the this is bbc news, the headlines. millions of nigerians have been voting in their country's most competitive election since military rule ended there more than two decades ago. security fears and logistical problems are being blamed for delays to voting. the uk and the european union appear to be on the brink of finalising a new deal on post—brexit trading rules for northern ireland. downing street says talks have been "positive", while the irish prime minister said they were "inching towards a conclusion". china's plans for peace in ukraine cause ripples around the world. president zelensky says he wants to hear more, and the leader of russia's key ally belarus announces plans to fly to beijing.

a winter storm brings rain and snow to southern california, the likes of which hasn't been seen there for more than three decades. there are also flood warnings in coastal areas. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. the headlines this evening. england win the six nations match that wales might have called off, claiming a victory in cardiff for the first time in six years. while in rome, another win, another bonus point, as ireland stay on course for a six nations grand slam. the top two in the premier league win, with manchester city keeping arsenal's lead atjust two points. a0 years old and the number

one in the world. james anderson helps england take control of the second test in new zealand. another british record. but gutted not to break the world's best mark. keely hodgkinson wins the 800 metres at the world indoor tour final. hello again. after a turbulent two weeks during which wales�* six nations game against england was in serious doubt. was in serious doubt, it went ahead in cardiff and ended with a win for england. a rare one for them in the welsh capital maybe, but one that provides steve borthwick with the biggest victory of his tenure and leaves wales without a point. michael redford reports.

from days of chaos... to a crucial compromise. a chance to unite for welsh rugby. a week of negativity nowry solved, england had to be aware of the winded dragon. to do that they called on one of their old flames, almost two years had passed since watson's last start. he didn't take long to make his mark. wales�* start. he didn�*t take long to make his mark. wales�* response was immediate. halfpenny�*s kick securing their first point of the half, they only point of the half. 8—3 at the break. not it was a sign of things to come, less than a minute after the restart, the principality stadium erupted. it the restart, the principality stadium erupted.— the restart, the principality stadium erupted. the restart, the principality stadium eruted. , ., ., stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial. _ stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial, for _ stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial, for the _ stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial, for the gift, - stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial, for the gift, for - stadium erupted. it is game over, for the trial, for the gift, for the l for the trial, for the gift, for the dream start in the second half for wales. , ., ., dream start in the second half for wales. , ., . a , wales. their euphoria quickly silenced by — wales. their euphoria quickly silenced by sheer _ wales. their euphoria quickly silenced by sheer strength. l wales. their euphoria quickly - silenced by sheer strength. singular the man that mattered most. england�*s lead restored. farrell so

often reliable, not today. instead, england�*s next point would come from a third and final try. lawrence securing victory and a first win in cardiff since 2017, a step forward in england�*s progress. for wales, it is three defeats from three. and their road back to the top of world rugby has a long way to two just yet. andy swiss joins us now from the principality stadium, where after a unique build up it�*s the team that were watching on from afar that have ended up winning. that is right. hugh, i suppose the big question that everyone here was asking before the match was how would wales respond to that chaotic build up, those threats of strike action, the contract dispute with the welsh rugby authority, they certainly showed plenty of spirit, plenty of fight but once again they

didn�*t show enough quality or comb sure perhaps we shouldn�*t be surprised bearing in mind how they were thrashed in their opening two matches of the six nations championship. they made nine changes the team, remember that were beaten by scotland, they brought in new face, they brought back a few of the old guard as well. the likes of alun wyn jones and old guard as well. the likes of alun wynjones and tipuric, they looked like a team very much in transition, so did england as well to be frank in some parts it was a scrappien counter but england produced the few moments of quality, particularly that first half try we saw there from watson and they could afford for farrell to have a really off day with the boot.en points went begging from his boot, he if he kicked over those points it could be a much bigger win for england, so from the two camps very much a day of contrasting motions. i thought it was a step forward for us. i thought it was a step forward for us as_ i thought it was a step forward for us as we — i thought it was a step forward for us. as we keep saying we are at the

