is complete. welcome to the programme. liverpool's quest to reach a second successive champions league final took a massive blow on wednesday night as barcelona won 3—0 at the nou camp. the result means liverpool have huge task in the return leg at anfield on tuesday. andy swiss was watching the action for us. liverpool find had come here with such high hopes but they came to meet a lionel messi masterclass. luis suarez gave them the lead. liverpool had plenty of chances and they feel on another day, had they taken them, they could have been in front but they did not take them in barcelona really blew them away in

the last half hour. it was all about lionel messi. luis suarez hitting the bar and lionel messi putting it in. then a spot of his familiar magic, free kick whipped into the corner. his 600th golfer barcelona and he would not have scored one letter tha n and he would not have scored one letter than that. —— goal. mo salah hitting the post. now liverpool with all to do. translation: we had three goal deficit againstjuventus last season and we were eliminated. we have no reason for being overconfident. we have achieved a great result, without a doubt but this time remains open. before this game we had a bigger chance, let me say it like this. it

is difficult but what can i say, it is difficult but what can i say, it is barcelona and i knew before that lionel was a world—class player and i saw it again and i am not too surprised, to be honest. spain's world cup winning captain — iker casillas — is recovering in hospital following a heart attack (00v)the 37—year—old the 37—year—old goalkeeper, who has played for spain 167 times, tweeted a picture from his hospital bed to reassure everyone he is fine, saying "everything controlled here, a big scare but with the forces intact. thank you very much everyone for the messages and the love." south africa's double olympic gold medallist, caster semenya, says she'll continue to fight against rules restricting testosterone levels in female runners. she lost her landmark appeal against regulations introduced by the governing body for athletics. the 28—year—old has a condition which means her testosterone levels a re naturally elevated and will have to take medication to supress her hormone levels if she's to continue competing over her favoured distances. our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, reports from south africa.

south africa's golden girl has never been a big talker. but every step she's taken in quiet defiance has led her here... ..to a decision that could have changed women's sport forever. athletics' governing body believes women with dsd — differences of sexual development — enjoy a performance advantage and should take drugs to lower their testosterone. semenya's lawyers called these rules discriminatory and the court actually agreed, but said the rules are needed. such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the iaaf‘s objection of preserving the integrity of female athletics. she arrived in customary silence. earlier she released this statement...

she lost the case. as the news broke, i was with semenya's mentor, the man she calls dad. it's a sad day for athletics, it's a sad day for sport, and it's a sad day for women's sport, and i emphasise women's sport in the world. very disappointed. it's a row that's been rumbling on for years. semenya was thrust into the media spotlight in 2009, aged just 18, after winning the 1800—metre gold. herjoy was short—lived as news leaked she was made to take a humiliating gender verification test. results were never made public but it's thought it found she is intersex, with both male and female characteristics. this is where semenya trains in pretoria and where she was protected from the media after that gender verification test. they are fiercely protective of her here, and indeed, a whole nation has looked on aghast at how she's been treated.

the introduction of these iaaf regulations trample on caster‘s dignity, they trample on caster‘s rights, so do they trample on other women athletes‘ rights. this goes beyond semenya. with the tokyo 2020 games fast approaching, the international olympic committee is likely to announce similar testosterone rules for transgender athletes. as sport grapples with issues of ethics and gender, some back the iaaf stance. i'm very pleased. i think it was the right decision. it's about time that cas looked after the majority and thought about how we're going to protect female sport. but for caster semenya, this was always simple. she just wanted to run, naturally, the way she was born. we are down to the last four

at the world snooker championship. tulsen tollett is at the crucible in sheffield for us. we are now down to the one table system at the crucible. this will include the quarter—final stage. john higgins has gone through against neil robertson. robinson the winner in 2010 and higgins are to winner. in 2017 and 2018 he was runner—up, could he be third time lucky. at one point he won 12 frames ina row, lucky. at one point he won 12 frames in a row, judd trump. gary wilson lost his to a card in 2006. he got it back in 2013 and at one point he was driving taxis to make a living. david gilbert has stuck himself in

