animal rights activists storm aintree racecourse at the grand national, the race was won by corach rambler, raced by derek fox. at least three people have been killed in sudan after heavy fighting in the capital of khartoum. nurses and junior doctors in england are considering coordinated strike action after unions turned down the latest pay offer. the government says their demands are unaffordable. the french president has visited notre—dame cathedral which was nearly destroyed by a fire four years ago. the restoration is expected to be finished on schedule.

you're watching bbc news, now it is time for sports day. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm olly foster. this is what is coming up. the start was delayed by protestors, but there was a stunning finish from corach rambler to win the grand national. haaland hits the net again, manchester city narrow arsenal's lead at the top. and manchester united hold off brighton to reach

the women's fa cup final. also coming up on sportsday... it's been another golden day for great britain at the european gymnastics championships in turkey. obviously, the goal is always to win so, yeah, that was probably the best routine of my life. welcome along. well, let's start at aintree, where corach rambler — the 8—1 favourite — has won the grand national. the race was delayed by m minutes. has won the grand national. animal rights activists had threatened to disrupt the world—famous steeplechase and a number of protestors managed to get onto the course. so far, 23 arrests have been made. patrick gearey spoke to me earlier from the course. yeah, there's been a heavy police presence here at aintree all day really, and that's because of the threat

by the animal activists group animal rising to disrupt the national. they said they wanted to stop the race to protect the horses. a handful of arrests were made in the morning, but 15 minutes before the schedules started, we saw activists trying to get onto the course. police were on the scene quickly, but some protesters did get onto the track and attempted to attach themselves to fences. all that meant the start of the race had to be delayed. and it was quite a warm and sunny day here, so the horses had to go back to the pre—paddock while the course was cleared. eventually, those protesters were taken away, and the race did start, 1a minutes late. we know there was one fatality in the race, 17 of the 39 finished. and it was a fairly chaotic race, a number of fallers early on. yeah, some suggestion the time the horses spent in the sun didn't do them any favours, but it was chaotic and

it is always chaotic, particularly the early stages. the first and second fences were pretty chaotic. mr breakaway and fury road, two horses to fall early. and we had a problem with loose horses causing some confusion. scenes you don't want to see. you don't want to see falling horses and you don't want to see fatalities. it came down to a battle between mister coffey, which seemed to be going away with it. but along came corach rambler, ridden by derek fox, who'd previously won the national on—board one for arthur. he used that experience to surge just at the right moment. fox taking corach rambler to victory, trained in scotland by lucinda russell. and a victory for scotland, a third national victory for them, and a second national victory for derek fox. a sensational day for him. yes, he proudly went

into the winning enclosure. tell us about this aintree festival. dominated by the irish. a scottish horse going and winning it, scottish connections. yes, the irish did have about three quarters of the runners in the national. it's been a very high standard of racing through the festival. but an emotional victory for scotland. and an interesting story in corach rambler. it's owned by a syndicate, one of whose members is a 21—year—old student who paid £3,000 for their share. so it will be some evening for them and a great story, at what is the end of a very eventful day here at aintree racecourse. let's stay with the grant national. in the last half an hour, patrick caught up with the winning jockey, derek fox. i can't believe it, corach rambler has been the most terrific course of my career. i have been very lucky with him since i paired up with him a few years ago. he has won twice at

