it's receiving could do for tennis what muhammed ali did for boxing. that match... that match! the battle of the sexes... yes! i mean, were you aware just how important that match was? yeah. that was probably the most important match for tennis, actually. everybody had a stake in it. it was the husbands and it was the wives and it was the daughters, it was the sons and it was all about equality, and billie had a lot of pressure. i can't even imagine the pressure that she would've felt that day. everybody was, like, glued to the television. claims of being a woman is not a drawback when it comes

to emotional stress and strain, and we're gonna see what happens when we take to the court. the men wanted bobby to win. he was older — he was, what, 55 years old, something like that, and billie was young and she was at the peak of her powers. they said a lot of male chauvinists are not really proud of bobby riggs representing them, but i'm sure i've only heard from the ones that aren't proud of him. the ones who are proud of him i'm sure would go talk to him instead of talking to me. i remember her running his ass off. i mean, you know, having these long rallies, lob over his head, he'd go — i mean, he — he was tired. the women got so much more self—confidence after that moment and the men are the ones that usually are more reflective and have tears in their eyes and, you know, "i watched that match when i was 12

or 15 or 20 and now, i have daughters. boy! that match really influenced me as far as how i want my daughters and sons and all genders to have equal opportunity and equal rights." so much, i think, at stake for women because they'd been fighting so long for acceptance and equality and being able to compete, um, you know, especially in sports. that really changed billie jean's life. it really, i think, gave her an opportunity to do more thanjust have this be about tennis. this now became about everybody in life. the next day, i think more women felt like they could go out and go out and go after what they wanted. i tell you, i was sitting at home watching the bobby riggs match, battle of the sexes. oh, you were? yeah, i was watching. how old were you? i, well...

you weren't very old. no, i was — i wasjust done my teens and i was like, it was my future. if you hadn't have won that, if you hadn't have changed women's tennis the way it is, i wouldn't have been able to play tennis as a career. and i had the most magical 15 years playing tennis. and then tennis has given me my other career. this is a great one, too. both of them are great. so let me just say, billie, a huge thank you to you for changing my life — and not only my life, but so many tennis players with what you had — that vision, that belief, and the guts to go out and stand up and take on organisations the way you did. you changed so many people's lives, so thank you, so much. wow. thank you so much. that's very touching. she has been a huge advocate for women's rights, and equal rights, that's obviously translated into one of those things in tennis which is not really the case i think in any other sport, we have pretty equal prizemoney

across the men's and women's tours, and that is extremely significant. and i think she was advocating for that probably 30, 40 years ahead of her time. everyone thinks, oh, billiejean king did so much for women's sport and for women... it's not about women. but it isn't, isn't it. it irritates me. here's what happens. when a woman leads, they say, thanks for trying to help women. they never say that to a guy, they never say, oh, thanks for helping those men! when it is a male leader they obviously think it is for everyone. but when it is a woman leader they think, oh, it's for women, she is trying to help women. no. first of all i grew up with a brother who played 12 years of professional baseball, which here doesn't mean that much but it is huge at home.

i say oh, my younger brother played professional baseball, and they say, what! i say his name, randall moffitt, and they say, moffitt! oh, it's not king? i say no, that is my former husband's name. they say oh, that's why i didn't put you guys together. you met larry, your husband, at college. yes, we met together there. he was a biochemist major. i love smart guys. how long were you married? we were married about 22 years... but i've been with ilana for 39 years. as a ball kid when i was 11 years old i was actually, during the south african open i was hitting some tennis balls with my dad on one of the side courts at ellis park, and billie jean walked by the court, she stopped, she came out onto the court, she hit with me for about 10—15 minutes, i remember her saying to my parents and to me, "you have a lot of talent, and if you work hard, maybe you can become

a tennis player. " and that changed my life for all time. i read a quote of yours, tell me if this is true, but you didn't actually feel comfortable in your own skin until you were about 51 years old. that's absolutely correct! very good. you always do your homework, sue! that is incredibly sad. it is sad, because it stopped me from achieving some of the things i want. but you know, you look at a lot of lives, and no life goes perfectly. it is the people who can adapt to the ups and downs better and be resilient, and that is what sports teach us. keep bouncing back. so i went to an eating disorder place, and i really got comfortable with my sexuality and the challenges ihad. but there is no way in the 70s it would have worked, to come out and talk about having trouble, i don't know if i am bisexual, if i am gay, i don't know what i am, and i'm going through a hard time, we're just starting the tour — i can't talk about that in the 70s,

we would have been finished in one second, we would have had a tour. because the tour was in its infancy in the 705, the sponsors actually told her, if you talk about your sexuality, there won't be a tour. i think that probably was really hard for billie to not be able to be her own authentic self and have to walk that tightrope. i actually had people come up to me who were close to me and say, you cannot say one word or this... we will not have a tour. those were people working on the tour. it was very hard because i could not do this in a private way, it was very public. because you were forced to come out, weren't you? yes, i was outed, but i told the truth and my lawyer and my publicist did not want me to tell the truth. that was another challenge i had. and they finally caved in, and i must say my publicist really came through, she had the whole office behind my media conference where i told the truth.