to the semi—final. his form has been outstanding. it gets away with gilbert against higgins on thursday 12th - - gilbert against higgins on thursday 12th — — on on thursday. you can follow it all on bbc .com. and we now know who anthonyjoshua's going to be fighting onjune first. he's going to take on this man — andy ruinunior — at madison square garden in new york. the mexican—american replaces jarrell miller, the man who was supposed to fight joshua before failing two drugs tests. there's still time to vote for your bbc women's footballer of the year as voting closes this thursday at 0800 gmt. saki kumagai, is a japanese international, who has won 12 major trophies in her time at european champions, 0lympique lyonnais. the 28—year—old defender will be

a key part of the japan squad at the world cup in france, where she'll be hoping to play in the final that is being staged at her own home ground! translation: whatever i translation: whateverl achieve is not down to me. i have to thank my teammates. if it is me on my own, i cannot win. who is your sporting hero and why? translation: cannot win. who is your sporting hero and why? translationzlj cannot win. who is your sporting hero and why? translation: i do not know but when i was little of course it was sawe. she is a hero for me. she is a hero and injapan we could not imaginea she is a hero and injapan we could not imagine a japanese woman playing football let alone going overseas. for me it is her. i have been here

at 0lympique lyonnais for six seasons already and, of course, i love it here. the city as well. every day we can train with the best players in the world, also it is good experience and it is great, we win trophies. i love it. i take pleasure from football, football is joy, pleasure from football, football is joy, it is my life. saki kumagai is one of five nominees for this year's bbc women's footballer of the year — you can check out the others and chose which player to vote for at bbc.com/womensfootball, where you will see all the terms and conditions. voting closes at 0800gmt this thursday, the 2nd of may. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye.

hello. we are now over halfway through the working week, for many there is a bank holiday weekend to look forward to. the weather managed to behave itself but more on that in just a moment. yesterday we saw some showers across the uk, if anything, today the showers, more widespread. and some of them are likely to be fairly heavy affairs as well. it all starts off fairly quietly, there will be a few showers across eastern england first thing, some feeding into wales and the north—west of england. but as the morning wears on, and the sun starts to warm up the atmosphere little bit, we will see some towers of cloud building and then the chance of thunderstorms increases come the afternoon. we could see a shower just about anywhere, really, on thursday. not all places will see them, but if you are caught in the showers, chances are they are

going to be quite punchy. the greatest risk of thunder, i think probably across the midlands and northern england. the rain you see across scotland is slightly different, there is more cloud here, this is actually a weather front. and this is quite a big marker for the change in our weather as we end the week and get into the weekend. the showers will clear overnight, thursday into friday, ahead of this front sliding south. not bringing much in the way of rain but the blue triangles give you the clue, it's a cold front coming in behind it, much colder air on friday. the showers coming in on the northerly wind into scotland. wintry across higher ground, that wind will feel bitter as it strengthens down the north sea coast. ahead of the front to the south, not too bad, some sunny spells, there could be the odd shower, but a high of 15 degrees. to the north, factor in the wind and that seven in aberdeen, probably will feel more like freezing. what a difference after temperatures in northern scotland were 20 degrees earlier this week. the cold air will dig its way all the way south across the uk through the remainder of friday into saturday. it will stay with us through the bank holiday weekend. that nagging northerly wind could feed in a few showers

to eastern reaches of the uk, but on a positive note there will be a lot of fine weather around. away from the east coast, a frost possible first thing on saturday, if you are a gardener or a grower, beware. i've certainly got some of my young plants out at the moment, time to dig out the fleece. for saturday daytime we should see some decent sunshine, but temperatures never really recover. bit more cloud around on sunday, monday the wind should ease and that could make quite a big difference. after a couple of pretty chilly days, saturday and sunday, monday you may find things starting to feel closer to average temperatures for the time of year, shall we say.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: clashes in the venezuelan capital, as protesters attack armoured vehicles and police use rubber bullets and tear gas. 0ur reporter is in the thick of it. both sides have called for a mass mobilisation, as a way of trying to influence the military, and these protesters are targeting an airbase right in the heart of caracas. the us attorney—general is grilled by a senate committee on the mueller report but refuses to testify to the lower house. the british prime minister sacks her defence secretary, accusing him of leaking security concerns about huawei to the press. double 0lympian caster semenya loses her case against athletics‘ governing body.