cheltenham and now to have won a grand national, he isjust a top—class horse. grand national, he is “ust a top-class hammfi grand national, he is “ust a top-class horse. just take us throu~h top-class horse. just take us through the _ top-class horse. just take us through the final _ top-class horse. just take us through the final stages - top-class horse. just take us i through the final stages where top-class horse. just take us - through the final stages where you came on strong, the experience of winning the national committee that help you there? i winning the national committee that help you there?— help you there? i was always in a prominent _ help you there? i was always in a prominent position, _ help you there? i was always in a prominent position, i— help you there? i was always in a prominent position, i was - help you there? i was always in a prominent position, i was up - help you there? i was always in a - prominent position, i was up towards the front of the feel so i didn't run into too much trouble and corach rambler are such a clever horse, so quick with his feet, and he was able to navigate his way around very easy. he was always travelling like the best horse in the race. ijust had to bide my time tojump the best horse in the race. ijust had to bide my time to jump the last. he did it really well, so over them in. ~ ., last. he did it really well, so over them in. ~ . , ,, last. he did it really well, so over themin. . ,,, ., them in. we had the process before so a delayed — them in. we had the process before so a delayed start, _ them in. we had the process before so a delayed start, how— them in. we had the process before so a delayed start, how did - them in. we had the process before so a delayed start, how did that - so a delayed start, how did that affect your preparation? the delayed start wasn't ideal, _ affect your preparation? the delayed start wasn't ideal, you _ affect your preparation? the delayed start wasn't ideal, you are _ affect your preparation? the delayed start wasn't ideal, you are with - affect your preparation? the delayed start wasn't ideal, you are with the l start wasn't ideal, you are with the boys ready to go out and you are told to wait, especially a race like the grand national, you want to get down to the start and get going. there is enough anticipation as it is without a delay. it is the same

for the horses really. they are thoroughbred horses, they arejust better kept moving and not waiting around at the start, the sooner you get started, the better really. the few extra turns wasn't ideal. hopefully, it didn't affect any of the horses too badly. we got you —— we got through it all right. what we got through it all right. what would ou we got through it all right. what would you get — we got through it all right. what would you get -- _ we got through it all right. what would you get -- what - we got through it all right. what would you get —— what would you say to the protesters? would you get -- what would you say to the protesters?— to the protesters? look, it is a difficult subject. _ to the protesters? look, it is a difficult subject. all _ to the protesters? look, it is a difficult subject. all i _ to the protesters? look, it is a difficult subject. all i can - to the protesters? look, it is a difficult subject. all i can say l to the protesters? look, it is a| difficult subject. all i can say is lucinda's russell, her work, you will never get any care and attention better anywhere. if any of them went to ratios, they would see how well the horses are looked after day in and day out. —— race yards. the girls and the stable yards do such a greatjob, every horse is careful so well. they should really go to a racing yard for a morning and it would probably be a better thing if they learnt about how well they were taken care of. the winning

'ocke of they were taken care of. the winning jockey of corach _ they were taken care of. the winning jockey of corach rambler, _ they were taken care of. the winning jockey of corach rambler, derek - they were taken care of. the winning | jockey of corach rambler, derek fox, speaking to patrick gearey. manchester city are now just three points behind leaders arsenal after easing past leicester 3—1 at the etihad — their sixth premier league win in a row. city picked up where they left off following their 3—0 champions league win over bayern munich. john stones opened the scoring inside five minutes — his first league goal was a stunner. jack grealish was a constant thorn in the foxes' side, earning a penalty for handball by wilfred ndidi, eventually awarded by the video assistant. erling haaland picked his corner from the spot, his 31st premier league goal of the campaign. his 32nd arrived just 12 minutes later, running onto kevin de bruyne's through ball to fire past daniel iverson and tying mohamed salah's scoring record for a 38—game season. leicester grabbed a consolation

after the break through for city striker kelechi iheanacho, as dean smith's debut ended in defeat. after five wins in a row, third—placed newcastle were beaten 3—nil at aston villa. that dents their hopes of a top—four finish, for villa, they are nowjust six points off the champions league places. joe lynskey reports. for the last six months, aston villa have been the blueprint for how a club can change its coach and rise. back in october, they were 17th and brought in unai emery. now they faced newcastle, in a race for european football. key for villa in the middle is a man who grew up down the road. 21—year—old jacob ramsay slammed his hometown team in front. the breakthrough in a match between two in—form teams. newcastle had just won five in a row, but here, theirfew chances galvanised the home side.

