featuring some of the biggest names in the sport. welcome to the programme. chelsea are the europa league champions. they beat arsenal, their london rivals 4—1. it was manager maurizio sarri's first major trophy in football, but a nightmare for arsenal in azerbaijan. sloppy defending and missed chances allowed chelsea to win in convincing fashion, and that means unai emery‘s side will have to settle for europa league football next season, and miss out on the champions league. our correspondent olly foster is in baku for us. first impressions of this baku final words particularly good, hundreds upon hundreds of empty seats and a terrible atmosphere inside the olympic stadium. it was a really flat first half, as well, arsenal's cech made a couple of decent saves, it was goalless at halftime. it got

better in the second half, it had to, and stealthily ran away with the match, former arsenal player olivier giroud with a wonderful glancing header to put that one up. pedro also scared before —— scored before hazard made it 3—0 from the spot. alex iwobi, the substitute, scored a wonderful goal from outside the alex iwobi, the substitute, scored a wonderful goalfrom outside the box, 3-1, wonderful goalfrom outside the box, 3—1, a glimmer of hope with a few minutes to play? well, no, because hazard in what we certainly think will be his last match, scored a fourth. 4—1 to chelsea, and they are europa league champions once again. a great season for maurizio sarri, their manager, with his first major silverware. they finished third, as well, in the league, so they will consider that a success, but some serious questions now to be asked of arsenal's manager, emery. he said the target was the champions league.

they failed to qualify for that during the league, and this was their last chance. to win the europa league, that carried champions league, that carried champions league qualification with it. but they fell short once again. but a wonderful enter the season for chelsea, but questions as well as to the match was actually played here, because some of those fans are now dreading the journey home. they came here with great expectation, but certainly for those arsenal fans, it is going to be a long way home. iam i am devastated, i mean, iam devastated, i mean, eight flights, return, scotland, aberdeen, it is just flights, return, scotland, aberdeen, it isjust a flights, return, scotland, aberdeen, it is just a reflection on this season, really. it's been a hard season. season, really. it's been a hard season. i thought maybe coming here tonight we might be able to do it, but it just proves tonight we might be able to do it, but itjust proves chelsea were the better tea m but itjust proves chelsea were the better team tonight. if you don't come, you are going to regret it. i have been to every final since i was ten years old, so i think that was a good reason to go either way. second half, hazard just stole the game. we

we re half, hazard just stole the game. we were just no use, shocking. really, really disappointed, to say the least. well, after the game, chelsea talisman eden hazard gave a strong indication he could be leaving the club after 352 appearances and 110 goals. he said: "i think it's a goodbye, but in football you never know. my dream was to play in the premier league. i did this for seven years with one of the biggest clubs in the world. now, it's maybe time for a new challenge". i think we don't need to say. we don't need to say, he is a great friend, great player, great guy. he did amazing today again. ijust wish him all the best for his life, if he is with us or without us. for sure going to miss him forever, but also it is part of football. some cycles start, some cycles finish, and the figurehead players now also with the

opportunity to be eden one day. well, sarri was emotional at the end of the match. it has been a turbulent season for him. his future remains in doubt, despite ending his first season at stamford bridge with a trophy and champions league qualification. like in every club at the end of the season, like in every club at the end of the season, we like in every club at the end of the season, we need to know what they can “— season, we need to know what they can —— the club can do for me, what ican do can —— the club can do for me, what i can do betterfor the club. so i need to speak it. i think also the clu b need to speak it. i think also the club is with me, and in a couple of days we will decide. but at the moment we are talking about nothing. roland—garros must feel just like home again for rafa nadal. the ‘king of clay‘ reached the third round of the french open after his second win in a row in straight sets, this time over germany's yannick maden. adam wild rounds up the best of wednesday's action. there is perhaps no tougher task in tennis than taking on rafa nadal on

clay. ii tennis than taking on rafa nadal on clay. 11 times a champion in paris, yannick maden‘s resistance spirited, but like so many before him, short lived. i don't like the word easy, because it is... when you win, it a lwa ys because it is... when you win, it always looks easier, and when you play well, things look easier. when you are playing bad, things look very difficult. so easy is... easy is never, but i can say having a co mforta ble is never, but i can say having a comfortable victory. i have been in control almost all the time, and that's the only thing that really matters. still, there are few who have ever played the game that can make things look as simple as roger federer. a straight sets win for him over germany's oscar also. sloane stephens went all the way to the

women's final last year. her journey in 2019 has now reached the third round. it's nice. obviously played well both matches, so i was happy to be back in a good position in the slam. the only thing predictable about muguruza is her unpredicted ability, a former champion, often inconsistent, but through to round three with victory overjoanna larson. i think it was better than the last one, i think we had some great rallies. joanna is an opponent i have never faced great rallies. joanna is an opponent i have neverfaced before, so i was looking forward to that. and yes, i could control a little bit more my nerves this match, and yes, pretty good one. and no significant struggle for pliskova. the number two seed's challenge picking up pace. we are just hours away from the start of the cricket world cup, where hosts england take on south africa at the oval in london. england are the tournament favourites, which captain eoin morgan says he is happy about. their opponents, south africa, have been dealt a hefty blow though, as andy swiss reports.

