2017 winners urawa red diamonds qualify for the last 16 of the asian champions league. and valerio conti still leads the giro d'italia, but stage 10 saw germany's pascal ackermann take a tumble that meant he missed out on a third stage win. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the footballing news that arsenal midfielder henrikh mkhitaryan will not play in the europa league final against chelsea next week. it's understood the 30—year—old armenian feared for his safety on the pitch in the azerbaijan capital of baku. as a result of political tensions between azerbaijan and armenia, mkhitaryan has missed club matches played in azerbaijan in the past.

it is bad news. but i cannot do anything for this issue. it is very, very personal, the decision, a personal decision. and we need to respect him. and they don't understand now the political problems, but i must respect —— i don't understand. it is big news for us because he is a very important player. but we understand his decision, because it's dangerous for him. so for us it isa it's dangerous for him. so for us it is a big mess. yeah, he has contributed a lot for us to get where we are so far into the vinyl. he is very upset. we wanted him to come. “— he is very upset. we wanted him to come. —— final. we want to get the trophy notjust for us, come. —— final. we want to get the trophy not just for us, but for him. earlier, i spoke to the general secretary of the azerbaijan fa who told me that it's an unfortunate situation.

yes, actually, we are very disappointed to see this statement from arsenal about the armenian player. because we have tried to do oui’ player. because we have tried to do our best and we, on behalf of the government as well as the local organising committee, we gave all the guarantees to the club as well. but i think this was a personal decision of the player, together with his family. at the end of the day, here in our country, as a baseline, politics stays away from the sport and we always protect the integrity of the sport. ——as a baseline. so we were confident nothing would happen in terms of security and safety. the asian champions league will be down to the last 16 by wednesday which may see holders kashima antlers miss out. but on tuesday the 2017 winners urawa red diamonds made sure that there would be a guaranteed japanese presence as colm harrison reports. u rawa urawa red diamonds with home advantage, were the favourites.

their opponents and rivals for a place in the last 16 needed a win or score. . . place in the last 16 needed a win or score... sorry about that. we have an issue with that vt. we will try to bring it to you again in the next hour. in the meantime, let us not panic. we will move along. england footballerjordan nobbs has called for more research to be done on a potential link between injuries and hormones. nobbs will miss the women's world cup which starts next month after suffering a knee injury last year and she's revealed that it happened on the first day of her period. more sports are now monitoring women's cycles and what impact they might have on an athlete's performance. katie shanahan reports. six months ago, england footballer jordan nobbs was on the road to a world cup. but that all changed in

november. she suffered a serious knee injury, tearing her acl. she was playing for arsenal at the time and while they could have been other reasons, she thinks there was one thing that stood out for her. she had just started her period. eye was very tired leading up to that week. eye was on the first day of my menstrual cycle. and, you know, i'm not one for saying it was because of that, but the facts on how many women have done their knee and been on their mental cycle has been very high. so, you know, i don't know if it was down to that but it was a very high factor —— menstrual. it was down to that but it was a very high factor -- menstrual. so is there a potential link between periods and injury? emma eros is a physiologist with the english institute of, working with olympic and paralympic institute of, working with olympic and pa ralympic mascots institute of, working with olympic and paralympic mascots stop i went to meet her to understand the science behind it. we know that the symptoms or the effects of those hormones will provide a challenge to you as an elite former. and one of

those times is when your oestrogen is very high. that can actually affect the looseness of your joints. and if that knee joint is less sta ble and if that knee joint is less stable at a certain time of your cycle, it's more prone to being injured. and we know that things like acl injury is more common in females and when it occurs it occurs ata females and when it occurs it occurs at a specific time of the cycle. one of the sport is now monitoring periods as great britton's women's hockey team. great written have on the olympic gold medal! and it all came down to small margins. something they were prepared for all along. every morning we wake up and we feel in what we would call a monitoring sheet. it was in the form ofan app monitoring sheet. it was in the form of an app on a phone. rollover, pick up of an app on a phone. rollover, pick up your phone, it recorded your heart rate, and then you had to do how you felt, the colour of your urine, how many hours sleep you had, in one of the other questions was was a day one of your menstrual cycle ? was a day one of your menstrual cycle? so did you start your period that day? if you did you literally

just hit yes stop and that was literally the and all of that question. the english industry of sport does matter institute of sport is now educating coaches and athletes about all aspects of the female body in the run—up to the other big sexy. something welcomed by the athletes as well. the more we can do about it in the buildup to tokyo as well —— 0lympics. can do about it in the buildup to tokyo as well -- olympics. but there is still work to do. i think they more open we are and talk about periods, they are a normal part of life, a normal part of life for women, it can only be a good thing. katie shanahan, bbc news. now to cycling, arnaud demare of france sprinted to victory after a crash affected the end of the 10th stage of the giro d'italia on tuesday, while italian valerio conti kept the overall lead. the incident came inside the final kilometre and involved germany's pascal ackermann who'd won two stages already meaning he couldn't contest the sprint. demare edged out elia viviani and rudiger selig in a bunch sprint at the end of the entirely flat 1a5—km stage while conti maintains

the pink leader's jersey. barbados—born fast bowler joffra archer has been named in england's15—man squad for the cricket world cup, which starts next week. the 24—year—old only qualified to play for his adopted country in march, and one or two england players expressed their concern at archer being fast—tracked into the squad — possibly at their expense. his selection means david willey is the man to miss out. archer's featured in three 0ne—day internationals so far, and joe root says he merits his inclusion. i think you have seen when he has played in the domestic tournaments around the world, such as the ipl and the big ass, he's got the ability to change games on his own.

