sunshine. high the strong much sunshine. high pressure is dominating the weather and on top of the uk with a settled weather to come, mainly dry with sunny spells. we could even see a little bit of mist and fog too. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. hundreds of thousands of people have marched through central london, demanding another brexit referendum. protestors gathered to hear speeches from across the political spectrum. this deal pleases no one. if you voted to remain, it is a rubbish deal. if you voted to leave, it is a lousy deal. there are no winners. only losers. american—backed kurdish forces have declared victory over islamic state after capturing the group's last remaining stronghold in syria.

police say a seventeen—year—old boy who was stabbed to death in west london yesterday was chased by a group of men before he was attacked. more than a thousand people are being evacuated from a cruise ship off the western coast of norway, after the ship suffers engine problems. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello, and welcome to sportsday, with chris mitchell and karthi gna nasegaram. the headlines this evening. ireland get their qualification campaign for euro 2020 off to a winning start — but only just. they beat gibraltar i—nil. ver1i2 thousand pack the london stadium to watch saracens overhaul harelequins in the premiership and a canadian teenager kicks dan evans out of the miami open. also coming up in the programme.

education, education, education. gareth southgate takes time out to learn how to become a better manager. as coaches, we improve and then the end we should improve all of the players and athletes that is how the gets better. plenty to get through this evening but we will start with the republic of ireland's european qualification game against gibraltar which ireland won i—nil. particularly interesting this one because this is mick mccarthy's first game in charge but it is his second spell as the national team manager.

i7 17 years after his last game in charge, mccarthy finds himself somewhere between a rock and a hard place. after a dismal campaign in four games without a goal, this is a mountain to climb. gibraltar insured this would be an uphill struggle, only the boys in green are able to find the net, time and time again. they came closest to breaking the deadlock, but no cigar. the grant tagamet grass may be thick, but the frustration was very real. a team ranked i9lith in the world, but soon relief for the travelling fans, jeff for the second international goal, enough to settle the nerves and take the three points back to dublin, perhaps to reassure fans of the 2020 prospects. a close eye on it. it started with

the other big team in ireland, the favourites, group d. but they were not especially impressive against outsiders georgia. the had to wait for the second goal. for the first goal. deni zakaria got the second as the group favourites started with a 2—nil win. here are the days other results and games to come. sweden playing romania at the friends arena in stockholm. spain host norway — their first match against each otherfor 16 years. italy have only ever lost to finland once.

that really should go into the‘s way, but they have been struggling as well. looking at the graphic, big nations playing, by being overoptimistic by suggesting that england is heading in that direction that we could be heading to the semifinals in the summer, 5—0, we are heading in that way, aren't we. it isa are heading in that way, aren't we. it is a long way out, but they are up it is a long way out, but they are up there with the favourites, england right now. and we are and getting a little used to england success. great performance. czech weren't great. jadon sancho. harry kane and raheem sterling up front. sterling has scored 2a goals for club and country so far this season. it's been quite a turnaround

for england's raheem sterling. 3 years ago he was being criticised by some fans but now they most seem to love him. more so after his hatrick helped get england's euro 2020 qualifying campaign, off to a flying start. joe lynskey reports. behind the rise of english football is the value of sterling. right now, he is the wimbley superstar who grew up down the road, a hat trick that highlighted the 5—0 win against the czech republic. the second goal revealed the dedication and a 13—year—old the dedication to a 13—year—old academy player who died of leukaemia last week. the mark of the man inspiring club, country and community. very confident, not only on the field but off the field, he's so mature and comfortable and himself, he can't hide from the fact that he's had difficult moments in england, but he is turn that full—circle.

but he's turned that full—circle. those dark times came in two tournaments by age 21, last year in france, he called himself the hated one, now still a 2k, those bumps in the road have toughened up the talent, after a key role in the run to the world cup semifinals, in october, sterling scored his first international goal for three years, it has inspired a stunning win in spain. games like that have brought a change in the narrative, sterling has not let it pass quietly. in december, he took on a print media he says fuels racism with its portrayal of black players. throughout it all, this season's former manchester city could mix sterling at the player of the year. sterling at the player of the year. last night was a second hat trick of the month, the first by an england man and wimbley in eight years. there always needs to be a player with an arm around her shoulder,

and i think it's probably got the perfect international manager and i think he's probably got the perfect international manager and south, he is also taking on this role of role model, he's decided to speak out against what he perceives as mistreatment and has no responsibility to do that, but he has taken it upon himself and showed his maturity. with new combinations, this england team finds new rhythm with every match, this was conducted by sterling. so that was england off to a flying start. france too — the world champions thrashed moldova 4—1, a brilliant opener here from antoine griezmann. paul pogba playing the pass over the top. france too good for moldova, ranked 170th in the world — kylin mbappe rounded off the scoring late on. iceland and turkey are the other main contenders for the qualifying spots in that group.

