hello. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: var makes its champions league debut as ajax have a goal disallowed in their loss to holders real madrid. west indies bowler shannon gabriel is banned for four matches for comments he made to england captainjoe root. and on thursday, a 17—year—old from madagascar will become the first malagasy woman to take part in the world skiing championships. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with football and the news that tottenham have one foot in the quarter finals of the champions league. they beat borussia dortmund 3—0 at wembley stadium with the return leg in germany in three weeks time. watching was the bbc‘s ian dennis. a dream scenario for tottenham who turned this game around with a

transformed second—half display. no penetration in the first 45 minutes, they played with a real purpose and we re they played with a real purpose and were buoyed by an early goal in the second half. they slotted them ahead after 47 minutes. then two goals in the space for matt hermann is late on added the gloss. vertonghen lashed in a second. all a glancing header left dortmund shredded. a massive performance. for me, it is only the first half of the tide. i think, of course, 3—0 is a very good result. when you have from us a team like borussia dortmund, always you need to respect. and, of course, we need to respect. and, of course, we need to respect. and, of course, we need to think with the idea to win. in the night's other game in amsterdam, real madrid won 2—1 at ajax in a game where var made it's debut in the champions league. it was 0—0 when ajax had a goal

ruled out for off—side by the video assistant referee — after the on—field official had originally given it. after an hour, karim benzema put the holders in front with his 60th champions league goal. hakim ziyech equalised for ajax before marco asensio pounced three minutes from the end to win it for real madrid. the second leg will be played in the spanish capital in three weeks time. translation: we know how to play well and we played the game well. in the moments when we had to work hard, we worked hard. and in the moments when we had to create opportunities, we created opportunities. that'll shows the strength that we have and the type of tea m strength that we have and the type of team and group that we are. i don't think it is lack of experience. i think it is more lack of effectiveness. and they said it

in my analysis, that we have to you improve. normally you don't create so improve. normally you don't create so many chances against a top team like madrid is. and we did. you have to be more ruthless. we can learn from madrid. they created less chances and scored more goals. on to cricket, and the west indies fast bowler shannon gabriel has been banned for four matches for comments he made to england captainjoe root during the third test in st lucia. it's still unclear exactly what he said to root — but the england captain replied: "don't use it as an insult. there's nothing wrong with being gay." gabriel's ban means he'll miss the first four games of the five—match one—day series against england which starts next week. the former england women's international lydia greenway says root gave the perfect response. it is always brilliance, you know, i think for any young person watching the game or anyone, for that matter, i think what a role modeljoe root

has proved himself to be in terms of the calm manner he responded and the integrity that he showed —— brilliant. and the way he delivered it. and i think that was a brilliant moment, notjust for cricket it. and i think that was a brilliant moment, not just for cricket but for sport itself. someone as influential asjoe sport itself. someone as influential as joe root actually standing up for something that certainly wasn't right. i think there is always going to be sledging in the game of cricket, and that is part and parcel of it. but you have to toe the line. in this instance, the line was being crossed. and the reason why he has got banned is because he had previous demerit points beforehand. and the other thing to consider is he actually hasn't played an odi since 2017, so he actually hasn't played an 0di since 2017, so really, the band that he has ended up facing, is not that harsh a1. i have read a loss on social media and people have made that point —— it is not as harsh as

it could be because he doesn't play that much 0di cricket or he hasn't recently. sri lanka hold the upper hand heading into day two of the first test against south africa. vishwa fernando took four wickets as the hosts were dismissed for 235 in durban, and the visitors will resume on 49 for one with newly appointed skipper dimuth karunaratne and debutant 0shada fernando at the crease. wednesday was a rest day at the world skiing championships in sweden, but the action resumes on thursday with the women's giant slalom. among those competing will be 17—year—old mia clerc from madagascar who'll become the first malagasy woman to take part in the championships. clerc was born in madagascar, and adopted from an orphanage by french parents when she was just 18 months old. two years ago she opted for malagasy citizenship and at pyeongchang last year, became the first woman to represent madagascar at a winter olympic games. she's hoping to follow in the footsteps of the sport's top names. for me, to be like them is my dream.

and maybe, one day, iwill for me, to be like them is my dream. and maybe, one day, i will be like them. and i hope it is a good start for me to be at the world championship and to be at the 0lympics. and that's it. i hope i will be good like them. horse racing resumed in the uk on wednesday after a six day shut—down because of a highly contagious outbreak of equine flu. there were concerns that next month's cheltenham festival might be affected, but racing authorities are satisfied that the risk is now contained. 0ur sports news correspondent richard conway reports from plumpton in east sussex on the south coast of england. racing has finally found its remedy for the flu and thoroughbreds are