he's got the ability to change games on his own. he has magic spells in him. he takes catches that other players might not necessarily be able to do. he has won games with the bat down the order as well. they are great qualities to have. he's a great addition to the squad. he has earned that through performing under pressure and high profile tournaments like that. and it's a great chance for him. what a stage to start your international career on. elsewhere, afghanistan continued their build—up to the world cup with victory over ireland in the second 0ne—day international in belfast. mohammad shahzad hit a century as the tourists made 305 for seven from their 50 overs, and ireland were then bowled out for just 179 in reply. gulbadin naib took six for 43 as afghanistan won by 126 runs with more than eight overs to spare — to share the series 1—1. and sri lanka beat scotland in a rain—affected second 0d! in edinburgh. the tourists made 322 for eight from their 50 overs. after a lengthy delay for rain scotland were set a revised target of 235 from 3a overs, but were bowled out for 199.

sri lanka won by 35 runs — to take the series 1—0. i can't tell you there is nhl and nba action. nhl, one team, the boston bruins are through to the nhl sta nley cu p boston bruins are through to the nhl stanley cup final. they have not won since 2011. all play either the san jose or the st louis blues. the st louis blues on their way, they have lost all three in a row, they have never wanted. 2—0 up to sanjose. if they win at they win the serious 4-2. they win at they win the serious 4—2. they are 3—2 up in the best—of—7. milwaukee and toronto are level at seven apiece in the quarter. milwaukee two up in the series. the toronto raptors have never wanted. they finished top of

the eastern conference a couple of yea rs the eastern conference a couple of years ago. second this year. what can they do? grow that's all for 110w. can they do? grow that's all for now. goodbye. hello. there's predominantly fine weather and with the gardens looking drier, the sight of rain bouncing off the ground could be viewed by some with envy but that's what we had in the edinburgh area for a time on tuesday as the thundery shower moved through but for much of the uk, tuesday was sunnier and warmer compared with monday, and it was dry. there's more dry weather around for most parts of the uk in the day ahead. big exception, though, northern isles and northern scotland. here, we are going to see a weather system close by, with cloud and some outbreaks of rain. in fact, some persistent spells

of rain, some heavier bursts as well, and a stronger, cooler northerly breeze. and you see this area of cloud from north wales, southernmost parts of northern england into the midlands, that mayjust produce a shower as most other places are dry, good deal of sunshine, it feels every bit as warm as it did on tuesday. that means high teens and a few spots into the low 20s. now, on through wednesday night and into thursday morning, you'll notice that the rain is still hanging around northern scotland, 0rkney, though clearing away from shetland. this strip of cloud probably doesn't have any rain associated with it. for many, it's clear skies and for the clearer parts of northern england and northern ireland, temperatures in the coldest spots ending up close to freezing. for many of us, thursday is going to start with some sunshine. there's still some outbreaks of rain, though, with cloud in the breeze in northern scotland and the cloud increasing for northern ireland. towards the western coast of england and wales, mayjust produce a little patchy rain whereas most areas will stay dry and clearly, if you've got the sunshine, still the warmth as well. still a few spots into the low 20s. now by friday, we are expecting a bit more in the way of widespread cloud though the rain has eased from northern scotland but from northern ireland and through england and wales, as the cloud thickens, a bit of patchy rain moves its way

further south, it could start to turn more showery into the afternoon. as it does so, the further south it gets, you get to see some sunshine and warmth out there. but there are some weather changes on the way, just in time for the bank holiday weekend, as our atlantic weather takes over once again with an area of low pressure moving in. and that does mean there'll be a bit more cloud around, the potentialfor seeing a bit of wet weather at times, not a washout by any stretch of the imagination. there'll still be some sunshine occasionally but notice temperatures just edge off a few degrees. it'll feel slightly cooler, probably more so because the breeze starts to pick up and there's less sunshine to be had, and the chance of rain. now, the chance of any substantial rain, at least across southern parts of the uk, remains low. and that's your latest forecast — bye bye.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: briefing congress. president trump's senior officials say their tough policies forced iran to "put on hold" their threats to american interests. theresa may offers british politicians a vote on holding a second brexit referendum but only if they approve her withdrawal deal. the government will include in the withdrawal and bill a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum. a rallying call on abortion law — protestors gather across the us as several states pass laws to restrict terminations. and we have a special report on hungary's ruling populists, as they step up their campaign for the european elections.