well, welcome to the oval, where the waiting is very nearly over, because 25,000 fans will be packed into those stands behind me as england get the world cup underway against south africa. now, fair to say england don't have a great record in recent world cups. in fact, at the last tournament, four years ago, they were knocked out at the opening stage. but there is a real confidence about the team. they are the favourites with the bookmakers. their batting is particularly impressive, a lot of hefty hitters — the likes ofjos buttler, jonny bairstow, and of course the captain eoin morgan. the level of expectation is high, over the years our form has been outstanding and that is the reason it is there. a lot of the workups i have played in and the guys in the change room have played in, we have gonein change room have played in, we have gone in with very little expectation, and not done that well.

and i would pick this position over any other. well, what of england's opponents tomorrow? well, south africa, like the host, have never w011 africa, like the host, have never won the world cup. they suffered a real injury blow on the eve of the tournament. they will be missing their experienced fast bowler, dale steyn. he is a big loss to our team. we didn't expect it when we picked the squad. he wasn't quite... probably about 60% when the squad was picked, so we anticipated this to happen, but yes, dale steyn makes oui’ to happen, but yes, dale steyn makes our batting attack are very, very strong one, so tomorrow will be a little bit of chopping and changing to make sure we get the balance that we think can take on england. yes,

the absence of dale steyn a real blow to south africa. as to the format of the tournament, well, it's relatively straightforward. ten teams taking part. they will play a round robin stage, with the top four teams going through to the semifinals. as for the other main contenders, of course, there india, the book makers. they have for many people the top batsmen in the world in kohli. also, of course, the australians. they are welcoming back david warner and steve smith after their suspensions for ball tampering so their suspensions for ball tampering so it will be interesting to see what kind of reactions they get from the crowd, but england very much the tea m the crowd, but england very much the team to beat when the tournament gets under way here at the oval. and thousands have been paying their last respects to formula one legend niki lauda at his funeral in vienna. world champion lewis hamilton was among the mourners, along with former drivers alain prost, sirjackie stewart and nico rosberg. lauda, a three—time world champion who survived an horrific crash at the german grand prix in 1976, died last week at the age of 70. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that is bbc.com/sport. but, from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye.

hello. one thing we're certainly not short of at the moment is cloud across the uk, and through today, it will tend to stick around in many areas and bring some rain into the north. by the weekend, though, i'm hopeful we'll see more in the way of sunshine, and we're going to see things significantly warming up for some. more on that in just a moment. a lot of warm air coming in from the atlantic in the next few days, but it's coming up to the south of this frontal system. that will mean a lot of cloud around, some more persistent rain across the northern half of the uk in the short term, as well. but by the weekend, high pressure will start to push in from the south, thin the cloud, and allow more sunshine. today, though, most of us are going to be stuck with fairly grey skies, and across the northern half of the uk, some more persistent rain as the day goes on. heavy at times, possibly, for northern ireland, the south—west of scotland, parts of the north—west of england,

maybe the far north—west of wales, too. to the far north of scotland, some sunshine for the northern isles. to the south, some brighter skies to the lee of high ground. breezy day across the board, particularly gusty around western coasts and across the hills, but murky in the west as well. just 11 degrees there in aberdeen, but up to 23 if we get some brightness across the south—east of england. overnight thursday into friday, looking at more wet weather across the northern half of the uk, but hopefully the cloud to the south perhaps thinning and breaking a little as the hours go by. high pressure trying to squeeze its influence further north. certainly a mild enough start to friday, but once again, you can see rain waiting to push into northern ireland and western scotland. and through the day, that frontal system continues to buckle to the north of the uk, so there will be more heavy downpours. to the south, the high is nearby, and that should allow the cloud to thin and break a little more, see a bit more in the way

of sunshine, and temperatures creeping up across england and wales on friday, into the mid 20s. milder for aberdeen, but still a lot of cloud around and some rain, but the heaviest of the rain for northern ireland and western scotland. but by saturday, that high throws its influence further north. we should see more in the way of widespread sunshine and a pretty warm day, even across the northern half of the uk, but to the south, we could get up to 27 degrees celsius in the south—east of england. a very short spike of a heatwave, though. by sunday, the weather picture starts to become quite showery across the uk, and that will see our temperatures beginning to slide away. still a pretty pleasant day to come, though, on sunday. in the sunny spells, there will be some warmth around, turning much chillier, though, next week.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: at least seven people are killed, on a cruise boat that's capsizes on the river danube in the hungarian capital. teams are still searching for survivors. us special counsel robert mueller breaks his silence on the russia investigation — and repeats that his report did not clear president trump of obstructing justice. if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commita crime, we would have said so. we did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime. israel votes to hold its second election this year — after prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, fails to form a coalition. it's been sitting in the country for years — now the philippines is set to ship

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