but it's bye—bye barty, as the top seed and home favourite crashes out, downed by america's sofia kenin. a flock of birdies for graeme mcdowell, as he cards a 64 to grab a share of the lead at the saudi open. hello and thanks forjoining us on sport today here on bbc world news. we are going to start down under, where novak djokovic continues his bid for a record—extending eighth australian open title. that is after he saw off roger federer in straight sets to advance to his 26th grand slam final. he really does love it at melbourne park. the serb has lostjust three matches there in the last ten years. alex gulrajani was watching the action. for over a decade, the only time these two play each other is when it matters. roger federer‘s quest to keep on making history came with

caution. if a groin injury didn't sow caution. if a groin injury didn't sow any signs of restricting him early on as he raced into a first—set lead. but novak djokovic, a seven time champion in melbourne, didn't let him get out of sight. he came. from the cusp of losing the first set, djokovic turned it all around, forcing the set to a tiebreaker and finishing the job. and he had to be at his best in the second set. they federer kept pace until his opponent found the winning spot. the first break of the set, the most important point. djokovic now two up. federer, one of the greatest players of all time, wore that title with pride, and fought on, forcing djokovic to play some of the best tennis of his career to stay on course for a 17th grand slam title. djokovic will now face the winner of friday's semi—final between dominic

thiem and alexander zverev. dominic thiem and alexander zverev. dominic thiem lost twice to rafael nadal in the french open but avenged those defeats on wednesday when he beat natal to reach his first final in melbourne. zverev, meanwhile, broke new ground by reaching the semifinals when he beat wawrinka. he says he is in the final because he is more relaxed. i have done well and other tournaments. i have one finals, but the grand slam was a lwa ys finals, but the grand slam was always the week where i kind of even wa nted always the week where i kind of even wanted it too much. i was doing things ina wanted it too much. i was doing things in a way to professional. you know, i was not talking to anybody, i was going out with friends, i wasn't having dinner, i wasjust really... almost too focused, and change that a little bit this week. i'm doing much more things outside the court. i also was playing that bad at the cup that i didn't have

any expectations. i wasn't really expecting myself to be in the semifinals of the quarterfinals. so yes, maybe this is a stepping stone. maybe this is how it should happen. and we will see how it goes now.|j think it is the first time that i am playing a grand slam semifinals and lam the playing a grand slam semifinals and i am the older player, so a new situation. but we are great friends. lam situation. but we are great friends. i am really happy that he plays his first semifinals. but of course, we both go on trial. we have played twice in the french open already, so we know how it is to play against each other in a grand slam. but it is going to be an amazing atmosphere here. it is so nice, such an outstanding stadium, and i can't wait to be back on friday. earlier on day 11, the two women's semi—finals took place, with upsets in both matches. the world number one and home favourite, ashleigh barty, was beaten by 21—year—old american sofia kenin, while the number four seed and reigning wimbledon champion, simona halep, lost to

a resurgent garbine muguruza. honestly, i'm just so speechless. i can't believe this. i have just dreamt about this moment since i was five years old, with that and erotic video, i'm sure you guys saw that. but yes, i'm just so speechless, so thankful. i worked so hard to get here, and you know, just thanks to everyone, and to my dad and everyone, and to my dad and everyone, and to my dad and everyone, and everyone back home. so thank you guys. she will now face garbine muguruza, who beat halep in straight sets to reach her first ran semi—final since winning wimbledon in 2017. the spaniard is bidding to become only the third player to win the title. you know, iwasn't the third player to win the title. you know, i wasn't thinking that i was down. you know, i was thinking keep going and at some point you are going to have your opportunity. i know i was facing simona, so it was

going to be a hard match. sol know i was facing simona, so it was going to be a hard match. so i was just hanging in there and fighting with all the energy i had. luckily i have 48 hours now to recover and get ready for the last match, and yes, we train all of our career to be able to play in this court and this crowd. on to football, and barcelona have cruised through to the quarter—finals of the copa del rey. they thrashed fellow top—flight team leganes 5—0. antoine griezmann and lionel messi were both among the scorers in their last—16 tie at camp nou, while in the night's other game, shock result. second—tier mirandes beating champions league—chasing sevilla 3—1 to progress. on—loan watford forward matheus with two goals for the home side. elsewhere, lyon are through to the quarter—finals of the coupe de france after a 2—1victory at nice. houssem aouar got the winner with a penalty in stoppage time. the draw for the quarter—finals was made staright after that game,

and lyon will be at home to marseille in the pick of the quarter—finals. paris st—germain will visit dijon in another all—ligue 1 tie, while st—etienne and the holders, rennes, will both be away to teams from the fourth tier. kobe bryant is set to be honoured on arguably the biggest sporting stage of all, at sunday's super bowl in miami. at the pre—super bowl press conference, the nfl‘s commissioner, roger goodell, confirmed they will pay tribute to the five—time nba champion. i don't thinkjust los angeles is mourning the loss of kobe bryant. kobe was a special person. i did have the opportunity to meet him. he obviously brought a lot to our world, and i think all of us not only feel for the tragic events to his family, but as well as everyone else who was a passenger on the helicopter. it's hard to understand, and it's hard to process. sunday's showpiece will be contested by the kansas city chiefs, playing in their first super bowl for 50 years, and the san francisco 49ers. they are chasing a record—equalling sixth title, and head coach kyle shanahan says much will depend on the form of quarterbackjimmy

