i'm tulsen tollett. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: mikel arteta picks up his first win since taking over at arsenal as the gunners beat manchester united 2—0. former nba commissioner david stern, who led the sport into a new age, has died at the age of 77. and more than 85,000 watch the nhl winter classic at the cotton bowl in texas. hello there and welcome to the programme, where we start with the footballing mikel arteta, beating manchester united 2—0 in north london. both goals came in the first half through nicolas pepe and sokratis as the gunners move into the top half of the table. it was arteta's third game since taking over at the start

of last week and he's happy with how it's all going. i think the performance of the last two games were getting better, we we re two games were getting better, we were starting to see things we are really trying to implement, and today was perfect, new year, new opportunity against a big club. note time behind our fans, opportunity against a big club. note time behind ourfans, we had it all to get the win. —— note time. paul pogba missed the game with an ankle injury and according to 0le gunnar solskjaer, has decided to have an operation but not on the advice of the club. the norwegian spoke to the bbc‘s steve wilson. i know you explained prior to the game that is there a currency of the injury. any idea of how long that will take? there are no, i don't know. re—li weeks, maybe? will take? there are no, i don't know. re-4 weeks, maybe? let's see. he's been advised to have an operation by his people and they will probably do that. carlo ancelotti has lost his first

game as everton manager after his side were beaten 2—1 away to manchester city on new year's day. the italian who had overseen victories against both burnley and newcastle united in his first two games in charge saw a gabrieljesus double in the 15 minutes after the half time interval put his side on the back foot. richarlison gave the toffees hope withjust under 20 minutes remaining but pep guardiola's side held on to remain third while everton drop to 11th. we have to keep going. we are going to have a very difficult game also against liverpool, so we don't have to lose confidence. i think we are going well and we have to keep on going. david moyes made a winning return to west ham as they thrashed bournemouth 4—0 in london, taking them out of the relegation zone. moyes replaced the sacked manuel pellegrini on sunday, returning to the club he led to premier league safety at the end of the 2017—18 season. three first—half goals,

including a double to captain mark noble, means bournemouth drop in to the bottom three. tottenham slipped up in their pursuit of a top—four finish, losing 1—0 at southampton as ralph hassenhuttl‘s side made it ten points from four matches over the festive period. danny ings on target again for his 13th league goal of the season while spurs boss jose mourinho was booked after a confrontation with the saints' goalkeeping coach in their dugout. i think it was fair. i was rude, but i was rude to a limit. and for some reason, for some reason i i was rude to a limit. and for some reason, for some reason i was i was rude to a limit. and for some reason, for some reason i was rude. because i was rude i deserve it. elsewhere, leicester city remain a point ahead of manchester city in second position after a 3—0 win at newcastle united and chelsea were held 1—1 at brighton. aston villa climbed out of the bottom three winning 2—1 away to burnley, while watford made it a third win

in five games under new manager nigel pearson, beating wolves 2—1. and bottom of the table norwich city held crystal palace to a 1—1 draw at carrow road. david stern, the man who spent 30 years shaping the nba has died at the age of 77 after suffering a brain haemorrhage last month. stern was the nba's longest—serving commissioner after he took over in 1984 and oversaw its growth into a global power. by the time he left his position in 2014, a league that had struggled for a foothold had grown into a more than $5 billion a year industry with worldwide popularity to match. nba commissioner adam silver, who you saw next to stern said: "because of david, the nba is a truly global brand, making him not only one of the greatest sports commissioners of all time but also one of the most influential business leaders of his generation." "every member of the nba family

is the beneficiary of david's vision, generosity and inspiration." and from some of the players, dywane wade refers to how his dreams were made by meeting stern in his debut season in 2003. —— dwyane wade. boston celtics legend bill russell refers to the great innovation from stern and says he made the game what it is today. this from shaquille 0'neal, referring to stern as the best commissioner ever. the second—largest crowd in nhl history watched the dallas stars defeat the nashville predators 4—2 at the cotton bowl in the winter classic. more than 85,000 fans watched on as less than three minutes into the game stars forward corey perry was ejected for elbowing ryan ellis in the head, and the predators scored twice on the ensuing power play. the fans were entertained throughout both on and off the ice with andrej sekera scoring the final goal to hand dallas the win. peter wright has beaten top seed

and defending champion michael van gerwen to claim his first—ever pdc world darts championship trophy. the scot who's nicknamed ‘snakebite' was a 7—4 winner over van gerwen at alexandra palace in london, reversing the result he suffered at the hands of the dutchman in the 2014 decider. the premier league, and top level football is big business as we know. but now there's the rise of the virtual premier league. e—sports and gaming offer global competitions, with some prizes as high as $300,000. josh denzel went to find out more. everybody loves a game of fifa. i've only just found out you everybody loves a game of fifa. i've onlyjust found out you can actually do this professionally online. i've come down to it company in west london to find out exactly what it ta kes to london to find out exactly what it takes to get to the top. hello? how you doing? good! this is the big