start of— us. as we keep saying we are at the start of our— us. as we keep saying we are at the start of ourjourney, and this was another_ start of ourjourney, and this was another challenge for us, a different challenge, to come away from home at a place like this, a team _ from home at a place like this, a team thats— from home at a place like this, a team thats that had a lot going on during _ team thats that had a lot going on during the — team thats that had a lot going on during the week and have unified to come _ during the week and have unified to come together for this crowd at the weekend, _ come together for this crowd at the weekend, so, fair play to them, but, you know. _ weekend, so, fair play to them, but, you know. we — weekend, so, fair play to them, but, you know, we had a job to do and thankfully— you know, we had a job to do and thankfully we took a step forward. the last _ thankfully we took a step forward. the last two weeks obviously have for a _ the last two weeks obviously have for a number of _ the last two weeks obviously have for a number of different reasons, j for a number of different reasons, we can't _ for a number of different reasons, we can't use — for a number of different reasons, we can't use that _ for a number of different reasons, we can't use that as _ for a number of different reasons, we can't use that as an _ for a number of different reasons, we can't use that as an excuse, i for a number of different reasons, i we can't use that as an excuse, you know, _ we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, _ we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, a _ we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, a lot — we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, a lot of— we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, a lot of things— we can't use that as an excuse, you know, we, a lot of things have - we can't use that as an excuse, you| know, we, a lot of things have gone on, know, we, a lot of things have gone on. decision— know, we, a lot of things have gone on, decision was _ know, we, a lot of things have gone on, decision was made, _ know, we, a lot of things have gone on, decision was made, with - know, we, a lot of things have gone on, decision was made, with have . on, decision was made, with have drawn— on, decision was made, with have drawn a _ on, decision was made, with have drawn a line — on, decision was made, with have drawn a line in _ on, decision was made, with have drawn a line in the _ on, decision was made, with have drawn a line in the sand, - on, decision was made, with have drawn a line in the sand, during . on, decision was made, with have i drawn a line in the sand, during the week, _ drawn a line in the sand, during the week, welsh— drawn a line in the sand, during the week, welsh rugby— drawn a line in the sand, during the week, welsh rugby has— drawn a line in the sand, during the week, welsh rugby has to - drawn a line in the sand, during the week, welsh rugby has to work - week, welsh rugby has to work together, — week, welsh rugby has to work together, as _ week, welsh rugby has to work together, as a _ week, welsh rugby has to work together, as a whole, - week, welsh rugby has to work together, as a whole, every - together, as a whole, every stakeholder, _ together, as a whole, every stakeholder, we _ together, as a whole, every stakeholder, we have - together, as a whole, every stakeholder, we have to - together, as a whole, every . stakeholder, we have to come together, _ stakeholder, we have to come together, and _ stakeholder, we have to come together, and improve. - stakeholder, we have to come together, and improve.- stakeholder, we have to come together, and improve. yes, a day of very different — together, and improve. yes, a day of very different motions _ together, and improve. yes, a day of very different motions there, - together, and improve. yes, a day of very different motions there, for - very different motions there, for england and wales so what now for the two teams? well, england will feel they are starting to build up a

bit of momentum under steve borthwick, they were beaten in their opening match by scotland at twickenham which was a disappointing defeat but they have bounced back, they look solid last week against italy, they looked solid against wales although once again far from spectacular, so steve borthwick will be hoping to build on the two wins on the trot, as for wales, well, this is their worse start to a six nations now for some 20 years, played threw three lost three, they are rock but tom of the table. what now for them? well, they have two matches remaining, both away from home against france and italy, and italy is the one thaw is next up for them and that will be interesting because italy looked pretty impressive today in their defeat against ireland. they caused some problems to the world number ones so they will fancy their chances on home turf against wales, and then, italy, if they were to win that match, that would mina wales would

need to beat france, the defending champions remember, if they were to avoid a whitewash, so wales have it all to do, it has been a tumultuous few weeks for welsh rugby, both on and off the pitch and they have a lot of work to do if they are to turn their season round, in what is, remember, hugh, world cup year. andy, indeed. it might not get that much easier in the coming weeks. andy swiss thank you. meanwhile in rome it wasn�*t as convincing as many expected, but ireland are still on course for a six nations grand slam after another bonus point win. they beat italy 34—20, but not before being rattled by their opponents. jim lumsden reports. ireland were top of the tree with two bonus point win. surely more of the same would follow in rome? they hurled themselves at the italians, a try ruled out after a minute, but no debate about the next score,

a minute later, from captain for a dayjames ryan. italy were antagonised and soon answered back through steven varney. italy strike back. irish tries flew in, first from hugo keenan before another one from bundee aki at the corner. again, the hosts crumbled, hanson with a bonus point winning fourth try. their cause was dealt a blow when bruno dealt with a stray pass, with ireland leading 24—17, after an six try first half. after the break, italy repelled all that the world�*s number one ranked side threw at them, were themselves a constant threat and came close. he�*s going for a cross field kick, can they get it? no! but the men in green moved into another gear, and hanson provided some much needed breathing space. 34—20 it finished. italy had impressed but the irish grand slam steam roller rolls on.