northern ireland play belarus in their next group c game in belfast on sunday. niall mcginn and steven davis both scored on thursday when they won their opener at home to estonia 2—0 but with games against netherlands and germany to come this is a game they need to win and manager michael o'neill says they're ready for belarus in belfast. we are in a good place and ready to play. it will make life difficult for us, but i think they'll have may be more of a threat and we give them the respect that they deserve. they've had a good league, we are guaranteed a playoff for euro 2020. we try to break the group down and we are between halves really, the second set going against estonia,

double—header, another one in june, and then we can analyse it after that when we get to september, october and november fixtures and have some of the top games in germany, it will be difficult but we wa nt germany, it will be difficult but we want to put ourselves in a position where we've got everything to play for. bad news for wales — aaron ramsey will miss their opening qualifier against slovakia tomorrow. he's returned to his club arsenal for treatment on a leg injury, he didn't play in the i—nil friendly win over trinidad and tobago on wednesday. the pressure is on scotland, already, afterjust one game. they should get some relief against san marino on sunday but they endured such a miserable start to their campaign earlier in the week when they lost to kazakhstan — ranked 117 in the world all bets are off... so after the biggest defeat

in a competitive match as scotland manager how does alex mcleish prepare for their next qualifier and what do the fans make of it? began be brutally honest, it was embarrassing, an absolute embarrassment from start to finish. lackluster, heartless. i think it's one of the worst performances i've ever seen. how do you not beat kazakhstan clean on? i've been looking at my phone all day and i'm like, that can be read. it's insane. should he remain in his position there? absolutely not, he needs to go. he's past his time. it's never finished until it's finished. we've bounced back from

performances, and israel, that is we must do this game. there is a lot of anger back home, but some people see this as a second offence, but i'm just going to continue doing myjob. and suffice to say, i'm not going to get drawn into that question. no premier league games today because of the international break but a full load of league one games and take a look at how close it is at the bottom. this was as it stood at noon today. a real battle to avoid relegation with so many teams just a few points from danger. just eight points spanning out, as we head towards the end of the season, there is a real key battles and there was one from. walsall could have pulled themselves clear with a win at home. but barnsley‘s jacob brown's got a last minute goal and walsall

are still stuck in the relegation zone and barnsley are second. this was a crucial win for them too at the top of the table as you can see from these scenes in the away end — barnsley are now five points clear of sunderland in the race for automatic promotion. this is how the table looks now then at the bottom, a bit less congested than it was this morning. switch attention to domestic rugby union. there was a fascinating game in which saracens had to come from behind to beat harlequins 27 points to 20 in front of almost 43 thousand at the london stadium. ben croucher reports.

in unfamiliarsurroundings, saracens have not looked like themselves of late, having missed much of there, eddiejones would have his eye on it, just turned 20 but soon shifted this game in their favour. at 32, danny can expect to join in the plans and after the a0 minutes is up, extending the lead at half—time. made sure the saracens squad catching his attention as well, an irishman stifled the try. jp doyle, wrong place, wrong time. so instead, a south african and an australian had to do the dirty work, got his way through and then will cemented through and then will cemented saracens second superiority, not once but twice. and only just. from scrappy to supreme, saracens still riding high, second in the table and they know all too well what it is like to be near the top.

elsewhere worcester warriors hung on to win 27—25 at premiership relegation rivals bristol. josh adams went over with the best of worcester‘s three tries. another team playing at a different stadium were bottom side newcastle. the falcons were at st james park and treated fans to a 22—17 victory. toby flood scored their only try with tane takulua adding 17 points with the boot. their third win in a row aids their relegation battle. just one other result to tell you about in the premireeship and that was gloucester‘s 27 points to iii victory over wasps to take them up to third in the table. in the pro iii, fullback daniel evans produced a stunning performance to help the ospreys beat his former side, the dragons. ospreys trailed 17—10 at half time — but three second half tries from evans — adding to one

he scored in the first half — helped his side to a bonus point 29—20 victory. he becomes just the second player to score four tries in a pro 12 or pro iii match. ulster have climbed to second in conference b of the proili, after claiming a bonus—point 33—19 win over southern kings at the kingspan stadium. rob baloucoune scored a fourth try for ulster, as they sealed a seventh—straight victory. a couple of games later on, will keep you updated with the results from glasgow. british number three, dan evans, has lost his second round match at the miami open to the world number 23, denis shapovalov. evans down at 97 in the world at the moment took the first set 6-4.

