france, as the race enters the pyrenees. and claims of colonialism overshadow what is set to be a tantalising africa cup of nations final between senegal and algeria. hello and welcome to the programme. perhaps the weight of expectation proved too much at the open. on the opening day at royal portrush, the home favourite, rory mcilroy, had a round to forget, the northern irishman with a score of eight—over, including a quadruple bogey on the first hole. tiger woods had a bad day too. he is on seven—over. defending open champion francesco molinari has his work cut out to stay in contention. but at the top, jb holmes leads the way on five—under, with ireland's shane lowry a shot behind. colm harrison reports. open championship is back in northern ireland for the first time since 1951, and local favourite northern ireland for the first time since 1951, and localfavourite rory mcilroy went off as the tournament

favourite, but he made a dreadful start to this latest bid for a first major in five years, and now faces an uphill battle just to make the cut. in front of a home crowd, mcenroe began with a quadruple bogey eight at the first, and it didn't get much better after that. there was a double—bogey at the 16th, a triple bogey at the last, before the world number three signed for an opening round of 79. the reigning masters champion, tiger woods, is only one shot better off. back—to—back bogeys for him at four and five were followed by a double—bogey here at the sixth. woods went on to shoot 78, and he might not be there for the weekend either. the county antrim crowd did have an irishman to cheer for most of the day. shane lowery opened up for a li—under par round of 67, which could put him on the top of the leaderboard. but he lies in second place overnight, one shot behind this man,jb place overnight, one shot behind this man, jb holmes. after starting with a bogey the american then fired in five birdies on his way to a 66 that puts him clear of the field.

with two irish open titles to his name, spain's rahm seems to like playing in the emerald isle, and he is fancied to play a first major this week. he opened up with a 68. rahm was one of 13 players in a tie for third place, two shots off the lead, and that long list includes the world number one, brooks koepka, the world number one, brooks koepka, the us pga champion is looking to wina the us pga champion is looking to win a fifth major title in just 11 tournaments. no—one expects emiliano tournaments. no—one expects emiliano to be holding the claretjug on sunday, but the argentinian who entered the day 2—over par did make history, acing the par 313 and in doing so claiming the first hole at the open championship three years. you know, i hit it great. you know, ididn't miss you know, i hit it great. you know, i didn't miss too many shots, and when i did, i miss them in the right

spots, putted well, stuck to our game plan, and just executed about as perfectly as i could do it.|j totally enjoyed today. the crowds we re totally enjoyed today. the crowds were unbelievable, getting cheered onto every tee box and every green is such a special feeling and i tried to enjoy that as much as i can while i was doing my work and getting down to business. it is going to be an exciting few days ahead. ijust going to be an exciting few days ahead. i just hope going to be an exciting few days ahead. ijust hope i can give them something to cheer about on sunday afternoon. yes, ididn't yes, i didn't really do too much out there today. i hit a lot of missed shots, they were all left. i wasn't hitting as a solid, everything was of the heel, and i wasjust trying to scrape it around, and the best i can do is start over. a start is a start, and that's fine. it was the end of the round that really played the last three or 5—over par, and sort of undid all the good work in the middle of the round. so i tried to stay with it, i did for the most

putt. i lost concentration after i missed a little putt for par on 16 and then i drew a pretty bad line in the rough 118. just one of those things. the british cyclist simon yates won thursday's 12th stage of the tour de france. the mitchelton—scott rider came out on top after a three—man breakaway as this year's race reached the pyrenees. frenchman julian alaphilippe retained the leader's yellowjersey, finishing safely in the peloton, and remains more than a minute clear of the defending champion, geraint thomas. from france, simon brotherton reports. simon yates sprinted to victory ahead of two takeaway companions, to secure his maiden tour to a different stage win and complete an impressive set having previously taken wins in the other two grand tours of italy and spain. primarily there to help his brother adam, who stays seventh overall, yates was given an opportunity on this first and grabbed it with both hands. the

overall contender stayed together on the road, finishing just over 9.5 minutes later, keeping their powder dry for tomorrow's individual time trial. so the frenchmanjulian alaphilippe still wears the yellow jersey, with the defending champion, geraint thomas, second overall, one minute and 12 seconds down. the president of football's world governing body, gianni infantino, has hit back at claims it has a colonialist attitude towards football in africa. last month, fifa announced they are taking joint charge of running african football alongside the continent's governing body, caf. it followed allegations of corruption against the caf president, ahmad ahmad, something he denies. fifa's decision has been criticised by some african officials as well as former president sepp blatter, who has called it a new aspect of colonialism. that is something the current fifa president denies. what more can we do at fifa and sending our top administrator with a tea m sending our top administrator with a team of experts to africa to help? what more can we do? i've been hearing that fifa is colonising

africa again. fifa. we have defined a roadmap that is a leading document, that will transform together, that you have to transform, because i want your contribution to make it a success. infantino was speaking at the caf congress in cairo ahead of friday's africa cup of nations final. algeria face senegal, who are bidding to win the trophy for the first time. senegal lost in their only previous final in 2002, and star striker sadio mane says he would swap the champions league medal he won with liverpool last month to win the cup of nations with his country, who are the tournament favourites. algeria, though, say their coach has filled them with the belief they can win the title for the first time since 1990. it is important that we be very... a team, as we are, and it is important for algeria, because we used to have good individualities, and nowi

