a warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america dalila jakupovic. and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: hours of talks, then the european union agrees to give britain yet more time to prepare for brexit, but only if parliament passes theresa may's deal. hello and welcome to the programme where we start in tokyo with the news that ichiro suzuki has called time if the withdrawal agreement is passed by the house on his 18 year career of commons next week, in major league baseball. the european council japan's most successful player made agrees to an extension the announcment in front of 5a,000 until the 22nd of may. fans during the seattle mariners 5—4 win over oakland as adam wild reports. twenty—four hours after she attacked mps, theresa may now says she understands their frustration. but she says, it's time one last game, one last bout. this to end the uncertainty. was the last time that suzuki took a i hope we can all agree we are now swing. finally saying goodbye. after at the moment of decision the ground out came the call from the ground out came the call from the dugout. his retirement has been no secret that that didn't diminish the crowd's appreciation for a very popular player. team—mates then

lined up to send him off in style. some of them in tears. since becoming rookie of the year back in 2001, records have tumbled. he went on to become one of the first major league to record 200 hits in ten consecutive seasons. league to record 200 hits in ten consecutive seasons. he ends his career with over 3000 hits, more than any other overseas player. fittingly, the game went the way of the mariners. that means they win the mariners. that means they win the series against oakland but the night belonged to suzuki. after being called back to the field, the tokyo dome charted his name from more than 20 minutes. not a bad way to finish a glittering career. on to football and qualifying got underway on thursday for next year's european championship finals — a tournament that'll be staged in 12 different countries. the winners included belgium, who beat russia 3—1 in brussels. the home side — who are currently top of the fifa world rankings — took the lead after only 1a minutes through leicester city's on—loan

striker youri tielemans. but within two minutes, the russians were level — denis cheryshev, who's on loan at valencia — scored the equaliser. on the stroke of half—time, eden hazard put belgium back in front with a penalty — and then added a third two minutes from time. elsewhere, there were wins for the netherlands and northern ireland in group c. memphis depay scored twice for the dutch as they beat belarus a—nil. they play germany on sunday. in group e, croatia beat azerbaijan 2—1 — but had to come from behind to do it. andrej kramaric scored the late winner for last year's world cup runners—up. poland and north macedonia both won their opening games in group g, while israel against slovenia finished 1—all. and there's the confirmation of belgium's 3—1victory over russia in group eye. big wins, too, for cyprus and kazakhstan. one other result for you and chelsea will take a 2—0 lead into the second leg of their women's champions league quarter final against

paris saint—germain. hannah blundell and erin cuthbert goals proved enough for the english champions in london. staying with football. bert van marwijk was officially introduced as the new head coach of the united arab emirates on thursday — just before they beat saudi arabia 2—1 in a friendly in abu dhabi. the dutchman succeeds alberto zaccheroni — who resigned after their defeat at the asian cup semi—finals in january. van marwijk — who led the netherlands to the world cup final in 2010, and managed australia during last year's world cup in russia — has signed a four—year deal with the uae. i'm looking forward to have this job. i know the emirates, under the tea m job. i know the emirates, under the team because we played four times against each other sino the strength also. i heard there were some young talents slime anxious to know how good they are. i am only here for one thing and that's qualifying for

the world cup. i've had the experience to go to the world cup 110w experience to go to the world cup now twice. the first time we were second in the world and second time was with australia. we were a little bit unlucky but we played very well so bit unlucky but we played very well so do go to the world cup for a third time is also good. now to tennis and three—time champion venus williams is through to the second round of the miami open after a straight sets win over slovenian delila jakupovic. playing the tournament for a record 20th time and unseeded for the first time since 2012, williams was pushed hard in the first set by the 27—year—old but came through 7—5, 6—3 and now faces spain's carla suarez navarro who was a beaten finalist in 2015. also through to the second round is the indian wells open champion bianca andreescu who recovered from losing the first set to defeat

romanian irina—camelia begu. after losing the opener the 18—year—old canadian won 12 of the next 15 games to take the match 4—6, 7—6, 6—2. next up she'll face american sofia kenin. through to the third round is third seed petra kvitova who defeated maria sakkari 6—1, 6—4. the world number two and beaten finalist in this year's australian open was rarely challenged in the first set by the 23—year—old greek woman and despite a tougher second set the czech still progressed. the inclusion of transgender athletes is under consideration at the international olympic committee amid concerns over fair play. the debate has been loudest when it comes to trans women lining up in the female category. with next year's games in tokyo expected to feature the first ever trans athlete at an olympics, the sport authorities are rushing to find a compromise that suits everyone. our sport news correspondent alex capstick has been hearing from all sides of the story,