but shapovalov, the highest ranked teenager on the men's tour then worked out how to combat evans's interesting range of shots and the canadian came back to take the second set 6—1, and he went on to win the decider 6—3. evans double faulting on match point. shapovalov is in to the third round. to formula e next, great britain's oliver rowland has had his best everfinish in a race. he came second at the sanya e—prix in china, with france's jean—eric vergne finishing in first place. nick parrot reports. the first formula e race was held in beijing and after a two year absence, the competition returns to china. it is a beach resort, like hawaii, but it was far from paradise for the championship leader. a poor qualifier saw him start from 16 and he wiped out on the opening lap,

after being shunted from behind. the fellow brit tried, but the rookie could not keep the reigning the rookie could not keep the reigning champion behind him, but he kept in touch with the frenchman, to go on to claim his first podium. racing was suspended for the quarter of an hour after the car had to be rescued and another crash led to the anticlimax of the race finishing under yellow flags, it was his first win of the season, leapfrogging to third in the championship. in the super league, bottom side leeds rhinos' poor start to the season has continued — after losing to the catalans dragons. leeds led for much of the game — thanks to ash handley who scored a hat—trick of tries. but catalans went one better — fouad yaha scoring four times but catalans went one better — fouad yaha scoring four times to seal a 26—22 victory for the home side. let's quickly round up some of the day's other stories now and ronnie o'sullivan could return to the top of the world rankings if he can beat neil robertson

in the tour championship final in llandudno. he's not got off to the best start though. the australian is leading two frames to one. the defending champions chennai super kings have got off to a winning start in the new indian premier league season. they chased down their target ofjust 71 with iii balls to spare to beat the royal challengers bangalore by seven wickets. paul casey is tied for the lead at the valspar championship in florida. shot of the day so far though has to go to co—leaderjason coke—rack. this is the par 3 15th. over 200 yards long. he only needed the one shot. what a hole in one! ross county have won the scottish challenge cup, beating connah's quay nomads 3—1 in the final. jamie lindsay scored the third to seal the win. afterjosh mullins scored twice in quick succession.

we mentioned england's impressive 5—nil win over the czech republic a little earlier. that result continues manager gareth southgate's successful time in charge. southgate led england to the world cup semi finals last year and he's been talking to us about some of the unusual coaching courses he's been on to help him become a better manager. david mcdaid has this report: when a hurricane hit, islander rescue when a hurricane hit, islander rescu e tea m when a hurricane hit, islander rescue team worked to free people from a collapsed building. at least thatis from a collapsed building. at least that is the scenario being played by some of the best sports coaches, including the england football manager. i want to see my mum! it is pa rt manager. i want to see my mum! it is part of a course run by uk sport, with the england coach attending some of the best olympic and paralympic coaches. you have the

normal coaching qualifications, so thatis normal coaching qualifications, so that is the standard route, but when you get to the end of that, where do you get to the end of that, where do you go for further learning and development and you've always got to be open to new ideas and new ways of working, really. so, having really intelligent people to share ideas, thatis intelligent people to share ideas, that is been a massive help. some of the learning methods have been different, to say the least. we've done hostage scenarios, we've worked with the police, every course, you learned something of how you lead and manage a team it's, so even when it feels left—field. and manage a team it's, so even when it feels left-field. how much did this to influence how you went up about coaching? in the first year, there's been a lot of understanding your own there's been a lot of understanding your own behaviours and your own responses to pressure, so your own behaviours and your own responses to pressure, so that is definitely helpful going into a

pressured environment as a coach. could this help push the footballers onto major success? this has been a course that is help me improve as coaches, we improve and in the end, they should improve all of the players and athletes, and that is how the system gets better. giving up your university degree to play football computer games full time? it might sound like the stuff of dreams but for owen venn it has paid off. he is now a professional player and this week will represent southampton in the very first premier league finals in london. all clubs will be represented, and mike bushell as been to find out if it can really be called a sport. it might not look like it at first,

in this london park, but i am with some premier league football is a can tour the world potentially with hundreds of thousands of pounds, and this week we are in the league title for their teams. taking centre stage, rather than centre circle, it is the fifa game players, hoping their fingers and mental agility will help them find the back of the net in the first ever premier league final this week. owen quit his bournemouth university degree to play for southhampton. my dad was really supportive, i think the hardest thing was telling my mum i had to move back into live at home and try and pursue a career in this and she was like what the, she has been fine with that and been really supportive. saying that they're spent too much time on the xbox or playstation, saying that they're spending too much time on the xbox or playstation, but they also to be physically fit, outsider in the gym or in many have special diets, healthy