up—front for aston villa is ollie watkins. who, with this, had now scored in four games in a row. like his team, he's caught attention. watkins's form could take villa to the top six and beyond. for them, it's five straight top—flight wins, for the first time this century. and right now, they're the team who keep on rising. contrasting emotions, as you might imagine, from the managers. a frustrated eddie howe in a moment. first, the man performing those miracles at villa park. yes, the first aim was to step off the bottom. we did. then, to be in the top ten. we did. but we can face another target. and of course, after the three points, it is to be in the top six. today, we showed as well and we

believed, with our supporters, we can do it and we can take this chance now. i think we were off our best levels today. right from the start of the game, we weren't where we needed to be. aston villa are a team in good form and we never got going. today is probably the first step we've had this season in terms of overall level. it can happen, we're disappointed it has today, we have to react very quickly. that newcastle defeat came in the lunchtime kick—off, so tottenham knew a win would see them move above manchester united into the top four and level on points with the magpies, but they blew it, losing 3—2 to bournemouth at home. dango ouattara scored the winner in the 95th minute to ease their relegation worries. tottenham had taken the lead through son heung—min, before goals from matias vina and dominic solanke gave the visitors the lead. arnaut danjuma thought he'd salvaged a point for spurs late on, but the cherries clinched the points late on. they are 14th. tottenham remain in fifth, three points off the top four.

we'd literallyjust switched dango sides. and the ball came at dango. and he comes inside off his right foot and finishes unbelievably well. it was the opportunity a huge step today to where we need to get to now. but to come here and win is one thing, to come here and be as dominant as we were for the opening spells of the game is impressive from them. everton�*s hopes of staying in the premier league suffered a serious blow, as they slumped to a 3—1 defeat at home to fulham. goals from harrison reed, harry wilson and danjames were enough to secure the points for the visitors, after dwight mcneil had earlier drawn everton level. sean dyche's side sit 17th, level on points with nottingham forest, who play tomorrow. they started brightly, we didn't. then 15 or so minutes or whatever into the game, we started to take more control and we changed

the shape and it was effective. scored a very good goal. the whole atmosphere changed. we were very productive and dominant in that period, we had a great chance to go up and stop them. then the second half was a different feel, we started brightly with the second goal. the biggest thing for me, we reverted back to before we were here, the mentality shifted very quickly, we lost our way very quickly and we have got to change that. brighton came from behind to beat chelsea at stamford bridge, to spoil frank lampard's homecoming. teenagerjulio enciso scored a stunning winner for the seagulls in the second half, after danny welbeck had earlier cancelled out conor gallagher's deflected opener. brighton remain seventh, seven points off the top four, and head into their fa cup semi—final against manchester united on a high. united on a high. amazing day for us. for the result, for the performance. but this game has to give us more energy, more confidence,

more enthusiasm to follow the season, to finish the season in the best way. now, we have to prepare the next game, the semifinal. we would like to play the final. and to play the final, we have to win. other results — crystal palace continued their resurgence under roy hodgson, winning 2—nil at southampton. they are twelfth, just ahead of wolves, who beat brentford 2—nil. they should both be looking at mid—table finishes. sheffield united are a step closer to the premier league, after they beat struggling cardiff 4—1. cardiff scored first from the penalty spot, but the blades — who are second in the table — drew level, thanks to a great solo goal from james mcatee. three more in the second half — this one, from iliman ndiaye, was the pick of them. it means top—of—the—table burnley, who are already promoted,

must wait until at least tuesday to win the championship title. defeat for cardiff leaves them fourth from bottom. this is the top of the championship. burnley drew against reading, so their lead is down to 12 points. they will win the title if they win on tuesday night, if they beat rotherham and sheffield united do not beat bristol city. it's so tight for the play—off places. coventry hanging in there at the moment, but only on goal difference. leaders celtic play tomorrow in the scottish premiership. rangers have trimmed their lead to nine points, with a 5—2 win at home to st mirren. there were also wins for hibernian and livingston. dundee united have lifted themselves off the bottom of the table, coming from behind to beat motherwell. jamie mcgrath scored the winning penalty. the first of the women's fa cup semi—finals hasjust finished, and manchester united are into their first cup final, after a dramatic 3—2 win over brighton at leigh sports village.