ireland coach andy farrell says he doesn�*t mind there being a bit of anxiety in rugby internatoinals... one which he admitted italy made into a proper game. the positive is the chances that we did create, but the negative is that we didn�*t take them all again, so, i don�*t know, what was it, four orfive tries we left out there? but, you know, all credit must go to italy. that was a proper test match, that was tough, they are a proper side, and everyone can see the progression, but when you are here and you are facing it, they were tough, they were resilient. the forwards, they gave us nothing, and defending their own line they were very physical, and in attack, you know, they were cutting us up from time to time, so congratulations to them, i thought they were great. three from three so we are happy enough _ three from three so we are happy enough. we have another two weeks to prepare

for what is a massive game for us, against scotland in edinburgh, so, we will enjoy tonight. amazing irish support today, we really appreciate it. we will enjoy tonight and come back next week and start looking at scotland. italy head coach kieran crowley was satisified that his players put the world�*s number one side under severe pressure. but disappointed they were unable to get over the line. i can�*t ask for any more from these boys, they gave it everything they have got. we had a plan, we executed it pretty well. we probably lacked finesse which ireland have that we don�*t. you can�*t afford to give teams a 19 point start, or whatever they got early on, so we blame the guys in the warm up, we will have a few words with them, because we are having a few slow start. look, we are disappointed. we don�*t want to be a team that performs well and doesn�*t get across the line, so look, you know, we are pretty disappointed, to be fair.

matters at the extremes of the premier league were in focus today. to the relegation picture in a moment, but first the top two. both winners this afternoon, with manchester city keeping up the pressure on leaders arsenal with a 4—1 thumping of bournemouth. dan 0gunshakin was watching. after two draws in a week coupled with an earlier arsenal win it was no surprise pep guardiola wasn�*t sitting comfortably. 11 times they have faced the cherries, 11 times they have tasted sweet victory. if recent resulted left city confidence shaken it didn�*t show as they slipped into a familiar rhythm. alvarez was on hand. city�*s recent problems have come when they don�*t build on a one goaler leader here there would be no repeat. after bournemouth threatened they hit self struck. billing found foden and ended the match as a contest. the only question that remained was how

many more city would score, their fourth dually arrived. claimed initially by alvery reuss but awarded to meppen. bournemouth would get a goal of their own, leaving guardiola still waiting for a clean sheet. city might not have got that, but they return to winning ways, and thatis but they return to winning ways, and that is what mattered most. arsenal did theirjob a little earlier, winning1—0 against leicester at the king power stadium. mikel arteta�*s side needed a goal from gabriel martinelli to get just their second win in the last five league games. they had the ball in the net on two other occasions but both were ruled out and arsneal have won 10 of their 13 away games so far this i�*m really pleased with their performance, i think we dominated the game, i think we attacked a lot. they were high on the pitch and we have a lot of situation that we managed to create enough big opportunities from it.

it is something we have to improve but we didn�*t concede nothing. just one that didn�*t hit the target. we were super, what we done to the team today. the match between the bottom two was won by leeds, also by a goal to nil at elland road against southampton, who remain three points adrift. junior firpo�*s second half goal was enough to give new manager javi gracia a win in his first game in charge and take leeds out of the relegation zone. after the games without winning, to get this result is something amazing for us. very happy for all the supporters, for all the club, all the people that are working here, and especially for the players, because they were working without results, without reward, and today, they did it really well. elsewhere a flurry of late goals gave west ham a 4—0 win over nottingham forest.

that included two in three minutes from danny ings, his first goals for west ham. they move out of the bottom three. everton have replaced west ham in the relegation zone after losing 2—0 at home to aston villa. an 0llie watkins penalty and emi buendia gave villa the win at goodison park to leave everton 18th. the chelsea supporters�* trust say they are "appalled that "graham potter and his family have been subjected to death threats." potter says his mental health has suffered with the pressure to get results at the club, which hejoined in september, but have struggled recently, winning just once in their last 10 matches in all competitions. the supporters trust added...

chelsea have said they�*re offering their full support to potter and his family. with rangers and celtic preparing for tomorrow�*s scottish league cup final, there were four premiership games today in their absence. dundee united are four points adrift at the bottom after losing 4—0 to ross county, who started the dayjust above them in the table. kilmarnock are now between those two, second from bottom, after a 1—1 draw with motherwell, who equalised in the last minute of normal time. st mirren could only draw 1—1 at ten man stjohnstone, while aberdeen beat livingston to above them into sixth in the table. another impressive day for england in their second test aginast new zealand in wellington. another intervention from the weather that curtailed their dominance, but not before the home side had been reduced to 138—7 in theirfirst innings, 297 behind. patrick gearey reports.