larry was there, my parents were there, it was really hard on my parents because they were homophobic, but they wanted me to be happy. it really gets confusing. younger people today look at me like, what was the big deal? it was a big deal. every sponsor dropped her. but i just remember how honest she was, and she got up there and said, "i did have an affair, it was wrong, it had nothing to do with it being a man or a woman, it was wrong, i was married." and i think that honesty set her free. were your parents, did they see you happy, do they see you... eventually yes, because my parents came to love ilana. and they go, oh, you're so much happier, they got it. i think my mother would always rather me be with a guy, but, i mean, i think guys are great, i understand what she is saying. but ilana, she is the one for me, that's it. everyone has their one, and she is my one. looking back over some special

moment in your life. i have too many. president 0bama for example. presidential medal of freedom, which is given to very few people. what did that mean to you? he spoke about what you achieved and the difference you made for his daughters. president 0bama was 12 years old when he saw the king—riggs match at the houston astrodome in 1973, and he was 12 years old. and he said that had a huge influence on him, because now he has two daughters, it helped him in how he raised them, how he thought about them. and i thought wow, he was 12. and then he said, "you don't know this, he said, but i used to watch you at punahou high school." because larry and i lived in hawaii, and 0bama was going to school there. and he used to sit, i remember the little black kid with a white kid standing there —

i said, "was there a white kid standing with you?" and he said yes, there was. wow. so i do remember him. so i thought, wow. ali and i used to talk about this, muhammad ali, we would talk about, you never know how another person is going to touch your life and how you're going to touch theirs. so it's really important to be alert as you go through life. really, really important. the summer is a big summer of sport for a lot of women's sport. if there was a sport there now that is building itself up, beginning to get attention, what advice would you give them? part of me always thinks it's a good idea to have some of the present and the future, kind of hybrid. so, because you never know really. but it is pretty obvious with social media, digital...you build a brand. whatever you are building, you have to build it. it doesn't matter where are you going, digital, television, doesn't matter — you have to keep building the brand. and today, people remember probably for 18 seconds, so you have to keep new information coming out.

where in the old days people could kind of sit with it, not now. if you were to write a letter now to your young self, what advice would you give yourself? i guess i would say, i really am one of the luckiest people in the world. and, you did it — i mean the life i envisioned, i have had that plus. and ijust think, i want tennis to be a pro sport, it is a pro sport. i want it to be global, it is global. i want equal prizemoney at every tournament, but at least at the majors, because it is about the message, not the money. we have that now. i mean, i am not finished yet, so it is hard for me to write this letter! do you think she is 75? does she know she's 75? because she sure doesn't act like it. she has so much energy and i always tease her because she's said for 20 years now that she has wanted to slow down, and she clearly is not slowing down.

she has too many things she wants to accomplish. her favourite quote is "go for it", and that's the way she lives her life, that is the way she plays her tennis, and that is what she wrote to me when i was ten years old on her autograph. "go for it — billie jean king." billie jean is not just an inspiration for me, but i think lots of athletes, i think she has changed our sport for the better. she stood up for what she believed in, and made very significant changes in our sport, so i think more of the fact that she spoke out about something that she believed in very strongly, is something that i would say i have learned from and will hopefully continue to do in my career. she fought to make the world a better place, and to give the people without a voice a voice, and for people to believe that anything is possible. there is no greater validation than having someone tell you that you made a difference,

and billie jean certainly made a difference. storm eric brought wind to the uk yesterday. look at this bank of cloud which will bring outbreaks of rain overnight. in between, showers across western areas but spells of sunshine, the best of these feather is. this is northumberland a short while ago. we have the strongest winds, a0 or 50 while ago. we have the strongest winds, a0 or50 mph while ago. we have the strongest winds, a0 or 50 mph gustsjust off the coast of moray strong winds over the coast of moray strong winds over the next few hours, the strongest squads northern england and scotland, a0 or 50 mph. babel feel milder today, ten or 11 celsius the top temperature, milder to further is to this evening and overnight, some outbreaks of rain started develop across parts of wales, central and southern england. some

showers across the highlands of scotland, more persistent rain across 0rkney, clearer skies along the eastern coast, particularly parts of aberdeenshire and north—east england where we could see some frost. a fairly wet start tomorrow across central and southern england, it will pull eastwards but it will take its time so the rain could linger into the afternoon across east anglia. brighter and sunnier spells behind it. some sunshine across northern and eastern areas, persistent rain for northern ireland, south—west scotland through the afternoon, some squally winds for irish sea coasts, north or north—westerly by this stage, so a colder feeling day, six north—westerly by this stage, so a colderfeeling day, six there north—westerly by this stage, so a colder feeling day, six there could be some showers across the pennines and the peak district for a time. keep ni on this area of high pressure, the dominating feature in the week ahead. 0n the week ahead. on monday, so from the far north of

scotla nd on monday, so from the far north of scotland which could pick up some showers, it looks mainly dry. the winds will be lighter, brighter also need spells and temperatures up compared to sunday, generally seven to 10 celsius but on the cold side across northern scotland. and into tuesday the high—pressure slides further south east but enables a south—westerly wind to develop, pushing milder air across the uk. away from northern scotland it will be mainly dry, the dates will be milder, fairly chilly nights and overnight patchy mist and fog. that's all from me, goodbye. the this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 3pm... no ships and now — n0 contract — the government cancels a controversial agreement for extra ferries in case of a ‘no—deal brexit‘. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon, sir philip green — are published. he denies any crime or misconduct. counting the cost of knife crime — the number of young victims

admitted to hospitals in england — has risen by more than 50 percent in 5 years. also coming up — the signs causing confusion in essex. we hear from the psychologist who took on the council and won — over the amount of signs at a chelmsford bus gate. in the six nations, scotland fight back from behind at murrayfield, but they currently trail ireland by two points.