it was the bottom—of—the—table club that surprisingly took the lead in the first half. veatriki sarri's cross punched in by united keeper mary earps. but united hit back in the second half, leah galton equalising, before alessia russo put united ahead with a powerful effort with 20 minutes to go. but brighton hit back almost immediately, danielle carter taking advantage of a defensive mistake to set up a dramatic finish. and it was united who found the winner, with two minutes remaining, substitute rachel williams striding through on goal to send united through to wembley, where they'll face either chelsea or aston villa on may 14th. those two sides play tomorrow. the nood, the those two sides play tomorrow. tue: good, the bad those two sides play tomorrow. tte: good, the bad and those two sides play tomorrow. t'te: good, the bad and the those two sides play tomorrow. ttl good, the bad and the ugly. i thought brighton were excellent. they showed real class at times. we were yards away first half, we address that at half—time. one

characteristic —— uncharacteristic mistakes from us with the goals which we don't usually do, we are very good for a reason at the back. we put that down to coming from an international break and getting back together. we will work on those. the result at wembley.— result at wembley. rachel williams wiz nets result at wembley. rachel williams wiz gets the — result at wembley. rachel williams wiz gets the job _ result at wembley. rachel williams wiz gets the job done, _ result at wembley. rachel williams wiz gets the job done, doesn't - result at wembley. rachel williams j wiz gets the job done, doesn't she? magnificent to think she is a veteran of the league, but when she comes in with the experience and the calmness of the moment to make that moment happened, that is a magnificent moment and rachel deserves that because she absolutely does everything for this team. we can see some wonderful celebrating scenes from the players, we know what it means to them and to you, what it means to them and to you, what does this final mean to manchester united? tt what does this final mean to manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here _ manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here to _ manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here to wind. _ manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here to wind. we - manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here to wind. we will- manchester united? it means a lot, but i am here to wind. we will waitl but i am here to wind. we will wait for our opponent tomorrow for the final. but it means nothing, it is notjust final. but it means nothing, it is not just a day final. but it means nothing, it is notjust a day out, i have been there before and done that, i don't want to do that, i want to be here to wind it. we have got to improve on that performance. reality is, it

is good to be there, but i want to win and make sure we give these fans what they want. == win and make sure we give these fans what they want-— what they want. -- to win it. manchester _ what they want. -- to win it. manchester u _ what they want. -- to win it. manchester u wit _ what they want. -- to win it. manchester u wit -- - what they want. -- to win it. - manchester u wit -- manchester manchester u wit —— manchester united women go through to the fa cup final. stay with us here on sportsday. we'll hear from joejoyce, ahead of his big fight tonight. there's been more success for british gymnasts at the european championships in turkey. after winning team gold a few days ago. becky downie took silver on the uneven bars and luke whitehouse won gold in the floor exercise. this was his first major championships. he'd only qualified for the final in seventh place. but the 20—year—old put in the performance of his life, beating olympic and european champion artem dolgopyat, of israel, to claim the title.

honestly, ijust came here to enjoy myself for me, the team medal was enough. then when i made floor final, the goal is always to win. so that was probably the best routine of my life. i knew i could do it, but i've never scored that high, i was four, five, five. so when i saw that, i knew there was a good chance of the medal, but dolgopyat was still to go, and when his score came up, i was over the moon. for more on those british medals, i wasjoined by world champion giarnni regini—moran. he did fantastic. first european championships, he's gone out there and come away with a gold medal. for luke, it was all about nailing those tumbles. we tend to see in his previous competitions earning qualification, he does find he has massive tumbles, but he does find it hard to land them. for him today, it was going out

there and to have fun and to gain that experience. he knew he was capable of getting a medal, he has that potential. and again, it was about landing and nailing those tumbles. and when they started to happen, he started to nail the first few, he then went with it, gained that confidence and the rest of the routine followed. becky downie knows all about major championships, but a few months ago, we didn't know whether we would ever see her back because of that achilles problem. she takes team gold and then silver in herfinal. fantastic result for becky. the journey that she's been on has been farfrom easy. and i think she should just be proud of herself for the fact that she's still there, still competing among some of the best gymnasts in europe, that in itself is a massive achievement, but to come away with team gold and a european medal on bars as well is incredible. british gymnasts are among the best we have seen,

the russians are not there, we know why they are not at this championship, but my word, they are so competitive. it bodes really well, and still another day of competition as well. definitely, and i think you can only compete against who's there. you can only compete against that. we're taking this opportunity now to become the best versions of ourselves. we have known over the years we have had a little bit more to give and i think both the men's and women's sides, we have kind ofjust stuck our heads down and got on with it and worked hard behind the scenes and we're now starting to see those results come out. as you can tell, we have got now european women's champions and we are seeing medals follow that, and we have also got european medallists on the men's side and we are seeing medals following that as well. great britain are out of the billiejean king cup after losing their tie to france in coventry. harriet dart needed to beat world numberfive caroline garcia for britain to stand