in round about circles wellington�*s basin resolve wellington�*s basin reserve is famous, the ground surrounded by the biggest in the southern hemisphere. choices everywhere. having made 186, harry brook took the first exit. grabbed at the second attempt by matt henry, england picked their lane, no breaking as ben stokes sets the example and takes the consequences. 0thers follow his charge. ben foulkes, stumped. joe root kept looking up, this took him clear of 150, and england felt they had enough runs to declare to keep the game moving. they remain powered by a vintage engine. jimmy anderson is the oldest and best test bowler in the world. he is a0 and yet appears to be unstoppable. he took the first three new zealand wickets. the kiwis looked for room to manoeuvre. henry nicholls had nowhere to turn. england are in such form they make

this sport seem simple. unless you are trying to face them. michael bracewell was new zealand�*s seventh wicket to fall. at that stage, more than 300 runs behind. tim southee decided the only escape was in the sky. in the end, the clouds offered a way out, rain stopped play, but england have new zealand trapped in a vicious circle. patrick gearey, bbc news. joe root says he "owed" his first century in eight tests to his england team—mates. his run without a three—figure score in the format was his longest in two years, with his last tonne in the win against india at edgbaston in july. he also thought captain ben stokes�* declaration was crucial. he�*s just been so naturally, walked so naturally into the role, and... ..you know, he�*sjust managing the game really well, and everyone�*s responding really well to it as well, which obviously is very important. but, yeah, ijust think

it was a brilliant call, personally, from him, been very easy for to us keep going, and we might not be sat here with them seven down tonight so credit to him, he is doing a greatjob. head coachjon lewis believes there is "so much more to come" from his england side after their women�*s t20 world cup exit. they lost by six runs to underdogs south africa in a gripping semifinal in cape town on friday having won all four of their group games, breaking tournament records in the process. there are some questoins being asked about a couple of the team�*s senior players, butlewis told jo currie the future looks bright. i think the way we want to approach our cricket, and the way this group is trying to do that, moving forward, i think is the right way for us to play. i think we still have some learning to do and we will get better at that. there is, ithink, myjob is to help this team improve. we have a talent pool in england that is growing, through the different competitions we have got, and it will be exciting to see how the team progresses

forward over the next six to 12, to 18 months. heather has been a wonderful servant to the game and more importantly as a captain. going forward, is she the right person to lead the side in all three formats or is there scope for change? she is doing a greatjob. she has moved to the way she is thinking in particular, forward over the last, whatever, however long i have been in charge, three months i think now. we are developing our relationship, she is an incredibly smart leader and she really wants this team to thrive and grow and she is doing a greatjob. some watching yesterday saw catherine brunt, her frustrations boiling over, shouting at younger players. is that behaviour acceptable? i think if you ask catherine that question she would reflect on that really openly. she is really honest, she is an incredible competitor, she has very high standards, she drives herself forward, really hard, she pushes herself hard.

0n reflection, from myself, you would like her to be calmer in that situation, and you would hope if she had that opportunity again she would be. so many positives from england this tournament, in particular speaking to the players they talked about that freedom you have given them to play this fearless cricket. they seem to enjoy the england environment more than they have done in a while. we really want people to watch us play cricket and grow the game in our country and around the world, and i think yesterday�*s game game was a great advert for the women�*s game. it was a competitive game and i hope that that will help the cricket in south africa grow, and give the girls her a real platform to grow the game here, and i hope people watching at home, in the uk and the fans we had out here came to watch the game were really entertained, and i hope they buy tickets for the ashes. keeley hodgkinson set a new british 800m indoor record after a dazzling run at the world indoor tour final having won all three of her races this year,

hodgkinson was in a contest only against the clock. last year�*s world silver medallist had one eye onjolanda ceplak�*s long—standing world record but had to settle for a new national best and world leading time of 1:57:18. dina asher—smith was also in impressive form in winning the women�*s 60 metres. she had too much, even for a high quality field, which included team—mate daryll neita and world 200m champion shericka jackson. asher—smith crossed the line just two one hundreths outside of the british record she set in germany last month. laura muir comfortably won the 1,000m but failed in her attempt to break the world record held by the great maria mutola. at halfway, muir looked in a good place to challenge the record set 2a years ago today but faded towards the end. gudaf tsegay was much closer to breaking the world record in the women�*s 3,000m. the ethiopian missed out on the mark held by genzebe dibaba byjust one

