the villain. rami malek will play the villain. those are the headlines. now on bbc news: sport today. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: knocked on the head — australia's star batsman steve smith is ruled out of the third ashes test against england at headingley all to play for after ajax see new—sair maz—rowee sent off in their goalless draw in cyprus against apoel nicosia. and major league soccer is heading to saint louis. the city will have their first franchise in 2022. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with the cricketing news that australian batsman steve smith has

been ruled—out of the third ashes test. he was hit in the neck by a 150km an hour bouncer at lords — and has been left with concussion. after sitting out tuesday's training session it's now been confirmed he'll miss the headingley test which starts this thursday — a real blow for australia. it comes as the brain injury charity headway has called for a "cultural change" in the way the sport deals with head injuries. patrick gearey reports. the most of this series, steve smith has been in the middle of things. the crease, the scorebook in the headlines but at headingley, he was australia's star is a spec data, not sufficiently recovered from concussion to face australia's quick bowlers later this week, he won't face england either. still if you wa nt to face england either. still if you want to be ready to but five days after being hit byjofra archer, should he have gone out to do with the very same afternoon?” should he have gone out to do with the very same afternoon? i asked him over and over and over. notjust as cricketers but as people. he was really keen and confident in the tests will show that they talk about this delayed concussion and it can

hit you afterward and it did with him and that's why he's out of this test match. so because of his head, australia are without their heart. steve smith is the series top scorer and his runs have covered for the shortcoming of others. he will likely be replaced by marcus labuschagne. we are going to lose oui’ labuschagne. we are going to lose our best batter, there is a blow, it a lwa ys our best batter, there is a blow, it always has an impact so we got to make sure all the other guys, the senior players and our younger players all step up and fill what are almost on fillable shoes because he is the best player in the world. easy to forget with all that's happened but england remain i—o easy to forget with all that's happened but england remain 1—0 down in this series and one defeat away from gaining the ashes. he was arrested today but they do have a archer in their armoury stop after his sensational debut, jofra archer, england's quickest bowler will be let loose on england's quickest pitch. it's good to see the english

cricket they got someone able to make the batters jump around. there's been plenty of the older english boy is quite happy about seeing the guys on the other side of defencejump seeing the guys on the other side of defence jump around a little seeing the guys on the other side of defencejump around a little bit seeing the guys on the other side of defence jump around a little bit but it certainly an exciting prospect, that's for sure. the history, headingley has sometimes been a hinge, the point where momentum changes. over the years, this place has seen some remarkable cricket. and it is one of the most fantastic victories ever known. but this week, it will be without one a cricket's most remarkable players. there were three champions league qualifying first leg matches on tuesday. this is the final round of qualifying with the winners from these two—legged ties going through to the lucrative group stages. last season's semi—finalists ajax will hold a slight advantage at home next week after playing out a goalless draw in cyprus against apoel nicosia. but they will be without 21 year

old moroccan international new—sair maz—rowee after he was sent off for a second bookable offence. elsewhere slavia prague won 1—0 in romania against cluj and in austria lask lost at home to club brugge by the same score. in other football news the fans were out to watch brescia's new signing mario balotelli train with his new team mates in italy as serie a's news season gets underway this weekend. brescia make the long trip south to cagliari in their opening game. major league soccer is heading to st louis for the first time. the league announced on tuesday that the missouri city will have it's own franchise from the start of the 2022 season. the team — who are yet to be named — will be the first in the competition's history to have a majority female—led ownership group. we are committed to this region. the most interesting aspect and one that we are very proud of is the fact that we are the first female majority— led open ship —— ownership

group in mls history. and one of the few in all professional sports. this is truly an historic day for st louis. it's hard to imagine that we were able to have a thriving professional soccer league and that it could exist in the united states and canada without having the city of st louis being a part of it. well, imagine no more because st louis, with its incredibly rich soccer history, not only deserves an mls team but has owned one. that's 2022 but next year tennessee willjoin the mls as well as david beckham's inter miami but the proposed stadium site for the franchise is in doubt due to arsenic contamination levels more than twice the legal limit, says an environmental report. melreese golf course has been closed until further notice by miami's city council after the findings. plans are in place to build

a stadium, shopping mall, hotel and public park on the site as part of a $ibn development with the team due to join the league next year initially playing in an 18,000—seat arena in fort lauderdale. tennis now and top seed benoit paire is through to the last 16 of the winston—salem open, in north carolina. the world number 30 beat india's prajnesh gunneswaran in straight sets — 6—3, 7—5 — but he didn't have things all his own way. the fiery frenchman smashing his racquet in the first set after serving a double fault. but after eventually claiming the opener, he wrapped the match up in the second set with an ace. the world canoe sprint championships get underway in hungary on wednesday they also double up as an olympic qualifying event. one man who's hoping to be at tokyo 2020 is tonga's pita taufatoa. having already competed in both taekwondo and cross—country skiing at previous olympics, he's aiming to race in a kayak at next year's games. our olympic reporter nick hope has