think we feel very strongly as a team. translation: how is it played? i always say it comes down to details, details like when you have the chance to score and you don't, evenif the chance to score and you don't, even if you are the stronger team. then the opposing team in a stronger position at the moment grabbed their chance and score. a final can be won or lost by team effort or individual errors. this final demand a of concentration. —— this final will demand a lot of concentration. staying with football, kieran trippier was officially introduced as an atletico madrid player on thursday, following his move from tottenham hotpur. the spanish club have paid $25 million for the england international, who has won 16 caps for his country and scored in last year's world cup semi—final against croatia. trippier says the chance to play for diego simeone was a key factor in signing for atletico. yes, he was massive. from watching atletico over the years, you see what he demands of his team, the work ethic, they give everything for

the team, the badge, and you know, you see how close the players are with the staff, the club. they are like one big family here, and i wa nted like one big family here, and i wanted to be a part of this, and he is for me one of the best managers in the world, and it is a privilege to play for him and give everything icanfor to play for him and give everything i can for him. on to cricket, and australia's women are edging closer to retaining the ashes. they had the better of the first day's play in the one—off test in taunton, which forms part of the multi—format series. four players made half—centuries, including ellyse perry, who is 84 not—out. she has shared an unbeaten fourth—wicket stand of 105 with rachael haynes, who is 5a not—out. the tourists will resume on 265—3. they will retain the ashes if they avoid defeat, and there are still three t20 matches to come. at the netball world cup in liverpool, the semi—final line—up is now in place, following the end of the group phase. the defending champions, australia, edged out new zealand by a single point to claim top spot in group f.

the diamonds won by 50—49, which means the silver ferns finish second in the group. and in the match to decide top spot in group g, the commonwealth champions, england, beat south africa 58—47. so the roses finish top, with the proteas going through in second place. and here is how they will line up in the last four. the holders and 11—time champions, australia, will face south africa, and the commonwealth games gold medallists, england, will play new zealand, those semi—finals being played on saturday. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that is bbc.com/sport. but from me, gavin ramjaun, and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye.

hello there. if you're hoping for warm weather, it might be worth sticking around until the end of this forecast, but in the meantime, some soggy weather to get through during the day ahead. this frontal system sliding in from the south—west, this is going to bring some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain northwards across many parts of the uk, and with that, a brisk breeze. that rain very quickly getting into south—west england and the south of wales through the morning. many other spots starting the day dry and clear, but through the rush hour, some very heavy rain falling across parts of the west country and particularly south wales. could well be some surface water and spray on the roads, some very poor travelling conditions, perhaps some disruption. but as we drift further north, across northern england, northern ireland and scotland, many places starting the day dry, with some spells of sunshine. 1a degrees there in glasgow, just a scattering of showers across the north of scotland. now, as we go through the day,

this band of rain, perhaps with the odd flash of lightning, the odd rumble of thunder, will move its way northwards across the midlands, east anglia, up into northern england, clipping into northern ireland, getting into southern scotland, perhaps into the central belt by the middle of the afternoon. some showers chasing on from the south. the best of the dry weather, albeit with one or two showers, across northern scotland. some sunny spells here, temperatures of 19—21 degrees. now, on the southern flank of this rain band, there could be some thunderstorms breaking out across the far north of england, the far south of scotland through friday evening. another batch of wet weather sliding across southern parts of england. generally speaking, across the south—east of the uk, it's going to be a muggy night, a muggy start to saturday morning. a little cooler and fresher across the north—west. now, the main body of the wet weather tied in with this frontal system here will be sliding eastwards as we get into saturday, but low pressure still very much in charge. so yes, there will be some spells of sunshine, but also a scattering of showers, and some of those could be heavy,

could be thundery, could crop up just about anywhere, but especially for central and eastern areas. temperatures 20—211 degrees, beginning to creep upwards again. split fortunes on sunday — england and wales having a predominantly dry day, increasing amounts of cloud, some sunny spells, but we'll see rain across northern ireland spreading into the western side of scotland. temperatures down towards the south may be into the middle 20s at this stage, but they will climb a little higher, i suspect, because early next week, heat will really be building across iberia and france. some spots up to a0 degrees, and that heat looks like getting drawn into at least the southern half of the uk. some spots into the low 30s celsius, but further north, it'll be cooler, and more unsettled as well.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump attempts to distance himself from the racist chanting, targeting a somali—born democratic congresswoman, at wednesday's campaign rally. i was not happy with it. i disagree with it but, again, i did not say it, i didn't say that, they did. the pentagon says us forces have shot down an iranian drone as it approached an american ship in the gulf. staying in jail. the reasons why a judge ruled that financierjeffrey epstein must stay behind bars until his trial on sex trafficking charges. on a beach in norfolk,the biggest sandscaping project ever seen in the uk to try to save the coastline.