tenth of a second as she finished 15 seconds clear of the chasing pack. charlie dobson was was a surprise winner of the men�*s 60m in a final contested by just five athletes. three, including favourite jeremiah azu, were disqualified for false starts leaving dobson to take the win ahead of adam gemili. andy murray has failed in his bid to win a first atp singles title in four years, losing to daniil medvedev in the final of the qatar 0pen. 35—year—old murray saved five match points in his semifinal victory over the czechjiri lehecka, but lost the first set to medvedev 6—4. the second set went the way of the first, also 6—4, as third seed medvedev picked up his second title in as many weeks. while the six nations continues, there is plenty of domestic rugby too in the gallagher premiership. saracens moved 12 points clear of sale at the top of the table, edging out 1a—man

newcastle falcons 29—23. northampton saints moved four points clear of rivals gloucester with a 111—34 bonus—point win at franklin gardens. leicester tigers travel to london irish in the late game. in the women�*s premier 15, gloucester hartpury�*s unbeaten run is over after 12 matches. the leaders were beaten 36—27 at home to saracens — marley packer with two of the away side�*s five tries in the bonus point victory. the win means saracens close the gap on their opponents to nine points. in the united rugby championship, ulster beat sharks 31—24 in south africa. ulster ran in four tries in durban, with harry sheridan�*s score securing the bonus point to leave them third in the table. elsewhere lions pulled off a shock by beating glasgow warriors 35—24 with all five of their tries coming from different scorers. glasgow stay in fourth with the home

side now up to twelfth. promoted leigh leopards came close to winning for the first time in super league this season but fell just short against catalans dragons in perpignan. a second half try from mikael goudemand was enough for the french side to win a close game, 111—6. there�*s just over 2a hours to go now until british boxer tommy fury fights american youtuber—turned—fighter jake paul in saudi arabia. the build up to the fight — which has already been postponed twice — has been bad tempered — and the weigh in was no different as the pair clashed once again. the winner of the 8—round bout will not only win the newly made wbc diriyah belt, but will also be given a cruiserweight ranking by the wbc. that�*s all from sportsday. there is is a late game in the

premier league where crystal palace are playing liverpool. liverpool of course losing to real madrid in the champions league, looking to bounce back, ten minutes gone it is still goalless, more on that and the rest of stories on the website. head there for the rest of the day. if you need more, that is it from sportsday. goodbye for now. hello. it was quite a chilly day, with variable amounts of sunshine and one or two fleeting showers here and there. how about tomorrow? well, sunday is going to feel a little less cold. we think the winds won�*t be quite as strong, and also a little more sunshine expected in some parts of the country, particularly in the south. so here�*s that high pressure saturday evening and into the early hours of sunday. it�*s right over us. and you can see that chilly dry air circling around that area of high pressure. and it�*s the dry air that has made

it feel particularly chilly. but dry air doesn�*t necessarily mean all that sunny, farfrom it. you can see the clouds streaming in off the north sea and they�*ll continue to do so. these are the clouds that are bringing one or two light showers. nothing prolonged or heavy. and we are generally talking about clear skies overnight and also a touch of frost, obviously, where the sky is clear this time of the year. minus three in the lowlands of scotland. many towns and cities around freezing. but the north sea coast, exposed to the breeze, should be just about frost free. so starts off quite sunny across many western and northern areas. central areas too. it does look as though it will be sunnier across the southern half of england and wales tomorrow. not completely clear blue skies, but in the north east of england, we think thicker cloud at times and also one or two showers. similar temperatures, seven to nine degrees celsius. but remember, the winds will be a little bit lighter. so i think it will feel closer to those values, and that high pressure is very much there on monday, again centred over scotland, but this time again changes in wind direction mean that areas of cloud will drift into other parts of the country. so i think on monday it looks

as though it�*s more england and wales and maybe eastern scotland that will be pretty overcast, and also one or two drizzly showers here and there. and again, the temperatures aren�*t changing. they are hovering around the average for the time of the year, which is eight degrees celsius. so that was monday. how about tuesday, wednesday, thursday into friday and even into the weekend? very little change, in fact the jet stream split around the area of high pressure. but in the first week of march, we are at least anticipating the possibility of things turning a little bit colder. so perhaps winter�*s not over yet, but in the short term, or at least this week and into the weekend, it�*s a case of very little change. bye— bye.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. election officials in nigeria have insisted that "nobody will be disenfranchised" despite delays and technical problems as millions of people vote — in the country�*s most competitive election since military rule ended there more than two decades ago. the race is between two major established parties, and a third candidate, peter 0bi, who has galvanised the support of young people. nigeria is africa�*s most populous country — and a record number of people — nearly 90 million —

have been eligible to vote. polls were due to close earlier in the day but people