his report begins in the united states. in colorado's open country, a cyclist joins the freedom in colorado's open country, a cyclistjoins the freedom of in colorado's open country, a cyclist joins the freedom of an in colorado's open country, a cyclistjoins the freedom of an open road. this is gillian beer then but her career has not always been an easy ride. she is transgender and was known for 30 years asjonathan. after transitioning, a rule change paved the way for her to race against women. i was finally in the field i wanted, ifelt against women. i was finally in the field i wanted, i felt good against women. i was finally in the field i wanted, ifelt good in against women. i was finally in the field i wanted, i felt good in that field i wanted, i felt good in that field and i remember at the start line with 30 other women around me, i had tears coming out of my eyes. we wa nt i had tears coming out of my eyes. we want to compete and want to do it fairly and we will take whatever measures we need to. trans women can ta ke measures we need to. trans women can take part in the female category as long as they're tossed austral loan levels are long as they're tossed austral loan levels a re below long as they're tossed austral loan levels are below are prescribed limit but its controversial. recent comments from former sports stars have made headlines around the world. martina navratilova called trans— female athletes cheats for which she later apologised. the

sensitive nature of the debate is why many current competitors are relu cta nt to why many current competitors are reluctant to speak out. pictorial hoarder, political site —— british cyclist who runs an all women's team, states too important for her to stay silent. they are born mail, so they have a mail body. that body goes through puberty with the influx of testosterone which then shapes her body. just by lowering the testosterone per 12 months, that's not going to lemon —— eliminate a performance advantage. i don't want it to be the case that people can't do sport. sport has to be fair. the issueis do sport. sport has to be fair. the issue is posed difficult questions the sports governing bodies which make up the rules and regulations. new guidance is expected from the international olympic committee which is striving to find a balance between its promise of inclusivity, while ensuring fair play. we spoke to the man responsible for shaping the ioc‘s policy on transatlantic. i think it's important we get a

resolution to this and agree there can be amongst the whole breadth of stakeholders with these extremes of you but we want people to be able to compete and wanted to be fair. we need to sort it out as soon as we can. back in the foothills of the rockies, gillian is focused on the road ahead. the debate over the inclusion of trans— athletes is long and complex. a permanent solution that satisfies all seems a distant destination and then weigh well be many more mountains that to climb. the four—time olympic champion simone biles says her she'll retire from gymnastics after the tokyo games in 2020. the american, who has won a record 1a world titles says the games will be her last after a series of injuries. but biles says she isn't thinking too far beyond the next olympics. i feel like ifeel like in i feel like in the ifeel like in the back i feel like in the back of my head thatis i feel like in the back of my head that is the main goal but then think

about it every day as people would think. i almost never about tokyo, just because we saw so many meets ahead of bus that i don't want to get ahead of myself. i have other things to focus on the fourth getting to tokyo. the court of arbitration for sport has postponed caster semenya's hearing against athletics' world governing body the iaaf. the 800m olympic champion is appealing against a regulation, restricting testosterone levels in female runners. the iaaf, is attempting to limit the levels of testosterone in her body, which they claim gives her an unfair advantage. a decision in the case has been delayed until the end of april. the denver nuggets were — the western conference, they've beaten the washington wizards. the wizards still need to win games that to make the eastern conference. until next time, goodbye.

hello, 18 degrees in the sunshine in yorkshire on 13th, and the cloud as ministers friday starts. there are changes on the way. as this weather front moves southwards, it will bring cooler conditions but more of us will get to see some sunshine over the weekend. this is how friday starts. cloudy, damp, drizzly in places, misty and murky but very mild. bearing down from northwest scotland and as it moves, we see the win strengthening. this is where we will see the strongest gusts during the day, in excess of a0 miles per hour, in excess of 60 across the northern and western isles. so the rain is

moving south across scotland and northern ireland, into parts of north—west england north wales but look behind the weather front. land appears. an indication the sun is coming out, a few blustery showers, wintry on the hills. the head of the weather front, plenty of cloud, a few bright breaks in north—east england in yorkshire and along the south coast but most stay cloudy and mild. behind the front, it is turning cooler. the front continues to move southwards but increasingly light and patchy rain friday evening and night. the south—east of england and night. the south—east of england and into east anglia where it stays mild for another night. a little damp and places elsewhere in the clearest skies. the cooler night. a touch of frost and parts of northern england, northern ireland and scotland. quite a change this weather front is bringing. scotland. quite a change this weatherfront is bringing. cooler conditions in time for the weekend. but the front lingers close to south—east england at least on saturday and that means there will bea saturday and that means there will be a lot of cloud lingering here and maybe some light rain or drizzle.

elsewhere, good sunny spells, showers and a brisk wind pushing to scotland. wintry, maybe not, just on hills with a few showers into northern ireland as well the temperatures for most areas, around 9-12 temperatures for most areas, around 9— 12 degrees so down compared to recent days and more widespread frosts going into sunday morning. brightening up across southern parts of england. some heavier and more prolonged downpours. again, wintry on hills. similar temperatures. prolonged downpours. again, wintry on hills. similartemperatures. so this is how the weekend is shaping up. it's this is how the weekend is shaping ing this is how the weekend is shaping up. it's going to be a little different because that weather front will have moved on through. clear days, chilly nights but more on the way of sunshine around that those showers, blustery and in places 00:12:46,899 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 wintry in scotland.