been chatting to him. we are here in beautiful sagad. it's almost as warm as tonga. almost as warm. let's chill out and take a bit of shade here on the boat park. how are you finding it? it's getting very real now. we're getting closer, racing two days. each day had there has been a little bit of progress, not as much as i would have liked. we're on a training kayak. that's not going to be as fun because it's a whole lot slower but each day there is an improvement in some little area. just hoping to cross the line and still be on the boat when i do. you knew it was going to bea when i do. you knew it was going to be a big challenge. is it tougher than you thought? so much tougher than you thought? so much tougher than i thought. i thought the physical part i'd be able to do but keeping the balance is the biggest

challenge. have you been swimming here? i've been swimming non—stop. it's like they have a mind of their own. if you make a tiny mistake or think about another boat, they just kick you out. swimming in the water. there is a new team—mate, tell us about it. we've got a big surprise for you. no—one knows this. but i thought that, you know, in order to increase our chances and get more people from tonga into kayak, i thought i'd find the strongest, toughest tom and i could everfind. isaid, toughest tom and i could everfind. i said, hey, toughest tom and i could everfind. isaid, hey, come toughest tom and i could everfind. i said, hey, come and join me for kayak. let's try k2. his name is malachi. is about getting into a race for the first time? my first race for the first time? my first race is the world championships. i don't know if that was a smart idea. i'm starting to think and second—guess it. i guess there are a

little bit of nerves because i've never been in this sport or gone to a starting block and i haven't finished the race yet and now i will be trying it in front of the world and people will be critiquing my technique but i'm just happy to have an opportunity to be out there. it isa an opportunity to be out there. it is a beautiful sport, kayaking. hoping to earn himself an olympic place in the sport of badminton is india's hs prannoy — after he knocked former champion lin dan out of the world championships in basle in the second round. lin came from a game down to level the match but prannoy stormed ahead in the best of three decider to sweep aside his chinese opponent. he'll play japan's world number one kento momota next. in the women's draw not such good news for another japanese world number one akane yamaguchi lost to singapore's yeojia min who took it in straight games 21—14, 21—18. the 20 year—old and world number 32 dominated from start to finish to seal the victory in just a0 minutes and she'll face vietnam's thi trang vu in the last 16. you can get all the latest sports

news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport.but from me xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx 0h —— that's bbc/sport. also, steve smith is not in the team due to the concussion. they take on england in what promises to be a fantastic match. until next time, goodbye. hello there. it looks like we're going to see a return to some summery weather finally. high pressure establishing itself over the near continent will send southerly winds our way and we'll tap into that warmth which will be building over the continent. today, though, it looks like we still have some weather fronts, weather systems to contend with which will bring wet and windy weather, mainly to the north and the west if the uk.

you can see this deep area of low pressure slowly making inroads as the day wears on. but we start, for many of us, with high pressure, plenty of sunshine around this morning. one or two showers will develop ahead of this rain band, for northern england into wales and the midlands, the odd heavier one but it turns wet and windy for northern ireland, much of northern and western scotland. gusts of wind 50, maybe 55mph in exposure and a breezy day further south and east. but better chance of seeing sunshine here with 22 or 23 degrees being the high. during wednesday night, that weather front moves southwards and eastwards, tending to fizzle out as it does. but patchy rain across central portions of the uk with blustery showers following on behind, genuinely a clear and dry night across the south and east. you can see double—figure values for all starting thursday morning. so warmer than it's been the last few nights. so we've got a north—south divide on thursday. low pressure to the north, high—pressure building to the south. that weak weather front will continue to fizzle out

but we'll see further fronts pushing to northern ireland, parts of scotland and northern england through the day, thanks to that area of low pressure anchored to the north of scotland. it will be quite windy here but further south and east, better chance of seeing lighter winds and more sunshine. and we'll start to tap into the warmth on the near continent, 2a, maybe 25 degrees but the high teens further north. this area of high pressure starts to establish itself over the near continent. southerly winds dig in and start to push weather fronts to the north of the uk. so there'll be a gradual process on friday where we will see the clouds thinning and breaking and the rain diverted towards the north of scotland. elsewhere, variable cloud but some good spells of sunshine and we're really tapping into the warmth over the near continent. temperatures in the high 20s celsius in the south and east, even the low 20s further north. into the start of the weekend, it looks like those weather fronts will be away from the uk.

so most places should be dry, with variable cloud. winds coming to the south, south—east. a much warmer day for all. the low to mid 20s celsius in the north, perhaps high 20s in the south—east side so it's certainly warming up across the board with temperatures probably best across the south and east.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: australia's cardinal pell to remain injail as his appeal is dismissed. wildfires in the amazon at an all—time high — more than 70,000 fires across the region. president trump plays down fears of a recession but confirms he is considering tax cuts. and farmers in the uk warn that a no—deal brexit will cause severe disruption.