simulator. eight is a spaceship in here. this is like our training pitch. do you want to go? that wasn't ideal, was it? this is where the magic happens. this is where the quys the magic happens. this is where the guys come the magic happens. this is where the guys come in, we have team managers organising tournaments, we have 35 pro— organising tournaments, we have 35 pi’o— gamers organising tournaments, we have 35 pro— gamers in the organisation. personals? we have guys in india, australia, the usa, this is all operated sensually from here —— centrally. so you don't necessarily play the game, you may —— make co nte nt ? play the game, you may —— make content? youtube videos, anything online. what is it meant to be a programmer? it's such a big thing, you play games for a living, and all

of the stuff surrounding that. there are champions from all around the world. it's a global thing, honestly. listen. if you were the messi of is bottom how much money would you make? if they have a team, it's on salary. but if you win the world cup, 250,000 us dollars. it's 0k money. it's insane. my generation grew up playing games a lot, and also online as well. so this hole is boards being kind of makes sense. whereas many ha rd—core boards being kind of makes sense. whereas many hard—core football fans just don't understand how it works —— this whole e—sports thing. but i think as time goes on people will

understand a little bit more. that was the final action of the game!” could putjosh was the final action of the game!” could put josh denzel was the final action of the game!” could putjosh denzel in the title from love island and that would be it. exactly. need to stop telling my kids to get off the xbox, don't i? the inaugural atp cup gets under way in australia on friday. it's a team competition taking place in sydney, brisbane and perth over the course of a week or so featuring 2a nations. spain are one of the favourites with world number one rafael nadal leading their team. as you can see, he took some time to visit rottnest island off the coast of perth and even grabbed a selfie with one of the residents. and as you can see by that, he's pleased to be starting his tennis year in australia. people are very supportive to our sport, great atmosphere all around the country when we're playing tennis. and for me personally, i

just, i'm excited by this new competition, sharing all these moments with the team. let's see how it goes. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport today team, goodbye. hello there. it was a relatively quiet start to the new year weather—wise, wasn't it? but a change is likely through today, we are going to see some stronger winds and also some rain around as well. now, if i show you the pressure chart you will see exactly what i'm talking about. the wet weather starting to push into the north—west and plenty of isobars here, so that's where the strongest of the winds and the heaviest of the rain is likely to be. now, these weather fronts are really just keeping the cold air for the moment at bay, but with that south—westerly feed at least it's a mild sort, so that blanket of cloud preventing

those temperatures from falling too far. so a mild start to thursday, there will be some rain, some of it heavy as it moves through scotland and as one front clears away it will be replaced by yet another. so, by the middle of the afternoon it is going to be windy and often wet at times. the first front moves out of the scottish borders into north wales, ahead of it it will stay rather cloudy and grey, blustery, but the strongest of the winds with gusts in excess of 50—60 mph on exposed coasts into the far north—west. but, as i say, a south—westerly wind, double digits quite widely across the country. those fronts sweep their way south and east and so that's going to open the door to this cooler, fresher air, the isobars open up so by the time we get to friday slightly lighter winds but hopefully a little more sunshine around. early morning cloud and rainjust easing away from the far south—east and then it's a relatively dry, quiet afternoon for many, with just a scattering of showers in the far north—west, some sunshine, but temperatures struggling for many to climb into double digits. so, 6—8 degrees in the north, 9 to maybe i! if we're lucky in the south—east corner. as we move into the weekend,

high—pressure is set to build from the south and that means that a relatively quiet story with the weather fronts toppling across the high, so maybe always the chance of a little more in the way of cloud and outbreaks of showery rain into the north—west, the best of the sunshine on saturday across england and wales. and again those temperature is struggling a little, 6—10 degrees at the very best. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday, it's almost a case of spot the difference but the wind direction changing once again. always the risk of a little more cloud the further north and west you are, the best of the drier, brighter weather into the east and we mightjust see temperatures peaking at around 9—1! degrees. then as we move out of the weekend into next week where most of us are set to go back to a proper week of work, it looks like the north and west will stay blustery and wet, the best of the drier and brighter weather in the south and east. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: australia orders a mass evacuation from coastal areas of new south wales. thousands have already hit the road, as bushfires close in. pro—iranian militia and their supporters pull back from the us embassy in baghdad, after a second day of violence. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, seeks immunity from prosecution over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. and dozens of endangered primates die in a fire at a german zoo.