i'm not optimistic are told that thatis i'm not optimistic are told that that is going to change. they've had three swings at the back, struck out three swings at the back, struck out three times. after nine games, arsenal have finally won again. they beat west ham in the premier league. and can the defending champions reach the last 16 of the champions league? we'll tell you what liverpool and a few others need to do on tuesday. golfing news involving rory mcilroy on the way, but first, to the scandal that has rocked global sport for years and is still rumbling on. russia have been banned from all major global sporting competition for the next four years. the world anti—doping agency handed out the punishment after an investigation found russian officials had tampered with data from an anti—doping lab. as with now, those russian sportspeople who can prove they are clean can still compete, but only as neutrals. our sports editor dan roan has more.

it's a sporting superpower, as both host and competitor. but today, russia found itself out in the cold. ever since hosting the winter games in 2014, the country's been mired in an unprecedented doping scandal and now it faces an unprecedented punishment. this morning at a meeting in lausanne, russia hit with a four—year ban from international sporting events. russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and to rejoin the global anti—doping community for the good of its athletes and for the integrity of sport. but it chose, instead, a different route. russia's been punished for tampering with drugs test data from the former lab of doping mastermind—turned—whistle—blower dr grigory rodchenkov, who we caught up with last year, in disguise and still in hiding in the united states. olympics could die. today, he welcomed the punishment, but russian officials are set to appeal.

translation: the fact these decisions have been repeated, often affecting athletes who have already been punished, leads one to believe this is more anti—russian hysteria that's already taken on a chronic form. no official russian team, anthem or flag will feature at next year's tokyo olympics and paralympics, the winter games in 2022, or the world cup a few months later. but as ever with anti—doping, there are caveats. a loophole means russia will be allowed to play and host matches at football's euros next year because it's not a global event. and as at last year's winter olympics, russian athletes who can prove they're clean will be allowed to compete under a neutral banner. that's dismayed those who wanted wada to issue a blanket ban. i wanted a complete ban but we had two choices. i support as long as we can get today. i am afraid that if we supported or didn't support the

cfc, the irs the water it out. the duplicity, deceit and deception that they've exhibited isjust beyond the pale. wada under this particular administration has not really stood up for the athletes the way that we deserve. london 2012 was just one of the events sabotaged by russia's cheating. seven years on, the fallout from sport's greatest—ever scandal continues. dan roan, bbc news. arsenal players haven't had much to celebrate of late but finally after a winless run in the premier league stretching back to the start of october, they were victorious, running out 3—1 winners over west ham. after falling behind in the first half, freddie ljungberg's side turned it around in nine second half minutes with gabriel martinelli,

nicolas pepe and pierre—emerick aubameyang. it's ljungberg's first win since becoming interim boss. we have a lot, a lot to work on and a lot of things that we can see that we need to get on the training pitch to fix, but they have been under pressure for weeks and weeks and weeks but they haven't won. so to have that mental strength and do that away from home, it was a long time ago, i'm extremely proud. amazing work, and i know the pressure they have been under. i just want to enjoy the day today and for them to enjoy the evening and then we will work again tomorrow. the pressure from is exactly the same. the pressure for me is to try to have a good team, to try to win every game and to try and grow this club. of course in the way you don't have the results, things are more difficult. but i think we will continue. a big night in europe ahead on tuesday where the likes of liverpool, chelsea and inter milan are all hoping to secure their place in the last 16. the maths is a little complicated but they can take any mental gymnastics out of the equation by winning their final group games.

paul frostick has the details. as the champions league group stages reach their conclusion, there are still plenty of teams yet to seal themselves a place in the next round. for the second season in a row, liverpool's hopes of making the last 16 in the new year have gone down to the final game. salzburg gave them a major scare with a 3—goal comeback in the reverse fixture, those strikes at anfield means there is still a small chance the austrians team could win the group ahead ofjuergen klopp‘s side. this club has fought for so long to get to this stage in this moment and for us to be in position to potentially move on is something that we all hope for, but we didn't necessarily expect. and so in the moment my heart and my mind is with the people in the city and the people in this club and esteem. into malign are yet to secure their place in the last 16. a round of their

group stage with a class at home against already qualified barcelona. the italians‘ task is quite simple, win and they would be guaranteed a spotin win and they would be guaranteed a spot in the knockout round. it‘s a more interesting scenario for dortmund, they are going well in the bundesliga, but the german side need to win ordraw bundesliga, but the german side need to win or draw with slavia prague and at the same time hope into malone will lose against barcelona, who haven‘t travelled with lionel messi. translation: there is definitely a big chance, nevertheless, we also know we must play our game. we really wa nt know we must play our game. we really want to win our game and u nfortu nately really want to win our game and unfortunately it‘s no longer up to us as unfortunately it‘s no longer up to us as to how we will end up in the group. chelsea headed to tuesday's night knowing action would see them through, but after witnessing lose their team through, but after witnessing lose theirteam —— through, but after witnessing lose their team —— witnessing their team lose five matches, frank lampard says the pressure is on.|j