any chance — she saved two match points to take it to a deciding set but, in the end, garcia overpowered dart to win it 6—1. gb now face a play—off in november that could see them relegated from the world group. boxerjoe joyce will look to preserve his unbeaten professional record against china's zilei zhang this evening. the heavyweights are fighting in the copperbox arena in london. win tonight and joyce will look to challenge for the world title against oleksandr usyk. why are you always walking towards the fire, joe? because i'm the juggernaut! translation: the translation | of a juggernaut in chinese is red tank — a tough chin, great stamina, but i'm the big bang right here,

i bang everything. yeah, i am getting the credit now, especially on the back of the last win, that was a big boost. and then fighting joseph parker and beating him and being the first to knock him out was another big step. so beating zhang will be another little step. and then, hopefully, i will get a shot at the other belts as well and get the full wbo. i visualised it. i'm visualising me knocking him out, knocking him down and winning. and keeping the wbo interim and marching onwards. 18 stone, alb! it is going to be a high—paced fight. zhang is reasonably fit. he lost his last fight, but i thought he won the fight,

but his issue was he faded towards the end. joejoyce, thejuggernaut is the most fitting boxing nickname around. he fights like a juggernaut, he takes shots to land his own. incredible engine, incredible durability. i thinkjoyce wins in the last third of the fight. i thinkjoejoyce deserves a shot against fury or usyk and i think probably at this point of time, to me, he's the only heavyweight that has a chance of beating either fury or usyk. the world snooker championship is under way at sheffield's crucible theatre. the 2015 champion stuart bingham won five frames in a row to open up a 6—3 advantage over dave gilbert. they'll play to a finish tomorrow morning. elsewhere, another former winner — australia's neil robertson — leads the chinese debutant wu yize by six frames to three. robertson won the title in 2010, but has not made a final since then. at the world championships.

these are live pictures from the crucible. ali carter is on table number two. you have two tables in the crucible theatre. and he is one frame apiece against the welshmanjakjones. we had hoped to take you to against the welshman jakjones. we had hoped to take you to table number one, where the defending champion ronnie o'sullivan is playing. he is 8—3 up against pang junxu. he was 6—3 from the morning session. and he is now 8—3 up. you can follow that on the bbc sport website or bbc two. england took a step towards yet another women's six nations grand slam with a 59—3 thrashing of wales at cardiff arms park. both teams came into the match boasting two wins from two and it was wales who drew blood. and it was wales who drew blood first through a keira bevan penalty.

but the red roses were stung into action and scored three unanswered tries before halftime, including a magnificent solo effort from abby dow to lead 19—3 at the break. it accelerated after that. holly aitchison running in the first of six more tries for the visitors, as wales had no answer. england at one stage were reduced to 13 players, following yellow cards to marlie packer and debutant may campbell, but it made no difference, as they wrapped up yet another commanding win. in the day's other game, italy beat ireland by 211—7. sofia stefan�*s superb try in the first half helping them on the way. ireland stay bottom, after losing all three of their games. northampton saints have moved into the premiership play—off places with a victory over saracens. the saints took full advantage of a weakened saracens side,

who were reduced to 1a men afterjust eight minutes. duncan taylor sent off for that tackle. northampton ran in six tries on their way to a 38—29 win. in the day's other match, harlequins beat newcastle falcons 48—20. a quick reminder of our top story, the grand national was delayed, over 20 protesters have been arrested after they tried to attach themselves to fences. animal rights activists. but the race went off 1a minutes late and corach rambler won that race. lots more reaction to the grand national on the bbc sport website, but that is all for now, goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. police make almost 120 arrests in relation to disruption at the grand national horse race. earlier, animal rights activists stormed the track delaying the race. when the race got under way it was won by core—rack rambler, ridden by derek fox. at least three people have been killed in sudan in fighting between the army and paramilitary forces in the capital, khartoum. the british government is banning the construction of the new so—called smart motorways after concerns about costs and safety.