once more permitted to run. stringent procedures on vaccinations and documents are now in place, with officials on watch at plumpton today to ensure they new rules are enforced. their simple measures we are putting in place to ensure that when the horses arrive on the racecourse there is not the risk of a horse that maybe symptomatic entering and mingling with other horses. not every train is permitted to race just yet, horses. not every train is permitted to racejust yet, given horses. not every train is permitted to race just yet, given a horses. not every train is permitted to racejust yet, given a backlog of flu tests in need of analysis. something some feel is an overreaction. but anxiety over a long—term stoppage has now receded. we only get paid to ride out there, competitively. so we would not own any more and we don't want any more in the future. it is good to get back. the racing is back to winning ways. this has been a short—term stoppage and that is a relief both to the sport and those who rely on it to make a living. race days are vitally important to us. locally, there are pubs around, a village,

there are pubs around, a village, the train station that is manned that has people coming, taxis, i think it is quite a far reaching effect. meanwhile, for those enjoying a day out, it was also good to be back. it isjust that we planned a couple of days away and we booked a hotel and everything and thought what are we going to do if there is no racing? what have you been doing for the past six days, has it been agonising?” been doing for the past six days, has it been agonising? i have been doing overtime setting up today. what else can you do? racing holds a special place in britain's sporting life. a six—day layoff due to equine flu has, in many ways, reinforced that position and reminded many of its unique appeal. richard conway, bbc news, plumpton. on to tennis, and simona halep is through to the quarter—finals of the qatar open in doha. the world number one beat the unseeded ukrainian lesia tsurenko in straight sets to reach the last eight. the romanian — who won the title back in 2014 — took a 6—2, 6—3 victory and she'll now face germany's julia gorges for a place in the semi—finals.

in the same half of the draw there were also wins for elina svitolina and karolina mutzovar. in the bottom half of the draw, the number three seed angelique kerber is also through to the quarter—finals. she was up against estonia's annet kontaveit, and raced through the first set 6—1 — but was taken to a tie—break in the second. kerber won the breaker to set up a quarter—final against bar—bora strycova. there were also wins for elise mertens and kiki bertens. in other news, the governing body of world athletics — the iaaf — deny they'll tell a court next week that south africa's caster semenya — the olympic women's 800 metres champion — should be classed as a "biological male" who identifies as female. and the world heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua will fight in the usa for the first time when he takes on the american jarrell miller in new york on first ofjune. joshua will be putting his wba, ibf and wbo belts on the line.

looking forward to that. that is all we have time for. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hello, good morning. the highest temperature ever recorded in february in the uk is 19.7 celsius, that was back in 1998. on wednesday it was 1a. still very mild for this time of year. and the highest temperatures were in the north—east of scotland, around the moray firth. over the next two days or so, we could see temperatures approaching 16 celsius. very mild indeed. and it's so mild because our air coming from a long way south, all the way from the canaries. mild by day but there's still potential for some chilly nights, when we have the clearer skies, and that is what we've got at the moment across england and wales. could be down to —2 or —3 in the chiltons. much milderfor scotland

and northern ireland, where there is more cloud. we should see that cloud thinning and breaking, sunshine developing more widely and another very mild day today. one or two mist and fog patches in morning, southern england and east wales. more cloud across north—west england, northern ireland and scotland. it's tending to thin and break. some sunshine developing. a little bit hazy at times. the bluer skies for england and wales. the wind is probably not quite as strong, especially in the north—west of the uk. those temperatures 12—111, maybe even 15 degrees in the moray firth. still got the high pressure keeping it essentially fine and dry. around that high pressure, we're drawing in those very mild south to south—westerly winds. that weather front though will be approaching the north—west, but not until we get to later on on friday. a lot of sunshine ahead of that. some more mist and fog perhaps for england and wales, early in the morning. clouding over in the north—west. a bit of rain mainly for the north—west of scotland. elsewhere probably dry,

with some sunshine. another lovely day for the most part. and temperature 13, 1a. possibly 16 in north—east wales and north—east scotland. over the weekend, some slight changes, still going to be mild, still going to be dry for most places. probably a bit more cloud around on saturday. and that's going to be noticeable across more southern parts of england and wales. further north, the clouds going to be a bit thinner. we should see some brightness and a bit of sunshine coming through. one or two spots of drizzle out towards the far west and north—west. essentially it's a dry day. and we're still in the mild air, still got south to south—westerly winds. so temperatures again hitting 13 or 1a celsius. the high—pressure though gets squeezed away into continental europe where temperatures are continuing to rise here, allowing that weather front to approach into the western side of the uk, increase the cloud and bring a bit of rain and drizzle. further east it's going to be another fine day on sunday, still very mild. less mild perhaps on monday but there's very little rain around at all and most places are going to be fine and dry, still with south—westerly winds. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers

in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories. last stand in syria. 500 islamic state fighters are facing disaster at the hands of us—backed forces. no regrets aboutjoining is, but hoping to return home. a london schoolgirl lifts the lid on her brutal life in the so—called caliphate. the dogs trained to fight to death. a bbc investigation exposes a global trade in animal cruelty. is it right that the dogs that you put into fight get injured and get killed? and, after 15 years on the red planet,