lose five matches, frank lampard says the pressure is on. i know there are expectations, i get that. it was a tough group. the slightly young field to our team, the fact we lost the first game, very few difficulties we had and i think we have dealt with them very well. but there is still work to be done, so, yeah, we need to go out to win a game. there are still eight spots up for grabs on tuesday and wednesday, with the draw for the last 16 to ta ke with the draw for the last 16 to take place on monday, 16th of december. if you want to know more on all of the groups, head to bbc.com/football for more. next week, liverpool will be in action in the club world cup semifinals. who they‘ll play will depend on what happens in the eliminators and quarterfinal in the next few days. hosts qatar will have a keen interest in the first game as their champions al sadd are involved. coach xavi — who won the tournament twice as a player with barcelona —

says getting through their first round match would be a success for him. they‘ll start as favourites at least against yengen sport, who are the first side from new caledonia to get to the fifa showpiece. the winners of wednesday‘s tie will take on concacaf champions league winners monterrey in the quarterfinals on saturday. 10 years after their team bus was attacked by gunmen in lahore, sri lanka are back in pakistan to play their first test match in the country since the atrocity. they‘ll play two tests, under heavy security: one in rawalpindi which starts on wednesday, and the second in karachi next week. sri lanka have named a full strength squad including the likes of angelo mathews and dinesh chandimal, who skipped the recent one day series there. rory mcilroy has turned down a reported $2.5 million to compete in saudi arabia next month. the northern irishman says the idea of playing in the event does not excite him and that the decision not to compete is also

based on morality. the country has been criticised for its record on human rights. tiger woods revealed last week that he had also turned down an offer to play in the european tour event. before we go, we had to show you what some snooker players get up to in their spare time. mark williams is actually going to improve your game — well, not your snooker, anyway. this is mark williams, three—time world champion, working on his golf in an usual way. probably not good for the table and those pyjama bottoms, not good for my eyes either. at least his makes the putt, or pot, whatever you want to call it. we also want to know where he got those trousers from. pretty spectacular stuff. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that‘s bbc.com/sport. we will have reaction to the premier league game between west ham and arsenal. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye.

our next batch of wet and windy weather racing in off the atlantic as this stripe of cloud is moving into the west of the british isles. now, earlier in the night we had temperatures down as low as “11 celsius across eastern england. although, over more recent hours the winds have been picking up and the rain has been moving in, we have seen the temperatures rise, so by dawn, 9—10 degrees in the west, a mild start to the day for a number of places in the west. mild, but for many of us it is a wet start to the day. eastern england starting off with some early—morning brightness. the cloud and rain spreads and this rain will be heavy for all of us. the winds will be really quite gusty and squally,

particularly so across parts of north wales, northern ireland, wales and parts of scotland. in exposure, 60—70mph gusts, otherwise 50—60mph, so there is risk of some disruptions. that band will push through, quite mild for a number of places, colder and will be arriving from the west. so temperatures lowering through the afternoon in western scotland. stornoway, 16 degrees. transport disruption is a possibility on account of those very strong winds, heavy rain in the windy conditions also bringing surface water and spray to the roads. overnight, it will turn quite a bit colder, a number of towns and cities avoiding a frost on account of the brisk winds but it will be a chilly night nevertheless, temperatures 3—5 degrees celsius. and for wednesday, a colder day on the way. a day of sunshine and showers, a day when the showers will be most frequent and heaviest across the north—west, where there will be hail and thunder moving in, and snow over the high ground as well.

temperatures, 6—9 degrees celsius. a much colder kind of feeling day. that‘s wednesday‘s weather. on thursday, another area of low pressure moves in from the west, this one bringing some less cold air across england and wales in particular. a chilly start to the day, though, in a number of places. as the rain moves in, some snow over the hills of northern england, perhaps to scotland as well, where the slightly—less—cold air never really reaches, so it will be a chilly day in scotland. otherwise as the cloud and rain spreads in, we will see temperatures rising to around 10—11 degrees for the likes of london, cardiff and plymouth. beyond that, temperatures dropping again a little bit as we head into friday and the weekend, a mixture of bright spells and passing showers in the forecast. that‘s your weather.

welcome to bbc news. i‘m mike embley. our top stories: floral tributes for victims of the volcano eruption in new zealand. police believe as many as 13 have been killed. the russian and ukrainian presidents agree to try for a ceasefire in eastern ukraine by the end of the year. a justice department report concludes political bias did not drive the fbi‘s investigation into russian interference in the us presidential election. china claims all the people sent to what it calls "re—education camps" in the western xinjiang province have now been released. and one of the last surviving british pilots who fought in the battle of britain has died at the age of 101.