garoppolo. every day is kind of the same. i mean, whenjimmy is very hard on himself. he likes you to get on him, because i think it helps him focus. just like it does me also. i mean, jimmy goes as hard as he can, and we are both ourselves, and we don't deviate from that at all. and i thinkjust getting to know him and being with him over these few years, it has been good match, because i think our personalities match well together, and we help bring out the best in each other. we look forward to the challenge of playing the 49ers. we know they are a good football team, and it will be an exciting game, i think, team, and it will be an exciting game, ithink, forthe team, and it will be an exciting game, i think, for the fans. team, and it will be an exciting game, ithink, for the fans. two good teams playing each other. i know the city of kansas city is on fire right now with excitement, and

then we appreciate all the support we have had down here from our fans, and likewise the way you guys have handled yourselves as a media. we appreciate that. sport continues to be affected by the coronavirus in china. the country's football association has postponed all games, including the start of the chinese super league season, while world motorsport‘s governing body admits april's chinese grand prix near shanghai is also at risk. the fia says it is monitoring the evolving situation and will take any action necessary, with the race due to be held on 19 to 21 april. before that, formula e is also scheduled to hold an event in sanya, around 300 miles from wuhan, which is the city at the centre of the outbreak. golf, and gavin green of malaysia and northern ireland's graeme mcdowell are the joint leaders ahead of the second round of the saudi international. both players shot six—under—par rounds of 64 on thursday. the former us open champion

mcdowell, who has slipped outside the world's top 100, is chasing a first tour title since 2014. he and green lead by one shot from a group of five players that includes the former open champion from sweden, henrik stenson. the world number one, brooks koepka, is six shots behind the leaders after opening up with a level—par round of 70. cricket, and zimbabwe were frustrated by the rain as they tried to push for victory against sri lanka in the second test in harare. only 54 overs were possible on day four, when the home side reached 241/7 in their second innings, with brendan tayor making 67. zimbabwe lead by 354 with one day to go. 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. thursday was a very windy day across the north of the uk, into parts of scotland. it stays breezy through the course of today as well, even windy in some areas, but what you will notice — it's going to feel very mild. and the reason for it, low pressure, always nearby. this front will bring spells of rain which will spread south—east across the country. quite a few isobars on the chart, and we're drawing our air in from the south—west. this air source from the azores, as you can see, the oranges and the yellows indicates that it's going to feel mild, very mild in fact, for the time of year. but there will be quite a bit of around through the morning. that weather front i showed you, a band of rain spreading southwards

and eastwards across england and wales through the day. behind it, skies will tend to brighten up, so there'll be some glimmers of sunshine. well, there'll be plenty of blustery showers across the north and west of scotland, heavy with spells of rain. it will be a blustery day wherever you are. these are average wind speeds, could be gusting to 40mph or maybe 50mph in some of the windiest spots. but look at these temperatures. for the time of year, extremely mild indeed. the mid—teens celsius, we could be looking at 15 degrees in one or two spots across eastern england. it stays breezy, as well, rather cloudy as we head through friday night. further outbreaks of rain or longer spells of rain across the north—west corner of the country. further south, a few drier interludes, one or two showers around, and again, it should be another frost—free one. those temperatures remaining in double figures across the south to start the weekend. low pressure again nearby on saturday. we'll have this weather front bringing some rain to the north, and this front bringing some rain to the south. in between, a mixture of cloud, one or two showers, but also a little bit of brightness.

so one front across the south will allow outbreaks of showery rain to move across southern britain, tending to clear away from the south—east. further north, outbreaks of rain here, northern ireland, scotland, northern england, with some colder air beginning to push into the north of the country. so single—figure values here, but further south, a cooler day, but still fairly mild for the time of year —10—13 degrees. on sunday we will see another blustery day, particularly in the south, a weather front working its way northwards, taking its rain with it, tending to turn to snow over high ground in the north as it encounters colder air. but further south, another bright day, with a few showers, and once again those temperatures in double figures. now, as we head on into next week, looks like it turns colder. a cold snap for a while, before it starts turn milder again towards the end of the week, with a return to stronger winds and outbreaks of rain.

welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: the world health organisation declares a global health emergency as china's coronavirus spreads — at least 200 people have now died and there are cases in 18 other countries. a warning from the palestinian prime minister, if israel annexes any occupied territory, under president trump's new plan. if you implement any of this, thatis if you implement any of this, that is the end of us with you. as president trump's impeachment trial nears its close in the senate, a senior adviser to ukraine's