diet is a healthy mind. training with a lot of focus on if you make a slight mistake it can really hinder how the game actually turns out and i think something that's coming into it for me, my nutrition in my living. yes, definitely takes dedication, probably the same dedication it takes for any sport. once the clubs of picked their two players to complete in the turned the finals week and will take place here in the studio cinema, shown all of the world with presenters, going over each of the movements. all over the world with presenters, going over each of the movements. still him to go full time, despite not making a burning team this year. i've been watching them play the premier league will be a dream to play for them, and to be here with this is where the special. is super special. growing as a big business with small

fortunes up for grabs in some tournaments around the world and roaring you on in the theatre or online, and now it has premier league backing with the help of the former executive of manchester city as well. who was a young man or a young lady who would come to play and represent the team, as the audience continues to grow because of the digital trend, this is an extension of all of that and that is why i have to commend the league for taking the step. the speed and skill of the game, apologies to the fans, i'm warming up for next week's finals of the 5— mill finals of the 5— nil thrashing in southhampton, despite the heroics of my keeper, here. but compared to the real premier league, it's more of a level playing field, money can't buy you success in this game, the team is only as good as the person in the controls. it does look quite exciting. we've still got another week

to wait until the clocks go forward so if you're feeling a little blue at the moment you might want to look away for the next few seconds because the players not involved in internationals are taking advantage of the break to get away to sunnier climes. mo salah — you'll never walk alone — back and ready to take on manchester city for the pl title. looking relaxed. manchester city and liverpool, fighting for that title, he is looking pretty relaxed. finally, we leave you with a quick hop back to the weekend's football. gareth bale will return to lead the line for wales against slovakia tomorrow. and before that match some of the visiting journalists have even been rubbing up the real madrid superstar. take a look at the final question from this morning's press conference from a slovakian reporter, who needed the help of a translator...

translation: if it is possible to have a picture? it is not something that will... normally you are not allowed to do that. that's all from sportsday. we'll have more throughout the evening. good evening, not a bad day today, little brighter for some, sunshine was hazy through the day, as you can see, nice hazy sunshine in cambridge, but late wednesday night, high pressure continues to build in, across the north there is going to

be windy across scotland, more showers, merging together and also we could see some snow so for all of us we could see some snow so for all of us today, it will be chilly, across the south, a little bit of cloud and temperatures at around five or six celsius, but elsewhere, - single celsius, but elsewhere, low single figures and lots of showers and long spells of rain, some snow on the hills making a very windy, but you can see central air indicating freezing but in the cities, one to three celsius, starts off chilly, however brighter with some sunshine and more sunshine across england and wales although we will start to see showers pushing into northern ireland in the past the afternoon, we re ireland in the past the afternoon, were some of the showers will be heavy, some windy air in the northern isles, there the showers are pushing in to northern england and in the afternoon, across set the can see quite a bit of sunshine and temperatures in response, 13 or iii

degrees, blood pressure clears away, pretty much on top of the country and keeping the weather systems a day, we could see just a few showers in the northwest of scotland. but it will be largely settled next week because of the high—pressure, mainly dry, we could see the sunshine in the last few days as well, i have i pressure but it does mean it will be quite chilly, although as we head through the middle part of next week, it will become milder as temperatures can reach the high teens celsius, the picture will be largely dry and actually start but will have lots of sunshine, bit more cloud across the northwest of scotla nd cloud across the northwest of scotland and maybe a bit of cloud building up elsewhere, temperatures reaching as high as 11 to 13 celsius, but this temperatures are going to creep up for many as the week where his aunt like i showed you, with the air mass chart, and as the modern era moves in, that's all fine and settled thanks to high

pressure but it will start to be quite chilly and we could see some mist and fog as well. this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. the headlines at 8. hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rally in front of parliament, demanding another brexit referendum. today we make our voices heard and what our voices are saying loudly and clearly is this... put it back to the people. american—backed kurdish forces declare victory over islamic state after capturing the group's last remaining stronghold in syria. police in west london launch a murder investigation, after the fatal stabbing of a teenager last night. rescuers in norway are evacuating more than 1,000 people from a cruise ship in stormy seas. scientists hope the technology behind these unprecedented and detailed images of a baby inside the womb will help improve